Garmin Venture HC

[+Kolendath]

Has anyone else had this problem? I ran the web updater and I got an error that said the update failed. Now I get a quick flash on the screen when I power it up, thats it. The web updater doesn't recognize it anymore.

 

Any advice?

Edited December 25, 2008 by Kolendath

[+benmeyer78]

I'm running it on mine via my Mac, and it has been sitting there idle for at least 15 minutes, just displaying "LOADER" on the GPS screen. I'm afraid to pull the cable or turn it off.

[+blb9556]

You may want to contact garmin about that. Try this link.

[+lil'hobo]

Well, I just got a Venture HC for Christmas (Yes!) and it has version 2.7 software in it and I was going to update to the 3.0 they have, but after reading this thread I'll wait to update mine. In fact, it hasn't displayed any of the problems the other updates claim to fix.

[+Kolendath]

I'm running it on mine via my Mac, and it has been sitting there idle for at least 15 minutes, just displaying "LOADER" on the GPS screen. I'm afraid to pull the cable or turn it off.

 

That's what mine did before I got an error that said the update failed. This sucks.

[+Kolendath]

You may want to contact garmin about that. Try this link.

 

Thanks. Now I'm waiting to hear back from them... Actually I'm thinking about calling the 800 number but I don't want to get caught in phone tech hell.

[+benmeyer78]

I have sent an email to Garmin tech support, so I will update this thread once I hear back from them. At least its cold and snowing here, so I wasn't planning on going Geocaching with my Christmas present yet. I'd be really bummed if it was beautiful out.

[+benmeyer78]

I found a solution that got mine back up and running. I had to use a Windows PC to get this going, but it works now!

 

- Pull the batteries and other external power sources, then put them back in.

- Go to the Garmin site to download the manual software updates: http://www8.garmin.com/support/blosp.jsp and download the appropriate file (not the web updater)

- Extract the update to a folder. By default it will go to C:\Garmin, but you should put it somewhere else if you've already installed Garmin software.

- Have that folder open, and have the updater.exe file ready to open

- plug in the USB cable, and on the GPS, hold the directional key in the up position along with the power button and do not let go. You will need to hold them down for several minutes

- run the updater.exe and you should see your GPS under USB. Let the update finish.

- I got an error message after it completed, but the unit now turns on and is fully functional!

 

I got the idea from this site: http://brilliantcorners.org/nodes/87-fixin...in-gpsmap-60csx about a different model, but the procedure worked for me.

Edited December 26, 2008 by benmeyer78

[+Kolendath]

benmeyer78:

 

Sweet!

 

Now I just have to find someone with a windows machine...

[+Kolendath]

benmeyer78's solution didn't work for me.

 

Garmin support got back to me though, so it looks like I'm sending it back for repair before I ever even used it.

 

I'll never use the web updater again... learned my lesson.

Edited December 30, 2008 by Kolendath

[+Walkworthy & Wife]

Every time that I have attempted to update my Garmin Venture HC, it has failed. I contacted Garmin by email, but the tech response that I got back from them hasn't helpful at all.

 

I do remember one caution that came up during my attempt to update was that I should choose the correct update or my unit could be damaged.

[+Kolendath]

I tried benmeyer78's solution one last time before shipping my venture HC off to Garmin... It worked!

 

I don't know why, other than I used a different computer this time but it worked.

 

I'm stoked. Thanks benmeyer78!

[+Kolendath]

Every time that I have attempted to update my Garmin Venture HC, it has failed. I contacted Garmin by email, but the tech response that I got back from them hasn't helpful at all.

 

I do remember one caution that came up during my attempt to update was that I should choose the correct update or my unit could be damaged.

 

I chose the right update. From what I heard a bunch of us that tried to use the webupdater got screwed.

Mine works now, that's good enough for me.

[+benmeyer78]

I tried benmeyer78's solution one last time before shipping my venture HC off to Garmin... It worked!

 

I don't know why, other than I used a different computer this time but it worked.

 

I'm stoked. Thanks benmeyer78!

 

I'm glad it worked for you! I know I was definitely overjoyed when mine fired back to life. Now if I could only get this Minnesota snow to melt!

[+Walkworthy & Wife]

I chose the right update. From what I heard a bunch of us that tried to use the webupdater got screwed.

Mine works now, that's good enough for me.

I'm glad to hear that you got your unit working again. Makes me leery about trying Garmin's web updater again

[+xjjoe01]

Every time that I have attempted to update my Garmin Venture HC, it has failed. I contacted Garmin by email, but the tech response that I got back from them hasn't helpful at all.

 

I do remember one caution that came up during my attempt to update was that I should choose the correct update or my unit could be damaged.

 

I chose the right update. From what I heard a bunch of us that tried to use the webupdater got screwed.

Mine works now, that's good enough for me.

 

I use a Mac and have the same GPSr as you along with the same problems, but I pulled the cable and repeated this process about 3 times, until the update fully worked. I was worried that I killed the GPSr, but it rebooted itself.

 

I think Garmin needs to work in their Mac software.

 

Joe

[General Grant]

I used the WebUpdater on Mac OS 10.4.11 and ran into the same problems (white screen with the word "Loader"), then a failure for both Mac and PC to recognize the unit when plugged in via USB.

 

benmeyer78's solution allowed me to upload the software via PC using the standalone update. Thanks!

 

However, I now have a new, probably unrelated problem: about 15% of the time I turn on the unit, everything on the LCD screen is mirrored backwards. On top of this, some groups of pixels randomly alter color. For example, the gradiant fill background on the satellite page has noticable rendering issues, as the unit switches shades of yellow and white every few seconds. My guess is a hardware issue.

 

I called Garmin, who told me to ship it back for exchange. Kinda dissappointing for a brand new unit (Christmas). Hopefully the replacement will be up to par with what Garmin is usually known for.

[+Walkworthy & Wife]

[snip]

- Go to the Garmin site to download the manual software updates: http://www8.garmin.com/support/blosp.jsp and download the appropriate file (not the web updater)

- Extract the update to a folder. By default it will go to C:\Garmin, but you should put it somewhere else if you've already installed Garmin software.

I didn't have any of the trouble that some of you were experiencing, knock on wood. This is how I updated my Garmin eTrex Venture HC from 2.90 to 3.00. I followed benmeyer78's directions for downloading the update to a folder of my choice onto my computer. I opened the folder containing the update and I then turned on my GPS and connected it to the computer using the USB cable. I then double clicked on Updater.exe to run the update. I then chose "USB Device" then clicked on the "OK" button. It updated my wife's and my GPS's without any trouble. Thank you benmeyer78 for the valuable information on how to get around using Garmin's webupdater. This was done using a PC

[e_anza]

I also experienced a bricked garmin etrex venture hc. I tried each of the methods found in this list and others. I have learned to never use the garmin webupdater, it is unreliable. Here's what worked for me: download the previous version 3.10 firmware from http://www.tramsoft.ch/gps/garmin_et...grades_en.html, extract to c:\garmin, plug in your gps via usb, hold the front 4-way rocker button in the down (or up, both seem to enable the usb connection to the pc) position throughout the entire update process, execute the updater.exe program and let it complete. You will see an error message at the end of the update process, ignore and let the garmin reboot and hopefully it should work again after that. I have been very dissapointed in this device since day one years ago and likely will never purchase any other garmin products in the future especially considering this latest fiasco. I was surprised to say the least, to find this problem is still plaguing customers after 3 years. Spending money to have support fix a problem they caused is complete BS.