[Resolved] Ovi maps stopped to work offline
 

NOTE this has been solved: see post #19. I don't know how to change the thread title though. Moderators are kindly asked to, please :)

Ovi maps worked offline until yesterday on my unit. Now, it doesn't - only searches for maps on the net.
I've tried to refresh the cities/diskcache directory by downloading the zipped regions and unpacking them there but with no luck.
Ah, and I have no windows machine for trying with the Nokia Maploader :D

I guess I'm going to find a Windows XP-equipped friend now... Or?

EDIT: can someone send me a zipped archive of his /home/user/MyDocs/cities folder? Possibly from an Italian device so that I get the maps I need? Thanks :)

Re: Ovi maps stopped to work offline
 

I'm replying both for bumping, in search of an help, and for reporting that even if the maploader seems to download the maps, subsequently the device still refuses to use them offline.
Has this happened to anyone before?

Re: Ovi maps stopped to work offline
 

Well, I used the Nokia Maps method and it worked fine and still does. So I recommend you to use that method. Go and find yourself a WinXP buddy :D

Re: Ovi maps stopped to work offline
 

well as soon i got my phone i uploaded maps on my cell using map loaded with phone in mass storage mode as suggested on few forums but it always tried to connect to maps from gprs or edge.

I read somewhere that ovi maps 1 still doesnt support offline guess we may hv to wait till nokia realeases something for this.

Re: Ovi maps stopped to work offline
 

Ciao Ernesto, if I've understood well you can't read your maps using Maps in offline mode, right? I can send you my /cities folder, but I don't know if this will help.

Re: Ovi maps stopped to work offline
 

@torpedo48: thanks, it would be great. I'm still in trouble with that. I've found an XP machine and all, and it seems to update the maps, but in the end they are not read offline. I'm sending you my email address...

edit: could you also make me know if there are any files in your device under /home/user/.nokia-maps ???

Re: Ovi maps stopped to work offline
 

could you also make me know if there are any files in your device under /home/user/.nokia-maps ???

Re: Ovi maps stopped to work offline
 

I'm compressing it right now, it will take ages to send. Maybe I'll upload it to some online storage space (550MB, I can't send an email with such an attachment).

My /.nokia-maps is empty, by the way.

Re: Ovi maps stopped to work offline
 

Re: Ovi maps stopped to work offline
 

OK I've found the culprit: my /home ext3 filesystem is b0rked ;(

Re: Ovi maps stopped to work offline
 

That's a pity, good luck with that. ;)

If you will need /cities folder again, feel free to ask.

Re: Ovi maps stopped to work offline
 

There is a way to load the maps manually:
http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=36939

I don't have Windows or Mac either (Ubuntu here). I'm surprised there isn't already a Python app written in GTK or something already. Doesn't seem like it would be too difficult, but I've never been one to be good at maintaining these kinds of projects.

Re: Ovi maps stopped to work offline
 

my question is isnt using map loader and putting the maps manually the same thing? using map loaderalso it does the same thing.

So does N900 really does work offine???

Re: Ovi maps stopped to work offline
 

Yes it did until it broke. Of course no voice guidance but it worked offline for browsing maps and written directions. I haven't been able to restore it yet :(

Re: Ovi maps stopped to work offline
 

Well, I'm still in trouble. It wasn't the filesystem, apparently.
After having flashed at least twenty times the emmc, it still refuses to use maps offline. Now I've moved away the whole /home/user/MyDocs/cities branch and the .qf file, and tried to start over by rerunning maps, but the directories are not created again. I'm seeing map tiles get cached under /tmp but of course this disappears when the device is off.

Re: Ovi maps stopped to work offline
 

I'm getting pissed off this maps app.
OK, it's a bump :)
Let me know one thing before I get insane. If you put your n900 offline, no 3g, no wifi, no internet connection, and you start the ovi maps, it asks you if you want to go online, right? You say no; does it draw the map from offline storage or shows a sheepish greenish void screen? Answer please before I eat the n900.

Re: Ovi maps stopped to work offline
 

Hey debernardis: It shows the map from the offline storage. It shows the spot that you were last and is trying to get gps signal. Did search work for you? As in searching for POIs like coffee shops near you etc? I get a error when searching in offline mode. Thanks.

Re: Ovi maps stopped to work offline
 

Yes I knew that searching needs an open internet connection. OK - so maps must be showed even if offline, as I remind before I had this problem.

Re: Ovi maps stopped to work offline
 

OK that's solved.

For some mysterious reason, the nokia-maps binary couldn't find any more its maps.
In Xterm, when I start nokia-maps in any directory other than /home/user/MyDocs now no maps are shown offline, only if I let it start from that directory the offline maps are used.
Apparently, the maps path is hardcoded in the /home/user/MyDocs/.qf file as relative references to the /home/user/MyDocs directory. I tried to include the full path but it wasn't working.
So I wrote a small shell script, changing the directory to /home/user/MyDocs and starting the nokia-maps binary from there. The script works, and offline data are used. From the menu, it still didn't use offline though.
So, I had to change the nokia-maps.desktop file in /usr/share/applications/hildon.
Changing the Exec= field do the shell script was not enough. I also had to hash out the X-Osso-Service=NokiaMaps line.
And now it works also from the menu.

I don't know what happened and why the nokia-maps binary doesn't find the maps directory any more. Maybe I accidentally erased some symlink or config file? Though I apt-get purged and reinstalled all the maps related package with no joy.

I suspect that an adequate symlink could be a better solution, avoiding the need for a shell script. Don't know where to put it :)

Maybe all this stuff could be useful to some other fellow user who can't open his maps any more...

Re: [Resolved] Ovi maps stopped to work offline
 

I have exactly the same problem.
I followed your instructions and i managed to load the maps starting nokia-maps from /MyDocs directory. However, as my experience in Linux is limited, i don't understand how to make it work from the menu.
Please be so kind to give more detailed instructions.
thanks

Re: [Resolved] Ovi maps stopped to work offline
 

This is how I did - but I'm sure there are better ways.

1) Learn how to edit files as root (explained elsewhere, most likely in wiki.maemo.org but also in countless threads here) and have an editor (you can install leafpad from repos).

2) open terminal, become root, edit your /usr/share/applications/hildon/nokia-maps.desktop file as follows:
3) then create a directory for personal executable files
cd in that directory
and create the mappe.sh file, containing
Should be enough ;)

Re: [Resolved] Ovi maps stopped to work offline
 

Unfortunately that did not work on my n900.
When i erase the line "X-Osso-Service=NokiaMaps" from nokia-maps.desktop file, the map application does not run at all from desktop.
If i let it on the maps do not load.

Re: [Resolved] Ovi maps stopped to work offline
 

Did you also remind changing the Exec line?

Re: [Resolved] Ovi maps stopped to work offline
 

I did. I have checked the commands over a hundred times and i am sure that i wrote them correct. Thank you very much for your help, but it still doesn't work. At least i can load the maps from the terminal. If you can think anything else i could try please let me know.

Re: [Resolved] Ovi maps stopped to work offline
 

oh gosh, tnx debernardis!
I tried many things (editing files, copying maps over and over again, stripping binaries) but nothing.. and it never hit me to try to launch maps from the MyDocs folder. Indeed it works fine now (if launched from the terminal of course). I wonder what really caused the breakage in the first place.

Tnx again for the tip :)

Re: [Resolved] Ovi maps stopped to work offline
 

When following the excellent instructions from debernardis, remember also to add execute permissions to your own shell script, for example: chmod a+x /opt/mybin/mappe.sh