Holux GR-230 lost connection prob, is this the same?

gps_user · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 01, 2004 Posts: 23

Hi All,
I purchased my GR-230 receiver Laughing

from a retailer on E-bay and it arrived yesterday. I powered it up and tried connecting to it with my ipaq 2210 and the the GPS viewer S/W kept closing itself down 8O . I downloaded the latest 'viewer application' version 1.5 from the Taiwan website and it started working fine allowing me to see many satalites. Wink

HOWEVER - I came to use my TOMTOM Navigator 2 package and fiddled with the GPS settings within the same application. I chose the Sirf 9600 device to use the BT serial COM 8 and my ipaq locked up. I did a reset and re-connected back to the Holux device but it seems the Viewer1.5 S/W cannot see the device anymore Crying or Very sad

. Each time I hit the 'Open GPS' button on the selected port it keep disconnecting the BT device.

Is this the same problem as others are experience on this forum.? Does this mean I got to send it back to Holux for a new firmware/need a data cable to reset some mode config?

Will Holux UK honour the warranty of my device seeing as I got it from a different country? The warranty card says Holux themselves support a 1 year agreement so I guess they should.

Comments appreciated.

Regards
Tom

Dave · Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2004 5:49 pm Post subject:

Yes, I noticed this with GPS Viewer too, something not quite right there. I need to grab the latest version at some point.

Regarding the switching to SiRF, it's quite possible that TomTom has broken the GPS because you have switched from NMEA to SiRF. If you were already running on NMEA 9600 prior to selecting SiRF 9600 in TomTom then it should be okay.

Easiest way is to download WinFast Navigator from the Leadtek section on our downloads page, and install it. Then follow this document.
http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/winfastnavigatorppc.php

Try initially connecting under SiRF 9600 and going to the VIEW DEVELOPMENTS screen. If you see a lot of data coming through, all you then need to do is to switch it back to NMEA by selecting the first menu then COMMAND | switching to the NMEA tab, making sure the baud rate shows 9600 then tap OK. This will switch and reset the GPS and you should again see data on scree in VIEW | DEVELOPMENT.

I really don't see why people want to try SiRF, really there isn't much of a difference, NMEA works quite perfectly, and in most cases it gives you more hassle because the only difference you really see is that the updates are more frequent, which means as soon as a satellite or two drop for a fraction of a second, you lose your fix, then it comes back, then you lose it again and each time you lose it, you have problems with routing and you get a chime from TomTom Navigator 2. Trust me when I say, many have tried SiRF as a protocol, and most come back to NMEA because it works well.

If the GPS is now de-synced then yes, you will either need to let the battery drain completely so it won't switch on, then wait another 7 days before charging again (and this may revert it to factory defaults), or you will have to send it back to Holux UK.

Holux will honor the warranty.

gps_user · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 01, 2004 Posts: 23

Hi Dave,
Thanks for your rapid response!

I've installed the 'WinFast Navigator' app on my PDA and it keeps coming up with a popup box 'error, Couln't find value' then gives me the port selection boxes. I selected COM 8 with all combinations of protocols/speeds and I get no output data. For what its was worth I tried to connect the Holux device to my PC via my BT dongle and similiar connectivity issues exist. I can't believe its just stopped working like this! 8O
A few things which i've noticed whilst my trauls through the Bluetooth menus on the PDA is that a) my initial outgoing connection to the device labelled 'HOLUX GR-230 SPP Slave' changes to 'HOLUX-GR-230 Activesync Serial Port' once the app trys to access the device b) the HOLUX GR-230 icon shows up with a 'question mark' over it when searching for BT devices.

PS. Do Holux UK charge for the warranty firware upgrade of the unit?

Thanks again.
Tom

Dave · Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2004 9:28 am Post subject:

Don't worry about those 3 popup errors, you'll get that no matter what under Windows Mobile 2003. Just a little quirk.

Ok, in that case you have de-synched the GPS from the Bluetooth module inside the GPS. Unfortunately you have two options available. Purchase a USB data cable from Holux, connect it with WinFast Navigator on the PC and switch it, or send it back to Holux.

The question mark will appear sometimes, it's not relational to this problem.

AFAIK Holux do not charge to upgrade the firmware. Basically to fix the de-sync problem, a firmware update has to be made, and a hardware tweak (which I believe cannot be done by the local Holux office, only by the factory), so you will have two choices, either to get them to switch it back to NMEA 9600 for you (and you could still have the problem again), or request a fixed unit (which Holux UK did have before Xmas, but I don't know what their stock levels are like).

Either way Holux were aware of this problem before shipping the first batch as I highlighted this problem to Holux in my testing of the unit (and did break the sample I had).

gps_user · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 01, 2004 Posts: 23

Thanks for the info Dave. I'll get in touch with Holux first thing Monday to sort out the issue.

Happy new year.

Regards
Tom

Dave · Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2004 11:54 am Post subject:

If you don't get anywhere, PM me, but I'm sure you'll be okay.

gps_user · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 01, 2004 Posts: 23

Hi Dave,
Thanks again for the info. Just another quick question. I've been contemplating purchasing the cable so I can change the setting myself. Do you know of any other advantages of having the cable so to help me justify the cost of it? Do you know of any other distributer(s) that supplies the cable less than what Holux are charging (£25.99).

Thanks again
TOM.

Dave · Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2004 8:54 pm Post subject:

The other advantage of the cable is that you can then use your PC connected to the GPS via the cable and use products like InfoMap Navigator on a laptop.

Currently I believe it's only Holux that are selling the cables.

Hamie · Regular Visitor Joined: Dec 30, 2003 Posts: 177

I just finished traipsing all around Singapore looking for a cable for my new GR230 (That's outputing garbage on BT at the moment). Even those who sold the GR230 (And GPS seems to be very rare in Singapore for some reason) didn't even know of the cable.

gps_user · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 01, 2004 Posts: 23

Hi,
Just an update here.

I spoke to Holux-UK on Monday and explained the problem.

The techy I spoke to said I needed a cable to reset the mode (which I already understood from topmost posts here).

He said because I bought it from Singapore I would not be able to exchange for a firmware upgraded unit in their stock. Alternativley he could only sent it back to the manufacturer who can carry out this procedure. This would take too long so I discounted this option.

I made the decision to order the cable which was due for 'next day delivery'... and at £6 shipping I'd hope so! (£30 total)

Its Thurday and still had no sign of the cable so I called Holux-UK to find out where it was!! Despite my difficulty in getting through to them I was disapointed to receive the response that the batch of cables they had were faulty and were awaiting a new delivery NEXT WEEK! and that is when I could expect it to be delivered. Reading another chaps post on a different thread, he says he got his cable this week with no probs so I don't know if I'm being told lies here???

I'm going to see what happens in the mean time as the unit I have has been off since last Thursday so you never know, it may reset itself and I may no longer need this cable... so I'll cancel my order b4 it comes ;-)

Thanks for reading
Tom

Hamie · Regular Visitor Joined: Dec 30, 2003 Posts: 177

Hey snap... I bought mine in Singapore last week as well (From AAAs in SimLim Square). I must have got the last cable that worked from Holux-UK (Mine turned up yesterday).

Oh yeah... The Linux drivers for the cable don't work too well either. They cause a kernel oops when you try to open the /dev/ttyUSB0 & use it. WindozeXP is a pain too it wants to re-install the driver every time you plug the damn thing into the USB port.

I'm a little disappointed that Holux-UK don't seem to have very close ties with Holux in Taiwan and that they're not very interested in honouring the warrenty on units not bought from them. At the very least I'd expect Holux Taiwan to reimburse them for any expenses incurred in honouring the warrenty, so I don't see an issue there really.

Actually I dont' recall him offereing to take my unit & send it back either... But then I may have just missed noticing it. He did offer that if I arranged for Taiwan to send me a new one he would swap mine out immediately though & just replace his stock with the one Taiwan sent... It sounded to me more like Holux UK is a completely separate company & just shares the name. Nothing else. That could explain the arms length bit. (Personally I think if a company is trading under the same name & enjoying the perception of being the same company they should have to honour warrenties globally, but that's just my opinion. I also think the expenses should be met centrally, so that locally they aren't disadvantaged by people buying overseas & noone buying locally Smile

It would be nice (And helpful) if the warrenty card had included information on how to contact Holux for a warrenty claim as well...

As far as contacting Taiwan goes, I sent them en email (info@holux.com.tw) asking to get mine replaced & haven't heard anything yet... That's pretty disappinting too.

gps_user · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 01, 2004 Posts: 23

good points m8... i'll keep u posted to what happens next ;-)

DinAlt · Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2004 12:12 am Post subject:

Hi,

I spoke to Holux UK today and they told me the following :

1. They can't do anything with units shiped from Singapore - they have to be RMA'd to the person you bought them from

2. All the units that are being sold on e-bay are faulty (anyone who uses e-bay will know the ones I mean)

3. From their experience Holux-tw is not interested in repairing any that leave Singapore

4. The fault isn't just that they break with changing to Sirf - just enabling Waas / EGNOS can break them - and this is with Holux's own software - not Winfast or anything else

5. As far as they are aware draining the battery of the reciever won't cure the problem (since it's worked for some people it's worth a try but there is no guarantee)

6. They have no cables in stock but expect some next week

Basically this means if you by a reciever on e-bay budget to add at least £25 for a cable - which probably means that some of the other BT recievers available from UK suppliers are now better value for money - BTW the Holux-Uk staff are very nice and will try to help just their hands are tied ...

DinAlt

Dave · Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2004 8:51 am Post subject:

Update to

4) Holux have also been doing some extended tests recently and even changing the baud rate on it's own will desync the GPS.

5) This didn't work for me at all, I think later firmware versions it will, but there's no guarantee.

gps_user · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 01, 2004 Posts: 23

Hi All,

I gave up waiting for the cable because Holux said they had a back order for upto 3 weeks. I've since sent the unit to Holux-Uk to reset it and they have returned it. Thank the lord everything works ok now.

Cheers
Tom

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