Grey flashing dot GPS unable to get location - Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

So I've been having this issue for a while now and never got a clean answer on it. My GPS frequently gets a grey flashing dot in the maps app, when seeking for location on "data only" (not WiFi) when satellites are not visible.
This is indicating that GPS location is unobtainable without visible satellite reception, which shouldn't be the case.
I've tried two nexus 4's same issue.
Could it be APN settings?
Any ideas??

Are you in a big city? It needs line of sight to work well.

peedub said:
Are you in a big city? It needs line of sight to work well.
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Click to collapse
GPS should be able to get a location indoors with 3G and no satellite reception.

UKROB86 said:
GPS should be able to get a location indoors with 3G and no satellite reception.
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Click to collapse
That is entirely inaccurate. Cell phone towers and GPS satellite is completely different.
OP, download GPS test from the market and see how many it locks onto.

Related

How GPS work ?

If I disable GPRS, 3g, how GPS work ?
How it can pipoint the location ?
just pray here
http://www.thechurchofgoogle.org/
and your questions will be answered ;-)
iphone_fan said:
If I disable GPRS, 3g, how GPS work ?
How it can pipoint the location ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
or try an encyclopedia
HAHA stick to iphone kid.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GPS
iphone_fan said:
If I disable GPRS, 3g, how GPS work ?
How it can pipoint the location ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya that's an odd name to be carying around these parts, but anyway...... Phone signals such as GPRS and 3g have nothing to do with GPS. Although they can be used to find a general location (it figures this out by checking which signal towers it's connected to) this is very inaccurate (although if you pay certain companies they can home in to a much much closer location that's almost as good as gps.......it's how cops/inverstigators find out where a call came from in dire situations). GPS on the other hand uses satalites. The gps can not only detect a satalite signal, but they can also find out where a satalite should be via a satalite calander. Once it locates a minimum of 3 satalites (4 spheres (3 satalites plus earth) will intersect at one point) it does some math and figures out where you are to a very small distance (within about 20ft).
The only time when GPRS/3g are needed are for the AGPS (assisted GPS) which helps the gps find its location and sync with the satalites a couple seconds quicker. However this is only an option and not a necesity

[solved] GPS lags and reports position off by 300m?!

Hi all,
I did search the "General" Forum, but didn't find much. Today I tried the built-in GPS for the first time, with demo versions from copilot and Navigon mobile navigator. Weather condition was cloudy/foggy (1000m/3000ft cloud base, "Hochnebel") and it was snoming a bit. Bluetooth and WLAN were turned off. AGPS had a recent update.
Unfortunately, the system was unusable. The gps got a fix after about 10 seconds with 7 to 8 satelites in range; but basicly trouble was that it was lagging and skipping a lot. I don't mean serial communication, both programs reported position updates every second, as it's supposed to be.
But in the raw output speed jumped from 0 to 100kph every 5 seconds (I was diving 100kph constantly) and position updates were sometimes fluent but then again only every 3 seconds a new position (= 3 times same NMEA packet). Obviously this confused the nav software(s) a lot.
In addition to that the GPS position is reported incorrectly 300m to the south. I can reproduce the error constantly, If I drive NS direction, it will only report a wrong position on the street, but driving EW is not possible, it will always set the car on parallel streets and will recalculate the route constantly.
Is this a known problem on Leo and is there a fix? Obviously the intermediate driver here in the forum will help with the skipping, but not with the off-position reports.
Thanks, mc7
edit: reload agps data over 3G connection or WLAN. it seems that active sync download corrupts the agps data.
Haven't experienced anything like this myself and I was doing a 160km trip in similar conditions this past Friday so I don't think it's a known fault.
My suggestion would be to try again and if it continues get your set replaced.
Hi. A few things spring to mind from my time selling (dedicated) GPS devices.
Thick Fog/snow clouds block more of a signal than any other type of weather short of trees.
Some types of Tinted/Reflective/Heated windows (especially the type the mondeo use, if I remember correctly) can seriously affect the signal.
The angle that the device is positioned on the dashboard, and hence the angle the GPS antenna presents to the satellites is also critical.
Test the positioning on a fairly clear day, with the phone well exposed to teh sky, and no surrounding trees/houses/tall buildings, and see if the accuracy is still off. If it is, then the gps is dodgy and you should get it replaced. If it is accurate, then start looking for interference in your car.
No lag with copilot here, very accurate road positioning
ahhhh finally, solved again It seems that somehow the agps data got corrupted via activesync synchronisation. I turned off the "download via activesync" option in quickgps and reloaded AGPS data over the 3G connection. Now everything is in working order, no lagging, position accurately aquired, only a bit slow, like 10meters behind actual position. But that I had with my old diamond as well, it's not a draw back. btw, weather conditions were the same...
thanks again for your help.
AGPS has nothing to do with sync. I think you are confusing this with QuickGPS.
pedmond said:
AGPS has nothing to do with sync. I think you are confusing this with QuickGPS.
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Click to collapse
AGPS data (quickgps) can be downloaded via activesync in stead of over-the-air services.
Hmm, I though AGPS wasnt anything to do with QuickGPS.
As I understand it
AGPS uses phone signal to triangulate the phones location
QuickGPS downloads the position of the satellites.
loomx said:
Hmm, I though AGPS wasnt anything to do with QuickGPS.
As I understand it
AGPS uses phone signal to triangulate the phones location
QuickGPS downloads the position of the satellites.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AGPS comes in two forms
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGPS
loomx said:
Hmm, I though AGPS wasnt anything to do with QuickGPS.
As I understand it
AGPS uses phone signal to triangulate the phones location
QuickGPS downloads the position of the satellites.
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Click to collapse
Correct, that's my understanding as well. With the detail that AGPS is actually more than simple triangulation.
Nope, see wikipedia entry on agps. HTC uses satelite data/orbit information provided via internet; it stays accurate for about a week hence the weekly updates. your gps will work without this data, however, since it needs to calculate satelite trajectories by itself it will take longer to get a fix from cold start.
and if this help data was downloaded incorrectly, it obviously is possible that the receiver reports a wrong position. But, as stated, reloading the QuickGPS data and turning off activesync loading of the data solved the issue.
What you mean with triangualation is google maps. it gets the signal strength from neighbouring base stations and their cell ids and looks up their position in a large database online. with the base stations' exakt positions and the signal strength of each one, one is able to estimate the current position through triangulation; however since this method does not account for multipath propagation or reflection off wet walls or similar, it can only be taken as rough estimate.

Locations not working on my Omnia 7

It worked once when I first tried it but ever since then for example when I go into maps, it's always searching and searching. the local filter in the bing search doesn't work either...
What can I do? Anyone have the same issue?
I've managed to bring up my location but it's highly innacurate. I downloaded the GPS app that is available in the marketplace and it's showing the wrong latitude/longitude coordinates as well.
Highly annoying.
Do you have Weatherbug installed? This app seemed to break my location service too. Sometimes it showed my location a few hundred miles away... I then uninstalled Weatherbug and somehow, after a while, it was working again -strange.
Now it's very accurate and fast.
Then go into settings -> "find my phone" and check the upper box for "saving the location".
It could also be a problem with your carrier -the location service first takes the location via A-GPS which is you provider's responsibility.
GPS might take a few minutes to determine the exact location.
I called 3 and they said I could arrange a door to door exchange but first they advised me to go to the 3 store nearby and use my SIM in another omnia 7 to see if it works.
Surprise surpise, after the call, the GPS is now perfect. I wonder if they did something at their end lol.
So after a few days use, I have come to the conclusion that the GPS doesn't seem to work well indoors, but as soon as I go outdoors, it's tracking me just fine.
digger1985 said:
So after a few days use, I have come to the conclusion that the GPS doesn't seem to work well indoors, but as soon as I go outdoors, it's tracking me just fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GPS will absolutely NOT work indoors because it needs nearly line-of-sight to the GPS satellites above. The roof of a car might work but the roof of a house won't.
Indoors the phone is using A-GPS, the triangulation of cell towers of your network operator. It's very inaccurate and might get no location at all.
See my post here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=9417735&postcount=2

[Q] Anyone Elses GPS Aweful?

I have never had my GPS locate me via google maps. My Phone has no issues. Anyone else have GPS issues? any tips? Hopefully a software update fixes it? I have a friend who has the same issue.
[Should have read "awful", not aweful]
Nothing wrong with my gps. Have you upgraded to the latest firmware? Downloaded the A-GPS data (you can get this by using an app called GPS status)? Switch OFF wifi after you do, then leave it to get a full signal lock (takes up to 15minutes or so with a clear view of the sky).
toddmp said:
I have never had my GPS locate me via google maps. My Phone has no issues. Anyone else have GPS issues? any tips? Hopefully a software update fixes it? I have a friend who has the same issue.
[Should have read "awful", not aweful]
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Click to collapse
Make sure you are outside with a clear view of sky when you test. It can take any GPS up to 10 minutes to acquire the ephemeris information (satellite position at a certain time) and lock up. You phone cheats this by using the cellular network to provide a general location of where your are and therefore where to look for certain satellites.
thanks so much for the info guys. I had a feeling it had something to do with no cell phone band helping out. thanks!
GPS works fine here, as other have said the closer you are to the sky/window the better.
yeah..give your TF a few minutes to lock up sat positions (if you've never done this)..
this applies to most pure gps devices..cellphones can use cellular network signal to quickly locate your position but the data isn't really from gps itself.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1088120
Hope this helps
Acid lestitious 2.0. Fugumod 2.4 800 mhz
jerrykur said:
Make sure you are outside with a clear view of sky when you test. It can take any GPS up to 10 minutes to acquire the ephemeris information (satellite position at a certain time) and lock up. You phone cheats this by using the cellular network to provide a general location of where your are and therefore where to look for certain satellites.
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Click to collapse
I wonder if it does the wifi cheat like maps for android phones, where it uses the known APs to determine location? I say that because when I first fired up my transformer yesterday, after connecting to wifi, I screwed around on maps and it found me inside my house in less than 30 seconds.
toddmp said:
I have never had my GPS locate me via google maps. My Phone has no issues. Anyone else have GPS issues? any tips? Hopefully a software update fixes it? I have a friend who has the same issue.
[Should have read "awful", not aweful]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
its the reverse for me! in the same room of house i often cannot get a fix on my Optimus 2x. i use GPS Staus app. but i often get fix within 30secs. as a test i have both machines running the app next to each other and the transformer always gets regular fixes.
..... hmm just realised as i type this that i have a phone called optimus and tablet called transformer, and they both run android!!!
I get fixes with no wifi (ie: only GPS) within 30 seconds.
Quite the opposite, mine is extremely accurate. After it gets a fix on maps that little google person is standing right in my front yard in the satellite view! Better than my Droid!
Mine is almost instantaneous. Just tried it at home based on this thread and had a read in probably 5 seconds.
I have not been able to obtain a GPS lock until today when I set my location to use wireless networks. To me this is really stupid because the GPS shouldn't have to use any location settings to obtain a lock in my mind. That is if the GPS chip in the TF is a true GPS chip it should not to rely on a wifi signal to obtain a lock. If the GPS is turned on then it should lock.
I tested sygic gps navigation 11 and signal lock and quality was better than my galaxy s was pretty accurate
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using XDA Premium App
Works fine for me, apart from one minor detail. When I switch from Google Maps to another app, even for a few seconds, then the tablet has to get a lock all over again. There appears to be no way to set the GPS to keep a lock while Google Maps isn't the active program.
That, for me, makes Google Maps near-useless in a moving vehicle. Hopefully other third-party apps won't have this issue.
Google Maps is prety much useless on the Transformer for GPS navigation as a data connection is need. I have heard of people caching a route before hand but ..... Copilot Live 7 is out for android so that is one option. However if the GPS relies on a wifi signal in order to obtain a lock then it is about useless too.
toddmp said:
I have never had my GPS locate me via google maps. My Phone has no issues. Anyone else have GPS issues? any tips? Hopefully a software update fixes it? I have a friend who has the same issue.
[Should have read "awful", not aweful]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gps works fine on mine....unlike my icons or Samsung...both returned
gps does use wifi to help gps locate, theres options to turn this off in settings, i went to pick up my dock today and couldn't get a gps lock while in the car with the transformer in my lap(gps status app showed 3 sats but none would lock) just lifting it up 12 inches closer to the windshield made 7 satellites pop up and instantly started getting locks
i think proximity to a window/line of sky is a big factor, and the transformer does have a true gps chip for those who seem to doubt it, also the navigation app keeps running in the background, its better to use that than google maps
No issues with gps here. The bastard finds me every time!
jadesse said:
However if the GPS relies on a wifi signal in order to obtain a lock then it is about useless too.
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Click to collapse
It doesn't rely on WiFi for a lock, it just uses it to allow a faster connection if you don't already have current ephemeris data downloaded. That's a limitation of all GPS receivers -- it takes a fair while to download the ephemeris data if you're out of date or have travelled a significant distance, and without it the device can't get a GPS fix.
You can think of the WiFi location system as analogous to a cellphone being able to use tower locations to help position itself while waiting for GPS ephemeris data.

[Q] How does Google Navigation work? Does it depend on GPS or cellular network?

How does Google Navigation work? Does it depend on GPS or cellular network or both?
I have a Tmobile Note 3 and sometimes, when my mobile data is showing "E" the Google Maps app can't even get a GPS lock?
Is it the phone? Do I have a lemon?
My friend has a Galaxy Note 3 on Verizon and her Google Maps worked just fine. Her data was showing 4G LTE.
Is anyone here an expert on how Google Maps works? I thought it only needed GPS? I tried all the different GPS settings ("full", power save, GPS only, etc) and none of them made any difference.
I m not an expert, just sharing with you what i know, Google maps can work only on gps but with data pcg locking to gps & loading of maps will be much faster, navigation is a feature now built inside Google maps required internet for navigat to certain destination.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using XDA Free mobile app
Neo3D said:
How does Google Navigation work? Does it depend on GPS or cellular network or both?
I have a Tmobile Note 3 and sometimes, when my mobile data is showing "E" the Google Maps app can't even get a GPS lock?
Is it the phone? Do I have a lemon?
My friend has a Galaxy Note 3 on Verizon and her Google Maps worked just fine. Her data was showing 4G LTE.
Is anyone here an expert on how Google Maps works? I thought it only needed GPS? I tried all the different GPS settings ("full", power save, GPS only, etc) and none of them made any difference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you can use Google Maps without GPS also, its gets location from the cellular towers around you. but its not always perfect as towers can be near you or far away
So for perfect accuracy GPS is required. GPS lock depends on many reason.
Thanks! Is anyone else using Google Maps/Navigation on a Note 3 with Tmobile?
How good does it do GPS lock?
You know one thing? If your maps are cached, you don't even need internet to get a GPS lock......
Sent from my amazing Exynos Note 3.
Neo3D said:
How does Google Navigation work? Does it depend on GPS or cellular network or both?
I have a Tmobile Note 3 and sometimes, when my mobile data is showing "E" the Google Maps app can't even get a GPS lock?
Is it the phone? Do I have a lemon?
My friend has a Galaxy Note 3 on Verizon and her Google Maps worked just fine. Her data was showing 4G LTE.
Is anyone here an expert on how Google Maps works? I thought it only needed GPS? I tried all the different GPS settings ("full", power save, GPS only, etc) and none of them made any difference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"E" mean edge which is 2.4g network and slower internet. with "E" the maps slower to download map images, sometime very slower it cant load the full map and it stuck. as the map not loaded the gps doesnt work.
I'm not on Tmobile but whenever I'm traveling on rural areas out of the city, it doesnt work properly until it get a HSPDA network. and for this situation its better to keep it in high accuracy mode, but without gps the navigation doesnt give proper location.
Google maps can work only with gps & data/wifi...But i think if you search on the internet, there is a way to work gMaps and navigate offline!!
google maps uses your data and GPS.
you can 'download' areas to make it work without data and only on GPS.
https://support.google.com/gmm/answer/3273567?hl=en-GB
I gave up on GM and tried various data free satnav type aps,I now use navfree
soumen.sam said:
"E" mean edge which is 2.4g network and slower internet. with "E" the maps slower to download map images, sometime very slower it cant load the full map and it stuck. as the map not loaded the gps doesnt work.
I'm not on Tmobile but whenever I'm traveling on rural areas out of the city, it doesnt work properly until it get a HSPDA network. and for this situation its better to keep it in high accuracy mode, but without gps the navigation doesnt give proper location.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I'm on "E," it says "Searching for GPS" like forever and never locks. It's quite frustrating.
Neo3D said:
When I'm on "E," it says "Searching for GPS" like forever and never locks. It's quite frustrating.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try do the same thing on a high speed network like wifi, hspds. If that doesnt work go to app, clear all google map app data and cache and then try again.
Please make sure if you have the issue with the GPS hardware then it will does same on highspeed network too. Mine does something same, but i forgot how it does on Edge.
Also what type of cover you're using, if any. magnets of cover sometime malfunction hardware, like compass spen etc, mine effect on spen. So if you're using any cover with magnet the try with removing it.
According to me this phone could malfunction any hardware, its nothing weird, mine vibration doesnt working these days, its a 6month new phone and never dropped.
soumen.sam said:
Try do the same thing on a high speed network like wifi, hspds. If that doesnt work go to app, clear all google map app data and cache and then try again.
Please make sure if you have the issue with the GPS hardware then it will does same on highspeed network too. Mine does something same, but i forgot how it does on Edge.
Also what type of cover you're using, if any. magnets of cover sometime malfunction hardware, like compass spen etc, mine effect on spen. So if you're using any cover with magnet the try with removing it.
According to me this phone could malfunction any hardware, its nothing weird, mine vibration doesnt working these days, its a 6month new phone and never dropped.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The GPS lock works fine when I have LTE. But, the arrow thing looks like it's drifting when I'm driving sometimes. For example, it sometimes doesn't point in the same direction that I'm driving. I tried resetting my compass with the figure 8 trick already, doesn't help.
I have a TPU cover.
Let's start from the beginning:
You can set what is used for your location:
under KK my phone has following options:
1 High accuracy - uses GPS, wifi and cell network
2 power save - uses wifi and mobile network only
3 gps only
So the question is not "what is used for location", but "how is your phone set up?"
Any other setting but 1st, will have issues.
if settings are proper then try using GPS test or gps status program to see if hardware is working properly. if that's ok, maybe need to clear cache or reinstall program.

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