Let me get the same setup on a class 4 and class 10 SD card and test (I don't have the original 4GB SD card anymore - it was for someone else).

I did just test Primo 2.4 on a class 4 card with only 2 state maps on it and it started in 11 seconds (which is much faster than even my class 10 with all US and Canada maps/POIs/DEM, etc). So the number of map/poi files and dem, buildings, etc seem to slow down the loading significantly.

Will post comparisons between "fully loaded" class 4 and class 10 shortly (copying files over to class 4 card now).

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Ok, with a fully-loaded (all US state map, POI and building files and detailed DEM file), the class 4 card takes about 42 seconds and the class 10 card takes about 27 seconds.

Now, all SD cards are not created equal either though (even within the same class). For my initial test, I'm using a brand new Kingston 8gb Class 4 SD card and a not-as-new 16gb Class 10 Sandisk SD card (both SDHC). But in my opinion, 27 and 42 seconds is a significant difference.

I'm curious to see how fast the class 10 loads with only 2 state maps (where a different class 4 card only took 11 seconds to load)... I'll do some more comparisons and post back.

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My understanding was always that it doesn't matter how many maps do you have on the SD card and the program will load only the last map you used and that information is stored in SAVE folder. If your staring time is only 11 seconds that is amazing. Are you sure we are talking abut the same times, I am talking about from the time you start Primo until you see the Navigation Menu.

I think it has to scan the map and poi foders to see exactly which maps are installed at bootup... And yes, I'm talking about the time it takes from when the Primo loading screen comes up until when I see the map screen (I have mine setup to take me directly to the map screen instead of the menu).

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The last map and coordinates used are save in the SAVE folder when you close Primo. So, I don't understand why it would matter how many other maps you have on the SD. I never tried it but I will delete ALL states except my own state and see my staring time. What else did you delete when you got the 11 second staring time?

When you start Primo, it has to know what map and poi files are available in case you do a wide-area search, etc. Even if you go into the Help->Content menus, you'll see that Primo already knows what's available to it. I'm sure it creates indexes, etc as well. So I'm sure that Primo is going through every file in the map and poi directories and reading the header of the files (the filenames are meaningless to Primo - other than the extension). So it goes through each map and poi file, reads the header in order to determine what maps and pois are available to it. It has nothing to do with the actual map/poi data - it'll read that only if it needs to, but it does need to know what maps/pois are available before it runs.

I checked the 4gb SD card (class 4) that booted in 11 seconds and it has everything the other cards do (that take between 27 and 42 seconds to boot) except it only has map and poi files for 2 states (instead of all states). Thats the only difference. I'm sure if I put all of the map & poi files on it, it too will take 40+ seconds to boot. Or, if I remove all maps/pois, except for 1 or 2 states from the other "fully loaded" SD cards, their boot time will go WAY down.

Easy enough to test... Like I said, Primo has to "scan" the files in the map and poi folders when it boots in order to know what map and poi files are available to it. Otherwise, it would have to do all of that reading every time you went to search for something, which means it would take forever to search for things.

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Ok, so I decided to get rid of all state map/poi files that there is VERY little chance that I'll use (actually just moved them to a different folder on the SD card in case I *do* need them). Now, with only 9 state maps and POIs installed, my Class 10 SD card boots Primo in about 18 seconds (instead of the 27 seconds that it took with all state maps/pois).

I should have done this a long time ago! :-) I figured that the un-needed map/poi files increased the startup time a little, but didn't realize how much they increased the startup time!

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I don't know what to tell you. I deleted all my states maps except my own state and left only the FBL file, I also deleted all POI, Building and Dem files. My start up time improved ONLY by 3-4 seconds and to make sure I repeated the test several times. Maybe there is something wrong with my card, its a 16GB Class 4 fairly new SD. I have another SD in my Dashcam which is Class 10, I will try to swap it.

Yeah, that is really strange. I had the same results with two different SD cards (a class 4 and a class 10). They were both MUCH faster after removing all of the maps/pois that I don't need.

You may be right - maybe it is an issue with the SD card (filesystem corruption or something) - or, there is just something different about your head-unit that doesn't make it any faster when there are less maps - although that really doesn't make any sense to me...

What version of 2.4 are you using? I'm using 9.6.13.405512. I suppose it could also be a UX file that is causing delays?

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Well, I tried the Class 10 SD card and the start up time is almost identical to the time with the Class 4 SD with all 50 states or just one state. I don't think there is anything wrong with my SDs, they are SanDisk which is good quality. Obviously, there are some differences between your system and mine. I think you mentioned once that your 2Din uses CE5, my uses CE6, there may be some differences in their file management routine.

One thing I notice, I am using the Dimka P174 Primo skin and when I disable the skin the start up time is 10-12 seconds faster which is significant improvement. Did you use any Primo skin with your tests? Also, I am using a ton of branding icons in my Branding.zip file which may slow down the startup, I didn't try to disable it yet. I am using the same Primo version as you and I don't use any UX.

I do use a skin, but I use the Decent skin. It's amazing that Dimka skin causes that much longer of a startup. Can't explain why removing state/poi files doesn't change the startup time much on yours - or why the SD card class doesn't make much difference. Could be a combination of things (skin, WinCE version, amount of RAM in head-unit, sys.txt differences, branding differences, SD card differences, etc).

Also, I don't use a branding file - have never found one I actually like for Primo 2.4 in USA. I've found that the latest TomTom POI files actually including icons for the bigger brands (McDonalds, Shell, BP, Wendys, etc) - without needing any branding file.

If you are interested in trying my exact setup, let me know - I can zip it up and share it. Would be kind of interesting to see if you see any differences in speed with different number of states with my setup. Although, the SD cards we use would still be different, so it's hard to get a test with the exact setup anyway...

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Sound good, if you can upload your setup without the maps that would be interesting to find out the differences. BTW, I just disabled the Branding.zip and it shaved about 2-3 seconds from the startup.

Ok, I'll get it zipped up and PM you a link to it.

Every second counts! 10 seconds doesn't sound like a long time until you're sitting there in the car waiting for the GPS app to load after starting the car! :-)

But I'm perfectly happy with an 18 second boot time for the GPS app though (with 9 states on my Class 10 SD card) - that is much better than the 42 seconds it takes to boot with all maps on my Class 4 SD card! :-)

I'm glad you brought this up!

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Thanks for the tip on a Class 10 SD card. I have one ordered and on the way. I'll try it next week.

Meanwhile, since I want to keep the file and folder count low, I did not load the branding.zip file. What exactly does it offer that is not already present? My version, with just the data.zip file seems to work just fine.

The branding.zip file is optional, basically it contain a bunch of icon for specific POI, businesses like restaurants, gas station, banks etc. Most if not all of these branding files were originally created if Europe, so naturally they contain mostly European business icons. A few of these files also include some unique icons to north America and many common business to both continents. Unfortunately not all these icons were created equally as far as resolution, size and quality so you have to check all the files you can get a hold of and pick the one you like best. Also for some reason some of these icons would display only in 2D or 3D display so you have to check both modes and in different zoom levels.

The best way to evaluate these different branding.zip files is to select different map areas with lots of different businesses like a large Shopping Center/Mall. Also as mentioned, some of the newer POI files they have some bushiness icons already built in to the POI files so you may want to compare your display with and without the optional branding file.