Windows Driver for GPS

I've tried several programs, so far GarTrip is the only one that seems to
work and allow uploading and downloading of way points, although it's not
the most intutive interface I've come across.

I'm surprise Garmin hvaen taken this program or a similar one and add
useability to it.

Not bad though I've used the trial version to type out nicely my few way
points, but wonder how crowded my etrex would look if I was able to add the
way points of all London tue stations to it that I found, that would have
been useful yesterday when I got lost in London!!

Are there any freewrae or time limited version of software that will allow
me to try uploading loads of way points to my Etrex so I can see how crowded
the screen may look?

Yes, there are features to be gained by using Garmin protocols. It is up to
the application software to support these protocols, not the operating system.
Microsoft's applications don't bother to implement any GPS functionality
beyond the basic moving map feature.

There is no windows driver for Garmin receivers, because none is needed. You
seem to feel that a GPS receiver is something like a printer and should have
some sort of standard driver available. At one time Microsoft did define a
Personal Navigation API, that could have been extended to provide a generic
interface to a wide variety of GPS receivers, but this effort has been
abandoned. This is not Garmin's fault. No standard API exists, to do the
kinds of things, that GPS receivers are routinely capable of, so each software
maker must write their own interface routines, to talk to each different type
of GPS receiver.

Garmin's Mapsource line of products will work with the eTrex for
uploading/donwloading waypoints/routes/tracks, but it is a bit of a waste to
have the maps and not be able to upload them. There are several programs
available, that can do map feature to track conversion, for upload to GPS
receivers.

You're setting your sights too low. There are already programs that do much
better than simply providing a virtual eTrex on the PC screen.

John Galvin

You should also make sure that you are pointing the Autoroute GPS
driver at the correct serial port. When I changed my laptop from Win95
to Win98, my GPS38 didn't work at first - and I eventually discovered
that the serial port had mysteriously become COM4 instead if COM1.
Something similar could be happening to you when you change from 98 to
2000.
--
Roger Mills
Warwick - England (In the heart of Shakespeare Country)
Direct Email: roger_k_mills(at)hotmail.com where (at)=@

Sent via Deja.com #
Before you buy.

The Etrex works OK under Windows 98, but can't get it to work on Windows
2000 - that is on the same PC with a dual boot system!! (I know we had the
same problem at work trying to get a Nokia 7110 phone to tal on the serial
port in win 2000 but worked fine in win 98)

It's annoying cos I use win 98 for games and win 2000 for serious stuff!!

Would there not be any added features gained by using the garmin protocol?

They must be the most famous makers of GPS systems, it seems silly they
don't seem to provide a windows driver on their website or even the most
basic software (as far as I can tell) to allow users to load and save way
points and routes to and from the Etrex. I have found loads of shareware
things out there, but it would be nice for Garmin to do the business and
make their own program to get the best out of the Etrex and similar
products - so far all I've seen is stuff for the units that have mapping
facilities. But it occurs to me why can't you have mapping on the etrex? I
mean basic mapping because if you join the dots (or waypoints) you can
produce a basic map of an area. By driving around mine and surrounding roads
I sort of have a map of the roads in area in which I live.

One thing that would be really nice would be to have an etrex connected to a
PC and have the screens of the Etrex replicated on the PC/Laptop, a bit like
a dashboard and have it store routes on the PC as well making use of it's
unlimited memory capacity.

You can safely ignore that silly message about the program being designed for
a previous version of Windows. Also, no need to mess around with a special
setting for Garmin receivers, just select "NMEA compliant device" and make
sure that you have the eTrex set to NMEA mode.

John Galvin

There is to my knowledge no more recent version of that driver. I am using
the same one as you under Windows 2000 and it works ok (but I get the same
message about it being an old version). My unit (a 12xl) is not listed in
the list of devices either.

Now if the eTrex still doesn't work, I would suspect that it is for some
other reason.

Rich

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