Mapsource alerts vs POI_Loder alerts

If I understand your question correctly, you have two different items here. You can set proximity alerts for points of interest and get them to give both audio and visual alerts.

Way points are different as they are markers along a route. I believe the 205 will only alert you to approaching a way point in the banner line at the top of the unit with no audio. My 885 will announce it is approaching a way point, but then again it has text-to-speech which the 205 does not.

To get audio alerts for POI on your unit, you need to have WAV format audio files and SOX.exe must be in the same folder POI Loader is on your computer. Running POI Loader with SOX enables it to play the WAV audio file.

Like, a-user, I am not quite sure what you are wanting to do. Since you have used the term Waypoints, we may be off base in our responses.

Your profile indicates that you are relatively new to this site, so the first thing we would encourage you to do is to make a backup of your Garmin Nuvi.

You should hook your 205 to you computer. It should show up in Windows Explorer as "Garmin Nuvi". Create a new folder on your PC. You could call it something like C:\Garmin Backup 20100605. Go to the Garmin Nuvi drive (let's say it is drive G:\. Select Drive G:\ in the left pane. Then click in the right pane of Explorer and do a CNTL-A to select everything. Still in the right pane do a CNTL-C to copy everything. Navigate back to the folder C:\Garmin Backup 20100605. Click in the right pane and CNTL-V to paste everything. Now, whatever happens, you have a backup.

you can get a manual for your unit at
http://www8.garmin.com/support/userManual.jsp

Setting "alerts" involves a process of telling your GPSr which Points of Interest you want to be alerted to as you are driving. Until we know a little more about exactly want you want to do, you might take a look at the following.

POI Loading Procedure Using WINDOWS

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

Step 1. Download and install the latest version of POI Loader from http://www8.garmin.com/products/poiloader/.

Step 2. Create a Folder to hold all your Custom POI. For these instructions, we will assume the Folder is C:\My POI

Step 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.

Step 4. Visit the Icon library and download the desired icons for your POI files and put them into the folder created in Step 2.

Step 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.
A. SOX.EXE can be downloaded from http://rapidshare.com:80/files/139638423/sox.zip.
B. Unzip the folder containing the program SOX.EXE. Select the SOX.EXE file, right click and select COPY.
C. Using Windows Explorer, go to the folder that contains the program POI Loader.exe. Let’s assume this is C:\Garmin. Right click on any BLANK space in C:\Garmin. 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.

Step 6. Using Windows Explorer or another program, open the folder containing the files to be loaded into your Nüvi. TIP: POI Loader will only load 32 POI files (along with their icon and alert sounds) from a single folder.

Step 7. Rename each ICON file so it has the exactly the same name as the associated POI file. The file names of the POI file and the ICON 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.

Step 8. Rename the SOUND file so it has exactly the same name as the associated POI file. The file names of the POI file and the SOUND file 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 - see Step 5 above.

Step 9. 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.)

Step 10. Run POI Loader.
A. On the opening screen, click “Next >”
B. Under “Save Options”, Select “Garmin Device” as where you would like to save your Points of Interest. Click “Next>”.
C. On the “Select the device…” screen, your Nüvi will be shown in the box labeled “Device”. Press “Next>”.
D. On the next screen, choose “Install new custom POIs on your device and click “Next>”.
E. POI Loader will ask you to select the directory of the files to be loaded. Use the BROWSE button and select the FOLDER containing the POI, ICON, and SOUND (Alert) files.
F. Select the measurement units used for your Nüvi. Feet and Miles per hour or Meters and Kilometers.
G. The Nüvi POI Loader suggests running the program in Express mode. 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. TIP: 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 traveling faster than the alert speed, the alert will continue to sound until you are at or below the alert speed. Press “Next>”.
H. 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 just chosen source folder so all files you want as Custom POIs have to be present in that folder every time you run POI Loader.

Step 11. Disconnect your Nüvi using the Stop or Eject USB device.

Step 12. Power up the Nüvi and select WHERE TO -> EXTRAS (for some Nuvi’s this is MY LOCATIONS) and see if CUSTOM POI is displayed. Press CUSTOM POI and you should see a list of all the POI loaded.

TROUBLESHOOTING:

A. 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.)
1). 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.
2). 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.
3). Restart this procedure at Step 6. 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 (or My Locations) --> Custom POI will show three entries, Food, Fuel Locations, and Stores. Pressing one of these names will show the POI files contained in that folder. TIP: 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.

I am having trouble uploading POI files from my computer to my GPS. The files are in my directory but I am unable to find them with the POI uploader. I am able to download them from the factory in the GPX format and know where they are in the cpmputer. There is only one period and I have tried creating a level one folder and still they do not show up in the POI uploader I have tried the rest areas and the Harley Davidson Dealsrs. any suggestions? Thaanks Hoginit.

Hoginit...not to be rude....but
it may be in your best interest to start your own thread rather than try to change an existing one to your particular question. This thread is about Mapsource vs POI_Loader alerts.

Thank you jgermann for this very helpful reply

on that one. makes loading pois an easier process. make a check list and presto, easily done.

I wish.

Does not seem to work that easily with a Nuvi 205 anyway

What problem are you having?Custom pois and voice alerts will work just fine with your unit.See http://www.poi-factory.com/node/25730 for using wav file.

on my 205W.