Garmin City Navigator

[stevevw]

Just got my 705 with the City Navigator maps on a micro SD card. I am a bit worried that I may cock up the card and loose the data. Is there any way of making a backup either on the PC or another card? I have a TomTom that we use in the car and they say to make a backup of all datea to a PC.

 

[benborp]

Yes, you can just copy the data to a safe place. There are also other reasons you might want to keep a copy of the map on the PC as much of the Garmin software doesn't integrate with the maps on SD.

 

[stevevw]

But how do I do it? I put the card in its adapter in the SD slot of the PC but can not see the card on my devices. Do I have to do it through the Garmin? Sorry if I am being a bit thick.

 

[nilling]

Stevevw,

So you have put the microSD into the SD adaptor which you then have put into your PC?

The card should show up in Explorer on XP/Vista. Do you have another SD card you can put in just to rule out a faulty card reader.

Always good idea to have a backup. I had a blood-draining experience with TomTom when I thought I had corrupted the card.

 

[stevevw]

Stevevw,

So you have put the microSD into the SD adaptor which you then have put into your PC?

Yes that is exactly what I have done. The first thing I tried when it did not show up was to put the card from my camra in and that can be seen?

I was wondering if they had done something sneeky to the card adapter. I will try another when I get home tonight.

 

[fossyant]

Other point - is your card reader SDHC compatible - many old readers won't take more than 2GB - if this card is over 2GB you'll need a new reader. Worth a punt !

 

[benborp]

You should be able to copy directly from the Garmin even if it will take a while to copy to disk. dodgy from this forum has a website that details some of the things you can get up to with the Garmin maps and also some of the alternatives available. http://www.velorider.co.uk

 

[andrew_s]

I believe that the Garmin SD cards are copy-protected so that you can't take a backup, or if you do, it won't work in the 705 when copied onto a different card.
It may be that you could copy a backup back on to the same card after reformatting it (in case of a corrupted card), but I wouldn't recommend trying it out.

I got my data on DVD, so I've no direct experience.

 

[benborp]

The data on the card includes a unique code that is registered to the portable device. You can backup the data without any problems and also use it with the PC based software such as Training Center which shares the registration. It is also possible to use the SD card data with the Garmin MapSource software but this is far more complicated and yields few benefits and is probably out of the scope of reasonable use of copyrighted material, although Garmin's software development is hardly reasonable in that everything seems integrate with the loudest possible clunk which you will only find out after groping around in the dark for six months because there is no support documentation.

 

[andrew_s]

The data on the card includes a unique code that is registered to the portable device. You can backup the data without any problems and also use it with the PC based software such as Training Center which shares the registration.

Certainly cards written from DVD data are registered to a device, but for a preprogrammed SD card that may be used with any capable GPS, how is the code registered? All the advertising, including notes on the Garmin website, implies that the cards are plug and play.
It may be used by someone who doesn't even have a PC or internet connection, or they may have bought a Venture Cx which didn't come with a PC connection cable.

 

[benborp]

The SD cards are plug and play in a suitable device. The registration/copy protection is pretty much automatic when using the map data with a device. Using the map data with the Garmin software on a PC is a whole lot more complicated. However backing it up is very simple.

 

[andrew_s]

So having bought a preprogrammed SD card, to use it, I just plug it into the device and it works.
a) If I then plug the same SD card into a different device, will it work?
If I take a backup (presumably just by copying the garmingmapsupp.img file onto a PC), can I then copy the backup file onto a different SD card, and have it work on the same device?
c) Will the copied SD card work on a different device?

 

[benborp]

I'll get into a whole lot of mess trying to say what you can and can't do with the SD card maps, which isn't surprising as what Garmin have created is a mess. Very rough answers, from the top of my head follow:

a) I think the device will automatically "register" the card.

I think the duplicate card will work identically to the original.

c) I have no idea at the moment. However I can tell you that the method of authentication is quite simplistic and various people have reverse engineered from the map data programs that will enable the SD card to be used in the same manner as the DVD. The same programs would allow you to use that data on any SD card on any device.

If you want to know more PM me and I'll see if I can find the sources for what I've found out already.

 

[andrew_s]

No need - I've got the DVD version. It's just that it's starting to get a bit out of date so I wondered.

on (:
A backup is no good until you've checked that you can restore it. Loads of people have been caught out by finding that the backups they have been taking religiously are no good (general computer backups, but the same principle applies).