Garmin Nuvi 310 SD Card reader issue

andrewdeerpark

I cannot read images or MP3's from 2 SD cards I inserted into my Garmin 310, the one with Ireland & England 2008 mapping only that I got as a present for xmas.

Both cards are perfectly readable from my Dell Inspiron 630m SD reader slot notebook, plus in our Nikon coolpix s200 camera.

The 2GB card was purchased in Aldi last week and the 512MB is an old disgo card from last year.

If you connect the Garmin to my XP SP2 dell notebook via USB under the 512MB card both the internal memory of the garmin and the SD reader function fine from Windows Explorer. Use the 2GB and the garmin SD reader tells you the card is not formatted, try format it and it will fail.

Using the Garmin in standalone mode either card is not readable through the picture viewer or MP3 player (yes I created a M3U playlist). Plus I do not see any obvious way to browse to the SD card in either programs, no file manager software on the device.

The device was fully updated to the latest software on purchase via the webupdate tool.

I contacted Garmin and got a pretty lame 1st level support email back suggesting the test via the picture viewer.

Does anyone know of similar issues? Also what is the min and max SD card sizes allowed? Garmin support said 4GB but that SD is the new SDHC format anyone tried that format?
http://www.sdcard.org/about/sdhc/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Digital_card

I purchased in the carphone warehouse and went to the store with the SD cards in question tried reading them from a new unit there and I had the same result hence I do believe the issue is with this variant of the Garmin 310.

My real concern is will this unit support the Western Europe SD card update from Garmin when I need it in the summer. I just want to prove standalone SD reading functionality.

The unit is working fine plus bluetooth is spot on aswell just this issue. Help appreciated?

311

Have you formatted the card in the garmin ?,that would be the first thing to do.

I had trouble when I got one aswell ,I remember that if i formatted the card in the garmin ,my laptop reader wouldn't read it. And vice versa.

I'm using 2GB Crucial card ,which is not the best brand.

andrewdeerpark

Brian
Tried that with the card in the Garmin from within windows in FAT file format made no difference.

Thanks for the idea.

I may buy one of the kingston approved 2GB SD cards for the unit and try that also awaiting Garmin's response.

Thanks

Andrew

rrpc

Is there a format utility in the Garmin itself?

andrewdeerpark

I cannot see a format utility within the Garmin itself. I asked Garmin support whether to use FAT or FAT32 on the SD card and did not get an answer.

Also sent then on an m3u playlist file and they said my format of that file was fine for inporting an external MP3 list, however my unit does not have an import feature available on the MP3 player.

So still not a lot of progress I have sent Garmin on the MP3's I am using and they are getting back to me Monday.

Do-more

Could well be a compatability issue with the Tevion (Aldi) SD card, I bought one a few weeks back and loaded it up with European maps for my Nuvi 300 but the 300 doesn't appear to see anything on the SD card. I didn't get to trick around with it and I don't have any other SD card to try in it so I can't be sure....

andrewdeerpark

Cheers for that I thought there could be an issue there even though the 512 disgo SD card not working was also unusual.

The last reply from Garmin support today:

It should work with 99% of SD cards. I have used 512MB cards on a daily basis and they work just fine. I also use a Toshiba SD 2GB card for MP3's and I have no problems. When viewing pictures, you press on picture viewer and if the JPEG files are properly loaded to the SD card, it should give you the option of looking through internal memory or SD card.

Check the Kingston website and they recommended 5 types of SD cards.

Anyway I bought the European maps on SD card from Garmin and if they do not load then I know its the unit itself and I will swap it out.

Keep you posted when I have an update.

Do-more

andrewdeerpark wrote: »

Anyway I bought the European maps on SD card from Garmin and if they do not load then I know its the unit itself and I will swap it out.

Which version maps did you buy? The Garmin website still only has V.9 maps for sale, the new 2008 maps are due shortly....

andrewdeerpark

Good point the unit has 2008 Ireland / UK Maps I assumed 2008 Europe maps I will let you know when the SD arrives and if its the old one I will just return them.

Thanks for the tip off, I assumed since the unit had 2008 maps that's what the website was selling?

andrewdeerpark

Just letting you all know I ordered the Europe maps on SD card from Garmin website at end Dec 07, arrived today and they were the correct / current 2008 version.