HOLUX GR236- FIRMWARE UPGRADE AVAILABLE FROM HOLUX UK

JM-HoluxUK · Regular Visitor Joined: Sep 28, 2005 Posts: 65

Hi All!
Sorry about starting a new posting - I feel it is easier than trying to respond to all of the separate postings folks have started regarding the firmware in the GR236 and the TTFF issues that are apparant with the old firmware.

Firstly - if you have a GR236 which you have purchased from Holux UK or one of its authorised retailers/dealers & you are experiencing a slow TTFF then please contact the Holux UK tech support team via the trouble ticket or live chat system on our website.
http://www.holux-uk.com/support.shtml
If your receiver has the old firmware we will upgrade it FREE OF CHARGE.

If you have purchased your receiver from an overseas or ebay trader & are having issues with a slow fix then you can check the firmware version installed in your receiver by using SirfDemo.

If you believe you need the upgrade please feel free to use the following PGPS Forum User ID to download the firmware:

USER ID: pgpsuser
PASSWORD:firmware

The following links will give you the information you will need:

http://www.holux.co.uk/Downloads/firmware/upgrade tools.zip
http://www.holux.co.uk/Downloads/firmware/GR236V5.zip

Please note that Holux UK will not be held responsible for the use or mis-use of this firmware! This is stated when you download the firmware from our site - should you encounter a problem during the upgrade & the installation fails you may need to return the receiver to the manufacturer for a hardware reset - BE WARNED!

Should you not be confident about upgrading the firmware yourself I am happy to offer the services of a member of my team to carry out this upgrade for you. Unfortunately my guys need paying so I will charge you £10 for the service plus the cost of postage to get the receiver back to you. Obviously you can always contact the retailer you have purchased the unit from and get them to carry out this upgrade for you or return the unit to Holux in Tiawan who will carry out the upgrade FREE OF CHARGE.

Should you need any further advice with regards the firmware issues in the GR236 please feel free to PM me or contact the Holux UK tech support team.

Regards,
Julie

Omzy · Occasional Visitor Joined: May 04, 2006 Posts: 36

Where in SIRFDemo can we find out what firmware version the unit has?

Omzy · Occasional Visitor Joined: May 04, 2006 Posts: 36

And what versions firmware have you posted here?

Skippy · Posted: Tue Jul 11, 2006 5:52 pm Post subject:

Are there any firmware upgrades for the GR-230 - my one is well cranky and I am wondering if it has a dodgy firmware version.

Thanks!
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Gone fishing!

JM-HoluxUK · Regular Visitor Joined: Sep 28, 2005 Posts: 65

Using SiRFDemo switch the device in to SiRF mode, sell "Poll" from the menu bar & select software version. In the SiRF window you will then see the firmware version number.

The firmware that is available from the download is 3.3.1 which is the latest release.

Regards,
Julie

JM-HoluxUK · Regular Visitor Joined: Sep 28, 2005 Posts: 65

WARNING
IF THE BLUETOOTH CONNECTION DROPS DURING THE UPGRADE PROCESS YOU WILL END UP WITH AN EXPENSIVE DOORSTOP!

Folks,
I have to stress this point again - I do recommend that you use a USB data cable to carry out the upgrade. Our tech support team have just had a call from a user that has tried to carry out the upgrade using bluetooth and their PC crashed during the process rendering the device useless!

If you check out one of the other threads someone has found a PSP USB cable that seems to work - bought from ebay for less than our cable (note to myself search ebay for source of cheap data cable Wink

)

Please be careful!
Julie

PC_Arcade · Occasional Visitor Joined: Aug 04, 2005 Posts: 16

I couldn't even get it to start upgrading with bluetooth.

Omzy · Occasional Visitor Joined: May 04, 2006 Posts: 36

I upgraded mine using Bluetooth. Set the baud rate to 38400.

Its not worth the risk if ur PC is prone to crashes, if you hav a stable system like mine then there will be no problem!

Omzy · Occasional Visitor Joined: May 04, 2006 Posts: 36

After updating the firmware on my device, sirfdemo still reports the firmware version as 3.1.1

I followed the instructions provided.

JM-HoluxUK · Regular Visitor Joined: Sep 28, 2005 Posts: 65

mike_ca · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jul 13, 2006 Posts: 1

Julie, thanks for all the help you've been giving us.

I recently purchased a 236 from the infamous ebay dealer. I've verified that this 236 hs the latest firmware. This 236 does however have one of the suspect 236-6xxx serial numbers.

When in NEMA mode messages are often coming through incomplete, or getting truncated.

When I use SirfDemo in SIRF mode, I get lots of parity and communication errors. Are all these errors normal, or is there something wrong with my 236?

wilx · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 11, 2004 Posts: 8

Hi is this for thr 236 Slim too

TIA

JM-HoluxUK · Regular Visitor Joined: Sep 28, 2005 Posts: 65

Hi mike_ca,
Not sure how you are getting truncated data from the NMEA protocal - its normally all or nothing.
Have you tried viewing the data in hyper-terminal to see if you get the same information just in case SirfDemo is giving you rubbish?
Regards,
Julie

d_nordenberg · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jul 23, 2006 Posts: 2

Hi, thanks for sharing the firmware upgrade stuff, really great!

My 236GPSlim already have 3.1.1 and works great so I have only one small question, according to http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/post.asp?method=Reply&TOPIC_ID=27925&FORUM_ID=64
the lastest firmware is 3.2. Is there any reason why holux doesn't use it yet and what's different with it? Just curious Smile

Best regards
David

AllyCat · Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2006 2:16 am Post subject:

Hi David,

As far as I can see, the version 3.2 software adds "SiRF Instant Fix" which gives faster acquisition by downloading ephemeris data from the internet. It would thus only be relevant to SiRF receivers built into mobile phones (or with similar communications capability) and not to "simple" GPS receivers.

Cheers, Alan.
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