Nuvi 52LM and sound

MP3 hasn't been included in new Garmin models for a couple years at least. You will have to use .WAV files and the SOX program.

MP3 sounds do not work on the 52LM.

If you had clicked on the faq link and then Garmin you would have seen this

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

I tried everything suggested in the link you gave, thanks for posting that, I had looked at FAQs, but didn't find that one. Anyway, I still cannot get the custom poi sounds to work. I guess I'm doing something wrong, but I don't know what.

Hawkslayer...

This conclusion occurs more often than you might think. If you give us details of what you're doing instead of "I did all that," we can track down the problem.

Getting custom audio isn't particularly difficult but it is very exact--and a single error in the several things that need to be done will result in no sound.

Common errors include double extensions, wrong sox, sox in wrong location, incompatible wav audio files, nuvi has alerts set to "off," expecting all "along the route" POIs to give an alert when the POI is not along the roadway, forgetting to set alerts (either in the csv or gpx--or by using POI Loader in Manual Mode with alerts set), etc., etc.

If you want to pursue this, there are folks here that will help once you give us details and follow our instructions.

Let's start with this:

Are you able to load custom POIs and create a route to some of these locations?

As you arrive at a Custom POI (or if one of your custom POIs is RestAreasCombined and has alerts set, when you pass by a rest area), do you hear nothing, do you hear a "ding" or something else?

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/6643

Make you a folder called My Pois. Put one csv or gpx file in it.Go to http://www2.research.att.com/~ttsweb/tts/demo.php and make your wav file for it, naming it the same as the csv or gpx file except the extension.Put wav file in same folder. Run Poi Loader in manual mode not express and set a distance for the alert.Once complete set gps to simulation mode and test the alert.Make sure to double check per http://www.poi-factory.com/node/25730 .

Per Garmin support.To simulate a route on the device, the GPS Simulator must be turned on. To turn the GPS Simulator on, please power your device on and follow the steps below:

Touch Settings
Touch System
Touch the button below GPS Simulator
Touch On
Touch OK to save the change
With the GPS Simulator on, you may now use the nuvi to simulate a route to a given destination. If you would like to simulate a route from a different starting point than your current location, follow the steps below after turning the simulator on:

Touch Where To?
Locate the starting point (address, POI, city, intersection, etc..)
Touch the Set Location button that appears on the bottom of the screen
Return to the main menu and touch Where To?
Locate the desired destination
Touch Go!1
The device will now calculate a route from the "Set Location" point to the entered destination.

1.After touching Go!, the device will ask you if you would like to simulate driving the route. If you touch Yes, the nuvi will act as though you are driving the route (the vehicle icon will move and the device will speak the turn instructions). Touching No will still calculate the route and display it on the map. However, the vehicle icon will remain at the set location and the device will not speak any turn directions.

*Note: If the two locations are separated by the ocean (e.g., starting in the US and attempting a route simulation to a point in Europe), the device will attempt the calculation but will not succeed. Instead, it will return an error stating that it cannot calculate the route. Correct this by placing both points on the same continent.

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 http://www.poi-factory.com/node/41141

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

Thanks for all the advice guys, just to put you in the picture. I am working with the Walmart poi, and I can choose to go to my local Walmart and it takes me there and announces we have arrived. But if I type in another location which lets me drive past our local Walmart, it doesn't announce we are passing, nor do I get any kind of buzz or beep. I have also tested in simulator mode with the same result.

I made the .wav files with Audacity and they are mono.

When I installed this poi, which is the only one I am currently testing I had the three files:

walmart.wav
walmart.csv
walmart.bmp

in the walmart folder and used Poiloader in manual mode to install them. I finished up with one file in the POI folder on my SD card, walmart.gpi

A question: Should all three files be in the POI folder on the SD card or just the GPI file?

I'm going to begin the whole sequence again now, for about the 10th time and will report later.

Addendum: I do have sox.exe installed in the poiloader folder.

Hawkslayer...

When you go into the Garmin folder for the gps then click on POI folder you should only see the gpi file that was created from Poi Loader.It will have the name with it.Example MY Pois.gpi .On my old 265 I have the maps just on the sd card and pois on the unit.

I went through the whole POIloader installation sequence again and still have no sound when I take it past Walmart. Are you suggesting I may be better off installing the POIs on the GPS. I am putting them on the SD card because the America map they are for is on the card.

Hawkslayer..

When you do the simulation with the selected poi.Navigate to it just to test the alert. It you are just going by it and the coordinates are more then 50 to 75 ft from the road of travel.The alarm will not sound.

It's the Walmart file that's the problem, not your Nuvi or the sound file. You have to be within about 75 feet of the location and that's hard when the location is on the store half a block away.

Aha, we have an answer. As already reported, since the POI location is apparently the store itself, it's more than 75 feet from the roadway and therefore there will not be an alert. (When I suggested earlier that you try RestAreasCombined, it's because this POI file assigns the POI to be at the exit ramp instead of the rest area building--and in this case, you will get an alert.)

There is a solution if you truly want alerts for the existing WalMart POI file. It's to use TourGuide. Check the faqs and search the Garmin forum here for more info on TourGuide.

I want to thank everyone for the help that has been offered and which I have taken. The problem is now resolved, I was making the distance too short when I was loading the files in Poiloader. I was only selecting 200 or 300 feet and I needed much more. Thank you all, you are a very helpful group, and I will be spending more time in this forum.

I am up and running, now to get some more POIs installed. Anyone have any recommendations regarding which are the best ones to have?

Hawkslayer...

Which files? That is a baited question that can only be determined by you. It depends on what you like and what you do. I travel so motels and restaurants are on my list. Also the rest area poi.

I do not travel that often but when I do, I want to have POIs that I might need. So, you might consider what I have and why I have it.

I drive a Subaru, so I have their dealerships. If I had to have tires or a battery, I prefer to purchase them from Sears so I have the Sears Auto Centers. When you are traveling and need some supplies, you want to know where the nearest Walmart is (and also Sam's and Costco). In the evening it is nice to go out for ice cream at Dairy Queens. For the destination, I like to research 24 hour pharmacies (why do medical emergencies occur in the middle of the night). I have my favorite restaurants. I stay at Hampton Inns on the road so I have their POI file. Rest areas have already been mentioned.

You get the idea.

Of course, there are the built in POIs which might provide me with everything I need to look up - BUT with the poi-factory files, I am fairly sure to get current and accurate information

Thanks for all those suggestions, you have some very good ideas there and I will look into taking advantage of some of them. I especially like the idea of the tire and battery places. Thanks again.

Hawkslayer...