I need help with a downloaded poi file...

I tried it out on my 680. I only downloaded the gpx file but it appears to work fine. I get all the information including the phone number.

I just downloaded the GPX file and opened it with GeePeeEx v1.4.0 and everything appears to be where it should be. (Including the phone number when available.)

Just a thought...

Does the file have a lot of blank ones? Perhaps the area that he is in, has a lot of blank ones and so that is all he sees.

Some have no Phone Number but every entry has an address and a State/Province.

Darn, like I said, it was just a thought...too bad.

Hi Perrdom,

I downloaded the file and put it right into my POI Folder, uploaded it to my Nüvi 670 and all I'm getting (with the .gpx file), is the name of the POI and nothing else.

When I opened the file, after it wasn't displaying properly, I looked at the XML code and it looked OK.

As I said earlier, I have other .gpx files loaded on my Nüvi 670 and they display properly.

Still befuddled,

tailspin

Nüvi 670
Mac User

Are you loading from the Mac? The current Mac version of POI Loader doesn't work well for everyone. It was suggested to me by Dispatched that I try the beta and that at least solved my problem of no manual loading options, but I haven't tried a gpx. It wouldn't surpise me if the s/w is your problem. If you have an Intel Mac, you might want to try the Windows version.

Hi bentbiker,

I have a G5 Power Mac Tower (non-Intel), besides, I don't want anything Microsoft within 100 miles of me or my Mac (sorry Windows people).

I've got 4 other .gpx poi files that load and display correctly (with dialable phone numbers), so I'm wondering why the POI Loader, loads some .gpx files, and not others...???

I'm going to call Garmin Tech Support, tomorrow, and see if I can find out why this is happening.

If I find out, i'll post it to this forum.

Regards.

Tailspin

Nüvi 670
Mac User

I'm glad I've met someone at last, with a memory that's worse than mine! If you recall - back in early December, we had a lengthy conversation about this

The answer was (as BentBiker reminds us) the Mac version of POI Loader...

The workaround was (in your words):

"The good news...
I added a description field and now the address & phone
number "are" appearing correctly on all the POI's in the file"

This is what the PC version does with certain <sym> values - the MAC version does it with 'em all!

Hi again Phil,

It's true..."The mind is a terrible thing..."

I tried, once again adding a "desc" field, however, this time it didn't work.
The original "hot-dogs.gpx" file loads normally, but all it displays is "the name" of the poi and nothing else.

The "hot-dogs.csv" file displays properly, with the name, address and phone number. The .gpx file is supposed to do the same, along with a dialable phone number.

I'm calling Garmin Tech Support tomorrow, to see if I can find out why this is happening.

As I said in an earlier post, whatever I find out from Garmin, i'll post to the site.

Regards.

Tailspin

Nüvi 670
Mac User

I notice that the gpx download from POI-Factory, contains: <sym />

You could try changing it to something like:
<sym>Information</sym>

I think that might make a difference, based on what I've seen with the PC POILoader.

Well to be strictly accurate, it displays the name and comment. That comment could be interpreted as address and phone number...

Hi Phil,

I made the change you suggested but, unfortunately, it didn't remedy the situation.

Hopefully, after I get off the phone with Garmin Tech Support today, i'll be able to not only correct the problem, but also post the solution, on this forum.

Regards,

Tailspin

Nüvi 670
Mac User

I just got off the phone with Garmin Tech Support. I asked, and they agreed to let me send them the "hot-dog.gpx" file, that won't display the address and dialable phone numbers on my Nüvi 670 with Mac POI Loader 2.0.2.1 Beta.

The Tech Rep (Daniel) told me that Monday's are very busy, but he will have time (most likely on Wednesday) to upload the file, on to a few GPSr's and see if he can duplicate the problem in having, with the addresses and phone numbers.

He said he would let me know what he finds. I will post his findings (and hopefully a solution), on this forum.

Regards,

Tailspin

Nüvi 670
Mac User

I've had a bit of play with the .gpx file (as downloaded). I've taken a single <wpt> ("Little Spot") to experiment with.

This is how it displays in its original form

On a Streetpilot C510
http://geepeeex.googlepages.com/C510a.jpg

On a Nüvi 310
http://geepeeex.googlepages.com/N310a.jpg

After suitable modification (To the <sym> statement.)

On a Streetpilot C510
http://geepeeex.googlepages.com/C510b.jpg

On a Nüvi 310
http://geepeeex.googlepages.com/N310b.jpg

These issues are not new though.
What is new, is the introduction of the Mac POI Loader into the mix.

Phil,
Since you evidently didn't have a Mac to test with, and enjoy figuring things out, I decided to have a go. What I found (same as yourself) was that the original file when loaded onto my 660 does not display the desired information, whether done via my Mac or my PC. I opened the same file with your GeePeeEx Editor (trial version), deleted all but the Little Spot location you used in your testing, saved the file, and reloaded it to the 660 via the PC. Everything displayed perfectly and the phone number was dialable. I then loaded the same miniature file with the Mac beta version of POI Loader and I was back to square one -- nothing showed.

I was quite impressed with the ease with which your editor solved the problem.

Hi bentbiker,

There was an update to the hot-dog.gpx file and I was finally able to upload it to my Nüvi 670, with mixed results. Check out these screenshots and read the captions:
http://picasaweb.google.com/tailspin46/NuviScreenshots

Regards,

Tailspin

Nüvi 670
Mac User

And all I did was update a couple of co-ordinates for Nathans, and input a couple of new locations.... Go figure!

How many different version of (Mac) POI Loader are implicated in this?.

POI Loader for Mac Ver. 2.0.1 as of Dec 19, 2007 Download
Beta Software: POI Loader for Mac Ver. 2.0.2.1 Beta as of Oct 11, 2007 Download


Our earlier conversation was around the 12th of December - (when adding <desc> and/or modifying the <sym> statement fixed the issue). That Beta was available then, but were you using it?.

Or were you using some earlier version at the time? I can only find earlier Betas at:
http://www.gpsinformation.org/perry/

Hi Perrdom,

One question:
Why and, more importantly, how are the distance and speed alerts displaying in the poi? I don't see any reference to them in the XML code. When I choose to turn them (the invisible distance and speed settings) off in the manual mode, I lose the address and phone number display???

http://picasaweb.google.com/tailspin46/NuviScreenshots

Still befuddled...

Regards,

Tailspin

Nüvi 670
Mac User

I haven't got the faintest idea. I think that Hornbyp would probably be a better person to answer that.

All I do is enter the data into the file that Miss POI created for it. No special codes, no secret mark-up, nothing weird from data input side of things. Sorry!

Note that my tests after using Phil's Editor were done with no alerts set in manual mode via both PC and Mac. PC worked and Mac didn't.

Hi bentbiker,

I'm hoping to have an answer back from Garmin Tech Support tomorrow (at the earliest). I sent them the file and they're going to load it on multiple units, with the Mac PoiLoader v2.0.2.1 Beta, to see what happens. Maybe they'll discover a bug in the Beta...

Regards,

Tailspin

Nüvi 670
Mac User

That one's probably easier to answer...you didn't happen to call the file hot-dogs2.gpx did you?

I know I did

"A Bug in the Beta" -- sounds like a sci-fi movie.

If Garmin tests the file as supplied, they will see no difference in the output -- both Windows and Mac versions of POI Loader fail to display the info without alerts set. Only with the addition of "Information" in the field does the difference show up (I assume that is the only change Phil's Editor made) -- Windows works and Mac beta fails. I hope the tester at Garmin approaches it with the idea of finding out whether the Mac beta is capable of creating a gpi file that displays the info when the gpx file is capable of doing so. Otherwise, they will conclude that there is no problem with the Mac beta, it is just the gpx file which is causing the data to not display.

Hi bentbiker,

The Mac tech support guy I talked to on Monday (Daniel) said he'd probably have time to look at it, on Wednesday. If I don't hear back from him by Friday, i'll email him.

Regards,

Tailspin

Nüvi 670
Mac User

No need to feel sorry for us, you can't even imagine how many hot dogs we have eaten while you get the file to work... hehehe

Hi flaco,

Luckily, for me, I can find my hot dog places blindfolded...

The other day a friend of mine, and also a Windows user, asked me:
How many Microsoft software engineers, does it take to change a lightbulb?

I said "Gee I don't know".

He said "Actually none...they just re-define darkness as the default.

Regards,

Tailspin

Nüvi 670
Mac User

There you go then - an innovative solution, to what is actually a hardware problem

Getting back to Garmin...
...there's an interesting little thread here at the Garmin Developer Forum:
http://developer.garmin.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=308

This is one group of Garmin Developers, reverse-engineering the work of another group.

"We noticed a difference in behavior among different devices"

That particular team clearly hasn't a clue about the product of one of the others. I suspect the same probably applies to the people writing the Mac version of POI Loader. They've probably been given a spec. as what the device ought to understand - which doesn't quite match reality

(Been there...got the T shirt, as the saying goes... )

Hi Phil.

Thanks for the update...

I talked to Garmin Mac tech support (Daniel) about 2 weeks ago and haven't heard back from him...yet. I'm going to call him today and find out if he was able to solve the mystery of .gpx files, either not loading or loading without the address & phone number information, displayed on the Nüvi.

I'll let you know what I find out...

Regards,

Tailspin

Nüvi 670
Mac User

I loaded the HotDog POI in GPX format into my 750. I did not see any address or phone # info on my GPS.

I then LOADED the APPROPRIATE Hot-Dog.bmp ICON. and everything looks good now!!!!!!!!

Maybe to get it to load right with PoiLoader you need the ICON?????????

H Hannah
Nuvi 750 and IQUE 3600

Which version of POI Loader did you use?
Edit:

I just reproduced this with Windows POI Loader V2.4.2 (ie. current production version). This method does indeed workaround the problem as well.

So for this version of POI Loader, the wierd and wacky rule seems to be:

If the <sym> symbol </sym> value is 'null' or (various other values such as "Waypoint" etc), then the address details only appear if there is a description AND/OR an associated .BMP (icon).

NOTE: it's the contents of the <sym> statement that triggers the problem; even though this setting is never used to actually display the icon...


It's worth trying with the .bmp approach with the Mac POILoader, to see what it makes of it.

I used PoiLoader Version 2.4.2.0

H Hannah

nuvi 750 & ique 3600

Addition of a custom icon with the Mac beta Poi Loader causes the data to show on the screen, and the phone number is dialable. I had written this up saying that it was NOT dialable, when, at the last moment, I realized my phone wasn't turned on; funny how things actually have to be turned on before they work.

Hi Phil,

As you know I'm using the v2.0.2.1 (Beta) for the Mac. After reading about this solution to the name, address and dialable phone number anomaly posted by "H Hannah", I downloaded a "hot dog.bmp" file and installed it on my Nüvi 670 (previously, I didn't have a hot dog.bmp file, accompanying the hot dog.gpx file).

I'm happy to report that the name, address "and" dialable phone number, are now displaying correctly. "HOORAY"

Regards,

Tailspin

Nüvi 670
Mac User

Hi bentbiker,

Shortly after I read about the workaround for the .gpx problem, I got an email from Garmin tech support (Daniel), saying all he could figure out was that the file was probably corrupted.

I sent him a response detailing the workaround (with regard to adding the associated .bmp file) that was posted on this forum.

Don't know if i'll get a response back, but in the meantime, I'm one happy camper...

Regards,

Tailspin

Nüvi 670
Mac User

Glad you got it to work, for a while I though the problem was that the hot dog.gpx was created in a windows PC and your Mac refused to be contaminated with a file from Microsoft… hehehe

Hi flaco,

Mac users don't want computers that taste good, we want computers with good taste...

Seriously, I was surprised that the problem, affected both operating systems.

Regards,

Tailspin

Nüvi 670
Mac User

I'm sure you'll be amused to hear, that Garmin have now introduced this bug to the PC version of POILoader (V2.5.2).

Someone in Garmin has designed this change, someone has authorised it, someone has implemented it and someone has released it. But no-one in Garmin will acknowledge the fact, or give an explanation as to why)

Hi Phil,

I'm not amused and frankly amazed that Garmin didn't fix the problem on the Mac side. As to why it's now happening on the Windows side now, is a complete mystery to me...

I hope they get this issue figured out...and soon.

Regards,

Tailspin

Nüvi 670
Mac User