Motorola Q9H (AT&T) GPS... ACTIVATED! [updated]

[Guest Dunedan]

Hi -

As an FYI to COM3 users. When activated, the patch disables the USB Modem functionality of my Q9H, for tethering.

Specifically, when the USB Connection Type is set to "Modem", XP does not recognize the phone, as long as this patch is activated. The Bluetooth connection still works.

Thanks to all for developing and releasing this patch. Any chance that other COM ports may be used, without this (albeit minor) side effect, or the COM5 power drain side effect?

[Guest Tin Star]

Hi -

As an FYI to COM3 users. When activated, the patch disables the USB Modem functionality of my Q9H, for tethering.

Specifically, when the USB Connection Type is set to "Modem", XP does not recognize the phone, as long as this patch is activated. The Bluetooth connection still works.

Thanks to all for developing and releasing this patch. Any chance that other COM ports may be used, without this (albeit minor) side effect, or the COM5 power drain side effect?

Are you not tethering using IntShrUI.exe?

[Guest kiratoy]

I finally got my AT&T Moto Q9 up and running. What did it for me was the GPS Tester application. Like everyone else I installed the COM3.cab file and nothing worked. I went into both MSFT Live View, and Google Maps both filed saying they could not find any satellites and to make sure my setting were correct.

I set Google to COM3 and picked a baud rate one of the high ones. Still failed, then I downloaded the tester and noticed it was picking up 1, 4, 7 satellites. Went back to the apps still nothing worked.

It wasn’t until I set the baud rate to the same one the Tester was using that Google and Microsoft fired up w/o any problem. 9600 was the magic number for me you mileage may vary.

Hope this helps someone out there, it took me three days and lost of re-installing before I got it to work only to find out it was the Baud Rate that was the issue.

-s

[Guest romeo26]

Hi,

I am using Rogers in Toronto. After I installed the COM activator, both GPS Test and GPS Utilities work without any problem. However, when I try to use Mobile Gmaps from www.mgmaps.com, it complains about

"Serial Ports N/A

No serial ports are available on this phone"

Am I still missing something?

wait until GPS test says: GPS running! and also set the com port to com three in mgmaps! i use mamaps all the time and its a great program once you get used to it!

I finally got my AT&T Moto Q9 up and running. What did it for me was the GPS Tester application. Like everyone else I installed the COM3.cab file and nothing worked. I went into both MSFT Live View, and Google Maps both filed saying they could not find any satellites and to make sure my setting were correct.

I set Google to COM3 and picked a baud rate one of the high ones. Still failed, then I downloaded the tester and noticed it was picking up 1, 4, 7 satellites. Went back to the apps still nothing worked.

It wasn’t until I set the baud rate to the same one the Tester was using that Google and Microsoft fired up w/o any problem. 9600 was the magic number for me you mileage may vary.

Hope this helps someone out there, it took me three days and lost of re-installing before I got it to work only to find out it was the Baud Rate that was the issue.

-s

will picking 9600 make the gps connect faster?

[Guest RohanT]

Same problem as above. I'm working with a Q9c & the registry values seem to match upto the Q9h.

GPSTest gives "Looking for GPS Unit" for several minutes, then returns 'No GPS'.

Similar situation with WLS.

Any suggestions, holler.

*crickets chirping*

[Guest Paul (MVP)]

Mmm, not sure on the hardware config of the Q9C i'm afraid!

P

[Guest DogFace]

Mmm, not sure on the hardware config of the Q9C i'm afraid!

P

I've tried this on the Q9C also. However, COM:3 never worked.

Steps:

Installed COM3 cab file.

Installed GPS Test software.

Restarted phone.

Ran GPS Test, and set it to look for COM:3.

Never found it.

Went into Resco Registry, and set GPS to COM:5

Restarted phone.

Ran GPS Test, and set it to look for COM:5.

It found COM:5, but it took about 1 minute.

Ran Windows live search, set it to COM:5, and now does not find GPS.

When I had Windows live search to Intermedia Driver, GPS worked fine.

My goad is to get the GPS port working, so I can use Route66 mapping software. I'll keep trying here...

[Guest DogFace]

I can see how to set the baud rate in GPS Test, but I do not see any setting in Google Maps or Microsoft Live Search to set the baud rate (they only have COM Port). Are you talking about setting the rate in the registry, or in a software application?

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I finally got my AT&T Moto Q9 up and running. What did it for me was the GPS Tester application. Like everyone else I installed the COM3.cab file and nothing worked. I went into both MSFT Live View, and Google Maps both filed saying they could not find any satellites and to make sure my setting were correct.

I set Google to COM3 and picked a baud rate one of the high ones. Still failed, then I downloaded the tester and noticed it was picking up 1, 4, 7 satellites. Went back to the apps still nothing worked.

It wasn’t until I set the baud rate to the same one the Tester was using that Google and Microsoft fired up w/o any problem. 9600 was the magic number for me you mileage may vary.

Hope this helps someone out there, it took me three days and lost of re-installing before I got it to work only to find out it was the Baud Rate that was the issue.

-s

[Guest Enviroatty]

I am new to this so hope I am not barking up the wrong tree. On another forum regarding the same GPS issues, someone posted the following message attributed to Moto Developer Support:

"I would recommend against using the tool from MoDaCo. It keeps the GPS running all the time and will drain your battery very quickly. Both WLS and (at least) the non Java version of Google Maps will use the Intermediate driver out of the box.

Instead I would download the official tool from Microsoft (Alas is it in a huge download, and while the license says one can distribute it with your own software, it does not say if you can distribute it standalone or I would provide just the file) that lets you do this. The link for the SDK I have provided above. The file is "Windows Mobile 6 SDK\Tools\GPS\settings.exe".

This allows you to turn on and off the COM Port Multiplexing , set the COM Port, BPS rate, etc. at will. When it is playing nice, it will start and stop the GPS Engine only when something is talking to the COM port.

I have found it may take a reboot to get it to kick in, and some fiddling to get it to only run the GPS when needed, but it is way better than the DoMoCo solution, and is part of the OS (Well Mobile 6 Pro anyways)

It is does really Unlock anything, this is a normal feature built into the specs of the OS, it just changes a couple registry settings. This tool is provided with all touchscreen versions of Windows Mobile 6 BTW."

I assume that the writer was referring to the original MoDaCo hack for Com 5 and is unaware of the Com 3 update. With that being said, I'm wondering if this suggestion works. I've installed the file on my AT&T Q9h and it does seem to work, although I haven't yet actually tried the settings (I'm hesitant to do so until I can get some advice from someone with a great deal more experience than me). I'm including Settings.exe and the related ReadMe file and would appreciate any thoughts/comments.

Settings.exe

SettingsReadme.txt

[Guest eeeehaw]

Re your question about off-road map support: For off-road maps, I have been using the Topo! maps from Delorme, but not on the Q9h. Delorme provides a Windows Mobile map application with their Street Atlas 2008 Deluxe product, which I also purchased separately for street navigation, that works with Topo. It accepts NMEA data and also via COM ports, so my guess is that it should work with the Q9h GPS (I use it with the Delorme Earthmate BT-20 Bluetooth connected GPS on my HTC Tytn, which is a great solution because the Sapphire chipset based BT-20 if FAST acquisition, very senstivie, and can be thrown up on the dash of the vehicle where it gets cleaner GPS sat signals).

ALSO, check out the new Garmin Mobile XT product. It's a microSD memory card that contains both the map application and the maps that you simply stick into the Q9h (one of the phones they list as supported). I'm not sure they provide topo maps (ie, off-road maps) for that particular product, but I know Garmin has them available for the PC and they have a utility for converting them for use on WinMobileOS so maybe they can be copied onto the Garmin Mobile XT memory card.

Let me know if either if these work for you, as I'm thinking about purchasing a Moto Q Global (AT&T version of Q9h) for use with Delorme maps, which are the most popular maps used in Search & Rescue here, and I plan on going a step further in supporting APRS (Automatic Position Reporting System, a ham radio thing) with the phone (similar to what I do today with the Tytn).

Now THIS is the way it's supposed to work.

I dont know if the BJ2 is broken but I now get all of these apps working:

Windows Live Search

Google Maps

GPS Test (this time with 3D fix not just connection)

Vito Navigator

Effica GPS Utilities

GOODBYE BLACKJACK2 - HELLO MOTOQ9h!!!!

The only thing I cant get working is Mapopolis. I set it to COM5 and tried all Baud rates...but it wont find the GPS. I blame the app, which is now unsupported.

But which GPS app to buy that has the ability to go off-road as well for Geocaching?! Wish they had demos! Any recommendations?

Well done Paul. The Blackjack's are broken...I'm sure of it!

PS.

The Q ROCKS!!!! Dare I say, possibly the best Smartphone I've ever owned.

[Guest Paul (MVP)]

Enviroatty - that app is new to me - i'll check it out!

P

[Guest Enviroatty]

Thanks Paul. You'll see when you run the exe, it does look identical to the GPS Settings app that comes with PPCs (I recently switched from a Treo 700wx to the Q, and am familiar with that). Just don't know if it will work. Your looking into it is really appreciated.

[Guest DogFace]

Thank you Enviroatty. Good info. Now I just need to confirm for the Sprint version of the Q9C what ports are best suited to assign to the GPS.

[Guest DogFace]

I copied the settings.exe file to My Documents on my phone, and it comes up fine. But any setting I select and select Done, it errors out. I'm wondering if I need to install the entire Microsoft SDK onto the phone first.

Thank you Enviroatty. Good info. Now I just need to confirm for the Sprint version of the Q9C what ports are best suited to assign to the GPS.

[Guest brad2157]

I got in a big hurry and didnt fully read everything I should have before installing the cab file to fix the GPS. I installed the COM5 cab before realizing I should have installed the COM3 cab file. Is there any way to undo or go into the registry and fix it back before installing the COM3 cab file?

[Guest Paul (MVP)]

Just install over the top will be fine.

P

[Guest rabbivj]

Just install over the top will be fine.

P

can you use the GPSID program with this as well or it has to be 1 or the other?

edit: didnt see the post in the GPSID thread.

Edited January 8, 2008 by rabbivj

[Guest jpasint]

"I would recommend against using the tool from MoDaCo. It keeps the GPS running all the time and will drain your battery very quickly. Both WLS and (at least) the non Java version of Google Maps will use the Intermediate driver out of the box.

Instead I would download the official tool from Microsoft (Alas is it in a huge download, and while the license says one can distribute it with your own software, it does not say if you can distribute it standalone or I would provide just the file) that lets you do this. The link for the SDK I have provided above. The file is "Windows Mobile 6 SDK\Tools\GPS\settings.exe".

This allows you to turn on and off the COM Port Multiplexing , set the COM Port, BPS rate, etc. at will. When it is playing nice, it will start and stop the GPS Engine only when something is talking to the COM port.

I have found it may take a reboot to get it to kick in, and some fiddling to get it to only run the GPS when needed, but it is way better than the DoMoCo solution, and is part of the OS (Well Mobile 6 Pro anyways)

It is does really Unlock anything, this is a normal feature built into the specs of the OS, it just changes a couple registry settings. This tool is provided with all touchscreen versions of Windows Mobile 6 BTW."

I assume that the writer was referring to the original MoDaCo hack for Com 5 and is unaware of the Com 3 update. With that being said, I'm wondering if this suggestion works. I've installed the file on my AT&T Q9h and it does seem to work, although I haven't yet actually tried the settings (I'm hesitant to do so until I can get some advice from someone with a great deal more experience than me). I'm including Settings.exe and the related ReadMe file and would appreciate any thoughts/comments.

I can confirm the settings.exe utility works on my AT&T global. I hard reset the device to ensure a clean test. Ran settings.exe and simply hit done. I did not change any of the settings. Next I installed Google maps and ran it. The first time it timed out and could not find the GPS device. I cursed :(. Then I tried Google maps again. It found the GPS. I did not change any settings in Google maps either. Did not need to install the Modaco utility or GPS Test.

Prior to running settings.exe I was able to get Google maps to run with the combination of the com3 utility and GPS Test. That was a slight (but tolerable) inconvenience though. Now, nothing but going into Google maps is required.

Thanks for the settings.exe tip.

Joe

Edited January 8, 2008 by jpasint

[Guest Tin Star]

I can confirm the settings.exe utility works on my AT&T global. I hard reset the device to ensure a clean test. Ran settings.exe and simply hit done. I did not change any of the settings. Next I installed Google maps and ran it. The first time it timed out and could not find the GPS device. I cursed :( . Then I tried Google maps again. It found the GPS. I did not change any settings in Google maps either. Did not need to install the Modaco utility or GPS Test.

Prior to running settings.exe I was able to get Google maps to run with the combination of the com3 utility and GPS Test. That was a slight (but tolerable) inconvenience though. Now, nothing but going into Google maps is required.

Thanks for the settings.exe tip.

Joe

It should have done that new out of the box. No change is needed to the Global for Googlemaps or WLS to work. They are just slow to start becasuse it is a cold start for the gps. Googlemaps will often time out before the gps locks but will always pick it up on the second try provided it doesn't have the signal blocked. The only reason to install the com fix is so that you can use third party software or so that you can use GPStest to kick start the gps and leave it running in the background for quicker fixes.

[Guest jpasint]

It should have done that new out of the box. No change is needed to the Global for Googlemaps or WLS to work. They are just slow to start becasuse it is a cold start for the gps. Googlemaps will often time out before the gps locks but will always pick it up on the second try provided it doesn't have the signal blocked. The only reason to install the com fix is so that you can use third party software or so that you can use GPStest to kick start the gps and leave it running in the background for quicker fixes.

Tested and right you are.

Thanks.

Joe

[Guest DslLmi]

Everyone Seems to be Talking about the Q9H. What about the Verizon Q9M?

[Guest DslLmi]

I've tried this on the Q9C also. However, COM:3 never worked.

Steps:

Installed COM3 cab file.

Installed GPS Test software.

Restarted phone.

Ran GPS Test, and set it to look for COM:3.

Never found it.

Went into Resco Registry, and set GPS to COM:5

Restarted phone.

Ran GPS Test, and set it to look for COM:5.

It found COM:5, but it took about 1 minute.

Ran Windows live search, set it to COM:5, and now does not find GPS.

When I had Windows live search to Intermedia Driver, GPS worked fine.

My goad is to get the GPS port working, so I can use Route66 mapping software. I'll keep trying here...

Strange thing.. I try to run GPStest. And I +SEDRget a error that it is not for my current Ver of Windows Mobile.

[Guest jpasint]

Strange thing.. I try to run GPStest. And I +SEDRget a error that it is not for my current Ver of Windows Mobile.

Sorry, I do not have Verizon.

Joe

[Guest indie-guy]

I installed the original version and then the com 3 version over it. I do seem to be experiencing battery drain. Is there a way to completely undo it?

[Guest nesau]

The gps settings fix worked for me no problem on my Q9 global. I will try installing tomtom next week once I get a micro SD card for this baby.