Please HELP - BlackJack II GPS Not Working with CoPilot

[Guest rico_yvr]

Hi Everyone,

I'm totally confused and frustrated.

I purchased a Samsung BlackJack II because I read various posts indicating the GPS could be unlocked and used with any apps. I received my phone and then surprisingly, Windows Released Mobile 6.1 which I have upgraded to and I'm happy.

Now, I installed the Modaco GPS unlocker which many people rant and rave about, but I just received my copy of CoPilot Live 7 and it will NOT get a GPS Fix. I installed Efficasoft GPS Utilities and it gets a fix in about 20 seconds with no problems.

I called ALK (CoPilot developers) and they said the GPS in the Blackjack II is not NMEA compliant and is an A-GPS which will not work with their software. As such, you need to purchase a Bluetooth GPS receiver. The guy went on to say that the GPS ship may be SIRF III but this is just a technology and does not mean the GPS is NMEA. This really sucks.

So my question is to the developer (Paul?) or any others, do you know if the above is true? Is the GPS not NMEA compliant? Why does Efficasoft work?

I really want CoPilot to work but at this point I'm lost.

Thanks!

[Guest thelostsoul]

I don't know the full technical details, but as I've posted around here before, CoPilot's listing of the BJII as "compatible" is incredibly misleading, and I have made it known to them that this is very dishonest. However, they seem to not be a very user-conscientious company.

In the end, their product does not work with the BJII's GPS and from what I've gotten out of them, they do not plan to release a compatible version until at least version 8, thus requiring you to buy a new version.

If I were you, I would contact the place of purchase and hope they'll refund it. ALK probably won't help, but if all else fails, fight it as far as you can. If you can garner enough users, a class action would be great to teach them a lesson, but I doubt there are enough BJIIers out there that also purchased CoPilot 7....

[Guest rico_yvr]

I don't know the full technical details, but as I've posted around here before, CoPilot's listing of the BJII as "compatible" is incredibly misleading, and I have made it known to them that this is very dishonest. However, they seem to not be a very user-conscientious company.

Thanks for the reply! I think I did read your thread in the forum where you also contacted ALK support. I contacted ALK yesterday. The tech support rep told me the same thing, their software does work on the BJII but only when using an external Bluetooth GPS Receiver. I told her there is not much point in having a phone with a built-in GPS if I have to purchase a secondary receiver. I advised her that I have the Microsoft GPSID (Intermediary Driver) installed but she indicated their software cannot work with that driver "at this time but maybe in their next version".

So here is what I have found out so far. Not sure if you found this information out before but CoPilot Live, but as per another quote:

"CoPilot Live works with NMEA-compliant GPS receivers that meet two requirements:

GPS receiver must output the following NMEA messages: GGA, GSA, GSV, and RMC.

Note: The NMEA standard includes seven (7) output messages. CoPilot Live only requires the four (4) listed above. "

If you have tried installing Efficasoft's GPS Utilities, you will discover that it DOES work on the BJII with either the GPSID or the Modaco Hack installed. Why? Not sure. I emailed their tech support but have not heard back yet.

Here is the info on Efficasoft GPS Util:

Efficasoft GPS Utilities for Smartphone

http://www.efficasoft.com/gpsutilities/index_wm_sp.html

- Supports all NMEA0183 GPS receivers. Auto detects Bluetooth GPS devices.

- Motorola Q9 series & Samsung BlackJack II built-in GPS receiver support

If you note - Efficasoft supports the *same* NMEA0183 messages that CoPilot Live is supposed to support, so why doesn't CoPilot Live work?

I have also found some specs on a Bluetooth receiver:

GlobalTop G33 51 ch Bluetooth Receiver Specs:

GPS Protocol: NMEA 0183(V3.01) GGA,GSA,GSV,RMC,VTG

GUESS WHAT? The Bluetooth receiver supports the same NMEA messages that CoPilot and GPS Utils reads.

So, the only other variable here is if you look at Efficasoft's specs above, they specifically make special note of the following:

"Motorola Q9 series & Samsung BlackJack II built-in GPS receiver support"

Did Efficasoft write a special module to specifically communicate the GPSID intermediary driver? Does the GPSID give out *different* messages than the NMEA protocols that both products (and the Bluetooth Receiver) seem to be able to use? This seems to be the only conclusion.

If anyone knows any more about this, please shed some light.

Thanks!