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ideefixe
13 Posts |
 Posted - 05 déc. 2007 : 14:41:14
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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. |
Edited by - ideefixe on 28 déc. 2007 05:25:50
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Bystander6
31 Posts |
Posted - 06 déc. 2007 : 03:23:00
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| NAV720 is the sister model with bluetooth. If any of you have this one, please share your experience with this model also. Thanks. |
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scottxray
USA
8 Posts |
Posted - 07 déc. 2007 : 15:14:58
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I also got the Nav 730, and found that modifying the addons.txt file will allow you to run
other apps. Note that the file is read only, and must be set to read/write in windows properties to save a modified version.
However, you can also modify the Igopath.txt file in //My flash disk// on the unit to change the actions of the other two icons, to point towards the SD card for their apps. Caution...before changing the text in that file make sure to make a copy of it first. You can copy it to //my documents// and then keep it safe there, or move it to the SD card. If you point the icons toward the SD card and start up without one present or perhaps misspelled, the icons disappear (similar to removing the map SD card). They will not return after a HARD reset either, unless you have the path correct, or restore the Igopath file. Also, removing the SD card seems to reverse the order of appearance of the icons on the screen (each time you do it).
What I have NOT been able to do is get the 730 to work with activesync. The only thing I can see when my pc is connected is the SD card.... If I am into the 730 desktop and connect the screen is blanked and the PC can't find the device via usb.
Has anyone managed to connect via active sync?
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ideefixe
13 Posts |
Posted - 07 déc. 2007 : 22:13:24
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quote:
Has anyone managed to connect via active sync?
Maybe you can confirm this, I haven't had time to try yet...
Get a registry editor that will work on WinCE 5...maybe try TRE
change this registry to:
HKLM\Drivers\USB\FunctionDrivers
DefaultClientDriver="Serial_Class" [REG_SZ]
Reset and connect USB cable. This works on the Pocket Loox N110, which also runs WinCE 5.
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PerniciousD
4 Posts |
Posted - 12 déc. 2007 : 09:07:27
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Apparently, there's a couple more TTS voices for the iGO engine that the V7 uses. Anyone try that yet?
Regarding the NAV720, my friend has that. He loves it. He prefers it over my NAV730 and my wife's NAV740. |
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dcfgps
USA
1 Posts |
Posted - 13 déc. 2007 : 01:23:43
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I tried the unlock above & never got the extra explorer icon.
Seems pretty straight forward.
Can anyone help? |
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Bystander6
31 Posts |
Posted - 14 déc. 2007 : 01:30:13
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| I just confirmed with V7 that this sytem is SDHC (SD 2.0) compliant. This makes this sytem even better. |
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roma11_22
16 Posts |
Posted - 15 déc. 2007 : 16:54:43
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I just got nav720. I am totally newbie to this GPS thingy. The v7 website states, that in the newer verions nav720 v2, they will not include SD card, rather everything will be on flash memory. Could some one please confirm that i could still hack it to add more POIs.
Help appreciated. |
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PerniciousD
4 Posts |
Posted - 15 déc. 2007 : 23:17:58
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The original NAV720 V1 had a 256MB SD-Card to house the additional maps of Canada, HI, AK, etc.
When you plug in the USB Cable to your PC, the device becomes a mass storage device with access to the navigation software and the igo.db file, which houses your custom POI.
You can use POI Explorer and add custom POIs from either www.poiplaza.com or kmz or kml files (Google formats).
good luck - but the V7 company doesn't officially support that stuff though. |
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mvansomeren
8 Posts |
Posted - 18 déc. 2007 : 17:03:37
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I tried numerous times to unlock my NAV730 using ideefixe's instructions. I even went as far as to copy the "new line" from the post to my addon.txt file. I was never able to get the new icon to show up so I could launch WindowsCE. I saw on another forum that this format will not work for the NAV730. Has anyone successfully unlocked their NAV730, and if so, would you please share how you did it.
Thanks, |
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fogglerus
1 Posts |
Posted - 18 déc. 2007 : 23:00:39
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quote:
Originally posted by mvansomeren
I tried numerous times to unlock my NAV730 using ideefixe's instructions. I even went as far as to copy the "new line" from the post to my addon.txt file. I was never able to get the new icon to show up so I could launch WindowsCE. I saw on another forum that this format will not work for the NAV730. Has anyone successfully unlocked their NAV730, and if so, would you please share how you did it.
Thanks,
The "new line" in the original post by ideefixe has a typo. Instead of
Explorer = "icons/files.bmp", "\\Windows\explorer.exe"
it should be:
Explorer = "icons/files.bmp", "\\Windows\\explorer.exe"
Be careful. If you mess up the contents of your SD card, you can restore it from the CD, but if you disturb the Windows CE files in the internal flash memory, you might not be able to recover.
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mvansomeren
8 Posts |
Posted - 18 déc. 2007 : 23:44:38
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| Thanks, that did the trick! The reason I wanted to get in there is because iGO Explorer refers to a path of \My Documents\igo 2006 for syncronizing POIs. I wanted to see what was actually in that folder - it's empty. I could see causing problems trying to load POI's into that directory as it would soon fill up any available flash memory. |
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EdenCrest
USA
28 Posts |
Posted - 21 déc. 2007 : 18:58:36
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I've been able to find a couple of things. First, I can add to "Favorites" using the iGoPoiLoader program. That's nice, but adding all the Starbucks just made using the favorites cumbersome because it does not sort nor does it limit the display to just the closest. In fact, it won't display the closest at the top of the list.
Second, I have found the file structure for the preloaded POIs, but not the location of the actual POIs. If I can find that, I would be able to add POIs to the actual list, instead of just in the "Favorites".
Post any info please. |
TJ |
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mvansomeren
8 Posts |
Posted - 21 déc. 2007 : 22:31:52
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You won't find the location of the included POIs. They are actually part of the map data. For example, the USA_California.fbl files (in the maps folder) contains all of the included POI's for that state. If you search the web, you will find files for the same state and same file format that are larger. These are what are known as "premium" maps. They include many more POIs and other information than the map files in the NAV730. Unfortunately, even though those larger map files are the same file format, you can't use them because they are keyed to the license.db file which is different for each set of maps and application. Believe me I've tried.
Also, if you somehow did manage to apply the POI structures to the ones you added to your favorites using iGOExplorer, the application is not looking for that information from that folder.
I've been looking for a program that would allow me to edit the map files but I believe that the format is propriatary so I doubt I will find one. Now if someone wants to write one... 
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Edited by - mvansomeren on 22 déc. 2007 05:12:25 |
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oneofmany57
11 Posts |
Posted - 28 déc. 2007 : 05:45:16
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quote:
Originally posted by Bystander6
NAV720 is the sister model with bluetooth. If any of you have this one, please share your experience with this model also. Thanks.
I will be starting a new topic about this shortly. The good thing is the hack is pretty much the same for the 720, with only a few differences. |
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Scruge
5 Posts |
Posted - 29 déc. 2007 : 03:25:01
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Regarding the Nav730, if anyone should know how to add an unaltered address to the Favorites list, Please Post the method.
Seems the only addresses that can be added are those that were obtained via proximity clicking. |
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V7 Nav730 unlock and customize
