One more time....Steering Map to SD card with a Nuvi 660

The 660 is limited to a 2GB file size and there is no way to increase that limit.

Thanks for the quick answer Box Car. I guess i will just stay with 2 SD cards in the car and change them when traveling to England, Spain or France If i knew that i was going to buy a 2gb card and have two of those instead of one 8gb and one 2gb but it's not something big Thanks again and all the best

The older 660 is one of the GPS models not offered a map update to SD card automatically.

You do have a workaround already. You should look at the clone method as another possibility, one that many of us find the best alternative:

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/39231

CraigW, thanks for the answer and the greetings. I looked at the previous posts and already did the clone method and it worked fine except the part with the 2gb limit. Even when i put the .xml file on the 8gb card and the MapUpdater recognizes the SD cad as the nuvi device - when i try to install the full Euro map it tells me i have 2GB limit and can only choose parts of the map. So i divided the map to two SD cards. The question is can i have the full over 3GB map on one Sd card that is a workaround i need (if it exists)

How is the SD card formatted? Is it FAT32?

The 660 is one of those units that will not address aa space greater than 2GB.

Whoops, forgot that part. Yes, galant4x4 will need to break up the map into two pieces to work on a nuvi 660.

Well okay it's not a big deal still the clone method is the thing that saved my nuvi so i will carry an extra SD thank you all for the quick responses

In addition to the 2 GB file size limit, the nuvi 660 is limited to the name gmapsupp.img for a supplemental map file. On the unit itself you can have one gmapprom.img and one gmapsupp.img. On the SD card you can have one gmapsupp.img file. On some of the legacy nuvi models you can have a second supplemental map file on the SD card named gmapsup2.img. You can try this, but I don't think the 660 supports the gmapsup2 name.

Of course, there is very limited space on the internal storage, so to use both the gmapprom and gmapsupp files in internal storage, you have to severely limit the file sizes and region coverage.

So combining these two limitations (file size and file naming), I don't think there is any way to have full NA and full Europe resident at the same time.

I have already dealt with the fact that i will use two SD cards, the problem i found yesterday was that when i tried to test the nuvi with distant directions (from my favorites i have saved) In some of them it was calculating to about 85% and then it said something like Unable to calculate - not enough memory. The SD card is 8GB about 6 GB free and the internal storage has 1.4 GB free as well. Is this something you know about or is it just strange. Or maybe it's an issue with favorites and big destinations. I tried from my home town of Varna to the port of Ancona (Italy) which is about 1100 kilometers. I tried another more distant location and it seemed okay. It's just strange that low memory issue when both internal and SD card have plenty available. Thanks One thing that comes to mind is that from Bulgaria to Italy you have the option to travel by Ferry through Greece and that maybe it can't calculate the route via the sea. Maybe it's something like that but if you have other ideas or know why this is happening i will appreciate them thanks.

Clear the trip log.

These things are not like PCs in they use "available memory. They have a limited address space in protected memory and that gets filled with various items like saved favorites and trip logs.

I couldn't find trip log in the settings i deleted the file current.gpx. And the problem still exists ( i am not a fan of the idea to delete my favorites, maybe some if i have to) I tried more than 10 locations and each time the distance was greater than 800km it said low memory and couldn't calculate. Do you think that it is anything to do with the big distance or do i need to delete some of the favorites i have? Thanks

Don't delete your favorites. Go through the menus till you find the area that has Tracks. There is an option there to delete Tracks. Also, got to Avoids and uncheck Ferry and try it again.

Thanks frank i will try to locate tracks. I think that i haven't checked any avoids but i will check that as well. First i have to wait my battery to go down because in the final route i tried the nuvi 660 jamed and it's now stuck at calculating. Power button doesn't work, touch doesn't work plugging to pc doesn't work and putting on charger doesn't work either.I am scared to touch the reset because i am scared about my favorites. So i'm waiting for battery to go down and hopefully it will unbrick. Then i will try your suggestions but i am not so optimistic about the outcome. Thanks for the answer

According to the 660 manual - on page 7 - to get to the trip page, you press "Speed" or "Arrival" on the Map page. Then, press the button at the bottom named "Reset Trip" to reset Trip Information.

Press and hold the Power Button. Keep holding it down till it turns off. It won't reset your Favorites.

Thank you both for the answers. Battery fell so the nuvi is OK now not jammed. Will try to reset the trip and will write you the results. Thank you again

Hi,

It work for my nuvi 2689 but is a different tree, it created this tree:

.System
>ASR
>JVC
>Map
>SID
>SQLite

The 3 gmapprom.* files are in .System.
There are files in the others folders.

If I want install the update in my nuvi (not in SD Card) I must move all files from the pendrive to the nuvi?
I must rename gmapprom.* to gmapsupp.* ?

Thank you

I know this is an old thread but I have an issue after installing my maps to an SD card I can no longer back up my favorites nor explore my GPS unit? The favorites are there and I can access them through the GPS touch screen, but cannot access them through my PC-in fact only the SD card shows on my PC if I plug in the GPS unit. In the past I would see both my Nuvi 660 and the SD card?

Is there a work around? I figure my GPS doesn't have to many good years in it and would love to back up my favorites.

Thanks

Johnie

Answered wrong question!

@johnierw ...
Does Garmin Express or Map Updater recognize your nuvi 660?
Since Garmin Express will not directly install a map to a SD card on a nuvi 660, what method are you using to get the map to SD? Map Install? Cloning?
Are you doing the map install to SD via a card reader, or directly to the 660's SD interface?
If you temporarily remove the SD card from you device will the computer then recognize the internal storage?
Have you tried a hard reset on the device?
If you put a GPX file containing favorites on the SD card, do they import OK to the 660?

Since I've been doing this for years, I'll post what works here...

1. I pull the SD Card out of 660 and place in either a SD Slot on laptop, or, a card reader on desktop. (Both are PC's with W7-64) The SD Cards I use (I alternate between them so I always have a backup): 8Gb Mode 6 or 16 Gb Mode 10 High Speed card works here.
2. On the SD Card is a Garmin Directory with the xml file copied from garmin directory in 660. That is how the SD card is seen as "the 660" by GE. Note that I don't plug in 660, I plug in the SD Card and the 660 still has a very old (2013) map on it, that I never bothered to remove.
3. I'm using GE and it will tell me if there are any files to be updated before I plug either unit (2689) or SD Card (660)
4. In the case of the SD Card (That GE says is the Nuvi 660), It knows to remind me that I can't fit entire map onto the 660 (SD Card)
and prompts me with what will fit... and run..
5. After the "Lower 48" are loaded on the SD Card, I exit GE....
AND RE-NAME the 3 FILES ("SUPP").... If you don't re-namme the 3 files it won't work.... when placed back in the 660

Thanks to alandb, this has worked successfully for years now!!!

It worked well the first -2- times, but 3 rd time was not a charm. Express did not recognize SD card after another FAT32 format & installing the .xml file on it -installing in SD slot in 'puter- Open Garmin Express - No Joy - it says " Not connected - -Thoughts - - suggestions?

Welcome to POI Factory Zerb. If you read through this entire thread (which dates back to the early 2013 days of Garmin Express), you will find that the nuvi 660 is one of the models that Garmin Express has never supported for automatic map install to SD card. The 660 has additional issues in that it has only 2 GB of internal memory (only about 1.5 GB usable), and even on a SD card will only support a maximum file size of 2 GB. Additionally it is very restrictive on map file naming. The current full NA map is much larger than 2 GB

That said, there are workarounds so you can get the full NA map on your 660 by splitting it with a portion in internal memory and the remainder on SD, keeping both parts under 2 GB. This is done using a combination of Garmin Express and MapInstall.

Here are a couple of links that explain the process in detail:
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/44310
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/31185

Edit: After rereading your post, it sounds like you may be trying to use cloning to install your map to SD. Cloning is not a solution for the 660 because of the 2 GB file size limit. Instead, use the process outlined in the above 2 links.