[Novalug] OT : Hardware : Thinkpad needs serial port

Beartooth karhunhammas@Lserv.com
Tue Mar 25 11:26:30 EDT 2008


 	I'm trying to put together a rig to let a passenger in my 
car watch proprietary topo maps (Garmin, Delorme, and Maptech) in 
real time, by connecting a GPS to a laptop. And to keep watching 
(and show the driver!) even when the car is parked.

 	I've been trying to -- for ten years -- under linux, and 
can't. Wine or CXO can run the software, but not handle a 
connection with a GPS.

 	I finally gave up. I like my IBM-refurbished T30 
Thinkpad; so I bought a second refurbished Thinkpad from IBM for 
the purpose -- a T42. It comes, as the T30 did, with XP 
installed.

 	Using the second hard drive on my PC, *and* a *serial* 
*port*, with Garmin's special cables, the software runs, and 
connects to my GPSs, just fine under XP.

 	But it turns out the T42, which just came, has no serial 
port.

 	Someone had asked on Garmin's support site about serial 
-to-USB adapters. Garmin reported maybe 80% success with them.

 	I dug one up, and tried it with two different GPSs. The 
Garmin software (which I was just starting to install on the T42) 
asked whether to check for any need of firmware; I told it to, 
and to auto-determine what port the GPS was on.

 	It failed. Couldn't find either GPS.

 	So Garmin's own software can't connect to Garmin's own 
hardware with the new machine.

 	The T30, which does have a serial port, came with XP. But 
I wiped that the first day. It now runs F8 -- and these refurbs 
do not come with XP install media.

 	Is there a way to install XP to the T30 from either the 
T42 or the XP hard drive on my PC?? Or to have a serial port put 
on the T42??

 	Or had I better just send the T42 back??
-- 
Beartooth Staffwright, Not Quite Clueless Power User
Remember I know precious little of where up is.




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