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The Colorado and a computer interact primarily with the Colorado acting as a USB storage device attached to a computer via the included USB Cable. Think of the Colorado as a disk drive in this mode (not a GPS!). When the Colorado is attached to your computer it will enter USB mass storage mode and it will become visible as a disk drive. When you disconnect the Colorado the drive associated with it disappears from your computer. Similarly, if you have an SD card inserted in the Colorado the SD card will appear as a second disk drive on your computer.

Throughout the FAQ I use the designation "[drive]:\" to represent the drive for the Colorado, normally this will be something like F:\ on your PC but depending on how many other drives you have installed it could be any drive letter. Where it matters I use the designation "[SD drive]:\" to reference the drive letter associated with the SD card.

The section discusses how static data (e.g. tracks, waypoints, routes) is transfered between the Colorado and a host computer. For details on how tracking applications can communicate with the Colorado see the Tracking FAQ page.

D1.) Can I transfer tracks/routes/waypoints to and from my Colorado using Mapsource?

Yes. The Colorado works just like any other Garmin GPS in Mapsource.

D2.) How do I transfer tracks/waypoints/routes from the Colorado into 3rd party software?

Connect your Colorado to your computer and upload the file [drive]:\Garmin\GPX\Current\Current.gpx .

D3.) How do I transfer tracks/waypoints/routes into the Colorado from 3rd party software?

Some third party applications do not have direct support for the Colorado using their "Send to GPS" function. However, most 3rd party software supports the gpx file format, simply save data in your application using this format and copy the gpx file to [drive]:\Garmin\GPX.

D4.) Exactly how are waypoints/geocaches/tracks loaded onto the Colorado from a gpx file?

1) Any new or modified gpx file in the [drive]:\Garmin\GPX directory is loaded by the Colorado at startup.
2) Non-geocache waypoints are added to the Waypoint list.
3) Geocaches in the gpx file are added to the Unfound Geocache list.
4) Tracks in the gpx file are added to the Track list under WhereTo?->Tracks
5) Routes in the gpx file are added to the Route list under WhereTo?->Routes (or the Route Planner)

Gory details:

This is the simplest gpx file which will import successfully as a waypoint:

<gpx>
<wpt lat="42" lon="-71">
<name>Test</name>
</wpt>
</gpx>

This is the simplest gpx file which will import successfully as a geocache:

<gpx>
<wpt lat="42" lon="-71">
<name>GC1234</name>
<Groundspeak:cache id="1">
<Groundspeak:name>Test</Groundspeak:name>
</Groundspeak:cache>
</wpt>
</gpx>

The Colorado needs to see a groundspeak cache tag and requires a unique integer id for each cache. It also needs a groundspeak name, removing the groundspeak name tag results in neither a waypoint or cache being created.

D5.) How many gpx files can the Colorado load from the [drive]:\Garmin\GPX directory?

200 as of the 2.54 Software release. Prior to that the limit was 127.

D6) Can I store a gpx file on the Colorado but prevent the Colorado from loading it?

Yes. You can move the gpx file out of [drive]:\Garmin\GPX or just leave it in place and rename it with a different filename extension (e.g. .xxx). The Colorado will ignore the file. There is currently no way to do this from the Colorado's user interface, you must be connected to a computer.

D7.) Will the Colorado load gpx files from the SD card?

Yes. Create a directory called [SD drive]:\Garmin\GPX and place the gpx files there. Note that gpx files loaded from the SD card are handled differently from those stored in internal memory. The gpx files on the SD card are loaded every time the Colorado starts. This has two drawbacks 1) all tracks, routes and waypoints will be reloaded even if they have been deleted on the Colorado and 2) large gpx files like pocket queries will be reloaded slowing down the startup process. For these reasons it is probably best to manage gpx files in internal memory rather than the SD card.

D8.) What is this file [drive]:\Garmin\GPX\temp.gpx ? I didn't put it there.

If you use Mapsource to download waypoints to the Colorado it will create this gpx file. It works just like any other gpx file as described above.

D9.) What is this file [drive]:\Garmin\GPX\GCXXXX.gpx ? I didn't put it there.

If you use the "Send to GPS" on the Groundspeak geocache pages the Garmin Communicator loads files with this name.

D10.) I've deleted all of the gpx files on my Colorado but some tracks/geocaches are still showing up. How do I get rid of them?

This issue has been resolved in Software version 2.7. If you are seeing this problem update to the latest software.

This issue is most common for Mac users because the Mac creates a hidden .Trashes folder on the Colorado drive (SD and internal memory) in /Volumes//.Trashes . When you delete a gpx file it is put into the .Trashes folder which is still visible to the Colorado. You'll need to empty trash on the Mac every time you delete a file or access the .Trashes folder directly and remove the files. There are similar cases where Windows will put a Recycle Bin on a removable drive (normally it doesn't) but several users have reported problems with gpx files showing up in [drive]:\Recycled with is the Windows Recycle Bin folder. Simply emptying trash or deleting these files should resolve the issue.

Here's another way to avoid the problem. You'll need to run this procedure on the internal CO volume as well as any SD cards you use in the Colorado.

Open a Terminal, cd to the Colorado volume, and replace the ".Trashes" folder with a ".Trashes" file. The Mac will immediately delete any files you remove from the volume. Be careful to use the right volume name!

% cd /Volumes/<volume_name>/
% rm -r .Trashes
% touch .Trashes