Computer tekkie problem

[claymore]

The faithful old Toshiba laptop is quietly grinding to a halt.
I have uploaded my Maxsea programme onto a new speedy laptop with a bigger screen etc.
The NMEA cable that allowed the laptop to converse with the GPS used to plug into a com port on the back of the ageing Toshiba

the new whizzy job only has USB ports

I buy a usb/comport adapter jobbie from Maplin and plug it in, the tekkie at work made sure the drivers were working (just stepped beyond my comfort zone here) and told me to use the same usb port, which I did.

Plug it in today and feck all happened except the mouse went flying all over the screen like a demented feckpig and the only way to rein the job in was to press the off button.

What's to do then?

[Telo]

There could be a USB conflict with WiFi, or a mobile dongle. Try switching off internet access, and then go through your usual connection process (hyperterminal?). Once the NMEA connection is running successfully try reconnecting to the internet.

[ParaHandy]

What's to do then?

Never power up with the GPS attached thro' a USB port. The laptop will think its a mouse. You must first execute a programme which is going to drop in a programme to handle the interrupts correctly from the USB controller

a) Re-boot
b) execute Maxsea
c) plug USB-serial "thingie" in and then plug GPS in
d) if nothing, click on utilities, data input/output settings, (note port no) "check data" and see if anything is coming in. if not you need to find the port number that the usb is on
e) go into control panel, system, hardware, device manager and look for serial i/o and click/expand to find out which port the USB-serial is connected to
f) re-enter Maxsea, click on utilities, data input/output settings and make inactive all ports and "add" a new port with the port number found at e)
e) plug the GPS in

You could avoid e) by guessing the port number - it can only be 1, 2, 3 or 4 and just keep trying each combination. Maxsea itself will tell you if it has found data when you come out of "data input/output settings".