I'm just posting because lately I've discovered a pretty nice little trick for our beloved bittersweet GPS.
As most of you know, sometimes the GPS likes to think for itself and decide whether it wants to lock sats quickly or painfully slowly. Same goes for me, sometimes I get a lock within seconds, sometimes it takes 5-10 minutes (all the time using GPSViewer to cold start it first).
Well, for the past week I've been using WiFiFoFum while I'm driving to track AP's while using the GPS function to log long. and lat. and collect them into a merged kml file for Google Earth. When I first enabled the GPS function in WiFiFoFum, I noticed that I got a fix and lock almost instantaneously, not even using GPSViewer (my GPS had not been used for at least over 24 hours). I thought it was probably a fluke and shrugged it off, but sure enough the next day I go to use it and BAM another lock within 5 seconds, again no GPSViewer. I've been doing this now for 7 days straight, and each day is the same thing, very quick fixes and locks. I don't know what is going on in the background, but screw GPSViewer, I'm using this from now on to start my GPS.
As always though YMMV, but I'd like to get some feedback if people decide to try it.
Cheers.
I would have to agree on this find and praise for you on how much faster than gpsveiwer is. Iv only gotten the chance to use a few time but got a fix within 30sec of opening
I will try this today and let everyone know if I have the same findings.
Can anyone recommend some good gps software for off road and topo maps?
Thanks,
Mr.ellsworth
actually been using wififofum to grab a lock since the day i got my gps working. it helps that im a wardriver too but definitely the same results here. wififofum grabs locks quickly and accurately. i usually let it run in the background while i start up nav4all or googlemaps.
actually been using wififofum to grab a lock since the day i got my gps working. it helps that im a wardriver too but definitely the same results here. wififofum grabs locks quickly and accurately. i usually let it run in the background while i start up nav4all or googlemaps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I too am a fellow wardriver...though I don't use the titan for my 'official' wardriving escapades lol.
I like to take it old school with my orinoco pcmcia w/ external antenna connected to a parabolic dish mounted on my roof. Gentoo laptop with kismet configured to use festival, with sound routed through my car speakers...
Getting all worked up just talking about it...lol
you setup makes my humble titan weep. in all honesty, i have a hard time giving up the usability and ease of wififofum. that software is just awesome. i use kismac on my macbook when im running it off of my computer but i just cant get over how easy it is to just use wififofum. cant wait until someone figures out how to enable the gps in out titans to work over bluetooth so we can hook those up to our comps
Try this... http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=21248&highlight=gps+toggle
Oh yeah... I think AmazeGPS will be good once they make it for windows mobile 6. Right now they have a BETA version. http://amazegps.com/welcome.php
Oh yeah... I think AmazeGPS will be good once they make it for windows mobile 6. Right now they have a BETA version. http://amazegps.com/welcome.php
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks like ALPHA to me....big difference
gcincotta said:
I'm just posting because lately I've discovered a pretty nice little trick for our beloved bittersweet GPS.
As most of you know, sometimes the GPS likes to think for itself and decide whether it wants to lock sats quickly or painfully slowly. Same goes for me, sometimes I get a lock within seconds, sometimes it takes 5-10 minutes (all the time using GPSViewer to cold start it first).
Well, for the past week I've been using WiFiFoFum while I'm driving to track AP's while using the GPS function to log long. and lat. and collect them into a merged kml file for Google Earth. When I first enabled the GPS function in WiFiFoFum, I noticed that I got a fix and lock almost instantaneously, not even using GPSViewer (my GPS had not been used for at least over 24 hours). I thought it was probably a fluke and shrugged it off, but sure enough the next day I go to use it and BAM another lock within 5 seconds, again no GPSViewer. I've been doing this now for 7 days straight, and each day is the same thing, very quick fixes and locks. I don't know what is going on in the background, but screw GPSViewer, I'm using this from now on to start my GPS.
As always though YMMV, but I'd like to get some feedback if people decide to try it.
Cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey there, I just installed this on my xv6800 and it doesn't get any locks on sats with gps on. What should the settings be? I have them on Com4 and 4800 baud?
My results
I used TomTom 6 for a month or so and started it with GPSviewer and have the same results, sometimes it locks fast, sometimes grabs a bunch of sats but drops them before it gets a chance to lock and will keep this up seems like forever. I loaded up Garmin Mobile XT last night and find that it will start the GPS and lock within 5 seconds every time. This was amazing to me so I have tried everything to get it to NOT do it that well and I can not get it to fail.
madman34 said:
I used TomTom 6 for a month or so and started it with GPSviewer and have the same results, sometimes it locks fast, sometimes grabs a bunch of sats but drops them before it gets a chance to lock and will keep this up seems like forever. I loaded up Garmin Mobile XT last night and find that it will start the GPS and lock within 5 seconds every time. This was amazing to me so I have tried everything to get it to NOT do it that well and I can not get it to fail.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
give it time.
i have had days at a time, where i "can't get it to fail" but then once in a while it just gets annoyed with me and is buggy for a day or two. today being one of those days. i can get it to work, with soft resets and patience, but some days no matter what i do, it always works within a minute
GPSViewer can get buggy if you switch the tabs at the bottom more than once. The second tab will stop updating (you can tell this when the time freezes) and it will look like you haven't locked anything, when you actually have. Go back and forth to refresh it again.
Guys...this thread wasn't supposed to be about GPSViewer...the whole point of the thread was to do away with it.
To the guy who's having slow results with GPSViewer:
Read my OP and try and get a fix WITHOUT starting GPSViewer. So far every day for the past 9 days I've tried it, it's been quick and flawless.
Also, I don't think I mentioned it, but make sure wifi is on and you're actually "scanning" with wififofum (with the gps option enabled)...don't just open wififofum and enable gps without actually scanning.
Yup WiFiFoFum works great.
Before I wouldn't be able to lock a Satellite connection @ work ( inside a two story building, elevator, everything that would make the signal weak ) with Tom Tom using any other GPS starter program.
With this it gave me a connection in about 5 seconds. Not only that but I can use it to find Rouge WiFi connections at work.
I should also point out....once Wififofum locks the sats, you don't have to keep it open. You can close it and turn off wifi, then use your GPS software of choice.
gcincotta said:
I should also point out....once Wififofum locks the sats, you don't have to keep it open. You can close it and turn off wifi, then use your GPS software of choice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
gcincotta -- What kind of information will you see in Google Maps with the data?
gcincotta -- What kind of information will you see in Google Maps with the data?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What data are you referring to?
I could never get GPS to work reliably with GPSViewer or google maps, etc....rarely it works, most of the time it doesn't, and WiFoFum is no different. It states GPS: NoFix (0) for me, outside, clear day, following everything here, wifi on, scanning, etc...
There is no magik here that makes your titan work with this program when it doesn't work with others.
I could never get GPS to work reliably with GPSViewer or google maps, etc....rarely it works, most of the time it doesn't, and WiFoFum is no different. It states GPS: NoFix (0) for me, outside, clear day, following everything here, wifi on, scanning, etc...
There is no magik here that makes your titan work with this program when it doesn't work with others.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine started working instantly all of a sudden when using this program, when it would take a while with other programs. Did it ever occur to you sir that you may have a defective GPSOne chipset in your device? Or perhaps maybe you have it set up wrong? I love your negativity though!
Related
my gps is out more than a kilometre (a little less than a mile)
any ideas? i am using gpsviewer and tomtom6
i have dcd 2.3.1 rom
3.27 radio
any ideas?
ack
out? You mean it's off by more than a mile?
If so... someone's cloned your phone? :/ donno sorry.
dieseldennis said:
my gps is out more than a kilometre (a little less than a mile)
any ideas? i am using gpsviewer and tomtom6
i have dcd 2.3.1 rom
3.27 radio
any ideas?
ack
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is a trip. So you are a mile away using Tom Tom?
Because if you where using Google Maps or Microsoft Live Search it would make sense because they tend to use agps (Cellular Towers) first to try and find your location and then they use the GPS receiver.
It might be the baud rate.... who knows. Or maybe just try to wait until it locks to at least 4 satellites for a better accurate read.
yeah it is a bit of a trip........
sometimes i get up to 6 7 or 8 sat locked on and im still out just as much.
im downloading iguidance right now im hoping its a mapping prob with tomtom.............i googled it and other people are having simular map issues with tomtom6.
wish me luck
anyone running iguidance ? any instal tips anyone has id appreciate it
Mine is perfect
I am useing the same as you and mine is bang on, i mean right to the foot nearly.
dieseldennis said:
yeah it is a bit of a trip........
sometimes i get up to 6 7 or 8 sat locked on and im still out just as much.
im downloading iguidance right now im hoping its a mapping prob with tomtom.............i googled it and other people are having simular map issues with tomtom6.
wish me luck
anyone running iguidance ? any instal tips anyone has id appreciate it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That sucks man. Hopefully iguidance works for you. I have Tom Tom Navigator 6 and havent had any issues with it. I hear it sucks for rural places. That is why sometimes people use Garmin.
I wasn't able to replicate your results thus I cannot resolve this. But feel free to let us know how iguidance is. I haven't tried it.
Perhaps your in a linear superposition of two position eigenstates. When your gps takes a measurement your wave function collapses to one or the other. If there are two different routes to the local store,you could try going shopping and see if you interfere with yourself when you arrive. ;-)
I am using tomtom ,igo and destinator and they perform just as well if nto better then my bluetooth gps receiver.
dieseldennis said:
my gps is out more than a kilometre (a little less than a mile)
any ideas? i am using gpsviewer and tomtom6
i have dcd 2.3.1 rom
3.27 radio
any ideas?
ack
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
soft reset...was happening to me..hadn't had to soft reset in like 3 days..did a soft reset and was good. my problem was that gps kept connecting quickly...but its active location was like 1-2 miles from where i actually was...
soft resetting usually does a phone good anyway, I usually soft reset when i wake up.
btw my sprint Navigation is "Dead Nut" I drove to this real exclusive part of Truckee to do an estimate and it put me right to the peoples front door....AND IT WAS A NEW HOUSE!!!
Had this happen to me once...more than a mile actually, nearly oh, 6km or so. I tried to soft reset, multiple times and it didn't do jack. (Was using Google maps.) I just left it, as in, didn't play with the GPS for a day cause I got frustrated trying to fix it and lo and behold, it worked again. So...shrug, don't fret over it unless its ALWAYS a mile off...
verkion
Try the things in this thread. it worked for me... I am using Delorme Street Atlas for now because I already own it & am to cheap to pay for the internet on my phone... And it was always off by alot.. Then I tried the baffles sw & it worked... And now I'm trying the VisualGPSce & it appears to work better even... It even shows me in the backyard vs the front yard.
http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=17032
Different GPS problems
When your GPS gives you the wrong location, it can only fall into 2 categories.
Satellite Signal-Signals have been known to do all sorts of weird things. You are dealing with a very weak signal when you use GPS and it is prone to bouncing off of all sorts of things. This "bouncing" delays the arrival at your receiver and causes your location to be off.
Software-Software can be the second issue. This can either be the mapping software(such TomTom) or it can be a computational error. Your GPS is pinpointing your location by comparing "clocks". Sometimes it can 'flub' and make a mistake, but this is extremely rare.
Given that you were CONSTANTLY off by 1 mile, I would feel safe assuming that this was a software issue. I would test multiple mapping systems(especially Google Maps).
If you are using your GPS is an area with high buildings, hills, or inside of a building you might notice "jumping".
Telenav works perfectly and has data assisted location.
Ahhh
You are about to enter another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land of imagination. Next stop, the Twilight Zone…
Do do do do, do do do do
Maybe there is something wrong with your phones GPS chip. As I use QuickGPS, Astrolauncher, and TomTom 6 and I am right on every time....
I am a newb but managed to get dcd 3.0.1 and radio 3.35.04 on my Verizon 6800. Everything seems to work but I have a GPS question or two.
Under System Settings>External GPS....what should the settings be? Under the Programs tab mine is on COM4. On the Hardware tab my GPS Hardware Port is set to NONE. Baud rate is 4800. On the Access tab the check is next to Manage GPS Automatically.
I am trying Google Maps .cab and have it set to use the Windows GPS settings. Is this OK or do I need to set it manually? How long does it normally take to acquire on a first run....assuming no problems with ROMS?
Thanks for your time. DCD....you ROCK!
there are dozens of threads about this... including the gps faq.
So, polite suggestion for the future (which you will see on 50% of all the threads on this site). Search, before you just post a question.
That said, it'll take up to 5 minutes, but usually a lot less than that the first time, and after it's usually faster... but that's with a clear view of the sky. your mileage may vary depending on where you are.
you don't need to touch the external gps settings, use the windows gps settings, and on google maps the default should work fine.
Good luck!
So the default settings I have should work?
I used the search and found various info and never saw the GPS FAQ. I'll search again.
Thanks for your time.
I like DCD's setup. Very clean. Nice having apps close for a change as well. I hope to contribute to this forum once I get used to this device. I just got it Thursday and started hacking on it from day one. I think I enjoy the actual hacking part more than the phone.
Found the GPS FAQ. Thanks!
I had the phone on 911 under the Locate section. Set it to on. Gonna go test it now.
HOLY SMOKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
IT WORKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nailed me in my driveway. Took only about 1 minute to get 5 or 6 satellites. Fantastic!!!!!!!!!
You gotta wonder why they disable this in the first place. The sweetest part is that I'm not paying VZW for a GPS feature since I have unlimited data. I have a buddy who got the same phone the same day and he said he was disappointed that it didn't have GPS. I'll be seeing him in an hour since his son plays on my little league team. I'm gonna have fun with this! I'll make him give me 20 bucks for the update and then I'm sending it to DCD and friends. Seriously!
Everything is working perfectly on my unit.
I've benn having issues with the Garmin Mobile XT... I have now the Sprint 3.56.651 ROM AND 3.42.30 RADIO...
when I run Garmin it automatically detects satellites without any other GPS aplication (GPSProxy, GPSGate o others...) but it only locks 3 satellites and it doesn't give me my position...
Is there something i'm doing wrong?? what do I need to get this thing working???
The big answer that you have not provided is if any other application returns the same GPS performance. Garmin, as others, only receives the data as provided by the GPSOne chipset, and I cannot see any reason why it could cripple that data.
Try again with a diagnostic app such as VisualGPSce. What you describe sounds like a rather common problem with the Titan in that it is seeing a few satellites but fails to lock-on to them and that is why you cannot determine your position. In a clearing outside, wait up to a half hour.. Try GC's QPST GPS hack.. Etc.. Garmin is unlikely to be the issue.
all right...
I already did the GPS Hack with QPST... I already waited for like 2 hours (I was washing my car) and it did lock up to 6 satellites but it still didn't give me my position...
I installed GPSProxy, GPSGate and many others but I have problems on that applications... first it doesn't show me any satellite, after 10-15 seconds it shows me like 10-15 satellites on the screen but only for a second or so and then they disappear again... this happens in a loop, it shows me the 10-15 satellites for a second, it waits for 10-15 seconds and then it shows them on the screen again for a second..........
I'm going to try VisualGPSce to see if I have any luck... i'll keep you posted...
I am running latest radio and dcd's rom with Garmin Mobile XT on VZW with the GPS Hack with QPST and get locks within 30 secs and 7 to 9 sats.
Not sure if that helps or not.
what radio are you runing?? i have 3.42.30
I don't understand what everyone is doing. I am running Garmin Mobile XT myself, and have been for a couple of months. With the Newest radio rom, and DCD 3.2, I have no problems locking sats. Normally when I start the program, by the time it's up and running, I have a lock on enough sats to get the bars all green. It's just that fast. Not sure what your doing wrong.
I run Garmin Mobile XT with absolutely no problems on VZW.
P.S. I still prime with HTC GPS Tool prior to opening Garmin.
ok still no luck...
are you selecting the GPS on Garmin as COM4:COM4: or as GPS Intermediate Driver??
GPS Intermediate Driver
Working Great
using Baf's GPS toggler cooked into 19588 rom set to standalone in registry
meaning no assisted gps radio 3.42.30. Locks in less than a minute while inside house. Using Garmin Mobile XT.
Chemdawg said:
I don't understand what everyone is doing. I am running Garmin Mobile XT myself, and have been for a couple of months. With the Newest radio rom, and DCD 3.2, I have no problems locking sats. ... It's just that fast. Not sure what your doing wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Careful in rushing to blame user error. Some Titans -- regardless of software settings -- just cannot match the GPS performance of other Titans. I've witnessed this myself with two Titans side-by-side. Sadly, it can be a luck of the draw...
The repeating loop of flipping back and forth between the same sets of satellites often occurs when the chipset is stuck in standby mode, so a resolution is to soft-reset the Titan. nelsongruebr's description of satellite "locks" are probably not locks but basic reception of the visible satellites before a lock - if ever - is attained. The description here of poor performance is very similar to what had stumped me on some Titans... Sadly, there may be no resolution.
I've been running Garmin Mobile for about a month on no2chem's 5067 rom and I have not had problems. I don't have to do anything other than open Garmin and within 30 seconds, I have a lock. At first, I was using the 3.39.10 radio and now I'm using 3.42.30.
so basically maybe my Titan can never be used for GPS? or maybe doing a hard reset or flashing another ROM?
Today I tried to get a lock by letting the GPS Intermediate Driver search for satellites on Garmin Mobile XT for quiet some time and had no luck... it could not even find one single satellite...
On the other hand, when I activated the COM4:COM4: it find 3 satellites, it locked to them but didn't give me a fix or a position...
I installed GPSVisualce... First it did find some satellites, like seven of them but after a couple of seconds it loose them... but I checked the coordinates that it marked and they were pretty close to where I was... so maybe it is user problem... maybe I'm missing something...
So I bring up these new questions:
What version of Garmin Mobile XT are you using?
Is somebody with the same ROM and RADIO having the same problem? (Sprint 3.56.651.0 Radio 3.42.30)
Should I flash another ROM?
thanks!!!
You need to prime the GPS first before running Garmin.
Prime it with HTC GPS Tool or GPSViewer. Once it locks, close the primer and open Garmin. Go into settings and Disable COM4:COM4, then click GPS Intermediate Driver, then click Enable.
Your problem should not be the ROM, Radio, or Garmin XT. Keep playing around with VisualGPSce as it's quick and easy to configure to use the appropriate port and will give you an easy reference as to how many satellites are seen and the number of those that a lock is made on.
Beyond that and attempting GC's QPTS GPS edit, place the blame on your hardware. The description you've given on your Titan seeing some satellites, possibly locking, and then losing then is all too familiar to what I've experienced with another Titan. You're not alone.
Problem solved!!!!
yesterday I hard reset my device and after that just installed VisualGPSce and Garmin Mobile Xt so I can try it without any other software...
I went to my house and right where I was about to go to sleep I put my Titan on his Charging cradle and open VisualGPSce and then opened Garmin Mobile XT and leave it there on my night stand all night... to my surprise when I woke up it had a lock on 7 satellites!!!! on my nighstand!!!
I supposed it needed to get a lock for some time since I'm in Venezuela and I supose it was going to be harder to lock from anther country than to lock in the US...
Thanks to everyone who posted here and tried to helped me!!!!
Excellent! Yes, when the cell network assistance feature of AGPS isn't available, for some reason the chipset on our Titans can take quite a while to download the satellite ephemeris data directly from the satellites. Though I think that you're one of the first who's recorded it requiring more than a half hour!
hehe!! i'll say more than 5 hours, cause when I saw the time data on Garmin it said that the stopped time was only like an hour and a half, so it took mora than 5 hours to get that lock...
But I think I spoke to early, yesterday when I got out of work I wanted to try to get a lock to see how long it takes, but to my surprise it didn't locked on any satellites!! not even one!! I left it again overnight and nothing!! so I'm back to zero :'(
I'll be informing you how it behaves today...
Keystone said:
Careful in rushing to blame user error. Some Titans -- regardless of software settings -- just cannot match the GPS performance of other Titans. I've witnessed this myself with two Titans side-by-side. Sadly, it can be a luck of the draw...
The repeating loop of flipping back and forth between the same sets of satellites often occurs when the chipset is stuck in standby mode, so a resolution is to soft-reset the Titan. nelsongruebr's description of satellite "locks" are probably not locks but basic reception of the visible satellites before a lock - if ever - is attained. The description here of poor performance is very similar to what had stumped me on some Titans... Sadly, there may be no resolution.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am a newbie here but as a computer engineer I totally agree. We buy many PCs, scanners, printers, etc. all of the same brand. I can have several of the exact same items on the bench and so will not do as the identical sister/brother unit will do. My theory as a tech has been Bubba went to work mad at his wife and said what the hell I am going to just throw this crap together. Then on the flip side you have the new guy wanting to make a good impression and he spends 2 hours on one product where he should have gotten out four in that same two hours...
I think it depends on the device as well...just luck of the purchase...
ok, i kinda figure out what was the problem...
As I told you before, I live in Caracas, Venezuela... and recently the government decided to change the hour (yeah I know... What the hell where they thinking) from GMT -4.00 Caracas, La Paz, to GMT -4.30 Caracas... so Microsoft created a Patch to add the new Time Zone for Caracas... I have been installing this patch for about a year now without a problem (i had previously a HTC Touch and a HTC Excalibur) without any problems... So i instal it on my Titan and thats it...
To my surprise when i did a hard reset to delete everything and installed only Garmin Mobile and VirtualGPSce tha GPS work flawlessly... I said Great!!! It work's!!! so I installed the aplications that I normally have on my Titan INCLUDING the Patch for the New Timezone, and here is where the fun begins... the GPS stop working!!!! I didn't know it was the Time Zone patch until i performed another Hard Reset and Installed only a few aplications and the GPS kept working perfectly...
Today I'm going to install ALL the aplications that I use except the Patch to see if that does the trick...
I'll be posting tonight to tell you how it goes...
i never had a galaxy S so now idea how bad that really was, but it does kinda suck when you need gps and have to have data on to get a lock in a shortish manner (mainly on holiday where i have no data allowance).
any chance that process tech (nodes etc) will have matured to the point where we can have a dedicated gps received in our phones of the quality of what you can get in a tom tom or whatever? no data needed at all to work?
i ask since i use gps on holidays via jogtracker to track where i've been and the train/bus/plane journies from A to B. very cool to look at after the fact - zoom in - and see what you were passing at the time
Well, you could go tell the US government to go modify their satellite so they transfer GPS almanac faster to your device.
Otherwise no, you'll need to get the info from somewhere, either from data network or the satellites themselves.
what? it's nothing to do with the satellites. get a tom tom and they lock on within 30 secs. get an sgs2 without data and it will lock on within 30 seconds, upto 5+ minutes, same with my old desire.
the "get the info from somewhere" line? it comes from the gps sats.
Well it was a joke, but looks like you didn't it. So to simplify the answer:
NO
The answer keeps being NO, but I'm gonna explain a bit further:
First time you boot a Tom Tom, it can stay anything from 5 to 10 minutes out in the sun to catch the goddamn GPS signal. Which is the average time for any GPS to get proper signal the standard manner. What happens the next time? Well, your tom has already the GPS data cached, so unless you move very far from the last point you connected the GPS, it will catch it rather fast (because it's asuming it stays in the same location).
With Android the results are rather mixed. I believe the caching part is done per app basis, which means maybe an app will get a fast lock provided you used it recently, and some other apps may really take the 5 minutes to get the proper location without any aid.
I think an standarized cache in android for any app using the GPS could be a good idea.
But that's my thought.
AGPS is also used as a signal booster in areas of low GPS signal .
Phone GPS does not need AGPS to work .
jje
Also, smartphones generally have weaker GPS antennas than dedicated navigation devices -- a good GPS antenna requires space, something that's at a premium in a smartphone. There are probably also RF issues to contend with.
So a smartphone is more likely to have a poor GPS signal and thus require help from other technologies like AGPS.
than you to the last 3 posters for providing useful responses
As reference, my SGS1 had terrible GPS. If I had no data and I wasn't using wireless networks to help pinpoint my location, the GPS sat would never find me.
In comparison, my SGS2 can usually get a lock on me within 30 seconds without data/wifi on and no assitance from wireless networks.
It may not be as fast or as reliable as a dedicated GPS unit, but it gets the job done when I need to know where the flip i am.
Many jiayu users complain about bad or even unusable GPS, even worse than on other Mediatek devices. We all hope, it's a software issue and can be improved.
Let's collect information here. Please help by summarizing statements from other threads here and include links to the sources. Please stay on topic
General discussion about this device is here
Read a trojan warning here
Maybe I will update this first posting with the most useful information from time to time...
Software issue
I have the very strong and positive feeling, it is a software issue:
When I got my device with the 20140410 ROM, the GPS was really bad. Time to first fix was sometimes fast, sometimes it took more than 5 minutes, and accuracy was really bad most of the time. And as I could see on the map, it was much worse than reported - accuracy as can be seen i.e. in the GPS Test app was many times quite ok, like 4-7 meters, but the position on the map was 50m off, or more. Many times, the GPS continued to advance in the original direction after I stopped or changed direction. Sometimes there was some fixed offset, which stayed the same for 15 minutes.
Or I had a usable fix for a while, then I paused GPS just for a minute, and next try again took very, very long, even with a fresh AGPS download.
And all those problems under clear sky!
I tried many suggestions I found, but nothing really helped.
Then I upgraded to the 20140609-211642 ROM and first didn't notice a difference for some days (but didn't make methodic tests, and didn't use GPS much) and tried some of the suggested fixes again.
I also read about a hardware fix with some photos. I opened my back cover, just to see if my GPS antenna looked the same. I pressed the antenna down with my finger.
Then I noticed my GPS became really good! For a week I really enjoyed usable GPS and was very happy.
I thought it could be bad electric connection of the antenna to the mainboard, which was improved by pressing it down. But now I think it is not related:
After that week I got aware of the trojans in that ROM and restored a backup from before. Back to the April ROM, my GPS was immediately as bad as before! - pressing down the antenna didn't help again.
This unusable GPS annoyed me a lot last weeks and yesterday I decided to try the BORX ROM, but before I started a short test by restoring the 0609 backup where it all worked so well. I didn't have the time to really test (and I'm afraid of enabling internet - of course the 2 trojans are removed, but who knows what else is in there?). But it really looks like it is much better again! (First fix took really long without AGPS, of course, but then it was accurate, and also next tries, hours later, were fast.)
The problem is, I don't know exactly what I did, and don't have much time for experiments. So I don't know if it's just the newer ROM, or other changes. Can someone tell me what config or other files to compare between the 2 backups? I can also post them here.
Alex
My points and observations (I've tried 3-4 different 4.2.2 ROMs and 2-3 different 4.4.2 ROMs).
- GPS for me was about the same regarding its accuracy
- fix time also about the same, a few seconds up to a minute on the clear sky, a few minutes up to "give up" in the woods/buildings
- every ROM had a 1 hour difference bug between GPS reported time and the actual local time
- almost every time accuracy reported by GPS Test is very good (~4-10m)... the real one is much worse, I can confirm what Alex1a noticed. Also, what is really strange, my wife's Galaxy S4 Mini GPS Test accuracy (Snapdragon with Glonass) is significantly worse, yet there is no navigation and positioning issues
- some apps (Google Maps as example) have an arrow pointing your movement direction... this is usualy different than the real direction. Even the map is not rotated well.
I've sent a few emails to the Jiayu people I've found on some official website... but there was no response at all. I know that there is quite a strong community in Spain (Jiayu.es) and in Russia (4pda.ru). I'd also appreciate if anyone native tries to speak to these people regarding our GPS issues.
The good word is, that the GPS works I've done ~1000km over the last weekend and G4S led me to the places I needed. I've used Sygic, that in my opinion has better algorithms handling bad GPS signal. It also shows a nice line to the planned road, when the GPS signal puts you in the adjacent forrest The problem for me is, that the navigation can become frustrating, nervous and annoying. Especially when you have a lot of small and close roads/turns or you need to use it very quickly from the time you start the app.
I am trying to play ingress (a gps game) and half of the time it is unplayable. Ingress also often just quits/crashes without notice, and I think it is because it detects my gps as a fake gps for cheating
When that happened, I restart ingress immediately and sometimes it took more than 5 minutes to get a fix again, even though it worked seconds before.
With 0609 this was much better during that week.
I'm still on 20140609-211642 and GPS is really usable - much better compared to 0410, even inside a building, where 0410 could run hours without getting a fix! Please tell me what to compare between the two backups, to find out what setting makes this difference!
I am not sure, but I think I used MT GPS and faster GPS on both ROMs. Let's find out.
In the EngineeMode I saw some automated tests, and I am willing to do them with both ROMs - if someone exactly tells me how. I am too busy to find out myself...
Alex1a, could you quantify "really usable" when on 20140609-211642 ROM? How long does first fix last (in the streets), and do you have accuracy problems where GPS puts you on a nearby road by mistake?
I'm sorry I can't help more at the moment, I'm still holding off from buying this phone, but GPS is the only real issue I have with it, if I knew it would work correctly I'd get it right away, but everywhere I read problem is the same and since this is one of 2 reasons why I'm changing my current phone it's really important to me that it works fine
[EDIT 2014-Aug-06]
Here is one feedback, anyone else?
srkonus said:
Yesterday i tested GPS with the TeamForce v2 ROM and had no problems. Accurancy of 11 feet - 10 minutes later i wanted to navigate and the phone got no fix.
Navigon and GPS-Test shows nothing and it was not possible to get a fix. So i installed the TeamForce Android L ROM and for now everything seems to be okay again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LuxZg said:
Alex1a, could you quantify "really usable" when on 20140609-211642 ROM? How long does first fix last (in the streets), and do you have accuracy problems where GPS puts you on a nearby road by mistake?
I'm sorry I can't help more at the moment, I'm still holding off from buying this phone, but GPS is the only real issue I have with it, if I knew it would work correctly I'd get it right away, but everywhere I read problem is the same and since this is one of 2 reasons why I'm changing my current phone it's really important to me that it works fine
[EDIT 2014-Aug-06]
Here is one feedback, anyone else?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried the GPS today again under heavy enviroment (inside a building, many metal around) and i got a fix on the window. In use was the TeamForce Kitkat Android L style without any changed (GPS location/time server is spain, i am sitting in germany). I have the feeling that i had only problems if i change it to germany.
The GPS on my old Samsung Galaxy S is more better but the G4S is enough for my use (tracking of running, car navigiation).
srkonus said:
I tried the GPS today again under heavy enviroment (inside a building, many metal around) and i got a fix on the window. In use was the TeamForce Kitkat Android L style without any changed (GPS location/time server is spain, i am sitting in germany). I have the feeling that i had only problems if i change it to germany.
The GPS on my old Samsung Galaxy S is more better but the G4S is enough for my use (tracking of running, car navigiation).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your feedback, looks like this is it.. If you get a chance to test it on road (car navigation or tracking), just to see if you get any issues with "signal lost" or being put on the wrong road / in the fields beside roads and similar that would be great as well, but I'm thankfull for this much as well as it sounds as good news for all owners (and future owners )
LuxZg said:
Alex1a, could you quantify "really usable" when on 20140609-211642 ROM? How long does first fix last (in the streets), and do you have accuracy problems where GPS puts you on a nearby road by mistake?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hard to quantify - I was really happy most of the time in the last weeks. First fix after long time of no use felt a bit long, something like 1-2 minutes, but then "real" accuracy was good and especially getting a new fix after some minutes of standby, was 5-10 seconds, I would say. With the older ROM, it sometimes took 5-10 minutes, even after only seconds of stopped gps.
BUT! yesterday, still on the same rom, I did a bicycle trip. first fix took more than 5 minutes, that was annoying. Then I recorded a track for about an hour. The track was quite accurate and looked good. Then I stopped the tracking and GPS. Only 20 minutes later, under free sky, I didn't get a new fix, no matter what I tried. Some time later, after some reboots it worked again, but was very inaccurate...
srkonus said:
I tried the GPS today again under heavy enviroment (inside a building, many metal around) and i got a fix on the window. In use was the TeamForce Kitkat Android L style without any changed (GPS location/time server is spain, i am sitting in germany). I have the feeling that i had only problems if i change it to germany.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mean the time server set by "faster GPS" app? I tried that and rebooted, but no positive effect. I'm in germany, too.
Just ordered the phone, when it arrives I'll do as many tests as I can.
In the meantime - I'm assuming you did all this because I've seen this (and similar) solutions all over the forums and YouTube, but let me propose it just the same:
Code:
What you need is Mobileuncle mtk tools,root explorer,gps test download them from play store.
THIS SHOULD BE DONE OUTDOORS.
1. Turn GPS off on your phone.
2. Open Root Explorer and find the mtkgps.dat file in /data or /data/misc
3. Delete mtkgps.dat
4. Reboot phone
5. Open Mobileuncle Tools
6. Tap on 'Engineer Mode'
7. Tap on 'Engineer Mode (MTK)'
8. Scroll across to 'Location'
9. Tap on 'Location Based Service'
10. Tap on 'AGPS' and then make sure 'A-GPS On/Off' is checked
11. Tap on 'EPO' and then make sure 'Enable EPO' is checked
12. Swipe down (notification bar) and turn GPS on
13. Hit back and then tap 'YGPS'
14. Wait until you get position lock (mine took about 6 seconds).
15. This process should create a new mtkgps.dat file.
16. Hit home button and open GPS Test.
17. You should get a position lock reasonably quickly.
Also setting /etc/gps.conf (with any root-supporting text editor) manually to settings such as these:
Code:
NTP_SERVER=europe.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
INTERMEDIATE_POS=1
ACCURACY_THRES=5000
SUPL_HOST=supl.google.com
SUPL_PORT=7275
SUPL_TLS_HOST=supl.google.com
SUPL_TLS_CERT=/etc/SuplRootCert
PHONE_TYPE=UMTS
(instead of europe in first line you can modify according to lists on this website: http://www.pool.ntp.org/zone/@ )
EDIT: On my old (current) phone, I also have these issues with GPS, and doing above helped a lot, but it seems that I need to repeat some of the steps from time to time. Interesting thing is the delete of mtkgps.dat, sometimes it's enough to turn GPS off, delete it, and turn it back on and go to YGPS to renew the positions, and it works in <10 seconds. We'll see if Jiayu has same or better/worse track record.
Rom: G4SW 20140609-150354
I've installed a new ROM yesterday. Well it's not new, but I haven't met it before.
It is a stock ROM but modified by Jiayu Poland. So it is official one, but nicely cleaned from Chinese apps, keyboard is normal, no troyans... a nice worldwide multi language official ROM that you can use "out of the box".
But what impress' me the most is the GPS. It's the best one I've ever met on Jiayu G4S! This one really works for me! At least at the moment I don't know if it is because it's a fresh installation or the GPS is set for my part of the world. The facts is that the GPS fixes within seconds without 3G and I can get a fix even inside the building. What is more it is the first ROM that the arrow directing my position is aligned properly and it moves exactly as I turn around with the phone.
I've made a simple point to point navigation today morning. A few times it still put me on the adjacent road... but it is still WAY better experience than before. My cursor used to stop when I stopped... that did not happen before, it was always living it's own life
So please give it a try yourself and let me know if I'm dreaming or this one actually works. This is 4.2.2 for Jiayu G4S 2GB/16GB:
http://jiayupolska.pl/download/rom/G4S_20140609-150354_[jiayupolska_PL].zip
Thanks for the info, I just got a new G4S and will try this soon, as GPS is important to me, and I sure don't need trojans and chinese apps
Could you just tell me one thing, does this ROM still have Caller ID bug or is that one fixed as well?
Hmm... hard to tell as I've never experienced that problem. An easy way (step by step) to check that?
Do you get SMS threads for contacts separated because of numebers (not) starting with country code, does your phone show who's calling correctly, etc? But we'll be offtopic here, perhaps just edit your post in the "main" G4S thread
EDIT: Just came back home, downloading it, and erasing original system to factory settings.. will be there soon myself to check GPS, but I won't have SIM in it for a day or so..
EDIT2: installed, got GPS fix in 10 seconds from window, which is good, but I had WiFi running. I'll install iGO soon, and check on the road next day or two
Jiayu's GPS.
In many roms that problem is now fixed. MTK chips normally do not usually behave very well with their gps. But Jiayu suffers a lot from this lack. That is solved by changing a line system / etc / agps_profiles_conf.xml roaming on the file.
roaming = "yes"
And the application of Google Play "FasterGPS" help position quite quickly.
Only then the terminal has no problem to download the epo file and position well satellites.
Greetings.
Sorry, but that's just theory. In practice people claim that GPS is fixed in thier ROM but it did not work for me. GPS I mean not only the fix time but also accuracy.
Apart of the ROMs I've tried a few additional apps and fixes... with not much improvement.
The ROM quoted by me it's the first one that GPS works out of the box, without any additional fixes and apps and on GPS antenna only (no AGPS at all).
If anyone do some GPS navigation tests please try both with mobile network assistance (AGPS) and without it.
I'm not sure if I'm right, but I have a feeling that with a ROM from post #11 the navigation apps work better without that assistance, with the GPS antenna only.
A few days now and I'm still amazed with that ROM regarding the GPS usage. Anyone unsure I recommend to give it a try
Doman said:
I've installed a new ROM yesterday. Well it's not new, but I haven't met it before.
It is a stock ROM but modified by Jiayu Poland. So it is official one, but nicely cleaned from Chinese apps, keyboard is normal, no troyans... a nice worldwide multi language official ROM that you can use "out of the box".
But what impress' me the most is the GPS. It's the best one I've ever met on Jiayu G4S! This one really works for me! At least at the moment I don't know if it is because it's a fresh installation or the GPS is set for my part of the world. The facts is that the GPS fixes within seconds without 3G and I can get a fix even inside the building. What is more it is the first ROM that the arrow directing my position is aligned properly and it moves exactly as I turn around with the phone.
I've made a simple point to point navigation today morning. A few times it still put me on the adjacent road... but it is still WAY better experience than before. My cursor used to stop when I stopped... that did not happen before, it was always living it's own life
So please give it a try yourself and let me know if I'm dreaming or this one actually works. This is 4.2.2 for Jiayu G4S 2GB/16GB:
http://jiayupolska.pl/download/rom/G4S_20140609-150354_[jiayupolska_PL].zip
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello,
Good News.
Can you install Xposed and gravitybox in this ROM?
Roms with GPS fixed.
Hello everyone! Apart from the many roms (and very good all) that ye can download, there is a website where there for our G4S and the G3S. androidteamforce.es
I say this because there all roms have fixed the gps well and are very stable. And even more so those in kitchen. If you want to try, you know (are also in needrom). While development is Spanish, the website is translated into English as well.We recommend them! I'm using the AOSP v2 with fixes memory and root, and I'm doing everything works perfectly, even Titanium. The GPS usually takes me ten radars detected, seven or eight. A marvel.
A greeting.
Doman said:
If anyone do some GPS navigation tests please try both with mobile network assistance (AGPS) and without it.
I'm not sure if I'm right, but I have a feeling that with a ROM from post #11 the navigation apps work better without that assistance, with the GPS antenna only.
A few days now and I'm still amazed with that ROM regarding the GPS usage. Anyone unsure I recommend to give it a try
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm... now I'm not sure if I'm seeing things either, but you could be right. It took me few days to transfer 100% to new phone so I was testing it on and off. Always with WIFI/3G turned on. While I got fix quickly, precision was a bit off, well.. up to 40-50 meters sometimes, enough to cause problems.
Today on my way from work I've turned on tracking, was still for a minute or so, and than started ride on a bike. Than minute or so later I remembered your advice, and turned off all data (Wi-Fi/3G) and continued. Now I'm looking at a chart, and first part of the ride looks terrible, like I was a crazy bug flying all over the place (with speeds up to 80km/h), and than suddenly I'm straight on course, with normal data being recorded and all the way to the finish line. From the tracking side, first 3,5 minutes I was off by soooo much, but from then on I had a positional error of margin of about 5 meters, no more (other side of the road etc.), and kept on going like that for 14 more minutes.
Since I'm biking a lot, well, when it's not raining, I'll do some more tracking, and I'll track test routes with car as well. I'll try not to use WIFI/3G at all during tracking, and we'll see if data will be consistent. I know that GPS on this ROM isn't perfect, as can be seen from todays 80km/h data and some extra 2km while I was mostly standing, but let's see if indeed data is being a culprit for GPS errors. Who knows, maybe the same way as Bluetooth interferes with Wi-Fi / Wi-Fi Display, maybe Wi-Fi and/or 3G causes malfunctions in GPS data, or somehow chip uses Wi-Fi positioning in addition to GPS causing it to add wider errors. We'll see, so far this is just a theoretic thing, I'm waiting for at least 4-5 good rides till I'm satisfied