Setting up a Chinavasion 5" Gen2 GPS

[paulcb]

I've used the long one that came with it and a standard one with success. Now neither works. Here's the two I've used...


I used it on a 250 mile trip today. The only issue I had was locking up when it auto-powered up after stopping. I did not see any of the earlier "fatal error" messages.

I was going to move Primo off the SD card and onto internal memory but can't do that until my computer can read it.

 

[Uncle Phil]

The 'upper' one is the 'correct' one. Sounds like you may have a bad USB port which should be covered under warranty. However, I have seen USB ports go flaky on desktops/laptops and be recognized until after a reboot. Chinavasion will fix it (they did when I had one go south - probably of my own making), but it takes about 2 months to ship it and get it back and about $30 for shipping it over. (Got one in the process now for bad sound board). Moving it to the internal memory probably won't make much difference - either for the USB or the problem. I'd try a different microsd card first just for grins. If the USB port is 'bad', you can still download routes by using the 'reader' I mentioned above - you'd just have to take the card in/out when you wanted to do it.

 

[paulcb]

I found another cable from an old MP3 player. It works (although it's the same length as the shorter version shown above)... I can now access the 4GB internal memory and the 8GB card from the device, consitently. I guess those other two cables are bad.

I was still getting the power off/on errors after reformatting the card and reloading the software so I copied Primo from my SD card to the internal memory and reset my Nav path to point to the internal memory. Because I only had a little over 3GB of internal memory available, I had to "slim down" Primo... I deleted OUS maps, POIs and voices. This knocked almost a GB off Primo, which made it small enough to fit onto the internal memory. So, now I'm running Primo off internal memory and it seems to be working well so far... no errors, yet. I've only run a few days like this so time will tell...

 

[Uncle Phil]

I wonder if the microsd reader could be flaky then. I do know that the MC 1.9. Primo version is greatly 'slimmed' down but I don't know what they jettisoned. It looks to be about 1.5 GB and has the voice files in it. BTW, when I get my Gen2 back from Chinavasion, I've got some things to try to see if I can get MC 1.9. to run on it. I still haven't given up yet on that project.

 

[paulcb]

I was thinking the same thing... maybe the built-in sd card reader is going bad. My Primo, as purchased, is 3.98GB. I got it down to about 3GB by removing those files. I have no idea what the required files are, I just deleted what appeared to be non-USA files and it still works. I've even got a diMka zip file in my Skin folder that I've heard is a mod but I'm not even sure if it's being used. This is really quite the wild west compared to a Nuvi! Will be anxious to hear if that MC Mod gets updated for the higher resolution.

Hopefully I'll make it to BRG and we can discuss more there. Would like for you to see Primo on my device and I would like to see MC 1.9.

 

[lkraus]

I've been using my Android phone with CoPilot for a few years as my m/c GPS, but lately charging port problems have shown it really is not tough enough for task. I've always felt Garmin and TomTom prices are ridiculous - they are not that different from automotive models. Which is a long winded way to say that I picked up a "Rage" with Primo off Ebay recently, and have spent a lot of time with Google researching set-up procedures. This forum showed up in a lot of my searches and this thread in particular has been very helpful. A couple issues come up often and I want to share a couple links that might help with both the Rage and newer 5" versions.

One problem is finding a registry editor to edit and back-up the registry. The editors that once worked seem to have disappeared, leaving behind only dead links. Most WinCE registry editors lack export capability, and of course you still do not have a keyboard. The solution I found is CeRegEditor, a free program that runs on your PC while connected to your GPS USB port in "MS Active Sync" mode. You can use it to back up the registry before making any changes, and edit the registry using your PC keyboard. Two things to note, you must export the three main registry keys separately and occasionally it will show an access error on startup. The author says the error can be ignored, but I find that a right-click on the program lets me run it as Administrator, and there is no error.

The other useful program is ActiveSync Remote Display. Run this on your PC while connected to your USB port in Mass Storage mode and the GPS screen will be shown in a PC window. You can then operate the GPS from your PC, using your keyboard and mouse.

The third help in getting this GPS ready to roll has been the Chrome browser. These devices seem to be most popular in non-English speaking countries, so much of the web info is unreadable by me. Chrome's built-in translation capability has opened up a lot of assistance. Some translations are a little confusing as the sentence structure is different, but the Dutch site about Primo Moto Edit almost reads like a US forum.

I hope this helps, I expect to be back with a few questions about the music player and Bluetooth syncing, but it looks like a nice day out. Time for a ride!

 

[paulcb]

Hey Larry. Thanks for the tips... will be trying those. And yes, Chrome's translator helps a lot! I used to use Remote Display with an old Dell PDA... never thought to use it with this. Thanks!

 

[Uncle Phil]

Unless I was going to do something other than GPS stuff with the unit, I couldn't find a reason to 'hack' the unit although I did on one of machines. Obviously if you do hack it, you can do some other Windows stuff. However, in reality there is not enough RAM (128 IIRC) to due very much. What were the steps getting Active Sync to work on a Win 7 Pro 64 bit machine? I really like the idea of running the GPS in a window on the desktop. Also, interesting enough, Trend Micro just blocked the Active Sync Download as a 'malicious site' - I wonder what's up with that.

 

[lkraus]

Running Win7, SP1 here. There was nothing special about the Active Sync installation, it downloads as a standard Microsoft .msi installation file, just run it. Neither my McAfee antivirus or Malwarebytes Antimalware had a problem with the file or the SoftwareInformer website. There are several other sources, here's a link to the program at Microsoft.

I really have not done much in the way of hacking the unit, but it just bugged me that there was a version of Windows in there that I could not see. A thread on another forum provided a registry change that creates a "WinCE" button on the original Settings page. Also another change that makes "Active Sync" USB mode available if you do not already have it.

Aaannddd..... I just realized I meant to put this in the Setting up a Rage thread. Ooops...

Well, it's probably all still applicable.

 

[Uncle Phil]

The hack works on the 5" also and creates the WIN CE button in settings. With the 'right' regedit, it's pretty simple (I think I posted the instructions). But I do like the option to 'run' the software on the desktop (or at least it would feel like that). ;-)

 

[Uncle Phil]

lkraus - The MS download (vs 4.5) says it only works with WIN XP SP2 or earlier. So you are running that version on your Win 7 machine SP1 - native or XP virtual? Just curious as it will not install on my Win 7 PRO 64 bit.

 

[lkraus]

Sorry about that, I did not try the Microsoft version. I should not have assumed it would work. The version I used is actually an older version (2.03) dated 2003.


I did find another source for the older version here: http://developer.toradex.com/knowledge-base/remote-display.
You want the zip file for Remote display V2. Unzip it to a convenient spot on your PC Turn on your GPS, exit Primo if it auto-starts, use Settings to put the USB port in ActiveSync mode, connect the USB cord, and run CeRHost.exe. This version tested OK here with 64 bit Windows 7 Ultimate.



I hope this works for you.

 

[Uncle Phil]

Larry - Thanks, I'll give it a try.

 

[Uncle Phil]

Larry - Got that download fine, followed the steps, got the GPS connected, can see the file system but how do you 'run' the GPS from the desktop? I can't seem to find that option in the Windows Mobile stuff. BTW, the 5" model is WinCE6 if that makes any difference. I don't remember if the Rage is WinCE5 or WinCE6.

 

[lkraus]

My Rage is WInCE 6.0 (2006). From the WinCE desktop, you can run programs through Windows Explorer. Open, in sequence, Start>Programs>Windows Explorer>SDMMC>IGO9>PRIMO.EXE. If your WinCE desktop is like mine, you will also have an icon called My Device - opening that icon replaces the first three steps of the sequence.

I'm not finding the WinCE interface very friendly, it is quite different from desktop Windows. No double clicking to launch a program - a long press will bring up a menu from which you select "Open". No right click options. I've not yet found the way to create a new desktop shortcut. Once you have Primo running, the "off" button has a minimize option that takes you back to the desktop - return to Primo by clicking icon in the system tray near the clock.

I'm not sure how useful all this really is, but I tend to approach new devices with a "Let's press all the buttons and see what happens" approach. Maybe the usefulness will become more apparent later.

 

[Uncle Phil]

Oh, so you have to 'hack' the unit first. My 'unit' window on the desktop appears as blank and that would explain it. Since I don't plan on 'adding' any software to the unit, I'll stop at this point though I could hack it very easily (BTDTGTTS! ;-)) I hacked one of my units to see if I could change the screen resolution (proper REGEDIT and the onscreen keyboard), but in WINCE that is a function of the 'video unit'. You can hack the registry to adjust it if you are careful, but the chances of making the unit a 'brick' is pretty great. I've been running these type of units for a couple of years and have not seen a need to fuss with the WINCE (other than the screen resolution trying make MC 1.9 run on the Gen 2 5" unit). The real danger is if you mess up the registry, the unit turns into a nice paperweight and it's a bit of a challenge to recover the base WINCE. BTW, I'm in I.T. (40+ years) and there's a reason they call it WINCE - Windows C(astrated) E(dition). ;-)

 

[paulcb]

FWIW, I added the following line to my Primo sys.txt file and have not had any of the memory errors or power-up freezes I saw in the past... it's run perfect since adding these lines.

[debug]
max_memory=35000000
reserve_memory=1700000
cache=600000

 

[Uncle Phil]

FWIW, I added the following line to my Primo sys.txt file and have not had any of the memory errors or power-up freezes I saw in the past... it's run perfect since adding these lines.

[debug]
max_memory=35000000
reserve_memory=1700000
cache=600000

Paul - Good to know. There are so many SYS.TXT parameters that it is sort of scary! ;-)

 

[Uncle Phil]

An update - I now have a 800X480 version of the MC 1 9 mod working. Many thanks to a gentleman on another GPS forum that knows how to modify 'skins'. I am one happy camper with the new 5" unit. My Holler is notorious for lack of GPS syncing and these 5" units seem to have a much better chipset than the Rage.

 

[paulcb]

Hey Phil. That's good to hear. Would like to try it on mine... can I get some instructions?