GPS Problems with Windows 7

[one wolf]

NTNTNT

[one wolf]

I had the same issue with my BU-353 and Win7. Things worked generally fine but after a random amount of time (typically on the order of an hour or so but never exactly the same amount of time) the data stream would just quit. My fix was to unplug the USB from one port and put it in another port, then switch the port setting in OpenCPN, then it worked again. No reboot necessary. But it was a PITA doing it many times a day over a week-long cruise.

Other than that minor inconvenience, OpenCPN was AWESOME! My 11-year old served as navigator on the laptop, which tells you how easy it is to use. I plotted the courses in advance of course.

Occasionally there was panic when he'd say "Dad, we haven't moved in a while" and I'd realize the 353 quit transmitting, so I would have to go through the steps mentioned above in a somewhat panicked state to find out where we were...

[SailFastTri]

Check your power-saving settings to see if you are allowing Windows 7 to power off the port after a period of time.

[one wolf]

My power settings never turn off my pc (hibernate, sleep, standby, etc.) unless the battery is <3%, which on this trip it never approached since I kept it plugged in. I don't even have a screen saver - I turn off my screen by shutting the lid manually, otherwise it stays on indefinitely.

[SailFastTri]

Originally Posted by one wolf

My power settings never turn off my pc (hibernate, sleep, standby, etc.) unless the battery is <3%, which on this trip it never approached since I kept it plugged in. I don't even have a screen saver - I turn off my screen by shutting the lid manually, otherwise it stays on indefinitely.

Read carefully -- "power off the port". You can check this as follows:

right-click on MY COMPUTER, then choose PROPERTIES, then choose DEVICE MANAGER. Expand the serial ports list and right-click on the port your GPS is connected to, then choose PROPERTIES then click the POWER MANAGEMENT tab. There is a checkbox for "Allow the computer tlo turn off this device to save power". It should be unchecked, obviously.

[one wolf]

Sorry, reading carefully is not one of my strong suits as my better half will attest to...

Maybe this is a Win7 thing - but there is no POWER MANAGEMENT tab - see attached screen shots.

This is 32-bit Win7 btw.

[SailFastTri]

OK -- just to check other possibilities....

1) is there a power management setting specific to the Prolific USB to serial adapter? (It should also be listed; under USB devices).

2) Do you have the latest update for the Prolific driver? The latest is dated 7/15/2010 here is the link to download Welcome to Prolific

3) Are you using 32-bit or 64-bit Windows 7, and did you install the right version of the driver?

Hope this helps.

[one wolf]

1. I don't think so - see attached screenshot.

2. Yes that's the one I installed when I purchased the puck in August prior to our cruise.

3. Win7 32-bit and yes I installed the 32-bit version of the driver.

Thanks!

[SailFastTri]

You might see the Prolific device again under "Universal serial bus controllers" (at the bottom of your screen shot).

Also you might want to verify whether the GPS device is matched for the 9600 BPS speed you have set (as per your image in post 21). It is "standard" for many GPS units to communicate at 4800 BPS. A mismatch probably wouldn't work at all, but it's possible it could be working with errors.

Resetting the adapter has worked for you as you noted above, by unplugging then re-plugging the USB adapter. Another test would be to simply change the USB com port assignment (shown in your "advanced" settings for the port) to a lower port number. That would be slightly different because it would reset the port through software in Windows without powering off the USB adapter.

Just as an aside -- nothing to do with your problem but these USB changes are probably the reason for your current assignment of Com 10. If you change to a lower port number Windows will likely give you a warning that the port is "in use", but it's really "reserved" from another time when the same adapter had been plugged in -- so you can safely over-ride the warning unless you really do have other conflicting devices using the other port assignment.

[nostramo.moody]

Thanks Sea Wolf, I thought I was going insane surely we can´t be the only ones with this same issue, I have just checked all my settings and driver like you, powered up the programme, great... 15 minutes no gps.
Its really frustrating as open cpn is so brilliant. BTW, I have max sea and the problem doesnt happen with that, it will work for days.. BUT i don`t like it Open CPN is so much clearer and easier.
Thanks
John.

[one wolf]

Originally Posted by SailFastTri

You might see the Prolific device again under "Universal serial bus controllers" (at the bottom of your screen shot).

Right - I accidentally minimized it apparently before I captured the screen shot, but it is not there either.

Originally Posted by SailFastTri

Also you might want to verify whether the GPS device is matched for the 9600 BPS speed you have set (as per your image in post 21). It is "standard" for many GPS units to communicate at 4800 BPS. A mismatch probably wouldn't work at all, but it's possible it could be working with errors.

I will try this!

Originally Posted by SailFastTri

Resetting the adapter has worked for you as you noted above, by unplugging then re-plugging the USB adapter. Another test would be to simply change the USB com port assignment (shown in your "advanced" settings for the port) to a lower port number. That would be slightly different because it would reset the port through software in Windows without powering off the USB adapter.

I guess I will try this although if I understand what you're saying, this would only make it a little faster to reset when it quits transmitting... frankly that's not a big issue - I can do it in less than 20 seconds (especially in the middle a tight channel - ha).

Originally Posted by SailFastTri

Just as an aside -- nothing to do with your problem but these USB changes are probably the reason for your current assignment of Com 10. If you change to a lower port number Windows will likely give you a warning that the port is "in use", but it's really "reserved" from another time when the same adapter had been plugged in -- so you can safely over-ride the warning unless you really do have other conflicting devices using the other port assignment.

What's the value of doing this?

[one wolf]

One other thing I will add is that the puck does not stop streaming data like this when I use it with GPS Info (GPSInfo_PC_SW_GLOBALSAT_0131). It streams for hours and hours on end. So it would appear that it's somehow related to OpenCPN but then again I don't know much about much so that could be a bad assumption.

Thanks for looking into it and all the suggestions so far though.

[dehem]

with acer apire one (windows 7 starter)
and gps puck bu-353
Got latest drivers from the manufacturer website.
Followed all suggestions posted on this thread with no success:

opencpn (2.1.0) communication with puck hangs after a while and com port becomes unavailable for any other program trying to communication with bu-353.
reboot is the only way to get the port back and opencpn to communicate again with gps.

Previously, I was using opencpn and the bu353 gps receiver on another laptop (windows xp) for several month without any problem.

[nostramo.moody]

Surely we cant be alone, this problem is making the program useless.
It is an open cpn problem, not gps or windows as the problem only occurs with open cpn.

[nohal]

Guys,
could you have a look in the logfile? To find it, read the bottom of Installing OpenCPN | Official OpenCPN Homepage
Is there anything that looks like connected to your problems? If so, please post it as it can help to trace it down.

Pavel