I was just checking how bad the GPS is (again) and noticed that the compass is inconsistent, in that 'North' can change by up to 30 degrees depending on the orientation of the phone.
For example if I line up north with the phone on the table and place a piece of paper next it, then flip the phone round by 180 degrees and line the phone up to the edge of the paper, then the direction that was previously north is now 330 degrees, and 'north' is now 30 degress to the east.
I've now tried it in several places using different apps and with the hpne horizontal/vertical/upside down/whatever and it's always the same - when the phone is pointing 'south', 'north' moves 30 degrees to the east.
Obviously the sensors in the phone are just junk and Samsung have sold me a lemon. Anyone else have any similiar problems?
The problem is clearly aliens! their technology is not compatable with our own and they threaten all navigational devices.
the only solution is silver foil around the phone.
<stu> said:
I was just checking how bad the GPS is (again) and noticed that the compass is inconsistent, in that 'North' can change by up to 30 degrees depending on the orientation of the phone.
For example if I line up north with the phone on the table and place a piece of paper next it, then flip the phone round by 180 degrees and line the phone up to the edge of the paper, then the direction that was previously north is now 330 degrees, and 'north' is now 30 degress to the east.
I've now tried it in several places using different apps and with the hpne horizontal/vertical/upside down/whatever and it's always the same - when the phone is pointing 'south', 'north' moves 30 degrees to the east.
Obviously the sensors in the phone are just junk and Samsung have sold me a lemon. Anyone else have any similiar problems?
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Click to collapse
Have you ever tried to calibrate the sensors? Doesn´t look so. No matter in what position i hold the phone, the difference is never more than 1-2 degrees!
The first few times I tried it, it was fine, but it did go out of alignment eventually after moving he phone around a lot. Although, that can happen due to external magnetic fields. In planes we normally use compass correction cards to help correct mistakes in the compass, and I'm not sure how good the Galaxy S is at compensating for those errors either (although, I don't think that would explain 30 degrees error).
Also, where are you living? Remember, the earths magnetic field is strongest closer to the poles, and weakest at the equator.
TMReuffurth said:
Have you ever tried to calibrate the sensors? Doesn´t look so. No matter in what position i hold the phone, the difference is never more than 1-2 degrees!
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Click to collapse
Yes I've calibrated (and re-calibrated) the sensors and it doesn't make any difference.
I'm glad yours works so well - I bet your gps is super-accurate too.
I live in the uk and my trusty G1 has no problems, so I can only assume it is the SGS.
<stu> said:
Yes I've calibrated (and re-calibrated) the sensors and it doesn't make any difference.
I'm glad yours works so well - I bet your gps is super-accurate too.
I live in the uk and my trusty G1 has no problems, so I can only assume it is the SGS.
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My GPS is not so accurate, but its usable. The sensors are very sensitive. If you use the compass near my laptop (15 cm away or nearer) it´s becoming completely useless too.
try to use the compass far from electrical equipment like computers or tv´s. Makes a huge different for me. When using the phone 15 cm away from my laptop, the compass get´s unusable too. As soon as i reach 20 cm far from the laptop the compass works as it should.
Also, one more thing, the "sheet" trick is easily affected by interference if the compass isn't located in the centre of the galaxy S.
If it were results would be better. Does anyone know where the magnetic sensor is located on the i9000? Because if you spin it around the sensor, rather than the middle of the phone, the compass should remain consistant, provided the magnetic interference is constant.
I found since updating to JPM froyo from JM9 my compass is not just 30 degrees off, its sometimes 180! I've done the recalib etc but it jumps around all over the place. Good thing I'm not bothered one bit by it as I rarely if ever use gps/directional apps.
my Gps works good. But Compass not so much. Does GPS have to be on to use Compass? How do I calibrate the compass?
@andrewluecke with so many electrical equipments/circuits inside the phone, I reckon it must be hard to isolate the compass from the interference as we are able to do in aircraft.
ANyways there is no practical daily use of compass for me.
Well I was messing around last night and found that if I tip the phone backwards nad forwards slightly (so it is still mostly horizontal) then "North" can vary quite a bit. I tried the LBSTestModes which seemed to be better, but it still has issues, and like ickyboo I've managed to make it face 180 degrees off North.
As for everyday applications - well I suppose Navigation is the main one I use, although any augmented reality app is gonna be affected. So that means the Layar app that Samsung advertise as a feature of the phone is useless.
<stu> said:
Well I was messing around last night and found that if I tip the phone backwards nad forwards slightly (so it is still mostly horizontal) then "North" can vary quite a bit. I tried the LBSTestModes which seemed to be better, but it still has issues, and like ickyboo I've managed to make it face 180 degrees off North.
As for everyday applications - well I suppose Navigation is the main one I use, although any augmented reality app is gonna be affected. So that means the Layar app that Samsung advertise as a feature of the phone is useless.
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Click to collapse
I don't suppose you know if this is why the Google Skymap application is always misaligned? (I've tried all the calibration methods I've been able to find and it's still always off)
retro83 said:
I don't suppose you know if this is why the Google Skymap application is always misaligned? (I've tried all the calibration methods I've been able to find and it's still always off)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it would definitely explain that.
Related
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.
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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
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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.
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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.)
I think I may be having problems with the compass on my Aria. On all apps I've used that utilize the digital compass (sky map, compass, AR apps like wayfinder nyc), the compass movement seems jumpy and will give extremely inconsistent results, most times settling on an inconsistent heading.
Is there some way to check that the compass is properly calibrated?
Has anyone else been having problems?
Sent from my HTC Aria using XDA app
I very much have the same problem. Skymap and compass apps are incredibly underwhelming
Same here, skymap is basically unusable.
update:
Figured out a pretty good way to calibrate it. Launch skymap, then rotate the phone around several times on every axis (ie, rotate around x axis a few times, then y, then z). The magnetometer should reset itself and point in the correct direction.
update2:
After playing around with it for a while, I noticed that there is a difference of about 5-10 degrees between north in landscape mode and north in portrait mode. Pretty disappointing and lesson learned - don't rely on your Aria if you're going to Man vs. Wild it in the jungle for a while.
As with all digital compasses, it needs calibration, rather some sort of reset.. I haven't see true calibration.
See this video on it.. It's very simple to do. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sP3d00Hr14o
No, it's jot a joke. Compare against a real compass. Without this, I've found my N1 20+ degrees off, after, +/- 2
When i had the backflip you could go into the settings and click on compass calibration, you have to rotate/spin the phone on all it's axis or just do a figure 8 in the air with the phone. I did this yesterday on my Aria on google skymap, told me the sun was underground so I did a figure 8 to calibrate the compass and then it was all good. Just do it when you open any compass using app when you launch it.
Well here I am near the river Thames near where it becomes tidal - ergo, pretty close to sea level (actually about 30ft above). My new all dancing DHD' GPS system tells me I am 230ft in the air. I honestly do not think I am that high!
It seems to me the DHD contains a blast form HTC's past, the Touch Cruise also added 200ft to the GPS heights. Why have they implemented a GPS hardware issue they have known about for years...is the GPS system hardwired into the snapdragon chip? Is it the kind of thing a software update will eventually correct?
I use OS maps a lot for hiking and tracking, and while I know the height issue is not a big thing as I know the problem, my tracks will always be out by 200 ft vertically.
However, the compass works, unlike on my old HD2...but I really hate little faults like this, they gnaw on me...I really hope none of the GPS system implanted in the noses of bombs and missiles don't have this fault!!!
This may be the app you are using.
I use Compass from Catch.com and find it pretty good.
Also make sure you are receiving signal from at least four satellites to get accurate reading.
my bad
thanks for the advice - MM Tracker is clearly out buy 150-200 feet in altitude...I have the compass as well, it has accuracy +/- but I can't see where it has altitude.
Open Compass app.
Tap 'Menu' button, then Compass Type then GPS
On large Green Bar it reads Speed, Altitude and Accuracy.
Bottom green display shows how many satellites are in use.
thanks, I had not seen that feature, very nifty - when it has stopped raining I will go outside and full complement of satellites and check. Certainly held up against the window, the 200ft discrepancy does still seem to be there using the compass...I will check later – thanks for your thoughts on this.
nope there is a problem
according to the compass I am 316 foot in the air. I beleive where I am is about 25 foot above sealevel - looks to me that HTC has reimplented the same fault they has on the Touch Cruise. No biggy, but it is annoying, a little
If you look through this forum, a few other people seem to have a faulty gps .
My suggestion would be, get in touch with who supplied the phone for an replacement, as a wrong reading on GPS will affect footprints, locations, sat nav etc.
Maybe you do not use these programs much, but with the cost of the phone, everything on it should work, especially the hardware.
So I hooked up my bluetooth GPS to the phone the other day, and one thing I have noticed (during testing driving only, with MyTracks) was that the track was indeed better, however all the while the compass arrow was swinging wildly from one direction to another. Sometimes 180 degrees while phone and gps were sitting still.
This leads me to wonder if the GPS itself isn't the issue, but some integration with the other sensors. Has this been discussed and considered?
(I know someone mentioned it recently, which is why I paid so much attention to have noticed the way the arrow was deviating from the direction of travel.
No, the GPS is defiately the issue.
I had seriously thought this for a while and suspected some sort of sensor mixing on Samsungs part, but now that i've investigated the phone thoroughly, including roothing and looking at the drivers and processes that run while navigating I can confidently state that the teeny-tiny GPS antenna is the problem. That and a proliforation of advice in this forum to use the GPS in MS-Assisted mode, which doesn't use 'GPS' at all, but mobile base stations instead.
The reason the compass was swinging around was probably because you were driving in a car made of metal.
I saw very similar behaviour when I first got the phone and had it in a case with a magnetic fastening. Strangely enough no matter what direction I faced I was always heading south according to the phone.
You can help the phone out considerably however by making sure that it has a decent sky-view in a car - so put it in the windscreen rather then attaching to air vents.
dangrayorg said:
No, the GPS is defiately the issue.
I had seriously thought this for a while and suspected some sort of sensor mixing on Samsungs part, but now that i've investigated the phone thoroughly, including roothing and looking at the drivers and processes that run while navigating I can confidently state that the teeny-tiny GPS antenna is the problem. That and a proliforation of advice in this forum to use the GPS in MS-Assisted mode, which doesn't use 'GPS' at all, but mobile base stations instead.
The reason the compass was swinging around was probably because you were driving in a car made of metal.
I saw very similar behaviour when I first got the phone and had it in a case with a magnetic fastening. Strangely enough no matter what direction I faced I was always heading south according to the phone.
You can help the phone out considerably however by making sure that it has a decent sky-view in a car - so put it in the windscreen rather then attaching to air vents.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could try using the 'calibrate' option of the Compass program (catch.com) that is available on the Market. It gets you to do a figure 8 movement of the device during the processes. I have to do this after using my beltclip with the magnetic fastener which messes up the compass. I think it's best done outside the car. Before I did that I was always facing south too!
As far as the OP's post, I don't know if the calibration would help when an external GPS unit is employed.
Sent from my GT-I9000M using Tapatalk
first of all: the gps implementation on this device is a disgrace. absolutely worthless. as far as compass goes, that is a weird one. you can get it to work sometimes by running /system/bin/sensorcalibutil_yamaha (need to be root to run it). but it "breaks" again after a while.
also if someone could test the following: get wifi signal, get gps position (not a-gps, turn that off completely), be sure that the lock is there. then switch off the wifi without touching gps settings. does the gps lose signal instantly after switching off wifi?
I can't get the Google compass to work properly. It won't calibrate. Anyone else?
Secular
I will check on mine and let you know.
Mine's always off by 90 degrees
Mine's perfect. Make sure you hold it like it is on a table (flat).
My compass seems a little screwy too. Google sky is showing the sun below the horizon to the SSE. It's 9:07 AM local and the sun is well into the sky (in reality).
I notice Google Sky always seems to default to "Tomorrow at Sunset" (which should put the sun in the west), so I change it to "Now".
Does Google Sky use any other sensors besides the compass?
EDIT: ahh.. nevermind, seems the tablet lost the timezone (I'm sure I had set it). The time was set to 9:07 AM GMT instead of 9:07 AM CDT. Now all is right in the universe (virtually).
Read this...
Read this, maybe you have the same problem...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1047894&highlight=compass
My compass was always pointing south. Doc gave me some little blue pills and I'm like Santa Clause at the north pole now.
Seriously though, you need to hold it perfectly flat. I've found with that it's close. I don't have a magnetic compass to compare to.
michaelh99 said:
Mine's always off by 90 degrees
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine is also off by 90 degrees. The East indicator is actually North for me. No amount of waving my tablet in the air like a lunatic seems to fix this. Even made sure my GPS was on in case that affected the calibrating.
cybermage1 said:
Mine is also off by 90 degrees.
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Click to collapse
Aha interesting - market compass apps (tried 2) are off 90 degrees, but Google Sky works perfectly. The compass apps I've tried obviously detect tablet orientation wrong.