FAQ

 

I want to participate in Openstreetmap, and especially tag ways suitable for Mountainbiking

See https://openmtbmap.org/tutorials/participate/

 

I have an Openmtbmap Premium Membership - can I also download Velomap Premium Maps?

Yes of course. But though I run both websites - they have a different database. So please download all Premium Velomaps from here (as your login will not work on velomap.org):

Windows/Linux : https://openmtbmap.org/download/velomap/

Mac OSx - just scroll down on the Mac OSx download page.

 

How can I add my data / my streets / my tracks to the openmtbmap?

See https://openmtbmap.org/tutorials/participate/

 

There is a virus in the download X (usually Norton (Symantec) Antivirus):

If Norton Antivirus is installed on your computer, you may get a warning that the "WS.Reputation.1" threat is found after downloading most maps.

Unfortunately, the unsuspecting user has been put on the wrong track: WS.Reputation.1 isn't a virus at all! Symantec (the creator of Norton) uses the following rule: popular programs that are downloaded often are probably safe. Programs where this doesn't apply (and that Symantec doesn't know of) are labeled unsafe automatically; even when it isn't harmful at all.

Please use another virusscanner; there are plenty with a better reputation...

 

Avast Antivirus and others sometimes complain about gmt.exe - gmt.exe or gmaptool is needed in order to have the create* .bat files to run. You could also get if from here: http://gmaptool.eu/en/content/gmaptool

As ist performs many lowlevel operations on the .img mapfiles, many antivirus will consider it a thread.

 

If you are still unsure, please simply unpack any .exe you downloaded from here. All windows installers are nothing more than archived map files, plus the installer which adds some entries to the registry so that Garmin programs find the maps.

 

 

 

When will (my) edits show up in the openmtbmap?

I render the maps about once weekly (usually starting on Thursday evening). The data I use is usually about 24 hours old. So upload your data at the latest on wednesday evening (CET) to have it included in Thursday night updates.

 

Can you offer combined maps, e.g. Italy/Switzerland/Austria/Germany ?

Yes if you donate there is a full map of Europe for download.

 

Country / Area X is not yet offered.

By now I have worldwide maps. Some maps are for people who donate only (North America & full map of Europe).

In Principal - if it is offered by geofabrik ( http://download.geofabrik.de/ ) as extract, I will have a map for it. If not yet - please drop me a comment.

 

How should I update my Maps?

The most secure way is to run a new .exe (and make sure Mapsource/Basecamp are not running)

 

In Mapsource/Basecamp everything is fine, on my GPS I miss contourlines

Please Read https://openmtbmap.org/tutorials/send-maps-to-your-gps/mapsource/

Always select maps by dragging and not by simple click if you integrate contourlines

 

 

Mapsource doesn't start and complains that no maps are installed.

RTFM https://openmtbmap.org/tutorials/install-mapsource/

and https://openmtbmap.org/tutorials/install/ .

 

 

Mapsource doesn't start and complains it has to be reinstalled.

Read through here if you have done everything correctly:

https://openmtbmap.org/tutorials/install-mapsource/

https://openmtbmap.org/tutorials/install/installation-with-mapsettoolkit/

https://openmtbmap.org/tutorials/install/

Usually this should not happen. There are several ways to solve this.

1. click on uninstall.bat ("run as administrator" or it won't work). If it has been the map you just installed and it still not works then another map is responsible but not one you downloaded from openmtbmap.org. To solve it see 2.

2. Install Mapsettoolkit cypherman1.googlepages.com/home and delete any map you suspect maybe breaking Mapsource. To help you finding maps installed incorrectly click on "Check Registry". You can use mapsettolkit to reintall any map that didn't break Mapsource via the "Install" button to the right of "Check Registry".

To install a map that did break Mapsource read on here: https://openmtbmap.org/about/install/installation-with-mapsettoolkit/

 

Note As of Mapsource 6.16.3 stability has improved a lot and 6.16.3 is pretty hard to crash.

ONLY CONTACT ME PERSONALLY BY EMAIL IF: you have checked and found out that it was one of my maps breaking Mapsource. In that case I will need your OS, Mapsource Version, and which map it has been including the date of download. If you didn't read through here and tried mapsettoolkit I will not respond to your mail. .

 

You can also check with this tool: http://www.javawa.nl/gmtk_en.html

it is more complex than Mapset Toolkit though - but also more modern and actually finds more errors without showing unimportant ones.

 

Is there a possibility to send maps faster than with Mapsource?

Well did you read through the tutorial? You can send maps directly to an external card reader, then it will be much faster than to your GPS connected via USB. Once exportet as gmapsupp.img, you can combine several gmapsupp.img with gmaptool. Read gmaptool documentation on how to do that. It's not trivial for beginners....

You can also use the create_gmapsupp_with_mkgmap.bat batchfile (or create_gmapsupp.bat - but there is no address search support if you use it.).

 

 

Autorouting does not work well on my GPS / Different to Mapsource

Have you read through About--> Autorouting? Try setting the same settings (start with Car/Motorcycle and enable/disable "avoid toll roads", and use "faster route"). The main difference is that Mapsource can calculate longer routes without inbetween points and calculates faster. The only unit currently having more or less it's own mind is the Garmin Edge series, which also has no "avoid toll roads" option to set to deactivate routing over non "trekking bike suitable" ways.

etrex x0 is a special case.

 

 

Mapsource or my GPS (PNA) crashes on calculating a route, or does not react anymore

Autorouting is very complex. This is a well known problem for which there is no solution (yet). Both Mapsource and the GPS units are quite limited in calculation power. 

Try to route over shorter distances. The better the OSM Coverage is in your area, the more likely a long route will be calculated. The bicycle mode further makes route calculation over longer distances even worse as it excludes many roads from routing.

Commercial Maps like City Navigator or OSM maps made for car use work better because they use highway=motorway and highway=trunk for long distances and thereby reduce the number of times you have to turn. There is a maximum limit of 100 turns to reach your destination without putting inbetween nodes - but likely with openmtbmap the limit is more 10-40 turns depending on how well the area is mapped.

Note that the GPS may well need 1-2 minutes for longer calculations (and don't trust the progress bar, it's broken on many units, so just because it arrived on the end does not mean that the route cannot be calculated). The openmtbmap is not intended to autoroute you from city to city but autoroute you over nice trails on rather short distances. My goal is that routing works in well mapped areas on air distance of around 40-50km without breaking down.

I will try to further optimize to reach this. Currently if an area is well mapped it is rather 10-30km.

Also note the biggest problem we face. Many roads are not connected in OSM

If a road is not connected the GPS will not route you along. Please correct any unconnected streets you notice. (also connect gondolas or cablecars to streets so they can be used too for routing). .

 

Can you help me with Mapsource, Basecamp, mkgmap, ....

Please have a look into GPS relevant forums. Good forums in english language can be found on www.groundspeak.com or www.gpspassion.com - in German language www.naviboard.de or www.naviuser.at. Also read through wiki.openstreetmap.org/ and the Openstreetmap forum (has Garmin section): forum.openstreetmap.org/index.php

In 90% of all cases your questions will be answered in the tutorials and/or are explained in the help file of Garmin Mapsource. Mapsource is relatively easy to use, but you will need at least several hours or even days to find out the full potential. Use Qlandkarte GT if your a beginner, it's easier.

 

 

I would like to have a look into the style-file for mkgmap - or suggest changes to the openmtbmap

Sorry, the style-file is not online anymore. I don't intend to publish it anymore for the time being.

 

 

Some areas/polygons are not rendered, or incorrectly, "ocean overflowing"

a) Sea is partially missing or overflowing: There is somewhere a bit of the coastline / lakeline broken. Note this can either be a fault in the data, or result because the geofabrik extracts are unluckily cutted - so that mkgmap places the sea on the wrong side.

You can make the sea polygon color (currently 0x10f1d) invisible by making it transparent inside the .TYP-file. Then you will have no more sea at all if it bothers you.

b) Instead of an area there is another area rendered. Please use Multipolygons to solve this. There is no way mkgmap can know what is above or below.

Mapnik and Osmarender have different implementation of Multipolygons and also support unofficial tags like layer=value. There is however no possibility to implement something like layer for Garmin maps. If several Polygons overlap, the definitions in the .TYP-file determine which is shown on top of each other. This has to be done for the whole map. I.e. it is hit and miss whether to show water over forest, or forest over water. So depending on the TYP-File some maps for Garmin will show areas in some places and drop others, and the other way around. BTW also maps sold by Garmin heavily (even much worse) suffer from this problem.

 

There are big (square) holes in the map (missing tiles)

This will happen from time to time. Usually there are some big bugs in the map, that will cause mkgmap, the map compiler to break constructing the tile. Usually those places get fixed up soon, so wait for another update to see whether they are fixed. Otherwise try to find the error yourself, I don't have enough time to analyse such errors. Else address yourself to the mkgmap mailinglist with a explicit bug description (try to use the mkgmap splitter with very low --max-nodes value, to find the offending area)

 

I don't like the colors, design, streets are too fat, not well visible on my GPS, etc....

You can change your Typfile using maptk. Basically anything of the layout can be changed without changing the maps. This is rather advanced however, note that I will not help you on that, but the GPS Forums are full of advice on this.

 

I have some more questions about the openmtbmap.org not answered on the page or I could not find out googling

Put a comment below. If I feel it's important I will write a new topic or add it to the FAQ.