Free Worldwide Basemap Available from Garmin

I verified that this works as a supplemental map on the SD card on my 200. No need to replace the stock basemap.

MM, Do you think the nüvi will load two different supplemental maps if I put one on the nüvi and the other on the SD card? I'll have to delete about 16MB of vehicles and voices to give it a try.

You'll be able to load a supplemental map on your Nuvi memory and SD card. You will just have to pick a single map to view. Setting-->Map-->Map Info on my Nuvi 350.

Also the free Garmin World map works fine on my Nuvi 350 and Nuvi 260. The map has the major roads worldwide, but no minor roads.

Yes, absolutely. The GPS unit will read two different gmapsupp.img files if one is on the SD card and one is on the unit itself. I've done it successfully.

The built in base map is of North America.
It is version 4.

The World Wide base map is Version 3.

For this reason I was going to load the World basemap as a supplement rather than replace the built in one.

However, will the nüvi ever use the built in basemap since I have all of North America covered by the 2008 NA data?

If not, there probably isn't a need to keep both and it would be better to replace the NA basemap with the World basemap.

Am I correct?

Just realized the Worldwide basemap and Canada will overlap is both loaded as supplemental maps. That's probably a problem. Will probably just have to replace the builtin basemap with the worldwide one.

I downloaded the file, copied it onto an SD card but when I insert the SD card in my Nuvi 350 I don't see any other map available if I select Settings>Map>Map Info. Am I doing something wrong?

What's the point of getting a different base map? The base map is total crap. I can't imagine what it is useful for......

Can you advise how this one is different to the one in http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=3413 ?

For those wondering why you need (would like) a better world basemap ... If you are traveling international (Europe) with your trusty NUVI you buy the area street map - but if you play with your NUVI while in transit - say between Hong Kong and London, then a better world basemap gives you more detail about where you are.... Helps pass the time???

The point is the base map with the NUVI has NO roads outside of North America. The FREE world base map has major roads. If you're a frequent traveler to Europe then buy the Europe Map for $100+ otherwise if your just going there for vacation then the free map is better then the base map with NO roads.

If it is crap then why do you have a gps? It like buying a computor it is outdated before you get it home but is it crap if so you take it home.

The US base map is utterly worthless so I can't see the World base map being better. Only having major roads isn't very useful. If I go to Europe I'll use the European maps - same as I use the US maps at home. I just can't see anything to get excited about regarding ANY base map.

That happened to me the first time also. Make sure you put the file gmapbmap.img in a folder named "garmin" on the SD card. Rename the file gmapsupp.img so the GPSr knows it is a map supplement.

You are correct. If I go to Europe, I will certainly buy the Europe maps. However, for most of the world (Carribean for example) that is not an option. A basemap with major roads is better than nothing.

thanks for the info

I couldn't get the World Base Map to work as a basemap, so I restored the Americas Lite Base Map and put the World Base Map on my nüvi as a supplemental map.

Interestingly, the World Routable Base Map has many more roads in my area than the built in Americas Lite Base Map.

No conflict between the World Routable Base Map and the City Navigator maps when both are checked as Supplement maps.

Thanks!

Just noticed this post and thought I would comment. The world basemap can definitely be useful in Europe. I obtained the coordinates of the airport and the major places I needed to visit and put them in as waypoints on an older Garmin. I was able to route to those locations with no problem. With the new Nuvi 360 I just obtained, I downloaded the world basemap, renamed the one that came with the system, and copied it to the same directory on the Nuvi which contains the original basemap renamed. No problem flipping them back and forth if necessary.

Has anyone tried it on the StreetPilot Series ?

Or just the NUVI's ?

Tim

Yes. It's been on my C510 for 18 months.

I'm heading to the Dominican Republic in November, so hopefully this will help us to get around (at least on the major roads).

awsome...cant beat free as long as it works

I wish I had it when I was in the Caribbean in Feb/March.

I don't have the Palm Ique firmware, how do I go about downloading it to my garmin c530?

can some one walk me through what software I will need for the free world base map download.

I also ran into the same problem. I ran the installer but could not find the file anywhere on my computer. Is there an easy way to get the file itself?

Please do a search and you will see the link below:
http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=64350

After the download open the file with WinZip and extract the file "gmapbmap.img". Then copy this file (overwriting or saving the old one) to your Nüvi \Garmin directory and you are done.

Most likely if don't follow the above instructions you should probably not try and change the basemap on your GPSr.

Got the file.

I didn't have any luck replacing the basemap on my 200 with the Free Worldwide basemap. Not sure why. So, I saved it as a supplemental map and it works fine. I can turn it on and off if I wish and still have the default basemap. My nüvi 200 now has 4 maps loaded simultaneously:

America's Lite Basemap
Worldwide Basemap (as a supplemental map)
NA 2008 Contiguous 48 States
NA 2008 Alaska and Canada (supplemental on SD)

I don't see it saved on my memory card though...

I really can't believe no one will help me with this minor issue.

GMAPBMAP.IMG has to be on the unit itself. I don't believe it is accessed when stored on an SD card.

Following the instructions already given above, you have to extract the file yourself and manually replace your existing file.

Name the file gmapsupp.img on your SD or nüvi. Either way, it should be in the Garmin folder.

If you follow these instructions you should be fine. I personally like the idea of the supplemental basemap and not replacing the existing one. I put the file on the actual unit and not an SD card.

Huh, I did successfully copy into SD card and able to view in the Setting->Map->Map Info on my Nuvi 350. So, how do we use it? Does it just display the main road when your on it in a different country? B/c it doesn't allow you to type in a foreign country address. Can someone explain? Thank you!

No, it's just a basemap. It doesn't have those details. It just provides a high-level world-wide basemap.

One way to use it is to obtain the coordinates (latitude and longitude)of places you want to go. Enter these as either custom POIs or as favorites. You will then be able to get instructions between points. Just be prepared for frequent recalculations since the distance between map points is greater than with a detail map and it will think you are off course frequently. Also, it will only be able to direct you via main roads as that is all it knows. It can also be used to see where one of the POIs you entered is in relation to where you are so you can take smaller roads and always see where you are relative to that location. Sort of like seeing a very tall building in the distance and just heading in that direction. It was more useful than one might think at the right price.

Does this work on Nuvi200

I really like the idea of having the major roads in there countries other than the US.

This is great, glad I found the thread. Is there anyway to send it to mapsource?

Yes. It should work on all nüvis. I have it loaded on my 200.

You can import any valid map (.img file) to MapSource using a few additional tools. It's not trivial, but its not hard either. I used these instructions to import my Garmin 260W NA NT 2009 into MapSource without having the DVD. Note for locked maps you will need the unlock code. The free world base map is not locked.

See http://tiny.cc/4FAWP

Got it on my SD card in the garmin folder as a supplemental map and it works great on my 200W. Thanks!

I renamed the gmapbmap to gmapsupp.img and put it in the garmin folder on my SD card, but I actually can't see it on my c530. I do have hawaii and puerto rico, some canadian territories, but the unit won't let me see the gmapsupp on the unit of my sd card.

I don't see the base map listed on my unit, I named it gmapsupp.img and placed it in my SD card.

My map info. looks like this on my Garmin c530:

Map Info.

City Navigator North America NT 2008

(1) Alaska, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Nebraska..

(2) Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, Florida....

any ideas with the issue that I'm having with my unit. Does anyone have a c530 that ran across with my problem as well.

has anyone with a c530 installed the basemap on there sd card?

Come on, I know someone must have a c530 that has successfully done this.

Still waiting for some type of response.

The BASEMAP, is the map that is used, when you reference an area for which there is no DETAILED map (or zoom out beyond a certain point). The name of the base map is GMAPBMAP.IMG and does NOT work on an SD card.

If you rename it to GMAPSUPP.IMG it will work on an SD card, but now you may experience some strange (and unit-specific) effects. You will now have a SUPPLEMENTAL map, that covers a larger area than your detail maps. This is not a normal operating condition.

If you perform this experiment and like the results - fair enough. Just be aware, it's not what Garmin had in mind!

Yeah, I don't have a c530, but what exactly are you expecting the basemap to do?