Garmin Mobile PC & 3rd party Bluetooth GPS

Just got Garmin Mobile PC from Semsons yesterday.. ripped open the packaging today and installed it.

2 hours on the phone with tech support later... I finally got it working with a Holux GPSlim 236. My Bluetooth Manager defaults the SPP Slave port to COM40.

Fujitsu 5032D TabletPC, Vista Ultimate. 2GB RAM.
Bluetooth Holux GPSlim236
Bluetooth Microsoft Mouse
Bluetooth Microsoft Keyboard
Garmin Mobile PC 5.00.10g (updated via website)

I had S&T2007 and iGuidance 3.0 working just fine. Mobile PC was being picky and whiny. It was stuck on "Scanning bluetooth..."

Told two things by tech support: Mobile PC only works on COM10 and below... then only COM 3 and COM 4. Re-paired the GPSlim236 to COM 4. Nada. S&T2007 picked up the re-assigned COM port just fine.

Deleted c:\users\username\AppData\Roamin\Garmin\GarminMobilePC
** you will also delete your activation here!! **

Deleted all my Bluetooth devices (good thing I have my Tablet pen!). Re-paired GPS. Garmin was happy. Re-paired my mouse and keyboard. Garmin still happy.

Lets hope it continues that way.

I'm not sure I understand the problem. I will mention though that in my experience, for Mobile PC to pair with a Bluetooth GPS, the GPS must be unconnected in Bluetooth when Mobile PC searches for it. If I pair my Bluetooth GPS manually before starting Mobile PC, it will either unpair and then pair the GPS or not find it at all. If I want the Bluetooth GPS to appear as if it was on a Comm port, I will pair it manually, and tell Mobile PC to look at Comm ports.

Terry

I tried your pairing/non-paring suggestion and it seems to take around 30seconds for Mobile PC to find the Bluetooth GPS. But initially, Mobile PC couldn't see the GPS receiver despite being paired and active or in-active. Garmin tech support did some remote-troubleshooting with screen sharing and finally got it to work, only after I deleted all other Bluetooth pairings except for the Holux GPSlim236.

Have you upgraded Mobile PC to 5.00.10? I found it would hang searching Bluetooth with the original version (5.00.00) but was more reliable with the upgrade.

If you have talked to Garmin, you probably have upgraded but just in case!

Terry

I just checked Garmin's assertion that you need a port number lower than 10. I deleted my GPS10x in Bluetooth (it was on Comm 9) and then searched for and added it to the Bluetooth list. My laptop is using the Toshiba Bluetooth stack which likes using high port numbers in express mode. It assigned Comm 40. I then started Mobile PC (the GPS was unpaired) and it found it within 20 seconds.

I would say the port number has no importance to Mobile PC. Even if you manually pair the GPS and make Mobile PC search comm ports, you will note the high port numbers used by the Toshiba Bluetooth stack are listed.

The only reason I originally chose a low port number was so S&T and iNav iGuidance could find it.

Terry

Interesting. Yes, as noted above I'm using .10. Maybe you have a better time since you have a Garmin GPS. Maybe they built in some "features" to "encourage" us to buy Garmin GPS hardware. I will try again with a Pharos BT GPS that was included with S&T.

I'm using the Toshiba Bluetooth Stack v5.00something that's for the Fujitsu 5032D/5111 TabletPCs.

For your information:
The latest Toshiba Bluetooth stack (6.10.07) is available here:

http://aps.toshiba-tro.de/bluetooth/pages/download.php

I just upgraded my UMPC and laptop from 5.10.06 but I don't see any advantages.

Terry

I don't think this a Garmin hardware issue. While I was testing with the laptop, I turned off Mobile PC and started it on my UMPC. I thought the internal GPS (Comm 2) was active so when Mobile PC came up with 6+ satellites, I was rather surprised. What had actually happened was the internal GPS was switched off so Mobile PC searched the comm ports and found the GPS10x on Comm 5 (the comm port I have it assigned to in Bluetooth). In that mode, it cannot identify the GPS as a Garmin product.

This also says I was wrong in stating you must manually activate the GPS if you want to use a Comm port. It found and paired the Bluetooth GPS using a Comm port search.

Terry

Aloha. I have been having problems connecting my Holux GPS240.
It always seems to go to comm 40. Using Toshiba blue tooth stack 5.10.12
BTW the upgrade on toshiba is only for 30 days.. you need to get an unlimited license.

So VideoNerd could you describe what they had you do?

You delete all your bluetooth entries (via the control panel)

I wasn't clear what you deleted out
Deleted c:\users\username\AppData\Roamin\Garmin\GarminMobi lePC
** you will also delete your activation here!! **

What did your holux bluetooth finally comm port it decided on.?
The other posting suggest that you don't have to be on Com 3 or 4.

Any help is appreciated.

stephen

Stephen,
Garmin Mobile PC can find a GPS on Comm 40. However, if you want to assign a lower port number using the Toshiba Bluetooth stack, use the Custom mode in the wizard. It will give you the opportunity to pick the port you want. I have found some ports don't work but I'm not sure why. Try Comm 7.

Terry

Stephen,
If your device came with the Toshiba Bluetooth stack, the update is not time limited as far as I can determine. I have it on my UMPC (internal)and laptop (using a Toshiba Bluetooth SD card).

Terry

I'm on COM 6 now as 1-4 is used by a PCMCIA serial port card.

When you delete the \Roaming\Garmin\GarminMobilePC folder, you're deleting the preferences of MobilePC so it starts anew. That is, it won't know if you have a USB or Bluetooth GPS so it'll go through the process again. I don't think you really have to do it, but for me, it DID help.

When you re-pair your Holux in the Toshiba Bluetooth panel, it will allow you to force a COM port for it. Normally it picks COM40, but you can pick anything from COM1 to COM100 depending on what is available on your system. That's where I chose COM 6.

The Toshiba Bluetooth stacks are available from Toshiba at http://aps.toshiba-tro.de/bluetooth/ However the versions are all 30 day trials.

I have version 5 running on my Fujitsu 5032D Tablet.

Be cautious about deleting the Garmin Mobile PC folder as it contains your license information. Garmin may have fixed the multiple installation situation as the last time I tried (2 days ago) it would not accept my ID.
Terry