SD card problem in chinese 5" device.

SD card problem in chinese 5" device.

Home » Discussion Forums » SkyDemon on Third-Party WinCE Devices

http://www.skydemon.aero/forums/Topic4644.aspx

Print Topic | Close Window

By AnglianAV8R - 03/01/2012 23:49:14

I have installed the 30 day trial version of SD on my new netbook and I'm delighted with its functionality.

Today, I received my chinese 5" device. It is a Win CE 5.0 unit and has a micro card slot.

I have bought a new micro SD card and adapter to fit it nto the SD card slot in the netbook.

I have transferred the SD files (6 of) onto the micro card. The files total just under 60mb and the charts are UK only.

Try as I might, for over four hours, I have been unable to get the SD system to run on the GPS unit. At one point I had an outline of the UK coastline and red graphics for NOTAM points, but nowt else. I suspect that was actually in the GPS unit, rather than on the micro card.

When I put the micro card in the unit, the little icon lights up at the top of the screen to indicate it is there. I have managed to set up Windows mobile device center and the two units do connect.

I've clicked every possible opion on the GPS unit but can't find any way of getting it to interact wth the SD mcro card. So, have I been unlucky and simply bought a unit that will not run SD ? Or, do I need to download something else onto the card or into the GPS unit to enable the system to work?

So near, yet so far :-(

By stevelup - 04/01/2012 08:08:44

What I'd suggest is to completely start from scratch.

Put the Micro SD card back into your computer and wipe it completely.

Next, see if there is a way of doing a factory reset on your GPS unit. Sometimes pressing and holding the reset button does this.

How did you copy the files to the SD card in the first place? Did you use the wizard built in to SkyDemon?

Do the following without having your device connected to the computer. This ensures the files are definitely getting installed to the SD card and not being copied to your devices internal flash memory.

1) Verify the drive letter that your SD card is mounted on
2) In SkyDemon Plan, Setup > Device Connectivity Ooptions
3) Click the blue link that says 'Install SkyDemon Mobile on a new Windows CE Device'
4) Choose your SD Card, then Next
5) Choose your charts, then OK

Eject the card from your computer and insert it into your navigation device.

Go into the settings menus on your device and see if you can find something that says 'Navigation Path'. Click to change it and browse as far back as you can in the file system. You're looking for a folder that says 'Storage Card' or 'SDMMC'. You should then see a SkyDemon folder. Double tap that, then select the SkyDemon.exe file.

Now, when you tap the 'Navigation' button on your device, SkyDemon should launch and work.

By AnglianAV8R - 04/01/2012 11:47:52

Oh boy, I think I might have a duff GPS unit......

Steve, thanks for your excellent guidance. I have done everything you suggested and ow have the micro SD card in the GPS unit. With the 'desktop' open, there is a very lmited menu when you press 'start'. The options when you choose 'settings' are; i) Control Panel, ii) Network & Dial-up Connections, iii) Taskbar and Start Menu.

When I select Control Panel, I cannot find any way of discerning that the SD mcro card is there. Neither can I find anything regarding the pre installed nav software that came wyth the unit. Nothing about GPS at all.

I'm going to contact the vendor and raise the issue of not being able to do anythig with the SD card and can feel an eBay dispute coming on here. The descripton of the unit clearly suggests that this is a fully functioning Win CE device, but it appears not. This is the unit:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/280641671931?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

Before purchase I enquired about what sort of card it would work with and was informed that it would use a micro TF or SD card. I purchased a micro SD card and adapter for my netbook from Argos.

In the meantime, any other thoughts or suggestions will me warmly welcomed.

By stevelup - 04/01/2012 11:50:15

Call me with the unit in front of you - I've sent you my phone number.

Steve

By AnglianAV8R - 04/01/2012 13:06:22

Steve, you're a genius. We're almost there w00t

Will report back when up & running. As for sharing the tech stuff to help others who might face this challenge....... It's way over my head.

By AnglianAV8R - 04/01/2012 16:00:35

Success! Once we persuaded the GPS unt to work with the SD card I just needed to get a satellite fix with SD running.

Ended up on com7 with baud rate set at 9600 instead of original 4800.

Incredibly quick satellite fix and works very nicely when doing a low level circuit of the parish n the family car. It even warned me that I was about to collide with the local TV mast Smile

So, the unit is OK and I will probably get another as a back-up.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/280641671931?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

The supplier is in the UK and delivers promptly by Royal Mail First Class. (Will need 2Gb micro SD card)

By stevelup - 04/01/2012 17:18:22

The cause of the problem was a cunning one...

The device's USB port was configured for Mass Storage mode rather than ActiveSync.

As it didn't come with a mains charger, AnglianAV8R was plugging it into his laptop to get power to it. This of course disconnected the SD card and internal storage from the device so they could be mounted as removable drives on the computer.

Flicking the USB mode to ActiveSync and setting the nav path sorted that out and a bit of trial and error was then needed to figure out the COM port settings.

By AnglianAV8R - 06/01/2012 18:55:00

Just an update on the GPS unit: I went a few miles up the road today and switched the unit one. Once again, the satellite acquisition was almost instant. As I drove along, the speed at wich it registered changes of direction was quite remarkable. Happy to recommend this unit Wink

By AnglianAV8R - 27/01/2012 21:07:07

Used it in the air today, for the first time. Excellent unit.

By africanimpi - 28/02/2012 20:27:01

Hi there guys. I hope someone can help.

Ive installed skydemon onto my 5" device using activesync and was able to change the exe path to point to the skydemon.exe on the SD card. But for the life of me i cant get it to launch. iGO8 runs fine when I change the shortcut path back but when it points to skydemon.exe, the small hour class shows for a second then disappears and im left with my main iGO8 screen with all the shortcuts it comes with.

Thanks