Uploading maps Garmin 660

[majordad]

This is driving me mad ! I've had lifetime maps for years but each time I find it more difficult. Mine is a Nuvi 660 circa 2007

I wanted to load Western Europe but it was 3.57gb and not enough memory. I bought a 4gb SD card and put that in, still would not work. Then I tried to load a smaller area ( Benelux ) and it worked. I wanted to add UK as well but it over wrote the Benelux as it showed UK as the only loaded map. How can I add the other one as well ?

I tried using Garmin Express but it won't work so I'm using something I found on my lap top called map updater and I used that to load the above.

Help my madness please !

Edited by majordad on Sunday 26th July 18:14

[littleredrooster]

To make the memory card work, it needs to have a sub-folder called 'Garmin' on it.

Best way is to use a card-reader rather than the nuvi, as it's much quicker. Use MapSource or BaseCamp (Garmin mapping programs - I prefer MapSource, but apparently I'm a heathen...) to select the maps you want and send them to the card using the toolbar icon 'Send to Device' on the program, selecting whatever drive letter your PC has allocated to the reader. It should then compile a .img file on the card which the nuvi can now read. It's best to NOT have two sets of maps on the unit - i.e. don't put GB on both unit and card as it reads them both and can confuse it.

[nickwilcock]

majordad, I also have a nüvi 660 of about that vintage. Yesterday I updated the mapping, here's how:

Anyone with Garmin nüMaps Lifetime™ Europe should now be able to download the latest version of City Navigator Europe NT, which is version 2016.10.

I did so, but NOT by using Garmin Express! The older, more reliable Garmin MapUpdater worked fine; I installed UK and Ireland directly to my nüvi660 and the rest to my computer. Then I created a custom mapset for the near continent using Garmin MapInstall - a tedious process which took over an hour. To transfer the mapset to the GPS took another 90 min, but eventually all was fine.

Garmin prefer people to use Garmin Express but, as I mentioned earlier, a lot of people have had problems with Express.

When you use MapUpdater, choose the option which allows you to update UK and Ireland direct to the GPS and the rest of the maps to your computer. After clicking OK, it'll start the update process, but that can take an hour or so, depending on your Internet speed.

MapInstall can be found from this Garmin support site: http://www.garmin.com/support/agree.jsp?id=3291 .

When you use it, zoom and pan the map to the area of interest and then left-click on the maps you want to add. Do NOT bother with the following French maps though, as they're included on the UK & Ireland set:

Amiens
Bethune
Blain
Brest
Bruz
Caen
Dunkerque
Fougeres
Le Havre
Lille
Lorient
Nantes
Quimper
Rouen
Saint-Malo
Vannes
Vertou

You need to take your time in selecting the maps; if you make a mistake, right-click to delete that map. Once you've finished (a progress bar will show you how much space you have left on the GPS), click 'continue' (I think - it might be 'next'?), then you'll get a pop-up warning that it can take several hours to complete. Be patient and eventually you'll see the transfer underway - I think it took about 90 min yesterday....

I was able to add France, Spain, Portugal, Benelux, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark and part of Sweden.

Garmin certainly don't make things easy!

[majordad]

Thanks, I'll give that a go this week.