Bizarre problem with TTN5 and GPSlim 236

[ArthurFuxake]

Sorry if this is a bit long winded, but this problem driving me nuts !

I have TTN5 on an IPAQ 3870. For the last few years I've been using an EMTAC bluetooth GPS with the above, which works 100% fine.

I bought (at the Basingstoke gathering yesterday) a Holux GPSlim 236 to replace it, as the battery life on the EMTAC isn't what it used to be...

I paired up the GPSlim 236 with the IPAQ fine, assigned it an SPP (Com8 as usual) and fired up TomTom 5.

All appeared fine. TomTom could see loads of sats, so into nav mode we go....

Start driving and nothing's happening in TomTom. It's just sitting there as if I haven't moved. Hmmm.. Checked the sats again, still locked and seeing 8 sats. Back to nav mode again and the display updates to my current position but then almost immediately stops again.

This is 100% repeatable every time !

When in sat status mode, the update speed is a little erratic with the GPSlim 236. When stationary it's not too bad but when driving it's quite erratic. With the EMTAC it's nice and regular.

So, I re-enabled the good old EMTAC just for a sanity check... TomTom works beautifully again.

Faulty GPSlim 236 I thought...

I also have MemoryMap on the IPAQ, so I wondered what that would do with the apparantly faulty GPSlim 236... what the heck... works perfectly !... beautifully smooth updates every second.

A selection of GPS tools such as Crux, TTN2/3's GPS driver, etc, also show the GPSlim 236 to be working fine.

Confused by this, I then tried the GPSlim 236 on a friends IPAQ 3870 with TTN5.. I does exactly the same thing as it does on mine, the map pauses indefinately but it shows plenty of sats and a good lock. Switching between sat status and the map will update the map position but then it instantly pauses again.

I then installed MemoryMap on my friends IPAQ and again that works fine with the GPSlim 236.

I had a quick look at the data stream being produced by the GPSlim 236 and the EMTAC. They both look fine and very similar with no obvious differences to note.

TTN5 can be set as other bluetooth or as serial on com8 at any baud rate between 4800 to 38400... the problem is still the same. I tried updating TTN5 to v5.1... still the same problem.

Now I know lots of folks initially have trouble getting TTN5 to see non-TomTom bluetooth devices, but TTN5 can see the GPSlim 236 just fine, in exactly the same way/settings as it sees the EMTAC, so it's not the usual TTN5/bluetooth problems.

I can have both the EMTAC and the GPSlim 236 turned on, assign the bluetooth com8 to the EMTAC, start TTN5 and it works fine. Close TTN5, assign com8 to the GPSlim 236, start TTN5 and I have the problem as described. Switch back to the EMTAC and all is fine again, but MemoryMap and various GPS tools work fine with both all the time.

So, TomTom 5, IPAQ 3870 and GPSlim 236... Ideas anyone ?

[GreenGPS]

Found this comment in the FAQ on the Holux website, hope it helps:

Q8: I can’t use my GPSlim236 with TomTom navigator, what should I do?

A: Please note that TomTom has made some changes from TomTom3 to TomTom5.

1.TomTom3: You should be able to connect our BT receivers with TomTom by selecting NMEA 0183v2 38400 Bluetooth Serial Port from the GPS setting list.

2.TomTom5: In the TomTom setting you have to assign a GPS-device. The Holux device is displayed as a wireless GPS. When you select this item, TomTom doesn't work.

However, when you select the option Another Cable-NMEA-GPS (this is in the TomTom GPS Setup), and set the Baudrate to 9600 (38400 should be working as well), you will only have to choose the right com port (which is detectable with your test software) and it will work as a wireless GPS.

[ArthurFuxake]

Thanks. but as I said, bluetooth or serial makes no difference. This is a whole different problem !

Steve

[ArthurFuxake]

After a long discussion with a very helpful Holux UK support, they too were as confused as me... but we agreed on a plan.

1. Hardware factory reset the Ipaq 3870
2. Install TomTom 5 and nothing else

I did the above... no difference... the problem was exactly the same.

So... what next... Well, the Ipaq 3870 is a bit old now and by default runs PocketPC 2002. There is a PocketPC 2003 flash ROM upgrade available for a price, so I bit the bullet and purchased it.

Ran the ROM Upgrade (takes about 15 mins) and viola, PPC 2003.

Paired up the GPSlim 236 and installed TomTom 5 and MemoryMap

Perfect !!!.. Both TomTom 5 and MemoryMap now work beautifully.

So, we're still not sure what the exact problem was, but it would appear to that the new ROM/Bluetooth stack sorted it.

Many thanks to Holux support for being so understanding !... and hopefully this experience may help someone else in the long run.

Steve

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