1. Garmin Etrex Vista Hard Reset

1. ETrex HC series Owner’s Manual i IntroductIon IntroductIon Thank you for choosing the Garmin® eTrex Vista® HCx, eTrex Legend ® HCx, eTrex Summit HC, or eTrex Venture® HC. These units use the proven performance of Garmin high-sensitivity GPS and full-featured mapping to create an unsurpassed portable GPS receiver. The eTrex models operate.
2. All settings, user data1, and satellite data may be erased when resetting the GPS. ETrex Legend Cx; eTrex Legend H; eTrex Legend HC; eTrex Legend HCx.

Secret Startup commands for Garmin handhelds Secret Startup Commands for Garmin handheldsThere are several undocumented commands available,primarily at startup, on Garmin handheld receivers. This article willattempt to document some of the features available. I will try todocument these in a universal way although details may differdepending on the unit you have.

How many waypoints can my unit store? Garmin 60Cx ™, Garmin 60CSx ™, Garmin 76Cx ™, and GarminG 76CSx ™ can hold 1000 waypoints. Garmin eTrex Legend Cx ™, Garmin eTrex Venture Cx ™, and Garmin eTrex Vista Cx ™ can hold 500 waypoints. How long can the name of a waypoint or comment be? Waypoints names can be up to fourteen.

There are variations among models andamong software releases within models. There is no attempt to provide100% mapping to a particular model or release.

Instead I have used a'try it' approach. I have documented what you may see and you willneed to verify exactly what you did see. You may wish to print thisout and check mark the features that are applicable to your unit.Note that many of these features are not documented by Garmin for areason. They are generally for testing the device and are not intendedfor end users.

The modes are not supported by Garmin and may cause youto lose data in your machines. Try this at your own risk!One major feature that is revealed when using these undocumentedtest modes is that there is a thermometer inside your Garmin unit. Theintent of this thermometer is to compensate the internal time-of-dayclock for changes in temperature which will cause the internal crystalto drift. To a lesser extent it is also used to adjust the contrast ofthe display screen for temperature changes. It will not measureambient temperature except when the unit is first turned on since theinternal temperature is changed due to the heating effects of theelectronics in the unit.

The thermometer based correction works bybuilding a table of correction values that are then applied to theinternal clock. This is only used to obtain an initial fix since afterthe fix the satellite data is used to keep the clock accurate.Similarly while you have a fix the accurate clock can beused to update the temperature data in the table which means the unitwill compensate for aging parts and even the complete loss of thetable. Special key startup sequencesThe three keyboard keys on the right side of the unit have specialsignificance if held down while powering on the unit. These keys aregenerally called page, mark, and enter.

On the GIII units and someother units the center key is call menu but for our purposes itbehaves the same. On Street Pilots the equivalent keyboard names willhave to be used. These are page, option, and enter.

See below foretrex and emap startup sequences. Other Garmin units typically havesome of these special modes as well although the key sequences may beslightly different.

I have documented some of them below. Page - Holding the page key down while powering up the unit willcause an immediate forced cold start (Auto Locate). On the streetpilot this is the only way to observe the software revision level. Onthe G-III this is reported to lose the temperature compensationdata.

Mark - Holding the mark key down while powering up will totallyreset unit. You will lose all user supplied data and preferences. Themachine will be set back to factory defaults. Be careful, there isno warning message. All data will be lost! To continue aftera reset.On some units this feature has been documented in the manual andwill offer a warning message before erasing. However, some versions ofsoftware, even on these machines, do not offer the warning.

Do notdepend on the documentation here. Have everything of value backed upbefore trying this. The big plus of this feature is that this resetcan fix problems with the unit that will avoid having to send it backto Garmin.Note that setting back to factory defaults means everything. Youwill not only lose things that you can backup but also settings thatyou cannot. For example the user defined datum, the user defined grid,any preferences and datums that you have set up, any customization ofany kind. The leap second data will be gone. The Garmin waypoint willreappear if you have erased it.

You will not have any of the tuningthat was performed to calibrate your unit at Garmin so expect poorinitial lockup performance. You will need to have a clear view of thesky and re-collect a full almanac. This takes about 15 minutes.

Enter - Hold the enter key down while powering up the unit willcause a test mode screen to appear. This test screen is used at Garminin final testing and calibration of the unit. Do not use thisscreen if your unit can get a lock onto satellites. It is possiblethat a real satellite may spoof the test mode into recalibrating theunit with the wrong data. No permanent damage will be done but you mayexperience a little longer lockup times or may even have to do a totalcold start to get it running again. You may also experience continuedlonger lockup times for awhile while the unit re-calibrates itselfunder use. You can readfor a discussion of this issue from Garmin.If your unit has aremoveable antenna then unplugging the antenna is a good way to ensurethat no lock can be obtained.The test mode screen can appear automatically if the unit detects afailure during power up.

You can use this mode to verify certainoperations of the unit. For example hitting each key will cause thecorresponding key in the display to darken. Hitting the enter keytwice in a row (on some units it is the page key) will cause a graphicpixel test which could highlight any bad pixels in your display.Hitting the same key again will further test the display. Hitting thekey one more time will return to the main test screen.

One units thatuse the page key to perform this test you can use the quit key toperform the graphic test backwards. The power/lamp key will show bothan indication and actually light the lamp.Other displayed entries are specific to internal tests performed infinal test but the temperature (in Celsius), the internal and externalbattery voltages, and the gps time can be useful. On the G-III+ and12Map this mode will also display the version number of the softwarewhich has been removed from the start up screen. Some units report aBravo Version which is the version of the hardware. On some unitsthe status of the power on diagnostics can be viewed here.While not obvious to an observer the test mode also starts theinterface to emit PVT solutions in Garmin mode on units that supportPVT output. Once started, this mode will continue even after a poweroff until you change it in the interface section by selecting 'none'.The fact that this command sets Garmin mode may be useful for otherpurposes as well.

For example this may be a way to recover from abad software load or even a corrupt map load.Emap Startup modesThe Emap supports the same 3 startup modes as other Garmin handheldsbut some of the keys are different. Holding enter while powering up enters the test mode as describedabove. The temperature display is only in celcius and no externalvoltage is shown. You can run the visual screen diagnostics byholding down the esc key and then tap it to walk through all thescreens. Holding down the esc key while powering up will reset the entireunit and you will lose all of your waypoints, routes, and tracklogs.There is a warning screen for this startup mode. To continue after areset. Holding down the Find key and powering up forces the auto locatemode.

It also places a couple of numbers in the upper right corner ofthe screen but I don't know how to interpret these numbers.Etrex Startup modesThe etrex also has secret modes for test purposes. Hold the 'up' and'page' keys and then press the 'on/off' button to enter this screen.It behaves similar to the test mode described above and shows someinformation that is useful to the user. Note that is has beenreported that the ROM test may show a false failure on this screensince a factory tester is not attached. You can run the key tests bypressing each of the keys. You can use the page key to cycle throughall of the display tests. The screen shows the status of the power ondiagnostics plus internal battery voltage and external if present.

Aclock display shows seconds, the revision level of the software isshown, and a thermometer reading shows the internal temperature indegrees Celsius.Hold the 'up' and 'enter' keys and then press the 'on/off' button to resetthe entire machine. You will receive a warning prompt. You can avoidthis message using the sequence 'Page' plus 'Enter' plus 'Up' and then pressthe 'on/off' button. Hold the keys down for 5 seconds to perform thereset.The newer etrex units(venture, legend, and vista) with the 'Click Stick' use different keysto accomplish these tasks but the idea is the same.

Holding the clickstick down and then powering up will enter the test screen whileholding the 'page' key down and the 'click stick' down and thenpowering up will reset the unit. You will be prompted with an 'areyou sure?'

On these units holding down the 'find' button inaddition to the others will avoid the 'are you sure' message. Holdthe buttons for 5 seconds to clear the unit.Note that the extra key sequence may be an even bigger master resetbut this is not clear to me. A master reset may be needed to clearthe unit if you have left the batteries out for a long period of timeand the unit comes up with the wrong year. Later versions of thefirmware have supposedly addressed this problem. To continue aftera reset.The Legend CX can be forced to Auto Locate by holding down theupper zoom key while powering up. I suspect this feature is commonto several unit.Garmin GPS VTo totally reset this unit with firmware prior to 2.20 hold theZoom Out and Quit buttons down and then press the power on.

All userdata will be lost as will the almanac. To continue after a reset. Garmin, in its wisdom, has decided todisable the reset feature so there is no current way to reset theunit.Otherwise the standard secret keys apply. To continue aftera reset.76/Map 76/Map 76SThe reported method to completely reset on of these units hold the'menu' key and the 'quit' key down and then press the 'power on' key.Hold for a full 7 seconds and then release. As with the other unitsall information will be lost and you will need to reload the almanacand all your saved user data to make the unit usable.For the 76S try this sequence to master reset it. Press and holdquit, Menu, and the rocker down key.

Garmin Etrex Vista Hard Reset

Then press and release the poweron key. Release the rocker down and wait for the welcome display.Now release the quit and menu keys.Otherwise the standard secret keys apply, including the 72 model.To continue after a reset.Newer UnitsA newer units come out Garmin seems to continue to find new sequencesto try and fool the user. In some cases they have removed the resetfeatures completely claiming that they can cause problems and maskproblems that need to be fixed.

As always use these at you own risk.On units without a reset sequence Garmin provides a way to set everysetting back to factory defaults.GekoThe Geko uses the OK key instead of an enter key. It enters test modeby holding OK and pressing power on. The master reset can be accomplishedby pressing all the keys except the down key for 5 seconds.To continue after a reset.GPS 60/60CSHold enter while powering up to enter test mode. Hold enter andpage while powering up to master reset the unit. The 76C and 76CSshould use the same key strokes as they use the same firmware. Tocontinue after a reset.GPS 176The reported reset sequence is press and hold the zoomout button + the Nav button + the Quit button and then tapthe power button. Continue to hold the zoom out + Nav + Quitbutton until the unit comes on.

This will reset the GPS 176C to the factory settings. This reset will erase all userdata like waypoints, routes, etc.Also note the sequences in the 76 section above which mayhave some information for some 176 models.To continue after a reset.After a resetIf you have to perform a full reset using one of the sequencesshown above you will need to allow the unit to collect a full almanacbefore normal can be resumed. First a fix will need to be obtainedwhich can take from 5 to 10 minutes of leaving your unit outdoors,stationary, with a good sky view. After the first lock you will needanother 12.5 to 15 minutes to get the almanac reloaded. Check thedate to insure that the information was reloaded properly.

Time willbe shown as UTC time since your local time offset was lost in thereset.Re-establish all of your preferences such as time zone, daylightsavings flag, etc. Reload all your waypoints and saved routes fromyour backup.

I do hope you have a backup. WAAS capable receivers willhave to re-establish the as well.Diagnostic ModeThis may be the most useful of the secret modes available on someof the older Garmin handhelds and, for some users, the hardest toaccess. Basically you start the Garmin normally by pressing the powerbutton and while the opening screen is being display you must presseach of the 4 arrow keys once in any order. If you accomplish thisfeat you will be rewarded with a quick switch to the status screenwithout waiting for the rest of the time-out. You should notice a.-just under the satellite display to confirm your success.

If itdoesn't work then power down and try again. It takes a certain rhythmto be successful. This will not work on G-III or G-III+ units but mostof the information is available on these units in normal mode. OnG-II and G-II+ units this method will only work if you have the unitset in portrait mode. The etrex and emap do not support this mode.The beauty of this mode is that you can leave the unit in this modewhile using it.

It adds a new Diagnostic menu item and moreinformation in some of the displays. The.- information on the statusscreen will be replaced with a HDOP setting once you have a fix. (HDOPstands for Horizontal Dilution of Precision and is a measure of thesuitability of the geometry of available satellites to produce anaccurate fix. Numbers below 2.0 mean that the fix is pretty good.)This is one of the factors used to calculate the estimated positionerror (epe) that appears at the top of the page. The EPE number isproprietary to Garmin but the HDOP number should be similar to oneobtained for any unit since it only depends on the satellitegeometry. Really old multiplex units may notice another difference onthe status page.

On some units the status bars are solid all of thetime even when ephemeris data is not yet valid. On these units thehollow bars will appear only in Diagnostic mode. Unfortunately thenew 12CX also has only solid bars and this mode doesn't fix them. The position page also has a new entry down near the clock. Thisis the current internal temperature in Fahrenheit degrees. On someunits if you have set your preferences to metric this will be displayedin Celcius. Finally the menu page will have a new entry at the bottom.

This'D' can be selected to enter the diagnostic page.The diagnostic page content will vary depending on which unit you have butwill generally contain diagnostic pass/fail messages at the top of thescreen, the elapsed time for the unit, internal software information,and finally battery voltage. On some units the elapsed time counter can be reset by hitting theenter key providing an additional timer for the unit. On units thatalready have an elapsed time meter in the normal position page thenthe one here cannot be reset with the enter key. On some units hitting the page key will provide informationabout the status of the last several shutdowns.Pressing quit will return you to the normal screens of the gps butrealize the gps continues to work fine while you are looking at thediagnostic screen. If you hit goto or mark you will perform thesefunctions.It is worth mentioning a little about the elapsed timemeter. Generally this is expected to be the time since the lastfactory reset. However, it will be reset by the power-on/mark keysequence described above and it may be reset by some softwareupgrades.On some units the battery voltage includes both internal andexternal voltages.

The internal voltage is indicated in.03 voltincrements and seems to have this accuracy. The external voltage isindicated with the similar precision but does not have this accuracy. Theexternal voltage has the following decimal setting for each wholevoltage setting:.14,.29,.43,.57,.72,.86, and.00. Other easter eggsOn some units, mostly older multiplex units, you can redisplay theworld globe that appeared on the opening screen.

Change to the mappage and then hit the power-off button but stop before holding it downlong enough to power the unit down. The globe will appear and you cancontrol the speed of its spinning using the arrow keys.The III+ can display some icons that are not available on the iconmenu. These are usually found in a downloaded map. For example thegeographic place names are not available except when shown on the map.However you can use a trick to get these icons into you own waypoints.Find an entry using one of these waypoints on the screen and then pressenter to convert it to a waypoint. You can now edit the waypointvalues and name to be whatever you wish. These new icons will probablynot be preserved when saved on a pc and re-entered since the pc programmay not support them.Internal Diagnostic reportsOn the etrex models with the click stick you can reach an internaldiagnostic message page which reports stack data and shutdowndata.

First change to the trip computer page and press the 'zoom out'key, the 'zoom in' key, and the 'zoom out' key once again. This will turnon the diagnostic reports page.In some other units the diagnostic reports can be reachedfrom the trip computer page by pressing the cursor keys, up, right, down,and left in sequence. This is reported to work in the 60C and probablywill work on the 76C as well.Once your on the diganotic screen the page key will switch to ascreen that shows the condition of the last few shutdowns.Has anybody found any more?revisionfirst published 99/1/4/99added etrex 00/5/30add emap 00/6/2added III+ icon trick 00/7/5added new etrex models 01/4/9added 76 and alternate keys for etrex 01/12/22added V reset 02/03/09added paragraph on reset recovery 02/07/17added 72, Geko. 03/03/10added Legend CX 07/04/05 auto locate.