Database Users

How well does your GPS work?

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?

Is not only the GPS Files....

I can confirm.. that the GPS issue is not fixed only with the GPS Files from the leaked Rom. At least on my device..
I have tried both ROMS (Bionix and Twiz) and I'm never able to get a GPS fix unless I wait like 2 minutes for the first time and then I have to Open GPS Status (market app) to kind of wake up the GPS and then get a fix. I have tried several times and is always the same result... on the other hand... once I install the JI2 leaked ROM... I can get a GPS Fix in less than 20 Seconds in the first try, ALWAYS,, after that I can go to Maps and get a fix in less than 3 seconds every time. So, I'm sure that there is something else in the ROM that is fixing the GPS...

I installed the gps fix only and it was working pretty good for me where I live in Florida. However, tuesday I flew out to Ohio on business and it was pretty hit and miss there. Currently I'm in North Carolina and I can't get a flicker of a signal on the gps. Kind of disappointing after thinking it was fixed.

eortizr said:
I can confirm.. that the GPS issue is not fixed only with the GPS Files from the leaked Rom. At least on my device..
I have tried both ROMS (Bionix and Twiz) and I'm never able to get a GPS fix unless I wait like 2 minutes for the first time and then I have to Open GPS Status (market app) to kind of wake up the GPS and then get a fix. I have tried several times and is always the same result... on the other hand... once I install the JI2 leaked ROM... I can get a GPS Fix in less than 20 Seconds in the first try, ALWAYS,, after that I can go to Maps and get a fix in less than 3 seconds every time. So, I'm sure that there is something else in the ROM that is fixing the GPS...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I honestly think the exact same thing. I applied the gps fix from the leaked j12 update and it always takes 2 min to get a lock. After I reboot my phone, I always have to wait another 2 min.
Sent from my Samsung Vibrant

I get a fix in under 5 seconds - with WiFi off. The JI2 update fixes the compass which can and will mess up Navigation like Google Nav.
To play that broken record
Sats with SNR's below 17 will 1) Not Lock & 2) will show at 0 SNR with GPSTest regardless of what the reading is below 17. This means no GPS for you under poor GPS conditions. Other phones will lock with SNR's below 17 but the fix is less accurate.
Will not lock or it will take a LONG time to lock over WiFi. Disable WiFi for best performance... (odd bug here).

My GPS would just freeze up my phone, after applying the patch not only does the GPS work but i am usually connecting to 7-8 Sats out of 10.

BTW, I asked people in the Captivate forum to list their GPS settings after a successful update:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=8290175&posted=1#post8290175
There's a new address for the SUPL server:
- h-slp.mnc410.mcc310.pub.3gpp
Tried it and I can pick up satellites a bit quicker (subjective impression), but it doesn't really work for me.
Anyone else want to give it a shot?

Kubernetes said:
There's a new address for the SUPL server:
- h-slp.mnc410.mcc310.pub.3gpp
Tried it and I can pick up satellites a bit quicker (subjective impression), but it doesn't really work for me.
Anyone else want to give it a shot?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On the leaked Vibrant ROM, one tester I worked with had very bad performance when changing the server values (not to the address above, which I think comes from the new Captivate firmware, but to the old values floated on the forums weeks ago). After experimenting, he seemed to get the best results simply enabling MS Based mode and leaving those server details stock.
I have come to believe there is not much sense in amateurs playing with the SUPL settings. The operators of the SUPL servers seem to have a relationship with specific carriers, and I think there is some handshaking that goes on. I would advise leaving well enough alone.

[RUMOR] GPS Fix on it's way

From Acer. Sorry, no details or ETA at this time. But it's a good rumor non the less.

At least you state it's a rumor. But still, from Acer how? Email support? A phone tech? You bangin' the CEO's daughter?

GPS fix for what? For the fact that I CAN use GPS without wifi?

Yeah, who's the rumor from?
You read it somewhere, after you wrote it? ;-)

did not know we need a gps fix.tell you rumor friend recovery is needed
pleaseeeee
us blonde chics break our stuff alot
giggles

I saw it on another site. They did not provide any more info, hence the word rumor.
Also, for those of you that are lucky enough to have units that have working GPS, good on you. However, there are many of us that can't get any sats to lock.
Although it is a rumor, I'll take it. Here is hoping for a fix soon!

although the app keeps freezing, co-pilot did get a lock in my house

I pull 3/7 in my house, which is a shoddy Mexican affair with lots of cinderblock and rebar, so a real signal killer. 6/9 or so outside. All within a minute of starting.
For you non-workers, I hope there is a fix. For me, I want more video codecs supported.

how about a cell standby fix
I'll take a cell standby fix before GPS. It's killing my battery. Sirplane mode and all.

yea felt like the GPS has worked just fine!

I'm having issues with no GPS even standing outside. It will eventually lock on 1-2 satellites after about 2 minutes when my phone will see 7-8. I'm either going to return or "hope" for a fix. It will not work if there isn't wifi available, so I think it may be a bug.
Anyone else with this problem? Compass is waaaaay off too.
S

number of sats
GPS status locked 4 of 4 in my house in under 45seconds

I chatted with support today they say the GPS is a known issue it will be fixed with a software update no eta

Mine has not been able to lock-on to satellites for several days, but starting last night I noticed that it began working just fine.

gps google maps or tablet issue
i think.the.gps issue is google maps.One you install and run a third/oarty app /utility it works fine.There is no doubt there is a issue.
Try geting co-pilot it will crash on you.several times loading but go slow head to menue settings then sound turn off the startup sound and the beeps.It will become very stable after/and i get a fix on 3 sats in the house in like 1.5 minutes at max.After co/pilot gets a fix i can then launch google nav and it will get a fix nearly instantly sometimes.and sometimes it will have to be restarted several times.With that said even co-polot is not near as accurate as myDelorme on my laptop.from a cold start.it even takes 3 minutesto get a withen 6 inch fix maybe accuracy will come from the update.I really need gps to work so i dont haveto pack my laptop in my workvan with me anymore.
Someone should create a driver for the/delorm earthmate 4 i think is what mine is usb
hint hint
Thanks for letting me rant about this
the blonde chic
Erica

[Q] GPS trouble on Acer Iconia 500

Hey,
I got an Iconia A500 about a week ago and have been moderately happy with it, except for one thing. The GPS. I've been all over the internet, through a variety of searches and found this to be a common problem. Acer's build quality is a little crappy in the case of this tablet (you get what you pay for), but the GPS is an exceptional case, it seems.
What I am trying to determine is if it is a hardware issue, or software. If it's hardware (which I suspect), I need to know before the return period runs out. If it's software, I can wait for a fix. That is my dilemma.
The first tablet I had didn't work at all. Inside, outside, sunny, cloudy, I never got ANY results on GPS Test. I have rooted the tablet and used the Fasterfix mod with no effect. So I returned it.
The second device works, but only intermittently and in ideal conditions. If there is any kind of cover (including a car roof, sun umbrella or cloud cover), the satellites disappear. What is interesting is that once a connection is established, it seems to hold onto it for a brief period after I bring it under cover. I have to leave it on my dashboard for about 2-5 minutes to get a connection, which will sustain itself for about 30 seconds after I bring it further into the vehicle. After that, the satellites disappear from the screen.
This is frustrating. It would be one thing if it was completely broken or completely working, but this intermittent stuff is driving me nuts.
So should I take it back for round 3, should I return it outright, or should I wait and hope for a software fix?
I'm otherwise happy with the tablet, despite it being a little slow to render PDF files, which I use it for regularly. I understand this is supposed to speed up with 3.1 though.
Cheers,
-PW

Make sure you upgrade to 3.1 Lots of GPS Fixes it in..
Download an App called GPS Status. its Free.. And see what and how many satellites its even getting if any. Also I do know Acer has said repeatedly for the GPS to work on 3.0 for the first time you have to be connected to a wifi access point, because the GPS is a A-GPS (Assisted GPS) However If you have Android 3.1 installed you should be good to go and no require a Access Point. I proved that one myself yesterday.
A Co-Worker of Mine had to return his Acer Tablet for the same reasons you are describing. So I wouldn't put it past a bad allotment of Tablets. But his second one ended up working. You May need to try a 3rd I wouldnt put it past it.

I have been using GPS Test, which I understand provides the same functionality as GPS Status.
I manually flash updated to 3.1 and noticed now that I've been picking up exactly 1 satellite indoors now, which is odd since I got nothing before. Now I'm even more confused.

I thought that the GPS was buggered in mine too because I opened mapdroyd and it wouldn't find my location. I decided to let it sit for a while with the app open and after about 5 minutes it locked on and stayed locked for a 40 minute drive.

I think the agps information that GPS Status was downloading was making my GPS fix times considerably worse. I removed that application and all other GPS third party applications. My fix times in google maps is much better now (about 30 seconds indoors right now tonight).
Rob

Update:
I let it sit overnight, with the screen forced on and GPS Test running. In the 40 minutes before I went to bed it didn't find anything, but in the morning (roughly 8 hours later), it had found 9 and was locked onto 3. This makes me think that the hardware is capable of seeing these things, but the software is too dumb to lock onto them or look in the right direction to find them.
Strangely enough, the 3 it locked onto had the lowest SNR. The other 6 with 25+, some over 40. What are the parameters that cause it to "lock" rather than simply be detected?
Of course, I've since relocated to work and its now not picking up anything at all. Obviously, if I have to wait 8+ hours before each use, it's not going to be a very useful function.
Maybe my almanac data is not updating. Does anyone know what the best server to use for western canada is?
Cheers,
-Chris

Another Update:
As it turns out, most of my GPS problems look to be caused by a faulty compass. That makes sense, if you think about it. A broken compass makes the almanac data useless, since the tablet has no point of reference in which to follow the directions given by the almanac data.
I tried calibrating the compass to no effect. It just kept spinning around like it was drunk. So I returned the tablet and got a new one. I'm getting better results.
An interesting note is that the sales guy at the store (Future Shop) said that GPS not working was the number one reason this tablet got returned, and he got back a lot of them. Seems there is a hardware issue after all.
Cheers,
-PW

GPS fix issue, don't exchange the tablet just yet!

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?