This discussion has been locked.

You can no longer post new replies to this discussion. If you have a question you can start a new discussion

Garmin GPSmap 62s - device never shows up on computer (when connected via USB)

Former Member over 11 years ago

Hi all,

Apologies if this is a redundant post though I did some searching for "GPSmap 62" and "USB" and didn't see any results--tried to do my due diligence! I have a new GPSmap 62s that I purchased from REI this spring (round March). It's been working great at my field site (Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China--some dense tropical forest and lots of deforested rubber monocultures, which is depressing) and I've been able to log waypoints and tracks without any problems. Here's the problem though--I have no way of uploading these data to my laptop (Dell Inspiron with intel i7 processor, Windows 7 OS), and this step is absolutely key because I'd like to randomly select points for sampling.

A quick description of what happened:

1) I plugged the USB cable into my Garmin and saw a pop-up saying "Device Driver Installation", and I don't remember the exact words but basically my laptop froze up and couldn't identify the device.
2) I realized that I stupidly hadn't installed Garmin USB Drivers or Communicator Plugin. Also, after that debacle, Windows Explorer had completely frozen up and I had to shut down my computer using CTRL + ALT + DEL.
3) Shut down and rebooted my computer, installed those two software packages above.
4) Re-inserted the USB cable into my Garmin (which was turned off) and noticed that the screen came on and a USB connector icon popped up. However, there was no response from my laptop, and after a few seconds, the Garmin's screen went to the base map. **
5) Shut down and rebooted my laptop, tried again with the Garmin with no success. **
6) Changed USB cables, also no success.
7) Checked that USB hubs worked by inserting a flashdisk which was successfully installed as a device driver, or whatever it's called.

** I also made sure to check and see if I could "force" my laptop to recognize my device by using the website for the Garmin Communicator Plugin...no bones. No device was ever found.

I'm guessing that in step 1, I made some big disastrous mistake by trying to get the device driver installed for my Garmin without having the necessary pre-req software, but I don't know how to rectify this. I'm also under a fairly urgent timetable to start getting my sampling protocol pulled together, and all I really need to do is to be able to upload waypoints and tracks. Would a microSD card be a quick and dirty workaround in this case? If so, do any of you have recommendations on which microSD card to purchase?

Thanks so much for your help and your time in advance!

best
charlotte

0 SUSSAMB over 11 years ago

7) could be the problem, if you're using a usb hub this can cause an issue. Try connecting directly to a usb port.

If you can't connect your 62 to a PC then a microSD card won't help you.

Is your 62 set to mass storage mode? Go to Set Up, System, Interface and ensure Garmin is selected.

Also see here http://support.garmin.com/support/searchSupport/case.faces?caseId=%7B26ad1560-8a7f-11dd-e87e-000000000000%7D

0 Former Member over 11 years ago

Still not connecting

Hi Sussamb,

Thanks a ton for your response. Super grateful! Unfortunately, even after I checked the Interface (it was previously set to "Garmin Serial", I reset it to "Garmin Spanner") it still didn't show up on my computer, despite the fact that my Garmin asked if I wanted to go into Mass Storage mode (I selected yes as I noticed it was helpful for other GPS units like the Nuvi in terms of connecting to a computer). The WebUpdater standalone software also failed to recognize any device as being connected to my laptop. Also, I used the wrong term in my first post--I don't have any USB hubs over here; I was directly connecting my garmin GPSmap 62s to a USB port.

I'm beginning to suspect that perhaps it's a problem with the device manager on my laptop? That perhaps after the first time when it registered a foreign device but couldn't install the software and couldn't recognize it (causing windows explorer to freeze), it set some system command or something (not sure what the appropriate term would be) to never recognize this particular device.

If you or anyone else has any other ideas, I'd definitely be eager to hear them. Thanks!

- char

7) could be the problem, if you're using a usb hub this can cause an issue. Try connecting directly to a usb port.

If you can't connect your 62 to a PC then a microSD card won't help you.

Is your 62 set to mass storage mode? Go to Set Up, System, Interface and ensure Garmin is selected.

Also see here http://support.garmin.com/support/searchSupport/case.faces?caseId=%7B26ad1560-8a7f-11dd-e87e-000000000000%7D

0 SUSSAMB over 11 years ago

Only other thing I can suggest is using Control Panel uninstall Garmin usb drivers, then reboot and reinstall them to see if that makes any difference.

0 mariomobiel over 11 years ago

I think the best thing to do is start all over by uninstalling all garmin software and clean all garmin folders from the registry, after that reboot your PC hook up the GPSMAP and wait and see wat happens. U don't damage anything by hooking up the GPSMAP62 to your laptop without installing drivers. In windows 7 most of the drivers are installed automaticly (i do this daily ;-) coz of my work). So uninstall (as Sussamb says above) but also clean out the registry. In windows 7 go to Start> type "regedit" in the search field. U need to get rid of all Garmin folders in "HKEY_CURRENT_USER" > Software and "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE" > Software. After that reboot your PC and only install Basecamp, when thats done hook up your GPSMAP and wait, it shoud pop-up in the left. If Not, please let me know, ill see wat i can do.

0 JaVaWa over 11 years ago

In Mass Storage mode the Garmin drivers aren't required (or used) at all; the device should connect as a regular USB disk/stick.

0 SUSSAMB over 11 years ago

While it apparently should normally this FAQ from Garmin that discusses connection problems suggests that they may be required, no harm done if they're not but if they are the problem at least they'll be there http://support.garmin.com/support/searchSupport/case.faces?caseId=%7B26ad1560-8a7f-11dd-e87e-000000000000%7D

However you are far more experienced than me in this area so I could be wrong in my assumptions.

0 JaVaWa over 11 years ago

The Garmin USB drivers are specifically meant for devices that use the proprietary Garmin protocol for transferring data, not for Mass Storage data transfer.
The FAQ mentions USB drivers, but doesn't say anything about downloading specific drivers. In this case it refers to the generic USB drivers that come with Windows.

0 Former Member over 11 years ago

BaseCamp and MapSource can recognize my device (but it still never shows up as a USB)

Hey all,

Many thanks for all your help! Mario, your advice was spot on. I followed all of the steps and I can now see my unit in BaseCamp as well as MapSource. However, even when I turn on Mass Storage mode (which makes it unrecognizable for BaseCamp and MapSource--not sure if this is a problem?), my computer never recognizes it as a USB drive even after saying that it has successfully installed the driver for Garmin USB. Furthermore (and this probably belongs in a separate forum, but I thought I'd mention it here since it might be related, given my difficulties getting my unit connected to my laptop), even when I transfer data from my GPS unit to BaseCamp or MapSource, there are two very odd things. The first is that in both MapSource and BaseCamp it *only* imports the "Current Track"--no waypoints, none of my previously recorded tracks, nothing else. Pretty annoying. The second is that in MapSource, it only lets me select "Maps" and "Tracks" as import options...even though my unit has about 20 waypoints and 0 maps. I haven't found any solutions to this online, though I am a complete newbie to both programs. Finally, I heard that Google Earth is sometimes a workaround, but Google Earth doesn't recognize my unit (even when it's in Garmin Spanner interface mode, and neither the option to go into Mass Storage or stay out of Mass Storage works).

Thank you all for your help. I would be totally stuck and hopeless without you.

cheers
char

I think the best thing to do is start all over by uninstalling all garmin software and clean all garmin folders from the registry, after that reboot your PC hook up the GPSMAP and wait and see wat happens. U don't damage anything by hooking up the GPSMAP62 to your laptop without installing drivers. In windows 7 most of the drivers are installed automaticly (i do this daily ;-) coz of my work). So uninstall (as Sussamb says above) but also clean out the registry. In windows 7 go to Start> type "regedit" in the search field. U need to get rid of all Garmin folders in "HKEY_CURRENT_USER" > Software and "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE" > Software. After that reboot your PC and only install Basecamp, when thats done hook up your GPSMAP and wait, it shoud pop-up in the left. If Not, please let me know, ill see wat i can do.

0 JaVaWa over 11 years ago

The first is that in both MapSource and BaseCamp it *only* imports the "Current Track"--no waypoints, none of my previously recorded tracks, nothing else. Pretty annoying. The second is that in MapSource, it only lets me select "Maps" and "Tracks" as import options...even though my unit has about 20 waypoints and 0 maps.

The transfer options are very limited in this mode; you really need to use the USB Mass Storage mode to access all your data.
Did you try to connect the GPS to another computer? Don't install the Garmin USB drivers on that computer, you really don't need them. Also don't install the Garmin Communicator Plugin; just check whether it connects as an external drive.

0 Former Member over 11 years ago

Hi Javawa,

Thanks for this help! I tried on my labmate's computer (she also has a Garmin GPSmap 62s) and it was never recognized as a USB device. It's odd because my computer manages to recognize it as a Garmin device and install the relevant drivers (or whatever that means) but it never shows up in Windows Explorer. And moreover, in that mode, neither BaseCamp nor MapSource recognizes my device. I can pretty much only use the GarminSpanner Mass Storage Off mode for anything to recognize my device (i.e. BaseCamp and MapSource). Even in Garmin Serial, neither BaseCamp nor MapSource recognizes my device and it doesn't show up in Windows Explorer either.

If there's any more information that would be helpful for me to provide, please let me know! I am really hoping to resolve this issue.

Thanks!

Charlotte

The transfer options are very limited in this mode; you really need to use the USB Mass Storage mode to access all your data.
Did you try to connect the GPS to another computer? Don't install the Garmin USB drivers on that computer, you really don't need them. Also don't install the Garmin Communicator Plugin; just check whether it connects as an external drive.