Is my Zumo 550 now a paperweight

[Florida Red Wing]

So I was in the process of updating the maps on my old Zumo 550 which has lifetime maps. It currently has 2021.2 maps on it and now I can't even open them. After I thought I was loading 2023.2 maps to the sd card I put the card in the Zumo and got the message "Maps not unlocked".
Now I have no available maps on this brick. Any ideas what I should try? Or is this an issue for Garmin?

[jfheath]

Garmin should be able to help. Its only a phone call.

[sussamb]

What map files are on the card? You could try using Express to reinstall the map. If that doesn't work Garmin Support should be able to help as it could be as simple as an unlock file missing, if you can post a screenshot showing the files on your sd card we can advise further.

[Florida Red Wing]

Thanks for the replies. Somehow I was able to get the darn thing working again with the older maps that were on the unit.
I've got a ride of several hours planned for today and will again attempt to install updated maps at some time in the future. When that happens I will return here and let you know what the results of that attempt are.
If I fail to succeed I will post the screen shots requested.
Thanks much.
FRW

[Florida Red Wing]

Great news. I was able to get the most recent maps loaded to my Zumo 550 with email help from mother Garmin.

Here are the details leading up to the problem:
1. I own a Zumo 550 and a Zumo XT.
2. The maps on my pc were loaded with the Zumo XT attached.
3. I was trying to use MapInstall to load the new maps on the Zumo 550 from my pc.

Here is the resolution:
1. Remove all maps from the SD card that resides in the Zumo 550.
2. Attach the Zumo 550 to my pc and reload the latest map version to the pc only.
3. Disconnect the Zumo 550 from the pc.
4. Put the SD card from the Zumo 550 in the pc.
5. Use MapInstall to transfer the maps from the pc to the Zumo 550.

So apparently, maps only become unlocked during the download process from Garmin. In other words, if I loaded my pc with maps that were downloaded while the Zumo XT was attached, those maps cannot be unlocked on the Zumo 550. I had to load maps to the pc while the Zumo 550 was attached to the pc in order for them to be unlocked on the Zumo 550.

I hope I explained this well enough that it may help someone in the future.

[MSTOCK27370]

Red Wing.

You should not have to load the maps to your 550 from the Garmin server.

I do just about the same process as you described. But I did not see one thing that I have writtten down...

Copy file GarminDevice.xml to the Garmin folder on the SD card. Remove any maps from the SD card.

I then use MapSource or Mapinstall to load the new maps (previously loaded on the PC) to the SD card.

Yes, loading the maps to the PC with the 550 attached is required to create the unlock file. But, if they are already downloaded to the PC previously, the process if very quick. It doesn't download the maps again, since they are already there. It just creates the unlock file.

[Florida Red Wing]

Red Wing.

You should not have to load the maps to your 550 from the Garmin server.

I do just about the same process as you described. But I did not see one thing that I have writtten down...

Copy file GarminDevice.xml to the Garmin folder on the SD card. Remove any maps from the SD card.

I then use MapSource or Mapinstall to load the new maps (previously loaded on the PC) to the SD card.

Yes, loading the maps to the PC with the 550 attached is required to create the unlock file. But, if they are already downloaded to the PC previously, the process if very quick. It doesn't download the maps again, since they are already there. It just creates the unlock file.

Michael, Maybe I didn't explain myself very well. The maps I had on my pc during the first attempts to transfer from the pc to my Zumo 550 were loaded to my pc while my Zumo XT was connected to it. Hence, they were not unlocked for the Zumo 550.

I had to reload them to the pc while the Zumo 550 was tethered so they would be unlocked on the Zumo 550 when I installed them on it.

In other words, maps loaded to the pc with the Zumo XT tethered are only unlocked for that gps. They will not be unlocked on any other gps.

I did not mention the file GarminDevice.xml has to be on the SD card, but you are correct. It must be there.

I hope this helps clear up any confusion.

[MSTOCK27370]

Red Wing,
0
Yes, that is exactly the process. I have three different Zumo devices and a Nuvi for my car. I download the maps first with my Nuvi LM attached, and then I attach my 450 and load to the PC again, then attach the 550 and load to the PC again, in order to unlock those devices. Then I use Mapinstall to actually load the maps to the Zumo and SD cards.

[Chris_T]

Although this describes exactly my situation, annoyingly I can't get the fix to work.

I have both a Zumo 550 and a Navigator V.

I used the Navigator V to update the maps on both my PC and the Navigator V to City Navigator Europe NTU 2024.1, and this worked perfectly, both BaseCamp and the Navigator V reporting 2024.1

Then I took out the SD card (4Gb) on the Zumo 550 and formatted it in the PC to delete all the maps, then re-inserted it, connected the Zumo 550 to my PC and it started Garmin Express. It listed the map as 2021.2, with the region being UK & Ireland and since I live in the UK, this was a good start, even though an old map, although I was hoping to install the whole of Europe using MapInstall which had worked well in the past.

So I clicked Map Options and got a message saying map update too large to fit on device, and choose a region I also ticked the box at the bottom saying Use map with Garmin BaseCamp, then clicked Continue, believing this would save the map on the PC for use with the Zumo 550 later.

I have tried this several times,and each time it tells me it will finish updating maps in around 35 minutes time, and then later reports an error before the time is up.

I notice that City Navigator Europe NT 2021.2 is now also installed on BaseCamp, so maybe its successful at updating the PC, but only with an old map, and fails to update the Zumo 550, although the Zumo 550 appears to be working fine with and reports that it has CN Europe NT 2021.20 installed.

Any ideas anyone ?

[jfheath]

There is an option to select just a few areas. I would try that to see if that works.