how to make GPS persistently lock on? - Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

how to make the nexus 4 GPS persistently lock on to satellites? because on the nexus 4, GPS would lock on only if you are in a maps app, but if you exit, say if you press home or go check your music player, then it would lose the lock. it would have to re-lock when you re-enter the maps app. this is very annoying. on the iphone, once the GPS is locked on, then it's persistently locked on, regardless if you are in home screen, maps app, or whatever. it only loses lock if you turn off gps. how to fix this on the nexus 4?

You do realize this will nail a battery in 2 or 3 hours right?
Oh, you mean the app in suspended state, uhmmmm, not sure lol

jinjin12 said:
how to make the nexus 4 GPS persistently lock on to satellites? because on the nexus 4, GPS would lock on only if you are in a maps app, but if you exit, say if you press home or go check your music player, then it would lose the lock. it would have to re-lock when you re-enter the maps app. this is very annoying. on the iphone, once the GPS is locked on, then it's persistently locked on, regardless if you are in home screen, maps app, or whatever. it only loses lock if you turn off gps. how to fix this on the nexus 4?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think there is an Option for that. To reduce Battery usage, GPS is paused when an app is no longer actively using it.
If you were in Navigation app, then the GPS would stay on.

skezza said:
You do realize this will nail a battery in 2 or 3 hours right?
Oh, you mean the app in suspended state, uhmmmm, not sure lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i guess you only read the title and didn't even read my post. even so, if you just read the title then you misunderstood my title. i said keep gps "persistently lock on", NOT "persistently on". there's a difference. that's means when i turn on gps, i want to to keep locking on to satellites once it's gets a signal. but like i said, right now, it will only keep the lock on if you stay on a maps app, if you switch apps, like to check your music, then it loses the signal and when you switch back to the maps app, then it has to relock on. this is very annoying and often relocking to satellites take a long time. on iphones, if you turn on gps and it locks on to satellites, then the gps stays locked on until you shut if off, irregardless of whether you are in a maps app or not. this is very useful, since you don't have to re-lock everytime when switching between apps and maps apps.

If you're rooted, try the app FasterGPS which allows you to amend your NTP pool which might improve your GPS locking times.
It also had some advanced settings but I can't tell if any of those can fix your main issue of getting persistent locks.

UberSlackr said:
I don't think there is an Option for that. To reduce Battery usage, GPS is paused when an app is no longer actively using it.
If you were in Navigation app, then the GPS would stay on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
see that makes no sense from a user perspective. poor implementation from google IMO. i mean if you turn on GPS, then it's already expected that you want to use it, so it should be kept locked on. sure sometimes you want to switch between apps while using a map to say change music or etc, but that should be no reason to turn of the GPS lock. i mean if you turned it on, then means you're going to use it for a while, so that's poor judgement on google. it's not like someone is going to turn on gps and forget to turn it off the whole day. also relocking is a pain, especially if it took a while for your GPS to even lock on in the first place. also wouldn't trying to relock waste alot of battery anyway, i don't see the point it...very inconvenient.

jinjin12 said:
see that makes no sense from a user perspective. poor implementation from google IMO. i mean if you turn on GPS, then it's already expected that you want to use it, so it should be kept locked on. sure sometimes you want to switch between apps while using a map to say change music or etc, but that should be no reason to turn of the GPS lock. i mean if you turned it on, then means you're going to use it for a while, so that's poor judgement on google. it's not like someone is going to turn on gps and forget to turn it off the whole day. also relocking is a pain, especially if it took a while for your GPS to even lock on in the first place. also wouldn't trying to relock waste alot of battery anyway, i don't see the point it...very inconvenient.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well from a different users perspective its makes sense. I use GPS.. via Navigation, via Google Now, and etc. But I don't want it on all the time when I don't need it, and I certainly do not want to have to Enable and Disable it every time I need it. If I need to do a quick search for a store/restaurant/etc, all I have to do is Ask it... if I had to Enable it every time I wanted to do that, it would require another step..
And from your other post, about Persistently On verses Persistent Lock, they are essential the same thing is this case. To have a Persistent GPS Lock that would require the GPS to be ON... therefore Persistently ON.
Note sure why you are having so much trouble getting a GPS Lock. The Nexus 4s GPS works pretty well in my experience (better than other phones I've had) - It even locks on to my location when I'm inside my Metal Workshop.. all other phones I had to step outside before GPS would lock on.

UberSlackr said:
Well from a different users perspective its makes sense. I use GPS.. via Navigation, via Google Now, and etc. But I don't want it on all the time when I don't need it, and I certainly do not want to have to Enable and Disable it every time I need it. If I need to do a quick search for a store/restaurant/etc, all I have to do is Ask it... if I had to Enable it every time I wanted to do that, it would require another step..
And from your other post, about Persistently On verses Persistent Lock, they are essential the same thing is this case. To have a Persistent GPS Lock that would require the GPS to be ON... therefore Persistently ON.
Note sure why you are having so much trouble getting a GPS Lock. The Nexus 4s GPS works pretty well in my experience (better than other phones I've had) - It even locks on to my location when I'm inside my Metal Workshop.. all other phones I had to step outside before GPS would lock on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
again you're misunderstanding the problem. and persistently ON is NOT the same and Persistent Lock ON . you can turn on GPS via location access and the GPS would be on but never not locked on to anything, thus nothing about the GPS would show up in the status bar, but the GPS would still be on, just at a low power state. on the other hand, the GPS can be on and actually be locked on to satellites, which happens only when you enter nagivation apps, and it would show up in the status as searching for location, this would require more power. just cause you don't see anything in the status bar about GPS does not mean it's off. if you turn on it GPS in location settings, then the device is on, only difference is if it's in lower power state or actively searching for satellites. exiting out of NAV apps put GPS in lower power state, similar to a standby mode.
i never said to keep it GPS on all the time. i only said to keep it location locked on when you turn on GPS.....huge difference. who actually leaves there GPS on all the time?
btw you said you don't want to enable/disable GPS when you need to use it but also you said you don't want it on all the time. so that's already a contradiction. because right now, in order to get GPS, you would already have to go to settings>location access then turn it on. so idk what' you talking about. and the only way to not have to enable/disable it all the time, is to leave it on all day, thus you've contradicted yourself.
and not i'm having any trouble getting a GPS lock, i never said that was the problem. i said i'm having trouble keeping it locked on when switching apps. after doing some research, it seems this is the default behavior of android, which is to remove active satellite lock when you go away from a NAgivation app.....very annoying. there are some apps in the playstore that claims to keep the lock on persistent, but they haven't worked for me

jinjin12 said:
again you're misunderstanding the problem. and persistently ON is NOT the same and Persistent Lock ON . you can turn on GPS via location access and the GPS would be on but never not locked on to anything, thus nothing about the GPS would show up in the status bar, but the GPS would still be on, just at a low power state. on the other hand, the GPS can be on and actually be locked on to satellites, which happens only when you enter nagivation apps, and it would show up in the status as searching for location, this would require more power. just cause you don't see anything in the status bar about GPS does not mean it's off. if you turn on it GPS in location settings, then the device is on, only difference is if it's in lower power state or actively searching for satellites. exiting out of NAV apps put GPS in lower power state, similar to a standby mode.
i never said to keep it GPS on all the time. i only said to keep it location locked on when you turn on GPS.....huge difference. who actually leaves there GPS on all the time?
btw you said you don't want to enable/disable GPS when you need to use it but also you said you don't want it on all the time. so that's already a contradiction. because right now, in order to get GPS, you would already have to go to settings>location access then turn it on. so idk what' you talking about. and the only way to not have to enable/disable it all the time, is to leave it on all day, thus you've contradicted yourself.
and not i'm having any trouble getting a GPS lock, i never said that was the problem. i said i'm having trouble keeping it locked on when switching apps. after doing some research, it seems this is the default behavior of android, which is to remove active satellite lock when you go away from a NAgivation app.....very annoying. there are some apps in the playstore that claims to keep the lock on persistent, but they haven't worked for me
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Click to collapse
Well I'm not going to sit here and argue with you all day. But regardless of what you believe, if you go to settings>location and enable GPS, its not Constantly On... There is no "Power Save" mode it falls into. At times apps like Google Now will access the GPS to get a location, this is why it will tell you the time of travel from work to home... the toggle in settings>location is simply to allow or disallow apps access to the GPS. The GPS is not actually "On" unless its called via an app... GPS is only running when you see the GPS Icon in the notification bar. When I get home I'll find the page where Google explains this change since android ICS.
GPS on my phone stays enabled via settings>location all the time... But its only used when I open Maps, Facebook, Google Now, etc. Check your battery stats (press the graph) and you will see when the GPS is actually used.
So again, to have Persistant LOCK ON your WILL HAVE TO HAVE THE GPS PERSISTENTLY ON - MEANING YOU HAVE TO HAVE AN APP THAT IS GOING TO PERSISTENTLY CALL THE GPS .. YOU CAN NOT HAVE A GPS LOCK UNLESS THE _____ THING IS ON and GOOGLE APPS DO NOT DO THIS

I think he's getting confused. He's saying that the data from the GPS is stored so the lock speed is quicker, but it already is. On GB, it was retained and it is too on JB, so he's wrong.

My GPS never has to relock when I switch apps.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

AS was said, GPS enabled is not the same as GPS ON. Enabled just means apps have access to the API to call GPS functions. ON means it's actively searching or locked to sats.
The implementation Google uses is the same as everyone. Your phone should pull down AGPS data via your data connection once every so often so when apps go for more detailed location they the phone will calculate the sats position and lock in 2-3 seconds. Without AGPS data the phone has to do a WARM lock (or a COLD lock which can take up to 2 minutes if your phone has been rebooted since the last lock).
So your phone is not functioning correctly if you haven't blocked AGPS data. I can switch from Maps to Facebook to GPS Test apps and they all lock instantly after the initial lock with Maps (or whatever app is first). The first lock takes only 5-10 seconds also (inside my house), outside is 2-3 seconds.

shotta35 said:
AS was said, GPS enabled is not the same as GPS ON. Enabled just means apps have access to the API to call GPS functions. ON means it's actively searching or locked to sats.
The implementation Google uses is the same as everyone. Your phone should pull down AGPS data via your data connection once every so often so when apps go for more detailed location they the phone will calculate the sats position and lock in 2-3 seconds. Without AGPS data the phone has to do a WARM lock (or a COLD lock which can take up to 2 minutes if your phone has been rebooted since the last lock).
So your phone is not functioning correctly if you haven't blocked AGPS data. I can switch from Maps to Facebook to GPS Test apps and they all lock instantly after the initial lock with Maps (or whatever app is first). The first lock takes only 5-10 seconds also (inside my house), outside is 2-3 seconds.
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Click to collapse
you have a data plan? cause i don't so i'm relying purely on the GPS itself when i'm outside. i know using mobile data, it can lock on really fast, my sister has a data plan on the note 2 and GPS locks on fast due to that cause of a-GPS.

Related

GPS Power Usage

Ok, I think I already know the answer to this and its probably a stupid question but, just to check:
If you enable GPS as a method of getting your location in sharing, is it actually using any power when you don’t have an application accessing GPS data (i.e. no GPS icon on the notification bar).
I ask because I have just installed WaveSecure. As I understand it since Android 1.5 3rd party apps cannot enable the GPS (and I believe WaveSecure is no exception). So I want to have GPS enabled in case my phone gets stolen / lost / runs away etc. However I don’t want my battery to suffer too much because of this.
Based on the lengthy testing period of… this morning I don’t think the battery drain has increased from having GPS enabled. But anyone know definitively how this works?
As far as I am aware the gps chips usually do use power even when not actively in use. This is because a full cold start takes a long time to get a satellite fix, so the chip stays powered up (if you don't have it switched off), so that it can 'warm start' and get a fix much faster.
GlenH said:
As far as I am aware the gps chips usually do use power even when not actively in use. This is because a full cold start takes a long time to get a satellite fix, so the chip stays powered up (if you don't have it switched off), so that it can 'warm start' and get a fix much faster.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cheers, but I'm not sure that is what is happening here.
I haven't seen any increase in battery usage really. I suspect that the setting just opens the gate for applications to access the GPS. I still have to wait for it to lock if I open Maps (the icon then appears on the notification bar and flashes until it gets a lock) so I don't think the chip is any kind of standby state (not for me anyway).

JI2:Enable MS-Based mode for a faster lock

For me, my GPS problems have been mostly fixed with the latest firmware.. however the lock still takes about 15 seconds.
To enhance (not fix, it's not a fix) this..
Install AnyCut (not in the market for some reason), select "new shortcut" and go down to LbsTestMode.
Open it, select MS-Based mode and back out of it. Don't change anything else as you're liable to make GPS worse.
Now you should get a lock in 1-3 seconds, very quickly. If your phone is not getting a lock disable WiFi.
http://hotfile.com/dl/69783008/f2fffb0/anycut.apk.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
heygrl said:
For me, my GPS problems have been mostly fixed with the latest firmware.. however the lock still takes about 15 seconds.
To enhance (not fix, it's not a fix) this..
Install AnyCut (not in the market for some reason), select "new shortcut" and go down to LbsTestMode.
Open it, select MS-Based mode and back out of it. Don't change anything else as you're liable to make GPS worse.
Now you should get a lock in 1-3 seconds, very quickly. If your phone is not getting a lock disable WiFi.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And much better tracking as well. My Tracks did much better when I turned it off standalone to MS Assisted.
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=201142930973527917117.00049060180af6659398c
wow. First lock after flash was great, then after the days go it gets worse, basically back to before. Changing this, I opened my front door, pointed the phone out, turned on gps and opened gps test. Instantly like 5 seconds I got 6 satellite locks.
Awesome, obviously will see after a few days how it works. So far that helped alot.
It's never gone to what it was like before (ever) but I've noticed some bugginess with aGPS.
Over WiFi it won't download new information & lock. I've had to disable WiFi for it to lock on a position.
Sometimes when going from 3G to E, it will lose the lock. Is this horrible? No. Can it be corrected? Yes.. can the Vibrant accurately track our location? Yes.
MS-Assisted is only good for stationary locks quick one time fixes but not actual tracking. MS-Based is for tracking..
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=e...22653250295432.00049063685873acbe8e0&t=h&z=14
heygrl said:
It's never gone to what it was like before (ever) but I've noticed some bugginess with aGPS.
Over WiFi it won't download new information & lock. I've had to disable WiFi for it to lock on a position.
Sometimes when going from 3G to E, it will lose the lock. Is this horrible? No. Can it be corrected? Yes.. can the Vibrant accurately track our location? Yes.
MS-Assisted is only good for stationary locks quick one time fixes but not actual tracking. MS-Based is for tracking..
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=e...22653250295432.00049063685873acbe8e0&t=h&z=14
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could not get a lock on MS Based. It saw 6 sats and they were all at the same position way off the compass on GPS status. Let it run for 10 minutes on 3g and it lost all but 2 sats. Change it back to MS Assisted and I get 10/10. Maybe I need to clear data.
At this point I am pretty sure that the settings in lbstestmode only affect the tests in lbstestmode. All other applications appear to use the settings in gps.conf or somewhere else.
Changing the settings in lbstestmode appears to affect other apps temporarily due to hot start mode but after reset the phones are going back to default anyway.
snowdogging said:
At this point I am pretty sure that the settings in lbstestmode only affect the tests in lbstestmode. All other applications appear to use the settings in gps.conf or somewhere else.
Changing the settings in lbstestmode appears to affect other apps temporarily due to hot start mode but after reset the phones are going back to default anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well you can test it yourself. It's too soon to say much of anything. It takes time to determine anything with this phone. If nothing changes it will be noted in a day or two when the hot fix is lost.
heygrl said:
Well you can test it yourself. It's too soon to say much of anything. It takes time to determine anything with this phone. If nothing changes it will be noted in a day or two when the hot fix is lost.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah it is just plain buggy. Sometimes lbstestmode seems to change gps.conf but not always. The use SSL setting doesn't seem to be changed but sometimes it does change the SUPL host.
Another strange things in test mode is turning on MS Based and then clearing GPS data. Sometimes when I do that and then run the get position test I can see my 3G turns on and it pulls the list of satellites. 10 satellites found in a couple seconds...great. If I then go back and clear the GPS test data again and go back to the same test it sits at zero satellites and never pulls a new list. WTF...completely unpredictable behavior....sigh.
Just drove about 5 miles. Locked instantly and very well.
My track. http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=203177861999786056973.0004906582f910d2e8a53
Too early to tell yes but Ms based doing me good for sure. http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=203177861999786056973.0004906582f910d2e8a53

GPS Fix!

It seems that the majority of people have absolutely no GPS issues. But I notice every time that I factory reset, I can't get a GPS lock, which is absolutely weird. I can't acquire location on GenieWidget either initially. If anyone else out there is having GPS issues or Location issues then try this.
How to fix for both:
1. Download GPS Test from the market (the free one)
Run it, and leave it running until the GPS On light turns green and it has satellites in use and tells you the meters accuracy. That means a lock. This can take a few minutes.
After this happens, GPS locks very quickly even after reboots, very weird.
Now even after this, GenieWidget still can't acquire location.
2. Turn on WiFi, but don't connect to anything, you don't have to.
When WiFi is on, go back to the GenieWidget and hit refresh.
It'll find your location even though you're not on a WiFi network.
Now disable WiFi and it'll be able to acquire your location every single time.
Weird stuff.
damn... sounds like Samsung is STILL failing with LBS. It's very frustrating on my Captivate.
I turned it on before and got a fix in about 45 seconds. About the same time as my Slide.
skinien said:
damn... sounds like Samsung is STILL failing with LBS. It's very frustrating on my Captivate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a one time issue though it seems. I think actually it all depends on getting that 'first' lock. The phone will go to sleep if you wait on maps too long. So I just use that app, go into settings, and hit Keep Awake then leave it sit til it locks. After that, I can get a lock in 1-5 seconds every time after reboots upon reboots.
It locks just as quick as my Evo, 10-15 seconds for me. I use my GPS so much if its not getting a good lock I would return the damn thing over and over until it work how it should. Even 45 seconds is a stretch...my G1 locks faster than that...
Anderdroid said:
It's a one time issue though it seems. I think actually it all depends on getting that 'first' lock. The phone will go to sleep if you wait on maps too long. So I just use that app, go into settings, and hit Keep Awake then leave it sit til it locks. After that, I can get a lock in 1-5 seconds every time after reboots upon reboots.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Quite right. There's a big difference between "cold" and "warm" GPS startup.
When the phone is brand new, or after a hard reset, it will always be a "cold" start. The phone has no clue about where it is in the world, or even if it has the correct time. So the very first thing it does is to look around and try to spot any GPS satellites. Then it tries to download the almanac data.
For GPS to lock, quite a lot of data needs to be downloaded from the satellites. This takes between 30-60 seconds uninterrupted view of at least 3 satellites. If you're moving around, the view of the satellites may be interrupted, and the phone will have to start over again. This process can be speeded up a lot with A-GPS.
After the first lock, things go much faster. The almanac data is already on the phone, and the position of the last GPS fix is known.
The thing that confuses most people is that an Android phone will try to navigate by other means when there's no GPS lock. By cell tower, or by WiFi hotspot. Cell tower gives your location instantly, but with a very large margin of error. If your position is way off, then you're not navigating by GPS, but by other, less accurate means.
I actually can't get location from the cell towers >.< But yeah my GPS is locking in 1-5 seconds now.
Still no luck with above... will not turn green just stays yellow

ICS Passion R13 and GPS

Just an observation. This probably belongs in the development thread, but I don't have 10 posts yet.
I installed Kiss 2.2 kernal after installing ICS Passion R13.
After a reboot, I got a quick lock. GPS locked ok after periods of deep sleep over the course of two days.
Then I turned off GPS, which is a normal battery-saving move. It seems that if GPS is turned off (via the notification bar) and later turned back on after deep sleep, GPS does not work. GPSTest and GPS Status could see or lock on any satellites.
Second experiment was to reboot with GPS enabled indoors, thus not locking onto satellites. After deep sleep, the GPS was able to see and lock in about a minute.
It seems that the GPS will work after deep sleep, but only if the GPS is left enabled. I would be curious to know whether others see this pattern.
Have you tried build.prop modification?
Try it out to see if it helps.
In my case, I always managed to make my GPS lock every time (deep sleep or bad dream sleep lolz)
dougc405 said:
Just an observation. This probably belongs in the development thread, but I don't have 10 posts yet.
I installed Kiss 2.2 kernal after installing ICS Passion R13.
After a reboot, I got a quick lock. GPS locked ok after periods of deep sleep over the course of two days.
Then I turned off GPS, which is a normal battery-saving move. It seems that if GPS is turned off (via the notification bar) and later turned back on after deep sleep, GPS does not work. GPSTest and GPS Status could see or lock on any satellites.
Second experiment was to reboot with GPS enabled indoors, thus not locking onto satellites. After deep sleep, the GPS was able to see and lock in about a minute.
It seems that the GPS will work after deep sleep, but only if the GPS is left enabled. I would be curious to know whether others see this pattern.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I assume that you are talking about this thread?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1447925
I have not tried this. Some of the keys you list don't exist in my build.prop. Is that ok? Should I add them? I will try this, but have to wait until I am near my computer in case something goes wrong.
It also appears that the GPS stops tracking as soon as the phone sleeps. This is not an issue when using in car mode because the phone does not sleep, but Google Tracks, which I use used while hiking, cycling, etc., does sleep (or at least shuts of the display) while tracking. I tried Google Tracks and it seemed to need to reacquire satellites when waking up the phone. I did not walk far enough to see the effect of that in the recorded track, but I assume that it was not tracking while asleep.
I also noticed the same effect when using GPS Status and GPS Test. If the display shut off, the apps had zero visible satellites when display was powered back on.
Yes, that's the post I was talking about.
If the line(s) is/are missing, just add them at the bottom for your convenience in case it does not work.
I don't want to say anything regarding the phone is having a good sleep or having a bad dream (lolz) because I never bothered to checkup on my phone. All I know is that when I need to use my GPS, I just poke my phone with my crooked finger to unlock, select the 2G Only checkbox, select the GPS Satellite checkbox, launch the Google Maps, type the destination address. (run on sentence lolz)
dougc405 said:
I assume that you are talking about this thread?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1447925
I have not tried this. Some of the keys you list don't exist in my build.prop. Is that ok? Should I add them? I will try this, but have to wait until I am near my computer in case something goes wrong.
It also appears that the GPS stops tracking as soon as the phone sleeps. This is not an issue when using in car mode because the phone does not sleep, but Google Tracks, which I use used while hiking, cycling, etc., does sleep (or at least shuts of the display) while tracking. I tried Google Tracks and it seemed to need to reacquire satellites when waking up the phone. I did not walk far enough to see the effect of that in the recorded track, but I assume that it was not tracking while asleep.
I also noticed the same effect when using GPS Status and GPS Test. If the display shut off, the apps had zero visible satellites when display was powered back on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The changes to build.prop and the GPS settings in AngryGPS made getting a fix much quicker and more reliable (<30 seconds from cold start). Thanks.
I also had to remove Weatherbug Elite. It has some wierd interaction with the GPS even when all location services are disable in the app. It ssems that it won't let the GPSLocationProvider shut down when the GPS is turned off. BetterBatteryStats showed wakelocks and the CPU could not go into deep sleep. At that point, reenabling GPS had no effect and GPS could not see or lock onto any satellites. Only a reboot cured it. Even if no widget is set up, Weatherbug still fires up, probably because of the Background update feature. I had to completely remove the app to prevent this interference.
Only one more problem and it is preventable. If GPS is on AND phone is plugged in with USB AND I run PowerAmp music player, the CPU run solid at 1000 mhz. Only shutting down PowerAmp, turning off the GPS, and unplugging/replugging the USB cable restore normal operation (lower CPU speeds, sleep). Merely unplugging USB does allow the CPU to run normal, but it pops right back up to 1000 when plugged in again. Wierd.
Any other leads?
Vibrant from aug 2010, made the changes but after a sleep the changes to the GPS settings and the libgps.so being added to /system/lib hasn't seemed to have made a difference. After a deep sleep, the gps seems to be dead. "Searching for GPS" appears in the status drawer, and otherwise it's all dead.
What can I do to provide better debugging feedback about this. Does anyone have e.g. a debugging or interposition library to help figure out where this is freezing?
Heck, does anyone have the source to the various GPS libraries being used here so that we can compare what works to what doesn't work for various people?
*edit
I'm completely floored. My GPS came back to life after I got down the elevator leaving work after I posed this. I'm still curious about the source to libgps.so, and I'm honestly not sure it can play a part here since it's not replacing a library in my current /system/lib. If I get some time I may see what symbols are available in it and what library it may/may not be replacing.
I suspect that the change of the supplementary (that's what supl stands for, right?) data and GPS settings have as much to do with this as well. I may try to revert the gps library changes and see if it still works with just the changes made via angrygps. I do know that the build.prop changes did absolutely zero by themselves.

GPS issue - satellites in use, but no position

Hi everybody.
I have SM-N9005 phone, currently running Temasek V16.0.
My GPS usually works fine, however sometimes it finds the satellites and uses them but doesn't get GPS fix for a long time (actually - never, as far as my patience go, which was about 15 minutes). After rebooting the phone the GPS fix is almost instant, with no problem.
So, what can cause GPS to be unable to get a fix, while it can use the satellites. Seems to be software related as reboot makes it fine. It is not ROM related, cause I've had it on stock as well as custom ROMs. Anybody can think of a fix that doesn't require me to reboot?
No, I have given up on GPS of this phone, Snapdragon variant. As you said, rebooting the phone makes the GPS lock fast/ instant, but for normal usage sometimes GPS just won't lock. All I can gather from my personal experience is its about Assisted GPS. When you are restarting your phone the AGPS data is being downloaded automatically, that is how Android works anyway, and that's probably why the phone gets a super fast lock after a reboot. Use app like GPS Status or something to have the phone download AGPS data at short interval, see if that helps in anything or not.
However I have never had any problems when I am outside, the GPS locks within 30-45 seconds no matter what, its the inside problems which used to bug me, but as I said, I have given up.
Hm, I've never seen such a problem. I use my N9005 for travelling across Europe quite often, and it usually locks within 10 seconds to 2 minutes, depending on the location and the number of satellites.
Aside from the occasional glitch, of course. Like going backwards or sideways. :silly:
And it seems to think I'm somewhere off the coast of Norway right now. That one creeps me out quite a bit...
The thing is that when you reboot, it uses all available connections to pinpoint your location. Including your mobile data. (And WiFi if available.) So if you turn on location services right after rebooting, your approximate location is still in the cache.
Triangulation Over Data works within seconds, as opposed to the time required to lock on to the satellites in orbit when it is only allowed to use GPS. If you turn on the higher location modes, it locks much quicker. You can turn it back to GPS once your location has been established.
ShadowLea said:
The thing is that when you reboot, it uses all available connections to pinpoint your location. Including your mobile data. (And WiFi if available.) So if you turn on location services right after rebooting, your approximate location is still in the cache.
Triangulation Over Data works within seconds, as opposed to the time required to lock on to the satellites in orbit when it is only allowed to use GPS. If you turn on the higher location modes, it locks much quicker. You can turn it back to GPS once your location has been established.
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I am talking about GPS only. I use GPS Status app for a long long time (with my previous Android devices as well), so I can monitor the GPS fix. After reboot I get GPS position almost instant or sometimes I need to go into GPS status app and re-download A-GPS data (which is max 1h old, because of my settings) and then I get my fix.
When my problem occurs NOTHING (short from reboot) can get it to get a fix. I tried deleting and downloading A-GPS data, turning location on and off and from high precision to power saving - it just won't work. Of course I'll get postition from WiFi or cell towers, but GPS just won't fix, even with 12 satellites in use, after waiting over 15 minutes (which should be more then enough, cause whole GPS almanach is transmitted over 12,5 minutes and I get it from A-GPS anyway).
I would start by wiping the phone installing stock rom and testing . Still a problem then its hardware .

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