Pimp my 2-DIN head unit.... with an all-in-1 unit with GPS

[emptyman Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close emptyman]

It has taken me a few weeks to get around to starting a new thread on replacing the factory 2-DIN head unit on my GXL 120 with an 'all-in-1' GPS unit.

When I post something, I will *try* to use plain English, but invariably the topic of GPS, and under-the-hood of Windows, can easily go into techno-babble very easily... especially since I use techno-babble at work sometimes as well.

MY HARDWARE:
My unit does not have a brand.
My unit's hardware is Made in China - or at least assembled in China.
My unit is a 2-DIN size.


MY BASE OPERATING SYSTEM:
My unit uses Windows CE.NET as the base Operating System.

Windows CE is part of the embedded "family" of operating systems from Microsoft. The embedded family includes Microsoft Windows CE .NET and Microsoft Windows XP Embedded, and is currently upto version 6 (version 6 is still in development, and will be released soon). Version 6 has things like voice recognition API built-in, etc. The main differences between versions are that more functionality is 'baked' into the operating system as features instead of adding features by adding them later.

Think of it in the same light of a car example.... Imagine we all still drove Fird Model-A cars (aka Windows CE version 1), and we all then went out and wanted electric windows, as they are useful. So we go to Ripco, and buy an 'electric window add-on kit', and install the electric windows on the Fird Model-A.

The next version of the Model A from Fird (called Model B) now comes out with electric windows as 'standard' (aka Windows CE version 2). The 'fit' of the electric windows is soooooo much better that anything we could have go after-market from Ripco, but we now all want a new car radio. So we now go to Ripco and choose one Radio from a wide range of after-market radios and get that installed as well. The next model (Model C) now comes standard with a radio and electric windows. (In Windows CE we would call that Windows CE v3)..... and the cycle goes on. The names of Windows CE might change along the way... for instance Windows Embedded XP might actually be Windows Embedded v5, and Windows Embedded Vista might be v6, etc.

Why have I spend 10 minutes waffling... well my unit uses Windows .NET 4.2.... which is not the first version, and is not the latest.... but has all the functions that the software developer required to "host" a GPS, a media player, a TV, a Radio, and a few other things. Oh - and the OEM licence for Windows CE was about $US15 (probably a less now). OEM is Original Equipment Manufacturer - which usually referrs to a hardware manufacturer that makes original stuff. The other term here is ISV... ISV is Independant Software Vendor.... sort of like an OEM but for software only.

So my units Chinese Manufacturer will be an OEM as far as Windows CE is concerned, but they may have bundled the Operating System from a seperate ISV - especially if their expertise is not software.

Why do you and I care.... it is all to do with support..... well who do you contact if either the hardware does not work, or the software does not work. A key question when I can spend $550 for an unsupported unit from China or $4000 for a supported unit from Pioneer.

Windows CE actually provides a scalable platform to build a wide range of Internet Protocol (IP) "set-top boxes". These IP set-top boxes range from simple cost-effective devices providing basic broadcast TV experience, Video-on-demand, Electronic Programming Guides, and Internet browsing, to full media centers that include DVD playback and recording, personal video recorder (PVR), personal multimedia (music, pictures, and videos) repository functions, and GPS units.
.... hence the term 'all-in-1' units.

All-in-1 is also sometimes referred to as AIO, so be aware that some people may be talking about the same thing but using different terms.

MY INTERFACE:
Basically the hardware units can look like anything, and come in various shapes and sizes. Some are potrable running on batteries, some are built into a car with a touch screen, and some are in a set of traffic lights or photocopier. It is the software that makes the hardware "do stuff", and the human interface can be made to look like anything. There are hardware buttons that can also be mapped to functions, and like in the case of mine, the screen is a touch-screen, and therefore areas on the screen can be mapped to software functions as well.

The software is made up of many layers.... one of those layers is the GUI... or Graphical User Interface. This is what handles the look of screen. My units GUI is very simple, and was probably written by someone who is not very good at drawing graphics. You can pay a lot of money for the pretty look-and-feel - but the engine (Windows CE) is still the same!

MY PURCHASE:
There are many units coming out with Windows CE v5 at the moment, and you will see that things like the GUI may change as that subsystem of the Operating System will have more features and maybe faster.... and if that takes your fancy - then go for it.... but you if you keep waiting for the best - you will never get it. So I bought the one I bought. I figure it has a life of about three years anyway - like most computers. I can justify a $550 purchase over 3 years more than a $4000 purchase over 3 years.... and who knows ... in 3 years we may be up to Windows CE v8, and it will be a standard fitting in my new 2010 model Prado.

So I took the plunge and 'pimped' my 2-DIN unit. Please comment as you see fit, but even though I have gone off on a few tangents - you may want to keep to the topic of getting an all-in-1 unit with GPS working in a Prado.

Bottom line, and fine print ...
I am researching an article for a 4WD magazine, as the interest in *usable* GPS and 4WD (and Prado) is quite high, and have collect a lot of knowledge so far... hopefully we can all share knowledge and gain wisdom.

(phew)

[Chippy Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Chippy]

Hey Emptyman

That actually made a hell of a lot of sense and simplified the often technobabble most vendors engage in.

Thanks for the clear explanation. Now I'm just waiting for the next bit :lol: :lol: :lol:

Cheers
Chippy

[StormyKnight Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close StormyKnight]

Thats great Emptyman....

I too am waiting for some pics etc, + features....& a little tutorial on how your software additions have worked out :lol:

Cheers
Richard

[emptyman Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close emptyman]

Background on Windows CE in the all-in-1 GPS device

Apologies up front for technobabble coming up... I said in my last post that I will keep it simple, but without making up words, it is hard to do.
:-)

A while ago now (way back in the late 20th century) Microsoft entered the handheld device market with the Windows CE (also called WinCE or 'wince'... I know it is a bad name) operating system, which was later augmented with additional functionality to produce Pocket PC (PPC). Windows CE supports a multitasking, multithreaded environment, which is inherited by Pocket PC.

Applications running under Windows CE are protected from interfering with each other through memory management. This is a *key* point to understand why it is very hard to stuff up your GPS. Just re-boot and it all works again! More on this later....

Windows CE and PPC have evolved in tandem from versions WinCE 2.0/PPC 2000 to WinCE 3.0/PPC 2002 to WinCE 4.2/PPC 2003. PPC 2003 was rebranded as Windows Mobile 2003, through a number of feature upgrades. This is another *key* point when you go looking for software that will run on your all-in-1 GPS unit.

For example, early versions of ActiveSync were susceptible to brute force password attacks and denial of service attacks when synchronising over a network and subsequently corrected. Vulnerabilities present on earlier devices may provide a means of bypassing security mechanisms, allowing forensic investigators access to data. Hence, peopleoften steer away from version 1 of Microsoft software :-).... but that is a whole other thread.

Pocket PC / WinCE4.2 runs on a number of processors, but primarily appears on devices having Xscale, ARM, or SHx processors. This is another *key* point to remember as software is compliled for the processor. My unit uses ARM, as do most Chinese cloned units.

These devices have Read-ONly Memory (ROM) and Random Access Memory (RAM). Progam and other user data normally reside in Random Access Memoey, while the operating system and support applications reside in ROM. RAM is usually lost on re-boot - like on your home PC.

An additional filestore can be allocated in unused ROM and made available for backing up files from RAM. It is up to the software developer to utilise this feature...

One or more card slots, such as a Compact Flash (CF) or Secure Digital (SD) card slot, are supported. My unit uses SDRAM (Secure Digital)

Most Pocket PC devices use a lithium-ion battery, like in the portable GPS units, but my unit just takes its power from the Prado battery. You will often see a battery 'icon' on the GPS screen, which personally looks a bit dumb on a car unit.

The architecture for Windows CE .NET 4.2 devices consists of four layers:
1. Application layer
2. Operating System layer
3. Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) layer
4. Hardware layer

My last post mentioned these as well. I will not go into each of them here.

"Services" are organised into modules, which can be included or excluded when building an image for a specific target hardware device. This is a *key* point in understanding what you can and cannot do with your device. It is up to the architect of the device as to what building blocks they want to include..... this is probably why it is hard to hack a traffic light by standing next to it and pressing the single button. :-)

The Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) Layer contains the OEM Adaptation Layer (OAL), which consists of a set of functions related to system startup, interrupt handling, power management, profiling, timer and clock. Remember that a clock is a key part of a GPS unit. Interrupt handling is about devices being able to get the processor (in my case ARM) attention.... hey - the GPS antenna certainly needs attention every second.

The OAL allows an OEM to adapt Windows CE to a specific platform. An OEM must write the OAL for any custom hardware present. This is a *key* point in understanding what your hardware buttons can do. In my case... the unit only has a few buttons on the front. On/Of, volumeup/down, mode, etc, so the interface is not that complex.

Within the Operating System Layer are the Windows CE .NET 4.2 kernel and device drivers, whose purpose is to manage and interface with hardware devices (eg GPS antenna).

Device drivers provide the linkage for the operating system kernel (a kernel is like the kernel of a nut... the inner "sanctum") to recognise the device and to allow communications to be established between hardware and applications.

A device driver can be either monolithic or layered. Monolithic drivers implement their interface directly in terms of actions on the device they control. Layered drivers separate the implementation into two layers – an upper layer, which exposes the driver’s native or stream interface, and a lower layer that performs the hardware interactions. I am guessing that the All-in-1 units are keeping in very simple, and utilise the standard drivers where it can, and supplement with other drivers. For instance the Pioneer unit (assuming it uses Wince), has a gyroscope built in - which will need its own driver. My unit on the other habd is very simple in its driver usage.. at least what I have seen so far.

The Graphics, Windowing, and Events Subsystem (GWES) is also part of the Operating System Layer and provides the interface between the user, the application, and the operating system. GWES is an integrated graphics device interface (GDI), window manager, and event manager. The GWES module has two subcomponents: User and GDI. User refers to the part of GWES that handles messages, events, and user input from keyboard and mouse or stylus. GDI refers to the part of GWES that controls how text and graphics are displayed. GDI is used to draw lines, curves, closed figures, text, and bitmap images. My unit does not have a keyboard.... another *key* point.... but it DOES have the ability to know about one, and use it if it exists.

Standard Win32 functions provide access to files and the registry, while new Windows CE-specific API functions provide access to property databases and certain registry features. This means the device theoretically will run most windows applications....but they have to be recompiled for the screen realestate and the processor (btw - which is not that hard using Visual Studio if you know what you are doing). You should remember that it is just a SUBSET though. The subset of Win32 and other Microsoft APIs implemented in Pocket PC allows a device to fulfill the requirements of an embedded application, yet keep the programmability similar to that of Windows PCs.... hence the ease to get software that works on these devices.

Ok... memory now...
The maximum size of the "object store" is 256MB in Windows CE. The object store is built on an internal heap that resides in RAM, ROM, or both.

The Windows CE file system allows a file to be stored both in RAM and ROM. This is a *key* point, as the memories serve differenmt purposes.

When a file stored in RAM has the same name as a file stored in ROM, the actual RAM file shadows the ROM file. Once again this *key* point means we can theoretically change the software in ROM but giving it the SAME name in RAM.... hmmmmm... this IS good. This is all about shadowing.. but we will not go down that path just yet...

Here is a great thing about the Registy.... It is similar concept to the Registry you have on your Windows at home.... The Windows CE registry is also database that stores information about all the applications, drivers, system configuration, user preferences, and other data. The purpose of the registry is to provide a single place for storing all the settings for the system, applications, and the single user. The registry is *always* stored in RAM and consequently is volatile. BUT, and here is the good bit.... If no registry is available in RAM, Windows CE can regenerate a default one from a file stored in ROM. Which is another reason why it is hard to stuff up your GPS unit!!!

The Windows CE operating system supports four types of memory:
1. RAM – RAM is allocated into two separate areas: the object store where data is kept and program memory where programs execute. The partitioning of main memory can be controlled by the end-user via an application level control and can be adjusted without rebooting. A paged virtual-memory management system is used to allocate program memory.

2. Expansion RAM – Expansion RAM is supported in addition to main system RAM to provide users with extra storage. The Expansion RAM is mapped into virtual memory after a cold boot and appears identical in the virtual memory map to the OS as system RAM.

3. ROM – The ROM memory space contains miscellaneous data files like audio files, fonts and bitmaps. These are generally compressed and decompressed when brought into system RAM for usage. The ROM memory space also contains support for uncompressed executables, applications, and DLLs for XIP (eXecute In Place) operation. During the image build process, individual elements can be designated for either XIP or paged on demand operation.

4. Persistent Storage – Much of the support for persistent storage is oriented around removable storage cards. For example, files (executables, data, users files) stored in persistent storage are memory mapped into system RAM for use. My unit uses an SDRAM card slot for this purpose.

Pocket PC permits the hardware developer, system integrator, or developer to decide which services are incorporated in their Pocket PC version. This can be a good thing and a bad thing. In my case... I hope it is a god thing. There are things that I would like, but are not there, and others (like IE) I wonder why they are there at all.

Pocket PC devices can have significantly different bootloader functionality. The device manufacturer determines the range of functionality with two exceptions – the bootloader must be able to load the OS and to upgrade it to a more recent version. This means that it is possible to upgrade the ROM to a whole new Windows CE OS..... or even run Linux on the device. (and some GPS units do run Linux!).

Why do you need to know this.... because later on you may need to know if you are going to stuff up your GPS unit by doing something that sounds good, but is in reality not good.... sort of like knowing the inner workings of the internal combustion engine, and knowing that you should not pour sugar down the petrol filler hole ;-)

(Thanks to a computer security paper on Windows CE for some of the basic ideas of this post... but as always ... reading things in isolation is dumb, but if it is put in context to the device, they make more sense.... at least they make sense to me... and hopefully you too).

[Byrnsie Member Find all posts View Profile Close Byrnsie]

Hey Emptyman

Great explanation - especially for us dummies that know what we want as an end product but have no idea how it all comes into being.

I am looking forward to the next chapter.

Cheers - Byrnsie

[Chippy Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Chippy]

Re: Background on Windows CE in the all-in-1 GPS device

... reading things in isolation is dumb, but if it is put in context to the device, they make more sense.... at least they make sense to me...

... and to me too ... now.

Thanks .. and keep going ... waiting ... waiting ... waiting .... :lol: :lol: :lol:

Cheers
Chippy

[Russ WA Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Russ WA]

That explanation is fantastic.
I hope you have managed to run oz explorer on it after all that.
I'm looking forward to end result and waiting to see if you can do bulk orders :lol:

Russ

[emptyman Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close emptyman]

My hardware and software round-off

I need to just finish off the hardware and software platform discussion before I go into the software discussions. Lets use a car analogy. Most cars these days are based on the common internal combustion engine. This is part of the “hardware platform” of a car. The software could be seen as the nice looking stuff on top of the hardware (that is the body of the car). I was told once that the new Volkswagen beetle is actually a VW Golf with a different shell on top, you start to appreciate the differences between the underlying hardware and the soft gooey shell outside. Now with GPS devices, there are common hardware platforms, with software varieties on top of them.

According to Microsoft, the Windows Embedded software platforms provide the most complete set of technology, tools, and resources to flexibly deliver secured, standardised, and feature-rich devices to market faster. This would obviously appeal to any Independent Software Vendor (ISV), and has obviously appealed to whoever builds these GPS devices in China. Also according to Microsoft, Windows CE .NET is the ideal operating system for mass market devices, supporting x86, ARM, SH, and MIPS processor architectures. Interestingly from what I have seen, most of the Chinese all-in-1 devices support the ARM hardware processor, so I am guessing that the ARM processor is also a cost-efficient processor (Samsung is a major supplier of this processor type).
As mentioned before, “componentised” features in Windows CE .NET enable original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to selectively choose needed Windows features. This allows the many perceived variants of devices that are coming out of China. But something to be aware of, as I have tried to point out many times is the fact that there is not too many “moving” parts…. A small choice of hardware chipsets, and a small choice of software operating systems. So these variants are not as wide as you may think.

So why did my Chinese device manufacturer choose Windows CE .NET v4.2 over the other operating system variants they could have chosen? It was a pretty no-brainer really. Their current choices where between Windows CE and Windows XP Embedded. As mentioned before, Windows CE .NET is more flexible in terms of the hardware it supports, while Windows XP Embedded is designed for more advanced, multi-purpose devices that include advanced gaming capabilities and home media center features. The fact that Windows CE handles more hardware platforms means that the Chinese manufacturers can shop around for the best chipset deal and still guarantee supply of devices into the global market. This may be a good thing or a bad thing. By changing chipsets, the device manufacturers can create confusion in the market, leading to uncertainty of support. But as long as us consumers are aware of that, then all is okay. Bottom line is that you pay for what you get… and once again you can see the another difference between a $4000 pioneer device and $500 Chinese device – stability of platform changes.
Once the market stabilises on Windows CE .NET 4.2, you will find the manufacturers moving to later versions of the Operating System as the market matures and becomes more demanding of the features and functions required. This has already happened with mobile phones.
Lets talk some more about my simple in-car GPS device. Well one nice thing is that Windows CE .NET 4.2 supports Windows Media Technologies, including a Windows Media Player and Digital Rights Management (DRM). It also supports the MPEG-4 decoding compression standard. Certainly the DRM is not something I would expect to use in a All-in-1 GPS unit, but it is something that the GPS map manufacturers could use to ensure that there maps have a licenced. (DRM is all about a security model to ensure that the person reading the file (eg a GPS map) has the correct security rights to do so. This is something to maybe follow into the future, as the software and map manufacturers get smarter.

For what it is worth - Windows CE .NET 4.2 and Windows XP Embedded both include Internet Explorer 6….. but my device is not actually connected to the internet, so it does not really matter what version ships with it! With that said, we will see more and more in the future a GPS unit and a mobile phone shipped together so that the in-car unit (or handheld for that matter). Hey – that sounds like a N95 or an JasJam, or iPaq. The convergence of technologies is the way of the future, but as always the biggest problem is the physical battery size, the battery usage time, and also battery recharge time.

This convergence is something else to watch out for, as Microsoft is spending quite a lot on SPOT, which I think means Smart Personal Object Technology. This is embedding Windows into broaches that you wear, earrings, watches, hairclips, sunglasses, shoes, clothes, buttons, material, socks, belts, hats, etc. Interesting stuff ahead. Maybe a GPS antenna built into sunglasses is closer that you think.
Lets get back to the Chinese devices. The operating system footprint of less than 350 KB allows the development of extremely cost efficient devices. Low in memory usage means cheaper to make. If you have not yet got the point of this discussion – it is all about what drives the Chinese manufacturers…. Minimise the cost to manufacturer, and maximise compelling features into the mass market.

I will finish off with one last comment. Our lives are dependent on what are called “utilities”. These have included such things as Water Supply, Electricity supply, Telephone Service, Radio service, and Gas supply. All historically have been supplied by governments. These utilities are now a given, in that they are classified as “essential” utilities, and it is very difficult to exist in today’s world without these essential utilities. Now we MUST add the Internet as a utility. If you have not yet figured it out, the Internet is not a fad. It is not going away, and is becoming more and more essential to living and working. You may have seen that governments cannot keep pace with internet technologies, so they attempt to privatise the internet to create competition, innovation, and fast time to market. You will have seen email addresses and web site addresses on business cards already, as it is very uncommon these days for a business to not have a internet presence somehow. NOW – lets add the NEXT essential utility… Global Positioning Satellite or GPS. It was originally developed by governments (USA mainly), but has quickly become an essential part of many business processes. If the USA government turns off the GPS satellite capability, then the world will be a different place, as there are many more things that depend of GPS that what you would think.

Bottom line – GPS is not going away. It is essential, so live and learn about GPS and its application. As all of the utilities, they are there to basically make your life easier and more enriching. Just like you use Gas supply, Electricity supply, Water supply, Radio service, and the telephone…. You WILL be using the Internet and GPS… it is just a matter of time. Chances are you are using them already – you just don’t know you are.

[emptyman Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close emptyman]

My requirements

Without sounding too dumb...

why I bought an all-in-1 in-car unit is the following (not in any order)...

1. Understand GPS, and its application to my families life
2. Understand GPS, and how it can benefit while I am the car
3. See if I really need a GPS at all without spending a lot of money
4. Get a DVD player for the Prado
5. Get a GPS for the Prado
6. Get a off-road capable GPS for the Prado
7. Replace the in-dash 2-din unit with CD playing capability
8. Get ability to play MP3 discs
9. Get ability to play my MP3 player (not an ipod - as I do not own an ipod)
10. Get a reverse camera for the Prado (as the rear visibility is quite bad - and i have a few kids to look out for)
11. Not be tied into a manufacturers solution (ie able to hack the device to suit me). Ie not buy the toyota version.
12. had to be relatively cheap to buy
13. had to have feature functions good for the price
14. ability to play an external dvd player audio through the prado speakers

Things I did not care about when I bought my unit:
1. ability to play cassettes
2. ability to have a rear mounted DVD player (back of seat or head console type)
3. warranty
4. installation costs.
5. being future proof. I expect the unit to last maybe three years.
6. bluetooth. I have a bluetooth phone, but never really use it with bluetooth anyway.
7. usb support.
8. i did not care whether i bought it from china or local

I do not know your requirements, but it took me a few weeks from the decision to buy the unit that I bought.

What I have said so far is that there are a multitude of these units on the market, so think about what you want, what your risk profile is, and make your own decision.

[emptyman Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close emptyman]

Things that work for me on my all-in-1 GPS unit.

Back to the topic of this forums section.... ie GPS

I have so far got "working" in some form or another on my all-in-1 (at least the GPS part anyway) unit...

a. Route 66 GPS software. Working. All great with Australian maps. The maps are a litle out of date (ie mid 2006), but are okay for what I need. I have many POI files with this.

b. TomTom GPS software. Working- with a small issue. The small issue is that occasionally that the GPS signal jitters a little, so as I drive the software thinks I am somewhere else, and it tries to show me the map of the other location. Probably a baud rate setting - and I have not spend any time looking into this.

c. OziExplorer CE. Working - but needs more effort. I have not spent any time getting a keyboard to work so I can enter my registration key. I can see the demo maps okay after I ignore the registration key screen. It knows where I am, so it is talking to the GPS antenna okay. I have tried the 800MB full map of australia which I use on my desktop version of OziExplorer, but I get weird error message that does not make sense. I have doenloaded some smaller aust maps to the SD card, but have not tried them further. I have been getting waypoint files on the desktop version organised, but not transferred them to the CE version yet. The screen real estate is a bit small, and expects you to have small fingers on the touch sceen. OziExplorer is probably made for a stylus type display, and not someone who uses fingers.

d. I-Go. Working. This is a great piece of software. I use the 2006 version with Australain maps. This is the most one I use. I have collected many POI files for use with this. I even have designed my own startup screen, and have uncompressed all the bitmaps.

e. Windows CE Internet Explorer screen (ie.exe). Not much use though as I am not connected to the internet in the Prado.

f. Windows CE MP3 player (musicplayer.exe) Plays music on the SD-CARD fine. Little moving graphics look fun but too small to care.

g. Windows CE Explorer (explorer.exe). File Manager starts up fine. Have not played too much with it but I expect it to work as expected.

h. Windows CE control panel (control.exe). Works fine. Screen real estate issues as some icons go off the screen. This allows my ability to change the device timezone.

i. Execution ability check. Loads fine. This utility displays what DLLs are required to be loaded on a non-standard install package.

j. Windows CE DVD Player (videoplayer.exe). Loads fine. Not checked it further, but I expect it to work.

k. NewShell. Works fine. I am in the process of developing a new shell for my device so I can have all the programs accessible via a menu. I have successfully changed some of this utlity so that it is in English (I have the spanish version).

l. Windows CE Image Viewer (imageviewer.exe). Loads Fine. Have seen some of my photos on the device. need more time to look at this, as Ideally I might like to display some photos as a slideshow while I listen to music.

m. Launchpad. Works fine. Sort of like a poor mans iphone interface - with big buttons. If I want to use this, I can easily chaneg it, but so far the example only has four icons, whereas NewShell has 6 Icons.

n. FileMan. (fileman.exe). Another Explorer shell. works fine. This is how I copied *nearly* everything off the device onto a SD-CARD so I can browse the device contents on my desktop more easily.

o. Co-Pilot GPS software. Not got to work yet. The install needs activesync - which I do not have. So if anyone can send me a backup copy of their co-pilot GPS software as used on an SDCARD (with the licence key xxx out), I can use my key to test it.

I am still have to try a few more other utilities (like games, winword, excel, powerpoint, mp3 players, calculator, etc)... but I thought I would try to stabilise the software platform with a few things first.

As mentioned. I am building a menu system so that hopefully all this software can run on a SINGLE SD-CARD!, and be easily started by clicking on a menu. This is because I would rather not keep swapping SDCARDS in and out. I am using 2GB cards okay, and will one day go and get a 4GB card - but I am waiting for the 32GB cards coming soon. Whether or not the unit will recognise 32GB SDCARD is another topic.

I will post photos of all this soon, and as I get more successes, I will keep you posted.

There are a few things that are still niggling me (start up screen is one of them), but I will take that into another new topic to see if anyone else can help out.

[emptyman Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close emptyman]

Mesada software might be used

I *think* the provider of the software is http://www.mesada.com.cn which is located near Hong Kong. From what I have found out about these chinese units (especially the ones from ebay), a lot of trails head to this Mesada company. I have looked at the site, but nothing jumped out at me with regard to finding more out about the inner workings.

[StormyKnight Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close StormyKnight]

Excellent write-up. Looking forward to the photos etc.

Keep it coming!

Cheers
Richard

[jeff s Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close jeff s]

Re: My requirements

Without sounding too dumb...

.

Are you kidding me?
youre a freeking genius.

I hope your getting paid for you PC insider knowledge.
As your in perth we might see this unit in the flesh one day at a WA PP meetup..

Jeff.

[McBAIN Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close McBAIN]

how is this quest unfolding? i'm keen to see how far you got and what it ended up looking like!