Hard reset for Holux GPSlim 236

Satphile · Occasional Visitor Joined: Aug 10, 2006 Posts: 11

Hi lovely people

I need to do the dreaded hard reset for my Holux 236 without opening the receiver case as was suggested by others on this forum, is this feasible?

If not possible, is opening the case easy, which tool should be used or can it be done by hands only, and can it be put back together without damage been inflicted on the receiver case?

Can the special USB cable be used for hard reset, how and which software can be used to do this?

Why not Holux put a hard rest button outside similar to PDAs?

I would value your collective wisdom on this annoying issue?

thanks

satphile

Holux 236
Dell Axim X50v
SPV C500
TTN5

mikealder · Posted: Thu Aug 10, 2006 7:20 pm Post subject:

Why do you need to "Hard Reset" the device? what is it doing?

I.E. when you switch it on what is the status of the LED's on the top of the device

On the one or two occasions my units have got in a mess I have simply removed the main battery for 24 hours, put it back in, switch on and the unit worked fine.
Please note I have two 236 units and I have only had to do this three times in nine months, on each occasion this has worked for me - Mike

Satphile · Occasional Visitor Joined: Aug 10, 2006 Posts: 11

Many thanks Mike for your kind expert attention.

Well, I have to confess that I used SirfDemo using bluetooth connection to my PC, a connection was established with NMEA data showing on the software window. Then I went to Action/Switch to Sirf, then all incoming data stopped coming. I disconnected then reconnected to Sirf Demo and went to Action/Switch to NMEA but no data was forthcoming. I then went to Action/Initialize data source/Factory reset/Send, but nothing happened still no data. The blue tooth connection can be established with my PC, PDA and mobile phone, however the GPS signal the receiver send is invalid.

I used Winfast Navigator which showed GPS signals under NMEA protocol starting with $ sign but the data after that are all rubbish, and although the orange light is flashing but there is no fix, not surprising given the rubbish data (squares and symbols with no numbers) fed to the software. Switching to Sirf protocol under Winfast navigator does not produce any incoming data from the receiver whatsoever.

Both SirfDemo and GPSView doesn't communicate with the receiver.

I am not sure whether the baud rate was changed by SirfDemo that made the receiver speak jebrish and being unresponsive. The orange light start blinking after 30 seconds of switching on even inside concrete building where it is impossible to get a satellite fix.

I have tried removing the battery for 24 h without joy, that is why a hard factory reset may be the only solution to bring the receiver back to life, hence my question.

Now people on this forum are advising to open the case and make an electrical short for few seconds across the inside battery terminals to clear the ram and many are claiming success with such procedure. I am not so confident that I can open the case without breaking it as it seems to be very tightly assembled.

I am also unsure whether using the special USB cable could establish connection with receiver in SirfDemo to send the factory reset data to it.

A hard reset button would have been handy if Holux have thought of it, can't remember the number of times I had hard rest on my PDA.

Once again, thank you for any further advice you may give.

BW

Satphile

mikealder · Posted: Thu Aug 10, 2006 9:36 pm Post subject:

Where did you get the device from ? was it a UK based supplier or an e-bay overseas import.
If it was a UK sourced device I would try the vendor/ holux uk for a fix to this problem, opening the unit will invalidate any waranty you might have, and the idea of shorting batteries out is not sound, this could cause even more damage, at the very least I would remove the battery and leave the device for a period of time, the little button cell batterys do not respond well to short circuit either in test or when in situ, they can catch fire - please be careful if following the "short it out" advice - wherever you got this from - Mike

Satphile · Occasional Visitor Joined: Aug 10, 2006 Posts: 11

Sorry mike, that advice was from another forum supported with picture evidence:

http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=44809

I 'll try to leave the battery for 2 days first.

Very grateful to your advice anyway.

cheers

Staphile

Satphile · Occasional Visitor Joined: Aug 10, 2006 Posts: 11

... they say there that it is: a baud rate mismatch between the Bluetooth module and the Sirf chip, whatever that means.

Can this be fixed by the special USB cable?

BW

Satphile · Occasional Visitor Joined: Aug 10, 2006 Posts: 11

I took the battery out for 6 days, this has succeeded to force hard reset and the receiver is working fine now. I am glad that I didn't force it open to do the short circuiting.

I advise anybody in a similar situation to be patient and wait for a hard reset to take place after removal of the battery, this could take up to 6 days.

BW

satphile

mikealder · Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 11:12 am Post subject:

Thanks for posting the answer I am sure one of the other mods will be interested in reading this as his 236 did exactly the same thing last week, glad to hear its back up and running though - Mike

alix776 · Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 7:00 pm Post subject:

its been out 2 days so far i try it on sunday hopefully itll work Laughing

_________________
currently using aponia truck navigation on windows phone. Good bye IOS don't let the door hit you on the way out .

Oh the joys of being a courier.
device Lumia 950 xl

Skippy · Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 9:01 pm Post subject:

Satphile · Occasional Visitor Joined: Aug 10, 2006 Posts: 11

Don't use SiRFdemo over Bluetooth!

This is not true, you just need to be careful not to use "switch to sirf" command as this send baud rate at 57600 as default, which is not good for blue tooth receivers that can only communicate at 38400 baud rate.

To switch to sirf protocol in SirfDemo using bluetooth connection, you need to transmit this serial NMEA message : $PSRF100,0,38400,8,1,0*0C

This way you avoid changing the baud rate to 57600, that renders the receiver incommunicable.

BW

satphile[/b]

Satphile · Occasional Visitor Joined: Aug 10, 2006 Posts: 11

I used SirfTech software for PDA to switch my holux 236 to sirf protocol successfully over bluetooth connection. I could specify the baud rate at 38400 prior to switching to sirf and this is a major advantage over SirfDemo. I could read the SW version and do all the things that SirfDemo can do.

So alternatively use SirfTech on your PDA to steer away from trouble.

BW

satphile

Skippy · Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2006 1:34 pm Post subject:

strongwind68 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Aug 27, 2006 Posts: 1

alix776 · Posted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 10:04 am Post subject:

i just left it turned on to kill the battery then just left it for 3 days then fully recharged it and it was fine
_________________
currently using aponia truck navigation on windows phone. Good bye IOS don't let the door hit you on the way out .

Oh the joys of being a courier.
device Lumia 950 xl

	PocketGPS
	Web