Install Mapsource

Install Mapsource without owning a Garmin Device

Currently the best way to use the openmtbmap is to view it in Mapsource. There is a catch however. Garmin only provides updates, no actual installation packages. People who have bought a Garmin GPS will have a CD shipped with it including Mapsource.  I recommend to use the most uptodate version by Garmin (as of writing this is 6.16.2)

Mapsource 6.16 fixes many of the bugs of the crappy 6.14 and 6.15 versions and is more than a very good alternative to Mapsource 6.13.6. It has much better autorouting and offers support for showing an altitude profile if contourlines are added (using create_mapsource_installationfiles_with_mkgmap.bat). 

Classic Way of Installation without already having Mapsource installed (please install everything as administrator)

1. First install at least one Openmtbmap map (meaning one country) by running the .exe.
2. a) Download and install the  free Garmin Training Center. You can get it here: http://www8.garmin.com/support/collection.jsp?product=999-99999-04

b) I assume that you can instead also install Garmin Basecamp which is more useful! (please report in a short comment whether it works or not). You can download Garmin Basecamp here:

3. Download  Map Source version 6.13.6 from here: http://www.gawisp.com/perry/mapsource/MapSource_6136.exe or get Mapsource 6.15.7 or newer update from Garmin ( http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=209 ). Note  6.13.7 has no worthy changes, but does not work correctly on x64 systems. Thats's why I propose you to use 6.13.6.
4. Garmin MapSource is now installed.
5. Attention, Mapsource will not start until you have a at least one map installed. So if you forgot step 1, do it now! Go to  http://openmtbmap.org/download/ and download the map(s) of your choice

Advanced Way of Installation without already having Mapsource installed

1. First install at least one openmtbmap (just run the .exe)
2. Download  Map Source version 6.13.6 from here: http://www.gawisp.com/perry/mapsource/MapSource_6136.exe or get Mapsource 6.15.7 update from Garmin ( http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=209 ).
3. Unpack or extract the content of MapSource_6136.exe downloaded using 7zip (www.7zip.org), WinRAR or another good unpacker.
4. From the extracted files, first run MAIN.msi.
5. Then, run Setup.exe.  Note: The sequence to execute Main.msi and then Setup.exe is important to avoid “Previous MapSource not found!” error.
6. Garmin MapSource is now installed.
7. Attention, Mapsource will not start until you have a at least one map installed. So if you forgot step 1, do it now! Go to  http://openmtbmap.org/download/ and download the map(s) of your choice

Attention Mapsource 6.14 and 6.15 Users:

Please update to at least 6.15.7 which solves many errors in displaying the openmtbmaps which were present in 6.14.1 to 6.15.6. Note you can rename mapsource.exe to e.g. mapsource_6.13.6.exe and install different version side by side. The new installation will however allways overwrite mapsource.exe (so think about which file you rename). Garmin Basecamp version 1 and 2 are also to be avoided at all cost. Basecamp version 3 is fine.

Parallel installation of several Mapsource versions:

Simply unpack a mapsource update (see links above), run MAIN.msi and then rename mapsource.exe to something else. e.g. mapsource_6.13.6.exe and then copy it into your main Garmin Mapsource installation folder (usually c:/garmin). Now you can decide which of the two versions you wan't to use.