Garmin GPS receivers come packaged with free MapSource application. MapSource is required for Garmin users to upload and download maps data, POI (Points of Interest), waypoints, tracks, and routes to and from GPS unit. In other words, those without GPS unit or map product such as Topo, City Navigator and MetroGuide will not have MapSource CD or DVD installer. If you for some reason need to installMapSource on your computer, there is a workaround trick to get MapSource for free.
Garmin officially provides a MapSource version update download, which will only work if there is previous version of MapSource installed. If no MapSourcesoftware is detected, the MapSource update setup will abort with error message saying that it cannot find previous version of MapSource.
Follow the following trick to hack the setup file so that it can be used to install MapSource clean and fresh without any prior installation of MapSource.
- Download MapSource software updater from Garmin.
- Unpack or extract the content of MapSource_xxxx.exe
downloaded using WinRAR. - From the extracted files, run MAIN.msi or MSMAIN.msi.
- Then, run Setup.exe.Note: the sequence to execute Main.msi and then Setup.exe is important to avoid “Previous MapSource not found!” error.
- Garmin MapSource now installed.
Another hack to install Garmin MapSource without CD disc.
- Create a folder named Garmin on local C: drive.
- Inside the C:\Garmin folder, create or rename a file as MapSource.exe.
- Install the MapSouce by running downloaded MapSource installation executable, MapSoruce_XXXX.exe such as MapSource_6156.exe.
For users who managed to install MapSource for free with no licensed Garmin map from CD or DVD disc media, there may be a problem where maps installed to MapSource is not shown or displayed. In other word, despite Garmin MapSource has already been installed, and free maps (or unlicensed and unauthorized unlocked maps) been installed, MapSource simply won’t display and show the maps available.
In addition, although with all the free maps or downloaded unlocked maps installed, the Map Tool button is disabled or grayed out. The View toolbar, which displays map set names, zoom in, zoom out, map scale and map detail settings selection, is also not displayed or shown.
MapSource requires at least a legitimate map installed on MapSource in order to display other free maps that have been installed, probably as a safeguard against unauthorized map usage. Thus, for the free maps to work on MapSource, a properly licensed map must be installed on the MapSource, which can be map from the series of MapSource WorldMap, Trip and Waypoin Manager, MetroGuide, City Navigator etc.
Unfortunately, most of these Garmin products are not free. And if the user plans to buy the map, the MapSource is included, and thus user does not need the hack to install MapSource without CD or DVD. For people who does not want to buy any of the Garmin map for MapSource, there is a free alternative or workaround to install a legitimate map to MapSource, so that all other free maps such as the maps from OpenStreetMap, which available for many countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Europe, UK, North America, US, Canada, China, Japan and community maps such as MalFreeMaps and MalSingMaps, can be imported and shown on MapSourc
The trick is to download and install Garmin Training Center Software, which comes with a PC Basemap. The most important thing is that the Training Center software is free, and is available for free download for both Windows and Mac OS X platforms.
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