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66sr no longer connecting to computer

Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2023 12:46 am
by CheminerWill
Anyone have suggestions as to what to try? My unit now powers on when I plug it in to the USB cable connected to my computer. It does not connect as it has since new such that I can communicate with Windows, BaseCamp or GSAK. I have not changed any settings. The cable was the same one that I have always been using, but I swapped it anyway with no difference. Rebooted the computer to no avail. I plugged in one of my Garmin watches and that connected normally and synced with Express and shows up in Basecamp. Plug in the 66sr and it powers up and looks for satellites.

Edit: Just thought to try my 66st and that also connects just fine as it should and communicates with BaseCamp, Express, etc. So something is going on with the 66sr but I don't know what to check. As I said, I have not changed any settings but I did look at the system>interface and both the sr and st are set to Garmin Serial. I also tried changing the sr interface to Garmin Spanner to see if it would prompt me. But no, it still just powers on and looks for satellites.

Re: 66sr no longer connecting to computer

Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2023 1:26 am
by CheminerWill
I also tried forcing the sr into mass storage mode following the instructions on this site. That made the Garmin logo stay on the screen for longer before it powered up. But still, after about 15 seconds, it powered up and started looking for satellites.

And, I removed the sd card just in case but that made no difference. All the unit will do is power on.

I also used USBDeview to look at what is/has been connected. There are two Garmin entries which is interesting in itself as I connect 4 different Garmin devices. See attached screenshot.

I am probably making this more complicated than need be but I just can't get it to work.

Re: 66sr no longer connecting to computer

Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2023 1:44 am
by CheminerWill
The time to edit posts here is quite short so that is why I am posting new replies rather than updating the OP.

The last thing I tried was disconnecting the USB hub I use just in case that was no longer working with the sr. No luck, still the same.

Re: 66sr no longer connecting to computer

Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2023 3:07 pm
by GPSrChive
Hello Will!

Almost always this issue can be traced to the use of a 'power only USB cable' instead of a 'data USB cable', but you have already covered that here.

Are you absolutely certain the USB cable is fully seated into the GPSMAP 66sr USB port? Is there anything in the port that may be preventing this?

Do you have another computer you can test with, just in case something has gone wrong with the windows driver for this device? Does not have to be the same brand or OS, just want to see if the 66sr is recognized by any other machine when a data cable is used.

Re: 66sr no longer connecting to computer

Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2023 5:23 pm
by CheminerWill
I will check all that again. I did, however, change the cable already. Then I used the cable plugged directly into another USB port on the computer so as to bypass the USB hub. I also removed the USB hub entirely. Note that my 66st, and both Garmin watches still work fine when plugged in to any of these scenarios. It is only the 66sr that is doing this which makes me think the issue is with the 66sr.

I did check that the USB cable was plugged in well to the port on the 66sr, but that makes me wonder whether the problem is indeed with the port on the 66sr. I just looked closely at it with a flashlight, and it looks fine, with no dust, dirt, or anything in it. That makes sense as the unit does have a pretty good cover for the port. I will clean it though just in case and try again.

I know I have not changed any settings, but just to make sure as I do not know all the settings and such as well as some: Is the only thing in the settings that would impact this is the System>Interface setting where I have tried both Spanner and Serial?

Re: 66sr no longer connecting to computer

Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2023 6:18 pm
by GPSrChive
Does the 66sr respond to the 5V charging voltage when connected?

Please test on a different computer to see if it connects.

Re: 66sr no longer connecting to computer

Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2023 7:04 pm
by CheminerWill
GPSrChive wrote: Sun Feb 05, 2023 6:18 pm Does the 66sr respond to the 5V charging voltage when connected?

Please test on a different computer to see if it connects.
Tried with my wife's Mac Book Pro and it is the same.

Just pluged it into the charger I have always used. Since I got the unit what has happened when I do that is the unit starts to power up. Then I hold the power button to turn it off and it goes into charging mode, showing the % on the screen. It no longer does that. It acts the same as when plugged into the computers, powers on. If I power it off when connected to the charger, it just turns off, does not go into charging mode.

Re: 66sr no longer connecting to computer

Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2023 8:33 am
by mimichris
I had this problem only once, I did a factory reset and found the connection. A bug probably.

Re: 66sr no longer connecting to computer

Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2023 5:18 pm
by CheminerWill
mimichris wrote: Mon Feb 06, 2023 8:33 am I had this problem only once, I did a factory reset and found the connection. A bug probably.
I guess I will try that as nothing else has worked for me. When you reset that clears all your settings I suppose so I better go through and make some notes. No way after two years will I remember all the settings I put in originally. There is other stuff also I should probably think about before I reset. This is not going to be fun.

Does anyone have suggestions as to what else I should do to make sure I have what I need at hand before I reset? At least the unit still works so I can look at and review settings, etc. before I reset.

The couple of tracks on the unit I have not synced to BaseCamp yet, I can export from Connect and import into BaseCamp.

I guess I will have to deal with my custom symbols somehow.

Re: 66sr no longer connecting to computer

Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2023 6:14 pm
by CheminerWill
Called Garmin support and they ran me through all the trouble shooting steps also. Nothing that I had not already done except for putting the unit into diagnostic mode. That did nothing to help though as even though the sr went into diagnostic mode just fine, it still was not communicating with the computer.

Also checked to make sure all Windows updates were installed and applied and they are. I was hopeful about that last one as I think there was a Win 11 update in the past week or so since the last time the sr was connected to the computer. I suppose the issue could still be an issue with a recent Windows update, but if it is that, why would my 66st still connect fine?? I suppose there could be a different driver or something for the sr vs st, but seems unlikely. Plus, the fact that it does not work with an Apple computer, and won't charge with the 5volt charger, indicates it is not a Win 11 or computer issue.

Garmin support said my last option is a reset. Although they were not optimistic that would help, I will write down my settings and do that. If that does not resolve it, then they said they will do a service exchange, whatever that is?