chumberfield Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 Folks, I need a bit of basic help here. Ive got a Garmin Etrex, but I can't download waypoints using the serial cable. I'm using GSAK, and it gives the error "Garmin can't init COM1". In Device Manager, the port is set to COM1 at 9600, which I believe is correct. The stupid thing is, my mate managed to download a series of caches before, but neither of us can remember what we did differently! Is it a setting on the ETREX? It's I/O is set to Garmin, and the mode is Normal. I am very frustrated... Any help, much appreciated. Cheers. Quote Link to comment
+Mopar Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 Folks, I need a bit of basic help here. Ive got a Garmin Etrex, but I can't download waypoints using the serial cable. I'm using GSAK, and it gives the error "Garmin can't init COM1". In Device Manager, the port is set to COM1 at 9600, which I believe is correct. The stupid thing is, my mate managed to download a series of caches before, but neither of us can remember what we did differently! Is it a setting on the ETREX? It's I/O is set to Garmin, and the mode is Normal. I am very frustrated... Any help, much appreciated. Cheers. Make sure nothing else is trying to use that COM port. In particular, make sure that if you have a PalmPilot the hotsync manager isn't tying up the com port. Even if you sync via a USB cradle, the hotsync software may be configured to also use the serial port. If that's the case, nothing else will work on that com port while the palm software is controlling it. Quote Link to comment
+Elde Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 Folks, I need a bit of basic help here. Ive got a Garmin Etrex, but I can't download waypoints using the serial cable. I'm using GSAK, and it gives the error "Garmin can't init COM1". In Device Manager, the port is set to COM1 at 9600, which I believe is correct. The stupid thing is, my mate managed to download a series of caches before, but neither of us can remember what we did differently! Is it a setting on the ETREX? It's I/O is set to Garmin, and the mode is Normal. I am very frustrated... Any help, much appreciated. Cheers. Try selecting a different COM port in GSAK. (At least on my machine it doesn't always come up on the same port.) Also, about every other time, I need to hook everything up and then reboot the computer before it will work. Quote Link to comment
+Skidamarink Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 I have the Palm IIIx and etrex Legend both of which use a serial cable. I not only have to switch serial cables but I also have to close down the hot sync manager each time before I download to the Legend. Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 I used to have to re-boot then shut down my Hotsync. Eventually that stopped working, so I when I need to load waypoints to my eTrex I have to use my daughter's laptop. I'm gonna move this over the the appropriate forum where the experts lurk and might be able to help you (and me) out. Quote Link to comment
+DocDiTTo Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 Folks, I need a bit of basic help here. Ive got a Garmin Etrex, but I can't download waypoints using the serial cable. I'm using GSAK, and it gives the error "Garmin can't init COM1". In Device Manager, the port is set to COM1 at 9600, which I believe is correct. The stupid thing is, my mate managed to download a series of caches before, but neither of us can remember what we did differently! Is it a setting on the ETREX? It's I/O is set to Garmin, and the mode is Normal. I am very frustrated... Any help, much appreciated. Cheers. Did you have this working and it just stopped, or has it never worked on the PC you're using? If it just quit, did you reboot the PC and try again? What type of PC are you using? (laptop or desktop?) Does it have a built in modem that might be on COM1? Are you using any USB to serial type of setup, or does the PC have a native COM port? Is there a COM2 you could try? You might also want to change the settings to 4800, 8 N 1, as I'm not sure if the Garmin does 9600 baud. Obviously having the GPSr set to the GARMIN interface is another key with GSAK, but you said that's ok. Quote Link to comment
chumberfield Posted February 20, 2006 Author Share Posted February 20, 2006 The first error reported by GSK is: "Error sending waypoints: [ERROR] CreateFile: Access is denied.". Could it have something to do with the Norton antivirus/firewall? I'm running Windows XP, Home Edition, Service Pack 2. I'm not using a Palm Pilot, so I presume the detail relating to HotSync manager is irrelevant? I don't believe there is an internal modem, the one I use is an external for my broadband connection. I believe that there is only one COM port (COM1 is apparently free) for me to use. Like I said, a friend of mine successfully loaded a number of geocaches onto my Etrex before! It must be something stupid that is being overlooked? Quote Link to comment
+Geoffnco Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 Folks, I need a bit of basic help here. Ive got a Garmin Etrex, but I can't download waypoints using the serial cable. I'm using GSAK, and it gives the error "Garmin can't init COM1". In Device Manager, the port is set to COM1 at 9600, which I believe is correct. The stupid thing is, my mate managed to download a series of caches before, but neither of us can remember what we did differently! Is it a setting on the ETREX? It's I/O is set to Garmin, and the mode is Normal. I am very frustrated... Any help, much appreciated. Cheers. I had a similar problem, Extrex Vista worked one day on the serial port (Easy gps/GSAK) didn't work the next time and, to my knowledge, with no changes to the set up . I bought a serial to USB conversion cable and it has been OK since. Geoff Quote Link to comment
+Elde Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 Like I said, a friend of mine successfully loaded a number of geocaches onto my Etrex before! It must be something stupid that is being overlooked? Yes - you are overlooking that we are not standing over your shoulder. It's up to you to actually try some of the suggestions and report back. We are not telepaths. You posted "I don't believe" and "I believe" - beliefs don't fix problems, actually checking does. Quote Link to comment
+G & E Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 I had a similar problem. GSAK would read USB but EasyGPS would not. EASYGPS would read Com 1. I downloaded a newer version and it seemed to help. I think just uninstalling completely and reinstalling can help too. Quote Link to comment
+Haffy Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 I just had that same problem this morning after having my puter in the shop for a few days and tried this. At the top of GSAK goto GPS and then setup. Make sure it is set for the correct GPS that you have and then try another com port and see if that doesnt do the trick. Mine happened to be set for Magellan( I have Garmin VIsta) and it was set to com port 1 and I tried com port 3 and it worked. Hope that helps. Haffy6 Quote Link to comment
GeoidPS Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 The first error reported by GSK is: "Error sending waypoints: [ERROR] CreateFile: Access is denied.". Could it have something to do with the Norton antivirus/firewall? I'm running Windows XP, Home Edition, Service Pack 2. I'm not using a Palm Pilot, so I presume the detail relating to HotSync manager is irrelevant? I don't believe there is an internal modem, the one I use is an external for my broadband connection. I believe that there is only one COM port (COM1 is apparently free) for me to use. Like I said, a friend of mine successfully loaded a number of geocaches onto my Etrex before! It must be something stupid that is being overlooked? I'm running XP Pro, all critical updates installed. Make sure in your Main menu, Setup, Interface, the Seriel format that is selected is "Garmin". If you use USB, the communication is automatically set without the need to select the type of interface. Quote Link to comment
chumberfield Posted February 21, 2006 Author Share Posted February 21, 2006 Elde, you'll be pleased to know that I have indeed tried out many of the suggestions. However, after spending a fair amount of time on Google I've got to the point where I can now successfully download from GSAK onto my ETREX. Having said this, I think that what I'm doing is a bit suspect! Basically, I came across some details whilst Googling, that related to the process svchost.exe being hijacked. I have 6 instances of svchost.exe running on my PC, 3 for SYSTEM, 2 for NETWORK SERVICE and 1 for LOCAL SERVICE. One of the SYSTEM instances had a far bigger memory usage than the others. I stopped it, and hey presto, I could transfer waypoints. You're not supposed to delete this process, but then I don't think you're supposed to have 6 versions of them either! Ultimately, access to port COM1 was no longer denied, so whatever software what was using svchost and COM1, was stopped. Anyway, this is getting off the GPS track, but if anybody has come across the same problem, and knows whether the relevant svchost.exe should be stopped (and why), then please let me know. Quote Link to comment
+The 5 of us Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 Elde, you'll be pleased to know that I have indeed tried out many of the suggestions. However, after spending a fair amount of time on Google I've got to the point where I can now successfully download from GSAK onto my ETREX. Having said this, I think that what I'm doing is a bit suspect! Basically, I came across some details whilst Googling, that related to the process svchost.exe being hijacked. I have 6 instances of svchost.exe running on my PC, 3 for SYSTEM, 2 for NETWORK SERVICE and 1 for LOCAL SERVICE. One of the SYSTEM instances had a far bigger memory usage than the others. I stopped it, and hey presto, I could transfer waypoints. You're not supposed to delete this process, but then I don't think you're supposed to have 6 versions of them either! Ultimately, access to port COM1 was no longer denied, so whatever software what was using svchost and COM1, was stopped. Anyway, this is getting off the GPS track, but if anybody has come across the same problem, and knows whether the relevant svchost.exe should be stopped (and why), then please let me know. Thanks a bunch, I have had the same problem and couldn't figure it out. I did exactly what you said, ended the svchost.exe that was taking up a bunch of memory and it works great. Thanks again. Quote Link to comment
MANOWAR© Posted May 24, 2006 Share Posted May 24, 2006 I had a similar situation happen but with my companies card access software. I couldn't get com1 free until I deleted an svhost.exe process. I hate micros***!! Quote Link to comment
Dale_Lynn Posted May 24, 2006 Share Posted May 24, 2006 (edited) !!! Edited May 24, 2006 by Dale_Lynn Quote Link to comment
+Team Batpony Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 Bumping an old thread, I seem to be having the same issue as the OP, and i have quit hotsync. Quote Link to comment
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