500 Not Seeing Sd Files...

[SnaptheFrog]

I've got POIs that I created on Mapsend on my PC.

I have the GPS hooked up to the computer and I dragged and dropped the file to the folder on the SD card. After turning off, unhooking, and turning on the 500, I scroll to the folder on the SD card and it tells me the folder is empty.

I hook the 500 up to the compter and I can see the POI file a plain as day.

 

Am I missing a step?

[+embra]

Yeah (this one had me scratching my head, too, at first). You are likely looking in internal memory rather than the SD card. Go up several levels until you can select SD card, then drill down to the folder you want. The file should be there.

[+Stunod]

Yeah, embra's probably right. The navigation aroud the SD card and internal memory is a little awkward at first.

[+EScout]

Its my understanding that you have to use the conversion manager to do this. This program is on the included disk.

[+embra]

Good point, EScout. Drag and drop should work *if* the POIs are in Magellan SD card format *and* have the .upt ending, per information provided by you. I was using GSAK to write POIs directly to the SD card in my 500 last night, so the Conversion Manager is not essential. But if the POIs are in Mapsend format, the CM will take care of the necessary changes.

[+Jamie Z]

I was using GSAK to write POIs directly to the SD card in my 500 last night,

Embra, were you able to get GSAK to properly transfer the waypoint icons? Despite the icons being exactly the same as on the Meridian, mine all show up as the default icon when I transfer from GSAK.

 

Jamie

[tiber]

Magellans use FAT32 as their filesystem. If you format a card in WinXP, however, I'm not sure what filesystem it's under. I know it's not the same FAT32 that the Magellans use. The solution I had found, assuming you're not making interface errors, is to have the Magellan format the card and then plunk it in a card reader. WinXP can use the card (so does my PocketPC 2003) at that point. For whatever reason, having the computer format it screws up the magellan.

[+Stunod]

I was using GSAK to write POIs directly to the SD card in my 500 last night,

Embra, were you able to get GSAK to properly transfer the waypoint icons? Despite the icons being exactly the same as on the Meridian, mine all show up as the default icon when I transfer from GSAK.

 

Jamie

I only get the geocaching icons when I do a VIEW while browsing the MY GEOCAHING POINTS. On a GOTO, the destination shows up as a default POI icon.

[SnaptheFrog]

Thanks everyone. I knew about navigating to the SD card files, and that's partly what was making it so confusing.

 

As it turns out, I wasn't putting the file through the conversion manager.

I don't quite understand the need for that. I bought the Magellan version of DR. Why wouldn't DR manage it?

[+Jamie Z]

I only get the geocaching icons when I do a VIEW while browsing the MY GEOCAHING POINTS. On a GOTO, the destination shows up as a default POI icon.

I didn't mean the geocaching icons in the Explorist, I mean the custom icons which you can select from GSAK. That is, I have an icon for traditional caches, a different icon for micros, one for multis, another for mystery caches, so I can see which type of cache it is on the map screen.

 

It worked on my Meridian, but on the Explorist, all the waypoints I transfer from GSAK show up as the default.

 

The geocaching mode on the Explorist hasn't really wowed me. I think for the time being, I'll continue to use the regular ol' waypoints for geocaches.

 

Jamie

[+Stunod]

I only get the geocaching icons when I do a VIEW while browsing the MY GEOCAHING POINTS.  On a GOTO, the destination shows up as a default POI icon.

I didn't mean the geocaching icons in the Explorist, I mean the custom icons which you can select from GSAK. That is, I have an icon for traditional caches, a different icon for micros, one for multis, another for mystery caches, so I can see which type of cache it is on the map screen.

 

It worked on my Meridian, but on the Explorist, all the waypoints I transfer from GSAK show up as the default.

 

The geocaching mode on the Explorist hasn't really wowed me. I think for the time being, I'll continue to use the regular ol' waypoints for geocaches.

 

Jamie

Ah, I understand now.

How are you doing it now? Sending your GPX thru GSAK and then exporting another GPX to run thru the converter? I should try to play with this...

 

And I agree about the Geocache Manager...after being paperless for a while, the Geocaching Manager is no big deal.

[+JohnnyVegas]

My self, I like the geocache manager. I like having the geocache icons on the mao screen. While the hints should be longer most times they fit. I will still need my pocket PC for multis and some other caches, but being able to leave my Pocket PC in my pocket is a plus for me, only becuase have have allowed my pocket PC to test the laws of gravity a few times, so far it has survived, but once the SD card flew out of it and I never found the card.

[+embra]

Embra, were you able to get GSAK to properly transfer the waypoint icons? Despite the icons being exactly the same as on the Meridian, mine all show up as the default icon when I transfer from GSAK.

Yeah, I loaded a bunch of benchmark files into a Benchmark folder within the My POI folder on the SD card (I *like* the folder system, as I had so many files on the flat level Meridian menu that it was getting hard to find them. A beef: it still displays files in the order loaded; no alphabetical sort).

 

Anyway, I use the medium city icon setting in GSAK, and that's what's displaying on the screen. (I presume you aren't referring to GM POIs)

[+Jamie Z]

How are you doing it now? Sending your GPX thru GSAK and then exporting another GPX to run thru the converter?

No.. I think.

 

Using GSAK, if you export a Magellan SD file, you can send it straight to the GPS connected to the USB port. You just have to name the file with a .upt ending. No converter necessary.

 

Like I mentioned though, I haven't been able to get the icons to match what I selected in GSAK. Embra says he got it to work. I'll play with it some more.

 

Jamie

[+embra]

What you describe, Jamie, is just what I did. You might try changing the icons to something else for an export, and then setting them back to what you want.

 

Edit: if you still don't get what you want, we should check which versions of GPSBabel our GSAK is using. I may have a newer version that makes a difference. (I'm at work now, so it will be awhile before I could do it).

Edited April 19, 2005 by embra

[robertlipe]

I don't thnk there have been any pertinent handling in the GPSBabel handling of icons in a while.

 

(Unless you're running unreleased versions of GPSBabel/GSAK.)

[+Jamie Z]

What you describe, Jamie, is just what I did.  You might try changing the icons to something else for an export, and then setting them back to what you want.

I figured out that for some reason, GSAK had reverted all my icons to the default bullseye. When I switched them to the icons I wanted, it worked fine.

 

But another GSAK related question. I might ask in the GSAK thread, but I don't know if this is a GSAK problem or an Explorist problem.

 

When sending waypoints to the SD card using GSAK, I use the special tag %smart=20 in the waypoint name field. I have changed the maximum number of characters to 20. I've also changed it to 20 in the Tools-->Options-->Smartname length. Yet when I send the waypoints to the GPS, the names show up as eight characters long.

 

I have followed the directions under the GSAK FAQ which say:

 

4. All my "smart" names are 8 characters but I have set the Maximum Length set to 10. Why?

The maximum length refers to the Maximum number of characters that GSAK will output to your GPS for the waypoint code. %smart is just one of the many tags you can use to build this waypoint code and the default length of the smart name is 8. If you want more or less characters for the %smart name, use the format %smart=nn where nn = the numbers of characters to use for the smart name. For example %smart=10 will generate a smart name 10 characters long.

 

No luck. How can I send 20-character waypoint names to my Explorist?

 

I should add that I have the short name column on the GSAK page, and the waypoint names show up there (20 characters) just like I want.

 

Jamie

Edited April 20, 2005 by Jamie Z

[+embra]

This is just a guess (Those Who Know can weigh in more authoritatively later). But given what you've tried, I'm betting that it is a limitation of the current GPSBabel implementation of the Magellan SD format. Meridians and SporTracks can only handle 8 characters in the waypoint name.

[robertlipe]

Embra gets a gold star. The Magellan serial spec (upon which the Meridian SD format is based) says that waypoints shall be no longer than 8 characters, so that's what GPSBabel makes 'em.

 

To wit:

$ echo "0, 0, mybigolelongramblingwaypointname" | gpsbabel -i csv -f - -o magellan -F - | cat

$PMGNWPL,0.000,N,00000.000,E,0000000,M,mybigole,mybigolelongramblingwaypointna,a*72

 

Once I know the breaking points of the new units, I'll probably create a new format that implements this. To my great annoyance, I'm still awaiting a spec.