How to use the GPS chip in the Qualcomm Gobi 2000 (HP un2420) WWAN device

[R_G_B]

To use the GPS chip in the Qualcomm Gobi 2000 (HP un2420) WWAN device:

The Qualcomm Gobi 2000 is a widely used WWAN / GPS combo device. HP un2420 is one designation. The GPS module has good sensitivity (close to SIRF III in my simple tests). Some people may be interested to use it to supply position data to a program such as Garmin nRoute for real-time position display; even if they have no use (and no installed sim card) for the WWAN module on the same chip. This is possible. The approaches below were tested on a HP mini 5102.

Initial set-up required installation of HP Connection Manager and Qualcomm Gobi drivers (e.g. sp51022 from HP). In Win7 pro32, it required the WWAN AutoConfig service and ‘hidden’ WAN miniport drivers to be enabled (only a problem if you have at some time disabled them).

After successful installation of these drivers (and reboot):

• HP Connection Manager can power on/off the un2402 module, and show WWAN / GPS status.
• Device Manager will show HP un2420 under Modems and under Network adapters and under Ports (one COM port for Diagnostics and one for NMEA)
• Additional Services will be active for “Qualcomm Gobi 2000…” and “smmanager for HP”. Connection Manager may also be set to run on Windows start.
• HP un2420 NMEA will also show under Control Panel > Location and Other Sensors. It is not necessary to ‘Enable’ here. Enabling may keep the sensor powered to show position in applications like Google Maps? Not needed for programs that have GPS Start / Stop control.

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A: After the ‘default’ installation:

1. Check that the wireless power switch at front left of the computer is ‘On’ (blue LED).
2. Start HP Connection Manager to power up the WWAN / GPS chip. On first use, configure it to allow GPS information flow to other applications (this setting is saved). In Device Manager > Ports, you should see the NMEA module assigned to a com port. If you are outside with a good view of the sky, the Connection Manager > GPS tab may even show a position fix (can be slow). A GPS control program like Globalsat GPSInfo should show NMEA data flow on the relevant com port, and may calculate a position faster than Connection Manager.
   
   This may be all you need to supply NMEA data to other programs. Some programs may require a helper like Curioustech Xport to split the NMEA data flow or send it via a suitable com port.

The added steps below are only required for those needing conversion from NMEA to Garmin format (e.g. for use by nRoute). I will assume that com-0-com and GPSproxyPC have already been set up to supply the GPS signal to nRoute in Garmin format (separate instruction).

1. Start GPSProxyPC. It should show the satellite signal strengths and obtain a fix.
2. Start nRoute. F12 displays satellite strengths and fix accuracy.  
   If necessary, use Utilities > Select GPS to connect to the signal from GPSProxyPC.

Unfortunately, this leaves lots of running services for the WWAN device. They slow down boot and other operations. These are wasted resources if you do not use WWAN (which requires a subscription and sim added card). Task Manager will show memory usage >> the ‘minimal’ 640MB.

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B: Once the Qualcomm installation is complete, some services needed only for WWAN functions can be stopped. Caution!! It will be necessary to manually re-enable required services to reinstall or update programs that call on them. Also some ‘WAN’ drivers may be needed for non-WWAN functions like VPN, and problems may not be evident until later, so be careful. Stop now unless you are willing to fall back on a full system restore (and you know how to do that) if things go wrong. At the very least, save a restore point and/or a registry backup; write down everything you change; and have a bootable windows repair/install disc before you mess up! Experimentally:

1. In Device Manager, disable HP un2420 under Modems and under Network adapters. Under Ports, only disable the COM port for Diagnostics (leave the NMEA port enabled).
2. In Services, disable WWAN AutoConfig and smmanager for HP. Remove Connection Manager from startup (use autoruns). Other services not required are HP Wireless Assistant and hpqwmiex. HP Connection Manager and HP Wireless Assistant can now be uninstalled from Control Panel if desired (neither gives separate power control over WWAN vs GPS).
3. I also uninstalled the hidden WAN Miniports (via netcfg) and Qualcomm NDIS Miniport driver  (via autoruns) without loss of GPS. But don’t uninstall the Qualcomm driver loader service (QDLService2kHP) or other Qualcomm devices! They are needed (after cold boot or off-on of the front wireless switch) for the GPS module. It is easiest to leave QDLService2kHP on automatic. If set to manual, the process will wait with the Qualcomm loader occupying a COM port until QDLService2kHP is ‘started’. This uses as much power/resources as the GPS drivers.
4. Once QDLService2kHP has done its work, the GPS module on its assigned COM port becomes accessible to GPS control programs. Check that the wireless power switch is on, then:
5. Start GPSProxyPC. It should show the satellite signal strengths and obtain a fix.
   (If not, use Globalsat GPSInfo to check the required COM port and NMEA data flow).
6. Start nRoute. F12 displays satellite strengths and fix accuracy. 
   If necessary, use Utilities > Select GPS to connect to the signal from GPSProxyPC.
7. Control of power supply to the combo module is peculiar! Disabling devices in DM may not stop power to them. The GPS function works after the above steps, even when HP Connection Manager and Wireless Assistant report that (WWAN) power is off, and when Wireless (=WLAN) is turned off in Windows Mobility Centre. GPS stops if the wireless power switch at front of the HP mini 5102 is turned off (otherwise this switch shows blue = something powered). This likely means that power flows to the GPS module only when it is started by a GPS control program (supported by metering,  though only 1W). The ‘risk’ is that more than necessary power may be used when WLAN is needed. When neither is needed, turn power off via the front switch.

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C: To get back to ability to use the GPS and WWAN modules:

1. Enable the WWAN device in BIOS.

2. In services, enable the following:

WWAN Autoconfig      (WwanSvc)                                       Manual

smmanager for HP      (HP connection manager)                   Automatic

hpqwmiex                   (HP protect tools/ quick buttons)        Manual (try Auto if there are problems)

QDLService2HP         (Qualcomm Gobi)                               Automatic

Telephony                  (Tapisrv)                                            Manual (best never to disable this!)

If they are not shown in services.msc, it may be necessary to install the supporting software (try the HP software installer). Do this after enabling all that are shown and rebooting to allow autodetection.

Also check in Device Manager that the Qualcomm WWAN has not been disabled (may need a reboot after re-installation).

If (using admin cmds like: netcfg -e -u ms_sstpminiport) you disabled any ‘unused’ WAN miniport devices, it may be necessary to restore them using devcon downloaded from MS  (saved in C:\windows), with an elevated cmd prompt (right click cmd.exe and select ‘run as administrator’).

devcon.exe install %windir%\inf\netrasa.inf MS_SstpMiniport

                                                                                                MS_L2tpMiniport

                                                                                                MS_PptpMiniport

                                                                                                MS_NdisWanBh

                                                                                                MS_NdisWanIp

                                                                                                MS_NdiswanIpv6

                                                                                                MS_PppoeMiniport

                                                                                                MS_agilevpnMiniport

Check that the related (WAN, Remote Access) drivers / services are enabled (using autoruns / services.msc / devmgmt.msc > view hidden devices > network adapters). If there is a problem, consider whether any other drivers disabled via autoruns or other registry tweaks might be needed.

3. Then follow the steps under A, noting that there should be a GPS tab in HP connection Manager.

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😧 ‘Clean’ Qualcomm Gobi Driver installation:

There are reports that some versions of the driver installer are set not to enable use of the GPS module. The setting can be checked, and an alternative setting can be tried if necessary:

1. Uninstall all Gobi 2000 and WWAN-related drivers, making sure that you delete them completely (or perform a clean installation of Windows 7 – if desperate enough)

2. Download the latest driver for the Gobi 2000 WWAN module in your computer model.

3. Using WinRAR or 7-Zip, extract the driver to a new folder.

4. Navigate to that folder, and open MultiInstaller.ini with notepad or any text editor.

5. Search down for a setting Dev1=GPS=*, maybe around line 26. The setting * that enables GPS control is reported to be 1 or 0 depending on the system. You can try reinstalling with the altered setting if the default did not work for GPS access on your system. If a change was required, save the corrected ini file!

6. In the same folder as MultiInstaller.ini, double-click on Launcher.exe. When it's done, the log file in the same folder should indicate success. Restart the computer.

7. Open Device Manager, and verify that under Ports are both the un2420 Diagnostics and NMEA drivers (assigned to separate COM ports). If it shows a single port for the Qualcomm loader, the process is stuck. Have any required WAN support services been disabled? If the loader can not detect the Gobi device, check that windows is set for new hardware autodetect and driver upload (under Devices & Printers > Right-click computer > Device installation settings).

8. Open Properties for the NMEA driver, and select Port Settings. Set Bits per second to 9600
(some say to set Flow control to Hardware - maybe nonsense, as the GPS chip is not a modem).

9. Restart your computer. Using the HP Wireless Assistant (&/or Connection Manager) power on the WWAN (Combo) chip. Use a GPS control program (e.g. GPS ProxyPC) to check NMEA data flow.

There seems to be no method in any HP or MS interface to power off only WAN or GPS modules. Reference in recent Connection Manager docs to “GPS selective suspend” may mean USB selective suspend compatibility (for the whole chip). See below. If the GPS does not resume after sleep, try restarting through a GPS program and if necessary power off-on the Gobi WWAN combo device.

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E: To test power management, open cmd prompt as admin and enter: powercfg –ENERGY 

Any control errors will show in the resulting report, something like:

USB Suspend: USB Device not Entering Suspend

The USB device did not enter the Suspend state. Processor power management may be prevented if a USB device does not enter the Suspend state when not in use.

Device Name

USB Root Hub  Host Controller ID

PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_27CC  Host Controller Location

PCI bus 0, device 29, function 7  Device ID

USB\VID_8086&PID_27CC  Port Path

Device Name  HP un2420 Mobile Broadband Module USB Device

Host Controller ID  PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_27CC

Host Controller Location  PCI bus 0, device 29, function 7

Device ID  USB\VID_03F0&PID_251D

Port Path  5

etc…

The listed device names / IDs cover all connected usb devices (some with no power management tab in DM); but any one failing usb suspend can stop the whole usb suspend capability. Disabling USB selective suspend on the GPS port had no effect. Disabling USB selective suspend on the root hub to which Gobi connects removed the un2420 reference (sometimes), but not all the others.

Various settings (such as ‘wake on X’ or ‘enable usb power on sleep’ in BIOS or elsewhere) are reported to knock out usb selective suspend.  Even a ‘bare’ HP5102 laptop gives the root hub suspend error; so Gobi may not be the culprit. According to panasonic there is a known windows fault that makes it necessary to disable USB selective suspend on the USB root hub to which the Gobi device is attached before disabling or updating the device:- http://pc-dl.panasonic.co.jp/dl/docs/15199

Using an Arclec PC222 energy meter (1W resolution limit above 5W) on the power supply to a fully charged HP mini 5102 (minimum screen brightness, wireless off at start):

Mode                               Watts 

Sleep                                   0

Wake                                  13

Wireless switch on              13-14

Qualcomm service on          13-14

GPS program on                 15

WLAN on (mobility center)  16

Screen brightness full         18

This indicates no power advantage of manual start over automatic start (on boot) for the Qualcomm driver. Task manager also indicates no advantage in terms of memory use (~620MB at idle). It seems easiest to leave it on automatic. This may slightly slow boot, but GPS start is faster and more reliable via a simpler vbs script.

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F: Launching from a Script

For ‘single click’ start of a GPS-control program (e.g. GPSProxyPC) and a GPS-use program (e.g. nRoute), they can be launched in sequence using a vbs script. One constraint is that AppActivate required in this simple script can fail for several reasons. Foreground Lock (on by default since Win2K) prevents programs including AppActivate from "stealing focus" on the desktop. This means that SendKeys commands in vb scripts may not go to the intended window. Check in the registry:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\ForegroundLockTimeout. The default dword value is 0x0030D40 or 200000 ms. To allow focus change by AppActivate requires a dword value of 0. Then the current user profile then has to be updated by logging off. http://www.webmasterkb.com/Uwe/Forum.aspx/vbscript/180/Problems-With-AppActivate

Once that is set up, to start the GPS chip and connect to nRoute, try this vbs script:

Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")

  'tells this VBscript how to interpret the variable called WshShell

WshShell.run """C:\Program Files\GPSProxyPC\GPSProxyPC.exe"""

  'launches the GPSProxyPC program (without any error from the space in the path)

Wscript.Sleep 2000

  'waits 2 seconds for GPSProxyPC to load

WshShell.AppActivate "GPSProxyP"

  'ensures that the focus for the next command is on GPSProxyPC

WshShell.SendKeys "%s", True

  'activates the top menu then start to connect with the GPSr

WshShell.AppActivate "GPSProxyP"

WshShell.SendKeys "{RIGHT}", True

  'shows the satellite screen; True means wait while those keystrokes are processed

Wscript.Sleep 5000

  'waits 5 seconds allowing the user to see satellite strengths from the GPSr or errors

WshShell.AppActivate "GPSProxyPC"

WshShell.SendKeys "% n"

  'minimizes the GPSProxyPC window

WshShell.run "C:\Garmin\nRoute\nRoute.exe"

  'launches the nRoute program (extra quotes are not needed as this path has no spaces)

Wscript.Sleep 1000

  'waits a second to give time for nRoute to launch

WshShell.AppActivate "nRout"

  'ensures that the focus for the next command is on nRoute

WshShell.SendKeys "{ESC}", True

  'closes the warning not to type while driving

Set WshShell = nothing

  'empties this setting from the cache / memory

  'script to start GPSProxyPC, connect GPSr and launch nRoute

  'users can alter any of the Sleep (delay) times to suit their needs

  'BUT ... SendKeys may not work if you have UAC activated in Vista or Windows 7

If there are any errors, check that GPSProxyPC has found the GPS device (on the previously used com port).

After successful connection, stop the GPS connection before closing GPSProxyPC (to avoid hanging it).

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[sudaya]

Hello there,

We have purchased few "HP un2420 EV-DO/HSDPA Mobile Broadband Modules (MBM)" to integrate into "HP EliteBook 2740p TabletPCs". One of the key purposes of getting this MBM is to use its standalone GPS unit with a third party mapping application. We have concerns about the performance of this GPS Module and we need to clarify few things related to this MBM and its GPS Module:

- Once the MBM Module is powered on uisng HP Connection Manager Application (Version 3.3.2.42 ) and the GPS is enabled with the current location information, after few minutes, GPS Module's Connection Status becomes "idle".  Why GPS becomes idle and does not continue to provide updated curent location information? How can we keep the GPS status as  'Connected"  and up to date location information?

- What's the out put "Baud Rate (or Bits per second) " of this Broadband\GPS Module by design? Is there any specific values to be selected as the default Baud Rate?

- Once the MBM is powered on using HP Connecton Manager, can a third party application's GPS funtions\tools use to enable\activate the GPS Module?

-  Does this GPS Module support\use "differential GPS (DGPS)" by design using SBAS (Satellite Based Augmentation System - known in various parts of the world as WAAS, EGNOS, MSAS)  to improve the accuracy of locations when out putting location coordinates? Or is there a way to turn on SBAS as an option?

We would appriciate if someone could provide us detailed information about the concerns\questions mentioned above. Please reply directly at [Personal Information Removed]

Thank you.

SU

[ptitluc38]

Hi,

Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

I couldn't manage to get GPS Proxy PC working, with GPS at com port 31, on HP 8440 XPSP3.

I had success with GPS Utility at  http://www.gpsu.co.uk/. and BS GPS at http://www.bettersoftware.co.uk/bsgps/BSGPS.aspx.

Luc