Related
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!
I travel a lot, and I'm a minimalist. In other words, I'll travel for a week and take a paper lunch bag as my carry-on with hopes that I can get by with wearing the same outfit the entire week. I don't like carrying a full Navigation system and use my phone. This isn't an 'iPhone lovefest' because honestly, I hate everything about Apple, but I never had problems like this on my iPhone.
My problem though is the GPS. I'm on my third phone because of the GPS. The first phone would never get a lock on GPS. I could be sitting outside with a GPS satellite dedicated to me directly above me, and it would still say "Searching for Satellite". That phone went back and I took on another one.
Second phone had a problem where every now and then it would work, then stop working and never start working again until I rebooted the phone and even then it was questionable if it would start working again.
I just got my third phone a couple days ago. I did a stock root w/ no bootloaders, used Entropy's 11/13 Kernel, then threw on UnNamed ROM. This morning, I started up my car to drive somewhere and decided to test the GPS/Navigation. It took it a couple minutes to find the Satellite, then all seemed to be working ok. Then 20 minutes later it dropped the Satellite and it spent the next 40 minutes of my drive into the office saying "Searching for Satellite" no matter what I did.
This is really important to me as is the ability to tether when I want to (hence the reason I want a phone I can Root). So what can I do. At the moment, I've (In my head, so I could be wrong) narrowed it down to a couple things that could be wrong.
1. It's the ROM that's the problem. Though unlikely, it is a factor and it's me messing with the way the phone was designed and distributed.
2. It's the GPS in general. Seems like 95% of the people on here aren't having problems at all. There does seem to be 5% that seem to be having the same problems I am.
3. My region has crappy Satellite Coverage. Doubtful since my iPhone worked fine, and unless Apple did something amazing like put in an entire dedicated Satellite network to work with Jailbroke iPhones then this kinds of negates this though.
4. My cars are interferring. While this is entirely a possibility (I never do think to test this out in the open not in a car, so i can't say for sure) if it is the problem, then the device goes back as it's much cheaper to get a new device than to replace 2 cars. Again, though, my iPhone never had a problem doing this in these cars.
I love the phone, the speed, the Android OS etc... I don't want to go back to an iPhone because I"ll shoot myself. I just want to be able to have GPS work on this as it's the only hold up on the device. Any help anyone can do?
Take it back then. Honestly you say you have tried 3 different phones and all 3 are broken. I call bull****.
Never had a problem with it.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using XDA App
You didn't mention if you've tried in ANY of the three (3) phones if the GPS worked before rooting?? I'm not saying it's the rooting that's causing the problem, but I'm still running stock on my SGSII and have had no issues with GPS? Not saying it's not possible but three phones is kinda stretching it a bit to all have the same issue.
Yes, I know you took it back to STOCK rom with #3 but who knows if the STOCK ROM is really *STOCK*, you should try a new phone #4 stock without ROOT for at least a day or two to determine if it is a DESIGN/HARDWARE issue rule that out first and then try from there... If this still happens with STOCK phone, you may have to switch to another phone (iphone or otherwise)...
Good Luck!
I just took it back to stock and was going to go outside to see if it had problems finding service. Though as mentioned in many other threads on here, it's not so much it finding you when you're standing still. It's when you're driving the streets of Atlanta that things get crazy.
stalked_r/t said:
I just took it back to stock and was going to go outside to see if it had problems finding service. Though as mentioned in many other threads on here, it's not so much it finding you when you're standing still. It's when you're driving the streets of Atlanta that things get crazy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Stalk,
Keep in STOCK mode and drive around with it and see if this is still an issue then... Also if you have an aluminum case, this has been a known issue where the TARGUS (SP?) korean made BEAUTIFUL/GORGEOUS case affected the GPS antennae. Try it stock no case on the dash away from DIRECT sunslight and begin troubleshooting there...
UNFORTUNATELY it may boil down to Stock and working GPS or ROOT with Tethering... You ***MIGHT*** not be able to do both...
Good Luck...
If you JUST root, it shouldn't affect GPS - but test without rooting first.
And I agree - if you've got a metal case, DITCH IT.
So far, my experience is that the GPS chipset is almost as good as any standalone GPS chipset I've used - Sirf StarIII, MTKv2, STM Cartesio (the latter being the chipset in my Garmin Oregon, the former being chipsets in various Bluetooth dataloggers I've used for hiking). Actually, the GPS in this phone beats the StarIII and is around on par with the Cartesio. So far nothing I've ever used can touch an MTKv2 though.
I'm used to phones having crappy awful GPS chipsets - this is the first device I would ever consider using for geocaching on its own.
Thanks for the replies. I did test just now on the way to and from lunch with stock everything. I do have a case that's part aluminum (Case-Mate). I didn't try it without the case. didn't even think it could affect this.
Running a stock setup, I attempted to get navigation to my lunch location The drive was about 6 miles each way. When I left the office, I started Navigation. It never found a satellite enroute to the restaurant. I never stopped it during lunch from looking, though I was in a building, so i didn't expect it to find anything. On the way home, same status. Searching for satellites. I'm torn. I want this phone bad, love the Dev support, and there's nothing coming from AT&T that makes me want to use an old Blackberry to wait for. I also don't know what I can do to test this further.
On the way home, I'm going to do something very simple. I'm going to wipe the phone. I'm going to skip all steps of the initial setup, just have service and that's it. I'll start navigation and have it direct me home. If it doesn't work, I'll look at my options. If it works, then I know it's an app that's causing the problem.
Unless someone else can think of something for me to try. I wish this just worked like I know it can.
Ok. So an update. Wiped phone, not even associated with Google, Removed my 32 gig SD card for the heck of it, removed the case. Started nav and INSANTLY inside a building it had me pinpointed and was directing me to the next turn point to get home.
Here's the case I have: http://www.case-mate.com/Samsung-Ga...rsion-Barely-There-Brushed-Aluminum-Cases.asp
In one of the reviews, this is said:
As much as I wanted to love this case, I couldn't. I've used many Case Mate products before and I am just disappointed in them for the lack of quality of this case. There is a noticeable issue with the case fitting the bezel on the top right corner of the phone. The lip of the case fails to properly wrap around the front bezel. There is also the connectivity problems that come with this case. GPS has especially weakened with this case on. Other than that, I like the quality material that this case is built out of and feels very sturdy. Unfortunately though as of this writing, this is really the only choice for a decent case for this phone on the market. Time will tell if better choices come about.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm going to keep this setup through tomorrow, then root the phone if there's no difference in performance and all is well. If that works fine for 2 days, I'll throw the Kernel on and throw UnNamed on. If that works, I'll throw the case on and see what happens. I now feel like this could be the problem. Thanks for the thoughts guys. I'll continue my abuse of the "THANKS" button and thank you all.
ride home was flawless. If ride to work tomorrow is flawless, I'll root and flash.
Entropy512 said:
If you JUST root, it shouldn't affect GPS - but test without rooting first.
And I agree - if you've got a metal case, DITCH IT.
So far, my experience is that the GPS chipset is almost as good as any standalone GPS chipset I've used - Sirf StarIII, MTKv2, STM Cartesio (the latter being the chipset in my Garmin Oregon, the former being chipsets in various Bluetooth dataloggers I've used for hiking). Actually, the GPS in this phone beats the StarIII and is around on par with the Cartesio. So far nothing I've ever used can touch an MTKv2 though.
I'm used to phones having crappy awful GPS chipsets - this is the first device I would ever consider using for geocaching on its own.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't gotten enough free time to log the NMEA output, but I don't think our "SirfSTAR IV" chipset is actually even using DGPS/WAAS. Which makes the accuracy it get's even more impressive. The chip definitely supports WAAS, but who knows exactly how the implementation is done between Android & Samsung...
I've also owned a SirfStar III based Bluetooth GPS, a MTK-based GPS (also the best I've found), and several phones with dedicated and integrated GPS chipsets. Have to agree our GS2 is one of the best. I can't exactly wander around the house and have it track my every movement like my Bluetooth pucks can (also having a large ceramic patch antenna helps a bit no doubt), but my GS2 locks fast, and stays locked. What else can you want from a GPS?
Might be worth it to look into WAAS either way though. On any standalone GPS unit, WAAS is the difference between 15-30 meter accuracy, and 3-5 meter (or better) accuracy. That is unless you have a military GPS unit, and the appropriate keys to receive the high accuracy P(Y)/M signals...
If you want to get a good idea of how the GPS is doing, this app will show you the strength of your GPS lock:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.eclipsim.gpsstatus2
Also, upon further research, the NMEA output is reporting that WAAS/DGPS is not in use.
Example: "$GPGGA,222520.000,4218.460926,N,07111.901869,W,1,06,1.2,77.1,M,-33.8,M,,*53"
Where the bold "1" should be 2, and the null field right before the checksum "*53" should be the age of the DGPS/WAAS info if it were in use.
The chipset in our phones (http://www.csr.com/products/35/sirfstariv-gsd4e) clearly states that it supports WAAS. And since the choice of DGPS or not is solely in the hands of the chip and software (wiring/antenna connection/configuration is irrelevant) perhaps there is a way to enable the DGPS mode? If so, I'm sure we would all see MUCH better position and accuracy information.
WAAS probably requires modifications to the host processing binary (SIRFHost)
BTW, our chip is a GSD4t, not 4e.
I was having problems with my gps losing its lock for the longest time, i got a replacement phone and it started doing it again AFTER root. Im thinking some app might be causing the issue. I read somewhere that ROM Manager can cause issues. I deleted it and so far my gps has been working. I am really baffled on to what can be causing it.
stalked_r/t said:
ride home was flawless. If ride to work tomorrow is flawless, I'll root and flash.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its the case man. Great looking case, but kills the cell signal and terrible GPS. Mine went back after 3 days.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using XDA App
Yep. Ride into work today lost signal once. After letting it sit for a couple minutes, I rebooted. After reboot it worked flawlessly. Definitely the case at this point. Putting Root/Kernel/ROM on it today and seeing how the drive home is. If it's good, then the case can be tossed and I'll find a different one.
Entropy512 said:
WAAS probably requires modifications to the host processing binary (SIRFHost)
BTW, our chip is a GSD4t, not 4e.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good catch. Interesting. Haven't checked out the sources, but I'm assuming all the GPS binaries are blobs? And source is not available?
Always wondered why mobile phones never have WAAS support... course then again, if the hardware was developed in Korea, that would make a little bit of sense. Seeing as there isn't WAAS coverage there, although I do believe there is an alternate DGPS solution for Asia.
I know others are reporting success with the update but mine seems to not work.
Is there any hope or is mine just bad?
It does not lock onto anything and barely sees 1 satellite some of the time.
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
mmoran27 said:
I know others are reporting success with the update but mine seems to not work.
Is there any hope or is mine just bad?
It does not lock onto anything and barely sees 1 satellite some of the time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here.
Asus didn't say, "Here's an update to fix all GPS issues."
No need to freak out - everything is a work in progress.
Variables in play
Definitely NOT an even playing field. Even with margin of error, and huge differences in test conditions, I am of the belief that some GPS setups are better (or worse) than others. People reporting poor indoor performance made me envious, as I had NO indoor performance and could barely see satellites outdoors. This update stepped my GPS up substantially, I even got loc indoors (for about 6 seconds, LOL!)
My gut tells me they are NOT going to get it to a workable level, there is just too much to overcome, with the back design, but I do commend Asus for getting in there and giving it the old school try.
Got an external, bluetooth receiver, about 5" x 2" x.5" and it works well. I will probably rely on that, unless Asus pulls off a miracle of engineering.
After all they are "Inspiring Innovation" and "Persistent Perfection" whatEVER that is supposed to mean, LOL!
I have an Asus Motherboard that says the following on the box:
Rock Solid - Heart Touching
uh.. Okeeey then. Thanks for those words of wisdom and inspiration, Asus!
I have never recieved one Satellite hit on my Prime. Everything else appears fine, the WiFi appears fine.
However, I have tried GPSFix, GPSTest and I have never seen one satellite. My last prime I took back for Serial Number Unknown showed me 2 satellites for like 5 seconds and I never saw any on it either.
So I am doing something wrong, or my GPS was Dead on Arrival.
When I first got my Prime, GPS did not work.
The GPS firmware update that came for my Prime when it was still running Honeycomb made a huge difference. I was getting a fix on 10-12 satellites (though it took a couple of minutes).
After the ICS update, my GPS did not work again. The GPS firmware update today was no help ... I'm still getting nothing. I can only guess that there may be different GPS hardware models for the Primes. Hopefully, Asus can find a way to get us the correct firmware update for our particular model. I know that mine is fixable because it was fixed once before.
Frankly, I haven't noticed any improvements after last night's update.
I don't understand why they wont let us Just send it on and they change the backing for us
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium
This is still the only issue with my Prime... even after the 1/18 firmware updates, still no GPS lock... It has never found or locked onto a single satellite.
I wonder if I should have done a hard reset after the latest firmware update. I did reboot all services/ tasks, but it didn't help.
Yeah, same here. Not a single lock before and after.
It's clearly a good sport in prime sections to open constantly new threads about the same subjects...
When you look really, you can close at least half of all threads!
Guys please! Stop opening threads for things already written many times! And especially when xda can't help you. I'd your GPS doesn't work... it doesn't work, see with Asus.
I got my dock last night and BOOM! GPS works like a champ. Take it off the dock and GPS dumps out. This gives me hope. Is it software or hardware?
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium
Yeah same here. I do seem to remember GPS working shortly after I got it, but not since I went to ICS. Update didn't do anything. Using GPS status app, i don't even get a fix on a single sat. Wifi is another issue all together >_<
I went outside today after trying the fix. I could see 15 satellites and locked on to 10. I have one of the Australian primes but i don'tknow if that makes a difference.
My GPS works - not!
I guess I'm one of the luckiest Prime owner. After the firmware update I managed to get my GPS show something. It is far from perfect - it lag fetching the satellites reception and when it does it might just disappear at once all of a sudden.
I found that the best is out of town. in-town the disruptions is probably too much for it and the GPS going crazy and not-accurately. Out of town it had smooth reception and the GPS stayed connected for quite a while, like GPS should work.
all in all this tablet doesn't have a decent working GPS. i can't believe it can be fixed. it is the case and there is nothing to do.
first time I buy something of a first generation and it looks like I'm screwed!
Ok, Just unboxed my TP from Office Depot today. Google Maps seems to find me in my house within 20 meters. However, GPS Test is no dice with finding a single GPS. Is Google Maps doing something different. Im still on Honeycomb, want to see what HC does prior to updating to ICS. Anybody else experienced this.
GPS fix did fix my GPS but it screwed up my wifi. Range got reduced a lot.
gps & wifi fix that works
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgx2Kpfi-Ps
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
I don't know how many more times my desk will survive due to me banging my head against it...
It's a long story which I will cut short; we have bought a large number of cheap handsets (Nuu A3L, spec sheet here: https://www.devicespecifications.com/en/model/4fc6428b ) and they're using Sygic truck as their navigation tool.
We straight away ran into some major issues, the main one being with Sygic/GPS. The devices would begin navigating but would then start to lose GPS signal and start bouncing around, sometimes they would recover (only to do the same thing again a few minutes later) and other times they would just lose GPS connectivity entirely and would lock up for 10+ minutes.
After seeing how poorly the application ran on these devices I had a hunch that the application was hogging every last drop of available system resource. I removed as much bloat from the application as possible, I turned off the 3D map (2D is much more fluid), turned off all POI, turned off traffic updates etc and it appeared to resolve the issue. I drove for 30 minutes with two devices side-by-side, the default one continued with its horrid GPS loss while the customised one worked fine.
A few people have taken these out today to test, but are apparently having the same issues regardless of the changes that I made.
I'm now at a loss and struggling to work out what else can be done to help. They're running Airwatch and we can push remote changes out at any time, so I am at the mercy of those more knowledgeable than I (you).
If anybody has a decent suggestion then you win a free balloon.
jaffster said:
I don't know how many more times my desk will survive due to me banging my head against it...
It's a long story which I will cut short; we have bought a large number of cheap handsets (Nuu A3L, spec sheet here: https://www.devicespecifications.com/en/model/4fc6428b ) and they're using Sygic truck as their navigation tool.
We straight away ran into some major issues, the main one being with Sygic/GPS. The devices would begin navigating but would then start to lose GPS signal and start bouncing around, sometimes they would recover (only to do the same thing again a few minutes later) and other times they would just lose GPS connectivity entirely and would lock up for 10+ minutes.
After seeing how poorly the application ran on these devices I had a hunch that the application was hogging every last drop of available system resource. I removed as much bloat from the application as possible, I turned off the 3D map (2D is much more fluid), turned off all POI, turned off traffic updates etc and it appeared to resolve the issue. I drove for 30 minutes with two devices side-by-side, the default one continued with its horrid GPS loss while the customised one worked fine.
A few people have taken these out today to test, but are apparently having the same issues regardless of the changes that I made.
I'm now at a loss and struggling to work out what else can be done to help. They're running Airwatch and we can push remote changes out at any time, so I am at the mercy of those more knowledgeable than I (you).
If anybody has a decent suggestion then you win a free balloon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let me be clear that I never played with sygix enough to speak directly about it. You may have already tried the things I'm brainstorming here.
I'm not clear as to why you didn't just load a different mapping app on these? There certainly are a lot of them.
What level of connectivity are they using? If you are on GSM or 3G, downloading map information as the vehicle moves around, that could slow things down to a crawl. Using an app that doesn't have to work this way could be a solution.
I noticed that the phone has a 500ish MHz clock speed and just 1 GB of RAM. As you've discovered, every layer of complexity in the mapping will slow it down further.
Something like Tom-tom was written to run on a lot less hardware. That's the kind of thing that I'd look for. I believe that Here is also made for very low end hardware.
Not sure if it helps, but at least it's a path worth looking at.
Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk