Garmin Lifetime Updates? HELP!

[shortythorne]

I have a Garmin 660 GPS and purchased the "Lifetime Updates" about two years ago. The maps I had before the last update covered the US & Canada. The last update I performed would only allow me to choose segments of the US and or Canada (SouthEast, Central US, West,etc.), saying that there was too much data to show the entire areas as before. Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this, or did I do something wrong? This is a major PITA especially if you ride long distances, as I might start out from home in Mississippi and end up in a different area of the US not currently "updated" on the GPS! Is this something new by Garmin? Anyone else experienced this? Thanks

 

[BMW Triumphant]

I have a Garmin 660 GPS and purchased the "Lifetime Updates" about two years ago. The maps I had before the last update covered the US & Canada. The last update I performed would only allow me to choose segments of the US and or Canada (SouthEast, Central US, West,etc.), saying that there was too much data to show the entire areas as before. Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this, or did I do something wrong? This is a major PITA especially if you ride long distances, as I might start out from home in Mississippi and end up in a different area of the US not currently "updated" on the GPS! Is this something new by Garmin? Anyone else experienced this? Thanks

You did nothing wrong. Just not enough factory main memory. This used to happen all the time with my Zumo 550. Has not happened yet with the Nav V.

If you have multiple map sets loaded, you might delete the oldest and with the recovered space be ok. Not really sure with the 660 how that works.

With the 550, I used an auxiliary SD card. Downloaded a partial set of maps to main memory and the rest to the SD card. The 550 was smart enough to search out the needed map files on the go.

The web has many articles on this and other problems. If using Express (you need to do it twice, using the pulldown box to chose the destination of main unit or SD each time) does not work for you, try Garmin support for help. I remember it used to take hours ... .

 

[BMW Triumphant]

Try Here for Help

http://www.zumoforums.com/index.php?board=56.0

I did not spend a lot of time here, but it looks promising. Someone else may be able to help too.

 

[shortythorne]

Thank you for your help! I'll check out the forum. Also, we have super slow internet service, and it literally takes all night. Thanks again!

 

[patm]

Download the whole map to your PC using Garmin Express.
Use the mapinstall utility from garmin to load the maps in your area, to your GPS.
Still with the utility, load the other maps to the SD card. An 8 GB card is mlre than enough to fit all the maps.
This way you don't need to download twice.

 

[BMW Triumphant]

Download the whole map to your PC using Garmin Express.
Use the mapinstall utility from garmin to load the maps in your area, to your GPS.
Still with the utility, load the other maps to the SD card. An 8 GB card is mlre than enough to fit all the maps.
This way you don't need to download twice.

This is good advice for those with slow connections. Downloading to the PC Only is faster because the USB connection from the PC to the nav unit is so much slower than the PC to its disk drive.

 

[cschmidt]

Install an SD card (8 gb or more, 16 to 32 is the best) and Garmin express allows you to designate where you want to store your maps (SD card or internal memory) just choose the SD card and you'll have plenty of room to store all of the maps.