Unable to sync to GC- Forerunner 305

I have had trouble getting any connection at all, then Garmin Express says it's synced but the new activity does not show in Connect; if I click 'sync' in Express, I get a big red banner in Express "error connecting with Garmin Connect".
I am using Win10. This has happened with 2 FR305 devices, using 2 charge/connect cradles, different usb-cables/ports, and even a different PC using Win7. I have reinstalled Express and the Garmin driver; I have removed & re-added the devices in Express.

Are my devices Just Too Old?
(Both date from 2009 or earlier, otherwise work just fine, and will even connect & sync to Training Center, so at least I can retrieve the data. I'd stick with just TC if I didn't think it would be made unusable at some point &/or I didn't also use a FR15 sometimes.)

Any suggestions?

I'm having the same issue with a Garmin FR305 today, as well. I've tried uninstalling Garmin Express, restarting my computer (Win10), and then reinstalling the Garmin Express software. Nothing has worked so far. I get the "Transfer Complete" message on for FR305, but my activities won't synch with Garmin Connect.

I just retired my FR305 after about 10 years.
I found that I often fumbled a bit with the clip enough to mess up my usb connection.
To fix the problem, I would securely attach the watch to the clip first and then connect to the usb port. In this way, my fumbling wouldn't affect the connection.

Probably not too old as long as the battery is taking a charge and can hold it for a reasonable amount of time. However, with a release date 1/3/2006, maybe it's time to clear the unit and start over. Probably suffering from excessive OS cruft and a bit of dementia.

master reset:
NOTE: By doing this reset, ALL user information will be ERASED and ALL settings will be defaulted back to the factory settings. Please make sure to save all information to the computer before doing the reset.

• Power the unit OFF.
  
• Press the POWER and MODE buttons to the same time for 5 seconds
  
• A pop-up box will appear saying “ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO ERASE ALL USER DATA?”
  
• Click Yes
  
• Put the unit outside with a clear view of the sky for a minimum of 20 minutes to get satellite data.
  

The unit is now reset.

Thanks for the info.
I'm reluctant to erase-all until it's really last ditch. I haven't even been able to get an upload of a tcx file to GC to work (to fill in what won't sync to GC but will transfer to TC -- albeit somewhat reluctantly & needing several firm push-onto-cradle tries) -- upload appears to work but the data can't be found on GC. Is sync-to-TC what you mean by " save all information to the computer"? if not, what else is there?

I can't leave the device outside -- nowhere to put it, I'm in an apartment. I've never had trouble using a windowsill, though, to get a sat connection. There is no problem getting or holding a charge, though I haven't been running it for long periods in several years -- but it's doing fine for when I need it.

Seems like a no-win scenario here. :-(

If you don't want to do the scorched earth method...
There are graduated things to try before going to the point of doing a hard reset.

• Do a soft reset: lap + mode
  
• Erase all courses
  
• Erase all but the last month's history
  
• Erase all but un-uploaded history
  
• Do a hard reset: mode + power
  

Thanks for the tips -- I'll try that when I feel like tackling the situation again.
(I might be a tad less aggravated if I could get a tcx from TC to upload to GC. A very wee tad.)

I don't have any courses loaded, so that's one less thing to worry about.

As to your previous comment that after a complete reset-to-orig I'd be able to use it again -- if the problem isn't my device(s) but it's something about GC that doesn't like me (or at least my 305s) then that may not actually happen. {sigh}

Well, I don't know what did it, but *something* changed today!

I still got the "sync error" red banner in Garmin Express -- but the missing activities that hadn't been uploading suddenly appeared in GC.

I had deleted most of the data on the devices. Maybe that helped, maybe not.

I hear in another thread that tcx uploads are fixed -- u/l w/o geographical info had been *saying* they uploaded but didn't really -- I'd had that problem while trying to get workouts on GC when my 305 would sync to TC but not GC. I haven't tested it again since the fix.

I hope things stay "fixed".

My only problem (not new, been going on for some months) is that when I put the 305 in the charge/sync cradle it takes 2-3-more tries of firmly pushing, jamming, holding it in...to get the computer, TC and GE to recognize that it's there. I've tried cleaning all the contacts, different cables, different ports, and two different cradles.

{sigh} Any ideas?

Ah yes, I remember those days. The fix was a master reset and/or cleaning the contacts on the watch and the cradle with a pencil eraser. In most cases it was master reset. If you've uploaded all of your stuff, you've got nothing to lose. ;)

I've done both the cleaning & the reset -- device still reluctant to connect.
Will try to "clean better".

Did you try what I do in post #4 above? It's the only thing that worked reliably for me.

Did you try what I do in post #4 above? It's the only thing that worked reliably for me.

I've tried that too. It varies as to how many times I need to plug/unplug.
At least I can still get it to work, but it is a bit too-exciting wondering each time if "this is it...no more...".
Perhaps it's the Universe trying to tell me...something.

I have a 405 with the same a similar issue. For a week I was getting the red banner from Garmin Express saying it couldn't connect to the server. The funny thing is I know it is loading because I have another app that pulls data from garmin connect and it shows my workouts from the 405. However, Today I did get the sync complete message instead of the couldn't connect to server message and now all my old workouts are showing. :confused: At least it is working now.