Kenwood DNX9990HD: Loading 2014.30 Maps on Internal Memory - It Works!

Thanks for posting that link. I went through my XML file and put this together to show what is in there.
Side thoughts:
I am wondering if running the update with just the GarminDevice.xml, gamsupp.img, gamps.unl, and gmaps.gma will update the Base, Pre programmed, supplemental, and time zone maps automatically?
Of course I will add the folder named Poi with the folders named CustomPOI, and Safety_Cameras_PROM_Provider_1 inside it.
Then the folder named Pnx with the folder named PreProgrammedPhoneNumberLookup inside it.
Then I just have to figure out what to put in them? Looks like there is a 01XV08W0.PNX file in the Pnx folder.
Also I may have about 2.2 GB free space on my internal SD card. (I might take unit apart to investigate/backup the internal SD card before trying to update this thing)

Folders in my xml file

Code:

---

Name = Basemap
gmapbmap.img

Name = PreProgrammedMaps
gmapsupp.img

Name = SupplementalMaps
gmapsupp.img

Name = TimeZoneMaps
gmapTZ.img

Name = CustomPOI
Folder where points of interest .gpi files go
File structure = Garmin/Poi/CustomPOI

Name = Safety_Cameras_PROM_Provider_1
Folder where Safety Camera .gpi files go
File structure = Garmin/Poi/Safety_Cameras_PROM_Provider_1

Name = PreProgrammedPhoneNumberLookup
Folder where Phone number .pnx files go
File structure = Garmin/Pnx/PreProgrammedPhoneNumberLookup

---

Note: Inside my Pnx folder might be a file named
01XV08W0.PNX
At least that's what shows up in the xml file. (Garmin/Pnx/01XV08W0.PNX)

Also something labeled Free_space=2285010944 Name=Internal
Makes me think that is space on internal card shown in ?

Just wanted to update this thread since I posted a bunch in here. My DNX6180 seems to be working on the 2022.25 North America Map

I took my dnx6180 apart and removed the SD card.(micro SD)
It had two partitions on it, a very small FAT16(only about 8 Kbs) and the rest of the 4GB card was exFAT.
I had an 8GB SD card and created two partitions on that, the FAT16 I made somewhere around 16 MB(larger than 8Kb in original) and the rest exFAT.
Testing has gone good so far, I was able to duplicate the original SD card and then ran the update on that. This way if I brick it I can just put the original SD card back in it.
The Update seemed to work.
I only had
gmapsupp.img
gmapsupp.unl
gmapsupp.gma
and an XML file I created after installing the 8GB SD card.
After running the update I now have the 2022.25 maps to use. I verified by searching for a FiveGuys hamburger place that wasnt there back in 2010 (old maps on my head unit). This was under points of interest/food etc.
The map showed exactly where I know the place is.
I did notice that speling a point of interest was slow and cumbersome. When you selected a letter it would beep like normal but would then freeze for like 15 seconds before showing that selected letter on the screen.
The spelling feature was always a little slow anyway but this seems a bit more exaggerated.
Everything else seems to work fine.
I pulled the 8GB SD card back out and examined what the update changed.
It changed the gmapsupp.img, gmapsupp.unl, gmapsupp.gma and ....
It added a blank JCV folder. My old card didnt have that folder, and when I had the DNX6180 in engineer mode it had a screen that showed 4 boxes and one was Junction View and it had four zero's in it and said Missing.
The 8GB SD card has a PNX folder with nothing inside it, where the original had a file named 01XV08W0.PNX in it.
In the SQLITE folder I see two folders that were changed, system.db and user_strings.db

No other changes were made to any files inside by the update.
I have more experimenting to do and more things to read about and learn from. I'm guessing the original map was compressed but I dont know anything about compressing maps yet.
Also I want to try to find the fastest 8GB SD card and see if spelling for points of interest gets any faster.
I need to read about the file that was in the PNX folder and find out if that needs to be updated.
In my original and 8GB SD card there are two more maps, GMAPTZ.img and GMAPBMAP.img I dont know if they are supposed to get updated or just left alone.

The update would not fit on a 4GB card, without some compressing or something. When I was experimenting with partitioning the SD card I tried the 8MB FAT16 and 4GB of exFAT and the update said not enough room to install.
At least I know it wont try to install when there is not enough room on the SD card.
The 2022.25 map is at least double in size too, compared to the 2010 thats in there.

Thats all for now.

You should try a reset of the device as that may solve the slow registering of characters problem. Backup any favorites first if you want to restore them later.

The gmaptz.img is a world time map. It will be updated by GarminExpress/WebUpdater or can changed manually by overwriting it. However the basemap, gmapbmap.img, does not get updated by Garmin's software programs. If you have an older version loaded you can manually replace it with the most recent: [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]

I will try a reset once I get it back in my vehicle. Pulled it out for more testing.
I dont know how to back up my favorites yet so I will search for info on that, maybe tonight or tomorrow.

I dont think my old Nuvi 200 that I used Garmin Express on to download the latest map had a time zone map, at least I know that it did not update it because that map still shows the old date.
The other possibility is it didn't update because of the way I paid for the update from the device and later attached the Nuvi200 and used Garmin express to download the update to the removable SD card?
Garmin express still shows the Nuvi200 having an update and shows pricing, so that makes me think something went wrong there.
I will look into finding the timezone map to overwrite the one in my DNX6180.

Is there only one basemap since it is worldwide? (as opposed to different maps for North America and other places like EU?)
v6 is newer than the one in my files so I obtained it. I will compare the two file sizes out of curiosity.

Thanks for the info, it is helping me figure out what to search for to learn more.

First Generation nuvi 2x0/2x0W from 2007 doesn't use a TZ map because it's not supported in firmware, but the 2nd Generation 2x0/2x0W released in 2009 did have it and they are firmware-capable to use it. There weren't as many of the Gen 2 sold and they were actually 'detuned' renamed 2x5/2x5W devices anyway. Here's latest gmaptz.img in a ZIP file: [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]

Some older devices had so-called 'regional' basemaps that were still world-wide but only had detailed information for the device's target market (Atlantic/Pacific/Americas). All recent basemaps are world-wide. In truth any basemap will work ok provided you have detail maps for proper navigating. The main purpose of a basemap is actually for scrolling while zoomed out rather than navigating in an area where no proper detail map data is loaded on the device. Even a very old regional basemap will work ok.

I found out the 8GB micro SD card I was using was slower than the one that the DNX6180 came with from the factory.
The factory one had a 4 stamped on it, 4MB a second. The one I was using had a 2 on it so only good for 2MB per second.
I found a 64GB micro SD card with a 10 on it, good for 10MB per second. Also wont have to worry about running out of space on it.
Tomorrow I plan to test it out and make sure the DNX6180 can work well with it (no size limitations I hope). If there is a size limit I can try to partition it to a smaller size.
Right now I have 8MB in FAT, and around 59.4 GB in exFAT.

Thanks to your help I have the base map updated, and the time zone map updated. I found the most recent JCV files and downloaded them, 1.6GB download for two files. Wow.
I added cars/beachballs etc, from my Nuvi to this SD card I am building for the DNX6180 too. Just wanted to see if they will work, and why not if I have so much extra room on the card.

I have nothing in my PNX folder but found out they are phone numbers for looking up points of interest. Supposedly so you can enter a number and find the place from its number. Kind of backwards, I don't think I will ever use that feature if it works that way.

This DNX6180 has lifetime live traffic, I see there are different versions and read that version 2.80 was the newest for North America (it goes up to 4.40 but all the updates past 2.80 are for other countries).

Now as far as backing up my favorites, I hit a dead end there. My unit doesn't have any GPX files. It must save Favorites to another folder. It might be a .db file. I found one called user_strings.db and was viewing it in a program I downloaded (SQlite) but it still looked confusing to me. I will have to look into that more.

The larger 64GB SD card with the speed rating of 10 works well, no problems. Edit, I am now running an 8GB card and it all fits.
I put what was in my original SD card PNX folder in the PNX folder of the new SD card. Probably dont even need it.
The spell function used in points of interest and other places is still slow but always was anyway, I believe it is just a design flaw since it has to search a lot of files to give you a suggestion when you type a letter or two in.
My Favorites are still in there after updating everything, I'm planning on writing down all my favorite addresses in a notebook and then I will try a reset to see if anything seems to change like the spell function slowness.

I am happy to say that I do have the current North American 2022.25 map working in my Kenwood DNX6180. This would not have been possible if it were not for this forum and the users/moderators on here. So thanks!

If I did not remove and install a larger SD card, I would have had to learn about map compression or would have had to download a map someone else modified. The couple of guys that posted on here about there DNX6180's must have used modified maps or the older maps may have been smaller back then. I still want to learn about map compression and how to use Basecamp $ Mapsource so I will look into them in the future.
Also I would like to learn about how the PNX files are made (I hear they are specific to each map set? if I am wording it correctly).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The Director [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]

Just got new maps working on a DNX6960 (2010 unit). It had/has upgraded 2011 maps installed in the internal memory. Reading the DNX6960 manual it is vague to say the least regarding how to officially upgrade the maps. ...but I'm assuming there once was an app or technique available to get upgraded maps installed internally via a dedicated map update MicoSD port....
...for sh!ts and giggles, following Stickwell's lead, I copied an unlocked....
...Once I booted up the unit the map info shows it has the new 2019.10 map loaded. So it appears to be running from the MicoSD card. Would love to get the maps installed permanently so given that the unit is not yet installed in my car I may just take her apart to find the internal storage and try playing around with the map files there.

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Thanks much to you and stickweld, I also just got my DNX6960 to replace its circa-2010 maps with 2023 data! In my case I only had a 32GB card so I FAT32 formatted it and put a Garmin directory on it and put those two 0-byte filenames you referenced in that Garmind directory and also a 2023.20 NT US/CA unlocked gmapsupp.img file also in that Garmin directory and BAM was all set!

I had also upgraded the units firmware to the 1.4.0

Does anyone know how much memory the internal unit has? In case I feel like taking it out and putting these maps on the internal unit?