Garmin Montana 610 issues

[Dirtrob1]

When you reload basecamp. Only load 4.6.1 or .2. Stay away from 4.7, which was the latest update from basecamp. When booting up basecamp it will ask to update each time. Hit later. Do not let it update.
And load your T4 maps to the unit not a SD card. GPS will boot up faster.
Also load OSM topo africa.

[Grumbles]

Thanks Dirtrob,

I have not had any issues with Basecamp 4.7, only the issue with Mac not being able to run 32 bit software much longer. But only Garmin can sort that out, and probably won't. The SD card with maps and routes created on 4.7 works 100% on 4 different models of Garmin GPS.

I have also tried installing T4A on internal memory... believe I have tried everything.

Why do you say I should install OSM Topo maps?

Cheers,

Grumbles

[Dirtrob1]

It all depends what you use your maps for! T4 or garmaps are good for searching for petrol stations, restaurants, places of interest but no better than OSm maps for tracking.
We use our GPS and basecamp slightly differently than many users.
We ride or drive a new route that appeals to us then save it on the GPS and load the track to Basecamp and save to a file in a library on a hard drive.
Ready for sharing. Then delete the track off the GPS.
The second use:
Choose an area to explore.
Open up Google earth. I have 1:50 000 grid maps on Google. (Obtained free form Govt mapping on disc)
Plot a route that looks interesting or has been recommended by other adventurers.
Save it and convert to GPX file.
Open on Basecamp, load to GPS and go for a ride.
Then while on the ride explore other roads along the way and save them.
And on the GPS run on OSM Africa Topo routable map.
No need for any other maps.
And we only follow tracks.
And it is all free.
Hope this explains how we use our GPS and basecamp.

[Sebastiaan]

When you reload basecamp. Only load 4.6.1 or .2. Stay away from 4.7, which was the latest update from basecamp. When booting up basecamp it will ask to update each time. Hit later. Do not let it update.
And load your T4 maps to the unit not a SD card. GPS will boot up faster.
Also load OSM topo africa.

Read about a similar problem on another forum where a one year old 276cx packed up. Eventually Garmin replaced the GPS and told the owner to stick to Basecamp 4.6.1, appears his problem has been resolved.

My Montana 650 started with 'Can't unlock maps' and eventually wouldn't route whether using T4A or the Garmin street maps. After several delete and reloading of both maps the problem remained. One evening while deleting and reloading I noticed that the battery doesn't charge. Replaced the battery and now routing is working (I use Mapsource), but when switching on the GPS I still get the 'Can't unlock maps'

[Paul Dold]

Considering this is Garmin's top GPS I am amazed that they have not sorted out all these hassles by now.

Very disappointing if you have paid that price for a Montana!

[Grumbles]

Considering this is Garmin's top GPS I am amazed that they have not sorted out all these hassles by now.

Very disappointing if you have paid that price for a Montana!

Jip

Anyway, will see what this one does, if still not working, will sell it and stick the the cheap Garmin Drive 40 which has been working flawlessly with each and every single route I have fed it.

Grumbles

[Grumbles]

I saw just now that Basecamp 4.8.3 is out, and it has been upgraded to 64 bit software, great news for Mac users.

So, lets see if this will solve my Montana issues, as I also notice one of the "improvements" is that they fixed issues sending data to SD cards.

Still does not explain why my SD cards runs sweet in a cheap street navigator but not on he Montana.

Oh well, stranger things have happened, I am just glad they upgraded the 32 bit design, so no more Mac OS warnings.

Grumbles

[Grumbles]

UPDATE

So I received the new (3rd unit) from Garmin SA, as well as a brand new SD card from T4A to see if my problems continue.

Now I am on the verge of selling this Montana if I can not figure out why I am still having problems.

I have now loaded the Maps directly to the Montana memory, made up quite a few test routes and sent them to the internal memory from the newest updated Basecamp on my Mac.

So here is what drives me up the wall...

Of the 6 routes I have sent, about 4 route fine, whilst the others give the same error, saying "no routable maps in the area"

What makes me even more crazy, is that when I send these 6 routes to an SD card, plug it into my Garmin Drive 40 street navigator, they route no problems WHATSOEVER!!! I have even got a route that starts in Swakopmund to Etosha, and when I load it, the unit quickly gives me directions from my house in PE, to the start in Swakop, and then as per my desired routing to Etosha.

So, If I do not get it sorted, the Montana is up for sale for a bargain price. Including the suction mount with intergrated speaker!!

If anyone has any thoughts, let me know.

Thanks

Grumbles

[hunter26]

UPDATE

So I received the new (3rd unit) from Garmin SA, as well as a brand new SD card from T4A to see if my problems continue.

Now I am on the verge of selling this Montana if I can not figure out why I am still having problems.

I have now loaded the Maps directly to the Montana memory, made up quite a few test routes and sent them to the internal memory from the newest updated Basecamp on my Mac.

So here is what drives me up the wall...

Of the 6 routes I have sent, about 4 route fine, whilst the others give the same error, saying "no routable maps in the area"

What makes me even more crazy, is that when I send these 6 routes to an SD card, plug it into my Garmin Drive 40 street navigator, they route no problems WHATSOEVER!!! I have even got a route that starts in Swakopmund to Etosha, and when I load it, the unit quickly gives me directions from my house in PE, to the start in Swakop, and then as per my desired routing to Etosha.

So, If I do not get it sorted, the Montana is up for sale for a bargain price. Including the suction mount with intergrated speaker!!

If anyone has any thoughts, let me know.

Thanks

Grumbles

Can you not go into the GPS actual settings and check to see what is different between the two GPS. ie when I needed to get the mapping programs on the laptop to work with the GPS, one of the forum members explained how to get GPS into programmers mode, one small change and it worked.

[Grumbles]

Can you not go into the GPS actual settings and check to see what is different between the two GPS. ie when I needed to get the mapping programs on the laptop to work with the GPS, one of the forum members explained how to get GPS into programmers mode, one small change and it worked.

No idea how to do that

I have even tried on a normal Windows PC, gives same issue.

[Grumbles]

So I have been playing around again and made 3 routes:

1. Home to Burgersdorp. (NO re-shaping or via points)
2. Home to Hogsback Inn (NO re-shaping or via points)
3. Home to Tankwa Karoo (5 via points shaped to include gravel roads etc.)

ONLY number 3 routes correctly... the other 2 give an error.

Driving me nuts!!

Montana for sale soon....

[Grumbles]

Right... this will hopefully be my last post regarding this issue... and the Montana is NOT for sale anymore

So it seems that I have found the issue with the problematic routing and also why it does not give the error on "normal" street navigators...

As most of you know that read this thread, the Montana has many profiles to choose from, each with it's own pre-set avoidances because it is a recreational GPS.

For example "Dirt Biking" automatically avoids Highways as one of its avoidances etc etc.

The profile on the Montana, that is best suited for offroading, is called "ATV/Offroad Driving". I selected this profile, and made sure that it avoids nothing.

So now to Basecamp and the planning... it is vital to select the same profile and also to set all the avoidances off, so to have it the same as the Montana. In Basecamp... I select "Offroad Driving"

And THIS is where the problem comes in.... Basecamp splits ATV and Offroading as two different profiles! And when I checked the ATV avoidances, they were different to Offroading!!

Once I cleared ALL the avoidances in ATV and OFFROADING profiles in Basecamp... everything worked 100%!!

I tested more than 10 routes on a variety of tracks and roads etc etc and all work!!!!!!!!

The reason some routes worked and others did not, is due to there being something to avoid that was different in Basecamp ATV mode.

And the reason why the street navigators don't have issues... they just do as they are told, because they don't have any profiles to choose from.

Anyway, this combined with the fact that my first two Montanas were DUDS (confirmed by Garmin SA Technical) had me going crazy.

All good now...

Cheers

Grumbles

[Paul Dold]

That is good news.
And I was hoping to score a Montana cheap!

I am not familiar with ATV?

[hunter26]

Fantastic news... Now you can change your Forum name from Grumbles to Happy ... PS don't inform the company that sent you the new GPS etc, they might bill you

[Grumbles]

That is good news.
And I was hoping to score a Montana cheap!

I am not familiar with ATV?

All Terrain Vehicle, Four Wheeler Bike or those small Polaris type buggies they use especially in the States.

[Grumbles]

Fantastic news... Now you can change your Forum name from Grumbles to Happy ... PS don't inform the company that sent you the new GPS etc, they might bill you

Hunter I had that very same thought!!

Yes I don't want to really tell Garmin SA, although they did confirm the first two had issues that they could not fix.

I will however communicate this with T4A, they were very helpful when we initially thought it was a map issue.

Somehow I need to send Garmin a message, maybe via the Garmin forum, as I think they need to change Basecamp and combine ATV/Offroading under the profiles. Or, they can split it in the Montana software. This will negate all these issues.

Anyway, happy camper, as I really like the GPS, and now it works!!

Cheers

Grumbles

[reebok]

[QUOTE=Dirtrob1;4102500]It all depends what you use your maps for! T4 or garmaps are good for searching for petrol stations, restaurants, places of interest but no better than OSm maps for tracking.





If you are referring to T4A I say bulshyte.