Help! Even Garmin can't fix my problems... Missing 'extras' icon - NUVI 1350T

It would help if we knew which model you have but barring that you state you can see them when connected via the USB cable. Just where are you looking and what do you see?

On every Nuvi model that I'm familiar with both from personal experience and from other posters here Extras are found by pressing Where To on the main menu screen and then Extras. Extras may or may not show on the first Where To screen, they may be on the second page you reach by pressing the down arrow.

The next avenue to investigate is exactly how did you load the POI? Did you copy them or did you run POI Loader and let it do its reading of the source files and writing the POI.GPI file? From your description it sounds as if you copied rather than loaded by running POI Loader. I know Extras will not show unless there is a valid GPI file in the POI subfolder of your Garmin.

I would Imagine since you already talked to Garmin and they couldn't help you then you don't need to be told where the where the Extra Button is or should be.

The first thing to check is that all files are name correctly and be sure to use POILoader to truly load the files. If you still having a problem then,my recommendation is you call Garmin back and get a RMA and either have them fix the problem or send you another unit.

This is a brand new unit. I returned the other one a few hours ago. Same prob's. Yes, I ran POI loader. I've got about 16 hours invested already. It's been an education... As best I can figure, there may be a problem with my file structure. I have one main folder titled 'MyPOI', and six sub-folders. One of these (an example) is titled 'FuelmanPOI'. Inside this sub-folder are the files Fuelman_FL.gpx, Fuelman_FL.bmp, and Fuelman_GA.gpx. I've gone thru all the updating steps and even gotten the extra updates. Here's a twist. After several tries, I disconnected from the computer and the 'extras' icon appeared, complete with all of my custom POI's. I then navigated to the main screen and back again and it was gone.... Suggestions?

What model Garmin do you have?By chance is it a 800 series?

His model is in the topic title. It's a 1350T

ASpraggins

Read the following thread link entitled "Garmin - Loading POI files with POI Loader" carefully and follow it step by step. The folders you created and are referring to would be located in your computer's hard drive and not the Garmin before you run POI loader:

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/85

If you ran poiloader and it showed so many pois loaded.Every thing should be good to go.When you touch where to ,extras then touch custom pois last on your gps.

You may want to try this.Make a folder on your computer and call it my pois.Take two of your csv or gpx files and put them in the my pois folder.Run poiloader and when you get to browse make sure to select the my pois folder.Then go back to where to, extras and touch custom pois last.

If this works then you may want to go back and look at the file structure for the categories you set up.See http://www.poi-factory.com/node/25721

In your first post you stated you could see the poi on your unit when you looked with the computer. Just what file(s) do you see and where are they located?

Assuming you have a top level folder containing 6 sub folders which contain the files and you point POI Loader to the top level folder, you should have 1 POI.GPI file stored in the Garmin/POI folder on your unit after POI Loader tells you it successfully loaded your POI. Is this what you see?

yes, there is one poi.gpi file. The icon disappears, and then reappears. I used my unit today and manually entered an address, as there was no extras icon. when I left that location, upon power up, the icon was there. Great! I went to the next location, got out and went inside. Upon power up again, no icon I went inside, etc. Upon power up this time, still no icon. I visit multiple locations a day, as I'm in sales and learning a new route. I have followed all instructions as how to load POI's. I've walked thru it with the Garmin folks. I've read all the FAQs and followed all instructions to the T. In fact, I've tried multiple variations on all of it as well.

Right now it's anyone's guess as to what's happening. We can play Garmin and truly state "We haven't heard of that before."

Have you checked some of the other forums such as GPSPassion?

One suggestion I will make is to do a hard reset on the unit. A hard reset will generally clear out any unit specific quirks and odd issues that may crop up.

Not saying it will/won't help in your case but you should give it a try as it really cannot hurt anything...if it works, great...if not, at least you tried.

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/26136

If they cant or wont fix it?...

SEND IT BACK!!!

ASpraggins.It is hard to believe you got two bad units but I read some users have gotten other models more then 3 times with problems.Did you run Garmin webupdater for either one of them in case they have a fix out for a known problem they are not reporting?Make sure to go to both pages for the updates.

Yes, I ran webUpdater for both of them. Interestingly, since I have to manually enter addresses in qwerty format, the letters on either side of the keyboard really don't want to work on the new unit. Had a helluva time to get an 'a' or 'l' to type. Middle keys work fine. Pressed 'w' a few times and it registered 'q'.
As for the initial problem, it has been the same on both units. This is suspicious. Perhaps I will go for a third unit. I wonder if there is a break-in period for the touchpad? Does it get better? If not, then this unit is obviously defective. The first unit, not so obvious. Just the incredible disappearing icon. Next I will uninstall my POI loader and download a fresh copy, just in case it is somehow corrupted. I'm running out of ideas. Thanks all for your suggestions.

Same problem on both units. Hard reset? I'll try it, but I'm not so sure.

You say once in awhile the Icon shows up only to go away. I assume from that you do know where to look for it. If you are sure you do know where to find it, I suggest getting rid of all your POI's, on the unit, and make one new one on your own, install it, and see if the icon, and your poi shows up. If that works, you will need to go one step at a time. Now make two POI's in the file, see how that goes. Then try adding one from this site, keeping the ones that already work. Does the one from this site show up along with the ones that already work? Keep expanding till something does not work and you will have a better chance to figure out what is going wrong.

Good idea. I'll try that.

Made 2 waypoints from scratch with GeePeeX Editor, and imported just them into the garmin. Still no icon.

The hard reset seems to have helped. Extras icon, and all of my poi are there. I will use today and report findings back. Hopefully the icon will remain where it belongs.

If the icon does not hold.Another trip to the store for exchange may be the best option.