URGENT: Install CD (software) needed for Magellan GPS Companion for the Handspring Visor

[Mark_W_and_Sara_J]

Help! I bought a Magellan GPS Companion for the Handspring visor minus the box, manuals, and installation CD. Magellan says the unit will not work without the CD and that I have two options: wait for them to mail me a replacement (the CD is free but I would have to pay for shipping) or return the unit. Since the software is free there should be no problem sharing the software. If you have the CD, let me know. You can reach me at geocaching@warrick.net. This is urgent because I'm planning a weekend trip and need to have either thing working well before the weekend, or I'll have to go buy a whole new setup. THANK YOU>

[+hutchca]

I have a Magellan GPS Companion for the Palm M500.

 

Two pieces of software came with it.

The Rand McNally StreetFinder Deluxe

and the Magellan "Nav Companion" program.

 

The Nav Companion program is a small single file Palm .prc file on a CD-ROM all by itself.

This is the software that provides the basic GPS functions. Waypoints, track logs etc...

 

I can send you the Nav Companion program I have. The zipped file including the help file is only 495KB.

I would think there is a good chance it will work since Palm software is Palm software whether it's on a Palm or a Handspring.

I'm assuming of course that the hardware is the same or similar enough, but if it doesn't work I guess there's no loss.

 

EDIT: I just checked the Magellan web site to see if the Visor model was similar to the M500 version.

IT'S NOT.

The M500 model connects via the bottom USB connector. It looks like the Visor model plugs into the FlashCard slot at the top.

So now I would say that it probably won't work.

Hopefully there is someone else here with the Visor model that can send you their Nav Comp prc file or equivalent.

 

[This message was edited by Chuck & Kris on June 30, 2003 at 10:45 PM.]

[+Stunod]

The Rand McNally software that comes with the GPS Companion is not very good (IMHO). If you are looking to put driving maps on your PDA, try Mapopolis. I think they have free trial software on their site...you only need to pay for the advance auto-routing maps.

 

If you plan on using it for caching, try Cetus (freeware) or GeoNiche (free trial version).

 

"Just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand."

[+parkrrrr]

I have the CD for the GPS Companion for Palm V, the one that includes Map Companion (Rand McNally also included the GPS Companion for Palm V with their software for a time.) However, I don't know if that CD is the same as the one for the Visor, even though they came out at roughly the same time.

 

Have you tried this link? Does that upgrade require you to already have the software installed, or is it sufficient to just have the hardware?

 

If that link doesn't work for you and you're just looking for NAV Companion, you might be able to get the copy I just put at http://parkrrrr.com/navcomp.zip to work for you. I think all you need to install is the PRC file, but I included a suspicious-looking PDB file just in case.

 

This is version 2.10 of NAV Companion; it's newer than what's on the CD, and used to be available for download from Magellan's website. Unfortunately, Magellan has decided to either move or delete the file, and I can no longer find the .zip file I downloaded from them originally, so I've just zipped up the copy of NAVComp.PRC that is in my Palm backup directory. I make no guarantees that it'll work that way, but it's worth a shot.

 

Map Companion isn't worth the time it'd take to download. Get Mapopolis or Quo Vadis instead.

 

[+hutchca]

F.Y.I.

I downloaded the Nav Comp software from the links Fuzzy posted above.

I got three different files.

One that Fuzzy posted (for the Palm V I guess)

And from the Magellan web site I got the software for the "GPS Companion Visor" and for the "GPS Companion m500 for Europe"

All three appear to be exactly the same.

The Navcomp.prc file in each archive is exactly the same size. (170KB)

So it appears that the Nav Comp software is the same and interchangeable for each of these devices.

 

Good news for markwarrick.

 

However I discovered some other interesting things.

First, I was confused since Fuzzy stated above that the latest version of the Nav Comp software was 2.10, but I'm running Version 3.20(245KB) on my Palm M515

Also, I wanted to see if the software was compatible with mine.

So I installed Fuzzy's navcomp.prc file on my Palm M515 and guess what? It works fine with my GPS companion for Palm M500.

So now it appears that ALL versions of NavComp are interchangeable. So why do I have a much higher version number than what's available for the other units?

 

I believe the answer may have to do with WAAS capability.

The status screen in version 2.10 has no WAAS indicators and shows only 12 signal strength indicators.

Version 3.20 shows the WAAS satellites on the overhead view and has 14 signal strength indicators.

This would seem to make sense because the GPS Companion for the Palm V and Visor are apparently not WAAS capable. It's a bit confusing though because the product data for the "GPS Companion m500 for Europe" states that it IS WAAS and EGNOS capable.

 

Anyone care to try version 3.20? http://www.hutchins1.net/downloads/GPS/NavComp.zip

 

B.T.W. Thanks Stunod for the link to Cetus and GeoNiche. Cetus appears to have some abilities that NavComp doesn't, like position averaging. Neither appears to have WAAS capability though.

 

[This message was edited by Chuck & Kris on July 01, 2003 at 03:17 PM.]

[+parkrrrr]

If someone does try version 3.20 (and I will, you know I can't resist) do make sure to back up the Companion_*.PDB files from your Palm Backup directory before you do, in case you have to go back to 2.10. I know the database format changed between 1.0 and 2.10 in subtle but incompatible ways (try beaming a waypoint from a Palm running 2.10 to one running 1.0 if you want to have a chance to invent new cursewords.)

 

[+hutchca]

Good point Fuzzy. I lost all my data when I switched versions.

If you are able to preserve your data, let me know how you did it.

I thought I had the data backed up, but I guess not.

B.T.W. I have no Companion_*.PDB file(s) in my backup folder.

 

Let us know if it works. From what I could see, there's no cosmetic differences except on the status screen and no apparent functional differences except for WAAS. (and the larger file size)

 

[This message was edited by Chuck & Kris on July 01, 2003 at 03:36 PM.]

[Mark_W_and_Sara_J]

THANK YOU all for responding. I tried everything that people suggested and nothing works, so the only thing I can figure is that the device is defective. The CETUS software seemed to have the best clue: GPS device not detected. So I gave up and went out today and bought a new Garmin Etrek GPS and the MapSource software. Works like a charm! I'm very impressed with it so far. And at only $229 (minus the rebate of $50 + $100 for the software) it's well worth the money. Can't wait to go caching with it!