Trying to figure out this POI Stuff

Did you try this process http://www.poi-factory.com/node/25721 ? Also you need wav and sox.exe for the voice alert.Make sure to use the sox.exe listed and place in correct location after you unzip http://www.poi-factory.com/node/25730

First off, it sounds as if you are about 80% there. The SD card needs a folder structure like the Garmin. There needs to be a Garmin directory with POI underneath it (\Garmin\poi). The unit will then read the card and know any GPI files in the directory are custom POI.

The second thing is alerts. In order for your unit to play wav alerts, you need the program SOX. Try Soundforge for the current version. SOX MUST be installed in the same folder on your computer having POILoader.exe. This is normally the \Garmin folder.

Your folder structure for holding your source files is correct in that you created a folder to hold them and then told POILoader to load the contents of the folder.

The final item to check is in you unit setup, make certain you have alerts for custom poi enabled.

Good luck - and have fun!

When you run poiloader and get to browse make sure to select your main poi folder.In your case Garmin Poi.When you get to find device use down arror and select the sd card.The poiloader program will take care of making the folder and file structure on the sd card.

Thank you for the directions. I am slowly learning. Please let me know if I have this right. The links you suggested helped.

So when I start out on the SD card I just make a folder called Garmin\poi then the POI loader should read that folder.
Then I download the SOX file to my computer in the same folder I will download any POI’s
Download the files I want from POI Factory on my computer.
I then change the name of the files keeping the file extensions. Using the manual mode so I can set the distance I want for the warning.
Example would be
Rest Area.crv
Rest Area.bmp
Rest Area.wav

Use the POI loader to install any POI’s along with .wav and .bpm and SOX files from my computer to an SD card. Insert the card to the GPS and it should work???

1.Make a folder on your computer and call it My Pois.
2.Put the rest stop files in that folder
Rest stop.csv
rest stop.bmp
rest stop.wav

Run poiloader and when you get to browse select My Pois.When you get to select device use down arrow and select sd card.Continue on and you will get message so many pois loaded.Forget about making a folder on sd card.Poiloader will do that.

Example where to put sox.exe for XP.Click my computer, c drive,program files,You will see Garmin folder.Click on it and you will see poiloader folder.Click on it and place the unzipped sox.exe in that folder.This is for the latest poiloader.

Sometimes, when a person first tries to load POIs, various settings on the computer are not as they should be. While this may not be the case in your situation, why don't you make sure.

Just so you do not lose track of the thread you are now in, we suggest that you follow the links below by holding down the "Cntl" key when you left click on the link. A new "Tab" should open in your browser which you can click on to do the exercise. Then you can click on the "Tab" for this thread to return and do the next exercise.

There are two Beginner's exercises that you should complete. You can find them at:
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/30393
and
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/30394

After the settings on your computer are correct and you have a manual as well as a backup of your GPS, I would suggest that you choose just one POI file to load AND LOAD IT TO YOUR GPS as opposed to the SD card. I would also suggest starting with no voice or icon files just to make it easier to get going. You can use the Garmin default alert.

Pick a POI file that has a destination near your home so you can quickly check out how well you did.

Let's say you pick a folder that has in it only ONE of the POI files (maybe it is Starbucks) that you downloaded from here (and has no voice or icon files included there). Point POILoader to this folder; give the output file some name; use feet and MPH; and choose "manual" mode rather that the default "express" mode.

On the next screen, click "This file contains proximity alert points" and then click "Alert whenever you get close to a point" and put in some distance, say 500. Let POILoader finish.

Safely disconnect your GPS and then go to Tools > Settings > Proximity Points and turn alerts on. Now go drive to the nearest and see if the alert sounds.

Assuming this works, you should read and follow the links that charlesd45 provided above

Note: the reason I am suggesting you start with no voice or icon files is that there could be problems with naming; with double extensions; etc that you should not have to worry about right now.

As Charley pointed out, if the folder structure is not correct on the card, POILoader 2.6.1 will create the proper structure. All you need to verify is the structure is there.

Sox goes in the same folder the program POILoader.exe is in. For a Windows PC this is usually the Garmin folder found under Program Files. Sox does not go in the folder holding your POI files.

What you have is correct. The most common problem after doing what you think is correct is a Windows quirk. Windows hides the extension of many commonly used files. It will hide the .wav or .bmp extension as a matter of course. The most common mistake is that people then add the extension creating a double extension. To make windows show extensions you need to go into the Control Panel and tell Windows to no longer hide the extensions of common or known file types.

That's pretty much it. The other remaining step is to be certain your unit will handle the custom poi. The exact steps vary slightly between units, but you do need to go in through Tools from the main screen and follow the prompts regarding Extras and Custom POI.

I want to thank everyone for your help. I followed all your advice and the links you sent sure helped out. It took me a wile to understand all this stuff but with everyones help it sure made it a lot easier. I took one step at a time and the big mistakes I was making before was not downloading the SOX and renaming the files all the same.

I tried it out last night and all the POI's came up with the voice.

Thanks for the reply about your success. Enjoy!

Now I have another question. What is a GPX file? I was searching through the POI's nd found one that is a GPX I downloaded the file but I can not open it. Just when I thought I knew what I was doing... LOL

GPX is short for "GPs eXchange" and is an XML schema designed as a common GPS data format for software applications.

.gpx files are more versatile than .csv file and are preferred by many members here because you can embed information but still use the "express" mode of POILoader.

Go to this site and download the program for GPX files
http://turboccc.wikispaces.com/Extra_POI_Editor

The file is @ half way down the page, but read all the page first to get an understanding about the program, also search turboccc on this site and under contents are three links to treads about his program.

Here is the method a lot of us use to build our alert distance into a gpx file.This allows the ability to use poiloader in express mode instead of manual. http://www.poi-factory.com/node/28521 .Also see http://www.poi-factory.com/node/6203