Legend HCx interface/Mass storage / Basecamp trouble

Former Member over 12 years ago

Hello. I have been trying to figure this out for many hours reading many many sites with no luck. This seems the most appropriate forum.

I can't change my Legend HCx from the USB MASS STORAGE mode into the HOST/Garmin mode. What in the world am I doing wrong? I can't use BaseCamp much at all without being in host/Garmin mode.

I can't even do the factory/hard reset (hold page + enter, press power). It just brings me to a test / info / development type screen that shows temperature and some other stats. It shows a time since last reset, but no option to reset. I had hoped this would reset it.

I tried, as suggested somewhere, press menu twice -> system -> menu -> restore defaults, but that seems to only restore for the menu itself, not the entire device.

I read somewhere you have to "Safely remove hardware" to get it back to the Garmin (not usb mass storage) setting. I removed everything individually and it does not change from the USB mass storage. The legend doesn't show up in My Computer as anything named. I show 4 inaccessible removable drives, one of which I assume it is (since data can't be copied to the internal memory I doubt it would show up as a HDD).

I also notice that while trying to install with basecamp/mapinstall to an 8 gig microSD card (through usb + card reader, not thru the legend itself) that it shows the appropriate amount of space remaining but will suddenly turn completely red and say OVER 4 GIG when I try to load a lot of stuff on it. It is not 8 gig total, not nearly. Posts from various places on the net say it should take an 8 gig with updated software, which I have 3.30 for the Legend and the "check for updates" in basecamp says I don't need any more.

Can anyone shed some light on any of this for me? With all these problems along with BaseCamp being so atrociously slow and prone to crashing while installing, feh, I'm not the happiest camper at the moment.

edit: Oh. If I press the enter button on the interface menu where it says USB MASS STORAGE in a bright yellow box on the bottom, the screen goes white and the device resets. It doesn't change anything, nor give me any clue what it is doing. There is no selectable options and no button presses do anything except leave the menu or white screen/reset. Very frustrating.

0 Former Member over 12 years ago

Well I haven't figured any of this out, particularly, but I'll mention what I can for future googlers. I cut my file copies down to below 4 gig (even though it is an 8 gig card) so that it would fit. It doesn't seem to matter that I can't change any settings on the mass storage usb screen since the Legend HCX has only 24 mb of internal memory and none of that is usable with map data.

So I took what I could and started installing through the hideously slow basecamp to a microSD card through a usb 5-in-1 card reader. I made sure to reduce all the detail settings to low and the like to help the CPU along however I could.

The transfer has been going since 7 or 8 hours ago, and it just reached 51% completion. I can't imagine this is normal transfer speed. If it is, the fact that all maps must be reinstalled every time you add something becomes a real nuisance.

So I'm pretty much alright on the help front for now. Though I would love to know how to make an 8 gb card work in the device if anyone has a suggestion.

0 Former Member over 12 years ago

Not sure I can help much but:
* be sure your file sizes are not larger than your computer supports.
* be sure the sd card is not faulty (I've run into a few over the years).
* be sure your cable and/or USB ports are not faulty.

Leave your GPS out of the picture for a bit and try transferring a bunch of big folders to your SD card, using different USB ports, cables (if you are using a sd card reader), etc etc. See what you CAN do and then work to isolate the variable that causes problems.

0 Former Member over 11 years ago

I've just encountered the same problem with my Legend HCx. I've managed to do the factory reset but it makes no difference. It's nothing to do with the SD card or the USB connection. It's simply stuck in USB Mass Storage mode. In this mode I can move files between the unit and the PC. Everything on the unit, including navigation, works apart from being able to select Garmin Data Format. The unit beeps when I try to select another mode but USB Mass Storage remains highlighted. This is the same with the SD card in or out, or with the unit connected to the PC or disconnected. The unit appears to be toast as I obviously cannot upload routes, tracks or waypoints. I really want to stay with the eTrex as I do multi-day events where I need to be able to swap good old fashioned AA batteries.

Did you manage to resolve the issue HSD? Does anyone else have any ideas?

0 Former Member over 11 years ago

OK, solved it now. The SD card needed reformatting. It appeared not to as I could still upload/download files to/from it, but as soon as I reformatted it MapSource was able to recognise it and I was able to upload my routes and tracks. Just redownloading my maps now.