OpenStreetMap User's Diaries
OpenStreetMap and the Garmin nüvi GPS navigator, redux
I have uploaded updates to Github of my personal scripts and style sheets for making Garmin-compatible IMG files out of OSM-origin PBF files (thank you, Geofabrik!), both for Central Asia (all five countries) and for the Russian Federation.
The Russian Federation style sheets render names of highways and POIs in both English and Russian to ease searching on a GPS unit, wherever a name:en
I have uploaded updates to Github of my personal scripts and style sheets for making Garmin-compatible IMG files out of OSM-origin PBF files (thank you, Geofabrik!), both for Central Asia (all five countries) and for the Russian Federation.
The Russian Federation style sheets render names of highways and POIs in both English and Russian to ease searching on a GPS unit, wherever a name:en variable is available. Both sets of style sheets render foreign diplomatic missions as well as various other POIs that for whatever reason other providers of IMG files omit.
I found that generating individual IMG files, each with its own family-id=* number in the mkgmap script, then merging them into a single file using GMapTool, allows the Garmin nüvi to list each map individually in MyMaps, which means they can be selected and deselected individually. Since the gmapsupp.img files can be quite large and thus slow to load (and for the nüvi processor to process, especially for older models) this is very handy. The Russia map is well over 2 gigabytes, and the Central Asia map is about 370 megabytes.
My Wintel desktop has 32Gb of RAM and runs on a 12th Gen Intel Core i9-12900K at 3.20 GHz. It processed the Central Asia maps in about 3 minutes start to finish, and the Russian Federation maps in about 20 minutes. In the script I set splitter to use 4Gb of RAM and mkgmap to use 16Gb. If your box has less RAM you will have to adjust those settings and your scripts will run longer.
I asked Copilot to rate nüvi models for compatibility with mkgmap-generated IMG files. This is the table Copilot returned:
Top‑Tier Models (Best for multi‑GB mkgmap maps)
Model Series
Models Included
IMG Acceptance
Max IMG Size
Routing
Search
UI Speed
nüvi 2xx7 / 2xx8 series
2497, 2597, 2697, 2588, 2598, 2688, 2589, 2599, 2689
Excellent
2–4 GB
Fast
Fast
Fast
nüvi 34xx series
3490
Excellent
1–2 GB
Fast
Fast
Fast
nüvi 35xx series
3590
Excellent
1–2 GB
Fast
Fast
Fast
Mid‑Tier Models (Good for 0.5–1.5 GB maps)
Model Series
Models Included
IMG Acceptance
Max IMG Size
Routing
Search
UI Speed
nüvi 24xx series
2455, 2460, 2475
Very Good
0.5–1.5 GB
Good
Good
Good
nüvi 23xx series
2300, 2350, 2360
Good
0.5–1 GB
Good
Good
Good
nüvi 1690 / 1695
1690, 1695
Good
0.5–1 GB
Good
Moderate
Moderate
nüvi 5000 series
5000
Good
0.5–1 GB
Moderate
Moderate
Moderate
nüvi 7x5 series
755, 765, 775
Good
0.3–0.8 GB
Moderate
Moderate
Moderate
Lower‑Tier (Usable but slow; avoid >500 MB maps)
Model Series
Models Included
IMG Acceptance
Max IMG Size
Routing
Search
UI Speed
nüvi 7x0 series
760, 770
Good
0.3–0.6 GB
Moderate
Slow
Slow
nüvi 22xx series
2200, 2250
Good
0.3–0.8 GB
Moderate
Moderate
Moderate
I have uploaded updates to Github of my personal scripts and style sheets for making Garmin-compatible IMG files out of OSM-origin PBF files (thank you, Geofabrik!), both for Central Asia (all five countries) and for the Russian Federation.
The Russian Federation style sheets render names of highways and POIs in both English and Russian to ease searching on a GPS unit, wherever a name:en
I have uploaded updates to Github of my personal scripts and style sheets for making Garmin-compatible IMG files out of OSM-origin PBF files (thank you, Geofabrik!), both for Central Asia (all five countries) and for the Russian Federation.
The Russian Federation style sheets render names of highways and POIs in both English and Russian to ease searching on a GPS unit, wherever a name:en variable is available. Both sets of style sheets render foreign diplomatic missions as well as various other POIs that for whatever reason other providers of IMG files omit.
I found that generating individual IMG files, each with its own family-id=* number in the mkgmap script, then merging them into a single file using GMapTool, allows the Garmin nüvi to list each map individually in MyMaps, which means they can be selected and deselected individually. Since the gmapsupp.img files can be quite large and thus slow to load (and for the nüvi processor to process, especially for older models) this is very handy. The Russia map is well over 2 gigabytes, and the Central Asia map is about 370 megabytes.
My Wintel desktop has 32Gb of RAM and runs on a 12th Gen Intel Core i9-12900K at 3.20 GHz. It processed the Central Asia maps in about 3 minutes start to finish, and the Russian Federation maps in about 20 minutes. In the script I set splitter to use 4Gb of RAM and mkgmap to use 16Gb. If your box has less RAM you will have to adjust those settings and your scripts will run longer.
I asked Copilot to rate nüvi models for compatibility with mkgmap-generated IMG files. This is the table Copilot returned:
| Top‑Tier Models (Best for multi‑GB mkgmap maps) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Model Series | Models Included | IMG Acceptance | Max IMG Size | Routing | Search | UI Speed |
| nüvi 2xx7 / 2xx8 series | 2497, 2597, 2697, 2588, 2598, 2688, 2589, 2599, 2689 | Excellent | 2–4 GB | Fast | Fast | Fast |
| nüvi 34xx series | 3490 | Excellent | 1–2 GB | Fast | Fast | Fast |
| nüvi 35xx series | 3590 | Excellent | 1–2 GB | Fast | Fast | Fast |
| Mid‑Tier Models (Good for 0.5–1.5 GB maps) | ||||||
| Model Series | Models Included | IMG Acceptance | Max IMG Size | Routing | Search | UI Speed |
| nüvi 24xx series | 2455, 2460, 2475 | Very Good | 0.5–1.5 GB | Good | Good | Good |
| nüvi 23xx series | 2300, 2350, 2360 | Good | 0.5–1 GB | Good | Good | Good |
| nüvi 1690 / 1695 | 1690, 1695 | Good | 0.5–1 GB | Good | Moderate | Moderate |
| nüvi 5000 series | 5000 | Good | 0.5–1 GB | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate |
| nüvi 7x5 series | 755, 765, 775 | Good | 0.3–0.8 GB | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate |
| Lower‑Tier (Usable but slow; avoid >500 MB maps) | ||||||
| Model Series | Models Included | IMG Acceptance | Max IMG Size | Routing | Search | UI Speed |
| nüvi 7x0 series | 760, 770 | Good | 0.3–0.6 GB | Moderate | Slow | Slow |
| nüvi 22xx series | 2200, 2250 | Good | 0.3–0.8 GB | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate |
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