GPS Navigation on the Vega

[Guest trevor432990]

Next item on my list for GPS is to identify how to link Navigator to external compass data from a tethered phone (don't have one myself) or bluetooth or USB accessory if one exists which isn't prohibitively expensive. Anyone who has got a compass working with a Vega I'd be grateful for information on whether the Vega and Navigator picks it up OK? :huh:

EDIT:-

There does not seem to be much info about external compasses which might work with the Vega but I have found one here which is part of an external Bluetooth GPS receiver so it should in theory work like the devices we have tried before but pass through additional compass data. Quite what you gain by having the compass I'm not 100% sure but it will certainly be advantageous for anyone considering using the Vega whilst hiking etc.

Edited March 9, 2011 by trevor432990

[Guest g6hoq]

You're welcome :) As Steve said you need the CarHome Launcher too which is in the unzipped ROM pack from Paul on your PC which you can either push to the Vega via ADB or copy using a memory stick or Advent Transfer Companion. Just needs to be placed in your /system/app folder then installed.

EDIT:- Might need to use Root Explorer with write permission set to place in /system/app but can't remember how I did it now :huh:

Brilliant also, thanks both, copied out of zip via Dropbox, it didnt want to copy into system/apps, but installed on from downloads folder... will get root explorer to move it properly, but glad its working again.

Maybe we can persuade Paul to add it back in the next version.

also Steve

[Guest ian webster]

Thanks for this it really works well. This forum is so helpful.

[Guest rpmccormick]

How come I can't get this to work? I'm running Higgsey's modded 1.08. The GPS option in settings is grayed out and unchecked. Using the curvefish widget does not allow Nav to work, nor does it check the box in settings. I wish someone who knows what they are doing could either a) Modify framework.apk so that GPS is not grayed out, or :D Make a GScript that checks the box even if it is grayed out (or just post some adb command if the check is persistent across reboots)

EDIT: It worked after a reboot. Thanks for the tip. I still wish someone would just fix the grayed out GPS setting so we could check it and leave it checked and not need a widget workaround that sometimes requires rebooting, but at least it works.

Edited March 29, 2011 by rpmccormick

[Guest Bobby Elliott]

To bastardise a paraphrasing:

Then I heard her voice, now I'm a believer....

I hear her voice too... but I can't use the Navigation software. Maps is OK but car navigation keeps taking me to the GPS setting menu with only wifi enabled (gps is greyed out).

Running MoDaCo R8. Is that the problem? Is there a workaround?

[Guest add.thebad]

you can also use a similar method to blue tooth the gps data across from your android phone

[Guest trevor432990]

I hear her voice too... but I can't use the Navigation software. Maps is OK but car navigation keeps taking me to the GPS setting menu with only wifi enabled (gps is greyed out).

Running MoDaCo R8. Is that the problem? Is there a workaround?

You will have to read a little more carefully I think cos if you had you would see the note saying:-

If you should get a message saying 'GPS is Disabled' at any point please go to post number 78 in this topic for a solution.

so do what it says there and see how you get on :)

[Guest yetirider]

Thanks I've managed to get this working as a newbie, its good to learn though.

However I cant locate "CarHome Launcher"

I've looked in the app folder of the files on my mac and can't locate this file to copy it over.

i'm running

MoDaCo r8

Verson 1.9.0

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Must say, other than the screen (which i'm getting used to) i'm loving my vega.

Cheers Phil

[Guest trevor432990]

Have just checked the r8 kitchen menu and the car home option is not present but if you go to this link and bake an r6 version (don't install ROM) then unzip the file and you should find the 'carhomelauncher.apk' in the app folder there. Copy that to the /system/app folder on the Vega and install it .... you may need to use the Root Explorer app in order to do this to give you write permission. :mellow:

Edited April 28, 2011 by trevor432990

[Guest Tippon]

OK here goes a step-by-step guide (version 2.0) to setting up GPS on the Vega with your £6.95 GPS device

1. Go to Market and download/install the 'Bluetooth GPS Provider' app by mobile-j.de which is FREE

2. In Vega settings go to SETTINGS > APPLICATIONS > DEVELOPMENT > ALLOW MOCK LOCATIONS and tick it

3. Go to SETTINGS > WIRELESS NETWORKS > BLUETOOTH and switch it on by ticking

Go to SETTINGS > LOCATION & SECURITY > USE WIRELESS NETWORKS and switch on by ticking

4. Click on Bluetooth GPS Provider icon in app tray to launch it

5. In BT GPS click on menu and select preferences then set these

6. Force tick

7. Switch Bluetooth tick

8. Raw HDOP tick

9. GPS Type set to OTHER

10. SIRF settings should be set to SWITCH TO NMEA

11. Turn on GPS Wayfinder hardware and position until the Left Green Arrow light is Solid and Right Blue Arrow light is flashing (will turn solid when connected to Vega)

P.S. You will need to pair this device with the Vega initially before you do this. It should show as 'BT GPS V10 Paired but not connected' on BT device list

12. Go to BT GPS app initial screen and select START

At this point the screen should blank and pop-up a message saying gathering GPS data (or words to that effect) and you may notice two icons appear on the Vega notification bar 1) a blue arrow showing Navigator is loaded 2) a blue radio signal showing BT GPS is running. After that a dimmed display will appear with the following options NAVIGATE, PHONE, VOICE SEARCH, CONTACTS, MUSIC, EXIT CAR MODE.

Let me know if that all works for you? :o

Trevor, you're a star! :D

My experience was slightly different, but using this guide and post 78, it's working great. I can now get my location on Google Maps and Latitude :D

I had to set the GPS type to SIRF first so that I could change the SIRF setting to to SWITCH TO NMEA, then switched the GPS type back to OTHER. I then got the blue radio signal showing that the GPS is running, but not the other options. Have I missed something? I've got the 'Bluetooth GPS Provider' app and the GPS OnOff. Should I have another app too?

Thanks for your work on this, it's brilliant :mellow:

[Guest trevor432990]

Trevor, you're a star! :D

My experience was slightly different, but using this guide and post 78, it's working great. I can now get my location on Google Maps and Latitude :D

I had to set the GPS type to SIRF first so that I could change the SIRF setting to to SWITCH TO NMEA, then switched the GPS type back to OTHER. I then got the blue radio signal showing that the GPS is running, but not the other options. Have I missed something? I've got the 'Bluetooth GPS Provider' app and the GPS OnOff. Should I have another app too?

Thanks for your work on this, it's brilliant :mellow:

Excellent glad you got it so far .... the key question is can you 'navigate' with the system as it stands i.e. Click on Maps menu then 'Directions' and put in a destination postcode and get directions from Google Maps on how to get there? If you can then click on the blue arrow top right of screen and you will get the blue arrow pop up on the notification bar together with a map and the ladies voice giving you your first directions and then you are all set!

The other app you can try is 'Car Home' from Google which turns your Vega into a SatNav system (yes you can use in the car with a 3G dongle or tethered mobile). If you haven't got it installed yet you'll need to follow the instructions in post 109 because I don't think you can get it off the Market. As well as this app I'm sure there are lots of others on the Android Market which use GPS settings for different tasks such as points of interest, hiking, etc.

Let us know how you get on? :o

[Guest Tippon]

Excellent glad you got it so far .... the key question is can you 'navigate' with the system as it stands i.e. Click on Maps menu then 'Directions' and put in a destination postcode and get directions from Google Maps on how to get there? If you can then click on the blue arrow top right of screen and you will get the blue arrow pop up on the notification bar together with a map and the ladies voice giving you your first directions and then you are all set!

Sorry about the slow reply, I forgot to turn on notifications for new posts :unsure:

Yes, I can navigate with it at the moment. Latitude can be a bit fussy, and only seems to work if I use Maps first, but then both work fine :)

The other app you can try is 'Car Home' from Google which turns your Vega into a SatNav system (yes you can use in the car with a 3G dongle or tethered mobile). If you haven't got it installed yet you'll need to follow the instructions in post 109 because I don't think you can get it off the Market. As well as this app I'm sure there are lots of others on the Android Market which use GPS settings for different tasks such as points of interest, hiking, etc.

Let us know how you get on? :o

That's great, that's the bit I missed :P I haven't got the 3G sorted yet as my dongle's not compatible, but hopefully I'll be getting a new one this week and giving it a try. Thanks again for your help ;)

[Guest trevor432990]

You may all be interested to hear that the NavFree application is now available for the Android. It promises to be useful as it allows you to download UK maps to the device meaning you don't need to use a 3G dongle or tether to a mobile as all the data you need for route planning and map navigation will be on the Vega.

Obviously you will still need a GPS source which for followers of my other thread will know my preferred device is the Wayfinder Bluetooth GPS Receiver so the step-by-step instructions which follow assume you have read this thread and understand how to set-up the GPS and additional apps already.

1. Firstly go to the Expansys.website located here
   
2. Follow the link which will be emailed to you (preferably on the Vega)
   
3. Install the NavFree application (Note:- Takes about 4 mins and uses 72 mb of internal memory so ensure you have space first))
   
4. Start Bluetooth on Vega
   
5. Start Bluetooth GPS Provider app on Vega
   
6. When GPS device is ready turn on the GPS on/off widget
   
7. Start the NavFree application (it starts in portrait initially)
   
8. Click on REGISTER and enter your email address (beware keyboard covers what you are typing unfortunately)
   
9. Click on the 'In-app Store' icon then Products tab
   
10. Select 'UK and ROI maps' and download
    
11. Repeat the above for 'Postcodes' file
    

You should now be able to go into the main parts of the NavFree application and on the map see your current location and use the other menu commands to navigate in theory. As this app has only just been released I expect there are quite a few bugs in it but considering it's free I shall give it a run for a while. If you get stuck then let me know and I'll try and help if I can. Good luck :unsure: Edited May 10, 2011 by trevor432990

[Guest trevor432990]

Having got my NavFree nicely set-up I managed to brick my Vega (dunno how). Anyway, I decided to flash the latest firmware from the Advent site and then reapply the changes I'd made to get back to my formerly reliable MCK-r2 kernel and r7 mod. During the process the Google Maps got updated and then when I came to use it I consistently got the following force close message "The application Maps (process com.google.android.apps.maps) has unexpectedly stopped."

Checked every forum on the web but none of the recommended actions worked so then I remembered that I had a copy of Maps.apk (version 4.7.0) on my SD Card so using the Root Explorer app I went into /system/app folder and deleted the new Maps.apk (this was the only easy way of uninstalling it) then I went to my /sdcard folder and re-installed the old version 4.7.0. I'm now back in business with Maps, Car Home & Navigator working again!

So the tip is make sure you copy your 'working' Maps.apk program somewhere safe BEFORE you upgrade to your next Kernel/ROM/Firmware level just in case you need to revert like I did. :unsure:

[Guest kexbypaul]

First post so just want to say first what an excellent resource this forum is and what a bargain device the Advent Vega is.

Flashed to MoDaCo r8 first day and not looked back since!

Managed to get gps working using info in post 78, but have since found another way. Android Assistant from the market

has a setting in "tools" to turn on GPS. Turn on GPS and then go to Navigator and type in your Destination. The annoying "GPS is disabled" is no more.

As a bonus Android Assistant has lots of other useful functions. :unsure:

[Guest trevor432990]

First post so just want to say first what an excellent resource this forum is and what a bargain device the Advent Vega is.

Flashed to MoDaCo r8 first day and not looked back since!

Managed to get gps working using info in post 78, but have since found another way. Android Assistant from the market

has a setting in "tools" to turn on GPS. Turn on GPS and then go to Navigator and type in your Destination. The annoying "GPS is disabled" is no more.

As a bonus Android Assistant has lots of other useful functions. :unsure:

Thanks for the info I shall check this out later sounds promising. :)

[Guest Tippon]

Great finds from you both there guys, thanks. Shall have a proper play with them once I've had a bit of sleep :unsure:

[Guest trevor432990]

First post so just want to say first what an excellent resource this forum is and what a bargain device the Advent Vega is.

Flashed to MoDaCo r8 first day and not looked back since!

Managed to get gps working using info in post 78, but have since found another way. Android Assistant from the market

has a setting in "tools" to turn on GPS. Turn on GPS and then go to Navigator and type in your Destination. The annoying "GPS is disabled" is no more.

As a bonus Android Assistant has lots of other useful functions. :unsure:

Kex .... I couldn't get Android Assistant to work on my device. Whenever I set the GPS icon to the 'on' position then went back to home screen and back to AA the GPS icon would be greyed out again for some reason. Whether there was a clash going on with the GPS on/off widget (which I didn't touch) I don't know but I did try with Maps & Car Home without success. The other thing which was annoying is AA runs in portrait mode only is that right?

Anyway, thanks for the tip and I'm glad it works for you but I think I'll stick with my GPS on/off widget for now, ta. :)

[Guest kexbypaul]

Kex .... I couldn't get Android Assistant to work on my device. Whenever I set the GPS icon to the 'on' position then went back to home screen and back to AA the GPS icon would be greyed out again for some reason. Whether there was a clash going on with the GPS on/off widget (which I didn't touch) I don't know but I did try with Maps & Car Home without success. The other thing which was annoying is AA runs in portrait mode only is that right?

Anyway, thanks for the tip and I'm glad it works for you but I think I'll stick with my GPS on/off widget for now, ta. :unsure:

Hi Trevor.... AA does only run in portrait mode....

For this "fix" to work I have found that I have to follow the following sequence:

Turn on Copilot GPS transmitter

Start bluetooth

Start Bluetooth GPS Provider app

Start GPS in AA - grey button turns blue

Start Navigation app.

Joy of Android is that there seem to be many ways of eventually getting the same result :)

[Guest trevor432990]

Hi Trevor.... AA does only run in portrait mode....

For this "fix" to work I have found that I have to follow the following sequence:

Turn on Copilot GPS transmitter

Start bluetooth

Start Bluetooth GPS Provider app

Start GPS in AA - grey button turns blue

Start Navigation app.

Joy of Android is that there seem to be many ways of eventually getting the same result :)

OK thanks for clarifying that but I think I'll stick with the widget anyway as I've got other apps to do the extras AA does and the portrait format really bugs me. :unsure:

[Guest MarkBR]

Thanks to Trevor and others, my Vega now runs Navigator using a bluetooth connection to the Wayfarer GPS and a wifi hotspot to my 3G Andoid 2.2 phone. I have a £6 car windscreen mount as found in the Accessories thread, and a £7 inverter so I can power the Vega on the go from the car cigar lighter point.

All good? Well apart from losing the internet often (probably due to my phone provider), it works, but the dream of a 10" car satnav hasn't worked out that well because:

• Its hard to mount low enough on the dash - the windscreen mount makes it rather high
  
• The screen is too shiny and causes reflections, probably made worse by being mounted high
  
• The Vega screen angle limitation, not an issue in normal use but there isnt space to angle a 10" screen towards the drver
  

So it was fun to get going, but in practice it's not really practical!

Anyone have a different experience?

M.

[Guest trevor432990]

Thanks to Trevor and others, my Vega now runs Navigator using a bluetooth connection to the Wayfarer GPS and a wifi hotspot to my 3G Andoid 2.2 phone. I have a £6 car windscreen mount as found in the Accessories thread, and a £7 inverter so I can power the Vega on the go from the car cigar lighter point.

All good? Well apart from losing the internet often (probably due to my phone provider), it works, but the dream of a 10" car satnav hasn't worked out that well because:

• Its hard to mount low enough on the dash - the windscreen mount makes it rather high
  
• The screen is too shiny and causes reflections, probably made worse by being mounted high
  
• The Vega screen angle limitation, not an issue in normal use but there isnt space to angle a 10" screen towards the drver
  

So it was fun to get going, but in practice it's not really practical!

Anyone have a different experience?

M.

You're welcome Mark glad you got it all together even though you've got one or two issues. Here are some suggestions on those:-

1) Mounting - Someone in the forum purchased a mount which attaches to the air vent grille and he took some pics so take a look see what you think

2) Too shiny - There are some screen protectors available which dull down the shine I believe so this might help

3) Space - Always was going to be the biggest headache but with 1 & 2 above solved then maybe this becomes less of a need especially with

voice command which is what I rely upon for most of my guidance anyway

As for the internet issue did you read my topic about FREE NavFree app yet which includes the maps for download to the Vega so no phone data connection required? Works rather well. :unsure:

[Guest handyandy3]

Hi,

Anyone know if this one will work in a similar way?

NAVICORE SIRF THREE BLUETOOTH GPS INCLUDING CAR CHARGER

From the same ebay seller for £9 !

Regards

Andy

[Guest trevor432990]

Hi,

Anyone know if this one will work in a similar way?

NAVICORE SIRF THREE BLUETOOTH GPS INCLUDING CAR CHARGER

From the same ebay seller for £9 !

Regards

Andy

Hi Andy .... can't see a reason why it should not work it all depends on whether there is an app which can translate what comes out of the Navicore and pass it onto Maps/Navfree etc and as SIRF is a standard GPS protocol then it should 'in theory' work fine.

[Guest MindsEye]

EUREKA !!!!!! I have found a fix for our problem guys :D

This should circumvent the 'GPS is Disabled' message pop-up which those of us who use Navigator have experienced since updating the Vega to the latest Kernel and ROM levels and will enable us to continue to use our external Bluetooth GPS Receivers for mobile navigation purposes.

You first need to download and install a tool called 'GPS OnOff' from Curve Fish on the Market then go to your HOME page and long press on the screen and select Widgets and scroll down to the 'GPS OnOff' tool and select it and position the new icon on your home page. Then follow these steps in sequence:-

1. Turn on the external Bluetooth GPS Receiver and wait until the Green light is steady
   
2. Start the Bluetooth GPS Provider app (or whichever one you are using)
   
3. Go to home page and click on the GPS OnOff widget so that it goes to the green/on position
   
4. Start Google Maps and in menu select 'Directions' and enter the required destination
   
5. Press Blue Arrow in top righthand side to start Navigator!
   

With luck Navigator will now start without the blessed 'GPS is Disabled' pop-up and you can continue to use it through Maps or if you wish you can switch to the Car Home app which now should also work. If you find the pop-up does reappear at some point check and see if the GPS OnOff widget has changed colour and if so reset it to ON and if you cannot do this a reboot should resolve the situation.

Hopefully this workaround will keep us going until Google sort the issue out :D

Do let me know how you get on and if you have any problems I shall try and assist.

Ok I got the GPS on/off widget installed and green. I am tho unable to do the "1. Go to Market and download/install the 'Bluetooth GPS Provider' app by mobile-j.de which is FREE" bit as this app doesnt exist anymore on the marketplace. I tired direct downloading it and even installed a qcode reader and tried dl from that and it throws me to an app not found page on marketplace. So I tried another "Bluetooth GPS Provider" by Michael Chourdakis But it simply says "no bluetooth device found please install a bluetooth device..."

Stuck here.

Thanks for any help!