Unlock the Windows CE environment on a V7 Navigation 1000 GPS device.

The V7 1000 is a great, low cost ($300 CAN), and portable GPS. Out of the box, the major features include a MyGuide navigation system, an MP3 Player and a Movie Player (supports DivX).

There are, however, a few quirks with the device. For example: the Time Zone settings do not seem to stick and the "M" button is not very useful. It was searching for a solution to these issues that lead me into my V7 hacking adventure.

Warning: Modifying your V7 1000 in the manner described within this instructable may void your warranty and could permanently damage your device.

Step 1: Overview

The V7 comes with an AC power Adapter, a car power adapter, a suction cup vehicle mount, a CD with manuals and various data files, and a 1GB SD card (loaded with software and maps).

Other than access to a PC and to a SD Card reader, no additional hardware is required. In addition, the modifications presented here do not require any hardware modification. There is already a pretty good tutorial for adding a USB port to the device available here.

This instructable will cover the following steps:

Accessing Windows Explorer
Fixing the M button "bug"
Speeding up "Fly Over" mode
Accessing the Operating System

Much of the information presented here is not my own work. It is a result of collecting info from various sources across the internet, most of which is targeted at similar devices from other manufacturers. The techniques have been adapted to the specific environment of the V7 1000 device and to my personal preferences. The GPSpassion forum is a great resource for more information.

Step 2: Accessing Windows Explorer - Part 1

To access Windows Explorer, you will need to edit the addons.txt file, which is located in the root of the SD card that comes with the V7. Just load the SD card on your PC and use your favourite text editing software. The original content of the file is:

[modules]Games = "icons/games.bmp", "", 0Navigate = "",  "\\Flash Disk\\myguide\\myguide.exe"[Games]Solitaire= "",  "\\Storage Card\\games\\solitaire\\solitaire.exe"Flux= "",  "\\Storage Card\\games\\flux\\flux.exe"Asia = "",  "\\Storage Card\\games\\asia\\asia.exe"Arvale = "",  "\\Storage Card\\games\\arvale\\arvale.exe"

Add the line

Explorer = "",  "\\"

to the end of the file (below the "Arvale" line). Insert the SD card in the V7 and enter the Games menu. You should now see a button labeled "Explorer". Clicking the button will load Explorer on your Windows CE device.

Step 3: Accessing Windows Explorer - Part 2

Having access to Explorer through the Games menu is good, but not necessarily the most convenient - it is only accessible if the SD card is inserted. To make access to Explorer a little bit more permanent, we need to add it to the on-board flash.

Before editing files in the "Flash Disk" directory, I recommend copying the entire contents of the folder to the SD card. Next, transfer the "Flash Disk" contents from the SD card to your PC.

Find the IGOPATH.TXT file. This file contains the configuration information for the main menu and multimedia menu; it is formatted much the same way as the addons.txt file, the contents are:

[pre_init]LangSyncOn = "\\flash disk\\langsync.exe"[pre_quit]LangSyncOff = "\\flash disk\\langsync.exe"[modules]Settings = "icons/settings.bmp",  "settings", 1Multimedia = "icons/media.bmp",  "Multimedia", 0[Multimedia]Picture= "",  "\\Flash DIsk\\XImage\\XImage.exe"Movie= "",  "\\Flash DIsk\\XMovie\\XMovie.exe"Music= "",  "\\Flash DIsk\\XMp3\\XMp3.exe"

Again, just add the line

Explorer= "",  "\\"

to the end of the file. Copy the modified file back to the SD card and save it to the "Flash Disk" folder on the V7 device (overwrite the original). The explorer menu option will now appear in the Multimedia menu. You can now restore addons.txt to its original form.

Step 4: Fixing the M Button "bug"

We can get the "M" button to act as one might expect (return to main menu) in the MyGuide software by editing another file from the "Flash Disk" folder.

I assume that you have already copied the contents of Flash Disk to your PC. Find the "\Flash Disk\MyGuide\" directory. Extract the Data.zip file (the one in the "MyGuide" subdirectory, not from the root of the Flash Disk). Find the file "config\keybind.txt".

Open keybind.txt and locate the

[CARPOINTA1000]

section. Add the line

UP="MAINMENU"

The section should look like this:

[CARPOINTA1000]UP="MAINMENU"39="ZOOMIN_DISCRETE"37="ZOOMOUT_DISCRETE"

Overwrite the original keybind.txt file from the Data.zip and copy the updated zip archive to the SD card. Insert the SD card in the V7. Using Explorer, copy the Data.zip file from the SD card and navigate to "\Flash Disk\MyGuide\". Paste the file into this directory to overwrite the original file.

Be sure to copy it to the correct location, do not overwrite the Data.zip file in "\Flash Disk\".

The "M" button will now return the MyGuide software to the main menu, when pressed.

Step 5: Speeding Up the "Fly Over" Mode

When a route has been calculated, the MyGuide software will allow you to preview the route in a Fly Over mode. This is very convenient, but can be painfully slow.

Speeding up the fly over is as simple as editing another text file found on the Flash Disk. On your PC, find SYS.TXT in the "Flash Disk\MyGuide" folder.

In the [debug] section of the file, change the line

slowsim=1

slowsim=0

The debug section should now look like:

[debug]earth=0slowsim=0loop_sim=1

Save your changes and transfer SYS.TXT back to the \Flash Disk\MyGuide" folder on the V7. Flyover mode will now run much quicker.

Step 6: Accessing the Operating System - Part 1

The next step to hacking the V7 Navigation 1000 is to fully access the Windows CE operating system. The easiest way to do this is to use a tool from "gpsgator" entitled C310Auto. The tool is designed to unlock the Mio C310 on boot.

C310Auto.exe is a script interpreter that will make the necessary registry changes to the mobile device and load utilities and applications to RAM. The script file is called "C310Auto.c31". I have modified the script to include the following lines:

#Let C310Auto know where your regedit program is located.ExtRegEdit "\Storage Card\Programs\Utils\RegEdit.exe"#Copies the program TaskBar.exe to the \Windows directory.#This program simply unhides and enables the taskbar.Copy "\Storage Card\Unlock\Windows\TaskBar.exe" \Windows#Change the desktop backgroundCopy "\Storage Card\Unlock\Windows\windowsce.bmp" \Windows#Change the registry so that the taskbar loadsRegEdit "\Storage Card\Unlock\Registry\TaskBar.reg"#Copies additional dlls which may be needed for other programs to runCopy "\Storage Card\Unlock\Windows\*.dll" \Windows#Here you can create your shortcuts to the desktop (max 12 fit on screen)DeskTop   CECmd     "\Storage Card2\Programs\Utils\cecmd.exe"DeskTop   Restart   "\Storage Card2\Programs\Utils\Restart.exe"DeskTop   Taskbar   "\Storage Card2\Unlock\Windows\taskbar.exe"DeskTop   MyGuide   "\Flash Disk\myguide\myguide.exe"DeskTop   XMP3      "\Flash Disk\XMP3\XMP3.exe"DeskTop   XMovie    "\Flash Disk\XMovie\XMovie.exe"#Here you can create your shortcuts to the favoritesFavorites RegEdit "\Storage Card2\Programs\Utils\RegEdit.exe"Favorites Restart "\Storage Card2\Programs\Utils\Restart.exe"Favorites TaskMgr "\Storage Card2\Programs\Utils\ITaskMgr.exe"Favorites ResInfo "\Storage Card2\Programs\Utils\Resinfo.exe"Favorites MyGuide "\Flash Disk\myguide\myguide.exe"#Here you can create your shortcuts to the programsPrograms  GVNotePad  "\Storage Card2\Programs\Apps\GVNotePad.exe"Programs AcroRd32    "\Storage Card2\Programs\Apps\Acrobat 2.0\Reader\AcroRd32.exe"Programs DocViewer   "\Storage Card2\Programs\Apps\FileViewers\docviewer.exe"Programs PresViewer  "\Storage Card2\Programs\Apps\FileViewers\presviewer.exe"Programs Xls         "\Storage Card2\Programs\Apps\FileViewers\xls.exe"Programs CECmd       "\Storage Card2\Programs\Utils\cecmd.exe"Programs AlarmClock  "\Storage Card2\Programs\Utils\AlarmClock.exe"Programs KBD         "\Storage Card2\Programs\Utils\jotkbd.exe"Programs MioTool     "\Storage Card2\Programs\Utils\Miotool.exe"Programs PSC         "\Storage Card2\Programs\Utils\psc.exe"Programs ResInfo     "\Storage Card2\Programs\Utils\Resinfo.exe"Programs MyGuide     "\Flash Disk\myguide\myguide.exe"Programs ITaskMgr    "\Storage Card2\Programs\Utils\ITaskMgr.exe"Programs RegEdit     "\Storage Card2\Programs\Utils\RegEdit.exe"#Turn OFF the taskbar to AutoHideRegEdit "\Storage Card\Unlock\Registry\Shell.reg"#Set the Language and Timezone registry entries (English and Eastern Timezone)RegEdit "\Storage Card\Unlock\Registry\Time.reg"#Restart the MioRestart

Paths to the Storage Card folder have been changed from the original script to "Storage Card2" for the locations of files when the OS restarts. It seems that when the V7 reboots, it does not unmount the original SD card folder and mounts the SD card again to the folder "Storage Card2".

Note: For some reason, the *.reg files do not always take affect when Windows CE restarts. You can always import them manually with "Regedit.exe".

Step 7: Accessing the Operating System - Part 2

Use Windows Explorer to navigate to "\Storage Card\" and run C310Auto.exe. The Windows CE operating system will reboot and shortcuts will be copied to the desktop and other areas in RAM. The normal V7 application will launch.

Use Explorer again to find and execute "\Storage Card2\Programs\Utils\ITaskMgr.exe". Terminate the process "realigolaunch.exe".

You will now be presented with a Windows CE desktop. Tap the "Taskbar" icon to unhide/hide the start button. Explore and have fun.

It would seem that renaming c310auto.exe to realigolaunch.exe and replacing the original "realigolaunce.exe" in the "\Flash Disk" would cause the Windows OS to be immediately accessible on boot. However, I have opted for a more manual method, I don't always want or need full access to the OS. Usual Warning: Replacing "realigolaunch.exe" on your device could potentially render your V7 unusable - do so at your own risk, I have not tested this.

There are more options for hacking the V7... You can change the MyGuide skin by replacing the bmp files in "MYGUIDE.ZIP", found in the "\Flash Disk\MyGuide\SKIN" folder.

Please share your V7 modding experiences. What other changes have you been able to make? What useful applications could you get to run?

P.S. I have attached a ZIP archive of the c310auto tool, applications, and script. Play around with it and see what else you can get your V7 Navigation 1000 to do.