New Garmin Montana

[Seismo]

I just registered a new Garmin Montana 600 and installed Basecamp.  I downloaded the Texas topo from GPSFiles and installed that such that there is a collection of  numbered .img files along with a .tbd file.  I read the tutorial on installing the map on a PC using Basecamp.

When I right click on my device in Basecamp there is not a selection for installing a map.  Under utilities, the Install maps selection is greyed out.  Am I missing something?  Basecamp sees my gps, it just does not give me the choice to add a map.

Thanks in advance.

[Seldom]

By the look of your question you haven't read this:
http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/tutorials/how-to-open-maps-in-garmin-basecamp/

You don't load or install maps into BaseCamp.  That happens when you run the installer you downloaded.  It is a self extracting EXE file on a PC, something similar for a Mac.

You load your personal data, like tracks and waypoints.

[Boyd]

From your description, I can't tell whether or not you've actually installed the map on your computer properly. There would be a collection of files like you describe, but those are only for use by the system and you shouldn't directly do anything with them.

When you run Basecamp, can you view the map? Is the name of the map shown in the dropdown menu on the top left of the screen? If the map is correctly installed, you should not see a greyed-out install menu.

[Seismo]

So, I closed Basemap.  I then re-installed the Texas topo.  The install looks like it completed normally and it installed all the .img and .tdb file in my c:/program files(x86)/txtop11 directory.  I started Basemap and still nothing.  I can't see the Texas topo map under view/map products or anywhere else.  I can see all the map files that came with the Montana 600 though.  Is there a certain directory that the map needs to be installed to?  I tried installing in the My Garmin directory as well but still nothing.

I'm sure this is a user error but I'm just not seeing what the tutorials tell me I should expect.

[Boyd]

As we have already said, those files are only for Basecamp to use. You should not do anything with them - just forget they even exist. It doesn't matter where they're installed.

If the map were properly installed, it would appear in Basecamp and you would be able to use Basecamp/MapInstall to send the data to your Montana.

So something clearly went wrong if everything is as you describe. What operating system are you running? There are issues with certain maps for users of 64 bit Windows 7.

[Seismo]

"There are issues with certain maps for users of 64 bit Windows 7."

Bingo.  I found the hidden thread( you know the bold highlighted one at the very top of the page) that suggest a fix by installing My Trails and that worked.

I appreciate the responses on figuring this out.  Thanks!

[Seismo]

OK, new issue.  I can download a map into Basecamp.  It shows up in Basecamp just fine.  I go through all the steps to transfer the map to my Garmin Montana.  It says it completes successfully.  However, the map does not show up as selectable on the Montana.  I can see where the gmapsupp.img file has been updated.

Once a map is transferred to the GPS device, how do I get it to show up in the 'select map' dialog?

Thanks.

[Seldom]

I don't own a Montana, so others will need to add to my question, but what maps are you seeinng on the Montana?  Do you see any Garmin map products on your Montana, like CityNavigator?

 Did you transfer the maps to the Montana directly, or transfer them to a card reader?

 Is the gmapsupp.img in the \Garmin folder?

[Boyd]

Unless you take some other actions, every time you send a map to the Montana with Basecamp, it will be placed in a file named gmapsupp.img. Because of this, it will erase any map that you previously sent to your Montana. So there is only going to be one map on the Montana, no matter how many different ones you send.

The way around this is to manually change the filename from gmapsupp.img to something else, like topo.img. Now you can send another map which will again be named gmapsupp.img. Change that name to something else again and repeat for every map that you want to send.

When you go to the map setup menu, you will see a list of all these files and you can enable/disable them individually there.

[Seismo]

I installed City Navigator from DVD.  It installed to the computer, not to the GPS.  I then used mapinstall through Basecamp to transfer it to the GPS.  That went well and the gmapsupp.img file got VERY large but City Navigator never showed up in the map list where I can enable or disable.  The only maps in the selectable list are the ones that came with the unit.  The gmapsupp.img file is in the Garmin directory.

I then created a subset of the City Navigator map in Basecamp and sent that to the GPS.  It overwrote the gmapsupp.img file with a smaller file as expected but it still did not show up in the selectable list of maps on the GPS.

Is there another directory that gets updated when a map is installed on the GPS that contains the data that map info needs?

Thanks much for the advise here.  It almost seems like Garmin went out of their way to make an overly complicated software system.

[maps4gps]

Since you are having a problem with a Garmin mapset, I would suggest you call their tech support as the GPSr might be faulty and need replacement. 

' ... overly complicated software system.'  - Yes very much so.

[Seldom]

From your remarks in the thread above I'm assuming that ALL your installed mapsets show up correctly in BaseCamp?

[Boyd]

If everything is really as you describe, I'm stumped. I also have a Montana and have installed City Navigator as well as a number of other maps with no problem. If there really is a valid gmapsupp.img file in the \Garmin directory of the Montana's internal memory then that map should be available to enable/disable in the map setup menu on the Montana.

I would agree that you should call Garmin support and resign yourself to waiting for a while. Be sure to have your Montana connected to your computer because they can remotely diagnose and fix problems while you're on the phone. With e-mail support, it could take weeks to resolve an issue that could be quickly fixed with a single phone call.

[Seismo]

Thanks.  I'll call support.  And yes, all the maps show up just fine in Basecamp, just not on the GPS unit itself.

[Seldom]

That went well and the gmapsupp.img file got VERY large but City Navigator never showed up in the map list where I can enable or disable.

FYI, a  full  install of City Navigator North America is about 1.2 GB.  If your gmapsupp.img is significantly larger than that (and CNNANT is all you installed) Garmin should be interested.