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Garmin Mapping on a MAC


Kinsley

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I just purchased a new iMac and was wondering if Garmin's RoadTrip software works as well on the MAC as MapSource does on a Windows PC?

 

Could MapSource be loaded onto the dual core processor MAC with good results?

 

And finally, will any of that make a difference if I email routes to my friends...in the end, is there a file difference?

 

Thanks in advance,

Ken

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Ken:

 

Download BaseCamp, Garmin has put a lot more effort into that software and it runs very smoothly. RoadTrip is very buggy and slow, I would avoid it if I were you.

 

Wayne

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I do not know about the Mac program, but you should be able to save the file in a .gpx format. Then you can share the file across different type of GPS devices and platforms. You are welcome to try it by sending a file to me.

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I spent a bunch of time with Garmin technical support in the last few weeks. I would design a route on my Mac using RoadTrip and it would not load into the my Zumo 660. The final conclusion from Garmin was to abandon Roadtrip (which has not been upgraded since 2008) and use BaseCamp for my mapping. BaseCamp works fine.

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Interesting. I am able to use both roadtrip and basecamp on my one year old Imac and my four year old Macbook, transferring to the Zummo pretty easily. The only real issue I have had is that the Zummo 550 can not take the most recent upgraded maps in toto.

 

 

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This is all very interesting. I just started dabbling with Garmin on line looking for software that would let me lay out routes and download them onto my GPS, a basic Garmin 350 machine. Over the weekend I downloaded Basemap but couldn't get it to show anything other than major roads. Today I was able to plug the gps unit into my iMac and still no change. I phoned support at Garmin and they told me, get this, that Basemap wasn't intended to download routes etc. to a Garmin gps which is contrary to their description of Base Map. They then told me to use Road Trip as it was designed to download routes to the gps. Well, I downloaded Road Trip and same thing - only major roads showing. Yikes.

 

I think the quality of personnel at their call centre is somewhat lacking.

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Always ask for a Mac specialist when consulting with Garmin about their software. And RoadTrip always worked for me until I started downloading the new maps that are provided with my nuMaps lifetime purchase. It seems that the old RoadTrip does not work well with the new maps.

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Also check your preferences in the program. If the view is set to Lower instead of Higher in the map detail setting window you will not see the smaller roads. When looking for the smallest of roads, zoom in to 1 mile or less.

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They then told me to use Road Trip as it was designed to download routes to the gps. Well, I downloaded Road Trip and same thing - only major roads showing. Yikes

 

If you're only seeing major roads, then for whatever reason, the software isn't recognizing the additional maps installed on your computer. You may want to approach this from a different angle and see what you need to do to have the software recognize the additional maps, which should be located here:

 

/Users//Library/Application Support/Garmin/Maps/

 

I would first make sure the maps are there. There are also a few .plist files in the preferences folder:

 

/Users//Library/Preferences/

 

here is what is in mine:

 

www8.garmin.com/

com.garmin.RoadTrip.plist

com.garmin.PoiLoader.plist

com.garmin.MapManager.plist

com.garmin.MapInstall.plist

com.garmin.MacErrorReporter.plist

com.garmin.GarminMapUpdate.plist

com.garmin.GarminGpsControl.plist

com.garmin.Bobcat.plist

com.garmin.BaseCamp.plist

#www8.garmin.com/

 

It could be as easy as removing the .plist files related to the application and restarting. But, once you've verified the maps exist on your computer, I would call Garmin again and see what they recommend to get the software to see your maps again. My guess is that once you do this, you'll be able to download routes to your GPS again.

 

Wayne

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