+Team Batpony Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 OK, so I recently bought a Garmin eTrex Venture. When I got home, I took the unit and cable out of the box. UGH its SERIAL!!! So I dug out my serial-to-USB converter, hooked it all up, installed the drivers and Garmin Communicator, went into GSAK, set it up, and it surprisingly worked. I transferred some caches, and it worked perfectly. BUT NOW HERE IS THE PROBLEM. It's been about a week, and I went to claim my free trial premium membership. So I hooked up my Garmin, the PC went "da dunk" like it does when you plug in something. I turned the unit on, registered it at the garmin website, and then went to the gc.com garmin free premium membership trial. I hit "Activate your trial" and it says this: "The Garmin device is either not connected or to isn't registered at My Garmin." So I went to the Garmin Communicator test page, and it says that the plugin is installed, but it does not detect the unit... Could someone please help me? Quote Link to comment
+coggins Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 It doesn't sound like you have registered your gps purchase online with Garmin. Does the unit show up on your My Garmin account with the correct serial number/Unit ID? Quote Link to comment
+kwcahart Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 (edited) Were you in "mass storage" mode? If you were not, it won't recognize your unit. On mine, I just plug it in, and do not turn it on, the USB port turns the GPS on and then it is in "mass storage" mode. On some GPS units you have to turn the unit on and THEN plug it into the USB port. Try both ways until you find the one that works with your GPS. It will either ask you if you want to go to "mass storage" or it will show a little computer thing with a cable attached to it. Edited September 8, 2011 by kwhart Quote Link to comment
+eusty Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 Were you in "mass storage" mode? It's a serial cable..... Quote Link to comment
+mpilchfamily Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 Were you in "mass storage" mode? If you were not, it won't recognize your unit. On mine, I just plug it in, and do not turn it on, the USB port turns the GPS on and then it is in "mass storage" mode. On some GPS units you have to turn the unit on and THEN plug it into the USB port. Try both ways until you find the one that works with your GPS. It will either ask you if you want to go to "mass storage" or it will show a little computer thing with a cable attached to it. The Venture doesn't have a mass storage mode. Non of the eTrex lines have mass storage mode, even the ones that use a USB connection. Though the eTrex 10, 20, and 30 may changer that. Quote Link to comment
+coggins Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 It doesn't sound like you have registered your gps purchase online with Garmin. Does the unit show up on your My Garmin account with the correct serial number/Unit ID? Have you checked this yet? Quote Link to comment
Wintertime Posted September 9, 2011 Share Posted September 9, 2011 The Venture doesn't have a mass storage mode. Non of the eTrex lines have mass storage mode, even the ones that use a USB connection. Though the eTrex 10, 20, and 30 may changer that. Can one tell that from the specs pages on Garmin's website? I don't see anything that looks like "mass storage" on the specs page for the 20: eTrex 20 Quote Link to comment
+mpilchfamily Posted September 9, 2011 Share Posted September 9, 2011 (edited) Its generally built into the firmware of the unit. Its not really an option you can select from the menu. When the GPSr is plugged into the PC it automatically goes into mass storage mode. You will then see the new drive in My Computer. So thats why i say the eTrex 10, 20, and 30 may be different. We won't know till they come out. But all the newer units Garmin has been producing have a mass storage mode. It does make the device much easier to deal with when loading caches and other data. We won't know if they have it or not till they are released. Edited September 9, 2011 by mpilchfamily Quote Link to comment
+coggins Posted September 9, 2011 Share Posted September 9, 2011 Its generally built into the firmware of the unit. Its not really an option you can select from the menu. When the GPSr is plugged into the PC it automatically goes into mass storage mode. You will then see the new drive in My Computer.Well it's a menu item on my eTrex Vista HCx so there goes your theory. Quote Link to comment
+cliptwings Posted September 9, 2011 Share Posted September 9, 2011 This is just a shot in the dark, but is your computer operating on 32 bits or 64 bits? On my new Windows 7 64 bit laptop, I can't connect my Garmin either. But when I use the 32 bit internet explorer browser (in the program X86 folder), I don't have a problem. It might be worth a try. Quote Link to comment
jholly Posted September 9, 2011 Share Posted September 9, 2011 This is just a shot in the dark, but is your computer operating on 32 bits or 64 bits? On my new Windows 7 64 bit laptop, I can't connect my Garmin either. But when I use the 32 bit internet explorer browser (in the program X86 folder), I don't have a problem. It might be worth a try. I have a windows 7 64 bit computer. I have the garmin plugin, I use FireFox and I can plug my Garmin 76CSx into my computer and download caches from Geocaching.com. Sounds like something is not up to date or your AV software is getting in the way. Quote Link to comment
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