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Where did my Colorado 400t topo maps go?


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I've been using my Colorado 400t GPS for a few days now with no problems. Yesterday, I turned my GPS on and, instead of loading maps and going to the default map page, the GPS prompted me for the initial start-up options (i.e., language, time zone, etc.). I thought this was odd and now I've noticed my "in memory" preloaded topo maps are no longing showing up. I double checked this by selecting: maps > options > select map and the only map showing up is the city navigator maps I have loaded on my SD card.

 

Another interested thing is when I now turn the GPS on and I watch the messages as it is loading the maps, it indicates it is loading the topo map.

 

Has anyone else experienced this? Any ideas of what happened to my topo maps and how I can get them back would be much appreciated.

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Sounds like you might have accidently loaded your City Navigator maps onto the GPS. Try pulling the card out and turn on the GPS and see if you still see the maps.

 

If not and they are really loaded onto the card you can try a master reset. Hold down the two soft buttons while turning on the power.

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Although deleted files may not be the problem here, this is good opportunity to remind all new Colorado owners -- the first thing you should do is back up the entire contents of the device. Just connect it to your computer and use Windows Explorer to copy the entire contents of the Colorado "drive" to a safe place on your computer's hard drive. That way, if you accidentally delete something later, you can get it back.

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Sounds like you might have accidently loaded your City Navigator maps onto the GPS. Try pulling the card out and turn on the GPS and see if you still see the maps.

 

If not and they are really loaded onto the card you can try a master reset. Hold down the two soft buttons while turning on the power.

 

Thanks for the suggestion! I tried pulling the card but couldn't see the maps. Then I did a master reset for good measure and still no topo maps or city nav maps showing up. Funny thing (I think) is that when turning GPS on, I see a message that says it is loading the topo maps...but no topo maps are found on the unit.

 

One other mysterious thing is that when I view the contents of the SD card on my computer, it doesn't show any files! When I look at the properties of the SD card, it is showing up as 0 bytes being used in the 2GB card!

 

One other thing I should mention is that earlier yesterday, I had the option of checking off to use the topo and/or the city nav maps so both maps were successfully loaded and accessible. The topo maps disappeared in between cache hunts during a power off stage yesterday. I have an email into Garmin support on this too but if anyone has any other ideas in the meantime, I'm all ears! Thanks!

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Connect your CO to your computer and look for a file called [drive]:\Garmin\gmapprom.img . This is your topo map file. Do you have this file? What size is it? It should be about 2.7GB.

 

GO$Rs

 

Yes, I do have that gmapprom.img file on my unit and it is about 2.7GB. So, I guess the $50K question is -- how do I get my topo maps to show up as a map choice?

 

More info...I retraced my steps with how I uploaded the city nav maps to my unit and I did, in fact, choose the GPS to load the maps to. :blink:

 

My oops.

 

In my mind, I thought that the files were loading to the SD card but now I know I must have the SD card mounted as a drive from my computer and then choose the SD card from the pick list. I am now reloading the maps a second time but this time directly to the SD card.

 

I appreciate all the help and pointers...I am really feeling like a newbie to all this.

 

edit to add an update...I tried to copy the Colorado onto a backup drive and the gmapprom.img seems to be corrupted which may be causing my problem. First I noticed that std file info is not showing up for the file (ie, date). Then I get an error when copying the file...the error says -- Can not copy gmapprom.img: the parameter is incorrect.

 

2nd edit to add another update...I finished loading city nav maps onto the SD card. The city nav maps is showing up as an option to choose from in the maps list but I'm not seeing any maps now on my gps...all I see is a white screen with a triangle in the middle of it which must be my location in never-never land. :o

 

If I were a betting woman, I would venture to say I have somehow corrupted my GPS. That begs a bigger question though...even tho I did originally load my city nav maps to the gps (instead of to the SD card), why was it working fine yesterday (ie, showing me both topo and city maps)?

Edited by yukionna
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I had an early serial number unit (...00364) and was working with Garmin to sort out the "time clock" issue. Upon doing a hard reset step they suggested to try and fix something else, my topo maps "dissappeared". They were still on the internal memory drive "Garmin" and one of their software guys checked all the files via a "live" connection thru my PC and verified that everything looked OK from the file standpoint. He had no answer why the maps did not show up. They had me send my unit back and prompptly sent me a new unit. New unit does not have the clock problem, maps show fine, even added 24K ones I have on a SD card, and I am very happy with the unit.

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More info...I retraced my steps with how I uploaded the city nav maps to my unit and I did, in fact, choose the GPS to load the maps to. :laughing:

 

My oops.

 

 

Excuse my ignorance, but are we not supposed to upload the city navigator maps to the GPS unit? With about 1G of available memory, I thought this was OK?

 

I was able to put my old City Select 4.01 maps on my Colorado 400t just fine.

 

-Keith

Edited by fourbeer
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As long as you have enough space City Nav (or any map for that matter) works the same loaded into internal memory or the SD card.

 

GO$Rs

 

If that is the case, why do I hear "don't load your maps directly onto the colorado" or "Sounds like you might have accidentally loaded your City Navigator maps onto the GPS" and other related comments?

 

I am confused. I believe I am missing a piece to this puzzle.

Edited by fourbeer
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Have you checked this...when viewing your city navigator map press the Options softkey, scroll to the bottom and click on select map.The menu should now show City Navigator on the top and Topo US on the bottom. I'll gues that possibly both are there and the checkbox for Topo US is not checked. Highlite the Topo US 2008 and press the center button and then press the back key. You should now have your TOPO US map back. :huh:

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As long as you have enough space City Nav (or any map for that matter) works the same loaded into internal memory or the SD card.

 

GO$Rs

 

If that is the case, why do I hear "don't load your maps directly onto the colorado" or "Sounds like you might have accidentally loaded your City Navigator maps onto the GPS" and other related comments?

 

I am confused. I believe I am missing a piece to this puzzle.

 

I've been on and off the phone today with Garmin who is doing a great job of trying to debug my issue. I have an answer to your question.

 

Garmin indicated to me that the internal memory size is 129 MB for mapping. I was loading about 250 MB of maps so I asked them if I overlaid the topo maps. He said no, that the uploading of maps is done in a random order and that the maps will simply stop loading once you exceed the 129 MB limit. That explains why I was unable to calculate a route from the east coast of MA to the west border of New Hampshire this past weekend -- there were missing map sets!

 

I think the other poster was just advising to not load the maps directly to the GPS unit because of the space issue. And the "accidental part" was just a heads up to me that if I was loading more maps than the GPS could handle, perhaps I should choose the SD card.

 

With regards to the comment:

 

"As long as you have enough space City Nav (or any map for that matter) works the same loaded into internal memory or the SD card."

 

...that is correct and I have just confirmed that today. I removed all the city nav maps from my GPS and loaded about 250 MB of maps to the SD card. I was able to create that route from MA to NH that I couldn't create earlier due to missing maps. I hope this helps!

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Have you checked this...when viewing your city navigator map press the Options softkey, scroll to the bottom and click on select map.The menu should now show City Navigator on the top and Topo US on the bottom. I'll gues that possibly both are there and the checkbox for Topo US is not checked. Highlite the Topo US 2008 and press the center button and then press the back key. You should now have your TOPO US map back. :huh:

 

Thanks for the tip! I did try that this past weekend and I tried it again with Garmin and there are no topo maps showing up on my GPS.

 

When I have the SD card in place (which is where my city nav maps are stored), then I only see the city nav maps in the "choose map" option list.

 

When I remove the SD card, then I see no maps listed in the "choose map" option list.

 

Garmin has escalated my issue to the engineering department. Fingers crossed it gets resolved soon...with every passing day without my GPS, I am missing out on geocaching fun! :D

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More info...I retraced my steps with how I uploaded the city nav maps to my unit and I did, in fact, choose the GPS to load the maps to. :huh:

 

My oops.

 

 

Excuse my ignorance, but are we not supposed to upload the city navigator maps to the GPS unit? With about 1G of available memory, I thought this was OK?

 

I was able to put my old City Select 4.01 maps on my Colorado 400t just fine.

 

-Keith

 

I'm curious how you know there is 1G available for maps? While on phone today with Garmin support, the support person told me there is only 129 MB available.

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I'm curious how you know there is 1G available for maps? While on phone today with Garmin support, the support person told me there is only 129 MB available.

 

The 1G number I was referring to is the total unused space available on the unit. I had no idea there was an additional limit with regards to maps.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

-Keith

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I've never heard of or experienced any kind of limitation with respect to loading map data on internal memory. On my 400t I have about 1GB of free space. I've loaded and used map sets that take up almost the entire 1GB and I've seen posts where other users are doing the same thing. I've never heard about a 129MB map size limit. Let us know where Garmin gets with this one!

 

GO$Rs

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I've never heard of or experienced any kind of limitation with respect to loading map data on internal memory. On my 400t I have about 1GB of free space. I've loaded and used map sets that take up almost the entire 1GB and I've seen posts where other users are doing the same thing. I've never heard about a 129MB map size limit. Let us know where Garmin gets with this one!

 

GO$Rs

 

I also loaded ciy nav nt to the internal memory. Everything seems to work fine, but I really meant to put it on an SD card. Would you please explain to me how to do that?

Do I put the card in the gps unit or mount it in a card reader? The CO manual is not very complete.

Your COwikispace has been very helpful for me.

 

Thanks, herrwald

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I've never heard of or experienced any kind of limitation with respect to loading map data on internal memory. On my 400t I have about 1GB of free space. I've loaded and used map sets that take up almost the entire 1GB and I've seen posts where other users are doing the same thing. I've never heard about a 129MB map size limit. Let us know where Garmin gets with this one!

 

GO$Rs

 

I also loaded ciy nav nt to the internal memory. Everything seems to work fine, but I really meant to put it on an SD card. Would you please explain to me how to do that?

Do I put the card in the gps unit or mount it in a card reader? The CO manual is not very complete.

Your COwikispace has been very helpful for me.

 

Thanks, herrwald

 

It is easy to put the maps on your SD card if the SD card is in the computer. Then, when you go to load the maps from MapSource to the GPS, simply choose the SD card from the list of "drives" . I made the same mistake and loaded the maps on my Colorado. The reason I did this was because the Colorado was the first "drive" option in the pick list. I assumed it was going to the SD card, which was installed in the GPS. At that time, I didn't realize that choosing the Colorado as the "drive" meant it was going to the GPS instead of the card. I hope this helps!

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If the SD card is installed in the Colorado when you connect your computer you should see two drives in Mapsource, one for the Colorado (internal memory) and one for the SD card, just choose the one you want to use.

 

However, I tend to load new maps onto my SD card because you can remove the card from the Colorado and plug it into a card reader. Mapsource will allow you download to the SD card without being plugged into the Colorado, just pick the appropriate drive letter. This has two benefits:

 

- If you have a USB 2.0 card reader the downloads will be much faster, the Colorado is a 1.1 USB device

- Your GPS isn't tied up while you are waiting for the map set to build and download

 

GO$Rs

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Update on my missing topo issue...Garmin has given me a RMA and is sending me a new unit.

 

Tonight, this problem has just happened to me.

 

I have had my Colorado for a total of 5 days, and tonight i was out geocaching when it seemed as if the unit reset itself after being turned on.

i started it up again and continued.

then later in the evening i was loading up some pocket queries, and afterwards turned on the unit only to be greeted with the initial startup screens, followed by NO MAP!!

 

just the white screen you mentioned earlier.

 

I also checked to see if the files were all there, and they are...

 

sounds like i am having the same problem you had, except i was not even using an SD card at all...this is all a UNIT problem.

It saddens me that this has happened, as i have been enjoying the Colorado, and had plans to go out Geocaching in the morning and afternoon with a cousin who is only here for 1 day from out of the country! Now this means i will be unable to do any caching at all for a few weeks it sounds like.

 

Very disappointing.

 

and judging from what i have read on these forums, it appears there is NO FIX for this problem other than to return it to Garmin.

 

Which really stinks.

:ph34r:

 

I don't ever remember having any problems with my old GPS V...it worked fantastic, sometimes even getting a radius of 2-3 feet accuracy from a cache.

 

I was going to buy a 60Csx, but wanted the paperless caching (which has been really great to have!), but this totally sucks...5 days and it's done! This isn't top of the line stuff, this is just an expensive toy that they have screwed us into buying.

 

very disappointed.

!

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Yes, I know how you feel as I also was extremely disappointed too. But, on the bright side, the Garmin customer service is excellent and they want to help solve any problems.

 

Have you tried a hard reset yet? If not, you may want to try this (this is something that Garmin had me try too while I was on the phone with them). While holding down both soft keys, turn the unit on. This will cause a reset.

 

Your other alternative is to call them and they will try to debug the situation over the phone -- unfortunately you will have to wait until Monday. Hopefully your situation is not as glum as mine was. I've included the support info below. I personally wouldn't waste any time with sending an email to them...it takes days for a response and the back and forth is excruitiatingly slow.

 

Good luck and let us know how you make out.

 

(800) 800-1020

Support Hours of Operation

Monday - Friday

9 a.m. - 8 p.m.

Support on website: http://www.garmin.com/garmin/cms/site/us/support

Edited by yukionna
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Yes, I know how you feel as I also was extremely disappointed too. But, on the bright side, the Garmin customer service is excellent and they want to help solve any problems.

 

Have you tried a hard reset yet? If not, you may want to try this (this is something that Garmin had me try too while I was on the phone with them). While holding down both soft keys, turn the unit on. This will cause a reset.

 

Your other alternative is to call them and they will try to debug the situation over the phone -- unfortunately you will have to wait until Monday. Hopefully your situation is not as glum as mine was. I've included the support info below. I personally wouldn't waste any time with sending an email to them...it takes days for a response and the back and forth is excruitiatingly slow.

 

Good luck and let us know how you make out.

 

(800) 800-1020

Support Hours of Operation

Monday - Friday

9 a.m. - 8 p.m.

Support on website: http://www.garmin.com/garmin/cms/site/us/support

 

I'm not sure I would really even call that a Hard Reset...All it did was erase my settings...like how i liked things set up on the GPS. the GPX and Wherigo files I loaded were still there, as were the white background jpg i loaded in as well.

 

I stupidly had NOT done a backup yet (i just got the thing this week, didn't expect it to die so quickly), and when i tried to copy the img file of the map to my computer, i received an error message on my computer about the data being bad...so I would think the Map file is corrupt or damaged somehow. Now I see the difference between having a DVD come with the product or not. If the Colorado 400t came with a DVD, and on that DVD was a "restore" file, that would have solved a lot of headaches...instead of having to now wait a few weeks, have 2 weekends ruined that were supposed to be out Geocaching, and the possibility that it could happen again!?

Perhaps the cheaper 300 would have been the better deal...after all...If i had bought that and the Topo software, I could have easily just thrown out that map file and reloaded it, don't you think?

 

There's no instructions worth a dadgum with this thing, and if it weren't for this forum right here, people wouldn't even know half the things going on with this Colorado mess.

I want to like this thing...I can't tell you how awesome it is to have paperless caching right on the GPS...I just wish, like everyone else, Garmin didn't put out this Beta Tester of a product like this. Very much disappoints me with Garmin...as this is NOT my first GPS...more like my 5th...(GPS V(Stolen out of my truck, with), StreetPilot III, Quest 2 (didn't like it at all), and 2820 (very good Auto GPS).

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I wanted to "like" my unit too after I had these problems and now I do. I absolutely would not go back to a regular GPS now that I have tasted paperless caching. It can't be beat at this time. I have had some minor glitches twice now with my replacement GPS such as it shutting off for no reason or getting hung up on the initial splash screens. It is a pain to pull a battery to reset it, but so far, everything else is ok. For me, the pros outweigh the cons I have encountered (and read about) so far.

 

There were some earlier problems when the unit first came out so some retailers may still have the older, glitchier models in stock which is probably the models you and I purchased. When you get your replacement model from Garmin, you will get the most current version which is less buggier.

 

My recommendation is to just get past this event by calling support. They will either walk you thru the issue over the phone and correct it or send you a new GPS. Then the fun begins. :ph34r:

 

I forgot to ask you if you checked to make sure you have a map selected. To do that, choose maps, then click the left soft key to "select maps". From that screen you can confirm that maps are loaded and whether there is a check mark next to them which makes them active.

Edited by yukionna
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I wanted to "like" my unit too after I had these problems and now I do. I absolutely would not go back to a regular GPS now that I have tasted paperless caching. It can't be beat at this time. I have had some minor glitches twice now with my replacement GPS such as it shutting off for no reason or getting hung up on the initial splash screens. It is a pain to pull a battery to reset it, but so far, everything else is ok. For me, the pros outweigh the cons I have encountered (and read about) so far.

 

There were some earlier problems when the unit first came out so some retailers may still have the older, glitchier models in stock which is probably the models you and I purchased. When you get your replacement model from Garmin, you will get the most current version which is less buggier.

 

My recommendation is to just get past this event by calling support. They will either walk you thru the issue over the phone and correct it or send you a new GPS. Then the fun begins. :ph34r:

 

I forgot to ask you if you checked to make sure you have a map selected. To do that, choose maps, then click the left soft key to "select maps". From that screen you can confirm that maps are loaded and whether there is a check mark next to them which makes them active.

To answer your question, there are no maps loaded. When I turn on the unit it says loading maps, but does not say TOPO 2008 or anything else, then goes just to a white screen. when i go to see about selecting a map, there is nothing there.

 

HOWEVER!!!!

 

MY WEEKEND IS NOT TOTALLY DESTROYED!!!

 

I FOUND A SLIGHT WORKAROUND!!!

 

I had one of those AHA! moments and thought maybe I could pull off a workaround...

 

Since My Topo Basemap seems to be missing, what if i grabbed my old version of it (the old Topo DVD's, and loaded it onto an SD card....onto the computer, into Mapsource, then onto the SD card??

 

would that work??

 

ok...here's what happened...

So i loaded the old version of Topo I had in the closet, and Mapsource crashed. it kept asking for the Topo Basemap Patch. So i went to the garmin page and downloaded and installed the Basemap Patch. it didn't help anything...same crash.

Then I remembered, this had happened to me before in the past, and another AHA moment...what if i reloaded the Mapsource that I installed, that came with the Colorado, from the Trips and Waypoint Manager cd. So i pop in that disc, and reinstall, with the autostart installer, and still the error message. Then i decided to "Explore" the disc" and clicked on the .enu file, which asked if i wanted to "reinstall or repair" the Trips and waypoint manager, and it "repaired" the Mapsource program.

Finally, this worked.

I was able to get Mapsource to open, select the OLD TOPO maps, chose a bunch around the L.A. area (where I am at), saved it to the SD card, and then thought I would see what I had...

at first i thought it didn't worked, because after doing the resetting earlier, all i saw was a white screen again, but it was zoomed out 500 miles. when i zoomed it, i started seeing something...

in the middle of all that white, there were my maps!

 

Now, yes, I still know I will be sending my Colorado back to Garmin this week after I talk to them on Monday, since the original mapset seems corrupt, but at least THIS weekend is not blown, and i can get out and still get some geocaching done!

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so i just got off the phone with Garmin, and they offered me 2 solutions (after being on the hold and the phone for 2 hours, they had to call me back). 1st solution was to send me a disc with all the software backed up that would replace all the software on my Colorado. the 2nd option, which i chose, is just me sending mine back and them sending me a new one.

 

I chose to send it back and get a new one...which I will just backup like i should have from the start, when i first take it out of the box.

they said they have never heard of this issue before, (although you clearly stated that you talked to Garmin as well), but they are making good on their part, so no worries...just a lost week of GPS time.

 

hopefully this will be the last of my problems.

 

If this happens to anyone else, just know Garmin will help you out in the end...

 

:laughing:

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just a note...

 

Today I received my replacement 400t.

 

I turned it on, and it said May 15th. (date of testing or manufacture?)

 

Oh! but before i even did anything with it, i plugged it in the computer, and backed everything up to DVD.

 

all seems well so far.

 

Hopefully no more issues.

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