• Garmin Nuvi 255w Review

No you don’t have to have either Windows or Mac in order to update your Garmin Nuvi GPS (or Magellan, TomTom, and a few others). And no, you don’t have to pay for updated maps either, even if your GPS is older or unregistered with the company.I did it, and I’m still as technophobic as I ever was. So if this li’l technophobic sidekick can manage it, it’s likely that any of my readers can. I do the FedEx Ground delivery driver thing, and I have an old hand-me-down Garmin Nuvi that I use on my route.

Not for directions, but just as a “rolling map” to tell me where I am and streets are coming up as I travel.The technique I’ll show you here uses OpenStreetMap, a free and open-source collaborative work. Maps are updated much more often than the official Garmin maps. They also show considerably more detail, judging by my Nuvi’s performance today. I’m just going to write about the Garmin GPS because that’s what I have and all I really know. But according to, it also works for some other brands.I navigated to my /home directory and created a new folder named “GarminNuvi.” It has a subfolder called Maps.I connected my Garmin Nuvi to my computer via a USB port and it was automagically mounted, thanks to Thunar’s awesomeness (Thunar is the Xfce file manager in Linux). I then copied the map file, named gmapprom.img, to /home/robin/GarminNuvi/Map. You can do this in the terminal or just open your file manager as root (“sudo thunar” in a terminal window) and move the file from your Garmin to the “Map” subfolder.

This is a safety thing! ALWAYS BACK UP the old map in case something goes wrong! Now you can DELETE gmapprom.img from the Garmin. I renamed this backup file gmapprom-old.img.

If I needed to restore it, I’d give it back it’s original name.Select and download the new maps from It’s easy, just follow the prompts on the screen to select your map by continent, country, state, province, or customize your own. If you customize yours, you’ll need to enter your e-mail address and they’ll notify you when it’s compiled and ready to download. My old map is North America, nearly 3GB in size!

So I selected only my own state for the new map, because that’s really all I need and it’s just a few hundred MB in size. The file you want for the Garmin Nuvi is named osmgenericgmapsupp.zip.Move that file to /Garmin/New and extract it there. 7-zip works, most default 'archivers' work for decompressing zip files. After unzipping it, you'll have a file called gmapsupp.img. For the Garmin, you must rename that file to gmapprom.img. This is your new map!

Copy it back to your Garmin, re-start it, and take it for a test drive.Save a copy of your new gmapprom.img in the /Garmin/New folder as the next backup. When it's time, that can be moved to the Old subfolder.

But until you're sure everything works okay, keep that old one around! I installed the downloaded OSM map in a /Garmin folder on a new 32GB HCSD card, and the map was usable, but the very first time I asked nuvi 205 to navigate using it, there was inadequate coverage of an OLD road. The road was displayed, but the local address number that I entered may have just as well been on the moon. Windows 7. Nuvi would not let me enter an alphanumeric street number (9716B) and suggested that #3800 Rea Road was as far as it could go.

(No, that was not my intended destination.) That’s a Fail. Also, there was no option to enter a zip code. Instead, I had to start spelling C-h-a-r-l-o-t-t-e.lIt surely does lose a few features and I don’t think PpenMaps are nearly as accurate.

This is the second time I have considered deleting this post, for just what you have described.Like. I’ve found that if you want the Garmin (older ones especially) to recognize the SD card, you HAVE to format it FAT32 but do it thru the Nuvi itself. Well yes, it is.

I’ll tell you my experience and see if you can follow what I’m trying to sayI have a old Nuvi 750 that is in my daughter’s Nissan Sentra S. It’s from 2008.

Garmin Nuvi 255w Review

I found new Garmin maps (via torrents) and would try to use the SD card and put in img file gmapsupp on the SD card and the Nuvi wouldn’t see it, until I did this.Install SD or Micro SD card (with adapter, so it will fit) into unit.Plug unit into your Computer (mine is Windows 10 in case your wondering)Now explore your Computer.You will see your Garmin unit. Mine is Nuvi 750And under your unit is a subfolder called Nuvi 750 with a drive letter associated with it. This is your SD card.Right click your SD card and choose properties and format.

Quick Format Fat 32.Now go download your map files and put them in that drive. Make a Garmin folder and the map name has to be gmapsupp.img for the Garmin unit to recognize it as a map file.I hope this helped. I was having a hard time getting the Garmin unit to see the files, until I formatted the SD card via the Nuvi itself.Like.

Lots of ways to do this, depending on what you want. The simplest way is to purchase the map on a pre-loaded data card, plug it into the GPS and you're good to go. The preloaded cards have the advantage of being used any any GPS, if you decide to get a new model one of these days.You can also purchase the map via download or DVD.

You would then install on your own blank memory card. Downside of these is that they will become permanently locked to your 255w and can never be installed on another unit.Either way, there's no reason to remove the NA maps - this is what the card slot is for.Of course, if you want a new unit then it's generally cheaper to buy one with both US and EU maps pre-installed than purchasing the EU maps separately. This would also have the advantage of giving you new US maps.Or you could just purchase a onetime or lifetime US map update for your 255w if you're otherwise satisfied with it. The update will also be permanently locked to your 255w and can't be transferred however.So for starters, think about how happy you are with the 255w and how long you're likely to keep it.