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Update to 3598 has lost all but one voice

Former Member over 11 years ago

The Problem: Lost voice (.vpm) files after update.

My little used 3598 hung recently, so I had to turn it off. Since then the voice prompts have stuttered.

So as an example when giving a road number, I hear 'A', '1', '2', (1 or more seconds of no sound), '3'.

I have been unable to discover how to do a hardware reset, so decided to use Garmin Express and update the firmware. But before doing this, I made a backup within GE. GE not only updated the version to 4.20, it also updated my maps of Europe and used half my monthly internet bandwidth in doing so!

After restarting the 3598 and re-setting some options, I set a new location to navigate to. I soon heard a voice prompt but did not understand it. Looking in the settings for changing the voice I only had one option - Dansk-Ida. Previously it was a British English voice.

Looking at the 'Internal Storage' and 'Memory Card', I noticed that the SC card now has a new 'Garmin' folder and an 'Id.txt' file. Previously it was empty.

The 'Voice' folder on the device contains 43 *.sum files each of 1KB and 5 *.vpm files between 19KB and 24KB - the first being 'Dansk__Ida.vpm.

So why did my voice files get deleted? More importantly where can I download them from?

Try the backup, you may suggest, but unfortunately the backup does not contain most files. Next time I'll do a manual backup as now the drive letters have gone, normal backup programs can no longer backup from Garmin GPSrs. (I use Vice Versa PRO.)

0 EXPRESSCUSTOMERCARE over 11 years ago

It's possible that Express may have deleted the files in an attempt to make space on the device. To reload the Voice files with Express, see this FAQ: Why are there missing or corrupt voice files on my nuvi, dezl, RV, Camper, LIVE or zumo?

Sam

0 Former Member over 11 years ago

I have just downloaded CommunicatorPlugin_410.exe .

Using it I selected all the British voice files. I saw them download as I use 'NetMetter' to display a graph of down/up loads.

At the end, the Garmin plug-in displayed, "Software Installation Error" - "No files were installed."

A list if items to check was given and all were OK.

Is it possible to have a URL for these files so that I can simply download in the normal simple way and then copy then to my 3598?

I have also been on the telephone to Southampton and helped by a pleasant lady, but her advice did not work.

0 SUSSAMB over 11 years ago

I'm confused as the plug in doesn't download voices. Run Garmin Express, select the device tab and scroll down to select the voice files.

0 EXPRESSCUSTOMERCARE over 11 years ago

The FAQ I supplied does not call for the Communicator Plugin. The files get restored through Optional Updates in Express. Did this not work for you?

Sam

0 Former Member over 11 years ago

I have again been on the telephone to Southampton and helped by another pleasant lady. The first was new in that job.

I was told to use Garmin Express and select 'Extras' and then tick the required voices.

Apparently the problem is due to the map file being too large for the device's memory and so it was updated to the SD 4GB card. The updating software had a problem with adding the updated voice file(s) which corrected the voice stutter that I have been experiencing.

So after about 8 hours of effort, the 3598 is working. Now all that's required is a test drive!!!!

Now I'm an experienced GPSr user (bought my first Garmin GPS-75 in 1996) and experienced Personal Computer expert (bought my first PC in 1978) and it took that long.

I feel very sorry for non technical folk with these problems!