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JDM replacement on LINUX!

Printed From: Avidyne
Category: Avidyne General
Forum Name: IFD 5 Series & IFD 4 Series Touch Screen GPS/NAV/COM
Forum Description: Topics on Avidyne's IFD 5 Series and IFD 4 Series Touch Screen GPS/NAV/COM
URL: http://forums.avidyne.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=2651
Printed Date: 21 Jun 2024 at 4:11pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.01 - http://www.webwizforums.com


Topic: JDM replacement on LINUX!
Posted By: PA23
Subject: JDM replacement on LINUX!
Date Posted: 21 May 2024 at 10:10am
I've been working with a developer for the past two weeks or so who wrote a program in Python called "jdmtool", his tool originally only supported the Garmin GNS400/500 series devices in that the software would go up to the Jeppesen site, download the current database and write it out to the Garmin flash drive. 

After going back and forth for a while we have figured out the format of the navdata.dsf (and obstacle.dsf) files along with all of the values in the .jdm file, from that he has incorporated the ability to download the database data from Jeppesen and write it out to a USB thumbdrive duplicating what the Jeppesen JDM program does.  The speed of the jdmtool vs the official JDM program is similar (slow) even though the jdmtool is written in Python.  

The current package will be uploaded to PyPI soon ( http://pypi.org/project/jdmtool/" rel="nofollow - http://pypi.org/project/jdmtool/ ), and currently the readme file on github only references the Garmin devices.  However if you want to run the software and write out the Avidyne databases here are the updated instructions -

Keep in mind the software DOES NOT bypass Jeppesen's login requirements, you still must have a valid login and current subscription to access the databases.

First the software is located here - http://github.com/dimaryaz/jdmtool" rel="nofollow - http://github.com/dimaryaz/jdmtool
Follow the install instructions to install the latest code from GitHub

Next go to the "Basic Usage" section

Perform  login with you Jeppesen credentials and follow all the steps except when you get to the "Transfer the database to the data card" use this syntax instead -

$ jdmtool transfer 0 /path/to/flash-drive
eg $ jdmtool transfer 0 /mnt/drive/24EA-59BE

At that point the software will create the dsf and .jdm files, encode them with the required checksums and write the file to the thumbdrive.  Next simply unmount the thumbdrive and install it on the IFD as normal.

Important, the resulting navdata.dsf file will be a slightly different size from the navdata.dsf file from Jeppesen, this is due to how JDM and jdmtool compress the data, both tools are using the same compression type (zlib) however the compression options are different but will uncompress and extract to the same size/data set on the IFD and the IFD doesn't care what options were used as long as the file uses zlib for its compression and all the checksums match correctly.

Also the obstacle database is coming shortly, it is already in the software but hasn't been tested yet.

Maybe it'll be possible to write the databases out simply using a cell phone and an OTG cable... time will tell. :-)

-PA



Replies:
Posted By: _phm_
Date Posted: 21 May 2024 at 4:54pm
Kudos!

I followed the instruction on github and was able to connect to Jeppesen, see and download my subscriptions.

Having problems downloading them to my Skybound / garmin card and other USB sticks. Will file a bug report.

~# jdmtool list
ID  Name                                                                    Coverage              Version   Start Date  End Date    Downloaded
 0  Avidyne EX5000, EX600, EX500 - NavData                                  Americas              2405      2024-05-16  2024-06-13            
 1  Avidyne IFD 400 Series, Bendix King AeroNav Series - NavData            Americas              2405      2024-05-16  2024-06-13            
 2  Avidyne IFD 400 Series, Bendix King AeroNav Series - Obstacles          Americas              2405      2024-05-16  2024-06-13            
 3  Garmin GNS 400/500 Series - NavData                                     United States & Lat…  2405      2024-05-16  2024-06-13            
 4  Garmin GNS 400/500 Series - NavData                                     Latin & South Ameri…  2405      2024-05-16  2024-06-13            
 5  Garmin GNS 400/500 Series - NavData                                     Northern United Sta…  2405      2024-05-16  2024-06-13  Y         
 6  Avidyne EX5000, EX600, EX500 - Electronic Charts                        Brazil IFR            11-2024   2024-05-24  2024-06-07      


Posted By: PA23
Date Posted: 21 May 2024 at 10:28pm
The only one I've tested is the navdata for the US only, so I wonder if more has to be done to update anything other than the US?

I'm sure he is going to need the services.xml file which is ~/.local/share/jdmtool/services.xml  remove any personally identifying information... eg customer number, tail number, email, name


Posted By: _phm_
Date Posted: 22 May 2024 at 8:45am
already in touch with the developer. Very helpful guy, btw.

Seems that my issue is that I have a non-waas card, so its layout is quite different.


Posted By: PA23
Date Posted: 22 May 2024 at 9:52am
If I'm reading correctly it looks like your issue is not with the Avidyne databases but rather with the Garmin databases, either you have the WAAS unit and the developer doesn't or vice versa and the databases are different.

PA


Posted By: _phm_
Date Posted: 22 May 2024 at 12:00pm
yes - he has a waas card and I have a non-waas one. Will test a minor software hack to fix this pretty soon.


Posted By: PA23
Date Posted: 23 May 2024 at 10:45am
This failure is on the Garmin GNS430 (non WAAS) the software works with the IFD databases


Posted By: PA23
Date Posted: 26 May 2024 at 9:43am
software is now available on PyPi, to install using pip run "pip3 install jdmtool"



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