I figured out how to operate my nüvi from the USB port

I have a Blackberry Curve, the Bluetooth earpiece Motorola brand is what I have to use to charge the phone inside. I haven't used the BB 110v charging cord to charge anything else.

My Nuvi 200 behaves the same: the satellite strength indicator shows no signal at all after I go through the following 6 steps.

Has anyone HAD an actual problem (as opposed to a "potential" problem using a non OEM charger)? I've used every mini USB plug under the sun to charge my 350 and it is still running strong.

I'd be very interested to hear from some one that has actually fried a Nuvi with a USB cord... Anyone?

Since USB is a standard, the chance of a problem is virtually impossible. That was sort of the whole point with manufacturers going with USB chargers. No worries, no proprietary connectors and chargers. Whatever works with one device will work with another. The only difference you will see is some manufacturers support storage mode signalling and others do not.

I own a Garmin Nuvi 350 and had the same problem when connecting with a generic usb charger in the car. Here are the steps I used and it worked most of the time (just start over and try again):

1. Turn on GPS unit
2. Immediately plug in usb
3. Begin "tapping" the screen in the area where the "I AGREE" button will show up on the WARNING page (the tapping will need to be quick because the screen will default very quickly to mass storage mode).
4. If you succeed you will be greeted with the "Where to?" menu. If not then try again.

I think the reason this works is because the touch screen is now active and doesn't allow the usb connection to default to the mass storage screen which disables the touch properties.

Anyway, my two cents and it is free!
Hope it works for others.

I have used a cell phone wall socket charger, non-garmin, to charge my 760 without any problems.
I used it on a trip to Penna and the 760 is still working.
I wouldn't hesitate to use it again.

My father in law challenged me today to figure out when he attaches his car charger to his Garmin 200 it gives the (hooked to computer icon) and will not allow him to use his gps as long as it is hooked up to the charger. He showed me this long ordeal of holding the battery icon on the main page until you get into a diagnostic screen and exiting.
I tried several things until I used an original Garmin adapter in my own car. Works fine. I then got in his Volvo and now works fine. Seems if you use the original adapter you may not have any trouble. He was using an adapter that he bought extra that just had the same end to it. Looks like it must pick up a different signal if it is the original.
Skeet

why not just call garmin?

As your Father-in-law is finding, not all chargers are the same. Garmin uses a different configuration in that the Garmin adapters don't provide just power, they also have internal circuitry to put power on another pin. I found that most Motorola mini USB chargers work quite well.

Will have to try it. Thanks!

I don't have my Nuvi with me now but I want to try this.

On my Nuvi 265T, the unit works except I get "locating satellites". Still a handy function.

I had to go through these steps each time I wanted to use my GPS while plugged into my laptop. Fortunately I'm using a StreetPilot which does not switch modes when you plug it in

Good tip to know - thanks

Tried it with the 255w. It didn't work. Maybe you stumbled on an anomaly. Thanks anyhow.

seems little or no points either way

I created the shortcut to: %windir%\system32\rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL hotplug.dll which gives me the 'safely remove hardware' message. Then I am able to run the nuvi 765t in normal user mode. Worth a try for some out there. Oh, I have Windows XP.