Help installing Garmin City Navigator Update

[Bill_Walker]

This might be a little too far off topic, but I've gotta get help somewhere. Email to Garmin has produced no response.

 

First off, let it be known that I'm a Mac guy. I've used Windows on and off over the years, and used DOS a lot, but I'm no Windows expert. I am a retired software engineer, though.

 

I've got a BMW Navigator II, and I recently bought the V7 update of Garmin's City Navigator North America maps. I've been unsuccessful installing these maps.

 

I'm using an old PC that we used to use for our business (before we got disgusted and switched the business to a Mac, too). It's running Windows 98, and we've long since lost the system disks that came with it.

 

First off, the new update comes on DVD, and the old Windows 98 PC I'm using didn't have a DVD reader in it. I had one lying around that I'd taken out of my Mac, and I threw it in. It seems to work without any device driver updates. I can copy the contents of the DVD to my hard drive, at any rate.

 

When I double click on the DVD, it launches Garmin's installer program. I then click on "Install Updates", I get a little "Preparing for installation" dialog box, that dialog box closes, and the PC locks up solid. No cursor movement, no response to Ctrl-Alt-Delete, nada.

 

When I reboot the PC, I find that my V5 maps have been deleted, but nothing new has been installed.

 

I've tried:

1) Adding more RAM to the PC

2) using msconfig to disable all non-MS startup items.

3) Laboriously deleting all traces of any previous installation (including in the registry), reinstalling V5 & Mapsource from scratch, applying the interim Mapsource updates, and then trying to install V7 again.

 

All of these have produced the same results. My only current guesses are that either I've got a defective DVD or Windows 98 is too old to handle the installer, despite being within Garmin's posted system requirements (i.e., perhaps Mapsource runs fine on Win98, but the V7 CNNA installer requires WinXP or something).

 

Any thoughts from any Windows/Garmin experts out there?

[MattS]

How big is the hard drive? CN7 wants 1.61GB just for the data (excluding pointers, Mapsource, yada yada). A few years ago, in order to even install CN4, I had to retire my Windows 95 machine since it had a hard drive just around that size.

 

Garmin is not friendly to late adopters -- putting this update on DVD has left a few CD-only users out in the cold.

[Bill_Walker]

11 GB free on the hard drive.

[MattS]

That solved that problem.

 

Plan B would be to copy the 121 files from the CNNA7 directory of a successfully-installed machine, copy them to your own, and hack the registry. I was able to pull that one off recently when migrating Topo from an old machine to a new. Relying on Garmin's installers can be a hassle.

[Bill_Walker]

I know just enough about regedit to be dangerous. I figured I was pretty safe just deleting anything that said "Garmin" or "MapSource" on it, but I would have no idea how to add anything.

[MattS]

I know just enough about regedit to be dangerous. I figured I was pretty safe just deleting anything that said "Garmin" or "MapSource" on it, but I would have no idea how to add anything.

I would probably try to get back to a stable v5 installation, and take it from there. You shouldn't need to delete anything, especially as you're dealing with an update disc -- one that won't work without an existing install.

 

Ultimately you'd be adding registry entries, which -- if you're only doing it within the Garmin registries -- won't cause any damage.

[Bill_Walker]

I would probably try to get back to a stable v5 installation, and take it from there.

 

BTDT. See item (3) in the list of things I've tried. I got back to a stable V5 installation.

 

Thanks for your help, BTW!

[Aluminum_Butt]

the PC locks up solid. No cursor movement, no response to Ctrl-Alt-Delete, nada

This usually points to a hardware issue. Something is generating a huge quantity of interrupts and hanging the processor.

 

According to Microsoft ( HERE), Windows 98 will support an ATAPI or SCSI DVD (you almost certainly have one of these), so it doesn't seem like drivers are the likely issue.

 

My guess is that there is something that the BIOS or IDE controller on your motherboard cannot deal with when interfacing with the DVD. Potentially, you could replace the IDE controller for a few bucks, but if you can really copy the entire thing to your hard drive, that's exactly what I'd do, assuming you have the space. Then run the install from there.

 

Honestly, though, you'll be much happier with a new PC. Just trying to load maps and calculate routes will take this machine longer. C'mon, you've got a $1000+ GPS - blow a few bucks on a new e-Machines.

[Bill_Walker]

My guess is that there is something that the BIOS or IDE controller on your motherboard cannot deal with when interfacing with the DVD. Potentially, you could replace the IDE controller for a few bucks, but if you can really copy the entire thing to your hard drive, that's exactly what I'd do, assuming you have the space. Then run the install from there.

 

I forgot to mention that I'd already tried that. Same behavior, so it doesn't seem to be an issue with the DVD drive. Well, I take it back. If we're getting bad data off the DVD, then I'm just copying bad data onto my hard drive.

 

Honestly, though, you'll be much happier with a new PC. Just trying to load maps and calculate routes will take this machine longer. C'mon, you've got a $1000+ GPS - blow a few bucks on a new e-Machines.

 

The GPS came with my used bike. The thought of buying a PC crossed my mind (I can get a Dell reburb for $279), but I'd hate to buy a new Windows PC just for the _one_ application. And I should note that the latest Mapsource was running fine on this computer using the V5 data.

[MattS]

Well, I take it back. If we're getting bad data off the DVD, then I'm just copying bad data onto my hard drive.

I have an *.iso file here:

 

Link (huge)

 

This is an image of known good data (from my own installation DVD). After getting this (I'd suggest a couple of hours in the middle of the night), you'd be on the hook for mounting the image as a virtual CD- or DVD-drive. The download is about 1.3GB.

 

It is not the final image file (requiring registry hacking) ... but rather is an image of the installation DVD, including all of the v7 data. I figure it's legal to share since it requires your unlock code to activate the map data on your end.

[Bill_Walker]

I have an *.iso file here:

 

Link (huge)

 

This is an image of known good data (from my own installation DVD). After getting this (I'd suggest a couple of hours in the middle of the night), you'd be on the hook for mounting the image as a virtual CD- or DVD-drive. The download is about 1.3GB.

 

It is not the final image file (requiring registry hacking) ... but rather is an image of the installation DVD, including all of the v7 data. I figure it's legal to share since it requires your unlock code to activate the map data on your end.

 

You're too cool, Matt!

 

Now I've gotta show what a Windows newbie I am. What's a .iso file, i.e., what do I do with it? From your description, it sounds like the equivalent of a Mac .dmg (disk image) file. If I put it on the Windoze PC, will Win98 know how to open it/mount it, or do I need some other utility?

[MattS]

What's a .iso file, i.e., what do I do with it? From your description, it sounds like the equivalent of a Mac .dmg (disk image) file. If I put it on the Windoze PC, will Win98 know how to open it/mount it, or do I need some other utility?

I guess it is the Windows equivalent of a *.dmg file, but (as with all else Windows) the OS can't handle it. You'll need a free utility and a method particular to your OS, all of which can be found in these search results.

[Bill_Walker]

Was at my bro-in-law's house tonight, and recalled he had an old PC (also a mostly Mac household). His is running XP, though. Tried installing there and was successful, so I guess there's nothing strictly wrong with my DVD. I couldn't figure out the XP equivalent of sysinfo, so I've no idea how much RAM was in the computer, which processor, etc. Has anybody out there installed v7 on a Win98 PC? I'm wondering if the installer dislikes Win98.

[EricJRW]

Might want to try your post over here:

 

http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=86

 

Eric

[riding4work]

Next time stick with Mac and Virtual PC/XP slow but it works.

[Bill_Walker]

Next time stick with Mac and Virtual PC/XP slow but it works.

 

My understanding is that MapSource running on Virtual PC won't talk to USB-connected GPSs. Otherwise I'd be doing just that.

[Bill_Walker]

Might want to try your post over here:

 

http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=86

 

Eric

 

I've searched over there, but nobody else has had this problem that I can find, and I can't post my question because I can't seem to get registered. The confirmation email never reaches me, nor can I find it among emails filtered by my provider's spam-blocker.