Zumo User Forums

My UK market XT was damaged at the start of my USA cross country trip and I've had to buy a new XT to continue with the trip but this one, bought in the US, obviously has USA mapping installed and different firmware to my UK XT,
The mapping is not a problem as I'll obtain UK & Europe mapping when I get back to the UK but I would like to change the firmware on the US market XT to UK/European firmware if that is possible.
Is this firmware swap possible and if so where do I get the UK/European firmware files?

What is different about it?

You can configure the language and the locale, and that changes what some things are called on the menus. Ive never seen anyone from USA indicate that a different version is required from the one that we download in the UK. There are also facilities to change the text for languages that read right to left - not that that is required, but if they had different XTs for different countries, that would not be necessary.

Unless there is something different about the devices other than the system software?

Im happy to be proved wrong though. And would like to know, if I am !

I believe the firmware is the same worldwide. However, the "lifetime" maps are tied to the sales region and Garmin reportedly will not change that region.

An XT bought in North America has "lifetime" maps for Canada, U.S. and Mexico. Downloaded or SDcard maps for other areas are available for about $100 but they do not update. Using OSM maps for Europe would be another option. Or possibly sell the XT in the US before returning home.

U.S. members of another forum thought they found good deals on the XT from a German website and were rather dismayed to find that their "savings" were wiped out by the cost of adding a U.S. map, without updates.

I've changed firmware on my old 590/595 but even with a change in 590 firmware (downloaded from a European site), I never had a choice of maps. CNNT NA was the only map available for update.

jfheath wrote: ↑Sat Aug 31, 2024 10:58 pm What is different about it?

You can configure the language and the locale, and that changes what some things are called on the menus.

Yes I've been through it and got it setup how I want but there's just a couple of things I can't change.
1) There are no english voices and as much as I like the American accent it would be nice to have the English voices as on my old XT.
2) The temperature readout is in Fahrenheit and there is no way to change it.

Tap the speed indicator on the map to see the trip computer page, hold on the speed for 10 seconds to reach the diagnostics page, tap Configuration and Settings, Change Locale, select United Kingdom, and Save. The XT will reboot. That should provide distances in miles and temperatures in Celsius degrees.

I thought that would also allow for British voices, but I'm not seeing that option. I may have deleted those files previously, but all is not lost...

You can add languages and voices using Garmin Express. With the XT connected via USB, select Tools & Content in Express, then Utilities, Optional Updates, Language Files, check the "English" box and scroll down to Install. When complete, disconnect and restart the XT. Go to Settings, Language & Keyboard, Voice Language, where you can choose from 14 American, Australian, British, and Indian voices.

That's great info, thank you