Unlocking the Mio C230 – Version 3.4 with Route, Screen & Settings Management

[UPDATE]  Version 3.5  Released Feb 1, 2008  

capscr0049.jpg   < New icons

^ See this post to upgrade the icons for this Unlock package 

iphone2.jpg   < Orig icons

This Version 3.4 update to my Mio C230 Unlock isn’t signficantly different from 3.3 other than:

  1. An additional “iPhone-look” desktop screen (my background image and icons provided by Amida)
  2. A Screen Choices” menu to personalize your C230:

Please note that this is not an update for my Version 3.3 LITE, since there is no desktop screen in that version.

From either desktop screen, you’ll be able to access the  ”More Tools” screen or your chosen clock screen.   You might also choose a clock or desktop default screen and never access the others.   All served the way you like it!

Like Amida with his Version 3 release, my new version depends on replacing the BananaPC exit option with the data.zip modification to unhide the Exit Door button.

exit.jpg

 

The largest advantage 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 must say we all like Amida’s iPhone desktop look, and other than a varied arrangement of his icons, Rev 3.4 of my build is really centered around incorporation of that theme per the requests of blog readers and supporters.   I couldn’t help but notice today though that when Amida announced his ver 3.1 (I was actually quite surprised!) to incorporate Route Management which is the direction I wanted my Unlock to go in, that perhaps our builds aren’t diverging after all; rather they are converging (and getting better each time!) – I guess I helped in that convergence too.  Wink [;)] 

I’ve spent hours refining the C230 Route Management Menu and in-fact was still tweaking it today, and wish to note that additional menu selections exclusive to my build now include allowing easy and 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), and Screen Choices, as explained below.

I’ve gone through a lot of coffee again on this release ( the best one yet! ) and if you are pleased with the results and haven’t already done so, kindly consider a small donation to my coffee fund.    My next projects:  1) 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.   2) Investigating how to put a Restore CE Core package together, so that we can atleast run .cab files again or install programs via ActiveSync.

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.

[added 1/16/08]  Amida has posted a data.zip tweak at http://computerbits.wordpress.com/2008/01/09/miomap-33-datazip-tweaks/  that will unhide a GPS power button to temporarily turn off the GPS chip, so that when pre-planning routes not having anything to do with your present location, the Route recalculation will not mess you up your itinerary. 

[added 1/17/08]  I have added a page to my Weblog making available a modified data.zip file that includes all of the tweaks mentioned in this blog including:

  • Exit Door button needed if you are unlocking your C230.
  • Revised start screen identifying the source of the modified file.
  • Export Track button allowing you to export the track log into a gpx file directly.
  • Easy Route option described here.
  • GPS Screen with the globe rotated such that North America is proudly shown and the GPS Power button needed for uninterupted general map viewing and Route preplanning without Auto Route Recalculation kicking in.

Starting with Version 3.3, the menu script creates automatic entries to the SYS.TXT file needed for this menu to function. You no longer need to run through the setup process.

screench.jpg

 

Screen Choices

If you scroll down in the Route Management menu selections, you’ll see the option for Screen Choices that is brand new in Version 3.4

  • Would you like to make any changes to the desktop or clock Screens?  This gives you a chance to get out without going through the other questions.
  • Would you like a desktop screen to be the default screen?   No makes a clock screen the default instead.
  • Would you like to swap clock screens?    Your preference – the green one or the orange one.
  • Would you like to swap desktop screens?   Your preference – the green one or the “iPhone-look” one.

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-R3.4

[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. In order not to get the message ”destination full”, you may need to free up some space on your flash disk. See Note3.
  5. Download MioC230_NXT_R3_4.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 your 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!
     miodevice.jpg
  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 faint icons to proceed into either the main desktop screen or into the MioMap Route Management screen, that each become more visible when pressed.

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. This is why you might consider using a SD card in conjunction with a USB card reader for adding programs and storing media files once you’re happy with your unlocked Mio setup.

Note 3: In order not to get the message “destination full”, you’ll need to free up some space on your flash disk by moving at-least 12MB of map files to your SD card by creating a MioMap folder 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:   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

Default Screens

Any one of these can become your default screen simply by making your choice in the Screen Choice Menu.

iphone2.jpg
desktop.jpg
clock3.jpg
capscr0012a.jpg

Screen Choices Menu

If you scroll down in the Route Management menu selections, you’ll see the option for Screen Choices that is brand new in Version 3.4

  • Would you like to make any changes to the desktop or clock Screens?  This gives you a chance to get out without going through the other questions.
  • Would you like a desktop screen to be the default screen?   No makes a clock screen the default instead.
  • Would you like to swap clock screens?    Your preference – the green one or the orange one.
  • Would you like to swap desktop screens?   Your preference – the green one or the “iPhone-look” one.

Clock Screens

You’ll note that the MioMap icon and the Next Screen icons are dimmed in the Clock screens, so that the initial screen might serve as a simple, unclutterd clock screen in your RV or automobile.

  • 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,  quickly be able to turn off the taskbar before running MioMap and of course make your screen choices.
  • The Next Screen arrow icon will take you to your choosen desktop screen.
  • You can return to the Clock screens by clicking on the Clock icon.
  • From the desktop screens, you can proceed to other screens you may have designed, or the More Tools screen, which is included only in my unlock package. 

Route Management

desktop.jpg

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

screench.jpg

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

capscr0033.jpg

^ 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.

capscr0028.jpg

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

capscr0029.jpg

^ 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.

capscr0030.jpg

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

Main green Desktop Screen

desktop.jpg

You’ll note that the MioMap icon and the Media Player are larger than the rest. My reasoning for this is that they will probably be your favorites and you are likely to access these without a stylus. The other icons…

  • MioTool – hitting the small “ab” box in the top left corner with your stylus will reveal a virtual keyboard for entering data. To turn the keyboard off again, just hit the icon again. Another method of engaging the keyboard is hitting the keyboard icon on the taskbar (2nd from the right).
  • MioMap – Starts 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, and quickly be able to turn off the taskbar before running MioMap. Exit and Cancel both take you back to the desktop screen. You can either select your option and hit OK, or simply double-click your option.
  • TCPMP Media PlayerCore Pocket Media Player is loaded with features and options that aren’t realized until you click Options\Settings\Select Page and explore around. The current version in this build is TCPMP version 0.72RC1 with all of the available extra drivers and it will play many audio and video formats, as well as photo files and flash videos. By running the program once, you will associate all of the supported file types, so that you will then be able to click on a .wav file, as an example, in File Manager and play the file.
capscr0014.jpg

Shortcuts 2nd row-from-bottom across:

  • Clock – returns to the (default) clock screen for that uncluttered look.
  • Windows Explorer – my primary reason for using this shortcut is to fix file icon associations in File Manager and to resolve the Show Toolbar performance. It should be noted that the first time you select Windows Explorer, you are likely to get the Mio orange screen with a minimized taskbar at the bottom. You just need to use your stylus in the right corner of the hidden taskbar (the narrow gray stripe at the bottom edge – this is why it is important to carefully calibrate your screen with a stylus!) and choose Desktop (don’t click on MainShell). At this point, the taskbar and Windows Explorer will behave better, and the icon associations in File Explorer will work, and other programs that seem to be missing menus, like exit, folder selection, etc. will display their own taskbar (see the Freecell screenshot).
  • Pocket Notepad – viewing txt files and for creating quick txt files with the virtual keyboard. Comes in handy for quick editing ini, mscr and other text files.
  • Volume Control – graphic volume control display
  • Pocket-G Freecell – so you can have a little fun. Stylus recommended though (not a pen).

    capscr0016.jpg

  • An empty spot for a shortcut of your own (plus room for another 8 shortcuts above this row and as many more pages full of icons as you wish) *
  • GQ Photo Viewer – GQ is easier to use for viewing multiple photos than media player, and it has a zoom function
  • Restart – soft reset button

Shortcuts 1st row-from-bottom across:

  • MioUtility – quick access to adjust Backlight, Volume, Screen calibrate, Power, Date/Time and Language. This is the program that older units like the Mio C220 used to exit from MioMap into, but MioMap 3.3 has been written such that these choices are all available from within the program now and in fact the Volume Control appears to be non-functional. You’ll find that setting the date and time is much easier by clicking on the clock on the toolbar, unless you like the 24-hour format.

capscr0021.jpg

  • Taskbar toggle – toggles the taskbar on and off in whatever state it is in (hidden or revealed)    The taskbar area of the green desktop screen is also programmed to trigger this function.
  • FileManCE2 – Two-pane File Manager application alternative to Windows Explorer.
  • LightsOn! – a freeware game program.
  • More Tools Screen – <described below> an animated slide to another Desktop screen with additional tool programs that may not be used as frequently. This will serve as an example for you to come up with alternative screens if you install many other programs onto your Mio C230 and wish to group them onto their own screens.
  • WR-Tooks ResInfo – Quick access to status info on battery, program memory, storage memory, Flash Disk useage, Storage Card useage, tasks and processes currently running, system information and settings. Most of this information is also available from Control Panel as well.
  • capscr0019.jpg

  • My Calculator – a scientific calculator that is large enough to use without a stylus. To exit, click on the About tab, then on the X on the right side
  • CapScrUtil – a screen capture utility. Remember to store the .bmp images to either Storage Card or My Flash Disk for easy access to the screenshots. (This utility was used to create all of the images in this blog page)

Main “iPhone-look” Desktop Screen

iphone2.jpg

Program icons starting with the top row (small icons): 

  • MioTool – hitting the small “ab” box in the top left corner with your stylus will reveal a virtual keyboard for entering data. To turn the keyboard off again, just hit the icon again. Another method of engaging the keyboard is hitting the keyboard icon on the taskbar (2nd from the right).
  • Move Any Window – the mouse icon, is used when you anticipate needing to move windows around (those that drag properly can just be slid over with your finger) or gaining access to the right mouse function by opening this program window beforehand.
  • More Tools Screen – <described below> an animated slide to another Desktop screen with additional tool programs that may not be used as frequently. This will serve as an example for you to come up with alternative screens if you install many other programs onto your Mio C230 and wish to group them onto their own screens.
  • Volume Control – graphic volume control display
  • Taskbar toggle – toggles the taskbar on and off in whatever state it is in (hidden or revealed).

Program icons starting with the top row of large icons:

  • MioMap – Starts 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, and quickly be able to turn off the taskbar before running MioMap. Exit and Cancel both take you back to the desktop screen. You can either select your option and hit OK, or simply double-click your option.
  • TCPMP Media PlayerCore Pocket Media Player is loaded with features and options that aren’t realized until you click Options\Settings\Select Page and explore around. The current version in this build is TCPMP version 0.72RC1 with all of the available extra drivers and it will play many audio and video formats, as well as photo files and flash videos. By running the program once, you will associate all of the supported file types, so that you will then be able to click on a .wav file, as an example, in File Manager and play the file.
capscr0014.jpg
  • GQ Photo Viewer – GQ is easier to use for viewing multiple photos than media player, and it has a zoom function
  • FileManCE2 – Two-pane File Manager application alternative to Windows Explorer. 
  • DPMS – puts your screen to sleep while everything else continues to run. This could save battery consumption while recording GPS track logs or playing an audio book, etc.   Apparently, if you leave the icon it’s present location anyways, it also seems to toggle the screen back on when you tap it with the screen dark.  This is a quirky program / icon sometimes, so if it behaves bad for, try relocating it.

Program icons starting with the 2nd row of large icons:

  • Clock – returns to the clock screen that you choose to be the default, for that uncluttered look.
  • My Calculator – a scientific calculator that is large enough to use without a stylus. To exit, click on the About tab, then on the X on the right side.
  • Pocket Notepad – viewing txt files and for creating quick txt files with the virtual keyboard. Comes in handy for quick editing ini, mscr and other text files.
  • Pocket-G Freecell – so you can have a little fun. Stylus recommended though (not a pen).

    capscr0016.jpg
  • LightsOn! – a freeware game program.   I haven’t figured out yet what actions move you towards your goal – the light hasn’t gone ON for me on this one yet.

Program icons starting with the 3rd row of large icons:

  • Restart – soft reset button
  • MioUtility – quick access to adjust Backlight, Volume, Screen calibrate, Power, Date/Time and Language. This is the program that older units like the Mio C220 used to exit from MioMap into, but MioMap 3.3 has been written such that these choices are all available from within the program now and in fact the Volume Control appears to be non-functional. You’ll find that setting the date and time is much easier by clicking on the clock on the toolbar, unless you like the 24-hour format.
  • WR-Tooks ResInfo – Quick access to status info on battery, program memory, storage memory, Flash Disk useage, Storage Card useage, tasks and processes currently running, system information and settings. Most of this information is also available from Control Panel as well.

capscr0019.jpg

  • CapScrUtil – a screen capture utility. Remember to store the .bmp images to either Storage Card or My Flash Disk for easy access to the screenshots. (This utility was used to create all of the images in this blog page)

    capscr0021.jpg
  •  Windows Explorer – my primary reason for using this shortcut is to fix file icon associations in File Manager and to resolve the Show Toolbar performance. It should be noted that the first time you select Windows Explorer, you are likely to get the Mio orange screen with a minimized taskbar at the bottom. You just need to use your stylus in the right corner of the hidden taskbar (the narrow gray stripe at the bottom edge – this is why it is important to carefully calibrate your screen with a stylus!) and choose Desktop (don’t click on MainShell). At this point, the taskbar and Windows Explorer will behave better, and the icon associations in File Explorer will work, and other programs that seem to be missing menus, like exit, folder selection, etc. will display their own taskbar (see the Freecell screenshot).

More Tools

tools.jpg
  • ScreenRotate – gives you the ability to rotate the screen counterclockwise 90° with each tap
  • DPMS – puts your screen to sleep while everything else continues to run. This could save battery consumption while recording GPS track logs or playing an audio book, etc.
  • Volume Control – graphic volume control display
  • Taskbar toggle – toggles the taskbar on and off in whatever state it is in (hidden or revealed)
  • Move Any Window – the mouse icon, is used when you anticipate needing to move windows around (those that drag properly can just be slid over with your finger) or gaining access to the right mouse function by opening this program window beforehand
  • RegEditor – TRE Registry Editor ver 0.82 Only use this to view entries though until you are confident that you are not going to end up with a C230 “brick” (Not really since a hard reset wipes out all of your changes)
  • ITaskMgr – Another tool to allow you to view CPU usage, as well as view and manage processes and tasks that are currently running
  • Restart – soft reset button

Taskbar

The registry tweaks introduced with version 3.1 should help tame the taskbar performance. The default setting for “Always on Top” has been deactivated. Try to remember to toggle the taskbar OFF prior to using MioMap though. Want the day and date? Press and hold the clock on the screen. Want to minimize the taskbar? Start/Settings/Taskbar Properties/OK.

Adding your own programs and icons

Add any additional programs (.exe files, not .cab files) you’re interested in to the script folder, try them (try them means not only do they seem to work, but that they don’t cause any issues with the other programs, especially after a hard reset), and if you decide to keep them and want a desktop shortcut to them, add your own icon (.ico file) to the script folder and add the data to main.ini, also in the script folder.

* Any “empty” icon(s) on the desktop screen are in fact not empty, but the icons are “dimmed” to zero (actually 1). Otherwise the go.ico would show with no program associated with it and people would complain about the error message and ask why the icon doesn’t work. I doubt that you’ll find this documented anywhere else on the web – but just change the ScaleAlpha parameter to 100, and wala, the icon will shine thru at full “brightness”. That is how I “dimmed” the two icons on the default clock desktop screen – I set the ScaleAlpha to 25. You could dim those icons to 1 if you wanted to hide them completely, but they would still function.

ICONXPBUTTON
X = 121
Y = 175
Command = \My Flash Disk\Script\(your program.exe)
SizeNormal = 32
SizePushed = 32
ScaleAlpha = 1 (change to 100)
IconNormal = \My Flash Disk\Script\(your icon file name).ico
ScaleAlpha = 100
IconPushed = \My Flash Disk\Script\go.ico

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
  • File Manager font is Tahoma 7, which works much better on the 3.5″ screen
  • The default folder for GQ Viewer media is \Storage Card
  • The default ALWAYS ON TOP behavior for the taskbar is disabled, although the setting seems to sneak back in once in awhile
  • The automatic tutorial during startup of the Calculator is disabled

* 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.


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

exit.jpg

ENJOY!!

138 Comments »

  1. Robby said

    Nice work c230! I’m still trying to keep up with all the updates coming out recently. I still don’t a usb cable so I haven’t been able to try these out yet, but I hope to get one soon.

    One comment I have is that it would be nice if we had a dedicated forum to discuss yours and Amida’s c230 changes instead of using your separate blogs since each time you post a new entry we can’t see the comments from the previous entries. It seems that not too many c230 owners go to gpspassion.com so there isn’t much active discussion there.

    Also, I posted this over in gpspassion but didn’t get an answer. What kind of battery life are you seeing with this unit? Mio’s site says up to 4.5 hours but I’m getting about 1 1/2 hours max on my unit. Does this sound normal to you?

  2. c230 said

    Thank you Robby. You can get Belkin cables at Staples, Walmart, OfficeMax, etc. I took the description in my blog right off of the package. You’ll see a comment from an earlier blog reader that there is enough room inside to upgrade the battery to the 1200 mAh battery, maybe even more. And regarding Amida’s and my builds being on separate blogs with their own set of reader comments, i really believe that both of our packages are better because we’re bouncing off of each others efforts.

    Sounds about right to me, maybe closer to 2. I think you could push it to 3+ by turning off the backlighting though. Amida has blogs on many subjects, whereas thusfar, I’m really trying to be THE #1 C230 UNLOCK SITE that isn’t just geared to the geeks, but hopefully helps the regular Dan (or Dana) that is willing to follow clear, concise directions and actually learn something to further customize their unit if they want to.

    Those initial 3.24 unlocks for the first Mio units seemed kind of brutal to take on!

  3. Robby said

    Thanks for the info on the battery and the usb cable. The main reason I haven’t gotten the cable yet is I’m still deciding if I’m going to keep this unit since I still have 2 weeks left before I can return it to Radioshack.

    My 3 biggest complaints so far are:

    1. Short battery life
    2. Lack of Poi’s
    3. TTS volume too low

    I called Mio and they did say they will be releasing an update in the next few months to address the Poi’s but they wouldn’t say if it would be free or would cost like the 310 update they recently released. Since they already charge for the 310 update my bet would be they would charge for the c230 update as well.

    I like that you and Amida are both doing your own thing, I just hope you both are able to stay on friendly terms since I’ve seen in the past where 2 people working on a similar project had problems down the road when someone used something the other had developed.. not saying that will happen and hope it doesn’t!

    Have you considered having your own c230 forum? That might be one way to spur more discussion on this unit and allow everyone to share info more easily. Just a thought.

  4. c230 said

    I do have my own forum. It just happens to be on the same wordpress.com website because this is all new for me and I followed his example. I hear you about the rivalry; I just sent him a generous donation this week and always give credit for what I’m borrowing from his work!

  5. Vern said

    I’ve done the new release but for some reason after the hard refresh won’t give me the option to choose. Any Ideas

  6. c230 said

    Are you using the Screen Choice menu option? It’s underneath Toggle Taskbar. Time for another screenshot perhaps.

  7. Vern said

    toggle taskbar is not working for me for some reason

  8. c230 said

    That’s understandable – if you want taskbar, sometimes you’ve gotta play to get it going as I explain in the blog. The whole idea is that once you do get taskbar working, now you probably want to remember to turn it off prior to going into MioMap, hence the menu option. If you don’t care about taskbar, you won’t need this menu option too often.

    Does Screen Choice work though?

  9. Vern said

    I still can’t get the toggle taskbar to work in either the main menu or in more tools. Volume is a little touchy. I can’t seem to locate screen choice menu though

  10. c230 said

    You’ve got to scroll down to it, as well as the Exit option. Cancel does the same thing as Exit though.

    I’ll explain better in the blog. Oh, I guess you thought I meant underneath the Toggle Toolbar icon 🙂

  11. Vern said

    duh it’s in the map feature not on the main icon sceen sorry about that

  12. c230 said

    Well Vern,

    Wattz da verdict? 🙂

    Dan

  13. Vern said

    well I really like it so far was just trying to add text to the clock feature as stated in earlier releases. Also was trying to figure out how to save changes to SD card so don’t have to reset clock each time reboot

  14. Vern said

    Also you made a comment about deleting some map files that you don’t use. I’m not sure if I’m correct or not but if you do not use a SD card and delete those files the MIO MAP will not work. I’m using a small SD card and was trying make some more space and deleted some maps entirely off the card and miomap stopped working?

  15. c230 said

    Well,you can’t get rid of map files that you are routing through or are currently in. I did say “don’t use”. I think if you add or remove maps, you should do a hard reset afterwards too.

    States that are missing, just aren’t there, it shouldn’t bother MioMap. California’s missing on mine when my SD card isn’t plugged in, so it just doesn’t show as a state. That is why it is better to plug in and remove the SD card while powered up, so the unit knows that the change took place. Otherwise it will take a reset for that to occur.

  16. Vern said

    ok thanks for the tip and keep up the good work

  17. amida168 said

    C230,
    -quote-
    don’t be surprised to hear of complaints in about a week from users of Amida’s Route Management menu asking why all of their saved routes that they spent hours on, just dissappeared once they hard-reset their unit to get out of ICBM.
    -quote-
    Care to elaborate on this? I hard-reset several times a day and all my saved routes are still in there.

    BTW, nice job on making C230 a better device. I’ll “borrow” some of your ideas for my next release. 😉

  18. c230 said

    Amida,

    I couldn’t find where you set routepath, so I deduced that you are saving your routes to “My Documents” folder and that gets cleared out after hard-resets. I spent hours on that one (with help from robb1) and didn’t want you to get hit with it too. Did you find another way around my findings or do you have that parameter hardcoded into your SYS.TXT? If so, your downloaders might not be so lucky.

    Dan

    I’ll scrub the statement 😉 and thanks for the kind praise!

  19. RP said

    C230 & (Amida, if you are listening in on this blog, cause I check yours also), great job to the both of you! You have taken a simple little gps device and made it an exceptional little device. Your programs are great, but I have some questions. I orignally copied my entire device as a backup in case I mess up, but I noticed 3 files in the root directory that weren’t there before, ……
    1. Setting (config file) (todays date) ;
    2. SETTINGS (DAT file) (5\27\2005)
    3. Utility (config file) (5\27\2005)

    What happens if I delete those files accidentally?
    Can I still plug up to my computer to do a restore?
    If I mess up on the install, can I wipe the Flash Drive clean and restore?

  20. CD said

    I must scream it to the world… my excitement… from the top of someplace… very high!!!!!

  21. CD said

    If I want to add/change an icon, what format must it be in? I got an error that said “kein 32 bit icon gefun”. I looked at the existing icons, and they appear to be 64×64 @ 32-bit. But I cannot replicate them regardless of the programs (4 in all) that I have tried.

  22. c230 said

    RP,

    Those files have always been there and I’ve never disturbed them. After all, we don’t want to jeopardise the functioning of the GPS navigation software – that’s why we bought the C230 in the first place. Windows CE is burned into ROM and the MioMap software is all on the Flash Disk, where it can be restored / updated from either your backup files or the official DVD.

    Thanks CD,

    I too was surprised when I tried to use Amida’s 64 x 64 icons on my More Tools screen, they wouldn’t display at 32 x 32. I’ve displayed other 128 x 128 icons at 32 x 32 before. Anyways, they work on the iPhone-look screen and that’s what matters. I’ve never messed with the creation / editing of icons, so I can’t offer much help here.

  23. robb1 said

    I know what I’ll be doing this afternoon 😉 Thanks C230!

  24. c230 said

    Me too,

    Resting and drinking coffee! As simple as that update might seem, it was a project getting the updates written to the SystemInformation ini files without causing errors. Then I gotta write a book each time… 🙂

  25. […] c230 wrote an interesting post today on Unlocking the Mio C230 – Version 3.4 with Route, Screen &amp; Settings …Here’s a quick excerptThis will serve as an example for you to come up with alternative screens if you install many other programs onto your Mio C230 and wish to group them onto their own screens. WR-Tooks ResInfo – Quick access to status info on battery, … […]

  26. robb1 said

    You deserve a long rest C230.

  27. robb1 said

    Just installed and in a word: “AWESOME”! Thanks C230 and thanks to Amida168 and others who wrote utility scripts for the C230! I hope others who realize the work, time and dedication to the unlock of the C230 add to both of your coffee funds. Thanks to all of this, we got lots more than the C230 GPS unit we originally purchased. More features, utilities and other tricks. Well worth a coffee fund donation! Come on folks, join in with those of us who already donated and lets reward these people for their effort.

  28. c230 said

    Now there’s a testamonial, my friend 🙂 13 supporters / 22,000 hits as of today.

  29. Raxnor said

    First of all I want to thank you for your work that I really appreciate!!
    About this problem “If you get a ctype.dat error as has happened with some users, either try again or download the file instead.”, I am a european user and I’ve solved it by only unzipping mio\common\ui\default_setup.ui and not all the data.zip ;then apply the correction and zip it again in data.zip: in this way the ctype.dat file is not “touched” and everything worked fine!!!
    Bye

  30. c230 said

    Raxnor,

    Thanks for the feedback! You are correct and have stated it more clearly than anybody else has thus far, including myself. The unzip / rezip of that one file sure is “touch-and-go”.

    It is so nice to hear that the Unlock works globally too. Have you figured out what the settings program in WIndows is called, if there is one? In USA, it is MioUtility.exe

    As I learn more, I could add to my menus to accommodate these variattions and Date preferences

  31. Mike said

    I took a look at the db file with a cheapy SQL editor I found yesterday and the data looks encrypted or compressed somehow. The better SQL database tools I have want to connect via IP address and securely not by a file.
    I will see if I can get my boss who is a Mio owner and knows SQL better to take a look and see if he has other ideas.

  32. c230 said

    Mike,

    A good clue for a hacker is to peer into POIexplorer, as that is getting POI data out of the same database.

    Raxnor,

    Francis already found that the Euro version of the C230 uses SETTINGS.EXE instead of MIOUTILITY.EXE so we’re all set there.

  33. jbw said

    Does this work with c220’s ??? since it was made from the 3.24r script that worked on the c220???

  34. c230 said

    There is a very good possibility jbw, especially if you’re at MioMap 3.3, but not having a C220, I wouldn’t know.

    If someone wants to try and report findings here, I sure get the question asked enough.

    I like getting some of the features of new skins, without having to wonder what bugs are inherent in those skins.

  35. Mike said

    230,
    POIexplorer, uses Netframework, I don’t and I wont.

  36. Raxnor said

    “Francis already found that the Euro version of the C230 uses SETTINGS.EXE instead of MIOUTILITY.EXE so we’re all set there.”
    Thanks c230 I changed the main.ini and now the settings button works properly.
    Keep up your good job 😉

  37. CD said

    Dan,

    I discovered something. For icons to work, they must be in 32-bit color. A specific size is not required (I have gotton several to work) although 64×64 is the best for the “iPhone look” desktop icons. This appears to be the case on your other screens (nav.ico, for example)

    I tried several icon editors to accomplish this with many failed results, until I found one called ifoFX (free.) Just make sure you create/save it as 32-bit color!

    http://www.snapfiles.com/download/dlicofx.html

  38. c230 said

    Thanks for sharing the tip!

  39. CD said

    Will GPS Tuner 5.1 run on the c230?

  40. c230 said

    I won’t say no, but I couldn’t get it installed.

  41. CD said

    Thanks. That looks to be a great app.

  42. B5Fan said

    Just wanted to add some info on the icons issue. The ICO files must contain the icon at the resolution you want. They are not scaled dynamically. Amida’s ICO files only contain a 64×64 icon so that will be the only size icon that can be shown. I’m guessing that is why the files are called *64.ico. If you want a 32×32 icon, you have to create the icon at that resolution. You can then place that in the same ICO file (using an ICO editor). These icons must also be 32-bit. 24-bit are used for color (RRGGBB) and the last 8-bits are for the alpha channel (transparency). When using an icon editor, you need a program that can handle the alpha channel or else it won’t work.

  43. c230 said

    Thanks for the info B5Fan. I never realized that so much was in an .ico file; thought it was just another format like .jpg, .bmp, etc.

    Yes, that does explain why I couldn’t use Amida’s icons at smaller sizes.

  44. B5Fan said

    C230,

    I’ve been playing with Amida’s icons. Let me know if you want them in a specific size.

  45. B5Fan said

    C230,

    I’ve got all of the icons from Amida’s package set to have 32×32, 48×48, and 64×64 icons. You can downdown it from here.

    http://rapidshare.com/files/82075538/icons.zip.html

    Now you can use any of the 3 sizes. The screen capture icon will look strange at the 2 higher resolutions because it started at 32×32. I didn’t bother cleaning it up.

  46. c230 said

    If possible, I’d like a clock icon the same way (Amida did one that’s good) and a new one for Screen Toggle or Screen Off that could just be a black square matching the other icons with a white border around it and off course the caption Screen Off.

    Since we could use these in 32 X 32, I could use the icons in the More Tools screen as well, but the rest of those icons aren’t in iphone-look format.

  47. CD said

    When I was goofing around with the “iPhone Look” icons, I erased the word on one of them accidentally. What I noticed is that the icon became bigger on the desktop as the word is actally part of the picture. It was at that time that I decided to try to re-do all of the icons to contain no words (like a true iPhone). I then found a way to make really good icons. I can change to colors of the buttons, add graphics, etc. Having done this, I edited the x and y values in the main.ini to place them where I wanted. I really like the look. I’ll send you a screen capture. I suppose I can try to get then word back on if you need, but I do not think the icon editor I use has text. 😦

  48. CD said

    Update:

    I can add the text. The font would be helpful though. Do you know what Amida used? Can you find out?

  49. CD said

    Woohoo! Found it! (Read: trial and error) Courier New CE.
    I’ll send you my screen off icon with text.

  50. c230 said

    CD did a great job on that icon. It will definitely be part of the next Rev!

    OK Euro C230 users. If you would like to see a menu selection of different date formats for the clock and desktop screens, rather than having to edit the file manually, let me know.

  51. amida168 said

    CD,
    I used 8 point Arial (bold) when I created the icons in 64×64 resolution. If you have questions for me, please ask them in my blog. That way, I can answer them in a timely fashion. Thanks.

  52. c230 said

    Thank you Amida,

    I would have, but by the time I read the blog, CD had already let me know by email that he was done.

    Dan

  53. CD said

    Thanks, Amida! For some reason, I cannot log onto your blog. I don’t know what it is…. I was on once before.

  54. Zepperdude said

    I connect my C230s and it doesn’t show up as a drive …
    I have the right cable – I use it for my MP3 player
    Any suggestions?

  55. c230 said

    You do have the Mio powered up when linking, right?

    See if any of this helps: https://c230.wordpress.com/usb-connections-to-your-mio-c230/

  56. Zepperdude said

    Yes it was powered on.

    Tried another cable and it works – sorry !!!

  57. c230 said

    Don’t be sorry; it reiterates what I’ve been saying – it is usually the cable that causes these issues, not which USB port is used. I’m glad you resolved the problem and thanx for repoting back – it helps the next person looking for a solution.

  58. Zepperdude said

    Another question then – can I remove the other voices I am not moving to make room on the device. I want to fit one more map and I need some room.

  59. c230 said

    Actually, that may be one set of deletions that makes sense in theory, freeing up around 1.9 – 2 MB of space. Back them up to your PC and try it. I’m generally in favor of leaving the MioMap2 folder alone, but if you are shying away from getting a SD card, that does seem worthy of a try AT YOUR OWN RISK of course.

  60. Doug Wilson said

    I have a few comments/questions and I appologize beforehand if they have been covered previously in the blog.

    1) What is the default screen all about. I have tried changing this but there does not seem to be any effect. Whenever I turn the unit off and on again it returns to wherever screen it was in. When I enter Mio and return out it returns to whatever screen I entered from.

    2) I am sure if there are 2000 users then there are at least 2000 ideas on how the screens should look but here’s my $0.02 worth anyway.
    It would be nice to have an icon for the media player on the clock screen (my favorite) so that this is one click instead of going through the busy icon screen.

  61. c230 said

    Hi Doug,

    You are right; maybe there is a more appropriate term (Favorite screen?), but after a reset, the default screen appears. Your favorite screen being the Clock screen, can be altered easily by adding a third icon whereever you like.

    Try adding this to the clock.ini and/or clock_alt.ini file(s), and tweak as necessary:

    ICONXPBUTTON
    x = 180
    y = 10
    Command = \My Flash Disk\Script\Player.exe
    SizeNormal =64
    SizePushed =64
    ScaleAlpha = 15
    IconNormal = \My Flash Disk\Script\MediaPlayer.ico
    ScaleAlpha = 100
    IconPushed = \My Flash Disk\Script\MediaPlayer.ico

  62. David (Labman) said

    I feel some dumb the instructions are good but I can’t get mine to work. I have it as fallows I get the error that I need to reload the recovery software via recovery dvd. Darn I want this hack lol sweet job!

    e:\mio device
    setting
    setings.dat
    e:\miomap\miomap2 (data.zip is in miomap2 folder
    e:\script

  63. David (Labman) said

    Ha I got it at least got it unblocked my bad forgot to copy files to the miomap folder now I just have to get the data.zip or dor working and I’ll be happy. thanks to you this is for sure the best gps in the well under $200 catagory if not the $300 if only you could get bluetooth going lol, fantastic thanks.

  64. David (Labman) said

    never mind I got it unblocked just need to get Data.zip working

  65. c230 said

    David,

    Thank you very much for the donation! Sorry I wasn’t online at the time you were having a hard time, but glad to hear that the extra code I added helped. It tells me that you didn’t put the scripts folder in the root of flash drive, but instead put it into the MioMap folder along with the downloaded MioMap folder.

    I added that extra code that kicks in if the script folder isn’t installed properly to help you identify the problem rather than just freezing up. I think you are the first one to have seen those screens. Did they help at all?

    Glad you got it working, but just review Step 8 again and make sure it looks correct now to avoid problems later.

  66. Chris said

    Hi I was wondering how do you play a song through media player and than use other device features such as MioMap (the gps) while a playlist is continuing. I remember hearing before that it is possible to play media files in the backround while ur using the nav miomap software but I could not figure out how to get out of Player without it shutting down the program.

    Thanks!

  67. c230 said

    Chris,

    The blog is getting to be a few pages already 😀 but I found the instructions:

    TCPMP Media Player – described earlier in this blog. Ok, you want to play a music playlist or an audiobook while using the navigation functions of your GPS? Yes, it works!
    Bring up the taskbar in your desktop (discussed earlier) either hidden or exposed and engage the Always On Top option.
    Click Media Player icon and start up your music (or you can start it later if you wish).
    Tap the far right area of the taskbar and select Desktop.
    Click on MioMap icon and select Start MioMap. By clicking on the taskbar with your stylus, you’ll be able to select TCPMP Media Player (or any other running app) and bounce back and forth.

    Hope this helps!

  68. Jim Warters said

    Never quite seem to get my comments into the right category and the search function is limited in its utility. However, one of the first things I did with the C230 (after backing up the entire device) was to delete the non-English languages. Absolutely no negative effect that I could find.

    Moving unused maps to an SD card worked fine, but the c230 will not route to (or through) any moved map (says they are “isolated’). It will route within the moved map.

    Lastly, is adding a password on soft and / or hard reset a possibility? The Garmins do this and it makes a stolen GPS into a brick – much less attractive to stoners and potential e-bay buyers.

  69. c230 said

    Hi Jim,

    Regarding the password issue, yes a script could be written, but think of the inconvenience for the legitimate owner. The hardest part is an input screen with large buttons, since I doubt any user would want to use a stylus to input 4 digits every time they turned on their GPS.

  70. Jim Rose said

    I guess I bricked (or nearly so) my C230. I did occasionally have trouble with screen freezing, but rebooting corrected that. After lots more boots the digitizer screen acted up at boot, and it would take several tries to get the accept message, sometimes the target wouldn’t move, sometimes the target moved without input, but finally worked. This got worse sometimes taking 5 minutes to get the target screen to finalize. I suspect I had a defective touch screen, I believe it is overlaid on the LCD. Finally reloaded from the DVD to original, got an RMA and returned it. Patiently waiting for it’s return. I doubt the hacking had anything to do with the problem.
    Jim

  71. strider_mt2k said

    Wow.
    Just…wow.
    Incredible work.
    Well worth getting rid of Alaska and Hawaii maps to free up the required space! 🙂

    Thanks!

  72. c230 said

    Thank you strider! Buy me a coffee tommorow mornin’ 😀

  73. c230 said

    Just in case anyone missed this, Amida has posted a data.zip tweak at http://computerbits.wordpress.com/2008/01/09/miomap-33-datazip-tweaks/ that will expose a GPS power button to temporarily turn off the GPS chip, so that when pre-planning routes not having anything to do with your present location, the Route recalculation will not mess you up your itinerary.

    Dan

  74. […] be nice to package these all up for those Unlocking their Mio C230 with my either my Version 3.3, Version 3.4, or Version 3.3 LITE script packages (or Amida’s 3.1 as well) and want all of the tweak […]

  75. Mike said

    sorry for the barage of questions but a few things I’m haveing trouble with:
    1.can I run programs from the sd card or do they have to be in the script folder
    2.I can’t seem to find programs to try them when i put them in the script folder.
    3.the sleep icon is slightly lower on the screen in the i phone mode than teh rest of the icons, is there a way to fix this?
    thanks to whom ever is answering.

  76. c230 said

    Hi Mike,
    1) you can run programs from the SD card, but any required drivers that those programs need should be in the folder containing the program(s).

    2) ? don’t know what you are asking ?

    3) I’ve provided newer icons, but because I lowered the DPMS icon originally, you’ll need to change Y = 30 to Y = 20 in main.ini or main_alt.ini (whichever one happens to have the “iPhone-look” data):

    ICONXPBUTTON

    x = 256

    y = 20

    Command = \My Flash Disk\Script\DPMS.exe

    SizeNormal = 64

    SizePushed = 64

    ScaleAlpha = 100

    IconNormal = \My Flash Disk\Script\dpms1.ico

    ScaleAlpha = 100

    IconPushed = \My Flash Disk\Script\dpms1.ico

  77. gatolives said

    Mikes earlier question is similar to mine, re: using storage card for loading programs… I have a link to a great chess game if anyone is interested, CHESSCAPADE:

    http://www.mediafire.com/?4ydp8ng4s1o

    The program runs in Portrait mode, (otherwise it cuts off half the screen), so I decided to do a little digging and used Mortscript to create a quickie ROTATE script to orient it the correct way, run the program, and then set it back to landscape mode… It runs perfectly when I use Explorer (clicking the Chess.exe associated with the corresponding chess.mscr, which is:

    Rotate 90
    RunWait (“\Storage Card\GAMES\ChessCapade\Chesscapade.exe”)
    Rotate 0

    I have the Mortscript dll, program, etc in the Chesscapade directory as well.

    Problem arises when I try to associate it to an icon (using the crown from Freecell); it doesn’t open the program, just does a half-assed rotate to Portrait and then goes back. Do I need to have ScreenRotate in the dir as well or is that a feature of Mortscript?

    Thanks in advance!
    Gato

  78. c230 said

    gatolives,

    try adding aygshell.dll in that folder as well. I don’t believe Rotate is using the ScreenRotate program, but rather the drivers.

  79. gatolives said

    Thank you Dan!

    The inclusion of the aygshell.dll file did the trick! I have rezipped the Chesscapade package including the Mortscript files and the aygshell.dll here:

    http://www.mediafire.com/?9yoafelnvmu

    I used the dir structure:
    \Storage Card\GAMES\ChessCapade\Chesscapade.exe

    (where \Storage Card replaces the drive letter of your card, in my case G:)

    Feel free to rename the directories as you wish, just make sure to change it in the chess.mscr file as well. Also, make a note of the serial number to enter in chesscapade.txt to unlock all features (a hard reset will require you to enter it again, not a big deal, I have it memorized!) LOL

    Should I find more gems like this I’ll let you all know, once again, thanks Dan!
    Gato

  80. Mike said

    Thanks, awesome chess game.
    Next up flash games and does anyone have day planner software for this thing?
    By the way, I found out that the icon space on the iphone page is limited in to whats visible from the start of that page. I tried making the chess icon appear at the next logical progression to the right (x=320) and also tried to the bottom (y=245) but when I used the mouse to move the screen around it doesn’t show beyond the original icons. Final solution was to make some of the icons i wont use too much 32×32 with a program called icoFX(very useful freeware). Then I moved the top right icon away and put 4 32×32 icons into one space using the following coordinates
    x/y=254/20 , 285/20, 254/53, and 285/53
    This also freed up two more spots for future useful stuff.
    I hope this is useful…

  81. c230 said

    Mike,
    I think the more logical solution is to have multiple screens, which is why have the more tools screen, to give you an idea how this done. You could have many screens for games, tools, media, etc.

    Or if you want to fit a lot of icons on one page use the green desktop page, for example. But in the end, you modify everything to suit your needs. 😀

  82. Mike said

    I found a program called “Spare Brains” and tried putting the file in the script folder. when I tried to open it, it says its not a wince app, but the developer says it is…. am I missing something? also I noticed explorer runs.. can we install plugins for it? also I figured out the multiple window thing. Thanks.

  83. c230 said

    Programs need to be compatible with WinCE 5.0 and with the ARM processor. There are many programs that will run on a C220 (WinCE 4.2) that I haven’t successfully been able to run either. It’s trial and error…

  84. Doug Wilson said

    C230:
    Why can’t I resize the new icons (gps64) to anything smaller?
    As soon as I try then I get an error (in German) that it cannot find the icon???
    example-new icon on my clock screen

    ICONXPBUTTON
    x = 20
    y = 10
    Command = \My Flash Disk\Script\Routes.exe
    SizeNormal =64
    SizePushed =64
    ScaleAlpha = 15
    IconNormal = \My Flash Disk\Script\gps64.ico
    ScaleAlpha = 100
    IconPushed = \My Flash Disk\Script\gps64.ico

    I was able to do this with some other .ico files which I found via the web.

    Thanks, Doug

  85. Doug Wilson said

    Sorry, I missed some information from the last post.
    I tried changing the sizeNormal and sizePushed to 60.
    With the old icons (nav.ico) this was not a problem.

  86. Gato Lives said

    Always searching for more programs to run on this great device…. led me to Morkin’s site where I found a great set of file viewers which you can run from your Storage Card. (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, PDF, and another Image viewer).

    I downloaded, extracted and included the corresponding icons which you can add to your Tools Menu in 32 XP (Alpha) format. Zipped and named folder VIEWERS; just modify the Tools.INI file with the paths to the apps and icons (Dan left us the empty entries for extra programs.!) .

    http://www.mediafire.com/?4af3bnncegm

    I tested them all, even loaded the MioMap 3.3 PDF manual and it worked great (though small, still readable!).

    Hope it helps, still prowling around for a freeware Sudoku Game… 😉
    Gato

  87. Mike said

    http://s-k-tools.com/index.html?m_util.html
    is a .cab utility I’m working with it: will let you know soon

    I searched through amida’s site and in one of the threads there are two posts with games (both posts are different) 5 games in total? I think
    http://www.mediafire.com/?5moyywtot1y
    http://www.mediafire.com/?brjdtozym0r

  88. CD said

    Gato…

    Contact303 posted:

    http://www.mediafire.com/?brjdtozym0r

    It has Sudoku.

    I’d like to find Checkers, Solitaire or Backgamon!

  89. c230 said

    I will check all of these out and possibly include in the next release – thanks everyone!

    Doug,

    When Amida made the iPhone-look icons, rather than make them in the 3 or 4 standard sizes, he only did 64 x 64, so that is why you can’t use them in the smaller configs. The icon packages that CD put together though should take care of you though 🙂 https://c230.wordpress.com/2008/01/11/all-new-iphone-look-icons-released/

  90. Mike said

    Speaking of icons if you make an icon multiple sizes (ie: 64×64 & 48×48)
    then you can have it show 64×64 and when you press it have it show 48×48 to get the appearance that you are pushing a button. Just somethin’ I did with my icons.

  91. Mike said

    http://www.geocities.com/davvinchi/mio.html
    here are some screen captures from my mio.

  92. c230 said

    Mike,

    Thanks for reposting the game links here. They snuck past me @ Amida’s blog.

    They all seems to behave themselves on the C230. Cute Tools screen!

  93. Doug Wilson said

    C230:
    Sorry, I’m a little slow in understanding this.
    Are you saying that there needs to be different size icons to have them display in different sizes on the screen?
    Why was I able to re-size your original icon by the following change?
    SizeNormal =64 to SizeNormal =50
    SizePushed =64 to SizePushed =50

  94. c230 said

    Doug,

    I’m not real familiar with iconology, so I’ll just theorize that icons are scalable, but unless the icon file has several sizes saved, you can only scale them so much. If you were to go smaller than 48 x 48, my guess is that you might get a “No icon” error if the file only contained 64 X 64 data. I know that’s what happens if I try to scale some of the 64 x 64 icons down to 32 X 32.

    Now I know what Amida meant when he stated that he only did 64 X 64 versions of his iPhone icons (hence the “64” in the file name) to keep the size down. Some icon files have 256 x 256, 128 x 128, 64 x 64, 32 x 32 and 16 x 16 versions for each icon and the file gets quite large!

    So, to answer your question, some icon files are more complete than others regarding size range. Just try, you’ll soon know your answer. 🙂

  95. Mike said

    a little off topic but the chess game is here so…
    I added to the script for the chess game:
    so it reads as follows:

    Rotate 90
    setcliptext(1874010649)
    RunWait (“\Storage Card\GAMES\ChessCapade\Chesscapade.exe”)
    Rotate 0

    then when I need to enter the code
    I open the keyboard and just have to hit cntrl v.
    hope this is helpful to those who can’t remember the code like me.

  96. c230 said

    Now that’s good Mike, but I think there’s a command Sendkeys or something where MortScript will actually do ALL the work for you. I’ll work on it tommorow for you.

  97. c230 said

    Mike,

    Seeing that the screen in question is a ways in, your method is easiest for now, but I’m going to work on it some more anyways. Looks like quite a nice game that Gato posted!

  98. c230 said

    Mike + Gato,

    Took a different approach to it. DONE! Try this for your chess.mscr file 🙂

    RegWriteDWord (“HKLM” , “Software\Superscape” , “” , “”)
    RegWriteString (“HKLM” , “Software\Superscape\ChessCapade” , “key” , “1874010649”)

    Rotate 90
    RunWait (“\Storage Card\GAMES\ChessCapade\Chesscapade.exe”)
    Rotate 0

  99. c230 said

    For those interested, here’s the Chess program with the latest Chess.mscr file. Point your shortcut to Chess.exe and your C230 will challenge you to a game of Chess.

    http://www.mediafire.com/?fvvbmnlzyjy

  100. Gato Lives said

    Been away for a few days and was having MMWS… (Mio Mod Withdrawal Syndrome). As I like to create various Clock Screens, I decided to modify the Route Management Menu to add a C230 Clock Skin Loader, utilizing the same method that Mike did with his MioMap 3.3 Skin Changer (Great work Mike!)

    http://www.mediafire.com/?6jz2mowydde

    Same rules apply, only you would have to add a CLOCKS directory to your Storage Card and have the various customized CLOCK.INI files stored in subdirectories. (As Dan’s menu already had an option to swap out Clock screens, I revised it to just swap out the Desktops.)

    I’m sure that Dan and Amida are probably working on all this and more great additions to our C230’s as we speak, but as I mentioned, MMWS is a terrible disease… 🙂

    Also, Mike, CD, thanks for the links to games; after checking out the company website, http://www.xflib.net/index.php?action=games, I saw they had MORE available. You can pick and choose which games to install or just dump the entire GAMES directory and map out the buttons with their corresponding Mortscript exe’s. for screen rotation.

    http://www.mediafire.com/?bmitguj1vjw

    The Sudoko one is my favorite so far, however some of the other games are pretty addicting… Fellow geeks, try out the Binary game 🙂 Also Dan, thank you for the revised Chess.exe!

    (Hmmm… perhaps I’ll have to look into getting that mirror image ChessCapade serial number tattoo I had put on my forehead removed with laser surgery now…. )

    🙂

    Gato

  101. rescha said

    Hello

    Can you help me. I have a C230 Euro Version. I would like to us some US Maps for an upcoming trip. I have added my US Maps to my flash card. When starting the C230 now says “You have some unlocked maps”. Do I need to unlock my C230 to add the maps and/or where do I have to install the licence file for the US maps.

    Thanks in advance

  102. strider_mt2k said

    A decent Solitaire game would be awesome.
    It’s something I’ve found I miss from my days running Palm OS stuff.

    I’ve found a WinCE tutorial or two, and will try looking up some freeware solitaire games to try out on my v3.4 unlocked C230.
    Am I going about it the right way to be trying to install apps into the WinCE system to check for compatibility?

  103. c230 said

    strider,

    Yep. They either work or they don’t. Just remember to copy aygshell.dll into the program folder if you are unsuccessful, to make sure that you aren’t overlooking a really easy potential solution.

    rescha,

    the license file(s) need to be in the same folder as the maps.

  104. Tim Rude said

    Here’s a link to a nice Solitaire game that I found at http://www.not-big-deal.com. The game is Patiences 3.4, it’s freeware, and it works really well on the C230 (in either portait or landscape mode). It contains the 3 best-known solitaires: Klondike, FreeCell, and Spider. You can switch between them. I like it better than the FreeCell that’s been bundled with the unlock routines.

    To install the game:

    1) Download the patiences.arm.cab file from the site.

    2) Open the cab file using WinZip, 7Zip, etc. and extract the file named Patien~1.001 to your desktop.

    3) Rename this file to Patience.exe.

    4) Copy to your Mio and run. Enjoy!

    Or just download Patience.exe from here (where I’ve already done the above steps) and copy it to your Mio.

    Tim Rude

  105. c230 said

    Tim,

    Thanks so much for not only sharing the link with us, but your installation technique as well. This will help others take a stab at trying out programs they are interested in without the cab file extension scaring them away.

    The program didn’t work for me until I copied it into the Script folder, so it’s dependent on a dll in that folder other than aygshell.dll

  106. Tim Rude said

    According to Dependency Walker, it needs aygshell.dll, commctrl.dll, coredll.dll, and imgdecmp.dll.

  107. Tim Rude said

    As for installing files from a cab, I’ve found that the first file in the archive (with the .000 extension) contains the list of files that make up the package. The .000 file isn’t a standard text file, so you have to view it with a hex editor or something that won’t get tripped up by the non-text characters. Then you have to use a little common sense to figure out the filenames and which name goes to which file. The extension numbers correspond to the order of the filenames in the listing. So after extracting the files you rename them to the names shown in the list.

    Once you’ve done that you try running the program. If you’re fortunate, it works. Otherwise you’ve just wasted a bunch of time. 🙂

  108. Tim Rude said

    Oh, and one more thing. You have to always get the ARM processor cab files. The SH3 or MIPS programs won’t work with the C230.

  109. strider_mt2k said

    Indeed that is awesome!

    Regarding the additional components, I’ve found a Mio Enthusiast site where a guy is replacing the minimal WinCE setups in his C220s with a full WinCE 5.0 build.
    Topic: http://hugginsnet.com/ilovemymio/index.php?topic=485.0
    Look towards the end.

    I’m not sure if this will work on the C230, but it seems like a good solution to adding the needed components in piecemeal.
    . I’ve asked there and will start assembling what’s required in the mean time to attempt it on mine.

    Nothing against what’s been done already, but I really like the idea of tearing it down and rebuilding from the OS up as an option if it can be done.

  110. strider_mt2k said

    Hey that Patience is great! Much appreciated!
    (Much easier than rebuilding the OS! 😉 )

    Just to be quick and dirty about it I renamed it “Freecell.exe” and swapped it for the real “Free Cell” and it works fine.
    Is there an easy way to rename that shortcut?

  111. c230 said

    Hey strider,

    I think we are all in support of you working on a full WinCE 5 to replace our partial OS. The unlock activity would not be wasted, it would simply compliment a more versatile OS to allow easier installation of many more programs!

    I agree, the Patience program is a great find!! Klondike Solitaire is the one I’ve been searching for.

  112. Mike said

    Dependency Walker seems like a great program
    Is there a way I can figure out what leafbook organizer 1.2 needs to run?

  113. Tim Rude said

    Mike,

    I would guess that you would simply load the .exe for the program into Dependency Walker and let it tell you what .dll’s are needed.

    Now, tracking down those exact .dll’s might be another thing altogether. And those .dll’s may have additional dependencies, etc. etc. …

  114. CD said

    Tim,

    I followed yout directions to a T… twice… both methods. Patience.exe does NOT run on my Mio c230. Says it “cannot find patience or one of its components” when I click on the .exe.

  115. CD said

    Nevermind. I put it in the script folder.

  116. CD said

    Now about Chesscapade….

    I KNOW I had it running off my SD card at one point, Now it will not do so. I get that it “cannot find one of its components.” My original folder had 7 files. BUT… now chesscapade is working from the script folder. Somebody PLEASE tell my what the !^#*@ I am doing wrong. I am about to come unglued.

  117. CD said

    So after a few hours sleep, I decided to clear the folder and put everythig back in it . Now it works. Same folder… same file…. I don’t get it. But it works. Either I should sleep more, or I have a ghost in the machine. The most probable is also the most embarassing.

  118. strider_mt2k said

    It looks like I’m going to wait to see what jcullip over on the other site does.

    From what I’ve read, putting together a WinCE 5.0 build for our CPUs is going to be a bit beyond my ability, sorry.
    To be honest, if I could just rename this Free Cell icon to say Patience the 3.4 interface is MORE than enough for me.

    Hope I didn’t get anyone’s hopes up there. 😮

  119. CD said

    Dan said the same thing about the icon. So here it is… one says ‘Patience’ and the other says ‘Solitaire’, so you can pick which one you prefer.

    http://www.mediafire.com/?0xmd2r2dxjl

  120. dominique said

    @CD,
    i don’t think you have a ghost in your c230, i have the same “problem” with iGO 2008, sometimes it work and sometimes not, finaly i discovered that it depends on the programs you have run before (and the dll’s they have been using…)

  121. strider_mt2k said

    @CD: Thank you for the icons!

    Sorry to sound dense, but how does one set this up?
    When I removed the freecell stuff and copied in the Patience stuff it just left a hole where the Free Cell icon was on my desktop.

    I’m afraid I’m still learning how things are on here.
    It’s fun, but still uh…interesting too. 😉

  122. CD said

    You would have to go into the main.ini script an tell the command what the name of the icon you want to displayed is, as it is currently looking for an icon called freecell64.ico.

    A much easier path to take is to name the icon you choose to freecell64.ico (regardless of what it actually is). The script will be looking for freecell64.ico, see your “freecell64.ico” and display that one instead.

  123. strider_mt2k said

    Ack! A spin on the same trick I did!
    Of course! 😀

    I just did that and it’s PERFECT!
    I’ll be sure to remember these tricks if I want to replace any other apps in the future!
    Looks like it’s time to make a backup of this thing!
    Very very pleased!

  124. CD said

    Glad it worked.

    I’m all for making icons to order (as long as it doesn’t get crazy) if people need. I can crank them out in short order, mostly. Especially if you just need text added to an existing icon or you already have a picture in mind.

  125. strider_mt2k said

    Not to beat a dead horse here, but on further inspection the development tools for creating the WinCE 5.0 build are something you need to buy a license for, even though the software does have a 120 day trial.
    The build created would also not be distributable legally, although well-worded instructions and links to additional files would really be all that’s needed.
    Quite possibly more trouble than it’s worth and the extreme “brick risk” for what we’d get out of it, although you might be more free to experiment with it afterward if it worked.

    I like your freeware approach better when I think about it.
    Not only does it make great use of the limited resources of the machine, but it keeps things where they need to be for what the thing can probably do realistically with the resources it has.

    Not to mention that your way is incredibly elegant, and it’s already DONE and I’m a lazy, lazy man. 😀
    (WELL WORTH A CUP OF COFFEE FOLKS!!)

    That being said, I guess the only other tweak I think I’d like to pursue is the replacement of the Lights On game with something else, now that swapping out Free Cell went so swimmingly!
    I guess the main thing is going to be use of the touch screen only, which could be a limiting factor as well.

    I guess I should at least take a look at the script file as well to see if I can get comfortable with the thought of editing it and making changes “for reals” as opposed to these “quick and dirty” fixes.

    I did a preliminary search for both Pocket PC and Windows CE 5.0 freeware and it looks like there might be a couple of good candidates, but it looks like it’ll take a little time and relocating either some more maps or all of them to my card to make room for the programs and any additional data files they’ll need. That’s not a biggie with an 8GB card.

    Sorry if I’m a little slow getting up to speed with this stuff. Gimme some time and I might be useful. 😉

  126. c230 said

    Thanks for the plug strider 🙂

    I’ve tried to provide as much information as I can think (and type) up with each release so that each user can customize their Unlock, and some users like Mike and CD have really gone to town.

    Everyone,

    If you look in the top of the main.ini and main_alt.ini (don’t change these names) files, you’ll see the line:

    BackgroundBitmap = \My Flash Disk\Script\back.bmp

    It is very easy to simply replace the bmp file name with whatever your favorite background image is named. The same applies to the icon file names for each shortcut – just realize that some icon files are abbreviated and might not work for all sizes (16×16, 32×32,48×48,64×64,etc)

    CD,

    Thanks for the revised icons to go with the Patience Solitaire game. I too think that will be my preferred choice (vs. Freecell) in that it lets you play three different games.

  127. CD said

    I swapped mine, as well.

    Did you see Mike’s chess icon? It’s a good one. I am also going to make one of my ‘floating’ icons (no button) for chess. I am using my floating ‘freecell’ for Patience.

  128. c230 said

    Thanx CD (+ Mike). That icon slipped by me. That works!

  129. Mike said

    Issue: all games need to be rotated to 90 and scripts take up space, (not much but are annoying)
    Proposal: A game.ini page that when activated would have the screen rotated to 90, all games could then be played from this page with out need for individual scripts rotating the screen. Exiting game.ini would rotate the screen back to normal. for other apps that like the landscape setup.
    Problem: Ive looked everywhere but haven’t figured out how to do this on my own … yet.

  130. c230 said

    Mike,

    I’ve already written the individual scripts for the games and they are included in the Version 3.5 release. The scripts also turn off the virtual keyboard icon while playing the games.

    Rotate and KillProcess are MortScript commands and the screen.ini files are SystemInformation commands, and I too haven’t figured out how to combine them… yet 🙂

    Dan

  131. Mike said

    … I actually like the keyboard on so that I can enter my name into the game HALL’S of FAME (the scoreboards… 😉 ). Am I right in assuming th keyboard is still accessible by clicking in the corner and just the ico has become invisible?

  132. c230 said

    Hey Mike,

    No, if I kill the MioTool process, the shortcut is gone. You can comment out that task in the script(s) for those games where you want access to the virtual keyboard though. The exe controls the icon.

  133. Pepe said

    Hi

    I am new at this GPS things, but i am learning from you guys and i am going good at this (not very good lol), just continue this way you are very good.
    I have an EU-C230, i have unloked my gps with the v3.5 release and it seems to be everything ok (and it is ok), but when i try to run some of the skins (included in the soft. QuickSilver 66 and Ameridan) i get this message: “FATAL ERROR OCURED, RESTARTING”. I have tried many times but always with the same rezult=fatal error=, it works only with the original skin.

    Can you help me with this?

    Thanx

  134. c230 said

    Pepe,

    You were quite daring 🙂 As I stated in Step 6, the skins will not work for the EU version of C230.

    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.

    The modification instructions are included in Note 4 to modify your original skin so that you’ll have an Exit Door.

    Perhaps we could get a EU Blog reader that has already modified the DATA.ZIP file to post it at MediaFire.com (or elsewhere), and I will insert a link to it for you and other EU users to be able to replace the US skins in the Skins folder.

    I’m glad you had backed up your original skin though and it’s good to hear that everything else works properly in Version 3.5!

    Dan

    PS Now you’ve raised my curiosity regarding Macedonia – I’ve got to look on the map and learn where in Europe you are located. 😉

  135. Pepe said

    c230

    I did that with the exit door at the begining when i unloked my c230, i have readed all ur posts about this before i start with unloking the c230 and there was no mistake. (that`s coz u give detailed information of that “whete to… and how to…” and u r good at this, even if i am stupid i will undarstand :-))
    The onlu thing that i am disapointed from my c230 is that i can not change the skin.
    I hope u will do something about it 🙂
    And one more thing: is there a chance to change the arrow into a car? (when no new skin, to have old skin with a car :))

    Thanx again
    U r the best!!!

  136. Danny said

    Nice Modding mate!

    Can you tell me how to add the taskbar to the WInCE 5.0 ?
    I have a Mio C220 and I think this WinCE 5.0 can do more!

    I don’t have explorer.exe on my Windows, neither taskbar… I have only Control Panel.
    I can’t install apps (.cab, .exe).

    If you can help me please reply to my E-mail.

    Thank you!

  137. c230 said

    Seems I recall the C220 having less memory and therefore the WinCE was even more stripped down than the C230. Check out the C220 forums at gpspassion.com to see if you might find some clues.

  138. Bilal said

    I purchased a MIO C230 here in Saudi Arabia but unfortunately the map is in the Arabic form. Where can i download a GCC Map in english version. Please help…

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