CONNECTING GPS TO LAPTOP

Submitted: Wednesday, May 25, 2005 at 18:57
ThreadID: 23304 Views:2253 Replies:11 FollowUps:15
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Any info on connecting a Magellan Meridan GPS to a Toshiba laptop without a serial port I have tried the conversion lead from Seriel to USB but it's not playing the game.
I'm afraid I'm not much of a Computer/GPS expert - a novice really.
I have purchased the Discover Aus disc and can use that ok thru the GPS only - but thought it might be good to display on a bigger screen- plus the recording of trips is of interest to.
Thanks in anticipation.
Mike

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Reply By: Member - Geoff & Karen - Wednesday, May 25, 2005 at 19:27

Wednesday, May 25, 2005 at 19:27
Mike I dont envy you at all. I had the same trouble with it sounds like the same set up as you have got. The only suggestion I can give is have you installed the driver cd you should have got with your lead that goes from the GPS to the laptop. Once you have got that done, downloading your trips and saving them onto your laptop is the easy part. If you havnt got your disc I can give you the chines website I downloaded the driver off, and then ours was fine.
Good luck Mike, I know how frustrating it is when you dont know much about these things.
Karen
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Follow Up By: Member - Mike - Wednesday, May 25, 2005 at 20:08

Wednesday, May 25, 2005 at 20:08
Thanks Karen
Well maybe that's it - I didn't get any disc with my conversion lead. (Dick Smith) I would appreciate the website address.
Thanks again
Mike

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Follow Up By: Pluto - Thursday, May 26, 2005 at 07:11

Thursday, May 26, 2005 at 07:11
I don't know why. Everyone seems to have trouble with Dick Smith gear. I don't even bother checking there for prices anymore.
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Reply By: GOB & denny vic member - Wednesday, May 25, 2005 at 19:29

Wednesday, May 25, 2005 at 19:29
goodday mike
i take it you have run the serial/usb software cd into your laptop and set up the output port ? i found that with the old 310 i had to have everthing running before i turned the gps on then it would come up ok but if i turned the gps on before i had ozi running it would not play the game

steve
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Follow Up By: Member - Mike - Wednesday, May 25, 2005 at 20:11

Wednesday, May 25, 2005 at 20:11
Thanks Steve
It seems I have been either naive or downright stupid in not getting a disc with the coversion lead.
I will take it up with the Dick Smith Store tommorrow.
Thanks again
Mike

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Reply By: Member - Geoff & Karen - Wednesday, May 25, 2005 at 20:21

Wednesday, May 25, 2005 at 20:21
hi mike
http://www.wiretek.com.cn/download.asp?driver_lei=windows
Above is the website you need
I have sent you a message and if you want to call me i can talk you through it like the man from discover aus did to me....fell free to call if you need a hand to download the driver.
Karen
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Reply By: Member - Geoff & Karen - Wednesday, May 25, 2005 at 20:24

Wednesday, May 25, 2005 at 20:24
Mike the other thing is have you got the firmwear for your gps to talk to the laptop

God it gets worse

lol

Karen
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Follow Up By: Member - Mike - Thursday, May 26, 2005 at 07:08

Thursday, May 26, 2005 at 07:08
Thanks again Karen
Me thinks you maybe getting a call
Mike

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Reply By: snailbate - Wednesday, May 25, 2005 at 21:11

Wednesday, May 25, 2005 at 21:11
Hi guys
If you have a meridan gold you do not need a laptop if you are in NSW go to gpsoz tey will up date your Gps to the latest spec and give you a update to 256 meg or a 500 meg chip to the latest AUST MAPS
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Follow Up By: Member - Geoff & Karen - Wednesday, May 25, 2005 at 21:31

Wednesday, May 25, 2005 at 21:31
Snailbate
I think what Mike is trying to do is what we did. Have your GPS hooked up to the laptop to have a bigger screen and a moving screen on the go. He is trying to get the laptop to communicate with the GPS, so he needs to download the driver for it to communicate.
Karen
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Reply By: Member - Snatchem (WA) - Wednesday, May 25, 2005 at 23:12

Wednesday, May 25, 2005 at 23:12
Hi Mike I have the Magellan Meridan Gold GPS with Discover Aus, it works well with my desktop computer which has a 9 pin serial port. But like you I thought I'd like to get a laptop to use on the move.
I purchased a laptop on Saturday which only had USB ports so I purchased a Birkin serial to USB adapter which had a CD for drivers but still didn't work with the laptop or through the USB port on the desktop. Rang Magellan today and they said they have found they don't have any problems with the "Wiretech" brand hope to get one tomorrow.
I'll let you know how it goes.
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Follow Up By: Member - Mike - Thursday, May 26, 2005 at 07:10

Thursday, May 26, 2005 at 07:10
Thanks for the ifo Snatchem, please do let me know how you go.
Mike

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Follow Up By: Member - Snatchem (WA) - Thursday, May 26, 2005 at 21:01

Thursday, May 26, 2005 at 21:01
Mike I purchased the adapter "wiretek" from Magellan today and it worked after the first try my computer is a "Compaq" but that shouldn't make any difference.
Good luck with yours
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Reply By: Steve West - Wednesday, May 25, 2005 at 23:44

Wednesday, May 25, 2005 at 23:44
Hi Guys have just finnished reserching this very subject for preparation to connect magellan meridian to laptop,contacted magellan they actually have part numbers for the components as follows, the usb to serial adaptor is the one that magellan reccomends so thats where i'm going.
If you quote these part numbers to any magellan outlet they should be able to get them for you, eg Rays out doors etc .
GPSMAGREC 7015 / usb to serial adaptor $ 63.80
GPSMAGREC 7020 / vehicle mount bracket $110.00
GPSMAGREC 7060 / pc/ 12 volt power cable $112.20
There the prices i've been quoted ,hope this helps
Steve West.
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Follow Up By: Member - Mike - Thursday, May 26, 2005 at 07:12

Thursday, May 26, 2005 at 07:12
Thanks Steve
That info should help quite a few members.
Mike

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Follow Up By: The Explorer - Thursday, May 26, 2005 at 08:38

Thursday, May 26, 2005 at 08:38
If you're on a tight budget (or just like saving money) you can usually get the vehcile mount and pc/12V power cable on ebay (among other things) for much cheaper than direct from dealer. For example the PC/power cable is currently $79+$6 postage, suction mount is $78+$6.
Cheers
Greg
I sent one final shout after him to stick to the track, to which he replied “All right,” That was the last ever seen of Gibson - E Giles 23 April 1874

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Reply By: Member - 'Lucy' - Wednesday, May 25, 2005 at 23:44

Wednesday, May 25, 2005 at 23:44
Evening all

I have just spent 2 weeks in Broken Hill at the OBC and whilst there went through the agony and frustration you people are experiencing now with a laptop with only USB ports and no serial ports to take the GPS cable.

I managed to get hold of a ATEN USB-Serial converter 9USB to 9 pin RS-232 Serial converter).

I sweated over that mother for hours to no avail. I installed & uninstalled and re-installed the software driver a zillion times - still no go at all.

I was just about to give it a miss when for whatever reason I decided to look under COMM ports in the device manager instead of USB ports/devices.

Lo and behold the little sucker was in there. It had converted COMM port 4 to cyber USB port and not the other way round as I was looking for.

Just reset the preferences in Oziexplore and away we went.

Also it plays up something shocking if the GPS is connected to the laptop on bootup. I think it is an IRQ clash as the mouse goes spastic and can't be controlled.

Other than that it works really well.

Regards

Ken Robinson

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Follow Up By: Member - Mike - Thursday, May 26, 2005 at 07:13

Thursday, May 26, 2005 at 07:13
Thanks Ken
It just goes on and on as Karen said.
Mike

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Follow Up By: Bonz (Vic) - Thursday, May 26, 2005 at 09:59

Thursday, May 26, 2005 at 09:59
Damn...I was going to relate that story, now I'll just have to read it hahahahaha
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Follow Up By: Member - 'Lucy' - Thursday, May 26, 2005 at 14:45

Thursday, May 26, 2005 at 14:45
Even though you were there Bonz in a 'caring -sharing' role, you have got to admit that it was beyond your level of expertise re trouble shooting and had to be fixed by the good old trial & error (blundering around) method.

Therefore I get to 'tell' and you get to 'read'.

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Follow Up By: Mad Dog (Australia) - Thursday, May 26, 2005 at 20:04

Thursday, May 26, 2005 at 20:04
hehe, com ports can be fun. I've got 8 on the lappy, 1 physical and 7 vitrual. I've also split the data out of the GPS into two cables to input two seperate devices at the same time. Everything runs like a well oiled machine...had a ball for a coupla days :)
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Follow Up By: Des Lexic - Thursday, May 26, 2005 at 23:02

Thursday, May 26, 2005 at 23:02
Howdy Ken, Have you got the Lilleput up and running and if so, how is it going. Hope you and Bonz had a good time at the ORC.
Cheers
Alpaca
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Reply By: gforse - Thursday, May 26, 2005 at 10:51

Thursday, May 26, 2005 at 10:51
THANKS MIKE FOR ASKING THE QUESTION I HAVE EXACT SAME SETUP AND WAS DEBATING HOW TO DO THIS WILL TRY WHAT KAREN SUGGESTS THANKS EVERYONE FOR INFO THIS HAS TO BE THE BEST SITE
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Reply By: Shawn - Thursday, May 26, 2005 at 12:45

Thursday, May 26, 2005 at 12:45
Mike,
I went through the same thing a while back, see post: 2248
Go to the site http://domain.com/gpsoz.com.au (hope this link works)
I got a USB cable of them for my Meridian Gold and when i got the correct drives on disc from them no problems.
Got the cable and initial disc within 3 days, then got the updated driver disc about 2 dayds after i phoned them about the cable not working, very helpfull
Cheers
Shawn
AnswerID: 112995

Follow Up By: Shawn - Thursday, May 26, 2005 at 12:46

Thursday, May 26, 2005 at 12:46
Damn it, how do you put up a link.
Sorry mate;

Go to: gpsoz.com.au

Cheers
Shawn
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Reply By: Shawn - Thursday, May 26, 2005 at 12:48

Thursday, May 26, 2005 at 12:48
Aaaaaaaaaaaagh;
shold be post: 22248
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