Etrex H/Windows 8 Problem

[+BigOpe]

Windows 7 laptop gave signs of crashing, moving everything to new Windows 8 laptop, and suddenly my trusty ETrex H can no longer talk to the PC. The cable it came with included Prolific PL2303 serial-to-USB software, and everything I've found on line says that the ETrex or the cable or whatever uses an older "chip" that won't work with Windows 8. The computer does show the Prolific in the devices list as COM4, but with a yellow warning, and EasyGPS (yes, still using it and liking it just fine) shows no COM ports in the dropdown list when I try to set up my ETrex H there.

 

Has anybody encountered and actually fixed this problem? Love my GPS, love EasyGPS, don't really want to change. Latest driver updates for Etrex H ALLEGEDLY fixed Windows 8 compatibility problems, but that's not my experience. HE-E-ELP, I really don't want to go back to loading coords manually!

Edited July 8, 2013 by BigOpe

[+Red90]

You need to find the correct drivers for Windows 8 from Prolific. If they do not exist, them a new adapter that does work with Windows 8 would be needed. It has nothing to do with the GPS.

[+BigOpe]

Well, okay, can anybody point me to a new serial-to-USB driver than will be happy with an ETrex H at one end and a Windows 8 PC at the other? Have explored the Prolific, Garmin, and EasyGPS sites exhaustively and to all appearances the technology has just run away from the Etrex H/Prolific PL2303 combination; have seen "Windows 8 is not supported" messages in more than one place. Note that my new Windows 8 laptop D*O*E*S appear to have a traditional RS232 serial port. (Ironic, ain't it?) Problem is, where does one find a cable that has that oddball connector for the ETrex H end and a traditional RS232 connector at the PC end? And the software to make it work?

 

I'll be really annoyed if I have to upgrade from the ETrex H (at additional expense, obviously), something I was otherwise perfectly happy with. "Don't fix it if it ain't broke" comes to mind. When one considers that, at the "low end" of geocaching, all we're doing is passing a relatively simple binary data file, condemning configurations like mine to the junkheap in the name of "cooler" technology is an affront. Maybe we should keep Gitmo open for those who make those kinds of self-serving technology decisions.

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

copy and paste this: serial usb adapter to a google search and many show up.

[+BigOpe]

Yeah, but see, there are LOTS of adapters with a 15-pin serial connector on one end and a USB connector on the other. What there are NOT -- or at least I haven't found one yet -- is cables with the serial connector on one end and that funny, flat, four-pole connector for the ETrex H on the other end. If you know where such an animal can be found, that would no doubt solve my problem, so by all means point me to it.

[+BigOpe]

Update to previous: the 15-pint connector on my new laptop is a video port, NOT a serial port -- I now understand the latter are either 9-pin or 25-pin connectors. So short of finding a Windows 8 - compatible software app that creates a virtual serial port the ETrex H can talk to, at this juncture it looks like I am ska-rood. OK, not the first time technology has left me behind, but I'll get over it I suppose. Nonetheless, if anyone here knows how to make my apparently archaic architecture work with Windows 8, sound off. I'll check back here for awhile just in case.

[+Red90]

Yeah, but see, there are LOTS of adapters with a 15-pin serial connector on one end and a USB connector on the other. What there are NOT -- or at least I haven't found one yet -- is cables with the serial connector on one end and that funny, flat, four-pole connector for the ETrex H on the other end. If you know where such an animal can be found, that would no doubt solve my problem, so by all means point me to it.

 

You first get a normal serial to USB adapter and then also get a serial cable for the Etrex, like this: http://www.amazon.com/GARMIN-PC-Interface-Cable-Connector-eTrex/dp/B00004VX23 You connect the two cables together.

[+BigOpe]

Ah, that looks promising. Thanks, will look into it.

[+BigOpe]

I bought a USB-to-serial gizmo that works correctly with Windows 8; when it's plugged in my devices include a COM port, and I have a male RS232 connection. I now need a cable that hooks to the Etrex H on one end and has a female RS232 on the other end. The URL below professes to be what I need, but I can't tell from the picture if the connector at the GPS end matches my Etrex H. Does anybody have one of these, and if so, does it indeed connect correctly to the Etrex H? Already spent $25 on the converter, don't want to drop another $25 on something unless I'm sure it'll connect to my GPS.

 

http://www.amazon.com/GARMIN-PC-Interface-Cable-Connector-eTrex/product-reviews/B00004VX23/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

[+ngrrfan]

I bought a USB-to-serial gizmo that works correctly with Windows 8; when it's plugged in my devices include a COM port, and I have a male RS232 connection. I now need a cable that hooks to the Etrex H on one end and has a female RS232 on the other end. The URL below professes to be what I need, but I can't tell from the picture if the connector at the GPS end matches my Etrex H. Does anybody have one of these, and if so, does it indeed connect correctly to the Etrex H? Already spent $25 on the converter, don't want to drop another $25 on something unless I'm sure it'll connect to my GPS.

 

http://www.amazon.com/GARMIN-PC-Interface-Cable-Connector-eTrex/product-reviews/B00004VX23/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

That should do it.

[+BigOpe]

For those who hate to part with their Etrex H and are following this thread, success at last. Bought one $20 widget on Amazon that creates a virtual serial port in a Windows 8 environment; gizmo plugs into a USB slot, install it, and output from the gizmo is a MALE RS232 port. Then bought a $20 cable on Amazon that has a female RS232 on one end and a slightly different connector at the Etrex H end, but it does work. Chain it all together and the Etrex talks to Windows 8 just like it used to under the Etrex-->Prolific PL2303-->Windows 7 configuration. So $50 later with shipping and tax and all, I'm back in business. Still cheaper than going with a fancier GPS and throwing away a perfectly good Etrex H, though there's a certain frustration factor to be dealt with.

 

If anybody else has this same problem, contact me and I'll try to give you the links for the two gizmos I bought.

[+BigOpe]

I've had two folks ask in the last couple days what I bought and did, so will post the info here for anyone else who needs it.

 

First, I bought a new ETrexH-to-PC cable with different connectors on the ends:

http://www.amazon.com/GARMIN-PC-Interface-Cable-Connector-eTrex/dp/B00004VX23/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1396285145&sr=8-2&keywords=etrex+h+cable

The little slide connector at the GPS end is a slightly different shape from my old cable, looks different in the picture, but works just fine.

 

Second, I bought an adapter, RS-232 to USB, because my laptop doesn't have an RS-232 port.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-RS232-Serial-DB9-Cable-Adapter-FTDI-Windows-7-/350822277935?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item51aea3232f

When you look at this it'll say "Windows 7," but never mind that, it works on my Windows 8 laptop.

 

Third, I THINK I installed Garmin's 2.3.1 driver update, available from the Garmin site, and presto, it worked. Their site says 2.3.1 has been updated for Windows 8.

 

If your computer has an RS-232 port you might not even need the adapter, and before you buy any hardware you might just try installing the drivers first and see if your old cable then works. Apparently the old drivers for Windows 7 were written around one particular microchip, and Windows 8 uses a different chip to perform the same function, so the new drivers are an important part of the fix. That's a bit over my head technically, but hey, the drivers are a free download.

[+BigOpe]

UPDATE: I just tried my ETrex-H with the OLD cable, plugging it directly into a USB port on my Windows 8 laptop, then trying to up- and download using EasyGPS. Got message "cannot open USB port." Replaced the old cable with the new cable-plus-adapter configuration, all good. So it would appear one needs ALL the stuff mentioned in my previous post to get this to work. One could try the new cable without the adapter first, I suppose, if and only if you have an RS232 port on whatever computer you're trying to connect to. But the point is, JUST installing the new 2.3.1 drivers isn't enough, it needs some or all of the new hardware as well. Don't ask me why, above my technical paygrade.

[+BigOpe]

FURTHER UPDATE: curiosity got the best of me and I EMailed FTDI, who manufacture the chip that supposedly made all this work. The story is, that adapter has FTDI's chip inside it, along with the necessary drivers, so the first time you plug it in those drivers get loaded into Windows 8 and from then on, whenever the adapter is plugged into a USB port the computer THINKS it has a serial port. I tested that by unplugging it, and all reference to ports disappeared from the Windows Device Manager. So presumably you can use this adapter for ANY gizmo that needs a serial connection, provided the cable has a female RS232 at the computer end.

 

So I had to buy the new cable to fit the adapter (my old cable went direct to USB), but the Garmin 2.3.1 drivers may not have had anything to do with my fix (though having the latest drivers is always a good thing, right?).

 

By now I suppose those of you who speak fluent chipset are saying "Well du-uhhh!", but I learned something and thought I'd post it for others at my level of duh-ness. I'm one of those people who wants to know, not just that things work, but WHY they work, at least in simple terms.