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Upload TCX files to Garmin Connect

Lukas 8 months ago

Hi, I downloaded some TCX files from Strava as .tcx.gz, unzipped them and the resulting .tcx files fail to upload to my Garmin Connect web with the error message "An error occurred with your upload. Please try again.". Some of the files are very large (up to 4 MB from some longer road bike sessions) but it also fails for tiny files below 100KB. Other formats that came along with the Strava takeout, including FIT and GPX files, upload just fine to my Garmin Connect web. When I open the files with notepad.exe they show the expected XML structture. I think the origin of these FIT files might have been TomTom MySports (TomTom wristwatch) -> Strava -> Garmin Connect OR Garmin Forerunner 935 -> Garmin Connect -> Strava -> Garmin Connect. Any pointers on how to get it done will be much appreciated. Thanks!

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seilogramp 8 months ago in reply to Lukas +2

seilogramp said:
attach the file(s) to your post.

Maybe there is something we can do.
trux 8 months ago in reply to Lukas +2

Apparently you already have some experience with XML files, since you were able to open and edit it. In such case I recommend taking one working TCX file (if you do not have any, export an existing activity…
Lukas 8 months ago in reply to Lukas +2

Thank you trux, for encouraging me to look at the files and try out some changes. Turns out it is just leading spaces in the first line of TomTom TCX files that corrupts them, breaking import to Garmin…

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+1 Lukas 8 months ago in reply to Lukas

Thank you trux, for encouraging me to look at the files and try out some changes. Turns out it is just leading spaces in the first line of TomTom TCX files that corrupts them, breaking import to Garmin Connect.

" <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>"

When the spaces are removed

"<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>"

xml parsing works and the TCX files can be uploaded without any errors to Garmin Connect.

This can be done by opening the file with a text editor such as notepad in windows (right click / open with.. /editor) and just saving it with the same .tcx extension.

+1 Lukas 8 months ago

This issue has been identified and addressed on this forum before in the same context:

Here, a perl command is provided to batch process affected TomTom / Strava .tcx activity files. This is like the most minimalistic and probably best way to process a larger amount of files. https://forums.garmin.com/apps-software/mobile-apps-web/f/garmin-connect-web/126298/manual-import-for-tcx-not-working--fixed/871865#871865

The following just says to remove the spaces manually just like above. This of course works if you have just a small amount of activities to process. https://forums.garmin.com/apps-software/mobile-apps-web/f/garmin-connect-web/246931/strava-exported-tcx-activity-upload-not-working?pifragment-1286=2#1174929

Also, I AI-created (to not use the word "coded".. yes, it has come to this.) a python script to batch repair files. It also adds indentations to make the files more readable, but also adding to file size. I don't know the first thing about XML or Python, so please use at your own risk! It does work for me though. Thanks again to trux for the inspiration. Script: https://pastebin.com/t68BVY71 Instructions: https://pastebin.com/UyZnMsL3

0 9858650 8 months ago in reply to Lukas

In addition to the leading spaces, I noticed that some values exported from other parties such as Cadence or Heart Rate have the format of a value with a decimal and some value after the decimal. Garmin refuses to import these files.

0 Lukas 8 months ago in reply to 9858650

Interesting, where did your files originate? I checked this in my Strava-exported TomTom TCX files. While none of them include Cadence, the HeartRateBpm values do not have decimals.