Nuvi 2797 (prox alarm)

See http://www.poi-factory.com/node/25730 .Make sure you have the sox.exe located in the correct location.

I checked all that, it is correct. Any other 2797's have this issue?

1. When you say your alerts do not work, is this from driving a route past a Starbucks store and not getting an alert or is it setting Starbucks as a destination and not getting an alert when you arrive? If you're hoping for alerts as you drive by a Starbucks, the Starbucks POI location must be very near the roadway. If the POI is set back more than a few tens of feet from the roadway, you will not get a drive-by alert. For drive-by alerts, look into TourGuides. I am assuming you are running POI Loader in manual mode and are setting an alert and an alert distance. Correct?

2. See p 13 of owners manual:

http://static.garmincdn.com/pumac/nuvi_27x7_OM_EN.pdf

Are your alerts turned off at the nuvi causing the failure?

3. Are you able to get audio alerts on your 2460? If you get 2460 alerts but not 2797 alerts, I'd first look at the 2797's settings. If you get no audio alert on either the 2460 or 2797, I'd look to the computer, file locations, wav file features, POI Loader usage, etc.

4. If your 2797 alerts are on and especially if you have never received audio alerts on any of the newer nuvi models, going a bit deeper into charlesd45's reply and your follow-up, can you tell us what folder your POI Loader files are in and where sox.exe is found in your computer? Where did you obtain your sox.exe? You must use an older version of sox since the new versions won't work. You need version 14.0.1 (not to be confused with 14.1.0). I ask this only from experience where many folks say all is correct when in fact, some detail was overlooked from the faq:

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/25730

sox is needed for PCs but not Macs. If you're using a Mac, ignore the sox suggestions.

Not aware of any one having a problem with the newer models.I have the 2597 that works with no problems.When you click on the wav file do you hear the message? Do you have the wav file named the same as the csv or gpx file except the extension? Have you checked for double extensions per the FAQ I sent you.You can get the alerts but you have to meet all the requirements first plus come within 50 to 75 ft of where the coordinates are located.Put the coordinates in on Google maps(for example 35.613767,-77.367199) to get idea of how far they are located from where you are driving.

The biggest problems with the alerts not working are the files not being named the same except for extensions and having double extensions. Double-check each of them. The best way to prevent double extensions is to go to your folder options in the control panel and click view then find hide extensions for known file types and remove the check mark. Click ok. See https://support.garmin.com/support/searchSupport/case.faces?...

See http://www.poi-factory.com/node/25721 for setting up your custom poi's.

I have SoX ver. 14.0.1; it is in the POI folder where POI.exe is located. I can click and hear wav files, so they work. If I set SB at a destination, I do not get the alert. I get the voice commands, but not the custom alert. Just driving right up to the front door, how much closer can I get , no alert. I notice that the SB icons appear to be about 150' off from the actual location near my house. But either way, no alert. Not only for SB, but I have Cracker Barrel as well, no alert.

What did you set as the proximity distance? 600 feet is about a block.

i'm thinking about buying a 2797 hope it's easy to fix

You did run poiloader in manual mode? Not the default express mode. Then set a distance in feet for alert right? I do the Cracker Barrel file and most of the coordinates or set for the location.You will not get a alert from the interstate unless you put TourGuide in the file name and set it for 2 to 3 miles. The exception to this is if you have selected go to for the location . Example

TourGuide Cracker Barrel.csv
TourGuide Cracker Barrel.wav
TourGuide Cracker Barrel.bmp

I just did a test file on Starbucks...I set the distance to 2000'. This time it worked. I will try a few other locations in the next day or so to see if it is working.
If I add "TourGuide", that will sound an alert with a further distance?
Thanks.

TourGuide in the file name will give you a radius alert.Instead of the standard along the route alert.

I have been following this thread and agree with the advice already given to you.

However, it would help us help you if you would articulate what you are expecting to happen with custom proximity alerts. It appears to me that you want to hear the .wav file play whenever you are near a SB. Is that correct?

You comment on setting a particular SB as a destination and not getting the .wav file to play when you drive up to the front door. I do not understand what you mean by getting "voice commands" - and it is the "commands" that throws me. Are you meaning that the nuvi says something like "arriving at ..."? I ask this because I really have never noticed if I get an alert for some place (having proximity alerts) that I have set as a destination (I will need to test this specifically).

You seem to be saying that you are seeing Icons for SB and CB but they are 150' from something.

Bear in mind that normal "along the road" alerts will occur when your vehicle is at the bottom middle of a rectangle whose width is 60 meters (30 meters on a side) and whose height is the proximity distance set in manual mode of POI Loader AND the custom POI falls within the rectangle - with an additional stipulation that the device has adjusted the road to be straight - even it is is curving. So - you must be on a road which will pass within 30 meters (98 feet) of the custom POI in the direction of vehicle travel.

This contrasts with TourGuide proximity which can be visualized as a circle around a custom POI such that the alert will occur whenever the vehicle enters the proximity radius of the circle regardless of direction of travel. Just entering the circle triggers the alert.

A good explanation of alerts and custom POIs comes from Garmin and can be found at http://www8.garmin.com/products/poiloader/creating_custom_po...

I did expect the prox alert to go off within a specified distance if I did not select it as a destination, which it seems to be doing now. If I select it as a destination, the alert does not sound, just the usual "arriving at.
The BMP for Starbucks, in this instance, shows on the map some distance before the actual stop, maybe the coordinates for that particular shop are off.
The bottom line is, the alert seems to be working thanks to the above help; this time I made sure I did it all manually in POI.

That's great to hear. It's always good to experiment with a new device and to experiment with new software like POI Loader so that you'll better understand how it all works.

Many folks will quickly remove alerts for Custom POIs unless they REALLY want to know each and every time they are passing near one. Even in my small city, any drive through town would result in a good half-dozen Starbucks alerts and that'd start to annoy me even when I'm not over-caffeinated. But there definitely are times you always want an alert for a Custom POI.

To summarize what I think is useful in this thread for you:

-regular Custom POIs with alerts set will oftentimes NOT result in the expected alert because the POI location is set back from the roadway too far.

-when you really want alerts each time you're near a Custom POI, you want to use TourGuide which sets a radius alert as opposed to the normal along-the-route alert. The faqs here at The Factory will offer more info on when/why to use TourGuides.

-some feel that TourGuides use extra device processing power and overuse of TourGuides could result in device slow-downs or device crashes, so keep this in mind. There also may be conflicts between guidance info and Custom alerts that could cause you to miss a turn so it's wise not to have Custom audio alerts occurring every few minutes.

-using too large a radius for a TourGuide will result in alerts occurring for POI locations on nearby (often parallel) roadways. Depending on what you want, this is either a feature or a failure of what you want to see and hear.

For future use:

A favorite Custom POI at The Factory is RestAreasCombined for all folks who travel interstates and other major highways. MrKenFL who maintains this POI has eliminated the need to use TourGuides since he sets the POI location as the exit ramp to the Rest Area, not the building itself. Therefore, the POI location is right on the roadway and will result in an alert as you approach each Rest Area. (The Factory's RedLight and Speed cameras also do not need TourGuides since they also are located right on your roadway.)

A good use for TourGuides is for School Zone alerts. There are no big POI files for School Zones although there is a file for all Schools in the US where the POI location is the building itself. Using this School file as a TourGuide can fairly well approximate a School Zone Custom POI--and when combined with a custom icon and wav file, can warn you of most school zones in time to check your speed.

Good luck with your future 2797 usage and with Custom POIs.