OpenCpn Install on Android Tablets Easier Now.

[Target9000]

I was looking at the nmea standards and it wouldn't be hard to just fabricate a nmea sentence that essentially provided a fix but gave no time/velocity/satellite data.

[armido]

Time I brought this forward from an older post of mine. A friend of mine who is also a programmer said:

"If the raw NMEA API is not available, use the Android Location API to get position, and then output fake NMEA sentences for OpenCPN to read.

Sample Java code to write an NMEA sentence is in the
'writeGGASentence' method in:
http://worldwind31.arc.nasa.gov/svn/...meaWriter.java

Anyone?

armido

[Target9000]

Originally Posted by armido

Time I brought this forward from an older post of mine. A friend of mine who is also a programmer said:

"If the raw NMEA API is not available, use the Android Location API to get position, and then output fake NMEA sentences for OpenCPN to read.

Sample Java code to write an NMEA sentence is in the
'writeGGASentence' method in:
http://worldwind31.arc.nasa.gov/svn/...meaWriter.java

Anyone?

armido

Have you sent this to the turbo gps guy? It would seem almost trivial to implement. Even if he specified a separate port for it.

[oem]

Originally Posted by armido

oem,

The reason 8 gigabytes is recommended is because space is required for source files required for compiling OpenCPN and zyGrib. Once compiled and installed the sources can be removed. But, leaving OpenCPN source enables you to update the source witha simple command issued in the top directory of the source - 'git pull'. You can move the source to an external micro SD for use later - but, it must be reused in the original location.

Also, while you may be able to access charts from an external micro SD card, they will probably load faster if residing inn your /home/android file system. In any case, Linux Deploy indicates the smallest loop file size required to install Linux. Remember though, this is just the basic operating system. Development files, dependencies for OpenCPN and zyGrib and additional other programs you may want to install will need more space...

armido

Thanks a lot for your advice. Hopefully I'll have time to give it a go this weekend. I'm excited :-)

[armido]

Target9000,

Thanks for your recommendation. I assume Michael, the author of Turbo GPS, is already aware of this - but forwarded it to him anyway.

oem,

Always happy to see another sailor taking the plunge. Hope it goes as smoothly as it should.

armido

[oem]

Originally Posted by armido

Always happy to see another sailor taking the plunge. Hope it goes as smoothly as it should.

armido

I think I'm very close. My opencpn has compiled and linked successfully as far as I can see. The opencpn binary is in /usr/bin.

But the vncserver fails (attached, Linux Deploy). By looking in the script linuxdeploy my guess is that I made an error in the screen specifications for vncserver. It's in the 'deploy.conf'-file (attached) used by linuxdeploy.

If I use Linux Deploy to 'Reconfigure', - how much will I have to redo?

I tried,- but I could not find a way of changing deploy.conf, even after using chmod 777 (as root) on folder 'data' and 'local' to get access via iota+. The underlying files are not visible in iota+. It must be the access rights, but....

[oem]

Originally Posted by oem

I think I'm very close. My opencpn has compiled and linked successfully as far as I can see. The opencpn binary is in /usr/bin.

But the vncserver fails (attached, Linux Deploy). By looking in the script linuxdeploy my guess is that I made an error in the screen specifications for vncserver. It's in the 'deploy.conf'-file (attached) used by linuxdeploy.

If I use Linux Deploy to 'Reconfigure', - how much will I have to redo?

I tried,- but I could not find a way of changing deploy.conf, even after using chmod 777 (as root) on folder 'data' and 'local' to get access via iota+. The underlying files are not visible in iota+. It must be the access rights, but....

I'm afraid it's worse, and that the explanation is not as simple. Two packages gave an error on apt-get. The first was 'diff' which was changed til 'diffutils', - the second was libsdl1.2debian-all, which was changed to 'libsdl1.2debian'.

I tried to run opencpn in a terminal window, but it did not execute (I do not have the error messages right now, unfortunately).

So I think I'm in moderate trouble, I guess it means that the packages etc. will have to be some other/replacements etc., which have to be located and re-built..

[armido]

oem,

Check your settings for akRDC vnc viewer first. You will typically not have issues with the vncserver out of the box. If you tried issuing commands to configure the server you may have buggered things a bit.

If so try removing the vncserver with apt-get and then reinstall.

Run apt-get update and apt-get upgrade.

We'll go from there if issue is not resolved.

armido

[armido]

Originally Posted by oem

I'm afraid it's worse, and that the explanation is not as simple. Two packages gave an error on apt-get. The first was 'diff' which was changed til 'diffutils', - the second was libsdl1.2debian-all, which was changed to 'libsdl1.2debian'.

I tried to run opencpn in a terminal window, but it did not execute (I do not have the error messages right now, unfortunately).

So I think I'm in moderate trouble, I guess it means that the packages etc. will have to be some other/replacements etc., which have to be located and re-built..

oem,

Did you install "diff' which was changed til 'diffutils', - the second was libsdl1.2debian-all, which was changed to 'libsdl1.2debian'"?

Also, did you install the dendencies per my instructions here: Building on Motorola Xoom | Official OpenCPN Homepage ?

I presume your linux desktop is running o.k.? You tried to start OpenCPN in a terminal from there. Right?

armido

[armido]

To all,

Installation instructions @ Building on Motorola Xoom | Official OpenCPN Homepage have been updated to reflect present state of affairs re: gps usage with OpenCPN in chroot linux environment on android devices.

armido

[oem]

Originally Posted by armido

oem,

Did you install "diff' which was changed til 'diffutils', - the second was libsdl1.2debian-all, which was changed to 'libsdl1.2debian'"?

Also, did you install the dendencies per my instructions here: Building on Motorola Xoom | Official OpenCPN Homepage ?

I presume your linux desktop is running o.k.? You tried to start OpenCPN in a terminal from there. Right?

armido

As per PM, - I have not had time to try again.

I (think I) did everything as described, - no guarantee, will try again..

Yes I (think) I installed the two replacements, - but I will try to re-install, to make sure.

Yes I tried to run opencpn from a terminal window, but it gave errors (which I don't have a record of).

I'll let you know in this thread when I'm having time again :-)

Thanks again for your generous help :-)

[armido]

oem,

Does the linux desktop start o.k. when you connect through akRDC vnc viewer. Window settings look right? If not adapt your screen size through akRDC vnc viewer. No need to change vncserver configuration. You may need to create a new session or delete then recreate akRDC session parameters. If the desktop is o.k. then OpenCPN should run. My recommendation is reinstall dependencies. If already installed, sporting a new name or missing apt will say so. All good with dependencies, "make clean" top of OpenCPN source filesystem then recompile and install. As you indicated OpenCPN launched within a terminal from the running linux desktop will report errors if the program fails to start. Try this first as non-root operator (android). If OpenCPN fails then log into terminal as root using the password you created during the linux installation process and try again. "su" <enter>, supply requested password.

armido

[armido]

To all,

Between the time I last installed Debian Squeeze using Linux Deploy on my Xoom and today, April 14, 2013, issuing the same apt-install command for required dependencies you find in my instructions yeilds the result below. Note the additional 41 packages that will be installed if I answer yes. Because OpenCPN is working fine on my tablet I have to wonder why 41 new packages will be installed? My guess are these new packages are development packages.

I did this today primarily to check whether or not my list is still current. It is, and no versions or file names need to be changed.

u0_a35@android:/ $ export PATH=/data/local/bin:$PATH
u0_a35@android:/ $ su
root@android:/ # /data/local/linux/bin/linuxdeploy shell
>>> begin: shell
Mounting partitions:
/ ... done
/proc ... done
/sys ... done
/dev ... done
/dev/pts ... done
/mnt/sdcard ... done
Updating configuration:
dns ... done
mtab ... done
root@localhost:/# apt-get install libglu1-mesa libgl1-mesa-glx zlib1g bzip2 gpsd gpsd-clients xcalib libgtk2.0-dev gettext git-core cmake libgps-dev build-essential wx-common libglu1-mesa-dev libgtk2.0-dev libbz2-dev libtinyxml-dev libwxgtk2.8-0 libwxgtk2.8-dev libwxbase2.8-0 libwxbase2.8-dev libsdl1.2debian-all debhelper devscripts dh-make dpkg-dev fakeroot lintian diff patch libtinyxml* libportaudio2 portaudio19-dev
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Note, selecting 'libtinyxml2.5.3' for regex 'libtinyxml*'
Note, selecting 'libtinyxml-dev' for regex 'libtinyxml*'
Note, selecting 'libtinyxml-doc' for regex 'libtinyxml*'
Note, selecting 'libtinyxml2.5.3-dbg' for regex 'libtinyxml*'
build-essential is already the newest version.
bzip2 is already the newest version.
libbz2-dev is already the newest version.
cmake is already the newest version.
debhelper is already the newest version.
debhelper set to manually installed.
dh-make is already the newest version.
dpkg-dev is already the newest version.
fakeroot is already the newest version.
gettext is already the newest version.
git-core is already the newest version.
gpsd-clients is already the newest version.
gpsd is already the newest version.
libgps-dev is already the newest version.
libgtk2.0-dev is already the newest version.
lintian is already the newest version.
libsdl1.2debian-all is already the newest version.
libgl1-mesa-glx is already the newest version.
libglu1-mesa-dev is already the newest version.
libglu1-mesa is already the newest version.
patch is already the newest version.
libportaudio2 is already the newest version.
portaudio19-dev is already the newest version.
libtinyxml-dev is already the newest version.
libtinyxml-doc is already the newest version.
libtinyxml2.5.3-dbg is already the newest version.
libtinyxml2.5.3 is already the newest version.
libwxbase2.8-0 is already the newest version.
libwxbase2.8-dev is already the newest version.
libwxgtk2.8-0 is already the newest version.
libwxgtk2.8-dev is already the newest version.
wx-common is already the newest version.
xcalib is already the newest version.
zlib1g is already the newest version.
The following extra packages will be installed:
at dctrl-tools debian-keyring dput equivs exim4 exim4-base exim4-config exim4-daemon-light
heirloom-mailx libauthen-sasl-perl libclass-inspector-perl libcommon-sense-perl libconvert-binhex-perl
libcrypt-ssleay-perl libdevel-symdump-perl libfcgi-perl libio-socket-ssl-perl libio-stringy-perl
libjson-perl libjson-xs-perl libmailtools-perl libmime-tools-perl libnet-libidn-perl
libnet-ssleay-perl libossp-uuid-perl libossp-uuid16 libparse-debcontrol-perl libpod-coverage-perl
libsoap-lite-perl libtask-weaken-perl libterm-size-perl libtest-pod-perl libtie-ixhash-perl
libyaml-syck-perl lsb-release lzma patchutils strace
Suggested packages:
debtags cvs-buildpackage devscripts-el gnuplot libfile-desktopentry-perl libnet-smtp-ssl-perl mutt
svn-buildpackage w3m mini-dinstall yaclc mail-reader eximon4 exim4-doc-html exim4-doc-info
spf-tools-perl swaks libdigest-hmac-perl libgssapi-perl libio-socket-inet6-perl uuid
libapache2-mod-perl2 libnet-jabber-perl libmime-lite-perl lsb
Recommended packages:
debian-maintainers bsd-mailx mailx
The following NEW packages will be installed:
at dctrl-tools debian-keyring devscripts diff dput equivs exim4 exim4-base exim4-config
exim4-daemon-light heirloom-mailx libauthen-sasl-perl libclass-inspector-perl libcommon-sense-perl
libconvert-binhex-perl libcrypt-ssleay-perl libdevel-symdump-perl libfcgi-perl libio-socket-ssl-perl
libio-stringy-perl libjson-perl libjson-xs-perl libmailtools-perl libmime-tools-perl
libnet-libidn-perl libnet-ssleay-perl libossp-uuid-perl libossp-uuid16 libparse-debcontrol-perl
libpod-coverage-perl libsoap-lite-perl libtask-weaken-perl libterm-size-perl libtest-pod-perl
libtie-ixhash-perl libyaml-syck-perl lsb-release lzma patchutils strace
0 upgraded, 41 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 36.3 MB of archives.
After this operation, 50.9 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]?

armido

[oem]

Originally Posted by armido

oem,

Does the linux desktop start o.k. when you connect through akRDC vnc viewer. Window settings look right? If not adapt your screen size through akRDC vnc viewer. No need to change vncserver configuration. You may need to create a new session or delete then recreate akRDC session parameters. If the desktop is o.k. then OpenCPN should run. My recommendation is reinstall dependencies. If already installed, sporting a new name or missing apt will say so. All good with dependencies, "make clean" top of OpenCPN source filesystem then recompile and install. As you indicated OpenCPN launched within a terminal from the running linux desktop will report errors if the program fails to start. Try this first as non-root operator (android). If OpenCPN fails then log into terminal as root using the password you created during the linux installation process and try again. "su" <enter>, supply requested password.

armido

Success

See pictures. Opencpn on my tiny Desire and a opencpn through a vnc-client on my desktop-pc.

I started all over again, this time with a vnc-client from my PC (a real keyboard is a great advantage :-) ). New linux generated, all dependencies re-installed and a new opencpn pulled from github and built.

Missing styles.xml: I had to create /usr/local/share/opencpn folder with uidata and styles.xml and a few more files. I copied them from some src-path in the download.

Then it worked :-)

Useability and ease of use on the desire can not be said to be impressing so far. Screen size is the first issue. Then the complexity of running it, - linuxdeploy/start, then akRDC, connect, locate opencpn in /home/Downloads and then start opencpn. Screen layout is (of course) not adapted to the tiny screen on a desire. It is a bit awkward to operate opencpn with akRDC.

Still, - it works...

Is there any way of sharing files already on the sdcard with opencpn in this separate linux-installation? Or will I have to find annother way of making charts available to opencpn? An ftp-client?

[armido]

Originally Posted by oem

Success

See pictures. Opencpn on my tiny Desire and a opencpn through a vnc-client on my desktop-pc.

I started all over again, this time with a vnc-client from my PC (a real keyboard is a great advantage :-) ). New linux generated, all dependencies re-installed and a new opencpn pulled from github and built.

Missing styles.xml: I had to create /usr/local/share/opencpn folder with uidata and styles.xml and a few more files. I copied them from some src-path in the download.

Then it worked :-)

Useability and ease of use on the desire can not be said to be impressing so far. Screen size is the first issue. Then the complexity of running it, - linuxdeploy/start, then akRDC, connect, locate opencpn in /home/Downloads and then start opencpn. Screen layout is (of course) not adapted to the tiny screen on a desire. It is a bit awkward to operate opencpn with akRDC.

Still, - it works...

Is there any way of sharing files already on the sdcard with opencpn in this separate linux-installation? Or will I have to find annother way of making charts available to opencpn? An ftp-client?

oem,

Happy to hear you succeeded!

When OpenCPN finished compiling (cmake..., make - to 100%) did you "make install"? From what you have said above it doesn't sound like you did. You should not have to go to /home/Downloads to start OpenCPN. Neither should you have needed to create any files... The "make install" command installs all necessary file systems in /usr/share/opencpn and the OpenCPN executable as /usr/bin/opencpn. You can still perform this step from the top of the OpenCPN source tree in /home/Downloads/OpenCPN. Then you will find OpenCPN in the main desktop menu most likely under "Education". Why it ends up there escapes me.

You can choose to have Linux Deploy mount the Linux system at boot if having to do this manually bugs you.

Finally, from inside OpenCPN click on the wrench (settings), then 'charts'. You'll have the option to install charts, including CM93 charts if you have them. If not we'll point you to some possible download links. Or, maybe sailors you know have them already. Your sdcard will hopefully be accessible at the chart installation stage.

I can appreciate your comments regarding screen size. My test platform was a Huawei 7 slim with a 7" screen. It is desirable to have a 10" screen. Now that you know this is doable and can be a great navigation tool, I recommend you consider buying a 10" tablet. Just make sure that if your tablet of choice has a built in gps - it generates nmea sentences and not just location, speed and course info. Very reasonably priced tablets are available that will fill the bill.

armido