Garmin Nuvi250 and mp3 files

The GPS unit firmware must contain an MP3 player in order for the Custom Alert sounds to work. The nuvi 250 does not. You will get the default sound.

Thanks MM

As you've surmised, all these units will play .wav files. Such .wav files are supported as part of .gpi file - but the issue is getting POI Loader to compile them in there.

There was a version that did this, but the support has been withdrawn from later versions.

The earlier version(s) are still available here: http://www.gpsinformation.org/perry/

I can't remember exactly which version supported .WAVs (I think it was 2.4.0.0 - aka POILoader_2400Beta.exe).

I wouldn't recommend using this version for anything other than this specific task. I don't remember getting a choice of where it was installed, so you might have to copy it somewhere else after installation and then re-install the later version for general use. There's no problem having multiple versions installed.

I've been aware of this for a while, but I couldn't get it to work for the StreetPilot C510, so I assumed it didn't work for the Nüvi 2xx either. It turns out that it does!.

(FWIW, I recommend the use of V2.4.2 for 'normal' use - as Garmin have still not acknowledged all their undocumented changes in V2.5.2.)

Has anyone been able to see if an older version of the POI Loader worked loading .wav files?

Why would you want to go to an earlier version than the one recommended here?

I used POI Loader 2.5.2 and was able to load wav audio alert files on my nuvi 660. It worked fine.

What were the logistics and steps involved ?

I'm trying to use the latest version of POI Loader 2.5.2.0 and then what..... to get a Windows "tada.wav" file associated with a couple of alert locations - just as a beginning effort ?

My 260 doesn't support .mp3's, but from reading here it seems to support .wav's if they can get downloaded into the Garmin Nuvi 260 via the POI Loader ?

ps56k, you might want to check out this thread:

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/13429

I have a nuvi 260 and was able to get the .wav file to work even though the unit does not support mp3 playback. Also, someone pointed out this neat site which translate phrase to .wav that I was able to use to build custom sound alert:

http://www.research.att.com/~ttsweb/tts/demo.php

Hope this helps.

Has anyone else had success with the new 205W? I've seen success with 255W and 200W, but am still getting bong-bong instead of my WAV file. Using POIloader 2.5.2 and sox-win 14.1.0, and WAV files are ADPCM 11Kbps, 16 bit, mono.

no. i've tried to get wav files to work with my nuvi 205w, but can't seem to. can anyone please go thru a step by step process for doing this on a nuvi 205w, thanks in advance.

octy

I've been pounding my head for a week, trying to get my Nuvi 200W to play sounds other than the canned "dong, dong" sounds. I read all the posts and followed all the instructions, but I couldn't get it to work. Then I followed a direct link to sox-win.exe and downloaded it again. This time I noticed I had TWO sox directories on my hard drive - version 14.0.1 and version 14.1.0 !

All the instructions said to use 14.0.1, but the current version on Source Forge was 14.1.0 --- and 14.1.0 DOES NOT WORK! Once I installed the older version, everything magically works now.

To recap the steps:

The files should be:
- MatchingFilename.BMP (the image 24x24, indexed color, 8 bits, magenta[RGB 255,0,255] is transparent)
- MatchingFilename.WAV (a Wave sound PCM, 44.1 mHz, 16 bit, mono)
- MatchingFilename.GPX or MatchingFilename.CSV

Put those files in the same folder, then run PoiLoader.

Yup, that was my problem. Works like a charm.

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/16728

What do you mean by..

to recap the steps:

The files should be:
- MatchingFilename.BMP (the image 24x24, indexed color, 8 bits, magenta[RGB 255,0,255] is transparent)
- MatchingFilename.WAV (a Wave sound PCM, 44.1 mHz, 16 bit, mono)
- MatchingFilename.GPX or MatchingFilename.CSV

Put those files in the same folder, then run PoiLoader.

I don't know where to find those files to be able to put them in that order. I'm not very computer savy...could you make it simple for me?

Thanks

Steps:

1. Create a folder in your computer - Desktop is easiest.

2. Copy either the .CSV or .GPX file to the folder

3. Copy the icon (.BMP file) to the folder

4. Copy the sound file to the folder. For the 205 it must be a .WAV file.

5. Using Windows Explorer, look at the contents of the folder.

6. Ensure the .CSV file, the .BMP file, and the .WAV file all have exactly the same name with the exception of the file extension (.CSV, .BMP, or .WAV. If any of the file names (to the left of the period are different, change the file names so all are exactly the same.

7. Obtain the proper version of the program SOX.exe (there are several threads that will point you to the proper version) and copy it to the folder C:\Program Files\Garmin. This folder must also contain the POI Loader program (using Windows Explorer look for the file POILoader.exe)

8. Repeat steps 2 through 6 for all the custom POI you wish to load. You must have AT A MINIMUM a .CSV file for each POI. Options are the icon (the .BMP) and the alert sound (the .WAV) each with a name matching the .CSV for that POI.

9. Run POILoader in manual mode. You will be asked to load or ignore each file. If you load a file in manual mode, you will be given the opportunity to set an alert trigger by either speed or distance (but not both).

10. When the last input .CSV file has been selected and any alert trigger information set, the program will then read each .CSV file and see it there are an icon and/or a sound file. These two items will be associated with each line of the CSV file for that particular POI. The loader will then move to the next file and repeat the process until all the files have been processed. At the end of the process you will be told how many custom POI, each with an icon and sound file trigger have been loaded. You will also be notified if there is an error in a POI file.