The Mapking has no clothes

[burtbalmer]

The only choice of PPC mapping software for Non-Chinese speaking users in Asia is pretty much Mapking. And Mapking exerts a hefty prices for it: HKD 280 for Beijing only, HKD 330 for Hong Kong and so forth. Add some cities and you’ll be talking real money.

However, Mapking is a total dud on both of my Hermes (WM5) and Trnity (GPS, WM6.) Mapking2007 AND Mapking G10 refuse to load on both devices. They give me a splash screen and die. The only thing I get loaded is the obsolete Mapking5, and that has no maps for sale.

If you google "Mapking" and "splash screen," you will see that this phenomenon is widespread. I found lots of complaints and no solution.

However, Mapking does nothing to address the issue.

I have sent support@mapasia.com several emails, from friendly to grumpy, and ALL emails remained unanswered. Mapking is either dead, or they are playing dead. They collect money for product that is unfit for sale. And they ignore their customers.

Google Maps is free and works like a charm in HK. Alas, no Google maps for Beijing. I’m wide open for suggestions.

[solitary]

D810 English rom + Mapking G10 here, from WM5 to WM6, from HK to Taipei to Beijing, worked like a charm, no problem experienced.

[sprockett]

PDAViet rom 10
Mapking 2007, Hong kong, Hong Kong Hiking, Shenzen, Manila maps installed. always found it very stable

[decent_devil]

D810 English rom + Mapking 2007 + Malaysia maps - working fine.
Upon launching Mapking, it will wait between 3-8 mins b4 GPS initiate.
Guess is common as it take time to load the GPS.

[serphinox]

Dont know if anyone solved the Mapking closes after Splashscreen issue yet but i kinda fixed it.

I installed Pocket Mechanics, Low Level format the Card. Set Cluster size to 4K.

Reinstall mapking 2007 and its working. Still testing it. Unless there is a problem. I wouldnt be posting anything.

[ausi]

Dont know if anyone solved the Mapking closes after Splashscreen issue yet but i kinda fixed it.

I installed Pocket Mechanics, Low Level format the Card. Set Cluster size to 4K.

Reinstall mapking 2007 and its working. Still testing it. Unless there is a problem. I wouldnt be posting anything.

Hi
This is VERY interesting, I have a d810=Trinity and have the same Splash screen problem. Please let me know what version of Pocket Mecahnic you installed and how did you configure it.
By the way when i install the Mapking R12 version everything works OK but there are missing maps like India etc. If someone knows how to convert G10 or 2007 maps to the R12 map format this would be great.

[robotbrain]

I had trouble getting Mapking (G10 and below) to work on WM5 too. All I had to do was move a bunch of files off of the card and reinstall then it launched the first time and has worked ever since. It wasn't a card space issue, it seems to have something to do with it scanning the card (for map files?) on first startup. I could move the files back onto the card after that without issues. I just upgraded to WM6 and G10 installed fine, albeit with a half empty 2GB card this time...

[robotbrain]

I should clarify, I believe the issue was NUMBER of files, not the space used on the card. In any case, try moving as many files off as possible, reinstalling, and see if that works...

[ausi]

I had trouble getting Mapking (G10 and below) to work on WM5 too. All I had to do was move a bunch of files off of the card and reinstall then it launched the first time and has worked ever since. It wasn't a card space issue, it seems to have something to do with it scanning the card (for map files?) on first startup. I could move the files back onto the card after that without issues. I just upgraded to WM6 and G10 installed fine, albeit with a half empty 2GB card this time...

Which files did you move, from where and where to??

[robotbrain]

If I remember correctly it was just a ton of assorted files from "My Documents" It didn't seem to me to matter what it was, just to reduce the number of files on the card.

[robotbrain]

According to this http://www.ppcsg.com/lofiversion/index.php/t89755.html you can just change the extension for compatibility between the g10 and 2007. I'd almost bet the same thing applies to r12 since it is supposed to just be a rebranded version of one or the other for OEMs (I think it's closer to g10, maybe minus a few features)

[ausi]

Robotbrain:
I tried it but it didn't work for me.

[lengendxd]

Hi,

The above problem plague many mapking users, surprising never see a reply from the company that make this excellent navigation software for pocketpc. Well after many sleepless night and different configurations, finally found out the real cause.

The problem lies with the mapking program don't like any directories and files that the characters added up together be more than 128 characters. This is root of all the problems.

a, No problem.
\Storage card\Programs Store\abc.txt

b. Got problem. The below complete file path is more than 128 characters.
\Storage card\Programs Store\1234567890\12345678901234567890\123456789012 345678901234567890\1234567890123456789012345678901 234567890\abc.txt

Also, Mapking only search for mapfiles on the location that it is being installed. For example, if the mapking is installed in the phone/pocketpc main memory, it will only search for maps there. If mapking is installed in Storage Card, it will therefore only search there.

There are few senerios that will make users complain that mapking cannot work. For example,

1. For 1st start after installing mapking, if there is any directories/files that is more than 128 characters, mapking will exit after displaying the splash screen and will keep doing that.

2. If there is no directories/files that is more than 128 characters, after showing the splash screen, mapking will run and show the default mapfile(hk demo map). It will create a registry key in

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Apps\MapAsia MapKing2007\Init

MainMapFile=\Where is the installed directory\Where is the installed directory\mapfile name.m7a

User can add additional maps on the place where mapking is being installed. In the phone/pocketpc main memory or the Storage Card, and the user will be happy.

3. But down the road, the user unknowingly installed some software or add any file that has a complete path name more than 128 characters, the user will still able to use mapking, but he can't Open Map(search for new map) any more. If he tries to Open map, the hour glass will keep spinning. If the user delete or move the map, the mapking program cannot run after the splash screen, it will says Cannot load map or no map found. The program is the registry key still remains MainMapFile=\Where is the installed directory\Where is the installed directory\mapfile name.m7a so, since the map stated is not there it will create an error and exits.

So long story short, if want to run mapking, don't create or have any directory or file path name that is more than 128 characters in the same memory location(phone/pocketpc main memory or the Storage Card) as mapking.


Regards