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General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: gps23 on January 18, 2015, 06:42:19 PM

Title: A Waste of time
Post by: gps23 on January 18, 2015, 06:42:19 PM
Just spent 2 hours following the instructions to the letter repeatedly which is difficult since the screen shots are old and don't reflect BaseCamp ver 4.4.6.

Would have contributed but 2 wasted hours is enough. 

Title: Re: A Waste of time
Post by: babj615 on January 18, 2015, 08:16:11 PM
What are you needing help with?
Title: Re: A Waste of time
Post by: Indrid Cold on January 19, 2015, 01:03:59 PM
Sorry that you had issues. With over 1.5 million downloads, someone will have problems sooner or later. If you can be clear about what instructions and what you are looking to do, we can most likely solve your issue. If you just want to vent, then there's no way to help you out.
Title: Re: A Waste of time
Post by: Red90 on January 20, 2015, 09:33:52 AM
I always find these sort of posts funny.  99% of the time, you will never hear back from the OP.
Title: Re: A Waste of time
Post by: gps23 on January 20, 2015, 10:11:42 AM
Installed the exe file on my PC the Montana would not find i with basecamp-no unlocked maps were found.
Uninstalled from PC installed on the memory card  uninstalled from memory card installed on internal storage the same--no unlocked maps were found.
Title: Re: A Waste of time
Post by: Boyd on January 20, 2015, 10:25:54 AM
Quote from: gps23 on January 18, 2015, 06:42:19 PM
Just spent 2 hours following the instructions to the letter repeatedly which is difficult since the screen shots are old and don't reflect BaseCamp ver 4.4.6.

Since this seems to distress you, why not just use Mapsource instead? It is discontinued but still works fine for managing maps, and the screenshots in the tutorials all match the final version of Mapsource.

http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=209

http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/tutorials/how-to-open-maps-in-mapsource/

http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/tutorials/how-to-load-maps-on-my-garmin-gps-unit/#mapsource

Note that mapsource will not properly receive waypoints or tracks from your Montana however since Garmin changed their system for that. But it works fine for installing/managing maps.

Also note that there's a bug in the installer on some older maps on this site that prevents them from appearing in Basecamp or Mapsource if you are using Windows 7 64 bit or newer. This is an issue with the author of those specific maps however, as the bug is now well-known and a revised installer script has been available on this site since 2010.
Title: Re: A Waste of time
Post by: gps23 on January 20, 2015, 12:12:03 PM
I will just move along.   Thanks for the effort.
Title: Re: A Waste of time
Post by: Red90 on January 21, 2015, 07:00:12 AM
Which map are you trying to install?  Which operating system?  There are problems with some old maps and new operating systems.  This problem can be easily fixed.  We can tell you what do do, if you would like.

You seem to have time to find a forum and complain.  I'm sure you can find the time to solve the problem.
Title: Re: A Waste of time
Post by: mikep1300 on April 18, 2015, 08:34:33 PM
I'm also having issues  similar to gps23.   Trying to load maps to an Oregon 600 in my case, but not getting close.
First off, I'm using windows 8.
Tried to get Louisiana and Arkansas topos to load and view in Base Camp.  Nothing would show.
Is the 64 bit issue occurring with windows 8? 

Title: Re: A Waste of time
Post by: Boyd on April 19, 2015, 04:04:13 AM
The 64 bit issue only affects some of the older maps where the author used a bad installer script. Try installing this map: http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/maps/view/53/

Quit Basecamp if it is running and start it again. Do the other maps show now?
Title: Re: A Waste of time
Post by: mikep1300 on April 19, 2015, 06:48:29 PM
Ok, that worked to put the My Trails data on the Oregon 600.  Followed by installing the La topo data. Thanks!!

I rode a mt bike trail today and the track sort of overlays the newly installed trails. 

Very good, but I can't see the trails in Basecamp.  Should I be able to?   

Thanks for the help. 
Title: Re: A Waste of time
Post by: Boyd on April 20, 2015, 05:13:08 AM
Basecamp only allows you to see one map at a time. MyTrails is an overlay that only contains trails and points, so you won't see anything unless you zoom into one of these. If you read the docs for myTrails, the author describes a technique for using it in Basecamp along with another map.
Title: Re: A Waste of time
Post by: mikep1300 on April 20, 2015, 06:42:25 AM
Thanks Boyd.  I kinda figured that out last night, maps look good though!  I'll have to check MyTrails to figure out how to view 2 maps at once.  It would be nice to have My Trails overlay the topo as it is on the Oregon, for planning on a larger screen. 

On a slightly different note.  I installed the La Topo data on the Oregon since there was plenty of room for it.  Should I put all of the installed maps on the memory card to save the Oregon storage space for tracks and such? 

Thanks again

Title: Re: A Waste of time
Post by: Boyd on April 20, 2015, 10:02:19 AM
Tracks take very little space so that shouldn't be an issue. Using a large memory card usually results in slower startup time when you turn the GPS on.  OTOH, a corrupt map file can cause the Oregon to freeze at startup. Depending on the problem, this can be tricky to fix sometimes. If you have a corrupt map on the card, the solution is easy - just remove the card and restart the GPS.

Also, if you want to use Garmin Birdseye, those files are huge. To cover a very large area, you will probably need to place them on a big memory card. Again, this will result in slow startup time.

Personally I like to keep everything in internal memory since startup is faster. But I am not using maps from unknown sources. I used to have a 16gb card full of Birdseye imagery. It took forever to start my Montana with that card inserted, so I now only load a smaller area that fits in internal memory.
Title: Re: A Waste of time
Post by: Red90 on April 21, 2015, 08:48:36 AM
Quote from: Boyd on April 20, 2015, 10:02:19 AM
Using a large memory card usually results in slower startup time when you turn the GPS on.

I have not seen this.  It depend on what is on the card, not its size.
Title: Re: A Waste of time
Post by: Boyd on April 21, 2015, 10:28:14 AM
Just did a few quick tests, FWIW. Started up my Montana 600 with no card. It has a copy of City Navigator Lower 48 and a few of my own maps in internal memory. Took 13 seconds to start. Repeated and it took 14 seconds.

Next I formatted a 16gb class 10 card FAT32, left it blank and put it in the Montana. Startup took 19 seconds. Repeated the test and it took 21 seconds.

Finally I formatted a 2gb card FAT32, left it blank and put it in the Montana. Startup took 14 seconds. Repeated and it took 15 seconds.

These times are pretty similar, and not a big deal, but the bigger card does seem to slow startup. Was not willing to reformat my 32gb card, which I am using in another device, but I bet it would be a bit slower.

Garmin used to have an FAQ about this on their support site. Evidently the device does some kind of integrity check at boot and it takes longer with a bigger card.

My point was really that placing a bunch of files on a card would slow down the boot process. I keep my Montana pretty lean now, with just the stuff mentioned above in internal memory. When I tried using about 14gb of Birdseye imagery on the 16gb card, it took forever to startup, I would guess about a minute.

You have to find the balance that suits your needs best. When the Montana was new, it tended to crash rather often. If I was using City Navigator in the car and the Montana crashed, I just wanted to get it restarted as quickly as possible.
Title: Re: A Waste of time
Post by: mikep1300 on April 22, 2015, 07:06:32 AM
Hey guys;
In playing around with loading topo maps on the unit and on the card.  I've noticed my Oregon600 slows down on start up and in trying to move around on the map being viewed. 
Stands to reason I guess, more data to process with limited processor capacity.  that's my non-technical, don't know what I'm talking about assessment.  Right now I have LA, AR, and MS tops maps plus My Trails on the unit, with OSM on a 16gb card.  That seems to work ok, as long as I don't have all the maps enabled at the same time.  Now that really slows things down!!

What I'm seeing, I may need a few SD cards with different map sets on each to reduce the shear size of the data chunk the Oregon has to process.  I have a 32 gb card that I'm using now, but maybe a 16gb would be sufficient.   I've tried disabling maps that I don't need and that speeds things up some while navigating. 

I'll be going out west this summer, covering about 5 states, so I'm trying to get a strategy to have everything I need on the GPS before I leave.   Suggestions welcome.

Thanks for all the help. 
Title: Re: A Waste of time
Post by: Boyd on April 22, 2015, 08:58:14 AM
You should never enable any maps that you aren't actually using. When you do, it slows the GPS down (dramatically sometimes), as you have observed.

FWIW, I found an old thread with some interesting info about SD cards and startup times here: http://forums.gpsfiledepot.com/index.php?topic=2790.msg17858#msg17858
Title: Re: A Waste of time
Post by: mikep1300 on April 22, 2015, 09:12:28 AM
Good Info. 

Thanks