Author Topic: Is there a size limit on gmapsupp.img for old Etrex? (Read 4527 times)

Wowbagger · « **on:** 27 February, 2013, 08:12:45 pm »

I have downloaded Europe in two maps from here:

http://www.openfietsmap.nl/downloads/europe

The two maps have appeared as gmapsupp-n.img and gmapsupp-z.img. I have renamed both maps, in turn, as gmapsupp.img but my Etrex won't read it. One is 2.nngb, the other 1.nn gb. They are on an 8gb card, which I am sure has had larger files on it in the past, read successfully by the Garmin.

What does the panel think?

delthebike · « **Reply #1 on:** 27 February, 2013, 08:18:05 pm »

I don't think it's the img file it's the filesystem that the Etrex reads. Try a 2GB card.
A 2GB partition might work if the remaining 6GB is hidden.

Feanor · « **Reply #2 on:** 27 February, 2013, 08:19:41 pm »

A slightly useless reply, but just a couple of general limitations:

Filesystem implimentation limitations: some older units could not read SD cards over 2GB without a firmware update. If you are certain you have used the 8GB card OK in the past, and can do so again ( with a different mapset ), then it's not that.

Many of the older Garmin units had a 2GB limit on an individual image size. Again, may be fixable with a firmware update.
They also had a limit on the number of map tiles contained in an image ( 2025 tiles, IIRC ).

fuaran · « **Reply #3 on:** 27 February, 2013, 08:21:55 pm »

What model Etrex? And have you got the latest firmware?
Version 3.00 of the Vista HCx firmware says "Add support for maps greater than 2 GB." http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=3709
There's a similar thing for the Legend Cx/HCx etc.

Wowbagger · « **Reply #4 on:** 27 February, 2013, 09:53:09 pm »

It's a Vista HCx. It reads the 8Gb card OK - I just had a gmapsupp.img file of about 800mb and it could read it perfectly, with two other files (gmapsupp-n.img and gmapsupp-z.img) in the same directory.

I'm as certain as I can be that it read mahoosive files when we were in Germany a few years ago with Auntie Helen.

Edit: I've found what I'm pretty sure is the file we used for the German hol - 3.13gb. It's at least three years old though. It takes at least half an hour to copy a file of this size to the micro sd card, so I'm reluctant to test it at the moment.

Martin · « **Reply #5 on:** 27 February, 2013, 10:10:47 pm »

when I bought my HcX I foolishly bought a 4gb HC card for it; would not work; had to get a 2gb non HC

my City Navigator map is a little under 2gb; that may be the limit? although the card can store the bigger file the device cannot open it? just a thought...

Feanor · « **Reply #6 on:** 27 February, 2013, 10:17:36 pm »

Yes, as has been mentioned up-thread, there are historical limits on both max card size, and max image file size.

Do you have the latest firmware on the device?

Go to mr. Garmin's website, and download the webupdater, and then let it inspect your device and see what updates it offers.

Wowbagger · « **Reply #7 on:** 27 February, 2013, 10:42:14 pm »

I've loaded the 2.73gb map successfully this time. I don't know why it didn't work before. I renamed it gmapsupp.img, just as before, but this time didn't have the gmapsupp-z.img in the directory. I don't see any reason why that would have stopped it working.

Kim · « **Reply #8 on:** 28 February, 2013, 12:42:33 am »

Quote from: Wowbagger on 27 February, 2013, 10:42:14 pm

I've loaded the 2.73gb map successfully this time. I don't know why it didn't work before. I renamed it gmapsupp.img, just as before, but this time didn't have the gmapsupp-z.img in the directory. I don't see any reason why that would have stopped it working.

It's not beyond the realm of possibility that it's only looking at the first 6 characters of the filename... There's a lot of legacy silliness where FAT is involved.

frankly frankie · « **Reply #9 on:** 28 February, 2013, 09:54:45 am »

FAT32 format also works OK, in a Garmin.

Quote from: Wowbagger on 27 February, 2013, 09:53:09 pm

Edit: I've found what I'm pretty sure is the file we used for the German hol - 3.13gb. It's at least three years old though. It takes at least half an hour to copy a file of this size to the micro sd card, so I'm reluctant to test it at the moment.

You probably know this but a general hint concerning large map files - take the card out of the GPS and use a card reader to transfer the file across, it's much quicker (and more reliable). The Etrex is USB 1.1 only.

Wowbagger · « **Reply #10 on:** 28 February, 2013, 01:26:54 pm »

Oh yes, I've done that. The card reader gets quite hot.

The large map that is now working is actually not very well put together and has a number of tiles that are either missing or have a black background when the vast majority are white.

@Kim: I don't think that's the reason as at one point I had a gmapsupp-n.img at 2.8gb, a gmapsupp-z.img at 1.8gb and a gmapsupp.img at 792mb in the Garmin directory and it was perfectly happy with the gmapsupp.img. I'm tending towards the thought that the big files just haven't been put together terribly well.

frankly frankie · « **Reply #11 on:** 01 March, 2013, 01:01:06 pm »

Could easily be that. 2Gb is an awful lot of digits to get right, and there's many a slip in the compilation process, I expect.

Wowbagger · « **Reply #12 on:** 17 August, 2015, 09:33:12 am »

Thread revisitation time.

I had another/similar problem with the 8gb card last night. The Garmin - still my old Vista HCx - it has done sterling (and Euro) service - refused to read the gmapsupp.img that was on the card. I deleted that file and downloaded another for the whole of Germany/Benelux (2.91Gb) and it didn't want to play. I decided to reformat the card but beforehand copied everything on the card to a hard disk. An error message came up to say that it couldn't read the gmapsupp.img file. After reformatting the 8gb card, I copied over the 2.91Gb file again and now it's working.

frankly frankie · « **Reply #13 on:** 17 August, 2015, 10:29:52 am »

Is it a Sandisk card? Historically there have been lots of issues reported with Garmin/Sandisk combinations, with other makes such as Kingston being found preferable - but that's very old news dating back to when there was a 2Gb card size limit, and I'd expect the firmware updates to have fixed all that long ago. FWIW all my cards that are >2Gb are Sandisk ones, no problems in Garmins or anything else.

TimC · « **Reply #14 on:** 17 August, 2015, 12:37:02 pm »

I fitted a Sandisk Ultra 64Gb card to my Edge 1000. I downloaded a custom OSM generic routable (new style) map of UK, some of Northern Europe and various small areas of the USA, but the Edge won't read it. Basecamp reads the file absolutely fine, so I know it's OK. Very frustrating!

tiermat · « **Reply #15 on:** 17 August, 2015, 12:57:24 pm »

Quote from: TimC on 17 August, 2015, 12:37:02 pm

I fitted a Sandisk Ultra 64Gb card to my Edge 1000. I downloaded a custom OSM generic routable (new style) map of UK, some of Northern Europe and various small areas of the USA, but the Edge won't read it. Basecamp reads the file absolutely fine, so I know it's OK. Very frustrating!

That maybe due to the 1000 not supporting 64G cards. NOTE this is not gospel, just supposition. Most SD card support goes 1) upto 2G, 2) upto 32G, 3) larger than 32G. Oddly enough I have laso found that devices that support the larger sized cards then have problems with the smaller cards (despite the standard supposedly being backwards compatible).

ETA: https://forums.garmin.com/showthread.php?86225-Maximum-microSD-card-size-is

Looks like 32G is the limit.

TimC · « **Reply #16 on:** 17 August, 2015, 02:36:53 pm »

Yes, I'd seen that. But:

Quote

From Garmin's knowledge base:

Question: What is the largest size microSD card I can use with my Edge 1000?

Answer:

The Edge 1000 has an expandable memory slot into which a microSD* card can be inserted. This card provides the ability to install detailed mapping to enhance the device's internal basemap.

It is recommended a standard speed card, no larger than 64 GB, be used in order to get the best performance from the device. Class 4 to 10 is considered standard speed.

While considering memory limitations, another limitation is the number of individual mapping segments. Roughly 5250 map segments can be transferred to the Edge 1000. The Edge 1000 is pre-loaded with detailed mapping called Open Street Maps (OSM) as well as a Cycle Map, a base map and a digital elevation model. (DEM). The preloaded maps consist of approximately 2300 mapping segments (Aproximately 1000 for Europe). It is suggested to transfer additional mapping to a second microSD card to accomodate the additional segments.

*While any brand of microSD card should work, Garmin has only tested more common brands such as SanDisk and Kingston. The MicroSD card should be in the FAT32 format.

Last edited by SUSSAMB; 07-04-2015 at 12:01 PM.

The SanDisk Ultra 64 is a Class 10 card, and should work.

tiermat · « **Reply #17 on:** 17 August, 2015, 02:44:02 pm »

I would take that as the difference between what a manufacturer says is possible and what people in real life have found to be true.

fuaran · « **Reply #18 on:** 17 August, 2015, 02:47:56 pm »

A 64GB card is SDXC, so it will probably be formatted as ExFAT. Not sure if the Garmin supports this.
Formatting the card as FAT32 might help.

TimC · « **Reply #19 on:** 17 August, 2015, 02:48:49 pm »

Quote from: fuaran on 17 August, 2015, 02:47:56 pm

A 64GB card is SDXC, so it will probably be formatted as ExFAT. Not sure if the Garmin supports this.
Formatting the card as FAT32 might help.

I'm just going through this exercise right now! I'll report back...

TimC · « **Reply #20 on:** 17 August, 2015, 03:48:15 pm »

Ok, I think the exFAT formatting is the issue, and of course FAT32 can't address more than 32Gb, so Win10 won't allow me to reformat it in anything other than exFAT or NTFS. I've found an 8Gb card which can hold the new maps, so that's that bit sorted. I tried to include the OS maps I bought with the 800 years ago, but I think the UNL code may be unique to that device, and the 1000 tells me it can't unlock the map. Never mind; I don't like the OS map on the Edge anyway! Meanwhile, I've ordered a couple of 16Gb cards so I can put a decent selection of areas on both Garmins (I occasionally ride in the USA, India and South Africa).

fuaran · « **Reply #21 on:** 17 August, 2015, 04:18:26 pm »

FAT32 works for up to 2TB drives.
Its just a limitation of the formatting tool on recent Windows versions - it won't let you format a drive larger than 32GB as FAT32. Not sure about Windows 10, but in previous versions, it works if you use the command line tool instead. ie run this from the command line (change X to whatever drive letter it is)

Code: [Select]

format X: /FS:FAT32
Or there's a variety of other tools which should work, eg http://www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk/index.htm?guiformat.htm

TimC · « **Reply #22 on:** 17 August, 2015, 04:50:27 pm »

Ah, ok - thanks! I'm sorted for now with the 8Gb drive, and the 16s I ordered will cover my requirements for a while. I may have a play with the 64, or I may just use it in my action cam thingy!

frankly frankie · « **Reply #23 on:** 18 August, 2015, 10:10:36 am »

Having just recently successfully fitted a 128Gb card in my old Sansa Clip (specified max 32Gb) I feel quite smug.

Author Topic: Is there a size limit on gmapsupp.img for old Etrex? (Read 4527 times)

Martin