Related
This discussion has been locked.
You can no longer post new replies to this discussion. If you have a question you can start a new discussion

Unable to load maps onto Garmin Zumo 346

3723000
over 1 year ago

This is a bit of Deja Vu with an earlier post from another user from a few years ago - which I don't think was resolved

I recently (November 22) bought a Zumo 346 with free lifetime updates of UK/Irl/Western Europe maps. All worked fine until the first map update this month (Feb 23). When trying to update over WiFi the device says that there isn't enough device memory - only 1.7GB available of the 7GB total and 5.3GB needed for the new maps. The device directs me to Garmin Express, which of course does not solve the problem as the free memory is still an issue. 

The update process however has wiped my maps - the device now says there is no detailed maps loaded. I only have the base map - great for directing me cross country to the nearest A road!. I can't upload the newest version because of the lack of spare memory..... so I've bought a 32GB microSD card (from SanDisk) and installed.

Trouble is that Garmin Express still says I don't have enough memory.

Is the card formatted? Yes - and I reformatted in FAT32 to be certain

Is the card compatible? Yes (I think so!) - it appears visible on my laptop and it's there on Basecamp. I bought a decent brand (SanDisk)

Is it installed correctly? Yes.

Can I reinstall the previous maps? No - Despite what the tutorials say, the reinstall option doesn't appear in Garmin Express. Only route is to update - which it refuses to allow.

I have tried the chat function on the Garmin support website which keeps directing me to the tutorials. Less than helpful. I've followed them all as far as I can see.

I've spent three hours trying to sort this out. Does anyone have any ideas? I've emailed Garmin but don't hold out much hope, other than the really helpful advice of try another SD card - which could set me off for many iterations! 

  • 0 over 1 year ago

    Remove the card. Run Express. Insert the card when asked to do so. See if that helps.

    Check too that Express is up to date and use a cable, not WiFi.

    Are you sure the earlier map was removed? What shows in Settings, Map&Vehicle, myMaps? Is your device still showing 1.7Gb available? If it is the map is still there.

  • 0 over 1 year ago

    I removed the card. Ran Express. I'm not prompted to insert the card - just the "We're unable to install the updates" red banner and a message to say the updates won't fit on internal memory and to contact product support. I've tried installing the card at that point - same result.

    Express is up to date and I am using the cable.

    Whether the earlier map has been removed is an interesting question. In Settings/Map&Vehicle/My Maps I only have the option "Update Maps" available - which takes me to the normal update page. File Explorer on my laptop shows 1.13GB free of 7.02GB (my previous figure was slightly wrong). I also get the "No detailed Maps installed" message when I switch on. As you say, it suggests the maps are still on there but the device can't see them/access them perhaps.

    When I look at the device information in Settings/Device/About/Detailed Maps - the copyright statement is blank, though the relevant one is there for the Basemap

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to 3723000

    Express is seeing the card as it's listed. Try removing the device from Express, then re-add it and try again. Final thing to try if that doesn't work is a master reset of your device.

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to SUSSAMB

    Thanks for the ideas - much appreciated!

    Unfortunately I tried both of these last night - a hard reset and removing the device from Express. I also tried uninstalling and reinstalling Express. I've now done everything I can think of. 

    Interestingly, even after the hard reset and deleting all my data, there is still only ~1.2GB free memory available, although the device says it has no detailed map data on it. It seems likely that the data is corrupted and hasn't been removed during the update process. There may also be a second software fault where the update software thinks the map data is not present when testing to see if there's enough free space to load the new detailed maps on, only to fail the storage test before loading. This would explain why it doesn't use the disk - all speculation.

    I've exhausted all ideas - will have to ring their support line and spend the morning explaining I've tried all the tutorials and that, no, it's not the memory card! Feels like a warranty return may be the only route. Will post on here if I find a fix.

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to 3723000

    Ok - so after a long day of speaking and emailing with the product support team - who have been very helpful - I now have a fix. I'm not sure why it works, but it does, and I'm not sure it's the most elegant fix either....and arrived at through luck!

    Product Support think this is a new error that they hadn't seen before. They asked for various screenshots and debug files. They also asked me to make a back up of any mapping files on the device (which must be there to fill up the internal memory), and then to delete certain files and then try the update. When I tried to do this I couldn't find any mapping files, or indeed a .System Folder.

    After a bit of YouTube research to figure out where the mapping files might be I tried changing the file transfer settings (the MTP Settings) used when plugging the Garmin into the computer. By doing this my computer would see the Garmin as just another bit of storage. I'll explain how I did that in a moment. Unfortunately this didn't help me see any new hidden files of note, and I still couldn't see any mapping data files, so I switched the device back to MTP Auto Detect. Whilst scratching my head, I thought I'd have a go at the update again - and it worked!

    For some reason, having toggled the MTP Settings from MTP Auto Detect to Mass Storage and back again, the device has now recognised my SD card when trying to do the updates and has updated to that - so it now works.

    I'm still concerned that my internal storage is bursting at the seams and all the detailed mapping data is on the SD card (doesn't feel right to me) - but nonetheless it works.

    To change the MTP Settings:

    1. Disconnect Garmin from the computer and switch it on as normal

    2. Go to Volume settings

    3. Press and hold top right corner of screen for 10 seconds until a menu comes up (Diagnostics Page)

    4. Select Configuration and Settings

    5. Select MTP Settings

    6. Select Mass Storage

    At this point I plugged the device back into the computer to have a look at the files on the internal storage. I didn't do anything other than look, decide there was nothing to see, then unplug and repeat steps 1 to 5 above and then at step 6 select MTP Auto Detect to put the device back in the original settings. When I then plugged back in, Garmin Express allowed me to update to the SD card which it had refused to do before.

    I suspect there may be a bug in Garmin Express when it comes to recognising and using an SD card - the above may work around the bug!

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to 3723000

    Glad that worked. If you're still concerned about space put your device back into mass storage mode so you can see the .system folder, if an old map is there it will be a .img file around a number of Gb in size and with an old date/time stamp. You could then delete it. If you don't see the .system folder check Windows is set to show hidden and system files, note that is 2 separate settings