# Garmin eTrex 30x, how do I find the GPX files that I've loaded onto it?



## jokipea (Apr 14, 2009)

Received a Garmin eTrex 30x as a birthday present and I'm struggling to get it to work. The "Quick Start Manual" is useless, as is the Garmin eTrex 10/20x/30x owners manual I downloaded for it. Had to Google to find out how to load the GPX files onto it as it's not in the manuals at all.

Using info from here, How to - navigate tracks with an eTrex 10/20/30 I loaded on a GPX file of an MTB trail I wanted to do locally. When I tried to find it on the eTrex after I disconnected it from computer and letting it lock on to satellites, I couldn't find it. First off tried "Where to?" sequence in the Menu then when that failed tried "Track Manager" sequence, that also failed to find it. Thinking it might be a bad file not showing up I downloaded several others from different sites, all with the same result, they don't show up when using the menu to find them. 
I can see them when the eTrex is connected to computer, they are there in the "Current.gpx file". Downloaded BaseCamp from Garmin and it can find all the GPX files I've loaded onto eTrex and I managed to convert 2 of them into "Routes" by accident. These DO appear on the eTrex but being routes as opposed to "Tracks" I cannot seem to be able to follow them. Do I actually have to be at the start of Track/Route before I can do this?

Sorry for this long post but I'm more than a bit frustrated by this device and the almost complete lack of info from Garmin, you shouldn't need to Google info on how to use it, the user manual should cover all of this or have I missed it all somehow?
I did find the same questions from others when I Googled for an answer to this but no definitive answers came up.


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## Anthem1 (Feb 9, 2008)

Click and drag your tracks into the etrex gpx. folder.
They should then appear in track manager.
You don't have to be at the start of a route but you do need to be on the route in order to follow the magenta track line.


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## jokipea (Apr 14, 2009)

That's the method I used but they don't appear in Track Manager but they can be seen in the GPX folder when the eTrex is connected to computer. They can be viewed by BaseCamp but do not show up anywhere on the eTrex when it is disconnected from computer and eTrex is switched on. Puzzling to say the least.:madman:

Your 2nd answer confirms my slow thought process :blush:, not used a GPS before so it took me a while to think it through.:thumbsup:

Thanks for reply.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

Is the user interface the same between the etrex 30 and the 30x? Garmin has a tendency to change user interfaces from time to time, and stuff gets moved around on the devices.

I haven't put my hands on one of those yet, but every time I get my hands on a new model of Garmin, I have to fiddle with it some before I find everything I'm after.

Keep in mind, the drag/drop method is not the ONLY method to get tracks onto the device. You can use other software, and that software will put the file where it needs to go. Basecamp will do it. So will a bunch of 3rd party stuff. So will Garmin Connect, for that matter (straight from the web interface, assuming Garmin Connect supports doing so on the etrex 30x).

What's the original source of this file you want to use? Sometimes that matters. If you got it, for example, from another web service, it may have some funny code in the file that your Garmin doesn't like.


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## jokipea (Apr 14, 2009)

Thank you for your response.
Since it's my first ever GPS I've no idea whether the interface is different or not, sorry.

After I couldn't find the GPX file I uploaded to the eTrex, although it WAS on there as it showed up on BaseCamp and in the GPS external drive when connected to computer, I tried to load others, using drag and drop, from different sites, as like you, I thought that the file may be compromised somehow. But no, no sign of any of them using all the options available in the menus.
I did manage to find/load? 2 onto the eTrex that I had accidentally converted to Routes in BaseCamp but they still didn't show up in Tracks.

As Lone Watie, in "the Outlaw Josey Wales", said "Endeavor to persevere.", well I did and finally got the tracks I wanted onto the eTrex. Late, very late, last night I remembered from my previous Googling for info that one of the answers that had been given to someone else asking same question was to use EasyGPS instead of drag and drop method.
It worked great, no hassle at all. 

I have no idea why such a piss poor "Quick Start Manual" is included with the GPS, the required info is just not there and the Owners Manual I downloaded from the Garmin site isn't much better.
Surely Garmin know that for the users to get the best from their GPS, Garmin should do their best to help and inform by including all the necessary info with the GPS from the moment you open the box. Is there anything I've missed that is staring me in the face?

Prior to getting this eTrex, over a year or so, I read lots of the posts and threads on this site about Garmin GPSs, there were lots, lots, of posts/threads asking "how?", "why?" in relation to getting their Garmin to work and of course your informative replies :thumbsup:. Thought that it couldn't be that difficult, I was wrong. Maybe I'm technodumb.


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## Spec44 (Aug 17, 2013)

So, was the problem that they were in the "Current" folder instead of the "Garmin" folder?


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

Garmin's manuals have always been piss-poor. I work at a shop, and I'm the resident Garmin "expert" when it comes to installing them on bikes (with sensors) and then showing customers a "quick and dirty" on how to use them, because the manuals never really show all the important parts.

I don't know what Garmin thinks when they include those crap paper guides. They're not even any good for toilet paper.

I have always found 3rd party programs to be easier to use to manage handheld Garmins. Topofusion is my personal favorite. It also has a simple "Send to GPS" button. 

It's a little different for fitness models. I have a 310XT multisport watch, and it doesn't work with 3rd party programs at all. It loads straight to Garmin Connect, and to use 3rd party software, I have to export from Garmin Connect to get to the other software.


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## jokipea (Apr 14, 2009)

Spec44 said:


> So, was the problem that they were in the "Current" folder instead of the "Garmin" folder?


I'm not exactly sure but that may have been the case. I've deleted the GPX files that I loaded but couldn't see.
When I Googled for info I found this video, 



 which is the method I used to load the files since it said it was the method for the newer eTrex 30 GPS. Watched a few times to make sure I did it right, or so I thought. Looks like instead of the GPX files going to where they should they've gone into the Current folder. Not sure though.

I'd navigated from the Garmin file folder to the GPX file folder to the Current file folder and then did what he did in video but it was wrong apparently.
When I had navigated from Garmin folder to GPX folder to Current folder the Current folder was all that was there to navigate to, nothing else. Now it has the company of the Archive file folder and the Nav file folder which have appeared plus all the GPX files I've loaded using EasyGPX.

We shouldn't, as Garmin users, have to rely on the internet for the essential info required to actually use Garmin's products, Garmin are failing big time in their duty to their customers. I'd liken it to a car manufacturer selling a new car but with a complicated sequence of button presses on the remote key to open the door locks but not including that info in the owners manual and expecting you to suss it out by trial and error. They wouldn't sell many cars.


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## jokipea (Apr 14, 2009)

Harold, I'm glad it's not just me that thinks that Garmin's manuals are crap.

I'll bet that there's more than a few people who have bought Garmin GPSs, read the paltry info in the included manual, couldn't work out how to use the GPS, said eff it and returned it for a refund. I came close to that outcome and the frustration almost had me throwing it at the wall.

So, all seems to be OK now using EasyGPX but I'll have a look at your recommended Topofusion too. I'll also have another go at the drag and drop method to see where I went wrong, as I would like to know where I made a mess of it. 

Thanks to all who replied.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

Garmin has never talked about the "drag and drop" method. BITD when Garmins were Serial interface, you HAD to use a standalone program with a "Send to GPS" function. There was no other way. the interface was changed to USB, and you could navigate the device like a drive. Garmin maintained the "Send to GPS" functionality with their software (Mapsource, at the time - Basecamp came later and screwed things up. I still can't figure out that damn program), and smart users figured out the "drag and drop" method, and publicized it online. I've noticed that some devices make use of different folders. For example, the Edge 510 puts files you wish to follow as Courses (a fitness model only feature), into a totally different folder than what your handheld does.

It used to be, a lot of device functionality depending on the software you were using on your computer, so you had to utilize the software help files for many functions. On handhelds, this still holds true to some degree. Things have been changing lately, as Garmin is using web-based interfaces a lot more often, especially for their fitness devices.

But, even device settings and functions aren't even mentioned in the manuals. Not even a description of what is contained within the various menus and what the menu items actually do. I have a very strong navigation background, and so I know what those things mostly do. Maybe Garmin is assuming every GPS buyer has a basic knowledge, or that they are obtaining that basic knowledge elsewhere? I dunno. But I know from experience that most do not have or do either. When I pick up a model that's new to me, I do a lot of button pushing to find the various functions, because they frequently get moved around. I'm sure customers often think I'm an idiot because I don't just know...but Garmin doesn't make it easy because every generation gets tweaked operating system software that puts things in different places and a bit more rarely renames certain functions.


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## jokipea (Apr 14, 2009)

True, Garmin doesn't mention the drag and drop method but then again they don't mention much or anything that I can see about loading GPX files from other sources. Get the impression they're a bit like Microsoft with their bundling in of all their versions of browsers and programs with Windows so that non-Microsoft browsers/programs are excluded.
Garmin probably hope that their customers will rely on their programs like BaseCamp and buy their maps using Garmin site to increase the functionality of their devices due to ignorance of what else is available for free.

A thought has occurred to me, can I delete the pre-installed North America and Asia maps from the internal memory, not on a micro SD card, to gain more memory for Routes and Trails without affecting the workings of the eTrex? I won't ever need them but I'd like to install others for where I live here in Scotland.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

You can delete the pre-installed basemaps, but it doesn't do anything useful for you.

The route and track memory on that model is a hard limit not defined by available memory specs. What it would affect would be the available internal memory for map installation. But with that said, it's already got pretty much more memory than you will probably need. When loading topo maps, the max limit is set by the number of "map tiles", not necessarily by the amount of memory. The amount of memory matters, but with as much as that model has internally, you will max out the number of map tiles and have plenty of extra. What that extra will do for you is give you more space for satellite imagery. When using free satellite imagery (like through Topofusion, which is another advantage of using that program), there is a limit to how much you can display on the device (again, number of tiles). Thankfully, though you will receive warnings if you exceed it, a small handheld like that simply cannot display more than that number of satellite imagery tiles, as a result of its screen dimensions/resolution. Buying Garmin's BirdsEye images (which come in a different format) apparently avoids those warnings about that limitation of the device.

Before I lost my Oregon 450 (I am thinking of replacing it with an etrex 30x, actually), I used it with Topofusion in many of these ways.

One thing to keep in mind, the max track log size is 10,000 points. If you record at 1 second intervals, which I recommend you do when on the mtb, you will fill that memory rapidly. You can do the math to figure out how long it takes. I suggest using the setting that allows the GPS to auto-archive sections of your tracklog when you fill that memory. Unfortunately, those sections won't be visible on the screen when that happens, but you will be able to splice them together (Topofusion can do that, too) after your ride.

Fitness models function a little differently. Their track memory is defined by number of laps for the older models, or by time for the newer ones. Much older fitness models (I used to own an Edge 705 which worked this way) also had a track point limit.


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## jokipea (Apr 14, 2009)

Thanks for your advice but I realise I AM technodummy.

I'm a sort of self taught engineer/mechanic, having built several car engines for my cars over the years, tuned them for more power, also used to race 100cc karts so would rebuild and tune the 2-stroke engines for my kart no problem. But electrickery/computer stuff melts my brain, I suppose if I can't see it to hit it with a hammer I'm almost lost. I can do stuff on the computer if I have clear instructions in front of me but it doesn't come natural to me like mechanical stuff does, which I can do really, mostly, without thinking about it.

I will read up about map tiles of which I know nothing.
The reason I asked about deleting the maps was that looking at the internal memory info when it's connected to computer it says that it only has 317mb free space of the 3.63GB that's there. I'm reassured by your answer that memory won't be a problem, thanks.:thumbsup:


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

seems odd there's not more space available. My Oregon had 800mb of memory, and a higher percentage of it was available for map storage.


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## jokipea (Apr 14, 2009)

I might just go ahead and delete the basemaps I know I'll never use to see if more memory appears. Will also buy a micro SD card for it too, although I think it won't/can't be used to record Routes and Tracks, as far as I know.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

jokipea said:


> I might just go ahead and delete the basemaps I know I'll never use to see if more memory appears. Will also buy a micro SD card for it too, although I think it won't/can't be used to record Routes and Tracks, as far as I know.


I wouldn't do that. Might mess up your ability to install firmware updates in the future.


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## jokipea (Apr 14, 2009)

Aw FFS...........too late:madman:







It's OK, hadn't gotten round to doing it before I read your post so will listen to your advice and leave as is. Thanks.

It's already been updated when I first connected it to BaseCamp to try to find the GPX files I loaded.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

Yeah, but it's a new model. There will be many firmware updates in the future.

Here's an example of the troubles people have after deleting their basemaps.

https://forums.garmin.com/showthread.php?34881-Another-amature-deleted-basemap

After diving into the specs a little more, I see why a lower percentage of your memory is available. Your GPS contains worldwide shaded relief. Yep, that will eat up some memory. When you load topos, that'll help you see the elevation changes a little easier than just reading the contour lines. You definitely wouldn't want to delete those. Sure, it would free up memory, but it would be a functional loss.

Just get a big microSD card for extra map data. Those things come big enough that you can find one you'll never be able to fill completely.


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## jokipea (Apr 14, 2009)

Sorry, I hadn't meant it to read as if it wouldn't need anymore updates since it had already had one.

You can rest assured I will delete nothing at all that's pre-loaded. Don't want to go down that guy's path, especially without a working GPS.

Thanks for the info on why the available memory is relatively lower than expected. Will get a micro SD card ASAP.:thumbsup:

By the way, thanks for taking the time and effort to do this.


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