Loading maps to Garmin etex 30

[+Goldenwattle]

I have been trying to load maps for South Africa and Japan to my Garmin. (South Korea too if I can find a map for that.) I have never had this problem before, as I have loaded many maps in the past. (I wanted Botswana and Zimbabwe too, but figured printed out maps would do for them, as only visiting small areas.) I should have mobile for my phone for all of those, except Zimbabwe, as besides not finding a map for that, I also haven't found a Simcard for there. However I prefer to use my Garmin, and in some countries it's safer to use the Garmin too, as less snatchable; fitting and hiding in the hand better than the phone.

I have tried OpenStreetMap, clicking on download under 'File for GPS / Android / QMapShack'. 

https://alternativaslibres.org/en/downloads.php#Africa

I downloaded huge files, but after loading and after extracting all, no map appears and no file that looks like my other map files. Can anyone assist, or suggest another site with a link please?

[JaVaWa]

Maybe the server experienced a temporary problem? It does work now, I can download the map for South Africa.

[+Goldenwattle]

14 hours ago, JaVaWa said:

Maybe the server experienced a temporary problem? It does work now, I can download the map for South Africa.

Thanks for trying this.

Did you get minor roads, or only large roads, such a highways? I can see them. Can you please tell me the exact 'Download' you clicked on. Thanks. What Garmin are you using?

I also tried to download a map for Cape Town using  https://extract.bbbike.org/, as really, likely a couple of city maps would do, but that also failed. Nothing smaller on the map than highway level, so useless. Not sure that this isn't already in the Garmin and is not even the download.

Once I know what you clicked on I will try again.

[+Goldenwattle]

I tried again, but this is all I got. I put the first one (on the left - my local map - for comparison). The middle one is what it looks like before I loaded a South African map (shows main roads), and the one on the right is what it looks like after I have loaded the S African map. No change. The file was large, so I don't know what the problem is.

 

 

[JaVaWa]

I downloaded the file https://alternativaslibres.org/en/download.php?file=gmapsupp_South-Africa.zip (OSM Base Map of South Africa), unzipped the file and put the gmapsupp.img file in the folder Garmin on a micro SD card. Inserted the SD card into an eTrex 30. It looks like this:

 

[+Goldenwattle]

57 minutes ago, JaVaWa said:

I downloaded the file https://alternativaslibres.org/en/download.php?file=gmapsupp_South-Africa.zip (OSM Base Map of South Africa), unzipped the file and put the gmapsupp.img file in the folder Garmin on a micro SD card. Inserted the SD card into an eTrex 30. It looks like this:

Strange, then I don't know what is wrong. Maybe something with my Garmin.

[JaVaWa]

Maybe too much maps on the eTrex/SD card? The limit is 3000 map segments for the eTrex 30.

[Keystone]

I moved this thread from the General Geocaching Topics forum section.

[+Goldenwattle]

8 hours ago, JaVaWa said:

Maybe too much maps on the eTrex/SD card? The limit is 3000 map segments for the eTrex 30.

That's a good suggestion. I was vaguely wondering too if I already had too many maps on the Garmin (quite a lot), but didn't know about the limit. I will try removing and storing some maps, and then try again.

[+Calypso62]

I use this site for maps for my Garmin GPSMAP 64sx. They work well.

https://garmin.bbbike.org/

[+Goldenwattle]

On 6/12/2025 at 12:25 AM, JaVaWa said:

I downloaded the file https://alternativaslibres.org/en/download.php?file=gmapsupp_South-Africa.zip (OSM Base Map of South Africa), unzipped the file and put the gmapsupp.img file in the folder Garmin on a micro SD card. Inserted the SD card into an eTrex 30. It looks like this:

 

Thank you I managed to get it to work. I used https://extract.bbbike.org/

[+Goldenwattle]

9 hours ago, Calypso62 said:

I use this site for maps for my Garmin GPSMAP 64sx. They work well.

https://garmin.bbbike.org/

I did try that one and it worked. Limited area though.

[+Calypso62]

21 hours ago, Goldenwattle said:

Limited area though.

 

Not sure what you mean by this. You can arrange boundaries for the map you want anywhere in the world. I've obtained maps for a number of overseas places using this website.

[+Goldenwattle]

It wouldn't allow me to do all Japan, but kept wanting me to get a smaller area.

[JaVaWa]

It depends on which map format you choose, some are larger than other.

[+Goldenwattle]

2 hours ago, JaVaWa said:

It depends on which map format you choose, some are larger than other.

Which would you suggest? 

 

For Africa I loaded smaller areas. They are adequate for this trip.

Edited June 13 by Goldenwattle

[JaVaWa]

It depends on your personal preference...

Here you can find examples: https://extract.bbbike.org/extract-screenshots.html

Use the Latin1 versions, not UTF-8.

 

Edit: well, maybe try UTF-8 maps for Japan. Latin1 doesn't contain the necessary characters...

UTF-8 does not work on every model, I'm not sure about the eTrex 30.

Edited June 13 by JaVaWa

[+Calypso62]

On 6/14/2025 at 12:06 AM, Goldenwattle said:

It wouldn't allow me to do all Japan, but kept wanting me to get a smaller area.

I was able to download a map for all of Japan using  Lite Latin1 format. The file size was 858.5MB, so quite large but OK to fit onto a SD card. I find the lite version works well.

[+Calypso62]

If you want that Japan map, go to BBBike website and click on "Status" on the bottom, left of screen. Scroll down until you see the Japan file and download it. It should be available for a little while.

[+Goldenwattle]

Thank you . I marked this page. I couldn't find the Japan file though of the size you mentioned. It's a few months to I need that one, so shall attempt it after I come back from Africa, which I am visiting next month. 

[+van der Decken]

On 6/12/2025 at 12:13 AM, Calypso62 said:

I use this site for maps for my Garmin GPSMAP 64sx. They work well.

https://garmin.bbbike.org/

Oh, thank you for that! The Canada OpenTopoMap has been broken for over a year now (over the 4GB limit) and my 2023 map had lots of blank spaces on it that are now filled with roads and development. I'd worked out how to create single province maps from the OTM data that worked well but I'm currently stalled on getting more than 2 to work at the same time. I used that site to create Western Canada OSM and Cycle maps and now I have up to date maps again. Thanks a million!!!

[+Calypso62]

11 hours ago, Goldenwattle said:

I couldn't find the Japan file though of the size you mentioned.

Strange.

 

9 hours ago, van der Decken said:

Oh, thank you for that! The Canada OpenTopoMap has been broken for over a year now (over the 4GB limit) and my 2023 map had lots of blank spaces on it that are now filled with roads and development. I'd worked out how to create single province maps from the OTM data that worked well but I'm currently stalled on getting more than 2 to work at the same time. I used that site to create Western Canada OSM and Cycle maps and now I have up to date maps again. Thanks a million!!!

You're very welcome.