rangerman

Hi, I just had a recent problem with my Garmin 76CSx GPS handheld unit which I hope anybody could suggest solution to fix it.

I just noticed today after I turned off the unit with the off button the display goes off but I hear a continuous beeping tone and the only way to turn the sound off is by removing the battery. It won't turn the display back on again either by just pressing the button while the sound is emitting. The unit would work perfectly again after the battery is reinstalled but the same problem would repeat during the next shutdown with the off button.

This unit was bought more than 2 years ago and it had not been used that much...maybe less than 10 hours total operation time since brand new. It had been flawless until just today.

A few days ago I did update the software using the Webupdater and it now has the newest software from the Garmin website. I didn't notice any problem at all after the update. It's only today when I tried to use the unit again when the problem was noticed. I tried reinstalling the software a few times but it didn't make any difference.

I can't find anything on the web with a similar experience on any Garmin unit.

I would highly appreciate any help to resolve this problem.

Thanks.

Andy

Is the power button sticking down?

rangerman

Nope, it doesn't appear so.

Andy

Try doing a reset on it.

Hold Enter and Page while turning it on. You will lose all your waypoints, tracks, routes you have stored so back it up to a computer first.

After a reset it's a good idea to let it sit outside for 10-15 minutes with a clear view of the sky to reload the almanac.

rangerman

UPDATE:

I think I just isolated the problem to one piece of component.

I did what Andy suggested but unfortunately it didn't really make a difference as far as the previous shutdown problem was concerned.
However, while doing it for a few times, I decided for no obvious reason to remove the Micro SD card and turned the unit on. Surprisingly, it worked just fine. I then turned it off normally using the on/off button and lo and behold the previous beeping problem didn't occur this time. I tried it several times, no more problems. Just to make sure if it really had anything to do with the Micro SD card, I reinserted it and tried the normal on/off procedure. Sure enough the problem showed up again and I had to remove the battery just to turn it off.
As long as the Micro SD card is not installed there seemed to be no problem with the unit when I shut it down.
I don't have another verified good SD card at the moment so I can't really test whether or not it's the unit's card interface or the SD card itself that's causing the problem.

Is there a way to diagnose the SD card condition using the unit itself?

Andy

If you have the data on the SD card backed up, I would try reformatting it. I think the only way if you don't have a card reader on your computer would be to put the GPS in mass storage mode and format it from the computer.

macwacker

Am experiencing identical set of problems with my my 76CSX.

Any help would be most appreciated before I go through the Garmin repair process.

Macwacker

mike06

If you recently updated to the 3.90 firmware that could be part of your problem. Many users have went back to 3.70. Also if you have a class 4 or above sd card that could depending on which brand could be your problem. I am using a Kingston 4 gig class 4 sd card in my 60CSX with no problems so far. There have been known issues with certain SanDisk cards.

macwacker

Thanks Mike06

I do not use storage SD cards on my unit, only micro sd's for various North American regions.
The problem only occurs with one of these cards installed.

I'm sure that you're correct, that V. 3.90 is probably causing this problem - had no problems whatsoever before this upgrade.

I am unsure, however, of hoe to re-install a previous version such as 3.70.
I'm using 'WebUpdater' on a Mac. As you know, this app will only tell you if newer firmware is available - then proceeds to install it if you choose to do so.

How do I install an older version using my Mac/WebUpdate combination?

Any clues much appreciated.

Macwacker

iamasmith

Unfortunately you will need a PC or Windows running under Fusion/Parallels etc. to run the downgrade if you decide to do it.

The Webupdater won't downgrade for you.

http://www.gpsinformation.org/perry/...P76CSx_370.exe

macwacker

Thanks for the cheery news iamasmith - much appreciated.

Not the answer I wanted to hear, but not at all surprising. Garmin, as you know, has been very, very late in providing Mac interface support - and the fact that they have done it on a reluctant, half-assed basis is even more irritating. What's their problem? Laziness? Incompetence?

This is a company that claims to be the industry leader in all things GPS yet they can't cobble together a flexible little updater for the Mac world. I know 14 year old computer science students who would have this coded and tested in about 2 hours. Pathetic.

Garmin would probably tell you (if the truth was known) that Mac users are only 7 to 10% of the computer using universe so why bother?

What complete nonsense. I have used Macs since there WERE Macs and I routinely interact with companies on line that are much larger than Garmin with a complexity of product line and interaction that far exceeds Garmin's. THEY don't seem to have any problem servicing the Mac community in a thoroughly professional way - whether we're 10% or 90% of their customer base. Not to mention providing an interface that is equal or superior to the PC experience because of Mac's robust, Unix-based underpinnings.

I wonder what would happen if I returned this unit to Garmin? Would they simply swap it for a re-built unit? Would that unit have 3.90 installed or would I be able to insist on v. 3.70 firmware to prevent this infuriating situation from happening again?

Sure, I can run out and buy a copy of Windows to run on one of my Intel Macs, that'll be about $150.00 bucks here in Canada. Sure I can have a PC friend do this for me in two minutes, etc. - BUT WHY SHOULD I HAVE TO!

There is no excuse for this level of incompetence. If Garmin had taken Mac users seriously to begin with, we wouldn't be having this dreary little conversation.

This Macwacker is very pissed off with Garmin.

iamasmith

I know and I sympathise.

I'm totally Mac (..actually some OpenBSD too) at home and hate having to fire up Windows to achieve things like this. I also find its a pretty poor omission to Roadtrip and Basecamp for the Mac that you can't do basic things like you can in Mapsource such as select map areas and see how many segments that equates to.

Garmin will probably tell you to try reformatting the MicroSD card and then trying another until you find one that works. They won't ship you a 3.70 version 76CSx and I was told that they aren't even allowed to give out a link to old firmware on their site by support because of their ISO documented processes :S. (the firmware file IS still on their site but I forgot the direct link hence linking the other one in the previous post)

macwacker

Hi iamasmith:

I'm not quite with you on the 're-formating' suggestion.

As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, I only use Garmin-made micro sd cards that I have purchased from third party retailers. For example, when I go hiking in British Columbia, I insert the topo detail card that covers the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta and some of Saskatchewan. I also have one for the province of Ontario etc.

I think you're referring to re-formatting a data storage card, correct?

Best,
Macwacker

iamasmith

Aaah, you are using preloaded cards! That's something Garmin can't ignore.

I would be interested in hearing their suggestion if you just report the problem as is with Garmin card and 3.90.

It would be nice if they took this issue seriously.. perhaps they already are and are fixing it behind the scenes but it would be nice to confront them with an issue that they can't throw their standard problem resolution at.

I was making the assumption you were using a card that you had sent maps to from a DVD topo product.

macwacker

Is this something that Garmin will discuss with me on the phone, or do I have to wrap the unit up and send it back to the mother ship with a written explanation of failure etc.?

I have no experience with their tech services department.

Will be delighted to keep you informed of their approach to this one.

iamasmith

You can phone them or email them on product.support@garmin.com I have had no problems getting replies from that route in the past.

Good luck!

-Andy

rangerman

The problem with my 76CsX have been resolved by simply reformatting the SD card. It appeared that it had some files that were not readable by the unit.
For some reason the card was also used as a storage for my Canon digital camera and I discovered the incompatible files during the process of reformatting the disk with my PC.
Everything's back to normal now.

iamasmith

my last post got stuck in moderation... possibly because it had an email address.

The op has a preloaded Garmin card and isn't about to format it any time soon.

Try emailing the question to product [DOT] support [AT] garmin [DOT] com macwacker.

kitchissippi

I'm having the same problems on an eTrex Vista HCx after having run the Web Updater. I've reformatted the microSD card but it still does not solve the problem. The unit works OK without a card installed. Like macwacker, I am also working with a Mac.

I am attempting to zero out the SD card to see if that does anything, and failing that, I'll find someone with a Windows PC to get me out of this predicament.

I would caution Mac users with an older Garmin unit to not upgrade to the latest software for now.

kitchissippi

Update:

I figured what the bug is. It seems like microSD cards reformatted on a Mac (even though it is FAT32) cause the error. Something in the new update must be causing it because I had no problems with these cards before.

eixuian

I was mystified by the sudden appearance of this problem as well. One day it just started making that droning sound when I flipped the device off.

I concur that the problem is caused by MAC OS type files left behind on the microSD card. I have no idea whether this problem is caused by the update or if it is coincidence, but I do not use any MAC computers and have never used my microSD card with a Macintosh system, therefore the files must have been left there by Garmin MapSource or some other third party software.

I suppose I should add that I fixed the problem by deleting the trash folder from the card as well as a few other folders that contained what seemed like files for some sort of web application. I did not need to format the card, I just put the device into "mass storage" mode and deleted these unnecessary files.

Cheers

Bobtheapple

I am having the same problems, but with a Garmin Vista HCx. It looks like the solution is to downgrade the GPS. However, I have a PC. What do I do to fix downgrade?

zee

To downgrade, check out the Perry web site, it's where Garmin sends everybody when the "latest and greatest", has bugs. The site starts out as:

www.gawisp.com/perry/ Then I guess that you put in the unit
model name after the slash. I haven't
done this.

I did a google search for Perry's offerings, once, and it seems like that there was a copy of most all of the old versions for every unit, thank goodness!

kitchissippi

What size is you MicroSD card? I find my Vista HCx does not like 2GB and up no matter what kind of computer formatted it.

Bobtheapple

My MicroSD card is 2GB. It worked with my GPS and I downloded maps just fine. Since I downloded to the new version of software, the GPS wouldn't turn on.

kitchissippi

Does it turn on if the card is removed?

Bobtheapple

It does.

kitchissippi

My suspicion is that the new software has issues with how the old software placed files in the card. My suggestion would be to reformat the card with your PC using a SD reader or USB holder, then check if your GPS starts up with the blanked card. If it does, reload the maps again.

Bobtheapple

Thanks! took maps off card, put them on, gps works

xTerraCacher

At the risk of updating an old thread:

i have a 76CSx, turned it on the other day, and had the power off problem. i removed the SD card (1 G Sandisk) and the problem disappeared.

This card has been in my GPS for over 2 years, has never been out, i have not done an upgrade in about 8 months, and use the GPS almost every day!

The problem first appeared when I was out on a boat tracking, turned off the unit at the dock, and turned it on again about an hour later to find a geocache.

This unit has NEVER been hooked up to a Mac and the card was bought, inserted into the GPSr and has never been removed until now.

My point: no Mac, no upgrade, no new maps...

This situation seems to set aside all the causes offered in this thread...

i'm going to reformat the card and reload maps, i'll post if i'm sucessful or not.