I wouldn’t call standalone GPS units “disposable” but nowadays you can buy entry-level Garmin car units for as little as $89.99, and refurbished units can be had for as little as $59.95. This makes paying $49.99 for a map upgrade seem like a losing proposition.
$50 didn’t seem like much back when a GPS cost $700. But now that you can buy a whole new (refurbished) unit for only $10 more than a map upgrade why bother? If you’re still rocking a Garmin GPS unit, you might not know that updating the maps for free is amazingly easy. I would never, ever recommend that you put an illegally hacked map on your GPS. But if you were the kind of person who isn’t opposed to that, all you need is some spare time, a computer, a Bittorrent client, a USB mini B cable and, most likely, a small (2 to 8GB) SD card. And although I would never, ever do this to my own GPS, I could, theoretically, report that Method 2, Part A on the linked page works like a charm on Nuvi 260W units. ( see updates below) Theoretically, of course. Yeah, I have GPS on my smartphone.
And it works well, too. But if I use my phone as a GPS driving aid, I can actually watch the battery drain. And I don’t have a windshield mount for my phone, either. So I’ll keep using the Garmin for the foreseeable future. UPDATE (): I thought standalone GPS systems were all but dead, but looking at my site logs today, I found that 20+ people visit this page every day. I decided to take a look at this article, and found that the haklabs page I linked to in an earlier version of this post is completely gone. So I thought I’d elaborate a bit for people who still need instructions.
The first thing you need to do is connect your GPS to your computer via USB cable and go to Garmin’s site. I actually recommend using Internet Explorer for this, because you’re going to need to install an ActiveX plug-in (Garmin’s site supports Chrome and Firefox, too, but you’ll need to restart those before continuing). Create an account on Garmin’s site if you haven’t already. Then login to the site, attach your GPS to the USB cable and click the “Update” link. You will be prompted to install an ActiveX plug-in, which will search for your GPS and report its software and map version info to Garmin’s site. UPDATE (): Thanks to jimcofer.com reader Joe, who pointed out that Garmin has retired their web browser plug-ins and has a new app you can use to update your unit:. So if you want to update your Garmin’s OS before updating the map, click the link, download and install Garmin Express, connect the GPS to your computer via USB and start Express.
Kenwood GPS adapter?? - posted in Hacks/Mods: Kenwood has the KNA-G510 Garmin GPS adapter that works on certain Kenwood DVD units and is identical to their latest in. Mala In Cuba Rar Free Download.
Thanks, Joe!:) UPDATE (): I just wanted to mention that the Garmin Express app comes with an auto-start feature. Unless you’re managing a fleet of cars and update Garmins constantly, there’s no reason to have Garmin Express start when your computer boots up. In modern version of Windows, you can disable this from starting by opening Task Manager (CTRL+SHIFT+ESC), clicking the Startup tab, and right-clicking on “Garmin Express Tray” and choosing “Disable”. For older versions of Windows, click Start >Run then type MSCONFIG and press ENTER.
If there is a software update, go ahead and install it. Always install the software updates; they’re free and add new features and fix bugs. Also, if you have an old (very old) Garmin and you’ve never updated the software on it, an update might enable support for SDHC cards, which is the format most SD cards use these days. Next, you’ll need to go to a certain PIRATE website, located in a BAY of some sort, and search for “Garmin North America” (or “Garmin Europe” if that’s how you swing).
You will get many results: look for the one with the most recent map; this is currently 2017.10 (Garmin names maps by year and version, so “2015.20” would be the second version released in 2015). Download the file as one normally would. Once the file is downloaded, you have to decide what to do with it.
If you have an older Garmin, you likely won’t have enough storage space available to store it internally. If this is the case, insert the SD card into a card reader on your computer, format it as FAT32 (if necessary) and create a folder called “Garmin” in the root of the drive. Then copy the map file – gmapsupp.img – into the Garmin folder. When that’s done, eject the card, put it in your GPS, turn it on, and go to Settings >Maps where you can select the new map. If your Garmin does have enough free space to hold the new map, you’re probably going to want to connect the GPS to your computer via USB and copy the existing “gmapprom.img” to your computer (it’s always good to have a backup).
Next, delete the gmapprom. Pl2303 Eeprom Writer Program more. img file on your GPS, rename the downloaded gmapsupp.img file to gmapprom.img, and copy it to the same folder on your GPS. When that’s done, unplug the GPS, power-cycle it and make sure the map is correct. Either method works if you have enough storage space. But I prefer the SD card method, as this is easily reversible, especially if you’re away from the computer: just turn the GPS off, remove the SD card from the GPS, and power it back on.
The unit should default back to the previous (internal) map. Well, the first thing I’d do is try a smaller SD card. According to the link below, the largest SD card any Nuvi series will accept is 32GB (except the 295, 800, 805, 5000 series, which can only accept 8GB cards): I use an 8GB card myself, and have never had a problem with it. I DID try an 8GB microSD card in an SD adapter once, but the Garmin didn’t like it much, So I ordered the 8GB off Amazon and have been good since.
Aside from the SD card issue, the two most common problems with upgrading maps are making sure the name is correct (“gmapsupp.img” for SD cards, or “gmapprom.img” if stored internally). Also, if using an SD card, make sure it’s set up correctly: there should only be one folder in the root of the card (“Garmin”) and the gmapsupp.img file should be the only thing inside that folder. If you put the map file itself in the root of the card, it won’t work. And if you put the map file inside the “Garmin” folder, but give it the wrong name, it won’t work either.
In any case, if you back up your original map, you should always be able to go back to what you had by copying the gmapprom.img file back to its original location on the unit, or simply removing the SD card and making sure the correct map is selected under Settings >Map. Have you tried copying the old map to your computer, then deleting the old map on your device? That way, the unit has no choice BUT to use the newer map? Whatever you do, though, make sure make a backup of your original map, so you don’t brick your device! I have to ask, though: I looked at Garmin’s site just now to see how old your device is (thinking maybe this is a “hack” that works on older models, but not newer ones). But Garmin’s site says that your GPS comes with “free lifetime map updates and traffic” so why use a hacked IMG file at all? The missus and I rarely use our Garmin these days, preferring our phones for local trips.
But we have a beach trip coming up in about a month, and I was just about to update the map on our Nuvi 265 when you posted your comment! Yes, it seems that Garmin has ditched their browser plug-ins for Garmin Express, a standalone app.
FWIW, the app TAKES FOREVER to start on my system, but it upgraded the Nuvi’s OS without issue. It’s also kind of nice that the app retains your OS and map version info, so you don’t have to have the GPS connected to your computer to check for updates, as you did with the browser plug-ins. You might want to disable a few things in the settings. Under “General” the option to “always keep Garmin Express running in the background” is checked by default, so you might wanna uncheck it. On the “Schedule” tab, you might also wanna set the “download device updates” option to “Never”. I thouoght it prudent to provide an update. While many people seem to think the software is clunky, it does work.
My 1300LM is still kicking and in fact, I just updated to 2017 maps. Jim mentioned earlier about the death of phone battery on GPS. I also noticed that my phone almost needs a small water cooled radiator during live maps use. This limits things considerably.
We have a standalone GPS in each vehicle and one to use in rental vehicles (I custom mount the GPS making swapping in or out not particularly easy but possible for updates). After installing the Express software and playing with it a bit I seem to have few issues.
It compares device software revisions to the latest and will tell you if you need to update. What I don’t like is that it becomes resident by default and I have yet to find an easy way to have not start up automatically EVERY TIME. Since it only gets used a couple times per year, I see no reason to have it park itself as a resident on the computer.
Has anyone found a way?
Kenwood has the KNA-G510 Garmin GPS adapter that works on certain Kenwood DVD units and is identical to their latest in-dash Garmin GPS. This Garmin GPS is far better than the GPS in the Pioneer for routing and map detail. (I'm using a Garmin 760 for all my routing. With the Z3 just displaying a nice 7' map).
I travel daily and am not too happy about having to use two units and wonder if there's a way to hack the KNA-G510 into the Z-series? Any thoughts - other than negative ones?
It sure would be nice!! But it's good to know that there is a Garmin in-dash available and Kenwood is an awsome brand for the audio video section.
Thanks for the info!!