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eTrex Venture HC won't boot up

Former Member over 15 years ago

I have a strange issue going on. When I power up my Venture HC, the Garmin logo displays, then two loading messages, but when it starts the Looking for Satellites process, the screen fades and it powers down. This occurs with fresh batteries as well as when it is plugged into the USB cable on the computer.

What makes it even stranger is that my friend has the exact same model - perhaps a few months newer than mine - and it is now doing the same thing. His will actually get a little further, finding the satellites and bringing up the map, but then fades within a minute. Again - this is with fresh batteries.

I used my unit within the last couple weeks with no problems, but now this has started.

Has anyone run into anything like this? Any suggestions?

0 Former Member over 13 years ago

Summit hc Back To Life

I just brought one back to life yesterday, first I run and setup Garmin's WebUploader 3.30 from their website so it's ready to find the GPS (no cables hooked up). just sitting idle but ready when I need it.
1. The first step is to push the thumb stick button up first on the GPS andhold it up during the entire process.
2. Second step, while holding the thumb stick up "NOW" plug in the USB cable connections to the GPS and computer.
3. 3rd Step, now while your still holding the thumb stick in the up position push the button on the side to turn on the GPS...
4. 4th step, now you should now see at the bottom of the computer screen the drivers being loaded...(I'm running windows 7) Make sure you let the drivers fully install.
5. Step 5, when the drivers are fully installed you should nowsee on the computer screen the model and com port of the GPS... .....Go ahead and click on the start button for WebUpdater 3.30...
6. Step 6, remember keep that thumb stick in the up position during the entire process... Once you see the old stuff deleted and the new firmware installed you will see a pop up on the computer screen "an error has occurred" go ahead and click OK.... wait about 15 seconds then you can let off the thumb stick button, turn off the GPS and disconnect the USB cable. Now turn on your GPS and allow it to boot up... This is what I did to get the one working yesterday, make sure you follow the order as I listed above, if you cheat and connect the USB cable too early or try to press more buttons you will be waisting your time.
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What you're basically doing is when you push up on the thumb stick you're allowing the USB port on the GPS access to send and receive data and that is why it needs to be up all the time. Then when you connect the USB cable and turn on the GPS the computer will load the drivers, that should start communications between the computer and the GPS allowing the new firmware to install correctly. The GPS I revived was dead and would flash for a second and no USB port was ever seen by the computer... I hope this works for some of you.