3rd Party Serial To USB for Garmin?

[+ADKSherpa]

I have a Garmin eTrex Legend but my computer doesn't have a serial port to attach it to and transfer waypoints, maps, etc. I just got a 3rd party Serial to USB cable, just like the one Garmin sells for its units, but can't find a way to get MapSource to recognize it. I've tried both drivers, the one that came with the cable and the Garmin one but cant get it to work! Does anyone know if theres a way to make this work? I really appreciate the help. Thanks a ton!

[+Red90]

You need to set the usb/serial software to set a virtual COM port up. Then tell Mapsource to look for that COM port.

[+ADKSherpa]

You need to set the usb/serial software to set a virtual COM port up. Then tell Mapsource to look for that COM port.

 

How would I do that? The cable didnt come with any software, only a driver.

[donc30]

I accidently bought one of those also and I took it back and got a refund. They should not be selling anything today that requires a serial port connection. A converter cost $60 so you end up spending more than if you had bought a modern Venture HC. I expected a big argument from Dick's Sporting Goods but they agreed and gave me a refund. They had their HC at too high a price so I went to Amazon and got a HC for $140.

[+Red90]

How would I do that? The cable didnt come with any software, only a driver.

 

Look online for the company. There should be some software. You could first look in the device manager and see if there are any COM ports showing up. Control panel/System/Hardware/Device manager and under "Ports".

 

To the other guy, you can easily get a converter for less than $10.

[+qlenfg]

I'm assuming you really need a USB to serial adapter and not the other way around.

 

Anyhow, I have a Tripp-Lite USB to serial adapter that works very well under Windows and Linux. I tried several other brands and they either didn't work or worked intermittently.

 

Keep in mind you need to follow the installation instructions explicitly -- if it says to install the driver from the CD *before* plugging in the cable, do so. Otherwise the cable won't work properly.

 

Also, some drivers create a different virtual serial port for each USB port, and you may have to install the driver multiple times to use all the USB ports. If you install the drivers per the instructions and use the same USB port each time it should work fine, assuming the Garmin software will support COM5 and above.

[+Idahogreggory]

I am assuming you're using XP or Vista. Plug in your USB to Serial adapter an let your computer find it. Then go to the start menu and right click on My Computer, from the menu select the Manage to open the Computer Management console. On the left side of the window under Computer Management (Local) select Device Manager by left clicking it. On the right side of the window scroll down until you find Ports (COM & LPT) and expand the tree by left clicking on the + next to it. Find your adapter and double left click on it to open its' properties page. Select the Port Settings tab and set the baud rate and select the Advanced button to set the COM port number then reboot to the setting can take effect.