Database Users

gps wont find anything

so I bought a htc hd2 using it to type this, however gps wont lock (and kb Really is bad lol) im on o2
any ideas..

Re gps won't find anything
Hi,
A couple of questions. What software are you using? (like Google Maps). You say you can't get a lock, are you able to access any satellite? Have you selected Google Maps Use GPS Option. Have you enabled QuickGPS (Start/Tools/QuickGPS). There is a setting there to let you download Satellite data using your PC connection during Activesync which might help you if you have data issues.
Now, silly question, are you indoors or outdoors when you are trying to get a fix?. Im not always able to get a satellite fix from my living room).
Regards.

Re: gps won't find anything
Hi,
A couple of questions. What software are you using? (like Google Maps). You say you can't get a lock, are you able to access any satellite? Have you selected Google Maps Use GPS Option. Have you enabled QuickGPS (Start/Tools/QuickGPS). There is a setting there to let you download Satellite data using your PC connection during Activesync which might help you if you have data issues.
Now, silly question, are you indoors or outdoors when you are trying to get a fix?. Im not always able to get a satellite fix from my living room).
Regards.

sorry took so long to reply (keyboard really has issues ... or maybe i have the issues and just cant use it) so i came to pc to reply.
i was indoors at the time (trying to show my gf how great my phone is and shes with her iphone getting a gps location in seconds) so i was indoors , i have tried outside however and it dont seem to work, i had the same (and still do) with my xda ignito and just give up on it , but this is a new phone and i just want to be able to sit in my house and go oooh phone says im here haha.
i used quickgps however that has not helped

LOL, knowing that you couldn't get it working on your other phone might have helped in your original posting . Have you talked to O2?

gps does not care about the carrier...
BTW: What the iphone does (and your phone can do too) is the self positining using the google api. that works over the cellular network, using a table of positions where the antennas are lokated and not gps!
GPS indoors is not possible with a antenna like the HD2 or the Iphone has, aslong as you live in a "normal house" and not in some weird mobile home ect...
If it cant get a fix using google maps or tomtom outside of your house within 2minutes of not moving somewhere on the street, or the gps tuner did not even find one satellite, think of hard-resetting your phone and then try again.
if you sill can find anything your antenna might be broken so you need to return your phone to warrenty and get a new one, or yours fixed!
greetz

Intereseting, I've never actually seen a phone using nagigation software without data services from a carrier. I must live a really sheltered life. Good luck.

Usually, every GPS phone has trouble locking from inside houses, with the exception of when you are standing next to a window sometimes. My HD2 however locks in seconds when outside.
I would suggest running QuickGPS (or something along those lines) from Start->Tools, it updates the locations of the satellites so the GPS takes less to locate them when locking.
All the best,
shpatar.

cMMY69 said:
Intereseting, I've never actually seen a phone using nagigation software without data services from a carrier. I must live a really sheltered life. Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what are you talking about? tomtom, garmin etc. never use the carrier to get a fixed gps position. thats why you call it gps, because it uses it and gps is not run by any phone carrier but by the us. forces... so you dont need any dataservice or even simcard to get your gps position with your gps-enabled phone...

larrytango said:
sorry took so long to reply (keyboard really has issues ... or maybe i have the issues and just cant use it) so i came to pc to reply.
i was indoors at the time (trying to show my gf how great my phone is and shes with her iphone getting a gps location in seconds) so i was indoors , i have tried outside however and it dont seem to work, i had the same (and still do) with my xda ignito and just give up on it , but this is a new phone and i just want to be able to sit in my house and go oooh phone says im here haha.
i used quickgps however that has not helped
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you using igo8? I know i had to manually set the correct com port (COM4) within igo settings before it would work.
Also you can manually set it in google maps. Try setting it to COM4 baud rate of 4800
The carrier locating in my area is useless when i am inside my house. Says i am like a mile away in the middle of a field! lol.

larrytango said:
sorry took so long to reply (keyboard really has issues ... or maybe i have the issues and just cant use it) so i came to pc to reply.
i was indoors at the time (trying to show my gf how great my phone is and shes with her iphone getting a gps location in seconds) so i was indoors , i have tried outside however and it dont seem to work, i had the same (and still do) with my xda ignito and just give up on it , but this is a new phone and i just want to be able to sit in my house and go oooh phone says im here haha.
i used quickgps however that has not helped
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As others have replied- the iPhone uses a different method of getting your position, as its GPS receiver is pretty poor (which is why TomTom needs its own GPS receiver in a dedicated cradle to work properly )
The HD2 has the best GPS receiver I've yet seen in a mobile device- no longer than 1 minute even from cold start in most cases- and I've used it in UK, Italy and Slovenia in the last 6 weeks. However, if you are indoors it will struggle.
Which software are you using to try and get a fix? Maybe it isn't initiating the GPS correctly.
The Ignito is also pretty good, so maybe you are in a 'dead' area? Have you tried in a different location?

brandi said:
gps does not care about the carrier...
BTW: What the iphone does (and your phone can do too) is the self positining using the google api. that works over the cellular network, using a table of positions where the antennas are lokated and not gps!
GPS indoors is not possible with a antenna like the HD2 or the Iphone has, aslong as you live in a "normal house" and not in some weird mobile home ect...
If it cant get a fix using google maps or tomtom outside of your house within 2minutes of not moving somewhere on the street, or the gps tuner did not even find one satellite, think of hard-resetting your phone and then try again.
if you sill can find anything your antenna might be broken so you need to return your phone to warrenty and get a new one, or yours fixed!
greetz
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i said what network i was on to imply what rom i was on (was first day with hd2 and i was typing using it .. and i wanted to make it as small as possible - hate the kb lol)
and my gf iphone does actually pick up gps in the house , mine doesnt tho.
i got a signal once since i started this when outside after about 20 mins.
i understand what you mean with regards to cell network etc and obviously that works fine .. however gps seems to not like me

GPS Wrong - Google Map Not Accurate

Why does Google Map tell me that I'm 1000m from my current location? It's useless if I need street directions.

a_ok2me said:
Why does Google Map tell me that I'm 1000m from my current location? It's useless if I need street directions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is strange. I have the same problem with my Rhodium. My HD2 has the best GPS I have ever owned.
I use Waze not Google maps though. Last night I was on the highest bridge of a multi road exchange and took a 90 degree turn that confuses every GPS device I have ever used but this time Waze made the turn with me.
Are you using the stock ROM?
Does Google maps support GPS?

Snarksneeze said:
This is strange. I have the same problem with my Rhodium. My HD2 has the best GPS I have ever owned.
I use Waze not Google maps though. Last night I was on the highest bridge of a multi road exchange and took a 90 degree turn that confuses every GPS device I have ever used but this time Waze made the turn with me.
Are you using the stock ROM?
Does Google maps support GPS?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well...I no longer have the hd2 because it does not pick up 3G 95% of the time and it can't find a GPS satellite. Google Map supports GPS. It was also stock ROM. I must have done a million hard resets. Basically, it didn't work for $450 + $50 tax.

Did you even turn on the GPS option in Google maps? If not then it was finding your location throught GPRS which is triangulation from cell towers.
I have both a Fuze and HD2 and both work just fine for me. Also when was the last time you tried runner Quick GPS to update the tracking files?

Google Maps, by default, won't connect with GPS, but find your estimates location from cell towers. that's why you're always a little off.
press menu and use GPS, and the GPS will track your location accurately from there on.

rickyoon.vegas said:
Google Maps, by default, won't connect with GPS, but find your estimates location from cell towers. that's why you're always a little off.
press menu and use GPS, and the GPS will track your location accurately from there on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Close but the newer version is Menu/Options/GPS

Wil Badger said:
Did you even turn on the GPS option in Google maps? If not then it was finding your location throught GPRS which is triangulation from cell towers.
I have both a Fuze and HD2 and both work just fine for me. Also when was the last time you tried runner Quick GPS to update the tracking files?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
rickyoon.vegas said:
Google Maps, by default, won't connect with GPS, but find your estimates location from cell towers. that's why you're always a little off.
press menu and use GPS, and the GPS will track your location accurately from there on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I turned on the Google GPS option. It just tries to find a tower forever, but never finds anything. I also ran Quick GPS after the Google GPS option didn't work. Similarly, I rarely ever get 3G. But, stick in my sim card to my old phone and everything is fine.
I think there is a big issue with the HD2.

a_ok2me said:
Yes I turned on the Google GPS option. It just tries to find a tower forever, but never finds anything. I also ran Quick GPS after the Google GPS option didn't work. Similarly, I rarely ever get 3G. But, stick in my sim card to my old phone and everything is fine.
I think there is a big issue with the HD2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have read that leather cases have something to do with this sometimes. Are you using one?

MirasHD2 said:
I have read that leather cases have something to do with this sometimes. Are you using one?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes & no. Yes, I do when I'm on the road. But, no because I would try it at home - without any case - to see if it's accurate but it can't pick up any satellites.
I was only able to get a reading of my home position the first 2 days of owning it.

a_ok2me said:
I think there is a big issue with the HD2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you mean with your particular HD2. Because as I said before, I've never had a better GPS device... ever. Any GPS device that can actually follow me on a 90-degree turn without missing a beat is just lightyears beyond anything else I've found so far.
Even with stock ROM there could be a number of things causing trouble:
You could have a bad phone. It happens. Manufacturer's defects will occur in even the best runs, that's why there are warranties to cover it.
Something may be interfering with your GPS receiver. Even if other devices perform flawlessly in the same location in your vehicle, one device may be more succeptible to radio interference than others.
You could have battery issues. A bad battery can cause all sorts of problems. When your phone can't get a good cell reception, it just boosts juice to the hardware, which in turn drains your battery faster. A bad battery just can't keep up. Again, this is why there are warranties.
Please don't just assume that the HD2 is a bad phone just because you had problems with yours. I've heard of people curse a phone maker because they got two or three bad phones in a row. The thing to remember is that when a plant makes a bad batch, the entire shift's production could easily be sent to the same area, meaning that multiple returns for the same issue from one customer are not unheard of.
I would return it and get a replacement. It may take a few times of swapping around, but you should get things worked out. Trust me, this is the best phone on the market today. Hands down.
#ListMaster

Snarksneeze said:
I think you mean with your particular HD2. Because as I said before, I've never had a better GPS device... ever.
Please don't just assume that the HD2 is a bad phone just because you had problems with yours. I've heard of people curse a phone maker because they got two or three bad phones in a row.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well...conversely, you can't assume the other direction because many, not only my phone, can't get 3G. Further, my phone can't pick up satellites even after many hard resets and no non-OEM apps installed. As I keep on reading threads, it tells me the HD2 is poor with reception. There's something to be said about this.
After selling my phone, I'm tempted to buy another one. But I'll hold out for awhile as more feedbacks come in.

MirasHD2 said:
I have read that leather cases have something to do with this sometimes. Are you using one?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
[OFF-TOPIC] Congratulations on your 100th post! You're a Senior Member now [/OFF-TOPIC]

a_ok2me said:
Well...conversely, you can't assume the other direction because many, not only my phone, can't get 3G. Further, my phone can't pick up satellites even after many hard resets and no non-OEM apps installed. As I keep on reading threads, it tells me the HD2 is poor with reception. There's something to be said about this.
After selling my phone, I'm tempted to buy another one. But I'll hold out for awhile as more feedbacks come in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The lack of 3G can't be blamed on the phone, you know. I live in the center of Austin, TX and my 3G is constant. I've driven 100 miles south to a small community there and couldn't get anything higher than Edge.
Also, T-Mobile won't kick you from a tower that doesn't belong to them. At least, I've never been able to catch them doing it. I always get the closest tower and best reception possible. Problem is, T-Mobile simply doesn't have enough money to ensure that every corner of every city has third-generation towers.
This is the same gripe coming from iPhone users; they say that AT&T just isn't investing enough in putting out more towers.

Snarksneeze said:
The lack of 3G can't be blamed on the phone, you know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, but the thing is - as I originally mentioned - I get 3G on my BlueAngel using the same sim card. Without this test, I would not have been able to point my finger at the HD2. The BlueAngel is something like the first PDA/phone ever and I still get 3G with it. I can't believe PDA technology has not advanced so much until now that I'm still using it after all these years.

a_ok2me said:
Yeah, but the thing is - as I originally mentioned - I get 3G on my BlueAngel using the same sim card. Without this test, I would not have been able to point my finger at the HD2. The BlueAngel is something like the first PDA/phone ever and I still get 3G with it. I can't believe PDA technology has not advanced so much until now that I'm still using it after all these years.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see. Well, I certainly can't say what the problem is. As I said before, you may have just gotten a bad phone, which would suck but it does happen.
I've never dropped 3G here in Austin since I've gotten my HD2 in. Of course, the icon switches between [3] and [H] all the time, but it won't drop to [E] unless I manually turn off the "Data connection" toggle under Settings->Comm Manager.

Sorry but, our GPS on our Hd2 only works when in 3g? Just wondering because im on Edge at home and it dont work. havent tried in 3g coverage yet though.

starkall said:
Sorry but, our GPS on our Hd2 only works when in 3g? Just wondering because im on Edge at home and it dont work. havent tried in 3g coverage yet though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know. I was associating poor 3G reception with my phone's inability to find a satellite.

i live in long beach, ca and my phone finds gps even on edge. It also connects to 3g and has a stable connection. try replacing ur phone by using ur warranty.

starkall said:
Sorry but, our GPS on our Hd2 only works when in 3g? Just wondering because im on Edge at home and it dont work. havent tried in 3g coverage yet though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, GPS has nothing to do with 3g or your cellular connection. The GPS will work even if you have no sim card in and don't use it as a phone.
Also, I have to say, the GPS on my HD2 is one of the best I've used. I've had 4 other GPS enabled phones, 2 handheld standalone GPS devices, and 3 different bluetooth gps devices and the HD2 is definitely as good or better than all of them. I was very impressed... never thought a phone could work so well with gps.

google maps
GPS CONNECTION ERROR??!
am i the only one ?
No GPS receiver was found maake sure you have a gps receiver (built in or bluetooth that is turned on and configured towork with google maps for mobile. ??
UMM? is this so that i can bluetooth a tomtom or something like that and use their satelites ? cuz i ran quick gps why wouldnt gmaps use that ? my location is a little off but i am inside a brick apartment building. and its only off several blocks?
any way to configure gps to gmaps ?

GPS Blackspot

Hi everyone, I have a problem with the gps on my HD2 and I feel it could be a faulty device.
I haven't seen anyone else on here with the same problem but thought I might put a shout out for any suggestions.
I have had my HD2 since it first came out, and regularly use it for Sat Nav.
When I turn the Sat nav on (co-pilot 8) it is very quick to get a lock.
However I have noticed that when I drive through a certain part of town the sat nav always looses the satellite fix.
I thought it might be the software, but it happens in Google Maps as well.
Obviously this now looks like a hardware/radio problem.
As a extra test, I have recently upgraded my wife's phone to a HTC Desire, and took that out with me. I drove back to the same area and the HD2 lost the signal but the Desire had a full satellite lock.
Any suggestions, (apart from nicking the wife's phone )
I am using the official 1.66 rom and the radio version is 2.06.51.07
This problem has lasted through several hard resets and rom upgrades. So I don't think a hard reset would do much.
Many thanks,
Paul.

or more likely it is a shaded area. THe GPS signal is susceptible to exactly the same blocking effects as light. A wall is still a wall to GPS, its not like radio that penetrates.
Id have a good look around at what there is in the area, a large building, lots of trees, an underpass, an electrical sub station perhaps.

Thanks for the suggestion.
I had thought about that. However the area this blackspot covers is at least a mile square and it isn't just like one street etc. The area is uncovered and there are just normal houses etc.
Add to that the fact that the other phone pics up the signal with ease it would tend to say that it isn't a covered area.
Paul.

hmm odd one then. The only thing that i can think of is something a little further away interfering just enough to drop the signal.
(Lets not forget the leo seems to have pretty poor radios all round, , the phone signal is often reported to be lower than on other handsets in the same place, , the fm radio might as well not be there, ,)
perhaps it has a lower tolerance than your other device.
(but probably not)
Still, might be a nice chance for a spanking new one from your provider, thats always good!

I had a similar experience a few weeks ago, travelling through a town I don't usually travel through, suddenly there were no satellites. Then the same thing happened on the return journey. I was using iGo, when I lost the signal I switched to Google Maps and it had the same problem.

You will get these blank spots in various places. There is also the issue of the MOD and American DOD selectively closing down areas for security and test purposes.

I do honestly think that it is a problem with HTC Winmo phones. My wife's HTC Desire works without any problems.
I took out my old Tytn 2 yesterday to the same area and lo and behold it lost the satellites. So it seem there is some problem with the GPS on HTC devices.
I then tried my old SPV C500 (I've got a copy of google maps and TomTom Mobile on it) I paired it up with an external gps unit and it worked perfectly through the same area.
So it is definetely not a problem with satellites being turned off etc.
Not impressed, but I guess I'll have to live with it.
Other than that I could just pair the external gps unit with my HD2 and use it that way.

Same experience.
Previously I've been driving in some areas using Omnia, and earlier, Asus A696.
no black.
but, when I changed phone to HD2, I can see some black spots.

Hello,
Just an update to this issue and a workaround for any other people having similar problems with GPS Blackspots.
I do seem to have fixed the problem and the way I did it was to flash a different ROM onto the phone.
Previously I'd been using the stock WWE_1.66.405.2 ROm off of the HTC website.
Well I was having other issues with this (phone kept getting hot and rebooting itself) and so I thought I'd give another ROM a go.
The one I used was indie's Omega XT series WWE v3.0 With Co0kie's Home Tab v1.8.5 found here
Ever since, I have had no more reboots, and the GPS blackspots I used to have are no more.
Hope this helps.
Paul.

firstandlast said:
I do honestly think that it is a problem with HTC Winmo phones. My wife's HTC Desire works without any problems.
I took out my old Tytn 2 yesterday to the same area and lo and behold it lost the satellites. So it seem there is some problem with the GPS on HTC devices.
I then tried my old SPV C500 (I've got a copy of google maps and TomTom Mobile on it) I paired it up with an external gps unit and it worked perfectly through the same area.
So it is definetely not a problem with satellites being turned off etc.
Not impressed, but I guess I'll have to live with it.
Other than that I could just pair the external gps unit with my HD2 and use it that way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can it be that the other gps untis also have assisted gps? because i know the HD2 struggles on that part...

se1988 said:
can it be that the other gps untis also have assisted gps? because i know the HD2 struggles on that part...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No the machine picks up a lock very quickly everywhere else except certain places.
What used to happen was that the machine would have a lock, then when you reached a certain area (it was the same place each time) the machine would lose the lock until you left the blackspot.
Anyway, as I put in my last post. The problem is now solved. It is a ROM issue.

GPS Issue, only in some areas. GSM network dependent.

Bit of an odd one. Basically at home with the phone on my home network T-Mobile I simply can't get a GPS fix. This problem has only happened in the last couple of weeks previously its been fine, a fix within seconds.
As some of you may know T-Mobile and Orange in the UK have now enabled roaming between the 2 networks. If I force the phone to roam onto Orange I get a GPS fix with-in a minute. Switch the network back to T-Mobile back to no fix.
If I'm in a different area, network on T-Mobile, fix within seconds. I thought maybe it's quick GPS wrongly loading the wrong area because of an issue in the cell db, I've set quick GPS to never update and now the GPS appears to cold start although quick GPS still says the data it has is valid for x number of days.
I've tried defaulting the phone but exactly the same with defaults and using GPS Test rather than TomTom.
Does anyone have any ideas? Is anyone else having the same issue?

I just tried another test. I roamed onto Orange and got a GPS fix in TomTom, I then set my network back to T-Mobile and the GPS fix was lost! As I switched networks I left TomTom running in the background.

A bit more testing. If I force the phone onto 3G T-Mobile the GPS works fine. My theory is what ever frequency the cell here operates on (some 5 miles away in the 1800MHz band) must be causing the some issue with the hardware
I'm thinking that most people wouldn't be able to experiment to see this, I'm just lucky or unlucky depending on how you look at it that I'm in a position where I can switch networks therefore changing frequency within the 1800MHz band and I can stay in the same place to test it. I've had in the past where the GPS would loose its fix for no reason and then just come back while travelling on a motorway I wonder if this was the same thing. Also the chances of someone owning a HD2 using the GPS and being on a cell who's frequency causes a problem is pretty small, and if your travelling you're likely to just think it's dropped for some reason, and oh yes it's back again now so think no more of it.

You are getting confused between GPS and GPRS.
GPS is the satellite system that you use to pinpoint your location (as with TomTom). If your phone is indoors or has a restricted view of the sky, then it cannot receive a signal.
GPRS is a data connection between your phone and the telecoms company. It is basically 2.5G, which way a intermediate step before 3G became set up.

fred_up said:
You are getting confused between GPS and GPRS.
GPS is the satellite system that you use to pinpoint your location (as with TomTom). If your phone is indoors or has a restricted view of the sky, then it cannot receive a signal.
GPRS is a data connection between your phone and the telecoms company. It is basically 2.5G, which way a intermediate step before 3G became set up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, completely understand the difference between GPRS and GPS
I've proven with out a doubt that when using the t-mobile cell serving our house (2g) there is no GPS signal. Use another network still 1800 and there is GPS, use 3g, or move to another area on t-mobile there is GPS.
GPS was working at home while on t-mobile upto a couple of weeks ago, I can only think that the cell has had some work done and has changed frequency.

twerki78 said:
No, completely understand the difference between GPRS and GPS
I've proven with out a doubt that when using the t-mobile cell serving our house (2g) there is no GPS signal. Use another network still 1800 and there is GPS, use 3g, or move to another area on t-mobile there is GPS.
GPS was working at home while on t-mobile upto a couple of weeks ago, I can only think that the cell has had some work done and has changed frequency.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Silly question, but have you got AGPS activated? Because it can give you a rough location based upon the local cell transmitter info and any GPS satelite signals you may be recieving.

fred_up said:
Silly question, but have you got AGPS activated? Because it can give you a rough location based upon the local cell transmitter info and any GPS satellite signals you may be receiving.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have AGPS disabled. I doubt my operator supports it. I have tried with QuickGPS disabled and enabled but makes no difference.
If I get a fix while on Orange, leave which ever GPS enabled application I have running, running in the background, force the phone back onto my home network (TMobile), go back to the GPS application there's no fix and no satellite signal being received not even a hint.
I've also tried with the SIM card removed and GPS performs perfectly!

Thank you, I thought I was going mad - my GPS has been working perfectly since I got the phone 6 months ago but in the last week has been dropping out or refusing to start at all.
I tried a hard reset, which fixed the problem until I started driving the next day - after a few minutes TomTom lost it's way. Using a bluetooth GPS proved the signal was good, so I was coming around to the idea that the phone was broken...
I have also now read other users that have had GPS problems when roaming, although usually when switching between countries.
Looking on the T-Mobile website about the orange roaming issue it say 'there might be a few quirky side-effects' but I haven't even signed up for the Orange roaming option, sounds like T-Mobile has changed something for everyone?
I have read that fixing the network choice to manual, not auto, can help with GPS issues while roaming - I've yet to test this.

boomboomer said:
Thank you, I thought I was going mad - my GPS has been working perfectly since I got the phone 6 months ago but in the last week has been dropping out or refusing to start at all.
I tried a hard reset, which fixed the problem until I started driving the next day - after a few minutes TomTom lost it's way. Using a bluetooth GPS proved the signal was good, so I was coming around to the idea that the phone was broken...
I have also now read other users that have had GPS problems when roaming, although usually when switching between countries.
Looking on the T-Mobile website about the orange roaming issue it say 'there might be a few quirky side-effects' but I haven't even signed up for the Orange roaming option, sounds like T-Mobile has changed something for everyone?
I have read that fixing the network choice to manual, not auto, can help with GPS issues while roaming - I've yet to test this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had the issue for a couple of weeks I would say. Certainly last weekend I couldn't get a fix for ages when I set off and it wasn't until I was a way away from home that the GPS got a fix. This was before the roaming got switch on, of course it doesn't mean they were not doing something with the cell/network.
I too can get a perfect fix with external GPS or with a GPS nav system, or by changing networks! I've also tried another SIM card in the phone, again T-Mobile and get the same results.

I've attached some screen shots.
1st T-mobile no satellites, you'll notice that there isn't so much of hint of signal.
2nd Changing network.
3rd T-Mobile Orange and GPS fix.
All screen shots were taken with the phone in the same place.

Just come back from a drive just to test the GPS. Basically driven 30 miles away from home fixing the phone to T-Mobile and 2G and the only time I got a GPS fix was when the phone lost signal.
Parked in a layby and switched over to orange and got a fix with in a few seconds! Just can't figure out what the connection with being on T-mobile 2g is!

What Radio version is your phone using?

fred_up said:
What Radio version is your phone using?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have the same issue with various official T-Mobile ROMs.
I had a play with updating my AGPS settings last night using the Google settings from this thread: http://ip208-100-42-21.static.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=544421 when working on Orange couldn't notice any difference, with T-Mobile still not GPS fix.
I left the GPS running over night on T-Mobile, admittedly indoors but somewhere I know I get a fix, there was still no fix 7 hours later.

I live in a rural village covered only by one cell mast. GPS starts and runs fine at home with or without the phone turned on. if I walk over the other side of the hill, different cell mast, the GPS drops out immediately - I can't test if 3G fixes the problem as it doesn't work here. Once the GPS has stopped I can't get it to start again, even switching the phone off to airplane mode doesn't help. Only a soft reset, with the phone still in airplane mode will allow the GPS to start.
Switching the phone back on and the GPS drops, however walking back over the hill to home - back to my original cell mast and the GPS starts again.
I'm pretty sure t-mobile have rolled out a change to their 2G system, but not to all masts? rural ones maybe last done hence why my home cell still works.
How to proceed from here? T-Mobile are kind of hard to talk to.....
One thing I did notice was in Memory Map the satellite view normally flicks across satellite numbers until it finds a signal, if the T-Mobile problem occurs this process stops and it would appear to have frozen the service?

I take back the hard to talk to part of my last post, I emailed support from the website and they phoned me back within 2 hours!
As to be expected they couldn't give any instant answers but I gave this thread as a reference and the problem is to be escalated.
The call centerthen phoned me back and asked if I was happy, also to offer me 30 minutes free calls for next 3 months - very nice thank you.

Good work boomboomer. Hopefully T-mobile will find something. I'd like to know what they find, still can't understand the connection between a GSM network and GPS though. I haven't tried a controlled test with flight mode but will try that later. Out of interest what part of the country are you in? maybe it's just a pocket of cells that are affective? I'm in the BA8 postcode area.
The problem certainly only affects 2G, 3G is fine.
I'm out of the country this week but fingers crossed T-Mobile will find the problem. It's nice to know I'm not the only one with a problem.

I'm quite a distance away, DT2 here.
I've been asked to test the GPS over the next few days and keep a log of when and where it doesn't work, they said their network people will ring me soon.
At least this fault is 'interesting' in the words of their technical support guy, he'd never heard of anything like it, so there's hope they will give it some time.
On the plus side they've also given me a free month of internet, so I can't fault their customer support focus.
Incidentally, do you have SPB shell installed? This was the only change I'd made on my phone at the time this problem started.

boomboomer said:
I'm quite a distance away, DT2 here.
I've been asked to test the GPS over the next few days and keep a log of when and where it doesn't work, they said their network people will ring me soon.
At least this fault is 'interesting' in the words of their technical support guy, he'd never heard of anything like it, so there's hope they will give it some time.
On the plus side they've also given me a free month of internet, so I can't fault their customer support focus.
Incidentally, do you have SPB shell installed? This was the only change I'd made on my phone at the time this problem started.
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I didn't get chance to do any testing today at Heathrow as ended up being a bit rushed. I wouldn't say your not a million miles away. 22miles ish, the Cell that covers our home is in Dorset which is pretty useless when you have to call 999 because you get connected to Dorset who then can't pass you to Somerset and you end up being in a situation where you have no way of contacting Somerset 999 not great in this day and age! But I'm not going to get started on that one on this topic.
It's quite possible its a regional problem.
No I haven't installed SPB shell, I have tried it with a defaulted phone but still had the same problem.
I'm out the country now until Friday, but will do some testing when I return on my return journey. I'll fix the phone to 2g T-mobile and keep an eye on where the GPS drops out.

Oh dear, just got a call from T-Mobile technical networks - they don't support GPS as part of their service and won't be spending any time on the problem, case closed. They did say the problem seems to be with HTC devices only, blackberrys are not effected so it sounds like they have heard of the issue eleswhere?
Looks like it's a network switch required to solve the problem, shame that as I've been with T-Mobile for over 7 years.

boomboomer said:
Oh dear, just got a call from T-Mobile technical networks - they don't support GPS as part of their service and won't be spending any time on the problem, case closed. They did say the problem seems to be with HTC devices only, blackberrys are not effected so it sounds like they have heard of the issue eleswhere?
Looks like it's a network switch required to solve the problem, shame that as I've been with T-Mobile for over 7 years.
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Hmm, T-Mobile sold me the phone for use on their network, the phone is sold with a GPS, that now doesn't work on their network surely they need to spend sometime working with HTC to resolve the problem.
I do have a case open with HTC under the ref 10gbc410001235 they were supposed to be taking it up with tier 2 but as yet I've not heard anything back. I'll have to follow it up when I'm back in the UK. It might be worth you also logging a fault with HTC quoting my ref. at least if 2 people call in with the same problem they may start to think it's not just one crazy with the issue!
My other half has a HTC Desire, I haven't checked the GPS on her phone. Not sure if they use the same chipset, of course one is WM the other android. I wonder if its a problem for all HTC phones or just the HD2?

Why is our Focus' GPS so slow???

Why is the Focus' gps so slow? I don't know what's wrong with my focus, I mean it just takes so long to get the coordinates of my location. I even have to go to a open sky area then wait for few minutes before it can successfully get my coordinates. Its just so annoying, this is a post ipad product, how come an ipad 1 can get my coordinates even inside the room without any difficulty?
Is this a hardware issue or just a firmware fix is due?

my focus gets a very quick lock about 90% of the time, every so often it will take a mintute or so to lock, but i've had this happen with pretty much every phone i've owned, so it seems about average to good for me...
the ipad1 (unless a 3g + wifi model) uses your network to locate you, which is why it's quite fast.

We have 2 Focuses, one AT&T and one Rogers. With both I get about the same time to get a fix, and that's slightly under a minute, in my location (several tall buildings near).
With what app do you check your GPS? I recommend GPS App

It's an AT&T. My ipad is a 3G+Wifi. It gets gps coordinates via gps chip and not A-gps. Most of the time the ipad gets coordinates very fast in span of 20-25 seconds, boom you know where you are in the map.
I am using the built in MAPS software to track my location. Does the software matters? I mean if the chip is really weak, what can the software do ?

jtphl said:
It's an AT&T. My ipad is a 3G+Wifi. It gets gps coordinates via gps chip and not A-gps. Most of the time the ipad gets coordinates very fast in span of 20-25 seconds, boom you know where you are in the map.
I am using the built in MAPS software to track my location. Does the software matters? I mean if the chip is really weak, what can the software do ?
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Sometimes it does. To give you an example why: GPS without efemerides take several minutes to get a fix. GPS with efemerides take 20s to 1 min to get a fix. Efemerides are downloaded via software.
As for the app I found it to be good enough for testing the GPS part.

I can agree with you. Sometimes while driving if I take a different route than the one the phone provided for me, it will either fail to locate where I am for a few minutes or just fail completely.
I think it's time for a small update.

Is it just a minor driver issue? I hope so , otherwise, we have to live with it or change to another device.

jtphl said:
Is it just a minor driver issue? I hope so , otherwise, we have to live with it or change to another device.
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Again, other people (including me) haven't experienced any issues.
In fact, it works great for me with Turn by Turn Navigation, even inside the car on the passenger seat (not near the windshield).

Try changing some GPS settings in the focus diagnosis app
Sent from my SGH-i917 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App

what are the settings in GPS I have to adjust to make it perform beyond expectations? Which specific diagnostic option I have to tweak?

Did the OP ever find a solution to this? I'm having some slow locks and the occasional non lock.
I know in the diagnostic app you can get to the GPS with*#1575# but I'm unsure of what data can possibly be changed.

I'm having the same issue on my Focus (Rogers). It never connects to sattelite and always uses aGPS. It's very annoying. I tried many different gps apps and get the same behavior - very innacurate. Garmin allways says "Can't connect to sattelite", gMaps always shows cell tower icon. My phone is unlocked using original Chevron method (not Chevron labs). I also tired to change settings in *#1575# and turn ON/OFF TLS and GLONASS but nothing helps. Should I try hard reset?

Ecstatic12 said:
I'm having the same issue on my Focus (Rogers). It never connects to sattelite and always uses aGPS. It's very annoying. I tried many different gps apps and get the same behavior - very innacurate. Garmin allways says "Can't connect to sattelite", gMaps always shows cell tower icon. My phone is unlocked using original Chevron method (not Chevron labs). I also tired to change settings in *#1575# and turn ON/OFF TLS and GLONASS but nothing helps. Should I try hard reset?
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I did a hard reset last night and it seems to have cleared up. I also installed this app, have to click the link in the post, searching for it didnt work.http://www.wpcentral.com/new-samsung-high-fidelity-position-enhances-gps-modifies-settings
Not sure if it's a placebo or not, but it seems to be working better.

is Focus GPS native chip or just a-gps?

Coelho_rj said:
is Focus GPS native chip or just a-gps?
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Assisted GPS, which includes standard GPS in Standalone mode, so it's better than any native GPS.

after my hard reset the GPS locked much quicker for about a week, then it started acting up again.
my new solution seems to be much easier than a hard reset. Just briefly switch to airplane mode then re-enable your data and open maps up again. Been working great for me.

Faster solution that's been working for me. Turn on and off location services. My phone never locks without this, which is sorely annoying.

I had this problem on 7392 rom. After updating to mango 7720 and 8107, I get fix in 3 to 7 seconds in my room Tested with gpsinfo, it's real satellite data, not agps. I have also installed high fidelity position settings app. Don't know if it's helping.
Sent from my SGH-i917. using Board Express