New to XT. How do I .....

Andy B

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Lovin' it - sort of! Grappling with the crap Garmin Express and Basecamp issues for Macs but seem to be getting around the problems somehow. Not new to Garmin by any means - had one of the first 550 Zumo's followed by 660 and Nav 5 so I reckon I have a fair amount of knowledge when it comes to Garmin!

So the problem I'd like to solve - can I get the maps off the XT and into Basecamp? The unit tends to stay on the bike in the garage and in the past whenever I've had a map update I've set it to download to both unit and Mac. I can't see an option to do this anymore in Garmin Express. Is that right?
 
I tried
I don’t think you can put the maps on Basecamp - straight from the unit
I have a Zumo car unit too, which when I update it I will put the maps onto the PC and Basecamp and see how that works
 
Yes, you can now. Use Garmin Express and select download to computer. CityNav maps only, can’t add the Topo maps. But they are pretty useless anyway in the UK


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
This might be at a tangent, but you don't need to if you don't use Basecamp.

I mainly use MyRouteApp on my Mac for route planning. This gives me access to Tomtom, Garmin and OpenStreetMap options with terrain, satellite and street layers, all accessible from any device you own, cloud synced and an easy wireless import of routes to your XT.

That said, I did import the XT maps into Basecamp on my Mac, but it was a bit of a faff. Although Basecamp does work well, I just find it easier to use more recent alternatives.
 
Sorry to continue the "tangent", but how do you wirelessly transfer routes from your Mac to the XT? I have tried this several times, but cannot get the routes to transfer correctly. Instead, I have taken to using my iPhone to send routes from MyRoute app to the XT.

This might be at a tangent, but you don't need to if you don't use Basecamp.

I mainly use MyRouteApp on my Mac for route planning. This gives me access to Tomtom, Garmin and OpenStreetMap options with terrain, satellite and street layers, all accessible from any device you own, cloud synced and an easy wireless import of routes to your XT.

That said, I did import the XT maps into Basecamp on my Mac, but it was a bit of a faff. Although Basecamp does work well, I just find it easier to use more recent alternatives.
 
If by wirelessly, you mean Bluetooth, I don’t think you can Bluetooth from a Mac (or a pc) directly to any Garmin device.
 
If by wirelessly, you mean Bluetooth, I don’t think you can Bluetooth from a Mac (or a pc) directly to any Garmin device.


I think what he is saying is that he creates a route in MyRoute in his PC. He then uploads the MyMap route to some or other cloud based storage area. From there he gets it into his XT device.
 
I think what he is saying is that he creates a route in MyRoute in his PC. He then uploads the MyMap route to some or other cloud based storage area. From there he gets it into his XT device.

Sorry for the slow reply. But.....what I do is this:

Create route in MyRouteApp on my Mac. This automatically and seamlessly syncs to MyRouteApp on phone or tablet. (Although sometimes I will create routes on the tablet, and less often on the phone).

Then I go to my MyRouteApp on the phone or tablet, select the route and send it to Garmin Drive, which then sends it to the XP as both a route and track by bluetooth.

This seems to work well and I use MyRouteApp as my main route storage library because it's easy to create, edit and organise routes in, has good functionality and is easy to import .gpx files into. It's nice to have all of my routes accessible from Mac, phone and tablet and automatically synched so changes on any device are replicated pretty much instantly. Then it's a matter of seconds to use Garmin Drive to shoot one over to the XT via bluetooth.
 
Sorry for the slow reply. But.....what I do is this:

Create route in MyRouteApp on my Mac. This automatically and seamlessly syncs to MyRouteApp on phone or tablet. (Although sometimes I will create routes on the tablet, and less often on the phone).

Then I go to my MyRouteApp on the phone or tablet, select the route and send it to Garmin Drive, which then sends it to the XP as both a route and track by bluetooth.

This seems to work well and I use MyRouteApp as my main route storage library because it's easy to create, edit and organise routes in, has good functionality and is easy to import .gpx files into. It's nice to have all of my routes accessible from Mac, phone and tablet and automatically synched so changes on any device are replicated pretty much instantly. Then it's a matter of seconds to use Garmin Drive to shoot one over to the XT via bluetooth.

How do you do the stage I have highlighted in red? Can you show / tell it with screenshots, please.

What type of smart phone are you using? Android or Apple?

I ask in as much as I just cannot get a Google My Map route into the Garmin Drive app using my iPhone or my iPad. Other people have done it using an Android phone, no problem.

Thank you.

Richard
 
So the problem I'd like to solve - can I get the maps off the XT and into Basecamp?

See this: virtualdevice and use ImDisk for MAC: imdisk

I don't know about MAC version, but in the Windows ImDisk you can make an SD card into a virtual disk or just make one on your hard drive.
Copy the .img files to the VD using the correct directory structure.
 
How do you do the stage I have highlighted in red? Can you show / tell it with screenshots, please.

What type of smart phone are you using? Android or Apple?

I ask in as much as I just cannot get a Google My Map route into the Garmin Drive app using my iPhone or my iPad. Other people have done it using an Android phone, no problem.

Thank you.

Richard

OK - here we go....this is using an iPhone:

In MyRouteApp, simply select the route you want from the route library:

IMG_0228-X2.png


It will open up:

IMG_0229-X2.png


Then click the "Page Menu" button at the top right, which will give you a list of options:

IMG_0230-X2.png


Select "Save as", which will give you a dropdown of formats. I use ".gpx 1.1" (side note, ".gpx 1.2" is apparently optimised for Garmin, and I have used that as well, but don't really notice any difference):

IMG_0231-X2.png


Select your chosen format and you should see a list of output options (bottom half of screen). In this case, I select "Drive":

IMG_0232-X2.png


Then....it will automatically fire up Garmin Drive, which says:

IMG_0234-X2.png


Click "Send" and....

IMG_0235-X2.png


IMG_0236-X2.jpg


I hope this is somewhat helpful!
 
Thank you.

I have never been a big fan of MyRoute but now that I have an XT, it’ll maybe be making a more regular appearance, not least as it should drop into the BMW Connected app as well.
 
Thank you.

I have never been a big fan of MyRoute but now that I have an XT, it’ll maybe be making a more regular appearance, not least as it should drop into the BMW Connected app as well.

You're welcome. I didn't really like MRA at first either, but they have been constantly tweaking and adding to it over the years and it is really quite sophisticated now (especially the paid version). It's worth watching some of the tutorials they have for some of the more advanced things it can do. Things like comparing Tom Tom, Garmin and OSM routes and using Google satellite imagery and street view to get a precise picture of things.
 
I signed up for the Gold / lifetime version years ago, but never really tried it out properly, not least as I always got on with and understood MapSource and then BaseCamp really well. The downside was that neither of these would run on an iPad but I just put up with that.

With the new BMW Connected and the Garmin Drive apps, I can see much more of a value in good quality software like MyRoute, despite my reluctance to mix softwares together if I can avoid it.

Using your easy to follow ‘How to do it’ instruction I very quickly created a quite complicated test route, all on my iPad. I then exported it straight into the BMW Connected app on my iPad, from where it has synced in seconds to the Connected app on my phone. All seems to be perfect.

9aceb25cbc8f5e3e9c12cee7286f150b.jpg



I’ll now try to ping it across to the Garmin Drive app on my phone, too……

BINGO!…..

bd481f6a6125d1931bfcbc8ca779d3ec.jpg


e4d9709b9782cd3e38f86b4e94c3186d.jpg


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b7126dbd030f10b4de5e22f9d408074d.jpg


5e7c3b1ab8ee3825669f4743dec19aec.jpg


8712e914535764b0c33761356aeb2d9f.jpg


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All done in seconds, following your simple instructions. Thank you, again.

Richard
 
I have played around a bit more in MyRoute on my iPad, creating routes and amending them, just for fun and practice. It really does work quite well and will certainly be good enough to create routes on the fly, without the need to take my MacBook and BaseCamp with me on jaunts.
 
See this: virtualdevice and use ImDisk for MAC: imdisk

I don't know about MAC version, but in the Windows ImDisk you can make an SD card into a virtual disk or just make one on your hard drive.
Copy the .img files to the VD using the correct directory structure.

You can install the City Navigator maps onto Basecamp on your Mac or PC using Garmin Express.

Plug the XT, or any Garmin device with lifetime maps, then select the install to computer option.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Thanks for that excellent tutorial and screenshots.

With the integration now possible between ipad/iphone/gps I have the excuse I need to upgrade from my Zumo 660 to an XT.

I'm in no rush so I may wait until Black Friday in November in the hope of a bargain.
 
The XT is currently on offer at £349.99 at the Visor shop & the Sportsbike shop, may be of interest to you - as long as my post does not get deleted again! Ah, I see that my post was moved to the bargain / offers section, but it was aimed at 'Pumeister' hence posting here!
 


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