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Problem with my Etrex 20

Former Member over 11 years ago

I have sent two emails over 8 days to Garmin support and apart from the auto generated received replys I have had no help what so ever.

My problem started when I bought a new microSD and installed it. On what I had read it had to be formatted in fat32. I proceeded to format it with FAT32 however I formatted the internal drive which was the only drive showing.
Now please don't flame me too much. I am relatively computer savvy but pushing 80yrs of age quite rapidly I have these seniors moments when I should be no where near my computer or any other electronic device for that matter.
Seems the microSD was faulty and I had it replaced by the store but thats no help now.

Unfortunately I have no backup of what was on the internal drive, or my brain for that matter ( I did think the internal memory was a permanent thing like the bios chip in a computer) so I have no idea what files were on it.

I can see both the internal drive and the microSD on my file manager. I can see both internal drive and MicoSD in Basecamp and Basecamp can install maps to both.
Most of the internal things work like calendar, satellites, alarm etc but I cannot change maps and I cannot select a waypoint (shows"database error") or record tracks

However Garmin Express and Webupdater cannot find my device (eTrex 20) so I cannot put on the files I probably need.

What files do I need to put onto the internal drive so that Garmin Express can find it. Would seem Express would look for some identifying file. I have the drive named ETREX 20 and it shows as my ETREX 20 (E) in Basecamp.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

0 SUSSAMB over 11 years ago

As you've formatted the internal memory your best bet is to contact Product Support.

Garmin Product Support

North America Support:

US Toll Free: 1-800-800-1020
Canada: 1-866-429-9296
Mon–Thurs: 8 a.m.–6 p.m.
Fri: 8 a.m.–5 p.m.
Central Time (closed holidays)

United Kingdom Support:

Freephone from UK landline: 0808 238 0000
Within UK: 0870 850 1242
Outside UK: +44 870 850 1242

For other locales please visit: www.garmin.com/support for contact details

However can you check to see if you have a folder named Garmin on your Etrex and is there a file named GarminDevice.xml there?

0 Former Member over 11 years ago

As you've formatted the internal memory your best bet is to contact Product Support.

However can you check to see if you have a folder named Garmin on your Etrex and is there a file named GarminDevice.xml there?

Garmin support have suggested webupdater with rgn file but updater could not see any device The GarminDevice.xml is not there and that is why
I believe updater and Express cannot see device. I am starting to get somewhere. Will discuss this with Support when they get back to me.

Thanks so much,
bussoguy

0 Former Member over 11 years ago

Problem with my Etrex 20 Dead End

Just an update here. Seems I am stuck with a 2 month old brick. Garmin Support will not provide the GarminDevice.xml file I need.

Very poor. Why on earth do we register our product for one might ask. Certainly not to get support, must be a sales tool.

I am pretty old and do stupid things but you would think that the device identification would be a bios type chip which can't be erased.
In my search for a solution I have seen many posts where the internal drive of Garmin handheld's have been accidentally erased and the
devices bricked as a consequence.

In replacing it I certainly will not buy Garmin again. The support is very grubby when they can't help silly old buggers like me. No compassion. :mad:

0 SUSSAMB over 11 years ago

That's very strange, if you can provide proof of purchase there's no reason for Garmin not to help here. In any case in normal situations the GarminDevice.xml is created on boot if not there, certainly that's how it works on nuvis, I'm not sure about handhelds.

However this isn't really an Express issue. I suggest three things. Call Product Support again, often speaking to another person gets a different result. Ensure you have proof of purchase handy. Alternatively try these forums http://forums.gpsreview.net/categories/garmin-handheld-gps-and-fitness-gps-forum or http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=172&sortfield=lastpost&sortorder=0&whichpage=1 where others may be able to help. Also as it's 2 months old take it back to the original retailer and see if they can help.

As that's really all we can help with here, and as I mentioned this isn't really an Express issue, I'm now closing this thread.