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Read this if you have trouble downloading map data using MapLoader

Before going abroad for a vacation last week I decided to download map data for the vacation destination to my N95. I thought it would be pretty neat to be able to use the GPS while vacationing (it was! More on this later…) without paying roaming GPRS/3G tarifs to download map data

I quickly ran into some problems when attempting to download map data using Nokia's MapLoader application, however. The cause of the problems are my upgrades to the »Maps« application on the phone and the MapLoader application - I have upgraded both independently of one another, and several times.

On the phone I have upgraded to the latest version of »Maps« - v1.2 - but when I last downloaded map data, I had v1.1 installed. I also used the previous MapLoader version for downloading, but before downloading anything this time, I upgraded to MapLoader v1.2.1 - the latest version.

So, without further adue I hooked up my N95 to my computer using the USB cable and then started MapLoader. I had no problem downloading map data, but I noticed two things which did not seem right: First, the map data did not appear to be of sufficient size and second, map data was downloaded to the 'Private\20001f63\diskcache' folder on the memory card. After reading up a bit on the latest »Maps« version, I knew map data was supposed to end up in a new folder - the 'cities\diskcache' folder on the memory card.

The difference in map data size is clear if the following two screen shots are compared (both taken from MapLoader v1.2.1):

maploader_oldmaploader_new 

The first screen shot shows the size of map data for Denmark (25.4 MB) before I did anything, while the next screen shot shows the size of map data (28.4 MB) after going through the steps listed below.

In other words, it seems that unless action is taken - e.g. using the steps listed below, but it can also be done manually - »Maps« v1.2 will continue to use the "old" map data stored in the "old" map data folder.

After some "trial & error" I came up with the following procedure to have MapLoader v1.2.1 + »Maps« v1.2 download "updated" map data to the "proper" folder:

  1. Connect phone to computer using USB cable.
  2. Start MapLoader and use it to delete all map data on phone (map data is deleted from the 'Private\20001f63\diskcache').
  3. Disconnect phone from computer.
  4. Start »Maps« and let the application download a whiff of map data (for instance by zooming in on the map) - this step assures that the 'cities\diskcache' folder is created with the proper structure on the memory card.
  5. Re-connect phone to computer using USB cable.
  6. Start MapLoader and download the desired map data (map data is now downloaded to the 'cities\diskcache' folder).
  7. Disconnect the phone from the computer and check that »Maps« does in fact use the downloaded map data and does not attempt to download data.
  8. Re-connect phone to computer using USB cable.
  9. Delete the 'diskcache' folder from 'Private\20001f63′.

After completing these steps my combination of »Maps« v1.2 and MapLoader v1.2.1 should now be all set to receive future map data updates.

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