Zumo XT for Australia shipped from US, and is locked.

[TwoUpTourer]

Met a guy today who ordered a Zumo XT off Amazon Australia, only to find it was shipped from the US, and is now unable to install the Topo maps for Oz because it is apparently locked in some way. I'm not familar enough with the XT to know how that works, so anyone up to speed on how the lock structure works and if it can be removed?

 

[Nuvi-Nebie]

If the Zumo is locked in any way that makes it unuseable in Australia then Amazon Australia need to replace it with a unit that is intended for your country, however I'm guessing that it has been supplied with OZ maps rather than USA maps so that suggests it is intended for your country, you don't say where the Topo maps are from, if they were purchased from Garmin or another supplier then they need to be delivered with the correct permissions for use, if the Topos are free to download maps maps they will not contain a 'lock' and will work on any unit

 

[TwoUpTourer]

Unfortunately he persisted in trying to get it to work, and so his time for getting a refund has gone. He has resorted to installing OSM maps, and it works, but he was wanting to have the Australian City Navigator and Topo maps, just like a Zumo bought here should. What I was hoping to learn is whether there is any way to flash the XT with whatever it takes to make it run the Australian Garmin maps.

 

[Nuvi-Nebie]

If the Zumo was supplied with USA maps (and you have free updates) then you will only be able to download newer versions of the same USA maps, Australian maps can be loaded BUT you will have to purchase them from Garmin, the Zumo isn't locking out of OZ maps but Garmin Express won't offer to download them because it checks what is on the Zumo currently and just gets newer versions of them

 

[TwoUpTourer]

This is interesting. If as you are saying that it is only Garmin Express not loading anything but an update, then why wouldn't just file copying the Oz topo map into the correct folder using standard Windows copy methods work? Is Garmin Express doing something different than just copying a file from one location on the computer or SD card if that was how it was purchased, to a folder in the XTs internal memory?
I have a Montana 650, and I never bother with any of those tools, like Basecamp/MapInstall/Express, and just drag&drop, and it works fine, but with the XT I get this sense that it can only receive maps via G/Express, but I may be completely wrong on this.

 

[Nuvi-Nebie]

The maps don't have to be installed using Garmin Express, but it will download a map in the correct format and place it in the correct location to make it viewable. You don't say where the Topo file has been obtained from or what format it is in, the correct format for a direct copy would be an img file eg : - Oztopo.img, if the Topo is a free to download file if can be copied on it's own, however if the Topo is a purchased map from say Garmin it will be supplied with one or two other files files that ensure the map can only be used under certain circumstances, they are gma (Garmin Map Activation) files and unl (Unlock) files, they can only be used once, so copying from a working GPS to a second GPS won't work, Garmin Express can generate these files

The file(s) should be situated in either /Garmin, or /Maps on the internal memory or the microSD card, obviously they have to be located in the correct folder

 

[TwoUpTourer]

Now that is filling in the gaps!
The presence and function of the GMA and UNL files was unknown to me. The friend tells me he paid Garmin Australia for the Australian maps, and I'm sorry at present I'm unsure if he meant the topo map or just standard road map, he couldn't get it to work, and Garmin refunded him. I teach a class on track making for Adv riders, and he was one of my students, so I'm trying to understand the issue that caused him to have to resort to OSM on a brand new Zumo XT, and you've now explained the mechanism by which Garmin control the copyright protection - thanks!