Thread: How to backup Nuvi NV (region41) with sd

Red text will put in context the practical use of writing regions to RWFS:

Originally Posted by Neil

Something else worth comment ...

And in [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] [p#117] which is the first link ['here'] in the above post:

Originally Posted by Neil

Yes it's possible to restore from RWFS....

Seeing it's not possible to do a region backup to RWFS without using a card to execute Update.txt, it's really not all that important to be able to use 1:/ in 2013> devices. What's really of great import is their use of 2:/ to write to the card just the same way back as it was for the very first nuvi series 3xx and then 6xx [although we didn't have a clue about using those SD commands back then and rgn41 is protected/dumps empty in them anyway]. What's old is new again.

How big is the 41 bin file? It should be 4,352 KB and although it is encrypted it should 'copy & paste' normally.

My AU 2595 is identical hardware and sw to your EU 2545 other than addionally having a mic and BT & ASR. Your unit will write and read to and from 1:/. Try the third card and if it's not brand new reformat it correctly to FAT16 or 32 as required using SDFormatter [google it, freeware] or RMPrepUSB which you'd already have. I simply don't trust the built-in Windows tool, occasional bad formats and never use a Mac. There's more than one way to format in FAT [rhymes with more than one way to skin a cat, lol!]. No need to worry with a brand new card as it's factory format will be fine. Remake the whole kit from scratch, don't copy the old one across. You can add an empty update.log if you want but it's not necessary with 2xx5 as it'll be created by it.

I have had problems occasionally with the card slot on some units when the contacts have become 'filmed' and read and/or write function is sporadic or unreliable. I've usually been able to fix that by working the microSD in and out of the slot several times. In stubborn cases, it's necessary to do a very short spray of dedicated electrical contact cleaner [not water dispersant-type cleaner such as WD-40, that's a big no-no] either onto the card contacts or in the slot followed by working the card in and out. If you do that, let it thoroughly air-dry with the card out before powering up.

Yes, it can happen. I recall a Sandisk 2GB card which i used for backup of 41 for numerous units only to have it baulk on backing up a 2 series nuvi [a 255W i think is my recollection, and it wouldn't recognise the SD at all] after it had been used for other very closely related units. Used a different card and it worked fine.

Interesting that the Transcend worked when the new Kingston froze the unit. Sandisk and Kingston are the only two brands endorsed by Garmin for use of additional map data.

@miroslavbl
Flashing rgn 41 from another 660 would cause you no end of grief even if possible. 6xx cannot retrieve a backup of 41, and anyway it's not what you need. If it can be seen in Windows Explorer/Disk Management as a removable drive, remove GUPDATE.GCD from the Garmin folder. If that doesn't fix it, reformat it with [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]. If it's not recognised by Windows, try [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] first, then remove the GCD file and reformat with RMPrepUSB only if necessary. Post in the Cure3 thread if you need more help.

No, unfortunately it's not possible. Read again the first part of my reply above, but perhaps my wording wasn't clear i'm sorry. '6xx cannot retrieve a backup of 41' = 'You cannot do a region 41 backup of a 6xx'. The problem's not to do with the SD card, I think the command is simply not present in firmware of nuvi 2xx/3xx/6xx or earlier SP units either. I recall that rgn41 backup was not possible until nuvi 2x5/7xx series. Backups of other regions can be done though in 6xx nuvis, ie. rgns 5, 14, 15, 16, 24, 34, 45.

In an extreme case as an absolute last resort it is possible to erase 41 in a 2/3/6xx series to restore a unit to semi-working condition if rgn 41 is corrupt. The problem is that all registration and unlock code are removed from the unit in the process and that makes updating with purchased maps impossible unless they are purchased on an SD card to which they are locked. Unlocked maps can still be loaded to internal memory normally.

One of our software experts should be able to write the command into the firmware to allow backup of 41. Who's up for the challenge guys?? ........ [chirp, chirp ...... chirp ....] ........ guys? .... anyone??

Catymag,

I want to upgrade fw from 5.8 to 6.2 on my nuvi 1300, but the flash process goes into a flash-reboot infinite loop.
Neil recommended a backup then a hard reset. I'm having difficulty. (BTW does a hard reset always make a restore from backup necessary, or is this a precaution? I read a hard reset destroys all the personal data. I have backed up all the files on my nuvi onto my laptop. Will I have to copy all of it back onto the nuvi after the reset so I still have my address book?) Anyway, here's where I'm at so far.

1) I have an extra SD card, but is not empty. Does this matter. It has plenty of room. Anyway, I created a Garmin directory.
2) Inside Garmin I created another directory Updater. So far so good
3) Problem 1: I run linux and can only read my nuvi 1300 as a mass storage device on USB.
I have virtual box running xp, but it neither
connects to the web nor can RGN_tool read hwid. The usb drivers from Garmin won't install in my virtualbox xp either.
The part no from the GarminDevice.xml is 006-B0972-00.
This is not a 4 character string. How can I get the hwid for the name of the folder?
4) Problem 2: When I open the nuvi in RGN_tool, the best I can do is open the 4 .GCD files (one at a time)
in the RemoteSW folder of .System
Each comes up as external_data.bin. I can't find any other files that RGN_tool recognizes, so I can't find boot.bin
So I've read this entire thread and I saw I need GUPDATE.GCD. I run version 5.8 but do not have such a file on my nuvi.
I could grab the one off the nuvi fw thread as it has all the different versions. But how does that help, since it is registers
in my nuvi we want to grab. Why would backup be needed if we can just download the fw anytime and use it.

So I'm stuck on steps 3 and 4. Please help me get over these hurdles. I'm sure I'll have more in steps 5 and 6 if I ever get there.

1. Find a PC running Win XP OS or later [forget using Linux even with a Win VM].

2. Extract this onto a CLEAN microSD [i.e. empty]: [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]. It's made with v5.8 boot bin as ldr.bin, so it will work with your flakey 1300 [first double-check that it is definitely the non-MTK chip HWID 0972 - open the GarminDevice.xml from the unit's Garmin folder and look for <PartNumber>006-B0972-00</PartNumber> towards the start to confirm].

3. Insert the card into your nuvi 1300 and turn it on, then wait until it reboots before removing the card.

4. Check that you have 41.bin in the Garmin folder of the card and that it's not zero bytes [it should be 4096KB].

5. Copy the entire card contents to a safe place.

You only need to restore your favourites and any other personal data. Everything else with be unaffected after hard reset/clear non-vol.