Garmin Zumo 665LM map help

[Mike Brooke]

Looking for some help here with an older Garmin 665. I currently have this unit loaded with an older version of a US 48 state base map because Garmin‘s current maps are larger than the internal hard drive. The 665 has a 8gig capacity microSD card but according to Garmin‘s website it isn’t compatible with loading maps to the SD card.

What I would like to do ideally is have a US 49 state map including Canada loaded somehow. I’d take an outdated map over a smaller region. I believe you can load maps from Basecamp or their MapInstall software instead of using Garmin Express but was not sure if that would help. I can’t seem to find older maps available through Garmin. Curious if anyone has a workaround to either use the SD card somehow or use a different map to get this region installed on this older device. Any help is much appreciated!

 

[BigLew55]

Lower 48 should be fine...

 

[c10]

Mike may I ask why not upgrade to a better or newer unit ? I gave up on Garmin completely and GPS overall , but I know you Rally competitors
need these items that always fail at the worst time .

Also off point doesn't LM mean life time maps ?

 

[c10]

I know this won't go far but Id ask Garmin to upgrade 665 for lack of LM capability

 

[Greg Rice]

Hi Mike, I had some 660 and 665 Garmin’s and I always thought that you could store maps on to a SD card.

I found this on a webpage that says Garmin Express should prompt you to use a SD card for map installs.


If we want to fit all the maps, we need to use a micro-SD card to expand memory capacity - in fact, the Garmin Express application prompts us to use a micro-SD card if we want to download all the available map regions.

Here is the link. It mostly mentions the 660 but was the same for 665.

https://www.st-owners.com/forums/th...rmance-of-garmin-zumo-660-665-devices.168924/

I hope this helps

 

[Mike Brooke]

Thanks Greg! I'm going to see if I can load a current map to the SD card first. I saw this on Garmins website and assumed that wasn't a option.

Hi Mike, I had some 660 and 665 Garmin’s and I always thought that you could store maps on to a SD card.

I found this on a webpage that says Garmin Express should prompt you to use a SD card for map installs.


If we want to fit all the maps, we need to use a micro-SD card to expand memory capacity - in fact, the Garmin Express application prompts us to use a micro-SD card if we want to download all the available map regions.

Here is the link. It mostly mentions the 660 but was the same for 665.

https://www.st-owners.com/forums/th...rmance-of-garmin-zumo-660-665-devices.168924/

I hope this helps

 

[Greg Rice]

Thanks Greg! I'm going to see if I can load a current map to the SD card first. I saw this on Garmins website and assumed that wasn't a option.
View attachment 9842

M

Mike, one thing that I found out was that not all SD cards work well with Garmin GPS’s. I remember having to try a few to find one that was compatible with the Garmin.

 

[Firstpeke]

My experience was that the unit did an update which removed my European maps and gave me western Europe inc GB am Ireland.... when queried it became apparent that the unit was basically no longer supported and even having removed ALL non required files there still wasn't going to be enough room to install what I originally had, not sure how that came about but hey.....
I tried everything to get the maps on, but failed.

Apparently Lifetime Maps is only relevant whilst a unit is "supported"....

I bought a new ZumoXT which was the best option, however, I do think Garmin sold me on Lifetime Maps without being too honest about their interpretation of Lifetime....

 

[Russ Black]

Mike, one thing that I found out was that not all SD cards work well with Garmin GPS’s. I remember having to try a few to find one that was compatible with the Garmin.

I use 4 different "Discontinued" LM models and experinced this myself. I found that using the smaller 4GB and 8GB class 4 ones work well. They all have the current US maps installed. I update them every quarter using Garmin Express when the new maps are available.

 

[Mike Brooke]

I use 4 different "Discontinued" LM models and experinced this myself. I found that using the smaller 4GB and 8GB class 4 ones work well. They all have the current US maps installed. I update them every quarter using Garmin Express when the new maps are available.

Thanks for the info about using a smaller SD card. When I have time tonight I’m going to try to load to the SD card through Garmin Express.

 

[Mike Brooke]

My experience was that the unit did an update which removed my European maps and gave me western Europe inc GB am Ireland.... when queried it became apparent that the unit was basically no longer supported and even having removed ALL non required files there still wasn't going to be enough room to install what I originally had, not sure how that came about but hey.....
I tried everything to get the maps on, but failed.

Apparently Lifetime Maps is only relevant whilst a unit is "supported"....

I bought a new ZumoXT which was the best option, however, I do think Garmin sold me on Lifetime Maps without being too honest about their interpretation of Lifetime....

This is similar to the situation I encountered last time I tried to update maps on this device A few years back. The region I could fit on the internal storage got smaller and smaller until I couldn’t load anything. I don’t honestly remember what I did to get the outdated map of the lower 48 back on this device but I haven’t wanted to mess with what has worked since. I do have a newer XT where this isn’t a issue but I’m not ready to ditch this 665 because it just gives more accurate ETAs for how I use it.

 

[Firstpeke]

Annoyingly, when I fitted the 665 to my then RT it worked, but became very, very dull.... I bought a new BMW NAV 6 which I used once as my back up with the XT as primary, but the 665 became so dark it was retired.... the mapping was useless to me by that time anyway.

I traded the RT in so now have a spare navigator which will have to go as I don't use it! My backup is now Apple Car play via my NT1100 TFT panel, buy only if needed as the connection eats my Sena battery too quickly.

 

[rneal55555]

Been awhile since I've done it (a month or so before the last IBR) but as I remember I was able to load the complete North America Mapset on my 665 from Basecamp by putting a portion on the installed Memory and the rest on the SD Card. Give me a little bit and I'll try to recreate how I did it.

 

[rneal55555]

OK here is what I did I connected to the 665 with Garmin Express and it prompted me for a couple updates Tine Zones, some traffic thing and a 2024.1 map vice the 2022.1 it was running. I did the time zone an traffic updates individually once done I ran the map update however I opened the "Installation Options" and installed to computer only. After the map update was complete I reopened Basecamp and made sure the new map was selected. I the maps tab there is an option to install maps to zumo665.... I selected that and got a pop up on the pop up it should show you device, that is actually a button and if you click it it allows you to select the installed SD card. Click next (I think) and you'll get a screen that allows you to select the individual map sections that you want as you select it has a bar the shows the space you have left, Mine started this tome with 4 GB but i think that was because it had the old map on it. With 4 GB I was able to get all 49 States and the southern provinces of Canada. I may try again some other time formatting the SD first to see in it frees up all 8GB on the card, The 660 series has a stated 8 GB max card limit a bigger one might work but I've never tried. It looks as though the update to the card takes around an hour mines still running I let you know if it doesn't work. If you have questions or want to walk through it give me a call (603-833-5811) we can figure out a time so we can both sit down at a computer with the device hooked up and walk thru it.

 

[rneal55555]

PS looks like on hour was optimistic after that hour it appears there is another hour to actually copy it to the card.

 

[rneal55555]

It works I did have to go into "tools/settings/map/map info" on the device and deselect/select the maps I wanted. Created a 3100+ mile route in using the Point of Interest to select the start/Finish and a couple waypoints

 

[Mike Brooke]

It works I did have to go into "tools/settings/map/map info" on the device and deselect/select the maps I wanted. Created a 3100+ mile route in using the Point of Interest to select the start/Finish and a couple waypoints

Woah! Russ, thanks man! I hope this works on mine, when I have time tonight I’m going to go through your process. I’ve tried a few things so far with no luck. The forum Greg linked was very informative and led me to a few other forums and further down the spiral of reading nearly the entire Internet… I had pretty much came to the conclusion that the 665 could not do what I need without sending it out to have more internal storage installed.

 

[Greg Rice]

Mike, hopefully it can be done.

After reading back through the messages while flying back home from Australia I seem to remember that the 665 can only take up to a 8 gig card.

 

[Mike Brooke]

Huge thanks everyone! I think I’ve got it loaded with the maps I want. In the end Garmin says it doesn’t support maps on the SD card unsung the 665 and Garmin Connect indeed won’t allow it. But like Russ showed you can download the maps you need to your computer then install to a SD card using Basecamp. The 665 does recognize the maps on the SD card and seems to route correctly. I had to go into the internal hard drives system files and manually remove the old outdated maps. I’m sure having the maps on the internal hard drive would be ideal but with only a little over 3 gigs total available it’s just not an option.