Yesterday I got a Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx GPS unit for my 31st birthday, and I’m happy to report that it works fine for me on Ubuntu 9.04 — Jaunty Jackalope (the final 9.04 is available April 26th). Granted, the software does not have GNU/Linux versions (shame on you Garmin!), I turned to my good friend VirtualBox 2.2.0. I keep a virtual XP install, and using Garmin Mapsource with my USB-connected GPS unit works like a peach. The unit is picked up within seconds by Ubuntu. I have to enable the USB interface in VirtualBox, and then it installs itself in XP. All I did was transfer maps from Mapsource to the unit, but I would be surprised if any functionality was lost.
April 15, 2009
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Another ugly blaaahg 
I was excited after seeing the title thinking that you got your unit working on Ubuntu… I guess you got the next best!
Comment by Timbuktu — June 19, 2009 @ 3:27
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Comment by GarminGPS — June 20, 2009 @ 10:43
Garmin Nuvi 265WT
Garmin’s nüvi 265WT improves upon its 200-series predecessors by adding free real-time traffic updates from Navteq (for the life of the device) as well as Bluetooth connectivity to your cell phone. Other significant improvements in the 2×5 series include a predictive technology that provides faster satellite lock, a redesigned screen with more information, terrain maps, and an exciting new photo navigation feature. The 265WT provides complete maps for North America and the handy Text-to-Speech feature, so you get turn-by-turn spoken directions with the real names of streets (e.g. “turn left in 50 feet at Nebraska Way”, rather than merely “turn left in 50 feet”).
Comment by meena — June 30, 2009 @ 13:38
Have you looked into getting TTS working on your 60CSx?
Comment by Jesse — September 2, 2009 @ 15:48
No, I haven’t. Didn’t even know that was possible.
Comment by Ketil — September 9, 2009 @ 18:26
I also have Ubuntu, have successfully connected to GPSMap 60Cx, and uploaded GPX file.
BUT how does one view this route with the 60Cx? It’s not under routes, and I can’t seem to find it at all.
HELP?
Jason
Comment by Jason Silver — May 14, 2010 @ 17:19
Garmin Agony!
Hi guys, any advice would be most welcome here, I’m going slightly nuts trying to get this damned GPS to work.
What I have done:
Installed Virtualbox (non-free version)
Installed XP inside VB
Installed mapsource in XP
Closed XP, then plugged in GPS unit into usb port & added usb filter in VB usb settings menu for this item.
Turned off GPS
Updated mapsource using the web updater to latest version.
Rebooted mapsource, turned GPS on. Tried ‘find device’ but nothing doing.
Have also followed Garmin’s advice on their website & checked that usb drivers are installed:
control panel> system> hardware> device manager> other devices
There are two yellow ‘?’ indicating that drivers are not up-to-date. I click to update drivers, follow the wizard indicating to update from the mapsource cd rom, but the wizard says it cannot find the software.
Currently looking at the window & tempted to throw it all out onto the road.
ANY IDEAS??! Otherwise i’m stuck with a $400 useless bit of kit!
Cheers,
A
Comment by Alextacy — May 18, 2010 @ 15:54
OK, I have checked in control panel ‘add or remove programmes’ The garmin usb drivers are listed in there…. SOO…
I am thinking that I am not correctly enabling the usb interface in VB. Can anyone take me through step-by-step on how this is done?
Cheers,
A
Comment by Alextacy — May 18, 2010 @ 16:16
Hi there
For the record: My computer with Lucid still works fine with this GPS unit and VirtualBox.
VirtualBox can be tricky at times. First, try this:
– Plug in your GPS
– Start the virtual machine
– From the menu, choose “Devices” and “USB” You can enable the device from there. (Also, you can try right clicking the USB icon in the lower right corner of the VirtualBox window (the window where the virtual machine is running).)
If the USB device is greyed out, you can try running this command before you run VirtualBox:
sudo hald –daemon=no
This last thing is a known bug which will probably be sorted out, but it’s still there as of VirtualBox 3.2beta2
Hope you sort it out. Otherwise, try Google with “VirtualBox USB” and read your heart out 🙂
Also, if you haven’t already, you’ll need the VirtualBox Guest Additions from the “Devices” menu in VirtualBox.
If you manage to get it to work by another way than what I’ve described, please link to the instrucions here, so that other can see it too.
Good luck!
Comment by Ketil — May 18, 2010 @ 18:12
Hey Ketil,
Thanks for the response. I didn’t have the guest additions installed. However I installed, rebooted & now XP won’t boot.
Restarted the whole computer & still XP not booting. Tried the sudo command subsequently, but didn’t seem to do anything.
Looks like I’ll need to uninstall XP, reinstall & try again!
F*##ing Garmin Bas#*rds!!
Comment by Alextacy — May 19, 2010 @ 3:53
Tried everything, still no use. Just to confirm with the VirtualBox guest additions – does this install automatically when I go thru the wizard? Or do I need to burn the ISO image onto cd & install it from a cd?
Reinstalled XP, did all the other jigging, but all of the usb devices I have listed are greyed out.
When I tried to run the sudo command it stopped xp booting up properly again, just keeps flicking back to the VB bootup screen, with a boot menu option (F12)
Time to go back to the drawing board & read through the forums 😦
Cheers.
Comment by Alextacy — May 19, 2010 @ 7:33
Another point is that my GPS isn’t recognized by ubuntu, ie when VB not open there is no recognition that there is another piece of hardware in a usb port.
Comment by Alextacy — May 19, 2010 @ 7:34
Just anote: It’s not showing up on the desktop on my Ubuntu either, because it is not a mass storage device. But, that doesn’t mean it’s not recognized by Ubuntu. I’m not aware that I needed any other steps to get Ubuntu to recognize it.
At this point I would suggest you go to http://forums.virtualbox.org/ and ask questions there. There are probably lots of people who can help there.
Comment by Ketil — May 19, 2010 @ 20:50
I am using GPSBabel to upload/download tracks and waypoints to/from my Garming GPSmap 60Cx on Ubuntu 10.4.
To analyze the downloaded data I upload it to Garmin Connect website (free registration) hence no need to mess with VirtualBox, VMware or Wine.
Comment by Alex Cucos — May 31, 2010 @ 21:45
It is always great to share the innovative ideas with others on our demand.That is the main way for the people to know about the good types of techniques to equip it.
Comment by Garmin Gpsmap — July 9, 2010 @ 20:53