Insufficient memory to show travel from NJ to CA

Long and/or complex routes can be an issue, even for modern devices. I find the simplest way is to use Garmin's free mapping program, Basecamp, to plan the full route and then split it into manageable chunks that the nuvi can display.

Freeing up memory on the nuvi won't help in this case, as it's not that memory that your nuvi is complaining about, but 'internal memory' that is inaccessible to the user

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I recall I read somewhere previously that even though the Nuvi might not have the memory to figure out and map a complete coast-to-coast route, it will still figure out the route as you drive along toward the destination.

I once tried asking for a route from Massachusetts to my brother's house in California. It took a while and it tried, but it did return a message to the effect that there was insufficient resources to map the entire route. Not sure if this means "show the entire map" or "figure out the complete turn-by-turn directions." It -did- finally return "ready to navigate" though, including the miles and ETA to the destination.

Thanks for your help everyone. Very much appreciated.

Here's an interesting point: When I attempt to lay out the travel route from NJ to California, there is "insufficient memory" to show the route on my Nuvi 650. If I switch to NJ to Idaho, it will lay out the entire travel route.

However, when I remove the SD card from the unit, it WILL indeed show me the entire route from NJ to CA. I tried both a 4GB and a 16GB SD card with the same result. If the card is inserted with maps loaded, the Nuvi will not lay out the entire route. But if I remove the card and use only the internal memory of the Nuvi, it does indeed lay out the entire travel route...all 3,000 miles of it!

Beats me. Maybe someone can explain this for me?

Maybe there's something wrong with the maps on the SD card? As to why it works NJ > Idaho vs NJ > CA could be due to an error in the portion of the data the map set uses where the route deviates between the two end points.

Hi Gene1000, and welcome to POI Factory. It is great to have you on board.

I think there is an explanation why removing the SD card allows your nuvi 650 to complete the long route. Since your 650 only allows 2 GB size map files, you have split the NA map into 2 regions with part of NA in internal memory and the remainder on SD. When you remove the SD, it removes many possible routing paths, allowing the nuvi to find a route within the possibilities it can check on the remaining map segments. In fact, my guess is that much of the route is done on the underlying base map, which has very few roads to use in constructing the route.

That's my theory anyway, and I'm sticking with it

I agree

@Gene1000 Note adding a larger card won't help, as I explained it's not that memory your nuvi is complaining about.

Based on your statement I have the NE maps on the Nuvi and the entire US maps on a 4GB SD card , I see problem with that. You are possibly having double coverage for the same area being Northeast Maps if both maps appear in the Map Info screen and are checked. This causes problems especially when doing a search.

In agreement with alandb, your 650 can't handle any one map that exceds 2GB. I'm assuming the full US map on your SD card is less than 2gb since it's working.

Try these two suggestions:
1> Make sure the NE map on the Nuvi for Northeast is unchecked and confirm the full US map is checked. See if that corrected the issue.
2> If it didn't correct try renaing the gmappron.img on the Nuvi to "gmapprom.NEimg". See if that corrected it. By renaming it and inserting the NE in there the Nuvi will not recognize that map at all. If that didn't work just go back in and rename it to "gmapprom.img".

Or you can copy the gmapprom.img to to your PC as a backup and delete it from the Nuvi. This will free up memory on the Nuvi and use only thr map on the SD card.

Muell9k makes some good points. Having overlapping map regions enabled can cause various problems. I can see how that might confuse the routing algorithm and cause the insufficient memory problem.

I am surprised that the Garmin support tech that helped you install your map did it that way. He/she should have known better than to install overlapping regions.

Thanks for your suggestions everyone.

I removed all data from my SD card. I then used Mapinstall to load only the USA maps that were not on the Nuvi itself. This included the western portion of the country and parts of Canada.

Turned the Nuvi 650 on and immediately programmed it to lay out a course from NJ to California, and WALA! There it was. Right to my brother's house. And it did it with the SD card inserted, something it could not do prior.

Looks like the overlapping maps may indeed have caused the problem.

So again, thank you all for your help. I'm going to print all of this so I have a record of what to do and what not to do in the future.

I do have one other question: I also have a Nuvi 2797. When I open its directory on my PC, there are no map files shown, but they must be there because the folder contains over 5GB of information. My question is did Garmin make the map files "hidden" on the 2797? If so, can I assume there is no way to delete these files if that was ever needed?

Thanks again all.

Newer Garmin devices like your nuvi 2797 operate in MTP mode (Media Transport Protocol) rather than mass storage mode like your 660. They also store the map files in a hidden .\system folder instead of the \Garmin folder. To see the files in the \.system folder, you must first set your computer to expose the hidden \.system folder. Then change your nuvi from MTP to Mass Storage mode. The links above will take you to FAQs with the correct procedures.

Done and thank you. I always show the "hidden files" on my PC. But the MTP thing and the Garmin systems folder are new to me. I keep learning around here!

I wonder if it was the duplicate map areas or simply a problem with the initial map download to the card? Normally an issue only arises if there are different maps covering the same area, in this case it was the same map, just a subset of the one on the card being on the device. Or was it?

I know from your posts on the Garmin forum that you had attempted but failed to update an earlier map on your nuvi as you didn't, as you thought, have lifetime maps. You then purchased them. It's quite possible therefore that Garmin installed a different map version onto your card than you had on your nuvi, which would indeed cause the issue you described.

However good to know it's all working now

Problems with overlapping map regions of the same version of CN NA have been reported in the forums before. Often it causes search issues, but from Gene1000's experience, it would seem it can also cause routing problems.

Remember the Garmin City Explorer maps (now discontinued)? They were supplemental maps of a single city like New York that had additional content like mass transit. I think Garmin intended for these to be an alternative to buying the full continent map. For example, if you had a NA nuvi, you could add just Paris instead of buying CN Europe. But some folks bought them for their local area just to get the additional content. Then we started hearing about problems similar to this when a City Explorer map was enabled for a city already covered by the City Navigator map. The solution was to disable either the City Navigator map or the City Explorer map.

Although there are technical issues with running overlapping mapping, using one gigantic route has its own issues. I did several cross country trips and learned the wrong way. One big route has problems when the GPS has to recalculate. It takes longer to recalculate a long route, and if you are in a metro area and need an immediate recalculation, you can be in big trouble. So I have learned to use smaller "Day Trip" sized routes. I pick a goal that is probably a little further than I can drive in one day and set that as the endpoint.

I think diesel's advice needs to be considered by everyone - especially the recalculation time in metro areas.

BUT - maybe one should consider a combination of routing.

Since it makes sense to see the entire route before you start off on a trip that may very well cause the problem of the device not being able to produce the complete route, I would suggest doing this a day or two before embarking on the trip. Look at the route on the map to see if it makes sense for you. Then, look at the turn by turn instructions to see if they make sense. If the overall route and the turn by turns make sense, you have already established that the device does as you expected it to.

If it won't route all the way, you will have time to figure out a solution. Maybe you will use AAA triptics, or MapQuest, or GoogleMaps.

Then - as diesel suggests - you can plan the first day's driving on your device by picking some point on the route that you just looked out and entering a point on the turn by turn instructions that is past what you really hope to be able to drive.

Of course, if you know you want to stop at a particular hotel, this could become a specific destination. I like to stay at Hampton Inns, so I would have already looked at hotels on Hampton's website that were within, say, 100 miles of what I thought might be the miles I could make in one day.

I had the same problem several years back. I was doing a route to Seattle and my route on the GPS would ony go so far. So I split the route into two parts. It worked great after that.

Yep, recall that, but they were different maps as they included the additional content you mentioned. I've recently had France as well as the full EU map loaded to my nuvi, for reasons that aren't relevant, and had no routing or indeed any other issues.

Go figure!

Diesel is dead on correct about this. Miss a turn in big city traffic and you can easily get stuck in a recalculating loop as the time needed to recalculate to the far destination may keep putting you past the next viable turn before it can prompt you. If the endpoint is much closer, it will likely have you going the right way before the next turn comes up.

Each finds a formula that works best for them. I prefer to set my sights on where I plan to stop for lunch as my end point and toss in a rest or fuel stop en route. While having lunch, I will determine where I want to stop for the evening, let it find the route to it and go. Even this method is not without flaws. Occasionally a waypoint such as a fuel stop may be coded so that if not passing close enough to the coded point, it won't be satisfied that you have been there. You fill up, get back on the road and then at the next exit, it wants to route you back to where you've been. Sometimes it gets downright insistent that I go back. The solution for me is to select Where To and then Recent and pick my next destination for that leg and all is well once again. By generating a short leg with one or two stops, the desired points will be at the top of the list.