Moving maps to SD Card

I just got a 700i and am trying to move the the North American NT maps to my SD Card, I use Garmin express to do this, it takes anywhere from 2 hours to 30 minutes for the process to complete, the problem is when I re connect the Garmin the maps are still on the internal memory. I have tried to do this 4 times and get the same result every time. I even tried a different SD card and I cant move any of the maps to it. Anyone else have this issue? I am able to move Birdseye imagery to the SD card.

Thanks

Top Replies

CarlosN_ over 3 years ago in reply to DMSONE +2

For some time now, I have been loading all the GPS maps on the SD card.

The maps I use are made by myself from OSM data and, at first, I loaded them on the internal memory. Until, on one occasion, I put…

All Replies

0 1035728 over 2 years ago in reply to Truckinguy

Central America topo includes lower cal, ut, part texas.

0 Hicks over 1 year ago

edit: PROBLEM SOLVED. it was a partition scheme. Use MBR, not GPT. You can use EaseUS partition master to switch your partition scheme/table.

My brand new Montana 750i stubbornly REFUSES to read any maps from the SD card

I've switched to 32GB SD, formatted to FAT32... tried Garmin Express, now Jawawa... still no luck.

Now I've spend several hours debugging this... I'd truly expect either:

- RAM at least 32GB

or more functional (and faster!) SD card interface in Montana.

0 atlas_cached over 1 year ago in reply to Hicks

What folder are the maps in?

0 Hicks over 1 year ago in reply to atlas_cached

Maybe I'm on it...

switched from GPT to MBR format on SD card...

0 Hicks over 1 year ago in reply to atlas_cached

Of course it was "Garmin". Thanks for the reply.

Looks like GPT format was that issue.

btw: it is NOT mentioned on the Garmin website. Maybe it should.

0 atlas_cached over 1 year ago in reply to Hicks

Were the micro SD cards provided in that format from the factory?

0 twolpert over 1 year ago in reply to Hicks

AFAIK, all Garmin hanhelds require SD cards to be formatted FAT (for small cards) or FAT32 for larger cards. For example, this is the relevant article for the Montana:

https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=z8KypogRAdA4tQQNjdo8WA&productID=690986&tab=topics&topicTag=region_microsdcard

The relevant information is buried in the instructions for formatting. I looked at Windows. I assume it's also present for Mac. See step 8 for Windows.

Edited to add: I did NOT find this information in the Montana manual. Only in the support page above.

0 Hicks over 1 year ago in reply to atlas_cached

Not sure... I got only SDs for Raspberry... so the better ones.

Not sure if my current card was used before thought... likely it was.

BUT anyway.. IT DOESN'T WORK WITH GPT.

You need MBR partition scheme.

I was lazy to go upstairs to put it in the unix, so I used EaseUS partition master. That program is cool.

0 Hicks over 1 year ago in reply to twolpert

FAT or FAT32 is a filesystem.

MBR ot GPT is a partition scheme/table.. so one level ABOVE the filesystems.

Maybe the Garmin manual could mention this somewhere in the "advanced section". Eg. to not confuse normal users :))

Anyway.. thanks!

0 twolpert over 1 year ago in reply to Hicks

Correct - the file system is within a partition. The point is that if you format the card FAT/FAT32 on Windows or Mac, everything else takes care of itself. The question does not even arise.

Users who follow Garmin's instructions (as linked above) will not have to deal with this question.