nuvi 7x0/7x5 mapset naming guide *updated*

I confess I haven't yet read your post carefully, but it looks to be very informative. Do you know offhand if this information can be used to load files from GPS File Depot (http://www.gpsfiledepot.com)?

A few additional observations:

That naming convention applies to other units too - (certainly the Nüvi 310 and StreetPilot C510 that I own). One of them did seem to get a bit confused at having a GMAPSUPP.IMG on both the unit and the SD card - though I can't remember which one (I didn't pursue it).

Although GMAPOEM.img is a map file, Garmin seem to use it for maps that only contain POIs (rather than Roads and POIs). (There's such a 'map' on the Garmin website that contains POIs for all the US Volvo dealerships). If you do use it for conventional maps, the first map within it is treated differently to the rest: it is 'checked', but the option to 'uncheck' it, is greyed-out. I did see one occasion, where the unit would only use the file, if it contained at least two map sets.

(I use it to contain maps that I have created, so that I don't keep wiping them out, when transferring test maps with Mapsource).

I picked a map at random from that site ("US States & Counties Boundaries Map") and this is what it says about its installation:-

"Two options exist; for windows download and run setup. The map will then appear in Garmin MapSource and can be added to your GPS by selecting it in MapSource and sending it to the GPSr. For Mac download the mac version, extract it and double click the .gmapi file. Map Manager will then install the map for you."

Following that procedure, you will ultimately end up with GMAPSUPP.IMG on either your SD card, or the unit itself. You could then rename it to one of the other filenames, as required.

I appreciate the follow-up.

Just plain kewl, especially the topos!!!!

Updated to add secondary 3D map.

^

Sorry, i am new but... you downloaded those files or got them from your 765 and just added it to your nuvi 300 series? do the 3D landmarks and lane guidance work?

if so, do those images still need to be unlocked?

i have a kenwood DNX5120, i dont know if the GPS on there is based on the streetpiolet series or nuvi so i wanna give it a try...

I think this is a really cool idea, but I'm wondering what one can really gain from adding the gpsfile depot maps.

Has anyone done this? What benefit did they give you.

I think it's really cool idea, I'm just wondering if there is anything that would improve my use of my Nuvi.

Thanks to you two for this GREAT info! It really saved me some time, as I was just about to create, dl, & experiment with names and locations on my 765 to learn just what you summarized.

Only thing that could top this is if either of you know the same info about a nuvi 200W ... the other unit I have!

(or is that info here in the factory somewhere?)

10. gmapsup2.img

That does not work on the 7x5 series & I have not yet verified it for the 7x0. Which unit have your tried it on that worked?

Since I don't have that unit to test the filenames on, you'll have to verify which work on that particular unit. You already have the names...all you need to do is rename a supplemental or basemap to test & verify.

Just posting here so that my profile tracks this incredibly useful thread.

The naming conventions and limitations seem to apply to all recent Garmin units. Handy to know, but with Mapsource, you can combine as many different maps into one file as you want, as long as the resulting file is smaller than 2GiB (limit on a 660, anyway). Go over that size, and the map won't load.

There is also a limit to the number map segments which can be selected on the Nuvi, 4005 (at least on a 660). If your main map is the full City Navigator North America NT, that takes 63 (each state or province/territory is a segment), then your other chosen map segments would have to total than 4005-63=3942 segments. (What I call a "segment" is the smallest selectable piece in Mapsource) You can easily exceed that limit when using topo maps.

It would be much more useful if Garmin had allowed a number of different map names to be used on an SD card (because they can hold significantly more than the internal memory), but instead the only one which works is gmapsupp.img.

I got the following maps:

- CN North America (about 1.1GB) in Nuvi 760 internal memory
- CN Southeast Asia (about 115MB) in my 4GB SD card

The above 2 maps work great. I'd like to add another map, CN Europe maps. The size is about 1.6GB. My goal is to use all 3 maps (North America, Europe and Southeast Asia) simultaneously.

Can I put the largest 2 maps (CN North America and CN Europe) in my 4GB SD card? I have a lot of room there. I believe the total size of North America and Europe maps would be around 2.7GB. They'll fit nicely in my SD card. I will have plenty of free space on my Nuvi internal memory if I can move CN North America maps to SD card.

What's the best way to organize these maps?

You CAN put 2 maps on the SD card but ONLY IF you merge them into a single gmapsupp.img. The 760 can only read ONE set of supplementry maps from an SD card.

If the maps you want to merge are both installed in mapsource, you merge them by simply writing them to the SD card at the same time as a single mapset. Each map will still be individually selectable at the 760 map info screen.

If you are trying to merge raw IMG files (outside of mapsource) you need a separate non-garmin tool.

If it were me I would do this (simple to do):
1. Leave the CN NA in the 760 as they are
2. Copy the Asian gmapsupp.img to the 760 garmin folder as well (you have plenty of room in tht 760).
3. Put the European maps on the SD card.

I have a very similar setup on my 750 except I have a set of Blue Charts installed in place of the Asian maps.

There is another issue you haven't mentioned. If you are using a North American Nuvi, I'm surprised you haven't noticed the inadequacies of using the pre-installed NA basemap in conjunction with those European and Asin maps. There are a couple of options for either replacing you NA basemap with a worldwide routable basemap or adding a worldwide routable basemap (but it would require the use of a non Garmin map utility tool).

More on that later if you feel adventurous.

If you already have the .img mapsets created, the best way to have them on the nuvi and accessible is the following:

nuvi drive:
CN North America x:/Garmin/gmapprom.img
CN Southeast Asia x:/Garmin/gmapsupp.img

SD Card
CN Europe x:/Garmin/gmapsupp.img

As was mentioned in the guide, the nuvi can only access one mapset on the SD Card (gmapsupp.img). If you want more than one mapset on the SD Card, you'd need to use MapSource to rebuild the .img file containing multiple map families into one .img file, then use that single .img file on the SD Card.

I'm afraid I don't follow. Please elaborate. Btw, I have not loaded Euro maps yet. I only added Asian maps.

Please do tell. I'd be interested to learn something new. Thanks.

Ok. That's exactly what I thought before posting the question. Put the largest map on the SD card. I take that it's not possible to move North America map to the SD card, right?

I've heard MapSource mentioned so many times but I don't think I've ever used the software. I look in my Nuvi 760 CD. There's no MapSource there.

About 3 years ago, I bought a StreePilot C320. It came with no preloaded maps. IIRC I used Garmin software to pick an area on the map and load it to C320. Is that Mapsource software? I returned the GPS because I didn't really like it. C320 owners may be able to answer that question, if you don't know it.

Thanks.

Sure you can...just name it gmapsupp.img. Then you'll have to put the EU maps on the nuvi drive since you can only have gmapsupp.img (one mapset) on the SD Card. With some effort, you can combine .img mapsets (somewhat alluded to by Frank508) using GMapTool. See
http://www.anpo.republika.pl/download.html#gmaptool
and work from backups.

Also I do NOT know if the nuvi will recognize a very large mapset, such as CN EU combined with CN NA. As I stated in my previous post above, you can do exactly what you want to do without having to resort to combining mapsets which -can- be dangerous if you don't know what you're doing and don't work from backups.

Yes, that is MapSource

Google "MapSource for free" and you'll be able to find out how to obtain it with no charge (Garmin will charge you for it).

Yeah, sounds like the original suggestion that you both suggested is better (largest map on the SD card). I might play around with the software to combine maps just for the fun of it. Thanks for the info.

You can also have yet another mapset on the nuvi drive and call it gmapprom1.img

Thanks for pointing that out. I had forgotten about that mapset name...and it's right there in the guide too.

I have 2 maps (over 2 GB & in one gmapsupp.img file) on SD Card for my 760. My son-in-law has 2 maps (over 2 GB & in one gmapsupp.img file) on SD card for his 260. Both work fine.

Thanks

I did google it. I read an instruction on how to workaround the setup to avoid detection of previous installation. That trick does not work anymore. Installation completed without any error message but I got an error when running MapSource. The error: "MapSource could not find any installed MapSource map products". My guess is Garmin fixed the bug.

I also found a couple of discussions that say Garmin will send us MapSource if we own one of their GPS.

Here's one discussion: http://www.poi-factory.com/node/64

craig470 says:
Yes, you do have to have mapsource already, but still don't necessarily have to buy it. If your Garmin didn't come with the DVD because maps were preloaded, you can request the DVD from Garmin support and they will ship it for free.

Actually several people say the same thing. They asked and got it free. I'll give it a shot.

I have a legal copy of MapSource as I own an older StreetPilot, but I wanted to see if I could get it to work in a pinch if I didn't have my CD handy. I downloaded the latest "update" version from the Garmin site and after installing to my laptop that never had MapSource installed, I got to the same point when trying to launch the application: "MapSource could not find any installed MapSource map products". I then installed "US States & Counties Boundaries Map" from gpsfiledepot and MapSource was then happy.

It is limited in that it doesn't have a Garmin mapset, but is functional with regard to Waypoints, Routes and Trip Logs. You could merge and install 3rd party mapsets, but I agree, if you have a Garmin GPSr, try to get a valid copy from Garmin to support the mapset that at least came with your unit.

I ended up contacting Garmin. They sent me MapSource DVD with CNNA 2009 map in it, free of charge. Thanks anyway for the tips.

So are all these maps that you are talking about free, or did you buy/get them from Garmin?

Yes it's free but you won't get an updated map. You'll get the same map version that you got in your GPS unit. In some cases like mine, Garmin doesn't charge anything. I sent them an email to ask nicely for MapSource DVD. I got it in about a week.

This is a very informative thread, thanks to all.

I've been using Garmin GPS and Mapsource for nearly 10 years, but I am new to the Nuvi system.

I've never before tried to save a mapset to a card, as I transfered directly to the device. I just tried to save a mapset to an SD card but it only saved the index not the maps.

How does one use Mapsource to save detail maps on the card? I want to save some city detil maps from a Metro Euro map on the card. I understand how to name the folder, etc. on the card,

I just can't get the actual maps onto the card. I'm trying to do this with a save to the SD in a card reader. Should I instead put the SD in the Nuvi and use the transfer method? If so how do I ensure it load the maps to the card rather than override the base mapsets on the device?

Thanks.

Alan.

I would also like to know this, as I don't have a card reader

If using MapSource
1. Have Nuvi attached to PC and recognized
2. Click on SEND TO DEVICE Icon
3. When Send to device pop-up window appears, use drop-down menu arrow.
4. Select the SC Card in the Nuvi
5. Then Check Mark MAPS then select SEND.

If using Card Reader Skip step 1. Use steps 2 and 3 and on step 4 select the SD card in the card reader. Then do step 5, Check Mark MAPS then elect SEND

I did find my card reader and got my POI's loaded on the SD card (after a few misteps)

Can this be done with the Nuvi500 and if so how?

Thank you