1390t POIs not visible, sound muting

Welcome to the group first of all. While this group is primarily North American, we are always glad to hear from others. Before beginning - do a backup! Copy all the files your PC can see to a backup location. But then you would already know to backup after being in IT for this long.

You didn't state which computer O/S you are using, but it sounds as if it could be Windows. In that case here's a primer on POI Loading for windows:

POI Loading Procedure Using WINDOWS

Following these instructions will allow you to load custom POI into your Garmin unit. These are BASIC but VERY detailed instructions intended as a process on how to load POI to the memory in your unit.

1. Download and install the latest version of POI Loader 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. POI files may be either CSV or GPX format. GPX format files are written using the XML programming language and normally contain more information about a particular point of interest so the downloaded file size is much larger than a CSV format file.

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. Nüvi 2XX and Nüvi 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 POI Loader.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 POI Loader.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 Nüvi. POI Loader will only load about 32 POI files along with their icon and alert sounds from a single folder.

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 Nüvi to your computer using the USB cable. Wait for the Nüvi 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 POI Loader.

12. Select Garmin Device as Where to save your Points of Interest.

13. Press Next and wait for the program to find your Nüvi. The Nüvi 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 Nüvi. Feet and Miles per hour or Meters and Kilometers.

16. The Nüvi POI Loader 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. The default alert sound is a bong or ding. NOTE: If a file name contains ANY numbers, POI Loader will assume it is a speed alert and play the sound file for that POI automatically. If you have set a speed alert and are travelling faster than the alert speed, the alert will continue to sound until you are at or below the alert speed. Press Next.

17. POI Loader will read and convert the POI files, ICONs and ALERT sounds and load them to your Nüvi. If POI Loader encounters an error with a source file, it will tell you the name of the file POI file containing an error. When finished, POI Loader will tell you the number of POI successfully loaded to your Nüvi.

NOTE: Every time you run POI Loader, it will overwrite the previous output file and you will loose any POI not contained in your source folder so all files have to be present in the folder every time you run POI Loader.

18. Disconnect your Nüvi using the Stop or Eject USB device.

19. Power up the Nüvi 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.

ADVANCED OPTIONS

POI files can be grouped and categorized. The most common method is by using sub folders. Sub folders are created under your main folder holding your POI files. You can only have one level of sub folders.

An example is:

My POI top level
>Food sub folder
>>Applebees.csv POI file
>>Applebees.bmp icon file
>>Applebees.mp3 (wav) custom alert sound file
>>Cracker Barrel.gpx POI file
>>Cracker Barrel.bmp icon file
>>Cracker Barrel.mp3 (wav) custom alert sound file

>Stores sub folder
>>Best Buy.csv POI file
>>Best Buy.bmp icon file
>>Best Buy.mp3 (wav) custom alert sound file
>>Wal Mart (Combined).csv POI file
>> Wal Mart (Combined).bmp icon file
>> Wal Mart (Combined).mp3 (wav) custom alert sound file

>Fuel Locations sub folder
>>Loves.GPX POI file
>>Loves.bmp icon file
>>Loves.wav custom alert sound file
>>Pilot Locations.GPX POI file
>>Pilot Locations.bmp icon file
>>Pilot Locations.wav custom alert sound file

Selecting Where To --> Extras --> Custom POI will show three entries, Food, Stores, and Fuel Locations. Pressing one of these names will show the POI files contained in that folder. NOTE: You must have more than one category in order for the category method to work. Having only a single subfolder will display all the file names rather than the desired group name.

There is no change to how POI Loader is run. POI Loader is told to load the contents of the top level folder, My POI. The sub folder names become category names. Using the subfolder method you can have 32 sub folders each with 32 POI files along with custom icons and alerts.

Update - as I was answering this message, I was also reinstalling the maps update and the firmware update (3.70). Afterwards, suddenly I have the POIs showing on "Where to->Extras->Custom POI".

Strange, as I'd been there, done that. I usually run Linux, but have a windows partition on one of my PCs just for these things. And I had already used POI Loader exactly as you described, as well as tried tried Garmin supplied gpi files.

The strangest thing is that I got the custom icons to show and heard the custom alerts, but the "Where to->Extras" folder was empty when I tried to search a destination. Now everything seems to have been fixed with the reinstalls. I didn't even have to re-upload the POIs - they're already there from before the reinstall.

A lot of times new items will not show until after a reboot. When booting the Garmin O/S will index everything. A reboot will cause a reindex so if you don't see it reindexing (a line being filled on the splash screen) you are in a crap shoot as to it showing the new data.

I don't think that was the case, as I rebooted a few times, updated the software first to 3.60 then to 3.70, and nothing. Maybe the problem was with the map update, as re-installing it seemed to fix the POIs.

Now I have to wait for next time I am driving around to see if the navigation sound disappearing is fixed too.

I have loaded some custom POI's with the Garmin POI loader. It tells me I have sucessfully loaded 7000+ POI's but they do not show in the Custom POI display. The file is in the MY POI folder on the unit.

I also just installed the software upgrade to 4.2.

How do you initiate a reboot. I see the unit index when I connect it to the computer.

Appreciate any other ideas.

To "reset" your GPS, slide the Power key to the on/off position and hold it for 8 seconds. I think this is called a "hard reset".