GPS + Topo = Crash

[AndrewP]

I have Delorme Topo USA 7.0 running on a fairly new Laptop and a usb GPS receiver feeding it data. (A Globalsat BU-353) All the drivers are up to date.

This combo works OK, by not infrequently, it just stops tracking in the program. The GPS is working and locked, but it's like it and the program suddenly stop talking. If you unplug the gps and plug it back in, Topo can reacquire almost instantly and like nothing happened. Occasionally, the whole system crashes and the computer reboots. When it works, though, it's amazing, and with the big screen and nice maps and routing capability, it's brilliant.

Oddly, if I'm plugged into inverter power, this is much less frequent, but it still happens. I'm kind of baffled by this and don't really know what else to try. I've updated drivers off the globalsat site, I've deleted every program running in memory that I could, and it still happens.

Could this be an incompatability with Vista?

I just got a Netbook running XP so I'll see if that works any better. I would appreciate any thoughts on this as I have spent hours messing with it and am getting nowhere.

 

[1leglance]

I run the same puck and the same software...
My only differences are running XP and a program called GPSGate that splits the incoming gps signal so that I can also run Oziexplorer at the same time.
No problems for 2yrs running it most weekends and for multi week trips where it runs 12-16hrs a day.

sorry I can't be more help but I would bet it is vista related.
I look forward to hearing how it does on the Netbook

 

[AndrewP]

Thank you Lance.

I'm thinking it's Vista too, but it should still work better. I just hope it isn't something silly that I have overlooked.

Did you change any of the power settings that might change the power delivery to the USB port? I played around with them a bit but it didn't seem to change anything.

 

[Chris]

Sorry I cant help either,

Not to hijack, but I just purchased the TOPO 7.0 and earthmate receiver from Delorme and I cant get it loaded onto the laptop, The installer starts and then just quits. I have followed all the instructions to the tee and same same. Dell tells me Delorme and they tell me Dell. I have the Delorme Streets software loaded and working great. TOPO is what I really want though.....of course!!

Running wiindows XP on a dell XFR D630 rugged.

any help would be appreciated.

:coffeedrink:

 

[RAV4fun]

On the thread topic, it's Vista. I've read of USB devices loosing power intermittantly, can't find the link right now, will look around tonight.

as for the install that is failing, next time it fails, open Task Manager (right click on taskbar and select from menu), then click on the Processes tab and kill any that have MSI in the name or anything that looks like it's Delorme or TOPO related. Then try the install again.

I've seen similar issues with other programs and every time it was Windows running another installer at the same time (with no legit reason that could be found...)

 

[rambrush]

Have you been to there forum and checked if anyone else has had this problem? they usually will get er fixed up for you.

Sorry I cant help either,

Not to hijack, but I just purchased the TOPO 7.0 and earthmate receiver from Delorme and I cant get it loaded onto the laptop, The installer starts and then just quits. I have followed all the instructions to the tee and same same. Dell tells me Delorme and they tell me Dell. I have the Delorme Streets software loaded and working great. TOPO is what I really want though.....of course!!

Running wiindows XP on a dell XFR D630 rugged.

any help would be appreciated.

:coffeedrink:

 

[AndrewP]

Thanks. Yes, I've been on the Delorme forum and lots of people have crashing problems. Unfortunately, no one has a clear solution. I loaded Topo on my Netbook tonight, so tomorrow I'll try a test run.

Does anyone have Topo USA + USB Gps running smoothly on a Vista laptop?

 

[ZooJunkie]

I'm about to purchase Delorme's LT-40 Earthmate Plus, would you still recommend it even w/ the issues you are seeing today? Any solution coming down the pipe from Delorme to address the USB Rx losing tracking w/ the app and/or the crashing issue when loading Topo 7.0?

 

[AndrewP]

I'm about to purchase Delorme's LT-40 Earthmate Plus, would you still recommend it even w/ the issues you are seeing today? Any solution coming down the pipe from Delorme to address the USB Rx losing tracking w/ the app and/or the crashing issue when loading Topo 7.0?

I would guess things will work better using a Delorme GPS. Unfortunately, I do not think the chipset is current state of the art, like the 353 SiRF3. Likely not an issue in actual use.

 

[Chris]

Ok now! it's loaded on the laptop. Oh and it works fine so far. I like the 3D view.

Now I need to get out and really use it.

Thanks all for the suggestions, I ended up just copying the DVD to a folder on the hard drive and then ran setup from there.

I'm running XP and have not had any crash problems...........yet.

Thanks again,,,,,,,,,,,Rambrush!

:wings:

 

[AndrewP]

Resolution

Resolution, I think.

There are many posts on the internet about problems running Topo USA with USB GPS units on VISTA computers. The heart of the problem is the driver that allows the USB to work like a COM port, which is how the GPS units dump data into the program of interest.

USGlobalsat has a driver on their website, that they also supply with the GPS unit. It's a Prolific USB to Serial driver for Vista. There is actually a newer version of this driver available on the Prolific website: http://www.prolific.com.tw/eng/downloads.asp?ID=31

So, I deleted the old driver and downloaded the updated driver.

Then, I found an obscure reference to a "Compatibility" mode built into Vista. You right click on the Topo icon, select Preferences then select Compatability Mode, then select "run as administrator".

After that, it's like magic. Everything starts to work properly. No lock up, smooth GPS tracking. To be honest, I don't know if it's the updated driver or the Compatability thing

Bottom line, if you have a Vista machine and want to run Topo USA (which is complicated but great) and you want to track in real time with data from your GPS, this may get you up and running. I can highly recommend the USGlobalsat BU-353 GPS receiver, just not their driver.

Anyway, Topo USA is really cool with many more capabilities and options than a stand-alone GPS unit. You can also designate trails as routable roads and you can route tracks that would not be available on a GPS unit. Anyway, it's pretty cool, and best of all, the GPS unit is about $35 for a SiRF III (state of the art) chip set and the TOPO USA program with maps is $50 (for 1/2 the USA). This is not to mention the huge screen size of a laptop computer.

None of these issues are a problem if your machine runs XP.