using SD card with Garmin Etrex

General cycling advice ( NOT technical ! )
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whoof
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Joined: 29 Apr 2014, 2:13pm

using SD card with Garmin Etrex

Post by whoof »

I have a Garmin Etrex. It comes with a 4 Gb memory but the supplied mapping takes up almost all of this. I would like to be able to create multiple routes on Cycletravel, load them onto the Garmin and then access them.
I've bought a 16 Gb SD card and installed it in the battery compartment as per the instructions. The problem is that if I plug the Garmin into a PC I see the Garmin (F-drive) but the SD card is a separate entity (G- drive). If I load tracks onto the SD card and then try to view them using 'Track manager' on the Garmin I can only see the ones in Garmin Etrex/Garmin/GPS not the ones on the SD card.
Does anyone know how to access routes on an SD through the Etrex unit?
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NUKe
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Location: Suffolk

Re: using SD card with Garmin Etrex

Post by NUKe »

Are you putting it in the gpx folder on the SD card?
NUKe
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whoof
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Re: using SD card with Garmin Etrex

Post by whoof »

The card is new and had no folders on it.

I created a folder saying GPX and put the routes in there, no joy.
I then put this folder in a folder called Garmin and there they were in Track Manager.

Many thanks
Tao
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Re: using SD card with Garmin Etrex

Post by Tao »

:idea:
Last edited by Tao on 26 Dec 2020, 10:47pm, edited 1 time in total.
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RickH
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Re: using SD card with Garmin Etrex

Post by RickH »

I have found tha entire folder structure from the unit needs to be replicated on the SD card. This usually starts with a Garmin folder at the top level and there may be intermediate subfolders before you get to the gpx folder (I don't have one to check the details).

Also, I used to use an Edge 605 & found with that there was a limit to how many routes it would index (or possibly an overall limit of entries for everything). If I loaded too many they were still on the device, and could be seen when connected to a computer, but weren't listed if you tried to access them. If you deleted the other routes they would then show up. I have an edge 1000 now & haven't encountered this sort of problem - yet!
Former member of the Cult of the Polystyrene Head Carbuncle.
whoof
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Joined: 29 Apr 2014, 2:13pm

Re: using SD card with Garmin Etrex

Post by whoof »

Tao wrote:These pages are a good source of info for all things Etrex.

Thanks that looks a lot better than the manual.
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Mick F
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Re: using SD card with Garmin Etrex

Post by Mick F »

Dunno about an Etrex, but with the other Garmin devices I've used, the SD cards need formatting.
Mick F. Cornwall
jacksonz
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Re: using SD card with Garmin Etrex

Post by jacksonz »

Create the following directory on the microSD card: Garmin/GPX/My Tracks
Put your GPX tracks into the My Tracks folder. That's it.
cotswolds
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Re: using SD card with Garmin Etrex

Post by cotswolds »

Which etrex? On mine (quite old, venture cx, I think) you can put tracks on the sd card but it ignores them. You can only put useful tracks in via a USB wire from a PC or something else that will talk the garmin protocol. I think newer ones are different.
whoof
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Re: using SD card with Garmin Etrex

Post by whoof »

cotswolds wrote:Which etrex? On mine (quite old, venture cx, I think) you can put tracks on the sd card but it ignores them. You can only put useful tracks in via a USB wire from a PC or something else that will talk the garmin protocol. I think newer ones are different.


It's an Etrex 20x. I can now see the tracks via the Garmin that I've uploaded on the SD card through 'Track Manager' as per my post yesterday 4.44 pm.
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