Unlocking the Mio C230 – Version 3.3 LITE

December 30, 2007 at 5:23 pm · Filed under mio c230

NOTE that this is not an UPDATE – it is a new LITE Version of my Unlock without the desktop and miscellaneous programs you might be expecting.  The FULL version is here.

 

OK, by special request, I’m making available this LITE version, which is half the size of the regular version because it doesn’t have the regular desktop screen nor all of the miscellaneous programs.   Just the simple Clock screen, a simple Tools screen and my Route Management Menu that includes MioMap access.  It will reportedly fit into the free space of a brand new Mio C230’s flash disk, but don’t hold me to it as I’m unable to verify that claim.  (see Note 3)

Like the regular Unlock Version 3.3 release, this brand new LITE version depends on the data.zip modification to unhide the Exit button.  (see Note 4)

This build allows quick changes of SYS.TXT (the MioMap “ini” file) settings which also has the advantage of being able to change flyover and street settings as often as you wish (you can add your own as well if you find a setting that you toggle often).   The largest advantage however is the ability to pre-plan upcoming vacation trips, business trips, delivery routes, etc., save those routes, and activate them at your convenience.   Many blog readers are stating that this is their main reason for unlocking, not for the desktop access of other programs.

I’ve gone through a lot of coffee on the 3.3 Regular and LITE releases ( the best ones yet! ) and if you are pleased with the results, kindly consider a small donation to my coffee fund.   My next project is investigating how to delete individual items in the Route History list which is part of the SQLite 3.0 database file iGo.db, since right now it’s Clear All or nothing.

Route Management

Someday, there could well be built-in MioMap screens (I’m available, Mio) either in alternative skins or adopted by iGo or Mio in an update, to do these same functions using the logic strategy contained in my menus (with thanks to Xania for the initial work), but for now the menus seem like an excellent alternative, especially now that the Exit button functions so nicely.  [added 1/12/08]  With the Route Management menu, you can not only preplan your routes, but by

• Exiting
• Saving your route with a descriptive name  
• Restarting MioMap back up again with that route still in memory or loading that route into memory at a later time
• Using the Edit Route screen and reversing the order of your waypoints
• Exiting and Saving once again with a different name representing the  return trip
•  – Voila – you’ve got your return trip available in the menu without reinputing all of your waypoints.

I’ve updated the menu to Version 3.3 as well to include automatic entries to the SYS.TXT file needed for this menu to function.  You no longer need to run through the setup process.  This version does not have the Toggle Taskbar option, as there is no taskbar.

 

 Oh, and don’t forget to check out my Mio-C230 StickiNotes in the right column where blog items and other tidbits readers provide will be easy to find.

  

Unlock Version NXT-R3.3 LITE

[BEFORE YOU FOLLOW THE PROCEDURES TO MODIFY YOUR MIO C230, KNOW THAT YOU MIGHT RENDER YOUR C230 UNUSABLE AND YOU MIGHT VOID YOUR WARRANTY.  YOU DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK.]

Installation procedure

1. Turn on C230 and connect it to the computer using a 5-pin Mini-B USB 2.0 cable (not included in the package).
2. C230 will show up as a flash drive in My Computer as Mio Device. Mine is assigned as F drive. I’ll use F drive in the following steps. Substitute it with the actual drive letter of your system.  If you have a SD card in the slot, it shows up as well – in my case as G drive.
3. Rename the folder F:\MioMap\MioMap to F:\MioMap\MioMap2.
4. According to one user, this LITE version is small enough to fit onto your flash disk  without making room, but I’d atleast set aside one map file (perhaps Puerto Rico?).   (see Note 3) 
5. Download MioC230_NXT_R3_3LITE.zip 
6. USA MioC230 users –  download the modified MioC230 data.zip file with the Exit Door button restored.    Owners of the European C230, please review this page and Note 4, before Unlocking for information on using this Unlock on your units.   You can modify the file yourself – See Note 4.  
7. Extract the files from the Unlock download ONLY and find the two folders MioMap and  Script 
8. Copy MioMap to F:\MioMap\ and copy Script to F:\ as in the screenshot.  Don’t speed through this step – it’s got to be done as described!
    
9. Copy the data.zip file AS IS (don’t unzip it) to the MioMap2 folder after copying the original file to your PC or to the Storage Card as a backup . 
10. Disconnect Mio C230 and do a hard reset by sliding the switch on the rear of your C230 to OFF and back to ON again.
11. After calibrating the touch screen, the initial Unlock script will automatically run AUTOPATCHER (no menu selection necessary), soft reset and present you with a simple clock screen with two icons to proceed into either a Tools screen or into the MioMap Route Management screen. 

Note 1: If you wish to undo the enhancements and return the Mio C230 back to factory condition:

1. Turn on C230 and connect it to the computer using a USB cable.
2. Rename the folder F:\MioMap\MioMap to F:\MioMap\MioMap3 (or delete) and rename the folder F:\MioMap\MioMap2 to F:\MioMap\MioMap
3. Copy back any map files you may have deleted or moved to your SD card and restore your data.zip file.  The SYS.TXT file shouldn’t need to be restored.
4. Disconnect the cable and hard reset C230 using the switch on the back of the unit.

Note 2: Remember, every time you disconnect the USB cable linked to your PC, you will need to do atleast a soft reset, although in most cases you really should do a hard reset.  The time and date will need to be reset, unless you are going right into MioMap with Time Autosync enabled. 

Note 3: Since this LITE version is a lot smaller, I don’t have experience as to how much space needs to be freed up in order not to get the message “destination full”.   Create a MioMap folder in the root of of your SD card and within that folder a maps folder so that the path appears as G:\MioMap\maps.   Choose a combination of map file(s) you’re not accessing every day (in case your SD card isn’t always inserted) from F:\MioMap\MioMap2\maps and move them to the maps folder on your SD card.  MioMap will see them after a hard reset as if nothing happened.  Or you could delete them (or copy to your PC) if you choose not to use a SD card at this time, since it’s easy to explore your MioMap DVD and copy them back to the original folder or a SD card later, if needed. 

Note 4:   USA MioC230 users –  you can download an already modified MioC230 data.zip file with the Exit Door button restored  or…

Instructions to Modify your DATA.ZIP file yourself  (from Amida’s Hack #2)

1. Make a backup of your original DATA.ZIP file. The file is F:\MioMap\MioMap2\DATA.ZIP .
2. Unzip the original DATA.ZIP to your local hard drive.
3. Edit the file mio\common\ui\default_setup.ui in the uncompressed files.
4. Find the following line and delete it. Note that this is for C230 only. You might need to edit/delete other line for other models.
   runif vDeviceType "MIOC230" 'btn_exit_app.hide'
5. Compress the files back into DATA.ZIP again.
6. Copy the DATA.ZIP from step 6 to the F:\MioMap\MioMap2\ directory.
7. If you get a ctype.dat error as has happenned with some users, either try again or download the file instead.  When it comes to zipping the file back up, it has been learned that WinZip version 11 (10 is OK though) is not compatible with MioMap.   I use WinRAR and I choose “best” compression but I’m not sure if that really matters. 

And now the manual:  Using your unlocked C230 LITE

Default Screen

• The MioMap icon will take you directly to my new menu with options to either proceed into the MioMap program, Save / Delete / Rename / Load routes, View / Update MioMap settings in SYS.TXT, view a brief  Help screen on Exiting MioMap.
• The Next Screen icon will take you to a Tools screen so that you can do a soft reset or the Mio Utility program for quick access to adjust Backlight, Volume, Screen calibrate, Power, Date/Time and Language.

I’ve provided an alternate clock screen in the Sysinfo folder, so that you have an example on how to change to your liking.  In the /script/sysinfo folder, rename clock.ini to clock_orig.ini and then rename clock_alt.ini to clock.ini if you wish to use the alternate screen.  A secondary text line is already set-up for you if you wish to add your name or a short message.

Route Management

From the clock screen, click on the MioMap icon (the GPS unit in the upper left)

Prior to unlocking your Mio GPS, you would be unable to save multiple routes and the default route.dat file normally saved in \My Documents\MioMap folder would be erased during a hard reset, making the Route Management menu feature a substantial add-on to your Mio C230!

Normally you don’t need to save a route on your Mio, since you can just create a POI for the destination and regenerate the route dynamically when you want to go there.   If you want to see where you actually drove along the way, you can record a track log.   However, there could be times when you have created a more complex route with multiple waypoints, and you want to save it.   This could be because:

• you’ve imported the route as a set of waypoints from an online route planning site, and you don’t want to lose the effort of setting it up on the Mio
• vacation pre-planning – you’ve set up a complex route for a vacation trip that doesn’t start from “home” and you want to load it into memory once you’ve arrived at the start point
• you want to share your route with another Mio user. 

NOTE:  When planning routes that start from a location different from your present location (Vacation pre-planning), the Off-Route Recalculation option has a habit of interfering.  You have a couple of options here: 

• The first leg of your trip can be from your present location to the intended starting point.  Just keep setting your route up and when you’re finished, remove the first Waypoint (using the second button on the bottom of the Edit Route screen) which deletes that first segment of the Route.   It seems that once you’re in the Edit Route screens /Fit to screen/ etc., that the GPS doesn’t recalculate from your present position.  It’s when you are in Map or Cockpit where that happens.  With the Route Management Menu, you just exit and Save your Route for future viewing or navigating. 
• The bottom selection on the General Settings page is Off-Route Recalculation. Switch this from Automatic to Disabled.  This doesn’t actually turn off the GPS receiver, but it keeps the C230 from messing up your Route planning.  Just don’t forget to switch it back to Automatic when your done with your Route planning.

Sample pre-loaded route to view

^ click on “Load a Saved Route…” and select this sample file and it should copy itself as route.dat and open up in MioMap.  To visualize this Route, select Cockpit > Menu > Routes icon (third in bottom row) > Info > Fit to screen.  When you edit or delete route from within MioMap, you are impacting route.dat file, not the saved file you selected from the menu, so if you want to save changes you’ve made, you’ll have to do so after you exit MioMap and return to the Route Management menu.

Creating Routes

• We’ll make an example up > Go to History or Address and select a destination,  Mio will create a route, click in the area of the 3 green rectangles, Select Fit to Screen to see route.   Your route has already been autosaved as route.dat.
• Now we’re going to save it with another name so it doesn’t get erased > Menu, Home, Exit, go to Route Management Menu, select Save, select a Name and you’re done.
• If we go back into MioMap, it always resumes with the route.dat file (if it exists) so if you wan’t to work on a different saved route, you need to load it into memory using that option in the Route Management menu.
• If you create a new route in MioMap now, that route replaces route.dat with this new information, but since you’ve saved the former route with another name, you can just load that saved route in to replace route.dat again.

SYS.TXT Options

iGo calls the two flyover modes: Lifelike simulation mode  which runs real-time (at speed-limit rate) and includes voice instructions – mainly used by retail stores with looping turned ON as DEMO mode, and for the user to become familiar with it’s routing functioning.   Fast-flyover mode runs 10 times faster (10X the speed-limit rate) and voice instructions are not played in this mode, but I find that it is much more useful for reviewing a planned route.

(Screen captures are from the FULL version and are for illustrative purposes only)

^ your choice.  Mio’s default is YES (demo mode).

 ^ the script reads your current SLOWSIM value (slow simulation – which is the inverse of fast flyover) entry in the file and allows you to keep the value (YES) or change it (NO).   For fast flyover, slowsim=1 is changed to slowsim=0.  

 ^ the script reads your current entry in the file and allows you to keep the value (YES) or change it (NO).

Registry tweaks that are included

• The 2007 changes for DST work correctly now for the EST time zone*
• The default time zone is GMT-5 (EST)*
• Key clicks and screen tap sounds are enabled
• Volume level in Windows CE, which is independent of the volume settings within MioMap, is cranked up a little

         

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* Added instructions in the script file so that using my code as an example, you can adapt the script to a time zone other than EST.

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To return to the Clock Screen or Route Management Menu from within MioMap, simply click on the Exit Door.

ENJOY!!

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