How To : Get routable Garmin maps from OSM for free!

[JeremyR]

Note: If you're looking for UK maps, see TalkyToaster instead. They're ready made and will save you faffing about with the map tool. For outside the UK though, read on...


Note 2 (July 2011):The process for generating the maps appears to have changed slightly, will update the guide soon... It's still fundamentally the same, though


How To : Get routable Garmin maps from OpenStreetMap for free!

(Left to right: city-level view with road names; zoomed out to major roads and towns; zoomed in showing footpaths as marked on OSM; points of interest obtained from OSM; map with cache details added)

In addition to 'just the map', routable maps offer to supported GPS devices the ability to calculate turn-by-turn driving directions from A to B.

Prerequisites:

• A Garmin GPS that supports auto-routing and which has an SD (or microSD) card slot with sufficient free storage to hold your maps, probably about 125MB. Most recent Garmin GPS devices support both of these including the Vista/Legend Cx and HCx, GPSMap 60CSx, Colorado and Oregon, Dakota, Montana, etc.
• Internet Access. Open http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/ in your browser.
• The map building service must be ready for use. At the page mentioned in the previous step, you'll see a map of the world, hopefully covered in blue rectangles of varying sizes. Check that the area you want a map of is covered by the blue rectangles. If it is not or the rectangles are red, then you'll have to wait - the service is rebuilding the maps for that area with new data from OpenStreetMap. This seems to happen about once a fortnight and takes about a day to complete so come back tomorrow and see if the area is available then. The advantage of this downtime is that the maps are always up to date with the latest additions to OSM.
  
  (No blue rectangles over Europe meaning the area is unavailable right now - try again later)

To get your maps

1. Zoom in the world map to show the area you're interested in.
   
2. Tick the 'Enable tile selection' box (shown highlighted in red in the picture below) and then while holding down the Shift key on your keyboard, click on each blue rectangle that covers your target area. They will turn dark blue to indicate that they are selected. The result should be something like this:
   
   (Most of the UK and Ireland selected, you could get every last corner of the UK if you needed it but this increases strain on the server)
   
3. In the box at the left of the page, enter your email address (this is required - the server sends you an email when your maps are ready) then click 'Build Maps'
   
   (Once you've selected your maps, enter your email address and click Build Maps)
   
4. Hopefully, the server will tell you that your request was accepted and that you'll get an email when it's ready. If it says it can't accept your request right now, remember this is a free service done in someone's spare time and isn't perfect, so try again later.
   
5. Wait for the email. Depending on how busy the service is and how much mapping you asked for, this may take 2 minutes, it may take an hour so go make a brew. The message may be marked as spam by your email service, I don't know why this happens but check your spam folder if you don't see the email.
   
6. The email contains a link to follow that will provide you with several download options. From this point on, the instructions assume you're using Windows and that you have MapSource installed. You can install MapSource either from the CD that came with your GPS or via more nefarious means if you Google for it. Mac users are catered for with a Roadtrip installer option but I don't know how to use that. If you don't have the required software or you're running Linux, see below.
   
7. Download the 'osm_routable_mapsource.exe' file:
   
   (Map download options. osm_routable_mapsource.exe is probably the right option for you)
   
8. If you happen to have MapSource open, close it before continuing
   When the installer download is complete, run it to add the new map to MapSource
   
   (Installing the new map)
   
9. Open MapSource and select "OSM World Routable" from the drop-down list in the top right corner. You will see your new map in the right hand side of the window. Also, make sure that the Map Selection tool is enabled (see picture)
   
   (A shiny new map of (most of) the UK)
   
10. Click each rectangular segment of the map in turn (they will turn pink as you do so) until all map segments are selected.
    
    (Selected map segments)
    
11. Turn on your GPS and plug it into your computer. In MapSource, open the Transfer menu and click 'Send to Device...'
    
12. Wait for MapSource to detect your GPS, make sure that just the 'Maps' box is ticked under 'What to Send' and click the 'Send' button. Depending on your GPS model, the transfer may take some time.
    
    (Sending maps to the GPS)

And that's it! Once the transfer is finished, you may need to turn the GPSr off and on again to see your new maps (although MapSource will probably turn it off for you).

Note for people without access to MapSource or RoadTrip (e.g. Linux users in particular)
You can still use this service without any extra software if you so wish. Download the osm_routable_gmapsupp.zip archive from the page linked to in the email you received and open it. Now connect your GPS in Mass Storage mode (normally achieved via the Setup > Interface menu) and extract the file gmapsupp.img from the archive to the Garmin folder on your GPS device's memory card. Beware this will overwrite any other 'extra' mapping (UK TOPO, etc) that you may have installed. Remember to back up any existing gmapsupp.img file first! Disconnect your GPS and it will restart itself - you'll know if it's working because you'll see OpenStreetMap referenced on the startup screen as the GPS loads the map.


Please let me know if there's any way I could make this guide clearer

Revision History
2009-05-17: Original version.
2009-05-22: Instructions for Linux users added.

[clotguy]

I'm glad my GPSr can't do this, then I won't have to keep asking for help when I get it wrong

[The Syllogiser]

I'm glad my GPSr can't do this, then I won't have to keep asking for help when I get it wrong

not a problem -- it's almost the same proceedure to load the TopoMaps onto the Garmin, but, most importantly -- it's £100 cheaper
Only drawback I can see (worth it for a free map ) is that it relies on some 'amateur input' for much of the detail. Still, as I said .. well worth NOT spending £100 on the Topo stuff to get almost the same "product".
Nice write-up Jeremy

[jhewitt15]

Hiya Jeremy does this make it so that caches show on the map on the GPS when I go into map mode. At the moment, the only thing that shows on my map is the motorways, town/city names and the current cache that I am navigating to. Does this make it better?

[JeremyR]

Hiya Jeremy does this make it so that caches show on the map on the GPS when I go into map mode. At the moment, the only thing that shows on my map is the motorways, town/city names and the current cache that I am navigating to. Does this make it better?

Whoops. Missed this.

Erm, what GPS unit are you using??? The motorways and towns/cities you're seeing are part of the Garmin UK basemap that comes with the unit. It only has major roads and towns, as you can see.

As for getting caches to show up, once they've been stored on the GPS, you'll need to tinker with the map settings to adjust what's displayed. On a Vista/Legend [H]Cx series, you'd go to the map screen, press the Menu button (left side, lowest button) then go to 'Setup map'. Select the 'points' tab of the setup screen (flag icon) and change the 'Max zoom' setting of the 'User Waypoints' option to something other than 'Off' (auto works well). That should make them appear. Now to get the cache type icons, you'd need to start messing about with a program called xImage to customise the icons stored on your unit and with GSAK to send the waypoints using your new custom icons.

[username1]

Where do I download the file osm_routable_mapsource.exe from?? It says I need to download that file to put the maps on my garmin, but I have no idea where to get it from.

[JeremyR]

This method is pretty much superseded by Talky Toaster's maps who has done all the slicing and dicing you you, just pick the right file, download it and copy it to your GPS.

[Jacqui]

HI, hope you can help. I've followed the instructions and installed the OSM routable mapsource. The OSM appears in the drop down list in mapscource but no m,ap shows in the window. any ideas what I am doing wrong? thanks

[JeremyR]

See post above, these maps, while great for areas outside the UK, have been superseded by Talky Toaster's maps - he's done all the leg work for you and you just drop it onto the GPS:

http://talkytoaster.info/ukmaps.htm

[Jacqui]

thanks, i've looked at those and tried to download the Brotish isles maps into mapsource, but not havingmuch luck. I've managed to get this one to work in mapscoyrce now but I think talky toasters maps have contour lines. I've downloaded them but now i'm stuck as to how to get them to show in mapscource. I've installed maptk but do i have to unzip the maps to a particular location? whats the next step?

Thanks for your help

[JeremyR]

You don't have to go through MapSource. Just download the Zip file for the map you want from the section labelled "Mapsets For Use With Garmin GPSrs Only" on TalkyToaster's website and in it, you'll find a file called something like "110513-GB+Contours-Routable-GMAPSUPP.IMG". You need to save that file onto your GPS in the "Garmin" folder (without quotes) and rename it gmapsupp.img. Then just restart your GPS and it should work.

If you already have imported maps on your GPS there will already be a gmapsupp.img file on there. You should back that up first.

[Team Hotpot]

Yes I can confirm what Jeremy has said works. I have just upgraded my GPS to a Dakota 10 and the maps are super. What makes it even better is if you keep track logs while out and about or notice on OpenStreetMaps that some of the POIs are missing or incorrect, you can update on OSM, then when TalkyToaster does the next update (about every two weeks), your updates will be in there. Download the fresh version to your Garmin and Hey Presto!

I'd recommend to anyone interested in maps to have a go at updating OSM if you haven't already done so.

[ualcapjon1]

Hi Jeremy,

I just downloaded the UK maps (not using TalkyToaster). The map downloaded just fine and shows normal detail, however, when I try to navigate anywhere and go to "address," it shows "No Map Data Available." Any ideas? The unit does navigate when used in the simulation mode by setting the location when touching the screen. I have a Garmin 1450 lmt.
Thank you in advance for any response.

[JeremyR]

I have no experience with Nuvis, sorry. If you're after UK maps, you probably are best off using TalkyToaster's maps - they're ready packaged and well tested whereas maps generated by the other tool are built on the fly and presumably glitch occasionally?