Re: Driving and Sailing ... where to go from here(?)

On Thu, 15 Feb 2007 10:16:52 -0800, Peter Bennett
<peterbb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Thu, 15 Feb 2007 06:31:07 -0700, David <invalid@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:


Thanks DP
Yes, indeed I did specify XP. And actually, two of the converters actually
did work, on the road, with the GPSr and Street Atlas up and running -- but
only for a few minutes. Then the whole business went berserk, with the
mouse pointer jumping all over the screen, and new windows popping up and
disappearing at random. I talked with Garmin and they actually had a name
for this phenomenon: "Crazy Mouse" syndrome. And they did indeed, as you
have suggested, implicate serial mouse interactions, and we made some
registry changes to accommodate them. But that only worked for a while,
and the problem re-emerged. This was essentially the same behavior for all
three converters that I tried.

Can you please tell me the make and model of the converter that did work
for you?

I have two USB<->serial adaptors using the Prolific interface - one
was bought at Radio Shack (Canadian version), and another at a local
computer store. I did have the jumping cursor problem if I connected
the GPS before the booting the computer - connecting it after the
computer worked fine.

If I recall correctly, one remedy for the jumping cursor problem is to
allow the computer to recognize the GPS/serial adaptor as a mouse,
then disconnect it and go to "My computer/properties/hardware/device
manager" and disable the serial mouse. The computer should remember
this setting, and let you use the GPS without interference.

A google for "USB serial problem" or similar should find lots of hits
discussing this problem, and giving solutions.

Thank you both, Dennis and Peter, for your responses.

Peter, ironically, the third converter that I tried was also a Prolific.
And, in fact, I stumbled upon the same solution that you did -- that if I
booted the laptop, and got SA up and running, before connecting the GPSr,
it worked, without the jumping cursor.

However, unfortunately, only for a while. Then after a few minutes I would
get a blue screen and a reboot. This happened so many times. (This BTW
was with all the Power Mgt. options set to "Don't ever turn anything off").
Then I even took everything out of my vehicle and set it up on my office
desk, just to be sure that there would be no possible interference from the
vehicle. Same thing happened. (This was also after Garmin had walked me
through changes to the registry, to accommodate the converter.) Then,
(after well over 100 hours of trying), was when I finally just gave up and
returned the computer. My conclusion at the time was that there must just
be something unique about that laptop that wouldn't work with a converter.

I see now, from you chaps, that there was more to it than that.

Now, eventhough I would prefer to just keep my old 12MAP, in the interests
of simplification and user-friendliness I guess that I am now leaning
toward the idea of a new GPSr, with a straight-in USB cable. (And, of
course, a replacement for the laptop that I, probably foolishly, already
returned.)

I wish that I had consulted with you folks earlier! <g>

After I research the archives, if I don't find a solution, I will start a
new thread seeking ideas for a road and marine compatible replacement for
my 12MAP. If you have any suggestions, they will be most welcome.

Thank you again, so much, for your inputs,
David


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