Laptop GPS World

Anybody out there know of any serial port splitting software that can be used w/ GMPC (not GPSgate v2.5 or xport v1.21), any help would be greatly appreciated.

What's the exact problem with Franson GPS Gate & Garmin Mobile PC? I'm curious to test it.

With GPSGate, Garmin simply won't find a gps device.

I got it to work by using xport v1.21. However, I want the Google Earth tracking (send my location). I set GPSGate to use one of the ports created by xPort, which works. However, after about 5 minutes with that setup, GPSGate starts using 100% of the cpu.

Why you are using GPSGate? I thought you would only need to run GPSGate if you need NMEA-to-Garmin protocol conversion on one of the ports. Mobile PC works perfectly with NMEA receivers and I thought Google Earth Plus was also supposed to work with NMEA. What am I missing?

...ken...

If you have problems with GpsGate, you can send a message to us here and we'll try to solve the problem:
http://franson.com/gpsgate/support.asp

GpsGate Support

Hi GpsGate,

Welcome to Laptop GPS World.

Garmin Mobile PC is a brand new product that was released only few weeks ago. I'm sure this issue will be addressed soon.

__________________
Marvin Hlavac

Laptop GPS software reviews | Stores offering discounts to our members: Semsons & Co. Inc. and Deluo Electronics

Wow Marvin, what was an awesome quick response, Thanks


OK heres my current set up:
BU-353
to > USB to Serial driver (downloaded from Globalsat last week)
to > GPSgate for virtual com ports for S&T2007 etc
to > xport (the input for xport is virtual com 1 made by GPS gate), the only output is virtual com 3
to > GMPC and I make sure no other applications try to use com ports 1 and 3.
I can see S&T2007 getting satellite data all the time but GMPC drops out and comes back due to xport being flaky.

GMPC works great if it's the only program the uses the receiver but I really enjoy the ability to drop a thumbtack on S&T2007 and saving a little file so I can email it to others.

My exact problem is that I cannot get GMPC to work off of a virtual com port created by GPSgate no matter what I try.

For some odd reason GMPC will only use virtual com ports created by xport, but xport likes to crash or give me a blue screen, so thats why I am seeking another port splitter

Someone on the GPSgate forum has already asked about GMPC support and the answer was "no" just like that.

@malaki86 - xport works best at the tail end of GPSgate, believe me I have tried every combo for hours

Ben

Franson GPS Gate may not support Garmin Mobile PC today, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time till Johan (the person behind Franson GPS Gate) will address this little issue. We have to remember that Garmin Mobile PC was released barely few weeks ago, and the developer of GPS Gate might have not even heard about this new software before.

__________________
Marvin Hlavac

Laptop GPS software reviews | Stores offering discounts to our members: Semsons & Co. Inc. and Deluo Electronics

I think everyone who has Mobile PC who wants to use a modern, supported port splitter and can't get it to work with GPSGate should report the problem to Franson's web site so he will have an idea how big the problem is. I was not able to get Mobile PC to work with GPSGate and so far nobody on here has been able to. So it seems clear there is something about GPSGate that Mobile PC doesn't like.

If Mobile PC works easily with such an old product as xport 1.21, it seems like the fix for GPSGate should be fairly simple. It just needs to be reported by enough people so the GPSGate developer is aware it's a serious problem and not just a couple of people who don't know what they're doing.

...ken...

The problem is simple. GPS Gate creates virtual comm ports for Garmin output and Mobile PC won't look for virtual ports. Your suggestion, Ken, to feed Mobile PC with NMEA data sounds like it should work as GPS Gate can make real Comm ports. I'll try to test it.
Terry

I obviously don't understand what GPS Gate means when it creates a non-virtual comm port. It is not putting out data on that port as no mapping program can see it. So the problem remains; Mobile PC cannot see virtual comm ports created by GPS Gate.
Terry

GMPC can "see" all the virtual com ports (GPS settings in GMPC enable/disable) that I have created it just refuses to use the ones made by GPSgate.

Terry,

Mobile PC is quite happy to gobble up NMEA data. If I have my Pharos USB GPS (came with S&T 2008) plugged in when I launch Mobile PC, it just automatically finds it and starts using it with absolutely no intervention on my part. But I have never figured a way to get Mobile PC to use anything created by GPSGate. That seems to be universal with all reports I've seen in here so far. Nobody has figured a way to get Mobile PC to work with GPSGate, no matter what kind of port you ask it to create. Ben is right, Mobile PC sees the ports it just doesn't seem to be happy with what it's seeing.

On the other hand, it's using the ports created by xport ... at least all reports indicate it works with xport 1.21, maybe not so much with 1.22. So there appears to be something about the ports created by GPSGate that Mobile PC is not liking.

I have a registered version of GPSGate so as soon as I receive Mobile PC and can make a proper trouble report with details I'll do it. I suggest any registered user of GPSGate who wants it to work with Mobile PC do the same.

...ken...

Ken,
I have tried every method I could think of to make this work and have not succeeded. The difference I see from your statement is when I create a virtual port of any type in GPS Gate, Mobile PC no longer gives me that port number as one available to look at. I have tried GPS Gate 2.0 and 2.6.
Terry

I'm also trying to run Garmin Mobile PC but I'm very dependent on GpsGate. I have been to the GpsGate forum and the answer there seems to be "wait until GMPC supports virtual ports". I just installed GMPC upgrade 5.00.20 hoping that they had somehow slipped this capability into the release - but nope, it's not there.

The strange thing is that GMPC won't read my GPS without GpsGate installed (and just GMPC running). It recognizes the port but trys to read the GPS for a while and then turns it off. This is a HAiCOM HI-302E that I run through PCMCIA on my tablet, and it works with several other mapping programs okay. Geez, I would think if anyone could link to a NMEA stream it would be Garmin.

So I have two problems; can't run with GpsGate and can't run without it! Does anyone have a serial port splitter solution yet? Should I give up on Garmin Mobile PC? Is anyone running a CF or PCMCIA GPS that for sure GMPC will recognize?

Chuck