Garmin eTrex 10
William McKeehan
William McKeehan
February 3, 2022

Garmin eTrex 10

Garmin eTrex 10

Garmin eTrex 10

I have always enjoyed the size and form factor of the Garmin eTrex line of GPS units. I've owned the eTrex 10 for quite some time and the only thing I found lacking was the ability to have a base map. The display on the eTrex 10 is not the greatest, but I did find a way to add some maps.

Maps

Custom Maps (some details were found through the now defunct http://slowfoodsurvivalist.com/?p=275)

  1. Use the "Garmin MapInstall” application to select/install maps to the device
  2. Open the Garmin drive and rename the newly installed file to “gmapbmap.img"

How to install detailed topographic maps into Garmin eTrex 10 - YouTube

Add maps to Garmin etrex 10 - GPS technology and devices - Geocaching Forums

I've also found that you can use BBBike extracts OpenStreetMap (OSM, Garmin, Shapefile etc.) to export maps that can be directly added to the eTrex.

Recovery

At some point, my eTrex became corrupt; upon power-up, it only displayed the error "System Software Missing".

After a conversation with Garmin support which suggested I replace my etrex, I found this forum post etrex 10 bricked which lead me to GPSrChive - eTrex x0. This site has directions on how to recover an etrex. The directions here worked great for me.