Using a GPS Receiver in the Car

HappyWheels · 9th May 2009, 21:54

Question to people using memory card for storage on hand held's: The MiniSD card in my phone is using Fat32 format and due to this the 1.2GB of Google Map tiles is going way above 7~8GB (size on disk) when I try to copy it to that.

Can someone tell me as to how do I over come this?

(Cursing myself for not buying the 16GB high speed MiniSD card when I had a chance!!!)

lancer_rit · 9th May 2009, 22:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by HappyWheels

Question to people using memory card for storage on hand held's: The MiniSD card in my phone is using Fat32 format and due to this the 1.2GB of Google Map tiles is going way above 7~8GB (size on disk) when I try to copy it to that.

Can someone tell me as to how do I over come this?

(Cursing myself for not buying the 16GB high speed MiniSD card when I had a chance!!!)

Are you sure its FAT32 format ? All SD cards are formatted by default in FAT16 format (since MS has patents on FAT32).
If you format it in FAT32, such a wastage of storage space won't happen if you used smaller cluster sizes ...

Do check that you used a cluster size of 4096 bytes and not 32K or something (that is default for FAT16 for a 2GB disk).

I had solved this problem for my 1GB uSD card, and later 4GB uSDHC card by formatting both to FAT32 with 4K cluster size. Downside, is storage I/o performance is somewhat lower...

HappyWheels · 9th May 2009, 22:31

Yup, it is FAT32.

A 14.8MB size-on-disk folder became 95MB on the HD! :(

NetfreakBombay · 9th May 2009, 23:04

Format it with smaller cluster / page size. That will reduce wastage.

lancer_rit · 10th May 2009, 17:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by HappyWheels

Yup, it is FAT32.

A 14.8MB size-on-disk folder became 95MB on the HD! :(

In that case, it obviously is using a cluster size of 16K or 32K. Please refer to my post about using 4K cluster size, and your problems will vanish !

HappyWheels · 10th May 2009, 18:23

@Lancer_Rit & NetFreakBombay,

Thanks for the response. Will try it out. But formatting will mean that I will have to uninstall and then reinstall all the applications I have now. :(

lancer_rit · 10th May 2009, 18:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by HappyWheels

@Lancer_Rit & NetFreakBombay,

Thanks for the response. Will try it out. But formatting will mean that I will have to uninstall and then reinstall all the applications I have now. :(

Need not be the case. Use a PC based copy program to copy everything to HDD , and back after formatting. The only issues can be phone OS special attributes etc (like Symbian has hidden and system file attributes). These should only be a few folders. You can use a phone based file browser to note such folders at top level, and later on set the file attributes accordingly...
Maybe, someone else has an idea about whether there is a program to copy with the mobile OS folder attributes in a way that it can be restored back ? Probably, the Nokia PC suite backup/restore feature can achieve this ?

You maybe able to use normal copy for regular folders/files, and use backup/restore for your phone's system / hidden folders in storage ...

In any case, the earlier you do the conversion, the better for obvious reasons :-)

NetfreakBombay · 10th May 2009, 21:14

Use NokiaPC suite to backup entire card. Would take a while so leave it running and go for a coffee

.

And then format the card, and later restore the backup.

HappyWheels · 10th May 2009, 21:39

Thanks guys for the tips.

I tried formatting an 2GB card with FAT32 and 8kb cluster and the files size is for the same folder in just 25MB compared to the 95MB in the current SD. So Yes, need to reformat to new cluster size.

Will try out the suggestion for back up and let you guys know.

Will post the update @ http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/gadget...-htc-hd-8.html since I have dragged this discussion OT here!

splitsecond · 11th May 2009, 18:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by HappyWheels

Thanks guys for the tips.

I tried formatting an 2GB card with FAT32 and 8kb cluster and the files size is for the same folder in just 25MB compared to the 95MB in the current SD. So Yes, need to reformat to new cluster size.

Will try out the suggestion for back up and let you guys know.

Will post the update @ http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/gadget...-htc-hd-8.html since I have dragged this discussion OT here!

HappyWheels don't format memory card with fat32,instead u can download maps with "Tiles per file" set to 32 or 64 or even 256 in gmapmaker. This way 470mb will only take some 500mb in memory card and also copying speed will increase.

Set "Has Size" to 1 in gmapmaker to change "Tiles per file"

HappyWheels · 13th May 2009, 22:32

SplitSecond,

The deed is done!

Will follow this advice and check out the file size and then decide which to use. Thanks for the information.

lancer_rit · 14th May 2009, 00:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by HappyWheels

SplitSecond,

The deed is done!

Will follow this advice and check out the file size and then decide which to use. Thanks for the information.

Personally, I wouldn't recommend the tiles_per_file option ... It has impact on RAM use and performance, so is only really that useful if one has very small SD card or lots of RAM. Besides, you need to ensure you use the same tiles per file value for all your future downloads as this is a global setting.
I was one of the people who suggested such methods (and more advanced ones) on mgmaps forum long back, but as it happens, you'll land up with other small files with other apps which mess up your SD storage space. For eg., I have Nokia maps for certain locations, and they face the same kind of problem (though these are vector maps not bitmaps).

Need_4_Speed · 14th May 2009, 00:48

For GPS I use my HTC tytn II with windows 6.1.
The software I use is called Destinator 7.0. It’s a 100 MB (inclusive of maps from one_india maps) program and has all the mapping info of India including highways and most of the major cities. it's obviously independent and needs not GPRS connection. Works solely on GPS and is totally free to run

On an average i get connected to the satellites (Without any external antenna) in about 3 minutes in the city and considerable faster on more open roads. 3 satellites are enough but on an average i get about 6-7. Apart from the location it also offers Height above sea level, Speed and distance to arrival.

It's was a pain finding the mapping info for India on the net (very scarce) and then trying to crack it, but after using it for over 8 months it's probably the best feature on my phone and well worth the 2 hours i spent getting it working on the phone!

Just my two bits. :-)

SLK · 14th May 2009, 00:57

Well, I haven't gone through every page of this thread but the other day I was just checking out mgmaps and realised that it actually routes!

I'm not sure but how does this work? does it work only if its using the online yahoo maps or offline tiles as well?

And if routing doesn't work on the offline tiles! why is everybody here so much after the offline maps! Isn't it just better to get a flat rate gprs plan?

Also, wanted to know, if searching works the same way with offline as online?

lancer_rit · 14th May 2009, 08:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by SLK

Well, I haven't gone through every page of this thread but the other day I was just checking out mgmaps and realised that it actually routes!

I'm not sure but how does this work? does it work only if its using the online yahoo maps or offline tiles as well?

And if routing doesn't work on the offline tiles! why is everybody here so much after the offline maps! Isn't it just better to get a flat rate gprs plan?

Also, wanted to know, if searching works the same way with offline as online?

Ok, mgmaps does routing by sending driving direction requests to google.com over GPRS/EDGE/3G. When it gets the results, it shows the steps to be taken, and it can also show this on the map.
Driving directions for India in Google maps was not supported till 2 or 3 months back, so routing would not work for India till recently (I had used it in US, and it worked with some quirks).

Finally, routing works the same way if you use online maps or offline maps, so I didn't get your point ? You need GPRS/EDGE access for contacting google.com, but since maps are locally stored, its
a) less download (lower cost)
b) faster to display the map (downloading map tiles over GPRS sometimes takes 30-40s or even more, so how do you navigate precisely @ that time)
c) Works for areas w/o GPRS/EDGE or even mobile signal access, if the route was already done where one had access!

Hope this helps.

9th May 2009, 21:54	#811
HappyWheels Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 4,145 Thanked: 571 Times	Question to people using memory card for storage on hand held's: The MiniSD card in my phone is using Fat32 format and due to this the 1.2GB of Google Map tiles is going way above 7~8GB (size on disk) when I try to copy it to that. Can someone tell me as to how do I over come this? (Cursing myself for not buying the 16GB high speed MiniSD card when I had a chance!!!)
	() Thanks

9th May 2009, 22:31	#813
HappyWheels Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 4,145 Thanked: 571 Times	Yup, it is FAT32. A 14.8MB size-on-disk folder became 95MB on the HD! :(
	() Thanks

9th May 2009, 23:04	#814
NetfreakBombay Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Bombay Posts: 1,481 Thanked: 1,130 Times	Format it with smaller cluster / page size. That will reduce wastage.
	() Thanks

10th May 2009, 18:23	#816
HappyWheels Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 4,145 Thanked: 571 Times	@Lancer_Rit & NetFreakBombay, Thanks for the response. Will try it out. But formatting will mean that I will have to uninstall and then reinstall all the applications I have now. :(
	() Thanks

10th May 2009, 21:14	#818
NetfreakBombay Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Bombay Posts: 1,481 Thanked: 1,130 Times	Use NokiaPC suite to backup entire card. Would take a while so leave it running and go for a coffee . And then format the card, and later restore the backup.
	() Thanks

10th May 2009, 21:39	#819
HappyWheels Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 4,145 Thanked: 571 Times	Thanks guys for the tips. I tried formatting an 2GB card with FAT32 and 8kb cluster and the files size is for the same folder in just 25MB compared to the 95MB in the current SD. So Yes, need to reformat to new cluster size. Will try out the suggestion for back up and let you guys know. Will post the update @ http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/gadget...-htc-hd-8.html since I have dragged this discussion OT here!
	() Thanks

13th May 2009, 22:32	#821
HappyWheels Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 4,145 Thanked: 571 Times	SplitSecond, The deed is done! Will follow this advice and check out the file size and then decide which to use. Thanks for the information.
	() Thanks

14th May 2009, 00:48	#823
Need_4_Speed Newbie Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Bombay, ADI Posts: 10 Thanked: 0 Times	For GPS I use my HTC tytn II with windows 6.1. The software I use is called Destinator 7.0. It’s a 100 MB (inclusive of maps from one_india maps) program and has all the mapping info of India including highways and most of the major cities. it's obviously independent and needs not GPRS connection. Works solely on GPS and is totally free to run On an average i get connected to the satellites (Without any external antenna) in about 3 minutes in the city and considerable faster on more open roads. 3 satellites are enough but on an average i get about 6-7. Apart from the location it also offers Height above sea level, Speed and distance to arrival. It's was a pain finding the mapping info for India on the net (very scarce) and then trying to crack it, but after using it for over 8 months it's probably the best feature on my phone and well worth the 2 hours i spent getting it working on the phone! Just my two bits. :-)
	() Thanks

14th May 2009, 00:57	#824
SLK Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Nomad Posts: 1,809 Thanked: 1,431 Times	Well, I haven't gone through every page of this thread but the other day I was just checking out mgmaps and realised that it actually routes! I'm not sure but how does this work? does it work only if its using the online yahoo maps or offline tiles as well? And if routing doesn't work on the offline tiles! why is everybody here so much after the offline maps! Isn't it just better to get a flat rate gprs plan? Also, wanted to know, if searching works the same way with offline as online?
	() Thanks