[ThreeTrees]

Version 2.73

https://buy.garmin.c...D=161&pID=87774

[fujitsu]

Hi,

what are the improvements? Anyone knows?

Thanks.

Regards,
AA

[ThreeTrees]

Changes made from version 2.71 to 2.73:
Improved ability to clear unit settings on power up: now only requires menu key and enter key to be held when powering the unit on
Improved size of roads drawn on map in 'automotive mode' orientation
Fixed issue that was causing some devices to display a 'memory full' message followed by bad device behavior

[lost19]

ThreeTrees, on 10 April 2012 - 04:01 AM, said:

Version 2.73

https://buy.garmin.c...D=161&pID=87774

[Croesgadwr]

Theres no mention of the Etrex 20 on the download page...just the E30. I think I'll wait a while!!

[user13371]

Quote

no mention of the Etrex 20 on the download page...just the E30

Yes there is. Sub-title on this download page says eTrex 20/30 software version 2.73 Beta as of April 9, 2012 and the download filename itself is eTrex20_30_273Beta.

This post has been edited by Portland Cyclist: 10 April 2012 - 08:47 AM

[Croesgadwr]

ThreeTrees, on 10 April 2012 - 04:01 AM, said:

Version 2.73

https://buy.garmin.c...D=161&pID=87774

Fair enough, I withdraw my previous comment. Although, the link in the initial thread does not include the e20.

[Davequal]

Still gonna sit on the side lines....... and see how this plays out.

[ChefRd2000]

.

This post has been edited by ChefRd2000: 11 April 2012 - 04:32 AM

[GrnXnham]

ThreeTrees, on 10 April 2012 - 04:40 AM, said:

Changes made from version 2.71 to 2.73:

Improved size of roads drawn on map in 'automotive mode' orientation

I like the sound of this. I don't use "automotive mode" orientation on my eTrex 20 because the roads are too large/wide/thick at the bottom of the screen. Hopefully, they are now smaller.

[teamhough]

Davequal, on 10 April 2012 - 09:31 AM, said:

Still gonna sit on the side lines....... and see how this plays out.

Smart move! I wish I had done that. 273beta is a little better. I can get the quick park-n-grabs but bushwacking off the trails, with power on over a half hour, the thing can't handle.

[jholly]

teamhough, on 14 April 2012 - 03:28 PM, said:

Davequal, on 10 April 2012 - 09:31 AM, said:

Still gonna sit on the side lines....... and see how this plays out.

Smart move! I wish I had done that. 273beta is a little better. I can get the quick park-n-grabs but bushwacking off the trails, with power on over a half hour, the thing can't handle.

So revert to 2.6 and enjoy the stickys.

[The Frosties!]

jholly, on 14 April 2012 - 03:52 PM, said:

So revert to 2.6 and enjoy the stickys.

I've not noticed stickies from the previous build, and figure it's a good sign that this one doesn't even mention it

[tr_s]

This one might have bricked my device... stuck for 20 minutes now on LOADER LOADING...

[tr_s]

Nope, a reboot fixed it, the second programming run worked.

[teamhough]

tr_s, on 18 April 2012 - 04:13 AM, said:

Nope, a reboot fixed it, the second programming run worked.

What are you calling a reboot? A power off then on? yanking the batteries? A three button reset?

[Croesgadwr]

teamhough, on 18 April 2012 - 12:25 PM, said:

tr_s, on 18 April 2012 - 04:13 AM, said:

Nope, a reboot fixed it, the second programming run worked.

What are you calling a reboot? A power off then on? yanking the batteries? A three button reset?

Same happened to my Etrex 20...just pulled the batteries, refitted 'em, and away to go.
No probs...

[tr_s]

teamhough, on 18 April 2012 - 12:25 PM, said:

tr_s, on 18 April 2012 - 04:13 AM, said:

Nope, a reboot fixed it, the second programming run worked.

What are you calling a reboot? A power off then on? yanking the batteries? A three button reset?

Jerk batteries, insert again, power on.

[teamhough]

having used the Etrex30 out on the trail geocaching with 2.73 it seems to be performing better. Here is what seems to work for me
recreational profile
gps+glonass sats
waas on chirp off
north up (track up will make screen flip/flop at ground zero)
new england topo enabled only

I might also add that I've gotten more used to it. It's been an ugly learning curve!

[knightswift]

How many geocaches do you have on your etrex? I always had about 1000 to 1100, but since 2.73 i had to go back to about 750 or the device won't boot until i delete the gpx and do a three-button-reset.

[lineman6746]

knightswift, on 20 April 2012 - 02:47 AM, said:

How many geocaches do you have on your etrex? I always had about 1000 to 1100, but since 2.73 i had to go back to about 750 or the device won't boot until i delete the gpx and do a three-button-reset.

I've got 2500 hundred caches on my e-trex 20 with the new 2.73 update and it seems to work fine.

[teamhough]

knightswift, on 20 April 2012 - 02:47 AM, said:

How many geocaches do you have on your etrex? I always had about 1000 to 1100, but since 2.73 i had to go back to about 750 or the device won't boot until i delete the gpx and do a three-button-reset.

I'm only at 650. The lit says you can have 2000 poi's. Geocaches have a lot more data than a poi will. You can be out on a cache and not finding it, so you can go to the Etrex and read everything the owner said, and maybe find it. You can do the same with an Iphone, if you have coverage, at this spot. The etrex doesn't need coverage, because the data was previously stored internally. Some day Garmin will produce a gps designed just for geocaching. When they do I will be the first in line.

[The Frosties!]

teamhough, on 20 April 2012 - 04:28 PM, said:

The lit says you can have 2000 poi's. Geocaches have a lot more data than a poi will.

The etrex 30 (I have one) will hold up to 5000 geocaches (tested myself), waypoints are stored/counted separately. Any more than 5000 will result in an error message as the device boots, but 5k will still be loaded (which takes a minute or 2 first time)

[knightswift]

The Frosties!, on 21 April 2012 - 12:08 AM, said:

The etrex 30 (I have one) will hold up to 5000 geocaches (tested myself), waypoints are stored/counted separately. Any more than 5000 will result in an error message as the device boots, but 5k will still be loaded (which takes a minute or 2 first time)

Yes, thats why i'm confused. Like is said, more than 750 caches and the device boots, loads all the waypoints but the next time you boot it shows the garmin logo and shuts down after a few seconds. I then have to force storage mode by holding stick up and plugging in the USB, then delete the GPX file and then make a three-button-reset. After that i can copy a new GPX file onto it. Strange. Til 2.70 everything worked fine with my ~1100 caches file.

[ChefRd2000]

knightswift, on 21 April 2012 - 02:49 AM, said:

The Frosties!, on 21 April 2012 - 12:08 AM, said:

The etrex 30 (I have one) will hold up to 5000 geocaches (tested myself), waypoints are stored/counted separately. Any more than 5000 will result in an error message as the device boots, but 5k will still be loaded (which takes a minute or 2 first time)

Yes, thats why i'm confused. Like is said, more than 750 caches and the device boots, loads all the waypoints but the next time you boot it shows the garmin logo and shuts down after a few seconds. I then have to force storage mode by holding stick up and plugging in the USB, then delete the GPX file and then make a three-button-reset. After that i can copy a new GPX file onto it. Strange. Til 2.70 everything worked fine with my ~1100 caches file.

Might explain the delay of 2.8 release...

[Indotguy]

teamhough, on 20 April 2012 - 04:28 PM, said:

knightswift, on 20 April 2012 - 02:47 AM, said:

How many geocaches do you have on your etrex? I always had about 1000 to 1100, but since 2.73 i had to go back to about 750 or the device won't boot until i delete the gpx and do a three-button-reset.

I'm only at 650. The lit says you can have 2000 poi's. Geocaches have a lot more data than a poi will. You can be out on a cache and not finding it, so you can go to the Etrex and read everything the owner said, and maybe find it. You can do the same with an Iphone, if you have coverage, at this spot. The etrex doesn't need coverage, because the data was previously stored internally. Some day Garmin will produce a gps designed just for geocaching. When they do I will be the first in line.

I'm holding out for a device that can store at least 1,728,669 active caches!

[sussamb]

Could be a while ...

[tr_s]

Making a device quickly handle hundreds of thousands of caches wouldn't exactly be technically hard, the processor strength and memory is enough. Another type of file format akin to a sorted/searchable database would be required though.

[user13371]

knightswift, on 20 April 2012 - 02:47 AM, said:

How many geocaches do you have on your etrex? I always had about 1000 to 1100, but since 2.73 i had to go back to about 750 or the device won't boot until i delete the gpx and do a three-button-reset.

Right this minute? 4217 caches plus 225 child waypoints. The GPX files take up about 20 megabytes. I also have an OpenStreetMap containing roughly the northern third of he USA, 771MB. No problems noted so far.

Are you sure you're giving it enough time to start up? After refreshing/reloading a set of GPX files, it can take several minutes -- and it will seem much longer if you're staring at an apparently unmoving, unchanging splash screen. On a day I'm planning to go caching, I dwnload the batch, restart the GPS, and then go have another cup of coffee. When I come back it's done, without fail.

teamhough, on 20 April 2012 - 04:28 PM, said:

...Some day Garmin will produce a gps designed just for geocaching...

Indotguy, on 22 April 2012 - 02:59 AM, said:

I'm holding out for a device that can store at least 1,728,669 active caches!

With only one premium membership and a very carefully composed/scheduled set of pocket queries, it'd take a few weeks short of one year to fill that up. And the majority of your data would always be stale with regards to logs, enabled/disabled status, etc.

Rather than holding more caches, I'd like a much simpler improvement:- code an "unzip" processor into the thing so I can drop a zipped pocket query right into the GPS (and Basecamp, while they're at it) without having to do that step in another program first.

This post has been edited by Portland Cyclist: 22 April 2012 - 06:31 AM

[ChefRd2000]

On a day I'm planning to go caching, I dwnload the batch, restart the GPS, and then go have another cup of coffee.

After your initial "cup of coffee" start up.... How long does it take to start up after that?

[user13371]

Quote

After your initial "cup of coffee" start up.... How long does it take to start up after that?

Let's see -- I'll restart it now and put a stopwatch to it ...

19 seconds.


Edit to add: Repeated a few times and it stays within a second or two of that. I think it varies -- longer, by a few sconds -- if you've edited/changed any of your waypoints or geocaches since you did the last load of files. I know adding/changing the files directly bumps you back to that much longer startup time.

This post has been edited by Portland Cyclist: 22 April 2012 - 07:48 AM

[Indotguy]

Indotguy, on 22 April 2012 - 02:59 AM, said:

teamhough, on 20 April 2012 - 04:28 PM, said:

knightswift, on 20 April 2012 - 02:47 AM, said:

How many geocaches do you have on your etrex? I always had about 1000 to 1100, but since 2.73 i had to go back to about 750 or the device won't boot until i delete the gpx and do a three-button-reset.

I'm only at 650. The lit says you can have 2000 poi's. Geocaches have a lot more data than a poi will. You can be out on a cache and not finding it, so you can go to the Etrex and read everything the owner said, and maybe find it. You can do the same with an Iphone, if you have coverage, at this spot. The etrex doesn't need coverage, because the data was previously stored internally. Some day Garmin will produce a gps designed just for geocaching. When they do I will be the first in line.

I'm holding out for a device that can store at least 1,728,669 active caches!

(My intent was to be factitious. Guess I should have used an appropriate emoticon)

[user13371]

Indotguy, on 22 April 2012 - 12:32 PM, said:

...holding out for a device that can store at least 1,728,669 active caches! ... My intent was to be factitious...

Yes, I knew that even without the smiley. But it always makes me wonder when some people - quite seriously -- complain that 5000 or 10000 or (pick some larger value) isn't enough. I live in an absurdly cache-dense metro area and think 5000 is just about right for my purposes.

[user13371]

user13371, on 22 April 2012 - 07:33 AM, said:

Quote

After your initial "cup of coffee" start up.... How long does it take to start up after that?

Let's see -- I'll restart it now and put a stopwatch to it ... 19 seconds. ...if you've edited/changed any of your waypoints or geocaches since you did the last load of files. I know adding/changing the files directly bumps you back to that much longer startup time.

More data: I just deleted the larger set of GPX files from the GPS, put a simple GPX of 500 caches on and restarted - SEVEN MINUTES to start up. I guess a lot of that time is spent clearing thousands of caches OUT of memory as well as loading the new set.

I can see why an impatient screen watcher might think it had locked up. Those who just go away and come back later will never notice a problem.

This post has been edited by user13371: 23 April 2012 - 04:25 AM

[knightswift]

user13371, on 22 April 2012 - 06:24 AM, said:

Are you sure you're giving it enough time to start up? After refreshing/reloading a set of GPX files, it can take several minutes -- and it will seem much longer if you're staring at an apparently unmoving, unchanging splash screen. On a day I'm planning to go caching, I dwnload the batch, restart the GPS, and then go have another cup of coffee. When I come back it's done, without fail.

user13371, on 22 April 2012 - 04:24 PM, said:

I can see why an impatient screen watcher might think it had locked up. Those who just go away and come back later will never notice a problem.

Again: I have a gpx file with about 1100 caches. It works with all firmwares til 2.70 (i dont have 2.71). If i flash 2.73 it boots once, loads the gpx (yes this time it last very long, couple of minutes) and is fully functional. But if i shut down the device it will not boot a second time. It turns on, shows the garmin logo and after a few seconds it turns off. At this point i have no other chance to get it working again than delete/modify the gpx and then do a three-button-reset. It has nothing to do with impatience. The device shuts down itself.

This post has been edited by knightswift: 24 April 2012 - 09:13 AM

[user13371]

KnighSwift - Do you have a data card installed? If so, pull the card and try loading caches onto intenral memory, see if that makes any difference.

[knightswift]

user13371, on 25 April 2012 - 04:48 AM, said:

KnighSwift - Do you have a data card installed? If so, pull the card and try loading caches onto intenral memory, see if that makes any difference.

I have installed a card since i own the device. On the card i have OSM maps, the caches are on the internal memory of the GPSr. Will try without card later.

edit: happens with and without microSD, makes no difference

This post has been edited by knightswift: 25 April 2012 - 08:04 AM

[sussamb]

I don't normally download betas, but I sure should have downloaded this one! My Etrex 20 that has performed flawlessly since I got it 7 months ago started giving me 'Memory full' messages yesterday then bombed. It'll show the Garmin Logo screen on switch on for about 10 seconds then switch off. Won't even perform a hard reset

I can force it into mass storage mode, and deleted all the files and re-installed from my back up just in case it was a corrupted file but still no joy.

Changes made from version 2.71 to 2.73:
Improved ability to clear unit settings on power up: now only requires menu key and enter key to be held when powering the unit on
Improved size of roads drawn on map in 'automotive mode' orientation
Fixed issue that was causing some devices to display a 'memory full' message followed by bad device behavior

Spoken to the vendor, going back on Saturday to get a new one

This post has been edited by sussamb: 01 May 2012 - 10:23 PM

[tr_s]

Sussamb: Have you tried forcing it into mass storage and placing the GUPDATE.GCD file for 2.73 in the Garmin folder?

[sussamb]

tr_s, on 02 May 2012 - 12:39 AM, said:

Sussamb: Have you tried forcing it into mass storage and placing the GUPDATE.GCD file for 2.73 in the Garmin folder?

Yep, problem is that while I can do that it then won't 'boot' so the GUPDATE file never runs. I even tried compiling a rgn file but that didn't work either

[knightswift]

sussamb, on 02 May 2012 - 04:19 AM, said:

tr_s, on 02 May 2012 - 12:39 AM, said:

Sussamb: Have you tried forcing it into mass storage and placing the GUPDATE.GCD file for 2.73 in the Garmin folder?

Yep, problem is that while I can do that it then won't 'boot' so the GUPDATE file never runs. I even tried compiling a rgn file but that didn't work either

Delete the .gpx file forcing mass storage mode and then hold pgdwn+enter+back while you turn the device on and hold both about 15secs. If this doesnt work the first time simply try again.

[sussamb]

Yep ... but that doesn't work, must have tried dozens of times. Garmin say to return it as it's a known error with no workaround, hence beta 2.73

[tr_s]

Oh bummer. The lack of a true hardware reset is again, a serious design problem. Every piece of consumer electronics should have it.

[sussamb]

I agree with that

[BlackRose67]

What software version were you running on your 20 when it failed?

[sussamb]

2.60 ...

[sussamb]

Swapped my broken Etrex for a brand new one at Go Outdoors yesterday, excellent service

[hydrodis]

sussamb, on 06 May 2012 - 12:48 AM, said:

Swapped my broken Etrex for a brand new one at Go Outdoors yesterday, excellent service

Agree with the service. Had to change mine when back panel lock broke.Not sure the new one is as accurate as the swopped one. Only tried once.
Can't test at the moment as done my back in. Happy days.

[tr_s]

hydrodis, on 06 May 2012 - 01:01 AM, said:

sussamb, on 06 May 2012 - 12:48 AM, said:

Swapped my broken Etrex for a brand new one at Go Outdoors yesterday, excellent service

Agree with the service. Had to change mine when back panel lock broke.Not sure the new one is as accurate as the swopped one. Only tried once.
Can't test at the moment as done my back in. Happy days.

You had to swap the whole device for a broken back panel lock? Mine broke at the second or third battery change as well (...great)... but then I just sent the lid back in an envelope to the store and got a new one.

[hydrodis]

tr_s, on 06 May 2012 - 01:10 AM, said:

hydrodis, on 06 May 2012 - 01:01 AM, said:

sussamb, on 06 May 2012 - 12:48 AM, said:

Swapped my broken Etrex for a brand new one at Go Outdoors yesterday, excellent service

Agree with the service. Had to change mine when back panel lock broke.Not sure the new one is as accurate as the swopped one. Only tried once.
Can't test at the moment as done my back in. Happy days.

You had to swap the whole device for a broken back panel lock? Mine broke at the second or third battery change as well (...great)... but then I just sent the lid back in an envelope to the store and got a new one.

I suggested just swop the back but they said they prefered a compleat change. May be because I went to the actual store.