The Memory on both the Bad Elf GPS Pro+ (BE-GPS-2300) and the Bad Elf GNSS Surveyor has an external partition allowing trips to be accessed directly via the USB Port.  There are some limitations to this method of trip extractions due to the expansive nature of GPX/CSV, at 1hz sampling 8-10 hours of logs can be accessed as a GPX file.  Logs larger than this in duration will need to be collected and transferred using our app.  The instructions below are valid for the Bad Elf GPS Pro+ and the GNSS Surveyor with a minimum firmware version of v2.1.44.


Explanation: Root Drive

After entering USB drive the following root folder for the Bad Elf will be accessible via your PC/Mac

By default, only the current-settings file and logs are visible on Mac. To view the .private  and .Trashes files, you need to enable viewing of hidden files. Click here for an article on doing that.


The contents of the USB Drive on the Elf is as follows:

  • .private - Subfolder containing details of logs on the internal partition, which trips have been exported, method of deletion
  • logs - Subfolder containing exported log files ready for transfer
  • .Trashes - Required for Mac OS to ensure proper deletion of Logs
  • current-settings - a text file detailing the specific configuration of the device 


Explanation: .private subfolder




The contents of the .private subfolder on the Elf are as follows:

  • exported - Subfolder containing a list of which logs files have been exported.
  • logs-to-delete - Subfolder containing a list of log files to be deleted upon 
  • logs - A list of all logs residing on the internal partition of the memory.


Action: Transferring Trips

  1. After mounting the Elf as a USB drive all logs that will fit on the external partition will be written as a user-defined exported file type.  These will be found in the logs subfolder, displayed in the image below.  These logs can be transferred using any standard method to a desired final location on the users Mac or PC.  
  2. At this point the trips can be deleted from this folder allowing any additional logs on the internal partition to be written the next time the Bad Elf enters USB Drive mode.  
    • The deletion of a log from the external partition does not remove the log from the internal part of the memory
    • If the log needs to be regenerated for export again using the USB Drive method, the text file for the specific trip will need to be deleted from the .private > exported subfolder



Action: Deletion of Exported Trips from the Internal Memory


  1. The .private > exported subfolder contains a list of .txt files representing previously exported trips.  To remove any of these from the internal partition simply copy the associated *-info.txt files from the exported subfolder to the logs-to-delete subfolder.   
  2.  The log data on the internal memory will be deleted when either:
    • The Elf has been ejected as a drive, deleting all files found in the logs-to-delete subfolder.
    • Should the Elf have been unplugged without ejection, the deletion action will be performed when the unit next enters USB Drive mode.