Google earth on RPI 3 with Ubuntu Mate 16.04.1

Support & Help Requests Raspberry Pi
#1

I need to be able to install and run Google Earth in conjunction with OpenCPN charting software on my PI. OpenCPN runs great on ubuntu mate on the PI 3 but… Google Earth has kicked my butt.

Question: Is there a port of Google Earth that will run on the ARM platform? It is not listed at Google as a possibility. The 32bit x86 and 64bit versions will not install. I have attempted to assemble and compile myself only to hit road blocks with numerous dependancies.

I have noticed a very annoying problem with this forum. I can’t search a single portion of the forum. My topic is very exclusive to the ARM versions of ubuntu Mate. When I search, it searches all Ubuntu Mate, all architecture and for all time. 99.9999% irrevelent. Statisticly, that means no answere, or buried so deep it can not be found. who has time?

#2

Hi @jlxb,

I don’t know if this works on Raspi but here goes:

#3

Thanks Wolfman but no… Been there! All of the packages are labeled as 32 bit or 64bit and i386 or i486 = intel architecture. They will not install on an arm7 device. The package manager makes sure of it.

I have also attempted to install from the GoogleEarthLinux.bin that is widely available. It appears to unpack but ulimately fails with no error message and does not complete the installation as it can not run on the RPI hardware.

At the google source you pointed to there are also 3 dependancies listed. One will install the others will not.

There is a port that will run on Android which is running on the RPI3. This might be a good option for me except the OpenCPN charting software which is needed for my project is very unstable on Android. It is always something.

#4

I found this!. :thumbsup:

http://www.apkmirror.com/apk/google-inc/earth/earth-8-0-0-2305-3-release/earth-8-0-0-2305-android-apk-download/

#5

I wouldn’t try using an apk (even if it does work on an Rpi3). It’s one of those ‘can but should I’ scenarios.

Of course, the standard Google Earth binaries aren’t going to work because the i386 and amd64 are NOT compiled for ARM but for X86 and X64 architectures. Being an Rpi3 user, I’m slowly porting a lot of software to ARM, Google Earth is one of those ‘dependency hell’ programs (as you have discovered).

Have you heard of Marble? You can try it: Marble

It’s in universe for Ubuntu: Marble package

#6

Thanks again Wolfman, I knew the Android RPK was available. But like I said, my Charting software does not work under Android. They must work together.

ad4m - You are absolutely correct about the APK and dependancies.

Marble is a really good map App available for many platforms. I will in fact use it. However, it is not what I am pushing for here.

Open CPN is a really powerful open source software for marine mapping and navigation. It allows overlays from radar, gps, AIS ship identification, weather information, depth, tides and…blah blah blah. It can also incorperate satelite images via google maps. It works beautifully on my windows laptop with all the features. I am working on a RPI3 project to replace the laptop. I don’t want to leave shore with microsoft on the boat!

So far The RPI3 with Ubuntu Mate 16.04 is working great. All the parts are in place except Google Earth.

Wierd, my spell checker does not work in this editing window.

1 Like
#7

Highlight a typed word then right click and check your language settings!. :thumbsup:

Pasted image1920×1028 186 KB

#8

Wolfman - thanks again. I am using firefox. When I right click I have a completely different menu then in your screen capture. But it did have an add dictionary option. I decided to chase that option and found that I had to add an English language add on and then the English dictionary. Now spell check is on by default in my browser. I have used firefox since before it was invented and have never seen or heard of such a thing before.

1 Like
#9

Hi @jlxb,

there are a million things about computing I don’t know yet, that is why we are on this forum!. :thumbsup:

#10

Hi @jlxb,

I am new to this community (less than an hour) and the Raspberry PI 3 however I now have 4 of them. I am very interested in your project to get OpenOPC working with Google Earth.

I recently attached a BU-353 to one of the PI’s and am using gpsd. I have tried a couple of times now to install OpenOPC on Jesse but have not been successful. Do you have a good site that provides instructions specific to installing OpenOPC on Ubuntu? What GPS device are you using with your OpenOPC?

Thanks in advance for your input!

#11

Coop, First you referred to OpenOPC. Which is an OLE addon to python. I am working with OpenCPN. Is that what you meant or was it a typo? English can be so complicated!

I am not familiar with Open OPC. However, The RPI community is vast. I would start there. If you meant OpenCPN, Go to http://opencpn.org where you can find specific instructions for every known compatible port of the software.

The GPS I am currently using is built into my android phone. I use a phone app called “shareGPS” to transmit the GPSD. The free version of the app only allows one connection but works very well with opencpn. The only feature I cant get to work is the compass heading. It is not being transmitted from the phone.

I have now tried to get google earth to install on three different computers running different versions of linux. No go! The Pi was the first but have had the same issues with other processors and OSs. The only success has been under Windows 32bit XP - the totally unsupported platform. Go Figure. I have gotten Google Earth to run well on my Android Phone. But OpenCPN crashes the phone every time I start the App. Always something!

#12

Thanks for the quick reply!

You are correct, I meant to say OpenCPN. It would be nice to have Google Earth as an option.

In my dabbling I came across the article below. Check this out as a sailing enthusiast I found it quite interesting and practical.

http://www.lediouris.net/RaspberryPI/_Articles/readme.html

Let me know your thoughts.

#13

@coop

Thanks a bunch! the link is to olivsoft and wow is he cool. I chased the links abit and found downloadable versions. he has several different projects that apply to me including several instruments I thought i would have code myself. Not a place I want to go if avoidable. I now have many of them running on my RPI3.

Olivsoft also ties in google earth to his weather system with noaa weather fax and gribs. there is some overlap to OpenCPN but even he recommends them together.