GPSrChive Discussion Forum

Haven't had much time to play with it yet. However, first impressions:

• This is the first Garmin touchscreen device I've seen with backlight bleed. I've owned almost every Oregon and Montana, and even had a Monterra for a bit, and I've never seen backlight bleed. The top 1/8 inch of the screen is slightly brighter than the rest of the screen. Not something I'd expect for a device the price of a flagship phone.

• I charged it with a 100W PD USB-C cable that has a watts readout, and it charges at a blazing constant 2 watts.

• I've tried an assortment of USB-A to USB-C cables which I know work for data connections (such as my phone) and I cannot get the Montana to be recognized by my Windows PC. I finally pulled the supplied cable out of box, which is surprisingly a USB-C to USB-C cable, and plugged it in to the single USB-C port on my PC, and it still isn't recognized. I have set it to MTP mode, which wasn't the default. When plugged in to USB, the Montana does the usual "saving tracks and waypoints" and then brings up the Garmin name with USB symbol, but it's just not seen on the PC. And when I unplug it, it does not power off, it stays in USB mode. I have to long press the power button. And that doesn't even turn it off, it reboots it.

I'll keep working on it tomorrow, but so my OOTB experience is not favorable.

Looks like it might be my PC that has a problem with the USB connection. I plugged it into a different PC and it was recognized and the drive came up.

"Better is the enemy of good"

Still can't get it work on my PC. I changed the interface to MTP and plugged it into a second computer. It was recognized and showed up in Explorer. I unplugged it and changed it to serial interface, plugged it back in and it still came up as MTP. Even a factory reset didn't force it into serial mode. The Garmin USB drivers are installed on both PCs. Seems if Windows detects it as MTP it won't detect it as any other type of interface even if you change the connection mode.

Anyway, back to the original PC. My Montana 700 works, shows up as a drive letter (Two, since i have an SD card installed). Plug in the 760i, doesn't show up. In Windows device drivers, under Portable Devices I see GARMIN (which I think is the 700), MONTANA_SD (which is the SD card in the 700), and Montana 760i, which is errored with "Windows cannot start this hardware device because its configuration information (in the registry) is incomplete or damaged. (Code 19)". I'm continuing to troubleshoot and post the solution in case someone else runs into this problem. I've never had this kind of trouble with a Garmin device before.

The Montana 710, 710i and 760i are MTP only, and will never mount as removable drives.

See GPSrChive > Montana 7x0 > Setup > System and GPSrChive > Montana 7x0 > Operation > MTP Mode for additional information.

GPSrChive wrote: Fri Jan 24, 2025 8:00 pm The Montana 710, 710i and 760i are MTP only, and will never mount as removable drives.

See GPSrChive > Montana 7x0 > Setup > System and GPSrChive > Montana 7x0 > Operation > MTP Mode for additional information.

Good to know, thanks. I assumed the 760i would work similar to the 700 series. However, I never got the prompt about MTP mode displayed when the USB cable was attached. And all those interface options: Garmin Spanner, Garmin Serial, etc. are still available in the settings. Anyway, I did get it connected with MTP. Select the "Montana 760i" under Portable Devices in Windows Device Manager, Right click and select "Update driver". Pick "Browse my computer for drivers", then "Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer". Scroll to Garmin device then pick MTP USB Device. Not sure why this wasn't handled automatically on this particular PC. Now for a couple of hours of software and map updates.

I presume Basecamp handles MTP devices?

Have you updated the firmware? Sounds like you may be on an older 'factory installed' version.

GPSrChive wrote: Fri Jan 24, 2025 10:17 pm Have you updated the firmware? Sounds like you may be on an older 'factory installed' version.

It's updating now. I'll check the settings when it's done.

Just rechecked some screen captures from previous firmware versions and they have been inconsistent. Most MTP Garmin Devices only have two options for USB Interface: 'Garmin' and 'MTP'. Probably Garmin will change this again, just to keep us guessing! I am not aware of any USB-C NMEA adapter cables, so why would this option be available?

Also, please visit GPSrChive > Montana 7x0 > FAQ > #1 - New Montana or GPSrChive > How To... > My New Garmin, if you haven't already