Paring Bluetooth GPS for Dummies

[rmkernan]

Sorry for the long post. Just hoping to help some poor soul who might be wondering if thier Xmas present works or not!

Devices:
1) Global Top G33 from buygpsnow for $50.
2) Sprint Moto Q Black, most registry hacks, Goodlink, 2GB SD, Java (GMM and Gmail), regular battery.

Skill Level:
~7.5/10. Long time lurker and closet tech geek. Implemented reg hacks w/ no problem, installed java, etc.

At first, I could not get this to work to save my life. Read every BT GPS post on every Q forum, MoDaCo, etc. Read this to save yourself some serious time.

Follow these steps:
1) Turn on GPS device, aquire signal and "listen" for bt connections
2) Turn on BT on Q from from Bluetooth Settings in the Bluetooth Manager
3) Select paried devices from the menu, press menu again and press Add
4) Allow Q to find BT GPS (or similar). ***Green ? mark will remain in the device icon - it will never truly pair** There are no additional steps to complete despite what the instructions say for smart phones. You cannot and select serial port, etc!!!
5) It does not matter if you check "allow connections" or not

6) Install latest Google maps (google.com/gmm) or Live Maps

Live - select settings from main menu and choose GPS COM1, view map by selcting Map and bottom of screen, press menu while viewing map and select "Center on GPS", ***Moto Q will warn you that application is trying to connect over paralell (might be serial, I can't remember) port - allow? It will also ask if you would like to connect in the future by default. hit yes. Live will briefly say "connecting to GPS" and then "getting GPS position" (note it will display these messages even if you did not get the permission request described above. Do not get excited thinking it might work, it will not - you must get the permission request at during the first connection). It will then move the map to your location.

GMM - from main menu, select options, GPS settings. Choose Set Manually, COM1, my device uses 38400, your may differ. Note on my device any other baud rate fails. Hit OK. Select Use GPS from main menu. ***Moto Q will warn you that application is trying to connect over paralell (might be serial, I can't remember) port - allow? It will also ask if you would like to connect in the future by default. hit yes. Will immediately say initializing and then move map to your location and begin displaying number of active satellites.


***If you did not get this message, it will not connect no matter what you try and how smart you think you are. As others have posted elsewhere, you must hard reset. I know you are thinking there has got to be another way - I hope you are right. I decided to upgrade Q firmware at the same time - downloaded and installed from Motorola.com for Sprint on 12/15/07.

Other Info:
The Q will NOT pair with a GPS device as it does with a headset or laptop. You cannot select service, etc. You will always see a green ? in the list of paired devices and will not see it listed in the list of conenctions. If your GPS device has an LED which indicates searching, pairing, do not expect anything to happen during steps 1-5 above

When you activate GPS in Live or GMM, your Q will open a port and connect to the GPS device from within the application. Only at that time, the indicator light on the GPS will indicate tha it is connected. Also, only during this time will you see it in your list of BT connections and only during this time will you see a little blue icon on your home screen (if you have the BT plugin displayed).

This does not take much skill. For most people it works right away once you correctly set the GPS settings in GMM and/or Live.

As a side note, I have re-implemented my reg hacks, re-installed GoodLink, other apps, etc. Still works just fine. The only thing different is the firmware and the lack of Java.

I hope this keeps someone out there from losing their minds!

[dropper]

For my DeLorme Earthmate GPS Bluetooth PowerPack I needed to set the BPS to 57600.

Keith