When this error appears:
- If you select OK, it will try contacting the server again, but the same error will re-appear.
- If you select Cancel, the transfer attempt stops.
Select your product to confirm this information applies to you
"Error Contacting Garmin Servers" in BaseCamp When Transferring Data
When transferring data from BaseCamp™ software to your device, you may encounter a popup that says its trying to verify a BirdsEye Imagery Device Activation.
If you do not recall having had a BirdsEye subscription, this popup is likely caused by preloaded BirdsEye images1 from your device that have been backed up to BaseCamp software. When trying to transfer data to the device, BaseCamp software then tries to verify an active BirdsEye subscription for these images, which fails and results in the error Error contacting Garmin servers.
To resolve this issue, either the preloaded BirdsEye images should be deleted from the BaseCamp program and the device, or you can just select specific data, excluding the BirdsEye images, to send to your device.
Deleting Preloaded BirdsEye Images From BaseCamp Software
- Open BaseCamp program.
- Select My Collection from the top left panel under Library.
- Scroll down the bottom left panel to locate the BirdsEye images.
NOTE: These are indicated by
and will have names such as Mount Blanc, Snowdon, Zell Am See, etc. - Right-click an image name.
- Select Delete.
- Perform steps 2-5 for any additional images.
Deleting Preloaded BirdsEye Images From a Device
- Plug your device in to the computer.
- Open BaseCamp program.
- Select your device memory from the top left panel.
- Windows: Select Internal Storage folder under Devices.
- Mac: Select device name (ie. GPSMAP® 64s) under Garmin Devices.
- Scroll down the lower left panel to locate the BirdsEye images.
NOTE: These are indicated by and will have names such as Mount Blanc, Snowdon, Zell Am See, etc. - Right-click an image name.
- Select Delete.
- Perform steps 1-6 for other handhelds that may also have these images.
You should no longer encounter the error when transferring data to your device.
You may have previously had a BirdsEye subscription that has now expired and just want to transfer data to your device. You will get a BirdsEye server error when trying to transfer BirdsEye images with an expired subscription. You can select specific data, excluding the BirdsEye images, to send to your device.
Windows
- Open BaseCamp program.
- Select the List Folder or List under Library that contains the data you wish to send to the device.
- The files contained in the folder or list will now be shown in the lower-left panel.
- Select only the data you wish to send, excluding any BirdsEye image files.
- To select multiple items, press and hold Ctrl, then click the items. To select multiple adjacent items, click the first item, then press and hold Shift and click the last item.
NOTE: Do not include any BirdsEye images in the selection. These files are indicated by.
- To select multiple items, press and hold Ctrl, then click the items. To select multiple adjacent items, click the first item, then press and hold Shift and click the last item.
- Select Device in the top menu.
- Select Send to Device.
- Select Send Selection to Device...
- Select the device.
- Select OK.
The selected items should now be transferred without any errors.
Mac
- Open BaseCamp program.
- Select the List Folder or List under Library that contains the data you wish to send to the device.
- The files contained in the folder or list will now be shown in the lower-left panel.
- Select only the data you wish to send, excluding any BirdsEye image files.
- To select multiple items, press and hold the Command key, then click the items. To select multiple adjacent items, click the first item, then press and hold Shift and click the last item.
NOTE: Do not include any BirdsEye images in the selection. These files are indicated by.
- To select multiple items, press and hold the Command key, then click the items. To select multiple adjacent items, click the first item, then press and hold Shift and click the last item.
- Click and drag one of the selected files onto your Garmin device listed under My Garmin Devices.
- When one of the selected items is dropped onto the Garmin device, all selected items will be transferred.
The selected items should now be transferred without any errors.
Fore more information on transferring files using Garmin BaseCamp software, see - Backing up, Viewing, and Transferring Data Using Garmin BaseCamp™.
1 Most handheld devices have preloaded BirdsEye images (such as Grand Canyon or Select France/Great Britain, etc.) as a way to see how imagery looks without purchasing a subscription. If you want to learn more or purchase a subscription, see Related.