FSX WIN 7 GPSOUT USB and Pocketfms

[iwik]

Hi Guys,
Anyone using the above combo or something similar.I have the combo working ok in XP but no joy in Win 7.Comments would be appreciated.Searched Pete Dowson site and Pocketfms but not much help.
Thanks
Les

[Peter Dowson]

Anyone using the above combo or something similar.I have the combo working ok in XP but no joy in Win 7.Comments would be appreciated.Searched Pete Dowson site and Pocketfms but not much help.
There's no difference in the GPS out operation in Win7, it is working fine here.

It is mostly likely to do with your serial port or its drivers. If you are using a USB serial port adapter with drivers like those from FTDI you may have problems unless FTDI have updated them -- I bought real BrainBoxes serial port cards because when I changed to Win7 64-bit they were the only folks with Win7 64-bit drivers.

I don't know about PocketFMS specifically, though it shouldn't have any clue what O/S you are using nor care a t all.

Regards
Pete

[iwik]

Hi Pete,
Thanks for replying.I should have added a little more.I am using a PDA which is fitted to a USB cradle.I dont have a serial cable for it.
Have used the same parameters in XP for GPSout as i did for Win 7.So i was wondering if the Port name \\.\WCEUSBSH001 is somewhere different
in Win 7 for the USB connection.Is there any simple monitor software one can get to see if there is any relevant data being output to this port from FSX.
My pc doesnt have a serial input either so a usb to serial link is no good.
Thanks Again.
Les

[Peter Dowson]

Have used the same parameters in XP for GPSout as i did for Win 7.So i was wondering if the Port name \\.\WCEUSBSH001 is somewhere different
It could be. The number might be different I suppose. After all not all devices can have the same name. Perhaps 001 is already used. I really have no way of knowing -- the whole business of linking to USB devices as COM devices using that port name structure was a surprise to me. Someone else discovered it. I never had any devices that I could test it on here.

The other possibility is that the device name is correct but it is already owned by another application -- Microsoft's or your PDA's "activesync" forexample. Those often get loaded as background processes when you load Windows and you'd need to close it or even forcibly terminate the process concerned.


Is there any simple monitor software one can get to see if there is any relevant data being output to this port from FSX.
The "PortMon" application I've always used won't work on a 64-bit system. I don't know if it works on Win 7 32-bit. Maybe there are updates -- check www.sysinternals.com (which now, I see, maps to http://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/sysinternals/default.aspx).

The serial port monitor I use is part of a suite called "Device Monitoring Studio" from HHD (www.hhdsoftware.com). It's expensive, but you might get a trial period if you're lucky. It isn't terribly easy to use. I suspect you'd need the USB part of it in any case as the serial port part deals in COMn port names.


My pc doesnt have a serial input either so a usb to serial link is no good.
Sorry, you misunderstand. USB to Serial port adapters are for providing a serial port when all you have on the PC are USB sockets. Like most modern PCs.

Pete

[iwik]

Thanks for the reply Pete.It looks like the uSB direct option is troublesome.Serial input seems to work the easiest,found a USB to serial and that worked fine.Ended up using Bluetooth,wanted to use this to begin with,so i finally achieved what i wanted.Thanks for your input and for great Utilities.
Rgds
Les