My Garmin Etrex Summit records tracklogs and shows them on the screen but when I upload them to my PC all tracks show as 0 miles, 0 altitude etc

Hello,

The Garmin Etrex Summit does not have the ability to add maps to it.

Hello

Check both your track and map settings. Make sure that "show track on map" is not selected in your map settings, and in your track settings try erasing all previous tracks.

Hope this helps!

Check out the Garmin owners manual (page 59):
http://www8.garmin.com/manuals/eTrexSummit_OwnersManual.pdf

This SHOULD get you on track again!
Hope this is helpful

Owner's manual Page 42

Setup > Units > Position Format

Please come back and tell us if this fixed your problem, and rate our solution. Thanks.

Hi,
I have a Etrex Legend (same size as yours) that no longer works - It has a good lcd cover.
email me at rsrogers at screaming dot net for full details

Rog

absolutely! Hve yoiu checked that this model does not have a switch on the rear as well as on the front? the one of the front is standby. The other one is main power. Not 100% sure about your model so just check first. Other than that take it back to seller for replacement or instructions

Call Garmin customer service, they are wonderful. My rubber thing around the outside became loose,and they sent me a new unit, even though it was almost 2 years old.

Part 1 of answer:
If you record a track log from A to B, then turn it off and back on to record a track log from C to D, it is obvious your track logs will be fragmented, even though they may not be recorded separately. They may appear as a single, interrupted, trip.
Maybe you've got this one, or this was not your question, so there is a:

Part 2:
Even if your unit can record track logs of up to 10,000 points, it cannot receive track logs back from your PC bigger than 250 points.
So, track logs get fragmented when uploaded back. To have them again in the GPS you must edit them to 250-point separate packages.
It can be done, for most track points are usually superfluous, especially when you record straight trajects; if your track log has many curves, it gets harder to simplify them.
Some software packages have a "Simplify track" tool, which solves this automatically in seconds, but it is the software who decides what to keep and what to remove, so edited track logs can be pretty unaccurate.
The only other option is to edit them one by one, so it's you who decides which track points are necessary or not. It can be painstakingly slow, but it pays if the tracks are important for you to use again and again.
Maybe I have not answered exactly what you needed to know, but anyway the solution is, or at least can be, editing your track logs in your PC. For instance, GPS Expert is a fine software to do that: you can split track logs, eliminate track points, join them back, simplify them or add new track points.
Nothing replaces a good editing software, but to get a useful collection of tracks and routes to use and share frequently, you must work on them for some time.

Best regards!

G. F. Kloss

Thanks for the great advice. My problem is fixed!! Yay!

see discussion at http://californication.mtbguru.com/2005/11/20/deconstructing-the-garmin-etrex-vista/ Its possible that there's a bad connection at the ribbon cable, but most likely its a bad connection at the edge of the LCD glass panel. I've had two eTrex fail because of this problem. Don't pay the riduculous price Garmin asks for repair - just buy a new Magellan unit. If you must get a Garmin, go with the high-sensitivity receiver.