Express and FR220 Not Connecting

I'm sorry about the issues you are having with the watch syncing with Express. When you plug the watch in, does it show the USB indicator on the screen? Can you see the device as a mass storage device on the computer? If you aren't seeing the device as a mass storage device, this will cause Garmin Express to not see the device. Here is an article to help troubleshoot this type of issue: Why is my Garmin mass storage or MTP device not communicating with Garmin Windows applications?

If you see the device on the computer, go into the Garmin folder on the device and delete the GarminDevice.xml file. After doing this, unplug the device and let it start normally. Once you see the clock screen, try plugging the device in again and running Garmin Express.

Ryan

Same since last Friday

I'm experiencing the same thing and I think everyone's complains about Garmin Express come from the same root of the issue.
I have been actively using FR220, meaning daily I run, sync, upload custom workouts, and sync again.
Friday after the major interface update of Garmin Express, I could not upload the custom workouts from Garmin Connect.
Sync happens occasionally but ceased with same "not connected" status after a while.
Now I removed my FR220 to re-add only to find the same issue.
I will try what Ryan suggested of deleting the file since I do have the watch connected to my Windows 7 PC without a problem.
Will update what happens.

Ryan, thanks for a practical advice (I've been seeing master reset as a suggestion all over the forum).
But again, I think the issue is much deeper.
Everything was working for more than a year with this watch without an issue then stopped with a new version of Garmin Express.
Please at least acknowledge the fact that this is a global issue with GE, not the watch, and you guys are actively working on it.
I know nobody meant harm but this is really bad and it is important that the company takes the responsibility and let customers know.

Now checking update for Garmin Express became my daily routine.
I hope this gets fixed ASAP since I already had an issue not be able to upload my custom workout for my race last weekend.

Thanks.

MT

Q1: "When you plug the watch in, does it show the USB indicator on the screen?"
A1: Yes, the USB symbol appears on the watch when I plug it into the computer.
Q2: "Can you see the device on the computer?"
A2: Yes and No but mostly No. In Computer, I'll see the E: drive appear for about 5 seconds and then disappear. I managed to click open the drive when it appeared. I get the following error message:
Title: Location is not available
Msg: E:\ refers to a location that is unavailable. It could be on a hard drive on this computer, or on a network. Check to make sure that the disk is properly inserted, or that you are connected to the Internet or your network, and then try again. If it still cannot be located, the information might have been moved to a different location.

When the watch is plugged in, it beeps/vibrates periodically. Following a beep/vibrate event, a battery power indicator, time and USB symbol appear on the watch for about 3 seconds. Then the watch goes black and displays Garmin in the center.

I went to the linked page but nothing in the suggestions mentioned helped.

Gary

PATHWORKS

Typically, when a mass-storage device does not stay in mass-storage mode, it is a hardware fault. Have you tried different ports on the computer? Have you tried different computers? It could be a malfunctioning cradle cable or there could be corruption on the Forerunner 220 causing the communication issue. If you have tried multiple ports and computers and are still experiencing this issue, contact Product Support by phone for further assistance.

Lisa

Thanks Ryan and Lisa for you help.
I plugged the FR220 into a USB port on my Son's laptop and, following a device driver update, we were able to browse the FR220 in Explorer. I know the USB ports on my PC work so I'm thinking I need to remove the FR220 device driver and plug it in as if it were a new device. Any pointers for how to do this?

Gary

PATHWORKS

The FR220 is a mass storage mode device that uses the Windows mass storage driver. If you are having problems with this driver, you may need to review some windows knowledge base articles.

Albert

My FR220 is shown as "Garmin" on my PC but if I browse into it, it is empty.

"If you see the device on the computer, go into the Garmin folder on the device and delete the GarminDevice.xml file."

I don't see the file.
What should I do now?

Thanks..

uryaus

I am sorry for the troubles. The a healthy FR220 will automatically create a Garmin folder with a GarminDevice.xml file in it after deleting the entire contents of the drive. If your device is not creating these things then it has suffered some memory problems. You could run a Check Disk on it to locate and delete any hidden corruption but if that doesn't correct the issue it will need to be replaced.

See the FAQ: How do I run a check disk or disk utility on my Garmin mass storage device?

Again I am sorry for the troubles.
Curt

Thanks Albert. OK. here is what I've found in Device Manager. There were several 'Garmin FR620 Flash USB Device' entries that were disabled. I uninstalled all of them. By the way I have a FR220 but figured the same driver is installed for both watches.

When I plug the watch in, a new 'Garmin FR620 Flash USB Device' is installed. I even see a balloon comment saying 'Garmin FR620 Flash USB Device, Device driver software installed successfully.' In device manager, the device is still saying that the device is disconnected even though I know the PC sees it initially to install the driver. Note the driver is from Microsoft and has a date of 6/21/2006 and version 6.1.7600.16385. (Pretty Old huh? - before the 620's time.)

OK. so now I uninstalled the driver in Device Manager and rebooted the PC. Once rebooted, I opened Device Manager and then plugged the watch back in. I saw the install and the device appeared in Device Manager as active. Yeah! Not so fast... about 3 seconds after it appeared as active, it went back to inactive.

The USB ports on this 2014 computer are all working great for all the external hard drives I have. The ports work with everything except the Garmin watch. Is there a separate FR220 driver and my system is installing the wrong one?

I then thought that there may be some USB drive contention. I remapped a drive to E. Then plugged in the FR220, a drive appeared for F with a ? symbol on the drive. (See my second post above). So I don't think the drive letter assignment is a problem here.

PATHWORKS

The "Garmin FR620 Flash USB Device" is what Microsoft has named that driver. I connected a Forerunner 220 to my Windows 7 computer and I receive the same driver in Device Manager. Since your other devices work correctly and this device works on another computer, there could be some other issue. Have you tried disabling any third-party software that is not needed with the Forerunner 220? Third party software has been found in the past to block our devices from being detected on a computer. If you have not already done so, disable any automated backup or cleanup utility as well as security, temporarily. There is a list of some third-party software that has been known to cause this available in our FAQ Why is my Garmin mass storage or MTP device not communicating with Garmin Windows applications?

If you continue to experience this issue, I recommend contacting Product Support by phone for further assistance.

Lisa