I just purchased a 62S on the record of performance and ability to use third party maps. I am now seeing conflicting information on whether or not this is "allowed" by Garmin - the reason I ask is that I have downloaded a few maps from this site and am repeatedly getting the message "can't unlock map" after a seemingly successful load to the GPS. I suspect I am simply doing something wrong, but wonder if something has in fact changed with the "allowance" to use third party maps. If Garmin has disabled the ability to do this the 62S will be immediately returned as that would be a certain deal-killer. I hope this is not the case. Can someone clear this up? Thanks Much.
If you are having problems with maps you downloaded from this site, please provide links.
I've tried three so far, as follows;
http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/maps/view/260/
http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/maps/view/150/
http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/maps/view/365/
Please understand, I doubt there is a problem with the maps downloaded here, I am really looking for clarification on whether or not using these maps is being restricted or disallowed by Garmin, or am I doing something wrong in the load/ unlock process. The listed maps are listed as "non-lockable", I think.
You should not have to unlock any of the free maps here. The only thing I can think of that might cause the problem would be if the map author chose an ID number that is restricted to Garmin products. This can be any number that the mapmaker chooses, but a couple years ago Garmin changed their copy protection scheme and reserved a certain range of FID codes for their exclusive use. If another author inadvertently chose a number in that range, their maps would appear locked.
To follow up on Boyd's point, get yourself a copy of MapSetToolKit. On the right of the startup screen you will see a list of your installed map products. Look there for conflicts between the FIDs of the GPSfiledepot maps and any Garmin products you have installed on your computer.
A few more questions:
1) Did you install a locked Garmin product on your 62S?
2) Did you follow this tutorial to transfer the maps to your 62s?
http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/tutorials/how-to-load-maps-on-my-garmin-gps-unit/
None of my mapsets are locked.
A remember some posts in the past where people with a locked Garmin mapset were having a problem with the unlocked mapsets here. I do not remember what the solution was.
Are you using a mac?
I read back through some old posts on the Yahoo Map Authors group and evidently the issue with conflicting reserved FID's only affects third party maps the ARE locked, so that's not it.
But we have also seen several threads here from Mac users who get bogus unlock messages with some of the maps here. I don't recall seeing the resolution to any of these issues unfortunately.
Nope. I'm using a PC. It does sound like, from what I'm hearing that this is not due to any changes Garmin has made to the 62S which would prohibit the use of third party maps? I will try playing with the mapsettoolkit and see if that helps.
To Seldom
Yes, I did follow the tutorial using both Basecamp, then with Mapsource. Both times seemed to go off without a hitch, as it the load went fine. When I boot the 62S, it comes up with the message "can't unlock map".
Do you have a Garmin non-base map on the unit?
Did you put the data on a Garmin prerecorded micro memory card?
Are there any tracks, waypoints, etc. on the unit which you did not put there?
There was an issue earlier this year, where someone was having an issue with a newly purchased unit. Turned out there was data on it from many States away - likely someone bought the unit, used it a few times and returned it for some reason (perhaps also finding it defective). The vendor did give a full refund.
All that shows in the map list is;
1. Worldwide DEM Basemap, NR
2. Digital Globe
both "enabled"
There is no SD card installed yet - just the resident memory.
The only waypoints are maybe three or so that I put in trying the unit out.
FWIW - this unit was a display model inside a showcase.
Quote from: RGR on October 05, 2011, 02:35:09 PM
There is no SD card installed yet - just the resident memory.
Something to try.
Connect your 62s to your PC. Internal memory will show up as an external hard drive.
Check the Garmin folder for a gmapsupp.IMG. It should be dated the same date as when you sent the maps. Delete it, but don't delete anything else in the Garmin folder.
Send the maps to a card.
It would be a good idea to backup the files which came on the unit - sometimes they need to be restored.
Display model - perhaps they had a 'locked' Garmin prerecorded memory card in the unit, that might be causing some type of problem. Check with the store.
Also get the latest 'software/firmware' for that unit from the Garmin website.
You might also try a factory reset - who knows how a display model may have be played with.
Well I've tried a number of things and I must say I'm getting a bit hacked with this unit. I tried using the reset option as maps4gps suggested and thought there was progress. I was able to load the Wis topo map and see it on the map display. I then tried to load the topo along with city navigator north America - the entire process seems normal to where I get "data successfully transferred" (paraphrased?). When I reboot the 62S I again get the "can't unlock maps" message. SO... I go back to using the reset option and now can't get the "can't unlock" message to NOT come up, even though the unit shows no extra maps whatsoever. Is there a different "factory reset" other than the one ("reset") in the menu? This is becoming more trouble than it's worth... Oh - I also installed a 4G memory card and loaded one of the maps directly to it to see if that would help anything, but the same "can't unlock maps" occurs. I do see that the file I transferred to the extra memory is there, but can't "unlock it. Also, I did update the firmware to 3.40. I have tried using both mapsource and basecamp (mostly) to transfer files - only files that I have downloaded from this site. Is it time for this one to be returned?
Can you load only the WI topo without CNNANT? If so, you've got a CNNANT problem. Did you buy it new, and is this the only GPSr you've installed CNNANT on? If so call Garmin. If you've installed CNNANT on another GPSr, you need to buy another license.
From what I've seen, this happens when you include maps that have not been unlock to the target GPS and unlocked to a second GPS by newbies.
I just purchased a GPSmap 62s and am having the same results, "cant unlock". I downlaoded the california topo to mapsource and had no problem loading it onto a Zumo 550. I used the same instructions for both devices.
In both cases I loaded the map onto removable memory cards via a card reader. The card in the 62s shows that the map exists.
The 62s shows only the base maps it came with. No other maps have been loaded, the device was not a demo unit. I updated the software before attempting to load the map.
Are any maps in internal memory.
How many maps do you have on the 62s?
Have you tried installing other maps, only one on the unit at a time?
The only maps were the base map and digital globe. I did try and install a copy of city navigator once, which did not load.
Ok, I just wiped the memory card clean, and loaded the CA topo via the 62s instead of the card reader. It worked. Not sure if I origionally corruped the memory card or what, but my problem is solved.
I should have tried it prior to asking for help. Thanks for the suggestions.
We may just want to recommend a card format as a standard procedure for bogus locked maps.
Quote from: mefreer on October 15, 2011, 09:51:02 PM
I did try and install a copy of city navigator once, which did not load.
This sounds like it could be related to the problem, depending on where you got City Navigator. It is copy protected and can only be installed on the unit it was registered to.
The city navagator I unsucessfully tried to load was on my map source registered to several other devices, I thought what the heck I would try and load it. It appears that it loaded something onto the card that messed up the california topo from gpsfiledepot.
Yeah, then that is probably what happened. When you send City Navigator to a device, it will place three files in the Garmin folder: gmapsupp.img, gmapsupp.unl and gmapsupp.gma. Then if you send one of the free maps from here, it will replace the gmapsupp.img file, but probably won't delete the other two files. Those files are used in the copy protection scheme and would not match your new gmapsupp.img (which is the map), hence the unlock error.
Glad you got it fixed. :)
In my case I am not using any other device than the 62s. I have a new install of basecamp and an initial download of the CNNANT. To save time, I select the state of WI to send to the unit. I am simply using the internal memory, although I had tried to install a 4G card to see if that would help. I didn't try to format the extra card as mefreer did, but the problem exists whether using the add-on card or the internal memory. As mefreer stated, I can see the .img file on the unit in explorer, but does not show up when looking through basecamp. This is the only file I have (knowingly) loaded. Since Boyd points out that there are three files (.img, .unl, .gma), do I need to delete all of these types of entries? In addition to these frustrations and my efforts to correct, I have (apparently) deleted the basemap info the unit came with (on the advice to eliminate .gpx files). Is there a way to get these back?
Downloaded copies of CNNANT are generally regarded as a bad idea. The DVD version is much more forgiving. Where is your CNNANT stored?
Quote from: RGR on October 20, 2011, 02:43:08 PM
In my case I am not using any other device than the 62s. I have a new install of basecamp and an initial download of the CNNANT. To save time, I select the state of WI to send to the unit. I am simply using the internal memory, although I had tried to install a 4G card to see if that would help. I didn't try to format the extra card as mefreer did, but the problem exists whether using the add-on card or the internal memory. As mefreer stated, I can see the .img file on the unit in explorer, but does not show up when looking through basecamp. This is the only file I have (knowingly) loaded. Since Boyd points out that there are three files (.img, .unl, .gma), do I need to delete all of these types of entries? In addition to these frustrations and my efforts to correct, I have (apparently) deleted the basemap info the unit came with (on the advice to eliminate .gpx files). Is there a way to get these back?
You will need to contact Garmin on these issues.
Only Garmin can replace your basemap, contact them here: http://www.garmin.com/us/support/contact/
Garmin has a support forum for City Navigator map installation issues: https://forums.garmin.com/forumdisplay.php?f=180
I gave up on this 62s - didn't know what else to try so exchanged it for a new one. Maps now load to the new one without a problem (so far). Thanks to all for the help and suggestions. One more question: I installed a 4G SD card to the new unit. When loading maps with basecamp, how does one/should one designate where the maps are loaded (resident memory vs. the add-on SD card), or does the 62s decide this for itself?
Right click on the card in BaseCamp and "Install maps to this device".
OK - simple enough. Any advantage to using one locatione vs. the other?
Quote from: RGR on October 26, 2011, 02:54:34 AM
OK - simple enough. Any advantage to using one locatione vs. the other?
If you use the datacard, you might be less likely to not delete your basemap when attempting to remove .gpx files in the future.
For the very complex maps that I make, I see a performance hit when putting them on a memory card instead of internal memory. Most people probably will never notice this however. Using a memory card will also cause the GPS to start up more slowly. I haven't done any actual timing, but it can be pretty noticeable if you put a lot of files on a card.
Try some tests of your own and see what you think. My rule of thumb these days is to not use a card unless I can't fit what I need in internal memory.