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Anyone Having Garmin issues?


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Hadn't used my Garmin in about 2 weeks and when I first used it, it took about a mile before it caught up with the satellites. No big deal, this typically happens the first time I use it after a long spell.

Today I started it up and again, it was about 5 minutes before it found the GPS and started recording.

I took it in and plugged it into the computer, it began charging but was not recognized by the computer. I manually updated the firmware but it still acts this way. Anyone have any thoughts?

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I have a thought:  Garmin sucks

Seriously, I've had all sorts of Garmin problems including a failure of the USB connector internally.

 

"not recognized by the computer" does that mean it doesn't even see it as a storage device?  Are you using a Garmin cable?  I've had issues with my computer not recognizing my Garmin with a different USB cable.

Other than the aforementioned problem with the connector on my old 705, all the connection problems have been resolved by looking through the Garmin support forums, including trying a different port on the computer.

https://support.garmin.com/en-GB/?faq=PqkmoJbEgq7JqOKKZAkFK9

As far as the satellites, I just checked and I seemed to have no issue even indoors getting GPS+GLONASS full connectivity.  This is with my 520+

In the past with my 705 it took a long time whenever the location of where I turned it on was different from where I last turned it off.  I don't notice it so much on the 520+.

Edited by AntonioGG
added tidbit about location dependency on link-up time
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1 hour ago, AntonioGG said:

I have a thought:  Garmin sucks

Seriously, I've had all sorts of Garmin problems including a failure of the USB connector internally.

 

"not recognized by the computer" does that mean it doesn't even see it as a storage device?  Are you using a Garmin cable?  I've had issues with my computer not recognizing my Garmin with a different USB cable.

Other than the aforementioned problem with the connector on my old 705, all the connection problems have been resolved by looking through the Garmin support forums, including trying a different port on the computer.

https://support.garmin.com/en-GB/?faq=PqkmoJbEgq7JqOKKZAkFK9

As far as the satellites, I just checked and I seemed to have no issue even indoors getting GPS+GLONASS full connectivity.  This is with my 520+

In the past with my 705 it took a long time whenever the location of where I turned it on was different from where I last turned it off.  I don't notice it so much on the 520+.

Using a standard USB cable, tried 3 different ones so I am pretty sure it is not the cable. It charges but can’t see it. 
 

let me try to find an actual Garmin cable. Doubt that will help because it was always recognized on my other cables. 

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Hmm, this morning my Karoo had an issue locking onto satellites. Had the problem at the beginning of my ride, then in the middle of the ride (about an hour in).  Never had this problem before, it has always locked on immediately and been rock solid throughout my rides.

 

Edited by mcfly
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As long as I turn on my GPS in roughly the same spot...my Driveway, it connects in <1min.  If I connect somewhere different I always leave 5 min or so.  My Garmin Watch is worse with this but its a smaller device so may be tougher in general.

USB Cable.... I have one cable that I guard like gold around here.  I have an crappy HP android tablet that will only charge/ connect using that one and I have seen my Garmin act similarly.  Oddly this is the cable that came with my GoPro but it must meet all the specs to the tee vs most for charging the spec tolerance is much lower.

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I've been using Garmin Handheld units for 25 years and they and all handheld units will take some time to reacquire a satellite fix if they have been off for some time, especially if they battery was removed/went dead. The more recently on it was the quicker the fix, this has improved greatly over the generations of units with things in WAAS, etc. In general my Garmin (none bike specific) have been tanks and survived many bike/motorcycle crashes without issue. I have had some PC connection issues but I blame windows for always forgetting its drivers and needing to reinstall every flippin' time. 

Here's a pic of my Garmin in action. It came out completely unscathed: 

image.thumb.png.d93dc47da38acb446cf749d154e14840.png

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26 minutes ago, cody said:

Several months ago my Edge 520 started freezing and taking forever to step through menus and taking a long time to connect and the fix was simply to delete the ride history.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That's a good point!  This happened to me too.

Also, if you connect to a mac, make sure to empty the trash while the garmin is connected. Otherwise there's a trash folder in the Garmin still taking up space.

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Sadly I cannot connect to mine (on a Mac) to delete my rides. I'll try to do it manually but their menus suck. In the world of XML I'm really amazed that they don't let you edit your settings on a computer and then just upload an XML file with all of the settings. The interface on a Garmin is so difficult to work with.

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Once I got a version connecting to Blue tooth I havent bothered with connecting to a PC unless I want to upload a course.  Downside I will riding and it will remind me the battery is low- since I dont connect and charge it I have to remember to do that.

And... The cable I have in the garage will take 6+ hours to charge it from ~20% that GoPro cable I have upstairs will do it in under an hour.

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21 hours ago, AustinBike said:

Sadly I cannot connect to mine (on a Mac) to delete my rides. I'll try to do it manually but their menus suck. In the world of XML I'm really amazed that they don't let you edit your settings on a computer and then just upload an XML file with all of the settings. The interface on a Garmin is so difficult to work with.

Why can't you connect to your Mac?  This is where I thought mine was broken, until I used the actual Garmin cable that came with it.

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On 7/14/2020 at 12:40 PM, AustinBike said:

Hadn't used my Garmin in about 2 weeks and when I first used it, it took about a mile before it caught up with the satellites.

My 4 yo FR935 has been great.  I do find that it acquires a lot faster if you're stopped (ie, haven't started riding yet).  If I start off without acquiring first, it does take much longer.  Tree cover also slow the acquisition process.

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Just now, ssorgs said:

I do find that it acquires a lot faster if you're stopped (ie, haven't started riding yet).  If I start off without acquiring first, it does take much longer.  Tree cover also slow the acquisition process.

Good points.   I've noticed this as well.  I had an old Forerunner (don't remember the number, it was a massive watch maybe 10 years ago) and we used to run at work.  We would turn them on, strap them to the handrails outside the door while we'd go change.  The Edge 705 was also a bit slow and for sure moving would cause it to take longer.

My new FR245 Music and 2019 Edge 520+ lock super fast even inside the house.  It's crazy the difference in performance.

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6 hours ago, AntonioGG said:

Why can't you connect to your Mac?  This is where I thought mine was broken, until I used the actual Garmin cable that came with it.

Ok, dug out the box and used the actual Garmin cable. It worked. Would not work with a regular usb cable. Stupid. 
 

cleared out all activities, we’ll see how that goes. 

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Some USB cables have ferrite beads on them, some don't.  Even then each ferrite bead may have performance differences between them which may impair higher speed communication.  BTW, those ferrite beads on the cords, it's a last resort to be able to pass emissions requirements.  If your appliance/electronic item came with cords with ferrite beads, use those to minimize interference in your house.

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I understand the ferrite issues (monitor cables can really vary as well).

But I had been using the same USB cable connected to my Mac for years, it always worked. Then it stopped. The Garmin cable was still in the original Garmin box in plastic, it had never been used. This is why I hate technology.

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5 hours ago, AustinBike said:

I understand the ferrite issues (monitor cables can really vary as well).

But I had been using the same USB cable connected to my Mac for years, it always worked. Then it stopped. The Garmin cable was still in the original Garmin box in plastic, it had never been used. This is why I hate technology.

I figured you would know about that stuff already.

I wondered about Garmin doing something proprietary with their cords other than the ferrite bead.  It could just be some kind of aging out or marginality in a cable.  I think I checked but I can't recall whether I looked for anything (pull-up or pull-down) built into the cables.

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Found another issue, may be part of the overall big issue. Today I realized it was not syncing to Strava. Turns out that my garmin had an old email address from back in the late 90’s. I killed that address about a month ago (only old people still have a hotmail account). That probably broke the strava thing, wonder if it also created other issues.

Anyway, seems to be working ok now, finding satellites, I can access it on a computer with the garmin cable (only) and it connects to garmin.

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14 hours ago, Taco Man said:

Yep. You should check Garmin's twitter feed. People are absolutely losing their minds because they can't upload their exercises immediately. It's funny and sad all at the same time.

Edited by quixoft
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Yeah people lose their shit over the smallest things, like when I bitched that I could not get it to sync 😉

Therein lies the problem with all of these free services. If it is "free" Strava and it does not work, eh, no big deal. But when it is "free" Garmin Connect tied to a $350 GPS device, we all lose our shit.

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