Problems with GPS signal - Touch Pro2, Tilt 2 Windows Mobile General

My GPS signal has starting dropping/re-reconnecting randomly, and also giving inaccurate readings. It happens in wide open areas in the M25 area, and affects both of the SatNav apps that I have installed (iGo8 and TomTom). My wife's Touch Diamond 2 has no problems maintaining a signal on the same journeys.
The problem has started to occur in the last couple of weeks. Could it be related to a ROM install (I'm running Jackos Showlite 1.2 S2 ROM from July 3rd), or is it more likely to be a hardware problem with the GPS receiver?

Related

Tilt 2 - GPS Position Persistence or Worm Hole

I have had several instances now where an application using the GPS reported a position that was many hours old. This has definitely happened with NAV4ALL and AT&T FamilyMap. I'm pretty sure it has also happened with Google Maps.
The latest instance was last night. I was in my car at 7:30 PM and had used NAV4ALL briefly while stopped and had a good GPS fix. At 10:00PM I was home (13 miles away) and used FamilyMap to locate my phone which was in the house and not where the GPS would usually work. FamilyMap reported my phone still at the 7:30 position with 37 yds of accuracy, which was true 2.5 hours before.
Same thing happened at BDL airport Weds. night when NAV4ALL showed my position 22 miles away at the hotel I had cheched out of 8 hours before, with 53 yds accuracy. I had used the GPS the night before at that location. In this case I was also at a place where the GPS would not be able to get a position fix.
I have a stock AT&T Tilt 2 ROM with the OEM radio ROM that came with it (4.48.25.20, which otherwisehas outstanding GPS and data transfer performance vs. my Fuze).
Anybody else experiencing this? Is there a way to see tomorrow's lottery winning numbers today using the same time/space wormhole in this phone?
Peter
plfinch said:
I have had several instances now where an application using the GPS reported a position that was many hours old. This has definitely happened with NAV4ALL and AT&T FamilyMap. I'm pretty sure it has also happened with Google Maps.
The latest instance was last night. I was in my car at 7:30 PM and had used NAV4ALL briefly while stopped and had a good GPS fix. At 10:00PM I was home (13 miles away) and used FamilyMap to locate my phone which was in the house and not where the GPS would usually work. FamilyMap reported my phone still at the 7:30 position with 37 yds of accuracy, which was true 2.5 hours before.
Same thing happened at BDL airport Weds. night when NAV4ALL showed my position 22 miles away at the hotel I had cheched out of 8 hours before, with 53 yds accuracy. I had used the GPS the night before at that location. In this case I was also at a place where the GPS would not be able to get a position fix.
I have a stock AT&T Tilt 2 ROM with the OEM radio ROM that came with it (4.48.25.20, which otherwisehas outstanding GPS and data transfer performance vs. my Fuze).
Anybody else experiencing this? Is there a way to see tomorrow's lottery winning numbers today using the same time/space wormhole in this phone?
Peter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Using GPSMod or anything like that? It'll continue to send the last known fix until the GPS warms back up, I've seen many times it report me in my last location for a bit until the GPS starts giving live data and suddenly it jump.
No GPS manipulation programs/cabs. No unusual registry tweeks.
I have confirmed this bahavior is repeatable. If FamilyMap polls for a position and the GPS cannot provide a fix, the last GPS position fix will be returned by FamilyMap - even if it is many hours and miles away. This pretty much makes FamilyMap worthless on a Tilt 2, and some applications.
Peter
plfinch said:
I have confirmed this bahavior is repeatable. If FamilyMap polls for a position and the GPS cannot provide a fix, the last GPS position fix will be returned by FamilyMap - even if it is many hours and miles away. This pretty much makes FamilyMap worthless on a Tilt 2, and some applications.
Peter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Time to start isolating this "FamilyMap" as simply just a poor program.. Try other things, one free/easy/obvious one is Google Maps. Set it up to use the GPS, exit, do your thing, then when it's time to try out the GPS fire it up and see what happens.
Just so you're not alarmed, if you haven't used it yet, what I generally see out of Google Maps is it gets a cellular fix first (ie: cellid estimate) which is sometimes half a mile or more away from the location, then as soon as the GPS fixes it'll move to your correct location, so sometimes you see it appear as if it's gotten a fix then shift some reasonably small distance.

GPS on the TP2

I am losing my mind with my GPS. I have had my TP2 since last August and I have never been able to find a solution to the horrible GPS quality. I have tried matching up the ports, changing the ports, different software, hard-resets, I have installed the hotfix, I have called HTC, but things are still terrible. The only thing that ever cause an improvement was manually choosing the ports and such, however the improvement was only slight.
I have used GPS on Google Maps on the iPhone under the same provider (Optus in Australia) and the moment I opened the program there was always a GPS lock, not once did I ever have to wait or get it ready, but on my TP2 using Google Maps (or any other application), sometimes I am forced to wait minutes before getting a signal, if at all. I have searched and searched for a resolution but im not finding any. I just don't understand what I paid top dollar for, I chose the TP2 over the Xperia for it's GPS capabilities, but its hardly capable. I feel as if I am out of options, i've had it for too long to get my money back; I would really appreciate your thoughts on this?
I use iGuidance2009 and have no problems, though I do update quickGPS regularly. Google Maps I dont know about as I dont use it.
This has been a problem ever since the Touch Pro. My old Kaiser never had these horrible GPS issues, Touch Pro and Touch Pro 2 do.
What I have found to work well is to toggle the phone in the Comm manager when GPS is not working correctly.
Also, if you can get AGPS to work correctly, that does wonders for GPS lock time speeds! It would take minutes before, but once AGPS is set to work correctly, I can get a lock in 10 seconds! You have to go into the registry and make sure AGPS is set to use the right data connection.
This only improves acquisition times, it does not reduce the lag which was introduced in the original Touch Pro.
Google maps is probably the worst test app for speed. I use TomTom and iGo on Juicy R5 now, default rom before, and both have no lag. Google maps lags as much as 30 seconds, Garmin and also a few free gps apps I tried lagged 10-15 secs. So this is really, really app dependent. Don't know why.
As for lock speed, agps is a must. If QuickGPS/SEASGEE isn't working then you get the same lock speeds that you would get on old, old car gps systems (up to 5 mins to get a lock).
petard said:
This has been a problem ever since the Touch Pro. My old Kaiser never had these horrible GPS issues, Touch Pro and Touch Pro 2 do.
What I have found to work well is to toggle the phone in the Comm manager when GPS is not working correctly.
Also, if you can get AGPS to work correctly, that does wonders for GPS lock time speeds! It would take minutes before, but once AGPS is set to work correctly, I can get a lock in 10 seconds! You have to go into the registry and make sure AGPS is set to use the right data connection.
This only improves acquisition times, it does not reduce the lag which was introduced in the original Touch Pro.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's just you with such serious problems, maybe your phone has problems..
AGPS is key to getting a fast lock. That's where you should be focused.
Some registry tweaks may improve your fix. It rocks for me and others owners, but not sure for every body.
take a look there:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=523676
and there:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=524655
It could be a good beginning ;-)
khaytsus said:
It's just you with such serious problems, maybe your phone has problems..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, its not. Everyone has position lag. It isn't unbearable, but it is pretty annoying. You take an exit on a highway and it takes about 3 seconds to realize you took it sometimes. What is really weird is it keeps going on one road while the arrow turns in the direction you are headed until it finally places you on the correct road. That part may be due to TomTom though, but I'm not sure.
petard said:
You take an exit on a highway and it takes about 3 seconds to realize you took it sometimes. What is really weird is it keeps going on one road while the arrow turns in the direction you are headed until it finally places you on the correct road. That part may be due to TomTom though, but I'm not sure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As per my personal experience, this is due to internal GPS data filtering by WM, so tweaks recalled by woaloo (I mean reducing of WM's GPS-related data buffer sizes) can help here.
Be careful however with it as too low values will drives GPS to become "nervous" - your position will become unstable, starting to jump randomly with a radius of few hundreds meters.
Another reason of the lag is (most likely) related to the navi software one uses. I use iGO8 and there are for sure settings moderating position behavior from pretty quick (but unstable) to rather slow but noticeable more stable. I personally prefer this last one.
To the original poster, have you tried running a program like VisualGPS? If so, how much signal strength is it showing for the satellites? I see as high as 39 when indoors. I get quick and accurate locks and I am very happy with the GPS performance. I have to believe that you have a hardware problem.
As for the thread drift on the few seconds delay, yes, that is there, but not a big issue.
Personal experience with the GPS... initially could never get it to connect, basically because every time i tried i was inside behind venitian blinds..... never use GPS before so my bad.
Walked outside and it was great. About 10 secs or less to lock, the lag is only a couple of seconds, no more than 5 secs. Added the tweeks and it was improved slightly. The accuracy was within 5 meters or less (used the property boundries in google maps to verify).
Moving at high speed it was pretty good too.
Compared to other phones and iPhone borrowed from a mate there is negligable difference in the accuracy and lag.
BRETT
So the GPS performance on the Touch Pro 2 is not that much better than the Touch Pro? The receiver on the Touch Pro is extremely weak.
At my work we have a GPS re-radiator for use with the equipment that we build. Indoors using the re-radiator I can get a lock in seconds with 11 satellites (the signal is abnormally strong). Outdoors, I'm happy if I can get a lock with 7.
worwig said:
To the original poster, have you tried running a program like VisualGPS? If so, how much signal strength is it showing for the satellites? I see as high as 39 when indoors. I get quick and accurate locks and I am very happy with the GPS performance. I have to believe that you have a hardware problem.
As for the thread drift on the few seconds delay, yes, that is there, but not a big issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did try something like that, not sure if it was VisualGPS but it showed me the strength of GPS signal and it was quite accurate with how the GPS appeared to be behaving.
I got the phone's motherboard replaced and that fixed the issue. Thank you all for the replies though, it was possibly faulty.
Have the new Energy rom on but used the GPS hotfix. Seems to have increased lock time considerably.
I'll keep an eye on it though in case the lock time increases...
Wonder if we can find an app that would imbed GPS co-ordinates in any pics we take... Got a Samsung S8300t as well & it does this though the GPS navigation software is non-existant....
ultramag69 said:
Have the new Energy rom on but used the GPS hotfix. Seems to have increased lock time considerably.
I'll keep an eye on it though in case the lock time increases...
Wonder if we can find an app that would imbed GPS co-ordinates in any pics we take... Got a Samsung S8300t as well & it does this though the GPS navigation software is non-existant....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One of the extra camera modes you can unlock in the TP2 is a geotagging mode that does exactly that. There's a number of ways to enable them...Rhodium Settings Tool has a switch for each of them individually (burst, sport, video share, and geotagging), or you can just run the cab below
....and, for anybody else on this thread who hasn't tried it already, I'd suggest checking out the cab fone_fanatic put together to help with GPS locks on the TP2, details HERE

huge difference between GPS behaviour in different ROMs

I compared quite a few ROMs with the only purpose in mind: see how the GPS works with them. What I found out is that there is a huge difference between them.
I started this, because I had issues with GPS fixing in Oxygen. So I measured the time and looked at the behaviour of Satellites in GPS Status & Toolbox. I always did a full WIPE as well as fastbooted the radio 32.56.00.32U_5.17.05.08, as I found out that it is the only way to remove the position and time data from the previous GPS fixes. I didn't know that the radio can learn things, but it is indeed the case, even a full wipe doesn't trigger the same coldboot process as the radio flashing does.
OK, I start with this, in Oxygen 2.1.3 after the coldboot it needed 17 minutes to have a fix! The biggest problem was the disappearing of the GPS signal (I mean all satellite bars) for a few seconds every 30 second or so. It meant that the all the satellites were staying "yellow" instead of switching to "green" in GPS Status. And even after the fix (17 mins), the accuracy was moving between 24 meters to 48 meters.
It was the same slow and "disappearing every 20-30 seconds for a moment" thing in Leedroid 3.0.6-R2. Not good accuracy either.
I tested Leedroid 2.4.1 Froyo for fun and to my surprise it was much faster. It had a stable signal and better accuracy (something like 16 m).
So far these were the bad ones (oh, one more, I tried RCMix but it froze down my system after waiting for a 15 minutes boot up...) The good experiences I had was with:
CM7 7.0.3 - This was quite quick and surprisingly stable. This was one of the two roms which could get under 10 meter accuracy. The accuracy is constantly under 10 meter, with the best beging 6 meter. Coldstart fix was about 2 minutes, Hotstart (just a reboot) was about 18 secs.
Redux 1.2 - I really don't know whats in this ROM, but it is by far far the most stable ROM for GPS use. It gets a Coldstart fix in 2 minutes, with all the Satellites being "green" instantly. I don't know how it does that, in most of the ROMs they need quite some time to go from yellow to green. Redux, on the other hand goes to green the moment it sees a satellite. The result is that coldstart fix is in 1.5-2 minutes, and hotstart fix (after a reboot) happens in 12 seconds! Whats more, it has the best GPS accuracy I have seen from desire, with the average accuracy being 6 meters, which sometime goes down to 3-4 meter! I didn't even know its possible with an Android phone to have accuracy like this!
But both CM7 and Redux are fast and reliable for GPS tracking. The biggest problem in the other ROMs is that there is something which triggers the loosing of all GPS satellites every 20-30 seconds or so. If you use GPS Status you see that all the satellites disappear for a moment at the same time!
What about Miui or the new Sense roms, like Insertcoin?
And if you try radio 5.11.05.27?
That one solved it for me, I was using a newer radio version and had the same problems in Oxygen...
Did you use the same radio for all tested roms or not? And what version?
I used 5.17.05.08 with all the ROM. I only tried different radios with Oxygen, and 5.11.05.27 was indeed better, but not that much. It got a fix in 8 minutes instead of 17, but the accuracy was still in the 48 meter range.
roderick407 said:
Did you use the same radio for all tested roms or not? And what version?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why a FULL QUOTE?!?
And why do you ask for the radio version, when it is written in the first post already?
I have also noticed the same...
Since switching from the Froyo ROM that was on the phone when i got it, the GPS signal/inaccuracy has been an issue... but then again i am with telstra...
Maybe the problem is in used radio. Each rom contains RIL files which must correspond to used radio. There is a description here
I use Leedroid 2.4 and radio 32.48.00.32U_5.11.05.14. My coldstart fix is up to 15 secs with and max 2 mins without aGPS. The GPS has stable signal and accuracy 2-3 meters (sometimes 1 meter).
roderick407 said:
Maybe the problem is in used radio. Each rom contains RIL files which must correspond to used radio. There is a description here
I use Leedroid 2.4 and radio 32.48.00.32U_5.11.05.14. My coldstart fix is up to 15 secs with and max 2 mins without aGPS. The GPS has stable signal and accuracy 2-3 meters (sometimes 1 meter).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You might be right, but I did not try ROM-radio combinations of just ROM changes. But with Oxygen, where I started, I tried the radios 32.44.00.32U_5.09.05.30_2, 32.49.00.32U_5.11.05.27, 32.54.00.32U_5.14.05.17, 32.56.00.32U_5.17.05.08, 32.56.00.32U_5.17.05.23. And while some worked better, they were still not as good as the better ROMs. I mean they still were "yellow" for at least 8 minutes, instead of CM7's or Redux's behaviour of being "green" instantly.
i just tested oxygen with the same radio you mentioned and it fixes fine for me in more or less 2 mins from coldstart. the accuracy is good too (5 meters) i just used gps test plus to check the satellites. also the gps has a stable signal too so i cannot conclude about your findings.
Guys gps problems are radio and region related
your answer to quick gps fix is:
~flash latest radio
~check your gps.conf file
~refresh your agps data frequently
more info here
{on summertime i will write a full guide, now i dont have time}
dexter93 said:
Guys gps problems are radio and region related
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You might be right, but I tested these ROMs after a FULL wipe and without connecting to any wireless network. But maybe they had AGPS data already set inside (but isn't that useless after a couple of days?).
I found this application for editing gps.conf:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=825717
Same with me.
GPS takes about 5-7 minutes to acquire.
Funnily, downloading GPS assist data from the web didn't seem to always help.
Results with both recommended radio and with 32.56.00.32U_5.17.05.23.
FasterFix did not help - same 7 minutes to obtain a fix, considering a fresh agps download and the fact that I used GPS the day before.
Now with my old WM samsung i900, I obtain a fix after a cold start and without agps in just under four minutes.
In any case, depending on internet connection to get a gps fix sucks. When I'm on the road, particularly on a vacation, internet is more often not available.
s300pmu1 said:
Same with me.
GPS takes about 5-7 minutes to acquire.
Funnily, downloading GPS assist data from the web didn't seem to always help.
Results with both recommended radio and with 32.56.00.32U_5.17.05.23
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which ROM?
I get a fix reasonably quickly on Oxygen, but it drops the signal and finds it again every 2 seconds.

[Q] Anyone have GPS tweak for accuracy?

Is there anyone who use defy GPS daily? Can you share which rom or any GPS tweak to make defy more accurate and responsive for navigation?
I have been testing defy GPS, it seems like its rather not accurate to pinpoint location. Accuracy show 4-9m, but often real position is off by 30-200m. For navigation, it's response time rather slow plus the inaccuracy makes it not reliable. My old windows mobile P3600 gives precise position when put beside defy while navigating.
For info, I have disable wifi in location setting. I know I have successfully download supl data. With data enabled, I can lock under 10 sec.
This inaccuracy had been a problem for CM7. I have tested stock froyo and gingerbread, and problem still there.
So, can anyone help here? Do you have the same problem, if not please share your rom version or tweak..
I've used mine a lot for gps, i just make sure to download agps data with an app called GPS test as soon as i can, then if i'm not moving too much from where i stopped gps for the last time it takes very little to lock.
I'm on CM7 and it never disappointed me in Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and France.
Any GPS fix i've tried did nothing good for me.
My defy lock fast. What bothers me is the accuracy.
Google maps shows accuracy 4-9m, but real position is off sometimes by 200m.
Sometimes it correct itself, other time, even if I waited for a few minutes, it didn't show my real position.
And I'm sure I disable Use Wireless Networks in location setting.
So how is your accuracy?
Relly good, thanks
Seriously, i've seen this mentioned quite often in the CM7 thread, but it never happened to me.
As said before, keeping agps data pretty updated to my position or close enough has always been enough for me.
Good luck in finding a solution that works for you!
GPS has been working perfectly for me under any Rom. Stock GB, CM7 and Stock Froyo.
In CM7 it locks pretty fast, always under 10 secs, after a few secs accuracy down to 3m. Works really good.
I only have GPS Status to download from time to time accurate AGPS data and that's all.
Thanks for the reply..
I have tried almost everything.
Tuning gpsconfig.xml and location.cfg, clear agps cache, restart before testing many value one by one. Tried many stock rom, take GPS files from milestone and milestone2 and the GPS still inconsistent.
Sometimes its accurate, but after turn off GPS for a few second, turn on again, its showing wrong position with accuracy shown as 4-9m, waited for some minutes, and still wrong. Sometimes its accurate for a few test, but after a few minutes, turn on GPS again, its showing wrong position again.
Tried also calibrate compass, even remove the compass driver, but still error.
There is a possibility of multipath error in GPS (bouncing signal from surrounding), but with easily lock to 5-6 satellites with 10-12 satellites in view, I suppose this can nullify error, as real for positioning, we only needed 4 satellites.
I hope there is someone out there know fix for this..
use this fix: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=953630
Maybe it helps
pravarth said:
use this fix: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=953630
Maybe it helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Already tried.. even tested various value in gps.conf. No good..
Thanks.
bobo9900 said:
Is there anyone who use defy GPS daily? Can you share which rom or any GPS tweak to make defy more accurate and responsive for navigation?
I have been testing defy GPS, it seems like its rather not accurate to pinpoint location. Accuracy show 4-9m, but often real position is off by 30-200m. For navigation, it's response time rather slow plus the inaccuracy makes it not reliable. My old windows mobile P3600 gives precise position when put beside defy while navigating.
For info, I have disable wifi in location setting. I know I have successfully download supl data. With data enabled, I can lock under 10 sec.
This inaccuracy had been a problem for CM7. I have tested stock froyo and gingerbread, and problem still there.
So, can anyone help here? Do you have the same problem, if not please share your rom version or tweak..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MIUI rom allows you to enter your preferred satellite under ph settings ^^
Then use gps status app to manage a-gps state - I get anywhere from 10 - 30m accuracy
You are not alone
GPS accuracy on my Defy has been a concern since I bought it. Just like yours, it locks to 4-6 satellites and claims that it's accurate to 4 meters, but my real position is usually a block away. Other symthoms are:
- Accuracy improves with speed and becomes very good when traveling by car, very poor when still or just walking. The correlation between accuracy and speed should be the other way around...
- If there are more than 6 satellites in view, it locks to a maximum of six and then starts "jumping" from one set of satellites to another each two seconds or so. It does so even if the telephone is completely still. I think It should stay with the same satellites while not moving.
As you, I also tried all and every GPS fix script under the sun to no good, even filled a bug report for CM7 back in the day with no luck. It seems that a lot of people out there have perfectly working GPS (o so it seems).
This issue is quite strange though. I have a green lens Defy, and my wife has a Red lens one. We bought them several months apart and they both have the same accuracy issue, so it doesn't seem to be related to a bad production batch. I wonder if its related to geographic position (maybe it works worse in some countries, somehow)
Hopefully its a software issue and can be fixed.
I dont have this issue. Ive actually been sort of surprised at the accuracy of the GPS with CM7... it locks on within seconds (vs the minutes with Froyo). Almost instantaneous with WIFI and GPS on. And it is always accurate. Sorry to hear about your GPS troubles. It could be a hardware problem also?

GPS issues

Hello!
I'm running CloudyG3 2.5 on my phone. Lately, I'm having a lot of issues with Google maps & navigation. The GPS positioning is inaccurate most of the times, and the pointer stops moving every now and then. What's the issue here?

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