Land Surveyor Forum

Attempting to resurrect an old Trimble GeoXT but have to use a Windows Virtual Machine and cannot connect.

So I recently started with a new employer, and have been attempting to bring the old Trimble Rover back to life. It's a 5800 dome, and there are two Data Collectors, a GeoXT, and a GeoXH. The GeoXH has a broken digitizer and I haven't been able to source a new one, so I'm focusing on the XT. Apparently this unit was never used, it was solely the XH until it was dropped and broken.

The XH runs agonizingly slow, but it does turn on. Problem a) is that it doesn't appear to have Terrasync, and so I downloaded it and attempted to install it on the data collector. Problem b) is that the data collector won't seem to connect. I downloaded a windows XP virtual machine so that I could use ActiveSync, but I cannot seem to get the VM to recognize and connect to the collector. Therefore I can't get TerraSync on the collector. 

My next step is to try and get an older XP machine to see if that will connect, but I am losing hope. The system is 10-12 years old, and even though it's barely been used, it may not be worth trying to get it going. I used Leicas at my previous job, so I will likely recommend my employer get a Viva if the Trimble is officially dead. 

So I guess to clarify, my questions are:

Has anybody ever had a controller come without TerraSync? Is this easily remedied?

Has anybody ever connected through a VM? Any insight as to why i might not be able to? I am "mounting" the device within the VM, so it's supposed to know that it's connected.

How agonizingly slow will the GeoXT be if I do manage to resurrect it, is anybody still using these?

Any help, advice, or input is appreciated, thanks!