Bu-353 stopped working

EricE · 02-18-2008, 09:23 PM

I have a bu-353 on my vehicle and it has been working fine though I only use it maybe once a month or so. Thats as often as I need gps nav. Anyway, I went to use it yesterday and my iGuidance won't pick up the GPS. So I did some digging and found that XPort had stopped working because a new version is available. Anyway, I got the new version of XPort in place but I can't get anything to recognize the GPS on any port. I found a driver called PL-2303 installed that handles the translation from USB to serial. How does one configure it? How do I tell it which com port to output to? I even un-installed it and reinstalled but it never asked which port to output to. I tried using the GPS utility that comes with the bu-353 to detect GPS receivers but it doesn't find a GPS on any port. It only shows com1 and com2 available. I think the bu-353 is still working because the red light is blinking on the puck. Any ideas?

Nomader · 02-19-2008, 01:52 AM

to see what port the gps is connected to just check in the Device Manager, in the prolific device.. you will find the port number there..then add that to Xport

Curiosity · 02-19-2008, 03:24 AM

No, I think this is more like when you plug something in and hear dong dong instead of dong ding. Look for it in Device Manager under USB. If it's on a hub, look at the power tab on each hub. It might be "Unknown Device." If so, uninstall and rescan. Usually if you have to do that, it's a serious issue. Doing that too much will waste registry hive space. Also, if it's on a hub, you should try moving it. There could be a conflict and you'll have a lot of trouble every time you reboot or hibernate.

EricE · 02-19-2008, 09:24 AM

I don't see anything in the USB info for the device. This is what I see(below).
The device is not plugged into a hub.
Perhaps the device really is toast. With no program accessing the GPS, I don't think it is supposed to be blinking. Right? Wouldn't something have to activate it first?

USB info:
Universal Serial Bus Controllers
Generic USB Hub
USB Root Hub
USB Root Hub
USB Root Hub
USB Root Hub
VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller
VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller
VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller
VIA USB 2.0 Enhanced Host Controller

I looked at the power tab for each one of those and I do see all my other USB devices including a hub. But there is nothing about bu353 or a prolific device in there. Ideas?

Curiosity · 02-19-2008, 10:18 AM

Put some butter on it.

Blinking or solid means it has a lock or doesn't. Not that it's connected. You could try a different USB port and hope it's detected. Don't know anything else.

EricE · 02-19-2008, 08:24 PM

I fixed it.
The GPS receiver worked fine. I brought it into the house to test. I found out that the prologic device shows up under "Ports (Com & LPT)" but only when the GPS is plugged in. It won't show if the GPS is not connected. Anyway, I just dinked around with it till the driver showed up then I could assign/see what com port it output to.

manishie · 06-03-2008, 09:19 AM

i know this is an old thread, but i thought i'd post a solution to bu-353 hibernate problems. my computer would freeze every time trying to come out of hibernate if i had run any program which used the gps.

i found this post related to another version of the gps receiver, but the solution still worked. basically, you need to update the usb to serial drivers from prolific (which are different than the gps drivers from usglobalsat). i also turned off the power management features for my usb root hubs in device manager (although it may work with the power management on).

http://www.usglobalsat.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=597

or in case that post disappears, here's a direct link to the drivers:
http://www.prolific.com.tw/eng/downloads.asp?ID=31

mkm

b3tts32 · 06-07-2008, 08:23 PM

I am having the same issue with my gps not locking at all. I just updated the prolific drivers as well as using old and new versions of xport. I tried bypassing xport and using iguidance straight to the puck and I'm getting the same issue. I also tried turning off the power management features as I stated earlier and I am getting the same issue. What's weird is this works just fine on my laptop but not in my car. I see the reading at the bottom of xport but that just doesnt translate to anything in iguidance

My setup is a jetway board, xp pro sp2, bu 353, visteon hd radio, etc.. attached is a copy of my latest gps log.

Curiosity · 06-07-2008, 10:22 PM

Well, at least your driver is working.

Here's the important info. 3 GSV sentences, # 1 2 3. 12 sats in view but the ,, is where the signal strength should be. There's none. The positions are in memory from when it last picked them up and now it's not getting anything.

$GPGSV,3,1,12,18,43,079,,14,65,289,,22,65,009,,09, 28,047,*77
$GPGSV,3,2,12,21,28,155,,19,17,283,,31,16,193,,06, 13,234,16*7C
$GPGSV,3,3,12,03,12,252,,05,09,110,,32,07,294,,30, 05,129,*76

Since it works with the laptop but not the car PC, I'd say it has to be blocked by something.

b3tts32 · 06-07-2008, 11:23 PM

I didn't realize that the puck needed to be mounted a certain way.. I have it mounted sideways or at least to where it's not facing the sky. I will try mounting it regular in the morning and see if that makes a difference. Hopefully it does because I'm all out of ideas if that doesn't work

b3tts32 · 06-08-2008, 04:26 PM

Well it turns out that my problem was not having the puck upright or the normal position or whatever. I originally had it mounted sideways to the side panelling of my car in the window and couldn't get anything to lock. No more issues for me!

Curiosity · 06-08-2008, 08:09 PM

Good to hear. Think about it this way. A satellite TV dish is 18" and has to be positioned perfectly to get a signal from one single bird. A GPS is maybe 3" and has to listen to 12 of them simultaneously anywhere in a 90 degree view from up in all directions, so sideways would only give you half the sky. It should get some, but to traingulate, it needs something from at least 3 points on all sides so sitting flat gives it a full view (excluding the blocking from metal in the car).

thomasz · 06-13-2008, 03:15 AM

Thanks all post. I intend to buy it.