[INFO] Strange GPS Behaviour Immediately After Reboot - T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII

Summary
Immediately after reboot, the time it takes to get a GPS fix will be much longer. Take the following two test cases I have tried:
1. Reboot. Then immediately open GPS Status. It will take 90-120 seconds to get a fix.
2. Reboot. Wait at least 3 minutes. Then open GPS Status. It will take about 12-18 seconds to get a fix. (In case anyone is wondering, there isn't anything running in the background that is getting a fix while I'm waiting.)
I found this out by accident. I was playing around with various gps.conf files, which requires a reboot every time you modify it. No matter what I put in that file it would take much too long to get a fix. But after running a few tests, I did determine that you need to wait at least a few minutes after rebooting to test.
Repro Steps
Here are instructions to find out whether you will encounter this same issue:
Put on a gps.conf file that has INTERMEDIATE_POS=1 (not required, but recommended: will be explained below). You can use the 3.1 / 2.2 no SSL version from this post by @crypted.
Make sure gps.conf has read permissions for all of owner/group/other (not related to this issue specifically, but just a general note to make sure gps.conf is being read correctly).
Install GPS Status, and make sure the following option is checked: Settings > Display & Tools > Show time to GPS fix.
Reboot the phone.
Start GPS Status immediately. Take note of whether you get the message "Time to first GPS fix: 2s" (see my screenshot). If you see this message, then you should get the fix within a few seconds when you are outside. If you don't, it will take a long time to get a fix. In this case, stop GPS status, wait 3 minutes and try again.
Note: If you don't have INTERMEDIATE_POS=1, you will still get the same behaviour except you will not get the "Time to first GPS fix" message until you actually get a fix, so you will just have to wait a few minutes. You can use 'uptime' in a terminal and once it shows 3 minutes then you should be able to get a quick fix.
Cause
I have no idea why this happens. I'm guessing that for some reason the GPS driver will not use the AGPS data until after a few minutes after bootup. This is speculation though. If anyone with more knowledge has any insight, please share.
Conclusion
I have no solution to get around this. But hopefully this will help explain why you may not get a fast GPS fix at times. This is not really a big issue for regular users as they're not constantly rebooting. This is more important to consider if you are benchmarking various gps.conf configurations.
I'd be interested to know if anyone else is seeing something similar. I have no idea if this is specific to T999, Cyanogenmod, Qualcomm chips, or just me.

Related

GPS causing phone to reboot.... Sometimes

I'm running Fresh 1.0.1, with netarchy's 3.7.2a FPS fix kernel, and the "frozen eclair" JIT for eclair.
When I first boot, maps with GPS on works fine. If I restart maps a few times in the first few minutes it still works fine. However, if I let my phone sit for 30 minutes or so, when I open Maps with GPS, the screen just goes black and the phone restarts. I can start Maps just fine if GPS is disabled.
For awhile I thought it was due to overclocking with setcpu, but I disabled automatic root access so setcpu can't run and still get this issue. Any thoughts are appreciated.
My phone started doing the same thing (hard reboot when opening anything that used GPS) last night and after several wipes and reloads and a new SD card, it was still doing it. I was starting to worry that it was a hardware problem. I was on the road today and my wife emailed me a fix she found online:
Step one, call Sprint and get your msl code (unlock code).
Step two open the phone dialer and press ##GPSCLRX#
Step three input the code given to you from sprint (phone will reboot in 20 seconds)
It worked for me and its been almost 12 hours without a reboot. I don't know the source for this fix, so I am sorry that I can't give credit where it is due. Good luck!

[Q] Desire Z can not see any satellites in any rom

My Desire Z's GPS not work, it can't see any satellites and always 0 signal in any app and with any rom. Currently i have CM7 and VISION_RADIO_12.62.60.27_26.13.04.19 with matching rils. So how can i sure that its hardware problem? Maybe gps turned off in sevice menu? But i tryed this *#*#3424#*#* for entering eng menu, but phone can't accept it. Is there any other methods to check gps? Thanks in advance.
I have two ideas which might be worth trying out:
- In case you haven't tried wiping your efs cache, do so. Download the vision_wipe_efs zip and flash it through recovery like any other rom or mod.
- Try going to settings>location>gps source and just check "internal gps" again.
When I had trouble with gps I used gps status, though I believe I read somewhere that it's not the best out of the bunch.
thomas_wlc said:
I have two ideas which might be worth trying out:
- In case you haven't tried wiping your efs cache, do so. Download the vision_wipe_efs zip and flash it through recovery like any other rom or mod.
- Try going to settings>location>gps source and just check "internal gps" again.
When I had trouble with gps I used gps status, though I believe I read somewhere that it's not the best out of the bunch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wiped that partition before i posting here, also i cleared caches and formatted all partitions, flashed a 5 different radios, but no result. Why phone can't accept *#*#3424#*#* command? Maybe its wrong code or its hardware problem? I need to test gps in engineering menu as on my old WM phone. Thanks.
Little background would be helpful. How long have you had the phone, has GPS ever worked (such as on the stock ROM), etc. Have you tried other ROMs? GPS lock has been an issue on CM7 for some people for the longest time.
The Market app "GPS Status" will show if the phone is tracking (or trying to track) any satellites. If satellites are being shown on the circular display, and signal strength bars shown below that, its at least trying to get a lock, and might need more time. If none of those things are shown, it may be a ROM issue or something else.
The following fix gave me a much faster GPS lock on ILWT CM7. Not sure if it will help in your case (no lock at all). But don't think it will hurt. It reduced my GPS lock from a couple minutes, to often less than 5 seconds. I flashed the "Google Specific" build.
forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1472870
You seem experienced enough to know the following "basic" steps. But it never hurts to mention the obvious:
Make sure you are outdoors, and clear view of most of the sky (minimum of trees and building). Give it at least 5-10 minutes for an initial lock. If the GPS has never been used (new ROM) or you've changed geographic locations drastically (like a plane flight) it might take a few minutes to get the first lock.
redpoint73 said:
Little background would be helpful. How long have you had the phone, has GPS ever worked, etc.
The Market app "GPS Status" will show if the phone is tracking (or trying to track) any satellites. If satellites are being shown on the circular display, and signal strength bars shown below that, its at least trying to get a lock, and might need more time. If none of those things are shown, it may be a ROM issue or something else.
The following fix gave me a much faster GPS lock on ILWT. Not sure if it will help in your case (no lock at all). But don't think it will hurt. It reduced my GPS lock from a couple minutes, to often less than 5 seconds. I flashed the "Google Specific" build.
forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1472870
You seem experienced enough to know the following "basic" steps. But it never hurts to mention the obvious:
Make sure you are outdoors, and clear view of most of the sky (minimum of trees and building). Give it at least 5-10 minutes for an initial lock. If the GPS has never been used (new ROM) or you've changed geographic locations drastically (like a plane flight) it might take a few minutes to get the first lock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Phone is brand new, i purchased about one week ago from ebay store. GPS status not show any satellites on circular display.
What ROM was on it when you got it? Has the GPS ever worked on it?
Try another ROM. GPS issues have plagued some CM7 users, but it seems less common on non-CM7 based ROMs. Maybe try Virtuous v2, its close to stock GB.
redpoint73 said:
What ROM was on it when you got it? Has the GPS ever worked on it?
Try another ROM. GPS issues have plagued some CM7 users, but it seems less common on non-CM7 based ROMs. Maybe try Virtuous v2, its close to stock GB.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont know GPS worked either or not. Now i probed many firmwares e.g CM7, but gps not work at all. Can't show any satellites.
If you'd like to run CM7 try this way:
- Be sure to enable GPS before you flash the rom. eg: you're running stock > enable GPS > then flash the new rom.
otherwise:
- Flash the newest radio you can find for your rom.
I say that because I experienced the same issue on my Htc Wildfire when flashing CM7.0.3 last year.
Just download faster fix app from marketplace
Sent from my HTC Vision using xda premium

GPS fix problem solved for LETV X800+

Hi, I would like to share my experience with this forum as I gained many tips from here, so giving and not only taking becomes obvious for me. Big thanks goes to Mr. Rusch for his excellent custom ROM and also for his idea regarding the solution to the GPS problem I was facing.
During offline navigation any GPS software on my phone was taking ages (from 30 min. to more than one hour!) to get a fix on the satellites even if it saw more than 20. I read a post from Mr. Rutsch earlier where he uploaded a modified gps.conf file but at that time my phone was not rooted. After I eventually decided to root it and flash his custom ROM the GPS problem persisted so I searched again and could not find his post but found another one with a very similar solution. I followed the steps and now my phone gets a GPS fix within a minute! So here is the link to the video, hope it will help others who encountered the same problem as I:
http://www.xda-developers.com/gps-lock-faster-xdatv/
UPDATE:
Unfortunatelly this fix worked for only one day. If a-gps data is cleared and downloaded, the fix goes quicker but still tricky... If anyone found a good solution, please share here.
UPDATE on 15.04.2016
I am more careful now posting things too early but for a few weeks now my GPS has been working consistently. What I did was I downloaded the gps.conf file made by Mr. Rusch and followed his instructions. This in itself did not solve the problem either BUT I discovered that in GPS Test (or in any software where sats can be seen) my phone did not see any satellites until I switched off GPS and switched it back again. Now I keep the GPS on all the time (I don't notice any increase in power consumption) AND switch off and on GPS right before/during I use any GPS navigation. This way I get a fix within a minute. A clumsy workaround but at least I can use my phone for navigation.

GPS issues

So I have noticed when I am going on long trips that my GPS keeps bugging out on google maps. At first I thought it was maps being weird but now I'm starting to think its the GPS in the phone itself. I'll be driving down the highway and it will suddenly start pointing the other direction like i just made a turn. After about a tenth to a quarter of a mile it will correct itself. Over the course of a 200 mile trip it did this every few minutes. Sometimes it would think that I had pulled off the offramp when I was still cruising highway speeds. This and the camera issues are making me seriously consider selling this phone and getting something different...
Krazy_Calvin said:
So I have noticed when I am going on long trips that my GPS keeps bugging out on google maps. At first I thought it was maps being weird but now I'm starting to think its the GPS in the phone itself. I'll be driving down the highway and it will suddenly start pointing the other direction like i just made a turn. After about a tenth to a quarter of a mile it will correct itself. Over the course of a 200 mile trip it did this every few minutes. Sometimes it would think that I had pulled off the offramp when I was still cruising highway speeds. This and the camera issues are making me seriously consider selling this phone and getting something different...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In Google maps click your location (little blue dot), then in the bottom left hand side click calibrate compass. I was having the exact same issue until I did this.
I have tried doing the calibration and it still wont get better than "low" accuracy. Do you get better than low?
Mines medium right now. I remember when I was having issues it showed low too. I had to get out of my car and do the compass calibration again as for some reason it wouldn't move off of low every time I tried in my car.
Yeah it's terrible. Hoping someone else has some fixes
Same annoying gps issues here as well
Just happened today for the first time. No clouds or building, I was out in the open. Marker flipped 180° 3-4 times while I approached a stoplight... hard to know which way to turn.
Makes me think this might be related to the recent 10.0.6 update?
skelzer said:
Just happened today for the first time. No clouds or building, I was out in the open. Marker flipped 180° 3-4 times while I approached a stoplight... hard to know which way to turn.
Makes me think this might be related to the recent 10.0.6 update?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, that is exactly my lips around a hundred and eighty degrees numerous times. Takes forever for it to get oriented and it still sometimes gets off the kilter. I have noticed this since 10. 0.4
skelzer said:
Just happened today for the first time. No clouds or building, I was out in the open. Marker flipped 180° 3-4 times while I approached a stoplight... hard to know which way to turn.
Makes me think this might be related to the recent 10.0.6 update?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The first time I noticed this issue was November the 8th when I was driving north for 3 hours. It was obviously happening where it would do that marker flipping around. This last sunday i went on another trip and was still noticing the issue often. It even caused me problems when I was walking around downtown Kansas City trying to find a venue. I had to ask somebody to point me in the right direction because the thing couldn't decide where i needed to go. I have reached out to the oneplus support and i'm waiting for further instructions from them. ... here... ill copy paste the email.
Thank you for contacting OnePlus Customer Support.
We apologize for the inconvenience that this has caused you. As we understand your concern. Please do not worry, we will surely help you with the best possible ways available.
Kindly help us with the below details:
1. Did the issue start post update?
2. Which is the current OS version on the device?
3. Does the issue occur Randomly or Always?
We request you to follow the below troubleshooting steps so that it could fix your issue:
1. Go to Settings- Location- Mode, select High accuracy, switch GPS on.
2. Check the environment, test the GPS in an open and empty place, because GPS used indoors can be blocked.
3. Use different apps to check whether there is the same problem.
4. Disable or Uninstall Security apps as it may limit the authority of the GPS in some apps.
We would also request you to do a network reset on the device so the issue can be resolved:
Network Reset:
Settings>> Backup and Reset>> Network setting Reset>>Reset setting
To assist you will be our pleasure, help us to help you. Request you to reply within the next 5 days as after that the ticket will be auto-closed".
Regards,
Phillip Smith
OnePlus Customer Support
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Problem with their instructions is i cant seem to find a way to turn the GPS mode to high accuracy as described. anybody know where it might be?
Thank you for connecting back to us.
I understand that you are not able to find the high accuracy settings on OnePlus 7T. Please do not worry, I request you to clear the device cache to fix this issue.
Please follow below steps to clear the cache:
Clear Cache -
- Power off your device.
- Press the power key + volume down for a few seconds.
- Select English.
- Tap on Wipe data and cache.
- Tap on Wipe Data and cache again.
- Tap on Yes to confirm data and cache wipe.
- Wait for the wipe process to complete.
- Reboot phone.
If you had any further questions please reply to us within the 5 days as after that the ticket will be auto-closed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will this just completely wipe my phone if i follow the instructions? I seriously don't want to do that especially if it might not even fix anything.
Krazy_Calvin said:
Will this just completely wipe my phone if i follow the instructions? I seriously don't want to do that especially if it might not even fix anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it will not wipe the phone unless you select that option to wipe data or factory reset.
Well i will tell it to just wipe the cache... i am pretty positive whoever was handling the support just gave me instructions to wipe the whole phone though. lol. im not doing that.
Edit:
Wow... so frustrating... When I tried to do those functions the thing asked for a password. It wasn't my pin or my normal password i use. I have no idea what it was asking for but it gave a forgot password option to reset the phone. I reset the phone.
Also... its that easy to reset this phone?
Ok... Well after resetting my phone completely booted up, installed the latest patches and now when I check the accuracy in the maps it checks out high. Hopefully it stays that way.
Krazy_Calvin said:
Ok... Well after resetting my phone completely booted up, installed the latest patches and now when I check the accuracy in the maps it checks out high. Hopefully it stays that way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you lose root?
---------- Post added at 03:05 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:04 AM ----------
Krazy_Calvin said:
Well i will tell it to just wipe the cache... i am pretty positive whoever was handling the support just gave me instructions to wipe the whole phone though. lol. im not doing that.
Edit:
Wow... so frustrating... When I tried to do those functions the thing asked for a password. It wasn't my pin or my normal password i use. I have no idea what it was asking for but it gave a forgot password option to reset the phone. I reset the phone.
Also... its that easy to reset this phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, did you end up losing all your data?
I was never root in the first place. All my data is in the google cloud. I just had to go through the annoyance of setting up all my settings and icons since they didn't stick.
Well I know it's not 7T, but I had horrible GPS on the 6T and 7 Pro models both. Neither had ok accuracy, no matter what I did. It would lose GPS signal on street, in car, on foot. OnePlus is just super horrible at GPS, and I have no clue why. Like why it is not acknowledged and why they won't fix it.
My recommendation is to try a reboot and/or use Google Maps when this happens. I am a fan of Waze, I prefer it much over Maps (speed limits). But in Waze and any other 3rd party GPS app - it struggles to find me way more than Maps. That said, your GPS won't magically fix itself in Maps. It will be just a tiny teeny bit better. So like.. from super horrible bad it will go to christ this is a horrible gps. It may still help in a pinch.
GPS issue
h8Aramex said:
Well I know it's not 7T, but I had horrible GPS on the 6T and 7 Pro models both. Neither had ok accuracy, no matter what I did. It would lose GPS signal on street, in car, on foot. OnePlus is just super horrible at GPS, and I have no clue why. Like why it is not acknowledged and why they won't fix it.
My recommendation is to try a reboot and/or use Google Maps when this happens. I am a fan of Waze, I prefer it much over Maps (speed limits). But in Waze and any other 3rd party GPS app - it struggles to find me way more than Maps. That said, your GPS won't magically fix itself in Maps. It will be just a tiny teeny bit better. So like.. from super horrible bad it will go to christ this is a horrible gps. It may still help in a pinch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
..in setting, turn off :Google location accuracy - improve location accuracy , and wi-fi and bluetooth scanning. It works for me
(source: https://forums.oneplus.com/threads/gps-issue.1113746/page-2)
georgito said:
..in setting, turn off :Google location accuracy - improve location accuracy , and wi-fi and bluetooth scanning. It works for me
(source: https://forums.oneplus.com/threads/gps-issue.1113746/page-2)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting, thank you, I will try that.
I mean in my testing, I actually put different phones next to each other and tested GPS Signal strength.
The 7 Pro basically has a much worse signal than any other phone I tested. It's dark orange/red. Every other phone is at least yellow.
Just install "GPS Status" from Play Store, put your phone besides whatever other phone and prepare to get shocked.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=4938075&stc=1&d=1580304335
https://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=4938077&stc=1&d=1580304335
Hello,
Posting this in case others are still searching for a gps accuracy fix on the Oneplus 7t phone.
I may have found a workaround for the gps accuracy issues on the 7t. Fwiw, I'm using the Verizon version, on a HD1905, with the latest March update 10.0.0.HD65AA. I was experiencing all the same issues, and sadly the March update didn't seem to make any improvement. I've only had the phone for a few days, and was very disappointed w/ the gps performance. Tried everything including wiping the phone clean (I didn't realize the gps was wonky until I spent a couple days migrating everything over), and nothing worked -- it would immediately boot and have wildly wrong gps location, or the lock would seem to phase in an out. If it wasn't for the shelter in place order, I probably would have returned it.
After much trial and error, I found a workaround that seems to work. Even tested on our walk around today with Gaia and it correctly tracked our path.
1) put phone into airplane mode
2) reboot, and leave in airplane mode after reboot
3) run google maps, wait for lock, should be accurate
4) turn off airplane mode
5) test gps -- it should work better
If you reboot while normal networking is enabled, the gps would fail every time -- never accurate. But when networking is completely shutdown when the GPS radio is turned on, it seems to work as expected. Using the 'GPS test' app, my accuracy goes from 100m/ no lock, to approx. 3M 3d-lock, just sitting inside on my desk, and it maintains it. I'd say my old Pixel phone still has slightly better gps accuracy overall, but this is very usable now. And, I don't reboot very often -- phone is always charged, etc, so the workaround is doable for me. If I do need to reboot, just have to remember to use airplane mode first. Otherwise, seems to work as expected now.
Hope that helps someone.
beyondcrazy said:
Hello,
Posting this in case others are still searching for a gps accuracy fix on the Oneplus 7t phone.
I may have found a workaround for the gps accuracy issues on the 7t. Fwiw, I'm using the Verizon version, on a HD1905, with the latest March update 10.0.0.HD65AA. I was experiencing all the same issues, and sadly the March update didn't seem to make any improvement. I've only had the phone for a few days, and was very disappointed w/ the gps performance. Tried everything including wiping the phone clean (I didn't realize the gps was wonky until I spent a couple days migrating everything over), and nothing worked -- it would immediately boot and have wildly wrong gps location, or the lock would seem to phase in an out. If it wasn't for the shelter in place order, I probably would have returned it.
After much trial and error, I found a workaround that seems to work. Even tested on our walk around today with Gaia and it correctly tracked our path.
1) put phone into airplane mode
2) reboot, and leave in airplane mode after reboot
3) run google maps, wait for lock, should be accurate
4) turn off airplane mode
5) test gps -- it should work better
If you reboot while normal networking is enabled, the gps would fail every time -- never accurate. But when networking is completely shutdown when the GPS radio is turned on, it seems to work as expected. Using the 'GPS test' app, my accuracy goes from 100m/ no lock, to approx. 3M 3d-lock, just sitting inside on my desk, and it maintains it. I'd say my old Pixel phone still has slightly better gps accuracy overall, but this is very usable now. And, I don't reboot very often -- phone is always charged, etc, so the workaround is doable for me. If I do need to reboot, just have to remember to use airplane mode first. Otherwise, seems to work as expected now.
Hope that helps someone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for posting this. Wow. That is a lot of headache to run through. I will try that as well. As I absolutely can't stand the GPS on this phone.
I have also found a workaround, although it involves toggling the location settings on and off. IE toggling the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth scanning on and off. Generally this works for me, although sometimes I have to reboot the phone

Issues with GPS - Not getting Fix?

This could be a one off device issue, But over the past 2 weeks ive noticed my GPS has become unusable.
Downloaded and Used a 3rd Party App called "GPS Test" to look into it in more detail.
Would appear the GPS would work but very weak and limited results after a few seconds results would dwindle down and show no signals avalible.
Reboot the device then all of a sudden the GPS Test would show results, results would appear for around 20-30 seconds then numbers would start to drop to 0.
Other time i am able to reboot the device, Open up GPS Test and it would get a Fix, I would start driving and it would loose the Fix and Google maps would say searching for GPS.
Other times i have rebooted the device and its located a GPS Fix, opened up Maps and drove home without any issues.
Other times i will drive home and it will work then stop working then start working jumping in between 5 - 10 miles in between it reconnecting.
I have factory rest the device, Made no difference.
Just downloaded the latest Formware files and flashed using Odin so its clean and has nothing installed and still experiancing the same issue.
Device has not been rooted.
Unsure what else i can do, I am starting to think its a hardware issue. (Just dont understand why it would work for a few seconds after reboot before failing)
Raised issue with Samsung and waiting for a Door Stop Repair (Slots are limited so still waiting on mine)
Unsure if anyone else has had GPS Hardware issues.
Also open to suggestions
You are probably correct about hardware issue. Mine has some issues with the compass needing frequent calibration. Not bad enough to bother replacing, but clearly not to spec. It happens.
Sounds like bad hardware or failing internal connection.
Try clearing data/cache... otherwise most likely hardware.
A failed chipset, contacts, trace or solder joint.
This was a common issue on the S4; the GPS antenna contacts would fail over time; poor design.
Not sure how it's implemented on the Note mobo. Either way the phone will need to be opened up... sorry.

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