HP Pavilion tx2608ca BSOD with BU353 or GR-231

I've been attempting to use both the Globalsat BU353 and the Holux GR231 GPS receivers with my almost new HP Pavilion laptop tx2608ca running VISTA home premium. Altogether a most frustrating experience because virtually every time I connect the GPS the computer crashes to a BSOD within a few minutes or an hour or so. This happens with both the GPS units and it happens on my laptop and my wife's same model laptop.

Apart from these gps problems these are great machines that are working really well, so it seems to be a quirk associated only with the gps units, but two units from different manufacturers is strange.

The drivers installed are the latest Vista 32 bit drivers off the manufacturer's websites.

Has anyone else had similar problems? What solutions do you suggest?

Interestingly, I saw on this site a photograph of what seems to be an identical laptop connected to a USB/Bluetooth usb, so I assume that the laptop - usb issues can be solved. Marvin, if you're still monitoring, what problems if any have you had?

I have a HP tx2110ca and have used it with a variety of USB and Bluetooth GPS receivers with no issues whatsoever. I don't have either of the ones you mentioned though. I have a Holux GPSlim BT/USB but have not used it to any great extent in USB mode as I am not happy with the driver that doesn't know it is already installed when you change USB ports. I will have the opportunity to test the BU-353 later this week but am not expecting any issues.

Is there a particular situation which causes the computer to crash? More details might be helpful but I have never, under any circumstances, seen a BSOD on a Vista computer.

terry

Hi CWH3651, welcome to the forums. My tx2000-series (tx2104ca) hasn't yet seen a BSOD. I've used both USB GPS and Bluetooth GPS with it. I now use my Globalsat USB BU-353 GPS receiver on a daily bases, several hours each day, with no issues at all. I'm not sure what to suggest.

Well the good news is that other people have managed to get these devices to work together, so I guess I will be able to as well, if I can only find the problem.

Looking back at my note, perhaps I should have decribed the problem not as a BSOD. What happens is the the machine crashes then reboots itself.

I noticed elsewhere on the forum discussion of problems setting up blue tooth GPS units and wondered if my logitech wireless mouse could be conflicting but completely removing it did not fix the problem. Three more crashes since then.

Apart from the wireless mouse the hardware is standard. And, nothing particularly unusual about the software: MSOffice, MSOutlook, Fugawi ENC, Skype, Google earth, AVG virus scan, and miscellaneous lesser programs but no games. Are there any known problems with program conflicts?

The problem seems to be a hardware or device conflict. The laptop works fine without the gps. I've tried two different gps units in different ports and those gps units work on other machines. When I put the gps into one of the ports the computer will crash its just a matter of how soon. Is there a way to run a diagostic that writes a file to show what's happening prior to the crash?

If the problem was a hardware conflict, you would experience the failure when you enable the GPS device, not some time in the future. Failure of a laptop involving shutting down unexpectedly is usually due to overheating. These AMDs run quite warm and the vents must be clear to allow circulation.

Are you sure the unexpected shutdowns are truly associated with the GPS? Are there other things that change when you use GPS (e.g. where the laptop is)?

Terry

I can't say that the usage is particularly different when the machine crashes but it is fairly warm when on my map. It would explain the randomness of the crashes.

Is there a way to find out when a laptop is hot, i.e. is there a way to monitor the internal temperature when it's running short of getting a temperature probe and data logger?

Temperature sensors are generally built in to the motherboard and CPU and can be accessed with third party software. I think Speedfan is one. However, a better approach is to ensure you are placing the notebook in a position to allow the intake/ exhaust ports a good supply of air. You will also hear the fan speed up considerably (if its like the tx2000) as the cpu and associated hardware is getting hotter. Many portable computers do not like to operate on your lap, pillow or a fluffy tablecloth.

Terry

I have been running Mobile PC with the BU-353 for about 2 hours and the fan cycled every once in a while. I moved the BU-353 to MapPoint and restarted Mobile PC with a BT Holux GPSlim 236. The fan is running constantly but the temperature at the exhaust port is not excessive.

I haven't used Fugawi software since 2000 but don't expect it would be any more processor intensive. your take on Fugawi would be valuable for the group. I don't think anyone else has mentioned it and we're always interested in different mapping software.

Terry

I've had Speedfan running all day with the laptop at idle plugged into AC power but otherwise idle, with the temperature not varying outside 63 degC to about 70 degC except for one spike to 72 degC. Since I came home and started using the PC the temperature has dropped to between 52 and 60 degC and the fan is now on slow speed.

What temperatures are normal and excessive?

Last night I again tried the BU353 while running Speedfan and the machine crashed a few minutes after I plugged in the GPS. The temperature before I connected the GPS was similar to those now.

Speedfan does not seem to be able to look at anything else than the core temperature on this machine. Is there some other program that can get to more information?

While poking around I noticed that Vista stores information on crashes in what seem to be dump files but I couldn't find a way to open them, dispite being directed to them as a source of information. Does anyone know how they're opened?

Sounds like you have eliminated overheating as the shut down problem. Did you look in the Event Viewer? You may or may not find some useful information there. I understand Vista provides more detail than XP.

If you are running the Vista style start menu, you can access it by typing Event Viewer in the Start Search box. Otherwise, right click on 'Computer, and choose 'Manage'. Or choose 'Computer Management' under 'Administrative Tools' in Control Panel.

Terry