ZUMO XT2 CONCLUSIONS

[Javelin16]

@ AugustFalcon : The Tread app was developped for the XT2 as far as I know

[AugustFalcon]

@Javelin16 Here's a list from Garmin's website of the devices compatible with the Tread App: https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/773341#devices Check the previous page at that link, too.

I think Garmin introduced the Zumo XT2 in mid April 2023 (according to the internet)

In January of 2022 they introduced additional Tread units expanding their line. The Tread App was first made available when the Tread units came out which I believe was in 2021. Could be wrong since the earliest review of the Tread App was in April or May 2022 on the Google App store and that was still a full year before the XT2.

I wanted a Tread when they first came out but couldn't justify $800 plus

[Javelin16]

@AugustFaclcon Thanks for your info on what you call "Tread devices". As you can see on the bottom of the page of your link, the zumo XT2 is included in the compatible devices with Tread list. So, maybe not the first one but still a "Tread device" as you call them...

[Javelin16]

Just after import on the XT2, perfect results (3 WPs, 3 shaping points at the correct location, good route). After sync in Tread, alteration of the basic data ( 1 WP lost,2 shaping points location changed, 1 lost and consequently, route modified). This sync alters also the data on the XT2 (3 WPs ok, 3 shaping points moved, route modified), all this without using the route in Tread and thus simply from the sync between the XT2 and Tread.

@jfheat: An other finding that could be interesting. After the above testing, I deleted the corresponding route in explore with Tread.
Back to the XT2, two strange things:
1. When I look to the explore option on the XT2, the route, deleted in explore with Tread, is still there. Strange, because when you look to the marketing info on the XT2, it is stated "Easily manage tracks and routes across your navigator and compatible smartphone by using the Tread app". Not easy if the data you access by the option "explore" in Tread or on the XT2 are not the same!
2. More interesting, the route on the XT2 is now back to its shape just after import of the route on the XT2. The shaping points are again identical to the shaping points in Basecamp. So, it seems that the initial correct route data was not erased by the sync with Tread. The link was probably modified to the route in explore, but the initial data (probably in current.gpx? ) is still there. It seems that when the route is deleted in explore with Tread, the link to explore on the XT2 is of course no more effective but the link to the initial route data (in current.gpx?) is restored.

Interesting: this could provide a way around the issue of the modification of the shaping points of the route by explore. After the sync, delete the route in explore and on the XT2, the initial route data are effective again.

I need a carefull check to validate this assumption because maybe I did something else that influenced this finding. But hope is back...

[Javelin16]

A few additional infos on this reply:

When I go back to the Tread app after the sync with the XT2, the mods from the XT2 sync induced obviously a new sync with explore and the route is now modified in the explore db in Tread. Shaping points as on the XT2, but the route is now just straight lines through the new shaping points on Tread.
The route just after opening in explore with Tread:

DirectImportTreadRouteaftersyncXT2OE.PNG (262.33 KiB) Viewed 1675 times

The corresponding shaping points:

DirectImportTreadSPRouteaftersyncXT2.PNG (214.04 KiB) Viewed 1675 times

When I try to edit the corresponding route in Tread, error message:

DirectImportTreadRouteaftersyncXT2.PNG (358.92 KiB) Viewed 1675 times

The mods induced by the sync between the explore db and the XT2 are not very safe either way...

[jfheath]

I don't have Tread or the XT2 - so it's difficult for me to comment on the Tread beahviour ! Hopefully someone else will pick this up.

You said that after deleting in tread, the deleted item was still there on the XT2.
It can take a while for the XT to synchronise. It relies on the wifi conenction to your phone and the BT connection between phone and Zumo.
You can force a synchronise from the Explore web interface - presumably you can with the Tread program.
You can force a synch from the XT (also XT2 ??)

I'm not sure if both methods synchronise all of the data. I have suspected not in the past - but it is difficult to tell as in between tests, further synchs could have taken place.

I'll come back to it - 'cos I am curious.....

[Javelin16]

In fact, when I said that some route remains on the XT2 after being deleted in explore by the Tread app, it is like that since several days and multiple syncs. I agree that I have to wait for a certain period of time before to conclude, and like you, I think that a sync is not always complete and that some items are synchronized in subsequent sync.(By the way, no problem to force a sync on the XT2, like for the XT I suppose, but I did not find out up to now a way to force the sync in Tread, except from the fact that closing the app and reopen it seems to generate a sync)

I tried to retest carefully to confirm or not previous assumption. Unfortunately, it is not so simple, mainly because it is difficult to observe a consistent behaviour for the sync process:
- sometimes, after the deletion of the route in explore through Tread, the route remain on the XT2, but sometimes not, it is also deleted by the sync. Up to know, I did not find out what differentiates those cases.
- sometimes, after sync, an item is not in the same collection on the XT2 and on explore in Tread. The collections "unorganized" and "last import" are for example empty in explore but not on the XT2. And it remains like that, even after a lot of sync and several days later...

I tried about 7 or 8 times, deleting before each trial all the content of the explore db on the XT2 and in the Tread app, to be sure that both are empty. I succeded in reproducing the case twice, but failed the rest of the cases. I think that two conditions are needed : the route should remain on the XT2 even after syncs taking place after the deletion of the route in explore trough Tread, and the deletion in Tread should occur before the sync of the modified route in Tread with the XT2. But I'm far from sure. Difficult to check because I still ignore what makes the route to stay on the XT2 after deletion in explore... Most of the times, when I tried to reproduce this, if I deleted the route in Tread rapidly to avoid the sync of the modified content, when I checked on the XT2, the route was also deleted on the XT2... I clearly miss something in the process!

But what surprised me the most is that I'm quite sure that I tested my test route on the XT2 after sync with the Tread and that the shaping points were modified. After the deletion of the route in explore through Tread and after several sync, the route was still on the XT2 and when I open it, the initial shaping points were restored in the file (or it is another file that opens...). And it remains like that for a while (no more sync that could alter the file, even if the route is not in the explore db in Tread). If I had reimported the route on the XT2 without taking notice, I would expect then from a consistent behaviour of the process that at least it should then be synced with the explore db in Tread and be modified again on the XT2 as before. But it remains with the correct shaping points on the XT2 for several days and it did not reappear in explore...

Of course if the link between the XT2 and Tread is cut, the route imported remains with correct shaping points on the XT2 (By the way, the names of the shaping points on the XT2 remain exactly the same as in Basecamp in that case, not like what jfheath is describing for the XT. So, a good progress if that damned sync with explore in Tread could be avoided with Tread active)

[Javelin16]

You can force a synchronise from the Explore web interface

A few trials showed me that the explore web interface does not generate reliable results for the XT2. But Garmin indicates that any edits to the explore data should be made trough the Tread app for the XT2 and not through explore app ("... explore app does not support route creation for the zumo XT2 and Tread devices"; consequently, i did not put a lot of attention to resolve some interface problem between the explore web program and the XT2, making the assumption that it is also not the right interface between the Garmin explore db and the XT2).

On another topic discussed before, in the link hereunder it is shown that it is necessary to "Enable Garmin explore" when signing in the Tread app to allow the sync of data between the XT2 and the explore db. So, if I could find a way to disconnect Tread from my garmin account and then restart the connection of the Tread app to my Garmin account without enabling Garmin explore, I would then avoid the problematic sync? Deleting the app from the phone and reinstalling the app maintain the connection unfortunately.
https://youtu.be/URFZEK-wpaw

[Eltjo]

You can, just do a factory reset of the XT2, and remove the tread app, when reconnecting XT2 with fresh installed tread app, make sure you don't allow the explorer link. This way you have your connecting with your phone for calls, notifications, wheater and traffic. To get routes or tracks on your XT2, use usb cable or sd card. No more messing from explorer with your routes and waypoints

[Javelin16]

Bingo. Thanks Eltjo. That exactly what I was looking for. Keeping Tread active but without the automatic sync with the explore data base.
I discover before than deleting the tread app from the phone and cleaning also the cache of the phone allows me to restart the initial procedure of the Tread app installation. When reinitializing the app, I skipped the connection to the XT2 at that stage and reintroduced then my garmin username and password. When I went then to explore in Tread, the app propose to enable the explore link which I decline. But after that, when I connect the Tread app to the zumo XT2, even after using the Reset Explore Database option in the development menu (followed by a shut down and restart of the XT2), the link to the explore data base is restored automatically by the connection! A factory reset seems needed to delete this link in the zumo XT2.
@jfheath: you suggested me to do a hard reset a few days ago, but I first wanted to test if another mean was available, thinking that may be I skipped some needed steps to delete the link with explore, in order to avoid the factory reset. I should have followed your advise earlier!