serial converter for gps/stuff wont load

[littlelizzie08]

ok,,i got my garmin etrx vista for mothers day,after cacheing for years without one,,i finally got one,online,,from amazon,,well the gps came and the hicky doo you hook to it,then to your computer,,problem i have a laptop,an older sony,that has a 15 hole plug in thing on back of my laptop and the cord for gps has 9 holes,,like for a desk top,,who has those anymore,except the libary who wont let you hook up anything to their computers,,and my babys daddy grandpa{LOL} who has one that is so slow,,it took 1 1/2 hours just for it to bring up the screen on the geocacheing site that says install or dowmload cahe page info,,

 

so i bought a cord,,a serial rs232 to usb converter to hook into the gps cord then hook into my laptop,,,now my computer says it cant find my hard ware,,and no matter how i try to install it,,it just dont work,,i even tried to not hook into the usb port until i tried to sned downloads to my gps,then follow instructions for installing new hardware,,like the site suggests,,and that dont work,,,,the same message comes up "cant find hardware" so it wont even let me install any of the geocache info,,

 

so what am i doing wrong?is this serial rs232 really hardware? can i find a cable for my gps that will plug right into my gps then into my 15 hole port on my laptop? does anyone out here in geocaheing land have one i can use,i would download all the cahe si wnat,,then send it back,,as it hold over 1000 waypoints,,etc,,,and i found may caches around alreday,,bascially right now,i have a $300. digatal compass,as i still have to write everything down on paper,all my hints,driving drictens etc,,

 

anyone who can help,,please do,,

 

thanks,,,jeni

[+mrbort]

ok,,i got my garmin etrx vista for mothers day,after cacheing for years without one,,i finally got one,online,,from amazon,,well the gps came and the hicky doo you hook to it,then to your computer,,problem i have a laptop,an older sony,that has a 15 hole plug in thing on back of my laptop and the cord for gps has 9 holes,,like for a desk top,,who has those anymore,except the libary who wont let you hook up anything to their computers,,and my babys daddy grandpa{LOL} who has one that is so slow,,it took 1 1/2 hours just for it to bring up the screen on the geocacheing site that says install or dowmload cahe page info,,

 

so i bought a cord,,a serial rs232 to usb converter to hook into the gps cord then hook into my laptop,,,now my computer says it cant find my hard ware,,and no matter how i try to install it,,it just dont work,,i even tried to not hook into the usb port until i tried to sned downloads to my gps,then follow instructions for installing new hardware,,like the site suggests,,and that dont work,,,,the same message comes up "cant find hardware" so it wont even let me install any of the geocache info,,

 

so what am i doing wrong?is this serial rs232 really hardware? can i find a cable for my gps that will plug right into my gps then into my 15 hole port on my laptop? does anyone out here in geocaheing land have one i can use,i would download all the cahe si wnat,,then send it back,,as it hold over 1000 waypoints,,etc,,,and i found may caches around alreday,,bascially right now,i have a $300. digatal compass,as i still have to write everything down on paper,all my hints,driving drictens etc,,

 

anyone who can help,,please do,,

 

thanks,,,jeni

 

Your computer sees the Serial to USB converter as hardware. The cable should have come with a software installation disc. Once you have installed the correct serial to USB software, you should be able to plug in the GPS and have it recognized. I went through the same process with an old etrex legend. If the serial to USB converter didn't have a CD to install the software, you could try to search for the brand and model to see if you can download the installation program from the internet. Hope this helps and good luck!

[+fade2black]

That 15 hole port will not work. That is a VGA port for an external monitor. What mrbort said is correct. Find the software for the USB-Serial converter and install it first. The plug in your GPS. I had to do the same thing with my Garmin etrex.

[+redjada]

I had to download a driver for mine. Look here.

 

http://www.delorme.com/support/supporttemplate.aspx?id=212