European speed cams deliberately missing in latest Nokia Maps update: how to fix it - GSM-Forum

moulnisky · 08-01-2013, 08:01

Due to new European law, current in France, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, and likely to spread, Nokia has axed the speed camera database in Nokia Maps for Symbian. So if you grabbed the latest Nokia Map update last week then you're currently without alerts through the whole of Europe. More on this below, along with a workaround.

It seems that, probably due to Nokia getting worried about users with Nokia Maps on their phones getting their devices confiscated by European police (ok, that's a stretch to happen in real life, but it's the law, etc.), the speed camera database, currently on your mass memory as 'E:cities/diskcache/safetyspots/1.0.0.602.europe.cdt' is now just a stub file and is empty.
Regarding the new laws, which started to appear in 2012, e.g.

Effective from 3 January 2012 French laws prohibiting drivers from carrying devices capable of detecting speed
Camera have been extended to include devices able to warn or inform of the location of speed cameras e.g. satnav or gps systems capable of showing speed camera sites as PoI.
As well as now banning all devices capable of warning drivers of speed camera locations, the French government is installing around 400 new fixed speed cameras and is taking down road signs indicating the location of existing fixed speed camera sites.

According to TomTom, use of its sat-nav speed camera service is prohibited in Switzerland and Liechtenstein too, so this law seems to be spreading. Germany is possibly next. The idea is that if drivers don't know where the speed cameras are then they'll slow down across the board, but this is debatable in its efficacy.

Happily, there's a workaround for those in countries like the UK, where speed camera databases/software are perfectly legal. Essentially, it's possible to sideload a previous version of the speed camera database ( 1.0.0.594.europe.cdt , can be grabbed and copied onto your phone, as shown below.

Left, the current Nokia Maps speed camera database. v1.0.0.62 is 1kb, empty, sideload the January 2013 database onto your phone and copy it to the E:cities/diskcache/safetyspots/ folder

Once copied the file into the right place, the next task is to delete the newer, empty one. If you get an 'in use' error, it means that part of Nokia Maps is still open in the background, so restart the phone and try again.

New files list after the copy and the deletion

last step is to rename this file to '1.0.0.602.europe.cdt', to prevent Nokia Maps spotting that it's an old file and overwriting/updating it!

BR

Alex

08-01-2013, 08:01	#1 (permalink)
moulnisky No Life Poster Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: England Age: 59 Posts: 17,681 Member: 947561 Status: Offline Thanks Meter: 14,053	European speed cams deliberately missing in latest Nokia Maps update: how to fix it Due to new European law, current in France, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, and likely to spread, Nokia has axed the speed camera database in Nokia Maps for Symbian. So if you grabbed the latest Nokia Map update last week then you're currently without alerts through the whole of Europe. More on this below, along with a workaround. It seems that, probably due to Nokia getting worried about users with Nokia Maps on their phones getting their devices confiscated by European police (ok, that's a stretch to happen in real life, but it's the law, etc.), the speed camera database, currently on your mass memory as 'E:cities/diskcache/safetyspots/1.0.0.602.europe.cdt' is now just a stub file and is empty. Regarding the new laws, which started to appear in 2012, e.g. Effective from 3 January 2012 French laws prohibiting drivers from carrying devices capable of detecting speed Camera have been extended to include devices able to warn or inform of the location of speed cameras e.g. satnav or gps systems capable of showing speed camera sites as PoI. As well as now banning all devices capable of warning drivers of speed camera locations, the French government is installing around 400 new fixed speed cameras and is taking down road signs indicating the location of existing fixed speed camera sites. According to TomTom, use of its sat-nav speed camera service is prohibited in Switzerland and Liechtenstein too, so this law seems to be spreading. Germany is possibly next. The idea is that if drivers don't know where the speed cameras are then they'll slow down across the board, but this is debatable in its efficacy. Happily, there's a workaround for those in countries like the UK, where speed camera databases/software are perfectly legal. Essentially, it's possible to sideload a previous version of the speed camera database ( 1.0.0.594.europe.cdt , can be grabbed and copied onto your phone, as shown below. Left, the current Nokia Maps speed camera database. v1.0.0.62 is 1kb, empty, sideload the January 2013 database onto your phone and copy it to the E:cities/diskcache/safetyspots/ folder Once copied the file into the right place, the next task is to delete the newer, empty one. If you get an 'in use' error, it means that part of Nokia Maps is still open in the background, so restart the phone and try again. New files list after the copy and the deletion last step is to rename this file to '1.0.0.602.europe.cdt', to prevent Nokia Maps spotting that it's an old file and overwriting/updating it! BR Alex Last edited by moulnisky; 10-10-2013 at 15:57.