Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

Garmin Map Update Problem

  • 11-04-2007 10:17pm
    #1
    Moderators, Education Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators Posts: 7,395 Mod ✭✭✭✭


    I have a Garmin Nuvi 310. It came preloaded with the version 8 maps, but as they did not have full coverage of Ireland and weren't very detailed, I wished to update to the version 9 maps. I could get these for free as I bought my Nuvi after the release date of these maps, so I applied for them and they were sent out by Garmin

    After I completed the clumsy installation process to update the maps on the GPS, I went to try it. Sure enough, the maps were visually on it, but when I went to do any routes, it seemed to still be using the old maps, i.e still avoiding small roads. One of the most annoying factors of this was if I was in an area that wasn't on the main road (e.g country roads etc) and went to create a route (e.g 'Go Home'), it would run out of memory. The problem seemed to be that even though I could visually see the roads I was on, the Nuvi was going by the old maps and thought that I was in the middle of a field!

    So it appeared the new maps were only 'added' to the Nuvi, not replacing the old ones. I guessed this as when I zoomed in close on roads, sometimes I could see double outlines, as if under the new maps (the 'top layer'), the old maps were still lurking there. I know they were the older maps because when the roads got small or not near main roads, these roads beneath the new layer weren't visible

    So to solve this problem, I decided to remove the old maps, as it seemed apparent that they were no longer needed. So I went and had a look at the 'Garmin' folder within the GPS. These are the noteworthy files I found

    Before updating (Ver. 8):
    gmapbmap.img @ 6604kb
    gmapprom.img @ 170,488kb

    After updating (Ver. 9)

    gmapbmap.img @ 6604kb
    gmapprom.img @ 170,488kb
    gmapsupp.img @ 132,156kb

    So before I changed anything, I backed up all the files on the GPS.
    Then I decided to move gmapbmap.img off the GPS (this is after updating, with the V9 maps on). When I turned it on, I found that it had made no difference whatsoever - the same problem was evident.
    So I moved gmapprom.img off the GPS, and voila - Problem Fixed! It was finally showing no double outline, actually routing through small roads where necessary, and not running out of memory in any off main road locations!

    So if anyone is having a problem similar to this, try the above method, it worked for me

    It probably goes without saying, but just remember, before tampering with any files on the GPS, to back up the whole GPS to a seperate source of storage, and make sure that when backing up hidden files are included

    Tim


Comments

  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1 goblygook


    Hi Timbuk2,

    i believe i have a better workaround to your problem.

    i just bought a nuvi350 europe version with preloaded europe maps. the nuvi memory had the following map files:

    gmapbmap.img @ 6604kb - contains the worldwide base map
    gmapprom.img @ 1,301,824kb - contains the europe detailed map

    i live in singapore and so i loaded the singapore map file as gmapsupp.img. i have used the unit in both singapore and europe and it works fine as far as mapping and routing goes.

    this is what i believe the unit does. it uses the base map file if it cannot find a more detailed map in the gmapprom.img or gmapsupp.img files. it decides on which of the two map files to use depending on what the unit says the actual location is. in theory gmapprom.img or gmapsupp.img should contain detailed maps for 2 different regions. in my case, gmapprom.img contains the detailed map for europe and gmapsupp.img contains that for singapore. therefore, when i am in singapore, it uses the gmapsupp.img file and when i am in europe, it uses the gmapprom.img file. i think what happened when you loaded the update was that gmapsupp.img containing the new updated europe map was created. the unit therefore used both files ie the old and new maps since both would include the location of where you actually were. this also resulted in the out of memory error since it was trying to use both maps at the same time.

    moving the gmaprom.img map out leaves the unit to refer only to the gmapsupp.img file which now contains the most updated map. however, i think you should rename the gmapsupp.img to gmapprom.img. otherwise if you add a supplemental map of another region later, it will wipe out your updated europe map since the mapsource program will create the new supplemental map as gmapsupp.img.


  • Registered Users Posts: 100 ✭✭ronan.michael@g


    I have a Garmin Nuvi 310. It came preloaded with the version 8 maps, but as they did not have full coverage of Ireland and weren't very detailed, I wished to update to the version 9 maps. I could get these for free as I bought my Nuvi after the release date of these maps, so I applied for them and they were sent out by Garmin

    After I completed the clumsy installation process to update the maps on the GPS, I went to try it. Sure enough, the maps were visually on it, but when I went to do any routes, it seemed to still be using the old maps, i.e still avoiding small roads. One of the most annoying factors of this was if I was in an area that wasn't on the main road (e.g country roads etc) and went to create a route (e.g 'Go Home'), it would run out of memory. The problem seemed to be that even though I could visually see the roads I was on, the Nuvi was going by the old maps and thought that I was in the middle of a field!

    So it appeared the new maps were only 'added' to the Nuvi, not replacing the old ones. I guessed this as when I zoomed in close on roads, sometimes I could see double outlines, as if under the new maps (the 'top layer'), the old maps were still lurking there. I know they were the older maps because when the roads got small or not near main roads, these roads beneath the new layer weren't visible

    So to solve this problem, I decided to remove the old maps, as it seemed apparent that they were no longer needed. So I went and had a look at the 'Garmin' folder within the GPS. These are the noteworthy files I found

    Before updating (Ver. 8):
    gmapbmap.img @ 6604kb
    gmapprom.img @ 170,488kb

    After updating (Ver. 9)

    gmapbmap.img @ 6604kb
    gmapprom.img @ 170,488kb
    gmapsupp.img @ 132,156kb

    So before I changed anything, I backed up all the files on the GPS.
    Then I decided to move gmapbmap.img off the GPS (this is after updating, with the V9 maps on). When I turned it on, I found that it had made no difference whatsoever - the same problem was evident.
    So I moved gmapprom.img off the GPS, and voila - Problem Fixed! It was finally showing no double outline, actually routing through small roads where necessary, and not running out of memory in any off main road locations!

    So if anyone is having a problem similar to this, try the above method, it worked for me

    It probably goes without saying, but just remember, before tampering with any files on the GPS, to back up the whole GPS to a seperate source of storage, and make sure that when backing up hidden files are included

    Tim
    Many thanks for informative letter - will note and save. Have just bought the 660 Garmin and would like pointers as to backing up (whilst its brand new and before I get to it!)without destroying! My little weakness - Im accident prone bigtime when it comes to pcs. Regards Michael r. ronan.michael@gmail.com


Advertisement