sox.exe file location

Sox.exe needs to reside in the folder where your POI Loader was installed... This will typically be in C:\Garmin

No installation required, just copy it to that location. It doesn't need or want to be copied to the nüvi.

To my knowledge, there is nothing else that needs to be done other than reloading your POI files using POI Loader and at that point the appropriate sounds will be heard if you correctly named your sound files to match exactly the POI file names.

Edit, Just noticed you were asking about a Mac... Of course, this only applies to PC... Maybe someone else has some hints for the Mac world.

Basic POI Loading Procedure Using WINDOWS
Following these instructions will allow you to load custom POI into your Garmin unit. These are VERY BASIC instructions and are intended as a process on how to load POI to the memory in your unit.
1. Download and install the latest version of POILoader from http://www8.garmin.com/products/poiloader/.
2. Create a Folder to hold all your Custom POI. NOTE: I put my folder on my Desktop.
3. Download the desired POI files from POI Factory and put them into the folder created in Step 2.
4. Visit the Icon library and download the desired icons for your POI files and put them into the folder created in Step 2.
5. Visit the Sounds Library and download the desired sound files for your POI. NUVI 2XX and NUVI 1XXX units require WAV sound files. WAV files require you to install a sound conversion program called SOX. SOX.EXE can be downloaded from http://rapidshare.com:80/files/139638423/sox.zip. Unzip the folder containing the program SOX.EXE. Select the SOX.EXE file, right click and select COPY.
6. Using Windows Explorer, go to C:\Garmin. This must be the same folder that has the program POILoader.exe. Right click on any BLANK space in this folder. Select PASTE. SOX.EXE should now be copied to the folder. Check and be certain the folder contains BOTH POILoader.EXE and SOX.EXE. If SOX.EXE is not copied to this folder, WAV sounds will not play.
7. Using Windows Explorer or another program, open the folder containing the files to be loaded into your NUVI.
8. Match the file name to the ICON file. Rename the ICON file so it has the same name as the POI file. POI files can be either CSV or GPX – it doesn’t matter. These file names must match exactly with the exception of the file extension. NOTE: there can only be one period in a file name. A period in a file name marks the beginning of the file extension. Icon file names can only end in BMP.
9. Match the file name to the SOUND file. Rename the SOUND file so it has the same name as the POI file. POI files can be either CSV or GPX – it doesn’t matter. These file names must match exactly with the exception of the file extension. NOTE: there can only be one period in a file name. A period in a file name marks the beginning of the file extension. Sound file names can only end in MP3 or WAV. Using WAV files requires another program not found on POI-Factory.
10. Connect your NUVI to your computer using the USB cable. Wait for the NUVI to show it is connected and ready to receive files (Black screen with an ICON at the bottom showing it is connected to the computer.)
11. Run POILoader.
12. Select Garmin Device as Where to save your Points of Interest.
13. Press Next and wait for the program to find your NUVI. The NUVI will be shown in the box labeled Device:.
14. Press Next. The program will ask the location of the files to be loaded. Use the BROWSE button and select the FOLDER containing the POI, ICON, and SOUND (Alert) files.
15. Select the measurement units used for your NUVI. Feet and Miles per hour or Meters and Kilometers.
16. The NUVI suggests running the program in Automatic. For BASIC file loading, this is sufficient. NOTE: The only two alert sounds that will play automatically are for Red light and Speed cameras. For other alert sounds to play, you must select MANUAL and set either a distance or speed alert trigger. NOTE: If a file name contains ANY number, POILoader will assume it is a speed alert and play the sound file for that POI automatically. Press Next.
17. POILoader will begin to convert the POI files, ICONs and ALERT sounds and load them to your NUVI. If POILoader encounters an error with a source file, it will tell you the name of the file POI file containing an error. When finished, POILoader will tell you the number of POI successfully loaded to your NUVI.
NOTE: Every time you run POILoader, it will overwrite the previous output file and you will loose any POI not contained in your source folder.
18. Disconnect your NUVI using the Stop or Eject USB device.
19. Power up the NUVI and select WHERE TO -> EXTRAS and see if CUSTOM POI is displayed. Press CUSTOM POI and you should see a list of all the POI loaded.
TROUBLESHOOTING:
20. If you do not see a custom icon or hear the custom alert sound for a Custom POI that successfully loaded, it is most likely because you have a double file extension (two periods in one or more of the file names.)
21. Open Windows Explorer. Select TOOLS. Select Folder Options. Select VIEW. Under FILES AND FOLDERS uncheck the box that states: Hide extensions for known file types.
22. Using Windows Explorer, open the FOLDER containing the custom POI files, icons, and alert files. Verify each file name has only ONE period just before the 3 character file extension. Rename any files containing more than one period so the file contains only ONE period.
23. Restart this procedure at Step 8.
Repeat as necessary.

Hi Mike,

The Mac OS doesn’t use Windows executable (.exe) files. That being said, the sox.exe file you are talking about, won’t run on a Mac computer.

However, if you have an Intel Mac and run Windows on a partition of your hard drive, then you would need the aforementioned “sox.exe” file, for when you are booted into the Windows OS, of that drive.

BTW, If you are going to use .wav files, they must be encoded “PCM 44.100kHz 16-Bit and Mono (stereo won’t work)“.

Regards,

Tailspin

Nüvi 670 & 880
Mac Pro & OS 10.5.7

Unfortunately, as has been mentioned, you can only do this with a PC. I know I tried. Also as mentioned, if you have Boot Camp or one of the virtual PC's on your Mac with Windows installed, you can load it using that method which is what I've done on my Nuvi 255W.

Thanks guys... much appriciated.

TXRVer - your right - its all about the PC, I knew the SOX.EXE was a PC file, but i figured it was used by the Nuvi, so thats where I tried to put it. The C:\Garmin location everyone referred to didnt click at first because the POI Loader, when installed on a Mac, is just the App "Garmin POI Loader" itself in the Applications folder... its not located in a Garmin folder (like it would be in a PC I guess). Thanks for the confirmation.

Tailspin - (off topic) how is the 10.5.7 working for ya? I havent had the nerve to upgrade to 10.5 yet... 10.4.9 is nice & solid for me now - think Im gonna hang there for a while on my G5 dual 2.7. Im running 10.4.11 in a G4 dual 1g in the shop... its solid as well.

last Mrk - I will have to get a Windows partition set up like you did. I also want to change some of the text in TTS... the TTSVoiceEditor_V281 is PC as well.

a_user - that was a great explanation... including all the troubleshooting tidbits to look for when writing the files (reminds me of back in the day when you would have to write the HTML code for a website!)... much appreciated! Now it makes sense to have the SOX file with the Loader app... guessing the loader sees the SOX and uses it to encode/combine the Audio files to the POI.

thanks again for all the help... after running some more tests, I basically found that by adding Redlight to a file name, it would initiate the proximity alert function in the Nuvi... so that primarily what I was after.

For now, I am just gonna buy the redlight files from POI factory so I can use it until I get the time to set up a PC startup drive for Mac.

Thanks again.

Hi Mike,

Mac OS 10.5.7 is solid. I’m running it on the Intel processor, on my Mac Pro...

Regards,

Tailspin

Nüvi 670 & 880
Mac Pro & OS 10.5.7