GR-230 not connecting to com port on Ipaq 3870

rick78 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 17, 2004 Posts: 15

Hi Everyone,,
I just got my GR-230 and am having trouble getting the com port to work. I can pair the device and connect to the SSP slave in the BT manager. However, I cannot get the gpsviewer to find it. When I set the BAUD to 9600 and scan, bit it either says none or open failed on all com ports. It also disconnects after 2 minutes in the BT manager, but I hope that is suppose to happen when there is no traffic on the com port. Otherwise something is really wrong.
I appreciate any help you can give me to get this working.
Some info about my setup:
Ipaq 3870 running PPC2003
GPSviewer v.1.5 installed.
TomTom2 installed.

Bluetooth workes well with all my other devices: Laptop w/Billionton USB BT, PC w/Microsoft USB BT, T68i, Sony headset.

Thank you.
Regards
Rick

Dave · Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2004 11:30 am Post subject:

Rick, you should be connecting under NMEA 9600.

First, if you have TomTom GPS 2.08 or 2.09 installed, go into REMOVE PROGRAMS and remove the TomTom~GPS program as this will be causing the problem (it stops all other programs talking to a Bluetooth GPS other than TomTom. If that doesn't work after a soft reset, or you have 2.07 or before installed then check below.

If you've tried to connect under a different protocol (e.g. SiRF) or different baud rate, then it maybe you have an early GR-230 with the fault where if you change baud rate it will desync the GPS.

Where did you purchase the GR-230 from ? If it's eBay then you most likely have a faulty GPS and I would return to the seller.

If you have purchased from Holux or a Holux authorised reseller, I would contact them.

The original problem can be found here and an official statement from Holux UK here.

rick78 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 17, 2004 Posts: 15

Dave, thanks for the help.

First of all, I live in Denmark, but I am from California. I bought the Holux in California just after Christmas. I will try your recomendations and check the versions of my software.
I sure would hate to have to return it.

Thanks
Rick

Dave · Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2004 4:35 pm Post subject:

If you have TomTom GPS 2.08+ installed then hopefully this should be what's causing your problem, but if it's not then it will be either to purchase the cable for around £24.99 GBP or to send it back to Holux to switch back. In most cases it's probably easier to purchase a cable and have it shipped internationally if this is the problem, that way if it desyncs again, you can get it back quickly. Thumbs Up

rick78 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 17, 2004 Posts: 15

I have seen a few posts regarding a 'cable' but what cable is this?
I have a USB cable which I can connect to the PC.
Is this the cable or do I need another cable?

/Rick

rick78 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 17, 2004 Posts: 15

I was using version 2.09. I have removed TomTom~GPS
and I think it helped, because if I choose com 5 at 9600 and click open gps, the bluetooth connects and stays connected. However, I do not see anywhere to set Sirf or NMEA. Where is this done?
If I remove all Tom Tom software, should I be able to use the Holux GPS viewer to test the coordinates?
I would also like to hear if the USB cable is the cable you refer to.

Thanks
Rick

DinAlt · Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2004 5:28 pm Post subject:

Hi Rick,

This is the fault of the tomtom~gps software.

With it installed you have to switch the receiver off then on again to get it to talk to your Ipaq. The receiver then connects as a generic serial port on comm 5 - if you manually connect it registers as SPP slave on port 8.

The connection to port 5 is picked up by both tom tom and the holux viewer and will give you a working gps solution. The connection on com port 8 doesn't pass any data at all. I found this out last week when after running tom tom for the first time my Holux stopped talking to my Ipaq..

However, Earlier today I thought I'd try removing the tomtom~gps driver and this does renable com port 8 again.

You don't set sirf /nmea as such in tom tom - just select tomtom navigator gps in the top boxand what ever serial port you're connecting to in the second (presumably 8 if you've disable tomtom~gps).

Just a word of caution - unless you 've got one of the very latest receivers(manufactured after about 12th December) do not try to switch to sirf or change from the defaults - the firmware previous to this was very fragile and the receiver would effectively stop working altogether.

Hope this helps,

DinAlt

DinAlt · Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2004 5:29 pm Post subject:

Hi Rick,

This is the fault of the tomtom~gps software.

With it installed you have to switch the receiver off then on again to get it to talk to your Ipaq. The receiver then connects as a generic serial port on comm 5 - if you manually connect it registers as SPP slave on port 8.

The connection to port 5 is picked up by both tom tom and the holux viewer and will give you a working gps solution. The connection on com port 8 doesn't pass any data at all. I found this out last week when after running tom tom for the first time my Holux stopped talking to my Ipaq..

However, Earlier today I thought I'd try removing the tomtom~gps driver and this does renable com port 8 again.

You don't set sirf /nmea as such in tom tom - just select tomtom navigator gps in the top boxand what ever serial port you're connecting to in the second (presumably 8 if you've disable tomtom~gps).

Just a word of caution - unless you 've got one of the very latest receivers(manufactured after about 12th December) do not try to switch to sirf or change from the defaults - the firmware previous to this was very fragile and the receiver would effectively stop working altogether.

Hope this helps,

DinAlt

rick78 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 17, 2004 Posts: 15

Thanks DinAlt.
I am still lost. I have removed all TomTom software and have only the GPSviewer v1.5 from Holux installed.
Should I be able to see coordinates to test that it is working?
If I select com5 and 9600 and then click open gps, it opens a Bluetooth window and asks me to choose a device. If I select the Holux, the bluetooth connects and blinks 1/sec. When outside I can also see the orange light blink at the same time. However, the status on the gps viewer is always showing 0 on all fields.
If I select com8 nothing happens.
I also tried to connect to Holux in the BT manager first, but that does not work either.

/Rick

DinAlt · Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2004 6:47 pm Post subject:

Ok.
first of all have you paired the device in the bluetooth manager ?

To do this open bluetooth manager and select new connection -
then select explore a bluetooth device
Select the holux when it appears enter the passkey - 6268
then you should be able to connect by selectig it and hittign connect.

Without the tomtom software you should be able to get the Holux gps viewer to detect the receiver by selecting com port 8 and 9600 baud - if this doesn't work get it to scan your com ports.

What I'm afraid of is that while you've been trying to sort the mess tom tom made of your com ports at some point you've scrambled the reciever.

BTW when GPS viewer is working the little window at the bottom starts to fill with data - when you hit the gps tab you'll see gps time and a little picture of the world with place markers showing the position of the satellites.

Hope this helps,

DinAlt

rick78 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 17, 2004 Posts: 15

I have already paired it and can see that the slave ssp service is available. I can connect to it, and the blue BT light blinks fine.
I have never been able to scan the ports successfully.
On my Ipaq the serial port settings in the BT manager settings are set to Inbound: com8 outbound com5.
Is this the way yours shows?

/Rick

Dave · Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2004 10:53 pm Post subject:

If you have uninstalled the TomTom~GPS driver then you should be using COM8 to connect. If it connects but you have no data, then you may have desynced the GPS.

DavidW · Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2004 1:45 am Post subject:

I'm not so sure COM8: is correct. Some iPAQs - particularly older models upgraded to Pocket PC 2003, have the two Bluetooth COM ports reversed compared to the latest models.

On the 3970 (running 2003), the outgoing Bluetooth COM port is COM5: and the incoming COM8:. This means that you want to be selecting COM5: for a Bluetooth GPS. I think the 3870 upgraded to Pocket PC 2003 that the original poster is using may be the same.

The easiest way to check is to tap the Bluetooth icon on the Today screen, and choose Bluetooth Manager. The information about port numbers can be found on the Serial Port tab.

David

rick78 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 17, 2004 Posts: 15

This is correct!!
It says exactly as you write: Inbound COM 8 Outbound COM5.
When I connect on COM5 it stays connected all the time, but if I try on 8, it drops off afet a minute or two.

So is there any hope to get data thru on this com5?
The GPSviewer shows nothing when scanning, and the status shows zero.

I am going to order this cable, but I am affraid it won't help. I have two USB cables from my JVC and Olympus cameras. The cables fit, but Windows XP and 2K do not load a driver for my device. Unless the cable is very special, I am affraid I will not succede in connecting that way.

regards,
Rick

tc_discoz · Occasional Visitor Joined: Dec 21, 2003 Posts: 9

Dear Rick, the cable is special.
Don't try to use a regular USB to miniUSB cable to connect to the USB port. As in the manual described, the GR230 doesn't actually put USB-bus signals out, it just uses this connector. Rather it uses RS232-TTL signals (kind of COM-port compliant).

There is a special cable the transforms the GR230 output to USB-conform signals!

TC

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