Need Garmin 276C Help

[Gizmo]

O.K., finally had some time to work on getting my 276c up and running and have hit a stumbeling block. My puter and/or Virtual PC (I have a MAC) or Mapsource is not recognizing the GPS. With the unit on and in Virtual PC, it shows up as running but lists it as "unknown USB device". In Mapsource when I select find, it is not listed through Mapsource. Hoping one of you kind computer mavens can offer a simple solution. Thanks.

[RubberDown]

Originally Posted by Gizmo

O.K., finally had some time to work on getting my 276c up and running and have hit a stumbeling block. My puter and/or Virtual PC (I have a MAC) or Mapsource is not recognizing the GPS. With the unit on and in Virtual PC, it shows up as running but lists it as "unknown USB device". In Mapsource when I select find, it is not listed through Mapsource. Hoping one of you kind computer mavens can offer a simple solution. Thanks.

did you install the USB software?

[sashapave]

i used the same setup for a numbe of months, os x and mapsource via virtual pc.

RubberDown's got it:

you should run the mapsource updater from garmin, it will update your mapsource program and install USB drivers for the device

if that doesn't work, try installing just the USB drivers by themselves, avail. as a download from garmin.

i was using win 98 under virt. pc for speed. but you'll find out that mapsource runs VERY SLOWLY both rendering maps and downloading to the device (it compiles maps during downlod, which takes 20-30x longer on virt pc for some reason).

good luck!

[Gizmo]

Originally Posted by RubberDown

did you install the USB software?

Are the USB drivers on the Trip & waypoint Manager?

[Gizmo]

Well folks here is the result of my problems with Mapsource not recognizing my 276C through Virtual PC on my Mac. I tried the suggestions of Rubber Down and Sashapave by first checking that all the USB drivers were installed which they were, I then went to the Garmin website and downloaded updates. The result nada, still no recognition of the 276C. I then contacted Garmin and explained my problem and was told that Garmin does not support Mac even with Virtual PC on board and could offer no help, other than to say some folks have been able to find work arounds and make it work, but could or would not tell me what those solutions might be. So right now I am dead in the water as it were, pondering my next step. Needless to say I am not a very happy camper with Garmin right now. The frustrating part is I was able to successfully download all the software and use and navigate through Mapsource, it just does not recognize the 276C.

[sashapave]

Originally Posted by Gizmo

... it just does not recognize the 276C.

That sucks. I mean I can understand Garmin not supporting the Mac, but they could at least give you some pointers. What's your setup? Mine is a 12" G4 laptop running OS 10.3.8. Virtual PC 6.1.1.

For Virtual PC I'm running Windows 98sr2 (XP's too slow).

Depending on your setup, it should work. Mine has worked just fine for a couple years now.

Couple of things to check:

- Make sure your VPC Additions are installed. This is something I think you have to do while you're in windows.

- Try another USB device for VPC and see if it recognizes it. A USB drive or printer maybe.

- Make sure that USB is enabled under the 'Edit --> Windows XX settings'

Restart a bunch of times. Turn on the GPS first, then plug in only when windows in the foreground. Check the Map software to make sure USB is selected as the port.

Keep trying, you'll get it I'm sure. As a last resort you can start clean slate and re-install windows.

-Sasha

[Gizmo]

Originally Posted by sashapave

That sucks. I mean I can understand Garmin not supporting the Mac, but they could at least give you some pointers. What's your setup? Mine is a 12" G4 laptop running OS 10.3.8. Virtual PC 6.1.1.

For Virtual PC I'm running Windows 98sr2 (XP's too slow).

Depending on your setup, it should work. Mine has worked just fine for a couple years now.

Couple of things to check:

- Make sure your VPC Additions are installed. This is something I think you have to do while you're in windows.

- Try another USB device for VPC and see if it recognizes it. A USB drive or printer maybe.

- Make sure that USB is enabled under the 'Edit --> Windows XX settings'

Restart a bunch of times. Turn on the GPS first, then plug in only when windows in the foreground. Check the Map software to make sure USB is selected as the port.

Keep trying, you'll get it I'm sure. As a last resort you can start clean slate and re-install windows.

-Sasha

Thanks Sasha,

I will give these suggestions a try. I am running an I-Mac G4 processor with a slightly newer version of OSX than yours, Virtual PC is XP the latest version and yes it is very slow.