Proper way to delete old maps from Nuvi

[me4tux]

I have a Nuvi 660. I recently updated my 2008 maps with the 2009 using the Garmin Mapinstall utility. It made me select the states/areas that I wanted to update. If I select all, I've no free memory.

Later, after selecting a few ones to update I checked that the GPS still has the old maps it came with.

Is there a way to remove ALL the 2008 old maps, free up space and completely load the new 2009 maps in its place ??

NOTE: I saw someone posting in a different website about deleting a big file.... by connect your garmin to your computer, then double clicking on the garmin and to the folder called "garmin" in there is a file named "gmapsupp.img" (it is the largest image file). Supposedly, that is the last version maps, 2008 I presume.

I didn't think this was a good idea and prefer to "do it the proper way".

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

[Boyd]

Something is wrong here... my *guess* is that you have bought the wrong product to update your Nuvi. See this page:

http://www8.garmin.com/cartography/mapSource/citynavnt.jsp

And note what it says "Note: You cannot use this product to update the maps on your preloaded Garmin device. To order updated map data for your preloaded Garmin device, visit the Map Updates page."

I believe MapInstall is a Mac program, right? It's purpose is to install segments of the map, which sounds like what you did. I think you will find that the gmapsupp.img is the new map you installed. I believe your pre-installed maps are in a file called gmapprom.img, and it is probably smaller because the maps are compressed in a different format than the individual maps you installed. Check the modification dates on the files and you will probably be able to resolve this. The gmapsupp.img file is normally where a supplemental map would live (for example, if you installed the US Topo maps, they would be in that file).

When I updated my Nuvi, I did it online and downloaded the new maps. As part of that process, an installer was launched which deleted the old maps and replaced them with new ones. I haven't ever installed from a DVD version, but would assume there's an installer on the disk which does the same thing.

Others here may be more knowledgeable on this, so let's see what they say. If you bought the wrong product, you could try calling Garmin tech support and see if they will let you exchange it.

[jrmckins]

I would love an answer to this too

[saea501]

I have installed from a disc and, just recently, online. I believe the installer writes the new map program right over the old one, as I have never had any memory size problems. My Nuvi 750 is my third Garmin GPS in the past 7 years or so and the updates have always been from a disc. This 2010 update is the first one I have done online, but they have always worked the same way.

[jrmckins]

[Boyd]

[jrmckins]

[Boyd]

Well it sounds like something went wrong during the install. What model Nuvi do you have? Most Nuvi's wouldn't have enough room on internal storage to accomodate TWO City Navigator maps, so I suspect something else is going on here.

Some models were originally shipped with "regional" maps - such as "lower 48 states" for the US instead of the full North American mapset. I have read cases where people tried to upgrade these models to the full City Navigator NA and had problems, since the internal memory was not intended to hold that large of a map.

[mmsstar]

OP said a 660

[Boyd]

But jrmckins is not the OP...

[saea501]

It is possible that it did overwrite the old maps, however the new update is, of course, larger than the old MapSource and your internal memory is not large enough to accommodate the the new update.

I don't think going into the Nuvi and deleting files is such a hot idea.

Unless of course you're a.........gambler.

[mmsstar]

[jrmckins]

It's a 660.

[Boyd]

Well IIRC, the 600 series only has 2GB of internal memory (or was it 2.5GB)? You can check yourself by looking at the properties when it's mounted as a disk over USB.

Either way, that isn't enough room to hold TWO versions of the map, so something else must be using up your free space. Perhaps a temporary file was not removed during the update process? Or maybe the new map is just bigger than the old one?

[jrmckins]

When I go into Map Info on the NUVI I see my new map listed as well as "City Navigator North America NT v8" Is that the old/original map that shipped with my nuvi 660? If I don't need it I'd like to remove it. When I try to install a map it says I need a little ober 1GB but I only have about 850MB available.

In the Garmin directory of the nuvi I see a file called "gmapsupp.img" which is about 850MB with a timestamp of the date I installed my newest map. There's also a file called "gmapprom.img" which is about 960MB with no timestamp (original map??).

[airgunner23]

Do you have a bunch of pictures and/or music files on it? If so, delete them. Also delete every voice except the one you use...same for the vehicle icons. I have PLENTY of space on my 660 left over and the latest 2010 download installed just fine.

[jrmckins]

[Boyd]

[jrmckins]

[Boyd]

I am not sure. They seem to have changed their products recently. The link I posted above has now been changed and it looks like there is only one version. Maybe it is just a matter of having the correct installer?

I think you should call or write Garmin support and give them the product number from the package you purchased and tell them that you want to install it on your Nuvi. Maybe they can help. I would be careful about messing around with this yourself unless you are very confident because you could mess up your system.

[jrmckins]

[Boyd]

Yes, I'm pretty sure you could always do that.

[jrmckins]

I called tech support and they gave me some BS excuse. The guy seemed really confused.

I had a $10 card for Best Buy and got a 2GB card for just $3. I installed, deleted the other 2010.10 map and installed the new one on the card. Works like a charm.

[kvikk55]

I have spoken with Garmin support and if you need to uninstall old maps you have added to your GPS just go to your garmin dir in your gps and remove gmapsupp.img, this is the file where external maps are. The file gmapprom.img is the file with the original maps for your garmin.
Hope this help the people who don't know witch file to remove.

[Senorkarlos]

This being the most useful thread I found regarding clearing up internal memory space, I would like to post something definitive here. The thread makes alot of suggestions, and even the last guy makes deleting stuff sound pretty safe, but there is no answer in the thread directly as to what happens to your nuvi if you delete the actual gmapprom.img file. Answer, nothing at all. I deleted it, crossed my fingers, used mapsource method to install CityNav NA 2010 mapset and when i pulled the USB plug, my map info showed only 2010, unit loaded no prob. Routing works, everything else was the same as before. Map name on unit is gmapsupp.img and is the only map img file present. So in a nutshell, scrap those old maps and get your full updates at once!

[jmoskowitz6]

I updated numaps 2010 on line and still had gmapsupp.img in memory. I deleted the img using my computer. The Nuvi 660 is functioning without problems.

[jreifsnydr]

I have a Nuvi 200W with only 1G of internal memory, I use a mac, and I've never been able to get an SD memory card to work in the Nuvi for map storage. I went and bought the "lifetime updates" for it, then ran into the memory problem. (I had already deleted extraneous help and voice files in other languages … and still wasn't getting anywhere.)

So I can vouch for Senorkarlos' advice! Deleting the original map gmapprom.img file did the trick for me.

I first ran Garmin Map Update, and told it to download the complete NA map to my mac (not to the Nuvi! … if you try that with a 200W, it will only give you a few pre-determined partial options due to the lack of Nuvi memory … none of which were the choices that I wanted). Then, after that was done, with the Nuvi connected by USB I opened it up from the mac Finder, and (after first copying them over to my mac just in case something went wrong and I'd need to reinstall them) I deleted the gmapprom.img and gmapsupp.img files that were presently in the unit's "Garmin" folder.

After emptying the trash to actually delete those files, I then installed selected the maps of the individual states that I really needed, and installed them using the Garmin MapInstall program for the mac.

When I was done, the Nuvi had a ~900MB gmapsupp.img file on it (no gmapprom.img), and it's working just fine!

It sure would be nice if Garmin would explain things better so that we users didn't have to figure this all out on our own.

[SQUISHYxBANANA]

Holy hell...

Step 1
Plug your Nuvi into your computer using its USB cable.

Step 2
Click the Start menu.

Step 3
Click "Computer." Double-click your Nuvi's icon. Your device's directory appears.

Step 4
Double-click the "Map" folder. If you do not see the "Map" folder, double-click the "Garmin" folder instead.

Step 5
Right-click the installed map file you wish to delete and click "Delete." Click "OK" to finish deleting the file.


Old Maps Deleted!! Now Install new ones. Case Closed.

I created an account just for this...

[sussamb]

Probably not worth it, the previous post is over 2 years old

[SQUISHYxBANANA]

Yea I know. But figured someone would be looking for this same topic sooner or later.

On that same note. If you need to .. lets say install a *Back up copy* of your new Maps..

You will need a 2GB SD (not SDHD) Card.

1. Format your 2gb SD card to FAT or FAT32 (this is the card in your device - you need it because the IMG map is 1.5gb)
2. Create a folder on the memory card called “Garmin”
3. Copy the downloaded IMG file into the Garmin folder on your SD card.
4. Make sure the IMG file is named “gmapsupp.img” on the SD card.
That's it.

[sussamb]

Please have a read through the various stickys and other threads. It generally helps more if you respond to other posts with solutions or post with problems you're having rather than simply random thoughts.

In any case most of this advice is wrong. Cards need to be formatted as FAT32. Only some .img files are less than 2 Gb, the current EU map is over 3 Gb. For a number of years now the newer nuvis do not require the map to be named gmapsupp.img

I'm also not clear why you're even suggesting that users should wish to back up a map onto a SD card in their nuvi. A duplicate map can cause problems itself.

[Boyd]