PDA Serial Port Splitter

[Mark90]

I have found this nice little freeware appliaction that splits serial port to allow multiple devices to use a GPS input for instance, just like GPS Gate does.

Port Splitter

Seems to work quite well, I've had Memory Map, TomTom and GPSDash all running simulta at the same time. Only seems a bit buggy with regard to saving config or if you try to start port splitter before input port is connected, but what do you expect for nowt?

[Les Henson]

I have GPSgate on my PDA, and although it says it easy-peasy to use, I couldn't get it to run. V8Freak came down at the weekend and stole all my porn sorted it for me though, so now I have Tomtom normal GPS and Memory map as well - how kewel is that!

Les.

[white90]

on a similar topic

since reloading TT5.1 it won't remember the change of home address, or remember recent destinations

the SD card is not write protected, any ideas

[V8 Freak]

Les....

You still want me to bring all that other Porn that spare hard drive and DVD's to the lakes this weekend?

Sorry Tony.. Got no experience with TT..... Have you tried another SD card just in case the write protection tab isn't working ?

[bishbosh]

Got the same problem Tony..... watching with interest.

[white90]

extra odd as it used to work fine before the PDA battery went dead flat on it

[Mark90]

Home, favorites and recent destinations are stored in a .cfg file. Mine is called Great_Britain_Plus-Map.cfg and is stored in the Great_Britain_Plus-Map folder along with many of the other map files.

You can delete the existing .cfg file (or safer to just rename) and create a new file of the same name, hopefully that should sort it if there is a problem with the .cfg file. You will of course loose any recent destinations or favorites.

Also not a good idea to store your home location, use an address a few streets or even villages away then if your GPS/PDA gets nicked while you're out some other mugs place gets turned over

I use Bish's address

[Les Henson]

You still want me to bring all that other Porn that spare hard drive and DVD's to the lakes this weekend?

Mmmmmm - 100GB of smut - yes please

Les.

[V8 Freak]

Only got 50GB here Les.....

But.... I'm not sure I should share with you because if you ruin those hands the tech archive will not grow!

[bishbosh]

extra odd as it used to work fine before the PDA battery went dead flat on it

Freaky - exactly the same cause / effect here!

Can't find a cfg file of the name Mark suggests........

[Mark90]

Can't find a cfg file of the name Mark suggests........

That might be part of the problem, that files stores hom/favorites/recent. But I just removed mine and it created a new blank one.

[white90]

I deleted the GB Map file and TT wouldn't work so I had to reload it from the disc

[Mark90]

It is possible the file might have a different name or be in a different location (on card or device), depending on TT version and application setup, but I'm pretty sure it will always be a .cfg file.

Even if the card is unlocked, it is possible the file is read-only, or even hidden. Best way to check for this is on a PC with the card in a reader.

[RRX]

Check the My Documents folder on the device itself for a folder called tomtom, if it exists rename it and create a new one and copy a small file into it like a picture, any file will do. see if it works then

[darthdicky]

I have found this nice little freeware appliaction that splits serial port to allow multiple devices to use a GPS input for instance, just like GPS Gate does.

Port Splitter

Seems to work quite well, I've had Memory Map, TomTom and GPSDash all running simulta at the same time. Only seems a bit buggy with regard to saving config or if you try to start port splitter before input port is connected, but what do you expect for nowt?

Nice one Mark, don't suppose you know of anything similar that will work on a laptop do you? I'm feeling too cheap to buy GPS Gate for the amount I use it!

Richard

[Mark90]

Sorry don't know of any similar freeware for PC, but then I wasn't looking for PC software. There's probably something out there, if not there'll be a cracked copy of GPS gate

[steve_a]

Great find, just installed and connected Ozi and Tom Tom to gps at the same time. cooool. saves me writing one.

[ChrisB]

Nice one Mark, don't suppose you know of anything similar that will work on a laptop do you? I'm feeling too cheap to buy GPS Gate for the amount I use it!

Richard

Not sure if I've got the right end of the stick, but Xport2 will split a GPS input on the pc and make it available for multiple programs to use. It's free and works really well once you've set it up (bit tricky at first, but not too bad!).

Xport2

Updated: It seems xport2 has seen much further development since I downloaded it - time for an upgrade!

[Coastcard]

Only seems a bit buggy with regard to saving config or if you try to start port splitter before input port is connected, but what do you expect for nowt?

The serial port on PDA's has always been fun especially if you start using Bluetooth as well. If a software application is not very disciplined at managing the port it's using then this too can cause issues.

IIRC PDA's use virtual com outputs (because there is only one real serial port), which is what it looks like the splitter software is managing and putting a User Interface onto. This has the potential for all sorts of fun and games, especially when you plug something in that tries to open a port.

If you use PDA's, you will know the reset button is your friend

[white90]

Mark

do I need to download both:

Windows Mobile 2003/SE

Download setup Port Splitter 1.10

Download CAB Port Splitter 1.10

of these for this on my PDA?

[Mark90]

You only need to download one, either will do:

Setup file you run on the PC and it installs software through active sync on to the PDA.

Cab file you copy on to PDA (on device or storage card, it matters not) and then run directly on the PDA.

[ThreeSheds]

Xport2

After trying another downloadable port splitter which I couldn't get to work I found the above suggestion and downloaded Xport and it was easy to setup and worked straight away with no fuss. However, if I use it with MM on one of it's output ports I occasionally (several times in the last hour) get the blue screen of death. The problem goes away if I disable the splitter service and run MM on the original (COM4) port. According to the internet, the BSOD means that I need to do a scan-fix of registry errors so this leads me to a couple of questions:

Has anyone had a similar problem with XPort?

Does doing a registry scan/fix cure it?

Are there any decent (preferably free) registry scan/fix programs out there?

I have tried two so-called free scan-fix downloads, but they don't fix the important problems unless you pay for them, and one found 286 errors and the other found 401 so I'm not entirely sure that I trust them anyway!

Final question - and slightly off this topic - are there any opinions on what is the best turn-by-turn software for a laptop (I am looking to buy this ) I currently have a TomTom and I like that and so would like something similar on the laptop.

Roger

[gazelle]

on a similar topic

since reloading TT5.1 it won't remember the change of home address, or remember recent destinations

the SD card is not write protected, any ideas

Had the same issue with mine, but the symptoms were always wanting to go to the same destination when turned on. The SD card had set itself to locked, regardless what I did.

Got a new card, and then used the SD slot on the PC to copy the contents onto a new card.

It worked fine until the cigar lighter to GPS to IPAQ cable decided not to power the IPAQ. I could only manage short journeys on it! Limited by the IPAQ battery!

Martin

[henk]

Portsplitter for pc with all you need

Mail for pwd

[David Sparkes]

Has anyone had a similar problem with XPort?

No, mine works OK on Windows XP, SP3, all updates applied.

Are there any decent (preferably free) registry scan/fix programs out there?

Decent, Yes.

Free, Don't know.

I have tried two so-called free scan-fix downloads, but they don't fix the important problems unless you pay for them, and one found 286 errors and the other found 401 so I'm not entirely sure that I trust them anyway!

This is no different, in principle, to making a choice between buying your suspension modification package from one supplier in preference to another. Just because the two produce different results doesn't mean that both are untrustworthy.

You jib at paying for either of them, but how many pints of beer (or litres of petrol) is one of them going to cost you?

Less than you would spend when attending a club meeting, probably.

When I was researching Registry Cleaners I found that people who earned a living from writing about Computers were a bit sniffy, but hand in hand with this approach was their suggestion that a complete re-install of the operating system was the way to go, and was 'easy'. (I am not convinced about the effectiveness of re-installing an OS, and adding the Service Packs can take a long, long, time).

On the other hand, people who were just computer users, and were fed up with the PC reacting badly, for no readily identifiable reasons, were more open about accepting the benefits, even if they didn't know exactly what was going on when the spanner (the Registry Cleaner) was applied.

These are both generalisations, and I'm sure exceptions exist, but you asked for advice in this area, and it's only fair to advise you about the scorn that may be coming your way.

I don't earn any money from writing about PCs, so I belong in the second user set. My PC had been running for years with the same Windows XP installation. The PC had become generally slow, both to start up and to start programmes.

I first used a paid for Registry Cleaner about 18 months ago, when it made a significant difference to the speed of the PC. Subsequent scans always found some 'faults', some of which I could understand, some I couldn't, but I always had them all corrected. About 12 months ago I found the programme had a built in scheduler, set as standard for 3.00 am on a Thursday, when the PC was normally never on.

I found the support desk to be responsive and helpful. Even though there was no problem, apparently just because I'd made a Service Enquiry, they re-started my 12 month subscription, which in my view was good Customer Service.

I reset the scheduler to 9.00 am on Sundays, when I was generally present. After this it ran every week. There were no major negative side-effects, although occasionally a Task Bar icon might have disappeared unexpectedly. I never lost anything, and nothing ever stopped working totally.

It always said it took a Registry Backup, but I never had cause to invoke it.

It never insisted or requested a PC re-boot after running.

I did notice that sometimes the same 'faults' appeared week after week.

There was never the same leap in performance to match the effect after the first run, but that seems reasonable to me.

It's a bit like doing a total rebuild on an engine, which gives a noticeable leap in performance, then servicing the engine on a regular basis, which doesn't give the same leap, but maintains the higher performance.

About 2 months ago I changed to a different Registry Cleaner.

It has a more aggressive (or thorough) approach to finding faults. (It finds more of them, even on a previously cleaned registry).

Once a 'fault' has been corrected, it doesn't come back next week.

It includes Registry Defragmentation as an additional tool (but at no extra cost).

It requests the PC is re-booted after the clean. I happened to monitor the Hard Drive free space, and this stepped up after the re-boot. Now I use Firefox as my browser, and thus don't lose any open tabs, I'm happy to use the re-boot (normally I Hibernate the PC every night).

It takes a full or partial Registry Backup (user choice) but I've never had cause to invoke it.

There is no built in Scheduler, but I'm happy to run the Cleaner manually every Sunday.

I've only run the Defrag tool once, on a Wednesday, so I could assess any results separately. I'm not sure how much it helped, so I think I'll use it occasionally, or after a significant change to the PC, such as changing to a new Browser (if it ever happens).

I do Defrag the hard drive occasionally, via O+O Defrag.

I've recalled that a long time in the past I used Error Nuker, but was never motivated to spend money.

The first paid for programme was RegCure. http://www.regcure.com/

The second paid for programme Registry Booster 2 (now RB 2009) by Uniblue. http://www1.uniblue.com/

I haven't used any other products from either company.

Naturally, the final decision and responsibility is yours, so I suggest you do some additional research based on those product names.

As I haven't experienced your XPort problem I cannot judge whether these programmes will cure it.

HTH