Mapsend topo fix

[Guest phantom4099]

It looks as if magellan has placed a fix for mapsend topo on their web site.

 

Wyatt W.

[Guest Firefighter75]

That's not a fix. What they are telling you is pretty much what we already know. You cant put maps totalling more than 32mb onto an SD card regardless of the size of the card. Yea, granted, you can turn off the topo lines and poi's...but then why the hell bother? At the bottom of the section it states:

 

"Final Resolution: Look for revisions to both the Meridian and MapSend Topo software in the coming months. This issue will be resolved and offered, as a web download, to current owners of these products."

[Guest alexm]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Firefighter75:

That's not a fix. What they are telling you is pretty much what we already know. You cant put maps totalling more than 32mb onto an SD card regardless of the size of the card.

---

 

Ditto. Virtually useless. About the only things that this solves is:

 

• Magellan updates their web site with something about these issues.
• They mention that the problem is inside the meridian, not mapsend.

 

Final Resolution: ... Well, we're waiting for the guys on geocaching.com to come up with a resolution ...

 

...

[Guest alexm]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Firefighter75:

That's not a fix. What they are telling you is pretty much what we already know. You cant put maps totalling more than 32mb onto an SD card regardless of the size of the card.

---

 

Ditto. Virtually useless. About the only things that this solves is:

 

• Magellan updates their web site with something about these issues.
• They mention that the problem is inside the meridian, not mapsend.

 

Final Resolution: ... Well, we're waiting for the guys on geocaching.com to come up with a resolution ...

 

...

[Guest SergZak]

Magellan states in this new FAQ that the problem with 4 16MB regions on a 64MB SD card is non-existant with MapSend Streets (original flavor) and that it only applies to MapSend Topo. I have the original version of MapSend Streets that came with my MAP 330 and loading 4 16MB regions on a 64MB card *does* result in the unit locking up after zooming. But they also state that the firmware is also at fault. Has anyone here used the original MapSend Streets (upgraded to 1.1 from the website) with a Meridian Gold/64MB SD card using 4 16MB regions? Have you had lockup problems?

 

Well, at least now Magellan has admitted to there being a problem in both software and firmware...lets see how long (within the next *months*?) it takes them to fix this bug...

[Guest ClayJar]

LOL! I've been Microsofted! (That's when you have a product/service/whatever and a big company comes along and does the same thing themselves, thereby closing the market for you.) Of course, I say that in jest, but it's funny that I just last week sent a step-by-step to Joe Mehaffey and now they actually post the instructions themselves.

 

Now, as to being virtually useless, etc. You guys have to remember something: WE'RE GEEKS!. What I mean by that is this: We've known about uploading via SD cards since the day after I got my MeriGold. We've figured out the various properties of the Meridians versus other receivers. We found the bug and figured out basically where it comes from and when it occurs. We knew that they knew of the bug and were working on something. Most normal people didn't know any of this!

 

The informational page on the Magellan site isn't meant to solve all our problems. Much more importantly, it's meant to fill in the details for those poor souls who haven't dicovered geocaching and don't have the benefit of all our combined knowledge when it comes to the Meridians. Frankly, by virtue of what we do, we're the power-users of recreational GPS receiver.

 

I commend Thales Navigation for (finally) putting up all this information, including a couple details that even I wasn't completely sure about. I'm definitely looking forward to the final patched firmware/software release, but this is going to help a lot of people in the meantime.

[Guest ClayJar]

LOL! I've been Microsofted! (That's when you have a product/service/whatever and a big company comes along and does the same thing themselves, thereby closing the market for you.) Of course, I say that in jest, but it's funny that I just last week sent a step-by-step to Joe Mehaffey and now they actually post the instructions themselves.

 

Now, as to being virtually useless, etc. You guys have to remember something: WE'RE GEEKS!. What I mean by that is this: We've known about uploading via SD cards since the day after I got my MeriGold. We've figured out the various properties of the Meridians versus other receivers. We found the bug and figured out basically where it comes from and when it occurs. We knew that they knew of the bug and were working on something. Most normal people didn't know any of this!

 

The informational page on the Magellan site isn't meant to solve all our problems. Much more importantly, it's meant to fill in the details for those poor souls who haven't dicovered geocaching and don't have the benefit of all our combined knowledge when it comes to the Meridians. Frankly, by virtue of what we do, we're the power-users of recreational GPS receiver.

 

I commend Thales Navigation for (finally) putting up all this information, including a couple details that even I wasn't completely sure about. I'm definitely looking forward to the final patched firmware/software release, but this is going to help a lot of people in the meantime.

[Guest SergZak]

quote:

---

Originally posted by ClayJar:

Now, as to being virtually useless, etc. You guys have to remember something: WE'RE GEEKS!. What I mean by that is this: We've known about uploading via SD cards since the day after I got my MeriGold. We've figured out the various properties of the Meridians versus other receivers. We found the bug and figured out basically where it comes from and when it occurs. We knew that they knew of the bug and were working on something. Most normal people didn't know any of this!

---

 

Geek? ME? HAH!

 

It seems silly that this info on using SD cards with the Meridian is not mentioned *anywhere* in the Meridian package....how would some poor sap without internet access even know the process for transferring map data? And how long has the Meridian been out now? One month? One thing is for certain...Magellan is very bad when it comes to timely updates (even simple ones) on the website. I'm still waiting for them to post even a simple *text* file (nevermind an updated .PDF user manual) for the MAP 330's newest firmware features and how to use them. I expect a nice long wait for this SD card fix. This is where Garmin blows away Magellan...they put out timely updates and seem to really care about their hardware and the end user (but do sometimes break things worse than they were in the process ). Don't get me wrong, I like Magellan but they should work a bit more on new software updates/documentation.

 

[This message has been edited by SergZak (edited 10 December 2001).]

[Guest SergZak]

quote:

---

Originally posted by ClayJar:

Now, as to being virtually useless, etc. You guys have to remember something: WE'RE GEEKS!. What I mean by that is this: We've known about uploading via SD cards since the day after I got my MeriGold. We've figured out the various properties of the Meridians versus other receivers. We found the bug and figured out basically where it comes from and when it occurs. We knew that they knew of the bug and were working on something. Most normal people didn't know any of this!

---

 

Geek? ME? HAH!

 

It seems silly that this info on using SD cards with the Meridian is not mentioned *anywhere* in the Meridian package....how would some poor sap without internet access even know the process for transferring map data? And how long has the Meridian been out now? One month? One thing is for certain...Magellan is very bad when it comes to timely updates (even simple ones) on the website. I'm still waiting for them to post even a simple *text* file (nevermind an updated .PDF user manual) for the MAP 330's newest firmware features and how to use them. I expect a nice long wait for this SD card fix. This is where Garmin blows away Magellan...they put out timely updates and seem to really care about their hardware and the end user (but do sometimes break things worse than they were in the process ). Don't get me wrong, I like Magellan but they should work a bit more on new software updates/documentation.

 

[This message has been edited by SergZak (edited 10 December 2001).]

[Guest ClayJar]

quote:

---

Originally posted by SergZak:

Don't get me wrong, I like Magellan but they should work a bit more on new software updates/documentation.

---

Before Thales bought them out, Magellan was really hurting badly. They're climbing back into it, now, and although documentation and updates aren't as fast as we'd like (not as fast as they'd like, either, I'm sure), they're going in the right direction (not breaking things, and working on the bug that made it through).

 

Funny side story: I sent my MapSend + Meridian + SD card reader mini-HOWTO to a GPS reviewer last week. The reviewer sent it along to Magellan to ask if it was correct. Less than a week later, Poof!, Magellan puts instructions on their site. So, did they see the mini-HOWTO and go, "Hey, that's a good idea!" or were they going to put up instructions all along?

[Guest Dnmeistr]

hought that was kind of neat so I poked around in the setup menu and low and behold there it was, pretty obvious.

 

Dnmeistr

[Guest ClayJar]

quote:

---

Originally posted by SergZak:

Don't get me wrong, I like Magellan but they should work a bit more on new software updates/documentation.

---

Before Thales bought them out, Magellan was really hurting badly. They're climbing back into it, now, and although documentation and updates aren't as fast as we'd like (not as fast as they'd like, either, I'm sure), they're going in the right direction (not breaking things, and working on the bug that made it through).

 

Funny side story: I sent my MapSend + Meridian + SD card reader mini-HOWTO to a GPS reviewer last week. The reviewer sent it along to Magellan to ask if it was correct. Less than a week later, Poof!, Magellan puts instructions on their site. So, did they see the mini-HOWTO and go, "Hey, that's a good idea!" or were they going to put up instructions all along?

[Guest Alan2]

Thanks guys! I was kicking myself in the butt for buying a Garmin Vista 3 months ago and finding out in these forums afterwards that their patch antenna is not so great compared to Meridian's. But the main reasons I decided on the Vista then was:

1. The Meridian line was new or just coming out and in fact the Platinum wasn't and still isn't out. I hate buying new, unproven hardware.

2. Garmin's software seemed much more extensive and around longer. Magellan's is sparse by comparison. I hate buying new, unproven software.

3. Garmin seemed much more established and solid. Magellan was just bought out by Thales a European company a continent away that may or may not change product lines and the way busines is done and leaving me in the lurch. I hate buying products from companies just sold to others who may not have proven themselves in this business.

 

I think I can live with the patch antenna!

 

Alan2

[Guest SergZak]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Dnmeistr:

A little bitter aren't we Geez, it was just a while ago you guys were *****ing about that Magellan could at least update there site and acknowledge the problem, Magellan does that and you are still *****ing at them.

 

Dnmeistr

---

 

The site shouldn't have needed to have been updated with this info. This kind of info should be included with the Meridians in the box. The outside of the box states on at least two description panels that SD cards are used for memory expansion/map data yet absolutely nowhere in the box (not even on an "addendum" slip of paper) does it say how to actually *use* these data cards with the Meridian...how to transfer map data/what files to transfer etc. It took the experimentation efforts of ClayJar and others to figure out how to do this. And after this was done, more people had to figure out that there was a problem with map data >32MB. And now after the fact that this info is already out (on the internet), is when Magellan decides to update the web site with the same info that others here have discovered. I'm sure the engineers knew how to use the data cards along with map data...but this info was not included in the package. Did they test SD cards >32MB? It sure doesn't seem that way.

 

Both Garmin and Magellan have good/bad points but it just seems to me like Garmin tries a bit harder.

[Guest SergZak]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Dnmeistr:

A little bitter aren't we Geez, it was just a while ago you guys were *****ing about that Magellan could at least update there site and acknowledge the problem, Magellan does that and you are still *****ing at them.

 

Dnmeistr

---

 

The site shouldn't have needed to have been updated with this info. This kind of info should be included with the Meridians in the box. The outside of the box states on at least two description panels that SD cards are used for memory expansion/map data yet absolutely nowhere in the box (not even on an "addendum" slip of paper) does it say how to actually *use* these data cards with the Meridian...how to transfer map data/what files to transfer etc. It took the experimentation efforts of ClayJar and others to figure out how to do this. And after this was done, more people had to figure out that there was a problem with map data >32MB. And now after the fact that this info is already out (on the internet), is when Magellan decides to update the web site with the same info that others here have discovered. I'm sure the engineers knew how to use the data cards along with map data...but this info was not included in the package. Did they test SD cards >32MB? It sure doesn't seem that way.

 

Both Garmin and Magellan have good/bad points but it just seems to me like Garmin tries a bit harder.

[Guest ClayJar]

[rant mode on]

Okay, let's cut out the Magellan-bashing in this thread, okay? (I know, it wasn't flamage or anything, but if you want to talk about how much better Garmin is, make another thread, okay?)

 

If you want updated information on firmware, look in the release notes (that's what they're there for). As for not including all this is the manual, if you show me one company that has ever had a complete manual that didn't need user/release notes later, I'll show you something that's not nearly as complex as a GPS receiver. I'd venture to say that they hadn't thought of the direct upload method, so that obviously wouldn't make it in.

 

Anyway, don't mind me, I just get a little miffed when people spend their time itemizing the faults of a system without giving any valuable input. It's not that I don't value the opinions (and I'm not upset with anybody by any means), but let's be productive, okay?

[rant mode off]

[Guest Alan2]

You're right off course Clayjar. each product has its pluses and negatives. It's just that after taking three months of hits on these forums on my Garmin patch antenna, it's nice to see that my buying a Vista for the reasons I gave above might have been visionary on my part. I was getting ready to switch! I think I'll be happy with what I got.

 

Just my thoughts.

 

Alan

[Guest hazard]

In the not to distant past (10 years ago) once a product was released to market the

consumer had little re-course. If there

was a limitation to the product the consumer

was stuck. At best you had to send it back to the manufacturer or to a service center

to get it "upgraded" or fixed. Maybe you

had to pay, maybe not. It was a major inconvience. Because of this, products tended to be simpler, tested longer, and took longer to get to market.

 

Well that has changed. Companies are getting to market quicker realizing that with the Internet, and flash memory, a product can

be significantly upgraded by the consumer.

Thus I would much rather have my Meridian Gold now, than wait an additional year for it to be released so the Magellan can work out every last kink. Realizing of course that I will be able to upgrade it at home once they release patches.

 

The unit basically works! I expect more issues to arise in the furture. Especially as bigger and bigger SD cards are availaible.

 

Now if it takes them more than a few months to make patches available, then yes I shall start grousing......

 

JH

 

BTW, I realize that some companies will put totally unusable product to market early knowing that they can upgrade later. Many of these companies do die partially because of this practice. Unfortunately the consumer is left holding the bag.

[Guest SergZak]

OK....enough of my Magellan/Meridian bashing. As of this morning, my Vista's click stick does not register a right-click any more. We'll see how Garmin handles this. Regardless, I think I'm cursed.

[Guest SergZak]

OK....enough of my Magellan/Meridian bashing. As of this morning, my Vista's click stick does not register a right-click any more. We'll see how Garmin handles this. Regardless, I think I'm cursed.