One of the main reasons why I bough a smart phone was in order to use the GPS. And while I'm quite happy with my Ace, GPS is so slow is almost useless.
I already a long research about it, and tried some of the fixes available, like this one: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1284506, and indeed, the speed to detect satellites has improved.
I'm using this app: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.chartcross.gpstest&hl=es, to check what is the gps status, and it has been very useful.
Apparently, the problem is not the phone having problem to see the satellites, it could see and use 4 relatively fast, instead the seems to be that it need to use at least 9 satellites to get the actual position. Is that normal? Reading about gps, it says it only need 3 or 4, for some reason, even with 8, my ace could not calculate the coordinates. So it could take sometimes more than 20 minutes to know where I am.
Usually, the satellites receptions goes between 20 and 40, which is not much, but I'm not sure that is the cause of the problem.
So if any know how it supposed to work, I will be thankful for any info. Also, if your phone is quick to tell you the position once you enable, I will really appretiate if you can make a quick test with the above app (or another), to let me know how many satellites are needed to know the coordinates, and that is the signal range you are getting, so I can compare and see where my phone is failing.
And of course, if you have any suggestion, they are welcome.
take a look at this fix, just introduced a few days ago. It only works for CM7.x!, but for me it gives a very fast lock. It uses stock rom libs and a basic gps.conf file.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1465402
For me this gives a lock in about 5-10 sec. Really great! More satellites = more accuracy. You can get a lock with just one, but the lock is just worse.
remark: if you flash it you lose your old lib files and re flashing PFGPS tweak won't work, so make sure you make a system backup.
acceleratus said:
take a look at this fix, just introduced a few days ago. It only works for CM7.x!, but for me it gives a very fast lock. It uses stock rom libs and a basic gps.conf file.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1465402
For me this gives a lock in about 5-10 sec. Really great! More satellites = more accuracy. You can get a lock with just one, but the lock is just worse.
remark: if you flash it you lose your old lib files and re flashing PFGPS tweak won't work, so make sure you make a system backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the suggestion! Now for sure works different... I think it could see the satellite even faster than before, but while before it could use them almost as soon as it see them, now it take longer to start to use them, and use only 3 or 4, and the accuracy is not as good as before (between 150 and 200). Still I think is a improving, at least it give me roughly my position.
It will be really helpful for me if you could make a quick test with the application I mentioned above, I need to know how the gps usually works when working like yours, how many satellites can view, how many of them use, how much time it use.
If you can do that for me, I will be really grateful.
Related
I'm sure everyone knows about the GPS bugs that plague the first generation Galaxy S. I've read the SGS 2 reviews and they said the GPS issues have been fixed, but can I get some opinions on whether anyone experienced any GPS issues? Is the GPS on the SGS 2 as accurate and good as the one on the iPhone 4?
Works fine. Faster lock than my IP4.
Its much faster than the Galaxy S1. I found the GPS to be close to useless on S1. On my S2 its close to perfect
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Works great and picks up signals inside buildings.
I had the sgs1 for about 6 months and now the sgs2 for about 3 weeks. I was soooo disappointed with the first sgs and like you I was unsure if I wanted to give the 2 a try...
Well I read a bunch and it seems that most people are happy so I bought it...
I can say with out a doubt that the GPS is way better on the 2 than the sgs1. I could not use Google navigation at all with the sgs1... it was useless and could never lock on and would have me blocks away from where I was. I've used my sgs2 GPS with Google navigation on more than a dozen trips /drives and it has always been spot on and never had me in the wrong location.
I will say that lock times are very slow when Im driving
Sent from my GT-I9100M using XDA App
I run every other day for an hour or two, I use runkeeper, also when out hiking I use mmtracker to read my o's maps, I can safely say especially with runkeeper the gpx routes recorded through the SGS2 are far more accurate than the iphone4 even managing to stay accurate whilst running through the forest, actual initial cold starting is about the same if not slightly faster with the sgs2. Oh yes and practically every time I recorded a run with the iphone4 through a certain part of my forest run it would create a spike where I was apparently running at 250mph hmm not sure I am that fast, but the sgs2 always keeps an accurate smooth record, hope that helps
for me, flaky. some days i'll get a lock within a minute and then it's fine. this morn and yest - takes ages to get a lock.
basically, ymmv
Download FasterFix. You can choose from a list of servers. Choose the country closest to you or, if it is in the list, your own country. This way you'll 'half your fixtime' so it connects faster to GPS-Sat.
It's like using the aiding sensors (e.g. WiFi).
I get a fix in >10sec max.
Hope it helps.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
i think gps on SG2 is far from perfect. It's "OK" but i had much better gps on my previous phone (HTC Hero)
What is the average time for a fix, for you guys?
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Mine takes between 10 seconds and a minute. Sometimes it just sits there doing nowt lol.
Xperia X10 used to lock in 10 seconds every time, but the rest of that phone was slow lol
The only time I have ever had a problem getting a fix, I simply opened up google maps and it seemed to get a fix instantly then returned to my other gps application and all was ok.
First thing in the morning outside fix within a few seconds
Indoors sometimes can take a little longer, but never more than about 10 seconds
I use GPS a lot
biffsmash said:
Mine takes between 10 seconds and a minute. Sometimes it just sits there doing nowt lol.
Xperia X10 used to lock in 10 seconds every time, but the rest of that phone was slow lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried FasterFix?
THUDUK said:
I use GPS a lot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess you said this to clarify that you've got good statistics, but a very interesting thing is that if you use the GPS often you likely get shorter fix time
The reason is that if you used the GPS recently (within hours) the cached GPS info is more accurate so the GPS doesn't need complete messsages to determine the position (it takes 30 seconds to send one complete position message from a satellite), and if you get interruptions you need to wait even longer, that is why it sometimes takes more than a minute to get a fix.
A-GPS also helps fix time in many cases.
BryanNL said:
Download FasterFix. You can choose from a list of servers. Choose the country closest to you or, if it is in the list, your own country. This way you'll 'half your fixtime' so it connects faster to GPS-Sat.
It's like using the aiding sensors (e.g. WiFi).
I get a fix in >10sec max.
Hope it helps.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
already done. still slow
THUDUK said:
The only time I have ever had a problem getting a fix, I simply opened up google maps and it seemed to get a fix instantly then returned to my other gps application and all was ok.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
Same thing happened to me.
Absolutely brilliant.
90% of the time it gets a lock within 30 secs , there's been sometimes when it needed a restart to get gps working properly but that's down to an app I was using previously which messed things up a bit, but on the whole I very happy with it.
The seamless integration with google maps is great. The external speaker is plenty loud & clear enough to hear the instructions but would like a less robotic sounding voice, re routing is quick & so far its been 100% reliable.
I have a built in gps system on my Land Rover but I almost always use the SGS2 gps over it. I used to have the SGS1 but the gps on that was a piece of crap. Gps on HTCs, etc, are probably just as good/better/worse, I don't know but one thing I'm sure about is the speaker volume would never be as loud & clear as the SGS2.
I get a lock up to 4m accuracy. My Captivate always had about 1500m accuracy and couldn't use it. Using navigation works perfectly on my sgs2
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Excellent
Like others here, i suffered from the original SGS gps nightmare
SGS2 gps has been great for me, able to use google maps/navigation/RAC app all without problem
I didn't realise how much location based services I used untill the problems with SGS gps clearly highlighted this. Now, with my SGS2 all is good.
Is there an app like the LBStesmode for froyo that I can use to change/check the gps settings?
Current config:
MIUI 1.9.16
ROM: ED05
Kernel: Glitch v12 HL (9/22/11)
Glitch 9/22/11 has been a HUGE improvement on my phone's speed, stability and smoothness. However, I'm still getting quite a lag time (3-5 min.) before the Fascinate connects to the satellites when using GPS for navigation.
I'm currently looking at Radio EC09.
Are there any recommendations or thoughts?
Do you leave your GPS on all the time? I've found my GPS takes a lot longer to lock if I was only turning it on When I need it. Now I leave it on all the time and most of the time it locks fairly quickly. Some people have better luck with E05, personally my GPS is better on EC09.
Yes. GPS is always left on. I am constantly using GPS to show specific locations as well as Latitude with family and friends.
My fascinate locks a bit quicker than my wife's with the exact same set up. And hers takes more time than mine to find Satellites. She has gone 10-15 min. without it ever finding a satellite lock.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
Updated Radio
Decided to Odin EC09 radio.
First GPS lock was nearly instantainiously; however, following uses were not as quick. I'll test it out today and report my findings.
I have tried just about every GPS fix/tweak out there. It seems like everything works well once or twice. Maybe the placebo effect. After a day or two it is always back to the random lock times of seconds to minutes. I have had the best overall luck with the PWGB rom. 9 out of ten times it locks in under a minute which seems to be the best my phone will do.
skiddingus said:
I have tried just about every GPS fix/tweak out there. It seems like everything works well once or twice. Maybe the placebo effect. After a day or two it is always back to the random lock times of seconds to minutes. I have had the best overall luck with the PWGB rom. 9 out of ten times it locks in under a minute which seems to be the best my phone will do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thats because things get out of wack like the compass or need to be updated like agps data. if youve tried the GPS fixes out there like downloading the gps.conf file from powerwash/geewiz and deleting gps files in miui (not sure about others) then always check out the compass/agps if you arent getting a quick lock.
I usually use GPS status to check it and it downloads AGPS data. I've heard the compass can be a problem but I have seen my phone GPS lock in a few seconds with the compass reading WAY off and I have also seen it take several minutes when the compass is perfect. Seems to be no pattern on my phone.
I have been on EH09 since it came out. Now on PWGB latest version it has consistenly locked quickly since flashing.
I just changed from CM 7.1 to 7.2-RC1 on my Aria. I did a full wipe before installing 7.2.
In every other ROM I've ever tried, (stock, attn1's, Gene Poole's, CM7.1), the GPS gets a lock within maybe 15 seconds. Now it takes several minutes. Using the GPS Status app, it seems to find the satellites quickly enough, and I get 6 or more right away. But no lock.
Once I do get a lock, the accuracy is dismal (+/- 60 feet) where it was always much better.
I know I have read about files that can be copied in to fix this; but I can't find those posts after quite a bit of searching.
Would someone please point me to those instructions? Can I pull stuff off the CM71. .zip?
Edit: Whoops, I think this is what I'm after: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=19106745&postcount=3688
Weird. I've tried all four of ladios' zips, and there doesn't seem to be much difference. Lock times and accuracy are still worse than 7.1
I know the /system/lib/hw/gps.liberty.so is being changed because the MD5 sums are different (and they match what I calculate on my PC). So I must be installing the .zips correctly.
Is there something else that changed about the GPS in 7.2?
I use the htc-stock zip and get an initial lock in 45 seconds, subsequent locks in 10 secs.
Sent from my Liberty using xda premium
I also use the HTC stock one and get a 5 sec lock. I'm using it with 7.2
Htc stock working great here as well.
Sent from my Liberty using XDA
FYI: take a look at this commit and this post, guys.
That is infinitely better, thanks!
The computed accuracy (uncertainty) is still worse than I've experienced in previous ROMs. But it wouldn't surprise me if it was "optimistic" in the past. Even dedicated handheld consumer GPS units don't get 3-foot accuracy after 15 seconds indoors, but that used to happen all the time on the Aria.
Has anyone else experience very slow GPS fixes if "Device only" mode is enable (for example because you don't want your data leaked to Google by enabling "High accuracy")? I thought this phone was supposed to support GLONASS, in addition to GPS.
I've always used GPS alone on my old Nexus One, and today I ran a test, with both devices freshly rebooted and in the same location. The N1 took 28 seconds to get a fix. The Xperia Z2 took 2 minutes and 16 seconds. This is with the latest firmware, .402. (With the previous one, FW:17.1.A.2.55, GPS worked a little faster, but still took about a minute or so, in plain outdoors with no trees or tall buildings around).
I'm having the same problem too using Strava. Can't get a fix at all
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Free mobile app
dandv said:
Has anyone else experience very slow GPS fixes if "Device only" mode is enable (for example because you don't want your data leaked to Google by enabling "High accuracy")? I thought this phone was supposed to support GLONASS, in addition to GPS.
I've always used GPS alone on my old Nexus One, and today I ran a test, with both devices freshly rebooted and in the same location. The N1 took 28 seconds to get a fix. The Xperia Z2 took 2 minutes and 16 seconds. This is with the latest firmware, .402. (With the previous one, FW:17.1.A.2.55, GPS worked a little faster, but still took about a minute or so, in plain outdoors with no trees or tall buildings around).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Based on my experience this is due to gps configuration file: fix that and signal get fixed much more fast and position gets more accurate... Before editing that file you need root and you should know what you are doing, because messing up with its content can bring longer time to fix and less accurate position. A better explanation is long and technical, so I kindly invite you to search more on this topic, if you're interested in
Hello everybody from Xda,
I'm looking for a new phone for my mother and I am really interested to know what the GPS is like. If the gps is any good I will join the Xiaomi army.
Why am I so interested in this?
Well my mother her navigation system just died and, I would like to install the tom tom app on her phone, I've got it currently on my oneplus one without internet and it's great. My mom will also have no data plan with her phone so google maps or anything isnt an option for her
So my question to you guys is, does anybody of you have had any ecperience with the gps.
Thanks in advance XDA,
Deameong
I am curious about the same thing. I use GPS without any Internet or even phone signal (normally on airplane mode to save battery). And I would like to know how reliable it is.
Attached a Screenshot, few Seconds (about 30) after switching GPS on. GPS receptions is really good, from my point of view.
cataplines said:
I am curious about the same thing. I use GPS without any Internet or even phone signal (normally on airplane mode to save battery). And I would like to know how reliable it is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just recieved it now,
Using google map and waze, locking on me very fast,
Looks good and stable with great reception of the GPS...
Can you say how much time in seconds need to lock satellites?
Thank You
Thanks alot for the advice guys,
Going to order it tonight!
I've just come back from holiday and I used GPS extensively with the offline Co-pilot app. It worked almost flawlessly both in the car and when cycling. I can't begin to tell you how much better it is than older MTK eqiluipped phones. Lock times varied from four seconds to nearly a minute. One thing I noticed is that it was much faster to lock in Co-pilot when I was connected to the internet. Accuracy was great, though I never went into a big city with lots of high rise buildings.
GPS, Wifi and network signal 2-3 times better than on my Note 4.
GPS is sick, in my room after 2-3 sec.
Sent from my Redmi Note 2 using Tapatalk
Hello,
Runkeeper with someone tried, I hesitate to buy the premium just because of that?
(avec Runkeeper quelqu'un a essayé, j'hésite à acheter le Prime juste à cause de ça?)
I really want to know about the gps as well. I use the gps so much. Now I have the lg g3, I would like to know if this one is around the same as g3.
Thanks
D.
Ill give uadvice gps locking depends onyour connection and area,i use gps in city with locking time vary from 10 -80 sec or more the signal was good but for gps signal its not good so it some time locks slower, this is qqualcomm 400 chipset ,newer version of mediatek might performs better and i have ever try gps with airplane mode one using gps test on aa mountain area and it lock 30 sec or less,the signal came out by it self with no connection so everything depend on your area and your xhipset ,newer chipset performs excellent on gps
I'd like to know more about how the GPS in this phone is faring for you because for me it's an endless horror story. Neither Google Maps nor Endomondo give even acceptable locations and tracking.
And the compass is so bad I wanna puke.
The phone is great in almost every other aspect, but GPS is fairly important for me and I'm starting to regret purchasing this phone. May it be fixed with better ROMs or is it a hardware fault?
Or3 said:
I'd like to know more about how the GPS in this phone is faring for you because for me it's an endless horror story. Neither Google Maps nor Endomondo give even acceptable locations and tracking.
And the compass is so bad I wanna puke.
The phone is great in almost every other aspect, but GPS is fairly important for me and I'm starting to regret purchasing this phone. May it be fixed with better ROMs or is it a hardware fault?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used it yesterday for half an hour in inner city traffic. The phone found the GPS signal in a few seconds with data connection, without it takes a minute or two. Navigation itself was worrisome. Went under a bridge and signal was lost for about 2 minutes. Then Google maps always thought I was going inside buildings or streets next to my actual route. Really weird.
Inside my room 2 - 3 seconds lock, the best gps on any of my past smartphones.
Adrian.Chandra said:
Inside my room 2 - 3 seconds lock, the best gps on any of my past smartphones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And what is that information good for since the moment you open Google Maps, Runtastic or something along those lines it doesn't have any accuracy and keeps jumping the whole time?
I'm sick of people sharing screenshots of GPS Test or GPS Status like they're proof of anything when what's really important is real life apps behavior.
This device GPS should be good..
Or3 said:
And what is that information good for since the moment you open Google Maps, Runtastic or something along those lines it doesn't have any accuracy and keeps jumping the whole time?
I'm sick of people sharing screenshots of GPS Test or GPS Status like they're proof of anything when what's really important is real life apps behavior.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know what you're on about, but GPS Test uses the same API and sensor as any other app. I'm getting the same 5-7 second fix indoors from GPS Test and HERE Maps. Both don't jump around and show my correct position.
Or3 said:
And what is that information good for since the moment you open Google Maps, Runtastic or something along those lines it doesn't have any accuracy and keeps jumping the whole time?
I'm sick of people sharing screenshots of GPS Test or GPS Status like they're proof of anything when what's really important is real life apps behavior.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well we use diagnostic tools to know accurately if something is wrong or not, nothing wrong with that. With GPS Status we can know how many sat signal we got, how strong, what is the margin of error, etc.
And i don't have any problem in real life apps and GPS status confirmed that fact.
If you want positive info or help don't start with a negative.
Wheaton's Law - DBAD
China ROM GPS problem
But with china stable rom, the map apps is using Baidu, and if your GPS location is not available, the device will report your network location (wifi/3G), which is in simplified chinese to your requesting apps, that sucks, however, I can't deny the hardware GPS here in RN2 is the best I ever used.
I tried GPS in the city. High accuracy, pretty fast lock and it worked just fine, no problems. Accuracy is usually 3-5m, 17 satellites in use on average. I'm not exactly sure what kind of problems you're facing. However, I can tell you this. A friend has Meizu M1 Note, the GPS was at first very good. But somehow at some point after updating, the accuracy's became horrible, 80m+ and it kept losing connection, IF it managed to establish one. It's most likely not faulty HW, but a misconfigured gps config.
Sent from my Redmi Note 2