Garmin 770 LMT-S

... What normally causes that issue is a corrupted file. When you try it again definitely use a SD card for them. That way if there is an issue you can just remove the card and all will be well.

First of all, make a full backup of the 770 before loading anything.

Make sure the battery is charged when loading POIs. A weak battery alone without a 12 volt supply can cause repeated booting.

Load some test POIs, one file with a much smaller number of known good POIs. If that works, delete all custom POIs and load more. If the same thing happens with the new 770 it would be possible to delete the POI file (.gpi) on the GPS using the computer. That is sussamb's point. If the corrupted .gpi file is on the SD card, just unplug it.

I am not a MAC person but other members know a few tips for MACs and POI Loader. Set the computer to view filename extensions. Without this it is possible to load files with double filename extensions. This is not good.

dobs108

Do you know if there a specific directory structure on the sd card? Or just on the top level? Like the other post, I'll try small, like one poi files and work up from there.

... But POI Loader will create the necessary file structure.

A lot of POIs can be loaded - many more than 8,000. There is no known maximum for Custom POI entries, just files and directories. This is about the directory structure in the computer, MAC or PC:

Inside the Custom POI folder (the top folder for POIs) on the computer there is a limit of 255 POI files, if subfolders are not used. Each POI file can have any number of POIs, icons, or sound files.

Only one level of subfolders is supported. An additional level of subfolders below that is not.

If subfolders are used, there is a limit of 32 subfolders. Each subfolder is limited to 32 POI files. Each POI file can have any number of POIs, icons, or sound files.

Loading more POI files than the limit will cause a POI Loader error.

Loading more subfolders than the limit will turn the GPS into a brick.

The names of these subfolders become categories of Custom POIs in the GPS.

The output of POI Loader has no directory structure. It is a single, big .gpi file. Since it was generated by POI Loader it avoided POI Loader errors.

POI Loader puts the .gpi file in the correct folder and generates the directory structure for this whether it is onboard the device or the SD card.

This info comes from thetick, Hornbyp, Boxcar, Charlesd45, jgermann, and other members:

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/42971

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/15907

dobs108

Do not place POI files inside the GPS using copy and paste. It will not work.

When POI Loader is run, it takes many POI files with the extension .csv or .gpx and turns it into one big .gpi file that the GPS can read.

dobs108

... That's not quite true. You can place individual .gpi files containing POIs in the POI folder if you wish. Your Garmin will still read them.

What you can't do is place .csv or .gpx files there and expect them to display as POIs.

When running POI Loader, if there are too many subfolders inside the top Custom POIs folder on the computer, the POI Loader .gpi file output to the GPS will brick it.

I call the top folder Custom POIs, but it can be named anything. It is the folder containing the POIs to be loaded which you browse to when running POI Loader.

When running POI Loader on a MAC, it doesn't only load the POIs inside the top folder. It also loads POIs in other locations on the MAC including the trash. If that adds to the subfolder numbers, this could brick the GPS. It could also result in double POIs at some locations.

As I said before, I am not a MAC person. So to the members who are MAC experts, please say it isn't so! Certainly this problem must have been fixed by now!

dobs108

Thank you everyone for the help. I am waiting for the third installment of 770 to arrive in the mail. Garmin told me if you do it again its on you, no warranty. So I am being very very cautious. I like the idea of loading all the 'extras' on the sd card. I am sure somehow when running poi loader and corrupted the boot system on the device.

When you run POI Loader, you do see the final "Congratulations. You have installed xxxxx custom POIs..." message, then click Finish before disconnecting the GPS, right? I'm not sure how Macs work, but if they're like PCs, should you Safely Disconnect the device? The most common way I can imagine POI Loader creating file corruption would be to disconnect while the gpi file is still be written. I wasn't aware of dob's "too many folders" corruption but certainly avoid getting anywhere near this.

Before trying to load your chosen custom POIs, would it be worth trying to load a single POI file from here, say the Rest Areas Combined and without added folders for csvs, etc., and see if that works, and only after this, then try to load your desired custom POIs? I'm unclear as to where you found the low clearances POI files and how they're made, so a test with a tried and true Rest Areas Combined might indicate a needed look into the low clearance files if the Rest Areas installation test to GPS or SD card installs just fine.

I share your decision of being very very careful right now.

Just to comment from the Mac perspective, POI loader does very similar to Windows. As soon as the load is successful, you get notified, and you have to Close the program to go further. Next, one should go to the Finder, scroll down and disconnect the Garmin and the SD card if inserted before disconnecting the USB cord.

If you are going to use a SD card, the best thing to do is to load the POI(s) to the SD card. Remove the SD card from the Garmin, insert it in the SD slot on the computer, and use POI loader to load the POIs to the SD card. Go to Finder, disconnect the SD card then remove. Insert it in the Garmin, then start the Garmin. You will be asked if you want to load the "Discovered" POIs to the Unit.