Develop Bugs

[Q] Compass calibration or software/hardware error?

Just got my Galaxy Nexus yesterday and already love it
But the compass seem to have a mind of its own. I usually use GPS Essentials, but the compass there is almost not moving at all when I rotate the phone. Only little arbitrary movements. I opened up Google Sky Map which also utilizes compass for proper direction measuring, but it seemed to follow only loosely which direction I moved - just only at half the pace and then suddenly it reverses 180 degrees or jumps around. It seems that some signal does get from sensor to software, so my first thought is that it's software related.
Any ideas? Have anyone else had issues with this?

I'm having the same issue. I noticed horrible performance in google sky map -- the map barely moved as I rotated around. It might have moved a maximum of 45 degrees overall. I then downloaded Compass from the market and am also seeing poor performance, with the app always telling me "abnormal magnetic field" when I start it up.
On the plus side, google maps seems to do pretty well at showing my correct heading when stationary.

I was recommended to try the app "gps status " which has a calibration feature. After running the app and without actually doing the calibration the compass worked perfectly now when I try sky map it functions like it should. It seems that maybe some kind of initialization was needed - and is now done.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

Well GPS Status calibration improved my compass apps, and google maps compass behavior. Thanks for that. But sky view is still terrible, so is skeye which is a similar app. I hope this gets fixed. My mom's ipod touch 3 performs way better than this in its sky view app... just sayin...

GPS Compass really messed up!

I am really concerned about the GPS compass issue (not the magnetic one). It makes navigation applications like NDrive and Sygic unusable. While I am driving the nav app would suddenly recalculate the route on a different road then a few seconds later it comes back to my actual location, and it keeps doing that even if u are not moving.
This is really irritating, do any of u face a similar issue? Do u think its a hardware or a software problem?

mbushnaq00 said:
I am really concerned about the GPS compass issue (not the magnetic one). It makes navigation applications like NDrive and Sygic unusable. While I am driving the nav app would suddenly recalculate the route on a different road then a few seconds later it comes back to my actual location, and it keeps doing that even if u are not moving.
This is really irritating, do any of u face a similar issue? Do u think its a hardware or a software problem?
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Install GPS status from market and clear agps data. Worked for me !
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium

matmar said:
Install GPS status from market and clear agps data. Worked for me !
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
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Can you please provide me with the market link, I really would appreciate it
EDIT: I got it, and cleared the agps data but still the same issue. The wierd thing is that while I stand still, the speed keeps increasing and descreasing at very high number.
I tested another one x and it was far more accurate and stable than mine I think mine is defective :S

Mine is quite amusing it says i'm at home then you will see it move at light speed and place my gps target in a whole other country whilst saying its got 5m accuracy, have tried clearing aps to make no diff
mbushnaq00 said:
Can you please provide me with the market link, I really would appreciate it
EDIT: I got it, and cleared the agps data but still the same issue. The wierd thing is that while I stand still, the speed keeps increasing and descreasing at very high number.
I tested another one x and it was far more accurate and stable than mine I think mine is defective :S
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Pyung said:
Mine is quite amusing it says i'm at home then you will see it move at light speed and place my gps target in a whole other country whilst saying its got 5m accuracy, have tried clearing aps to make no diff
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+1: GPS is unusable...

escalator said:
+1: GPS is unusable...
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The best way to test GPS is to put the phone in airplane mode, turn off GPS, and reboot it. After it reboots then activate GPS. That way it won't be using aGPS (wireless or Wi-Fi) and be relying solely on the GPS chip for location.
Download an app from the Market called GPS Test. When I run it I see the phone's kind of screwy. It sees 16 satellites immediately (excellent) and locks on about half of them (average) but then keeps changing which satellites it's receiving from.
It will get down to 9' in accuracy which is actually very good but it's odd that it keeps shifting satellites instead of staying locked on the ones it has previously identified and read. I set a route in CoPilot using nothing but the GPS chip and it seemed fine; my origin remained stationary. When I go out later I'll actually try using it in the car for a full route.
It's really hard to say whether it's h/w or s/w at this point.
Edit: After doing all the above I noticed I lost a pretty hefty amount of battery. Looking in the battery stats Android OS was the number one battery user exceeding even the display. That's abnormal which leads me to guess the issue is probably s/w.

What is a "GPS compass", please? (There's no such thing.)
Used GPS for the first time yesterday, for a two hour trip with Sygic maps' 12.1 beta. Worked perfectly the whole way.

BarryH_GEG said:
Edit: After doing all the above I noticed I lost a pretty hefty amount of battery. Looking in the battery stats Android OS was the number one battery user exceeding even the display. That's abnormal which leads me to guess the issue is probably s/w.
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That could be a red herring. A rather large issue has been discovered with the battery stats that it does not go down correctly when the phone is on standby (screen off). When it suddenly realises the true battery status, it plummets to the correct level.

Yeah. There is something strange going on with the compass and GPS.
Google Maps has my arrow moving around a lot and also changes direction significantly even when I'm stationary. Not sure what is going on there. There is a certain amount of uncertainty and jitter when using GPS but it should be smoothed out.
I've tried disabling the WiFi/Cell location system and only using GPS but it doesn't affect it. Resetting the AGPS data doesn't help either.

The GPS issue seems to be big and i use GPS and Navigation too often with my phone. Tonight or tomorrow i am getting my One X and i hope they will sort this out sooner.

zekit said:
The GPS issue seems to be big and i use GPS and Navigation too often with my phone. Tonight or tomorrow i am getting my One X and i hope they will sort this out sooner.
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That's debatable. I have no noticeable issues when actually moving (even at walking pace), and get an accurate lock. When sitting still, the GPS does show slight motion, but only in the area immediately around my actual point, and even my dedicated GPS receiver does that to a degree. It's a fact of life that consumer GPS doesn't give better accuracy than a couple of yards.

I used Google navigation yesterday for a 25 mile trip. No issue. I've not tried it for walking but then I never really use it for that. Maybe I can have a go and report back.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium

I too am noticing an issue with GPS accuracy as detailed in my post here using sports trackers:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1599057
Hard to say if its a software issue or hw issue... I havent "Tracked" myself over a long distance so it could be the GPS getting confused with only small changes in distance?
Can someone track themselves on a long-ish road that doesnt have many/any slow moving areas so we can see the accuracy of it?

I'd be curious to know what cases people with problems are using. We've already had one report of reduced wifi range with a third-party case, not beyond the realms of possibility that it could also reduce gps reception.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using XDA

Guys, I just replaced my phone yesterday, I have to say the replacement has far more better accuracy than the old one. It seems to be a hardware defect and if you have the same problem then have it replaced asap.
To check, just download speedview, stand still outside with clear vew to the sky, and see how the speed jumps. If its between 0 to 5 and mostly 0 then you have a good unit, otherwise if goes to 20 then 40 and even 220!! then u definitely need to replace the device. I dont think any method u try will resolve this issue cuz its a hardware problem and not software.

+1: GPS is unusable...
and 1.28 yesterday did not better my gps stability

zilmer said:
and 1.28 yesterday did not better my gps stability
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If GPS is unusable, you most likely have a hardware problem. Get the phone replaced.

Tiersten said:
Google Maps has my arrow moving around a lot and also changes direction significantly even when I'm stationary.
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+1 to this as well, the compass isn't working correctly, maps showing me in completely different direction.

Got bored and decided to film it.
Makes me laugh
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcbtRUHBo40
Sitting on my desk right under the window. Nexus one right next to it doesnt do this.....

Demented-Idiot said:
Got bored and decided to film it.
Makes me laugh
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcbtRUHBo40
Sitting on my desk right under the window. Nexus one right next to it doesnt do this.....
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That's funny to watch. Here's what I've found. When you download and view GPS Tracker you can see that the phone's not staying fixed to specific satellites and is instead bouncing around between them. The weaker the signal (indoors) the more it bounces. Outdoors with a clear signal it's fine. But because it's still locking on satellites, even randomly, it still maintains its accuracy. My accuracy indoors is 9' vs. 15' for my SGS2. I haven't compared it to another One X so can't comment on whether they all behave the same way.
You might want to run GPS Tracker on both your One X and GN to see how differently they perform. Also keep in mind that the way GPS works in flight mode (no aGPS support) is very different than when it's using Wi-Fi or a wireless signal. The former is the best way to test the GPS chips function. To really test the GPS chip put the phone in flight mode and then restart it. It'll be much slower to lock (they all are) and the results you'll be seeing are the GPS chip working on its own.

[Q] GPS Accuracy with RunKeeper

I experienced the same symptoms on both stock Sense 6.0 and now on GPE 4.4.4.
My GPS markers on my runs when using RunKeeper are all zig-zaggy (see here). I was wondering if anyone knew if anything might be up with the GPS sensor + any motion sensors that might be impacting the readings (no idea, at this point).
Google Maps works perfectly fine when driving, so I'm not sure if it's the abrupt movements, or the lack of speed (I jog, not really a 'run' pace).
Any insight would be awesome. Otherwise, phone's been great.

[Q] GPS broken?

I am on the stock AT&T rom on my E980 and one day out of no where, my GPS cannot find my location. When I am on wifi it knows where I am at but if I am in the car or just walking around somewhere, it cannot find me. I have tried some apps on the play store that say that it "fix" the issues but none of them do. Do I need to call AT&T or is there something I can flash that can fix my issue?
Thanks.

It sounds like you may not have set the gps to high accuracy since with Wi-Fi you can find your location. Try setting, location, and set gps to high accuracy instead of battery saving mode. If that's not your problem, try a gps testing app and see what that does.

hawkwind212 said:
It sounds like you may not have set the gps to high accuracy since with Wi-Fi you can find your location. Try setting, location, and set gps to high accuracy instead of battery saving mode. If that's not your problem, try a gps testing app and see what that does.
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Click to collapse
I made sure that the location mode was on high accuracy and I even tried device only and alas, maps couldn't find me. I tried one of the GPS "Fixing" apps and it showed that I had a very weak GPS signal. I don't a case on my phone and I was on my deck while I was testing.

Chronic cross said:
I made sure that the location mode was on high accuracy and I even tried device only and alas, maps couldn't find me. I tried one of the GPS "Fixing" apps and it showed that I had a very weak GPS signal. I don't a case on my phone and I was on my deck while I was testing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Custom ROMs past the gproj-common GPS HAL fix have great GPS.

GPS Signal Lost in IGO when not in focus

Anyone else have an issue with IGO, that when I switch to desktop or another app, after a few seconds i hear "GPS Signal Lost"
Its rather quick to re-establish a connection when i switch back but seems weird to not get a signal only because its not in focus.
While in focus its rock solid, never drops out.
Setting or known issue?

Always, but I've been got used and don't care...

Snap. Always does it.
Sent from my Hudl 2 using Tapatalk

It has to be an Android issue I had a Pioneer Navi unit (they use iGO) never lost signal once locked in, well as long as I didn't go in to a tunnel or parking structure, switched to Android and every time I look away it drops GPS but only for a second or two. I believe there is an advanced audio setting to mute the announcement of GPS signal loss, but I cannot remember if it's a GUI option or if it needs to be put in the sys.txt.

Try this settings in SYS.TXT:
[sound.announcer]
gps_signal_lost = 0; disables voicemail alert "lost signal GPS"
gps_disconnected = 0; disables voice notification "GPS turned off"

themissionimpossible said:
Try this settings in SYS.TXT:
[sound.announcer]
gps_signal_lost = 0; disables voicemail alert "lost signal GPS"
gps_disconnected = 0; disables voice notification "GPS turned off"
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Click to collapse
That may be a viable option, when its in focus i never loose signal....so really its just the voice announcement that annoys me when i switch to another App.

I used to use an app called active GPS, can be set to acquire a gps lock and keep it on boot, not sure if you are really losing the gps lock or if Igo just thinks it is.

jakejm79 said:
I used to use an app called active GPS, can be set to acquire a gps lock and keep it on boot, not sure if you are really losing the gps lock or if Igo just thinks it is.
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Im not losing signal no......Its approx 5 seconds after IGO loses focus and it regains the signal immediately after i switch back.
Perhaps this is intentional to allow another App access to the GPS Signal.....ie only 1 App can have access at once, so they only keep it during focus?
Not sure but its peeing me off
Ill check if theres anything buried in IGO settings or the alternative (Not that i like working around a problem) is to quieten the "Lost signal" audio.

pants001 said:
Perhaps this is intentional to allow another App access to the GPS Signal.....ie only 1 App can have access at once, so they only keep it during focus?
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Do you also have a weather widget running with its location based on GPS signal?
Maybe that app requires a temporary connection to the GPS port (that might not be shareable between more apps)...

themissionimpossible said:
Do you also have a weather widget running with its location based on GPS signal?
Maybe that app requires a temporary connection to the GPS port (that might not be shareable between more apps)...
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Click to collapse
Ye possible, I also noticed a setting in GPS menu to allow location based services. So might try with that off.
I'll have a play around and report back. :silly:

pants001 said:
Ye possible, I also noticed a setting in GPS menu to allow location based services. So might try with that off.
I'll have a play around and report back. :silly:
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In Android there is no problem for multiple applications to use GPS signal at the same time. You can run 5 navigation apps and another 5 tracking apps at the same time if you have enough RAM. The OS access the GPS sensor and shares the information to apps.
The question is, what really happens. If you continue with iGo in the background, is it still navigating you? Do you hear the correct voice commands or is it really lost and has no idea where you are?
For me all Navigation application work even in background. They have a service (identified by an icon in notification bar) that runs even if the main app is in background. You should also check the GPS icon in navigation bar to see if GPS is shut down.

javlada said:
In Android there is no problem for multiple applications to use GPS signal at the same time..
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I'm not completely sure about the following, but IMHO there is a difference between the smartphones and the MTCB head units for which regards the GPS receiver.
In fact, while generally in a smartphone processor (ex. Qualcomm) the GPS receiver is included in the chip itself, AFAIK in a Rockchip processor (ex. RK3188) the GPS chip is not present, but should be externally connected to the system through an internal serial connection (USB?) and managed by the MCU: for this reason there might be some sharing problems among apps, problems not occurring on a smartphone integrated architecture.

javlada said:
The question is, what really happens. If you continue with iGo in the background, is it still navigating you? Do you hear the correct voice commands or is it really lost and has no idea where you are?
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Ye thats interesting coz this morning i had to go somewhere and used navigation as apposed to just having IGO open on Map.
When Navigating to a destination, you can swap to desktop and other apps and it still guides you with no Lost Signal being mention.
So its only when you have maps open, not using a route navigation and you put IGO into the background.
I assume its IGO giving up the lock on the signal for some reason.

Same issue. IGO drops GPS when focus is lost.
pants001 said:
Ye possible, I also noticed a setting in GPS menu to allow location based services. So might try with that off.
I'll have a play around and report back. :silly:
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Click to collapse
I just installed a new head unit 4.4.2 and I have the same issue with IGO. I will try a few things and see what I can find as well.
Will report back if I solve it. It is bloody annoying. I am positive it is an Android thing, not an IGO issue.

pants001 said:
Ye thats interesting coz this morning i had to go somewhere and used navigation as apposed to just having IGO open on Map.
When Navigating to a destination, you can swap to desktop and other apps and it still guides you with no Lost Signal being mention.
So its only when you have maps open, not using a route navigation and you put IGO into the background.
I assume its IGO giving up the lock on the signal for some reason.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would make sense, it would be a battery saving feature, no need for a persistent GPS lock (that sucks battery life) if you are just following your location on a map (when the map isn't in focus anymore) but when navigating you want the persistent lock so you can continue receiving directions regardless of what app has focus. I suspect a lot of GPS apps act this way, they just don't announce it.

jakejm79 said:
That would make sense, it would be a battery saving feature, no need for a persistent GPS lock (that sucks battery life) if you are just following your location on a map (when the map isn't in focus anymore) but when navigating you want the persistent lock so you can continue receiving directions regardless of what app has focus. I suspect a lot of GPS apps act this way, they just don't announce it.
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I think your right!

pants001 said:
I think your right!
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Click to collapse
Possibly
Google maps acts that way, with maps open, if you open another app, the GPS icon disappears on my phone, but comes back as soon as I refocus on maps, but if I am navigating somewhere then the icon stays there.

Not that it offers you any help but my gps icon is on all the time regardless of what app is or isn't running.
If the above theory is correct then your answer may lie in the power saving and lox location settings.
Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk
---------- Post added at 06:27 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:26 AM ----------
Lox is a typo!
Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

jakejm79 said:
I suspect a lot of GPS apps act this way, they just don't announce it.
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But on a smartphone this battery saving behavior doesn't happen...
And on a HU there is no battery at all and no battery saving needs, on Android all apps should be able to detect if the device is on battery power or currently external power supplied...

themissionimpossible said:
But on a smartphone this battery saving behavior doesn't happen...
And on a HU there is no battery at all and no battery saving needs, on Android all apps should be able to detect if the device is on battery power or currently external power supplied...
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Click to collapse
It does happen, test for yourself, but the battery will drain quicker with Maps open and an active GPS lock rather than when another app is in focus and no GPS lock, that is also why the mode to not use active GPS is called battery saving.
Take that up with the developer, but I doubt they will build in an option that is only useful to a very small number of users.
Personally I don't understand why you need the map window open if you aren't actively navigating somewhere anyway.