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Device rebooting or freezing: eTrex 10, 20(x), and 30(x)

If a Garmin handheld device is freezing or rebooting there are a number of troubleshooting steps that can be performed to resolve the issue:

  • If the device is frozen, attempt a soft reset by pressing and holding the Power button
  • Remove any microSD cards stored in device. Corrupt data or incompatible mapping on cards may prevent proper boot up
  • Delete potentially corrupt files from the unit (to prevent the loss of user data the unit can be backed up with BaseCamp*):
    1. Open the device as a storage drive on the computer
    2. Open the Garmin folder:
    3. Delete the GPX folder
      • Make sure to empty the Trash if on a Mac
  • If the device is not recognized by the computer follow these steps to force a connection:
    1. Ensure device battery is fully charged
    2. Disconnect device from computer
    3. Power device off
    4. Press and hold the THUMB STICK in the UP position
    5. Plug device into computer
    6. Wait until device is recognized by computer, it may take up to 30 seconds for device to be recognized as a drive
    7. If prompted, install USB device drivers
    8. Release appropriate button(s)
    9. Backup device to BaseCamp*
    10. Delete the GPX folder
      • Make sure to empty the Trash if on a Mac
    11. Right-click on device drive
    12. Click Eject
    13. Disconnect device from computer
    14. If required, insert batteries into device
    15. Power on device
  • If the unit is still not functioning properly you can attempt to perform a master reset on the device.

Once these steps have been completed the unit should function properly. If you are still experiencing issues please contact Product Support.

 

*How to backup user data with BaseCamp:

  1. Connect the device to the computer using the provided USB cable
  2. Power on GPS, if needed
  3. Open up BaseCamp
  4. Wait for GPS to be listed on the left side of the program
  5. Right-click on folder below device
  6. Select Copy
  7. Right-click on My Collection*
  8. Select Paste
  9. Wait for the data to finish transferring
  10. Right-click on folder below device
  11. Select Eject