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Review: Four GPS Software Packages for Linux

I picked up a new Pharos iGPS-500 GPS Receiver from Newegg.com earlier this week for under 60 bones. When I opened it up, found out exactly how absolutely TINY it is. The “Actual Size” denotation on the box is slightly misleading fraudulent. Although the GPS portion of the device is small, the USB to serial […]

I picked up a new Pharos iGPS-500 GPS Receiver from Newegg.com earlier this week for under 60 bones. When I opened it up, found out exactly how absolutely TINY it is. The “Actual Size” denotation on the box is slightly misleading fraudulent. Although the GPS portion of the device is small, the USB to serial adapter that plugs into the GPS unit doubles the “Actual Size in Real Life,” that the marketing droids happily ignored.

That minor quibble aside, I don’t really care how big it is. It could be the size of a banana phone and I would still use it – as long as it was able to find my current location and do it quickly. This USB GPS unit claims to be one of the fastest GPS units out there, sporting the new Sirf III (or SiRFstar III) chipset.
Pharos PB010 USB iGPS-500 GPS Receiver
According to Wikipedia the Sirf III chipset inside this Pharos iGPS-500 is capable of acquiring and maintaining a signal lock in urban or densely covered forest environments. This is great news for me personally, since I’m always lugging around a laptop when I go hiking in the forest.

It is pretty quick to lock onto a location when I’m inside. In fact, I have yet to do any driving tests with it yet (too busy compiling this article) although I’m sure it’ll work just fine. With this particular model, you can even purchase a Bluetooth adapter for it after the fact and use it with something other than a computer – some smartphones have GPS software available and will work just fine with a Bluetooth connection. Pretty rad, if I do say so myself.

Getting it working in Ubuntu Hardy required a bit of research. The information I found assumes a pretty high level of knowledge, and there’s not any centralized location for getting GPS units working that I could find.

Hardware Installation:
I plugged in the unit, and ran dmesg | grep tty to make sure it was detected:

usb 2-2: pl2303 converter now attached to ttyUSB0

This means the device is available at /dev/ttyUSB0 – pretty simple.

Installing software:
I’m testing four different GPS software suites for Linux: GPS Drive, Roadnav, Navit and VIking. GPS Drive and Viking are right in the Ubuntu repository. Roadnav has a debian package available on their website that worked quite well. Last but not least there’s Navit, which requires installing from source. I’m assuming that the person reading this wants to test out all four software suites. They each have their own strengths and weaknesses, and it’s best to test out each platform before settling on a choice.

# apt-get install gpsd python-gps gpsdrive viking gpsd-clients libgps-dev libgtk2.0-dev glutg3-dev libcegui-mk2-dev libxmu-dev libsdl-dev libpcre3-dev libspeechd-dev libtiff-dev libdevil-dev build-essential subversion automake

Phew

Now that we’ve got all the software we need to get any of the four programs working, making sure the device works with gpsd is a good starting point. gpsd is an abstraction layer between a compatible device and the mapping software. If your device works with gpsd, you’ll be all set. The reason we need gpsd is because there’s no standard for communication for GPS units. Each company has their own way of doing things. Magellan, DeLorme and Garmin never got together to create an open standard for communication and gpsd is the savior that converts each different GPS protocol into something each piece of mapping software can understand easily.

$ gpsd -N -n -D 2 /dev/ttyUSB0
gpsd: launching (Version 2.36)
gpsd: listening on port gpsd
gpsd: successfully connected to the DBUS system bus
gpsd: running with effective group ID 0
gpsd: running with effective user ID 0
gpsd: opening GPS data source at ‘/dev/ttyUSB1’
gpsd: speed 9600, 8N1
gpsd: garmin_gps not active.
gpsd: gpsd_activate(1): opened GPS (5)
gpsd: client 127.0.0.1 (0) connect on fd 6
gpsd: client(0) turned on raw mode
gpsd: speed 4800, 8N1

Looking good. Let’s make sure that gpsprof can access it.

$ gpsprof -f cycle
gpsprof: looking for fix…first fix in 0.42sec, gathering samples……(27.42 sec) done.
Cycle report Fri Apr 4 04:07:49 2008, Generic NMEA, 4800N1, cycle 1s
The sentence set emitted by this GPS is: GSA RMC GGA GSV
GSA: is emitted once a second.
RMC: is probably emitted once a second.
GGA: is emitted once a second.
GSV: is emitted once every 5 seconds.
Send cycle is once per second.

If all is well with gpsd and gpsprof, we’re all set and ready to rock and roll.

I tested out GPS Drive first – it’s right in the Ubuntu repositories. GPS Drive works fine right out of the box. The maps it uses are fairly good, but could be higher resolution. For an application that’s got “Drive” in the name, it’s got a not-so-driver-friendly interface, and the routing portion is klunky. Otherwise, it’s a nice basic application that has a cool indicator in the status bar for how many GPS signals it’s caught onto.

Next, I downloaded Roadnav‘s debian installer for Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon 7.10 from their website and installed it, had no problems running in 8.04. Roadnav has a really slick looking 3D view. It’s got a pleasing interface, and is suitable for a lower resolution screen. Directions and route finding are dismal at best. I would say that it’s pretty average in most ways – nothing sticks out as great except the 3D viewport.

Next, we’re taking a look at Navit. If you’re a new Linux user or otherwise technophobic, Avert your eyes and skip on down to the next software package, or just go down to the nearest 7-11 and pickup a hardcopy map. It’ll be easier and definitely faster. Navit doesn’t come with any maps by default, nor does it allow downloading maps from the web automatically, which is a huge disadvantage. Here’s the compile instructions for Navit on Ubuntu – should work in both 7.10 and 8.04… watch out for that first step – it’s a doozy!

wget http://superb-east.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/navit/navit-0.0.4.tar.gz
wget http://superb-west.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/quesoglc/quesoglc-0.7.1.tar.gz
svn co http://libgarmin.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/libgarmin/libgarmin/dev libgarmin
tar -xzvf navit-0.0.4.tar.gz
tar -xzvf quesoglc-0.7.1.tar.gz
cd quesoglc-0.7.1 && ./configure –prefix=/usr
sudo make && sudo make install
cd../libgarmin && ./autosh.sh
./configure
sudo make && sudo make install
cd../navit-0.0.4
./configure
sudo make && sudo make install

I added libgarmin support in those instructions – just in case you’ve got a Garmin GPS you’re working with – can’t hurt to have extra support just in case. 🙂 Navit doesn’t come with maps, other than the developers’ hometown of Munich that gets downloaded during the compile process. We probably don’t need a map of Munich, so I went and downloaded a free online US state map of Utah. Navit does a pretty nifty thing here – it can use three different types of maps: OpenStreetMaps, Grosser Reiseplaner (Eurpean), and Garmin. OpenStreetMaps is a free offering for the USA, so that’s what I’ll be using. So now that we’ve got it Navit compiled, there’s one step left – configuration. Probably harder than copy and pasting stuff in, but if you want to get it working, have at it:
Create a folder to store Navit configuration settings:
mkdir ~/.navit
The Utah Map I downloaded from the above link was bzipped, used this command to extract:
bunzip2 Utah.bz2
To parse the map into a format usable by Navit, use the osm2navit tool and copy the resulting file into our configuration directory:
cat Utah.osm | osm2navit ~/.navit/Utah.bin && cp Utah.bin ~/.navit
Configure Navit properly for our location:
mkdir ~/.navit && cp ~/navit-0.0.4/src/navit.xml ~/.navit
The Navit webiste suggests visiting an online mapping application to get your current latitude and longitude so that Navit will startup centered on your general location. I find it’s a little bit easier to Google for “latitude longitude cityname”
Open up navit.xml in the editor of your choice.
Around line 16 you’ll see this:

<navit center=”4808 N 1134 E” zoom=”256″ tracking=”1″ cursor=”1″ orientation=”0″>

I changed the center part to this to point it at Salt Lake City, Utah

center=”4071 N -111 W”

Around line 66 you’ll see the following:

<map type=”binfile” enabled=”yes” data=”$NAVIT_SHAREDIR/maps/osm_bbox_11.3,47.9,11.7,48.2.bin”/>

I changed that line to reflect the map file location:

<map type=”binfile” enabled=”yes” data=”~/.navit/Utah.bin” />

And…. Done! launch navit and you should have maps for your location (assuming you downloaded something other than Utah maps) and it should be centered on your location (assuming you properly wrote in your latitude and longitude). Hot damn. Navit is great and all, but I’m not quite sure it’s ready. It needs some spit shine and polish before I would recommend using it.

On the other end of the spectrum, there’s a brilliant peice of software aptly named Viking. Historically speaking, Vikings are considered an extinct society of explorers and conquerors hailing from Minnesota who wear purple and yellow uniforms.

Viking – the software – is fantastic. It’s the only program tested today that will download Google Map tiles automagically to render a map. This solves the problem of having bad maps. You can even go as far as downloading maps and saving them to your hard drive. This shatters the Terms of Service for Google Maps in at least two ways:

The Service may not be used for or with real time route guidance (including without limitation, turn-by-turn route guidance and other routing that is enabled through the use of a sensor)
You may not use Google Maps in a manner which gives you or any other person access to mass downloads or bulk feeds of numerical latitude and longitude coordinates.

Sorry Google! However, this violation doesn’t quite stop me from recommending Viking. It’s got some neat features such as multiple map layers, all three types of maps from Google (Street, Hybrid, and Satellite) as well as the ability to import data from GPS units that have built-in tracking functions. Also it has a routing function that pulls waypoint data from Google. I didn’t find myself wishing for any features from another GPS package – I think it’s the best free offering available for the general purpose of tracking where you are and easily getting good directions – as long as you have an internet connection.

I’ve read many opinions from varying biases that say GPS software for Linux is not up to par with software developed for Windows or Mac.  I would have to disagree – Viking does what I need and does it well. Did I miss any free GPS software for Linux that should have been included here? Please let me know via email, comments, or twitter.

37 replies on “Review: Four GPS Software Packages for Linux”

Great descriptions and instructions. Thank You. I have been searching for something for my GPS as that is the last piece of Windows software that I have to get replaced. I just tried Viking and like you say, it looks great. I am finding it a little difficult to use and haven’t found any GOOD instructions yet. Their site doesn’t seem to supply much in detail. Any suggestions on where to look for documents, or a future post with some would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again for a very good article and I will be back.
Bob Jones

From what I can tell, you need to be running Hardy Heron for Viking to be the in repository. This Message will self destruct April 24th, 2008.

Good job, I think I’m going to pick up one of those Pharos chips. I’m stuck on this though:

“Getting it working in Ubuntu Hardy required a bit of research. The information I found assumes a pretty high level of knowledge, and there’s not any centralized location for getting GPS units working that I could find”

After further reading it looks like it worked no prob. What was so hard?

Well done. I have looked at Viking and it seems to be a very good program. It is difficult at first look and I haven’t gotten to really spend time with it yet. It is what I will probably use. I would like to find something for my Laptop to use with my Garmin GPSMAP 76S. Another one that looks like it might be good (again I haven’t really gotten into it yet) is Qlandkarte which is included with Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron. If you haven’t looked at it yet I think you may want to check it out.
Thanks for a good, very informative post.
Bob Jones

I get the same thing with Viking (a blank screen with a cross hair). However, I do not have my GPS device hooked into the computer yet. The Viking description sounds like it is a good tool. Can some one point to the instructions on how to use it?

I have the same problem (blank screen with crosshair) with my GPS up and running. The GPSD works fine according to gpsprof, but Viking just won’t start plotting the data, after clicking “Start Realtime Tracking” in the GPS Layer

I still haven’t given it t test but if you go to Layers > New Map Layer > Open Street Map (Osmarender) you will get a map. Then zoom out to get to the full US map and back in to your area.
Bob Jones

Navit, for all of it’s difficulty in setting up at this point, seems to be the most promising in terms of functionality in car. After several hours of toiling, i now have voice navigation, 3d mapping, and a custom skin that is pretty nice looking. Compiling from source didn’t work for me, so i just installed the provided deb and then fscked (haha) with the navit.xml file.

It is really sweet.

First let me thank you for solving a two year search for the right info to use my ambicom usb-gps and Garmin usb 18 units. And thanks for the great article.

Hi,

Thia article is really awesome. I have Holux GM-210 receiver. To read that data i am trying to install gpsd by using your review. I installed all the required softwares and i checked whether device is detecting or not. Its detecting fine and checked gpsd, it also fine.
but when i am trying to get data from below command,

$gpsprof -f cycle

No data is coming, and its loading lot of time. Please guide me, why it is like this. where i can see my gpsd data log. I searched for saving gpsd data in mysql, i got script geoHist..by using this i want to update mysql db for every 10 second…please guide me why my device not giving any output when i used gpsprof.

“Viking. Historically speaking, Vikings are considered an extinct society of explorers and conquerors hailing from Minnesota who wear purple and yellow uniforms.”

THE VIKINGS ORIGINATED FROM SCANDINAVIA (NORTHERN EUROPE). The earliest date given for a Viking raid is 787 AD when, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a group of men from Norway sailed to Portland, in Dorset. There, they were mistaken for merchants by a royal official. They murdered him when he tried to get them to accompany him to the king’s manor to pay a trading tax on their goods.

Accordig to Viking’s site https://launchpad.net/viking I think they are not violating Google’s services.

* Preparing tracks and waypoints for trips using maps from services such as Googlemaps, Terrasever. You only need to upload the data to your GPS before you leave. The maps together with your tracks and waypoints can also be printed and used during the trip.

So I guess it’s OK, because data isn’t downloaded in real-time while doing the navigation.

Great article, indeed.
Did’nt miss any software, on the contrary.
As of viking I have a promlem:
Downloading Google maps seems to be working since the corresponding directory and subdirectories are beeing made. However they are all empty.
Anyone a clue ?

Thanks

René.

I got bluetooth GPS (not pharos) working with gpsd. It is not so easy as with USB/Serial as the device appears after adding it using rfcomm. See some linux howto on bluetooth. When you get your gpsd working, then “this” should be working.

I could not get the “converter now attached” message until I did this:

$ sudo modprobe garmin_gps ; # the missing piece!

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Oh my goodness! Incredible article dude! Thanks,
However I am experiencing difficulties with your RSS. I don’t understand the reason why I am unable to join it. Is there anybody else having the same RSS problems? Anyone who knows the solution will you kindly respond? Thanx!!

QGIS has a GPS module that would be very handy,not sure how well implemented. Best open source GIS mapping system, hwever.

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