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Questions about and Looking for Ideas on Organizing 500+ GPX files

SurfPine
over 2 years ago

UPDATE: Read post #4. Seems all this time I've been battling known bugs that are not fixed when trying to organize many GPX tracks. My recommendation is to not buy this product until Garmin fixes the many issues associated with the required Explore app along with very wonky Collection Manager issues.

New Montana 700i user as I recently upgraded from a Montana 610t. I will be using the 700i for CO, UT, SD and other backcountry OHV, MTB, Nordic skiing and hiking. In my years of owning MANY Garmin devices, I have accumulated over 500 GPX track files where I also purchased many of those from a company called FunTreks. If you are not familiar with FunTreks, each guide book they produce has available tracks for purchase that correspond with the guide books. Short is I have a lot more GPX files than Garmin supports for Active tracks on the 700i and each guide book has its own microSD card. Obviously I can, and have, copied all the tracks to 1 card but since the limitation is 250 Active tracks, not all of the tracks show up on the 700i. Thus, my observations and questions. I have done a lot of searching on this and just don't seem to find a similar situation.

I believe my solution is going to be a combination of Saved and Archive tracks. I am also aware and have implemented Collections but have only worked with a total of ~ 200 tracks so far. I would like to have all 500 of my tracks on a single microSD card but that doesn't seem possible since the 700i only recognizes microSD Garmin/GPX/ gpx files as Active tracks.

  1. Is there a folder path on a microSD card for Archive tracks?
  2. If no microSD Archive path, can I copy GPX files direct into the onboard Garmin/GPX/Archive/ path?
    1. This one is strange. When I archived a gpx file that was on my microSD card, I see that file get created in the onboard Garmin/GPX/Archive/ path. When I listed that archived file as a favorite again, it was moved to the onboard Garmin/GPX/ path but the file size greatly increased. The gpx file size on the microSD card was 8 kb, when archived and then changed to Favorite, the exact same file increased to 271 kb. I have concerns that the way Garmin archives and unarchives files, I may at some point overrun storage and/or files stop showing up without my knowledge.
  3. Having multiple microSD cards and swapping them to accomodate how Garmin codes their storage seems a poor work-around. The microSD cards have plenty of storage to handle way more that 500 gpx files (250 saved tracks, 2000 GPX files, 2000 archive tracks limit per 700i specs) but because of the way one can have "Saved" tracks, storage along with gpx saved/archive track manipulation seems highly clunky at best.
  4. With Collections, I'm assuming that is more a db style of organization of the waypoints/tracks etc. that are available to organize once the GPX files are recognized on the 700I? If so, that brings me back to the issue of how to properly manage storage by way of questions 1-3.

If you've gotten this far in my post, thank you. I know there is a lot of detail and it is because I have spent a lot of time recently trying to get a handle on a good way to display all of my 500 GPX files, mainly for the tracks. I do thank anyone ahead of time for your responses and please let me know where the information I have provided might be confusing.

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to SurfPine

    No, the integral inReach devices require Explore to use thier features, this is one of the reasons why I recommend  using a Montana 700 and a remote inReach device.

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to atlas_cached

    Gotcha and thanks again! These were not issues I was even aware of to have to look into prior to the purchase and now it is a bit late at least for me. For now, I am aware of the horrible syncing issues Garmin has not addressed... maybe some day they will address them but i'm starting to get the feeling Garmin is like the used car salesman, they already have my money and that is what is most important to them, not creating or fixing the software on their products. I will certainly make sure the group of friends I meet up with for my many outdoor activities know about these critical issues with the 700i before they go off and purchase one. It is sad as the 700i really seemed like it could be a good product with the combined InReach feature that is very important to me.

    I am on many different outside activity forums and will be doing my review of the 700i. I will be blatantly honest with my review. As well, if Garmin decides to make good of fixing these critical issues, I will update those reviews.

    Thanks again for your guidance!

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to atlas_cached

    So I've been playing with this quite a bit, spent many, many more hours trying to figure out how to make this work for my particular need. I've had to reset my 700i twice now to clear file corruption that I do believe is caused by the Explore app, just as those reported bugs detail. I have also followed your recommendation to only sync the Collections I want active and that has helped some but did not completely avoid a mismatch in the track file data that was present on the 700i versus what was being reported in the Explore app along with Explore website.

    I have since been "killing" the Explore app ANYTIME I am not syncing my 700i.That has seemingly proved to be a positive first step towards avoiding file corruption. 

    The Garmin Explore website pukes on every single GPX file I tried to import, even the GPX tracks created by a Garmin Montana 610t and completely unedited. That is another wonky situation and 1 import at a time??? That is just plan dumb. Enough on that as that is a completely different issue where this thread doesn't need to go down that rabbit hole.

    My second to last attempt to "start over" by removing all of my GPX track files, remove all Collections and making sure the website, app and 700i were all showing the same 0 data of files or reference. I had approximately only 80 tracks enabled to sync but I found that the Explore website limited Library track files to 250 even though I read somewhere there are no file amount limitations on the website. I confirmed on the device that only 80 tracks were in the onboard Garmin/GPX/ path. That is a pretty bad mismatch between the device and the Explore website. No microSD card inserted into the device to so not GPX files coming from that. So come up with another plan.

    Seems I have finally found some success. My last attempt to "start over" by removing all of my GPX track files, remove all Collections and making sure the website, app and 700i were all showing the same 0 data of files or reference. Recall I have ~ 500 GPX track files I'd like to have available on my device without losing a microSD card for GPX track files above the 250 Saved track "device" limit. I copied just under 300 of those GPX track files into the onboard memory location Garmin/GPX/Archive/, launched the Explore app and did a sync. Killed the Explore app. Added 185 GPX track files into the onboard memory location of Garmin/GPX/. Launched the Explore app and had it sync my library. Killed the Explore app. Created a first Collection and moved 13 tracks into it, changed the sync to only sync that collection. Launched the Explore app, so far everything was good and all track file numbers showing up correctly... I must have had all my fingers, toes, arms and legs crossed. Killed the Explore app. Created the rest of my Collections, moved the tracks around and enable the ones I want syncing. So far it is good and all of my tracks are accessible although about 300 are Archive tracks.

    BTW, I know this is not new, but why is there no search ability in Archive tracks? I can have 2000 archive tracks but have to individually locate the one I want, not search for it? Wow, just dumb.

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to SurfPine
    SurfPine said:
    BTW, I know this is not new, but why is there no search ability in Archive tracks? I can have 2000 archive tracks but have to individually locate the one I want, not search for it? Wow, just dumb.

    Tracks in the Archive Directory are not indexed, therefore not usable until they are made 'Favorites', then they are indexed and usable/searchable.

    Not Dumb.

    Garmin could have just held to the limit of 250 tracks and not allowed any more on the device. Period. Then you wouldn't be saying how dumb it is that the 'archive' tracks were not searchable...

    Those of us that have been using Garmin GPSr for the better part of a generation have seen improvements from each product to the next, and because we used devices that were far less user friendly in the past, we are happy with each new advancement.

    Then there are the 'new users' that perhaps never used a Garmin previously, and have no sense of the evolution of the product line, and expect these devices to work the same as their home PC's or smartphones, which these are not. Each Garmin handheld GPSr is uniquely designed for a specific use purpose, and they do the things they are intended to do quite well.

    Everything in life is a compromise. These devices trade some of the unnecessary flashy bits from your smartphone for longer run time and to better withstand rugged environments.

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to atlas_cached

    Well, it's my opinion and yes, my opinion is it IS dumb. The product management seems to lack usability features from a customer standpoint, not the standpoint of it is better than it used to be. But that is minor when compared to the countless hours I have spent having to start over and over and over trying to get the product to work without running into issues. Maybe that has soured me a bit so I am a bit more critical about a perceived minor usability issues. Or maybe I have also worked for decades on software products with paying customers where I've always taken their input as valuable information to try and make better products/features. Not sure if having 10 Garmin devices, 6 currently registered, qualifies me as a new GPS users or not, regardless of my forum status here.

    Sorry, but again, you come off as very defensive for a product that is clearly flawed and in some respects, has not improved on certain aspects of the software. I've spent my fair share of money with Garmin, seems like I should have some voice here if I want.

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to SurfPine

    Let's not make this personal. Lest the mods intervene.

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to SurfPine
    SurfPine said:
    Sorry, but again, you come off as very defensive for a product that is clearly flawed and in some respects, has not improved on certain aspects of the software

    I'm just trying to explain that the 'Archived Tracks' are exactly what they say they are - ARCHIVED. They are not included in the 'Working Directory' of 'Favorite Tracks', which are the only tracks the device indexes into internal databases so they can be displayed and searched in all the different ways tracks are used.

    Each GPSr has a limit to the total number of tracks they can index. For the Montana 7x0, that number is 250. If you need to use more tracks on your device, Garmin have graciously provided an 'Archive Directory' to store additional tracks, and provided a method to move tracks between the working directory and archive directory directly on the device, in the field, without needing to connect to an external computer, which is how it had to be done on earlier models.

    No device allows an infinite number of any data to be indexed and sorted, etc. All devices have memory limits. It is up to the individual user to determine the best way to work within these limits.

    You have multiple options to use all 500 tracks you desire. You could use two microSD cards, each with 250 tracks loaded, and swap between them as needed. Or you could combine multiple tracks into single tracks where possible to reduce the total number of tracks. Or you could use your tracks to create one or more individual map files that contain all your track info. I personally have used this option to combine several thousand tracks into a single map that retains all original detail and routing information.

    SurfPine said:
    I've spent my fair share of money with Garmin, seems like I should have some voice here if I want.

    I do no think anyone has suggested otherwise.

    I am only trying to help you understand your device limits so you can get the best possible use out of the tools you have at your disposal now.

    SurfPine said:
    Or maybe I have also worked for decades on software products with paying customers where I've always taken their input as valuable information to try and make better products/features.

    Garmin have been doing the same for more than three decades. All one has to do is study the evolution of any of their individual product lines to see how they have improved each and every step of the way.