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Surface Pro, Windows PC, & Basecamp

Peobody
19 days ago

There was a discussion about Basecamp not routing over paved road when installed on a Surface Pro but working as expected when installed on a PC.  I think that discussion was closed prematurely because the final post by the OP  the following two questions:

1.  Strangely, I can no longer get my Zumo XT to connect with any of the USB ports of my desktop PC (any help in that would be appreciated!)

2.  ...when I click on the same map locations on the Surface Pro version of Basecamp as I did for the PC, everytime it routes it on the smallest dirt roads it can find....even though I have avoid unpaved roads checked.   Any thought as to what I have done here, possibly something I missed in setting up the Surface Pro version of Basecamp to force it to choose paved roads only?

Regarding the connection issue, will it connect to the Surface Pro?  If so, then my thoughts of either a cable issue or the jack on the device are irrelevant.  If not, I suspect you either have a cable issue, or the cable jack on the XT has failed.  That is a know weak point of the XT.  Mine failed while under warranty.  Garmin replace the unit.  I knew the problem was with the jack because connection sometimes work and sometimes didn't.  When it didn't, moving the cable plug while in the jack would get it so connect, but that required holding the plug in that specific position.

As for the routing over paved roads on the Surface Pro, I don't see any reason for a Surface Pro to run Basecamp differently from a PC so I believe it is a matter of finding what is different in the settings.  Perhaps reset them in the Surface Pro (Edit > Options > Activity Profile > Reset).  AFAIK, the Reset button is specific to the profile selected in the Activity Profile window so be very attentive to that as related to the activity profile you are using when creating a route.  IIRC, in the previous discussion there was mention of "Hiking" and "Dirt Bike" profiles which surprised me since neither are conducive to paved roads.

  • 0 19 days ago

    Thanks Peabody. I actually solved both issues eventually. 

    Connecting to PC: There was an old Garmin USB driver I found and deleted from 2012. Now I can connect. 

    Surface pro connect: I could always connect with the Surface Pro. 

    Routting over paved roads: This was due to my not understanding the software as well as I should....and assuming it worked like other software I have used. My PC was defaulting to the dirtbike activity, and the Surface Pro was defaulting to the Hiking activity. That is why the Surface pro kept routing on dirt roads or trails. I tried to change the default on both by using the Edit/Options path but it would not save the activity from the pulldown as the new default. I searched for how to change the default on basecamp and did not really get any quick direct answers for how to do it. 

    Then I realized.....eventually.....that there is a pulldown for activity on the toolbar (I did discover this from a google search....I). Once I realized this, then I simply selected the desired activity from the TOOLBAR and then selected the new route option. It worked fine after that. 

    In retrospect, I think now if I saw a question like this I would never assume a user would know how to change the default activity. It was never obvious to me. And that users should be clearly directly to use the toolbar pulldown for the default instead of going to the Edit/Options page.....which was non intuitive to me at least. 

    Hope this helps. I am relieved I discovered the answer. 

  • 0 19 days ago in reply to Mark_Ferring
    Mark_Ferring said:
    In retrospect, I think now if I saw a question like this I would never assume a user would know how to change the default activity. It was never obvious to me. And that users should be clearly directly to use the toolbar pulldown for the default instead of going to the Edit/Options page.....which was non intuitive to me at least. 

    I did not know this.  My Basecamp has always defaulted to the Motorcycling profile which is the only one I have ever used, except for assigning the Direct profile to specific waypoints to force routing to the next waypoint on occasions where Basecamp refused to route over a road.  This is usually because it thinks a paved road is unpaved but sometimes for no identifiable reason, at least not that I could identify.  I'm glad you have it sorted out, and that I learned something in the process.

    Edit:  Actually, I should have know that the pull down would set the default, after it dawned on me that Basecamp starts up in the same state that it was last shut down in.