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TimeTraveler

Maximum Pace
Feb 6, 2012
397
105
Hello TCC,

I have a problem with my Garmin Edge 800. After a couple of months of blissful use, my Garmin has gone on the fritz. The problem is that neither of my home PCs recognizes my 800 when plugged into the USB port.

I have tried FAQ and troubleshooting advice, but nothing has worked. I have sent an inquiry to Garmin about this, but I have not gotten reply yet.

I have not dropped my Garmin nor have I exposed it to rain, and I have no problems with the battery so threads I have read related these topics have not provided information that would help me to resolve my Garmin issue.

Has anyone experienced this problem before or has knowledge on how to solve it?

Thanks,
Kevin
 
Have you tried other USB ports on the computer? Maybe you have. I had a problem once using mine through an extension but it was solved when I connected it directly.

Do you have any other computers or laptops to try it out with? (I now reread that you have) If you get the same issue you could try resetting to factory settings and give it another go. I am sure Garmin support will go through all these steps with you, too. Make sure all the software is up to date etc...

I haven't experienced this myself but want to see the outcome as I own one.
 
Have you tried a different USB cable?
 
If you get the same issue you could try resetting to factory settings and give it another go.

Musashi, I have thought of doing this, but I have not in fear of losing training information and maps.
Make sure all the software is up to date etc...

I have done this, but had no positive result.

Reverse logic, try dropping it and getting it wet, then restart.
kiwisimon, I am very tempted to try this:)

Does it charge OK (ie, does the USB port work on a mechanical level?)
Owen, it charges fine and my kindle, wireless mouse and flash memory all work fine in the USB port.

Have you tried a different USB cable?
Joe, I have not thought of that, but it charges fine so wouldn't that indicate the USB cable is working properly?
 
Are they all PC (Winblows), or do you have access to a Mac? If it's a Mac there are some maintenance routines you can follow which might fix the problem.

No doubt there are similar routines for Windows, but that's a back art as far as I am concerned ...
 
If it charges, then that at least means the USB port is alive.

Do you have access to a Linux machine? Would be easy to check how alive on one of those.
 
Are they all PC (Winblows), or do you have access to a Mac? If it's a Mac there are some maintenance routines you can follow which might fix the problem.

No doubt there are similar routines for Windows, but that's a back art as far as I am concerned ...

snoogly, both PC have Windows OS. I have run RegCure Pro on my PC to repair any files or programs that might have gone a rye, but this did not help as well.

Do you have access to a Linux machine? Would be easy to check how alive on one of those.
Owen, no I do not:( The good new is I have just received notification of a Garmin response to my call for help. I will keep everyone posted of any results.
 
Joe, I have not thought of that, but it charges fine so wouldn't that indicate the USB cable is working properly?

Not quite. The USB cable uses separate pins for power and data. You can get some cables that will only charge, but won't let you transfer data, nor would they let the PC see the connected device. Of course the standard Garmin cable is not supposed to behave like that (only cables you get with some batteries). Though it's unlikely that only the data lines would break, it's always possible and cables are cheap to replace.

If the problem is not on the USB host (PC, Mac, etc) or the cable, unfortunately it's likely to be either the USB socket on the Garmin or the Garmin circuit board (e.g. broken solder joint, fried USB circuit).

Given that, I'd say you have little to lose from a factory reset of the device as your next step.
 
Yeah, let us know everything Garmin says (always good to get as much info on this kind of thing as you can)

In the meantime, with the Garmin connected, go to Start>Devices and Printers and list here everything you can see.
 
If the problem is not on the USB host (PC, Mac, etc) or the cable, unfortunately it's likely to be either the USB socket on the Garmin or the Garmin circuit board (e.g. broken solder joint, fried USB circuit).

Wishful thinking and damage limitation would say that one should check the Garmin software before writing-off the hardware.

A factory reset could do this, but should not be done before Garmin have their say, and we have worked through all the alternatives first; our man states that he will lose ride data, so if we can avoid that it would be preferable.
 
False alarm from Garmin; it was just an acknowledgement of my support requests. :oops:

Joe, thanks for the information and suggestions. I don't mind investing in a replacement cable, but as Owen mentioned, I would like to hear from Garmin before trying something that might cause me to lose data.

Cheers,
Kevin
 
http://www.linuxmint.com/

Burn a copy of the liveCD, run it, plug your Garmin in, then go to the Terminal and type lsusb. This will list all devices connected to the machine. If your Garmin shows up, it means the USB data transfer is working, and the problem is not a hardware one.
 
Yeah, let us know everything Garmin says (always good to get as much info on this kind of thing as you can)

In the meantime, with the Garmin connected, go to Start>Devices and Printers and list here everything you can see.

When I access my Garmin connect page and start the device, nothing happens. When I attempt to upload the page reads "No device found. Please connect your device now and try again".

 
http://www.linuxmint.com/

Burn a copy of the liveCD, run it, plug your Garmin in, then go to the Terminal and type lsusb. This will list all devices connected to the machine. If your Garmin shows up, it means the USB data transfer is working, and the problem is not a hardware one.

Will give it a shot, thanks!
 
This will just test to see if the device / cable is dead. Try it with a number of different cables. You will not be able to get it to access in Linux (maybe as a standard storage device), but it is perfect for testing.

If it is still alive, then it is time to delve into the software.
 
When plugged into your PC, on the Edge's screen do you see a picture of an Edge plugged into a PC above the word Garmin? If there's no picture, there's no data connection. I had this once before and it turned out to be due to using a cheap cable. Now I always use the Garmin-supplied cable.
 
Actually, thinking about it; reinstall the drivers for the device on your Windows machines and see if that changes anything.
 
I'm not the most computer-savvy person here, but I do believe that garmin cables (their wiring) are garmin-specific, so use something else at your own risk.

I would hesitate to try a garmin device with any other cable than a garmin cable (possibly for that specific model). So try any other garmin cable you might have, but be careful of trying non-garmin cables that may appear to have the same connectors on each end.

If you do, try it only for a short time (a minute or few, or enough to check), and then unplug.
 
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