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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 stuartmw over 11 years ago

It's odd because my computer manages to recognize it as a Garmin device and install the relevant drivers...

Yes that is weird. Obviously the physical USB connection is good. Mass-storage mode USB drives are built into the PC/Mac OS so everything should "just work". Do other mass-storage devices, such as a USB stick etc, work ok?

Some Garmin outdoor models (including the 62S) have two USB modes (mass-storage and Spanner) with the former being used to transfer user data. The latter is only used for real-time tracking. That said they may also allow the USB interface to operate as a (real) serial port with the use of a special Garmin cable.

https://forums.garmin.com/showthread.php?42057-Nmea&p=191454#post191454

In short mass-storage mode is what you should be using.

0 JaVaWa over 11 years ago

I tried on my labmate's computer (she also has a Garmin GPSmap 62s) and it was never recognized as a USB device.

Your labmate's GPSMAP doesn't have this problem on either computer?
Try a hard reset of your device:

[Menu][Menu]>Setup>Reset>Reset All Settings. You will be asked if you want to reset user data. If you answer "Yes" the unit will be master reset.

Another thing you could try is the pre-boot mode:

Press and hold the "Up" arrow on the 4-way button
Attach the GPSMAP to your computer via USB cable while continuing to press "Up"
Continue to hold down the "Up" button for 30 seconds while the GPSMAP boots.
The GPSMAP should enter USB mass storage mode

0 Former Member over 11 years ago

Hey Javawa and Stuartmh,

Thanks for your comments! Javawa, I'm happy to try this option, but if I go forward with it will it erase all of the current data on my GPS unit (such as the waypoints/tracks that I've been making of my sites and haven't been able to upload in any way)?

cheers
char

Your labmate's GPSMAP doesn't have this problem on either computer?
Try a hard reset of your device:

Another thing you could try is the pre-boot mode:

0 JaVaWa over 11 years ago

If you save your current tracklog on your device first I don't think it will be erased, but I'm not sure...
So, save the tracklog, and try the pre-boot mode first (nothing will be erased then).
Another option is to send the tracks and waypoints wirelessly to your labmate's GPSMAP (one by one, unfortunately).

0 Former Member over 11 years ago

Sorry I'm such a hopeless n00b but I've saved my tracks (i.e. they all have names). Would I need to archive them too to be safe? Also, the wifi transferring idea is brilliant---I'll try that with my labmate's device when she gets it back. Another suggestion I heard was to use a microSD card and then directly copy it from the card to my computer...would that work as a stopgap solution until I get back to the states?

If you save your current tracklog on your device first I don't think it will be erased, but I'm not sure...
So, save the tracklog, and try the pre-boot mode first (nothing will be erased then).
Another option is to send the tracks and waypoints wirelessly to your labmate's GPSMAP (one by one, unfortunately).

0 JaVaWa over 11 years ago

Only the active tracklog needs to be saved; everything else is already present in one of the files on the device.
The device can't save data to a SD card, so that isn't a solution.