I believe 100% that GPS is a Software/Firmware issue. I also know that there have been threads about this before.
That being said I had GPS working fine on my tablet when I got it and performance has gone down with every update. I am now on .14 and I have no GPS at all. Inside, outside, vertical, horizontal, with a phone, without, clear skys, rain, etc. The only 2 things that I haven't tried is taking off the back of the tablet and using gps tether, reason being that it worked before and now it doesn't and tethering has nothing to do with the internal GPS.
I'm almost thinking that they disabled the GPS in one of the last updates 13 and 14 for sure.
EDIT: What do you know it must be like going to the doctor. It hurts until you go there then everything is fine again.
My Prime is seeing 4 satellites in view right now however the gps has not "locked" yet.
The weirdest thing is that I left GPS on for a couple of hours with the screen sleep turned off and got nothing and now in the time that it took to edit this I got some satellites in view. I'm at a loss.
Has anyone else had similar experiences?
@Gary Key any input on this? Other than GPS my tablet is 100% functional, I haven't experienced any of the other problems wifi, reboots, etc.
it is hardware, it's been proven. the GPS and wi-fi antennas are connected via pogo pins and in some primes te pogo pins are touching, giving you great performance and in others they are not touching giving you no GPS.
GPS works on mine with .14, but doesn't lock to as many satellites as with .11, nor does it maintain as consistent a signal.
Personally, I believe the GPS issues are a combination of hardware and software.
cordell507 said:
it is hardware, it's been proven. the GPS and wi-fi antennas are connected via pogo pins and in some primes te pogo pins are touching, giving you great performance and in others they are not touching giving you no GPS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't buy the pogo pin theory. However the aluminum back might have something to do with it.
And how exactly has this been proven? Not to start a flame war but nobody has replaced the pogo pins with solder and put the prime back together. They have only added antennas to the device and/or removed the back plate. Lets get with the scientific method here. Change one variable at a time.
In my case the only thing that has changed is the version of the software on the tablet. The newer the software/firmware the worse the performance.
l33tlinuxh4x0r said:
I believe 100% that GPS is a Software/Firmware issue. I also know that there have been threads about this before.
That being said I had GPS working fine on my tablet when I got it and performance has gone down with every update. I am now on .14 and I have no GPS at all. Inside, outside, vertical, horizontal, with a phone, without, clear skys, rain, etc. The only 2 things that I haven't tried is taking off the back of the tablet and using gps tether, reason being that it worked before and now it doesn't and tethering has nothing to do with the internal GPS.
I'm almost thinking that they disabled the GPS in one of the last updates 13 and 14 for sure.
EDIT: What do you know it must be like going to the doctor. It hurts until you go there then everything is fine again.
My Prime is seeing 4 satellites in view right now however the gps has not "locked" yet.
The weirdest thing is that I left GPS on for a couple of hours with the screen sleep turned off and got nothing and now in the time that it took to edit this I got some satellites in view. I'm at a loss.
Has anyone else had similar experiences?
@Gary Key any input on this? Other than GPS my tablet is 100% functional, I haven't experienced any of the other problems wifi, reboots, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's a multipage thread about this already (GPS performance acceptable, then degrades after .13 or .14 updates). Here's what's going to happen: You'll probably get flamed, a bunch of people will insinuate that you're an idiot for even SUGGESTING that it's not completely a hardware issue, and a few will mock your methods as unscientific. Debate may or may not go back and forth for a while, and then the thread will slowly die. And one day, .15 or .16 will come out, and maybe your GPS reception will magically improve again. Who knows?
I don't think that GPS will ever be GREAT (lots of birds with green-bar signal strength) but I do think that software updates are effecting the ACCEPTABLE GPS that a number of these units seem capable of achieving.
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l33tlinuxh4x0r said:
I don't buy the pogo pin theory. However the aluminum back might have something to do with it.
And how exactly has this been proven? Not to start a flame war but nobody has replaced the pogo pins with solder and put the prime back together. They have only added antennas to the device and/or removed the back plate. Lets get with the scientific method here. Change one variable at a time.
In my case the only thing that has changed is the version of the software on the tablet. The newer the software/firmware the worse the performance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This has been pretty extensively discussed in this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1474391
The aluminum case is definitely a major problem for GPS and Erusman "solved" that problem by attaching external antennae to his Prime so that the GPS can get a relatively clear signal. He experimented with several different types of internal antennae, hard wired the GPS antennae to replace the Pogo Pins, etc all with very poor GPS results until he ran an antennae out the back of his Prime.
To me (and most people who followed Erusman's testing), this indicates that the GPS's main problem is a hardware one, that hardware being the aluminum backplate of the Prime.
I have had varying GPS performance with the different firmware updates, which indicates that software can be a factor. However since I have also had generally poor GPS performance regardless of which formware I have been running I am pretty sure that software isn't as much of a factor as encasing the GPS antennae in what amounts to an aluminum faraday cage .
Not another one of these. I posted this on another forum. To the OP, if this is software please explain my results. Now even though it was picking satellites it wasnt really that useful as it didnt really track me on the spot when doing turn by turn.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=22657457&postcount=65
What HE said...
dcAndroidFan said:
There's a multipage thread about this already (GPS performance acceptable, then degrades after .13 or .14 updates). Here's what's going to happen: You'll probably get flamed, a bunch of people will insinuate that you're an idiot for even SUGGESTING that it's not completely a hardware issue, and a few will mock your methods as unscientific. Debate may or may not go back and forth for a while, and then the thread will slowly die. And one day, .15 or .16 will come out, and maybe your GPS reception will magically improve again. Who knows?
I don't think that GPS will ever be GREAT (lots of birds with green-bar signal strength) but I do think that software updates are effecting the ACCEPTABLE GPS that a number of these units seem capable of achieving.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I pretty much agree. I doubt it will ever be truly accptable to the level of say, a TF101 - though I was told that my replacement C1 Serial Number Prime would be "At LEAST as good as a TF101" by a tech support manager. Seems that where the Prime is concerned NOTHING is a "given" Some days I get some GPS activity, some days not so much. What is apparent with my current unit is, GPS is EXTREMELY inconsistent, and not just from session to session, I mean from minute to minute. I can have 11 sats in view, using 5, and 10 seconds later lose half of them,or ALL of them, all without even moving the Prime so much as a millimeter.
I guess I will never be able to use my Prime as a "professional GPS device" Or as an unprofessional GPS device, or as a GPS device of any type. Sucks... and will continue to irk me for as long as I have and use a Prime. Probably for a long time after as well. I suspect that any mention or thought of Asus will no doubt bring the Now you see it, Now you don't GPS screw up to mind.
Know what would be great? Not having to see ONE MORE comment like "I didn't need the GPS anyway" or the classic: "If I want GPS, that's what my phone is for." That's terrific! Then if you buy a new car and the $1800 Navigation doesn't work, and the manufacturer decides to just stop supporting navigation in that model, you will be all set with your phone.
Don't TELL me how a tablet doesn't NEED GPS, and don't TELL me that the iPAD 2 WiFi doesn't HAVE GPS. I didn't BUY an iPAD 2. I bought a device that said "GPS" on the box and on the web. My GPS doesn't even work for LOCATION, never mind navigation.
Tell me again how I can just return it if I don't like it. That's the Problem... I do LIKE IT... I FREAKING LOVE IT, all the more reason why I want it to work properly. And I don't want to return it, I want to exchange it, or fix it. If it will never work, well, then I will never be completely happy, but that doesn't mean I can go get one of the many "Comparable" devices (Like Best Buy offered me when the oversold Pre-orders. There ARE no Comparable devices.
SO I am stuck using an add-on Bluetooth GPS Tethering device. Works ok. Bug me that there is GPS hardware right here in the Prime that doesn't work. Bugs me a lot. I am an engineer. Crap that doesn't work, or works poorly bugs me.
It's like the "Real Feel" weather people. Telling me that it's 60 degrees, but "feels like" 63. Not to ME! To ME, it feels like 66. Don't TELL me how to FEEL!
No one can tell me how to feel about this either. It feels like I got ripped off. Rant over (for today)
I think its the software too.
I was sent a c model that works perfectly in every way except the gps which will not lock on to any sats. BUT using free nav usa I can lock on to sats and stay connected. IT IS NO GOOGLE MAPS BUT it does work. Sooooo is it software ?
Ok, so I'm only marginally tech savvy, but lets say i wanted to set up optimal GPS conditions for my prime (which has never seen a satellite). How would I do that and what programs do you recommend.
So far I've tried putting my prime next to a window running GPS Test and letting it sit there for uo to 10mins.
Thanks
@SmartAs$Phone:
I know exactly how you feel. My prime's box didn't have GPS listed, and I was aware of the issues going in, so to me I knew ahead of time and I was okay with that. Bestbuy, on the other hand, was still advertising GPS as a feature at the time (End of January) and last I checked on their site they're still advertising it.
But for the folks that bought thinking "Yes! Full on GPS!" and it didn't deliver I can certainly understand the frustration. Double so, considering that when it didn't work they came here and found many others with the same problem, and they realized that had the done more searching up front they would have known about the issue.
In the end, however, no software is going to fix this problem as has been proven by the various hardware mod threads. For those willing to mod, that's a fine solution. For those not willing to mod, well, I don't know what the solution is.
Well, my C1 model had relatively OK GPS with .11
At my front door I could get 11 sats and four locked and it said about 48 feet accurate. BUT, use maps and my location jumped around and was typically 200 yards or more off.
With .14, I get a lot more sats, more locked, and 36 feet accurate. And on maps is locks dead on to where I am.
Can firmware improve GPS? Clearly. Did it get better from .11 to .14? Clearly.
Now the good part. If I was lucky I got a few sats intermittently indoors (1 to 3) after a few minutes. NOW, I get 7 sats and a lock with 72 feet accurate, and the map is about 100 feet off, but on the right street.
Say what you will. I don't have anything special. Same metal back.
*grabbing popcorn*
shinzz said:
*grabbing popcorn*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dont forget the large size soda.
Clevatreva lol, all treva did was play with birds by the door. Other more tech people opened their primes and proved to themselves its Purley hardware..... Sillytreva
Sent from my GT-I9100
snakeybidder said:
Clevatreva lol, all treva did was play with birds by the door. Other more tech people opened their primes and proved to themselves its Purley hardware..... Sillytreva
Sent from my GT-I9100
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dcAndroidFan said:
Here's what's going to happen: You'll probably get flamed, a bunch of people will insinuate that you're an idiot for even SUGGESTING that it's not completely a hardware issue, and a few will mock your methods as unscientific.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems like I pretty much called this one.
I am also thinking that gps issue is mostly software problem. When I bought tfp there was android hc. I had seen 15 sats and connected to 13. Whith .11 it dropped to max 6 visible but I was able to get a fix. Now with .14 I can see max 4 sats with no fix. I`ve got no problems with reboots nor wifi.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
l33tlinuxh4x0r said:
I believe 100% that GPS is a Software/Firmware issue. I also know that there have been threads about this before.
That being said I had GPS working fine on my tablet when I got it and performance has gone down with every update. I am now on .14 and I have no GPS at all. Inside, outside, vertical, horizontal, with a phone, without, clear skys, rain, etc. The only 2 things that I haven't tried is taking off the back of the tablet and using gps tether, reason being that it worked before and now it doesn't and tethering has nothing to do with the internal GPS.
I'm almost thinking that they disabled the GPS in one of the last updates 13 and 14 for sure.
EDIT: What do you know it must be like going to the doctor. It hurts until you go there then everything is fine again.
My Prime is seeing 4 satellites in view right now however the gps has not "locked" yet.
The weirdest thing is that I left GPS on for a couple of hours with the screen sleep turned off and got nothing and now in the time that it took to edit this I got some satellites in view. I'm at a loss.
Has anyone else had similar experiences?
@Gary Key any input on this? Other than GPS my tablet is 100% functional, I haven't experienced any of the other problems wifi, reboots, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with you 100% I'm an Avionics Tech I work with GPS rx's all day. We have a GPS generator and with the unit right under the gen it shows about the right -dbm however is unable to obtain a constant lock. If I pad the signal down it gets better and locks on solid. IMO its an AGC problem which is a software setting for this chipset. I have been temped to open my prime up and solder smb connectors to the main board and hook it up to a good GPS antenna, but I know it still wont work. People here dont seem to understand RF and how antenna's are a specific length ect. I'm not bashing people but a clip lead isn't an antenna nor a valid test.
I am having the exact same problem. At times I get no love, no birds, like right now. Zippo, nada, But last time I checked, I was getting lots of satellites. Very inconsistent and I can't find any reason for it..
l33tlinuxh4x0r said:
I believe 100% that GPS is a Software/Firmware issue. I also know that there have been threads about this before.
That being said I had GPS working fine on my tablet when I got it and performance has gone down with every update. I am now on .14 and I have no GPS at all. Inside, outside, vertical, horizontal, with a phone, without, clear skys, rain, etc. The only 2 things that I haven't tried is taking off the back of the tablet and using gps tether, reason being that it worked before and now it doesn't and tethering has nothing to do with the internal GPS.
I'm almost thinking that they disabled the GPS in one of the last updates 13 and 14 for sure.
EDIT: What do you know it must be like going to the doctor. It hurts until you go there then everything is fine again.
My Prime is seeing 4 satellites in view right now however the gps has not "locked" yet.
The weirdest thing is that I left GPS on for a couple of hours with the screen sleep turned off and got nothing and now in the time that it took to edit this I got some satellites in view. I'm at a loss.
Has anyone else had similar experiences?
@Gary Key any input on this? Other than GPS my tablet is 100% functional, I haven't experienced any of the other problems wifi, reboots, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Related
I did my due diligence and my searches have come up with no threads that covered this yet.
Here is the screenshot for what I am referring to.
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...and here is the story.
I noticed that while streaming data/audio over bluetooth the wifi performance (the already pitiful performance) drops to essentially nothing and often times out.
IE: I first noticed something was wrong and the wheels began turning when I had been watching Netflix and decided to pair with my Bluetooth speaker so I didn't have to keep cupping the side of the tablet for decent audio. Netflix timed out every time I paired.
While testing this I didn't notice any difference with Bluetooth "on" but only while it was transmitting something. For the purpose of my speed tests I was playing white noise over a Bluetooth speaker from an app in the background.
I know slim to nil about the real nitty gritty of hardware in tablets but I can only suspect that they share the antennae or in the worst case I have a lemon and need to RMA.
Has anyone else noticed this?
also obligatory:
"wifi sucks" "SD/Internal Memory writes are absurdly slow" "stock browser is bad, use opera"
Edit: post title clarified and pun-ified
Oh my!
I have bluetooth on about 75% of the time because that is how I text from my tablet (paired with my phone) I haven't noticed any changes in my wifi at all when BT is on/off. However I realize that is NOT the same as streaming audio/data.
Since I do have it on so often, I'll check it out and see what happens with mine.
slugbug2010 said:
Oh my!
I have bluetooth on about 75% of the time because that is how I text from my tablet (paired with my phone) I haven't noticed any changes in my wifi at all when BT is on/off. However I realize that is NOT the same as streaming audio/data.
Since I do have it on so often, I'll check it out and see what happens with mine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did notice that it only occurs while data is being continuously sent.
While doing my test I had a white noise app sending audio to a bluetooth speaker.
(gonna add that to the OP so other people dont get confused)
i just bought a bluetooth keyboard and mouse today, and i can tell you that my wifi signal while these devices are active have dropped greatly... instead of getting half wifi bar in my living room i now get 1 bar.
I have also noticed that my bluetooth mouse has some pretty bad lagg, pretty sure its not the mouse because it works find on all my other tablets. Im guessing its all due to the metal case. GO ASUS!
jzen said:
i just bought a bluetooth keyboard and mouse today, and i can tell you that my wifi signal while these devices are active have dropped greatly... instead of getting half wifi bar in my living room i now get 1 bar.
I have also noticed that my bluetooth mouse has some pretty bad lagg, pretty sure its not the mouse because it works find on all my other tablets. Im guessing its all due to the metal case. GO ASUS!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good Lord, man, just return it already. You have posted in every single possible bug thread saying that you have that bug. I'm waiting for the guy to post that his tablet is giving him metal splinters so you can post in that thread saying yours is too. Or the my tablet is making me go bald because the metal case is holding all of that radiation in, and you posting mine is too!
Exhausting, I tell ya.
Semantics said:
Good Lord, man, just return it already. You have posted in every single possible bug thread saying that you have that bug. I'm waiting for the guy to post that his tablet is giving him metal splinters so you can post in that thread saying yours is too. Or the my tablet is making me go bald because the metal case is holding all of that radiation in, and you posting mine is too!
Exhausting, I tell ya.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you even have a prime? I'm guessing not, otherwise you would know that all these issues I speak of are true. I wanted it to be a great tablet but in the end... almost every feature it has is flawed and no miracle version of ICS will fix it. Every problem with the device (except screen bleed) all comes down to one major design flaw (the metal case).
Crap wifi, crap gps, crap bluetooth and deciding to copy apple with a metal case was an epic fail because they did not use their heads.
Now, you can cry, kick and scream like a baby or make fun of me all you want, but I guarantee after you have spent a week or two with the prime you will go back and read my words of wisdom and know that I was not joking, or just making it all up.
If ICS or an update from Asus somehow fixes these issues I will give everyone on the prime xda forum $100 bucks (it will never happen, its a defective device pawned off onto us so Asus could make a quick profit.).
I have only posted in the prime forum to warn others of how bad the Prime really is, its just a shame that most of you are too ignorant or embarrassed to admit the truth. Take the word of someone who knows tablets, the prime is the definition of fail.
If you don't mind having crappy wifi, no gps and bluetooth that makes the crappy wifi even crappier then by all means go out and spend the $500 on the prime (you deserve it for not having a brain.). As for me and other intelligent users, we will either return it or just chuck it on CL or Ebay and wait for the real next gen tablet to comeout from a company that is not looking to screw over their customers for a quick profit.
This forum is filled with all kinds of problems the transformer prime has. And most of them cannot be fixed with a simple software update. These people are not trying to ruin your day, they are just trying to warn you of the many problems you will face if you decide to get this device now.
jzen said:
Do you even have a prime? I'm guessing not, otherwise you would know that all these issues I speak of are true. I wanted it to be a great tablet but in the end... almost every feature it has is flawed and no miracle version of ICS will fix it. Every problem with the device (except screen bleed) all comes down to one major design flaw (the metal case).
Crap wifi, crap gps, crap bluetooth and deciding to copy apple with a metal case was an epic fail because they did not use their heads.
Now, you can cry, kick and scream like a baby or make fun of me all you want, but I guarantee after you have spent a week or two with the prime you will go back and read my words of wisdom and know that I was not joking, or just making it all up.
If ICS or an update from Asus somehow fixes these issues I will give everyone on the prime xda forum $100 bucks (it will never happen, its a defective device pawned off onto us so Asus could make a quick profit.).
I have only posted in the prime forum to warn others of how bad the Prime really is, its just a shame that most of you are too ignorant or embarrassed to admit the truth. Take the word of someone who knows tablets, the prime is the definition of fail.
If you don't mind having crappy wifi, no gps and bluetooth that makes the crappy wifi even crappier then by all means go out and spend the $500 on the prime (you deserve it for not having a brain.). As for me and other intelligent users, we will either return it or just chuck it on CL or Ebay and wait for the real next gen tablet to comeout from a company that is not looking to screw over their customers for a quick profit.
This forum is filled with all kinds of problems the transformer prime has. And most of them cannot be fixed with a simple software update. These people are not trying to ruin your day, they are just trying to warn you of the many problems you will face if you decide to get this device now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go make another thread for your personal vendetta.
For all its faults, the prime is still fantastic. It works great with a few minor quirks that will likely be ironed out with ICS or a patch down the road.
I made the thread to clarify this bug in particular so I could determine if it was my device that was acting up, or a reproducible problem with other primes as well.
That being said, I would not recommend the prime, as it is, to anyone without moderate-advanced android knowledge because they would not understand the difference between potential and current iteration.
Good day sir.
I really wish people would only post if they know what they are talking about. 90% of the problems with the tablet are software related. Hardware pretty much works or it doesn't. Software is what has random results with stuff not working, or working poorly. Just like the update that came out fixed GPS. Updates dont fix hardware issues, so that means the GPS issue was software.
I will be able to test this tomorrow when my Prime finally arrives, I plan on using my tried and trusty Bluetooth Rocketfish headphones with my Prime while I test out it's Youtube/Netflix functionality.
dabbill said:
I really wish people would only post if they know what they are talking about. 90% of the problems with the tablet are software related. Hardware pretty much works or it doesn't. Software is what has random results with stuff not working, or working poorly. Just like the update that came out fixed GPS. Updates dont fix hardware issues, so that means the GPS issue was software.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Uhm, last time I checked radio interference wasn't a s/w problem. With all the threads on Wi-Fi and GPS I was kind of wondering how BT would perform. With everyone's conditions being so different, it would be intersting to see if others streaming to external speakers or moving data had similar issues. OP, does moving the position of the BT device relative to the Prime have any impact?
BarryH_GEG said:
Uhm, last time I checked radio interference wasn't a s/w problem. With all the threads on Wi-Fi and GPS I was kind of wondering how BT would perform. With everyone's conditions being so different, it would be intersting to see if others streaming to external speakers or moving data had similar issues. OP, does moving the position of the BT device relative to the Prime have any impact?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No sir.
I tested this in multiple locations in my home with 3 different devices at varying distances with consistent results. +-10%
Logitech bluetooth speakers
Belkin x51 bluetooth receiver
Jawbone earpiece
jfortier777 said:
No sir.
I tested this in multiple locations in my home with 3 different devices at varying distances with consistent results. +-10%
Logitech bluetooth speakers
Belkin x51 bluetooth receiver
Jawbone earpiece
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if BT & Wifi don't work well together (as with my current Android tablet), then I think this will be the 'final' thing that is going to get me to cancel pre-order (I'm in the UK) until things are sorted
A shame
Verified here. My experience with a set of Motorola S9-HD Bluetooth headphones is:
1. Run Speedtest, strong 24Mb/s speeds.
2. Connect headphones and play music.
3. Wifi drops to about 4Mb/s for a few seconds.
4. Wifi stays connected but stops transmitting/receiving.
5. Any app that tries to connect to the Internet fails.
6. Turn off Bluetooth and connection is restored.
Definitely a problem. However, I don't know of any reason to assume it's not fixable in a firmware update, so I'm not going to knee-jerk react to it.
Hmmm....
Very interesting, I thought it was just my phone's mobile hotspot acting up yesterday when I took the 3 year old to the park. My Prime was connected to my phone running relatively smooth and after I connected my bluetooth headset to my Prime, my Prime's ability to load images on forum boards was very inconsistent. Didn't pay it much mind.
On a somewhat related note, the bluetooth range for prime seems to be pretty damn good.
wynand32 said:
I'm not going to knee-jerk react to it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's no sport in that.
BUYMECAR said:
On a somewhat related note, the bluetooth range for prime seems to be pretty damn good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like a software update needs to take the BT radio strength down a peg.
You think? I was pushing the kid on the tire wheel which was like 20 steps away from where the prime was sitting on a table with my roomie and was still getting stable playback from the Prime.
I also noticed when first pairing the headset, there was a listing for "Ken's phone" but the closest person to us was a family sitting about 4 tables away and each table probably had 4 feet between.
BUYMECAR said:
You think? I was pushing the kid on the tire wheel which was like 20 steps away from where the prime was sitting on a table with my roomie and was still getting stable playback from the Prime.
I also noticed when first pairing the headset, there was a listing for "Ken's phone" but the closest person to us was a family sitting about 4 tables away and each table probably had 4 feet between.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats what I mean, do you really need bluetooth to reach 30 feet and thereby killing your wifi.
I was thinking maybe tune the BT's power down to half and perhaps give Wifi a lil breathingroom?
Just a thought.
wynand32 said:
Verified here. My experience with a set of Motorola S9-HD Bluetooth headphones is:
1. Run Speedtest, strong 24Mb/s speeds.
2. Connect headphones and play music.
3. Wifi drops to about 4Mb/s for a few seconds.
4. Wifi stays connected but stops transmitting/receiving.
5. Any app that tries to connect to the Internet fails.
6. Turn off Bluetooth and connection is restored.
Definitely a problem. However, I don't know of any reason to assume it's not fixable in a firmware update, so I'm not going to knee-jerk react to it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Certainly no knee jerking planned, but now that I know it's universal I can comfortably await an update that fixes it... and an unlocked bootloader.
I'll test this and respond. I have been having problems with my prime, while tethered to a Galaxy Nexus, failing to stream after 2-3 minutes. I did a side by side with the OG Transformer without fail. Thanks for pointing out bluetooth
EDIT: First let me point out my current testing. Transformer and Transformer Prime, side by side tethered to a Galaxy Nexus. Streamed an episode of Farscape via Netflix for 20 minutes without a problem. Pressed Home, opened Subsonic and tried to stream an episode of One Tree Hill. The Prime doesn't resolve the page with the flash video at all, while the OG Transformer loads the page just fine. I disabled the bluetooth, which was enabled but not connected to any devices. I disabled and enabled WiFi on the Prime, still no dice. Then I connected the Prime to my home WiFi, and it works. Connected the Prime to the Galaxy Nexus again, and no dice, but the OG Transformer is still surfing the net. Bluetooth is disabled right now, but it wasn't disabled when the prime's WiFi to GN broke.
Now as I write I toggled tethering on the GN off and on. Disabled wifi on the prime and re-enabled. Connected Prime to GN and internet is working again. I am commencing a stream of One Tree Hill. BT Disabled. In 5 Minutes I'll enable Bluetooth and see what happens.
---------- Post added at 03:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:20 PM ----------
Looks like I can confirm this. Was streaming just fine, speedtests and all that fun stuff. Not more than 4 minutes after enabling BT the internet went kaput. Interestingly.. I enabled bluetooth in the middle of a speedtest upload, and the speedtest immediately stopped.. at about 150kbps as opposed to the 5000 it should have reached. The second speed test recovered though. I went back to streaming video though, and the problems came back. I need bluetooth, so this is unacceptable.
I posted this in a different forum as well, thought I post here to see if others get the same result.
Not sure if its coincidence or not but i accidentally turned wifi off with out knowing, before doing a GPS test. An after a few minutes my prime had a GPS lock. Needles to say I never could get one in my house before. Just wondering if anyone else can check to see if GPS works better with wifi off? Also I had Bluetooth off as well. I attached a screenshots below.
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"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
"GPS works better with wifi off?"
no sir
Many of us can get signals inside and with no wifi.. but is it "better" with wifi off.. not
I have posted many screenshots with wifi off and many signals... but it is no "better" this way as I think you think it is
MY Prime gets excellent GPS signal in my space shuttle and on the moon kinda sucks here know earth.
Mine still hasn't been able to grab a signal but then again I haven't really tested it any suggestions on how to test/?
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201
put it in the car, drive and try and navigate somewhere
corban227 said:
Mine still hasn't been able to grab a signal but then again I haven't really tested it any suggestions on how to test/?
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Software I used was GPS Test, and basically had Bluetooth and WiFi off. Before I ran the software. It took a minute or two before I saw any GPS satellites in view in the beginning. With WiFi on before I wouldn't even see one satellites, waiting 15 minutes or more. Now I'm able to get a GPS lock, whatever the case may be I'm a little bit happier.
stephen44 said:
put it in the car, drive and try and navigate somewhere
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will be heading out shortly and will give it a shot. Last time I tried it in the car I kept getting Lost GPS message quite frequently, will see what happens this time with WiFi off.
Mine had no problems too after I took it outside..
I almost never get more then one Sat... The first few times I used it I had a lock in my living room with wifi on. After about the first week all I was getting was one Sat flickering off and on with no lock. I have just given up for the moment. Maybe there will be some sort of fix in the future, but for now if I want to use gps just going to attach a seperate unit or use my phone...
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium
Gps on the prime truly is a downfall for the device..thankfully my galaxy nexus has fully function gps so its not much of an issue but for those needing gps in a tab it really bites that u need a bt gps device to use with the prime
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium
LMAO I turned off wifi and turned on the GPS... before when I opened GPS Test it showed absolutely nothing...
Now i get this!! WTF I guess the bluetooth messes with wifi; wifi messes with GPS? damn why cant they all work at the same time....
NEVERMIND. Just tried turning WIFI back on with GPS on and both work! GPS signal is pretty low but the navigation is working
I have yet to have my Prime even show a single satellite. Tried home (live in a condo), work and on the commuter train. Was even running GPS Test on the Prime and my Galaxy S glide beside each other. My phone picked up 7 sats and my prime still read 0.
I was getting two sat's outside and nothing inside and no sign of a lock, now I can get 4 inside and I even got lock inside lol. Wifi off and channel 1 on my router works. Thanks.
Hey guys just got back from Costco trip. Tested the GPS with no wifi. Check out the video I made! All I can say is that I'm happy with my GPS!
Edit: One thing I did do differently was replace the GPS.Config with the one from my Galaxy tab 10.1 It seems to be getting better locks and more sats. I'll test it out more tonight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPQFB1dN1CE&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
What you are all failing to notice is that your signal strength on those GPS Tests are extremely low, borderline non-existent. What may work one hour/day might be zero the next. That's the way it works with signals. It's affected heavily by your environment, and not just what you can see either. There is even varying levels of interference in the atmospshere!
The best the engineers at any company can do is make it so normally you get great reception so that during the times when the signal is bad you are still able to get enough signal to achieve a lock.
All these, "omg lawls it workz!!" threads just mean you were able to find the moment when the stars aligned just right and the crap worked the way it should ALL, or at least - most of the time.
Thanks for the video. Did you, or can you do one with the Galaxy 10.1 for comparison?
tdp252 said:
What you are all failing to notice is that your signal strength on those GPS Tests are extremely low, borderline non-existent. What may work one hour/day might be zero the next. That's the way it works with signals. It's affected heavily by your environment, and not just what you can see either. There is even varying levels of interference in the atmospshere!
The best the engineers at any company can do is make it so normally you get great reception so that during the times when the signal is bad you are still able to get enough signal to achieve a lock.
All these, "omg lawls it workz!!" threads just mean you were able to find the moment when the stars aligned just right and the crap worked the way it should ALL, or at least - most of the time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anyone who has a phone would use the phone as a GPS and not the tablet. If you have a $500 tablet, but can't afford a smartphone, then your money management is off.
All these "omgz the Prime suxz it haz nO gPs" posts are getting annoying. If we took a poll on how many people would actually use a tablet gps. It would be
90% yes
10% no
Looking at a tablet while driving is ridiculously unsafe and would probably cause car crashes anyways.
To wrap up my counter-rant, go troll another device's forums Mr. December 2011.
xAnimal5 said:
Anyone who has a phone would use the phone as a GPS and not the tablet. If you have a $500 tablet, but can't afford a smartphone, then your money management is off.
All these "omgz the Prime suxz it haz nO gPs" posts are getting annoying. If we took a poll on how many people would actually use a tablet gps. It would be
Looking at a tablet while driving is ridiculously unsafe and would probably cause car crashes anyways.
To wrap up my counter-rant, go troll another device's forums Mr. December 2011.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mean:
90% no
10% yes
right?
I'm sorry you are having an allergic reaction to facts. Asus has already said the metal is causing poor reception, the gps tests only confirm that..
GPS now working out of nowhere
Have an early replaced GS gray prime GPS never worked on either. Got the ICS update still no satellites visible for weeks now. Tonight saw 10 sats locked on 7 without wifi on what the hell. I`d keep trying it maybe you will see something soon too. I got a perfect one
thomslik said:
Thanks for the video. Did you, or can you do one with the Galaxy 10.1 for comparison?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure. I'll figure out a way to do it this time in a safer manner.
xAnimal5 said:
Looking at a tablet while driving is ridiculously unsafe and would probably cause car crashes anyways.
To wrap up my counter-rant, go troll another device's forums Mr. December 2011.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah one I won't repeat. I'll plan it out better next time so I can just focus on driving.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
With the results of the vote in the GPS (possible issue) thread running at 30% functionality, left me asking what are the other 70% of us doing wrong?
I thought this would be an opportunity to gather data for analysis. It is not a chat thread or for discussion on causes, or trouble shooting.
Just maybe something well show up, as it appears Asus doesn’t have a clue and keep blaming the case. While the case does seem to be attenuating the signal compared to my Samsung Galaxy S2 it doesn’t explain the hit and miss nature of the TF201. And we all have the same back panel on our TF201’s.
On one occasion with the TF201 sitting on a park bench found 9 Satellites and used 5. (Using GPS version V 6.8.13) Without touching a thing they all disappeared. Then nothing!
The best I can do now is 1 Satellite found.
Test procedure:
Outdoors only in a wide open space.
Use “GPS Test” from The Market.
Update AGPS then turn Wi-Fi off.
If all reports could be posted in the following format.
1. Model:
2. Build:
3. GPS Version:
4. Satellite’s in view:
5. Satellite’s In use:
6. Time to first fix:
7. Has the GPS worked in previous builds of ICS
8. Did GPS work in Honeycomb
9. First 8 digits of serial No
Just maybe a pattern will emerge.
Thanks all.
1. Model: 64Gb Champagne
2. Build: IML74K.TW_epad 9.4.2.11
3. GPS Version: V6.9.13
4. Satellite’s in view: 1
5. Satellite’s In use:0
6. Time to first fix: N/A
7. Has the GPS worked in previous builds of ICS: Yes briefly
8. Did GPS work in Honeycomb: Not tested
9. BCOKAS08
Not sure what you're trying to accomplish here.
There isn't a single Transformer Prime on this planet where GPS works great.
So It is what it is: the metal design is beautiful, but it restricts GPS signals. And as there is no real a-GPS for Wifi tablets(as they have no cell-site triangulation possibilities), this becomes a real and unsolvable problem.
And Asus DOES has a clue, according to Asus there is no GPS on the Transformer Prime. The same as there is no GPS on other Wifi tablets like the iPad's. Asus made a big mistake advertising with GPS before release though.
So if you really want to use GPS on the Prime, you're out of luck and should return it. A full refund would be fair if you bought it early.
I've never been able to lock onto more than 3 and then for only a few seconds. That was with HC and now ICS. If I use my Prime for navigation I use my BT GPS receiver and a full mapping capable app which I've already tested and works great. I suggest if anyone bought a TP for navigational purposes return it immediately.
Non-issue (for me at least).
YoMarK said:
Not sure what you're trying to accomplish here.
There isn't a single Transformer Prime on this planet where GPS works great.
So It is what it is: the metal design is beautiful, but it restricts GPS signals. And as there is no real a-GPS for Wifi tablets(as they have no cell-site triangulation possibilities), this becomes a real and unsolvable problem.
And Asus DOES has a clue, according to Asus there is no GPS on the Transformer Prime. The same as there is no GPS on other Wifi tablets like the iPad's. Asus made a big mistake advertising with GPS before release though.
So if you really want to use GPS on the Prime, you're out of luck and should return it. A full refund would be fair if you bought it early.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 why do people still not realize it's the aluminum condom to protect from GPS waves
PrimeTimeBro said:
+1 why do people still not realize it's the aluminum condom to protect from GPS waves
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ohh really.
Please explain TF201 sitting on park bench found 9 satellites, using 5.
Without touching the device all satellites lost and no further seen.
Don't like the odds on those condoms.
The aluminium case explains the poor signal to noise ratios, not the sudden loss of all reception on a stationary device.
mile high said:
Ohh really.
Please explain TF201 sitting on park bench found 9 satellites, using 5.
Without touching the device all satellites lost and no further seen.
Don't like the odds on those condoms.
The aluminium case explains the poor signal to noise ratios, not the sudden loss of all reception on a stationary device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The same reason when you are on the edge of losing a FM or AM radio station it can be crystal clear with a inch of movement. Try to navigate turn by turn with the Primes GPS as soon as you start moving signal is too weak to keep it. If your device just dropped all satellites without any movement it's just a glitch and has nothing to do with the overall problem of the Primes GPS.
mile high said:
Ohh really.
Please explain TF201 sitting on park bench found 9 satellites, using 5.
Without touching the device all satellites lost and no further seen.
Don't like the odds on those condoms.
The aluminium case explains the poor signal to noise ratios, not the sudden loss of all reception on a stationary device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because it sees them but fails to hold them when moving because the signal is weak.. Why can't people accept that?
PrimeTimeBro said:
+1 why do people still not realize it's the aluminum condom to protect from GPS waves.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, this has been pointed out about the aluminum back. But as mentioned we all have the same aluminum back then ...
WHY are some Primes always able to see and get a GPS fix.
Why is ASUS even bothering with updating the GPS driver if GPS in not in the spec's?.
WHY has someone not show GPS results with the aluminum back off?
Off topic WIFI why the frack would I want to use G setting to get good WIFI? That's like not using my 5th gear in the car and staying in 4th.
I love the Prime but the aluminum back shield is a frack up period. Stock seems to have dried up around here (impossible to get). I wonder what's up.
My new Prime had never seen 1 single satellite for the 4 days or so I have had it.
Last night, I open Google Maps and click on Resteraunts and simply pick a Pizza Joint nearby. Then I click on NAVIGATE for it to navigate me there (I was just playing around on my couch in my living room, not in my car).
The bottom of Google Maps said "Searching For GPS" and I said "Fudge It" and just laid it on the coffee table. I closed my eyes and about 12 minutes later (I looked at the clock) my tablet says in a woman's voice "Turn Left on Birch Drive!"
I couldn't believe my ears. I quickly opened GPSStatus, GPS FIX, all that. Then I noticed that Google Maps said "Searching for GPS" again. Google Maps needs a lock to navigate you so It actually got a lock for a split second, which was exciting.
However, the other apps were showing 4-5 Satellites, and they have never shown one before. It wouldn't lock, but the fact it was all the sudden showing some satellites was quite exciting since my GPS had appeared to be Dead on Arrival.
So, if you have time and can stop playing with the tablet, set up a route on Google Maps, choose for NAVIGATION, and set it down, maybe by a window, and wait 15 minutes. Maybe you will get a lock.
In my opinion, my GPS works VERY SLOW. It took literally 10 or more minutes to see any satellites, then started loading a few more slowly till I got up to 5. Again,I couldn't get it to lock onto any anymore, but I was in my living room and I have 14 mature trees in my yard (I am talking BIG trees).
Maybe give that a shot and see what happens. Because my tablet had seen NOTHING ever, but I was only trying it for 5 minutes at a time then I would get pissed.
yhzhrm said:
Yes, this has been pointed out about the aluminum back. But as mentioned we all have the same aluminum back then ...
WHY are some Primes always able to see and get a GPS fix.
Why is ASUS even bothering with updating the GPS driver if GPS in not in the spec's?.
WHY has someone not show GPS results with the aluminum back off?
Off topic WIFI why the frack would I want to use G setting to get good WIFI? That's like not using my 5th gear in the car and staying in 4th.
I love the Prime but the aluminum back shield is a frack up period. Stock seems to have dried up around here (impossible to get). I wonder what's up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All Primes will see and get GPS fixes NONE of them will keep it awhile moving.
No one wants to destroy a $500 device but if your willing feel free.
G gets better range with Wi-Fi in general and the Prime lacks good range with it's Wi-Fi for the same reason GPS sucks the aluminum sheild if it's not good enough for you return .
PrimeTimeBro said:
All Primes will see and get GPS fixes NONE of them will keep it awhile moving.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not true!
My Prime must be bad unit because 97 percent of the time it never sees any satellites and it has had actually only had a fix maybe three times out of 100 tries.
I'd be happy to get a fix period each time I tried
Hence my original WHY with the same aluminum back can some Primes get fixes while others don't even now satellites exist in orbit?
My bad unit is going back. I'll wait for the 700 series or a revised TF201 with a new back. Until then My HP Touchpad running ICS will do for now. Yes, no HD video or camera but that's fine.
GPS works on all other sanctioned Android tablets (with market access).
yhzhrm said:
Not true!
My Prime must be bad unit because 97 percent of the time it never sees any satellites and it has had actually only had a fix maybe three times out of 100 tries.
I'd be happy to get a fix period each time I tried
Hence my original WHY with the same aluminum back can some Primes get fixes while others don't even now satellites exist in orbit?
My bad unit is going back. I'll wait for the 700 series or a revised TF201 with a new back. Until then My HP Touchpad running ICS will do for now. Yes, no HD video or camera but that's fine.
GPS works on all other sanctioned Android tablets (with market access).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry I forgot to mention asus terrible qc on the primes I'm sure there's plenty where gps is totally borked bottom line is gps will never function as a turn by turn on primes with aluminum backplates. End of story
look at my youtube video... it was honey comb and nearly perfect...
with new updated ics its worthless...
I don't see any satellites and I have never seen any on either of my TFP's. I have owned 2 so far and they both didn't see any satellites period. My GPS light stayed yellow and never went green no matter if I used wifi or not. So why is mine not seeing any Sat's, but you guys complain when you have a weak signal. I am in the process of trying to return mine I bought from BB, but I am waiting my 14 days to see if they will get some in stock. If they do, the customer rep will send one out to me or the store nearest me, and then I would have to send mine off. That's what the customer service rep told me to do. It's not that big of a deal to me, but the unknown serial was, so that's why I got rid of my first one.
PrimeTimeBro said:
All Primes will see and get GPS fixes NONE of them will keep it awhile moving.
No one wants to destroy a $500 device but if your willing feel free.
G gets better range with Wi-Fi in general and the Prime lacks good range with it's Wi-Fi for the same reason GPS sucks the aluminum sheild if it's not good enough for you return .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wrong. I get no gps satellites period .. no fix no nothing... no matter which configuration i try
Well generally not the responses I had hoped for.
JoeyLe said:
Because it sees them but fails to hold them when moving because the signal is weak.. Why can't people accept that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What does stationary device, placed on park bench, mean to you?
Not moving...9 satellites, with a fix, then suddenly nothing. No satellites in range. TF201 still sitting on park bench!
As an aside my Wifi is perfect. In fact better signal strength and bandwidth better than both my phones and similar to my laptop.
I don't want turn by turn navigation (have TomTom for that). Just a occasional fix on Google maps. Wifi is generally too inaccurate.
And I do know a little about GPS. RAIM, FDE and Baro aiding help keep me alive in my 9-5 job.
If you are happy with your prime great.
But do check the bottom of the box your Prime came in. The spec still show GPS. Mine is a late model Prime. So regardless of Asus removing it from the web site I feel I am entitled to some form of GPS functionality.
Happy to do that Wifi assisted and it should work in a wide open space. But it doesn't for 70% of owners.
So my question once again why are the other 30% of TF201's offering some sort of GPS functionality?
yhzhrm said:
Why is ASUS even bothering with updating the GPS driver if GPS in not in the spec's?.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also wonder about this. Why waste the time and effort?
Here's how i fixed my GPS problem:
I pulled out my Galaxy SII. Got a fix in 2 seconds.
True Story.
i can get about a 20m accuracy lock while indoors in a matter of seconds, but it never improves in accuracy.
Satellite’s in view: 0-4
Satellite’s In use: 0
Time to first fix: 2minutes
1. Model: 32 Champ
2. Build: IML74k.US_epad-9.4.2.11-20120117
3. GPS Version:V6.1.1.17
4. Satellite’s in view: Fluctuates but up to 11
5. Satellite’s In use:Fluctuates but up to 6
6. Time to first fix:3 mins
7. Has the GPS worked in previous builds of ICS: n/a
8. Did GPS work in Honeycomb:Yes and Much better before
9. First 8 digits of serial #: BCOKAS02
In Honeycomb It was working very well but since the update its way more flaky, as it will go from 9 sats in view and suddenly lose them all.
#### Any one else notice that the GPS Icon Doesn't Blink anymore unless you click the clock menu and then go back####
I know that there's plenty of evidence that the metal caseback may be (most likely is) a cause of poor GPS and WiFi reception. However, it cannot be the only cause, and I think there's a good chance that even with the metal case, the proper software could make this tablet run pretty well. Check out this photo:
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"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
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"lightbox_download": "Download",
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That photo was taken at the end of January, in my house, after about two minutes of satellite acquisition. Two 32 Gb Primes, both BCOK# series, .11 firmware. Since the WiFi on both was about the same and the GPS on the left one was great, I sent back the one on the right (I got the HHGregg $399 mistake deal on the left one).
Fast-forward to yesterday. Since the .13 firmware didn't change the GPS build number, I hadn't even bothered to test GPS since updating. On a whim, I tested it yesterday. Zero satellites. Even after five minutes of scanning. Zero. The only thing that changed was the firmware -- same hardware as before. In my car, outside on a clear day, I managed to pick up 3-4 birds sporadically but never for long and I never got a single location lock, in ten minutes.
I know it's easy to blame hardware and I know that there are a number of design choices that might have been made differently, but I guarantee you that software is playing a huge part in this as well.
I made this same argument when the .11 firmware completely borked the GPS on my prime - it had been working reasonably well before that. I ended up returning that one to best buy. The replacement I got works much better.
slybarman said:
I made this same argument when the .11 firmware completely borked the GPS on my prime - it had been working reasonably well before that. I ended up returning that one to best buy. The replacement I got works much better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
oddly enough my GPS was working before (6-9 birds 5-6 locks) albeit weakly with the .11 update but I just retested it yesterday since the .13 update and 1-3 birds but no lock.
slybarman said:
I made this same argument when the .11 firmware completely borked the GPS on my prime - it had been working reasonably well before that. I ended up returning that one to best buy. The replacement I got works much better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I wish we could get a consensus of users who have had similar results. I feel like most of the discussion is just a knee-jerk regurgitation of the "metal caseback" or "damn pogopins" talking points and nobody is really looking into what these firmware updates may be effecting. I'm somewhat hopeful on the one hand -- if firmware can completely screw up GPS that was working as well as this one was, then perhaps the next update could fix it and improve it if they really get a bead on the problem.
It is the hardware, can't you guys just accept this.. please..
JoeyLe said:
It is the hardware, can't you guys just accept this.. please..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can only assume you're being ironic and wanted to post your neat Picard picture. There is absolutely NO WAY that this could be blamed completely on hardware. I tested the exact same device in the exact same spot in the exact same house under basically the exact same environmental conditions (clear night, around the same time). The picture shows my GPS before the update, and I can assure you that last night I got no satellites at all. That's after soft resets, cold reboots, and two factory resets. Software was the variable in this equation.
I was surprised to note the same with my 32GB Gray Prime as well. Prior to .13, I was able to get as many as 8/10 birds locked indoors, and 12/14 locked outdoors--both WITHOUT wifi turned on. I didn't test it while driving because that's not a concern of mine, but I was happy to know that the Prime could serve as at least a stationary GPS device.
I tried it yesterday, however, on a whim, and I got the same results as the OP. Took FOREVER to lock outdoors, and never got more than 7/10 for a second or two. Indoors, I get nothing. And that was with wifi turned on. This was the first time I'd tested it since installing .13.
Clearly, this has something to do with software. I have no idea if the Prime will ever serve as a navigational device, but I can absolutely testify that GPS on my Prime was MUCH better prior to .13.
dcAndroidFan said:
I can only assume you're being ironic and wanted to post your neat Picard picture. There is absolutely NO WAY that this could be blamed completely on hardware. I tested the exact same device in the exact same spot in the exact same house under basically the exact same environmental conditions (clear night, around the same time). The picture shows my GPS before the update, and I can assure you that last night I got no satellites at all. That's after soft resets, cold reboots, and two factory resets. Software was the variable in this equation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After having owned many android devices, sometimes it can be software. the Prime could be a combo of both...
I remember when I had the HTC Mogul and people were saying it didn't have GPS.. they even opened it up and one guy swore up and down that it doesn't even have an antenna for GPS. A few months later, a firmware comes out and it enables GPS and it worked pretty well
http://gizmodo.com/365925/confirmed-sprint-mogul-gets-rev-a-and-gps+enabling-rom-update
Not saying this is the same case as the Mogul's shell was plastic, but there could be some software that's hindering the operation of it as there are folks that seem to have had a weak but working GPS.
(God I miss my Mogul)
Its probably not all software, its probably not all hardware. It's 99% likely to be a combo of both. Erusman's thread shows there obvious hardware flaws including PCB boards and pogo pins, RF signals ect. I think it'll be at least another 2 months before this gets sorted out totally, unfortunately by then I may have jumped boat completely. I'm trying to have faith but staples has stopped stocking the prime yet again, due to complaints, and if I cant continue returning for the product I'll have to just get a refund and wait to see what MWC brings. Mostly because I have $300 staples rewardS
jyan_osu said:
... there could be some software that's hindering the operation of it as there are folks that seem to have had a weak but working GPS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly -- I was one of those people, only mine wasn't "weak". I think 12 birds with 7 locks inside a house is pretty good. In my car, I got 11+ locks and accuracy to 20 feet sometimes. For a WiFi tablet that's pretty good. I'm trying to figure out how many more of us there are out there. If there's a substantial group, I'd like to see if we can get a dedicated effort from the fix-it guys like the random reboot, unknown serial #, and BT dropout issues got.
slybarman said:
I made this same argument when the .11 firmware completely borked the GPS on my prime - it had been working reasonably well before that. I ended up returning that one to best buy. The replacement I got works much better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I concur.
I went from 13 sats in view and 9 locked on .11 to 0/1 in view and 0 locked on .13.
JoeyLe said:
It is the hardware, can't you guys just accept this.. please..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is the hardware, on SOME Primes, it is the software on most Primes however, can't you guys just accept this.. please..
It's not hardware! How can it just break then fix its self! I have told you guys before it has something to do with the tegra 2 power saving feature or something along the lines of AGC or something else! Hardware is not an issue!
Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk
dcAndroidFan said:
I can only assume you're being ironic and wanted to post your neat Picard picture. There is absolutely NO WAY that this could be blamed completely on hardware. I tested the exact same device in the exact same spot in the exact same house under basically the exact same environmental conditions (clear night, around the same time). The picture shows my GPS before the update, and I can assure you that last night I got no satellites at all. That's after soft resets, cold reboots, and two factory resets. Software was the variable in this equation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah sure, explain why people suddenly get a better signal by just pushing hard on the side of the tablet (yes, this also is hardware). It is just a combination of the backplate, pogopinns and other hardware. Accept it.
JoeyLe said:
It is the hardware, can't you guys just accept this.. please..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Give it up. Too many of us have the same hardware and NO issues!
I bought mine knowing there were GPS issues, and my box doesn't say GPS at all. It came with Honeycomb and I didn't bother testing GPS at the time, and have since upgraded to ICS (.11) and I get no satellites, even outside.
I let it sit for about 20 minutes and from time to time it'd have one or two satellites in view, but they quickly disappear.
I tried the "squeeze the bezel" trick with no luck at all as well.
The .13 update is not yet available to me OTA, and reading about other's issues with it I'm reluctant to update, especially considering my prime has been utterly amazing on .11. If an update comes along that no one is having issues with I'll give it a whirl and test GPS again to see.
JoeyLe said:
Yeah sure, explain why people suddenly get a better signal by just pushing hard on the side of the tablet (yes, this also is hardware). It is just a combination of the backplate, pogopinns and other hardware. Accept it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because like I've said, sometimes it can be chalked up to hardware. Yes, like the pogopins. But I've made sure my pins connect, and after doing so on one s/w version I had almost decent GPS, and on another s/w version have no GPS.
Did my chip suddenly just die or something? My backplate somehow assimilated another layer of aluminum?
I doubt it...
BTrack said:
Give it up. Too many of us have the same hardware and NO issues!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't have any idea what hardware you or anyone else has.
JoeyLe said:
Yeah sure, explain why people suddenly get a better signal by just pushing hard on the side of the tablet (yes, this also is hardware). It is just a combination of the backplate, pogopinns and other hardware. Accept it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Instead of challenging me to explain your question about the magic nerve pinch, please focus on the point of THIS thread. The GPs on my Prime, and apparently many others, actually worked pretty well. Without pinching it, or taking it apart and attaching foil, and without running wires through the HDMI port, and without clipping external GPS receivers on it. And it had the metal caseback, and the pogopins of death. And the GPS worked. Pretty darn well, in fact.
Then the SOFTWARE got updated. Now the GPS doesn't work, and no amount of shaking, pinching, or coddling will fix it. Address THAT TOPIC instead of making ridiculous assertions about how hardware is the problem with all of them.
clackity said:
You don't have any idea what hardware you or anyone else has.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know what aluminum feels like. And I know what plastic feels like. And I can assure you that my hardware has an aluminum caseback. As to what's INSIDE there, yes -- there may be some variation and I'm not going to open mine up to find out -- but I can assure you it worked a lot better on GPS and Wifi before the .13 update. And the caseback didn't change.
Prior to the .11 update on 1/17, mine saw about 15-16 birds driving in my car (its a soft top). After that update, I get nothing. Same exact thing happened to my Dad's too.
BTW. I know this because since my GPS was weak to begin with, I tested it before and after that update, since that update was to fix the GPS. I did not move the table during the tests or the update.
Well now that the GPS dongle is a go, I can release my findings on how well this solution performs for our Transformer Prime tablets. Asus pushed out a FOTA last Thursday to add software support for new GPS dongle. most probably never noticed it as it was a forced update.
First off, here is Asus official literature on how to install it and enable it: ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/asus/EeePAD/TF201/E7282_TF201_GPS_Extension_Kit_QSG_English.pdf
Here is where to go to sign up, register, and fill out dongle application info. You will have to log in first to register. If this is your first time or never logged in before, make a free account then proceed. https://vip.asus.com/login.aspx or Just go to Asus event page where it has detailed info on it http://event.asus.com/ASUSPad/TF201GPS/
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Here are Pictures of what it looks like by itself and attached to the prime. please note these pics are zoomed up to try to show more detail on what it looks like. They dongle is not as big as some seem to exaggerate it being. its actually small, thin, very lightweight, and build quality is very good on it. The engineering sample I have matches the color of my prime, the Amethyst Gray version.
www.landofdroid.com/2012/exclusive-first-pictures-of-the-asus-transformer-prime-gps-dongle/
[UPDATE] SCROLL DOWN TO BOTTOM OF POST FOR UPDATED HIGH RES PICS
The GPS Dongle, IMO, is a great design and implementation of a viable solution to a problem the consumer thought Asus forgot about. Well they didn't and are now providing us with a solution/Fix. Once GPS dongle is attached and locked, it doesn't budge at all. its attached very securely. you will likely use auto screen rotate so the screen can flip upside down so you can hold the prime with the dongle pointed towards the sky. Basically hold prime upside down. which won't matter because screen rotates to show everything right side up properly.
Now to the good stuff. I tested this dongle based on what some of the more hardcore GPS users are always saying to test. I made sure to cut wifi off, cut off all location services, and do a fresh reboot on tablet before starting my GPS tests. So the prime wont be using any Agps data. Which in my case, never helped my prime anyways before. Keep in mind my Prime, by its own internal GPS chip, has never seen a GPS satellite or lock indoors, outdoors, or while driving. I attached dongle and got satellite fixes and locks immediately. Actually within a few seconds. It was very fast. This is night and day difference in my experience with GPS. I am now seeing alot of GPS satellites indoors and getting locks. It got even better and accuracy improved as I went to my balcony. More satellites and locks increased also.
Now I already know some of the more hardcore GPS users will be like so what and say My GPS can see satellites and get locks also. The real test comes when you try to move or drive. Normally the prime internal GPS would instantly lose its locks And/Or accuracy is very poor. Well that's not the case anymore. I made sure to especially test this while driving. FOR PEOPLE WANTING TO USE PRIME FOR NAVIGATING WHILE DRIVING OR WHATEVER, THIS GPS DONGLE NOW PROVIDES A REAL WORLD SOLUTION AND WORKS VERY WELL. I don't have a mount in my Magnum for the prime so i either had it sitting on my lap or on the passenger seat. I wasn't about to put it on my dashboard to be sliding all around and possibly break it..lol. Once I got in vehicle and activated GPS, it immediately start picking up alot of satellites and locking on to them. I was seeing like 16 satellites and having 9-10 locks. Accuracy was very good. within a few feet actually. Once I proceeded to drive, The dongle consistently held the satellites and locks. Even once I hit the highway and proceeded to speeds in excess of 60-70mph, GPS Dongle still held all its 15+ satellites and I always had at least 9-10 satellites locked. I never lost a satellite lock once or it would always fluctuate between 9-10 locks or more. I tested this while driving repeated times over several days. Accuracy was always very good. I set my GPS test to show me accuracy in feet and not meters. always showed accuracy within a few feet. Accuracy saw best results of about 4Ft. and worst of about 10ft. All very good. It consistently held satellites, locks, and accuracy.
I know some are wondering, since this doesn't have a pass through to allow charging, how is battery life. I'd have to say for the time I used it, it hardly drained the battery at all. my battery drain came from cutting on super ips+ mode so i could easily see the display while outdoors or driving. I did attach dongle to prime and left the GPS on for a while, at normal brightness settings, to see how much of drains battery. well to me, it hardly drained the battery at all. Plus if you really concerned about battery life, you could easily put prime into battery savings mode to make battery last that much longer. I can easily see this Gps dongle being able to survive long trips navigating. While traveling, if you just using the prime to Navigate with GPS on, then you should have no issue with the battery lasting the whole trip. This will easily last a several hour long road trip, even longer if prime put into battery savings mode.
I have attached screenshots of my GPS Test app results. I also tried using GPS Status and worked well. This dongle also worked great with Google earth, cached mode. So it'll work just great with any offline Navigation app. CoPilot is one I hear thrown around alot for being a great offline one. REMEMBER, I ONLY TESTED THIS WITH WIFI OFF, ALL LOCATION SERVICES TURNED OFF, AND AFTER A FRESH REBOOT. SO MY SCREENSHOTS REFLECT THAT ONLY. I NEVER TESTED THIS WITH WIFI OR OTHER LOCATION SERVICES TURNED ON EXCEPT FOR GPS. ALSO ALL TESTS WERE ALWAYS AFTER A FRESH REBOOT OF TABLET AFTER OTHER THINGS WERE TURNED OFF.
First set of pics was while indoors and on my balcony. I'm higher up and there are alot of tall buildings and such surrounding me.
This is what I saw while traveling in car. keep in mind it consistently held these locks. I never once lost the locks or GPS satellites. Always held at least 9-10 locks or so.
I will entertain any reasonable questions about its performance, design, or battery life you may have. Please keep the hating down to a minimum. This is an informative thread for those curious to how their dongle will perform once they receive it. Not a thread to debate on why you don't like it, or why you hate Asus, or whatever. This is a real solution for people who truly want to use prime as a navigation device while driving. My results surely could've even been better if I had a car, window, or dashboard mount. all tests was while it was in my lap or on the passenger seat, or when I propped it up with GPS facing the up on my center console right before my transmission gear selector stick. I can see this working great for people driving, hiking, or even flying. it now sees alot of satellites and always hold the locks. no more dropped GPS reception or going off the grid..lol
Thanks to Asus for allowing me to test this out in advance and Thanks to members involved in a Positive movement of Prime forums. Thanks also to all the great developers we have in developement section using their free time to make this product even better for us. Its greatly appreciated. Also Thanks to members actually helping out others here in XDA. All we want is to learn more about our devices, share information and tips, and learn how to modify device with the best tweaks, mods, and custom ROMS/Kernels. People don't want to be up here fighting with each other everyday. There comes a time when enough is enough. Can't wait to see what else Asus has in store for us in the future. Whether it be software updates, any further hardware tweaks, or future products. All I can say is, in my experience, Asus has treated me well. They have done more than any other company I've seen before. Especially here in the forums. They are trying their best to fix problems and provide solutions and that's all that matters. Asus has me on board for future products as the Prime was my first Asus experience. For me, its been a great one. A very exciting roller coaster ride here in XDA..lol
P.s. something I forgot to add. another member pointed this out. MAKE SURE TO REMOVE THE 2 RUBBER PLUGS IN THE DOCK CONNECTORS BEFORE YOU ATTACH THE GPS DONGLE
UPDATE: NEW HIGH RES PICS ADDED!
Up Close front of dongle. part that will facing you
Back of dongle. part that covers back of tablet.
A look at the 40pin connector inside the groove of dongle piece
Up close look at 40pin connector
GPS Dongle attached to my prime. Front view
GPS Dongle attached to prime. view from the back. I know the back of my prime needs cleaning..lmao
[UPDATE 4/19/2012]
Well some people have started receiving their dongle. We have a member, Dude2k5, who has opened up his dongle to see what makes it tick inside. So thanks goes to him for these new pics of what the GPS dongle looks opened up.
update: Gps(Dongle) Extension Kit Test Videos link added. Courtesy of JJdevega
if you want to see confirmed videos of the dongle getting locks indoors, outdoors(stationary), and while driving, Click on the link
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1610199
pix will be back up soon
Awesome dude! Great post, great information. This was a really cool move by Asus. I'm looking forward to getting my dongle.
Edit: have you encountered any problems with it at all? Any negative impacts on the functionality of the tablet?
Looks Great! Can't wait to get my dongle on!
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk
demandarin
First, thanks for the detailed, in depth review of the GPS dongle! It sounds very promising, and for those who require GPS for navigation or other functions, this sounds like it now gives the Transformer Prime GPS service on par or better then the competition!
I'd also like to say that it's very gratifying to see that Asus didn't simply "remove" GPS from their spec sheets for the Prime, but continued to try and find a workable solution to an ongoing problem.
While I don't personally see myself using my TP for navigation in the car, it is gratifying to see a company that doesn't leave their customers in the lurch after they've made a substantial purchase!
Thank You!
gruntguy said:
Awesome dude! Great post, great information. This was a really cool move by Asus. I'm looking forward to getting my dongle.
Edit: have you encountered any problems with it at all? Any negative impacts on the functionality of the tablet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I haven't encountered any issues with it at all. It has been working perfectly. Off course when not in use, I just detach it. I don't really think there are any negative impacts on functionality. Maybe except for it can't be docked to keyboard while GPS dongle is attached. Or that it doesn't have a pass through to allow charging at the same time. But in my use, its barely sipping the battery. No excessive battery drain at all while in use. So best thing would be to detach it while its not in use. When its attached, it doesn't get in the way at all when using the tablet. whether you have GPS facing up or down. Of course facing up will yells best GPS results. Either way, its not in the way at all or adds any extra bulk or whatever to tablet. we have have some talking about Modding the free dongle to work on keyboard also. which is possible because of you look at close up pic of connector, it seems to be held in there by only 2 screws. so you could easily remove it and fabricate a solution to work while docked also if you choose.
I have not received any update on my Prime.
I changed from DE to WW rooting it long time ago and I do not receive OTA anymore. How can I receive this now?
The PDF link to FTP Asus does not work.
Your link to the manual is broken.
It is ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/asus/EeePAD/TF201/E7282_TF201_GPS_Extension_Kit_QSG_English.pdf
I'm glad ASUS came up with a fix, but the fix doesn't allow you to use the dongle and the keyboard attached, or dongle and charge.
I know this has all been said before on other forums, but when you spend £500 on a device that includes a keyboard dock, you shouldn't have to expect an add-on to negates the keyboards use.
A good interim solution, but hopefully ASUS will come up with a better solution, or allow us to trade in our Primes against the TF700.
Thanks for the great post though.
Is it worth mentioning for those peeps who do not use the dock that there are two rubber bungs that protect the locking mechanism catches on the tablet itself. and these need to be removed before fitting the dongle!! (not that anybody has ever tried to dock with the bungs in lol)
CBers said:
I'm glad ASUS came up with a fix, but the fix doesn't allow you to use the dongle and the keyboard attached, or dongle and charge.
I know this has all been said before on other forums, but when you spend £500 on a device that includes a keyboard dock, you shouldn't have to expect an add-on to negates the keyboards use.
A good interim solution, but hopefully ASUS will come up with a better solution, or allow us to trade in our Primes against the TF700.
Thanks for the great post though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would also be nice if Dongle had a power plug on it so you could have it plugged into power with Dongle attached...
leppie said:
Your link to the manual is broken.
It is ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/asus/EeePAD/TF201/E7282_TF201_GPS_Extension_Kit_QSG_English.pdf
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks, I fixed it in the OP.
slef2003 said:
Is it worth mentioning for those peeps who do not use the dock that there are two rubber bungs that protect the locking mechanism catches on the tablet itself. and these need to be removed before fitting the dongle!! (not that anybody has ever tried to dock with the bungs in lol)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for the reminder. I added it to the OP.
CBers said:
I'm glad ASUS came up with a fix, but the fix doesn't allow you to use the dongle and the keyboard attached, or dongle and charge.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now ASUS just needs to release a pass-through/extension cable that will allow the Prime to be charged while using the dongle and/or use it with the dock.
copc said:
Would also be nice if Dongle had a power plug on it so you could have it plugged into power with Dongle attached...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
CBers said:
I'm glad ASUS came up with a fix, but the fix doesn't allow you to use the dongle and the keyboard attached, or dongle and charge.
I know this has all been said before on other forums, but when you spend £500 on a device that includes a keyboard dock, you shouldn't have to expect an add-on to negates the keyboards use.
A good interim solution, but hopefully ASUS will come up with a better solution, or allow us to trade in our Primes against the TF700.
Thanks for the great post though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This to me is the solution. We didn't have to pay for it so nothing is coming out of our pockets. It's not a big deal that we can't plug in our docks or be able to charge it while dongle is attached. As for me if I'm using GPS out on the road. I don't use my keyboard dock since all I'm using it for is the Navigation. I won't need to have it plugged in since it doesn't drain battery and putting in power save saves even more. Just be content and happy that Asus is doing this for us. You can't say that for the rest of them and I understand how you feel about it. But the past is in the past can't change it. I'm moving forward knowing that I'm satisfied with my prime dongle and all
TF201 GPS Extension Kit Specifications
Dimension L 180mm x W 13.12mm x H 22.77mm
Looks like I was bang on with size estimate.
jjdevega said:
As for me if I'm using GPS out on the road. I don't use my keyboard dock since all I'm using it for is the Navigation. I won't need to have it plugged in since it doesn't drain battery and putting in power save saves even more.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Using navigation doesn't drain your battery?
First hating Post!!
Just thought I'd post the first hate posting on this...I HATE your wallpaper man!(joking)
Waiting for someone to ask you to make a video of you driving with the Dongle attached to the Prime or they wont believe that it works. lmao!!
Wait for it, wait for it....
I think it would be a good idea to mod the dongle into some dash adapter. Then just slide it in when you get into car, etc.
From the pics, it looks pretty strong.
Wonder how quick we will see the insides of this thing?
ylexot said:
Using navigation doesn't drain your battery?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it barely drained power while it was in use. Asus already pushed the firmware support and power management for it last week. Prime, with dongle attached, should have no issue lasting a very long trip while navigating. Especially in battery savings mode. what will determine more how fast your battery drains will be your brightness settings on display.
jjdevega said:
This to me is the solution. We didn't have to pay for it so nothing is coming out of our pockets. It's not a big deal that we can't plug in our docks or be able to charge it while dongle is attached. As for me if I'm using GPS out on the road. I don't use my keyboard dock since all I'm using it for is the Navigation. I won't need to have it plugged in since it doesn't drain battery and putting in power save saves even more. Just be content and happy that Asus is doing this for us. You can't say that for the rest of them and I understand how you feel about it. But the past is in the past can't change it. I'm moving forward knowing that I'm satisfied with my prime dongle and all
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, I don't see the need to use the keyboard while navigating with the Prime in the car.