GPSlim 236 USB cable and Firmware upgrade question.

dannyoneill · Regular Visitor Joined: May 08, 2005 Posts: 75

Hi, ive just ordered one of these and should be here in a few days. Ive seen a lot of firmware problems with older versions, slow TTFF etc. Whats the latest version?

Thanks

spikey_w · Occasional Visitor Joined: Apr 12, 2006 Posts: 10

Recently got a new GPSlim 236 from Nav4all. When I first tried it I got a satellite fix very quickly, although it took me longer to get my pda IPAQ 3970 to connect to it. It initially would not work until I tried a different PDA. Now both PDAs connects fine.

Now have been using it for a while, I've had a few times using Tomtom of not getting a fix in about a minute as normal, it can see about 6-8 satellite with 1/2 to full signal strength but would not get a fix unless either wait a long time (roughly 5-10mins) or I reset it.

I've checked the version and it seems to be v4 and v3.1.0. I'm surprised it does not have the latest version, guess it must be old stock. Would the latest firmware version cure this problem?

dannyoneill · Regular Visitor Joined: May 08, 2005 Posts: 75

I did see that Nav4all had them for about £48 GBP and was a bit curious. I then found (after using yahoo translate and some italian forums) that they are OEM. The full thing but no box, manual, CD or mains charger. Just the unit, car charger and USB charger. Still, not a bad price I thought but I really wanted a mains charger so paid that bit more.

spikey_w · Occasional Visitor Joined: Apr 12, 2006 Posts: 10

When I got the package which took 4 days, I was surprised it was so small as I was expecting it to come in a box. You're right, only got a car charger, usb cable and battery with the unit. Fortunately for me I already got a usb ac charger that came with my pda. As a bonus I got a Nokia phone that uses the same battery type which I have as a spare.

Overall not too disappointed except like I mentioned before it seems to only have v4 and v3.1.0 firmware, which appears not to be the very latest.

spikey_w · Occasional Visitor Joined: Apr 12, 2006 Posts: 10

Can someone tell me what firmware version I have and is it the latest version released. This is the data I captured from my gpslim 236:-

$PSRFTXTVersion GSW3.1.0-SDK_3.1.00.07-C24P1.00 *46
$PSRFTXTTOW: 0*09
$PSRFTXTWK: 1313*49
$PSRFTXTPOS: 6378137 0 0*06
$PSRFTXTCLK: 95482*03
$PSRFTXTCHNL: 12*5F
$PSRFTXTBaud rate: 4800 System clock: 1124.403MHz*5E
$PSRFTXTVersion 236V4 * *4A

spikey_w · Occasional Visitor Joined: Apr 12, 2006 Posts: 10

Thanks to Julie from Holux, I have now got my gps unit upgraded to the latest firmware. It seems my unit had a previous version although the serial no. suggested otherwise.

Anyway it seems much more reliable in getting a sat fix at home but hopefully the intermittent fix problem I had would be resolved. :D

My faith in Holux has been restored and now wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to everyone.

Peter322 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Apr 25, 2006 Posts: 7

Hi there

I also purchased a 236 from Nav4all, and now I'm wondering if my firmware is also a bit older than the latest.

How do I check this?

I'm on a Mac, so I can't easily check it on a PC (i have a PC, but no BT).

If I find that I have an older version, how to I go about upgrading?

cheers
Peter

spikey_w · Occasional Visitor Joined: Apr 12, 2006 Posts: 10

Peter322 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Apr 25, 2006 Posts: 7

Thank, I've sent a PM to Julie

Unfortunately it means I have to spend about 60% of what I already paid for the GPS receiver on a DATA cable - OK it will still be cheaper than in the shops (barely) and I'll have the cable included, but it's a bit much just to get an up-to-date unit.

I'd like to verify if an update is actually needed in the first place.

I don't have a pocket PC device (I use my P910 phone) and I've been unable to get BT working on my PC.

I tried the Mac program and can connect to the 236, but there's not way to force a cold start as far as I can see, and taking the battery out to reboot the 236 won't help, because it will be started by the time BT connects Crying or Very sad

Thanks for you help, I'll wait and see what Julie says.

cheers
Peter

Peter322 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Apr 25, 2006 Posts: 7

Update, I found another program demo, capable of sending NMEA/ASCII codes to the receiver - I know just need to know what code to send to ask it to do a cold start.

Peter

AllyCat · Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2006 1:15 pm Post subject:

Hi Peter,

The NMEA control codes are at the end of the Sirfdemo.pdf user manual, available as a download from the Holux website. However, they look rather complicated and potentially "dangerous". BTW I'm not sure you need to send a full Cold reset, a Warm or even Hot restart may be sufficient.

Your +60% cost for upgrading seems rather high; I thought the USB data cable was £15, or Holux offered near the start of this thread to reprogram devices for £10. They say that shipping is extra, but is it *that* much?

Personally, I've got mine talking to the PC using the serial (COM1) port. The 236 pin connections are in the User Manual (also on Holux website) but note that (like the USB cable) it is not just "wire". The cable needs interface electronics, in the case of the serial port to level-shift and invert the data (from TTL/CMOS to RS232 levels).

Finally, note Holux's (and my) warning that you try any of this at your own risk!

Cheers, Alan.
_________________
Garmin GPS72H/76/60/45, Etrex H, Mapsource v6.5.
Acer N50,HP114,Loox N560,Dell x50,CF/SD cards to 4/32GB.
RoyalTek,Holux236,Navman B10 & Copilot(Globalsat) BT GPS,TomTom5/6.
Memory Map (v5.4.2 & v5.1.3 OS & Euro), GPS gate,OSGPSconverter.

Peter322 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Apr 25, 2006 Posts: 7

Hi,

I paid only about 48 pounds (€70) for the 236, and so far the price I've for the USB cable incl. shippping to DK is about 27 pounds, so yeah 60% almost.

I'll see if I can find a local reseller, but first of course it would be nice to be able to check the firmware version.

I've tried various NMEA codes, but have been unable to make it do a cold start, hopefully someone here had the right string to send.

cheers
Peter

dannyoneill · Regular Visitor Joined: May 08, 2005 Posts: 75

How come you need to cold start? Taking the battery out does the trick.

As for the price of the cable, I found a few places here in the UK selling them for about £12 including delivery. Think clove was one of them

AllyCat · Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2006 3:59 pm Post subject:

Hi Peter,

Didn't realise you were in DK, I guess that's why the shipping is high!

I've just realised I can answer your question. I connected the serial cable of my PPC through a null modem to my PC COM1. Running GPSViewer on the PPC produces the following output into Hyperterminal for Hot, Warm and Cold starts respectively :

$PSRF104,0,0,0,96000,237759,922,12,1*2B

$PSRF104,0,0,0,96000,237759,922,12,2*28

$PSRF104,0,0,0,96000,237759,922,12,4*2E

which seems to agree with the SiRFDemo description (don't forget the CR LF on the end). Default baud rate seems to be 38400 for the 236.

Hope that helps,

Cheers, Alan.
_________________
Garmin GPS72H/76/60/45, Etrex H, Mapsource v6.5.
Acer N50,HP114,Loox N560,Dell x50,CF/SD cards to 4/32GB.
RoyalTek,Holux236,Navman B10 & Copilot(Globalsat) BT GPS,TomTom5/6.
Memory Map (v5.4.2 & v5.1.3 OS & Euro), GPS gate,OSGPSconverter.

Peter322 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Apr 25, 2006 Posts: 7

Thank Alan

that seemed to do the trick.

I get this:

$PSRFTXTVersion GSW3.1.1_3.1.00.07-C23B1.00 *23
$PSRFTXTTOW: 0*09
$PSRFTXTWK: 1313*49
$PSRFTXTPOS: 6378137 0 0*06
$PSRFTXTCLK: 95141*09
$PSRFTXTCHNL: 12*5F
$PSRFTXTBaud rate: 4800 System clock: 1124.403MHz*5E
$PSRFTXTVersion 236V5 * *4B

Can someone tell if I have the latest firmware?

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