Fedora7 USB GPS problem

Paul Olson paulo at olson-consulting.com
Tue Nov 20 04:06:11 UTC 2007


Mikkel L. Ellertson wrote:
> Paul Olson wrote:
>   
>> Thanks for the help so far, Mikkel!
>>
>> when I launch gpsd using:
>>
>> gpsd -f /dev/ttyUSB0 -n -N
>>
>>     
> Dumb question - are you starting it as root? It needs to be run as
> root to open the socket, and also to access /dev/ttyUSB0. It also
> has to be started after plugging in the GPS.
>
> In any case, if you are going to keep in it the foreground, you will
> probably want to add D2 to your options.
>
> gpsd -f /dev/ttyUSB0 -n -N -D2
>
> You could make it a daemon by starting it with:
>
> gpsd -f /dev/ttyUSB0
>
> This is the way I would start it before I set up auto-handling of
> hotplugged GPS devices.
>
>   
>> and then try to launch xgps in another terminal window with:
>>
>> xgps localhost:2947
>>
>>     
> You should be able to just run xgps.
>
>   
>> the xgps application shows a status of 'UNKNOWN' and a GPS Type of
>> 'unknown'.  The other fields display 'n/a' and the status bar says 'no
>> data arriving'.
>>
>>     
> I would expect the type to say generic, or something like that.
>
>   
>> At this point it is not working, but it may be the case that I have the
>> wrong command-line options...
>>
>> Thanks again for the assistance...
>>
>> Paul
>>
>>
>>     
> You should also check to make sure you only have one copy of gpsd
> running. I have to checked to see if the latest gpsd RPM starts gpsd
> automatically. You should also check /var/log/messages to see if
> there were problems. You should also expect a bit of delay between
> plugging in the GPS and getting good data. How long the delay is
> seems to be affected by the signal quality - it takes longer indoors
>  the outside, and starting in a car depends on the placement of the
> GPS device or antenna.
>
> If this does not do the trick, then I guess you will have to build
> the module. If you have to do that, you may want to consider
> building a kernel customized for your machine at the same time.
>
> Mikkel
>   
Hello-
    yep, am running gpsd as root; only have one instance of the gpsd 
program on my system, and only one instance running at a time.  I have 
left the antenna on for a bit with no change in the level of success; 
even going outside did not improve my chances.

Not sure I've stated this, but running Fedora 7 64 bit on an AMD 
processor HP laptop:

Linux laptop 2.6.23.1-21.fc7 #1 SMP Thu Nov 1 20:28:15 EDT 2007 x86_64 
x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

looked in  /var/log/messages, go these entries after plugging in the 
antenna:

Nov 19 19:48:45 laptop kernel: usb 1-2: new full speed USB device using 
ohci_hcd and address 2
Nov 19 19:48:45 laptop kernel: usb 1-2: configuration #1 chosen from 1 
choice
Nov 19 19:48:45 laptop kernel: usbcore: registered new interface driver 
usbserial
Nov 19 19:48:45 laptop kernel: drivers/usb/serial/usb-serial.c: USB 
Serial support registered for generic
Nov 19 19:48:45 laptop kernel: usbcore: registered new interface driver 
usbserial_generic
Nov 19 19:48:45 laptop kernel: drivers/usb/serial/usb-serial.c: USB 
Serial Driver core
Nov 19 19:48:45 laptop kernel: drivers/usb/serial/usb-serial.c: USB 
Serial support registered for DeLorme Earthmate USB
Nov 19 19:48:45 laptop kernel: drivers/usb/serial/usb-serial.c: USB 
Serial support registered for HID->COM RS232 Adapter
Nov 19 19:48:45 laptop kernel: drivers/usb/serial/usb-serial.c: USB 
Serial support registered for Nokia CA-42 V2 Adapter
Nov 19 19:48:45 laptop kernel: cypress 1-2:1.0: DeLorme Earthmate USB 
converter detected
Nov 19 19:48:45 laptop kernel: usb 1-2: DeLorme Earthmate USB converter 
now attached to ttyUSB0
Nov 19 19:48:45 laptop kernel: usbcore: registered new interface driver 
cypress
Nov 19 19:48:45 laptop kernel: drivers/usb/serial/cypress_m8.c: Cypress 
USB to Serial Driver v1.09

-----------------

doing a ls -l for /dev/ttyUSB0:

crw-rw---- 1 root uucp 188,  0 2007-11-19 21:46 /dev/ttyUSB0

------------------

then did a cat of  /proc/bus/usb/devices:

T:  Bus=01 Lev=01 Prnt=01 Port=01 Cnt=01 Dev#=  2 Spd=12  MxCh= 0
D:  Ver= 1.00 Cls=00(>ifc ) Sub=00 Prot=00 MxPS= 8 #Cfgs=  1
P:  Vendor=1163 ProdID=0200 Rev= 0.01
S:  Manufacturer=DeLorme Publishing
S:  Product=DeLorme USB Earthmate     
C:* #Ifs= 1 Cfg#= 1 Atr=80 MxPwr=100mA
I:* If#= 0 Alt= 0 #EPs= 2 Cls=03(HID  ) Sub=00 Prot=00 Driver=cypress
E:  Ad=81(I) Atr=03(Int.) MxPS=  32 Ivl=6ms
E:  Ad=02(O) Atr=03(Int.) MxPS=  32 Ivl=6ms

-----------------

checked for already-running gpsd and found none, so launched gpad and 
after a second, xgps (as a non-root user) like this:

gpsd -n -N -D 9 /dev/ttyUSB0
gpsd: launching (Version 2.34)
gpsd: listening on port gpsd
gpsd: shmat(0,0,0) succeeded
gpsd: shmat(0,0,0) succeeded
gpsd: shmat(0,0,0) succeeded
gpsd: shmat(0,0,0) succeeded
gpsd: successfully connected to the DBUS system bus
gpsd: running with effective group ID 0
gpsd: running with effective user ID 0
gpsd: opening GPS data source at '/dev/ttyUSB0'
gpsd: speed 4800, 8N1
gpsd: garmin_gps not active.
gpsd: no probe matched...
gpsd: gpsd_activate(1): opened GPS (5)
gpsd: select waits
gpsd: select waits
gpsd: select waits
gpsd: select waits
gpsd: select waits
gpsd: select waits
gpsd: select waits
gpsd: client connect on 6
gpsd: select waits
gpsd: checking client(0)
gpsd: <= client(0): w+x
gpsd: client(0): assigning channel...
gpsd: User requires 2, channel type is -1
gpsd: client(0): channel 5 already active.
gpsd: client(0): channel 5 already active.
gpsd: => client(0): GPSD,W=1,X=1195529906.435027
gpsd: select waits
gpsd: select waits
gpsd: select waits
gpsd: select waits
gpsd: select waits

---------------------

A couple of things jump out at me:

    gpsd: garmin_gps not active.
    gpsd: no probe matched...

and, after xgps is launched, the entry:

    gpsd: User requires 2, channel type is -1

The antenna continuously blinks red; I think the instructions say that 
the led should go to yellow or green based on the strength of the 
signal.  Just a red blink here.  I am going to try it with 'another 
operating system' using the app that came with the antenna.  Temp test; 
would really like to get it working on my preferred OS.

Question:  at one point I 'blacklisted' a few drivers on my system to 
get the wireless net to work; would I need / be able to do that in this 
case?

Still searching for more clues, but that is about all I have so far.  
Help is always appreciated.


Paul




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