Updating a Garmin SatNav

[Seeker]

I have the Garmin Drive 50 sat nav which requires you to use the Garmin Express pc program to update. The problem that I have (and many others judging by my google search) is that it either doesn't recognise the Drive 50 is connected or it says getting device ready for update and hangs there.

The first problem I haven't figured out yet because it seems to eventually connect on its own timeframe (of 4-5 minutes).

It should show up under Portable Devices if you launch Win11 Device Manager.

I found a tip for the second issue where it hangs. Don't switch anything off, go into Task Manager and quit the Garmin Express program, relaunch GE and it will then start the update.

It took 3.5 hours to get it connected and talking and 30 mins to perform 2 updates.


My friend has just bought a Drive 66 (I think) and it uses wi-fi and a phone app which works much better.

[Sir Trev]

I often have issues updating my now elderly TomTom, so only tend to do it once a year on a rainy day over my winter riding break. Connecting to the MyRide app can be painful and like everything electronic I'm pretty sure it's going to run out of RAM one year and just crash.

Infrequent updates means the unit sometimes believes I'm riding over fields when I find myself on a newly opened road. Bullseye may be derived from an adventure bike but the most adventurous place I'm likely to ride over is a gravel carpark...

As I also have intermittent power supply issues with the cradle I may retire the TomTom soon and use my old Android phone as a nav instead. It's got my PAYG sim in it and is used only for work calls, with data and wifi switched off. I'll never use the camera again so I'm not bothered about the IS being damaged and with off line maps saved to the memory card it should work fine. I'll see how this year's TomTom update goes and decide after that.

[Seeker]

My friend has just retired his TomTom because they want money for map updates.

[Sir Trev]

I think I have lifetime map updates but if I end up being charged when I next try I will defo retire mine. The screen is also getting a bit foggy and more difficult to see in sunny weather (short supply, I know) so that may have a bearing on things too...

[Sir Trev]

I got fed up with my month end prep and brought the Tom Tom in from the garage this afternoon. After taking nearly an hour to do the map update (no charge thankfully) I noticed the status bar said it has about 5% of internal memory left. This may be causing the repeated disconnection issues, but there's nothing I can do there. It only uses the memory card for tracks (routes) or secondary maps, if I'm reading the user guide right. Which means this was probably the last upgrade it will be able to cope with.

[embee]

Garmin is always flaky. I have a 595LM which has awful battery connections, these are almost always the cause of only partial charging. There are ways to "fix" this which involves tweaking the tiny connector pins and does work, but it's a stupid piece of design.
I've found that every time I open Garmin Express it identifies an update (of GE not of the maps etc), and I find if I let it do that update first then it will correctly identify the satnav when I connect it and then it updates the maps with no issues. But as said, it's always a bit iffy.
Having been looking at on-bike tech recently, the obvious route these days seems to be one of the various "phone repeater" screens which essentially let you have your phone in your pocket but you can use the screen for Apple Carplay or Android Auto, spotify, phone calls etc via wi-fi and then use bluetooth to a helmet headset (Cardo seems to be better that Sena by all accounts). You can download maps to your phone from Google Maps etc so you don't need to use data all the time, especially relevant for touring abroad.
I'm tempted to go that route, Aoocci are cheap and cheerful and seem to be fairly OK, Chigee are probably better performers but more expensive. Loads of youtube reviews (and discount codes) There are others (probably clones of some description).