| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| ideefixe |
Posted - 05 déc. 2007 : 14:41:14
 
Like many of you, I also picked up a V7 Nav730 GPS at Fry's on Black Friday for $99.
It's ashame there hasn't been many reviews or discussions about this unit. The only useful site I ran into was at:
http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?t=669769
Let's change that by getting the ball rolling here at gpspassion...
I was debating whether I should keep this GPS or return it since no one has confirmed that it can be unlocked.
After all, I already have a Navigon 2100 with the freebie TMC service. So, I finally opened the box and was pleasantly surprised at how easily it can be unlocked and customized!
If you don't know much about the V7 Nav730, you can read up the specs
from the manufacturer's website: http://tinyurl.com/254qck
This is a fairly decent device...400MHz CPU, 64MB RAM, Sirf-III, 3.5" LCD, etc. etc. etc.
- The first thing that I noticed was that the unit is very thin.
- It runs a modified version of iGO. I assume it's the latest since it has TTS. Version number says "Oct 25 2007".
- Both GPS software and maps (dated Aug 2007) comes on a 1GB SD card.
- When a USB cable is plugged in, it exports the SD card's content.
- The screen is better than my Holux GPSmile52+, but a little worst than the Mio 310x. At different viewing angles, I do notice interlace lines like on an old tube tv.
- On the upper right corner, there's an interesting hole, which appears to be a mic?
Before you attempt to unlock or customize, you should make a backup copy of your SD card. Better yet, copy the content to another 1GB or 2GB SD card and use the copy instead.
Unlocking
On the root of the SD card, there is a file call addons.txt
Edit it and add an extra line to bring up WinCE desktop and explorer:
quote:
[modules]
V7 Navigation = "icons/V7.bmp", "\\Storage Card\\iGO\\iGOpna.exe"
Explorer = "icons/files.bmp", "\\Windows\\explorer.exe"
[Autostart]
Navigation = "\\Storage Card\\iGO\\iGOpna.exe"
Now insert the SD card into the GPS, you should notice an extra Explorer icon appearing on the menu. Touch it the first time to bring up the WinCE desktop. Touch the icon again to bring up the file explorer. It's that easy.
There is no need to replace the menu shell. You can add additional icons by adding additional lines to the addons.txt file. The file \\My Flash Disk\Launcher\data.zip contains the bitmaps that you can use for the menu buttons. These are the defaults available:
quote:
align.bmp
arvale.bmp
calculator.bmp
classics.bmp
contacts.bmp
files.bmp
flux.bmp
freehand.bmp
games.bmp
ico_align.bmp
ico_calen.bmp
ico_lang.bmp
media.bmp
multimedia.bmp
music.bmp
picture_viewer.bmp
settings.bmp
solitaire.bmp
time.bmp
V7.bmp
Have fun and please post your findings! Remember, please don't link to sites that violate this forum's rules. |
| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| desimtor |
Posted - 09 juin 2010 : 02:02:59
Did you look here: http://v7support.com/gps/index_files/USA_Nav730.htm
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| arjay.jasmin |
Posted - 08 juin 2010 : 14:09:13
hi, im arjay.. can anyone please send me a copy of your nav730 storage card? i kinda deleted mine and its screwed up, it wont open and a missing executable file appears on the screen can anyone help me? |
| bubbah |
Posted - 12 janv. 2010 : 00:12:32
I am curious why my new winMobile6.1 smartphone finds satellites (NE USA) in less than a minute while the 730 sits and sits finally finding them ...I also bought (sadly for more than the cost of the 730) the SD Card of western EU maps and in use there takes as much as 10-15 minutes to hook on to satellites ...did not go over to try the phone yet ...what is with that?? |
| bubbah |
Posted - 09 oct. 2009 : 23:55:53
wow! ...crapware... |
| picstart |
Posted - 09 oct. 2009 : 23:29:05
I was in Europe this summer coming from the USA. I turned the unit on in Paris ( surrounded by buildings). I have no concrete evidence but I believe the unit has assumptions about accelerating a fix. It assumes that where it is now is not far from where it was last. It assumes the same or very similar satellites would be in view. I believe this assumption is pursued until it fails on every satellite expected to be in view. At that point it reverts to a more exhaustive search that will eventually discover it is several thousand miles from its last known fix. It took 30 mins to get the first fix in Paris ( the buildings blocking some satellites I bet didn't help a moving car probably won't help either) after that it was Ok. From Paris to London there was no extra delay in getting a fix. I had no issues with navigation in Europe. On return Stateside again a long delay to the first fix. |
| bubbah |
Posted - 09 oct. 2009 : 22:36:34
I bought a 730 usa version and am noe using it in the eu with the $$$ we maps card ...why does it take so long to acquire satellites? ...also, seems to name streets for turns but somehow i must have deactivated that feature and cannot figure out how to get it back ?? tia !! |
| picstart |
Posted - 09 oct. 2009 : 17:44:17
Yes I got around it. First V7 depresses the resale value of these devices by making very little technical knowledge available such as circuit diagrams and purposes of various test points on the main-board. We know this Nav730 device is a Samsung arm and specs are available for it. The Nav730 launcher runs upon reset after reset has loaded the registry from a hive in ROM. The launcher must have a good data.zip in the Flash My Flash to be successful. The registry is set by default on reset to put the USB port in storage mode and not available to ActiveSync. So the choice is either to Jtag the flash or discover some trap door autoexec config that will reflash the flash via the CPU before the launcher executes. It probably exists( V7 1000's have it) but V7 for NAv730 won't help. The least expensive solution is to take advantage of the very low resale prices due to lack of post warranty support. I bought another NAV730 with a broken screen for much less than $10 and just swapped the mainboard. Since V7 management has helped create trashcan prices for out of warranty devices take advantage. Instead of junking your device take advantage of someone junking theirs. |
| VictorRades |
Posted - 09 oct. 2009 : 13:52:54
Hi picstart,
I've the same problem. Did you found a way to do this? |
| rogeriolc |
Posted - 14 sept. 2009 : 01:01:49
quote:
Hello!
I need help! I hope anyone can help me!
I need to access the Flash Disk into de NAV730 to rename a file by USB or other way.
I renamed the file igolaunch.exe in the "\\Flash disk\\Lauch" folder and now my GPS does not turn on anymore At the screen shows the message: "Missin executables files, please copy backup files from DVD/VDC to the device." But at the DVD has only the maps and the programs that goes in the SD Card.
Does anybody have an ideia how can I "revive" my GPS? I know that i was very stupid when I renamed the file... but now I need to fix it to use my GPS tomorow in a trip.
Thanks friends!
Go to Top of Page
Hi all,
I do that too....
please help me. if someone discovery how to fix this...
i´m brazilian and here is only place that i find somethink.
sorry for my english. |
| picstart |
Posted - 30 août 2009 : 22:10:06
I may not understand this correctly but I believe the V7 launcher runs first since the registry says it must. The launcher in turn needs data.zip on the flash disk "My Flash Disk" to interpret igopath.txt and then addons.txt to display the menu button screen. data.zip in the launcher folder on "My Flash Disk" contains the icons and the graphics for the menu. In my case data.zip is corrupt so I need some way to replace it on the flash disk. V7 1000 has an autoexec that runs pnaupdates directly from the sd card without calling the launcher further v7 1000 defaults in the registry to activesync.The v7 pna1000 lets you get to the flash without using the launcher. The Nav730 defaults to an external drive when connected to a pc. This can be overridden in the registry but it is lost on power down and in my case I can't get to it via regedit run from explorer since I can't launch explorer.exe since the launcher crashes first due to the bad data.zip. I need a way to circumvent the launcher and its dependency on a good data.zip If how to do this is explained elsewhere in this forum then I apologize and hope someone will give me a specific reference .
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| EdenCrest |
Posted - 30 août 2009 : 21:14:34
Have you made the modifications suggested in this forum? |
| picstart |
Posted - 30 août 2009 : 20:20:05
Nav730 data.zip is corrupted. Error NNGlauncher failed to open ui/main_320-240.ui. Active Sync is not the USB default. Can't get to explorer.exe since the NNGlauncher runs first and crashes. Any ideas? |
| bubbah |
Posted - 24 juil. 2009 : 21:51:50
I finally found the EU maps (Western Europe) sold on an ADP SD card for way too much money ...so I bought it. It comes. Error: Cannot load Ingram/ui_nav 740/320_240 loading.bmp closing application" ...called v7 ...they gave me a number for ADP ...they are sending me out a replacement. Interesting thing ...the USA card that came with my 730 ...I copied it to another 2gb card and put on the 740 software and data without any trouble so the original 1gb card stays in my place so it doesn't get corrupted or whatever. With the WE upgrade card, you can back up the maps but you MUST use the original card (has an etched number and a coded file somewhere) ...you CANNOT make a copy and use that!! Crappy idea ...cost a bundle just to not have to parade around with 2 different devices ...maybe I shudda!! |
| bubbah |
Posted - 04 juil. 2009 : 01:46:55
where can I get the western EU maps ? v7 website does not have them ... |
| sinielito |
Posted - 09 févr. 2009 : 19:45:20
I'm looking for MAPs for New Zealand, anybody has one to share or where I can get it?
Thanks in advance.
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