+Claypuppy Posted October 8, 2005 Share Posted October 8, 2005 Hi, everyone. Maybe someone has sussed this one out. I have a Garmin Geko 201 and a Geko 301. I purchased a Prolific Serial Adapter to facilitate downloading waypoints and updates from my laptop. The 301 is new and I haven't been able to get it to connect with the laptop. I reloaded the serial adapter drivers and still no joy. When I try to run the Garmin update utility it cannot find the Geko. I have been able to get this adapter to intermittently work with the 201. It seems whenever I use the media ports on my laptop the serial adapter will no longer function. I do get the usual "your device is ready to use" message from windows. It seems as though there is a port conflict going on but I do not know how to deal with that. Or is it that my adapter is not quite correct for the Garmins.. It was advertised as being compatible with them although. It was not expensive. Did I get what I paid for? Is there a better adapter? Do I bite the bullet and buy the $60 adapter from Garmin? I'm afraid of dropping the money only to have the problem rooted in how my laptop is configured. My laptop is a brand new HP L2000 with an Athlon 64 Turion processor running Windows xp pro. Quote Link to comment
Dale_Lynn Posted October 9, 2005 Share Posted October 9, 2005 (edited) A couple of things.... First if you are running any Palm (or personal digital assistant machines), you may need to disable the SYNC software... It tends to grab serial ports and not release them for other applications (EasyGPS)... Also you may not have correct COM port number in software (EasyGPS) so software can not connect to comport via USB... My USB/serial adapter comport usually comes up as COM 5 and when I put that into EasyGPS thing go as its supposed to... Finding Com Port It’s quite possible your lap top or desk top machine can not "find" correct COM port!... Or your computer does not have traditional serial port. (they are slowly going away in favor of USB). A USB/Serial adapter may be the answer for you. If you have Serial/USB adapter and are not getting it to work, suggest you delve into what COM ports or USB/adapter ports your "systems" have available or are configured for.... Major problem is usually identifying what COM port number the USB/RS-232 (serial) adapter was assigned by WINDOWS system. This is also valid for locating available hardwired serial ports. Port numbers can be verified in the "control panel" under "system" under "hardware" under "device manager". Scroll down to “ports” and it will tell you the port number and at what speed (baud) port is configured at. You can actually plug in and unplug adapter and see the "port" appear and disappear. Right clicking on "port" and selecting "properties" will tell you everything you need to know about port. This info is necessary to get EasyGPS and GSAK and “other” programs to communicate with GPS unit. Yes you do need to set baud rate on GPS to match computer COM port which may be set with whatever software computer is running. Most software applications and hardware (modems) like to work with COM 1 ... Also if you have any "synchronize” software running for a Palm or other hand held, it grabs COM 1 and will not let any other applications use it. You may need to disable any synchronization software it you have it as a running application to release COM 1 if you have to use that specific COM port. Also just plugging in a USB/Serial adapter to USB port may not trigger system to assign COM port number. In some cases you must have a valid device (GPS) on end of data cable from USB/Serial adapter and the device must be turned on for system to respond and assign a COM port number. Also having a loop back plug in USB/Serial adapter will trigger adapter/system to assign com port number if serial adapter requires a "valid" device on end of cable. Dale Edited October 9, 2005 by Dale_Lynn Quote Link to comment
+Redwoods Mtn Biker Posted October 9, 2005 Share Posted October 9, 2005 This question comes up so often that I put together a post on GPS Tracklog about the issue. BTW, I don't see any reason to spend $60 on a Garmin adapter. Rich Owings www.MakeYourOwnMaps.com www.GPStracklog.com “We were desert mystics, my friends and I, poring over our maps as others do their holy books.” – Edward Abbey Quote Link to comment
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