I just installed the current ArcPad download onto an Asus Vivotab Smart... internal GPS cannot be found. It searches COM ports 1 through 32 and cant find the GPS.
Microsoft changed the way COM ports are accessed in Win8 and the Internal GPS cannot be found (ArcGIS Desktop is the same).
Any thoughts on how to get Esri products working with the internal GPS on Win8?
You might want to review the posts on related ArcGIS for Windows Mobile Forums as well as review Help docs for ArcPad on GPS receiver connectivity, protocol, communication settings as ArcPad software requires COM port to connect to GPS receiver's output & default GPS protocol is NMEA 0183 although other GPS protocols are supported.
Many of the newer Windows 8 OS Pro 32bit Tablets w/Desktop & RT windows are offered by tablet hardware vendors as at least 2 different model options: 1 w/internal GPS receiver w/Mobile Broadband Modem & Sensors & 2 w/Sensors but wo/internal GPS reciever or Mobile Broadband Modem
Some Win8 OS tablets having only Sensors listed in Device Manager & no COM Ports appears to be main difference found when reviewing the Win8 OS tablets that can connect to ArcPad or ArcGIS for Windows Mobile software as those with COM Port can indeed utilize GPS functionality within our software application.
Research is still on-going into the new Windows Sensors including GNSS Geolocation Sensor but doubtful this will be a quick fix for those tablet owners who purchased Win8 OS tablets wo/internal GPS receiver. Please continue to follow this forum or the ArcGIS for Windows Mobile for up-to-date information from Esri.
Thanks for your reply. I had since opened a help ticket, but wanted to let you know that I tried the product with an external Garmin "puck" to no avail as well. Something must be screwy with the windows 8 system when it comes to this particular issue. I'm am trying a bluetooth GPS unit as I type this and no luck either. Last night I installed an updated driver set for the broadcom GPS but no results. With the puck I am running the Fransom GPS gate to create a virtual com port, because the Spanner software will not work with 64 bit systems (Win 7 and later); I also tried another similar software listed in one of the other forums with no luck as well. My experience is that ArcPad will recognize both devices in the GPS preferences but will not connect to them or "open the port". I get an error message of "Error 5 when attempting to open communications port COM4097:" and the same message with the internal GPS only with an error of "Error 2". Is there anyone out there who knows what kind of tablet device out there really does have a legitimate GPS setup that will work with Windows 8 and ArcPad? Has anyone got a laptop that has linked up with a GPS device using Windows 8 and ArcPad? At this point windows 7 isn't even an option anymore because MS is in full W8 mode, sounds a lot like when they were pushing Vista on everyone before it was ready. We can't be the only handful of people who have run into this problem so far. I went this route because the trimble products have such abysmal screen real-estate and they are virtually incapable of supplying enough RAM/Processor speed to meet the needs of a standard field worker. The ArcGIS Online product is fine for big cities, but out in the more rural parts of the country where Wi-Fi coverage is scarce we still need ArcPad and the capability to load more features than 1000. Really frustrating, and potentially costly for ESRI, I was testing this solution for a 5 county board and if it worked we were looking to deploy 300+ units in the field. Sux 😞
I think this accurately conveys the message - is there a list of Windows 8 devices which are known to run ArcPAD Currently the ArcPAD Blog shows it running on a YUMA - I would assume that a YUMA 2 would also function as stated in the prior post from denise indicated that certain Win8 devices should function with ArcPAD. Beyond the Trimble devices what else "should" be able to run ArcPAD.
Did you modify any parameters in Advanced Serial Port Parameters dialog? Since this isn't standard COM port connection of typical GPS receiver? [ATTACH=CONFIG]22485[/ATTACH]
You may need to research more of the particular GPS Sensor included with your Microsoft Surface Pro tablet and determine specific communicating settings and whether modifications to these parameters make this work within ArcPad. I just do not know; still do not know how one customer could get GPS sentences, satellites & positions to display in GpsGate app but we couldn't get same to work within ArcPad once we set up connection.
I've been working with Microsoft Support as we're trying to purchase Microsoft Surface Pro Windows 8 OS Pro with internal GPS w/Ports (COM & LPT) for Support usage yet no models have technical specs meeting our requirements; again only Sensors option. Additionally, Microsoft Support informed me it wasn't a purchase option even at factory level. We will purchase the model available as we do have need to support customers using other Esri applications without GPS functionality; surprised only Sensor & Mobile Broadband option.
Note any future support of GPS Sensors in Windows 8 Pro OS tablets for Esri's Mobile GIS software will only be after research, testing and inclusion by ArcGIS Runtime SDK Teams for each GPS/Mobile GIS application; support would then filter down to ready to deploy apps including ArcPad, ArcGIS for Windows Mobile, and ArcMap w/GPS Toolbar.
Again, I must return to Help documentation for all Esri software which states GPS connections require COM port to read and parse NMEA sentences from GPS receiver in ArcPad, ArcGIS for Windows Mobile and ArcMap's GPS Toolbar. However, I do encourage customers to POST the enhancement on ArcGIS Ideas site under Products category Mobile GIS > ArcPad. The ArcGIS Ideas is a submission portal which lets our customers get involved. You can suggest new products, promote favorite enhancements and interact with ESRI Teams. Or if already posted, VOTE for it and same for customers using ArcGIS for Windows Mobile and ArcMap's GPS Toolbar.
As most, if not all Windows 8 tablets don't have an actual GPS chipset in them, have you been able to pair a Bluetooth GPS unit with the Surface or similar Windows 8 tablet? I am thinking of something like these:
