Garbage on my favorites list

Garmin clearly implies that it will erase all user data.

I know, but it didn't.

They also told me how to save the current file and reload it after the reset. Apparently the problem was in that.

I am unclear here.

After you did the master reset, did you fire up the unit to see if there were any favorites before you did the reload?

Don't remember. Probably not.

Doing a master reset will delete your favorites and upon boot up it will only display the 3 Garmin Site entries.

However, other than curremt.gpx,if you left a GPX file in te GPX folder, it will add it to the current.gpx.

Got me thinking,if I left my favorites file, that I named myfavorites.gpx, in the gpx folder, I would never have to copy it back to the Nuvi after each hard reset, it would restore it on the next reboot.
Not sure if it would slow down the boot process though since it would occur on each reboot.

If I remember correctly, Garmin made a new current file since my backup-ed copy was named current1.gpx. And, the new file was the same size as the old one. This suggests that, on bootup, the software will read the old one into the new one. Thus it only needs to read one file. Hmmmmm

David, nuvi devices never "read" current.gpx. It is an output only file recreated with every boot up. The purpose of current.GPX is to transfer data from the nuvi to other software such as Mapsource and Basecamp. The actual data that is written to current.gpx is stored in protected memory on the nuvi that is not accessible to the user.

Any other .gpx file named something other than current.gpx is considered to be an import file for the nuvi and will be read.

Edit: just reread your post and realized that I misread it the first time ... sorry for adding information you probably didn't need.

If you have other gpx files with the current gpx you can delete them to keep from reloading to the current.gpx. When you use Google or other programs to send favorites to your gps.The same thing happens.It will create a file with a gpx extension and load to the current.gpx but the temporary files remains. So when you manually delete the favorites and think you are finished. Once you boot back up it reloads it again. I always go back and connect the GPS to the computer and delete the extra files with the gpx extension.Since I use Google alot to send favorites to the unit.

...does Garmin tell you to rename your current.gpx file to current1.gpx before doing a master reset?

Have no idea. I always keep a copy of my favorites on the computer and a usb drive. Then just rename them temp.gpx to reload.

I believe you can find more information on this site instead of calling Garmin. Plus if you go to Garmin help page faq and plug in your problem. Most likely someone has posted the same problem with the fix.

My guess is that their official recommendation is to transfer your favorites and routes to Basecamp, then transfer them back after the reset. But the current.gpx renaming method is common knowledge among forum members. That is the way I would do it.

They make no mention of Basecamp in their FAQ,and I don't think my NUVI40 can use it.

Basecamp and Map source work for you model.You are just limited by what features your model has. Will have to spend time on how to use it.

I am pretty sure you can use Basecamp with your 40. I don't have access to this model to test it, but I can't think of a reason it wouldn't work.

Whether Basecamp would be useful to you or not ... that is another question.

When you do map updates, if you select the "install to computer only" or "install to device and computer", the map update application installs Basecamp. So it seems likely that Basecamp will work with any nuvi.

I think it only gave me the option to install to both. I remember that I had to use my wife's computer since mine did not have 7 Gb of disk space available. I'll try to get some time on her 'puter to check.

Not to get off track....but...7gb of space on a computer would be a problem. Your computer will be thrashing around and could very well crash due to limited swap space. You should try and get that resolved by finding more space.

Yep. Gonna borrow a USB CD writer from my son and archive stuff. Hard to get him to do stuff for me, considering HOW LONG I WAS IN LABOR WITH HIM....oh wait, that was my wife....

For some reason, entries that were imported as custom routes couldn't be deleted from favorites. So I edited current.gpx using EPE and replaced the file.

Current.gpx is output only.

Editing it will have no effect on your GPS

Master Resets delete the current.gpx file as well as the data in protected memory that is written to a new "current.gpx" file everytime the GPS boots up.

Garmin says:
Can I back up Favorites / waypoints on my nuvi?
Answer:
In order to back up your Favorites:
1. Using a USB data cable, plug the device into a computer
2. Double-click the My Computer icon (Mac users can skip this step)
3. Right Click the nuvi drive and select explore (Mac users can find this on their desktop)
4. Double-click the Garmin folder1
5. Double-click the GPX folder
6. Copy the current.gpx file
7. Paste this file to another location on your computer
8. Rename the file current1.gpx
Once you save a copy of the GPX file on your computer, you have successfully backed up the waypoints within your device.
To restore these Favorites on your device:
1. Using a USB data cable, plug the device into a computer
2. Double-click the My Computer icon (Mac users can skip this step)
3. Right Click the nuvi drive and select explore (Mac users can find this on their desktop)
4. Double-click the Garmin folder1
5. Double-click the GPX folder
6. Copy the current1.gpx file saved to your computer
7. Paste this file to the GPX folder (You will need to have both the current.gpx and current1.gpx file in this location)
8. Unplug the device from the computer
At this time the favorites you backed up should be restored on your device.

Because any .gpx file that is not named "current.gpx" will be read and then written to current.gpx.

The reset will delete all favorites you have stored as it clears the protected memory on your Nuvi. The next time you boot up the GPS it will create a new current.gpx file using the data in the current1.gpx file which will result in all the favorites that were deleted by the reset being restored for you.

If there are no gpx files stored on your Nuvi, like current1.gpx, then the newly created current.gpx file would be basically empty. It would then only get populated by you adding Favorites, Tracks or Routes to the device.

Isn't that what I said?

That is what I said in the first place. Didn't I?

Both t923347 and I misunderstood your question?

I think so. No matter though. I think we got it said whatever needed saying....