Problem with Mapsource Unlock Wizard

[+the hermit crabs]

I'm trying to install City Navigator North America 2008 (non-NT), to replace the NT maps that were causing lag problems on our Vista HCx. I'm running into a brick wall with the Unlock Wizard... I tried checking Garmin's online customer support FAQ, but didn't see this issue addressed anywhere. And their phone lines don't open until Monday morning, so I'm wondering if maybe someone out there has seen this issue before.

 

Short version: I keep getting a "No customer code found" error message during the unlock process, even though I have entered my customer code.

 

Long version (step-by-step details through the Unlock Wizard):

1. After installing the CN NA 2008 maps on the PC, I start up Mapsource. It tells me that the maps are locked, and I click the "Unlock maps" button.
   
2. The Unlock Wizard starts up, and I press "Next" on the first page to get started.
   
3. When it asks "Do you have a 25-character unlock code?", I click the second option, "No, I need to get a 25-character unlock code". (What I have is the 8-character unlock certificate that came with the DVD. The instructions indicate that I should select "No" if I need to redeem an 8-character coupon code.) I click "Next".
   
4. On the internet connection page, I click "Next" again.
   
5. I enter my Garmin username and password in the associated text boxes.
   
6. On the unlock-history page, I click the second option, "I am an existing Garmin Unlock Customer".
   
7. On the Customer Code page: the first time I tried this, I did not know my customer code, so I clicked the "Lookup My Customer Code" link. This brought me to Garmin's website, where I checked a box to have it send me my customer code. Almost instantly I had the code in my email inbox.
   
8. I copied and pasted the customer code into the required text box and clicked "Next". (note: I don't recall having to enter this customer code on previous map unlocks.)
   
9. A list of all the maps I have ever unlocked, along with the associated GPS units they were unlocked with, appears. The list is correct, so the Unlock Wizard does appear to know who I am based on information I have supplied so far. I click "Next".
   
10. A list of my personal info comes up: name, address, phone number, email address, etc. All of the information is correct. I click "Next".
    
11. First problem: an error message pops up, saying "No customer code found". I click "Ok" to clear it (I have no other choice here). It proceeds to the next page.
    
12. On the "Select an option" page, I click the first one: "Redeem an 8-character Coupon Code".
    
13. On the "Select an option to identify your Garmin Unit" page, I select the first one, "Get the Internal Unit ID". I connect the Vista HCx, power it on, and click "Next".
    
14. The "Get Unit ID" dialog box pops up, and it correctly lists my HCx as the connected device. I click "OK".
    
15. On the "Enter the Coupon Code" page, I type in the 8-character code on the certificate that came with the DVD, and click "Next".
    
16. Once again, the "No customer code found" error message appears. I click "Ok" to clear it, but unlike the last time, it does not advance to the next page. I can't get past the current step. I try "Next" / "ok" a few more times, but I'm stuck.
    
17. I click "Back" several times until I get back to the page where it asked for the Customer Code. It's still there. I double-check and triple-check to make sure it matches the customer code that was sent in garmin's email. It is. (As it has to be, since I copied & pasted it rather than typing it.)
    
18. I go through the whole procedure two more times. It always ends the same way.
    

So... has anyone else seen this? Do you know what I need to do to fix it?

 

Does anyone else even remember being prompted for the "Customer code" before? This is the first time that I recall seeing this, although I have successfully gone through the map-unlocking procedure four times before now.

[+ryan3295]

I just upgraded my Colorado to city nav 2008, I told the unlock wizard that I was a new garmin unlock customer instead of an existing one, despite the fact I have unlocked several maps before. It work great for me!

[+the hermit crabs]

I just upgraded my Colorado to city nav 2008, I told the unlock wizard that I was a new garmin unlock customer instead of an existing one, despite the fact I have unlocked several maps before. It work great for me!

I had considered that, and I think that under ordinary circumstances I might have gone that route.

 

But in this particular case, I had been having an issue with CN NT 2008, and Garmin agreed to let me send that DVD back to them and they sent me a non-NT DVD. I want the unlock process to show that the new maps are still registered to me, and still going to the same Vista HCx that the old maps had been on. I don't want there to be even the slightest appearance that I might be trying to rip them off by leaving the NT maps on my HCx and giving/selling the non-NT maps to someone else.

 

Well, it's not a rush issue, so it can wait until a Monday phone call. Thanks for the suggestion though

[+Chuy!]

There's no logical reason you should be having lag problems with the original NT maps. If you do, I have to think there is something wrong with the processor on the GPS.

[+the hermit crabs]

There's no logical reason you should be having lag problems with the original NT maps. If you do, I have to think there is something wrong with the processor on the GPS.

Here's a link to my saga of the lag issue, in case you hadn't already seen it.

 

Logical or not, from what I saw the lag definitely appears to be associated with the presence of NT maps. A few other people in that thread saw the same type of thing on their Legend/Vista HCx units; switching to non-NT maps worked for them.

[+cacheninja]

There's no logical reason you should be having lag problems with the original NT maps. If you do, I have to think there is something wrong with the processor on the GPS.

 

I read somewhere on these very forums that a Garmin rep suggested that the NT maps really aren't all that great for handheld models as they don't utilize the same indexing features that automobile models do. Thus the lag we experience.

 

I also had some strange problems reinstalling my NT 2008 until I stumbled onto the unlock map section at the Garmin website. This seemed to work for me so maybe this will be an option for the OP?

[+cacheninja]

There's no logical reason you should be having lag problems with the original NT maps. If you do, I have to think there is something wrong with the processor on the GPS.

 

I read somewhere on these very forums that a Garmin rep suggested that the NT maps really aren't all that great for handheld models as they don't utilize the same indexing features that automobile models do. Thus the lag we experience.

 

I also had some strange problems reinstalling my NT 2008 until I stumbled onto the unlock map section at the Garmin website. This seemed to work for me so maybe this will be an option for the OP?

[+cacheninja]

There's no logical reason you should be having lag problems with the original NT maps. If you do, I have to think there is something wrong with the processor on the GPS.

 

I read somewhere on these very forums that a Garmin rep suggested that the NT maps really aren't all that great for handheld models as they don't utilize the same indexing features that automobile models do. Thus the lag we experience.

 

I also had some strange problems reinstalling my NT 2008 until I stumbled onto the unlock map section at the Garmin website. This seemed to work for me so maybe this will be an option for the OP?

[+Chuy!]

There's no logical reason you should be having lag problems with the original NT maps. If you do, I have to think there is something wrong with the processor on the GPS.

Here's a link to my saga of the lag issue, in case you hadn't already seen it.

 

Logical or not, from what I saw the lag definitely appears to be associated with the presence of NT maps. A few other people in that thread saw the same type of thing on their Legend/Vista HCx units; switching to non-NT maps worked for them.

Yeah, I wouldn't know as I use MetroGuide with geodude's MetroGold on my Vista HCx and the package works great.

[+hogrod]

When I loaded city navigator NT 2008 to a 2gb card with a ton of topo 2008 maps it was VERY slow to draw the maps. I figured this was the nature of the beast being these maps are compressed differently than the other maps.

anyway I loaded the same maps to my vistaCX 1gb card and it wasn't slow at all. the only difference was I was using allot less topo maps, and had to delete a couple states of city navigator to do so. when I built the mapset on the 1gb card it took under 20minutes, yet to build the mapset on the 2gb card it took over three hours.

 

I reloaded the maps on my 2gb card and deleted half the topo maps I had loaded, now the map redraws seem much quicker. I really wish I would have just bought City navigator 2008(non NT version).

[+CelticDave]

I'm trying to install City Navigator North America 2008 (non-NT), to replace the NT maps that were causing lag problems on our Vista HCx. I'm running into a brick wall with the Unlock Wizard... I tried checking Garmin's online customer support FAQ, but didn't see this issue addressed anywhere. And their phone lines don't open until Monday morning, so I'm wondering if maybe someone out there has seen this issue before.

 

Short version: I keep getting a "No customer code found" error message during the unlock process, even though I have entered my customer code.

 

Long version (step-by-step details through the Unlock Wizard):

1. After installing the CN NA 2008 maps on the PC, I start up Mapsource. It tells me that the maps are locked, and I click the "Unlock maps" button.
   
2. The Unlock Wizard starts up, and I press "Next" on the first page to get started.
   
3. When it asks "Do you have a 25-character unlock code?", I click the second option, "No, I need to get a 25-character unlock code". (What I have is the 8-character unlock certificate that came with the DVD. The instructions indicate that I should select "No" if I need to redeem an 8-character coupon code.) I click "Next".
   
4. On the internet connection page, I click "Next" again.
   
5. I enter my Garmin username and password in the associated text boxes.
   
6. On the unlock-history page, I click the second option, "I am an existing Garmin Unlock Customer".
   
7. On the Customer Code page: the first time I tried this, I did not know my customer code, so I clicked the "Lookup My Customer Code" link. This brought me to Garmin's website, where I checked a box to have it send me my customer code. Almost instantly I had the code in my email inbox.
   
8. I copied and pasted the customer code into the required text box and clicked "Next". (note: I don't recall having to enter this customer code on previous map unlocks.)
   
9. A list of all the maps I have ever unlocked, along with the associated GPS units they were unlocked with, appears. The list is correct, so the Unlock Wizard does appear to know who I am based on information I have supplied so far. I click "Next".
   
10. A list of my personal info comes up: name, address, phone number, email address, etc. All of the information is correct. I click "Next".
    
11. First problem: an error message pops up, saying "No customer code found". I click "Ok" to clear it (I have no other choice here). It proceeds to the next page.
    
12. On the "Select an option" page, I click the first one: "Redeem an 8-character Coupon Code".
    
13. On the "Select an option to identify your Garmin Unit" page, I select the first one, "Get the Internal Unit ID". I connect the Vista HCx, power it on, and click "Next".
    
14. The "Get Unit ID" dialog box pops up, and it correctly lists my HCx as the connected device. I click "OK".
    
15. On the "Enter the Coupon Code" page, I type in the 8-character code on the certificate that came with the DVD, and click "Next".
    
16. Once again, the "No customer code found" error message appears. I click "Ok" to clear it, but unlike the last time, it does not advance to the next page. I can't get past the current step. I try "Next" / "ok" a few more times, but I'm stuck.
    
17. I click "Back" several times until I get back to the page where it asked for the Customer Code. It's still there. I double-check and triple-check to make sure it matches the customer code that was sent in garmin's email. It is. (As it has to be, since I copied & pasted it rather than typing it.)
    
18. I go through the whole procedure two more times. It always ends the same way.
    

So... has anyone else seen this? Do you know what I need to do to fix it?

 

Does anyone else even remember being prompted for the "Customer code" before? This is the first time that I recall seeing this, although I have successfully gone through the map-unlocking procedure four times before now.

 

This happened to us last week. Call Garmin customer service and they will email you your 25 digit code. At that time the tech said they had not had this particular problem before. If it is the same problem we had then reloading it is not the issue. The problem for us happened at the screen prior activating the 25 digit code. The software is there just not unlocked and there is no way to deal with it online because you have already activated it. Or something like that anyway. Good luck

[+the hermit crabs]

This happened to us last week. Call Garmin customer service and they will email you your 25 digit code. At that time the tech said they had not had this particular problem before. If it is the same problem we had then reloading it is not the issue. The problem for us happened at the screen prior activating the 25 digit code. The software is there just not unlocked and there is no way to deal with it online because you have already activated it. Or something like that anyway. Good luck

Same here -- I was having the problem before it had reached the point of generating the 25-character unlock code, so I was able to call Garmin tech support and have them generate it and email it to me. (The person who answered the phone wasn't particularly interested in hearing about the "No customer code found" error message.)