DriveSmart 50 and sox

 

I'm trying to add the voice alert for RLC files, but doesn't work. Is sox compatible with the DS 50?

I have sox.exe in the POI Loader folder and have renamed the .wav file appropriately.

Comments?

Doug J

--
DougJ - Ottawa, ON, CA

A question

Before going into my normal long-winded offering, let me ask a question. I see that you also own a nuvi 2597 and 855. Do custom voice alerts work on the 2597 and not the DS50, do they fail for both devices, or haven't you tried the 2597? If you haven't tried the 2597, try that first and let us know the results.

DriveSmart 50 and sox

Unfortunately, I don't have either one any longer. I never did try with either one of them

--
DougJ - Ottawa, ON, CA

Good!

wdjohnson2 wrote:

Unfortunately, I don't have either one any longer. I never did try with either one of them

Well, that's good actually. If they worked on an old nuvi but not the Drivesmart, I would have been surprised but would tend to agree the DS 50 is not compatible and also concluded that your computer is correctly configured to install custom audio wav files. To date, custom voice alerts work with all the vehicular Garmin GPS devices and I (and others) will be shocked if the DS 50 becomes the first to fail being able to use them so let's go over the common causes found here that cause a failure. Macs don't need sox so I'll assume you're using a PC.

Common problems with wav custom voice alerts in no particular order:

-I see you've been a member for 7 years. That's long enough that if you've been using POI Loader for most of that time, you may have two copies of POI Loader and the sox is in the wrong POI Loader folder. Maybe five years ago, Garmin switched the location for installing POI Loader and left the old one. Is this possible; i.e., have you been using POI Loader for a long time?

-You have the wrong sox. You need to use sox version 14.0.1, no other. And don't confuse 14.1.0 with the required 14.0.1. If you downloaded sox from here at The Factory, you have the right one. I'll assume you have unzipped the sox.zip to the required sox.exe.

-Is sox in the folder containing POILoader.exe; i.e., not the data folder that POI Loader looks to for csv and wav files?

-Are you using wav files downloaded from The Factory, making your own or getting them from elsewhere? I hope at least for now, you try using files from The Factory that are known to work.

-Are you sure the spelling of the csv or gpx file is exactly the same as the wav file, excluding the extensions? What are your PC Folder options; i.e., could you have double extensions, a xxxx.wav.wav file?

-Do you get any error messages when running POI Loader with your csv file and wav file?

This is a start and a check for the most common errors that we need to rule out before thinking of new issues. Good luck. See, I told you I was long-winded. twisted

wdjohnson2 wrote:I'm trying

wdjohnson2 wrote:

I'm trying to add the voice alert for RLC files, but doesn't work. Is sox compatible with the DS 50?

I have sox.exe in the POI Loader folder and have renamed the .wav file appropriately.

Comments?

Doug J

See if this FAQ helps. http://www.poi-factory.com/node/25730 the video version can be found here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsJTUmvb6_o

--
Charlie. Nuvi 265 WT and Nuvi 2597 LMT. MapFactor Navigator - Offline Maps & GPS.

True, but

CraigW wrote:

... See, I told you I was long-winded. twisted

True, but Craig is always on target.

John

Another short thought

Not having a Drive of any sort myself, I can only ask. I wonder if there's any Drive Setting to enable/disable audio alerts. If so, the custom POI process could be perfect but the Drive just needs permission to shout at you.

DS50

All works fine on my DS 50 so it's not the fact that they won't work on that model.

There is a setting for alerts but unless it's been changed from the default all should be fine, but its in Settings, Proximity alerts, Alerts, Custom POIs. Ensure it's selected.

--
Where there's a will ... there's a way ... DriveSmart51LMT-S, DriveSmart50LMT-D, Nuvi 2508LMT-D, 1490LMT, 1310, Montana 650T, Etrex 20

DS50

Thanks for all the feedback. From what I've read, I appear to have done all the right things WRT versions, file locations etc. One thing I noticed, is that you all mention .csv files - I've converted the RLC to a .gpx. Could that be the culprit?

--
DougJ - Ottawa, ON, CA

wav

wdjohnson2 wrote:

Thanks for all the feedback. From what I've read, I appear to have done all the right things WRT versions, file locations etc. One thing I noticed, is that you all mention .csv files - I've converted the RLC to a .gpx. Could that be the culprit?

Gpx or csv will both work. When you click on the wav file on your computer do you get a voice alert?

--
Charlie. Nuvi 265 WT and Nuvi 2597 LMT. MapFactor Navigator - Offline Maps & GPS.

@wdjohnson2

Not likely unless what you used to make the conversion created a malformed header or the like. In that case however, the entire file likely wouldn't display on the device and not simply the sound.

That said, Is there a reason behind converting the RLC to .GPX?

--
"Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job." --Douglas Adams

DS50

Yes, the .wav file works.

I use EPE to convert csv to gpx, primarily to add the proximity warning.

--
DougJ - Ottawa, ON, CA

Do a test

wdjohnson2 wrote:

Yes, the .wav file works.

I use EPE to convert csv to gpx, primarily to add the proximity warning.

Even if this isn't your eventual desired outcome, try an unaltered csv file from The Factory and the wav. If this works in the nuvi with a custom audio alert, then we know for sure the sox, filenames, wav characteristics, etc. are working. If this test works, then the issue could be the gpx conversion. If the csv test fails, then we need to look deeper into folders, double extensions and all the other issues that have stymied first-time users trying for custom voice alerts. Or if you really want to try an existing gpx POI file, the Trader Joe's is available at The Factory.

I'm not saying that you have missed one important item in getting wav voice alerts on a Garmin, but believe me, you wouldn't be the first to write "I have done everything correctly" only to find later that a single requirement for success was overlooked. redface

I'm not sure if we've asked this yet, but with the exception of the missing custom audio alert, does your gpx file loaded to the Drive appear in your Drive's Custom POIs and if you drive past a redlight location, do you get a visual alert with a default ding sound? When loading the files with POI Loader, I gather you don't get an error message. But when finished, does POI Loader report "Successfully loaded xx POIs"?

Links?

charlesd45 wrote:

When you click on the wav file on your computer do you get a voice alert?

Wasn't there an issue in the past where someone thought they were downloading the wav file but instead were downloading a http link to the wav file? And even a test of clicking the wav link resulted in the correct audio but that POI Loader and sox wouldn't convert the link to the actual wav in the gpi file in the GPS?

Be sure

All 3 files have the same names if you try to install the icon bmp,the wav sound ,and the RLC files.

If one of them does not match the other 2 ,they will not work.

When you use the poi loader and you install the the RLC files does the SOX program pop up for a minute or two asking you if you want to use the sox program ?

If it does click yes

DS50

I have verified that it is an actual .wav file and not the link. Reviewed everything a couple times and am confident that I have all bases covered. Just reloaded my POIs and left the RLC as a .csv - will check it out tomorrow.

I always get the visual alerts, but not the ping (which is why I wanted to add the voice alert - lots of new RLCs in Ottawa)- I get it on all of my other POIs; no error messages reported.

Tks

--
DougJ - Ottawa, ON, CA

Volume control

wdjohnson2 wrote:

...I always get the visual alerts, but not the ping...

Look at the volume control settings. There may be a separate slider for POI alerts and it could be all the way down.

If you get visual alerts, POI Loader was successful, and you should be getting either the ping or the .wav

It is possible the ping doesn't work because the .wav was successful, but the volume of the .wav is too low to be heard. That is what happened with my 3597. I edited the .wav file using a website editor and raised the volume.

dobs108 smile

We're close

dobs108 wrote:
wdjohnson2 wrote:

...I always get the visual alerts, but not the ping...

Look at the volume control settings. There may be a separate slider for POI alerts and it could be all the way down.

If you get visual alerts, POI Loader was successful, and you should be getting either the ping or the .wav

It is possible the ping doesn't work because the .wav was successful, but the volume of the .wav is too low to be heard. That is what happened with my 3597. I edited the .wav file using a website editor and raised the volume.

dobs108 smile

I do think we're near a solution. As dobs says, the lack of the default ping should mean a custom audio alert has been installed. So check for a Volume Mixer, and as sussamb stated, confirm that the setting for audio alerts for Custom POIs is enabled. On the off chance that the wav file is defective, try another wav. It's not like we're short on available RLC audios:

Red Light Camera (Daniel's Voice) Alert Sound
Red Light Camera (Emily's Voice) Alert Sound
Red Light Camera (Jack's Voice) Alert Sound
Red Light Camera (Jill's Voice) Alert Sound
Red Light Camera (Karen's Voice) Alert Sound
Red Light Camera (Lee's Voice) Alert Sound

And more:
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/6503

I use the Karen voiced alert and it does work on my nuvis.

Please triple check that all the file names are the same.

I can't tell you how many times I've pulled my hair out trying to set up voice alerts ... blaming everything but myself. Amazing how you can look at file names and swear they are the same, but find a comma instead of a period (or vice versa), or a space at the end of the file name.

I even would suggest that you "rename" all the files to something else ... to eliminate any possibility of something simple you are overlooking.

I know that has worked for me.

--
Garmin 205, 260W, 1450LMT, 2460LMT, HEREwego for iPhone ... all still mapping strong.

Copy & Paste

cbwatts wrote:

I can't tell you how many times I've pulled my hair out trying to set up voice alerts ... blaming everything but myself. Amazing how you can look at file names and swear they are the same, but find a comma instead of a period (or vice versa), or a space at the end of the file name.

I even would suggest that you "rename" all the files to something else ... to eliminate any possibility of something simple you are overlooking.

I know that has worked for me.

I always hit rename of the POI file, copy the name (minus the extension). Then hit rename and paste the name into the icon file and the alert file. That ensures that all is the same.

--
DriveSmart 65, NUVI2555LMT, (NUVI350 is Now Retired)

if you don't have the wav

if you don't have the wav file in the fold does it produce a ping?

Mystery Solved!

The problem was the volume on my DS 50 was too low.

I typically keep it low enough so I can just barely hear the pings for the various POIs and still hear the voice prompts when I'm following a route. I guess the sound level for the RLC voice is a bit lower - not sure if there is a setting to increase it.

Incidentally, I only get "pings" for the POIs included with the Garmin s/w - I don't get them for the custom POIs. Actually if I got a ping for the RLC, I wouldn't worry about the voice alert.
I haven't looked at EPE to see if I can activate pings there for custom POIs.

Again, thanks for all the comments and suggestions - have picked up on a few tidbits of new info along the way.

DougJ

--
DougJ - Ottawa, ON, CA

3597 volume

The volume in the 3597 does not include a slider for proximity alerts or custom POIs - only master volume and navigation volume. To overcome that I edited the .wav file itself to raise the volume inside the file, and reloaded the POIs. I forget the website I used but it was recommended on POI Factory. It sounds fine now.

We are glad you solved the problem, and that the POIs were always loaded properly!

dobs108 smile

DS POI

Thanks dobs, I'll check that out

--
DougJ - Ottawa, ON, CA

One more thing

I just remembered that my Custom POI proximity alert volume goes up with master volume but is not affected by navigation volume.

My master volume had been 70% and navigation 100%. I reversed those settings to master 100% and navigation 70% to adjust the POI volume after editing the sound file. The navigation sounds were still the same volume.

How to increase volume on a sound file

I was a bit surprised that we did not have a FAQ on how to increase the volume of a sound file, so let me offer one (also submitted to Angela).

Changing the volume of sound files

First, I suggest you create a new folder named Wavosaur on your computer. Personally, I have a folder under my root C: drive which I have named "PortableApps" (without the quotes) under which I have folders for the programs I download - in this case "Wavosaur" (without the quotes).

Navigate to https://www.wavosaur.com/download.php and download either the 32 bit or 64 bit version depending on the operating system of your computer.

Navigate to the folder containing the downloaded zip file and expand it (once this is done you can delete the zip file).

NOTE: wavosaur.exe is a program that does not have to be "installed" on your computer because it is "portable" and "open source" (free - although the author would always appreciate donations if you find it valuable).

Double-click on wavosaur.exe to open the program.

For this exercise, we will be using only the "File" and "Edit" tabs.
1. Click on File -> Open
2. Navigate to the folder containing the sound file whose volume you wish to change. Select the sound file, and then click Open. Your sound file will appear in the lower pane of Wavosaur.
3. Click on Edit -> Select all to highlight the sound file
4. Now, press the "space" bar to play the sound file.
5. Since you already know the level at which the sound file is playing on your GPS unit, use the Master volume control on the very left of Wavosaur to approximate that level.
6. With your cursor within the highlighted file, right-click and select Volume. A dialog box titled Value will appear. In my case, it contained the value "3.00", indicating that it would increase the volume of my sound file by 3 db when I clicked "Ok". Try clicking Ok and then press the "space" bar to see if this new level is to your liking. If not, the repeat step 6. Note that entering a negative number like "-2" (without the quotes) will decrease the volume
7. When the sound level is to your liking, click File -> Save As and a "Save As" dialog will appear using the folder containing your original sound file. I would suggest adding something like "rev" (without the quotes) to the end of the name (but to the left of the period beginning the extension). Then click Save.
8. What I suggest now is to navigate to the folder containing the now two sound files and rename the original by inserting, say, "orig" (without the quotes) before the period starting the extension. Then, remove the "rev" from the new version of the sound file.
9. NOTE: Since you may have started with a folder that contained not only the sound file whose volume you wanted to change, but also a POI file (like a .csv or .gpx) and/or an icon file (.bmp), you do not have to delete the original sound file. POI loader looks only for sound and icon files whose character strings before the extension match a POI file. Other files are ignored.

Increase volume

Thanks jgermann, that was relatively painless - neat little program. Will let you know how it works out.

Regards,

DougJ

--
DougJ - Ottawa, ON, CA