Monday 28 December 2009

Failure to Communicate, GPS



I've encountered a problem with my GPS units and mapping software since Saturday night when I was working with Quo/Garmin Geko. It seems my PC no longer recognises any of my GPS units and none of them work with any of the mapping programs I have installed in spite of the fact all were working perfectly.

I have 3 GPS Units, a Garmin Streetpilot 3 which was working with Map Source, a Garmin eTrex Summit which worked with Memory map and Quo and a Garmin Geko which was also working with Memory Map and Quo. All the units are designed to connect using a Serial Port but were working fine using an RS232 adapter which allows the data cable to be attached to a USB socket, I have to connect via USB as my PC doesn't have a Serial Port. Now nothing works, when I connect the units I get a variety of messages but all say pretty much the same thing, Windows doesn't recognise the hardware!!

I've tried un-installing the drivers, re-installing the drivers, system restore, disconnecting/re-connecting the units but to no avail, there's simply no communication.

I know that when using Memory Map the GPS unit communicated via Garmin Serial Protocol COM7 (port) and while I have a choice of 9 ports none of them can establish a communication. Using Quo and selecting Garmin Serial Protocol no ports are displayed and attempting to connect the Streetpilot 3 to Map Source results in similar messages.

I've tried everything I can think of apart from a full PC reformat which isn't an option. I've posted a variety of screen shots in the hope that somebody, somewhere knows what the problem is. If I can't sort it I'm left with 3 GPS unitsand 3 mapping software programs that are effectively useless. I don't have Windows Auto Update enabled so again I can't see how anything could have changed, I'm inclined to blame Quo as it's really the only thing that's changed but to be honest I don't see how it could have changed anything. Maybe I should un-install Quo to see what happens?











4 comments:

  1. I had a similar problem some time ago with my Geko 201 when I got a new laptop - the serial-USB adapter refused to recognise it.

    I bought a cheap serial-port PC card (PCMCIA) off eBay and it works a treat.

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  2. BG, that may be the best option as I've downloaded new drivers to no avail. The problem is that I don't have Ports (COM & IPT) displayed in Device Manager. I need those but can't seem to get them back. I posted the question on OM and I've been offered drivers/instructions so maybe that'll work.

    One question, if I fit a serial port card will I be able to swap between the Geko (for Memory Map/Quo) and the Streetpilot 3 (for Map Source)

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  3. Maybe you should look for a twin-port card - such as eBay item 350296683843 - but if you can't see the ports in Device Manager then a new card may not work anyway due to the more fundamental problem.

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  4. I don't know enough about computers to say for sure but I'm hoping that if I fit a PCMCIA card I'll have Ports (COM & LPT) show up in Device Manager.........

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