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Garmin data output to fitness app

Hi, 

I've been using a (now discontinued) Apple Macintosh app called Ascent to record my cycling data since 2007. I now use it in a virtual machine running an outdated MacOS.

Remarkably, it has continued to work flawlessly through all the generations of Garmin bike computers, until somewhere between 26th August and 14th September 2023, something changed. After this, active time, speed and elevation data no longer imported. I'd be interested to know if anything changed in the file format that my Garmin 1040 outputs when connected to my Mac.

I've tested .gpx, .fit and .tcx files (exported from the Garmin Connect website) and only the tcx file seems to import correctly into Ascent, so I do have recourse to getting my data back for the rides that were missing it but I would like to know if anything did change and whether there is any way to change the data output from my Garmin 1040 back to the way it was prior to September last year.

Any help appreciated.

Cheers

Iain

  • if you buy an old Edge 510 or 520, it will work, for sure. The Garmin changed the FIT file format in the newer devices (so probably in the Edge 1030plus also, or 1040 if you have that one, it is the 1030plus group...) and the Ascent cant handle that (they should have modify their import code but that is a dead app so no upgrades for that), so simple.

  • Or another solution:

    if you could do a firmware downgrade before aug2023 (i suppose this format change came with the fw18.25 with 1040) to 17.29 (You have to get this from one of the users here who saved it , it is not officially downloadable) and after it you create a dummy non-readable update file on the 1040, then the Edge will remain on this 17.29 firmware forever and the file format will be good. (just you wont get new features with 1040 anymore...)

    i think better option to swap the Ascent app for an actual and supported one...

  • Hi Luko79

    First, yes I posted in the wrong forum! I do have a 1040. 

    Thanks for the information, that's really all I wanted to know. 

    I understand that Ascent is a 'dead' app but I really like the combination of simplicity and data visualisation. I haven't to date (though I haven't looked recently) found anything that does as good a job (for me) as Ascent.
    Now that I know that I just have to export .tcx files and import them to keep using Ascent I'm happy. I've got a bit of a backlog but it's not a major problem.

    Thanks again

    Cheers

    Iain