Zumo 550 Primer Request

[Bheckel169]

I decided to buy the Zumo 550 even though I don't do a lot of touring. I'm basically gearing up for the BRR though and decided to take "The Long Way Round" to Kentucky. Any "Quick Start" recommendations to get up and running with this gizmo besides the instruction booklet that comes with it? I'm only middling good at computer technology but if it doesn't strain my brain beans too much, I'll learn.

Bruce

[johnlt]

The Zumo is pretty intuitive to use so you shouldn't have any problems. You might want to check the Zumo forum for quick start info. You can find it at "zumoforms.com"

[Bheckel169]

Thank you, John.

 

[T__]

Bruce, I have been using a Zumo since they first came out (lots of history).. It is one of the easiest GPS units to turn on & have it guide you to a location..

 

It is one of the most difficult GPS units I have ever had to understand all it’s quirks & small issues..

 

It takes a short time to understand it enough to use it but in my estimation it takes a long time & many uses to understand how make it ALWAYS do what you want..

 

The Zumo is a very fine motorcycle GPS but can be trying until you understand why it doesn’t always do what you want it to..

 

 

Buy it, use it.. Once you figure it out you will like it.. Until you figure it out it can be a pain..

 

 

Twisty

 

[Allen Rowand]

Pay close attention to whether you are in "Faster Time" or "Shorter Distance" route calculation. This can do many interesting things to your routes!

 

Allen

[johnlt]

I'd also recommend you do all your route planning through MapSource on your home PC. It is much easier to do it with a mouse, keyboard and large display.

[jimfastcar]

Some technophiles will laugh at me, but I have elected to take a "Low Tech" route, but it works for me and has taken me to WY in 2008, TN in 2009 (from Toronto) and many a 2-3 day trip through the North East.

I look at Google and choose a route (in large measure based on approx 8 hr intervals, which is a comfortable riding day for me). I then program in the names of towns along the way as "Favorites", paying particular attention to Junctions that might lead me on an unintended route. I then scrible the names of all these towns on a slip of paper which is in the window of my Tank bag and as I approach Town A (called Waypoints by the Techies), I then tell the Zumo to take me to Town B and so on. Never lost, always good.

I just did not want to spend the countless hours on my computer learning and mastering Mapsource. Flame away !!

[Little_Brit]

Route planning with mapsource is not as straight foreward as it may first appear. Going from A to B, easy. But when you start to put in way points to shape the route to your liking you have to be vigilent. If you are not looking at a close enough image of the road you can find yourself clicking on the north bound carriageway of road when you are travelling south, which leads to lots of interesting diversions!

 

Derek

[hopz]

bheckel169.

 

FYI, I am one of the original moderators over at zumoforums.com maybe I can help.

 

first thing is figure out how to go to the Garmin site and download the 550 owner's manual. Yes, it is updated and different than the printed one. Then the hard part... read it.

 

Next, download and install Web Updater...use it.

 

3, download and install latest mapsource (do not attempt to use the update function under the Help function in Mapsource).

 

If you need coaching from there- post your questions on zumoforums.com

 

If that does not help... send me a PM.

 

welcome on board.

[Bheckel169]

Thanks, Hopz,

Question, if you don't want me to update Mapsource under the Help function, where do I go to update Mapsource?

Bruce

 

3, download and install latest mapsource (do not attempt to use the update function under the Help function in Mapsource).

 

 

[hopz]

Sorry- go to Garmin and then Support. There is a mapsource update place there. If they still give a choice, use version 6.13.7 otherwise just get the latest one.

 

After you download the new version it will probably be on your desktop, just say Yes to the install. It is basically a one-click update.

 

In a separate download, download the Web Updater. This is a very small application that you leave on your desktop or in some easily found place. Connect your zumo to the computer, let it get all settled down then go to the web updater applet. Run it. It will find your zumo and check to see if there are any available updates. you do want the latest.

 

 

 

 

[T__]

Bheckel169, the 6.13.7 is about the best bang for the resources.. Later versions like 6.15.6 will really slow a computer down if you don’t have a fast powerful computer.. The later versions are resource hogs..

 

The 6.13.7 will do about anything you will ask of a mapping program.. The 5.15.6 has a couple of extra bells & whistles but probably nothing you will use until you are very proficient at doing your routing on your computer.. In fact the later versions like 6.15.6 use large intrusive shaping flags that make a mess of a route that runs a lot of shaping points in close proximity..

 

 

Twisty

 

[Bheckel169]

Thanks to all of you. I received the Zumo and started registering, downloading the Web Updater and am now downloading the latest free upgrade which they recommended. I'll be another year older by the time it's finished and I have a relatively fast computer. But this is a pretty substantial model. I have two other Garmins for my cars and this baby weighs quite a bit compared to them. I wish I had known about the memory card I would have purchased that with the Zumo.

Bruce

[T__]

Bruce, while your Zumo is still new & before you start changing or adding anything,, plug your Zumo into your computer,, allow it to connect (will take a few minutes).. Then on your home computer go to My Computer & find the Zumo.. Find the Garmin folder in the Zumo & COPY that to a folder on your computer.. That way if you mess something up,, later you can easily replace it from the original Garmin folder.. You can find that stuff on line but it is a lot easier if you have it there right on your computer..

 

After you get a little more up to speed you can also go into the Garmin folder in your Zumo,, then go into the Voices folder & remove all the foreign voices you will never use.. That will free up some space in your Zumo..

 

 

Twisty

 

[hopz]

Twisty1 is absolutely right-on about taking a backup of your base zumo software. FYI- if you think the map download took a while- the copy of the zumo may take time measured in hours... but do it anyway.

 

Regarding the comment about the SD card... Get a name brand SD card at Best Buy or other good place and you will still be economical. All you really meed is a 2 gig card but I have heard of guys going far more than that. If you are getting a card for music be aware the zumo will only handle 1000 song, max, unless you group a bunch of songs under one title and fool it... so the extra large size may not be worth the cost.

[Bheckel169]

This is now becoming a nightmare. I have followed the instructions to the letter. The first problem was that it didn't recognize the Product Key I was sent by them. I also tried to download maps and no matter what I do, it says it doesn't recognize my device when it did before. I've unplugged the USB and replugged, no go. It was first having me download everything all over again and I couldn't start where I left off and as I said, now it doesn't recognize my device and I can't proceed. So, I've downloaded the Web Updater and the Communicator but now it won't let me go back in and download the updated maps because it doesn't recognize the devices.

Very squirrley software and not user friendly. Especially when it won't let you go back in and continue where you left off and as you know, this is a several hour download.

Bruce

[hopz]

Sorry you are having troubles.

 

Actually I am a little confused by what you wrote, but will not try to work it out here.

 

From where did you purchase the zumo unit? Was the packaging new? Was there any indication that it was refurbished unit? (previously registered to another person?) Did you save the 26 digit key on the little yellow piece of paper? If you tried to use it and it did not work- you should have stopped right there and called.

 

Garmin Support is very good. They will be busy on Mondays but if you can stand the wait- go for it. Tuesday after 11 or so your time is usually better. 1-800-800-2121.

 

By the way- this is very unusual. The software has been stable for me (through many updates and changes), and worked as advertised since 2006.

 

[Bheckel169]

I'm a little confused by what I wrote. The software literally crapped out on me at almost every step and I'd have to start over. This is a new product. Not refurbished and tonight as I tried to upgrade I got to the final steps and it said something to the effect, "because we use so much memory please select a region". Nothing. The page came up and never loaded and the drop down bar which should have allowed me to select a region was blank and stayed that way. I had to exit the program and did this twice. I guess I'm stuck with the existing programming that was in the unit and I will call for technical support and find out why I have to take 3 plus hours to download the software and then find out I can't complete the process. Very frustrating.

Bruce

[decorbin]

I had a similar problem. You may have some files on the Zumo that don't belong there which would indicate it is a refurb unit. You can go into the Zumo drive while attached to your computer and delete the language files, etc that you don't need, but look to see if there are supplemental map files. There should only be one. The update will write over it if there is only one map file, and there will be just enough memory on the Zumo to accept the maps. The file grows larger each year as they add more detail. With the 2011 map upgrade, I am certain we will be back to selecting which maps we want to install due to memory limitations. That was the way it worked with the old Streetpilots, 276's, etc. The map file is about 1.1 gig, and that is about all the available memory on your Zumo.

 

I was in the same place you are, but after about an hour on the phone with customer service, I realized it was an operator errorin the way I installed the previous update which installed the file as a supplemental map.

[hopz]

bheckel... I am going to lead you through some basic things... You can do the following things and have no fears if you do exactly as I say. If you have doubts or fears- do not attempt any step.

 

If you have inserted any SD card remove it.

 

start up your zumo unit... from the start screen press the Wrench, then Map...then Map Info... Tell us what it says... and what options appear.

 

Go back to the zumo start screen... hit wrench/System/About... tell us the versions you are running... all of them. I have Software Version 4.70, Audio 1.8, GPS SW 3.00 and Bluetooth 3.40.

 

 

Turn off your unit. Then, Plug your unit into the computer... after it goes into Mass Storage mode (as indicated by the image of a computer on your zumo screen)... go to Explorer, or My Computer and open the Garmin Folder. ***BE CAREFUL*** not to delete anything unintentionally.

 

Open the MP3 folder and delete all the sample songs... leave the folder...

 

Find the Language files... delete any/all languages (your choice) that you do not want... these are the voices you will hear during navigation. If you do not speak Urdu, or Croatian for instance, delete them. OBTW you can always re-install any language from the Web Updater.

 

Close out of the Garmin folder. Leave the unit connected.

 

Have you installed Mapsource? If so, start it... From the start screen... open the drop down box near the top left corner... the one immediately to the left of the Magnifying glasses... what does it say? Open the drop down... what is listed? Which one, if more than one, is selected?

 

Place your cursor over the icon of an arrow pointing toward a gps unit...Does Mapsource find your unit? if not can you browse to it?

 

Do that and let us know what you have.

 

Maps are very large. They take a lot of memory. Voice files are also large. We want to remove those that we do not need.

 

I think it is good to download nothing (except the web updater) until you have figured out what you have and have a backup of your unit put away safely.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bheckel169]

bheckel... I am going to lead you through some basic things... You can do the following things and have no fears if you do exactly as I say. If you have doubts or fears- do not attempt any step.

 

If you have inserted any SD card remove it.

 

start up your zumo unit... from the start screen press the Wrench, then Map...then Map Info... Tell us what it says... and what options appear.

My Reply:

I assume when you want me to click on the MAP link, you want me to describe that page because at the bottom, the Map Info link does not work.

So, By Map Detail it says, Normal, Map View, 3 Dimensional, Vehicle, Change and Trip Log, Hidden.

 

Go back to the zumo start screen... hit wrench/System/About... tell us the versions you are running... all of them. I have Software Version 4.70, Audio 1.8, GPS SW 3.00 and Bluetooth 3.40.

My Reply:

Software Version: 4.70, Audio Version: Missing, GPS SW Version: 3.00

 

Turn off your unit. Then, Plug your unit into the computer... after it goes into Mass Storage mode (as indicated by the image of a computer on your zumo screen)... go to Explorer, or My Computer and open the Garmin Folder. ***BE CAREFUL*** not to delete anything unintentionally.

 

Open the MP3 folder and delete all the sample songs... leave the folder...

 

Find the Language files... delete any/all languages (your choice) that you do not want... these are the voices you will hear during navigation. If you do not speak Urdu, or Croatian for instance, delete them. OBTW you can always re-install any language from the Web Updater. Close out of the Garmin folder. Leave the unit connected.

 

My reply:

Done. Deleted songs and unwanted languages.

 

Have you installed Mapsource? If so, start it... From the start screen... open the drop down box near the top left corner... the one immediately to the left of the Magnifying glasses... what does it say? Open the drop down... what is listed? Which one, if more than one, is selected?

 

My Reply:

There is a +magnifying glass on the left and a -magnifying glass on the left next to it and nothing to the left of either of those magnifying glasses. There is another magnifying glass where the North America map appears and to the left of that is a map tool. There is nothing listed under the Map Tool. It is blank.

 

Place your cursor over the icon of an arrow pointing toward a gps unit...Does Mapsource find your unit? if not can you browse to it?

 

My Reply:

There is no icon of an arrow pointing toward a gps unit however, when I click on Utilities there is a link called, "Get Unit ID" and it connects and identifies it correctly.

 

Do that and let us know what you have.

 

Maps are very large. They take a lot of memory. Voice files are also large. We want to remove those that we do not need.

 

I think it is good to download nothing (except the web updater) until you have figured out what you have and have a backup of your unit put away safely.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[RTrev]

I look at Google and choose a route (in large measure based on approx 8 hr intervals, which is a comfortable riding day for me). I then program in the names of towns along the way as "Favorites", paying particular attention to Junctions that might lead me on an unintended route. I then scrible the names of all these towns on a slip of paper which is in the window of my Tank bag and as I approach Town A (called Waypoints by the Techies), I then tell the Zumo to take me to Town B and so on. Never lost, always good.

I just did not want to spend the countless hours on my computer learning and mastering Mapsource. Flame away !!

 

I'm not laughing or flaming. I do the same thing. Added bonus, you can use any computer that's handy, without having to install Garmin's software on it. Added bonus 2: Garmin's software only runs on Windows as far as I can tell. I use Linux. My computer on the road is a little Dell Mini-9, with a small solid state disk, so I don't want to try things like Wine or VirtualBox.

 

I played with the Garmin software for a little while, but I'm too dumb and life is too short.

[hopz]

bheckel...for what ever reason you have either already deleted some stuff you should not have, you are not understanding what I am asking, or you have a very bum unit- perhaps not a new one.

 

In any case, this is not the place to have this conversation.

 

I will send my phone number by PM to you. Call me.

 

For everyone else... do not take this as a typical new zumo owner experience. Tens of thousands of others have received their units and they work correctly right out of the box.