cant get garmin 2.3.5. poiloader to display any screen that i can imput to??

I just tried it to make sure the site was working and had no problem.You are downloading it from http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=927 right?If you are using run on the first step try clicking save and save it some where on your computer.Then exe from that location.Note this download 2.5.3 is for windows.

thanks charlesd45 for your reply. I will remove the existing copy from "my Documents" and try reloading this new version. I'm about 90% sure this was the one i used the previous times ,but will certainly try again. thanks

hi. I tryed the link that was left by charlesd45 with the same results. It acts like its not loading the entire file??? As before...it loads into the folder i made on my hard drive. I double-click and it opens, i check on the lic. aggreement stuff, hit "next" (poiloader)then a blue indicater appears and shows transferring files, i checked box saying "launch loader now", it then says "done" and about 4 seconds later completly goes away and defaults back to the folder i assigned it to. Any other suggestions? i have Vista home premium operating system. Is maybe it not compatible? thanks

I have POI Loader 2.5.3 (and earlier versions in the past) and it does work with Windows Vista Home Premium with no special Windows tweaks.

Have you succesfully installed and used earlier versions of POI Loader?

Do I understand correctly that your problem is in the installation of the program, not the use of POI Loader? Did you delete the earlier download from your PC before re-downloading it to remove the potential of a past corrupted download causing your problem? While downloading, does it appear to download a 10.1MB file (as indicated by the Windows Progress bar)? One other possibility could be your antivirus, antispyware or firewall software causing the failure.

Yes, I agree that if you check the box to Launch Loader Now, it should run right after being installed. But in case of a one-time glitch, did you check in your Windows Start/All Programs/Garmin folder to see if maybe it's there and see if it'll run from the Start Menu?

Good luck and keep us posted.

thanks everyone for their imput. Problem solved!!
Apparently the 1st download got corrupted and i deleted all copies of it on the hard drive multiple times.....but, didn't delete the one in CONTROL PANEL (programs and features). After deleting the control panel copy and reloading it again to my c:\ drive folder it took right off 1st time!

Everything cool now...loaded my 1st "custom pois" with all the U.S. casinos. yea! thanks again

Glad you got it.Now you need to add some voice alerts using wav files then you will be good to go.

Now you got me salivating! so it will tell me if i'm in range of a casino? Do you know how to do that? Since i made this 1st post ,i downloaded walmarts and campgrounds....ALL in the SAME directory on my c:\ drive. Would that be a problem? thanks

You can set the alerts using the manual mode instead of the express mode for poiloader.It will allow you to set a distance you want the alert for.You will get what I call a bong sound alert.You can use wav files to get voice alerts.You will still need to use the manual mode once you set the wav alerts up.Here is the process.

a.Download the latest PoiLoader file at http://www8.garmin.com/products/poiloader/ .
b. Download Sox Exe at http://rapidshare.com:80/files/139638423/sox.zip .
c. After un-zipping Sox Exe file place it in your Garmin folder where the PoiLoader exe file is located on the computer.
d. The wav file for alerts will be named the same as the CSV or GPX file except for the extensions.
e. You can make your own wav files by going to http://www.research.att.com/~ttsweb/tts/demo.php and typing in what you want it to say or use a program to convert mp3 files to wav. When using the conversion it must be saved as PCM, 44.100 kHZ., 16 bit, Mono. Wav files are also on site for download.
Select manual mode on poiloader to set speed or distance for alert.

dont know what the sox.exe file does but i have the following files in my directory (on my hard drive)

C:\nuvi special files

poiloader.exe
sox.exe
(something).wav (haven't got it into there yet)

is this what the format should look like? thanks

You have it set up right.The wav files will be what you add to your custom poi folder when you run poiloader.Here is a outline for the easiest way to do it.

1.Make a folder on your computer and give it a name. Example My poi's.
2.Download the csv or gpx file and put them in that folder.
3.If you want to add a bmp or wav file. Download from site and also add to the same folder but make sure you name them the same as the file you want them to go with except the extensions.Example

>My pois=Main Folder
>>Dunkin Donuts.csv
>>Dunkin Donuts.wav
>>Dunkin Donuts.bmp
>>Walmart.csv
>>Walmart.bmp
>>Walmart.wav

4.Hook the gps up to computer using usb cable and then run poiloader. Select My pois folder.
5.Use manual mode instead of express for the wav files you want the alerts for.
6.You should get message so many pois are loaded at the end of the download.
7.On GPS go to where to then extras and touch custom pois and you should see them.
8.Every time you run poiloader it will overwrite the existing files.

thanks again for the reponse back with the very good instructions! the only hangup i think i have is the sox.exe file. When i did as you said,at the end of the poiloader process it say's "Cant find sox.exe to convert to wav file" (or something similar). Where did you say to put the sox file? thanks again

The sox file goes in the same location as the poiloader exe .On my computer I click on my computer then local disk c.After clicking on c I see the Garmin folder.After clicking there I see the poiloader exe.I put the sox file there with it.You did download from the location I gave plus you have the latest poiloader correct?

Edit.After reading your above post above you say that the sox exe is in the C:\nuvi special files.That sounds like a file you made or a backup.It has to be in the Garmin folder.You will also see mapsource exe and mapinstall exe along with poiloader exe.

i had it in with the poi cvs files. I will take it out of there and put it in the C:\garmin directory with the poiloader stuff. Also do the poi cvs files with their apropriate bmp file and any wav file need to be grouped together(ie-one directly under the other or can they just be all randomly located within that same file?? (I know all the names need to be changed to exactly match the cvs file ,but with the apropriate extension). as always thanks again with you're quick response.

Once you put them in the main folder I call my pois you can put them in random.What happens when you run poiloader it is converted to a gpi file.Putting them in order on your computer lessens the chance for errors though but either way OK.

thanks charlesd45 for all your help. I'ts working. This is w-a-a-a-y cool! the only snag (and it's very minor) is the golden corral resturaunts icon. It is a .bmp file. Do you think it has to be a jpeg? or some other extension? If so do i just need to "rename" the extension from .bmp to .jpeg or do i need another program similar to what the sox.exe did for the .wav files? oh,sorry i have a garmin 255w. thanks

It has to be a bmp file.Nothing else needed you just put it in a folder like the example I gave above.Exactly what is the problem?If problem viewing the icon you will need to zoom in real close to see it.When you select go to to the custom poi it will show with no zooming once you get close to it.Make sure you don't have a double extension with it.The biggest problems with the alerts and icons not working are the files not being named the same except for extensions and having double extensions. Double-check each of them. The best way to prevent double extensions is to go to your folder options in the control panel and click view then find hide extensions for known file types and remove the check mark. Click ok.

You can check this way to make sure you have the bmp icon.Touch where to,extras,touch the Golden Carrol custom poi,touch one of the locations,touch map at bottom of screen.You should see your bmp (icon)

double checked everything. All are nicely lined up one under another ,all typed EXACTLY the same with their own unique extensions. And yes it is a .bmp extension on the icon. I went into custom pois in my gps to verify as you suggested. It shows the name (golden Corral) but just has a small silverish colored dot. There are all kinds of other icons when you view all the way in like that,but no red/yellow golden corral icon. Oh well everything else seems to work just fine. I can live without a custom icon for this file. No biggy , I'm just happy with everything else you've helped me with. In a weird, sick ,sort of way ,it was actually fun struggeling through it. It's the challange of getting it to actually work, i guess . Thanks again for all the help.

Glad you got the alerts to work.Don't give up on the icon.It sounds like you everything righ on your end.It just may be the icon itself not correct.May need to download another one or make one yourself.There are posts on this.Just try the search.Have fun with your Nuvi 255 it is a nice unit.

One last thought on the icon.When you went to icons at the top of the page and found Golden Carrol and clicked on it.The next page where is says attachment.Did you right click the word attachment and select save as then put into the poi folder?

i typed golden corral in the search window above and selected the cvs stuff. The icon file was on that same page. I double clicked on it and it opened another page with just the bmp file only (i think it did say attachment). I double-clicked on that and it gave me a little window that allowed me to save to my special poi folder. The bmp file did not say "golden corral-usa_V" like the rest of the files so i clicked "rename" and made it the same. Shouldn't that work?

Double (and TRIPLE) check that you don't have double file extension on any of the files. Make sure that the file browser on your computer is not set to HIDE file extensions. Double file extensions can occur if you type the extension when you are renaming the the file.

Go up to the top of this page top right and click on icons.Scroll down until you see Golden Carrol BMP Icon.Click on it.Now you will see Golden Carrol.bmp 1.74 kb.With attachment written over top of it.Right click your mouse on Golden Carrol.bmp. Scroll to save target as and left click on mouse .The next screen that comes up will be where you want to save it at.Select the same location you have the Golden Carrol.csv file.It should work after that.The icon looks ok to me.Double check again like you said you did before on double extensions and the exact spelling of the names.Renaming will work if names are different.Just look out for the double extensions.

did not see any double extensions in my special poi directory anywhere. I tryed clicking on a couple other golden corrals on my gps that didnt have so many icons in such a small area (maybe they are hiding under one of those? Anyways,all i found was the std. little blue knife/fork icon (no golden corral icon). Its like somehow its still trying to use the default ones,even though i'm using the "custom pois" one and have the prox.alert box "checked" for custom pois. Dunno?

When you touch on one of your locations listed under Golden Carrol custom pois do you then touch map at the botom of the screen?If not showing there and you checked the extensions make sure the names are the same except the extension.Same spacing etc.You are also correct that it may be covered up by another one.One thing for certain you can do.Put your unit in simulation mode and do a test run.If the icon is there it will show near the end.Try above first.
You have it like this right.
Golden Corral.csv
Golden Corral.wav
Golden Corral.bmp

the downloads on the search were typed exactly as follows ,so thats the way i saved them:

Golden Corral-USA_V.csv
Golden Corral-USA_V.wav
Golden Corral.bmp

I "renamed" it to match the name of the .csv and .wav files thus making it:

(Golden Corral-USA_V.bmp)

Should i have dropped the USA_V from all the files?

thanks

If they are all named the same it should work but I would rename them and see what happens.Name them as below.Again check for the double extensions like I stated earlier about going into the control panel.You got the wav files to work so this should be a breeze compared to that.

Golden Corral.csv
Golden Corral.wav
Golden Corral.bmp

Yea ,the wav file i took off the At&T text to speech program and used their tts person (crystal) then just renamed it and didn't use the golden corral mp3 file which i read somewhere wouldn't work.

i will try to rename them all , as you have stated above. Nothing ventured.... nothing gained!

I noticed that the Golden Carrol is also in a gpx format.If you notice now with the csv file you have to use the more button to get all the info.Using the gpx format will put it all on the go to screen.We won't go there right now but something for you to think about.

i retyped all into my special poi folder on my hard drive. Don't have my gps handy at the moment, will re-run poiloader with the changes when i have it here and see if that did the trick. Thanks

Ok.I decided to download that file for myself.I named them like I said to above.Included bmp,wav and csv file.Tested it out.Touched one of the locations like going to it.Zoomed in and put my finger on the screen and slide the screen along the route.The bmp was there.Also done the above and touch map at bottom of the screen and the bmp was there.The problem has to be not named exactly the same except the extensions or double extension.My guess would be double extension like this Golden Carrol.bmp.bmp

you're right on with the re-naming them. When i put them in as "Golden Corral" , everything works. Interesting ......i could not get them to work when they were all named "Golden Corral-USA_V" ,maybe it didn't like the hyphen USA_V part??????? LIke i say, it's working fine now.....sorry you went through all the extra work downloading it for yourself! I couldn't get back to you any sooner than i did.

Well ....on the bright side , now you have some new restaraunts to try out! Thanks again for all your help.

Glad you got to work.No problem about extra work downloading it myself.I go to Golden Carrol and when I travel it will be nice to have.I did delete the csv file after trying it and went with the gpx format.Using the gpx allows everything to show on the first screen instead of using the more button.If you decide to do that later the layout still the same except the extensions. You can have both csv and gpx files
Golden Carrol.gpx
Golden Carrol.wav
Golden Carrol.bmp

Here is a handy program you may want to try out sometimes. http://turboccc.wikispaces.com/Extra_POI_Editor I download csv files to it and save as a Gpx file or add information to the file using it.You can save as a gpx or csv.If you have any more problems just let us know.

gpx.....maybe later. If it was just as simple as replacing the ".csv" to ".gpx" i would consider that, but i suspect it is more complicated than that. So i'll probably be good for now.

Another subject.....i have to use my free map update by the 1st part of june. So it looks like i'll be going from ver. 2009 to the 2010 ver. There are probably some good posts on this subject already. I need to make up my mind by the 1st of the month. I have read that maybe 2010 still has some problems ....i may want to just stick with 2009(?).

Anyways...thanks again for all your help.

No all you would do is download it from http://www.poi-factory.com/node/11162 and delete the csv file on your computer and leave the wav and bmp like they are and the name for the gpx would be Golden Carrol.gpx and everything would work the same.

On the maps remember the free update is based on the first time you turn on the gps and got satellte fix within 60 day.I purchased the 2010 lifetime maps and found no problems with them.

that sounds easy enough. Before i bite, what did you say the advantage would be? All the pois would be on the same page without having to arrow down....hmm ,how does that work?

Thats encouraging that the 2010 upgrade works good for you. I'll do a little more snooping around and try to get some other opinions,hopefully from those that are having the problems. I'll probably end up just doing it.

Using csv or gpx in this case for the Golden Carrol will produce the same results except that when you touch the go to for a location all the information will show on the first screen using gpx.Csv you will need the more button to see the rest of the info.Going down the interstate at 70 mph I like to eliminate any steps I can. The real purpose for using the gpx format is to allow you import more data then just the address and phone number to show on your gps unit.See http://www.poi-factory.com/node/6203 .Check around on the update problems.Most I have seen so far are on other models.

i think i'll just leave good enough alone for now. Thanks for showing me some addition options ,though.