Not recognising the SD Card

For help and advice on the Garmin Zumo XT2.
Rocket2500
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Not recognising the SD Card

Post by Rocket2500 »

Does anyone know how to get the XT2 to recognise the micro SD card. If you press “music” then choose the source, I get two choices.

1. My phone (Spotify works perfectly)
2. MP3 internal memory folder (works perfectly)

What is not recognised is the external SD card fitted in the card slot. It’s 32Gb formatted to FAT32 and can be seen with the mp3 songs when viewed in Windows Explorer but it flat-out refuses to be recognised by the XT2.

Tried everything, including Garmin helpline and they couldn’t help either. Anyone has this or had this and solved it?

Help greatly appreciated please.

Thanks in advance.
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technoguppy
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Re: Not recognising the SD Card

Post by technoguppy »

Works on my wife's unit. No issues. However you have to turn off the Bluetooth (I think) between the phone and the unit.
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Re: Not recognising the SD Card

Post by jfheath »

Some earlier Zumos demanded that the MP3 folder is in upper case. If using Windows, you might have to rename it to something else and then to MP3 . Windows doesn't' register mp3 and MP3 as being different, so it doesn't change it !

I cannot remember whether it has to be in the Garmin folder or not. Edit - No it is in the root in internal memory and on the SD Card
Have owned Zumo 550, 660 == Now have Zumo XT2, XT, 595, 590, Headache
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Re: Not recognising the SD Card

Post by rbentnail »

1. You don't say if it EVER worked;
2. My XT, I do NOT have to turn off Bluetooth to the phone to hear music from the SD card.

My XT (not XT2) had this problem twice. Both times I had to replace the card. 1st time I did format the card via computer. Wouldn't work at all. Put new card directly into the XT and it formatted as needed, worked fine.

2nd time something corrupted the card. Could read from it but could write to it, i.e., no new music or routes could be added to it. Replaced card, let XT format, been fine ever since.

Also, at least with some models, file structure and name on the SD card matters. Tell us what you got.
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Rocket2500
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Re: Not recognising the SD Card

Post by Rocket2500 »

No, never worked. Tried formatted and unformatted cards with no luck either way. Unformatted when inserted not recognised nor was there any option to format it.

Yet to try turning off the Bluetooth which I will do now.
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Re: Not recognising the SD Card

Post by Rocket2500 »

It’s a class 11 card using FAT32
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Re: Not recognising the SD Card

Post by Rocket2500 »

Bluetooth turned off then card installed but still nothing
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Re: Not recognising the SD Card

Post by technoguppy »

If I was debugging this, this would be some of the things I would try.

1 - Different size of SD Cards ( I am lucky I have a dozen plus ranging from 1GB to 512GB )
2 - Different SD Manufacturers (some times it's the SD Card) - Did you buy a SANPO card for $3 from Amazon or a $50 SanDisk ?
3 - Try reformatting the SD card. FAT32 put ONE song on it and try it, then try exFAT. Try it in another device (PC, Laptop, tablet) to see if it works there
4 - Try no other connections (no WiFi, no Bluetooth, no Headset) and see if it plays
5 - Try saving something FROM the XT2 to the device (a route, a log file, a waypoint) anything to see if it will write, not just read
6 - Is your MP3 file valid? Can you play it on a PC or phone?
7 - Factory Reset the XT2 (last resort type things)
Last edited by technoguppy on 13 Nov 2023 21:59, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Not recognising the SD Card

Post by Peobody »

In my XT I have a 64GB Sandisk. It was formatted as exFAT when purchased. I reformatted it to FAT32. Music is in a directory named MP3 located at the root of the drive, in subdirectory by Artist, then subdirectory by Album (eg: \MP3\The Beetles\Abbey Road). The XT doesn't seem to care what directory structure you use in the \MP3 directory.

I would be curious whether gpx files placed on your card would be available for import. They must be in a directory structure of \Garmin\GPX.

When manipulating data on the card are you removing the card and using a card reader or are you leaving it in the XT2 and connecting the XT2 to a computer. If the former, try the later. I don't know whether the internal wiring is the same when accessing the card this way or with the device reading it but if you can't see the card this way then something must be wrong internally. Garmin should have been able to diagnose this kind of problem though.
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Re: Not recognising the SD Card

Post by jfheath »

Peobody wrote: 13 Nov 2023 21:57 In my XT I have a 64GB Sandisk. It was formatted as exFAT when purchased. I reformatted it to FAT32. Music is in a directory named MP3 located at the root of the drive, in subdirectory by Artist, then subdirectory by Album (eg: \MP3\The Beetles\Abbey Road). The XT doesn't seem to care what directory structure you use in the \MP3 directory.
I agree with everything that @Peobody said.

The unofficial update log that I started indicates that for the XT Max SD card capacity is 256Gb, the maximum number of MP3 files is 5000.
These were updates to v2.70 and v2.80 of the system software. Link
Be aware that if you have a lot of mp3 files, it can take the Zumo a long time to process them.

The directory structure that you use is purely for your own method of organisation. The XT will scan through all subfolders In the MP3 folder and then scan through all of the folders in the SD cards/ MP3 folder - collecting together information about the tracks. It doesn't use the filename of the MP3 files for the songs - it uses the data that is stored as part of the MP3 file itself - artist, album, genre, track, track title etc.

The XT organises your songs based on this information, not on the folder structure that you use. That folder structure just makes it easier for you to add and remove mp3 files.
Have owned Zumo 550, 660 == Now have Zumo XT2, XT, 595, 590, Headache
Use Basecamp (mainly), MyRouteApp (sometimes), Competent with Tread for XT2, Can use Explore for XT - but it offers nothing that I want !

Links: Zumo 590/5 & BC . . . Zumo XT & BC