Formatting SD Card

...I bought the SD card, did nothing but take it out of the little munchkin plastic case, stuck it in, and used it. Nuvi has worked fine since. No formatting, no nothing.

GC

Generally it's not a bad idea to format the card with the device for which it's to be used in. The same applies with digital camera's etc. I always format my card with the camera to ensure full compatibility however the card will probably work fine if it comes pre-formatted.

Ray

I recently got my Nuvi360 and where can I find the format option for the SD card? I tried searching this forum and the Nuvi itself to no avail. I picked up a cheap 2GB SD Card from Microcenter for $29.99. We're about to head to Florida next week and I am looking forward to using the Nuvi.

I have successfully uploaded several POI files from this site. Thanks POI Factory!

SMP92,

Have you tried just putting it into the Nuvi and seeing if you can access it? I took my SD card right out of the sealed container and placed it directly into my Nuvi 660. No formatting was necessary and I loaded up 2gigs of music.

Thanks Holydoc, I wasn't sure if there was a manual format option like on my digital camera. I haven't had any issues so far. By the way Microcenter just reduced their 2G SD cards to $24.99. They have an online site for those of who don't have one near you. I have to go see if I can get the difference refunded.

Microcenter has some great prices.
Last month Microcenter sent me a free coupon for a 1 gig SD card, which was enought to put all the maps and red light camera POI for the wife's C320.
: )

I cannot recall a time I ever formatted one of the SD cards for use in a camera, PDA or GPS unit...so far no explosions, fires or toxic waste...but now, you have me worried :)

Regards, Ted

smp92, what Microcenter are you going too, or looking at? All I can find is a 1GB card for $24.99. I was looking at their online site.

Interesting reading

http://panasonic.co.jp/pavc/global/cs/sd/download/sd_formatt...

Robert660-

Just went through this myself. Here is the trick: Format the SD card using FAT32 (Not FAT). It is an option when you right click on the cardname in File Explorer screen.

Simply put:
Open MS File Explorer
Go to My Computer > find your SD card
Right click on the card name > Format...
Under File system, make sure you select FAT32
Start > OK to the warning
This will give you a completely clean card

Notes: FAT is for File Allocation Table
32 - is the number of bits for the internal address (sorry- probably a bit more tech than you want)

Bottom line is the Nuvi is set up to read the newer format for an SD card and will not recognize the old FAT only format.

It stumped me for a few minutes when I did a FAT (default is to 16bit only) format to clean off a card that I had used in a palm device. Just want to be carefull with the new toy!

Also, I could not find out how to use the Nuvi to format an SD card either.

I also Highly recommend using an external card reader - faster, safer, less chance of altering (deleting) something vital.

I am also glad to have found this site - I will definately want to share some POI info with you folks.

Love that Nuvi!

It's pretty common for cards to be preformatted (usually with Fat16).

If it works, it works. If it doesn't, you maybe be able to format it to whatever filesystem the device manufacturer recommends.

Robert660, sorry for the delay in responding. There is a Microcenter here in Dallas (Midpark & 75). They are now advertising the 2GB card for $15.99. Price has dropped considerably over the last month. I am using the 2GB generic card in my 360 with no problem. I think you have to buy it in the store.

I have a Nuvi660 and a 2GB Kingston SD card which was formatted with "FAT", it came this way and I have had no problems with this card so far.. Just my two cents.

I have many SD cards, used in a variety of devices - never once have I formatted a card - never had the need. They are ready to use right out of the box, if I move the card to a different device, I only need to erase the existing files. done.

Here is a website that you can use to compare all retailer prices, I don't even bother with Sunday flyers anymore.

http://www.salescircular.com

Without getting too technical. Formatting the flash card with FAT32 will provide a better method for storing files and provide more space if many small files are used.

Virtually all SD cards I buy are pre-formatted for a PC. You can use disk utility on your computer to reformat the card for Mac or PC.

This has been the best method I have found for all tyes of electronics esp cameras.

for software recomended,I need to format the sd card with formatter ver.1.01.

did you know how can i get the SD formatter ve1.01 ?.

this link address for sd formatter ver. 2.02.
can you advice,
how i get the sd formatter ver. 1.01 ?

I've bought many SD cards - they are ready to go, no formatting needed. Just plug it in and start using it.

the recomended of some software to format the sd card with suitable format ver. to be use without any
loding problem .
but for just filing it is ok.

So has anyone tried using a UNIX formated card with their Garmin? I almost tried this, then thought that I should just default to the FAT32 format.

My understanding is that the requirement is FAT32

I have used a lot of Memory Cards, and never formatted them.
I bought a 2GB SD card at Sam's Club yesterday, to put all of my MP3's on it for my Garmin C550.
When I tried copying the music files, half of them got error messages saying the directory could not be created.
After reading this forum, I went back and formatted the card as FAT32. It was FAT to start with. After I formatted the card, all of the files transferred to it without a problem.
Thank you to everyone who posted here. It really helped me.

Is it true that you can not use the SD slot on the garmin c330 to store POI files?

See description of Streetpilot c330 under GPS:
http://www.poi-factory.com/gps/garmin/streetpilot-c330

The card should work out of the box. I bought some 2 GB cards for my Nuvi 680. Filled one up with MP3's form my computer and the other for transferring data, POI's, etc. Everything worked fine.

Less is better if it works.

I wonder if you can format it in NTFS format. I'll try it and let you know.

Why would you want to format it as NTFS?

Will it be usable in a GPSr is the real question. I'm guessing not.

...and there is no benefit if it is possible to format it.

Gave mine to my kid and got the Nuvi 350. How do you use a SD card with the 320? Did not realize you could. I think the 320 had only USB cord and everything had to be downloaded from the computer onto internal memory. Maybe we're talking a differnt model from mine Thanks

The maps go on the SD card for the 320. It only has 2 megs of internal memory for POIs.

I tried to format an SD card NTFS and my computer does not give that option, even tho it is NTFS. As to "why would you want to"- I just loaded 508 mp3's on a 2 gig card with FAT 32 format and could not completely fill it due to the block allocated to names was full. I had renamed the files 1,2,3,etc to shorten them as much as possible. My understanding is NTFS does not have this limitation.
New here, but love it. Just got my Garmin 7200:)

Try changing the option for block allocation size and using FAT32. You may be able to increase the block size, and not lose too much in storage capacity.

I think you've hit the limit on the number of files in the root directory (512).

If you create a directory(folder) and move your mp3's there, I think your problem will go away. The Garmin will probably search the whole card for files, so it shouldn't matter what you call it.

This would be the case if it were formatted FAT, which has a limitation of 512 (files or directory), for the root or other subdirectories.

However jstoufer stated he is using FAT32, which supports 65536 per directory.

I think he may be onto something with the block size and would try to modify the standard size and use FAT32.

This website shows how to enable NTFS for flash memory, but I doubt the GPS would be able to read it.

This is all good information though and may help people with future file/formatting issues.