BMP Help Please (POI Loader for Mac)

Sorry I am not a Mac user...but consider this..

I had the same issue until...

I saved the .bmp icon (Custom Waypoint Symbol) save as 256 color .bmp and now can view at the 200 foot level.

A couple of icons here...do not have the 256 color and that seems to be the issue...

Hope this helps!

Got to wondering what would happen on my 765T, so I did the following
1.Downloaded the "Mobil Station.BMP" file from poi-factory.
2.Created a single POI about a half mile from my house using the latest EPE - which once again geocodes.
3.Saved the EPE single POI as "test mobil bmp.gpx" into a folder called "test a bmp".
4.moved the "Mobil Station.BMP" file into the "test a bmp" folder and renamed it to "test mobil bmp.bmp".
5.Ran POI Loader, pointing it at the folder "test a bmp" and let it add 1 location to the 765T.
6.Safely disconnected the nuvi and fired it up.
7.put the nuvi in simulation mode.
8.did a Where To? to a location that would cause the nuvi to go past my single POI just created with EPE.
9.At 200 feet zoom, saw the MOBIL icon

I note that this "Mobil Station.BMP" has properties of 23 by 13 with a depth of 256 so it should have worked for you also.

@PapaJohnL, we can figure this out.

I hope it is no more than your not having your zoom level at 200 feet or less. If not, then the icon will not show up.

No I can't get the bmp to upload at all via the uploader. I can however, slide the icon from the desktop directly into the Garmin POI folder. I know that is said to use the uploader for the POI's because it converts the file but the bmp doesn't convert. Can't I just slide the bmp files directly into the POI file?

@PapaJohnL,

You must use POI Loader pointed at a folder that contains the .csv file and the .bmp file (both files having exactly the same name (think character string) to the left of the extensions. It is POI Loader that associates an icon (.bmp) with the locations detailed by the .csv file into the .gpi file that POI Loader creates on your device.

Yes, I have made sure they were in their own folder and named exactly the same to the left of the extension. It uploads the poi but ignores the bmp.

Did you have the zoom level at 200 feet or less when you were driving or simulating a route?

Icons will not show up otherwise.

Garmin says:

A comment from out of left field: Be sure there isn't an errant space preceding either of the fields. I searched and tore hair for about a half day once due to the space problem....

Thanks guys for your comments.

As far as the 200 foot zoom, that isn't the problem. I can't even get the bmp file to upload from the computer to the Garmin with the POI.

I did check for check and double check for spaces, spelling, etc. I have been able to upload bmp's in the past but all of a sudden the uploader won't upload them to the Garmin. It's weird!

We say "POI Loader: and you say uploader. What is the program (and version) you are using?

The extension for the file is showing as bmp correct?

Edit. If the extension is correct. Pick one of the pois you have the bmp for. Right before you select go. Not sure on your model but selecting map or viewing the map for that single poi will show the icon if you loaded it correctly.

How are you sure that the bmps aren't being loaded? At least for the PC version of POI Loader, there's no indication when using it to put Custom POIs into a nuvi that icons or audio are being loaded, although bad audio files may cause an error message during the installation.

An experiment you could do is to run POI Loader on a folder that only contains the csv and gpx files, then check the file size of the gpi created on the nuvi. Then add the bmp icons to the folder, run POI Loader, and again check the gpi file size in the nuvi. If bmps are not being loaded at all, the gpi files in your two experiments will be the same size. If the gpi created is larger for the Custom POIs loaded with icons, then the icons are being loaded (but apparently not being seen by you on the map).

As jg reported earlier in a quoted Garmin faq:

The zumo 350, dezl 760, and nuvi 2405, 2407, 2505, 2507, 2707, 3400, 3500, and 3507 series devices will only display POI icons when you have that map layer selected. For more information on map layers, view the article What are map layers and how do I use them on my automotive device?

More on Map Layers:

https://support.garmin.com/support/searchSupport/case.faces?...

Darn, I wish I had thought of the experiment approach. It will give PapaJohnL the data he needs to determine if the BMP in fact got loaded.

I did CraigW's experiment based on the sequence of events I detailed in
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/41512?page=1#comment-346763 above.

I had made a single POI .gpx file with the recently updated EPE version (once again, thanks to Turbo) for a location near my house (in order to make simulation easier).

The size of the one location .gpx file in my "Test a BMP" folder on my computer was 1564 bytes (right clicked on the file, then chose properties and read the size). The size of the Mobil Station.BMP file was 990 bytes.

The size of the .gpi file compiled by POI Loader that contained the .bmp file was 1530 bytes.

So, I went back to the "Test a BMP" folder and edited the .bmp file to make a "mistake" in the spelling to the left of the extension. As RobertFort suggested might be the problem, I put an "errant space" in my .bmp name. NOTE that this is equivalent (as far as POI Loader is concerned) to not having the BMP file in the folder at all. BUT, PapaJohnL should follow CraigW's suggestion and remove the BMP for one of the runs so that PapaJohnL knows exactly what he did.

I reran POI Loader (this time with the equivalent of no BMP file) and the .gpi file complied by POI Loader was now only 264 bytes.

Excellent suggestion by CraigW.

By the way, PapaJohnL, when trying to debug problems, I have always found that the smaller the test sets, the easier the debug.

Thank you guys for your advice. I have taken your suggestions and have been successful with some of the icons. Some icons still show too small but I have found that once I set a route, that all changes and the icons show much larger...weird! Still working on all of this in-between work. Thanks again!