Mkgmap for Java 1.5

Hi, I have a Mac with a PowerPC processor. That means that AFAIK it is impossible to install higher versions of Java than 1.5. So I wonder if it is still possible to find and download an older version of mkgmap that will run on my computer? I understand the latest version that supported Java 1.5 was mkgmap r1195.

You can install Ubuntu or another linux, then you have Java 1.6. or try running openjdk.

Else you could simply compile 1195 yourself. You can get it via SVN. However 1195 is really really bad compared to the current versions, and modern style-files will not work properly (as rules are read in without order).

Thank you, extremecarver! I tried to look into your suggestions. Ubuntu and Linux are both pretty much unknown territories to me. As I understand it, I’d have to shell out quite a bit of money to be able to install either of them. Correct? I’m running OS X 10.4 (which is the highest OS X available for PowerPC Macs) and Apple seem to have discontinued Boot Camp for 10.4? So I take it I would have to buy Parallel Desktops, VMware Fusion, or something like that (if they even support my set-up?) Well, honestly, in that case I’d rather save that money towards a new computer…

If 1195 is as bad as you say, it’s probably not what I need anyway. I’ll probably be better off just downloading the available maps and make do with them.

Thanks anyway! At least I know my options now.

No, installing Ubuntu is free. You just need to download and install it. Either just trash Maxosx or make it a parallel installation. There is no need for boot camp.

Oh, I didn’t realize that! Thank you for the info! And I got the impression from the Ubuntu forum that they ditched PPC:s in 2007 or so … Maybe I’ll try to make a parallel installation after having read up on the details a bit more. I’m far from a computer savvy, so I’m a bit intimidated… But there’s no way I’m going to trash OS X on my main computer as I have way too many softwares installed for this platform. Or maybe I’ll just get out my old iBook G3 which is currently only collecting dust anyway and install Ubuntu or something on it for the odd occasions it may be useful.

But I actually think I already found a work-around for my immediate needs! You see, I just bought my first GPS a couple of weeks ago and started getting into OSM and doing a bit of map editing there. I used Lambertus’ site to download maps to my Garmin Dakota. Very convenient to bee able to choose freely what tiles to combine and then get a finished .img file to just drop into the Dakota! But I’ve not been 100% satisfied by the rendering on my GPSr (paths and tracks look the same, no difference between forests and farms, and buildings and most amenities don’t show up at all or with inappropriate icons etc.) so I started to look into .TYP files and found the online editor (http://ati.land.cz/gps/typdecomp/editor.cgi) and Gmapibuilder to combine the maps and TYPs. I haven’t been able to get this to work for the Lambertus maps, though, as the Gmapibuilder requires .tdb files. Then I found your excellent MTB maps. They together with your TYP files are good for most of my needs, even if I may want to tweak the TYPs a bit for my personal needs later on. So a big thank you for that! (I also believe the styles are good, but I haven’t yet completely understood what the styles governs and what the typs do.) Anyway, the problems I saw were

  1. that it is only possible to download and install a single country at a time, which is a bit limiting for international trips
  2. that I still have to wait for the next update to get my recently added edits to the map.
    That’s why I wanted to be able to create the maps myself in the first place. But now I’ve just found out that it is actually possible to have several .img files installed simultanously on the Dakota and that they don’t all have to be named gmapsupp.img! That solves the first issue completely and I guess I can live with the second one.

Regarding the TYP files, I have not yet tried tweaking them, and I find them rather good for me as is. But I have a couple of questions, and since I’ve been lucky enough to get a reply from the one person on the planet who is probably most likely to know the answer I’ll shoot, though it’s off-topic. So, here goes: I noticed that the TYP files at openmtbmaps for the different countries have different names. I thought a TYP file was just some general definition of how different objects are shown and not related to the maps themselves until they are combined into gmapi or img file. So I’m wondering are the classe.TYP and the clasno.TYP for instance any different? I’ve also failed to apply other TYP files to your maps. Actually I’ve only tried one. I downloaded the CF1400.TYP from http://www.cferrero.net/maps/guide_to_TYPs.html (It was the first one I stumbled upon and I assume it is a functioning TYP file.) and I tried to apply it to the MTBmap of Sweden that I downloaded from you yesterday, but I was not able to do that using the Gmapibuilder. The TYP didn’t seem todo anything at all to the map. Do you have any idea why that is? My workflow is:
• Download a zip-file from your site (e.g. mtbsweden.7z.zip)
• Unzip
• Run the tdb, img:s, and .TYP through Gmapibuilder
• Run the just created .gmapi file through MapManager
• Install an gmapsupp.img file from the .gmapi file on the Dakota 20 using MapInstall
• (Possibly rename the gmapsupp.img something individual using mass storage mode to be able to install additional .img maps.)

You can only use Typs that are designed for the style-file. The actual name is less important, but I want them to be different, in case someone throws several maps into the same folder, as every TYP needs unique FID/PID fitting the maps. Also ati.land destroys my TYPfiles. You need to use maptk. You can install as many countries as you like via Mapsource/Basecamp/Qlandkarte GT, you just have to send them once all together.

Thanks for the explanation! I’ll read the manuals and see if it might be worth getting Linux to be able install maptk. I’ve also downloaded Basecamp and Qlandkarte GT to see if they are useful to me. As I said, I’m totally new to this whole GPS and Garmin universe.

Honestly, I actually think it’s mostly an advantage to have each country as a separate file on the Dakota. That way I don’t have to spend time and bandwidth updating more maps than those I actually plan to use in the immediate future, and it’s not like I would install all 192 countries anyway. And I don’t care if my Norway map is not up-to-date during the 51 weeks a year I’m not there.

That’s my TYP file, so if you need help using it, just shout. As Felix notes, TYP files are designed to work along with an associated package of mkgmap style rules, and must also have the same Family ID as your map. If you want to use CF1400.TYP, you will need to make sure your map has family ID 1400, and also use the custom style that you can download from the same website (http://www.cferrero.net/maps/downloads/charlie.zip).