centsign Posted May 2, 2004 Share Posted May 2, 2004 What is the most affordable way to hookup a Garmin Gecko to USB - my laptop doesn't have a serial port. I know there are adapters, but this means extra costs and unmanagable length of cables. Does anyone sell a cable that is Garmin Gecko on one end and USB on the other? Quote Link to comment
+Renegade Knight Posted May 2, 2004 Share Posted May 2, 2004 USB isn't the same as serial. That may sound like a silly comment but you really do need a USB to serial converter to even hook up your Gecko. The Geco is looking for a Serial interface not a USB interface. They are not that expensive if you look around. Quote Link to comment
+SandRaven Posted May 2, 2004 Share Posted May 2, 2004 Belkin has refurbished parts on sale on occasion, at the moment, the have USB to serial converters on sale for $11.99 Here is the Link I have one and it works great. You will also need a cable to connect from your Garmin to Serial. You can get that those for $8 bucks. Do a search on this forum, and You'll find the link. Quote Link to comment
+History Hunters Posted May 2, 2004 Share Posted May 2, 2004 A related question...and problem: I have a Geko 201, run XP on my Dell 5100 notebook. I have just bought the Belkin USB-Serial adaptor (F5U405-CU) and cannot coax the GPS and computer to talk. Baud rates, ports, protocol are all set as they should be. There is no PDA on this system. Everything appears to be connected per the documents. The friendly error when trying to download waypoints from the GPS is: GPS_Packet_Read: No DLE Garmin : Can't init COM4. There is no other application (that I can find using Device Manager) that is using COM4. I'm thinking I'm going to return the Belkin and look for something different. The 201 works fine connected by serial to another notebook I use. Thoughts? Quote Link to comment
+SandRaven Posted May 2, 2004 Share Posted May 2, 2004 I have the Belkin F5U109 When I plug it in, the catagory Ports magically shows up under Device Manager. And under Ports it says Belkin F5U109 Serial Port (COM 1) If your not showing a serial port when you plug in the serial to USB adapter (without the GPS attached) then you need to reinstall your drivers. Quote Link to comment
+History Hunters Posted May 2, 2004 Share Posted May 2, 2004 The port shows up just fine in device manager (drivers have been reinstalled several times...good suggestion). By all indications, the USB/Serial link is fine. It just won't recognize the GPS. Keep getting that error message: GPS_Packet_Read: No DLE GARMIN: Can't init COM4. My hunch is that there is some peculiarity about the way the Garmin communicates through this particular adaptor that is hanging me up. Open to suggestions. (Thanks SandRaven for the idea). Quote Link to comment
thorin Posted May 3, 2004 Share Posted May 3, 2004 Are you sure that the Geko is setup to comunicate in "Garmin" mode? I noticed there was a setup screen on the unit where you could select other comms modes. Thorin Quote Link to comment
+History Hunters Posted May 3, 2004 Share Posted May 3, 2004 (edited) Good suggestion. Indeed, it is set to Garmin mode. Argh. Still hoping that someone has encountered this glitch and has work-around... Edited May 3, 2004 by History Hunters Quote Link to comment
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