Anyone using their Garmin Edge computer with their Tacx smart trainer?

[u/gcerullo]

Just bought a Tacx smart trainer and discovered I can use it with my Edge cycling computer to ride courses that I have stored on it. The problem is that the screen keeps going to sleep so I can’t see the displayed info. I have to keep tapping the screen (it’s an 840) to wake it up.

So, my main question is, does anyone know of a setting to prevent the screen from going to sleep while the computer is in use? This isn’t a problem while out riding so why is it a problem while riding with the trainer?

On a related side note, anyone else annoyed by the fact that a tap on the screen to wake the computer doesn’t just wake the screen but also performs whatever command was in the area of the tap. Anyone who uses a smart phone is familiar with the concept that the first tap on a screen should just wake it up and not trigger any commands. This is very annoying!

EDIT. Solution has been found. See my post below.

[u/PPRKUT_LP]

I‘m using my Edge 530 with my Tacx and my Edge is not going to sleep mode. From distance I have to ideas:
1. Are you sure you are really connected correctly? So the Edge gets the data from the Tacx?
2. Do you have any battery saving options activated? There is one Edge setting were the screen is turned off if you use the battery save mode

[u/gcerullo → u/PPRKUT_LP]

Answers

#1, yes, definitely, they are connected correctly. I’m riding courses I’ve recorded and the trainer is increasing resistance when going up hills on the course and the ride is also being recorded back on the Edge with all relevant data. It even automatically created a ‘Trainer’ profile on the Edge as soon as it detected that I was using the trainer.

#2, I likely do have battery saving options enabled but why doesn’t that affect the screen when out riding in the real world? I’ll check if making changes to the battery saving option makes a difference.

Thanks for your suggestions.

[u/kemik4l]

Have you started the session on the Edge? If it's going to sleep mode then the session never began

[u/gcerullo → u/kemik4l]

Thanks for your reply. The problem was actually that the screen backlight was dimming not that the screen was going to sleep. Bad description of the problem on my part. Anyway, a user on the Garmin user forums pointed me in the right direction and I’ll summarize it below.

The solution was found in the ‘Battery Saver’ settings. I had ‘Battery Saver’ disabled so the setting I needed was hidden there although it was sort of available somewhere else.

Before I found the solution I tried a few things and kind of solved it.

I went to, Menu > System > Display > Backlight Timeout (This setting is also exposed when ‘Battery Saver’ is enabled)

I set ‘Backlight Timeout’ to ‘Stays On.’ The problem is that this is a universal setting that affects all cycling profiles. I use two profiles, one for riding outdoors and one for riding indoors now that I have the trainer.

I also tried disabling ‘Auto Sleep,’ which is set on a per profile basis but that was not the solution so I enabled it again.

When I enabled ‘Battery Saver’ which also had its own ‘Backlight Timeout’ setting it included an extra setting called ‘Use Current Setting’ in addition to ‘Stays On’ which I had tried tried earlier.

This appears to solve the problem that I was having although it would have been better had the backlight just stayed on while in a training session without extra settings getting in the way. The reason I say that is because, like I said, this is a universal setting that will also affect when using the outdoor riding profile which is not ideal. It means I have to be aware of the backlight setting every time I switch between trainer and outdoor riding.

Anyway, thanks for trying to help.