Notices

Hello All,

Roadmap-1.1.0h has been released. It includes a bunch of upstream patches from the sourceforge project. It's available here.

To install you need to install the *.deb file and also download the basemap and extract to your memory card in a directory called 'roadmaps'. As an example you can-
1. download the basemap to the root of your internal memory card(/media/mmc2).
2. Open xterm and do-
$ cd /media/mmc2
/media/mmc2$ mkdir roadmaps
/media/mmc2$ cd roadmaps
/media/mmc2/roadmaps$ tar -xvzf ../roadmap-1.1.0-basemap.tar.gz

That gives you the basemap and the state/province boundaries for the U.S.A. and Canada.
Now you can download the state maps you want from roadmap.sourceforge.net/maps.html and extract them to the same directory. (Either /media/mmc1/roadmaps or /media/mmc2/roadmaps will work. mmc2 is searched first.)

There are a couple of caveats-
1. At large zooms the program slows as it has more maps to scan. This results in the screen redrawing a lot at large zooms. This is more noticeable with GPS enabled as that forces more screen redraws. I'm working on zoom aware redraw code. But for now disabling GPS(by pressing 'V') when viewing a large area (more than a city) is advised.
2. Screen redraws sometimes kill gpsd if there is no lock. If you wish to scroll around the map while waiting for a GPS fix, starting the GPS Console (gpsdrive) will prevent gpsd from dying until you have a fix.

Aside from the above, the program works well on the n810. I don't have access to an n800 to test. So any n800 users that try the app with their bluetooth GPS, please post your results here or on the roadmap forum at the garage, as I do want to support this app on the n800.

Cheers,
kernelpanic

I've never heard of this, how is it different from maemo mapper?

A little slow, but seems to work ok. I havent tried it with my bluetooth gps/n800 but looks promising. Nice work. Support for N800 is a must

It's different in that it uses U.S. Census Bureau Tiger Data to generate maps as vector data(lines) . Maemo-Mapper downolads maps as images.

Maemo Mapper can download multiple map types from different servers(topo, roadmaps, etc...) While Roadmap installs pre-compiled maps based on Tiger Data. So no Internet connection is required to view maps or search for an address if the appropriate maps are installed. Both Roadmap and Maemo-Mapper require Internet access to download and use routes.
If you have broadband Internet access, or require non-roadmaps (i.e. topo maps) Maemo-Mapper may be more practical. As it uses information from Google maps, Open Street Mapsand other sources, the maps are more likely to be current. But you must have an Internet connection to download them. Roadmap maps are installable by State.

Hope this helps,
kernelpanic

If Roadmap uses the U.S. Census map data, does this get over the "legality" issue that Maemo Mapper has with using Google other "free" map databases?

Short answer- yes with a 'but'...
Long answer- Roadmap maps based upon U.S. Census Bureau Tiger Data are Public Domain. Some of the other files (i.e.- non-U.S.) available at http://roadmap.sourceforge.net/maps.html include information from the DCW some of which is Copyright by ESRI. And the DCW shapefiles are Copyright Stephen Woodbridge. But they are labeled as such...

[Disclaimer time- While I am the maintainer of the Roadmap for Maemo project, it is a fork. I am not associated with the fine folks at the main sourceforge project. Due to OS2008 requirements, mainly DBUS, the changes I've made to the codebase aren't really upstreamable. So Roadmap for Maemo is and is likely to remain a separate project.]

Also, while we're talking map formats, openstreetmaps.org support is coming! (Roadmap already supports the maps, but the buildmap_osm tool is only in CVS right now. I'm looking at building a static binary for linux to offer for download on the garage page.) But if you're running linux and you're impatient, you can checkout Roadmap from CVS and start build maps on the PC to transfer to your tablet now!

Cheers,
kernelpanic

You mention no internet connection is needed since all the data is pre compiled/downloaded but couldn't you do the same thing with maemo mapper? Just download maps before you go. I'm just trying to figure out why one would use this over maemo mapper. Is it just cause the map is vector based instead of image based? How is that better for the end user?

Vector maps use significantly less storage.

Another advantage is being able to enter an address without an internet connection, and without planning in advanced.

I love it.

I don't suppose there are any plans to add navigation, though?

So wait, both this and maemo mapper require a GPX file (which can only be done with internet access) and not on the fly. So it can't generate directions on the fly offline? (though it would make sense, not enough cpu power).