MotionBased Agent

Follow these steps, and you'll be up and running in no time:

1. Connect your device to your computer using the appropriate USB or Serial cable.
2. Make sure the GPS device is either on and/or charging in its docking station (Edge, Forerunner and Foretrex series).
3. Open MotionBased Agent.
4. Select " Configure Agent" from the Agent menu.
5. Enter MotionBased Username and email address (first time only). Then "Save." This will bring you back to the Agent's Main Menu. (Please note: If there is more than one person sharing the computer and Agent you will need to Configure the Agent to your account each time you Upload.)
6. Click on "Synchronize Activities". It usually takes less than one minute to extract the data from a GPS device.
7. If you have an Internet connection, the Agent will send your activity information directly to your Inbox at MotionBased.
8. If you don't have an Internet connection, the Agent will store your activity information until you have an Internet connection. When you have an Internet connection, click on "Send Queued Activities".
9. If the Agent communicates with MotionBased there will be messages specific to your retrieval that appear on the right side of the Agent explaining successes, failures, and the status of your Inbox.
10. Go to your Inbox to review, categorize, and personalize your newly uploaded activities.

MotionBased Agent Version Number

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Core Features

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Synchronize Activities

This is the primary function of the Agent -- getting data from your GPS device to MotionBased. After you connect your device to your computer with the USB cable, click on "Synchronize Activities" to send your data to MotionBased. The upload takes less than 1 minute for most activities. (Some older devices and handheld devices need to be turned ON before uploading.)

If you have an Internet connection, the Agent will send your activitiy information directly to your Inbox at MotionBased. If you don't have an Internet connection, the Agent will store your activity information until you have an Internet connection. When you have an Internet connection, click on "Send Queued Activities".

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Send Queued Activities

This only appears on the Agent when you have pending activities stored on the PC as result of not having an Internet connection the last time you retreived activities. You may also have pending activities if an error occured the last time you tried to use the Agent.

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Import Files

This is for those activities that are no longer on your GPS device. Click on 'Import Files', then browse for the file that you want to upload. Do NOT upload the Logbook or Garmin Training Center application/program to get your activities to MotionBased. MB can receive your Garmin Training Center history, but it should only be done ONCE.

• To upload your Garmin Training Center histroy (.hst):
  1. Export history from GTC - follow instructions for history
  2. Open MotionBased Agent and click 'Import Files' and browse to your saved .hst file. If it doesn't say .hst, you haven't found it. When you have, highlight it and click Open.
  3. Check radio button 'Send to MotionBased'
  4. Press Send

• To upload supported GPS files (.xml, .txt, .g7t, .gpx accepted)
  1. Open MotionBased Agent and click 'Import Files' and browse to your saved (.xml, .txt, .g7t, .gpx) file, highlight and click Open.
  2. Check radio button 'Send to MotionBased'
  3. Press Send

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Configure Agent

This is the example of where you can review and modify your Agent settings:

• MotionBased Username - You must assign the same username you created on the MotionBased website to your Agent. This is how we associate the activities on your GPS device to your Inbox. If you ever change your username, or upload from a friend's/shared computer, you must make this change on the Agent.
• Email Address - You must use the email address that you used when you signed up at MotionBased. If you wish to use a different email address, change it in your Account Profile at the MotionBased site. Then you enter that email in the Agent.
• Power off device - Let the Agent automatically turn off your GPS device after the upload is complete. Not recommended for the Forerunner 301.
• Show taskbar icon - Faster launch of the application. Check this box and an MB icon will appear near the clock on your Windows taskbar.
• Multiple devices attached - When retrieving activities the Agent will continue to search your machine for more devices after one is already found if this box is checked.
• Agent Version - The version number of the agent is found near the Exit button on the configure page.

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View Activities

This is a quick way to access your personal Digest at the MotionBased website.

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Agent Messages

When you open the Agent it will communicate with MotionBased to see if there are any new messages that may be important. These messages may be general announcements and/or personalized for your specific review. This is the best way for us to communicate with you about new features and updates that will affect your MotionBased experience. You may always view and syndicate these online.

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Forerunner Issues

Is the upload time getting longer each time you use the MB Agent?
Well... that's because we have to upload all of the activity stored in the history log on the device. If we find a match in your Inbox or Digest, we then ignore that activity. Unfortunately, this process means that large data files must be transferred from the device to the Agent -- most of which is unnecessary. Here's a quick fix...

"Delete History" from your Forerunner, Edge or other device on a periodic basis. This will clean out the memory on your device to make for faster uploads to MotionBased. Please refer to your manual on how to "Delete History".

Note: Don't "Delete History" until you've successfully uploaded to MotionBased.

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Advanced Features

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Sending Data to Device

The Agent can be used to send locally saved course (.crs) and track (.gpx) files to Supported Devices. Keep in mind that Next Genteration Fitness Devices, such as the Edge and Forerunner 205/305, can receive courses, but not track files. While the opposite is true for Garmin hand helds.

• To send a locally saved course (.crs) or track (.gpx) file to a device:
  1. Right click file and select 'Open with MotionBased Agent'
  2. Rename if you choose and press 'Send'

See activity download for informantion on downloading from MotionBased and sending to supported GPS devices.

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Troubleshooting

We have a decent (potentially out-dated) troubleshooting section (http://www.motionbased.com/support/help/view.mb?tile=support.help.agent#trouble) on the MB website.

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Deleting Queued Activities

There may have been a Firewall installed that would have prevented your activities from being sent to your Inbox. You may still not be able to synchronyze and send new activities even though you've turned off your Firewall. If this occurs the first listing at the Agent will be "Send Queued Activities".

In order to send anything, you'll need to delete the contents in this file. To accomplish this:

1. Open up the MotionBased Agent.
2. Select "Ctrl+Shift+F". This will bring up the files where your queued activities can be found.
3. Click on "Queue" and delete the contents therein.
4. Click on "Queue Resend" and delete the contents therein.

After deleting the files your Agent should be freed up to synchronize and send new activities.

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HTTP Errors

The Agent experiences an HTTP error when it is unable to communicate with the MotionBased.com web service.

You will usually see the following message precede the specific HTTP error.

Unable to send data to MotionBased. Your data has been added to the local Queue to be sent when MotionBased is available through the Internet.

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HTTP Status 12029

A connection with the server could not be established (HTTP status 12029) Often times caused by a Personal Firewall blocking the Agent.

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HTTP Status 12007

The server name or address could not be resolved (HTTP Status 12007) Often times caused by a Personal Firewall blocking the Agent.

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HTTP Status 12002

The operation timed out (HTTP Status 12002) happens when MotionBased is unavailable. Please try again later.

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HTTP Status 12030

The connection with the server was terminated abnormally (HTTP status 12030). This problem may be caused by a corporate proxy. Please contact customer support (mailto:support@motionbased.com).

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HTTP Status 12031

Internet connection reset error. The server has been reset. Please try again.

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HTTP Status 12152

The server has been taken down momentarily for database or server maintenance, or there has been a network error. This status will generally come up when attempting to upload. Please try again later.

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Manual Uploads

Sometimes a computer or network just won't allow the Agent to make the upload process easy. This may be due to firewalls or other network security that can not be bypassed. You are able to still use the Agent to retrieve your activities from your device and then upload it to MotionBased manually.

1. Choose Synchronize as Always
2. The Agent might be denied sending the generated file to MotionBased
3. Press CTRL + SHIFT + F while viewing the Agent.
4. Windows Explorer will open to the directory where your Agent files are stored.
5. Browse to the Queue or QueueResend directory to find the newly generated files.
6. Choose View -> Toolbars -> Address Bar to make sure the Address Bar is showing.
7. Copy the folder address by highlighting the address and choosing Edit -> Copy
8. Look for a file that was recently generated. It will have a .mbx or .mbx.gz file extension.
9. Open an Internet Browser to the Manual Upload Page (http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/upload/view.mb).
10. Press the Browse button. This will open an Open File Dialog Box.
11. Paste the address previously copied into the filename text field (using CTRL + V keys)
12. Choose the file that was recently generated

Clearly this procedure is complicated and not the ideal situation so only use it when there seems to be no way around the item that is blocking the Agent from communicating with the Internet.

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Debugging the Agent

Enabling the debug feature on the Agent will log information in a text file about the Agent's communications. When the "Synchronize Activities" option is selected, the Agent will send MB this debug file along with the device data (whether or not the data retrieval is successful).

You might be asked by Customer Service to "turn the debug on" in order to give us more information regarding your issue that we are troubleshooting. If the Agent is unable to access the internet, the sending of the debug file might fail. In this case Customer Service might ask you to email the file. The filename is in the format Log_{today's date here}.txt.gz, and is stored in a folder that is normally hidden on most Windows systems. It can be accessed by hitting Crtl-Shift-F, and navigating to the "Sent" directory.

Available start with Agent 2.1 series and later.

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Turn the debug on

1. With the Agent running, hit Crtl-Shift-D together on your keyboard to turn debugging on.
2. Click 'OK'
3. The Send Queued Activities will be listed at the top, but do not choose at this time.
4. Choose Synchronize as you normally would when trying to synchronize with your device.
5. The Agent should search for devices, communicate with any that are connected and log details of the communication into a debug file.
6. The Agent should automatically send the debug file to MotionBased. You will know this was successful if Send Queued Activities is no longer offered.
7. Let customer support (mailto:support@motionbased.com) know that the debug file has been sent and they will be in contact.

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Installation

Sometimes customers have problems installing the MotionBased Agent on their Windows PC. The Agent is packaged using InstallShield to help setup your computer to use the Agent, but the installation is not required. Try these tips to get around installation problems that you may run into during installation.

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Manual Installation

You may simply run the MBAgent.exe file and the Agent should work without the need to install using the InstallShield installer.

1. Download the archive (http://www.motionbased.com/downloads/MotionBased_Agent_2.3.0.0.zip) and unzip it using your favorite zip utility.
2. Extract the files into any directory (winzip should put them in MotionBased/Agent subdirectories).
3. Open the MotionBased/Agent directory and double-click MBAgent.exe
4. Use the Agent as if it were installed using the installer.

• Consider Right-clicking on the MBAgent.exe and choose Send To->Desktop to create a shortcut to your executable file.

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See Also

Agent FAQ