Vaio TZ GPS, how can I enable it?

I have a tz-370n and it has a built-in sprint wwan card. I know if I activate sprint the gps will turn on, but isnt there a way to do this without activating sprint? I would love to use the tz as a gps unit in my car but alas I don't want to shell out the extra cash for wwan access too. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Bumpy bump Any info greatly appreciated. Or if someone has the sprint card activated, does the gps allow me to use a turn by turn nav software on the laptop or is it a limited gps? If it is limited gps and I cant use it even if it was activated then it would be worthless to me.

 

I'm hoping someone will tell us a way to activate the GPS too.

If you get GPS activated, you can get turn-by-turn directions if the software you're using supports it.

 

The gps built into wwan cards are not true gps units. They are called aGPS, assisted GPS. They communicate with a central server and get routing info from it. This central server is typically your wireless service provider, so there is no way of getting around it. You can google AGPS for a more detailed explanation

 

this is not true. It is a real GPS. aGPS is Assisted GPS, generally abbreviated as A-GPS, enhances the startup performance of a GPS satellite-based positioning system. I have vaio z with sprint and the module inside is Expedite E725. I do not know if the tz has the same module but if you see GPS in SmartWI you have GPS

 

Do you have to pay a monthly fee for the GPS service with Sprint? or is it included with your data package? As I said, AGPS requires the service of a service provided (whether it is free or not), true GPS is on its own. Say if you are out in the rural areas with no wireless signal, you will not be able to use your AGPS. With a true GPS, you will lock onto the satellites and be able to tell where you are and your coordinates.

 

No, you don't pay for the GPS. And yes if you dont have wireless coverage the gps will get fix. The only problem is that is locked.

 

Lucky you. We have to pay $10 a month for AGPS in Toronto here, even if we have a data package.

 

Vaio TZ HSDPA Card, GTM382 features Voice and GPS (Assisted and Standard), unfortunately the software they provide Globetrotter Connect do not have Voice or GPS functions as they rely on Mobile Operator to implement it, hence why you get your mobile operators software with it instead of Globetrotter Connect.If the mobile operator do not feel that their customers will benefit form these features they don't implement it.

I don't think the WWAN card in TZ is replaceable as it won't recognize any device plugged into that port, you can't even do a clean install as the WWAN card won't get detected, typical SONY BS.

If you want voice and GPS by a sierra Wireless card and a laptop that will work with it as the Sierra WIreless Software features voice and gps..

 

To dig this thread up from long time ago, but I have found an interesting thing with regard to GPS:

Yes, GT modem has GPS built-in and it's true GPS. There is a way to use hyperterminal / Putty to enable it. My Vaio TZ comes with GTM378 module and I was able to follow this guide to enable GPS:

http://www.option.com/en/support/knowledge-base/article/articleen-175/

However there is one very annoying thing. Once the GPS is enabled, the COM port starts to scan for locations and output NMEA-standard code.

As for me, reinstalling laptop works, because of the sony-provided drivers on their website. As long as you install their driver, it works. If you try to install the vendor's driver it doesn't work anymore. It's very annoying.

Way to install GlobeTrotter 2.3 and up (because it has SMS functionality which sony-provided GlobeTrotter 2.2 doesn't): Install GlobeTrotter 2.2 first. Then go into c:\Program Files\Option\GlobeTrotter Connect\driver and copy the folder GTHSDPA and save it anywhere. Then install GlobeTrotter 2.3 or 3.0 depending on what you get. Then copy back the folder GTHSDPA into driver. Then open up any driver that is undetermined by windows and set it to update to the path of GTHSDPA folder as it contains all the drivers needed.

Quick guide to enable GPS:
1. Go to Device Manager, look under Port/Com for GlobeTrotter Module HSDPA Application Interface COM[X], and Application 2 Interface COM[Y] (X and Y are numbers)
2. Open Hyperterminal or Putty, make a serial connection to COM[Y]
3. Type ati in PUTTY windows see if it returns your vendor and firmware version. If it does then it works. If it doesn't then try look for the right COM
4. on COM[Y] windows type AT_OIFC? see if it returns something looking like:
_OIFC x,y,z,w where x,y,z,w are numbers. w has to change but remember the first 3.
5. Type AT_OIFC=x,y,z,2 to enable GPS. try 5 first, sometimes it doesn't allow 5. (2 means GPS-enabled. 3 means Application 2 Interface enabled. 5 means both of them enabled).
6. Restart the modem by toggling it on/off or restart computer. If 5 was enabled earlier you should see an extra COM is being installed, depending on if the driver can fit it or not then install the driver and go check the COM number (COM[Z]). if only 2 is enabled then you should see nothing extra.
7. Now use Putty to connect to COM[X] mentioned earlier. This is where you issue the commands (Application Interface). Try typing ati on this see if it returns the firmware version. Use Putty to connect to COM[Y] mentioned earlier as well, but you should notice that you can no longer type commands in COM[Y]. This is because COM[Y] has turned from application 2 interface into GPS output.
8. In COM[X] type AT_OGPS? it should return _OGPS = 0
9. If it does, you can issue 3 commands below to get some output:
AT_OGPS=0 This means you stop GPS
AT_OGPS=1 This means you turn on GPS device to determine your location. It will stop when it finishes locating your position that one time, or it returns an error.
AT_OGPS=2 This means you turn on real time GPS tracking. It will try to determine your location, but it doesn't stop scanning.

Now you can connect your programs of choice with COM[Y] for more GPS information. Note that it is in NMEA format so connect the software which supports that standard and you should be able to locate yourself. There are 2 things I am unsure of:

1. Whether there is any GPS antenna attached to the card's GPS slot or not or
2. If the GPS device works without an antenna and how strong/weak the signal would be.

I have yet to be able to implement software in the COM port successfully yet, so anyone else who would like to try this and post the results would be appreciated.

Thanks for reading. Hope you find it interesting.

EDIT: I found out that the modem conflict was simply because of the wrong COM port selected. If you open your device manager and found that there is a conflict which makes you unable to start any of the COM device (including the modem), simply select another COM port for them and it should start correctly. Also check out my guide to update firmware http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5448652&postcount=1164