A question (alternating between two Garmin GPS devices)

 

I'm embarrassed by having to ask this (and too lazy to try and figure it out), so here goes.

Scenario:

I have two Garmin GPS devices and alternate between them every month so as to keep the batteries happy and have a recent almanac, etc.

Let's say both devices have the same 90 Saved Places (Favorites, or whatever).

Now, if the device in use adds a new Saved Placed, I know I can use the Utilities in Garmin Express and backup the saved places to my computer with the 90 locations plus the new one for a new total of 91.

I can then use Garmin Express' Utilities to restore/transfer the 91-place to the alternate GPS that just has the original 90 locations.

Here's the question: If I transfer the new 91-location file to the GPS with just 90 locations, will I have the desired 91 Saved Places, or will I have 181 places, with them being 90 locations, each offered twice, plus the one new one?

If the answer is 181, then is it best to first delete all Saved Places in the 90-place device, then transfer, with Garmin Express, the newer 91-location data?

I haven't done that. I've

I haven't done that. I've always used Basecamp to move Favorites around. It will only add new ones when trading back and forth.

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Frank DriveSmart55 37.322760, -79.511267

I would delete first.

Like phranc, I have never performed the sequence of tasks you are doing. But if I were doing it, I would first delete the old saved places before copying in the new ones from the other device. It just seems to me that would be the cleanest option without risk. Of course worst case is if you end up with duplicates, you can always delete the whole mess and reimport the clean file.

If there is a chance you have added new different places to each of the two units since syncing then you would need a different approach.

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Alan - Android Auto, DriveLuxe 51LMT-S, DriveLuxe 50LMTHD, Nuvi 3597LMTHD, Oregon 550T, Nuvi 855, Nuvi 755T, Lowrance Endura Sierra, Bosch Nyon

Maybe a dumb question

But wouldn't it be just as easy to copy and paste the GPX file?

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Nuvi 2797LMT, DriveSmart 50 LMT-HD, Using Windows 10. DashCam A108C with GPS.

You could. I just move an SD

You could. I just move an SD card between my units.

Edit: Let me expand. I use Basecamp and a SD Card. I use a list of Favorites in My Collection to keep both updated.

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Frank DriveSmart55 37.322760, -79.511267

Memory

Melaqueman wrote:

But wouldn't it be just as easy to copy and paste the GPX file?

This is above my pay grade but I think that Favorites are stored in some protected memory in the Garmins and there are hoops to jump through to get the desired results with the copying or the desire to delete Favorites gpx files. I've ignored the procedure since there are easier ways to do what I want—at least I think so. Ditto for using Basecamp. I never found a need to really use it or Mapsource enough to feel comfortable with it. But then, I also use Notepad to create my text csv POI files since I don't want to use a spreadsheet and my little experience with EPE wasn't fun either. redface

Thanks for the advice, everyone. exclaim

Extrapolating from there...

CraigW wrote:

I'm embarrassed by having to ask this (and too lazy to try and figure it out), so here goes.

Scenario:

I have two Garmin GPS devices and alternate between them every month so as to keep the batteries happy and have a recent almanac, etc.

Let's say both devices have the same 90 Saved Places (Favorites, or whatever).

Now, if the device in use adds a new Saved Placed, I know I can use the Utilities in Garmin Express and backup the saved places to my computer with the 90 locations plus the new one for a new total of 91.

I can then use Garmin Express' Utilities to restore/transfer the 91-place to the alternate GPS that just has the original 90 locations.

Here's the question: If I transfer the new 91-location file to the GPS with just 90 locations, will I have the desired 91 Saved Places, or will I have 181 places, with them being 90 locations, each offered twice, plus the one new one?

If the answer is 181, then is it best to first delete all Saved Places in the 90-place device, then transfer, with Garmin Express, the newer 91-location data?

If you perform a restore without having made any changes I'd bet that you end up with what you want. You will not end up with double entries. Extrapolating from there...

Not quite

Melaqueman wrote:

But wouldn't it be just as easy to copy and paste the GPX file?

Not if you just copy current.gpx across as it is simply a one way copy of what is in inaccessible internal memory, and a new current.gpx is created from that internal memory on boot up.

You would need to rename it to anything other than current.gpx eg temp.gpx, as a Garmin on boot up looks for any new .gpx file, merges it with what is in that inaccessible memory and rewrites the current.gpx file

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Where there's a will ... there's a way ... DriveSmart51LMT-S, DriveSmart50LMT-D, Nuvi 2508LMT-D, 1490LMT, 1310, Montana 650T, Etrex 20

I would delete favorites first..

before transfering to a unit. I have seen where it simply adds the favorites to what is already on a unit making double entries. I have 2 units as well. Assuming you have two units on Garmin express I would backup each one after the transfer so GE isn't going to have an old copy of favorites.

Thanks

Frside007 wrote:

before transfering to a unit. I have seen where it simply adds the favorites to what is already on a unit making double entries. I have 2 units as well. Assuming you have two units on Garmin express I would backup each one after the transfer so GE isn't going to have an old copy of favorites.

Thanks. smile

Backup the Favorites, and then Delete them.

Backup the favorites in each device. Delete all of the old favorites. Then restore the new favorites. Otherwise, everything gets duplicated and becomes a big mess.

Duplicate Waypoints

Whenever I add favorites or waypoints via Basecamp or Mapsource, I usually get duplicates. I either delete all before uploading or swap SD cards as mentioned above.

I listened

When using my Garmin Express method for Backup and Transfer, the overwhelming consensus is to delete the Saved Places in the to-be-updated device before transferring Backed Up Saved Places from a device with updated locations.

Being lazy, I didn't try doing the transfer without a deletion first to see if I really would get duplicates and I will assume duplicates would appear which would not be good.

The Backup/Delete/Transfer process works fine using Garmin Express and is a good way to have multiple devices use the same current list of saved places. As others have pointed out, this can also be done using the old Mapsource or Basecamp programs from Garmin and also can be done by using a computer to rename/copy/paste a file to the GPS device using sussamb's method.

Thanks for the suggestions and help.