Using Garmin Edge 1000 without SD card

Garmin Edge 1000

A few years back my wife purchased the fancy new Garmin Edge 1000 cycling computer. Unfortunately it was not a happy marriage. Pretty soon, the device wanted to update its maps. As maps are increasing in size, the latest map didn’t fit on the device itself and it required an SD card for additional storage. So far, not a big issue. However, she was one of the few who never got an SD card working in the Edge 1000.

She tried various microSD memory cards of different brands. Ranging in size between 1Gb and 16Gb and in speed with different classes. Here are some of the things I tried to get the Edge 1000 working with a MicroSD card insterted.

  • I tried to format it in the correct file system,
  • removed the content or added a folder,
  • did a soft-reset on the device,
  • started a factory-reset on the device,
  • started a factory-reset on the PC,

Nothing seemed to work… The Garmin starts OK, but then runs into some kind of boot-loop.

To make things worse, somehow it seemed that the current maps went corrupt. The map hardly shows any detail. Also, the navigation doesn’t work properly. Despite enabling all kinds of roads, the only road it wants to navigate on is the local high way. Which is exactly the only road I don’t want to ride.

Adding new maps on the Garmin Edge 1000 without using an SD card

As the current map seems corrupt, I started looking for a way to add a recent map on the device itself and make it work. As Garmin is using Open Streetmap data itself, I figured that there must be an Open Streetmap to work on my Edge 1000. After some searching, I stumbled upon http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/ . On this site I was able to select only the regions that I wanted in my map. By just selecting my own country, The Netherlands, the latest 2019 map with just this data requires less than 350mb. Quite a difference from the 9GB+ map update Garmin wanted to force on my device! Actually, while running the latest software and having the “old” (corrupt?) 2018 maps installed, there still was 600mb available on the Garmin Edge 1000 itself.

  1. I downloaded the custom map from http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/ to my computer. The map was called gmapsupp.img.
  2. I connected the Garmin Edge 1000 to my PC. Please make sure to use a micro USB cable which supports data transfer. Not the average cheap Chinese power charging cable.
  3. Using my favorite file manager, Total Commander, I copied the map to the \Garmin\ folder on the device.

While test-riding, I was finally able to navigate again! Navigation even went faster than before. It wasn’t required anymore to split the route into shorter stages.

What are your experiences with the Garmin Edge 1000? Are you able to use an SD card?

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By Leendert

Leendert van Achteren is a Business Analyst and part-time Web Entrepreneur. He's building and managing websites with SEO in mind He's writing about anything that has his interest, but especially focusing on market transparency for consumers.

2 comments

  1. What did it for me is to let the device run out of battery. Also, in my case it seems like
    there’s an issue with water getting into the device. Getting it dry after a wet ride helps resolving part of the weird behaviour.

  2. my garmin 1000 had similar issues of running into boot loop (it will power on and power off when the garmin logo shows up). It happened while cycling halfway, opened up the unit but nothing seems to be wrong or corroded (I’ve replaced new back cover with new battery and power button, and also front cover with new touch screen), mother board remain as it is while I’m at it.

    Can you advise how you snap oup out of this boot loop?

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