NOTE: THE LAST VERSION OF FIRMWARE THIS IS
KNOWN TO WORK WITH IS V5.4.0
 
 
The Garmin C550 (and now the C580) have this little feature that the C510 and C530 haven't - they "speak street names". Well that doesn't actually sound like such a big deal - but, when you hear it in action, you'll find you can't live without it.
 
Background: The C5xx range share the same firmware. How much hardware is different between the models is a subject for debate - but there is obviously enough for the firmware to recognise which features should be enabled and which shouldn't. For example, the playing of MP3's requires no extra hardware at all - but you can't do it on the C510. Not that I'd want to. Or maybe I would, if I could ;-)
 
The C550 has more memory than the C510 (I won't make any further reference to the C530, because I haven't got one - but I'm sure the same comments apply). The TTS (Text-to-Speech) files are large (>14MB) and so the first issue to be solved is find some space on the unit for them. They don't appear to work on an SD card, so the first thing to do, is a spot of Spring Cleaning. Well, acually, the first thing to do is a
 
BACKUP.
 
My suggestion - once you've completed that all important BACKUP, is to delete the following groups of files from your C510:-
  • Unused existing Voice files. These are in the \Garmin\Voices directory and have self explanatory names that end in ".VPM". I suggest you just leave the one voice that you actually need. Not many of us need navigational instructions in a foreign tongue. Each voice file has a small ".SUM" version as well.
  • Prune out the \Garmin\Vehicles directory. One car, one truck, one bike all in one colour are all you need- these file occupy a lot of space as well.
  • The RemoteSW directory and its contents can go, along with GUPDATE.GCD and anything that starts with "00". These are firmware update files that are not needed once they've been applied.
With the unnecessary files removed, there is only room for ONE TTS file, but still space for everything else that you need (Enhanced basemap, Speed Camera database(s) etc). Update: the steps described at the end of this article, that make the change permanent, require even more space. The Enhanced Basemap has had to be ditched for now :-(
This is what my C510 looks like on a normal day...
(CLICK THE IMAGE FOR A READABLE VIEW):-

 
 
 
 
 
< CLICK TO VIEW
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
With some space made and the unit BACKED-UP (I have mentioned that, haven't I ?!?) - you now need a copy of the voice files. I couldn't find these listed for the C550 (they suggest that it uses WebUpdater), but they are there for the C340.
 
See the Garmin C340 support page for a full list of voices, but in brief:-
 
For English speakers, there are Emily and Daniel (described as 'British' English) and Americans get Jack and Jill
 
I found Emily a bit stilted, but Daniel is good (It's like having one's own butler, or a tame British Airways captain  :-) 
 
Having obtained a voice or two, there's now the little job of loading it into the C510. The C340 does NOT work in "Mass Storage Mode". It never appears to the PC as a disk drive - it's always seen as a "Garmin GPS Device". So to get the installer to run, we have to make the C510 do the same. Before I forget, download the USB drivers from that C340 support page (the link is here if you're feeling lazy).
 
So, how do we get the C510 into 'Garmin GPS mode'; after all it's not mentioned in the manual? Well it turns out, that if you hold your thumb on the top right of the screen for about 7 seconds, you'll be taken to a diagnostics screen:-

You may well have seen this before. If you plug the USB in with this screen displayed, the C510 will be detected as a 'Garmin GPS Device' and you will be prompted for those drivers...
 
So far, so good. Once set up, press EXIT and let it restart.
 
(BTW - click any of the images for a bigger view)
 
If we now run the Voice installer we downloaded, the C510 display will go back to the Splash Screen and display "Transferring data" (I couldn't capture that screen). Incidentally, in this mode, programs like XIMAGE and NROUTE work with the C510. POI Loader will as well, with the advantage of being able to rapidly test and re-load POI files that you are working on - but I digress :-)
 
The sequence of events on the PC is:-
 
 
 
Click OK.
 
 
 
 
 
Click "SETUP"
There is a progress bar, but it sometimes appears behind the other windows. This is when the C510 will say "Transferring data"

 
 
 
All done.

Meanwhile, back at the C510 - when the transfer completes, the C510 will have gone back to one of its normal screens and we can tell it to use our new voice.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Press the "Spanner"/"Wrench"  and  then select "Locale"
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Click whatever it is you normally use. It's that mysterious British English again, in my case ;-)  -- and then you should find your new voice listed.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I don't know if a C550 does this next step, but the C510 asks for a restart, which is fine - let it do it. When it boots up, you should find your new voice is selected. This is clearly some sort of 'soft' reset, because it doesn't check at this stage, whether or not it is supposed to play TTS voices. Update: the reason the TTS voice files are so large, is because they contain the  speech engine as well. Presumably the restart is to load this code.
 
If you want, you can now switch off the GPS, select a destination and embark on your first virtual journey, with some proper voice guidance.
 
My first time out on the road with this loaded, I was sitting at a very complicated junction, traffic on all sides, roads everywhere, no chance of looking at the screen and instead of it saying "Turn Right", it said "Turn Right on Woodbine Cresent". Epiphany! 
(People who drive on the right, should substitute "left" in that previous sentence, to better picture the scene!)
 

HOWEVER...

 
...when you power-cycle the C510, it will realise it's been duped.
 
It seems to get quite annoyed at this discovery and now selects "NO VOICE" in a fit of pique!!
 
Panic not though - just tap the blank area and it should select something for you. In my case, it's back to "British English".
 

 

So, how do we make it permanent?
 
Well thanks to some kindred spirits over at http://forum.pocketnavigation.de (The real home of 'GPS Passion' ;-), it was discovered that if you make an extra copy of the new .VPM file that will have been installed in the \Garmin\Voice directory, along with one of the existing .SUM files, then the update becomes permanent!! :-)
 
So to continue our example, connect the C510 in its conventional Mass-Storage-Mode and
copy the \Garmin\Voice\English_British_Emily.VPM file to \Garmin\Voice\000.NEW. Also copy \Garmin\Voice\English_British.sum to \Garmin\Voice\English_British_Emily.sum. 
 
You need to end up with the following new files in the \Garmin\Voice directory :-
 
English_British_Emily.vpm This is your new TTS voice file.
000.NEW (they're zeroes)This is a copy of the file listed above (eg English_British Emily.vpm)
English_British_Emily.sum This is a copy of one of your original .SUM files
 
 
 
 
At this point, I will hand you over to Claudio Ehringer and his write-up of an alternative method of getting to the same point.  
Claudio's method means that you don't need to put the C510 into 'Garmin GPS Device' mode. It does however, mean that you have to use a 'Hex Editor' to remove 60 bytes from the beginning of a file though. It's quite straight-forward, have a read... 
 
 
 
Also, a special thank you  to Ralph Kettler, for turning this interesting novelty into a practical reality.
 
 
 
 
 

What can go wrong?

The following mishaps befell me at one point or another.I think they are related as much to the undocumented "Garmin USB GPS" mode, as to the installation of the TTS voice.

  • Several lock-ups - remove the front Fascia and press RESET to recover.
  • Crash/reboot and loss of ALL user settings - Favourites, Navigation settings, Garmin Lock!!! , you name it. Nothing for it, but to reset everything manually. It even needed to relearn the initial satellite position (As in "Make sure you have a clear view of the sky")
  • A very scary TOTAL lock-up that necessitated removing the four screws that hold the C510 together and then unplugging and re-plugging the battery. I suppose I could have waited for the battery to go flat!. Actually, I've heard of this fault affecting real C550's ...
  • It didn't happen to me during this experiment, but a related issue is the loss of the licence key file for the City Navigator NT maps. I have had two Streetpilot C510's - the first had a file in the \Garmin directory called GMAPPROM.UNL which contained the 25digit map unlock code (without the dashes). The second unit was supplied WITHOUT this file. This file is ESSENTIAL - but is not used on a daily basis. It only seems to be referenced after MAJOR resets - such as you might encounter by following this procedure. If you get messages saying "Can't unlock Maps", or "No detailed maps found that support routing - the Streetpilot cannot be used without them", it is because this file is missing. Recreate it with Notepad using the information on the yellow sheet that came with the device. You should do this ANYWAY, if this file is not present.
...and you might always delete something important that you didn't backup!!
 
This procedure is not for the faint-hearted.
Any problems - you're on your own!!
  
I do NOT want to hear about your problems - but if you have any comments, then click the "Contact me" button below. 
 
 
"Yes, it really is that simple", as Garmin would say ... 
 
 
 
  
Phil Hornby,
Stockport
England
 
This page last amended 9th April 2007.

 

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