The voice name comes from the firmware. If you open the RGN or GCD firmware file with a Hex Editor you will see those names. Search as Unicode with 00 character between the bytes.
I'm struggling with trying to make a voice name appear in my Garmin Nuvi 270 (NonTTS Device)
I've read the thread which includes a post by turboccc which states.....
The voice name is in the language ID byte inside the non-TTS VPM file. Renaming the VPM will not make the voice appear as that name. Instead, the language ID byte inside the VPM will tell the GPS what name should appear in the Voice menu.
I've also looked at the Language Byte (18 or hex 12) which determines the different languages.
I've tried changing the Language Byte of say Cartman to 01 which then makes it appear in the voice
menu on the Nuvi as "Deutsch".
Since turboccc says that the name is also determined by this byte, how does the Nuvi recognise
(AND DISPLAY) the name of voices downloaded from the Garmin website?
The info does NOT appear to be in the vpm file and I can only assume that there is some lookup table on the
Nuvi, which I am unable to find.
The Language Bytes I've checked are as follows:
00 -English-American
0E -English-British
01 -Deutsch
03 -Italiano
05 -Svenska
8C -Dr Nightmare
0E -Yeti
and even more significantly
2F -A vpm file which I made using Garmin's Voice Studio of my own voice AND my own name.
This appears on the Nuvi with my name and voice.
Where does the Displayed Name come from in the Nuvi?
The voice name comes from the firmware. If you open the RGN or GCD firmware file with a Hex Editor you will see those names. Search as Unicode with 00 character between the bytes.
Thanks for that turbo.
I've found the 'normal' names in the GUPDATE.GCD file but the voices added from the Garmin website like
"Dr Nightmare", "Yeti" and my own name are nowhere to be found but ARE displayed.
Ahhh! Those are different. Those VPM are encrypted non-TTS voices. The voice name is encrypted in the VPM. This is why there is no Language ID byte at offset 18 (dec). You could rename the VPM and still have the same name. One day, I will release the decrypter for those voices.
Thanks again turbo. You could see where I was going with this...
I look forward to the decrypter.........one day.
I've now found the encrypted name now in the vpm file...it's between hex 0080 and 011F.
Meanwhile.......
At the moment I've got the Pierre Pissant voice as my Deutsch voice. If I wanted to
edit the GUPDATE.GCD file so that "Deutsch" displays as "Pierre" on the Nuvi which
entry or entries of D.e.u.t.s.c.h would I change to do this?
It seems to be in the file 8 times.
Last edited by Channelman; 12th July 2011 at 12:28 PM.
Don't just search for Deutsch, but for Deutsch and the voice name. There should be only one or 2 occurrences. Note: Changing the firmware everytime you want to change a voice is a pain. It is fun for educational purposes though.
About the encrypted voice: very good! How did you find the encrypted name address? Did you use Voice Creator? This is how I did it. BTW, I can now decrypt all the sound files. I am just missing a byte here and there in the header and this affects (among other things) my ability to generate the full header.
I used Garmins Voice Studio and uploaded the same voice to my Nuvi twice using two different names. Then I
looked at the two vpm files created on the Nuvi noting where they were different.
I did notice the voice name. For instance 'Emily' for the English_British name. These names DON'T get displayed,
just the country language and I don't know why they are there.
UPDATE:
I've replaced EVERY incidence of Deutsch and D.e.u.t.s.c.h in GUPDATE.GCD (and every other file with it in).
But still the word 'Deutsch' appears in the Voice Language Menu on the Nuvi.
I can only conclude that the word is in the file but encrypted.
Last edited by Channelman; 12th July 2011 at 11:28 PM.
There are 10 types of people in the world.....those who understand binary and those who don't.
@Channelman,
1- My mistake. Your Deutsh voice is non-TTS. Hence there is no name attached. I am surprised you replaced all the D.e.u.t.s.c.h. and it does not work. Have you looked also for Deutsh (regular string)?
2- What is your GPS model?
3- Did you update using GUPDATE.GCD or you converted to .RGN file? The GUPDATE.GCD will not update if you didn't change the version number. You have to go back first using an older version of GUPDATE.GCD then re-update using the modified one. With the .RGN file, you can simply use the updater.exe from garmin while in pre-boot/service mode. I think this explains why it didn't work for you. Convert your GUPDATE.GCD using RGN_Tool and try again.
Turbo
Thanks for your help again Turbo....
My unit is the Nuvi 270.
Yes, I changed all instances......D.e.u.t.s.c.h.....and.......Deutsch in GUPDATE.GCD
I didn't convert the file to a .RGN but when I check it by loading it back from the Nuvi to the hex editor it appears to have changed.
I'll investigate the updater.exe from Garmin and the RGN_Tool tomorrow, I need to get some sleep since it's 12.30 am here.
There are 10 types of people in the world.....those who understand binary and those who don't.
Just copying the GCD file is not enough for the firmware to update. Yes, please look at RGN_Tool. Load the GCD and save back as RGN. As simple as that. No version change or HWID change required. I do not know the 270, so I cannot help you in putting it in pre-boot/service mode. I am sure someone knows on this forum.
Otherwise, you can change the SW Version by 1 and change from 240 to 241 (assuming your current version is 240) and save back as GCD. This time, it will work because the SW Version is different.
Turbo
Edit: Yes, rest a bit. Those are not the types of things to do for the first time at 12.30 AM.
Last edited by turboccc; 13th July 2011 at 03:03 AM.
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