[MrJ]

Hey everyone!
Im new to this forum, but not new to the Dell M9
Im sad to see so many discussions about the GPS receiver within our Dell Mini 9s (!!!the one that comes with the Dell 5530 HSDPA card!!!) - so I wrote down what I did in a few, clear, simple-to-follow steps. This should work for everyone - I have enabled the GPS with these steps on 8 of my friends Dells...running all kinds of OSystems. And here we go:

(I AM COPYING MY OWN FORUM POST FROM MY OWN FORUM (UNI.JK4U.NET))

U own a Dell Mini 9 Series Netbook with Windows? Did u know that this Netbook comes with a GPS receiver already build in?
Here is a lil tuto on how to enable the build-in GPS receiver. Yes, u 2 have one if u own that Netbook!
Its integrated in ur Broadband HSDPA Card that comes with the Netbook (at least the ones from Vodafone ).
Once enabled, u can track urself on Google Earth anywhere u have broadband reception and clear skies

Lets get started:

1. Open the Device Manager and de-install ALL "Dell Wireless 5530 HSPA Broadband MiniCard" entries. (This includes entries under "Modems", "Network Adapters", "Ports" and "Universal Serial Bus controllers"!)

2. Download THE LATEST DELL DRIVERS (A07) and install them.

3. Repeat step 1, then step 2(the install part ) and step 1 again (YES, JUST DO IT!) and restart ur computer. Now wait until all the devices have been found and installed. Check in the Device Manager (there should be no components left that require attention (with yellow marks) - if yes, reinstall the driver package one more time). Make sure u have a device called "Dell Wireless 5530 HSPA Mobile Broadband Minicard GPS Port (COM[?])" under "PORTS".

4. Download the Dell Wireless Manager here: LINK and install the application. Once installed, this will control ur broadband connection from now on as a replacement for the Vodafone Software that came with the Laptop. Once installed, open the application and go to "View", "GPS". Select "GPS ON" - u should be receiving a GPS Raw Stream in the lower part of the window.

5. Download EarthBridge and Google Earth and install both.

6. Start ur GPS (c step 4) and then start EarthBridge. In EarthBridge, go to "Preferences", select the GPS Port (u can find the port number on the Dell Wireless Manager - GPS-page). Configure EarthBridge to ur needs (like open Google Earth automatically and so on...).

7. Move to an area with clear view of the sky (it will not work inside). Hit the "Connect to GPS Device"-Button in the EarthBridge window and start GoogleEarth ...

8. ENJOY

Took me an afternoon to figure out, I hope u enjoy this as much as I do

[holmes4]

Well, you perhaps have one only if you have a Mini 9 with the Dell 5530. Most Mini 9s do not have this card.

[Travelller]

Originally Posted by MrJ

6. Start ur GPS (c step 4) and then start EarthBridge.

Frankly, I find Carolina's solution a bit easier to follow, but if your solution works too, power to it

Say, what does EarthBridge bring to the party? I use Dell's (Erricsson's) Wireless Manager and Google Earth, w/o EarthBridge... :-/

What am I missing by not using EarthBridge? I thought it was a solution provided prior to Google making their GPS "plugin" part of the free version (of GoogleEarth)...

[nkh]

Does this work without the sim card installed?

[Zakatron]

Originally Posted by holmes4

Well, you perhaps have one only if you have a Mini 9 with the Dell 5530. Most Mini 9s do not have this card.

Myself, My Girlfriend and my flat mate all have Dell mini 9's with the Dell 5530 WWAN card and i can tell you know that they all have gps and they all work.

[MrJ]

Say, what does EarthBridge bring to the party? I use Dell's (Erricsson's) Wireless Manager and Google Earth, w/o EarthBridge... :-/

What am I missing by not using EarthBridge? I thought it was a solution provided prior to Google making their GPS "plugin" part of the free version (of GoogleEarth)...

You are right - Google Earth works just fine by itsself. I personally like EarthBridge tho, cuz it gives you some more control over ur GPS and u have the graphic feedback for ur link...

GoogleEarth will work great with the 5530 GPS

[grungysquash]

Sorry failed for me - tried new drivers (have GPS running using Old system) thought I would see if the GPS stayed enabled with the new drivers.

But Nope - new drivers simply removed the GPS com port had to go back and re-install the old drivers to get this back alive again. Device manager showed the GPS as missing - ie no uninstalled device or hidden device. Re-installed old GPS drivers and back it came.

[Dettery]

thanks very much for the sharing.i keep this page in my laptop,wish one day i could use it.

[pstrg]

Originally Posted by MrJ

Hey everyone!
Im new to this forum, but not new to the Dell M9
Im sad to see so many discussions about the GPS receiver within our Dell Mini 9s (!!!the one that comes with the Dell 5530 HSDPA card!!!) - so I wrote down what I did in a few, clear, simple-to-follow steps. This should work for everyone - I have enabled the GPS with these steps on 8 of my friends Dells...running all kinds of OSystems. And here we go:
...
Took me an afternoon to figure out, I hope u enjoy this as much as I do

@MrJ
Alas, tried your method (followed it strictly); tried CarolinaJones method, both to no avail.
Began everything once again after deleting all D553*.sys files and eliminating every register key that referenced them and rebooting.
Even opened the Mini9 and disconnected Bluetooth (suspected it could be interfering) but no success...

Any help will be heartily welcomed.

p.s.
With CarolinaJones method, the sequence was:
- d553bus.sys - d553mdm.sys - d553mdm2.sys - d553card.sys - d553scard.sys - d553unic.sys - d553nd5.sys (d553gps.sys was not asked for).

[pstrg]

Originally Posted by pstrg

Any help will be heartily welcomed.

Update:
No, whatever I attempted (many times) a port for GPS did not appear.

Tried Hyperterminal as suggested here and finally succeeded connecting with GPS.
To do that I
- verified the port associated to Dell Wireless 5530 HSPA Mobile Broadband Minicard (in my case: COM6);
- checked port settings (bps, data etc.);
- adjusted Hyperterminal accordingly;
- typed the commands as directed on the post above.

NMEA codes began to appear; next I
- quit Hyperterminal.
- started Earthlink and set it to the same port and port settings;
- connected.
NMEA codes began to appear and after quite a while, after moving to an open area, 7 satellites showed up.
Well, precision never got better than "Awful" according to Earthlink but I was happy anyway after spending almost a full day trying.

Now, it seems from the results that 5530 GPS is not that good (as others hinted) but it does work.

Thanks all.

p.s. Now if I only could succeed at having a separate port for GPS...