Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

I have successfully installed the MaemoMapper on my Nokia 800 but I have no idea of how to use it effectively and there does not appear to be a functioning help or howto page. Maybe someone could answer the following questions:

1. If I want to use Google Streets on the N800, what is the proper way to configure the software? I have been doing something so that as I change zoom or scroll in a direction, maps keep downloading via the wireless connection but it seems like a haphazard process. Can I simply copy down all the maps that I need and have the software access it on the external drive?

2. I don't have a bluetooth gps receiver but plan on getting one if I can be sure that I can use it to make the map scroll with it. Can someone explain what will happen if I have the gps receiver and the maps loaded? Will it track my position on the map? I don't see how that is possible with the raster maps that are downloaded. It seems like we need vector maps and they don't seem to be available.

Thanks

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

sounds like you have it configured correctly.

this post talks about downloading maps for an area.

http://www.internettablettalk.com/fo...ight=winmapper

An Answer
 

The latest version (1.4) will get and configure all the map repositories for you. It's under the Map submenu as Manage Repositories... Just click the big Download... button in the bottom center. You'll have to configure the download folder and view steps for each individual repository. I keep the sliders all the way to the left to give me the maximum number of viewing levels. You should create a Map folder on one of your SD cards (I use the external card) with 5 subfolders for each of the default repositories: gsat, gstreet, vestreet, vesat, vehybrid. Click the Browse... button to select the appropriate folder for each repository. You'll have to do this for all of them:
http://homepage.mac.com/general_antilles/mm1.jpg

You can then switch repositories through the Map submenu. Maemo Mapper will download (and cache for later) maps as you view them, which is not particularly useful if you're on the road without a connection. So, to download the maps for a large area that you frequent: 1. Frame the map area that you'd like to download. 2. Go to the Maps submenu and select Manage Maps... 3. Make sure Download Maps and By Area (see tab) are selected (you can also download maps along a route, if you have a route loaded, from here). 4. Switch over to the Zoom tab and check the boxes for levels 0-4 (you may want to do more zoom levels, but 0-4 is good for an average sized city). 5. Click OK:
http://homepage.mac.com/general_antilles/mm2.jpg

Maemo Mapper automagically gets the boundaries of your view and downloads the maps for that area. This may take a while.

When you go out to drive (as opposed to browsing around at home), be sure to turn auto-download off so it wont attempt to download maps if you drive out of your area:
http://homepage.mac.com/general_antilles/mm3.jpg

I purchased an i-Blue 737 GPS, and would recommend no other. Fast satellite aquisition, holds position well indoors, outdoors, and in-pocket. Long battery life, it uses standard Nokia batteries, so they're easy to come by. More professional reviewers than myself have found it's chipset to be about the most accurate on the consumer bluetooth GPS receiver market (google search will turn up some stuff). Best of all, though, it works flawlessly with Maemo Mapper.

Once you turn on the GPS and get it setup initially (you have to "pair" it under the preferences), you simply select Enabled GPS from the GPS submenu to have it connect. The option under that will show and hide the information sidebar with MPH, time, lat/long, satellites, compass, etc.
http://homepage.mac.com/general_antilles/mm4.jpg

The maps that Maemo Mapper downloads map predictable to lat/long positions (else there'd be little point in making GPS software, no? :rolleyes:), so as Maemo Mapper gets GPS data, it can plot your position (and track) onto the map (as can bee seen at the blue dot). Pressing the middle button on the d-pad will change the tracking mode from lat/long to lead, scrolling or tapping will disable tracking (this can also be accessed in the Auto-Center submenu). When tracking is enabled, Maemo Mapper will simple scroll along with your dot as you move and show your track as a red line.
http://homepage.mac.com/general_antilles/mm5.jpg

Hopefully this helps you out, as Maemo Mapper is probably the most useful applications on the platform.

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

I have a related question. As I use Marmo mapper, I notice thet multiple versions of each repository start appearing. For example, when I first installed the program, I had Google Street, Good Satellite, VE Street, and VE Hybrid. Now, after a a little browsing with auomatic downloads, now I have two copies of each repository. The first thing I did was change the Cache dir for each repository to a dir on my external card and the newly created repositories are using the default dir. What I am doing wrong? Why is MM creating these new repositories?

Thanks

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

Hurray! I got my device working. There were no instructions I could find on what pairing meant, or whether I had to put it into the control panel, but I eventually figured out that what my GPS manual referred to as a passcode was needed.

Exactly what documentation should I have read before daring to post a message about this?

How do I activate flite? I installed it, but I don't see any new menu options. Is there a voice that will tell me stuff? One of the menus seems to say that there is.

How do I indicate a "waypoint", which I gather is a destination I might want to go to?

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

GeneralAntilles,

What an excellent explanation of what I wanted to know. Maybe you should turn your reply into the beginnings of documetation of MaemoMapper.

The screens you are showing don't look much like what I have on my n800. I downloaded it just a couple of days ago. I have no clue which version I have. I brought up the app and poked around the various screens and saw no reference to the version. The About screen should have it but it doesn't. I'll search for 1.4.

I have already taken a look at the I-Blue gps. They are selling it for $69 in the US. On your advice, I will definitely consider getting it. I was worried about it not tracking my position. I definitely will have to download all the maps I need before travelling because I won't get a wifi connection while moving. I can get good maps for the US from Google. We are heading to Italy in a few weeks and I'll see what it gives me for there. Which is the best mapsource for Europe?

I also have the same problem of neocx. Not understanding what Manage Repositories->download did, I ended up with at least four sets of Google Streets, etc. I couldn't figure out how to get rid of them. I even uninstalled, installed again and they were still there. Then I realized that I when I go into the repositories screen and highlight one of the items, I can hit the 'delete' button and it will disappear. The repositories screen is very non-intuitive as to what it does and how to use it.

Thanks for all the feedback. I may end up writing my own howto on the Mapper and posting it on my website. I may 'steal' your explanations with your permission.

Voice and Waypoints
 

After flite has been installed through the Application Manager, simply check the box in the Preferences under the Announce tab. You can change the voice settings (Marvin from the old Macs) here, too. As far as I know, it only uses voice for reading you directions while you're navigating a route.
http://homepage.mac.com/general_antilles/mm6.jpg

Waypoints are direction changes on a route. You can tap and hold on them to get more information. Points of Interest are the destinations that you would generate directions to. These can be place by tapping-and-holding and selecting Add POI.
http://homepage.mac.com/general_antilles/mm7.jpg

Maemo Mapper or the whole look of the GUI? I have a custom theme (NuvoTheme) installed, which rather drastically changes the look of the device.

Open up the Application Manager and scroll down until you see Maemo Mapper. The version number should be off to the right.

Have at it, I've no particular attachment to them.

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

Nice, thanks. I couldn't figure out how to get Marvin to tell me more than how to start the trip, but this was fun.

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

Hey Gnuite, the maemo mapper is simply an astonishingly good application! It does exactly what I tried to force my car nav system (TomTom) to do while walking around in cities I travel to, but this is much better! And GeneralAntilles' postings illustrates it well :D

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

I see now that I have version 1.4.3. It is the most current and now that I understand how it works, I am showing what you are showing.

I have now successfully harvested a workable set of maps for the US. Here are some lessons learned:

1. Don't change the repository initially. Each time you do do a download in the repository window, you get a duplicate set of the 5 sources. I guess later I will find a better repository and then I will do a download.

2. When the application launches, I am sitting at 0/0 (near the equator off Africa. This is because I don't have a gps connected and it doesn't know where I am. I would like to manually input a default lat/lon but don't know how.

3. To take gather the right maps of the US, i make sure GStreet (Google Streets) is selected from the Maps menu, and that Autoload is not checked in the same menu. Then I zoom out (I do this with the hard button on the top of the n800 (Wish I could control zoom with the stylus...can I?).

4. I then use the hard button with up, down, left,right up on the upper left of the n800 to scroll up and over to North America and then zoom in to most of the US is showing on the screen. I then use Maps->Manage Maps to make sure that Download Maps and By Area are toggled. On the same interface I select Zoom and select 12 as the zoom area. When I click OK, the level-12 maps for the area seen on the display start downloading. I then proceed to keep zooming into my state (Indiana) and accept the zoom level already checked in the Zoom screen and hit OK. Then I zoom in on the Indianapolis area and choose several levels of zoom. This will download a lot of maps. I think the lowest level is 4. The total size of what has been downloaded is about 7 MB. That's very tolerable because I modified the repository manager to send the maps to my external 2GB drive.

5. When I prepare to travel somewhere out of state, I will give the route to the destination and tell it to download fairly high level maps along the route. I also plan to download similar maps for Italy before I go there.

Hope this helps. It basically made me explain to myself what the process is.

Can anyone tell me how to zoom in and out with the stylus instead of with the physical buttons? Those buttons are hard to press and I am afraid I will break them.

-- rhackenb

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

GeneralAntilles:

Thanks for that great explanation with pics! ... and thanks for the tip on that i-Blue 737 GPS receiver. Here's an indepth review of it I located on a GPS forum:

http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/t...TOPIC_ID=67511

gnuite:

Thanks again for developing such an outstanding application and sharing it with this community!

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

You only need to do hit the download button in the repository setup once. I'm thinking the functionality should be changed for successive activations after the first.

As far as I remember from my non-GPSed days (pretty much just used it as an extra portable Google Earth-type viewer) it should start at your last location after you start using it.

I should clarify: it's really only useful to have auto-load turned off when you're on the road without a conncetion, as it'll attempt to download maps if you roam out of the cached area. If you're viewing with a connection, auto-download makes things a bit more convenient.

You can also scroll by tapping to center on a point on the map.

To the best of my knowledge, I don't think it's possible. In any case, I wouldn't worry about those buttons breaking.

If anybody else has any usage issues (usage, not bugs. Those are for the developer) that they can't work out, or had an issue previously that they had trouble getting around, I'll see if I can put together some more guides for you.

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

I have just downloaded Google (street) maps for the Denver area in v1.35. Looks great! I am now wanting to download Google Satellite maps for the same area. My question: can you display an overlay of Streets on the Satellite map (Hybrid) like on the Google Maps website? I can only find URL's for Googe Street and Google Sat. but not for Google Hybrid. I do find URL's for Virtual Earth Street, Sat., and Hybrid. Does that mean I have to use Virtual Earth if I want to display a Hybrid map?
Thanks,
Neil

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

At the moment, yes.

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

Yes, although Niko Kotilainen posted an interesting Google Maps-based hybrid map generator here:
http://kotilainen.eu/mapper/

You have to generate your own maps separately, though, so I'm not sure how legal it is. :)

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

Out of all Meamo Mapper threads in this forum, this is the most informative. Someone make this thing a sticky!

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

I'm really amazed at mmapper being able to capture google maps at various resolutions. I've downloaded about 1 GB of maps so far for places in the US and for where we will visit in Italy. The way I find easiest is frame geographic area on the screen and then use manage maps with the zoom tab and select the zoom levels. I always get a chance to reject the download if it is going to be too heavy.

Here are some things I still would like to find out how to do:

1. I did a test drive with my i-Blue 737 running. mmapper tracked my progress along various maps with precision. What I would like to be able to do is insert a waypoint. The only thing I see similar is to use is track->insert breakpoint. It does insert a dot there but I have no idea how to name the breakpoint or look it up later.

2. I don't undertand how to load POI's. I think I need to use sqlite3 but I can't seem to figure out how to intall it. I went to www.owenwilliams.plus.com/ and tried to install sqlite_3.2.7.arm.deb but the n800 says that it is uninstallable. What do I have to do to install sqlite3?

3. I have about 250 waypoints on my Garmin Emap. I would like to transfer these to the n800 for use in mmapper. How do I do that? I think I can export those waypoints in comma-separated format.

4. I tried to go to http://www.avraam.org/winmapper.htm to download winmapper but I get the error: "An unhandled application error has occured within Fax Web Report." What gives?

thanks,
rhackenb

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

You can download it from here:
http://ioanghip.googlepages.com/winmapper.htm

Thanks,
-ioan

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

That site worked well. I downloaded it and installed it on my windows laptop. Originally, I was going to do it on my linux desktop.

When I ran it, it set up several numbered directories but they were all empty of data. I guess that is because is used as the Street Map URI "maps.google.com". It looks like it should be something like mt.google.com/mt?... I then used the example you have on the website and it created 22 numbered directories, only one of which contains data. it was a simple file called 12393.jpg. Not sure if it is a valid file because I couldn't display in an image view or firefox. What should be the proper URI for google street maps?

As a side issue, is thee a rhyme or reason to the different numbered directories that mmapper uses? I'm sure there is but maybe there is a mapping to the numbering system.

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

Yes, "Insert Mark" (as it is now called in v1.4.2) adds a breakpoint that appears as a dot on-screen. In the GPX file, though, you can edit those breaks to be waypoints, instead. It's not very automatic, but it's doable.

It's probably worth adding an "Insert Waypoint" option to the "Track" menu, even though "waypoints" in "tracks" don't really make sense. I was hoping not to confuse tracks and routes too much. You can still save the track and use it later as a route, though, so maybe the distinction is overly artificial.

In the meantime, what's new in 1.4.2 is the ability to create your own routes in Maemo Mapper itself. So what you could do is create a route that more-or-less matches your track, adding waypoints as needed.

I'm not too familiar with POIs, since I don't really use them all that much, but a program called gpsbabel might do what you're looking for.

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

It seems like I have version 1.4-3, which should be greater than 1.4-2. I don't see an "insert mark" choice. Is there a difference between the two version where "insert mark" is no longer in the later version?

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

1.4-2 is different from 1.4.2 - a dash is different from a period. Basically, the "-2" and "-3" refer to different builds of the same version of Maemo Mapper.

1.4.2-2 is the "1.4.2" version of Maemo Mapper, built for the 770 (maemo 2).
1.4.2-3 is the "1.4.2" version of Maemo Mapper, built for the N800 (maemo 3).
1.4-2 is the "1.4" version of Maemo Mapper, built for the 770(maemo 2).
1.4-3 is the "1.4" version of Maemo Mapper, built for the N800 (maemo 3).

So, your 1.4-3 is an older version than 1.4.2 (which is the generic name - 1.4.2-3 is the N800 build).

Confusing, I know, but since the 770 and N800 use the same architecture name ("armel"), I can't use the architecture to distinguish between the two builds (like I can between "armel" and "i386"), so I have to insert something into the version number. I suppose "1.4.2-maemo2" would be more descriptive...

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

So it sounds like I need 1.4.2-3 to get the latest version for the n800. I've been looking for that version and can't find it. Can you point to it?

Thanks,

rhackenb

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

me too?!!

where is this?

1.4-3 is the "1.4" version of Maemo Mapper, built for the N800 (maemo 3).

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

But how did you install earlier versions guys? You need http://repository.maemo.org bora free in the repository listing to install. After that it's just to update the program listing in the application manager and any new versions will show up when you click 'show updates' (or whatever it's called in the English locale). So, no need to understand the numbering..

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

I did an install update and got 1.4.2-5. The menus on it are greatly expanded from what I had. Sorry about the confusion but I have had the n800 for only a week and am very confused as to how to download and install software. Some comes from repositories and others you have to seek out. I can't believe mmapper changed that much in one week. Maybe I followed someone's instructions on how to manually acquire the first download and it was older than what was in the repository.

My ploblem now is that mmapper is simply not finding my gps (i-Blue 737). It was working earlier yesterday and then just stopped finding it. I can't think of anything that happened that would have changed it. I guess that is not a mmapper problem, however.

Thanks for the help and for the really great product.

-- rhackenb

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

Yeah, I screwed up a little bit in the release of 1.4.2, so for this version only, the dash-suffixes are "-4" for 770 and "-5" for N800. Like TA-t3 said, though, you don't really need to care about the numbering. Just use the update functionality and it will make sure you have the latest version.
Make sure that you have your bluetooth radio enabled (in the Control Panel). Maemo Mapper needs the bluetooth radio enabled in order to access a bluetooth GPS receiver. For some reason, the bluetooth radio is disabled by default, but it shouldn't disable itself after you have enabled it.

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

Hi!

I've written a quick Python script that:
* Gets the geographical position of your device from the GeoClue library
* Pulls nearby Wikipedia pages using the Geonames Web Service
* Populates them into the Maemo Mapper POI database

This immediately makes Maemo Mapper a travel guide ;-)

http://www.nehmer.net/~bergie/maemom...pedia-poi2.png

http://www.nehmer.net/~bergie/maemom...poi-detail.png

This hasn't been tested much yet, but if you want to try it:
* install Python
* install GeoClue from the maemo-hackers repository
* copy the wikipedia2poi.py script to your device
* run it on command line

Please let me know what happens! :rolleyes:

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

Thanks for the hint on getting bluetooth working. I don't know how the original settings in the control panel got cleared out. It seems like this time I went through more steps to get it turned on again. This included putting in a passcode of 0000 for the i-Blue. It's working again now.

I am impressed at the ability to download gpx routes. Of course, it doesn't always choose the route I would have chosen. I wonder if there is a way to tell it to go via a certain city in order to force to go a different way.

I still don't understand the 'insert mark' feature. I think it inserts the current location of the gps. Is there a way to edit or label the marks? How about uploading stored waypoints that I have from a different source? I inspected the marks file that I saved away and it seems like it is written in xml markup. I guess I could write a Perl script on my desctop to generate an xml file that could be loaded.

Thanks, again.

--rhackenb

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

Unfortunately, I have no control over the chosen route - the directions are gleaned from Google Maps, which doesn't (to my knowledge) provide customization for how the route is generated.

"Insert Mark" merely adds a break in your track. If you save the track to a file, it appears in the XML as the beginning of a new trk element. You can edit that XML file using a text editor if you want, but it's cumbersome.

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

how would I download an entire map of Ontario? How much space would it take up?

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

Use the "Manage Maps" dialog, from the "Maps" menu.

Additional Question about Maemo Mapper
 

General Antilles, You seem to know a lot about the maemo mapper. Perhaps you can help me with my problem. Every time I open the Maemo mapper software, I get this "Failed to open or create database: file is encrypted or is not a database" error. After clicking ok on that error message, the program opens. I have tried to follow the steps you mentioned for downloading maps. Every time I try to download a somewhat large map area, the download status bar reaches about a quarter of the way and then the Nokia N800 restarts.

Is this something you can assist me with?

Thanks,

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

Is there any way to download the required maps on PC then transfer onto the N800? I cant seem to download large maps through the N800. Also, im having trouble deleting large maps at zoom setting 0-3, the application hangs then closes without deleting.

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

Can MaemoMapper use the map files from the iGO software? They have great maps of all of Europe and a few other places I'd like to go, namely Israel.
Thanks!

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

Hi! I am very interested in having this working! I tried to run the script but I get a import error while trying to import sqlite3. Does the only lib need to be installed or (guess, since you have to insert entries into the database) the whole sqlite package?

Thanks, Omar

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

Installed sqlite3 (in order also to delete some categories from a huge poi file I got about italians poi :) ) but still have the same error:

***
File "wikipedia2poi.py", line 23 in ?
import sqlite3
ImportError: No module named sqlite3
***

Thanks, Omar

Re: Questions about the MaemoMapper
 

Anyone having ideas about the python script problem? I searched around the web and it appears that there is some "sqlite" module for python, but I am not enough skilled on python to see whether or not it is installed / supported by the python 2.4 version I am running. Should I upgrade to pythin 2.5?

Omar

Where are my waypoints?
 

I just upgraded to maemo-mapper version 1.4.3-3 on my n800. With gps enabled, I select tracks->Insert Mark. A window pops up and gives my current lat/lon and gives me a box to key in the mame of the mark. If I save the track, I can find an entry from the mark in the track file.

What I can't figure out is how to view my marks (waypoints) using some utility in mmapper. Shouldn't this be an expected capability? I would like something that allows me to find all the waypoints that I have saved and make the display go to that map. Actually, I don't think the waypoint should be stored with the track file at all. Isn't there some sort of waypoint file where we can accummulate all of our waypoints? I have about 200 waypoints from my Garmin and I would really like to load them into mmapper.

Thanks,
rhackenb

Re: Where are my waypoints?
 

It sounds like you want POI (points of interest), not waypoints.