Page 2 of 2

Re: Several 66st Bugs

Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2018 3:51 am
by CheminerWill
Did not think of that but it makes sense. Glad not to find another bug.

Re: Several 66st Bugs

Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2018 7:41 pm
by CheminerWill
This morning, in Spanner Mode, I plugged the 66 into USB and answered yes I wanted Mass Storage Mode. The unit froze. Waited 5 minutes. Nothing. Then had to unplug it and remove the batteries to get it back. So the freezing happens whether in Spanner or Garmin Serial. I think I will put it back in Serial. I will send this bug report to Garmin also. Along with the files.

Re: Several 66st Bugs

Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2018 8:11 pm
by GPSrChive
Thank you for the update!

Re: Several 66st Bugs

Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2019 1:56 am
by CheminerWill
OK, another bug observation that I will email to Garmin. This relates to the powering down bug that me and others have had happen. After what I have described below, and thinking back to other times I have had the unit power down I am suspicious that it relates to the unit not being able to handle multiple tasks at the same time. Maybe I am wrong, but this is why I think that. When the unit powered down on me before, I started to notice that it seemed to be happening when I was exiting out of menus at a fast clip. I got the feeling that I was causing the issue by asking the unit to do something like redraw the map before it was completely done exiting out of whatever else I was doing. Basically I thought I was going to fast back through menus for the unit to keep up.

Today I was recording a track and marked and saved a waypoint while I was still recording the track. I have done this many times as I am moving along, but today I had stopped walking while I saved the track. I have auto pause on. I was changing the name of the track I was saving when the auto pause kicked in. The unit powered off. I turned it back on, started track recording and took another waypoint. I then saved that one with the correct name as I continued walking. I then had the thought that the auto pause had caused the issue. So I took another waypoint and then stopped moving. I purposely took my time with the process of renaming the waypoint to be saved, waiting for the auto pause to kick in. When it did, the unit powered off. I repeated this again with the same result. I then tried a third time and the unit did NOT power off. So on my 66, if I am in the middle of the "save a waypoint" process and the auto pause feature kicks in, the unit SOMETIMES just turns itself off.

I can not be sure with something inconsistent like this, but I think it may be happening when I am actually using the buttons to key around the letters to create a custom name. If the auto pause kicks in at the exact moment I am doing that, it turns off. If the auto pause kicks in while I am not actually using a button, but while I between button pushes thinking about the name, and the unit is "at rest" so to speak, it does not turn off.

Re: Several 66st Bugs

Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2019 2:14 am
by GPSrChive
CheminerWill, thank you for your diligence in posting this information here for others to see, and hopefully you send the requested .xml files to Garmin as outlined in the Common Issues page. Also, copy and paste this description so you don't have to type it all again!

Do not be discouraged, this is par for the course with any new Garmin device.

The bad part is, we have to deal with a bunch of annoying little bugs. (but not forever)

The good part is, we get to be part of a dynamic growth period for the device firmware, potentially impacting capabilities and features before a final firmware is released.

How many companies you know that let you do that?

8^)

Re: Several 66st Bugs

Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2019 2:54 am
by steerage250
CheminerWill wrote: Wed Dec 19, 2018 5:09 am I have also had the unit not communicate with the computer several times when plugged in. Usually just need to disconnect and reconnect to get it to go. But a few times, it was frozen with a faded out "GARMIN" on the screen. Needed to remove and reinsert the batteries to get it to come back to life.
I had this issue as well after plugging the unit into a USB in my car.

I have since discovered "spanner mode", which seems to be OK (assuming I'm not trying to go to USB Storage mode).

Even so - it is a spectacularly ugly way to fail !

Re: Several 66st Bugs

Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2019 1:14 pm
by GPSrChive
steerage250 wrote: Sat Jan 05, 2019 2:54 am I have since discovered "spanner mode", which seems to be OK (assuming I'm not trying to go to USB Storage mode).
I am not sure I understand. Spanner mode should work perfectly when you want to enter "USB Storage Mode".

I use Spanner mode exclusively on all my Garmin GPSr, as it gives the option to decide if I want to enter Mass Storage Mode or to simply remain running and charge the units batteries each time I connect a USB cable.

Setting the interface to Spanner Mode is similar to setting Recorded Data Reset to Prompted and/or Routing Method to Prompted, each allowing the user to decide a course of action for each event, instead of always following the same pre-determined action every time.

Re: Several 66st Bugs

Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2019 4:48 am
by steerage250
gpsrchive wrote: Sat Jan 05, 2019 1:14 pm
steerage250 wrote: Sat Jan 05, 2019 2:54 am I have since discovered "spanner mode", which seems to be OK (assuming I'm not trying to go to USB Storage mode).
I am not sure I understand. Spanner mode should work perfectly when you want to enter "USB Storage Mode".
- and spanner mode does work fine (in the limited period of time I have been using it) - it was in serial mode when it crashed. (This is my first experience with spanner mode (I had no idea what it meant when I saw it on the menu) as my venerable 60csx didn't have it)

Re: Several 66st Bugs

Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2019 5:40 pm
by Art
Hi, I can’t say I’ve had any trouble connecting to a PC, and have used Basecamp to send quite a lot of Birdseye imagery.
Mine has always been in Garmin serial mode.

Re: Several 66st Bugs

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2019 9:14 pm
by oldkingog
I have had a problem with total elevation gain and descent. When I have recorded a walking activity around my neighborhood for 1 mile in a very flat area, my GPSMAP 66s will show a total elevation gain/loss of about 700 feet. On my Vivoactive 3, it is usually around 12 feet.