Snail trails on Garmin Nuvi 255W

August 6, 2012 3:55 PM

Snail trails on Garmin Nuvi 255W. When out and about this device is now making pale blue 'snail trails' on the map tracking the car from A to B. It is working as it should otherwise. Does this mean that the device is on its way out? I checked some forums but could find any mention of this bizarre behavior.
posted by lungtaworld to technology (5 answers total)

It means that your GPS was somehow set to trace where you have already been. There is a setting for that. I am going to get my unit to find where to enable/disable that and I will re-post.
posted by bright and shiny at 4:19 PM on August 6, 2012

Yep, go to tools, then "settings", then "map", then "trip log" and select "hide". That oughta do it.
posted by bright and shiny at 4:22 PM on August 6, 2012

Bright and shiny, very many thanks! (I don't remember fiddling with this!).
posted by lungtaworld at 5:16 PM on August 6, 2012

Just FYI for posterity, this GPS function is often referred to as "bread crumbs." It's an extremely useful feature, especially when exploring a new area. It makes it easy to get back where you started, or to ensure you are not driving in circles. I actually leave mine on all the time.
posted by The Deej at 8:06 PM on August 6, 2012

Also for posterity, many Garmins (mine is the 50) do not allow you to wipe past breadcrumbs, other than by resetting the system to factory state. In other words, if you've got the "hide" setting turned off, it will show a pale blue trail indicating EVERYWHERE YOU'VE EVER DRIVEN. Nuts.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 6:38 AM on August 7, 2012