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Basecamp 4.4.4 does not show found geocaches on GMSMAP62s

raymondox
Not having been geocaching in a while I have just started again and found that basecamp 4.4.4 does not show up found geocaches ont he device unless there's a visits txt file present for the cache. This gives me and I guess a lot of people a big problem when re-loading caches onto their device.

My normal workflow is to
1. Find the cache using the GPSMAP62s and log it on the device as found.
2. Go onto the geocaching website and upload the cache found comments.
3. Delete the visits.txt file.

Before I upfraded my GPSMAP62s to 5.8 and basecamp to 4.4.4 after deleting the visits txt file the device and basecamp stilled showed the cache with a found icon. Now it doesn't.

My guess is that on previous firmware and software they both recognised some setting in their gpx files which showed the icon bit setting as found. Now for whatever reason it uses the visits file to show found on the device.

I also used to download my found geocaches onto my device and the foudn icon was also trasnferred acorss. Now the cache is transferred across but the found bit is not so I can no longer copy from PC to devic found icons.

Has anyone else foudn this out and a way round it?

The following is the current email conversation I have had with Garmin support. ---

Sorry Zoe, yet another update. On 4.4.4 even though it doesn’t show the cache with a found icon unless there’s an entry in the visits txt file, when you click on the item the body of the cache still shows when it has been found.

I await your further consideration of all this.

I have also tested whether it is the visits file that now is used to show the icon as found and it does appear so. I tested this by deleting the visits file and the icon changed to unfound, when I reinstated the visits file the icon on the device showed found.

Regards Ray

Hi Zoe, another update. I have just found by searching the forum that there does indeed seem to be a major change in the way Basecamp interacts with the GPS units.

Before on Basecamp 4.3.4 basecamp seemed to read a pointer in each cache which meant it shows up as found in basecamp even if the visits txt file did not contain the cache. It would appear this pointer in the cache info still has the changed ICON.

This is particularly important as the normal process is to delete the visits file after each upload to GEOCACHING.om.

When you upgrade your device to the latest firmware (5.80) the device uses the visits txt file to identify if the cache is found or not so now both the device and basecamp (4.4.4) seem to use the visits file in some way for identifying if a cache is found on the device.

This is an impossible situation as most people delete their visits file quite often. Obviously the device still updates some pointer in the icon on the device as Basecamp 4.3.4 still seems to be able to show the caches as found.

I believe this is now a very important issue to resolve by garmin as you may be ruining a lot of peoples workflow.

This needs documenting urgently and a workaround found.

Regards Ray


Hi Zoe, this is very unfortunate and will cause endless hassle to thousands of people worldwide. A lot of people store saved caches on their devices as the search function does not show these when you go on a hunt.

I strongly suggest you need to find an easy solution for all your users to be able to fix the problem, going through hundreds, if not thousands , of caches to mark them as find will cost your customers an inordinate amount of time.

Luckily I export my saved caches in Basecamp to a separate file but can’t reinstate them on Basecamp 4.4.4.

In summary what happens is:

On 4.4.4 basecamp only shows found geocaches on the GPSMAP62S after a certain point in time, I guess when I last upgraded the device.

Even is I try and copy found geocaches from my PC in Basecamp to the GPS when they copy across they are copied as unfound.

On 4.3.4 I can still copy the caches from my PC to the GPS device and on the GPS device they then show up as found, but even then they are not seen as found on basecamp 4.4.4

Can I strongly suggest Garmin need to find a solution to this. It is not acceptable to ask all your users to re-find all their found caches.

Regards Ray

From: [email][email protected][/email] [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: 03 December 2014 12:21
To: [email][email protected][/email]
Subject: Re: Unable to see found caches using basecamp <Q#:1000114> << Reference ID: 3572559 >>

Dear Ray Whitehouse,
Thank you for contacting Garmin Europe.
Please be advised that due to the system software update, the geocaches that were found before are no longer stored.
We apologize for the inconvenience and the only way to trace them back is to find them again.
Please help us improve the service we offer you by taking our Customer Support survey. Please click the following link:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GarminCustomerSurvey
If there is anything else I can help you with then please let me know. Alternatively you can search for a solution here: http://www.garmin.co.uk/support
Kind regards,
Zoe
Garmin Europe

>> Original Message ...
>> From: [email][email protected][/email]
>> To: [email][email protected][/email]
>> Subject: Unable to see found caches using basecamp
>> Sent: 01/12/2014 21:52 PM
>>
>>Unable to see found caches using basecamp submitted from a form.
Escalation from KANA On Demand Self Service
________________________________________
Subject: Unable to see found caches using basecamp
>> Message: Having upgraded to Basecamp 4.4.4 from 4.3.4 when I connect my GPSMAP 62S to Basecamp the icons for cahes all show as unfound even if they are found. It is also not possible to update the icons from unfound to found using basecamp. I can change the cahes on the PC in Basecamp and I can change the icons using my device on the device. Even when I trasnfer found caches to my device they then show up as unfound and I can't change them using Basecamp.
  • 0
    You probably realise that BC wasn't initially designed to store geocaches, and a while back if you marked a cache as 'found' you couldn't then 'un-find' it, at least now you can.

    You say you've exported all your found geocaches to a separate file, have you tried importing that file into Basecamp? If you can then one solution would be then to mark all those as 'found'?
  • 0
    I agree with you so far - but??

    You probably realise that BC wasn't initially designed to store geocaches, and a while back if you marked a cache as 'found' you couldn't then 'un-find' it, at least now you can.

    You say you've exported all your found geocaches to a separate file, have you tried importing that file into Basecamp? If you can then one solution would be then to mark all those as 'found'?


    Hi, you're right you can now change the status of caches in basecamp on 4.4.4 to be found or unfound and can switch between the 2. You couldn't on 3.3.4

    I just tested your suggestion about the found file. I deleted the "found" geocaches from Basecamp 4.4.4 so thy were no longer in the databse, ensuring I also deleted them from unlisted data.

    I then reimported the found GPX list file I had exported, I keep my found caches in a seperate list in Base camp. They all imported OK back into basecamp as found caches. So that part still works.

    The problem is when I then transfer one of the found caches to the GPSMAP62s it is transferred without the found bit set so it shows up as unfound. The device only seems to allow the found icon to be set if there's an enty in the visits txt file as I said before. (And changes the icon back to unfound if you then delete the visits txt file)

    What is needed is for the found icon to be set on the device without having the visits.txt file present for that cache as it was before the update. (I am not sure what update caused this change to happen.)

    You can't change the icon on the device anymore either from basecamp even though you could on basecamp 3.3.4 and earlier firmware.

    I have still got a PC with Basecamp 3.3.4 on and I can use this to upload found geocaches to my device until I can find a way around this on 4.4.4.
  • 0
    I'm not sure why you would wish to upload found caches to you device? I thought the problem was that found caches weren't showing as such in Basecamp?
  • 0
    I'm not sure why you would wish to upload found caches to you device? I thought the problem was that found caches weren't showing as such in Basecamp?


    The reason why I occassionally need to upload found caches to my device (as do a lot of people) is that Garmin devices get corrupt so people need to upload all their caches to recover their device. Its a normal backup and recovery process people do to overcome corrupt files. So when I reload the caches I need to reload both the found and unfound ones otherwise the device can't differentiate between the two. Of course I could just reload the unfound ones but that would just be a workaround, some people will want to keep all their caches on their device and recover them all when the device corrupts.

    I also just tried adding a line to the visits txt file for a cache which is showing as found on 3.3.4. Unfortuantely this didn't seem to work. I have to physically mark the cache as found again on the device to get it to show as found on 4.4.4, and then when I delete the line from visits.txt it shows as unfoudn again.

    This implies the bit which sets the cache to be shown as found on 4.4.4 may have moved in the metadata which could start to explain the differences between 3.3.4 and 4.4.4.

    The reason why I tried this is a workaround maybe to do an extract of found geocaches from geocaching .com into the visits file as a quick workaround, but this obviously will not work on its own.
  • 0
    I just generate a new pocket query and reload it if needed. There is a limit to how many geocaches can be stored on a GPS which might account for your files becoming 'corrupted'.
  • 0
    I just generate a new pocket query and reload it if needed. There is a limit to how many geocaches can be stored on a GPS which might account for your files becoming 'corrupted'.


    I understand the limits problem very well, and also am a firly regular user of pocket queries. They just don't solve the "found" problem.

    For example when I am visiting a location I redo the pocket query for that location, this downloads the caches fine. I then load the ones I have already found which updates (or at least used to) the latest query with the found ones so I don't go after the same cache again.

    All I want to do is to be able to see the caches I have already found with my GPS in basecamp without having to find them again to get over the software/firmware changes. I don;t think this is unreasonable. I have been using my GPS devices in this way for a number of years and suddenly it doesn't work anymore.

    Maybe Garmin may come up with a solution rather than just ask me to refind all the caches again.
  • 0
    I just ensure the pocket query is set to 'show unfound caches'. But then I like things simple :)
  • 0
    Just upgraded to 4.4.6 just in case the problem is fixed but no go. Will update if and when Garmin fix this problem
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member
    Same problem

    Just upgraded to 4.4.6 just in case the problem is fixed but no go. Will update if and when Garmin fix this problem


    I'm having the same problem. I use Basecamp to manage the caches stored on my device, but that's hard to do if some found caches are showing as unfound.
  • 0
    I'm having the same problem. I use Basecamp to manage the caches stored on my device, but that's hard to do if some found caches are showing as unfound.


    Problem still exists and I am still waiting for Garmin support to respond