Garmin Zumo XT Additional Maps On Micro SD Card

Without really knowing I'd guess that you can only have one map capable of routing running at a time. I can imagine conflicts with more than one.

IIRC topo maps don't provide routing so (maybe) one could display at the same time as a road map.

A "dirty little secret" about Garmin devices is something called the "tile limit" (also called the "segment limit" sometimes). This is completely different from the amount of free space on a memory card. It has to do with the individual "tiles" that make up each map. The limit varies per device and is pretty bizarre. Older devices like the GPSMap 60csx could only use about 1000 tiles total (this is the sum of all the tiles in all the maps on both internal memory and the memory card. And it doesn't matter whether the maps are enabled or not, just how many tiles they contain. You would have to actually delete some of those maps if you're over the limit, disabling them isn't enough. Some of the newer, premium (= expensive) units even have a 10,000 tile limit IIRC.

Devices like the Oregon and Montana have a limit of something like 4,000 segments. If you exceed the total number of tiles, some maps won't work or else parts of them won't show. It's impossible to generalize, because it depends on the specific mix of maps on your GPS.

That is very often the reason for problems like you describe. There are no standards for how large a "tile" is either, that is completely up to the map maker. A tile might be a whole state or just one county. In the case of Garmin's own maps, this became a big problem with things like their US Topo 100k which had something like 6000 tiles if you purchased the DVD version, so you couldn't install the whole thing regardless of how much free space you had on an SD card. Their solution for this was to release a special version of the map pre-installed on a card, that was re-compiled to only contain around 1000 tiles (ie: it's the same map, but with fewer tiles that are larger than the old version).

But - here's the thing - this usually only affects Garmin's handheld devices, they have stated that their automotive devices don't have any tile limit! Go figure... makes no sense to me. Now, the Zumo is sort of in between an outdoor and automotive device, so maybe it has a tile limit? You could try some searches for things like "Zumo segment limit" or "Zumo tile limit" and possibly learn something.

Of course, there could be other things going on as well and I am getting pretty far out of the loop when it comes to Garmin. But, for starters, I would want to find out if your device has a tile limit, and if it does, then you need to know how many tiles you are currently using. One tool for that is would JaVaWa's free software, such as device manager

https://www.javawa.nl/jdm_en.html

It is also a good general purpose troubleshooting app for Garmin devices which may identify other problems and even offer to fix them. Again, I don't follow this stuff anymore and there were some notes about compatibility issues with newer versions of Mac/Windows software, so you will have to check that out yourself...

One theory I have is that it might have something to do with the names that are assigned. I know that most websites that discuss this state that maps must be named "gmapsupp.img", but can also have a number before the decimal point. So, "gmapsuppw.img" would be permitted.

I have found out by experience that is inaccurate, however. When I downloaded Open Map Chest maps the first times, would change them to the above format. One time I forgot and it worked fine.

Those names are:

OpenMapChest US Midwest.img

OpenMapChest US Northeast.img

OpenMapChest US South.img

OpenMapChest US West.img

OpenMapChest US Pacific.img

With regard to BBBike maps, I still change them to the "gmapsupp.img" format, but I might experiment with other names. The first BBBike for a give region seems to read fine. For example,

us-midwest.osm.garmin-ontrail-latin1

I will download and install another one from the midwest region and it will have a name like:

us-midwest.osm.garmin-bbbike-latin1

I change both of them to a unique name like "gmapsupp3.img" or "gmapsupp4.img" after downloading them and placing them in the Garmin folder on the micro SD card on the Garmin Zumo XT and only one will be displayed as a map choice on the device even though Garmin Base Camp shows both of them.

A little bit ago I decided to use the extract service on BBBike and that map has a different name and the Garmin Zumo XT seems to work with that just fine!

You need to visit some newer websites! That used to be true, but it was long ago. Garmin did away with that system many years ago, starting with the Nuvi series and then extending into their outdoor devices. I think your Zumo is a fairly recent model, isn't it? If so, then it most certainly will not have that limitation. Just offhand, I'd say any Garmin device made after circa 2008 will not have tha map name limit.

One thing they did change with some newer automotive devices is that when you add 3rd party maps, they need to be put in a folder named Map in the root directory and NOT in the Garmin folder. You should look at your device's manual, or try a search to confirm that. My experience was, that on some of these newer automotive devices, 3rd party maps would work in either the Garmin or Map folder while on others, the maps would only be recognized if they were in a folder named Map.

Regardless, I doubt that is your problem. Maps also have an internal ID number that is used to tell them apart. If two maps have the same ID, that will be a problem. Again, try that program I linked to, it should be able to help with issues like these.

Thank you for the reply. The Garmin Zumo XT came out in 2020.

I did just move the additional maps from the Garmin folder to a Map folder. The link below verifies what you suggested.

https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=21G3VnXffc3fvlt4Ru9Yg7...

I have used the website below in the past and I will look a bit closer at it, again.

https://www.javawa.nl/jdm_en.html

I was able to add additional BBBike maps by using the extract service. Premade regions are certainly more convenient and quicker, but that isn't the end of the world, either.

Selecting my own region is limited to 512MB file size. Some of the premade regions are bigger. For example, here in the Midwest, both the Garmin Openfietsmap Lite (Latin1) and Garmin OpenTopoMap (Latin1) 1.3GB!

https://extract.bbbike.org

https://data.bbbike.org/osm/region/north-america

I have spent enough time on maps the past couple of days, though. I will say that even though I have had the Garmin Zumo XT for a few years, I am still learning more about it.

I will probably continue to time my future Open Map Chest and BBBike updates with the Garmin City Navigator map updates. If I am connecting my Garmin to a computer for City Navigator update anyway, I might just as well update Open Map Chest and BBBike maps at the same time!

I believe the older nuvi's (specifically 2xx, 5xx, 7xx and 8xx series) never did incorporate the new map naming rules and still have the restrictive naming conventions. When first released, only gmapprom, gmapoem and gmapsupp were recognized other than the special purpose maps (such as gmapbmap, gmaptz, gmapdem, gmap3d). An additional restriction was that gmapprom could not reside on the SD card.

When Garmin started preparing for map files exceeding 4 GB that needed to be delivered as two files, they added support for one additional name (gmapsup1) via a firmware update (version 4.40 released in 2012 for my nuvi 755T).

Probably not too many of these old nuvi models are still in use, but it is interesting that the newest maps still install and work on my old nuvi 755T. I don't use it anymore but install the maps on it just out of curiosity. The 7x5 nuvi's are one of the few where Garmin is still providing the full screen JCV junction view files with the map update, and those files remain popular downloads for some members of this forum.

I think my recollection is actually pretty good - and I even changed google's mind, LOL. But you might be right about the Nuvi model numbers when the transition took place. 2008 still seems like a long time ago in my book though! I did a simple search for "garmin n-map device" and Google AI said:

"The term "n-map" is likely a slight typo for on-device mapping, a non-sonar chartplotter (like the marine Garmin GPSMAP 1223), or a navigation map device. "

I responded:

"I don't think this is a typo. I believe "n-map device" is a technical term used by garmin to refer to a generation of devices that have more relaxed map naming conventions than their legacy devices.

Older garmin devices only recognized very specific names for maps that were not pre-installed on the gps, they had to be named "gmapsupp.img", then there were things like "gmapsupp1.img" and so forth.

But at some time, they started recognizing almost any valid alphanumeric map name. IIRC, the key to this was found in a special file on the device in internal memory named garmindevice.xml (or similar). I may have some details wrong, but think the basic pattern is correct. When did Garmin begin recognizing other map file names? I think it was sometime after they began using usb mass storage to connect to their devices instead of their proprietary serial format..."

Google AI responded:

"You are entirely correct, and your technical memory is spot on. The term NMaps (short for New Maps or Named Maps) is the precise XML flag used inside the GarminDevice.xml file that defines this transition.

Garmin began introducing this capability around 2008 to 2009, aligning with the release of the nüvi 1xxx series and outdoor handhelds like the Oregon, Dakota, and Colorado series.

The NMaps Architecture Break
As you recalled, the transition happened right as Garmin shifted heavily into the USB Mass Storage era.

* Legacy Behavior: Older devices explicitly looked for a tag in their XML, hard-coded only to recognize gmapsupp.img (and occasionally gmapsurv.img or gmapsup1.img on an SD card).

* The Modern Solution: Newer firmwares added the NMaps schema inside GarminDevice.xml. This container told software like Garmin MapInstall that it could transfer and read any custom alphanumeric string (e.g., Colorado_Topo.img or MyCustomOSM.img), provided it retained the .img extension."

FWIW, I just looked at the GarminDevice.xml file on my old Nuvi 205. It still has the gmapsupp.img restriction. You could check your own devices like this (if you even care, which most people probably don't, LOL)

|File||Specification||Identifier|IMG|/Identifier||/Specification
|Location||Path|Garmin|/Path||BaseName|gmapsupp|/BaseName|
|FileExtension|img|/FileExtension||/Location|
|TransferDirection|InputOutput|/TransferDirection|/File|

(note: I had to replace the xml tag delimiters with vertical bars and also split it across several lines, because the forum software got confused!)

Of course, it gets even more complicated. IMG files are actually "containers" that can hold many maps, depending on how they are created. Mapsource (and Basecamp, when you use it with one of these old devices) can bundle up all the maps you want and put them into a single gmapsupp.img file. This was their (clever, but pretty kludgy) solution to installing multiple maps. It confused most people though, because doing this with Mapsource was far from intuitive.

Basically, you had to select all the tiles you wanted from all the different maps on your computer FIRST. Then you would send the whole thing to the GPS. But most people would just select a map, then send it to the GPS. Then when they selected another map and sent it, the first map they sent would be erased, leaving only the last one that was sent!

Ah, the good old days!

Not too many of us remember that map updates used to be something you had to pay for, at first for each update. The lifetime map subscription was introduced in 2008. I purchased it for my nuvi 755T as soon as it was offered for a price of $129.95 as I recall. Garmin started bundling the lifetime subscription with new models shortly thereafter, but those of us with older models had to pay.

Well, this does bring back memories. My first experience with a Garmin was when my neighbor that lives next door was raving about his Garmin StreetPilot. It might have been a 2610 or 2620. He offered to let me borrow it for one week. I was out in the car for work pretty much all day, so I gave it a great workout. I brought it back to him after the one week and he said it use it for one for week and I did.

I made up my mind that I wanted one of my own and I set my sights on a Garmin StreetPilot 2730, However, they were so expensive that I bought one used for a private party. I liked the XM Satellite radio feature, too, of course.

I don't recall how current the mapping software was when I purchased it, but at some point I decided to splurge for an update. I received either a CD or DVD in the mail from Garmin and updated the maps.

I had a StreetPilot 2620 and just loved that thing. On a cold morning, you had to wait while the internal heater warmed up the microdrive to operating temperature! But the best thing was the remote control - like a tv remote. You could control the streetpilot like it was a push-button GPS, without having to reach up on the dashboard!

I put the United States Open Map Chest maps on my Garmin DriveSmart 65 with Amazon Alexa tonight. All five regions, Midwest, Northeast, Pacific, South and West seem fine.

I then tried the Garmin BBBike (Latin1) maps. I was able to rename South and West and the Garmin displayed them fine. However, when I added the Midwest region, the Garmin would give that map as a choice. I showed up on Garmin BaseCamp. When I deleted the Garmin BBBike South and West maps, Garmin BBBike Midwest was a choice, again.

For some reason certain BBBike maps seem to have some sort of conflict with one another. I will email the team at www.bbbike.org and see if they have any insight on this.

The app I suggested before was made specifically to troubleshoot this kind of problem. I always considered this, and his other program (GMTK) essential tools for anyone who uses Garmin GPS units (although I am quite happy to no longer be in that camp today, LOL)

https://www.javawa.nl/jdm_en.html

Only caveat is, the author has not updated it for awhile, so you will have to see if it still works for you

Thanks, again, for the reply. I splurged yesterday and spent $9.99 on a 64GB micro SD flash memory card. It had to be formatted to the FAT32 file system because the Garmin Zumo XT cannot read the default exFAT format. Since standard Windows tools will not format a 64 GB card to FAT32, I used GUI Format to format it to FAT32.

One that was done, I downloaded and installed the OpenMapChest and USA OSM Auto maps for the United States, as well as a number of BBBike maps. I still have plenty of room on the card for other things, too.

I also downloaded and installed JaVaWa GMTK. It does still work. It found a couple of empty file folders, which I deleted. It also found an issue with a TYP file, which it corrected.

The next thing I wanted to try is changing the name displayed in Garmin MyMaps. I like the OpenMapChest and USA OSM Auto map names, but the BBBike regional download names are too busy for my liking.

I do have JaVaWa Device Manager installed, but it displays "No manageable Garmin devices or SD cards detected." When I Googled it, it states it requires the GPS to mount as a USB Mass Storage drive, but modern Garmin units default to MTP (Media Transfer Protocol) mode or lack mass storage support entirely.

Now I am wondering if I remove the micro SD card and place it in a reader in my laptop computer, can I change the name that way with JaVaWa Device Manager? I may have to give that a try tomorrow.

I didn't realize Garmin was no longer supporting USB Mass Storage mode on their newer devices, but it appears you are correct and there is no work-around like the older models. Yes, I think you can just connect the card directly to your computer however and things should work for you, since your maps are there instead of internal memory.

I tried JaVaWa on my laptop computer with the micro SD card in a card reader. It saw the memory card, but did not allow me to do anything.

So, I tried a desktop computer that is also on Windows 11. I downloaded and installed JaVaWa Device Manager. I found a USB jump drive micro SD card adapter and it displayed the maps on the memory card right away. I was able to change to names displayed in My Maps to shorter names more to my liking.

It also showed 9 errors! When I clicked on the red circle with an X in it the error message states:

Segment codes from BBBike Midwest.img exist in other files too.

The other 8 error messages were similar with: "Segment codes from ______________.img exist in other files too." In a different area it states "Error: segment codes from this file reside in other files. This will cause problems with routing and/or displaying maps."

For now I am happy that I was able to change the map names. I will look into the errors a bit more soon. I think if I can somehow change the ID number on the map, that might clear the error.

Mass Storage mode is probably too dangerous to the file system for those who are careless or don't know any better.
Makes it more difficult for Mac users (such as myself) who have to rely on Android File Transfer to be able to access files directly on the device. Being as I'm still on macOS 15.7.9, I don't know if this will still work when macOS 27 rears it's ugly head and gets rid of the Rosetta 2 translation layer.

I still have a couple of Windows 10 PCs for that side of the spectrum.

To see if there is a limit, I loaded my Zumo XT 128GB microSD card with every AdvOSM Adventure Road map: 22 maps totaling 55GB with 8500 map tiles, according to GmapTool.

The result: 17 maps with 6500 tiles appeared in the map selection screen, plus the 2022 Garmin TopoActive PowerSports North America map (that Garmin no longer updates) that came installed in internal memory.

From this experiment, the Zumo XT map tile limit seems to be about 6500 map tiles.

This much higher than the limit of other models, typically 3000-4000 map tiles. Even 3000 tiles are enough for the whole western hemisphere. From what I can see on Google, Garmin didn't say there is no Zumo or Nuvi map tile limit; they just kept mum about what it is.

That's the way to find out for yourself - nice job. Of course, there is no definition of what a "tile" is. That is completely up to the map maker. When I was making garmin maps, I used USGS 7.5 minute quads as tile boundaries, but I was only making maps of small areas. There may be some limit to how big a segment can be, but it's pretty large.

After being a moderator for many years at GPSReview and GPSFileDepot, I am certain Garmin did once claim there was no segment limit on their automotive devices. That never made sense to me and was probably just BS. It was in an old FAQ on their site but they constantly change things so that many old links no longer work. But since I made Garmin maps back then, I tried to follow this pretty closely. Happily, I no longer do that.

But here are some links that I saved a number of years ago with segment limits and other data capabilities of some of their devices, actually surprised that they still work. Spoiler alert - the GPSMap 66 and 276 were the kings back then, they have limits of 15,000 tiles. You may be able to find more pages like this if you search, but in the past they only disclosed the limits of their outdoor devices.

Montana 600:
https://support.garmin.com/en-PH/?faq=Qmuv3rlqmb7CIDul9G7HkA

Oregon:
https://support.garmin.com/en-PH/?faq=biTN26p94b7jqOi5Rfk3c8
https://support.garmin.com/en-AU/?faq=qazDMZN6w34xXWtvNhdMS6

GPSMap64:
https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=rFMnK0E1GOAC7SG3rGhV0A

GPSMap66:
https://support.garmin.com/en-CA/?faq=1Bz6TOQfUJ65zKV2l9IYAA

GPSMap 276:
https://support.garmin.com/en-HK/?faq=mtpaUTFAtR7mHHM3xGaos7

Meanwhile, boydsmaps has more than 3tb of maps with a total of over 159 million tiles, all available whenever you want them! (of course, these are raster tiles, but it's still a lot and I am nowhere near done yet!)

That boydsmaps.com is quite the place, too bad they only do the NE area in the US but what they have is impressive... to me at least.

Did a quick search, couldn't find anything definitive about automotive units, but here are some more segment limits for Garmin devices:

GPSMap 65:
https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=R4ZceJN09l6Vdc60ks1j86

GPSMap 67:
https://support.garmin.com/et-EE/?faq=zveMYMecIE6gsKEMG7cVc8...

GPSMap H1:
https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=oYKF1z3PDv85eT7OCmf0y9

Montana 700:
https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=ugsi1wbdlg6wGpqNFIVJGA

Alpha 200:
https://support.garmin.com/en-PH/?faq=ZBoh8bM9ae8yJssu2uvpVA

Rhino 750:
https://support.garmin.com/lv-LV/?faq=GIhE7aoKGY6pJHPZ4zsks8

Older handhelds:
https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=0Z9f9QPrIt27OwliDFd4RA

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it! I do have coverage of the whole US through USGS map servers, FWIW. For example:

USGS National Map Topo:
https://boydsmaps.com/#4.00/39.126871/-94.660102/usgsTopo/0....

USGS National Map Aerials:
https://boydsmaps.com/#4.00/39.126871/-94.660102/usgsImagery...

USGS Topo+Aerials:
https://boydsmaps.com/#4.00/39.126871/-94.660102/usgsImagery...

USGS Gray shade LIDAR imagery:
https://boydsmaps.com/#4.00/39.126871/-94.660102/us3depShade...

...plus four other "flavors" of LIDAR terrain on the menu.

But these are a bit different because when you access them, you're connected directly to the USGS servers and boydsmaps has no control over what happens next. Recently, the USGS has moved their maps to Amazon AWS hosting. This made a huge difference, they are now (usually) fast and responsive. In the past, on their own servers, they were painfully slow to load and sometimes didn't work at all.

But I say that boydsmaps covers the Northeast because those maps are all hosted on my own server, which is fast and always available. I just can't promise that for USGS-hosted maps. And, the worst part is, they often change things to make old links to their servers fail. That requires me to constantly keep an eye on things to ensure they work. I used to have maps from as many as 250 remote servers. I got rid of all those because it was just a nightmare to maintain and stuff was constantly broken.

Things are working well now with the USGS, so everyone can access maps of the whole "lower 48" on my site. But will they continue to work in the future? Who knows! Also, with all the budget crises and the current attitude in Washington, how long do you think the USGS will offer this stuff for free? My guess is... not for long. And then that will be the end of it.

In the end, boydsmaps is a platform where I can assure the quality and performance of the maps that I host myself. Thats sort of a "holistic approach" where the data and the software are in harmony. When you use maps from a remote server, boydsmaps just becomes a "terminal" to access remote sites. Honestly, that doesn't interest me much as a developer.

So, go ahead and use the USGS maps all you want, they're free and currently working well. But if there are problems in the future, I will just drop them like a hot potato - because access to remotely-hosted maps is not what I'm all about.

By the way, I’ve only owned my 2022 XT for a week. I expected it to be an upgrade from my 2008 Oregons (I’m on my third, and I have two spares). I expected at least similar functionality but with a big, bright screen.

But now I understand why bikers have been abandoning Garmins for years, aside from the high cost compared to cellphones. Aside from the skinny lines, which I can easily solve by publishing a special set of maps for Zumos and Nuvis rendered with thicker lines and larger points, like Garmin does, the main problem is that the Zumo's highest detail level, 3/3, is equivalent to MEDIUM detail level, 3/5, in the outdoor units. The higher levels of detail are missing. POI display cannot be turned on. You only see about three POIs on the screen at one time. You only see lines and topography. A Zumo is, literally, pointless.

I added a pair of printscreens at the bottom of my website to show the problem: https://rex8475.wixsite.com/advosm

I am shocked to realize that even though I developed adventure maps with additional detail for riders and drivers, Garmins automotive models don’t allow map details to be displayed! Even the details that are in its own TopoActive maps can only be seen in Basemap, when you plug the Garmin into a PC. There is no way to turn it on. Zumos and Nuvis are for everyday drivers. Anyone else will be disappointed.

I’ve put my Zumo back on the same website for 10% less. It was worth it for the research.

Nice maps! I have never used a Zumo, never even saw one "in person", but this makes it appears to have originated from the Nuvi series, where everyone has complained about these same problems for as long as I can remember.

Remember back in the day? I just loved my StreetPilot 2620, it was an automotive device but clearly the descendent of their outdoor/handheld line. Then the Nuvi came along with a whole different mission, to make the device simple to use with their own maps. They clearly never intended for others to make topo maps for it. But the thing was, it had a bigger, brighter screen than the outdoor devices, so it was only natural that people would want to make (and use) topo maps.

I spent a fair part of my life on that quest, and you actually can overcome most of the problems you describe, but you have to be sneaky and game the system. My trick was to make a little test map (preferably of your own neighborhood, so the GPS will automatically display it) that just has all the different Garmin line types. Then zoom in and out and observe which ones are displayed at each zoom level. Finally, choose a line - any line - that will be visible on the levels you want. You end up with something completely non-standard, but it can show little roads basically as far as you zoom out. And none of this will matter to the user if you create a custom typ file to make those lines look like roads.

This can become a problem in itself, because the farther you zoom out, the more lines need to be rendered in the viewport. With a high level of detail, an automotive device will become unresponsive or just crash at some point.

You can do something similar with point features, but they typically weren't as much of a problem for me. I made a number of maps like this and they were very popular in the past. Discontinued all of them about 6 years ago now, I am just no longer in the Garmin game. But it was a lot of fun while it lasted.

BTW, the GPSMap 276 always looked like it might be more of an heir to the older outdoor devices. Kind of a niche product I guess, will confess I always wanted one but they were too expensive to buy on impulse and I already had way too many Garmin devices. Anyway, never saw one of these in person either and have no idea how it would actually behave vs an classic handheld.

https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/539722/

Anybody around here with one of these? What do you think of it?

Thanks: Don't suppose there are Canadian maps (BC/AB?)

Sorry, I used to have the CanVec topo, but those servers were very slow and it was discontinued along with other remotely-hosted maps a couple years ago. I also used to have the full suite of maps from MapBox and HERE. Those covered the whole world with a variety of maps and imagery. But they are commerical products that aren't free (and can get very expensive). It's interesting, because they allow quite a bit of free usage each month, but if you exceed that, then you have to pay.

This would probably work well forever on a small, local website without a lot of users. But boydsmaps was a victim of its own success (so to speak) and I was watching the usage stats steadily climb. I had to get rid of them or would have exceeded my quota of free maps very soon.

With MapBox, I guess they just would have blocked their maps. But HERE changed their policy back then and required all developers to put a credit card on file, so they could automatically bill you. That was the final straw for me.

FWIW, you can access the CanVec topo here, I always thought it was pretty cool. Just click on the Map Viewer link. You can also use the WMS link to connect directly to the server with the right kind of software, such as QGIS. Or you could use Mobile Atlas Creator to download sections and export them in various formats for smartphones and Garmin handhelds.

https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=85882622f24040d9a5b...

I just realized... you're the same new member from from the "incomplete country list" thread at GPSFileDepot! It takes me awhile, but eventually I catch on. Your maps are very nice.