A Halloween voice for your Nuvi

 

I wish I'd have had this last week, but better late than never.

http://www8.garmin.com/vehicles/voices/halloween.html

It's not compatible with 300 or 600 series nuvi

--
You can walk a horse to water, but a pencil has to be led.
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Very ...

cool, but doesn't work on my unit.

cool

Thanks for posting this. Hopefully, they will begin to come out with more new voices over time.

Nice

It seems to work fine with my nuvi 200W. But today I can only run it in the Simulator Mode - raining way too much to go out.

Some interesting things with the file:
It is 5M when all my other .vpm files are about 1M.
I tried to use Voice Utility to parse it into it's .wav file components, but it wouldn't parse - any idea why not?

It would be nice to see more of these files for us non-TTS owners.

Steve W.

--
Steve W. - nuvi 50LM, 255W & 200W - Philadelphia, PA area

Curious

Curious, what makes this unavailable for 300 and 600 series?

Garmin's Greed

PaulATL wrote:

Curious, what makes this unavailable for 300 and 600 series?

The only thing I could think of is Garmin's greed. They no longer want people to use the discontinued models and are trying to kill them off.

Thank You

Thank You

Stupid question from newbie

Stupid question from newbie -
What happens if this is used on a TTS enabled device? Do the street names not get announced?

Correct

Correct, since this is a non-TTS voice the street names and destination are not announced. It just gives you generic directions.

Thumbs up!

Great find, thanks!

--
Bob G. Nuvi 750

UR welcome Seaworthy,How refreshing that most of you

seaworthy wrote:

Great find, thanks!

Found this to be a positive thing, and not just another opportunity to post something negative:) I tire of some that constantly bring clouds my way, no matter what is posted.

Be well

--
You can walk a horse to water, but a pencil has to be led.

I just downloaded this

and it's perfect. Loud,too.

--
Not doing anything worth a darn.

Loud is right!

And it's clear too. I'd like to see Garmin make more voices.

Thanks for the linky.

--
Eat at Joes.

Thanks for the link, it is

Thanks for the link, it is very nice and cool.

Awesome

It's a shame that they didn't come out with this voice a little bit sooner. I love Halloween (weird side effect of Halloween being my birthday), so this is really cool to use. Unfortunately, it's now 2 days before the holiday, and I haven't had a chance to even try this voice yet. The preview sounds great though.

Kevin

Not for nuvi 7x0 fw below 4.x...

Beware that this does not seem to work with the nuvi 7x0 series running firmware *below* v4.x. I have two 7x0 units, one on 3.1 and the other on 3.2 and the voice did not even show up in the voice list, despite being in the correct folder. The voice file itself is fine since the exact same file -does- work on my nuvi 200 running firmware v5.0. Looks like the 7x0 units need to have the latest firmware to use the new voice.

--
nuvi 760, nuvi 765T, nuvi 855, nuvi 3790LMT, nuvi 3490LMT - SoCal area

halloween

Cool voice. Wish it worked on the 600 series.

Deleting

When the holiday is over, how do you delete the voice? Is it a simple matter of USBing to the device and deleting it?

Can I safely remove all the other unused languages on my device (265WT) this way?

@ tomba

Yes and Yes. Simply delete the file(s) from the x:/Garmin/Voice folder.

--
nuvi 760, nuvi 765T, nuvi 855, nuvi 3790LMT, nuvi 3490LMT - SoCal area

Why delete it? It won't hurt

Why delete it? It won't hurt anything, and it will be there for next year!

--
Bob G. Nuvi 750

Too Big

seaworthy wrote:

Why delete it? It won't hurt anything, and it will be there for next year!

It takes up too much space on the 200 to leave there all year. I deleted most language files to make room for the worldwide basemap and some vehicles. Only have about 8MB left.

Anyone know why this file is 5x the size of other voice files?

--
><> Glenn <>< Garmin nüvi 2598

Going To Leave It On

Heck - I'm not deleting it - like it too much. No real reason not to use it all year around, or at least some times. So easy to select a different voice. Get tired of the gal chirping "recalulating" at me all the time.
Still don't understand why I can't open the file in Voice Utility. Posted in another GPS forum that the author (Ash10) posts in but haven't heard much yet. Would like to see which .wav files contribute most to the large (5M) file size. Know the "recalculating" replacement has got to be much larger.

Steve W.

--
Steve W. - nuvi 50LM, 255W & 200W - Philadelphia, PA area

Works great on my Nuvi 760

Works great on my Nuvi 760 with latest firmware.

Happy Birthday

chewie8han wrote:

It's a shame that they didn't come out with this voice a little bit sooner. I love Halloween (weird side effect of Halloween being my birthday), so this is really cool to use. Unfortunately, it's now 2 days before the holiday, and I haven't had a chance to even try this voice yet. The preview sounds great though.

Kevin

Happy Birthday!! It is my Son's and my Grandfather's as well so you share it with some great people.

Drat @ not working with the

Drat @ not working with the 600 series!

Thanks

It's always nice to find other people with such a unique birthday.

I got home and downloaded the voice onto my Streetpilot c550, and it doesn't work! I know my unit wasn't listed as compatible, but I kind of figured that it would work anyway. oh well. If someone figures out how to get this working on a c550, let me know!

Kevin

Halloween Voice

Thanks for posting. Several people at work said they would download it to theirs after they heard mine.

major file and .sum file?

I'm quite curious to see how this sounds, but alas, although the voice file is on the Garmin in the right folder, I see no .sum file to go with it, and it does not appear on my voices menu.

The Garmin site certainly seemed to imply that it was a piece of cake to install, and from the other comments, I seem to be the first to struggle (Nuvi 205W is the unit I'm trying to load).

Should Work

srevelation wrote:

I'm quite curious to see how this sounds, but alas, although the voice file is on the Garmin in the right folder, I see no .sum file to go with it, and it does not appear on my voices menu.

The Garmin site certainly seemed to imply that it was a piece of cake to install, and from the other comments, I seem to be the first to struggle (Nuvi 205W is the unit I'm trying to load).

I've loaded it on a nüvi 200 and 255 and it works on both. It should work without the .sum file.

--
><> Glenn <>< Garmin nüvi 2598

Will they make it work on

Will they make it work on the 600 series anytime soon

Loading Voice File

srevelation wrote:

I'm quite curious to see how this sounds, but alas, although the voice file is on the Garmin in the right folder, I see no .sum file to go with it, and it does not appear on my voices menu.

On another GPS forum I read that the .sum file is a checksum value and is not really needed to make a voice work. Are you sure that the file in the Voices folder is shown as a .vpm file. Did you use the automatic or manual download method? I downloaded to my computer, unzipped it and dragged the unzipped .vpm file to the Voices folder on the GPS unit. It works fine with my 200W - it should work with your 205W.

--
Steve W. - nuvi 50LM, 255W & 200W - Philadelphia, PA area

Anyone get it to work on a 350

GadgetGuy2008 wrote:
tomba wrote:

What happens if this is used on a TTS enabled device? Do the street names not get announced?

Correct, since this is a non-TTS voice the street names and destination are not announced. It just gives you generic directions.

Copied this file to my 350 Garmin\voice directory but don't see it when sellecting the voice. Anyone get it to work on a 350.

Why no 300/600 love?

I don't know why this would not work on the 300 and 600 series. It doesn't, but I can't understand why.

Not Worthy

Because the 300/600 models have been discontinued and are no longer worthy of Garmin's love.

We should start a support group for 300/600 owners. smile

But don't worry, I'm sure the 7x0 owners will join your group soon. Its only a matter of time before Garmin discontinues the 7x0 line now that the uber 7x5 models are here.

Cool, going to pick it up

Cool, going to pick it up

--
Roleplaying Canuck Gamer with: Nuvi 760 & 2595 LMT (Map Ver.: 2019.30) 2012 RAM 1500 4x4 Big Horn Quad

I tried the new voice

on a long run from Fort Worth to Kileen, Tx today. Every once in awhile it throws out random comments like: "This reminds of a drive down Route 666". Very funny.

--
Not doing anything worth a darn.

I had fun with that voice today too.

donicus wrote:

on a long run from Fort Worth to Kileen, Tx today. Every once in awhile it throws out random comments like: "This reminds of a drive down Route 666". Very funny.

During the day, when I past the street I was to turn on, he said "Let me Consult my Magic Book" which was much better than Karen saying "Recalculating"

I finished with work today and set the destination to home. About 25 feet away from my drive way, he said something like "You are arriving at this despicable destination" I cracked up smile

--
You can walk a horse to water, but a pencil has to be led.

Extra Stuff

I guess all of the extra phrases explains the large file size.

I thought the voice files simple contained the stock phrases that the firmware uses. How does this voice file choose random phrases to say periodically and different destination phrases?

--
><> Glenn <>< Garmin nüvi 2598

Bad Mojo

GadgetGuy2008 wrote:

Because the 300/600 models have been discontinued and are no longer worthy of Garmin's love.

So they want the reputation for being a company that abandons products within a year of their replacement?

I was hoping for a technical explanation. I don't know of any, quite frankly. I would imagine that a voice file is a voice file. If not, is it such an ordeal to save it in two different formats?

If the only explanation is non-technical, I think it's a mistake. Treatment like this will drive 300/600 owners to look at different manufacturers when it comes time to replace their units. When you have choices (and there are more every day) why do repeat business with a company you can't trust?

That doesn't make sense.

Not Worthy

GadgetGuy2008 wrote:

Because the 300/600 models have been discontinued and are no longer worthy of Garmin's love.

We should start a support group for 300/600 owners. smile

But don't worry, I'm sure the 7x0 owners will join your group soon. Its only a matter of time before Garmin discontinues the 7x0 line now that the uber 7x5 models are here.

Amen! I don't feel the love from Garmin. sad

--
Peter

Reality sinks in

GadgetGuy2008 wrote:

Because the 300/600 models have been discontinued and are no longer worthy of Garmin's love.

We should start a support group for 300/600 owners. smile

But don't worry, I'm sure the 7x0 owners will join your group soon. Its only a matter of time before Garmin discontinues the 7x0 line now that the uber 7x5 models are here.

That's weird!

Rayzers wrote:

I finished with work today and set the destination to home. About 25 feet away from my drive way, he said something like "You are arriving at this despicable destination" I cracked up smile

My Nuvi does not say that, I wonder why!

--
Bob G. Nuvi 750

Random

seaworthy wrote:
Rayzers wrote:

I finished with work today and set the destination to home. About 25 feet away from my drive way, he said something like "You are arriving at this despicable destination" I cracked up smile

My Nuvi does not say that, I wonder why!

It seems to have various phrases. It changes each time.

--
><> Glenn <>< Garmin nüvi 2598

I'm with you on that gdfaini.

It seems to have various phrases. It changes each time.

yes, that must be the case, because when I heard what I heard, I drove around the block and set home once again just to hear it again, and it was just his deep voice saying that I had arrived at destination.

--
You can walk a horse to water, but a pencil has to be led.

Happy Birthday chewie8han!!!

Just a quick note to wish you a Happy Birthday Kevin!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Halloween!

--
Bob G. Nuvi 750

Not on my c580 either

I had no luck with my c580, either. I tried copying the file directly into the voice directory and installing it via the Garmin Communicator plugin. I also tried removing all non-English voices in case there was a limit to the number of voices it could support. It never appeared in the voice menu.

Too bad, might have been a lot of fun today.

I tried this today for the

I tried this today for the first time. One of its comments, "This car is nice, but it's no hearse."

--
"Recalculating... drive 0.2 miles, then abandon vehicle." ------------- [ETrex Venture CX; Nüvi 40; Drive 52]

Dr. Nightmare Oddity

I previously posted a comment about how a voice file like Dr. Nightmare could cause the nüvi to make random exclamations.

Well, I think I found the answer. I have Dr. Nightmare on my nüvi, but it is no longer the selected voice. I just haven't deleted it yet.

I just loaded the latest firmware patch and checked the sytem to make sure the version is now 5.00. It is.

However, to my surprise, just below the software, audio, and GPS versions there is a section that says:

Dr. Nightmare
1.00
Garmin

That must be a firmware patch to enable the random comments the voice file makes. I wonder if it will disappear when I delete the voice file. . . ..

Yep, it's gone.

I copied Dr. Nightmare back to my nüvi, and even though I didn't select it, the patch is back in the system section. It is a different version than the voice file I have selected, but the same version as the Dr. Nightmare voice file.

--
><> Glenn <>< Garmin nüvi 2598

cool

cool

Have it on my 750!

gdfaini wrote:

I previously posted a comment about how a voice file like Dr. Nightmare could cause the nüvi to make random exclamations.

Well, I think I found the answer. I have Dr. Nightmare on my nüvi, but it is no longer the selected voice. I just haven't deleted it yet.

I just loaded the latest firmware patch and checked the sytem to make sure the version is now 5.00. It is.

However, to my surprise, just below the software, audio, and GPS versions there is a section that says:

Dr. Nightmare
1.00
Garmin

That must be a firmware patch to enable the random comments the voice file makes. I wonder if it will disappear when I delete the voice file. . . ..

Yep, it's gone.

I copied Dr. Nightmare back to my nüvi, and even though I didn't select it, the patch is back in the system section. It is a different version than the voice file I have selected, but the same version as the Dr. Nightmare voice file.

There is no random exclamations, and when I reach my home, it just says arriving home, nothing more or different! I guess the patch is different on selected models!

--
Bob G. Nuvi 750
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