echelon
18-09-2011, 08:24 AM
Guide to Binatone devices
Applies to ALL Binatone devices.
GENERAL DEVICE INFORMATION.
Binatone devices are just generic "MobileNavigator" type devices with a simple shell running either Turbodog 5 for earlier devices, or Turbodog 6 for newer devices, Both use TeleAtlas map data, Turbodog was created by Astrob Technology.
The TurboDog software is truly awful, Slow, Horribly out of date, Incomplete, and is best removed and forgotten about.
The shell is in ROM and cannot be removed, The shell process is JBSHello.exe, This can be safely killed, and subsequently restarted without a reboot.
Most of these devices have a Windows CE 5 core, (although some of the newer devices are WinCE 6) and it's easy to run other software which improves the device 200%.
To tell which Windows version your device has listen to the startup sound, WinCE5 devices have a "Dong-Ding" type sound, while WinCE 6 has a four note melody.
The ResidentFlash disk size can be as little as 256MB.
Display resolutions are 320x240 for #350 models and 480x272 for #430 and #500 models. (3.5", 4.3" and 5")
Memory is 64MB although Windows takes quite a large amount of RAM for itself.
Even though there are SDHC named files in the Windows directory, The device only supports SD cards upto 2GB. This may have changed on the latest devices where Micro SD cards are used.
These devices wake up when external power is connected, and with a simple script can be made to suspend when power is disconnected, which means the device can be automaticaly powered on and off in a car.
All Binatones use ActiveSync to communicate with a PC, and use a painfully slow baud rate.
The internal drive is labeled ResidentFlash and the SD card is labeled SDMMC
The COM port is COM:7 and the Baud rate is 57600
The device creates up to four files called gpspara0.bin, gpspara1.bin, gpspara2.bin, gpspara3.bin, in the root of ResidentFlash, These can be deleted, but will be recreated again, I don't know what there for. They do not contain registry information or extra files in the Windows directory.
As with most MobileNavigator devices there is NO hard reset available, meaning any changes you make to either the Windows core or the registry will be saved, This means if you mess up the registry the device will fail to boot and there is little chance of recovery.
99% of users who run into problems and ask me for help have been editing \HKLM\init to try to remove the default shell, Seriously, Don't do that!
Occasionally ROM images become available which allows you to reset/recover a bricked device, You simply copy the files to a SD card, insert it into the device and reboot, The bootloader will use these files to update the Windows CE core and also hard reset the device, restoring it back to life, And no i don't have the files!
UNLOCKING INFORMATION.
After a successful boot, The device looks for \ResidentFlash\MobileNavigator\Mo bileNavigator.exe, and runs it, This can either be a GPS application or a Mortscript pointing to an application on the SD card.
It is safe to remove or replace the original application, I tend to install a shell here and keep the GPS applications on a SD card as space is limited and ActiveSync is too slow for large file transfers.
If you don't want to change the internal drive, older devices will look for \SDMMC\MobileNavigator\MobileNavi gator.exe before looking for the internal file, Newer devices need a text file called SHELL.ini containing the path to the new application in the SD card root, ie, \SDMMC\MobileNavigator\MobileNavi gator.exe. As long as the SD card is available with the correct file(s) present, It is launched instead of the original app.
The default Windows CE desktop is not included in ROM, but PNADesktop works fine if you want to unlock to a desktop.
SystemInformation type unlocks work but you must kill JBSHello.exe to be able to view them.
RECOMMENDED GPS APPLICATIONS.
WinCE 5 devices can run Tomtom Navigator 7, iGO 8 and iGO Primo.
WinCE 6 devices can run iGO 8 and iGO Primo.
TTN7.450 works best but TTN7.910 sometimes works.
On older devices the display chip struggles with iGO 8/Primo with the enhanced graphic features installed, I find iGO 8 with gj6.18p_da skin and TTS but no other enhancements works best.
the X350 seems to have a problem with it's registry causing Tomtom to be unable to find the maps, Some users report that making small edits in the registry help.
SUMMARY.
To just run another GPS application or a unlock shell/desktop, all you need to do is copy the new application's directory to a SD card and rename the directory to MobileNavigator and the application itself to MobileNavigator.exe
ie, MobileNavigator\MobileNavigator.e xe
Open Notepad on your PC and type...
\SDMMC\MobileNavigator\MobileNavi gator.exe
and save as SHELL.ini and copy to the root of the card.
Insert into the device and then turn it off and then back on.
Tap OK then Navigation and if you've done it correctly the new app will start.
The GPS COM port is COM:7 and the Baud rate is 57600
Removing the card and restarting will run the original software.
Applies to ALL Binatone devices.
GENERAL DEVICE INFORMATION.
Binatone devices are just generic "MobileNavigator" type devices with a simple shell running either Turbodog 5 for earlier devices, or Turbodog 6 for newer devices, Both use TeleAtlas map data, Turbodog was created by Astrob Technology.
The TurboDog software is truly awful, Slow, Horribly out of date, Incomplete, and is best removed and forgotten about.
The shell is in ROM and cannot be removed, The shell process is JBSHello.exe, This can be safely killed, and subsequently restarted without a reboot.
Most of these devices have a Windows CE 5 core, (although some of the newer devices are WinCE 6) and it's easy to run other software which improves the device 200%.
To tell which Windows version your device has listen to the startup sound, WinCE5 devices have a "Dong-Ding" type sound, while WinCE 6 has a four note melody.
The ResidentFlash disk size can be as little as 256MB.
Display resolutions are 320x240 for #350 models and 480x272 for #430 and #500 models. (3.5", 4.3" and 5")
Memory is 64MB although Windows takes quite a large amount of RAM for itself.
Even though there are SDHC named files in the Windows directory, The device only supports SD cards upto 2GB. This may have changed on the latest devices where Micro SD cards are used.
These devices wake up when external power is connected, and with a simple script can be made to suspend when power is disconnected, which means the device can be automaticaly powered on and off in a car.
All Binatones use ActiveSync to communicate with a PC, and use a painfully slow baud rate.
The internal drive is labeled ResidentFlash and the SD card is labeled SDMMC
The COM port is COM:7 and the Baud rate is 57600
The device creates up to four files called gpspara0.bin, gpspara1.bin, gpspara2.bin, gpspara3.bin, in the root of ResidentFlash, These can be deleted, but will be recreated again, I don't know what there for. They do not contain registry information or extra files in the Windows directory.
As with most MobileNavigator devices there is NO hard reset available, meaning any changes you make to either the Windows core or the registry will be saved, This means if you mess up the registry the device will fail to boot and there is little chance of recovery.
99% of users who run into problems and ask me for help have been editing \HKLM\init to try to remove the default shell, Seriously, Don't do that!
Occasionally ROM images become available which allows you to reset/recover a bricked device, You simply copy the files to a SD card, insert it into the device and reboot, The bootloader will use these files to update the Windows CE core and also hard reset the device, restoring it back to life, And no i don't have the files!
UNLOCKING INFORMATION.
After a successful boot, The device looks for \ResidentFlash\MobileNavigator\Mo bileNavigator.exe, and runs it, This can either be a GPS application or a Mortscript pointing to an application on the SD card.
It is safe to remove or replace the original application, I tend to install a shell here and keep the GPS applications on a SD card as space is limited and ActiveSync is too slow for large file transfers.
If you don't want to change the internal drive, older devices will look for \SDMMC\MobileNavigator\MobileNavi gator.exe before looking for the internal file, Newer devices need a text file called SHELL.ini containing the path to the new application in the SD card root, ie, \SDMMC\MobileNavigator\MobileNavi gator.exe. As long as the SD card is available with the correct file(s) present, It is launched instead of the original app.
The default Windows CE desktop is not included in ROM, but PNADesktop works fine if you want to unlock to a desktop.
SystemInformation type unlocks work but you must kill JBSHello.exe to be able to view them.
RECOMMENDED GPS APPLICATIONS.
WinCE 5 devices can run Tomtom Navigator 7, iGO 8 and iGO Primo.
WinCE 6 devices can run iGO 8 and iGO Primo.
TTN7.450 works best but TTN7.910 sometimes works.
On older devices the display chip struggles with iGO 8/Primo with the enhanced graphic features installed, I find iGO 8 with gj6.18p_da skin and TTS but no other enhancements works best.
the X350 seems to have a problem with it's registry causing Tomtom to be unable to find the maps, Some users report that making small edits in the registry help.
SUMMARY.
To just run another GPS application or a unlock shell/desktop, all you need to do is copy the new application's directory to a SD card and rename the directory to MobileNavigator and the application itself to MobileNavigator.exe
ie, MobileNavigator\MobileNavigator.e xe
Open Notepad on your PC and type...
\SDMMC\MobileNavigator\MobileNavi gator.exe
and save as SHELL.ini and copy to the root of the card.
Insert into the device and then turn it off and then back on.
Tap OK then Navigation and if you've done it correctly the new app will start.
The GPS COM port is COM:7 and the Baud rate is 57600
Removing the card and restarting will run the original software.