Garmin Mobile PC and Garmin USB GPS

Looks like I am doing some thing wrong...Thanks ProITM. Will check it.

There are more than one version hardware for GPS 18, I tested the older usb, and now exist usb 18x (better receiver), and exists also serial RS232 versions.
Wich one do you have?

Any idea on how I can check that(I have a USB version but no idea which one)..I bought it as a package with nRoute software an year ago.

In nRoute go to Utilities > Select GPS... or Get GPS Information...

This is the info that I got
GPS 18USB - software ver. 3.20

Same as mine, I used it for testing and worked very well with GMPC original and the version that I patched.

Is there any chance anybody here has a Garmin Edge 305 bike computer? I just got a reply to a support e-mail from Garmin and they said it won't work with Mobile PC. What a PITA :-(. I have the 305 working fine with the MS S&T 2009 demo using the Franson GPS Gate demo, so I guess Mobile PC might work through that mechanism too? I was hoping not to have to spend $60 on the SW-only version to find out. If only they had a demo...

How badly do you want to try Mobile PC? Here's a message that will point you in the right direction to try it out, legally, for free. You will need MapSource and maps for it to be of much real use, but even without any maps installed you should be able to check the GPS Info screen to be sure your Edge is working with it.

Is there a trial version of Garmin Mobile PC?

Mobile PC will work with some Garmin devices and not others. I have a Garmin GPS10x Bluetooth receiver and Mobile PC is happy with it.

I have a Garmin eTrex Legend HCx and Mobile PC won't have anything to do with it, even though it works with at least four other laptop nav programs very nicely (including Streets&Trips and Street Atlas). To get the eTres to work with Mobile PC I have to run another program called GPSGate Express. This hides the fact that I'm using the eTrex from Mobile PC and then it's happy.

So, it's possible that the Edge will work with Mobile PC but it's about equally possible that when Mobile PC sees that it's an Edge it will refuse to use it, like it does with my eTrex.

Take a look at the discussion linked to above. Pay attention to the directions, starting first with the instruction to read and follow the specified message numbers in the next link. If you follow those directions exactly, you will be able to start Mobile PC software-only version in 15-day free trial mode and see how it reacts to your Edge. If it appears to recognize it and you want to take the testing further but aren't sure how, just ask.

...ken...

Thanks Ken, as expected Mobile PC doesn't like the Edge 305 over USB :-(.

It works over virtual serial port with Franson GPSGate though.

Ironically, the Mobile PC options let me create routes intended for bicycle use, but it won't work with Garmin's own bicycle computer.

I suppose that kinda makes sense with the 305 since it doesn't have maps & nav. while the newer 705 bike computer does. So maybe that one does work with Mobile PC. If only I had US$400 to spend on a 705

Did you try my patched version?

Yes, I did. I'm sorry that I forgot that. I recently upgraded to 5.00.60 for some other testing that I did. Perhaps I should revert to the patched 5.00.50 version on my laptop. Can you point vidiot1985 to that version to see if it will also work with the Edge?

vidiot1985, my eTrex uses maps and does routing and navigation but that makes no difference. The Edge 705 might be an interesting device for you for other reasons but I'm pretty sure it would have no more luck connecting it directly to Mobile PC than your 305. I use my eTrex Legend HCx on my mountain bike with a Garmin handlebar mount and it works great. It doesn't have some of the specific functions that the Edge series do but I'm not an athlete so I'm not interested in them. I just like to donk around the bike paths in town to keep in reasonable shape and occasionally take a trip out to the mountains.

I apologize that I can't recall where the link is, but ProITM has a patched version that will work with other Garmin receivers besides the GPS10x without having to run GPSGate. You still have to purchase a legal copy of Mobile PC to get the maps for this all to work, so we're not trying to rip Garmin off. Just trying to get a little more flexibility in what we can connect. Given that any non-Garmin NMEA receiver in the world will work with Mobile PC software-only version, I'm sure it's not Garmin's intent to stop owners of Garmin receivers from also taking advantage of that product. I'm pretty sure it's just a nasty and unintended side-effect of the way they've coded it to support the two Garmin receivers that can be bundled with it.

There is another program similar to GPSGate called Xport. It's free. I can't recall whether we tested it for this use or not. It's only the most recent version, 1.26 I think, that works with Mobile PC. Earlier versions did not.

...ken...

Thanks for the pointer. If only Garmin would provide (even if not for free) something like Xport or GPSGate to get their GPS hardware to work with their own GPS software.

I know this is going to sound stupid and it's probably going to be confusing. You don't need either Xport or GPSGate to get Garmin's GPS devices to work with Mobile PC. That is, Xport and GPSGate are not being used for their normal purpose in this situation.

Xport and GPSGate provide multiple virtual COM ports that allow you to share a single GPS device input with two or more navigation programs. It's sort of like a cable splitter in software. GPSGate does one additional function which is to translate a pure NMEA data stream to Garmin's proprietary data stream for programs like nroute that will only work with Garmin data.

Mobile PC requires none of these things.

What these programs do, by creating virtual COM ports and running the NMEA data stream through them is to strip out the Garmin Unit ID information that allows Mobile PC to identify some units as Garmin units but not the models that it has been programmed to expect. Or it may be that they are only one-way channels so they effectively block Mobile PC from querying the units for their Unit IDs.

In any case, Mobile PC does not see them as Garmin units. It just sees a generic NMEA data stream coming in. Since it has been programmed to work perfectly with a generic NMEA data stream, it's happy and you're happy.

So, it's nothing but a fortunate accident that these programs can be used to fake out Mobile PC.

The solution Garmin needs to provide is a change to the internal code in Mobile PC that stops it from actively ignoring legitimate Garmin units for input. It seems to me it would be far easier for them to change that little bit of code than it is for them to make a list of all the "non-conforming" Garmin devices.

That would also allow them to increase their sales of Garmin devices for use with Mobile PC and their sales of Mobile PC for use with Garmin USB devices. Unfortunately this sort of advanced thinking is not something they are noted for.

...ken...

No, not stupid or confusing at all. I write software for a living and can easily see how this kind of bogosity happens.

I think it's either a marketing decision or a support/qualification issue (or both). Perhaps there are multiple versions of the Garmin proprietary protocol and they don't want to support them all, and think they have enough to do in supporting the NMEA stuff and the two GPS receivers they bundle with the software.

Makes sense at some level, but still stupid IMHO.

I was an IT/Telecom professional for just about thirty years. Started my career as a programmer/analyst. Spent the last twenty years doing and managing tech support and managing projects. Now technology is a hobby. Still lotsa fun.

Actually it has nothing to do with the Garmin protocol, either .... toldja it could be confusing for some.

Both of these units do NMEA by default. The eTrex can be switched to Garmin protocol. Your Edge probably can, too. The Garmin protocol is really just a superset of NMEA. It uses all of the standard sentences but adds a couple of wrinkles, mostly to do with identifying and controlling the devices. But they do NMEA. They do it by default. Mobile PC software-only version only needs a generic NMEA data stream to work. It doesn't need the Garmin protocol and it doesn't need to know anything about the attached receiver.

That's why I said that neither of them need the functions of Xport or GPSGate. They SHOULD work with Mobile PC software-only version with no intervention.

What I think is happening is that Mobile PC, all versions, queries the receiver automatically. If it's one of the bundled versions, this makes sense because it's only supposed to work with the unit that's bundled with it. So it needs to query for the Unit ID and match that to its unlock code (the unlock code is created from an algorithm based on the Unit ID of the hardware device and the Product ID of the maps).

The software-only version should not be querying for the Unit ID because it is "unlocked" by the Product Key that comes with it. It has to do it that way because non-Garmin receivers won't have a predictable Unit ID to unlock the maps to. So it shouldn't even be checking. It should be a super-simple bit of code to modify this behaviour.

It's actually halfway there. When you first run it after installation, it asks if you are using it with a Garmin device. If you say Yes, it tells you to attach the device and turn it on. When it sees the data arriving it queries the device for the Unit ID and checks it against the unlock code.

If you say No, it asks for the Product Key and uses that forever after, just like an unlock code. What should happen then is that any time it sees a receiver attached it should check to see if it was activated by a Product Key or an Unlock Code. If a Product Key then just read the data stream and don't screw with the receiver.

As far as I'm concerned it's an easily corrected defect. But Garmin remains unpersuaded.

...ken...