Problem with Custom POIs

[Emily]

When I try to place a custom POI from this site on my TomTom, it seems to send it into a rebooting loop (I'll get the outline of a navigation screen, but it will be all blue and never lock onto the satellite or show a map, then it'll reboot itself). Downloading the free Baskin Robbins and Dunkin Donuts POIs provided from the TomTom Plus site worked fine. But with other ones, nothing seems to work... I tried adding a bunch of Redlight Camera POIs, and then only the Redlight LA POI. I even tried renaming the latter, figuring that maybe it would like Redlight_Los_Angeles.bmp better than Redlight LA 1.3.bmp.

I even tried doing this just using the TomTom as a USB device, not launching TomTom HOME at all (since my TomTom seems to have trouble every time I use HOME).

But in all cases, the 910 kept freezing and going wacky until I removed the Custom POI files again.

Have any of you experienced this? Any idea what I might be doing wrong or how to fix it?

 

[Pedro2NR]

Emily,
Could you described how you installed the POIs from here?

 

[Emily]

Sure. I downloaded them to my computer. I took the two files for each POI (the .bmp and the .ov2) and dragged them straight into the TomTom's North America folder (by opening the TomTom disk image on the desktop).

I tried doing this with and without the HOME program running.

I also tried going into Explore in HOME once the files were there, and checking that they showed up in the list of POIs. They did. I tried copying the Redlight LA POI into the "Computer" column of Explore, to make sure it was in both places.

None of these methods seemed to help.

 

[martinp13]

Hmmmm.... sounds like you did everything ok. The .bmp and .ov2 have to have the same name, whatever it is. If you have mcdonalds.ov2 and mcd.bmp, your McDonalds stores should show up, but with a generic icon. To get "Golden Arches" you would have to rename the .bmp to mcdonalds.bmp.

I haven't done any red light camera files, but I've installed a lot of POIs from here on my 510, and they're fine. I would suggest renaming the .ov2 and .bmp to something simple like redlight.ov2 and redlight.bmp, with no spaces, periods, or other hoopla. If that doesn't work, you might have a corrupted ov2/bmp file, so try re-downloading the files.

 

[Emily]

I tried a few different POIs to make sure, and tried renaming them.

Are you on a Mac? Has anyone on a Mac been able to successfully use any from this site? When I talked to tech support, they suggested it was a problem related to the Mac version of HOME. But I wonder... if other Mac users are doing it, then it's not that.

 

[martinp13]

Sorry, WinXP guy here. Not sure what to tell you to try next. If the Krispy Kreme and Dunkin Donuts ones work for you, they should all work.

 

[Roger39]

I tried a few different POIs to make sure, and tried renaming them.

Are you on a Mac? Has anyone on a Mac been able to successfully use any from this site? When I talked to tech support, they suggested it was a problem related to the Mac version of HOME. But I wonder... if other Mac users are doing it, then it's not that.

I use a mac (dual processor G4 OS 10.4.9) and have had no problems at all in adding custom POIs. After my 910 mounts as a disc I just drag the ov2 and bmp files into the North America folder on the TomTom disc.

 

[Emily]

Hmm. Interesting. So are you affected by the Mac OS 10.4.9/HOME incompatibility? Or are you able to connect using a high-powered USB 2.0 port?

It doesn't seem like it should make a difference... since I'm seeing in Explore that the POIs have successfully installed in the right place. The tech support guy suggested that the incompatibility was causing the files to be corrupted, but that doesn't seem right... since I can get updates and the Baskin Robbins POI through HOME.

 

[Roger39]

Hmm. Interesting. So are you affected by the Mac OS 10.4.9/HOME incompatibility? Or are you able to connect using a high-powered USB 2.0 port?

It doesn't seem like it should make a difference... since I'm seeing in Explore that the POIs have successfully installed in the right place. The tech support guy suggested that the incompatibility was causing the files to be corrupted, but that doesn't seem right... since I can get updates and the Baskin Robbins POI through HOME.

Non-intel macs can still use USB 2 with OS 10.4.9 and TomTom Home. OS 10.4.10 will released very soon. Hopefully that will fix the problem with intel macs.

 

[Pedro2NR]

Emily, a few MAC users have PM me about issues downloading a few zip files from here. I had offered to email them the files without being zipped. If you would like, you could PM me your email address and give me which POIs you would like, and I could send them to you.

 

[Emily]

Success! With generous help from Pedro. (Fortuantely you don't need to email me the others, since it turned out not to be an issue with the zipping/unzipping of files.)

Basically, what the 910 needed was to have HOME install the Custom POIs itself; without that, I guess it wasn't recognizing them.

So, in case this happens to anyone else, what I did:

1. Dragged the .bmp and .ov2 files into the North America folder of my TomTom. Ejected the 910 using HOME's eject button and then re-connected. Once I reconnected, the new POI showed in HOME and Explore, in the TomTom device column.

2. Using Explore, Copied that POI to the Computer column. Selected the POI in the TomTom column and Deleted it from the 910. Then went back to the Computer column, selected that POI and clicked Install. When it gave me the dialog box for which map to install to, selected North America. Ejected the TomTom using the HOME eject button.

Completely crazy, but that's what works.

 

[Roger39]

Emily,

Here is something to try that is a bit easier. First on the 910 use Preferences -> Manage Pois -> Add Poi category and create a POI category with the exact same name as the ov2 file you want to add. Just use a generic icon. Then drag the custom ov2 and bmp files into the North America directory. You will be asked if you want to replace the older file. Click yes.

 

[Emily]

Neat trick. Thanks.