ubuntu 10.10 Bluetooth GPS

Hi all, well I posted this over on the ubuntu forums, not that long ago but haven't heard any responses and I'm really wanting to get this running so thought I'd ask this here as I normally frequent the toughbook forum. I'm a unix newbie albeit I used solaris like 20 years ago but forgot most of the commands. With that said, here we go....

My system toughbook CF-29 has been running great on 10.10 but I would like to connect my GlobalSat BT-359 via bluetooth and so I've been delving to the terminal to try and make this run.

When I started out I tried gnomebluetooth which loaded automagically when I install the bluetooth dongle. Since then I've install the blueman manager ver 1.21-4.1 (blueman) and have made a little headway but I'm now stuck and don't know what else to do. Further I have followed this thread along with others which have been helpful but again I'm stuck. Here's the details upon running commands:

My current hcid.conf after many different version I've tried:

options {
autoinit yes;
pairing multi;
offmode devdown;
passkey "0000";
security auto;
}

# Default settings for HCI devices
device {
# Local device name
# %d - device id
# %h - host name
name "Nino's Laptop";

# Local device class
class 0x3e0100;

# Default packet type
#pkt_type DH1,DM1,HV1;

# Inquiry and Page scan
iscan enable; pscan enable;

# Default link mode
# none - no specific policy
# accept - always accept incoming connections
# master - become master on incoming connections,
# deny role switch on outgoing connections
lm accept;

# Default link policy
# none - no specific policy
# rswitch - allow role switch
# hold - allow hold mode
# sniff - allow sniff mode
# park - allow park mode
lp rswitch,hold,sniff,park;

# Authentication and Encryption (Security Mode 3)
#auth enable;
#encrypt enable;
}




HCISCAN:

hcitool scan
Scanning ...
00:0D:B5:33:E4:EE BT-GPS-33E4EE


SPDTOOL:


sudo sdptool records
Usage:
sudo sdptool records 00:0D:B5:33:E4:EE
Service Name: BT-GPS COM Port
Service RecHandle: 0x10000
Service Class ID List:
"Serial Port" (0x1101)
Protocol Descriptor List:
"L2CAP" (0x0100)
"RFCOMM" (0x0003)
Channel: 1
Language Base Attr List:
code_ISO639: 0x656e
encoding: 0x6a
base_offset: 0x100


RFCOMM:

rfcomm4 {
bind yes;
device 00:0D:B5:33:E4:EE;
channel 1;
comment "Serial Port GPS";
}

RFCOMM CONNECTION

rfcomm connect 4
Connected /dev/rfcomm4 to 00:0D:B5:33:E4:EE on channel 1
Press CTRL-C for hangup

This seems to run correct. Fires up the blueman icon and keeps the connection active while running.

then run sudo gpsd /dev/rfcomm4 which returns to the prompt with no errors. If I fire up xgps or any other gps program it will not find any gps attached.

As noted I've tweeked the hcid.conf file thinking it needed the 0000 pin and other things I can't even remember but so far no luck. Anyone have any ideas what I can do to make this work? Thanks in advance! PS: I know the GPS works with other bluetooth compatible equipment.

 

Sorry for the no-help, but I've not messed around with GPSes and Linux. However, if the folks posting to the Ubuntu thread you mentioned don't have some tips for you, I might suggest pinging the maintainer of the OBD GPS Logger webpage. On that webpage there is mention of a working configuration for the Globalsat BT-359 under Linux. Either the website maintainer, or someone on the OBD GPS Logger mailing list, may be able to provide the guidance you are looking for.

Good Luck..

 

Was looking in to getting my usb gps receiver working under ubuntu .. but read in to it and found out no point to it.

All of the gps software developments ended and whatever is alive is like lol useless crap next to the ones under windows

This is one of the reasons still got win7 on my netbook to start m$ mappoint.
There is just no way that they make anything even close and be open source.
And use google or any web based software with data plan .. might as well use then the mobile-phone with cell tower info only.
Other option is to preload google maps .. but that will take hell of a space even for a small area in high detail.

 

Supernovatx, don't get discouraged on this. If there is a Will there's a way!

If your GPSr shouts the standard NMEA sentences, chances are it will work with Linux.

I'm telling this from my perspective, since I'm using Fedora 12 KDE with both devices connected, the GPSr based in MTK 3301 + 3179 chipset and a Motorola V3x that I'm using right now as DUN modem to post this. Your mileage will vary, but I hope you get the basics.

First of all, get rid of all rfcomm configuration files, restore them to initial state. We don't need them.

Second, get a suitable program in your distro for pairing the BTGPSr, like blueman if you are using Gnome.

Disconnect blueman once the device is paired and the keypass is saved.

From a console, -in root/sudo mode- type:

hcitool scan

it will give you the device MAC address of your BTGPSr like this:
Scanning ...
00:0B:0D:89:XX:YY iBT-GPS

then -as root- you only have to type:

rfcomm connect 1 00:0B:0D:89:XX:YY

And it will say:

Connected /dev/rfcomm1 to 00:0B:0D:89:XX:YY on channel 1
Press CTRL-C for hangup


If you want to use your Windows Navigation and GPSr management programs in Linux, just make the device link:

ln -s /dev/rfcomm1 ~/.wine/dosdevices/com1

If you execute the Window app -as root- using com1 it will work as expected!

For other linux apps, you can use gpsd

I recommend the following setup (assuming we are still connected via rfcomm)

gpsd -D 5 -nN -b /dev/rfcomm1

This command will allow you to see the information coming from your GPSr, and will use it in an effective and safe way.

Known Limitations: You can't use the rfcomm connected GPSr with the Windows programs and gpsd at the same time!

hope this helps, thanks to this setup I've managed to create my own Stratum-1 netbook, probably having the best GPS time reference in my Country!!

Mark.