Samsung Tablet and Zumo550

[Theonionman]

Hi All,

I have a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2, 10.1, running Android 4.0.3.

I have a USB problem.

When I connect a standard USB memory stick to the Tablet I can see the complete file structure of the external storage and all the files therein, so everything is hunkydory, but when I connect my Garmin Zumo 550 GPS unit, the Tablet flags a message "High powered USB device connected - can't communicate". The Zumo does light up but just loads maps and doesn't go into Mass Storage mode - so all my .gpx files on the Tablet have nowhere to go (sad).

Is it possible that the Tablet cannot supply the power needed by the Zumo? (USB'ing the Zumo to my PC works fine) if so is there a solution?? Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[Tomcat]

This is a bit of a guess, but AFAIK there are two USB power versions - the standard which is 500mA, and a high-power 1000mA. It sounds as though the Zumo is asking for more than 500mA, because it is a high-power device and your tablet is saying no, because it has a 500mA socket. You can probably get around it by using one of those USB extenders/port multipliers with a separate wall-wart mains power supply but it may not be worth the effort. If there's a way of powering the Zumo from the mains whilst still accessing the USB then this might also work, but its a while since I owned a 550 and I can't remember if this is possible.

Why not copy all the .gpx files to the SD card from a PC, as they must have been created on a PC or Mac? You can select which routes to load to the Zumo's memory under 'my data'.

 

[Theonionman]

Hi Tomcat, I think I have a solution - I borrowed an externally powered USB hub, tried the same routine and it works fine - when the Zumo is connected to the tablet via the hub the Zumo now goes into mass storage mode and allows me to load .gpx files into it.

So my maps and map routing on my (android) Tablet is provided by Bestbikingroads.com, which if you're looking to move away from a Windows OS, does the basics of what Mapsource does, but on an Android platform. Now I can leave my laptop at home and take my tiny, light Tablet when touring.

Still need to do a full test ride with Zumo just to make 100% sure all is as it should be, so if you're interested, I'll update you in the next few days.

 

[Tomcat]

I carry a little 10" netbook when I'm on long trips for route planning etc. Mine is a Dell device, with a normal spinning hard disc yet it has been trouble free for over 3 years of being bumped around.

Incidentally, for anyone else reading about tablets/PCs to use when travelling, Currys are presently selling 10" Asus netbooks at half price (£130) with 250Gb HDD, 1GB RAM, Windows 7 etc. An absolute bargain at this price

 

[Theonionman]

Well things have gone a little pear shaped since I was last here.

Using the hardware set up described earlier (powered USB hub between android Tablet and Zumo 550), I managed to load a couple of gpx file from the Bestbikingroutes.com site into the Zumo (simple "copy" downloaded gpx file on Tablet then paste into Garmin>GPX folder on Zumo).

However I'm now in a position whereby when I try to repeat the process I'm getting a "No Data Available" message from the Zumo. If I explore my computer with the Zumo USB'd to the Tablet I can see the .gpx file in the Garmin>GPX folder complete with the file size details (eg 59K).

Finally just to confuse things further, when I download a route via Mapsource on my Windows PC, everything works fine - so my problem can't be a memory capacity issue -Can it?????

 

[Tomcat]

Well things have gone a little pear shaped since I was last here.

However I'm now in a position whereby when I try to repeat the process I'm getting a "No Data Available" message from the Zumo. If I explore my computer with the Zumo USB'd to the Tablet I can see the .gpx file in the Garmin>GPX folder complete with the file size details (eg 59K).

Finally just to confuse things further, when I download a route via Mapsource on my Windows PC, everything works fine - so my problem can't be a memory capacity issue -Can it?????

If you can see the Zumo folders when it is linked to a PC, try r-click on the GPX route file on the Zumo and open with Mapsource. It will demonstrate whether the file is readable by Garmin's software.

 

[Theonionman]

Hi Tomcat, just a brief update on my recent experiences with BestBikingRoutes.com.

It turns out that for some reason when I load gpx files via USB into the Zumo they are in some way corrupted (still a mystery), however things are working well now, instead of trying to USB gpx files from my Samsung Tablet Tab 2, 10.1 to my Zumo, I'm now copying the BBR gpx files from the "Download" folder on the Tablet to a "Garmin\GPX" folder on the external microSD card in the tablet - then simply taking that card and using a microSD to SD adapter, inserting it into the Zumo.

When I switch the Zumo on it sees the new data which can then be imported in the normal way. Just for info I've successfully used both a 4G microSD and a 32G micoSD cards in the Zumo with no problems.
No corruption of GPX files occurred using this method as did when trying to load to the Zumo using USB. Happy days!!

Thanks again for your help.