Related
Just surveying how well the GPS on the Touch works for most people. It seem as though many people still have problems, even after the carrier updates and all the hacking done here. I personally could never get the GPS working consistently without using Alltel Navigator, which cost $10 a month.
My current theory is that the phone's radio injects noise into the GPS receiver, either because it shares an antenna with the phone, or for the same reason why a powerful radio signal (like driving past a transmitter tower) can overwhelm the front end of receivers that aren't even near the transmitter's frequency.
Evidence: If I launch Google Maps when I'm offline, and I can select "Use GPS" and avoid having Google Maps try to go online before it acquires at least 3 GPS satellites, it seems to lock on within a minute or so about 90% of the time.
If anything causes the phone to go online before I've acquired GPS, it almost never seems to succeed.
If I take/make a voice call, or engage in sustained data transfer, it almost always seems to lose the GPS signal.
If I pan/scroll the map and cause Google Maps to need a BIG chunk of data, it will probably lose the GPS signal.
I'd be interested to hear whether anyone else has noticed a similar inverse correlation between RF activity and GPS acquisition.
Hmmm, I haven't noticed any correlation between data and location, it's an interesting theory though. It takes me anywhere from a minute to 15 seconds to get a lock, and when occasionally satellite signal drops out, Google maps finds it again within 10 seconds or less. I'm a verizon user, btw, and I use GMaps, Live, and TomTOm7+GpsViewer.
Mine works great -
Mine works great - I have Garmin XT for turn-by-turn and it seems to find satellites pretty fast - The other day I decided to try a little experiment and I set up both my Sony GPS and my Touch and pressed "go" at the same time and the Touch GPS was just a fraction of a second behind the Sony (both from a cold start), which I think is pretty good - I have no problem using Windows Live, but for some reason the most recent Google Maps doesn't work as well, it can take forever (seemingly) to lock.
baud rate
after doing a little more
research, i found a post
suggesting to use the
57600 baud rate in google
maps. it worked and i got
a lock within about a minute
sorry bought the english
im typing on my phone here
at work.
my 6800 locks consistanly with in 15 seconds. Just bought the wife a 6900 and its been taking about 1-2 minutes. Not sure why that is.
i had a lot of trouple with my gps being inconsistent and what not. this post on ppc geeks fixed the problem now i connect 6-11 satsellites in 30 seconds or less. duno if it'll help u but u can try it:
http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=36377&highlight=shadow-tech+agps
not taking any credit for that guide it was pmed to me im pretty sure all acknowledgements are made within the post itself.
Use this to get your GPS working well...
My GPS works excellently with Google maps, as well as with iGO8. I can lock into about 8 sats in 15 seconds or so using the AstroGPSLauncher that AstronusX created and posted at this thread.
Took me just a couple of minutes to create the shortcut and put it in my program list.
I might lose satellites in iGO8 if I get a phone call and take it, but it will get back the sats after a minute or two once the phone call has completed.
Hope this helps.
Steve
Carrick1973 said:
My GPS works excellently with Google maps, as well as with iGO8. I can lock into about 8 sats in 15 seconds or so using the AstroGPSLauncher that AstronusX created and posted at this thread.
Took me just a couple of minutes to create the shortcut and put it in my program list.
I might lose satellites in iGO8 if I get a phone call and take it, but it will get back the sats after a minute or two once the phone call has completed.
Hope this helps.
Steve
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have M2D plugin?
I have NFSFAN Rom and Igo8 is really pain. If you switch to Today or just phone - there is no way to get IGo back. Have to Reset.
Yes, I've been running iGo8 on NSFFAN's 1.08 ROM. I agree that it dogs down damn bad when I get a call while running iGo, but I can get it back up without having to reset if there isn't anything else running. It does take quite awhile to get sat locks back though after switching over to phone. It might be quicker to close out of iGo and restart.
Thanks for all the helpful post guys, that 57600 baud rate didn`t last to long. It was just as inconsistant as anything else I tried. I`ve heard about the Shadow Tech`s Fix for a while now but never tried it till last night. I am having some trouble with the dialing ##3424 step. I`ve tried the different 3424 numbers, and using task manager to open Dmrouter.exe under /DIAG parameters. Nothing happens on my phone, and I don`t see HTC Diag in Device Manager on XP. I have another post on the Shadow Tech Fix thread, but if anybody here knows what I`m doing wrong I`d appreciate a little info.
BTW I`m using NFSfans alltel 1.02 rom
pknyo said:
Thanks for all the helpful post guys, that 57600 baud rate didn`t last to long. It was just as inconsistant as anything else I tried. I`ve heard about the Shadow Tech`s Fix for a while now but never tried it till last night. I am having some trouble with the dialing ##3424 step. I`ve tried the different 3424 numbers, and using task manager to open Dmrouter.exe under /DIAG parameters. Nothing happens on my phone, and I don`t see HTC Diag in Device Manager on XP. I have another post on the Shadow Tech Fix thread, but if anybody here knows what I`m doing wrong I`d appreciate a little info.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you go into windows and execute Dmrouter.exe it should, it may not change anything on your screen. Easy way to tell is if you have an activesync connection, execute it, and if activesync disconnects then your in it. Another way is to check task manager, and see if it is running.
There was a problem with the driver for the Vogue in WModem. I found a thread with the fix:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=462712
Valahalla? I know it has to do with GPS just wondering what it is
Phone shows up as Palm treo modem
I got dmrouter.exe working, but in vista it shows up as palm treo modem after drivers are found and installed. I`ll try again in XP and see if it happens again.
Wow I finally got this to work (Shadow Techs Fix)
It took about a day and a half, but I finally got it!
1.) I flashed back to Official Alltel 6.1 Rom and skipped customizations.
2.) I followed the steps in this thread http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=36377&highlight=shadow-tech+agps
3.) Reflashed back NFSFAN`s 1.02 Rom. I then tested it out and 10 seconds later I had 8 satellites locked on me.
Thanks to everybody who helped me out here with your posts. I started this thread as just a kinda survey to find out if I was not alone in having so much difficulty making my phone work as it should, and ended up a very happy Touch owner.
on alltel
it almost never works. shadow-tech's fix helps immensely
im in dominican republic
and i never manage to get a gps signal.
=/ is it me or the phone?
or the fact that this island is worst then the one in LOST
I checked the accuracy of the GPS on my phone about a year ago- Sometimes I work with surveyors, so we matched my vogue against a survey grade GPS to determine how off it was- My phone was +/- 3 feet (1m) in latititude and +/- 10 feet (3m) in longitude. I think that's pretty damn good. This was in a refinery in NJ, USA, with lots of big steel tanks around.
First I was using gps toggle, now I'm running NSFANs 6.5 v8 with gps viewer. I never have trouble getting a lock after about a minute of warming up.
Concerning the Shadow tech fix some of you guys have used here : http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=36377&highlight=shadow-tech+agps
I was wondering if this fix has already been incorporated into all the cooked ROMs for the Vogue that have come out since March '09?
Dear xda-developers members,
[skip the first paragraph to avoid useless chitchat]
I usually avoid posting in forums when I can't contribute to the soultion of a problem but rather ask questions. This is mostly due to me feeling stupid years on when I stumble upon my then pressing problems. Anyway:
I'm having problems with my X1, more specifically the GPS receiver. I know users have reported problems before, so I don't seem to be alone after all. Let's start out with a
Description of the problem:
No software I tried so far gets anywhere near to a fix using GPS. Google Maps reports it's searching but won't find anything, Chartcross "GPS Test" hangs on "Starting up GPS", TurboGPS sometimes displays a satellite in the very center and finally there's the "HTC GPS tool" which shows this:
The "satellites" change in rather fast succession. This can't be right, can it? So far I have not gotten any fix at all. This was the case from the very beginning (got it off ebay by the way, said to be used for about 2 months). The HTC Tool as well as TurboGPS echo some seemingly gibberish data ("$GPGSV,4,1,16,32,,,,31,,,,30,,,,29,,,*70" and counting down, less often "$GPVTG,,T,,M,,N,,K,N*2C" and things like that).
What I tried so far:
I tried multiple ROMs (R2A stock, R1A stock, 6.5 based, 6.1 based, very light ones, very heavy ones), basically all available Radio ROMs and yes, I switched off AGPS, I tried activating Bluetooth, not touching the backside as proposed by some, etc. It appears to be the X1a Version of the phone, if that is any help. COM-Ports have been switched, windows management of the device has been checked and unchecked, the baud rate has been changed to multiple values. Nothing.
I'd gladly supply you with any further information that might by useful. I think I don't need to stress how excruciatingly annoying this behaviour is. Exchanging the device is not really an option since a) I'll be in Canada in 17 days and I doubt my local dealer could fix this in the given time frame and b) I don't have the receipt - ebay, you see.
Best regards in hope of a solution...
do you try inside or outside ?
gps's generaly never get a signal inside
Nice one, but believe me, I tried outside. I tried on roofs. I tried in the streets. I tried with loads of free sky above my head. My stand alone GPS reciever (Garmin Geko 201) picks up many (at least 5) satellites in less than one minute.
@Tikurion
"The HTC Tool as well as TurboGPS echo some seemingly gibberish data ("$GPGSV,4,1,16,32,,,,31,,,,30,,,,29,,,*70" and counting down, less often "$GPVTG,,T,,M,,N,,K,N*2C" and things like that)"
Not gibberish actually, but NMEA GPS data flows, so your receiver is aquiring some data. Google NMEA if you want to understand these data sentences better.
No fix ? I have only 2 suggestions here;
1) try on hard reset with no AGPS (of course), updated QuickGPS data and a clear outdoors "line of sight"
2) the more recent radio ROM's (eg 1.11.25.76 or 1.14.25.55) do give very quick and accurate fixes if conditions in 1) above are there
ianl8888: I said seemingly, right ? What I meant was: I know it's not actually gibberish. But how do you explain me receiving the exact same values even if I'm in a cellar with absolutely no possibility of receiving anything?
I will yet again try another hard reset, although this then would be number... 15 I believe XD. AGPS is turned off already and radio rom is 1.14.25.55 at the moment. We'll see.
Thank you so far of course. Your help's always invaluable .
I dunno if it helps or not, but i had a similar problem. I found that no software could actually get a gps signal from the unit...it was like the software wasn't actually able to control/turn on the gps or something. the weird thing was that i noticed the "on the road" panel was able to get data. So, i tried running TT6 with the on the road panel running, and it worked. so then i launched google with on the road panel working, and it worked. to this day, if i want to run a gps dependent software, i must start on the road panel first. kind of weird but it works. I'm waiting for R3 to see if the problem goes away or not.
Ian
I tried what ianl8888 suggested multiple times - to no avail.
Also completelyhis: Thanks, but the On-the-Road Panel doesn't pick up anything either. Won't change status after "Determining current location".
tikurion said:
I tried what ianl8888 suggested multiple times - to no avail.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks like warranty time - seems your GPS antenna may be disconnected (poor or dry solder joint) ??
Unhappily, a not all that infrequent issue with PDA's. I once spent several weeks figuring out how to dis-assemble an Eten X500, re-solder the offending joint and then re-assemble the thing. It was way out of warranty, of course.
my problem with touch HD is similar... all sats bunched on top..
i went for servicing
Well, after temporarily bricking my X1 (tried to reinstall original SPL for service the wrong way) and solving that by using the Service Updater-thingie I sent to support, hoping they will be nice with me, despite not sending the warranty card or the receipt.
Use A-GPS .. for me it even worked inside my house... ( no my house is not a box of 50cm by 50cm.. but one big farm
Hi i have weird problem with my GPS.
While I driving (car is moving) everything is beauty and sweet but once I stop my car my GPS is still moving for about 10 sometimes 20 sec showing 2km/h then 0km/h then 2km/h again. Sometimes when I stop car on junction my Gps will jump on the perpendicular road and from time to time my arrow on the map just turn around to opposite direction and the maps sets a new route! Once i move my car everything going back to normal.
I was using first my TomTom and i just thought it`s a map problem although i haven`t problem with that on my Rhodium either X1. So I decided to try Igo8 and it`s exactly this same. Even on the roundabout my gps can jump somewhere else on different road.
I tried all Radios available for HD2, many Roms and just have no idea what more I can do. Many people on HD2 forum in Poland have this same problem.
I also tried GPS fix cab downloaded here from xda but no luck its ever worst.
I can add that i'm getting GPS fix in few second so its good the problem is just my gps is moving around.
PS. Very, very rarely have no problem with this jumpin gps around. But is like 1/30.
Do you have access to an external Bluetooth GPS receiver you can test out? That could eliminate or isolate some possibilities.
balane said:
Do you have access to an external Bluetooth GPS receiver you can test out? That could eliminate or isolate some possibilities.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
unfortunately i don`t. but on my Touch Pro 2 and Xperia never had this problem.
hi,
are you using the 'gpsmoddriver' software, that is floating around here in the forum?. its made for using the compass data when no gps fix is available. it causes such failures in igo and copilot on my hd2. after uninstalling it gps works much more percise to me, when im not moving.
regards mad
Happens with mine as well. I have replaced my HD2 and it seems that the 2nd unit acts the same. tried various ROMs/RADIOs (official/cooked) - nothing seemed to fix this.
It's quite funny though... most of the people rather paying attention to the fix time instead of the accuracy (which is quite bad imo) in addition to this weird phenomenon. I doubt that the AGPS is somehow related, but it will be nice to know how to disable this feature, and try to acquire the signal without it. maybe this is the cause.
Btw, check this out - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=600232
Fatherboard said:
Happens with mine as well. I have replaced my HD2 and it seems that the 2nd unit acts the same. tried various ROMs/RADIOs (official/cooked) - nothing seemed to fix this.
It's quite funny though... most of the people rather paying attention to the fix time instead of the accuracy (which is quite bad imo) in addition to this weird phenomenon. I doubt that the AGPS is somehow related, but it will be nice to know how to disable this feature, and try to acquire the signal without it. maybe this is the cause.
Btw, check this out - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=600232
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agps - this feature is available in NRGZ roms. I tried to turn on and off and it was no different.
PS. thanks for answering.
madbird said:
hi,
are you using the 'gpsmoddriver' software, that is floating around here in the forum?. its made for using the compass data when no gps fix is available. it causes such failures in igo and copilot on my hd2. after uninstalling it gps works much more percise to me, when im not moving.
regards mad
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As i said before : i was using it. I had feelings its jumping around the places more than without it so I uninstalled it.
Tried to email HTC regarding this. they claim that their HD2's don't exhibit this behavior, even though I've tried two different units, from different batches.
I don't know what to do... this drives IGO nuts - it causes igo to switch lanes, directions and having the route recalculated without any good reason.
Fatherboard said:
Tried to email HTC regarding this. they claim that their HD2's don't exhibit this behavior, even though I've tried two different units, from different batches.
I don't know what to do... this drives IGO nuts - it causes igo to switch lanes, directions and having the route recalculated without any good reason.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sometimes its just pointless to talk with those dickheads.
They ll never say true.
With pink camera was this same. They were saying at the beginning that they have no problem with pink spot at all. And what was next? We need just more people to email or ring them.
Most of them even not using HD2. They've seen for few minutes and think they'll know everything about it.
It was so many bugs with this device they just dont want to hear about another one!
In addition to that, both of my units tended to show different position and altitude readings each time i powered up igo or google maps. while exhibiting the differences I obviously didn't from my current position, not even an inch.
to try to make things clearer. that's what I did :
loading igo -> acquiring signal within seconds -> getting a certain position reading with altitude of 11 meters (for example) -> quit -> reloading igo -> acquiring signal within seconds -> slightly different position, altitude of 75 meters or a negative value (for example).
even the small blinking dot in igo (which determines the actual gps mark) doesn't fit to my physical location on the road which I'm currently driving on. it sometimes blinks few meters to the right/left, and sometimes it tracks behind the guidance arrow (as it should be).
Could be
Simply a limitation of GPS. I have seen it on other GPS's. Garmin etrex. Try walking with one and even thou you are walking in a straight line it plots a zigzag path. More satelites (10+) should reduce this issue.
Basically the GPS is only accurate to a certain range from +-50m to +- 2 meters depending on the no of sats. The location is detemined by timing from when the signal was sent to when it was received. Calcs how far away the sat is (Speed of light??). It is possible you care getting a fluctuation in your current location. Eg
Sample 1 says you are point a.
Sample 2 says you are 2 meters to the right.
Sample 3 says you are 2 meters to the left.
Still in the +- 5 meters but the gps is plotting you moving backwards and forwards.
Guys, it is a problem everyone has, gps position is not as accurate or stable on the hd2 as on most other htc devices. And with an erratic gps position automatically comes an erratic speed. Don't know yet if it is because of a different gps module that's inside the hd2 or because of the inclusion of crappy gps drivers. Will try to find out soon....
Anyway, gpsmoddriver is not the cause of this problem since the problem is also on an hd2 without having gpsmoddriver installed. Because of the functionality of gpsmoddriver to improve the gps readings, in some cases it can amplify your erratic gps position, and that is also what some of you have been experiencing. Remember you can always use gpsmoddriver to add the hardware compass functionality to your navigation software, while additionally configuring gpsmoddriver to leave gps data untouched so it won't make the erratic position and speed worse. For more info or help, please visit the gpsmoddriver thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=571266
EDIT: Of course the HD2 has a new snapdragon chip which has built-in GPS just like many previous generations of phones. Most likely qualcomm changed the way gps works in their new line of Snapdragon processors...
The movement of vehicles around you or even the movement of the sun's rays on buildings nearby can distort GPS signals. The GPS navigator software tries to rationalize this distortion and that usually appears as a movement when you are still. On the other hand, if you drive into a tunnel using TomTom and some other software, you will often see yourself driving straight on in the tunnel well after the GPS is receiving no more satellite signals.
In top-of-the-line built-in navigation systems, the GPS data is supplemented by inertial guidance. (Someone could create a similar supplement for the HD2 The supplementary information allows the system to reconcile the GPS information with information on your car's actual movement.
But for us mere mortals, we just have to live with it.
Well... this particular gps chip is quite useless, then. if my navigation program has to recalculate the route each time I stop at traffic light, then it seems that I either have to purchase a usb-based gps to pair with the HD2, or replace this device. I counted on it to perform well.
Fatherboard said:
Well... this particular gps chip is quite useless, then. if my navigation program has to recalculate the route each time I stop at traffic light, then it seems that I either have to purchase a usb-based gps to pair with the HD2, or replace this device. I counted on it to perform well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Complain to HTC, perhaps if they get enough complains they will come out with a hotfix or a rom upgrade that fixes it. Nobody said that the hardware is not that good (though it's possible), but it could also very well be a bad implementation by HTC!!
Already did.
They have obviously denied my complaints.
thanks again, anyway.
I noticed this behaviour yesterday night, at about 10pm. I was playing with NoniGPSplot, and while I was completely still (and freezing me arse outside believe me), it was tracking a movement back and fro and all around in small step, keeping track of me traveling some meters still while I was standing in the same point.
It was night and I was in my big yard, so no sunrays nor moving vehicles around nor buildings over my head.
I think this behaviour is very well hidden in tomtom since it automatically puts you on a road, and "smoothens" the gps data by making you follow that road no matter what, but a "realtime" software like nonigps tracks that all so well. Gonna notify htc about it now.
Guys, let's not go overboard on this. Non-military GPS is only claimed accurate to around 20 metres, regardless of the quality of the receiver. It's the US Defense Department messing with your HD2, not HTC.
Stephen Selby said:
Guys, let's not go overboard on this. Non-military GPS is only claimed accurate to around 20 metres, regardless of the quality of the receiver. It's the US Defense Department messing with your HD2, not HTC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, absolutely, I've noticed the same behaviour with all three of the BlueTooth GPS I used in the past. So, I would not be too quick to blame HTC for this.
my touch cruise's gps receiver worked with static navigation enabled to avoid this false movement. maybe this is just a usual behaviour?
Agree to that.
But regardless of the fact that the thing is not a military GPS system, It should do it's work correctly as for me the GPS is almost useless when driving slow or within a city. My 2nd phone (HTC DIAMOND) and 3 personal navigation devices are mounted in my car to compare and all work fine when the HD2 isn’t .
The GPS looses all the time the fix to the satellites and then quickly gets the fix back. when using a GPS monitor you can see that the satellites constantly moving really rapidly. (moving --> getting fix and loosing it again)
This is for 4 other reference devices which are running simultaneously not the case so it seems really an issue with the GPS device.
I tested this with different ROMs (1.44 Vodafone, 0.6 dutty WM 6.5.5, 1.66 stock and another one I cannot recall the producer anymore.)
hi, i have had an unusual issue in that the GPS on the device does not work any more, it did before around 2 weeks ago when i used google maps with the compass working as well.
i have tried soft resets and to check the com ports (i am unsure of the defaults for com port, is it 0?) and have tried to set them manually and also to allow the device to automatically set them. The digital compass has allways been working.
i have installed a fue gps applications recently, since i last used the gps successfully, and have noticed the gps not working in any of these and then not working in the pre-installed applications;
(installed in descending order)
-iGO 8
-GPS sport computer
-wifi fo fum 2
-GPS speedo
-hd speedo
-gps cycle computer
i have uninstalled these since and the GPS still is not being picked up in the digital compass application and google maps (both the preinstalled apps on the original ROM out the box, and were working with gps around 2 weeks back).
i have made sure i am always in clear sight of the sky, but no prevail their.
if some one could please help me on what to do to regain the functionality of the gps again, i would be great full.
p.s. has anyone else had this issue or a similar one?
Try downloading something with setelite tracker. GCZII is such application (good for geocaching btw).
Sometimes, the GPS has wrong satellite data. You will see (on the satellite tracker) it can receive some signal, but the satellites will not show above you, but let's say all to the north.
Go to start/tools and run QickGPS and download new data. That should help. It will download current data via internet. But it may help not. Sometimes bad data on these servers are the source of the problem.
So next thing you can try is use file explorer and go to Temp folder. There is file xtra.bin. That's where the data are stored. Try to remove it and soft reset. Try running your GPS without the file. It will take some time to fix (up to 5 minutes), but it should work.
If that does not help, QuickGPS will get the file back. I had problems like this on X1 .. usually something helped, either refreshing, or removing the file. On HD2 I needed it once, and refreshing the data using QuickGPS helped.
I'd suggest to try htc's own gpstool and see if you get anything at all on com4. search the forum for htc debug tools, the exe is in that package. And...disable quickgps and delete xtra.bin from \temp
Nice application .. I was looking for something like that ! Thanks !
thanks for the replies.
sofar i tried the qgps file removal with out success.
i have aso found something else out thats concerning, thats in igo 8 when i run a auto detect scan for gps device it come back saying their is no gps device.
it also seems to be the case when i ran gczll and the htc-gps-tool.
so i think that the gps driver? or device is the root of the issue?
hope this helps with the suggestions on how to resolve the issue?
Thanks for the helping again.
Aslo check settings/external gps.
First tab (programs) should be: COM4
Second tab (Hardware) should be: None, and 4800 (or anything I guess).
Third tab (Access) should be: Yes, manage GPS automatically
Dr.Sid said:
Nice application .. I was looking for something like that ! Thanks !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're welcome ;-)
Have you installed any "tweakers" like BsB Tweaks, HD2Tweaks or similar? Have you messed around in the registry with drivers and such? I assume you didnt see any gpsdata at all on port com4 using the htcgpstool, what exactly happened when you opened com4?
Imho, if the above post by Sid doesn't do the trick, the easiest way out is probably a hardreset.
[edit]
what rom are you on, stock or custom, and have you never been able to use the gps or did this happen after a while, perhaps after you installed an app or something?
its stock rom, i havent ventured into cooked roms yet. (reading into it, getting a understanding of it all over last 2-3 days)
haven't messed around with the registy of bsb and dont have htctweaks (not sure on how to do that yet)
nothing happens when i run the htcgpstools, on com 4, same as it does nothing on any other application. it just continues to look (for a long time) or says no gps (like in igo 8).
im thinking that hard reset my be the best option as well.
could something have happened to the radio and broken down the communications of the gps device? (im not a expert, just a theory?)
and just on a cooked rom question.
i wanted a rom that has copilot removed and the full ram enabled, and just to include the performance update drivers (i have adk 1 runtime atm that improves the jitteriness) and other updates that hot fixes have done. but i want to keep stuff like animated weather etc.
from what i have seen it looks like dutty is the man for this type of rom?
could you recommend a cooked rom for a first timer/noobie?
Thanks.
I had a similer problem on my Touch Diamond.
Try switching off.... take the battery out for 1 hour, reinsert battery then turn on. I think that the GPS locked up.
Good luck
steveianson said:
I had a similer problem on my Touch Diamond.
Try switching off.... take the battery out for 1 hour, reinsert battery then turn on. I think that the GPS locked up.
Good luck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm, you might be right. I still believe your best shot is a HR...
OK well did a hard reset and that has done the trick.
The GPS works and locks with in 10seconds from my window so working brilliant again.
Thanks for all the suggestions and the time taken to help out.
There seems to be MANY factors that affect the GPS on these tablets and exchanging one for another *may seem* to get you a better unit. I bought a second a500 unit today and when I first brought up google maps, it had my fix as soon as the screen opened. Cool, this must be a better unit than my other right? Not necessarily because I believe the new unit used my wifi for the quick fix. As soon as I turned off the wifi assistance, the unit no longer gave me immediate fixes. I loaded gps status and the new unit struggled to find just 1 satellite. My other unit which I've had 2 weeks, is now suddenly a gps 'mofo' as it finds and locks position really quick, sometimes in 5 or 10 seconds (wifi assist turned off). The only thing I installed recently is gps monitor, but that's just gives you a monitoring status in the taskbar. It does state that it's turning off gps when you exit maps, which if it does may help conserve battery.
So I'm not sure why my A500 decided to suddenly work really well with GPS. When I first bought it, it was actually kind of terrible. Of course I have the 3.1 update on my unit, but the new one is still 3.01. I don't know how much of a difference that makes either. I had planned on buying an Asus unit today, but could not find the 32gb unit locally (not settling for 16gb).
My unit is stock and not rooted. I don't see a need to root it because so far it's working quite well. If only the microphone pickup was better, but I can live with talking louder at it or into the top of the unit. I have to do that with my samsung galaxy phone also.
Rob
It's funny, the very first time I used the GPS It took forever to find & lock on to sats. Now it's really fast. I'm thinking it has a " learning curve" ?
Update : Tried in the same place tonight , it only picked up 1 sat & didn't lock.
It is aGPS which means Assisted. It uses WIFI to set your location and search for satellites based on that location.
There are a number of factors which affect the GPS on this unit, as the original poster stated. I've been researching this for sometime, and found a number of things that could lead to a replacement unit working better than a current unit.
I've another thread on this subject, but I'll post the cliff notes here.
The following can affect GPS on your unit:
Obstruction (Roof, Cover)
Weather (Clouds vs Sun)
Internet Access
Nearby magnets
Compass Calibration
Your almanac server (gps.conf)
For starters, download a program called "GPS Test", not to be confused with "GPS Status and Toolbox", which you should also have for different reasons.
Plug your unit in and set it up in a spot where you know you can get a signal on other devices (phone, etc). This does not include your basement, but it also doesn't have to be outside. A woodframe house will not usually obstruct the signal enough to interfere. Use your best judgement.
Start up GPS Test and go into the settings menu. Select the option where the screen stays on all of the time. Check to see if your unit will ever pick up any satellites. If it takes more than 30 minutes and you are sure you should be picking up satellites, this indicates a problem. The first step should be diagnostic.
Leave it run overnight. If you look at it in the morning and find a multitude of satellites then your GPS receiver is working fine. This means your GPS can see the satellites, but the only way it can find them is through sheer dumb luck. It needs to be told where to look, and its having problems getting that information. The problem is likely with your compass or almanac.
If you arrive in the morning to find no satellites at all, then your GPS is likely broken (not unheard of) or you need to try again in a better location.
If you know your GPS transmitter is working, the next step is the check your compass. This is where GPS Status and Tools comes into play. The first screen you see when you open the program will be the compass. Make sure north == north. If it does not, almanac data is useless because the tablet won't know which way to look. GPS Status and Toolbox comes with a compass calibration tool. Use it. If your compass will not stay pointed north, then your compass is broken. If it works, then its time to look at your almanac.
Unless your system is rooted, there is no point in reading further. All the following steps require root access.
There are two files that you need to be concerned with. They are /etc/gps.conf and /etc/gps/gpsconfig.xml
You either need to edit them manually, replace them with pre-configured optimized versions for your region (link below), or use a program (fasterfix) to edit them for you. Results with each approach may vary.
I won't go into this step into detail since its been covered a million times on the forums already. I will provide a link:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1068416
This is the one that helped me the most, but there are others.
Best of luck. And remember: Hardware failure is a real possibility, but so is a crappy environment. Make sure there is no outside interference and you're not trying to get your location from an underground bunker and wondering why it doesn't work. A little common sense goes a long way.
Cheers,
-PW
long time lurker on this site.
I just bought an A500 and have been trying to get this GPS to work.
The first one I got had 3.01. I first tested GPS and it worked fine. Was able to get connected to the satelites no problem. Downloaded and installed 3.1 on it and now GPS doesn't work at all. Tested it with the two programs: GPS test and GPS utilities.
Stood outside on a clear day and nothing happened. Tested all the settings and still not one satellite.
After reading a lot of the threads and doing a lot of searching I exchanged it for another one.
Did the same thing. Tested it on 3.01 and it worked then installed 3.1 and it didn't work again on this second one. Went throug all the troubleshooting steps: deleted the cache, reset the gps, etc. Even left it on over night sitting at GPS Test and Google Places.
Doesn't make sense that it works on 3.01 and not on 3.1. Sounds more of a software issue than a hardware issue. But for it to work with some others with 3.1 then I may exchange it for another one again.
Wondering if it was during a certain build that other are having the same issue. Both of the ones i got were manufacturered in April. Could April just be a bad month or several months before that?
3.1 does not have any problem with GPS
Wifi assist turned off, get lock with sygic and can use the navigator.
(but)
- if you go under an express way (like I got in my country they are highway), you lost the signal very quick
HOW TO FIX ?
- buy a GPS enhancer and put in your car, that will increase the signal received and give the tablet a very big help
the poor part of the GPS tablet is the antena... the receiver is not that happy behind a metal case, and oftenly... GPS antena should be on the roof of the car, or external for better signal.
I got locked in 15s
sanaell said:
3.1 does not have any problem with GPS
Wifi assist turned off, get lock with sygic and can use the navigator.
(but)
- if you go under an express way (like I got in my country they are highway), you lost the signal very quick
HOW TO FIX ?
- buy a GPS enhancer and put in your car, that will increase the signal received and give the tablet a very big help
the poor part of the GPS tablet is the antena... the receiver is not that happy behind a metal case, and oftenly... GPS antena should be on the roof of the car, or external for better signal.
I got locked in 15s
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My guess is that Acer subcontracts out parts production for items like the GPS antenna used in the A500 and the quality of those antenna has been very inconsistent (same with the microphone). I have an A500 with a June build date and it has very good GPS pickup. It doesn't lock instantly like the Xoom does, but usually within 10-20 seconds (sometimes sooner) which is still acceptable. Surprisingly, this unit also has a fairly good microphone that picks up my voice well while holding it at any angle. It's still running 3.01 unmodified since it hasn't got the OTA yet. I previously had an A500 with an April build date (it's on the back of the box) and both the GPS and microphone performed rather poorly even with 3.1.
Rob
going to exchange this one at a different bestbuy store and see if they have a different manufacturer date. I did the exchange on Monday and hope they have a different lot.
tekageek said:
long time lurker on this site.
I just bought an A500 and have been trying to get this GPS to work.
The first one I got had 3.01. I first tested GPS and it worked fine. Was able to get connected to the satelites no problem. Downloaded and installed 3.1 on it and now GPS doesn't work at all. Tested it with the two programs: GPS test and GPS utilities.
Stood outside on a clear day and nothing happened. Tested all the settings and still not one satellite.
After reading a lot of the threads and doing a lot of searching I exchanged it for another one.
Did the same thing. Tested it on 3.01 and it worked then installed 3.1 and it didn't work again on this second one. Went throug all the troubleshooting steps: deleted the cache, reset the gps, etc. Even left it on over night sitting at GPS Test and Google Places.
Doesn't make sense that it works on 3.01 and not on 3.1. Sounds more of a software issue than a hardware issue. But for it to work with some others with 3.1 then I may exchange it for another one again.
Wondering if it was during a certain build that other are having the same issue. Both of the ones i got were manufacturered in April. Could April just be a bad month or several months before that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The 3.1 you're installing is OTA or you are downloading it from somewhere ? My first unit failed with 3.1 with a downloaded 3.1 (it seemed to be the correct for Spain) ... I exchanged the unit, and this new one offered me OTA. It's working perfect with OTA 3.1
I did a test one day with GPS and found it to be marvelous if used properly.
Here is what I did.
1. I cleared my agps data with program GPS Status
2. Redownloaded the data and waited until I had like 6 up 11 fixes
Then I went out and waited at bus station and got a lock with Google maps and I travelled about 75 kilometers and had a perfect fix the entire time, I had about 5 satellites fixed constantly on average. And this was using stock everythings I love the GPS it works fine now.
In the 3.01 version I did the exact same test and it didn't work, everytime the train or bus started moving the signal was gone and stayed gone.
Now its fine! You just have to remember. That this is Agps not GPS A is for assisted, so you use the internet abit and download the data and you're fine! Just learn to use A-GPS!
I have tried everything, and nothing works. What a ****ty thing to screw up on a tablet. I'm trading mine in tomorrow, and if I have the same issue, I'm rooting and switching roms. This is ridiculous ..........
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk
well well well, this one worked. I exchanged for another one.
3.01
turned it on and opened Navigator. in 10 seconds it locked into the gps. Installed gps test and saw 6 to 7 satellites, in use= 6 looked at the map and it found my location. Opened both Navigator and Places
3.1
Installed 3.1 OTA, once rebooted i opened gps test and now i see 7 satellites! Opened Navigator and worked fine. Opened Places and also worked fine. Both found my location and saw 6 to 7 satellites.
4.010.13.comgen2
wish there was a list of what this update does. installed this update and gps still works. Seeing 6 to 7 satellites. navigator and places still work.
Before i even took this tab i asked the sales guy the manufactured date. This one is from: May
GPS fix
Initially, my gps did not work that well. When I compared my gps.conf with the 2 A500's whose GPS worked very well I found that their GPS.conf contained only this
"NTP_SERVER=north-America.pool.ntp.org". I'm in US, by the way. After I rooted my A500, my GPS worked alot better. After I edited my GPS.conf the fix time was improved.
Before: outdoor : cold start and there.after
Time to fix= 5 min to infinity and 3 mins to infinity
Indoor = no GPS.
After: outdoor= 30 sec to 211 sec. and 10 sec to 90 sec
Indoor= 110 sec to 5 mins. and 29 sec to 90 sec
Hope that helps.
I'm on rooted stock 3.1.
I guess I got lucky then.
When I start mine up, it locates for the weatherbug app update feature and I've never seen it fail.
I haven't done any GPS-specific stuff with it yet, but much of the time I'm using an ad hoc connection from my phone, so it's not a wif AGPS fix.
Interesting read. Makes me want to explore the GPS feature more.
One other thing that is universal across any device using GPS, both commercial and military---your device needs to know where in the sky the satellites are. The initial gps fix will always take more time because the device doesn't have a reference fit the sats. This will also be the case the longer you go between fixes as the device will lose track of the sats over time. Aside from physical obstructions this is often the biggest contributing factor to the length of time required to get a fix.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
Noob question here. So this is assisted GPS. I assume it needs the WiFI to access the aGPS servers, but they aren't necessary if a) you have a confirmed working device and b) everything is calibrated properly. Is this correct.
I just don't understand the inconsistency in the GPS fix. I have a rooted A500, with 4.010.13_COM_GEN2, manufactured in April. For some reason, I cannot get a consistent, day-to-day lock on position. I have installed and used successfully in the past:
Fasterfix
GPSFix
GPS Test
GPS Status
I have edited the gps.conf file manually to use, separately, both north-america.pool.ntp.org as well as us.pool.ntp.org;
I have used the "manage A-GPS status" to reset the status as well as downloading the assist data in GPS Status;
After several unsuccessful attempts last night, I was able to gain a GPS lock from my living room in about 20-30 seconds. Today, in the clear open air I could not obtain more than a partial lock on more than 3-4 satellites at a time, and only once obtained a fix, and then for only 20 minutes while stationary. I am now in the exact same position as I was last night, and cannot find a single *blinking* satellite.
While traveling home on the Interstate, I could see more than two satellites at a time and never got a lock on position. In contrast, my Droid (2.3.3) obtained a lock in about 5 seconds with GPS Status. Using a Bluetooth GPS unit and a Bluetooth Mouse GPS, I obtained a position lock in 2 seconds on the A500.
So what gives here? Is it a hardware problem? Why does it work so well one day and then not at all the next, with all other things being equal? It does not seem to be a software issue or sky visibility issue.
UPDATE, 8/9/11: I noticed that in the current configuration as described above, the only satellites that could be seen were those on a bearing of 000, and largely on the horizon. When a different satellite was seen, it would only appear in the northern two quadrants. I restored a back-up from two days ago, and uninstalled FasterFix but manually edited the gps.conf file to us.pool.ntp.org. The GPS fix was improved - not lightning fast, but at least 4 satellites were seen relatively quickly, without particular preference for hemisphere. Position fix still takes a few minutes - two to five minutes or so. Still working on consistency, but may switch to a custom ROM.
UPDATE, 8/11/11: This thing is driving me nuts - no clear consistency on when the GPS works or not. Tried two custom ROMs, same lack of consistent lock. Back to square 1. Droid-1 picks up 10 sats (w/o network checked), A500 only 4. Got a lock away from home this morning, cannot get one at home tonight. Taking it in for exchange tomorrow. Since the first sat it does see is always at 000 and at the horizon, I am wondering if the internal referencing for the GPS unit within the A500 is somehow not set up to handle the assist data format properly. Sort of like it is reading the data, but things are off a space or two. Thus, the GPS unit seems to look, but is looking in the wrong direction. Comments?