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General Category => Using The Maps/Garmin Software => Topic started by: supercazzola on November 24, 2019, 04:23:37 AM

Title: maps seem to build / install, but not shown as maps on the etrex 30x
Post by: supercazzola on November 24, 2019, 04:23:37 AM
I'm on a Mac, with BaseCamp Version 4.8.6, MapInstall Version 4.3.2, and MapManager Version 3.1.2.

I have the same three maps listed in MapInstall and MapManger:

The Florida Topo is composed of 30 Maps.
The OSM generic is composed of 30 Maps.
The US South Atlantic OSM Topo is composed of 134 Maps.

When connected to the GPS, MapInstall says "This device already has your latest maps fully installed."

BaseCamp sees the device, and Basecamp shows the SD card has 61.9 out of 63.8 Gigs free.

However, the Maps are not listed in BaseCamp under My Garmin Devices, Maps... Nor, can I see them on the device in order to enable them.

Can someone please tell me what I am overlooking and why the maps are not working on the new etrex 30x ?
thank you
Title: Re: maps seem to build / install, but not shown as maps on the etrex 30x
Post by: Red90 on November 24, 2019, 04:57:33 AM
An SD card that large can't be read on the etrex unless you somehow get it formatted in FAT32.
Title: Re: maps seem to build / install, but not shown as maps on the etrex 30x
Post by: supercazzola on November 24, 2019, 05:54:26 AM
Ah, I missed the whole "it has to be FAT32" formatted. I believe the max size for FAT32 partition is 32Gb, so looks like I have to buy some smaller microSD.

thank you for the help. I loaded them on an old 2Gb micro SD card and they worked.

I feel like I went back 5 years in time... Glad I save the old 5 1/4" floppy disks... you never know when you will need them.
Title: Re: maps seem to build / install, but not shown as maps on the etrex 30x
Post by: Boyd on November 24, 2019, 09:25:04 AM
Haha... Garmin is still living in the 1990's in some respects. With 2020 just around the corner, they really need to get beyond FAT32. Their own City Navigator EU map will no longer fit into a 4gb file and has to be broken into two pieces. And there are a number of things about their map format itself that really should be modernized. But as long as they can keep it working, there's not much incentive to make big changes - especially when they would lose compatibility with their old devices.

Anyway... you should be aware that there's another serious limitation that can bite you when installing multipe maps. Your device has a map segment limit - segments are the smaller tiles that make up the whole map.

https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=Sf7jHKwP2V53j6MoP8AeH8

If you install more than 3000 segments, you will have problems with some of the maps. The results are not consistent, and depend on the exact maps you install. There are no standard sizes for segments, they could cover a whole state or just one county. But, typically speaking, you will hit the map segment limit by the time you fill up a 4gb SD card. So "bigger is better" is not really true when choosing SD cards for a Garmin GPS. An 8gb or 16gb card will give you more space than you can actually use for garmin maps.

There are several ways to check your segment count IIRC. Javawa's free device manager program should do it, and is also handy for other things

http://www.javawa.nl/jdm_en.html
Title: Re: maps seem to build / install, but not shown as maps on the etrex 30x
Post by: supercazzola on November 24, 2019, 05:00:13 PM
Thanks, sadly Javawa's software can't run on a modern Mac with the latest software.