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Has anyone managed to get their GPS Locking in Google Maps?
I've used QuickGPS to download the database and set Google Maps to use GPS but it never gets a fix.
When in TomTom it knows theres satalites about but doesn't connect to any.
Wondering if I have a duff.... anyone else?
How fast do you connect to satalites?
Have you been out of the house? Some houses really interferre with the connection.
Also, maybe there are some settings in the application you have to change? It should get a fix pretty quick. (first time from 10 sec tot 60, after that, below 10 sec).
So you have updated the quick GPS? Did you (after running tomtom and getting the update for the first time) do a soft reset?
quarintus said:
Have you been out of the house? Some houses really interferre with the connection.
Also, maybe there are some settings in the application you have to change? It should get a fix pretty quick. (first time from 10 sec tot 60, after that, below 10 sec).
So you have updated the quick GPS? Did you (after running tomtom and getting the update for the first time) do a soft reset?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, did a soft reset after I turned A-GPS on in Advanced Config program. Have tried it in work which usually gets a fix, but will try outdoors, just thought I'd ask the question first
why did you do it on in advanced config? maybe that's where it went wrong. Can't remember me having to put A-GPS on in advanced Config program.
I had the issue in google maps where I could not get a lock. I had to manually configure connectivity to com port 4 in settings.
After that it has worked perfectly. I cannot say if TomTom works or not as I am waiting for my ne SD card to be delivered.
I have however noticed that everytime I sync with active sync QuickGPS always moans it is out of date even thoguh I might have updated it about 1/2 an hour ago.
Its not a major issue as its connected to my PC and just downloads the data again. i'm just ignoring it.
Do not use A-gps.
I have my TP2 fixing with no problem without it: first fix in 55", then always under 10".
Try and use for first fix Quickgps.
ninja.rogue said:
Do not use A-gps.
I have my TP2 fixing with no problem without it: first fix in 55", then always under 10".
Try and use for first fix Quickgps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Brilliant, turned off A-GPS and loaded TomTom 7.915/Google Maps, got a lock, even indoors.
Spot on, thanks for that!
Turn off A-GPS?
I keep seeing that to make the GPS work better, while also using QuickGPS, the A-GPS should be turned off?
How do I do this?
I have only had the Touch Pro2 for a few days, but have not been able to get a satellite lock in Google Maps even when standing outside away from many buildings.
If it would work better with A-GPS disabled, please tell me how to do this!
Thanks,
Dazzer
Dazzer said:
I keep seeing that to make the GPS work better, while also using QuickGPS, the A-GPS should be turned off?
How do I do this?
I have only had the Touch Pro2 for a few days, but have not been able to get a satellite lock in Google Maps even when standing outside away from many buildings.
If it would work better with A-GPS disabled, please tell me how to do this!
Thanks,
Dazzer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It should be turned off by default, I turned mine on using a program called Advanced Config.
nicelad_uk said:
It should be turned off by default, I turned mine on using a program called Advanced Config.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, thanks, just going to go try Google Maps again to see if I can get a lock. Maybe I just wasn't outside long enough, or far enough away from buildings last time.
Hopefully I can make GPS work soon
Ok, I just sat outside for about 20 minutes, in the middle of a field, away from any buildings, and was unable to get any GPS lock!
What is wrong here?
I have not touched the GPS Port settings in the control panel, but Google Maps only says Seeking Satellites (0) all the time.
If I do change Google Maps to use COM 4 Baud 4800, it gets worse and says Seeking Satellites (48037656) or some other equally stupid number! At least 0 makes sense, as there are not millions of GPS satellites, only about 20!
Please help, surely there is some way to make GPS work?
Thanks,
DW
Hi all,
AGPS is not currently supported by any UK Networks, so should be turned off if in the UK.
Cheers,
Beasty
i think i ended up setting all mine to com0 but i think it wasn't working originally coz i was sitting in the car and it badly needs a wash (yes that bad). Just stuck it up by window for around 2 mins and it had 8 satellites but i've reset it so often since i last used the gps i wouldn't have been surprised with around 5 mins ... 20 on the other hand is a bit daft
Yeah, I'm beginning to wonder if there is something wrong with settings somewhere, as in 20 minutes outside it never indicated a single satellite in Google Maps.
I have downloaded the Advanced Configuration tool, and it says that A-GPS is Disabled, which is correct for the UK, so there is nothing to change here.
I have tried changing the Port settings, but I don't know what I should change it too. The Hardware GPS port is blank!
Getting close to giving up for the day, but I really want to get GPS working soon!
Dazzer said:
Yeah, I'm beginning to wonder if there is something wrong with settings somewhere, as in 20 minutes outside it never indicated a single satellite in Google Maps.
I have downloaded the Advanced Configuration tool, and it says that A-GPS is Disabled, which is correct for the UK, so there is nothing to change here.
I have tried changing the Port settings, but I don't know what I should change it too. The Hardware GPS port is blank!
Getting close to giving up for the day, but I really want to get GPS working soon!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, I had the same problems, have you updated Quick GPS? Are you using Google Maps?
If you go into settings and go to External GPS my GPS Program Port os COM4 next page GPS Hardware Port is none and Baud Rate is 4800.
Make sure settings are same and restart phone.
Have you installed anything since getting phone? Might be worth doing hard reset and trying is "out of the box" so to speak.
I could confirm the GPS is working and flawlessly! Much quicker than my old HTC P3600i and the locking is done in the CBD area!
I used the QuickGPS (download the latest update) and then using my GPS software called TechrificWay for Australian (it's a rebrand of NavNGo iGo MyWay 8)
Very happy ^^
(I need to set the TechrificWay application settings to find the GPS unit on COM4 though)
I actually spoke to HTC today and they think it's actually a fault with the hardware, possibly the internal antenna for the GPS is not connected properly.
Slightly annoying as I now need to send it back to get a replacement, or have it repaired, but good in that it's not a problem with me using it! There definitely is something wrong that I can't fix, I just can't wait to get one that works now!
I can get a lock, but get bad lag, and it wonders off course regularly. I wonder if it could be that the radio is not that great for GPS, as many other HTCs have suffered with GPS performance that has gotten better with certain flashed radios?
HTC gave me a generic response of "check these settings" (which were all as they should be in terms of com port and baud rate etc... So I think I'll have to call them if it keeps crapping out on me
(Fortunately) For me it turned out to be a genuine hardware fault causing the GPS to not work. I spoke to HTC and they believe I was the first in the UK to need to get a replacement due to a genuine hardware fault, which I guess is an honor (just a very annoying one!).
Even with the GPS not working for the week that I used it, I loved the handset, can't fault it, and can't wait until tomorrow when I should be receiving my brand new replacement, hopefully with working GPS and no faults!
Thanks for the suggestions here though, I needed to make sure it was a hardware fault before sending it back for a replacement.
I've tested three over 30km trips with Tom Tom 7 installed on the device.
Haven't lost a signal once. So it works fine here in Finland.
________________________________________
Check out my in-depth review of HTC's Touch Pro2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgTjS...e=channel_page
I have downloaded the 4.0 update. Now I get a Weak GPS signal alert after it searches for roughly 10 minutes.
I have tried all Com0-9 ports, hard resets, and uninstalling/reinstalling Google Maps 4.0
I have the US Cellular HTC Touch Pro 2, WM 6.5 pro, running the standard ROM.
Is this a HTC hardware issue, Google Maps issue, or USCC tower issues??
I had no problem finding 8 - 10 satellites with the old version.
Using my Tilt2 with stock ROM, Google Maps 4.0 got a fix for me.
GPS is a piece of garbage for this phone, at least for me,
It just never worked again for me since the stock rom (always says seeking satellites 0)
Alos,
"My location" is always is in the same spot (I can be miles away and says i'm in the same place)
I haven't done any research on this two issues, maybe some has my problems too?
Well maybe you should try this.
After I flash a new rom to get gps to work I have to do this.
Run "htcGPStool"
Leave phone outside for about 3-5mins until it gets a lock. After that my gps locks in 30seconds or less
ps, the baud rate for the tilt 2 is 57600- com 4
try the link in my signature for the aGPS cab.
This enables aGPS and changes the servers from the public ones which are configured on HTC (and many other devices) by default to the nokia ones which are maintained better and lead to a faster lock.
After installing the cab, run and update/download QuickGPS and make sure you have a data connection enabled then either try google again or htcGPStool or any other gps utility and see how fast you get a lock then
initial lock might take up to a minute, but locks after that come almost instantly.
fone_fanatic said:
make sure you have a data connection enabled
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why does one need a data connection for GPS? OK, for Google Maps, yes, but just getting a fix doesn't require one -- or does your CAB do something that /does/ require a data connection?
A while ago I read people enabling bluetooth to get GPS working. Yesterday I disabled the cellular phone and it looked like GPS was locking after this. Not a fix if you ask me anyways...
pistou said:
Why does one need a data connection for GPS? OK, for Google Maps, yes, but just getting a fix doesn't require one -- or does your CAB do something that /does/ require a data connection?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you need a data connection for aGPS. GPS itself does not need one, but the a in aGPS stands for assisted where it uses your data connection to connect to a server to locate you more precisely.
(My understanding of this is that basically your device sends info to the server about which cell site towers are near you, the server uses this info to tell your device which satellites are best for your location, so your device isn't just looking for every sat. its looking for specific ones.)
Here's the wiki for aGPS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assisted_GPS
Theres also a bunch of websites with more info regarding aGPS but its best to have your data connection enabled if you want to use aGPS.
gotwake424 said:
Well maybe you should try this.
After I flash a new rom to get gps to work I have to do this.
Run "htcGPStool"
Leave phone outside for about 3-5mins until it gets a lock. After that my gps locks in 30seconds or less
ps, the baud rate for the tilt 2 is 57600- com 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is "htcGPStool" QuickGPS on the programs list?? If not, explain thank you. As for the baud rate, etc... are you talking about the GPS hardware port? My settings say (none) and Baud rate: 4800???? This I have never messed with, could this be the problem??
ATT Tilt 2 w/ stock ROM...Loaded google 4.0 today with no connectivity issues. I normally able to locked my GPS signal in seconds.....
dataylor said:
Is "htcGPStool" QuickGPS on the programs list?? If not, explain thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, "HTC gps tool" is not the same as QuickGPS and it doesn't do the same thing.
AFAIK, QuickGPS talks to a server and gets info on where/what satellites should be visible for your location, your location determined from triangulation (or some kind of location) of nearby cell towers.
HTCGPStool uses the GPS functionality of your phone in some way that helps subsequent lock on satellites. Honestly, I don't know exactly what/how it does -- but it's not the same as Quick GPS.
MCbrian said:
No, "HTC gps tool" is not the same as QuickGPS and it doesn't do the same thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, where is htcGPStool??? Looked through the settings and have not found anything that directs me to HTC gps tool.
I have an "external GPS" icon that directs me to GPS settings allowing me to change GPS program ports, and the GPS hardware ports.
Brodie619 said:
ATT Tilt 2 w/ stock ROM...Loaded google 4.0 today with no connectivity issues. I normally able to locked my GPS signal in seconds.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
awesome, It locates me just find just doesn't find any satellites. Then I get Weak GPS signal screen.
MCbrian said:
No, "HTC gps tool" is not the same as QuickGPS and it doesn't do the same thing.
AFAIK, QuickGPS talks to a server and gets info on where/what satellites should be visible for your location, your location determined from triangulation (or some kind of location) of nearby cell towers.
HTCGPStool uses the GPS functionality of your phone in some way that helps subsequent lock on satellites. Honestly, I don't know exactly what/how it does -- but it's not the same as Quick GPS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
QuickGPS downloads the ephemeris data so that it can predict where the satelites are, which ones are visible, and which ones to use. From that data it is able to get a fix faster. There is no fix derived from ephemeris data, and any GPS will work without it. The GPS device in that case must basically just scan channels and listen for enough data to get a fix.
That all said; no problems here with Google Maps.. If I'm inside I'll often get a location approximation based on cell ID's and whatever goes on behind that location calculation and depending upon how the building is constructed I may or may not get a GPS signal eventually. For example my house, no problem, I might see the approximate location for 10s then the real GPS location. At work with heavy beamed roofs and several layers of metal between me and the sky I'll never get a signal inside except beside a window. If I'm outside, I nearly immediately get a GPS fix.
http://www.how-gps-works.com/glossary/ephemeris-data.shtml
As far as I know HTC GPS Tool does nothing except allow you to basically reset the GPS, ie: perform a warm or cold restart on it. Perhaps this will help, vs rebooting the phone, if GPS is not behaving. I very rarely will find the GPS is simply not functioning after a reboot.
This tool also might let you change the COM and BAUD but you would not likely need to do that on a phone with a built-in GPS. Even if you were using an external bluetooth GPS I'm not sure you'd want to change the COM/BAUD here, you'd simply use the COM port you set up with that bluetooth device.
That all said, the only time I don't get an immediate GPS fix in Google Maps is if I'm indoors. If I'm in a light structure, like my house, I'll get a cellular approximation for 10-20s. If I'm at work with many beams and much metal above me I'll never get a fix inside.
Let me try to be more specific.
1. When utilizing the app, it locates me within 3100 meters. (pressing the blue button, lower right hand corner)
2. After about 10 minutes of the upper right hand corner stating "seeking GPS satellites (0)" the screen gives me a Weak GPS signal message.
3. I have tried changing com 0-9 ports, with no luck.
4. GPS is enabled
5. I have hard reset the device and reloaded all my working apps.
6. I have uninstalled/reinstalled Google Maps 4.0
7. I have tried different locations throughout Northeast, WISCONSIN.
8. I have tried it while utilizing WIFI. No luck
9. I have tried the Bluetooth remedy. No luck
10. Waiting on replies from HTC, USCC, and GOOGLE.
11. XDA so far is the only place with anybody responding.
HTC Weather TAB
Just got done talking to a USCC tech rep.
He has stated that he is unable to give any technical help with the Google Map app. (no kidding sherlock) He was not even of any help when it comes to the GPS settings, but he did state I am the second person that he has talked to with the same problem.
Now to see how quickly HTC, or Google responds.
The only worry I have is not knowing if it is a hardware issue that should be corrected by HTC. I noticed the HTC WEATHER tab works fine. is this using the same GPS settings as the Google Map app??
also, I have been holding out on the aGPS cab posted earlier. If, and when, I use this fix I will post the results.
dataylor said:
Ok, where is htcGPStool??? Looked through the settings and have not found anything that directs me to HTC gps tool.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HTC GPS Tool is not a standard app. Some cooks include it in their custom roms. I don't have a link for it handy, but if you search on the forum boards for "HTC GPS Tool" you'll find it.
That said, I don't know how important it is anyway...
ok, talked to an HTC tech. We checked the settings and these where adjusted. Still nothing. Got rid of Google Maps and tryd BING, and still nothing. HTC TF3D Weather tab seemed to update just fine, this gave the tech a reason to dump me on MSN and Google. Do you really think BING and GOOGLE share some programming similiarities????
Did you run Quick gps? That did it for me when I first got my phone.
It is installed under the programs lists.
dataylor said:
ok, talked to an HTC tech. We checked the settings and these where adjusted. Still nothing. Got rid of Google Maps and tryd BING, and still nothing. HTC TF3D Weather tab seemed to update just fine, this gave the tech a reason to dump me on MSN and Google. Do you really think BING and GOOGLE share some programming similiarities????
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think they both access GPS via WM. Maybe HTC Sense (Weather tab) directly access the GPS?
The gps is not very good atleast it is not working very well in my phone.
I tried using cardio trainer. And the gps jumps about. Plus the gps signal shown is very low can anyone put their phone gps through the paces and then tell me should I ask for a replacement or its in all phones
Mines fine.
Mine works fine, GPS is actually pretty good as navigation tells you the road names..!
Dopedangel said:
The gps is not very good atleast it is not working very well in my phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you clarify if you're talking about hardware or software?
And did you compare GS with other GPS at the very same time and place?
I too am seeing poor performance with the GPS. Seems to be a hardware issue.
I did a test over the weekend comparing my Galaxy S with a friend's HTC Desire. Using one of the many GPS utilities the Desire was consistently seeing and locking more satellites when stood in an open area outside. When running Google maps and showing the current location I found that the "accuracy circle" (for want of a better description) was growing and shrinking several times a minute causing the map to zoom in and out.
I've also noticed that the compass is almost unusable and showing a much lower signal compared to the Desire. I did perform the figure of 8 calibration several times.
Not tried the GPS yet, but I'm amazed how accurate network location is on this thing.
On my old G1 network location was laughable, but this thing knows pretty much exactly where it is without GPS.
MarvinTheAndroid said:
Not tried the GPS yet, but I'm amazed how accurate network location is on this thing.
On my old G1 network location was laughable, but this thing knows pretty much exactly where it is without GPS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
probably having wifi on? google can locate you more precise cause it has registered every wifi network during the streetview picture taking.
tommy34 said:
probably having wifi on? google can locate you more precise cause it has registered every wifi network during the streetview picture taking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, this is with wifi turned off.
tommy34 said:
probably having wifi on? google can locate you more precise cause it has registered every wifi network during the streetview picture taking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol what kind of anti-google propaganda have you been reading?
Google streetview cars collected data of open wifi networks.
Besides from the fact that google doesn't use the data (which it isn't allowed to have), there are by far not enough open wifi networks to find your location.
Also. You have to have at least 3 networks to be able to determine a location using wifi access points.
So the statement you just made is rubbish and ofcourse nonsense...
BasieP said:
Lol what kind of anti-google propaganda have you been reading?
Google streetview cars collected data of open wifi networks.
Besides from the fact that google doesn't use the data (which it isn't allowed to have), there are by far not enough open wifi networks to find your location.
Also. You have to have at least 3 networks to be able to determine a location using wifi access points.
So the statement you just made is rubbish and ofcourse nonsense...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i dont care about it, i like it.
hmm. just figured this because where i live there arent any open networks and with wifi on it knows my exact location. Without wifi it has a 1600 m radius.
The GPS seems to work flawlessly for me at least.
BasieP said:
Google streetview cars collected data of open wifi networks. Besides from the fact that google doesn't use the data (which it isn't allowed to have), there are by far not enough open wifi networks to find your location.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google collected the SSID and MAC addresses for all of the wifi networks they found, with the explicit intention of using them as an additional source of location data. They also inadvertently collected more data from open networks, and that's what they're in trouble for.
googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/wifi-data-collection-update.html
yes and the new google navigation api in the i9000 and android appears to use this data as the damn thing turns on your wifi even when off when gps tries to get a fix!
lgkahn said:
yes and the new google navigation api in the i9000 and android appears to use this data as the damn thing turns on your wifi even when off when gps tries to get a fix!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you can disable it in location settings then it wont look for wireless data
Dopedangel said:
you can disable it in location settings then it wont look for wireless data
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nope it is disabled and try to get a gps fix.. wifi still comes on and then goes off.. not sure what it is doing.
I got mine and tested.
In the beginning I had a perfect fix on location. When I started moving, however, I experienced this "jumping around" issue with a huge loss of accuracy. The circle of accuracy was also changing constantly. I think I show something about the wifi seeing (or not being able to see - can't remember) some hotspots although my wi-fi was turned off.
Maybe indeed - the phone detects wifi networks even if the wifi as such is off and possibly compares it to an internal database (thus explaining the persistence of the problem even when the radio is off and the phone is not connected on the net).
Do you know any good free program that would allow me to get some test data - e.g. number of satellites / signal quality etc (unless there is already one somewhere in the interface - I am new to Android).
Can someone else run a test? Can some one run a test in an area where no wifi exists.
That's bad news,i'm really interested in this phone (money-forgiving for a while ),but i need great gps performances...
Evans_Prophet said:
Do you know any good free program that would allow me to get some test data - e.g. number of satellites / signal quality etc (unless there is already one somewhere in the interface - I am new to Android).
Can someone else run a test? Can some one run a test in an area where no wifi exists.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try "GPS Test" its on the market for free. From my test the GPS is actually quite nice, several 18-25 SNR connections and a few 26-30 SNR ones ( When outside I even find one or two 31-40 SNR ones which is really great).
Anyway I notice that GPS had become far more accurate when I disabled the Wifi-location option. The only problem is that locking down takes some time ( about 10-20 seconds max) in my area.
kitsune223 said:
Try "GPS Test" its on the market for free. From my test the GPS is actually quite nice, several 18-25 SNR connections and a few 26-30 SNR ones ( When outside I even find one or two 31-40 SNR ones which is really great).
Anyway I notice that GPS had become far more accurate when I disabled the Wifi-location option. The only problem is that locking down takes some time ( about 10-20 seconds max) in my area.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok - i will test with that and revert..
By the way, in my wm6 Touch HD there was a utility called quickgps which would download data from server instead of having them downloaded from a satellite with a low speed connection. This increased speed of cold lock. Furthermore there was also another option to enable assisted gps (not sure whether this was different from the quick gps application and what this did exactly). I wonder whether these application / features are automatically enabled in our case.
Evans_Prophet said:
I got mine and tested.
In the beginning I had a perfect fix on location. When I started moving, however, I experienced this "jumping around" issue with a huge loss of accuracy. The circle of accuracy was also changing constantly. I think I show something about the wifi seeing (or not being able to see - can't remember) some hotspots although my wi-fi was turned off.
Maybe indeed - the phone detects wifi networks even if the wifi as such is off and possibly compares it to an internal database (thus explaining the persistence of the problem even when the radio is off and the phone is not connected on the net).
Do you know any good free program that would allow me to get some test data - e.g. number of satellites / signal quality etc (unless there is already one somewhere in the interface - I am new to Android).
Can someone else run a test? Can some one run a test in an area where no wifi exists.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It can also be a problem of google navigation beta?? Did anyone try another gps navigator?
i felt the same thing about GPS, as it is not that good , as there's no wi-fi Google can detect hear. the performance was not that good at all!.
but tonight i used the GPS without the Wifi (i turned it off) and for a surprise the performance was amazing, I was with my friend in his car watching the road as he drive and watching the google map in my phone and was very good indeed.
that's strange!.
Anyone know why my GPS fix is so slow? It takes at least 10 minutes to get a fix..
I'm running - VaniljEclair RLS6
TW,
It really depends on the weather. If you look up and see clouds, it's going to be a while. If it's raining then it may never connect.
It also helps the have the best tools for the job. Use kallt_kaffe's latest kernel, and download and use "GPS Test" for connecting your GPS.
Dukenukemx said:
It really depends on the weather. If you look up and see clouds, it's going to be a while. If it's raining then it may never connect.
It also helps the have the best tools for the job. Use kallt_kaffe's latest kernel, and download and use "GPS Test" for connecting your GPS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's clear outside so its not weather related.
I'm curious what the"GPS Test" tool actually does? and just exactly what the phone is doing causing it to take so long.
Thanks,
The way GPS works is as follows.
In order to know your position on a 2 dimensional plane, you need 2 coordinates, X and Y, however in order to know your position on a 3 dimensional object, you need 3 coordinates, X, Y and Z, what we need to know is our position in a 4 dimensional space, which requires not only X, Y Z and V, so that's a lot of data right there, and to further complicate things, the satellites themselves are in motion, also in 4 dimensions.
Ok if that hasn't messed with your head, consider this, your phone only receives GPS data from the satellites, it does not transmit anything, so how does your phone know where the satellites are? simple, the satellites transmit their position, the time, their velocity and heading, ( actually it's slightly more complicated, but I'm not getting into orbital mechanics, lol).
So in order to be able to fix a position, your phone must download this data from each satellite in view, process and compare it with all the other data in order to get an initial fix.
As if this was not complicated enough, you must also realise that the satellite data is continually transmitting in an updating loop, so if the receiver gets bad data from one sat, it must discard that set and start again.
Once the initial fix is made, it's a simple matter to continually update the devices position, but once the gps is turned off, it may take some time to resynchronise, especially if the user has moved to another location before restarting gps.
To operate with reasonable accuracy, (within a few tens of metres), you must have a good signal from at least 4 satellites, more just refines the accuracy.
So why ten minutes? Well there are a number of factors, weather does play a part, but not as much as some think, typically you will lose lock on the weaker satellites, giving less accuracy.
Surrounding buildings and trees are actually great at blocking GPS signals, so in wooded or built up areas, expect slower fixes, less accuracy, and dropped locks.
Movement, this is actually the biggest problem, if you are in motion during the initial fix period, there is a high probability that your own motion will cause problems, since the gps data may be changing too fast for the device to cope with, which will cause it to continually discard data that may be valid.
All in all, the best practice is to find somewhere stationary, away from buildings and trees, turn on GPS, and just wait for it to lock, it will usually take 5 minutes from cold start, perhaps up to 10 minutes in some cases.
Once the initial fix is established, it takes less time to refix after gps is turned off, since the last data is kept in the device for future reference, (which is why it can take more time to fix if you turn off gps and then move 10K or so before turning it on again).
Winmo has a few advantages over Android for gps, since on WM you can download a 'snapshot' of the satellite data in order to 'jump start' the gps to get a faster fix, that plus cell location and agps make it much faster to get up and running compared to Android on our hardware, which lacks cell location and agps.
What GPS Test does is simply show you a lot more data than you would normally see, satellite positions, signal strengths, number of sats visible, number in use by you. Basically it lets you see that some data is actually being received by your device, how strong the signal is, and if the device has locked to a satellite. I highly recommend getting GPS Test from market if you use gps, used it on WM, and the Android port is just as good, ( I got the paid version, but the free one is excellent too).
Any questions?
zenity said:
The way GPS works is as follows.
...
Winmo has a few advantages over Android for gps, since on WM you can download a 'snapshot' of the satellite data in order to 'jump start' the gps to get a faster fix, that plus cell location and agps make it much faster to get up and running compared to Android on our hardware, which lacks cell location and agps.
...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Terrific write up!
So, GPS Test won't help speed up the positioning so therefore there isn't a need to download it unless your curious about any of the other settings, thanks.
Since the WM version was a bit quicker in getting the position by downloading a file is there something in the works to try and incorporate this process into Droid?
After it finds a fix, if the handset suspends is there a need to re-aquire the sats or wait again for the same process?
Thanks,
Well GPS Test won't speed up the initial or subsequent fixes, but it does give a good indication that gps is actually working, and receiving/processing the data, and once fixed, you just close that and start your preferred gps app, which will fix almost instantly since the data is current.
I don't think we have anything for android that does the same as the WM gps app, could be wrong, but have not seen anything yet.
The slowest is the initial fix, after that it usually fixes faster, suspended or powered down, only reinstall/wipe data will usually require such a long fix time again, however as I said, there are a number of factors, movement being perhaps the biggest cause of delay.
However once fixed, Android is comparable to WM, even better in some cases, since I never could get my all time favourite GPS software (trekbuddy), to work in WM, it is great in Android though
I don't think we have anything for android that does the same as the WM gps app, could be wrong, but have not seen anything yet.
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Click to collapse
i also looked and found nothing
The slowest is the initial fix, after that it usually fixes faster, suspended or powered down, only reinstall/wipe data will usually require such a long fix time again, however as I said, there are a number of factors, movement being perhaps the biggest cause of delay.
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mine also takes forever every time unless i havnt moved and switch apps within 10 minutes.
However once fixed, Android is comparable to WM, even better in some cases, since I never could get my all time favourite GPS software (trekbuddy), to work in WM, it is great in Android though
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i lose gps on the highway, unlike when i had wimo
i still think its odd that i can see 6, 7, 8 sats for 2 or 3 minutes before getting a lock
Thinking about trying this on a friends Eris, but other android devices get a lock very quickly. The other devices have working tower location, so does the android gps system use the tower location to speed up gps lock?
I'm going to take my friends Eris and turn off all radio functions, then run GPS test to see what happens and how long a lock takes...
Ok, tried a few things on the Eris. In airplane mode, launched GPS test in a lock in under 10 seconds. Restarted the phone, still in airplane mode, and immediatly launch gps test and a lock in under 10 seconds.
Do these other phones have GPS chips have almanac caching or does the OS have some way of storing almanac data to assit the GPS.
As far as I am aware, from previous experience of GPS devices, the last ephemeris data is cached in the device chipset, allowing a faster start up, provided the user has not moved too far, or left gps off long enough to make the data too old. However I do not have enough information to make more than guess that it is hardware based rather than OS based caching.
Cell tower location allows GPS to establish a 3 dimensional fix, (remember gps needs more than 3 dimensions to establish a true fix), not enough to be totally accurate, but within 20-50 Metres, which is ideal for 'seeding' the incoming gps data from satellite, allowing even faster start up, since the gps chipset does not have to do nearly as much calculation and correlation on the data, since it already knows roughly where it is.
So the delay we experience in getting a gps fix with Android on our devices has one main cause, lack of cell tower location, and it's possible that the ephemeris data cache may not be getting processed, if this is indeed cached by the hardware, and not by the OS.
Some of you may have noticed a file called gps.conf in /system/etc
It looks like this:
Code:
NTP_SERVER=north-america.pool.ntp.org
XTRA_SERVER_1=http://xtra1.gpsonextra.net/xtra.bin
XTRA_SERVER_2=http://xtra2.gpsonextra.net/xtra.bin
XTRA_SERVER_3=http://xtra3.gpsonextra.net/xtra.bin
SUPL_HOST=supl.google.com
SUPL_PORT=7276
NTP is a protocol for getting accurate time from servers on the internet.
xtra.bin is asfaik the satellite almanac.
SUPL_HOST is for AGPS.
My guess is that a "real" android libgps uses this information to do a few things to help the GPS out.
1. Give it the current time
2. Prime it with the almanac
3. Use the AGPS data to provide it with correction data etc.
We could do some HaRET magic to monitor what the QuickGPS software send to the GPS chip and make our own QuickGPS tool for android or even build that into libgps.so. It's possible but is it worth the time? I don't know. I would give it a go if I wasn't allready lacking time to do everything I want to do.
kallt_kaffe said:
Some of you may have noticed a file called gps.conf in /system/etc
It looks like this:
Code:
NTP_SERVER=north-america.pool.ntp.org
XTRA_SERVER_1=http://xtra1.gpsonextra.net/xtra.bin
XTRA_SERVER_2=http://xtra2.gpsonextra.net/xtra.bin
XTRA_SERVER_3=http://xtra3.gpsonextra.net/xtra.bin
SUPL_HOST=supl.google.com
SUPL_PORT=7276
NTP is a protocol for getting accurate time from servers on the internet.
xtra.bin is asfaik the satellite almanac.
SUPL_HOST is for AGPS.
My guess is that a "real" android libgps uses this information to do a few things to help the GPS out.
1. Give it the current time
2. Prime it with the almanac
3. Use the AGPS data to provide it with correction data etc.
We could do some HaRET magic to monitor what the QuickGPS software send to the GPS chip and make our own QuickGPS tool for android or even build that into libgps.so. It's possible but is it worth the time? I don't know. I would give it a go if I wasn't allready lacking time to do everything I want to do.
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Click to collapse
Ah, that makes sense, since Agps uses an internet server to prime the gps chipset, and if I recall correctly QuickGPS is similar, but provides the weeks Ephemeris data. Ephemeris, Almanac and Time are the three main data components of GPS, ( almanac being the one I tend to forget about....).
Perhaps changing a few server addresses in gps.conf may provide us with some aggps functionality, but I am now wondering if perhaps agps is 'broken' in our builds, or perhaps I have never noticed any data activity.
Just had a look at the website address http://xtra1.gpsonextra.net/xtra.bin, which allows me to download what I assume is the data file, so what we need to complete the puzzle is, what uses gps.conf, and where does it put the data file?, Also does anything use that data file if present?
GPS is currently pretty much useless in that it just never gets a fix, today I waited 10 minutes and still nothing - I went back to WM to use GPS, so any development in this area would be sweet!
TW,
Not sure exactly what is going on there, last night I installed the latest nbh from kallt, plus his RLS7b eclair build, this morning I started gps for the first time, using gpstest I got a first fix in under 3 minutes, which is faster than average.
Sent from my HTC Kaiser using Tapatalk
zenity said:
Not sure exactly what is going on there, last night I installed the latest nbh from kallt, plus his RLS7b eclair build, this morning I started gps for the first time, using gpstest I got a first fix in under 3 minutes, which is faster than average.
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Click to collapse
I'm using the same setup at the minute, tried GPS this morning and it got a fix on the move in about 5mins which isn't bad, my girlfriends HTC Hero got a fix in under a minute though and it's the first time it has connected and it's true that WM is much faster when quickGPS is updated. Any improvements here are very welcome, maybe i'll have a look into it too.
you could edit gps.conf according to your own pool server
a list of these servers can be found here. May make a small difference for some people.
Please post if this helped getting a quicker fix
http://www.pool.ntp.org/en/
Update:
i used the appropriate time server for my country (netherlands),
i used a fresh device (android had never ran on it, though the android on sdcard has been used on other devices)
i went to the toilet very quick, when i came back there was a fix.
So please go see if this makes a difference for you, and post your experiences in here
I seriously don't think it will matter what you put in gps.conf at the moment. What we need to know is how this is used on a "real" android phone.
I've tried to find some GPS code in the Hero kernel source in the past but found almost nothing and the libgps for HTC devices are asfaik closed source so I guess it's in libgps all the "magic" takes place. (I fact, for Kaisers the it would be more "right" to do our NMEA parsing in libgps instead of doing it in the kernel but since libgps evolved around the Vogue it was made in the kernel to make it appear just like the vogue gps data to libgps.so.)
So I'm guessing that a "real" libgps.so reads gps.conf, get's some data and feeds it to the GPS. Likely with AT-commands. It is possible though that it is the ril interface that does it. We have the source for our ril lib and our gpslib and I know for sure we don't do any prime:ing in the our libgps. (The sources are here: http://androidhtc.git.sourceforge.net/git/gitweb-index.cgi?p=gitroot/androidhtc/bootenv/)
It is possible to do dump stuff with HaRET when you for example enable the GPS (I've done it in the past following instructions from dzo) and also when you run QuickGPS and try to match the information sent with the information in xtra.bin. I also expect we should find it sending the current UTC time which by it self propably could speed up fix times.
Once we know what to do we either build it into libgps or we make an Android app similar to QuickGPS.
In fact, I found some dumps laying around....
At boot WinMo sends the system time to the Radio with this command:
[email protected]=2,21,43,2010,5,12
I would say the format is H,M,S,YYYY,M,D even though values are a bit strange because the files are dated 2010-05-11 but it's possible that the WinMo clock was a bit f*cked up at the moment.
Perhaps our rild is allready sending this (someone should check the source)
Otherwise you could try this and se if it helps:
echo -e "[email protected]=x\r" > /dev/smd0
(replaceing the x with the current time and date of course)
Just tried and it was going on 10 minutes with no fix...
TW,
Have you tried gpstest to see if it's actually receiving a signal at all? It is possible that you have a hardware issue, perhaps a broken antenna connection?
If that were the case then it shouldn't work in Windows and it does... ???
Strange...
Does Android require a data connection when getting a GPS fix?
TW,
Hey guys,
I tried searching on google but to no solution.
The problem is when I switch off all forms of data except cellular coverage, my location changes to a City where I'm not at. I went to that place maybe thrice since I got the phone.
My location in Maps, Weather or even location saved along when I take pictures will be that other/wrong location.
Its easily fixable by just starting one of the data services, but why should I even face it in the first place.
Its happened on all ROMs and wipes don't fix it. Done a full wipe twice from cwm.
My GPS works normally when I'm using maps, it takes about 30 seconds to get a lock on my location.
Any workaround or solution or fix? (except for not keeping data switched on all the time)
Thank You.
Cheers.
death__machine said:
Hey guys,
I tried searching on google but to no solution.
The problem is when I switch off all forms of data except cellular coverage, my location changes to a City where I'm not at. I went to that place maybe thrice since I got the phone.
My location in Maps, Weather or even location saved along when I take pictures will be that other/wrong location.
Its easily fixable by just starting one of the data services, but why should I even face it in the first place.
Its happened on all ROMs and wipes don't fix it. Done a full wipe twice from cwm.
My GPS works normally when I'm using maps, it takes about 30 seconds to get a lock on my location.
Any workaround or solution or fix? (except for not keeping data switched on all the time)
Thank You.
Cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Location without GPS is online service. I hope that answers your question about "fixing" it.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
There's three things at play in plotting location: 1) GPS, 2), aGPS, and 3) Geo-location
GPS is the onboard chip functioning alone to pick up satellite signals and lock on them. You can test how well your GPS chip alone works by putting the phone in airplane mode and rebooting it.
All aGPS does is use a wireless signal (Wi-FI or cellular) to help the chip get its first lock faster. Once lock is established the chip is on its own.
From Wiki...
"Assisted GPS is a system which can, under certain conditions, improve the startup performance, or time-to-first-fix (TTFF) of a GPS satellite-based positioning system. It is used extensively with GPS-capable cellular phones as its development was accelerated by the U.S. FCC's 911 mandate making the location of a cell phone available to emergency call dispatchers."
Geo-location uses wireless signals alone to approximate position. Devices w/o a GPS rely on this for location based services.
From Wiki...
"Geolocation is the identification of the real-world geographic location of an object, such as a radar, mobile phone or an Internet-connected computer terminal. Geolocation may refer to the practice of assessing the location, or to the actual assessed location."
Once the chip locks, it memorizes the position of the satellites. So if you had your wireless on to get first lock and then turned it off the chip is still using the satellite locations aGPS helped it find. If you want to test the performance of your chip itself reboot it in airplane mode. Download GPS Test from Play. It'll give you a much better picture of what's happening with your phone. I just tried it on mine and indoors it locked and got down to 15’ accuracy in less than a minute. Conditions affect performance but, at least outdoors, yours should do as well or better than mine. If it doesn’t, it’s a h/w problem.
tkolev said:
Location without GPS is online service. I hope that answers your question about "fixing" it.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
BarryH_GEG said:
There's three things at play in plotting location: 1) GPS, 2), aGPS, and 3) Geo-location
GPS is the onboard chip functioning alone to pick up satellite signals and lock on them. You can test how well your GPS chip alone works by putting the phone in airplane mode and rebooting it.
All aGPS does is use a wireless signal (Wi-FI or cellular) to help the chip get its first lock faster. Once lock is established the chip is on its own.
From Wiki...
"Assisted GPS is a system which can, under certain conditions, improve the startup performance, or time-to-first-fix (TTFF) of a GPS satellite-based positioning system. It is used extensively with GPS-capable cellular phones as its development was accelerated by the U.S. FCC's 911 mandate making the location of a cell phone available to emergency call dispatchers."
Geo-location uses wireless signals alone to approximate position. Devices w/o a GPS rely on this for location based services.
From Wiki...
"Geolocation is the identification of the real-world geographic location of an object, such as a radar, mobile phone or an Internet-connected computer terminal. Geolocation may refer to the practice of assessing the location, or to the actual assessed location."
Once the chip locks, it memorizes the position of the satellites. So if you had your wireless on to get first lock and then turned it off the chip is still using the satellite locations aGPS helped it find. If you want to test the performance of your chip itself reboot it in airplane mode. Download GPS Test from Play. It'll give you a much better picture of what's happening with your phone. I just tried it on mine and indoors it locked and got down to 15’ accuracy in less than a minute. Conditions affect performance but, at least outdoors, yours should do as well or better than mine. If it doesn’t, it’s a h/w problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, that was a very informative post.
Well I switched on GPS and put my phone in airplane mode and restarted. The Maps App keeps saying "Your current location is temporarily unavailable" and I can't figure how to use the GPS Test yet.
Okay, I did get a lock-on from the Maps and the GPS Test app. I went closer to my window lol . Now I'll see if my location comes up wrong.
Edit:Location came up accurate in weather.
Edit2:Location is accurate in a photo I clicked with everything off.
By accurate I hope you understand what I mean, when all the data goes off the phone should still think its in the place/location where it was when the data was on. Ii.e Surat in my case. But what used to happened before today(gps in airplane) was without data the phone will think its in Pune, which is a 12 hours drive from here.
I'm not the only one who's faced this, some say its a bug in sense :/
Anyways here's a thread I saw earlier
http://www.htconesource.com/forum/htc-one-x-discussion/1042-incorrect-location.html
The answers the guy gets are retarded.
To be sure, are you saying that when only on mobile data and relying upon that, you cannot get an accurate location down to 1 KM?
If so, this sounds like a software issue or a carrier issue.
If your GPS has poor reception then I would advise getting warranty repair. It might have the same issue as the Wifi antennas do.
Yeah just so you know pure GPS is line of sight, you have to have a clear view of the sky to work (no clouds either).
Sent from my HTC One X using xda app-developers app
Hunt3r.j2 said:
To be sure, are you saying that when only on mobile data and relying upon that, you cannot get an accurate location down to 1 KM?
If so, this sounds like a software issue or a carrier issue.
If your GPS has poor reception then I would advise getting warranty repair. It might have the same issue as the Wifi antennas do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
jonshipman said:
Yeah just so you know pure GPS is line of sight, you have to have a clear view of the sky to work (no clouds either).
Sent from my HTC One X using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No no.
My location when all services are on shows up fine. But say I have a weather widget and all my data services are off, instead of showing the location detected last when data services was on the widget and other settings will show another city.
I'll explain it with an example.
Lets have a hypothetical country with all the letters as its cities.
I stay in 'S' at present. I have visited 'P' and 'M' a couple of times but I'm back to 'S' now. On the occasion that my data services switch off, intentionally or because of weak coverage. Instead of showing 'S' as my location in the weather widget, app and geotag the phone will show 'P' which I had visited days ago.