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Hi Orux, I agree it is a phone (and/or Android version) effect as I do not get all these 'lost GPS signal' alarms with a ZTE A462 phone running Android 6. I have tried GPS sensor intervals of 1 sec, 2 sec, 4 sec and 30 sec: all gave the repeated alarms with the Cat 41S phone. It is not a problem: I just turn that alarm off, and put GPS accuracy on the OM Dashboard. Although I sometimes see --(--) there with a clear view of the sky, that effect is rare and short-lived.

Probably not so many people need to get OM to display geo-referenced maps originating from image files (such as scans or non-referenced pdf files) now that geo-pdf capability is so good; but the need still arises occasionally.



For anyone experiencing failures, with the message "An error occurred while generating images" - try another version of the initial image files.



In my hands (using Oruxmapsdesktop version 2.1.0beta under Win7 with Java .jpg files exported from Acrobat 8 always give this error. However, .jpg files saved through Irfanview, are processed without any error.



As an aside, when starting with charts provided in (non-referenced) pdf format, the final quality was much better when I used screen grabs (Snipping Tool) rather than pages exported from Acrobat; both finally saved in .jpg format through Irfanview. Because these charts have a Lat/Lon grid, referencing in Oruxmapsdesktop was easy (once I got over the incompatibility with some jpg flavours), and the results are fine in OM.



Edit: In fairness to Adobe, there are settings for quality, resolution and colour space when exporting to jpg from Acrobat; and some the these (non-default) settings yield high-quality (albeit larger) jpg files that process without errors in oruxmapsdesktop. The take-home message remains, if you get the error in oruxmapsdesktop, try another version of the initial image files.

Hello Orux,



This post is just for information of the developer, and for other users looking for an easy way to check current GPS fix.



On a CAT S41 (stock Nougat) with OM 7.1.6, when I turn on 'Notify no GPS signal' it issues alarms every minute or so, no matter what settings I have chosen for GPS mode in OM or Battery mode in the phone (Normal, Sport, Standby intelligent power saving on/off). OM is listed as not battery optimized, and there is plenty of battery left (Battery saver is off).



The frequent alarms disturb the peace, so I turned this feature off. Track recording seems fine, and continuous.



For those seeking a quick way to check GPS fix status (without opening another app like GPS test or GPS status), just put 'GPS accuracy' on the OM dashboard. It shows accuracy in meters, followed by number of used satellites in brackets. With open sky, this typically shows 0 m or 1 m and about 15 satellites for me, even when the 'no GPS signal' alarm has just gone off. Occasionally I briefly see --(--) in red, meaning that GPS signal is really lost.



I suspect some interaction between OM and Nougat battery control that the user can not easily override. But it does not interfere with tracking by OM, even with phone battery set to Normal mode with Standby intelligent power saving on (for long battery life while tracking on a prolonged hike). Other well-known settings for this purpose are to set a custom 'default' GPS time interval in OM to compromise between accuracy and battery use, and turn on Flight Mode in the phone if you are in a region with poor phone reception (or while you do not need calls).



Perhaps the 'no GPS signal' alarm is set a little too sensitive in OM? But users can easily turn that alarm off, and use GPS accuracy on the Dashboard if desired for confirmation that they still have a GPS fix.

1. Updating from my post above about having to copy folders:



On the initial load of OM v 7.1.0 rc6 (and my profile and a refresh of offline maps), the app found my offline maps which were set up in /storage/emulated/0/Android/data/com.orux.oruxmaps/files/mapfiles/; but it did not find my custom waypoint types that were set up in /sdcard/Android/data/com.orux.oruxmaps/files/customwpts/. It used default waypoint symbols instead.



However, when restarted, it found everything (all still in emulated internal memory under Android 6). Maybe users can be advised that if things seem lost after upgrade, try a complete close and restart of v 7.1.0. No copying of folders is needed.



OM v 7.1.0 rc6 does not reload overlays by default, but you can set it to do this through Global settings > Maps > KML overlay settings > Keep KML overlays. (Probably this was always the case, I have forgotten).



2. I also tested the new shp overlay feature. It worked when I copied the right files directly into the OM overlay folder:



First I tried copying there a folder (contour.shp) that included .shp and .prj files (among others) as used by some other GIS programs. This did not work too well (after navigating deeper OM complained that it could not find a prj file, but it then loaded correctly as my shp was in WGS84).



Then I tried copying there just the shp and prj files. It worked fine (though slow with this big and complex shp file: 37 Mb!). The result in my test was lots of contour lines. (They were green in OM, and did not scale in thickness as I zoomed out, so a bit of a mess in steep areas. I guess it would need some of the other files from the full shapefile folder to get attributes, but I understand this would be complex, and it was not the intended use). It will be useful as is for simpler layers and it should save some users some work translating from shp to kml. In other cases kml may be preferred as it does embed some easily editable attributes (such as line color)?

I previously set up OM in emulated memory on an SD card, because that was the way I could get OM v 7.0.12 to use the SD card under Android 6 http://bushwalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=25950">//http://bushwalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=25950. This continued to work until v7.0.18 beta3, but it gives problems with v 7.1.0 rc3. It still works with some things in emulated memory (like offline maps), but not with others (like custom waypoints). Looking at folder settings, I guess it will not find a bunch of other stuff like DEMs, but I have not explicitly tested them yet.



I did not see or find any of the messages about available folders mentioned above.



I got the custom waypoints to work by copying the folder (under Win Explorer) from:

ComputerZTE Blade A462SD cardAndroiddatacom.orux.oruxmapsfilescustomwpts

to:

ComputerZTE Blade A462SD cardAndroiddatacom.orux.oruxmapsbetafilesexternalcustomwpts



OM > Global Settings > Application > Migrate to Ext. SD failed ("No SD found!"). Working through the phone (Settings > Apps > OruxMaps Beta > Storage >Change) allowed a shift to SD, but this caused problems for me that needed an uninstall and reinstall of the OM Beta, so I am not doing it again! Probably there is no need, as all the memory-consuming data really is already in the SD card (still set up as emulated internal memory).



Probably people can get it to work by copying relevant folders as mentioned for custom waypoints above.



I do not know what will happen when new maps are downloaded. Overall it seems tricky for those who have set up SD cards as emulated internal memory under Android 6. Maybe Orux can simplify the upgrade to recognise this better in the official release?

Thanks again Orux,



I learned the overlay method after making the OP. and it is good. It even avoids some unintended consequences of accidental waypoint moves http://www.oruxmaps.com/foro/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=4495">//http://www.oruxmaps.com/foro/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=4495.

Thanks again Orux, it works without  problems  in v7.0.18beta4

All the QTopo 1:25000 pdf mapsheets along the Eastern part of the border between QLD and NSW give this same 'geometry' problem for me in both 7.0.17 and 7.0.18beta3 versions of OM. The overlapping mapsheets from e-Topo (NSW) do not have the problem. Also the QTopo sheets do not have the problem when viewed in Acrobat reader.



As mentioned before, the QTopo maps do not give the geometry problem in OM (beta) after cropping using gdal (but there is some loss in resolution during the transformations).



A good example of the problem is the QTopo Tyalgum sheet vs the e-Topo Tyalgum sheet (ignoring the insert at TL).



Both give the same projection and datum details in gdalinfo; but the QTopo map is stretched N-S when viewed in OM.



I hope that helps.

Thanks Orux! Your explanation helps a lot, and geo-referenced pdf display is also much more capable in the v 7.0.18 beta3.



For example, NSW (e-Topo vector) pdfs now display without blinking on my phone (ZTE A462). There are some residual strange effects at low zoom levels (blank tiles, lower right of the map shown as an insert at upper left) and the maps can be very slow to load (to the point that Android thinks that OM has stopped working), but all of this is probably due to the limited processing power of the phone.



There does seem to be a new problem with QLD (QTopo raster) pdfs. They load with incorrect geometry: grid 'squares' are rectangular (stretched N-S). Also these maps do not transition at the map edge. It is almost as if they have been loaded with the whole mapsheet in the area for the neatline?



With your explanation there is no advantage in cropping, although I guess some enthusiasts might want instead to edit some files to substitute neatlines that do correspond with the map area. The good news for them is that geo-referenced pdfs from gdal do load in OM 7.0.18 beta3. In fact those I cropped from QLD pdfs display with correct grid geometry and transition at the neatline, though OM still displays a white area at bottom and right which is not seen in other spatially-aware viewers (like Acrobat viewer).

I have been experimenting with ways to crop geo-referenced pdf Mapsheets to remove the margin information, so that OM will automatically display map detail (not margin notes) as it moves from one pdf to the next. Several ways might work, but all currently run into hitches in OM. The geo-referenced pdf files that I start with do work in OM.



1. Several pdf cropping programs like pdfscissors or briss produce output that opens in OM, but displays white in some cropped areas (bottom and right in the examples I checked). I appreciate that 'cropping' a pdf just hides the margins, but it gives files that appear as if the margins are removed in other viewers. Could this be implemented in OM?



2. The fastest way when geo-referenced pdfs have appropriate neatline data is to use gdalwarp to cut to the neatline, then gdal_translate to get back to geo-referenced pdf format. Although these files do open correctly (with spatial referencing) in other spatially-aware viewers, OM gives the error "> Can not find GEO info!". Could OM be made to recognise geo-referenced pdfs from gdal?



3. This may be more problematic, but because each geo-referenced pdf is a separate map, OM only shows one at a time. As a user approaches the edge of one pdf map, the adjacent map area is blank (grey); until the edge of the current map passes the screen centre-point whereupon OM shifts to the adjoining map, but the map area just traversed goes blank. It would be good if the pdf maps could be tiled as a more seamless mosaic; for example by loading all those 'in view' on the screen rather than just the one covering the screen centrepoint.



The reason I experiment with this is that in some areas geo-referenced pdf maps have better resolution than available wms maps or openandromaps. People experienced with digital maps have no solution that I can implement, so it seems like time to ask the OM developer.

Thanks adilor78! I could not find this anywhere in the manual. At least now I can move the jumping waypoint back where it belongs.



For me, this is another good reason to display waypoints on the map via a kml overlayer rather than using "Load into active route", which seems to have replaced "See on map" from older versions. At least then accidental waypoint moves are not permanent.



It is good to have a way to move waypoints, but moving has such serious consequences that personally I would rather get some warning first - like having the option to move pop up when the waypoint is pressed rather than just having it jump automatically to a new position (which for me happens accidentally, and maybe unnoticed with the current arrangement in OM). From memory, those kinds of safeguards operate in Mapsource / Basecamp.



But with your explanation, I guess it is a feature request.

I find the 'standard' UTM 1km grid to be very useful when hiking. It is built into some geopdf mapsheets, but not into other maps that I have tried in OM (like OpenAndro vector maps or wms mosaic raster maps).



I know that OM can import maps based on UTM, and it can show waypoint coordinates in UTM, but I have not found any way to display a UTM grid on a map in OM. If I am not missing an existing feature it would be great to add (maybe as an option in overlayers?)

Not sure if it is a bug, but if I long-press on a displayed waypoint, it jumps some arbitrary distance to the NW (with a vibration alert).



If I am displaying the WPT via "Load into active route", which seems to be the new way to "See on map", the changed coordinates are permanent in the waypoint record. This is problematic, as it is easy to accidentally long-press a WPT, and there is no "undo".



If the WPT is in a KML layer, it still jumps, but the changed location is not saved, so the WPT appears in its correct position after overlay remove and reload.



Running OM 7.0.17 on ZTE A462 under stock-standard Marshmallow 6.0.1.

In case it helps the developer, I also get the blinking (or blink off then slow or never redisplay map after attempted zoom) with some (NSW) but not all (QLD) tested geopdf files. ZTE A462 running OM 7.0.17 under stock-standard Marshmallow 6.0.1.



I notice that the QLD maps (which display without problems for me) are pure raster and were produced in ArcMap, whereas the NSW maps (which give problems for me) have some vector layers and were produced in ArcCatalog. In fact the NSW maps also confuse Nitro PDF viewer, which I used to see these things.

Sorry for the delayed reply. Here is a section of imported gpx. The forum does not allow me to post the screenshot (attachment) to show the display in OM.



 <wpt lat="-28.29277318" lon="153.1635695">

    <time>2011-02-20T04:30:00Z</time>

    <name>AlbertExp</name>

    <cmt>Lamington National Park</cmt>

    <desc>Lamington National Park</desc>

    <type>Campsite</type>

    <extensions>

      <gpxx:WaypointExtension>

      </gpxx:WaypointExtension>

    </extensions>

  </wpt>



  <wpt lat="-28.26478642" lon="153.1432694">

    <time>2008-01-29T11:27:06Z</time>

    <name>AlbertHmk</name>

    <type>Campsite</type>

    <extensions>

      <gpxx:WaypointExtension>

      </gpxx:WaypointExtension>

    </extensions>

  </wpt>



  <wpt lat="-28.26349402" lon="153.1394536">

    <name>AlbertN</name>

    <cmt>River camp below LW saddle</cmt>

    <desc>River camp below LW saddle</desc>

    <type>Campsite</type>

    <extensions>

      <gpxx:WaypointExtension>

      </gpxx:WaypointExtension>

    </extensions>

  </wpt>