How to move City Navigator to larger micro SD??

Discussion in 'General GPS Discussion' started by Mike, Jan 2, 2012.

  1. Mike

    Mike Guest

    Anyone here know how to move City Navigator (new, on a 2GB micro SD)
    to a larger micro SD card?
    And, is there any advantage to doing so?

    I recently purchased a Garmin Montana 650t, and (perhaps stupidly?)
    got City Navigator on SD card.
    It works fine, but at only 2GB, it chews up the whole micro-SD slot,
    which if it were populated with a 32GB card, would free up a lot of
    space for other things - notably, BaseCamp high resolution image
    overlays.

    I am aware (generally) that there is a limit to how large / how many
    files can be used at once by the Montana.

    Just wondering what steps are needed to move City Navigator to a
    larger micro-SD and not run into "can't unlock files" issues, etc...

    Thanks!
     
    Mike, Jan 2, 2012
    #1
  2. Mike

    MLD Guest

    Why wouldn't this work? Plug the unit into the PC. The 2GB card will show
    up as a drive. Copy the contents (one of the files will be over a GB) of
    the 2 GB SD card to your hard drive. Remove the 2 GB card from the unit and
    replace it with your SD card of choice. There probably is a max limit to
    the size of the SD card you can use (I think that it is 16 GB--check with
    Garmin Tech Support). Now copy the contents of the 2 GB SD Card (from the
    hard drive) to the larger size SD card that is now in the unit. THz should
    work if the map data in the 2 GB card is functional. Because of the size of
    the file(s) it will take an hour of more, each time, to copy and/or move
    these files. For a Nuvi, I followed this procedure in moving the map files
    from a 2 GB to an 8 GB SDHC card without incident.
    MLD
    MLD
     
    MLD, Jan 2, 2012
    #2
  3. Usually Garmin maps sold on SD card are locked to exactly this card.
    You can copy the files but when using the map it detects the wrong
    card and does not work.
     
    Michael Steiger, Jan 2, 2012
    #3
  4. Mike

    Alan White Guest

    I've copied Garmin maps from SD to Sony Memory Stick Pro Duo which have
    worked in Base Camp on my MacBook Pro.
     
    Alan White, Jan 2, 2012
    #4
  5. Mike

    MLD Guest

    My thinking is that if the map on the SD card is functional (that is, it's
    being used by the unit) and it is a file with the "img" extension--then it
    is already " Unlocked" and can be treated the same as any typical file.
    That's why you can copy and/or replace it with another file--new map file
    with the same extension.
    MLD
     
    MLD, Jan 3, 2012
    #5
  6. Mike

    Mike Guest

    Thanks for all the replies.
    I previously tried to just copy the files to the hard drive, and then
    back to a larger micro-SD.
    That does not work. I get a message on the Montana that says "can't
    unlock files".

    There are (3) files, each starting with GMAPSUPP and ending in
    extentions *.GMA, *.IMG, and *.UNL
    I assume UNL stands for unlock file.

    I had read elsewhere the just copying the files wouldn't work, so I
    had a low expectation of success.
    I also read that you could somehow move the files to a larger SD using
    BaseCamp, but the instructions weren't very clear.
    It was jumbled up with a discussion of how not to exceed the maximum
    limit of files the Montana can "read" or use at one time.
    That discussion was so jumbled up, it made very little sense to me.

    Overall, my impression is Garmin (and prehaps other manufacturers, or
    the industry as a whole), really should get a handle on file and layer
    management in the more advanced devices.
    Just adding a custom icon for one of my own proprietary data layers
    was a cryptic and nebulous process to say the least, and this moving
    City Navigator files is no different.

    I understand the need to protect City Navigation files against
    pirating, but I don't see why they need to cripple a 32GB memory slot
    with a 2GB card.
    At the very least, it would be nice if there were an option to
    purchase the data on a larger card -- but just looking at NAVTEQ's &
    Garmin's web sites, and all the forums, I guess that's a non-starter.

    Next time, I'll buy the data on DVD and manage it myself to a larger
    micro-SD card. Lesson learned.

    - Mike
     
    Mike, Jan 3, 2012
    #6
  7. Mike

    Sunshine Guest

    It doesn't quite work that way. In the non-pirate world, when a map is
    unlocked, it's only unlocked for that device.

    In the pirate world, unlocked means fully and permanently unlocked,
    and not tied to any particular device. These maps can be used on any
    device, multiple devices, whatever.
     
    Sunshine, Jan 3, 2012
    #7
  8. Mike

    MLD Guest

    You're right--I was thinking of the *.img maps that one can get from the
    "pirate" world. Another pain in the neck re-Garmin and map updates is that
    many of the units do not have enough internal memory to install the new new
    map update. This requires you to go out and buy an SD card adding to the
    price of your update. You don't find out about this until your new map
    won't install do to lack of space. Removing unnecessary files (voices,
    pictures etc) still leaves you short.
    MLD
     
    MLD, Jan 3, 2012
    #8
  9. Mike

    Sunshine Guest

    I haven't run into the lack of internal memory space issue yet, but I
    do have to remove the old map before loading the new one. So far my SD
    cards are all dedicated to music. (Nuvi 760)
     
    Sunshine, Jan 4, 2012
    #9
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