Garmin map update 2017.20 is out

Thank-You sussamb that's exactly what the problem was

I most probably unchecked by mistake hide extensions for known file types when unchecking/checking something else.

Thanks once again for the help and prompt response it's appreciated.

Thanks for the confirmation. This map update of my nuvi 750 was my first experience with installing a map update to a SD card where the past map was installed to the SD card by Garmin's previous map update.

I had randomly assumed that a map update would overwrite the previous map file, whether a Garmin-installed gmapsupp on the SD card or the gmapprom on the device itself.

I don't remember any message during the update process reminding me to manually delete the old City Navigator files from a SD card before doing a map update to the SD card. For those of us using 4GB SD cards, the only way a update will proceed is if the previous City Nav is manually removed, right? And if using a 8GB or larger SD card where there's space on the SD card to hold more than one City Nav version, aren't there potential issues that could arise from having two full mapsets?

Am I correct thinking that for map updates to a SD card where the past map update was also placed on that SD card that it will need to be manually deleted to make space and avoid multiple map versions? Or am I missing something? Am I also correct in remembering that the Garmin map update process to a SD card makes no mention of a need to delete older map files before doing a map update? I don't remember reading any discussion of this in past map updates and it seems as though it should have come up before.

You won't get a message telling you to manually delete old map files. If Express detects the map file (and it will only do so if it put it there and no one has messed with it in some way in the meantime)then it will delete it.

As for having two mapsets then yes, if both are selected and they cover the same area you could run into routing issues.

This doesn't seem to be my experience with my nuvi 750. During the 2017.10 update, Garmin Express put the map in my SD card due to lack of space in the nuvi. The files (various gmapsup1 files) on the SD card were never altered or messed with in any way. I think you're saying that GE will delete these files during a future map update but that wasn't the case. GE told me during the 2017.20 map update that I needed to use a SD card to receive all of North America, and when I chose the 4GB SD card already in the nuvi, it then told me there was insufficient space even though the only files on the SD card were the ones put there my GE during the 2017.10 update. I had to manually delete the files before I could proceed with the 2017.20 update. It also seems likely that renegade734 is having the same issue I experienced.

It's always deleted maps on my card. Also strange that they're shown as gmapsup*.* files on your nuvi, mine are gmapprom.* as per Alanb's post where he describes the file names and sizes.

Well, that helps but leaves the question of file names. I just checked my 750 and its SD card that just had the Garmin Express map update to 2017.20 with the map going to the SD card. My map files on the SD card remain gmapsup1 (as was also the case with 2017.10) while your SD card uses gmapprom filenames. Very odd. As expected, your gmapprom files will be auto-deleted during a Garmin Express map update while my gmapsup1 files are not.

Just for completion, my SD card has no maps or files other than the 2017.20 files installed by GE and the nuvi 750 has no map present (no gmapprom.img, gmapsupp.img, gmapsup1.img, etc.)

I wonder if we could get others who perform 2017.20 map updates and were forced to use a SD card to obtain the full map to check the filenames of the map on their SD card. It'd be especially interesting if renegade734, who shared my problem, would report back with file names which explain why his map update to a 4GB SD card also wouldn't proceed.

We shouldn't be too surprised, this is Garmin after all

Download no issues - EXCEPT some errant guidance (turn directed where it made no sense). Anyone else?

Install no issues. Now as long as the map works great, I am ready for my South Carolina trip.

Was there with my family in April, had a great time.

Began download at 7:13 am.
GE forecasted 50 minutes
Completed at 8:26 am

My Speedtest DL speed is 66.54 Mbps

If you follow the instructions for the cloning method it tells you to RENAME the files from gmapprom.img to gmapsupp.img and the other two files likewise.
At least that how it goes for my 855. Maybe other Nuvis are different.

That would be the reason GE has no room to install the new map since it does not recognize the 3 files renamed ****supp.*** and therefore does not delete or overwrite them.

You WILL have to manually delete them before the update.

Yes, that's true when using the cloning map update method. I think that what sussamb and I are referring to is the direct Garmin Express method (not the clone technique) of updating a map to the SD card.

PS: Yours and my nuvi 855 do not support direct Garmin Express map updates to SD card and your newer nuvis have sufficient space not to need a SD card (yet) so you haven't experienced the direct Garmin offer to update a map to a SD card. Of my GPS inventory, only my 750 has the GE Map-to-SD offer and has insufficient internal space to have the offer appear with all recent map updates. To do a full map update for your (or my) nuvi 855, the clone technique is the only available update method, and for sure, there you need to follow all the instructions including map file name renaming, etc.

My Nuvi 265 has installed the maps to the 4gb SD card for several updates now. It has always deletes the old maps on the SD card.The maps are showing gmapsup1.img

Thanks. It'll be interesting to see what I find with the next map update.

Sussamb may be talking about his nuvi 1490, which has more flexible map naming than the older 2xx, 7xx and 8xx series. On the 14xx series, you can leave the map named gmapprom.img (or name it anything else) IF it is installed in the \Map folder on the SD card. That is not an option on the older devices like the 7xx series. On these devices, the map files on SD card must go in the \Garmin folder and named gmapsupp or gmapsup1, as the gmapprom name will not be recognized on a SD card.

I was actually talking about my 2508

But yes, the older nuvis have a different naming convention, yet it still seems that in some cases maps are being automatically deleted and in others not, so I'm not clear now why that would be?

Certainly Express with the newer nuvis will delete map files it's placed there, but from what charlesd45 says Express is deleting gmapsup1 from his 265 so I'm more confused than normal

This problem of inconsistent file deletion with a map update has been reported off and on for a long time, even before the days of Garmin Express. I am not sure how Garmin Express, or MapUpdater for that matter, would know if it installed the map or if it was installed by some other process. The necessary tags for map version, file name and folder location are all contained in GarminDevice.xml (I think anyway), so Express should be able to figure out what map version it is replacing and where the files are located.

The other place where inconsistent results have been reported by various users is in having 2 versions of the same map on the device ... for example having CN NA 2016.20 in internal storage and 2017.20 on SD. For some users, both maps will show up in the device Map Info. For others, only one map will show up. For me, I have never been able to get 2 versions of CN NA to show up on any of my 3 nuvi's. It always seems to load and show only the newest one.

I'm doing a test with one of my 255W using Garmin Express and it's only offering me a region as download for 2017.20.

I currently have USA + CANADA on the unit and would like the same but can't seem to find where I can choose or change the region to the full USA + CANADA to download using Express.

Using MapUpdater it also always offers me a region but I'm able to change it before the download starts.

I appreciate if someone could tell me how/where to change the regions using Garmin Express

What did you learn from it?

From what I read in the FAQs here and at Garmin, the 255W is a device with a total storage capacity of 2GB and is one of the older models that will not be offered a map update to a SD card in the event that the full map will no longer fit in the device's internal storage. The good news for your 255W is that it appears to me that your nuvi can read files greater than 2GB in size since it's not listed by Garmin as one that can't.

From Garmin's FAQs, it appears you can put all of the map on a SD card but it'll take some extra effort on your part:

Step 1: Install the full map to your computer

https://support.garmin.com/support/searchSupport/case.faces?caseId={a209e880-9319-11e2-65d0-000000000000}

Step 2: Use MapInstall to install the map to a SD card:

http://support.garmin.com/support/searchSupport/case.faces?caseId={5af8a260-fd05-11dc-ec92-000000000000}

My guess is that you could install the full map to a SD card, insert the card in the nuvi, select the map from your nuvi's MapInfo page and deselect any partial map offered, it being the one internal to the nuvi. Another option would be to install a partial map to the nuvi, then use MapInstall to install the remainder of the map to a SD card and finally in the nuvi's MapInfo page, select both partial maps.

Given that the 255W was a 2GB device and that the US/Canada map is so large, I'm guessing that you haven't tried to update the map recently since the lack of being offered the full map update that you are experiencing now would also have occurred in recent attempts to update the map to a new version.

Rather than using the Garmin method, you could also try the cloning technique to install the map to a SD card and many folks here can help if you have problems using the cloning technique:

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

If I missed anything or have some bad assumptions, shout back. Good luck. With effort, you should be able to get the 255W to offer all of the US and Canada with the 2017.20 map.

Everytime there's a new map update I download it onto my 255w with MapUpdater as I did yesterday for 2017.20. When I start MapUpdater it tells me that it will download the eastern region and I'm then able to choose with a menu option (lower left hand side of the screen) other regions and I always choose USA + CANADA as I have no interest whatsoever for Mexico.

Each and every single time I always update USA + CANADA onto my unit but when I first fire up Mapupdater for some reason or another it'll always ask me if I want to download the eastern region.

Today I'm experimenting with an SD card and Garmin Express. Garmin Express tells me it'll download 2017.20 for the eastern region but I want USA + CANADA. I've clicked everywhere and don't know where to choose the option USA + CANADA as I can with the MapUpdater program.

I'm just wondering if I'm missing something or where the hell the option button for the other regions is

I did load several map updates directly to an SD card a year or so ago. While loading the map update was certainly faster, I found that when powering up the 660, the boot time was significantly slower loading the maps from the SD card. I went back to just loading the lower 48 directly into memory.

Ah, so up until this update, you've been able to install all of US/Canada internally. I wouldn't have guessed that.

If you're new to using Garmin Express since it sounds like you've gone with GarminMapUpdater in the past, are you clicking Garmin Express's View Details, Map Options or Installation Options with the 255W connected, for the options you expect to see?

Not having a 255W to test, I'm not sure why Garmin Express isn't offering you Canada/US if the previous paragraph doesn't help. It may be that with this 2017.20 map, the US/Canada option is larger than your nuvi's free space and therefore it's not offered even though it was for earlier map versions when the map file was smaller. Since the 255W isn't offered the map update to SD card, Garmin Express is only offering you what will fit in the nuvi itself. I see that the 2017.20 map file for North America is over 2.7GB in size and that likely means the US/Canada subset may be well over 2GB and the 255W appears to be only a 2GB device from our Memory FAQ.

I see that you're also posting in the cloning map update thread and wonder if the cloning technique offers US/Canada to a 4GB or larger SD card. If it doesn't, I wonder if the garmindevice.xml from the 255W tells Garmin Express that US/Canada is too big even when your plan is to put it on the SD card.

I'm not clear from your posts: is the US/Canada option missing from both Garmin Express and GarminMapUpdater, or is it missing only with GE? If the latter, does MapUpdater let you do what you want?

Ain't this fun?

Yes I'm also enjoying myself and enjoy tinkering/experimenting with my GPS

1- I update every single time a map comes out.

2- I use the clone method on my 255W and my 3597.

3- On the 255W I always put the map onto the SD card. I always use MapUpdater and it starts off by telling me it's ready to intall the Eastern region on my device. I scroll on the lower left side of the screen and choose USA + CANADA and then download the map.

4- I'm experimenting tonight with an SD Card using Garmin Express. I don't know where to click to take the USA and Canada region because Garmin Express is only offering the Eastern region.

I can download USA and CANADA with MapUpdater as I have done in for the last 5 years but don't seem to be given the same option using Garmin Express and don't understand why.

Ah, so this suggestion earlier didn't offer anything:

If you're new to using Garmin Express since it sounds like you've gone with GarminMapUpdater in the past, are you clicking Garmin Express's View Details, Map Options or Installation Options with the 255W connected, for the options you expect to see?

Using Garmin Express on Windows 10 machine to update my nuvi 2598 and my computer.

I downloaded the Eastern region onto the SD card (because I didn't have a choice for any other region) and then did another update and it offered me this time around the full North American version.

I still didn't see the option for USA + CANADA or another specific region (Western, lower 49, border states etc) but at least I was able to download the entire mapset.

Maybe I'm still missing something or this might just be another Garmin bug

Canuk, my guess is that Garmin Express is playing the "we know better you" game based on your 255 model number. They assume you can't install the full map because the device spec's wouldn't support that large of a file, even though your cloned device has plenty of space. Garmin doesn't officially support or even acknowledge cloning as a legitimate update method. Those of us with the 8x5 and 14xx nuvi's have been living with Garmin Express not offering full updates (of JCV file) when the cloned device has more than enough space to hold it.

The main thing that surprises me about your experience on the 255 is that the reinstall of the map gave you the option for the full NA map. I suspect there is some glitch (loophole) in the Garmin Express program logic that Garmin has not quite closed up yet. It will be interesting to see if they block the full NA for reinstall on the 255 on future updates. Time will tell I guess.

Thanks

Express is a bit picky here. I've suggested in the past it should offer a choice of regions from the getgo but got nowhere. It will offer other regions/options once you've carried out the first update though, as you've discovered, see this FAQ

https://support.garmin.com/support/searchSupport/case.faces?caseId={9c806740-426f-11e2-e8a7-000000000000}

Note if you select the Change map option Express will automatically install the full map if there is sufficient space. It would be better IMO if you got the option as to what to do, but you don't

If Time Warner can change, then so can I but I still don't like to eat my vegtables!

Thanks for the update! get it???

2689 took about a half hour, I chose to device & computer

first 2460 took nearly 8 hours, to device only

second 2460 took about 45 minutes, to device only

All three done via the same PC, using Garmin Express, the first 2460 slowness was probably due to the time of day

Still have my Zumo 450 & 550 to go, they are always fun because I have to split the download to the portion that will fit on the device and the rest on the sd card later using mapsource.

You are getting the same results as my Nuvi 265 that belong to the 2x5 family.I read your post as always using MapUpdater in the past.With a sd card.You should have been able to install different regions based on device space wuth the rest to the sd card.I have been using Garmin express for a while now and had the option to install the complete map set to the sd card for sometime .Using Garmin Express to install only to the 265 it went straight to the sd card for the update.Next update you do for the 255 should obtain the same results unless a new version of Garmin Express causes a problem.

If ever your willing to experiment a little further let me know and I will send you by email my GarminDevicexml

I have for years used MapUpdater on the 255W and have always installed USA + CANADA on the sd card.

When I use Garmin Express it states that I have the Eastern region already installed which is false (I have USA + CANADA) and then asks if I want to install the Eastern region without giving me the option for any other region.

After having downloaded the Eastern region I do get a new box but the only choice I have this second time around is to download the entire N.A. map.

On MapUpdater from the very beginning I have a menu on the lower left hand side giving me the option to choose a specific region and thats where I always choose USA + CANADA.

As I posted above that's the way Express works, if there's room it'll want to download the whole map. I wish it worked like MapUpdater in that respect and gave options as to which map region you want to download.

The alternative using Express is to install the map to your PC, then send the part you want to your device. However as posted elsewhere that simply sends the map, which is okay for your device but for newer devices that need junction view, voice files etc it's not a good idea.

Yes indeed. Making assumptions about how GE will work in an unusual setting (old device, cloning, etc.) leads to errors. I've learned a lot this past week.

Canuk, sorry for my off-base issues in dealing with your question. It wasn't clear to me from the getgo that you had been updating your 255W with all of US/Canada to SD cards for quite a while and that your question was related specifically to a feature missing on GE that was present on GarminMapUpdater.

I prefer it the way Garmin Express does it by putting the complete mapset on the SD card. It leaves the unit with lots of space for pois,favorites,jpeg,voices and etc. Even some of that can go to the SD card if desired.Right now as far as the map update goes Garmin Express treats it just like if the unit had plenty of space. No two stage operation you put some of the map to the unit and let over to the SD card .

If other method is prefered see http://www.poi-factory.com/node/31185

I Thank-You for having taken the time in sharing your thoughts /ideas with me

We all have one thing in common, we enjoy this hobby and have fun learning something new along with helping one another out.

I learned a great deal from you in the past and always appreciate the help/guidance offered from fellow members. The knowledge & friendliness found here at POI Factory is simply unreal !

1) How long do we 3597 owners have before a SD card is required? (I suppose the answer depends somewhat on how many TTS3 voices have been added.) For me with all the English language voices added, I fear it could be as soon as the next map update and certainly may occur in one of the next three updates.

2) When our 3597s need the SD card, will you let GE autoupdate to SD or will your clone? Being lazy, I'm thinking I'll give GE the first go at the update.

Mike, not sure what testing we could do now.
1.Tried Garmin Express and got only reinstall maps.
2.Ran MapUpdater and got same options you did to install different regions.

Therefore I'm convinced that for the next update I will have to put certain files on the SD card.

You can update either automatically or manually (clone method) and get the same end result but personally I prefer the clone method. I strongly suggest to those who don't fully comprehend the clone method to stick with the automatic update with Garmin Express.

I've asked MANY questions in the past to Alandb and he's spoon fed me and taken me step by step which resulted in understanding & being confident in using this process.

On my 660 I left a complete mapset installed... It is OLD, and the last full map that would download and run off the internal 660 drive....

However, I do have 2 different SD cards, that have the Garmin XML file on each, and I alternate between the two cards deleting old maps, downloading new ones, and then renaming them.... Updating the oldest SD card and retiring (Until next time) the most recent SD Card.

Because of the Garmin directory and XML file, I can put the SD Card in a high speed Card reader, and GE thinks it is a 660, and updates it at a higher speed than the 660 supports. So I don't connect the 660 to computer for map upgrades, just POI upgrades...

This way, I have an easy way of determining if a map works or not...
because I can swap cards and try the older map... OR, Remove SD Card and boot off a map that is 3-4 years old....

Never had to.... but it's nice to know I can fall back if necessary!

When I ran a simulated run to a local gas station, it sent me out of the way. I eventually got there, but it sent me about a mile out of the way. (This was a simulation so I'm wondering if that could have been part of the problem. Guess I will find out the first time she tries to get some place using the actual GPS satellites.)

I have an 8 GB SD card in my Nuvi 2450.
The maps have been loaded to the SD card and nothing else has been added.
I plugged in and started Garmin Express.
It said I did not have enough room on my SD card and to insert a new card.
There was nothing but what GE loaded on the SD card the last map update. I deleted the SD card (after a backup) and plugged the Nuvi back in and restarted GE.
It is now loading to my SD card.

The thing I don't understand is why would it not load to the SD card? I had not changed any names or added anything to the SD card. I thought GE would replace anything the last update added.

Also, even it it was to add the new map and not delete the old, why was the 8 GB card not large enough???

Often an 8Gb card isn't actually 8Gb so two map files close to 4Gb may have been too large.

Why the original map wasn't deleted I have no idea.

When I downloaded this current set of maps it went into the red. I've deleted all of the non-relevant voices and keyboards. I think I have about 700 megs left, so the next time I download maps I will either be going to the card or I will download only a partial map set. I haven't decided which yet. Depends on whether I have any trips planned at the time.

How much additional space will be needed from one map version to the next varies quite a lot, and it can be quite different from one model of nuvi to another. For my 3597, here is approximately how much additional storage was required for the last few updates:

2016.10 to 2016.20: 107 MB
2016.20 to 2017.10: 72.5 MB
2017.10 to 2017.20: 492 MB (Wow, that is a WHOPPER)

A lot of the increase in the 2017.20 map update was in the .SID, .ASR and .SRX files. So devices that do not use these files had a smaller increase.

Wow is right. Thanks.