OpenStreetMap Forum

francoiste

Member

Registered: 2011-08-17

Posts: 2

OSM to JOSM to mkgmap to garmin streetpilot c550 ?

hello forum,

first of all: i'm an IT professional. but i'm an absolute beginner to OSM and related topics.
after searching the web for several days and trying out various guides i still have not been successfull.
so i thought i'll just tell my story.

question:
how to create routable maps from OSM and copy onto my garmin streetpilot c550?

details:
i'm running the streetpilot c550 that has the maps of "city navigator europe nt v9" installed.
i'll be attending a wedding in greece and discoverd that my current maps have an extremely poor coverage of that area.
i'll be travelling there for three days only. so that's why i thought:
- i won't bother purchasing any additional maps
- this is a good opportunity to try out OSM

note:
i'll need the maps for "car navigation" and "address search", only.
maybe some POI would be nice, too.

so this is what i have tried so far:

1) JOSM 4279
i installed JOSM and downloaded the maps around the thessaloniki area.
i soon encountered the size restriction of any OSM xml-download (something like 1.5 MB ?).
so i went throuh countless iterations, downloading selected regions one by one.
i'm now seeing some massive yellow wireframe in JOSM.
finally i saved the results as "saloniki.osm" with 100 MB in size.

2) mkgmap r1995
i then used mkgmap trying to convert the *.osm into some native *.img that is compatible with garmin devices.
basically i was trying the various instructions from this site: http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Mkgmap

however, whatever i tried:
the 100 MB *.osm always got converted / copied to some *.img with 75 KB in size, only.
i really doubt there would be some useful information in a file that small?

3) copy to garmin
i learned that for certain garmin devices there can be only one single file "gmapsupp.img" in the subfolder "Garmin".
in such a case it's required to either replace / overwrite the initial *.img or to "merge" multiple img files into a single file.
after a few tests i concluded to better not touch or replace the initial img file.
i decided to put my new map file onto some SD-card that i'll insert into the streetpilot.

by now i have managed to place it onto the SD-card and the streetpilot will also list it when going to the system settings and then clicking on the "map info".
and yes, i made sure there is a checkmark at both boxes: the initial city navigator and also my custom map.

however, when doing the "map browsing" it's still not showing all the details i downloaded through JOSM.
it's not even showing the roads i was able to see in JOSM wireframe view.
here's an example of that area: http://maps.google.de/maps?q=40.268835, … src=6&z=15

any advice is highly appreciated

thanks in advance, francois

Last edited by francoiste (2011-08-18 20:36:22)

Seldom

Member

Registered: 2009-01-25

Posts: 193

Re: OSM to JOSM to mkgmap to garmin streetpilot c550 ?

If you want to load larger quantities of data you can do it from one of the sources listed here: http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Planet.osm

How did you create the gmapsupp.IMG file?

Were you able to install the map into a Garmin map viewer like BaseCamp or MapSource?

Did you see any detail at all on the StreetPilot?  Can you post a screenshot of what you were showing?

WanMil

Member

Registered: 2009-04-09

Posts: 109

Re: OSM to JOSM to mkgmap to garmin streetpilot c550 ?

Please read the mkgmap "How To": http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Mkgm … eate_a_map.
This should enable you to compile a first map.

WanMil

francoiste

Member

Registered: 2011-08-17

Posts: 2

Re: OSM to JOSM to mkgmap to garmin streetpilot c550 ?

thanks for your advice so far.
sorry to say: i gave up for now.

time was running out. so i checked the coverage of the most recent garmin maps available for purchase: it has been improved and extended a lot!
i went for the nüvi lifetime subscription available for a one time payment of 100 EUR.
the most recent maps (2012.20) have all the details i was missing before.

i may resume "playing around" with OSM some time later.

thanks, francois