ZUMO XT2 CONCLUSIONS

[Javelin16]

And then Basecamp recognised it as a Zumo, and it can then read the maps as if it was connected to the Zumo ?

That is exactly that.
A sequence of steps are needed to achieve that (I discover this process a while ago an another forum about satnavs, see the link below:

https://www.sorcieremonique.com/t13438- ... uel-sur-pc. Unfortunately, it is in french).

If it can help, here are the steps that I have followed (as far as I remember):

-create a folder "GPSVirtuel" on any of the hard drive of the PC. Name of the folder doesn't matter, just a remainder of the content for me.
-the current content of this folder on my PC is the following (two virtual GPS created):

GPSVirtuel.png (26.29 KiB) Viewed 1408 times

Start by downloading the "imdiskinst.exe" and the commands file "Creez peripherique virtuel.cmd" from the link above. Execute "imdiskinst.exe" and then the command file "Creez peripherique virtuel.cmd". The reader "VirtualGarmin (L:)" is created (L being the letter you attribute to the reader during the process just mentioned) and appears in the readers list in Windows explorer.
-Connect the zumo to the PC and copy with explorer the whole zumo (from .system to the end) on this reader. Of course it is necessary to show the folder .System (touch speed on the map -->speed 10 seconds -->Configuration and Settings -->MTP Settings --> Show .System) before connecting the zumo to the PC). If a specific map exist on the memory card of the Zumo, copy this file with the other maps (in .System/Map).

-When you launch Basecamp, the virtual GPS appears as a connected GPS in the devices list after the library in the left pannel. All the maps of the GPS are loaded but since it is now on a hard drive, it takes much less time than downloading through an USB cable (a few tens of seconds, depending on the maps). Don't forget to update the maps in the virtual GPS also after an update in the zumo.

- the reader "VirtualGarmin (L:)" can be dismounted after use. Right click in explorer and then select option "Unmounted ImDisk Virtual Disk".

-if the virtual gps needs to be mounted afterwards, just run the command file "Activez GPS Virtual Name.cmd", where "GPS Virtual Name" is the name
of the .vg file created by the script "Creez peripherique virtuel.cmd".

Up to now, I did not create a virtual GPS for the XT2 because I try to stay with the sequence MRA-->XT2 and not going through MRA-->Basecamp-->XT2. But I could if requested do it for the XT2 to check if all this is still applicable to the XT2...

[jfheath]

Many thanks for those - and the description of the way that you have managed to get the maps loaded.

I am not all surprised by the Basecamp to tread to Zumo XT2 scenario. You might find the link here interesting - it is my attempt to get a Basecamp route into Explore and then to the XT. Just to see how it behaved. Illustrated.

If you delete the tread app on your phone app and re-install it from scratch, I can't see how it can reconnect to the Tread/Explore website and databas - unless your phone keeps its data. IT sounds as though you did that - but just in case .... Simply forcing the app to stop doesn't work with drive. It means that you have to go through the install process again - I used Drive for other things, but not for Explore. You may need to do a hard reset.

Current.gpx typically contains the data that has been imported into the Zumo - routes, tracks, favourites/waypoints. It can be deleted - as can temp.gpx. But you lose that data, and you must perform a full power down and reboot, during which it will re-create the empty initialised files that it needs. Best to delete Favourites, routes and track (and history) on the XT2 first.

Other than that - it may need a complete system reset ? (Is the Reset Exolore Database on the XT2 in the same place - ie in with the hidden system menus ).

[Peobody]

Am I understanding correctly that the contents of the XT2 Internal Storage on a virtual drive is recognized by Basecamp but the XT2 connected to the PC is not?

FWIW, having the content of the XT Internal Storage on a flash drive works just like a virtual drive. I used a USB drive early in my XT/Basecamp experience when I was struggling with getting a map installed on my PC. I don't recall having to copy the entire content of Internal Storage to the USB drive but don't recall the specifics. I understand that speed is the advantage of a virtual drive over a USB device.

[Javelin16]

Am I understanding correctly that the contents of the XT2 Internal Storage on a virtual drive is recognized by Basecamp but the XT2 connected to the PC is not?

Not exactly. Both are recognized by Basecamp. It is just that if the XT2 is connected, the map data have to be transferred to Basecamp through an USB cable, which can take a very long time. To the contrary, if the virtual GPS is connected and recognized by Basecamp, the transfer is from an internal hard drive and so pretty fast.
I also observed that , if your are patient enough, all the map data from the connected XT2 will transfer and be available in Basecamp. If after that I come back in Basecamp later with a new connection to the XT2, the availability of the map data is immediate without delay. As if the data were stored the first time in a temporary place known by Basecamp that is still there. I don't know actually when corresponding temporary location is no mre available. I checked that after loaded in Basecamp, the maps are not in the classic folder for Garmin maps data (C:\ProgramData\Garmin\Maps).I will investigate to find out where it is...

[Javelin16]

I don't recall having to copy the entire content of Internal Storage to the USB drive but don't recall the specifics.

True: I think that the availability of the maps data on the virtual drive is enough.I have one virtual GPS with only one folder (Garmin) with all the maps data. As soon as the virtual device is recognized by Basecamp...

[Javelin16]

It means that you have to go through the install process again - I used Drive for other things, but not for Explore. You may need to do a hard reset.
(...)
Current.gpx typically contains the data that has been imported into the Zumo - routes, tracks, favourites/waypoints.
(...)
Other than that - it may need a complete system reset ? (Is the Reset Exolore Database on the XT2 in the same place - ie in with the hidden system menus ).

- What do you mean by a "hard reset" or by a "complete reset" ? I deleted the Tread app on the phone and use the option Reset Eplore Database, found effectively in the same place than on the XT in the hidden system menus. Shut down the XT2 and restart it.(But I did not shut down the phone and restart it.) Is this what you call a hard reset?
But when I shut down the XT2, restart it and after that reinstall Tread on the phone, as soon as the Bluetooth link is restored between the XT2 and the app, the sync with explore db proceeds, without requesting anything about the explore access. There is not an install process on the XT2, apart from the Bluetooth link. This has to be restored anyway to have an interest in having the Tread app on the phone (if you want to keep weather or traffic infos for example).
- The content of current gpx reflects the content of the explore db in the Garmin cloud. If a new item is introduced or deleted in this explore db, so is it in current.gpx. If the content of the explore db is deleted in the Tread app, the current.gpx file on the XT shrinks to nearly nothing. If a new item is added in the explore db in Tread, the content of current.gpx increases, even if not imported in the zumo XT2 itself. The access screens to the content of current.gpx on the XT2 is nearly identical to the access screens to explore db in the Tread app. This access on the XT2 is not changed in any way by deleting the Tread app from the phone and clicking the Reset Explore Database option. The sync status on the top of the screen is just replaced by an invitation to install the Tread app. The content of current.gpx and the explore db in Trad are not strictly identical (some items are not in the same collection, some items deleted on one side remain on the other side...) but it is probably related to some minor bugs in the sync process.

To conclude, for me an option for the sync with the explore db activation or not is clearly missing on the XT2...Before that, I will remove the Tread app.

[jfheath]

- What do you mean by a "hard reset" or by a "complete reset" ?

There are two things that you can try. One is to make sure that the Zumo is turned off completely, not just put to sleep. This ensures that the Zumo re-boots itself and performs all of the necessary file management process that it does at the start.

To do this on the XT, and the 590/595, you hold the power button in for a few seconds (say 3-5) until the screen asks you to confirm that you want to turn it off. You press the red button on the screen to confirm

But although you need to do that, that is not what I meant. It is advisable to delete the tread app from your phone - the drive App was pretty quick at re-establishing its connection with the XT - and that happened after an update to the drive app. Reset the database used to be all that was needed. It is as though this was deemed to be too easy.

Anyway form the Garmin Website. (Also applies to the XT2 - I checked)

Master Reset.png (131.64 KiB) Viewed 1347 times

[Javelin16]

The problem I had was mainly related to the Tread app also.
I planned a new route in MRA with just a few POIs, shaping points and via points. I saved it as a gpx1.1 file to keep the shaping points in the gpx file. Corresponding file was copied to the XT2 GPX folder with windows explorer. Road imported on the zumo and everything fine and nice :shaping points remain shaping points at the right place, same for the viapoints and the road is quite similar to the planned road in MRA. Idyllic but.... after a short time, the XT2 explore db synchronized with the Tread app explore db. The Tread app modified the route in a totally inappropriate manner (shaping points omitted or moved to another place on the map, erratic corresponding route calculated, ...) and then after a few seconds, synchronize again with the XT2 and modify everything in the explore db of the XT2

I continue some testing (interaction with Garmin support) and found the following:
I imported the same initial gpx file this time directly in Tread first. Tread place the road in the explore db. Surprise, when I the open the road in Tread, it is perfectly correct (shaping points remain in place and the road remains identical to the road imported...). Then I go to the XT2 and try to open the road. I receive the error message "The vehicle profile used to create this route cannot be used with this device..." with a proposal to recalculate the road. After recalculation by the XT2, back to the hell: the road is corrupted (shaping points positions altered, bad corresponding road ...). After this, a new automatic sync and there it is: the infos in the explore db accessible in Tread are also corrupted and bad. Same sequence as before: imported GPS first correct then changing device, road corrupted and synced corrupted data in the explore db...
That not good news for me: even if I delete the Tread app on my phone, could any recalculation on the XT2 corrupt the transferred gpx?
I will try...

[Javelin16]

Hereafter, some pictures to illustrate the above post: initial very simple road test from MRA (road with 3 POIs that are shaping points), copy of the road in Tread just after import and after recalc on the XT2, corresponding gpx test file from MRA.

RouteTestMRA.pdf

(124.54 KiB) Downloaded 398 times

RouteTreadAfterImport.PNG (265.92 KiB) Viewed 1309 times

RouteTreadAfterRecalcXT2.PNG (262.99 KiB) Viewed 1309 times

Essai POI inclusion.gpx

(15.04 KiB) Downloaded 372 times

My major concern is the mod of the shaping points. The last route is not straight lines on the XT2 as on the Tread but it goes through the modified shaping points...

[jfheath]

even if I delete the Tread app on my phone, could any recalculation on the XT2 corrupt the transferred gpx?

In theory yes. A route consists (maybe) of a few shaping point and via points - which the route must pass through. Explore (and I assume Tread, since it uses the same database), does not have shaping points or Via Points as part of its route. It doesn't even have Waypoints as a part of the route.

The only way you can get a track / route to be transferred to the XT is if it is sent as a plot of the actual route - using a lot of closely spaced invisible lat/long points. These are fixed in position on recipt by the Zumo, but there are a lot of things that could make the route recalculate (edit the route, deviate from the route, traffic, .....)


With 'Track Trips' the XT gives a warning that if you edit the route, it becomes a normal route and it will find a way to get you to the end. The thosuands of closely spaced coordinates that hold the route in place are all lost. All it can do then is calculate a new route, but it only has the start and end points left. Fastest roads, motorways here we come. The same happens on a normal route - except on a normal route, it still has to pass through the Via and Shhaping points.

There are lots of things that will make the route recalculate. It used to be if the maps on the Zumo were different from the maps used to create the route - it would recalculate as soon as it was transferred. Original route lost. But again changing routing preferences, changing vehicle mode, deviating from the route, pressing skip, editing a route point. I don't know how much of this applies to the XT2 or to routes produced in the Explore database. I have never actually ridden one. I've sat at my desk to see what happens and documented it in that link that I provided.

But what you have said, and the examples and gpx files that you have provided - none of that comes as a surprise to me. A route on the Explore / Tread database has lots of points to keep it in place, but they can get wiped out in so many different situations. Its up to you to find out how to prevent it from doing this. The most obvious is to prevent recalculation (but I don't know if that applies to routes/tracks form the Explore /Tread database).

Aside:

Can I make a disk drive look like an XT2, so that I can load up the Tread App. ? Is it Possible ?