Setting up a Chinavasion 5" Gen2 GPS

UP
" I don't 'convert' my routes on the GPS, I just delete them when I am done using them. They still load and run fine as .kml files." Meaning what?
When I design a route on google earth I have to "save as" .kml file to load it or GPS doesn't recognize it..

Maybe I'm confused what your saying..

Teach me O' Great One! LOL

Doug - There is an option in IGO8/Primo that allows you to save a .kml imported route in 'native' mode and it becomes a 'new' route. It is also for the option if you create a route on the GPS and want to save it. They are actually stored in 'database' type file internal to the software. No real advantage to doing that other than some say if you have a bunch of kml routes on the GPS, it takes longer to boot up.

Hmmm, it appears that the included Primo install does not have US POI file. I DO have many European countries, from Albania to Vatican! Boy I hope to take advantange of several of these some day. But how am I to find a remote Waffle House or Dairy Queen??

The web hunt begins....

I only use my GPS for navigation. IMO, POI's are better found on a smartphone using Google Maps... much more complete, accurate and up to date.

paulcb said:

I only use my GPS for navigation. IMO, POI's are better found on a smartphone using Google Maps... much more complete, accurate and up to date.

Click to expand...

I would just a soon fiddle with one gadget as two! Of course if I'm setting still somewhere, the phone is OK.

Well I can tell you one probables with IGO8. It had an issue with getting around and over these mountains here in New Hampshire. I circled around a mountain for an hour before I broke out and just rode east. Lol.

I'm still not competent with selecting detours it rerouting. It does a poor job of automatically re route. It just hangs up. May be a setting hidden somewhere?

Well, my 5" running Primo 2.4 has not been running perfectly...

• After starting the nav software, I sometimes get a few "fatal error" messages and have to reboot. It's very random.
• It's powered off switched bike power. When I turn the bike off, it 'sleeps' within 10 seconds, as designed. The problem is when I turn power back on, sometimes it locks (no error message) and I have to reboot. This is random too.

I would say it works perfectly 90% of the time, but that other 10% is frustrating. I'm guessing it's that I 'only' have 128MB RAM, which is supposed to be the minimum for Primo. I've been tempted to try iGO8 but haven't pulled the trigger on that yet. I did use it to go to ArkanSTOC and really liked it, except for the few errors. It worked well with gloves and was nice not having to worry about the rain we hit on the way home.

Interesting issues as I have not experienced any of that with the MC mod version. I just got back from a trip to the U.K. using my 5" Gen1 with the MC mod and it worked great. I wonder if the 'full' Primo 2.4 is a little large for the unit as I believe the MC mod removes a bunch of unnecessary stuff. I had another one of my Gen1 model take 'flight' and it came to an unhappy ending. So I'm running the MC Mod on one of my Rages now since all I have is a Gen2 model which is at Chinavasion getting the audio repaired. The security screw worked loose over some very rough pavement and caught me by surprise. I now have a little 'stopper' I Velcro on the cradle as an extra safety precaution.

UP, how much RAM is in your 5" Gen1?

Paul - The same as the Gen2 IIRC, 128. How many 'waypoints' did you have in the route? I would suspect a lot would 'blow out' memory. I know some mapping software create an unusual amount of waypoints in their files. You can open the .kml file with notepad on your PC (OPEN WITH ...) and take a look to determine that.

Uncle Phil said:

Paul - The same as the Gen2 IIRC, 128. How many 'waypoints' did you have in the route? I would suspect a lot would 'blow out' memory. I know some mapping software create an unusual amount of waypoints in their files. You can open the .kml file with notepad on your PC (OPEN WITH ...) and take a look to determine that.

Click to expand...

It seems to happen with or without a route loaded. In any case, the route I used to ArkanSTOC only had 4 waypoints.

Is it a 'power out' error (Shutting down in 5 seconds ...) or a software error (box pops up on the screen ... usually in Chinese)?

It powers down OK but when powered up, it sometimes locks up on the splash screen or it gives me a "fatal error" in English, i.e. a Microsoft CE error. If it powers up correctly, I never see the splash screen, it just comes up to the last navigation screen I was on, as expected. Speaking of splash screens, after booting up from scratch and starting the nav software, sometimes I get a "picture" splash screen and sometimes I get the iGO icon splash screen. These are a few of the errors I've received, usually within 1 minute after the nav program loads...



Also, one thing I've come to find out is that all of the iGO software that we put on these devices may not be 100% legal, i.e. iGO only sells their software to OEMs... there's no "official" way buy their software packages. This tells me that the iGo Primo 2.4 package that I got may very well be "different" than what someone else has. In fact, the person I got my Primo from is not even a registered eBay user anymore, at least not under the name I bought from. Not sure what to do with this info other than to accept the fact that it may never run perfectly. I can't say I'm disappointed with my overall purchase, but it's sure not as clean and solid as a Nuvi, although I knew it wouldn't be going into this. I guess I'll keep using it and just deal with the random errors.

That appears to definitely be a PRIMO error, not a GPS error. I've seen that before - a slightly 'whacked' version of PRIMO sold on EBAY. I just wish our friends in the Netherlands would come out with 800X480 resolution for the MC 1.9 mod. I've had no real issues with that 'distro'.

Uncle Phil said:

That appears to definitely be a PRIMO error, not a GPS error. I've seen that before - a slightly 'whacked' version of PRIMO sold on EBAY. I just wish our friends in the Netherlands would come out with 800X480 resolution for the MC 1.9 mod. I've had no real issues with that 'distro'.

Click to expand...

Would the MC mod be the complete Primo?, i.e. replace everything in my Primo folder?

paulcb said:

Would the MC mod be the complete Primo?, i.e. replace everything in my Primo folder?

Click to expand...

Yes, but unfortunately it does not work with the GEN2 as of yet because of the missing 800X480 skins. I've had no problems with it running on a GEN1 or a Rage. I've PM'ed Mark (MC Mod contact) but I've got no responses in quite a while. It also seems that IGO does not care about the distribution of 'older' versions of their software since they are sold openly all over the Internet. You might PM PieterV who I believe has a good working version of PRIMO running on his GEN2 5".

Understood and thanks Phil.

Well, another issue... turned it on today and it couldn't find the Primo.exe... didn't see the SD card. Popped the card into my computer and this is what was on the card...



I formatted the SD card and reinstalled Primo from my backup. Seems to be up and running again. Maybe the card was causing my previous errors. We'll see how it runs now.

Another thing, now my computer will not see the device via USB, even with the working SD card. Doesn't see the card or the internal 4GB memory. I've tried two cables. Will try at work this week.

First issue does seem like a corrupted card. Second, no idea, but I would try a different card, maybe the formatting didn't completely solve the issue.

Paul - I presume you are using the 'long' snooted USB cable (the one that came with the unit)? A standard USB cable will not work very well. The end that goes into the GPS is actually a slightly different USB spec that Garmin uses. Also, I generally create/redo my micro sd cards in a 'reader' (probably need a regular SD 'sleeve'). Something like this -

http://www.monoprice.com/Product?p_id=10068&gclid=CKnflr_ylsgCFUc7gQodAzkLiA&kpid=110068

This eliminates the chance of any 'flakiness' in the GPS USB connection when creating the card. As Pieter said, I would also get another micro SD card (at Wally World they usually come with a SD 'reading sleeve'. If it lost it's brains once, it will probably do it again.