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Garmin Updates- Cruel Hoax?

ricochetrider

Out There Somewhere
SO...

I FINALLY bought a GPS, mostly for the car- a Nuvi 1450 LMT. I figured it's an inexpensive way to get to know the technology, to get my feet wet, as it were.
After having the thing a couple months, I thought I'd plug it into my PC today to get some updates- what with them being "free for life" and all...

What a joke it is. First off, my PC won't recognize the device. It's been plugged in all day, and I got nothing, nada, zip...

or perhaps less.

I've tried it three ways from Sunday and still nothing. OK maybe I'm not the most tech-savvy person in the world, but I can hold my own typically.

WTF?
 
SO...

I FINALLY bought a GPS, mostly for the car- a Nuvi 1450 LMT. I figured it's an inexpensive way to get to know the technology, to get my feet wet, as it were.
After having the thing a couple months, I thought I'd plug it into my PC today to get some updates- what with them being "free for life" and all...

What a joke it is. First off, my PC won't recognize the device. It's been plugged in all day, and I got nothing, nada, zip...

or perhaps less.

I've tried it three ways from Sunday and still nothing. OK maybe I'm not the most tech-savvy person in the world, but I can hold my own typically.

WTF?

I have one USB cable that does not work with my Nuvi. Have you tried more than one USB cable?
 
I've had good luck so far with the updates. Garmin is a really good Company, if you're still having a problem contact them and they will walk you through it. A Tech will probably stay on the phone with you until you get it to work!
 
What a joke it is. First off, my PC won't recognize the device. It's been plugged in all day, and I got nothing, nada, zip...

Did you go here and check for map updates? Some units require some kind of driver to talk to the GPS. It's semi-automagic when you go through the garmin web site. It least it was when I updated the maps on my wife's GPS. Also, there is a link on that page to a PDF that discusses map updates.
 
There are quite a few good threads in this Best of Forum -might help.
As this will do better in the Gear section, I'll give it a shove over. Gary
 
Did you go here and check for map updates? Some units require some kind of driver to talk to the GPS. It's semi-automagic when you go through the garmin web site. It least it was when I updated the maps on my wife's GPS. Also, there is a link on that page to a PDF that discusses map updates.

I tried that route- and every angle I could find. Canme at it about 5 different ways, and downloaded all the updaters and whatnot. Never got the site to recognize my device- probably the biggest problem. Certainly, it's the first hurdle to over come. Maybe I'll look around in my closet to see if I have any old cables with the mini USB connector that will fit my GPS, camera leftovers or whatever, and try that. I'll also try to upload any software I can find. I tried to upload a thing listed as "for Windows" but no luck-
 
Perhaps try using another USB port. Some of my devices are port sensitive for some unknown reason.
 
Just a FWIW. Older operating systems such as Windows XP often require that you download and install a driver before connecting the device - or the operating system will not recognize it. And some hardware may never find the device or even know it's been plugged in if the driver isn't preinstalled. The Garmin website should have a driver for your OS.. and some info on installing it.

It's mostly newer OS's (Vista, Windows7) that automatically detect the new device and go looking for the drivers.
 
Try another forum?

Have you tried geocaching.org? Their forums are geared to another purpose, but a lot of good resources available.
 
Currently installing Base Camp, updated the NET Framework.

Yes the GPS IS on, or so I assume since it's al lit up & I was navigating around on it to see if I could prompt an update through its internal "systems" or some such.... it turned itself immediately on when I jacked it into the USB port. Oh, tried a couple different USB ports already, too....

Running Windows service pack 3, but I'm using Firefox. Should I be doing this in Internet Explorer? Or is there a Firefox update I need to know about or add-on, or whatever that might facilitate the interface?
 
Call Garmin, they are quite helpful but can be a bit erratic of late so if you get someone who does not seem so knowledgeable just hang up and call back. By the way, the cheapest place for high quality cables is monoprice.com - I always over order because they are so inexpensive and have spares filling up drawers. It's a bad habit ;)
 
Just a FWIW. Older operating systems such as Windows XP often require that you download and install a driver before connecting the device - or the operating system will not recognize it.

I have Windows XP on my desktop and I'm pretty sure I had to download a driver before I proceded with any updates.
 
Just call them , they will be happy to give you any help you need. I had to call them last week and the tech walked me thru the map upgrade.

Val
03 K12RS
NEPA
 
Did you install the Garmin Communicator Plugin? It is necessary for the Garmin unit to communicate with your computer.

FWIW...

Bingo. No, I hadn't installed that but just did. Let's see if that does it. Back in a bit- and thanks!

BTW I think the cable is OK because when I jack it into my PC, I get a green line going across the bottom of my GPS screen, then an icon with a PC tower and a cabled device pops up, and stays there... just tried another cable, got the same thing.

gonna shut er down and re-initialise. back in a bit.

Cheers!
 
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