Help / FAQ

[Jon Hacking]

Originally Posted by tuddy

Thanks Jon,

In that case is there a link to download a previous version that defaults to ON???

Not that I know of, Tuddy. And if you used an older version, you'd lose all the recent performance benefits (which are significant) & bug fixes (ditto), & you'd lose any support, even on here.

Really, the best solution is to file a Feature Request on Flyspray (the OpenCPN bug-tracking system). You'll have to register to file a bug, but it's free & easy & won't generate any spam.

Once you do that, copy the link to the bug & post it back here (along with title & text) so that folks know to vote for it & can get there easily to do so (don't forget to vote for it yourself).

Ask for a configuration switch so mbTiles can default to ON or OFF.

I know of at least 2 other boats that would vote for it, & I'll even vote for it myself, as I think it's a reasonable request, even if I wouldn't use it (much).

[Jon Hacking]

I may have found a bug. Or strangeness, anyway... This is on Win10.

If you're:

• Navigating (boat is moving)
• in "Follow the boat" mode (boat icon in lower right) &
• "Look-ahead" mode (top of the Hamburger, may not be necessary?)
• with "Zoom to cursor" checked (Options, Display)
• while you're following a Route, &
• you decide you want to move one of your route waypoints, so you double click a waypoint to open the dialog so you can move it,

then strange things happen.

The system seems to want to center the waypoint but also wants to position the display so the boat is where it's supposed to be (I was heading north when I found this).

I don't know the spec here, so I don't know what's supposed to happen, but I can tell you that it's quite hard moving the waypoint to where you want it when this is happening.

I think "Follow the Boat" should be temporarily suspended while the Waypoint Properties Dialog is visible, so the display isn't jumping around while you're trying to (re)position the waypoint.

This gives rise to the possibility of some nitwit leaving the properties dialog up & wondering why the display won't go into Follow the Boat mode, but I don't think this is a big problem.

I suppose a workaround is to turn off Follow the Boat mode manually whenever you need to move a waypoint. But the code really should be smarter than that. Trying to position a waypoint while the map is jumping around is pretty silly.

[tkeithlu]

5.0 was running fine until a few days ago. I've loaded 5.6.0 several times on two different laptops, and every time it opens without the menu bar. Tools, Options, user interface, show menu bar doesn't help. I can't finish configuring GPS without it. What am I doing wrong?

[nohal]

Originally Posted by tkeithlu

5.0 was running fine until a few days ago. I've loaded 5.6.0 several times on two different laptops, and every time it opens without the menu bar. Tools, Options, user interface, show menu bar doesn't help. I can't finish configuring GPS without it. What am I doing wrong?

Screenshot?

You do NOT need menu bar to configure the GPS or anything else - There is no functionality in OpenCPN that is only accessible via the menu system. Namely the connections configuration is primarily accessible via the Toolbox->Connections.

[lambrettaman]

Arrow Keys Change Orientation

Is there a setting to change the direction the screen moves when you use the Arrow Keys to pan the charts?

[bcn]

In which context this does make sense?

[lambrettaman]

Whenever I am I viewing a chart and want to pan left right up or down. I'm partial to the "Australian" way of scrolling and when I press an arrow to move the chart up or down or side to side it always goes the opposite way for me. I would like to be able to change the way it moves like one can in the settings for many laptops and apps.

[edgar]

Hello!
Hopefully I can find someone with a better sense for this than me, although my information will be lacking it is unfortunately everything I have access to at this moment.

We have recently replaced the Computer installed for navigation in a friends boat, this computer now runs OpenCPN as does a previous system installed in my fathers boat. This rig consists of a simple NUC-Computer and a USB-Hub, both fed with constant stablized power.
The Setup into the PC in this new one runs two Com-Ports, both which respond with the program, however, in regards to how it all works..
We get readings/response from everything, (depth, COG, SOG, and so on and so on). However we cannot get a GPSSignal, no response whatsoever, the GPS is not used by anything else, it's running through a regular USBcable, having been tried into both the PC and the HUB, yet without result.
Please, can someone smarter than me give me some kind of advice in this matter?

Best Regards

[nohal]

What operating system are you using? Did you install the drivers for the USB chip used in the cable connecting the GPS (Especially if you are running Windows this might be your problem)?
And of course as your info is lacking any usable details, it is kind of hard to guess what your problem is.

[BluegillBoy]

Follow the help manual for how to set up the COM port. I've found that the manual embedded in OCPN is a bit better for this than the one on the website. And note that while a baud rate of 4800 is usually fine, I've had systems - dependent on OS, hardware, brand of GPS - that require 9600 or even 38400 baud rates.

[edgar]

Originally Posted by nohal

What operating system are you using? Did you install the drivers for the USB chip used in the cable connecting the GPS (Especially if you are running Windows this might be your problem)?
And of course as your info is lacking any usable details, it is kind of hard to guess what your problem is.

We are running Windows 10, fully connected to the Internet during the whole setup. All drivers are installed, although some might very well be missing! We installed several different drivers for several parts of the system, due to not being sure what the chip in the cable might be we haven't been able to install specific drivers for it. The GPS show in the Devicemanager as having an issue, and Windows can't detect a driver for it through the automatic search.
Are you aware of a way to perhaps identify the cable or chip through the OS?

I was most likely very vague on what the issue is! The core of the issue is that we cannot get a GPS signal from the boats GPS into OpenCPN, I wish I could explain better, but at this moment I don't have more information than that I am afraid

[nohal]

OK, so if the USB GPS device si shown as "having an issue" in the Windows device manager, it means the driver is not there and we of course can't expect the GPS to work at all...

So to start with: What GPS and cable are we talking about (In case the cable and the GPS are two different items)? Or in case it is a GPS that already came with a USB connector, what GPS it is?

[edgar]

This is unfortunately where my lack of knowledge is most apparent. Dads friend had this GPS system installed somewhere around 10 years ago, meaning I have not the foggiest idea, he can't remember nor find the paperwork written by the company who did the install. Making this issue ALOT larger than it has to be, it is also making me realise the lack of information I provide is making this issue unsolveable by normal means. Unfortunately I don't have access to the boat or the PC until Friday / Saturday the coming weekend..

[nohal]

Yes, without access to the system, we can't help you much.

When you get to the boat, this tool will help you find out what the device actually is: https://www.uwe-sieber.de/usbtreeview_e.html#download

It will probably use a FTDI, Prolific or Silicon Labs chip. Drivers to be found from

FTDI
Prolific
Silicon Labs CP210X

[edgar]

Originally Posted by nohal

Yes, without access to the system, we can't help you much.

When you get to the boat, this tool will help you find out what the device actually is: https://www.uwe-sieber.de/usbtreeview_e.html#download

It will probably use a FTDI, Prolific or Silicon Labs chip. Drivers to be found from

FTDI
Prolific
Silicon Labs CP210X

Thank you so much, will make sure to check this out and get back to you with the results, thank you so much!