Nuvi 5000 Directory Structure

schmidklaus

GPS: Garmin Nuvi 5000 & Nuvi 1350T

Re: Nuvi 5000 Directory Structure

pknispel wrote:

I am looking for some guidance on how the POI directory structure works with a Nuvi 5000. I am trying to understand what files go into which directory?

Also do you need to use the Gamin POI Loader software to load GPI and GPX files or can I just manually cut and paste them to the Garmin/POI directory? Crying or Very sad

I would stick with POI loader - there is no reason not to use it and it provides some assurance the POIs are in the correct format.

As far as the directory structure goes, I've experimented with my Nuvi 5000 and found it quite flexible and forgiving. At one point, I moved everything from the built-in memory to a 16 GB SD card plugged into the card slot. (Don't try this without copying the entire file structure to a back-up hard drive first). Afterwards, all basic functions still worked EXCEPT that I had lost all the extra voices and vehicles I had installed. The Help feature was also gone. By the way, if you boot up the 5000 without an SD card and with the internal "drive" empty, the operating system will recreate a \Garmin folder with subfolders ..\Demo, ..\GPX, ..\Voice, ..\RemoteSW - that implies these need to be there on the internal.

I verified the following: There must be a \Garmin folder off the "root" of the internal "drive". Within this folder you need a minimum of a ..\Voice folder for additional voices, a ..\Vehicle folder for the extra vehicles, the ..\Help folder and contents supplied with the unit. The maps that came with the unit should be on the internal "drive" under \Garmin, but almost everything else can be on the SD card (16 GB Max).

Media files are in a \Media folder on either "drive". There will be a subfolder ..\audible for sound files and ..\JPEG for pictures.

That's as far as I got, but you can experiment yourself to your heart's content if you have made a backup of the complete original file structure. Then, if something goes wrong, you can always delete everything on the internal "drive" and copy back your backup. It also helps with experimentation if you have the Garmin 5000 AC power supply or a generic 110v AC to 12v DC car "lighter" adapter so you can operate the unit in the house beside your computer after you've played with the file structure.

schmidklaus

GPS: Garmin Nuvi 5000 & Nuvi 1350T

Re: Nuvi 5000 Directory Structure

schmidklaus wrote:

pknispel wrote:

I would stick with POI loader - there is no reason not to use it and it provides some assurance the POIs are in the correct format.

As far as the directory structure goes, ........

Further to my last answer: You definitely cannot just copy the POI files to your Nuvi. You must use POILoader - it will combine all your various POI .gpx and/or .csv files (or the ones you select) into one poi.gpi filewhich it will download into the appropriate directory on the Garmin.

If you want to explore more and learn more about the file structure and file extensions, I suggest you download XML Notepad 2007 from the Microsoft download site and then use it to open \garmin\GarminDevice.xml on your Nuvi 5000. There is a lot of data concerning your GPS unit in that file and the Microsoft XML Notepad makes it really easy to view.

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