Garmin Etrex Legend And Usb

[+The Divine Ones]

I've mostly used one machine with regular serial ports to transfer waypoints into and out of my eTrex Legend using Delorme Topo USA and EasyGPS, so I know it works and I know how to do it.

 

However, I recently purchased a new laptop from Dell. The laptop has no serial ports, so I bought a IOGear Serial-to-USB cable that (using a driver installed in XP) allows the cable plugged into the USB port to show up in the OS as a serial port (shows up as COM4 or COM5 in my case depending on which USB port is used).

 

I configured Topo to use the same port and told it to transfer the Waypoints out of the GPS and onto my map, but they can't communicate.

 

Has anyone been able to get a connection to an eTrex Legend using a USB cable acting as a serial port? Any hints?

[+OKThumper]

Not sure I can help but I will give it a go. I have the etrex and a laptop without the serial port, I got the USB to serial cable with the software. I plugged in the cable to the USB port, into the serial cable for the GPSr, and turned the GPSr on. Then I booted up the laptop and it saw the "New Hardware" and asked for the software. At that point I put the CD in the drive and had the "Wizzard" load it. The laptop then could communicate with the GPSr via the USB to Serial cable. My computer saw it as Com7. I use Delorme SA 2004, so I had to change the GPSr to NMEA interface to get it to see the program, I then have to change back to the Garmin format for the EasyGPS to transfer data. I hope I helped and didn't confuse.

 

Thumper

Edited February 11, 2004 by OKThumper

[+GeckoGeek]

Has anyone been able to get a connection to an eTrex Legend using a USB cable acting as a serial port? Any hints?

I personally have not done it, but I know of others here who have. The first step is to make sure your adapter shows up as a serial port. No other hints special to USB adapters, just getting the GPS to work in general.

 

That said, I've heard that some adapters work, some don't. Price is not a reliable indicator of how good an adapter it is.

[Swagger]

The serial ports on my PC don't work quite right (never have), so I had to get a USB-to-serial converter for my Palm and also for the GPS. I haven't had any problems with it except that once in a while the PC doesn't see it on boot and I have to unplug/replug the adaptor into the USB port (without shutting down the system).

 

Make sure you're using the right serial port in the various pieces of software. Go into Control Panel/Computer Management/Device Manager/Ports (from memory but I think it's right) and see which port XP has your USB-Serial cable set to.

 

HTH

[+The Divine Ones]

Thanks for the replies and ideas. I tried Thumper's idea and it didn't work either. So, I borrowed an "el cheapo" cable from my lab tech and installed new drivers for it. It worked on the first try, with no reboots or anything required.

 

Turns out the $30 IOGear cable I bought isn't guaranteed to work in Windows XP, but the $10 generic cable from NewEgg works fine.

 

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc....-107-108&depa=1

 

Thanks for the help.

[+sea_dragon]

Great info. I've got the same set up, but haven't gotten the serial to usb adaptor yet 'cause I've been pricing them and trying to figure out if everything would work. Thanks for the topic!

 

Oh, are you using the garmin cable, or is there another one out there? Also, does anyone know if there's a GPS to PC cable that has a usb connection, that will not need an extra cable?

[Yunaderis]

Thanks for the replies and ideas. I tried Thumper's idea and it didn't work either. So, I borrowed an "el cheapo" cable from my lab tech and installed new drivers for it. It worked on the first try, with no reboots or anything required.

 

Turns out the $30 IOGear cable I bought isn't guaranteed to work in Windows XP, but the $10 generic cable from NewEgg works fine.

 

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc....-107-108&depa=1

 

Thanks for the help.

just picked up a Legend and found that link to be of great help to my accessories shopping...not 12.99 thought:(

 

but still a great bargain...thanks again for the link