GPS, gpsd, xgps, gpsdrive and navit

[GreyGeek]

In another thread I mentioned my success in getting my DeLorme Earthmate LT-20 GPS receiver to work with gpsd, xgps and gpsdrive.

Now I will describe how I got it to work with navit.

To recap: The previous thread included this post:

I have found two ways to get a trip map running in Linux.

1) No brainer -- Install XP as a guest OS and run DeLorme's Street Atlas in it. Works great.
I tried to run SA 6.0 under WINE in my guest OS of Linux Mint 9 KDE4, but I could never get it to connect to the GPS receiver. Now, I think I can, but since I can run gpsdrive under Linux WITH my Earthmate LT-20 gps reciever and WITHOUT WINE there is no need.

2) Running gpsdrive in Kubuntu 10.4 using gpsd and my Earthmate LT-20 gps receiver.
Steps:
1) plug the Earthmate into a usb port.
2) run "lsusb" to see what it is listed as. Mine was listed like so:
Quote
jerry@sonyvgnfw140e:~$ lsusb
Bus 008 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 007 Device 002: ID 044e:3017 Alps Electric Co., Ltd
Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 003: ID 1163:0200 DeLorme Publishing, Inc. Earthmate GPS (LT-20, LT-40)
Bus 005 Device 002: ID 046d:c526 Logitech, Inc. MX Revolution Cordless Mouse
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 004: ID 054c:0377 Sony Corp.
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 05ca:183d Ricoh Co., Ltd
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d
3) Identify its connection by id and by path. Mine was
Quote
/dev/serial/by-id/usb-DeLorme_Publishing_DeLorme_USB_Earthmate-if00-port0
/dev/serial/by-path/pci-0000:00:1d.0-usb-0:1:1.0-port0

I know. It's a USB device plugged into a usb port, but using "/dev/bus/usb/005/003" didn't work.

4) run the gpsd daemon with the -b option (to prevent talkback to the receiver).
Quote
gpsd -b /dev/serial/by-path/pci-0000:00:1d.0-usb-0:1:1.0-port0

The "by-id" connection didn't work for the gpsd and xgps (which shows a circle with the satellites in them and lists the various ranges and distances) showed nothing. When I switched to the "by-id" connection xgps lite up with green, yellow, red and clear circles, and lots of data.

5) Run gpsdrive. Here's the amazing part. When I started the gpsd with the command above, both the by-id and the by-path devices had a link pointing to /dev/ttyUSB0! /dev/ttyUSB0 is exactly what gpsdrive needs to see!
Quote
gpsdrive -X /dev/ttyUSB0

The "-X" option uses the DBUS for communication and disables the socket method.

That's all there was to it. Now I can use gpsdrive as I would my hand held Garmin G350, except that I will have to have my notebook plugged into my cigarette socket and my wife is the navigator, since putting a notebook computer on the dash in front of the steering wheel isn't the safest way to drive. Shocked

I tried "navit", which installed without a menu option. with the gpsd running and xgps showing several connected satelittes navit popped up immediately with a blank screen and a single, small dot surrounded by a small blue circular line. Without an active Earthmate connection no dot or circle shows up. But, navit is poorly written and getting a street atlas map showing is more trouble than I want to undertake.


Now I am off to search for other trip map options!

The info concerning how to get gpsd working is still relevant.

Gpsdriver worked when I populated it with a map of the US from OpenStreetMap.org I used their EXPORT option to create a bin file of the USA. In gpsdriver the menu Options --> Maps --> Download dialog allowed me to chose a more detailed resolution of an area, down to 1:1000. The preferred resolution appears to be 1:2000 for auto navigation. While gpsdriver was, intially, a lot easier to get running with a useful map it is a LOT harder to control area displayed on the screen. So, IMO, as a navigation tool, where you watch your auto avatar cruise down the road you are on, and you zoom out to see what other roads are available to you, it works OK. Putting in waypoints is TOO complicated. It seems that you must know (or estimate the long & lat of two opposing corners of the region you want to get a map for, or the long & lat of your destination. Not to convenient if you are in a car and don't have 3G or 4G connection to the Internet.

When I first installed Navit and displayed it I got a blank light tan screen with a blue dot surrounded by a blue circle. The available menu options, obtained by clicking on the blank screen gave no leads nor any help info that would instruct me on how to get a map loaded. That led to my initial disappointment.

But, not satisfied with that, I searched the Internet and found the Navit homepage. It led me to the documentation and to a site that uses OpenStreetMap.org to create bin files of any region in the world the user wants to create a road atlas for. I went whole HOG and marked off the entire United States, the top half of Mexico and the first 100 miles of Canada. The bin file was 1.8Gb.
That was a big mistake. Searching for a destination address was painfully slow. So, I downloaded and created a "Nebraska_area.bin", which was slow but not as slow as the US bin file, "Omaha_area.bin", "Lincoln_area.bin", both of which are relatively as quick. The Nebraska_area.bin file is 147MB, but Omaha's and Lincoln's are only about 45Mb.

You can rename the binary files to suitable names and move them to /home/youracct/.navit. They will appear in the "Map" menu. All of them will be checked. You can uncheck them all and check just the one you want to use at the time.

Then I plugged in my LT-20, waited between 30 and 60 seconds, then ran gpsd, xgps, and fired up Navit. Boom! The location of my house displayed automatically, with all the streets within a quarter of a mile. I unchecked everything but the Lincoln_area.bin map. I zoomed out, navigated down to my daughter's house, 11 miles away, selected it as the destination, and immediately a blue line appeared between my house and her's showing the "best way", which actually was!

Selected destinations are stored in ~/.navit/destination.txt. One can edit that to change or clear the destinations out.

The KEY to getting Navit to run is to properly edit the XML file, /etc/navit.xml. My "MapSet" setting is:

<!-- If you have the reiseplaner maps installed, set enabled="yes" in the next line and set the path correctly -->
<mapset enabled="no">
<map type="mg" enabled="yes" data="/opt/reiseplaner/travel/DE.map"/>
<map type="mg" enabled="yes" data="/opt/reiseplaner/travel/DE.map/smp1.smp"/>
<map type="mg" enabled="yes" data="/opt/reiseplaner/travel/DE.map/smp2.smp"/>
<map type="mg" enabled="yes" data="/opt/reiseplaner/travel/DE.map/smp3.smp"/>
<map type="mg" enabled="yes" data="/opt/reiseplaner/travel/DE.map/smp4.smp"/>
<map type="mg" enabled="yes" data="/opt/reiseplaner/travel/DE.map/smp5.smp"/>
</mapset>

<!-- If you dont want to use the sample map, either set enabled="no" in the next line or remove the xml file from the maps directory -->
<mapset enabled="no">
<xi:include href="$NAVIT_SHAREDIR/maps/*.xml"/>
</mapset>

<!-- Mapset template for openstreetmaps -->
<mapset enabled="yes">
<map type="binfile" enabled="yes" data="/home/jerry/.navit/Lincoln_area.bin"/>
<map type="binfile" enabled="yes" data="/home/jerry/.navit/Omaha_area.bin"/>
<map type="binfile" enabled="yes" data="/home/jerry/.navit/Nebraska.bin"/>
<map type="binfile" enabled="yes" data="/home/jerry/.navit/United_States.bin"/>
</mapset>

<!-- Mapset template for garmin maps -->
<mapset enabled="no">
<map type="garmin" enabled="yes" data="/path/to/img" debug="4"/>
</mapset>

Moving the map around and finding stuff is a LOT EASIER in Navit than gpsdrive. Adding destinations is a lot easier too. Removing them is not.

And Navit has additional features:
It allows you to set the angle of viewing so that you can see the horizon and the road ahead appears to vanish in the distance. However, as far as I can tell, you must edit navit.xml to set the angle.
It creates a directions file listing the locations and directions of each turn and the distance to travel.
It is touch-screen enabled, if you have a touch screen.

All in all, Navit, with the appropriate bin map files (not too big!) is an excellent Trip Maker and real time navigator. It is much better than gpsdriver. I will probably uninstall gpsdriver.

[oshunluvr]

Re: GPS, gpsd, xgps, gpsdrive and navit

Thanks for the thread and the review, GG. I imagine if slowness is a big issue - L.A. where I live will have issues! We have a few more streets here than you folks in NE...

Does it auto-stitch? Like ask for or find a map as you move from one locale to another

If not I guess you'd want to build localized maps for cities and a large but stripped down map for highway travel...

[GreyGeek]

Re: GPS, gpsd, xgps, gpsdrive and navit

@ auto-stitch

Yes. You can have several bin files registered in /etc/navit/navit.xml, as I showed in a previous post. Or, you can have only one. ALL of the USA, about 1/2 of Mexico, and a strip about 100-200 miles wide across Canada from the west coast to the tip of Nova Scotia created a bin file of 1.8Gb. Doing the destination search in the dialog is painfully slow. It is easier to zoom out, move your destination to the center of the display, zoom in, right mouse on your exact destination and make it a "destination" or a bookmark.

As far as I could tell it moved seamlessly from one bin to the other. My Nebraska_area.bin file covers from Denver to DeMoins Iowa, from I90 in South Dakota to Just below Kansas city, KS. It created a 45Mb bin file and I can navigate or search for an address fairly quickly.

The best approach would be to create state size bin files, with some overlap. If you destination started in one state and ended in another you could have them checked (and all in between) and the rest unchecked.

[GreyGeek]

Re: GPS, gpsd, xgps, gpsdrive and navit

An Addendum:

I've been playing around with my Earthmate LT-20, gpsd, xgps and navit.

In a previous post I recommended starting gpsd with

sudo gpsd -b /dev/serial/by-path/usb....

I also mentioned that the "by-id" connection didn't work. I also mentioned that both "by-id" and "by-path" link to /dev/ttyUSB0. (When I was running Skype the "by-id" and "by-path"s were the same but the link was /dev/ttyUSB1). Didn't seem to matter, though, because neither xgps nor navit could see the satellites. Don't know why.

Well, by experimenting I found out that I can start the gpsd by this method:

sudo gpsd -b /dev/ttyUSB0 (or 1 or what ever)

The "sudo" is important. No sudo no work. Errata: sudo not required when using /dev/ttyUSBn. Then when I start xgps it reads ttyUSB0 automatically. So does Navit.

The key to using Navit is the navit.xml file. The Navit wiki has a good explanation of the stuff in the file. One thing I forgot to mention about it is the follow setting:

<plugins>
<plugin path="$NAVIT_LIBDIR/*/${NAVIT_LIBPREFIX}lib*.so" ondemand="yes"/>
<plugin path="$NAVIT_LIBDIR/autoload/${NAVIT_LIBPREFIX}lib*.so"/>
<plugin path="$NAVIT_LIBDIR/*/${NAVIT_LIBPREFIX}libbinding_dbus.so" active="yes"/>
<plugin path="$NAVIT_LIBDIR/*/${NAVIT_LIBPREFIX}libgraphics_null.so" active="no"/>
</plugins>

Notice the red "yes". To get Navit to see the USB Earthmath LT-20 I had to enable that line, changing "no" to "yes".

[oshunluvr]

Re: GPS, gpsd, xgps, gpsdrive and navit

BTW: what computer specs are you using? Wondering about the slowness - if one had an atom based cpu but a fast SSD how would that impact the speed?

[GreyGeek]

Re: GPS, gpsd, xgps, gpsdrive and navit

Here is the entire skinny:

sonyvgnfw140e
description: Computer
width: 64 bits
capabilities: vsyscall64 vsyscall32
*-core
description: Motherboard
physical id: 0
*-memory
description: System memory
physical id: 0
size: 2887MiB
*-cpu
product: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU P8400 @ 2.26GHz
vendor: Intel Corp.
physical id: 1
bus info: cpu@0
size: 800MHz
capacity: 800MHz
width: 64 bits
capabilities: fpu fpu_exception wp vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx x86-64 constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm sse4_1 lahf_lm tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority cpufreq
*-pci
description: Host bridge
product: Mobile 4 Series Chipset Memory Controller Hub
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 100
bus info: pci@0000:00:00.0
version: 07
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
configuration: driver=agpgart-intel
resources: irq:0
*-display:0
description: VGA compatible controller
product: Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 2
bus info: pci@0000:00:02.0
version: 07
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: bus_master cap_list rom
configuration: driver=i915 latency=0
resources: irq:30 memory:d0000000-d03fffff memory:c0000000-cfffffff(prefetchable) ioport:6140(size=8)
*-display:1 UNCLAIMED
description: Display controller
product: Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 2.1
bus info: pci@0000:00:02.1
version: 07
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: bus_master cap_list
configuration: latency=0
resources: memory:d0400000-d04fffff
*-usb:0
description: USB Controller
product: 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1a
bus info: pci@0000:00:1a.0
version: 03
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=uhci_hcd latency=0
resources: irq:16 ioport:60e0(size=32)
*-usb:1
description: USB Controller
product: 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1a.1
bus info: pci@0000:00:1a.1
version: 03
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=uhci_hcd latency=0
resources: irq:21 ioport:60c0(size=32)
*-usb:2
description: USB Controller
product: 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1a.7
bus info: pci@0000:00:1a.7
version: 03
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=ehci_hcd latency=0
resources: irq:19 memory:d5604c00-d5604fff
*-multimedia
description: Audio device
product: 82801I (ICH9 Family) HD Audio Controller
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1b
bus info: pci@0000:00:1b.0
version: 03
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=HDA Intel latency=0
resources: irq:22 memory:d5600000-d5603fff
*-pci:0
description: PCI bridge
product: 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 1
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1c
bus info: pci@0000:00:1c.0
version: 03
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pci bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=pcieport
resources: irq:24 ioport:5000(size=4096) memory:d4100000-d54fffff memory:b8000000-b81fffff(prefetchable)
*-pci:1
description: PCI bridge
product: 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 2
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1c.1
bus info: pci@0000:00:1c.1
version: 03
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pci bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=pcieport
resources: irq:25 ioport:4000(size=4096) memory:d2d00000-d40fffff memory:b8200000-b83fffff(prefetchable)
*-pci:2
description: PCI bridge
product: 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 4
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1c.3
bus info: pci@0000:00:1c.3
version: 03
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pci bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=pcieport
resources: irq:26 ioport:3000(size=4096) memory:d1900000-d2cfffff memory:b8400000-b85fffff(prefetchable)
*-network
description: Wireless interface
product: Wireless WiFi Link 5100
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:05:00.0
logical name: wlan0
version: 00
serial: 00:16:ea:4d:58:aa
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
configuration: broadcast=yes driver=iwlagn ip=192.168.1.102 latency=0 multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11abgn
resources: irq:31 memory:d1900000-d1901fff
*-pci:3
description: PCI bridge
product: 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 5
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1c.4
bus info: pci@0000:00:1c.4
version: 03
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pci bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=pcieport
resources: irq:27 ioport:2000(size=4096) memory:d0500000-d18fffff memory:b8600000-b87fffff(prefetchable)
*-network
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vendor: Marvell Technology Group Ltd.
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:07:00.0
logical name: eth0
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serial: 00:1d:ba:1b:08:5a
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configuration: broadcast=yes driver=sky2 driverversion=1.25 firmware=N/A latency=0 multicast=yes
resources: irq:29 memory:d0520000-d0523fff ioport:2000(size=256) memory:d0500000-d051ffff(prefetchable)
*-usb:3
description: USB Controller
product: 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1d
bus info: pci@0000:00:1d.0
version: 03
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=uhci_hcd latency=0
resources: irq:23 ioport:60a0(size=32)
*-usb:4
description: USB Controller
product: 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1d.1
bus info: pci@0000:00:1d.1
version: 03
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=uhci_hcd latency=0
resources: irq:19 ioport:6080(size=32)
*-usb:5
description: USB Controller
product: 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1d.2
bus info: pci@0000:00:1d.2
version: 03
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=uhci_hcd latency=0
resources: irq:18 ioport:6060(size=32)
*-usb:6
description: USB Controller
product: 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #6
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1d.3
bus info: pci@0000:00:1d.3
version: 03
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=uhci_hcd latency=0
resources: irq:16 ioport:6040(size=32)
*-usb:7
description: USB Controller
product: 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1d.7
bus info: pci@0000:00:1d.7
version: 03
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=ehci_hcd latency=0
resources: irq:23 memory:d5604800-d5604bff
*-pci:4
description: PCI bridge
product: 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1e
bus info: pci@0000:00:1e.0
version: 93
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pci bus_master cap_list
resources: memory:d5500000-d55fffff
*-firewire
description: FireWire (IEEE 1394)
product: R5C832 IEEE 1394 Controller
vendor: Ricoh Co Ltd
physical id: 3
bus info: pci@0000:09:03.0
version: 05
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=ohci1394 latency=32 maxlatency=4 mingnt=2
resources: irq:16 memory:d5500000-d55007ff
*-generic:0
description: SD Host controller
product: R5C822 SD/SDIO/MMC/MS/MSPro Host Adapter
vendor: Ricoh Co Ltd
physical id: 3.1
bus info: pci@0000:09:03.1
version: 22
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=sdhci-pci latency=32
resources: irq:17 memory:d5500900-d55009ff
*-generic:1 UNCLAIMED
description: System peripheral
product: R5C592 Memory Stick Bus Host Adapter
vendor: Ricoh Co Ltd
physical id: 3.2
bus info: pci@0000:09:03.2
version: 12
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: bus_master cap_list
configuration: latency=32
resources: memory:d5500800-d55008ff
*-isa
description: ISA bridge
product: ICH9M LPC Interface Controller
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1f
bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.0
version: 03
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: isa bus_master cap_list
configuration: latency=0
*-storage
description: SATA controller
product: ICH9M/M-E SATA AHCI Controller
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1f.2
bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.2
version: 03
width: 32 bits
clock: 66MHz
capabilities: storage bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=ahci latency=0
resources: irq:28 ioport:6130(size=8) ioport:6120(size=4) ioport:6110(size=8) ioport:6100(size=4) ioport:6020(size=32) memory:d5604000-d56047ff
*-serial UNCLAIMED
description: SMBus
product: 82801I (ICH9 Family) SMBus Controller
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1f.3
bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.3
version: 03
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
configuration: latency=0
resources: memory:d5605000-d56050ff ioport:6000(size=32)
*-scsi
physical id: 1
bus info: scsi@4
logical name: scsi4
capabilities: scsi-host
configuration: driver=usb-storage
*-network DISABLED
description: Ethernet interface
physical id: 2
logical name: vboxnet0
serial: 0a:00:27:00:00:00
capabilities: ethernet physical
configuration: broadcast=yes multicast=yes

I couldn't say for sure how Navit & GPS would run on an atom cpu or a fast SSD. Last night my brother called to wish me a happy 69th and then asked me to help him get FireFox on his new $249 Asus eee pc 1005 mini. He had installed Skype and had an account but never used it. We got it running and I shared my 16" diagonal screen with him. I don't know how it looked on his 10.1" diagonal screen but he said "Wow!".
I thought that too, because his Asus was showing his video with excellent lip sync and hardly any noticeable delay. He talked about getting a USB DVDROM and after I visibly saw the performance of his Asus I couldn't see any reason why it shouldn't work.
Likewise, if your computer is as good as my brother's Asus I see no reason why you couldn't plug a GARMIN compatible USP GPS device and run Navit too.