Giving your eTrex a personalized startup screen to identify you as the owner.
I have found a way to personalise my Garmin eTrex 20, by including my name and other details in the start-up screen. This might help in recovery if the unit is ever lost or stolen, since few people would know how to find or edit the file. However, if you are tech-savvy, personalisation is a very easy process.
Mine now boots and displays my contact details centred above the GARMIN on the boot screen. The boot screen has been set by me to display for 25 seconds. This can be shortened touching any key to cancel the boot screen at any time at each boot. Very nice if lost or misplaced as an honest person could potentially know who and where it belongs!
Backup your OS file first!
The
very first thing every eTrex user should do is archive all their GPS system files to a computer before they use their unit. I recommend this because sites like Geocaching.com write directly to your eTrex. In the event a corrupted GPX file is written to your GPS, or any other files get corrupted in the process--you can always revert to a fresh operating system. I prefer this method because I have found the Garmin “Master Reset” will restore
some files--
but not all--to their original configuration.
The txt hack.
Once the eTrex system is backed up, it’s safe to do this “hack”, which personalises the unit’s startup screen. To find the file we’ll edit, connect your GPS to a PC, open the unit and go to the “Garmin” directory. Once at that level, copy the text file named “startup”--it’s always best to edit a saved copy. Using
Notepad for the PC or
TextEdit on Mac, open the file. It will look like this:
Code:
<!-- Edit this file to display a message while your unit is powering on -->
<!-- Allow one full power cycle after editing for your message to be updated -->
<!-- Set the display number to the minimum number of seconds your message is displayed -->
<display = 0>
<!-- Type your message on the next line -->
Obviously, Garmin setup this file for easy editing. To set your startup message for 25 seconds, simply replace the numeral "0" above with 25 to read <display = 25>
Finally, to create a startup message, you simply add after the last line such as...
Code:
<!-- Type your message on the next line -->
Property of John Smith
john@smith.com
(555) 555-5555
(Note: this works for multiple lines)
That's all you do, and the result is your name and number centered nicely in the startup screen. Here is a sample of what the whole file might look like:
Code:
<!-- Edit this file to display a message while your unit is powering on -->
<!-- Allow one full power cycle after editing for your message to be updated -->
<!-- Set the display number to the minimum number of seconds your message is displayed -->
<display = 25>
<!-- Type your message on the next line -->
Property of John Smith
john@smith.com
(555) 555-5555
Finally, save this file as the
same exact name, and copy over to your eTrex in the same directory, replacing the previous file. (Naturally, take great care to not delete or edit any other files.) This is why a system archive is so important--so you can restore your GPS in the event of any unforeseen glitches.
I also stick an ID label on the back and inside the battery area. I also make a text file named:
ownerinfo.txt and put it in the internal memory and SD card.
Note: try at your own risk--no warranty is expressed or implied by this hack.
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WARNING: I read here or another GPS forum that if you put international characters in the 'startup' message, like å, ä, ñ, etc, the unit will deadbrick and require service by garmin (joystick up to force USB mass storage and edit back the message won't work).
This was a few months ago and the bug might have been fixed, but you might want to avoid taking the risk.