[size="2"] i am tryin to integrate myhand held Garmin GPS with linux. however the NMEA data input requires serial port. The laptop does nt have serialport, so i had to resort to installing the serial to usb interface cable.
Here lies the problem :- firstly i am confined to using Mandriva due to my customised software limitations. The driver which has come with the cable BF 810 is meant for Redhat 7.3, 8 and9 versions. (not sure this is a limitation). i have successfully installed the Make and GCC library and compiled the pl2303.c file. however the output was host of error messages related to the program.
Kindly guide the further actions. [/size]

Welcome to the board!
Sorry I can't help with the cable driver (a cable needs a driver?! ) but I might be able to offer a couple of pointers.

I also have a handheld Garmin GPS (an etrex Vista) and a laptop with Mandriva, and everything works fine. My laptop does have a serial port however, and I use the cable which came with the receiver. The newer Garmins have a USB interface rather than serial, but I haven't tried using one.
Note that (at least on my GPS) the NMEA data format is only used to report the current position of the receiver. To download tracks and waypoints, the receiver needs to be set to be in "Garmin" mode, not "NMEA" mode.

Neddie,

u r right, in case the laptop has a serial port then there is no problem whatsoever. But in the absence of serial port, NMEA data cannot be obtained as input via USB interface cable (provided with gps). One needs to use the typical Euro standard 04 pin interface provided on the back of gps to draw NMEA data and then the other end of that cable is a serial (male) end. Incidently this cable is also provided with gps. Here is the hurdle one needs to cross. I have searched a lot on this matter and the only solution lies in compiling the pl2303.c driver file for the BF-810 serial-usb (DB-9) interface cable. Once successfully compiled the driver links automatically and accepts the cable thru tty port when plugged into laptop. Kindly post any information in this regard, the solution is eagerly awaited.

Are you saying that the cable from the GPS receiver has a serial plug, and would normally plug into a serial port? And then you plug that into another cable which plugs into your USB port on your laptop? Your description isn't very clear.
Could you tell us the model of your GPS receiver, maybe that will make things clearer.

Also, if you want help compiling a program and getting rid of the error messages, it would be useful to know what the error messages are. Paste them here if possible. Also tell us where you got the source code from, maybe we can see if it will compile on another Mandriva. Which version of Mandriva do you have, by the way?

You don't have to compile that driver, it has been in the Linux kernel for some time now. The pl2303 is already in the Mandriva 2008 desktop and laptop kernels.

As neddie has already noted, we need to know more about your system. Which version of Mandriva you're using, and the model # of the GPS receiver.

Beat me to it!
I was going to point out that the source code for that BF810 all refers to kernel 2.4 and chances are you just have to do a modprobe to load the module, but you're a step ahead of me!

I have Garmin GPS MAP 96C along with the 4 pin US adapter + cable (https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=756) . So as u have understood, i have therby purchased a BAFO 810 (usb-serial converter cable). The driver file came along with the cable ...u can download it with this link (http://www.bafo.com/download/2007_download....3_8_9_v1.6.zip). Now when i compiled it with "Make", i got abt 700 error messages !!! i can post it (atleast some part) if u need to analyse it. I have mandriva 2007. i cant have 2008 as i told u, its got some specific customizations with regard to packages made for our company. Thank you for ur kind help.... waiting for ur reply.

As I noted earlier, I looked at that source, and noticed that it all refers to Kernel 2.4 (see my earlier post). Inside the zip are three versions: RedHat73, RedHat8 and RedHat9. You don't say which one you tried, but they all refer to kernel 2.4, so it's very unlikely you'll get this to compile with a 2.6 kernel.

But as Greg2 says, you shouldn't have to compile it. Have you tried just plugging it in and seeing what dmesg says? Have you tried doing a modprobe of pl2303?

According to the spec pdf for the gpsmap96c, the interfaces are "USB, R232", which sounds like it should plug directly into the USB port, although maybe that's with a converter cable as you say, that's not quite clear from the spec. It does list a cable under accessories though which goes directly into USB: https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=1026

You can see in the Linux kernel code here: v2.6.17/drivers/usb/serial/
that the driver was present in the kernel used in Mandriva 2007.

In fact, from that pl2303.c
So as neddie has suggested, please insert the usb cable (attached to the device), and post your dmesg output here. If it's very large, you can attach it here as a text file.