Hi,
I've checked the forums and followed some of the advice, but can't get this thing working for my neighbor.

I have a USB GPS, model G3, that works great with memory-map on my old laptop running XP. My neighbour bought the same USB GPS, and a brand new ASUS dual core laptop running Vista 32 bit. We loaded the drivers (as administrator), and plugged in the USB GPS. The simpleGPS program that scans COM ports found something on COM5, but no NMEA data. Other GPS software says there's a COM error.

I've checked the neighbor's USB GPS in my XP laptop, and it works fine, so its not the hardware. I then checked my USB GPS in the neighbor's Vista laptop, same problem, can see a COM device, but doesn't seem to know what it is.

I checked the Device Manager, and there's a serial to USB COM5 listing under the ports, but nothing extra under the USB listing (I read on a forum thread that there's supposed to be a virtual GPS port?).

I've tried removing all the drivers, plugging in the GPS and then trying Windows update, with no luck there either.

On 1 of these driver installs, I noticed that a Serial Ballpoint (or something like that) issue came up. So I tried the drivers on the Prolific website, still nothing.

Its now 11:45pm, and I'm about to see how fast a Vista laptop can sink!

Does anybody have any ideas that can help get this USB GPS working on my neighbor's laptop!

Thanks,

Lee

We need a bit more information about the type of GPS. What is a G3?
Device Manager does not refer to anything GPS, it merely lists the USB-serial driver and shows the COM port that is associated.Once you know the COM port(which doesn't necessarily have to be COM 5), you set your software to monitor that port (same as XP).

Terry

Attached Images

Device Manager.jpg (155.3 KB)

It sounds like you're trying to use old drivers that are not compatible with Vista. The first clue is that they're both working just fine on XP but not on Vista.

...ken...

The USB GPS is from ebay and is sold by GPS2003 (dot com). The drivers link on their website takes me to the Prolific website, as the USB GPS has a PL2303 chipset (i think).
I tried running ALL of the the driver apps on the product CD, with no luck. I've loaded the "Vista only drivers" on to the Vista laptop, no luck. And then I tried the latest drivers from the website, still no reading of the GPS.
I always remove the drivers using add/remove programs, reboot and unplug the GPS before loading the drivers.
This is getting very frustrating as XP just works !!

Hey Terry,
Yes I get the same listing in the Device manager. Its there when I plug it in, but none of the programs can see its a GPS.

A pretty complicated device just to provide a GPS signal. I see it needs an external antenna. If you have the Vista version of the PL2303, it should work fine. I'm not familiar with Memory Map but would try monitoring the COM port with something simple like Earthbridge. You can set the data rate (9600) and COM port and see if there is a signal. You probably would have to put the external antenna outside and wait for a while as the GPS may not know where it is and needs to cold start. That could take a while.

Earth Bridge - Bridge the gap between Google Earth and your GPS receiver.

Terry

I picked this unit because of the external antenna works well on a steel boat and I've seen it working before (although only on XP). My USB GPS takes only seconds to find satellites and position on the XP laptop.
I'll try EarthBridge and see what that tells me. Is GPSgate a similar product?

GPS Gate is an excellent piece of software for finding a GPS on a COM port, Bluetooth or a Garmin GPS and providing the data to a number of COM ports at once. It can also change the output data rate to a different value acceptable to the navigation software. For example, if you wanted to run Streets and Trips from that GPS, GPS Gate could take the 9600 bps it sends and output 4800 bps for S&T.

For the test I was thinking of, you want something simple that tells you what is (or isn't) happening.

Terry

Ok, running Earth Bridge.
Yehaaaa..... I've set the COM port to 9 (as it is in device manager) and I can see raw GPS data, but no satellites, fix or lock, even after running for 20 minutes. The antenna is in a great location with an uninterrupted view of the whole sky...

I've rebooted, started Memory-map, set COM to 9 and it works !! Not sure whats happened there, but it only seems to work with 1 piece of software unless I reboot ! Strange, but it works. Not sure what Earth Bridge did, but that somehow fixed the problem.
Thanks Terry, my neighbour, also Terry, will be very happy.
cheers.
Lee.

I am so glad it is working for you. Sometimes you have to get as simple as possible to see what is going on. You may not need to reboot. Try unplugging the USB and plugging it back in the same USB port. Some USB GPS devices don't reset properly.

One thing to watch with the PL2303 USB-serial driver; If you change to another USB port, it will load the driver again and assign a different COM port.

Terry

Did you change Earthbridge to 9600? It may have been at 4800 and couldn't properly read the data. Memory Map is probably at 9600 already.

Terry

Yeah, changed the baud to 9600, but it only worked with Earth Bridge after I rebooted after being connected to Memory-map. Then had to reboot again for Memory-map to see the GPS. It looks like Vista is not releasing the COM port until a reboot.

I don't think the problem is with Vista, I would be more suspicious of the GPS or driver. Did you try disconnecting the GPS from the USB port momentarily rather than rebooting?

Terry

My Vista Home Premium 32 bit is using a prolific driver for the GlobalSat BU-353 USB GPS and it switches programs with no issues (as long as I remember to close one program before opening the other). I don't know whether it is the 2303 one but the version is listed as 2.0.2.1 (2021?) and the date is 2005-11-04, well before Vista. Maybe you should try an older version.

Terry

hope i get this right... first time user in laptop gps world
i have just received a mod. g3 gps 2003.com.....new with new driver cd, unfortunately the cd is blank, i contacted the seller (china) he gave me a site to download trial maps,
pc dose not see the gps

question: dose this unit need a driver.....o/s xp pro.
cheers...bob

Hi Bob, welcome to the forum. Who is the manufacturer, what is the model number, is it USB or Bluetooth, etc?

Hi Marvin,the model is "G3" manufacturer '' GPS2003.COM " it is a cheep usb model from China..with external antenna, can view at "GPS2003.COM".
my intention was to use is in a small fishing boat with a program called c-maps... this program will drive an auto pilot... the gps is new but the driver disk supplied was blank.. i assume the cd would include setup instructions...i contacted the supplier, but we had a language problem..thanx for your response..bob

Most USB GPS devices need a driver to provide output to a serial (COM) port from the USB port you plug it in to. You should contact the seller to provide the driver. Maps only work if they are for a specific program which can see the GPS data. More details on the manufacturer and model you have might be helpful.

Terry