Dakota 20 Gmapsup1

[Tiny]

I am putting a couple of maps together for a friend who is buying a Dakota 20 & just need to know if the Dakota can read multiple supp maps on a MicroSD card? Or do they have to be joined as 1 in gmapsupp.img as on my Etrex Vista HCX & Nuvi 1490t?

Only needs to read 2 for the moment.

Has anyone that has a Dakota 20 run 2 gmapsupp files on a 4Gb card by naming them gmapsupp.img & gmapsup1.img? Or should that be gmapsupp1.img?

Have done a lot of searching & get varying info for & against these questions.

Any help would be appreciated.

[scubadoo]

Tiny

I own a Garmin Dakota 20 with a 8GB microSD card.

You can have as many *.img files as you like.

Rename them as you wish.
Make sure you place them in a folder named Garmin either on the GPS or the SD card.

e.g.
1.img
Shonky Full Topo 3.51.img
Topo Australia & New Zealand 3.img
anythingyoulike.img


Enable or disable the mapsets you want displayed using:
Setup > Map > Map Information Select Map >

[Tiny]

Thanks, for that, had read that any name.img was possible from a few forums, then found some that said it doesn't work.

Its great to hear from someone that has one operational on this forum.

Sometimes the more you Google the more confused you can get. There is so much crap out there.

Might get a Dakota 20 next for myself, although the ETrex is great for my purposes, Horse trail exploring.

[Tiny]

scubadoo,
had another thought which of course leads to another question.

have you tried using Oztopo 2.1 on your Dakota?

It still works fine on my etrex, however I read that latest firmware upgrades to the Colarado have stopped it unlocking & a down grade of firmware is necessary to keep it going.

I do have Garmin topo3 AU & NZ as well, however find Oztopo has tracks in the deep bush that Gtopo does not.
Suppose I'll find out when I load it onto my friends Dakota.

guess both mapsets have their + & -

[scubadoo]

It should also work on your nuvi 1490.
My nuvi 1250 is quite happy with anyname.img
BUT they are in a folder named "Map" - not "Garmin".

[scubadoo]

Tiny

Sorry I missed your last post.

I don't have Oztopo 2.1 on my Dakota 20. I live in NZ.

OK a very simple test.
Loaded part of Oztopo 2.1 roads and contours somewhere in the high country Victoria.

Yes - it is all perfectly visible on the Dakota. Looks good to me.

[Tiny]

It should also work on your nuvi 1490.
My nuvi 1250 is quite happy with anyname.img
BUT they are in a folder named "Map" - not "Garmin".

Cool I tried 2 maps with anyname.img in a folder called "Map" on my 4Gb card in Nuvi 1490T & it read both, Ive been using folder "Garmin" on card & it will only read gmapsupp.img from that folder, no other names, how interesting.

So back to the Dakota, I should therefore be able to put 2 anyname.img files or more in a folder called Map on a 4GB card & it will read all of them?

Thanks once again for your help.

[scubadoo]

So back to the Dakota, I should therefore be able to put 2 anyname.img files or more in a folder called Map on a 4GB card & it will read all of them?

No!
On the Dakota they MUST all be in a folder named Garmin on the microSD card.

[2happy]

Guys,

Another way which should work on any sort of Garmin (as it works a treat on my XT chinese 2din unit) :-

Just combine as many maps as you like with either Mapsource or Gmaptool into ONE single ".img" file and load that as Gmapprom or whatever - just be aware of size restrictions (2 gig on XT).

You should be able to access and switch maps on and off through "manage my data" etc.

If it works with XT on non Garmin hardware, then one would think it should work with most genuine H'ware types - Shold be worth a crack at least.

2happy

[scubadoo]

2happy

Yes that works well on my Chinese no name 7" CE5 GPS and older nuvis and is in fact the only method.
Also on my newer Garmin GPS units.
It is much easier from an update point of view for me to keep them separately named. Any additions/alterations to the mapsets are MUCH faster for Garmin MapSource to compile and send them to my newer GPS units.
A single mapset update (which can happen weekly here) using your method requires a complete resend of "the lot".

[Tiny]

No!
On the Dakota they MUST all be in a folder named Garmin on the microSD card.

Thx Scubadoo, will name the folder Garmin for the Dakota, whish I had it here to test, although I'm sure I could talk my friend thru a folder rename if necessary.

Seems a little weird that we should need to change folder names on cards depending on Handheld or Nuvi

2happy, thx for your input but same goes for me as scubadoo, seperate maps easier to update.

Tip for you both Gmaptool can join multiple .img files together as one. Quite fast as it doesn't need to compile the maps like Mapsource. So I have an archive of .img files & can join them in any combination I like for my Etrex without having to use Mapsource.
Still wish I didn't need to, multiple anyname.img on one card would be much easier, & you dont keep hitting the 4Gb map size limit.
I have to cut NZ off Garmin Topo3 to combine it with Oztopo2.1 for my etrex as it goes over 4Gb otherwise.
Now I don't have to for my Nuvi thx to Scubadoo's tip.

[heith1]

My wife uses a dakota 20 I placed both Austopo V3 and CN 2011 as 2 files on a 4gb card for her. She walks in the scrub and switches the map for when she visits the city. Works a treat, and without the voice direction, provides alarms at each location where on the Nuvii provides voice.