Guest RoyD Posted October 29, 2001 Share Posted October 29, 2001 to download software - firmware updates from your Mac to your Garmin using the printer / modem ports with the proper Mac GPSPro connector adaptor? Most of the posts I see on this subject are using USB connections. I?m still dragging my feet on this issue and putting off buying VPC.4 until I a me sure I will be able to download to my Map76 receriver. bridaw / macdaddymd, you seem to have a lot of experience with this. I would appreciate your opinions. Thanks, Roy Quote Link to comment
Guest Green Rover Posted October 30, 2001 Share Posted October 30, 2001 Using a Mac G3 (desktop blue & white) with a 4 port serial board running Virtual PC (Win 98), I have updated a Garmin GPS II+, a III+, my MapSource OS, and most recently my eTrex Vista. I have also recently (yesterday) downloaded large MapSource map sets to the Vista. I have also used a Macintosh Powerbook 3400c. The only problem I had was that the downloads were SLOW (9600 baud). I don't know whether this is the Garmin's problem or the Mac/VPC/Win 98 host that I am using. The downloads work ok -- they are just SLOW! If you have other Mac/Garmin questions, I urge you to check the MacGPS Pro web site: http://www.macgpspro.com/index.html The author, Dr. L.W. James probably knows more about using a Mac with Garmin products than anybody else. Also his MacGPS Pro software is (in my opinion) a truly wonderful product! Quote Link to comment
Guest bridaw Posted October 30, 2001 Share Posted October 30, 2001 quote:Originally posted by RoyD:Has anyone been able to download software - firmware updates from your Mac to your Garmin using the printer / modem ports with the proper Mac GPSPro connector adaptor? Most of the posts I see on this subject are using USB connections. I?m still dragging my feet on this issue and putting off buying VPC.4 until I a me sure I will be able to download to my Map76 receriver. bridaw / macdaddymd, you seem to have a lot of experience with this. I would appreciate your opinions. Thanks, Roy Hey Roy! I use MacGPS Pro on a few different macs, some with USB and some using the modem port. Unfortunately I have not updated the firmware via VPC4/Win98 using anything but a USB mac. My macs with serial ports are PowerMac 7200's and I choose to run Virtual PC on my G3s or above so I cannot guarantee it will work although I can't imagine you would have a problem. It should work fine when you think about it because as far as VPC and MacGPS Pro are concerned, your mac has a serial port when you use a serial-to-USB adapter like the Keyspan adapter. My VPC4/Win98FE combo recognizes the Keyspan adapter as a simple single serial port, nothing more. Given this, VPC would have to work just fine on your mac with serial ports. Best of luck! -Brian ------------------ Brian and Terry San Diego, CA [This message has been edited by bridaw (edited 30 October 2001).] Quote Link to comment
Guest bridaw Posted October 30, 2001 Share Posted October 30, 2001 quote:Originally posted by RoyD:Has anyone been able to download software - firmware updates from your Mac to your Garmin using the printer / modem ports with the proper Mac GPSPro connector adaptor? Most of the posts I see on this subject are using USB connections. I?m still dragging my feet on this issue and putting off buying VPC.4 until I a me sure I will be able to download to my Map76 receriver. bridaw / macdaddymd, you seem to have a lot of experience with this. I would appreciate your opinions. Thanks, Roy Hey Roy! I use MacGPS Pro on a few different macs, some with USB and some using the modem port. Unfortunately I have not updated the firmware via VPC4/Win98 using anything but a USB mac. My macs with serial ports are PowerMac 7200's and I choose to run Virtual PC on my G3s or above so I cannot guarantee it will work although I can't imagine you would have a problem. It should work fine when you think about it because as far as VPC and MacGPS Pro are concerned, your mac has a serial port when you use a serial-to-USB adapter like the Keyspan adapter. My VPC4/Win98FE combo recognizes the Keyspan adapter as a simple single serial port, nothing more. Given this, VPC would have to work just fine on your mac with serial ports. Best of luck! -Brian ------------------ Brian and Terry San Diego, CA [This message has been edited by bridaw (edited 30 October 2001).] Quote Link to comment
Guest JollyBGood Posted November 4, 2001 Share Posted November 4, 2001 quote:Originally posted by RoyD:Has anyone been able to download software - firmware updates from your Mac to your Garmin using the printer / modem ports with the proper Mac GPSPro connector adaptor? Most of the posts I see on this subject are using USB connections. I?m still dragging my feet on this issue and putting off buying VPC.4 until I a me sure I will be able to download to my Map76 receriver. bridaw / macdaddymd, you seem to have a lot of experience with this. I would appreciate your opinions. Thanks, Roy I'm using a 500 megahertz iMac with VPC4 and it works like a charm. I just updated the firmware on my new Etrex Vista without a hitch and have been using EasyGPS for a few weeks with no problems. By the way check out Ebay for VPC4. There's a dealer who has been unloading VPC4 with Windows 98 still in the box for $50 bucks!! Happy Hunting!! Quote Link to comment
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