Database Develop

Original HTC ROM may be better for some in USA

I have the HTC branded P3600 unlocked.
I tried out both LVSW's cooked ROM and the latest Dopod D810 ROM. Both are excelllent updates, but turned out not to be right for me. Thought I'd share in case this is useful to anyone else.
I am in an area of Los Angeles in the US which still does not yet have 3G. I also don't personally need the GPS feature. I am fine with an ordinary map and I need my battery life for phone and email. That is just my personal preference.
Anyway, in my case, I found three pitfalls with the new ROMs.
1. The phone got hotter and used more battery. I assume that the GPS was trying to do its thing even though I wasn't actually using it.
2. Signal can be sketchy at my home. The HTC P3600 has been the first PDA phone to give me a full strength signal here, on a par with a standard cell phone. But with the new ROMs my full bar strength fell in half. I assume this is to do with further optimizations for 3G which, unfortunately, currently give me no benefit. Anyhow, I got weaker GPRS/EDGE and weaker GSM.
3. The Dopod ROM (and LVSW cooked variant - which is a very nice job BTW) have significantly different ActiveSync/Direct Push settings. The Heartbeat Increments and other related settings are quite different. This was not good for my Exchange service and Push Mail. I started getting my mail at about 5 minute intervals, not right away. Some kind of timeout going on I guess. Of course, I was able to dip into the registry and make adjustments, but with my lower EDGE signal, things still were not working quite as well.
Bottom line: I went back to the Official HTC P3600 ROM (fortunately I had saved it before it had to be removed from the XDA-Dev FTP site. (HTC do not provide even the original ROM to customers at this time). There was no problem going back. So no harm, no foul.
I did save the HTC Task Manager application and added it back in. Nice addition, missing from the original HTC version. So it was definitely worth trying the new ROMs all in all.
Obviously, the issue here is that my local Network is lacking - the new ROMs are good. But the fact remained the original ROM gives me much better performance here, particularly battery life, signal strength and more reliable Direct Push.

Sorry for the unrelated post, but I needed some help after reading your post.
I am also in the Los Angeles area (OC) with T-Mobile.
I got an unlocked trinity about 2 months ago. It has worked very well, except I do not seem to be able to connect to Edge. Your post seemed to indicate that you have been able to connect to it.
Can you please tell me how I can make that happen?
Also, which GPS software would you recommend for Southern California, if I chose to enable the GPS hardware on my machine.
Any help will be appreciated.
Thanks

Hi Kewlphone! I think (hope!) you are actually getting Edge. For some reason the HTC P3600 simply displays the G symbol even when you are getting Edge. To be fair I think Edge is just an upgraded form of GPRS. Actually if you install the Dopod ROM it does give you the E symbol. There may well be a registry tweak to show an E, but I just don't know it.
There are no special settings needed. I just connect to wap.voicestream.com.
internet2.voicestream.com also works with my Internet plan, but I prefer to connect the first one as it also is the right one for picture messaging. Also you want to have T-Mobile Internet, not just the T-Mobile Web plan (formery t-zones) which is restricted to sites for phones and does not allow full Internet access or downloading attachments.
T-Mobile just tightened up their protocols dues to a cheat some people had been using to get full access out of the Web plan. This temporarily messed up my Internet access but tech support reprovisioned my account as I pay for the full Internet plan.
First off, I suggest you check your actual download speeds using
http://www.dslreports.com/mspeed?jisok=1
It is speed test specially for Mobile devices. If you get around 30 to 40 kbps ish that is standard GPRS. Edge should be around 100 to 120 ish in practice. Obviously it varies a lot by time of day, location etc.
There is also a registry tweak I found that may help download speed. You need a registry editor like Total Commander available from ghisler.com (You would want to download the 2.5 beta version for WM5. It is free).
The registry setting involved determines how much data the device will accept in a chunk.
HKLM\Comm\Tcpip\Parms\TcpWindowSize
If your device has this parameter set to less than 65536 change it to this amount. This helped me get consisitent Edge speeds. I am not aware of any harm that will be done be setting it higher still, other than you may need to set it back again if it doesn't work right!
Sorry, I have no experience with GPS software. The program people mention generally is Tom Tom. I believe this is the defacto choice for many people and it is made for many different devices. I am sure the company has a web site. If not I am sure it is available at places like mobileplanet.com.
Please bear in mind that we people using this site (XDA-dev) are enthusiasts who like to tweak and customize our phones. It is not our objective to help ourselves to free software, only to get the most out of the devices and the built-in software we have already paid for... I don't mean to suggest you are looking for any free downloads and you certainly did not imply that. I am just conscious there has just been an issue with Microsoft objecting to some of the downloads on this site so we need to be careful to keep things absolutely clearly legit. Tom Tom is a commericial product not included with the P3600 and will need to be purchased separately.
HTH

I am also in LA (West side.) Here is my experience:
I use LVSW's ROM and get 3G (Cingular.) Just tested a 1MB file download from the dslreports link above and got 642kbit/sec. There are some areas in town where it goes to E (for EDGE,) but at least in my case it's not too often (it went to E yesterday in the Custom's area at LAX, but to be honest, I was just happy to get signal there
The GPS works great. I don't really use it here, because I have built-in ones in my cars, but it is very handy when travelling.
I also don't use Cingular's push mail, but use my POP3 mail account, and have set the Trinity to check it every 15 minutes, which works fine for me.

642kbps?? WOW! Excuse me while a turn as green as the HTC theme with envy! That is intersting for me as I am also on LA's west side. BTW I concur about reception inside LAX customs area. Just being able to make a regular call from there is a feat! Hardly a concern that your data merely dropped to Edge speed!
I had been considering switching to Cingular to get 3G, although both where I live and where I work are both actually just off the official 3G map at the moment.... Switching would also just about double my bill, and put me back in a contract. So I am holding out till 3G coverage settles down a bit more. Looks like T-Mobile are finally going to 3G here, though that may still take many months...
Do Cingular even offer there own Push Mail? I was under the impression that their Xpress mail service retreives mail something like the T-Mobile equivilent (15 minutes intervals) I use Direct Push from my Exchange account so it requires only the Data connection, nothing else carrier specific.
Sorry, I am getting way off topic. This is not carrier comparision forum!
The relevant point is that it is good to know that the LVSW ROMs seems like the best for people in the USA too, assuming your carrier has 3G and especially if you use GPS. My situation sounds like the exception and will likely be transitory anyway.
BTW MacGuy2006, I think kewlphone might appreciate your advice on GPS software. Sounds like you have quite a bit of experience with it.
Thanks for the info I might join you on Cingular yet! I also think we may soon see even more ROM magic from our friend LVSW too!

Yeah, I am sort of satisfied with Cingular, and really do like 3G, which finally makes PDA Internet use a possibility for me (I can read the wires if I am stuck somewhere They refer to "push-mail," but I have not tried it, so I don't know if it's instantaneous or not.
As to GPS software, I use TomTom 6, which is generally fine and has a broad range of maps. I kind of like the design of Navigon 6 a bit better (http://www.navigon.com/site/us/en/mobile_navigation/pda/screenshots,) but have not seen it in action.
As an aside, yesterday I installed the 1.38.00.11 radio ROM lurking here, and my 3G speeds never exceeded the mid-400s. It may have been a fluke, but I went back to 1.35 and clocked in the mid-700

Thanks for sharing that info. Just to check, do you find you are able to up and downgrade just the Radio ROMs without a hard reset? TIA

I'm using the Dopod Rom with the 1.38 radio upgrade. As expected, the battery life is significantly reduced with the GPS enabled (using TomTom6), but overall I really like the fact that my phone can basically do anything now.
I think it might have more difficulty picking up signals now than it did with the original HTC rom. When I'm in my home office, I really don't get any signal at all now, which my plethora of computer equipment doesn't help, but the phone shows a solid four bars when I'm at work, and it connects to Edge very fast there too.
I tried both TomTom 6.02 and 6.03, and 6.03 is definitely better. It automatically knows to use the built-in GPS receiver (You don't have to select NMEA, COM 9), and it grabs the signal faster. Unfortunately I couldn't get the maps activated for 6.03, but they don't have any problem with 6.02, so I'm stuck with it.
I'm definitely looking forward to upgrading to WM6. Woot!
-John

flamingcrumb said:
Thanks for sharing that info. Just to check, do you find you are able to up and downgrade just the Radio ROMs without a hard reset? TIA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I backed up, reinstalled the LVSW ROM and restored

Hi flamingcrumb,
Thank you for your detailed response.
I have the full t-mo web plan, but have specifically taken access to internet3.voicestream.com becuase of VPN access needs.
I ran a speed test on my device and it shows 39 kbps. That tells me it is a regular GPRS connection. Do you know of any areas in the region where Edge is available? Sounds like westside may be one.
As far as GPS software goes, I was looking for recommendations based on availability and correctness of maps for southern cal. I had purchased and used Ostia in the past, however I did not like either the interface or stability.
Thanks

kewlphone said:
... As far as GPS software goes, I was looking for recommendations based on availability and correctness of maps for southern cal....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can compare maps here: http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=53419
AFAIK, TomTom uses Tele Atlas maps, which are fine (but I had one problem finding a a street in Orange County.) Navigon, I believe, uses Navteq maps, which I think of as more accurate (one of mine built-in navigation systems uses Navteq maps, and it has never lied to me

I appreciate the helpful posts on using GPS and the various software options. Good to know. Nothing I can add, you good people all know way more than I do, I don't see reduced battery life with GPS as a "fault" in any way - just a law of physics. For example, if I had my phone on for web browsing all the time at full brightness and used bluetooth plus wireless non-stop, the battery is going to run down faster. That's fair enough. I did notice there seemed to be a little bit of more drain with the GPS ROMs even with GPS inactive. I wonder if it ticks away in the background ready for use? It does certainly seem that enabling additional features might be reducing standard GSM sgnal strength. My feeling is that a little bit of internal radio interference might be a reasonable thing to expect. The Trinity has goodness how many radios? 4 bands of GSM, 3 Bands of w/CDMA, BlueTooth, WiFi, GPS... all in a device the size of deck of cards. Again, the laws of physics may simply apply.
The bottom line I get from this is there is unlikely to be a benefit in upgrading to a ROM which provides features I am not accessing. That doesn't mean the new ROMs are anything less than great, just not of benefit with my carrier in my location at this moment.
kewlphone, I definitely think you should be getting Edge speeds everywhere in the Los Angeles and Orange County areas, without even doing any tweaks. Bear in mind the standard HTC P3600 ROM always seems to just show the G, the key test is the speed not the symbol. But the speed you describe is not Edge. It will vary by time of day and location etc, so it is worth repeating the test quite a few times. You defintely should be seeing at least 100k when you have a full signal strength in urban areas, especially at off-peak hours... at least some of the time! I think you should call Customer Support and ask for a data specialist and talk it over with them. Perhaps they can reset your data account or help in some way. The positive spin I always go for to keep them on my side even though I have an unsupported phone is by explaining I am a loyal customer but the phones they offer don't meet my needs at present. So I am using my own phone because otherwise I would have to switch to another carrier and I don't want to "because you guys are so great" etc etc. In a few months there will be more T-Mobile phones available and I will be getting one. In the meantime I need to make things work so I can stay with T-Mobile. This is a semi-truth and but greatly overstates my loyalty, which is really only limited to the killer deal I get on a huge bucket of minutes (and is being serverely tested by their lagging in the 3G...) but it is a positive spin to give them a good reason to help me even though my phone is unsupported.
BTW I describe the Trinity as being most like the MDA but a generation or two on. If you get a decent data technician the chances are good they will know what you are talking about and will also be well away of T-Mo's limitations themselves. Chances are good they will do their best to help.
A place that might be helpful and more appropriate for discussing US carrier issues is howardforums dot com. They also have a Wiki which is quite useful. Obviously the XDA-Dev forum is for the tech stuff and tweaking to the the max! I think I have the same user name on howardforums so maybe we can find a good thread for trouble shooting our carrier stuff over there. Don't think I have actually posted yet but I will do as I ultimately need to decide whether to stick with T-Mo or jump to Cingy/ATT. If you register with the same name it will be easy for me spot you on their board. All the best. Please let me know about your progress

Sorry to bump this thread when it is probably only of interest to a small number of people - perhaps mostly in L.A. on T-Mo.
Quick update: I must confess that I caved in and have switched to Cingy/ATT. Much better signal strength where I live, even just on EDGE. I don't like their sky high rates or customer service all that much, plus their data plans are a riduculously complicated mess of choices... but they do have a lot of 3G and much better coverage in my location...oh well. Also feel like it will still surely take T-Mo a lot of time to deploy their own 3G... and I can always go back later!
Anyway, it now really made sense for me to upgrade my ROM. I have also been trying out GPS, just wih the free Google Maps for the monent as a little taster test! Pretty cool though
Another really big reason I gave up on the standard ROM was that I kept having the age old issue of my reminders not sounding and could cure only it with a hard reset each time. It has yet to be seen if the updated ROM helps or not. I realize the non-sounding reminders issue is a well known Windows Mobile problem, but it was happening every couple of weeks rather than once in a while. Anyone got any thoughts on this please???
The reminders issue is probably my biggest factor in picking a ROM and there is no obvious way of choosing between the HTC/LVSW/Dopod options other than trying them all. I cling to av ague hope someone might have already been through this one...
Oh, BTW I am using LVSW 1.24.0.0 with Radio 1.33.00.11
TIA

You only need the $19.99 unlimited media works plan to take advantage of 3G. Cingular will tell you that you must have the $49.99 pda plan but you do not, trust me I use my trinity with the media works plan and I use 3G perfect usually around 350kbs, for streaming video.

turcomora said:
You only need the $19.99 unlimited media works plan to take advantage of 3G. Cingular will tell you that you must have the $49.99 pda plan but you do not, trust me I use my trinity with the media works plan and I use 3G perfect usually around 350kbs, for streaming video.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
same here...i'm using the unlimited $19.99 plan and i also use my phone for internet sharing with my laptop (e.g., phone as a modem).

Thanks good people. I had noticed that the MEdia Net plans seems to do the job (without restriction if the proxy is not used) but could not be sure if that was a lucky fluke or that is how it is...
Good to hear the definite facts from people with solid experience.... and I much appreciate it.
Coming in, I do really think the Cingy data plans are a confusing mess... I would imagine the average Joe or Jane walking into a phone store could feel overwhelmed. I think they should simplify the plans... but what do I know? (Not much, I admit!)
While we are talking Trinty and Cingular may I ask which ROM people feel is best for stabilty right now? I was having that prob with reminders not sounding... an old issue, but much worse than usual! Any guidance would be welcomed.
Best
P.S. turcomora, when you mention Streaming Video are you talking Cingy Video>...? I have been following the threads but still can't get that to work. Or are you refering to something else, like the Streaming Media application (which I have yet to figure out a use for!) Either way I would be most interested. Thanks again and B4N

How good is Kaiser GPS?

I believe Kaiser rely on the Qualcomm chip for GPS. How is the performance. People say good thing about the SIRF III chip. How is the Kaiser GPS compare to the SIRF III? Anyone know?

welll in most cases built in gps arnt as reliable as the actuall thing... they are off sometimes

I guess it may depend on what you want/need to do with GPS.
If I turn it on and run Google Maps, it shows me right in the middle of my house, and that's where I am. If I move from one end of my house to another, I again appear in the right place.

To use GPS do we require to have gprs or 3g data activated.
Or is like integrated FM Radion which doesnt require data connection.

No -- there is a GPS receiver built into the unit that sends NMEA 0183 data over a serial port. You'll probably need map software; any software that works with WM6 and a Bluetooth GPS should do the job (e.g. TomTom 6).

I use Googlemaps and TOMTOM 6 with no problem.

I need to mention that I am a current HTC Trinity owner, and if IF if IF if IF the Kaiser has the same A-GPS chip found in the trinity, then this is what we should expect (from my experience with the Trinity)
1- Initial fix time can take long (sometimes it takes 2 minutes, sometimes 5 minutes, sometimes 10 minutes, and sometimes IT NEVER gets a fix and no GPS singal can be found)
2- Once the GPS get a fix, then it works perfectly and flawlessly.
So I only hope that the Kaiser will solve the initial fix problem.

Has it now "normal" GPS or the mobile Version AGPS

I guess you could upgrade your radio to 1.40+ and try again. They said there's a big improvement to GPS fix.
Talking about TTFF, if you are moving, or inside a building, I think it will take longer than usual to get a fix. I live in a really urban area, but once I stand still in an open area, I usually got fix in 2-3 minutes, without exception.
Someone did a test in the Trinity forum - the accuracy of the qualcomm chip is even better than that of the sirf-iii.
However, a major problem though is the lack of a software assisted gps problem that can improve the ttff time. (Though qualcomm said there's one, but until now it's still vapourware.)

ww2250 said:
I guess you could upgrade your radio to 1.40+ and try again. They said there's a big improvement to GPS fix.
Talking about TTFF, if you are moving, or inside a building, I think it will take longer than usual to get a fix. I live in a really urban area, but once I stand still in an open area, I usually got fix in 2-3 minutes, without exception.
Someone did a test in the Trinity forum - the accuracy of the qualcomm chip is even better than that of the sirf-iii.
However, a major problem though is the lack of a software assisted gps problem that can improve the ttff time. (Though qualcomm said there's one, but until now it's still vapourware.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also have the Trinity and can back up the above comments. I have a Sirf III device as well and apart from the Time To First Fix being quicker there is no noticeable difference between the two - both very accurate and don't lose their fixes.

TheEngineer0815 said:
Has it now "normal" GPS or the mobile Version AGPS
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You might find this interesting: http://mobilitysite.com/2007/08/assisted-gps/
Gordon

GordonTGopher said:
You might find this interesting: http://mobilitysite.com/2007/08/assisted-gps/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really interesting. The author of this article think that the Kaiser will have a Sirf-III. Now I think for the first time, we got a device with 2 GPS, a dedicated Sirf-III GPS chip together with a Qualcom integrated GPS.
I would imagine it will greatly increase the accuracy as well as the TTFF
Oh, wait, HTC might disable the Qualcom GPS, and just use the Sirf-III. See what they did to Hermes

Does anyone know how to start the gPS on the Kaiser - I bought one ...but don`t know how to start !

Kaiser GPS Enhancement Guide...

I see a lot of people with GPS problems these days & most of them have to do with not getting a fast enough satelite fix. There are several things you can & should do to enhance you Kaiser & it's GPS capabilities.
Firstly, use HTC's QuickGPS. Your device has to locate, communicate with & track numerous navigation satelites to get a fix that can be used by your navigation software of choice. Typically your device will need this information from 3 - 5 satelites, however there can be as many as 14. Each Satelite has Almanac information, this information contains suck as the current location, speed & Orbitital Patterns. This is where QuickGPS comes in. QuickGPS downloads this almanc information from servers & helps to guide your device the most appropriate satelites in your area. downloading the QuickGPS data at least once a week is key to maintaining quick satelite locks with your device.
Second, I see a lot of people using the HCT GPS Tool from the Polaris. WHY? Sure it can help to jump start your GPS, but there are other more functional programs out there that accomplish the same thing & much more.
Enter GPSGate! GPSGate is a light weight GPS utility that can be installed on a storage card & I could not live without. It is easy to use, it configures itself, it WILL jumpstart your GPS & allows you to do some amazing things otherwise impossible. GPSGate is a semi-commercial software developed by Franson. A trial version is free to download & the only difference between the free & the pay version is that the pay version allows you to Connect to GpsGate Server or GpsGate.com for sharing or logging over the Internet. GPSGate will help speed things up for you & also do many other things. Whenever you launch GPSGate, you GPS chip is immediately initialized & goes to work. Starting GPSGate before your navigation software or selecting the auto-start function gets your device working on connecting to the satelites NOW!
Ever tried running TomTom & Live Search at the same time? Usually it won't work & sometimes will freeze your device. Not when you use GPSGate. GPSGate will not only start your GPS faster, but it will also let you share the Kaiser GPS among several applications all at once.
GPSGate will let you use external GPS devices with your Kaiser & it will also allow you to use your Kaiser as a GPS receiver for other devices such as laptops, over A/S or Bluetooth connections. In fact, you can share the Kaiser's GPS over a network, ActiveSync, Bluetooth or HTTP. It will also allow you to Multiplex and split NMEA streams. GPSGate will communicate fast & flawlessly with a simultaneous multitude of programs. It will also allow you to start & stop your GPS Session on the fly.
I use TomTom, but I frequently use Live Search at the same time because POI's are always changing & new ones are added. Live Search is much better @ finding New things like restraunts & allows me to add them into my contacts & then select them thru TomTom all without having to start & stop each program allowing me to keep my focus on the road where it belongs.
Just download & install the cab, launch the program, follow the 2-steps on the screen & you're done.
Most of the important functionality is intact without licensing, (I think everything except the server based tracking & logging)
Overview:
Share your position online using GpsGate.com
Track your friends on a map, see a remote person in Google Earth and more...
Connecting Google Earth to GpsGate!
Display your GPS position in Google Earth.
Connecting Google Maps to GpsGate!
Display your GPS position in Google Maps.
Sharing GPS data over a network and between computers
How to share GPS data using TCP/IP, UDP, Bluetooth or COM ports.
NMEA Multiplexer - combine multiple inputs
How to merge and split several NMEA channels.
Run GpsGate as a Service
How to set up GpsGate to run as a NT service.
How to run multiple instances of GpsGate, close input when no output is used, block writing and reading, and more...
NO, I do NOT work for or endorse Franson! I just really find this program helpful & very useful.
GPSGate: http://rapidshare.com/files/95732296/GPSGate.rar
QuickGPS: http://rapidshare.com/files/69959229/HTC_QuickGPS.CAB

spent this whole time talking about GPSGATE but dont even post a way to find more info or even get it......

ChInEsE ChIcKeN said:
spent this whole time talking about GPSGATE but dont even post a way to find more info or even get it......
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL are you serious....thanks I needed this
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=GPSgate&btnG=Google+Search
Not that hard to find.
Google is your friend

I don't understand why this is useful. The GPS is already sharable in the Kaiser. I've run multiple GPS apps at the same time with no problems. The only use for GPS gate that I can see is uploading your position to their server.

tdusen said:
I don't understand why this is useful. The GPS is already sharable in the Kaiser. I've run multiple GPS apps at the same time with no problems. The only use for GPS gate that I can see is uploading your position to their server.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you use iGuidance 4 and are using a 6.1 rom, GPSGate is not only useful, it is required in order for your map to update. Others have reported that GPSPROXY will also work, and it is free.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I have been playing with 6.1 ROMS for two weeks and was about to give up because I could not get GPS to work properly (yes I tried everything that was recommended!) I was about to give up and revert back to a 6 ROM... and like a pheonix from the ashes I saw your post. Franson GpsGate did the trick. My GPS is working better than ever, heck my phone is working better than ever, many thanks to Sleuth and to you for fixing that last very frustrating and important glitch.

crispyj said:
If you use iGuidance 4 and are using a 6.1 rom, GPSGate is not only useful, it is required in order for your map to update. Others have reported that GPSPROXY will also work, and it is free.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then I'm just lucky I guess. I'm running 6.1 and I have Beeline GPS, TomTom and Live Search all running just fine. No GPS Gate or GPSProxy loaded.

tdusen said:
Then I'm just lucky I guess. I'm running 6.1 and I have Beeline GPS, TomTom and Live Search all running just fine. No GPS Gate or GPSProxy loaded.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes you are lucky. Many Tilt users are, but for the unfortunate, for what ever reason, we have GPS issues and this solved it at least for me. But I am curious... if you GPS is operating so wonderfully... why are you in this thread?

the same reason I am in here probably, to see what everyone is talking about and to see what kinds of GPS issues are out there that people are having. I know mine is working just fine but still checking out what is going on in case I run in to issues or see someone with issues that I might be able to help out or point them to this thread.

I read every GPS thread. I'm always on the look out for some way to disable Static Navigation. So far, no luck.
My original post in this thread was to ask what does this software give me that I don't already have. The stock GPS is intended to be sharable. If it does work like it's supposed then no proxy software should be necessary.

GPS quality varies widely from one Tilt to the next...
I have 2 Tilts and I can tell you one of them gets almost instant GPS lock while the other one struggles to ever get a lock.
I'm awaiting a second warranty replacement from at&t as the first one they sent has crappy GPS also. I've already warned them that they will continue shipping me Tilts under warranty until I get a replacement that works as well as my 2nd Tilt does.
One thing I like about GPS Gate is the Tray Icon. It would be better if the tap & hold menu had an option to toggle the GPS on/off.
It is nice that you can also use it to provide GPS feed to your laptop if you have such a need.

tdusen said:
I read every GPS thread. I'm always on the look out for some way to disable Static Navigation. So far, no luck.
My original post in this thread was to ask what does this software give me that I don't already have. The stock GPS is intended to be sharable. If it does work like it's supposed then no proxy software should be necessary.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
More than anything I was bored & wanted to write (Got my replacement & had time to kill while Sec. Unlocking, Flashing, etc.), lol.
Really I'd see a lot of Noobies complaining about not being able to use multiple proggies & having issues giving gps a quick jump. This post was really just kinda intended for the noobie that doesn't have the skill or patience to set up multiple port connections for the GPS. With GPSGate they don't have to. It all wil run thru the same V-port without them having to do any changes manually. I find that using GPSGate there is NO DELAY in the new application receiving the GPS data. Before GPSGate, every time I switched programs my device would hang for a bit. I also noticed a lot of people using or including HTC GPS Tools in roms for a jump start of the GPS device, & I figured why not something more useful.
+ I know that while a lot of us know about these programs, not many new guys do & when I'm out & about, occasionally I like to use my laptop W/ Streets & trips because all my customer routes are in there. This way I can use it for navigation & construction updates on long drive days. Of course I know not everyone has a nerd mobile like my truck with a PPC & Laptop Mount cradle, lol...but you never know.

Do these proxies keep the GPS receiver running all the time? what does that do to battery life?

It does what you TELL IT to do. You can start or stop the GPS on the fly. OF COURSE if you leave the GPS running it will drain the battery faster. But it only keeps it on for as long as you keep it active. Using the proxy itself will not change the discharge rate of your battery to any noticable degree.
Search for Franson GPSGate. You can read your heart out about it.

What should you put the baud rate to?
I mean I would assume higher means better but since my kaiser takes 10 minutes to get a lock I haven't really bothered doing any proper comparisons.
In any case all I get for the ten-fifteen minutes I've had this running is "GPS data but no position, running ok"
(Pretty much like GPS Tool, it runs and shows a lot of sattelites but never gets a lock. It does once in a while but it seldom and it'll always take ~10 minutes)
I have run quick gps.
This is with a cooked rom and a new radio though.
With my stock rom/radio I got a lock within 2-3 minutes after starting tomtom.

GSLEON3 said:
Really I'd see a lot of Noobies complaining about not being able to use multiple proggies & having issues giving gps a quick jump. This post was really just kinda intended for the noobie that doesn't have the skill or patience to set up multiple port connections for the GPS. With GPSGate they don't have to. It all wil run thru the same V-port without them having to do any changes manually. I find that using GPSGate there is NO DELAY in the new application receiving the GPS data. Before GPSGate, every time I switched programs my device would hang for a bit. I also noticed a lot of people using or including HTC GPS Tools in roms for a jump start of the GPS device, & I figured why not something more useful.
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GSLEON3,
Although my GPS works within much problems or 3rd party software so far, I do appreciate your post on this as it clearly is helpful at his point of the ROM development.

I too am having troubles with my GPS. I have only had my tilt for a week or so but I can't seem to get the GPS to work well enough to be truly useful.
I have GPS Gate installed and it sometimes gets a lock and sometimes it doesn't. I have tried both TomTom 6 and iNav v3 and v4 with and without GPS Gate. I can generally get a lock sitting still and sometimes I can get a lock moving but anytime I try to use the navigation to go anywhere it either looses its lock within 10 minutes OR it only is able to track 1-3 satellites and thus HORRIBLY inaccurate showing me tracking between 50 and 500 yards from my actual location (if there are side roads or streets it almost never has me on the correct road). I have tried changing the position of the device to get better reception with no change.
I have also tried several different ROMS with different radios with no change. Are there some settings in GPS gate that I need to change to get better performance or do I have a defective unit? Any help would be appreciated.

GSLEON3 said:
More than anything I was bored & wanted to write (Got my replacement & had time to kill while Sec. Unlocking, Flashing, etc.), lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm glad you were bored to write this. I, for one, thinks its a good source of info and a possible set of solutions for GPS issues. I dont think you can have too much possible solutions, so thanks for posting this up!

thanks much for taking time to post valuable information. i for one am no noob to windows mobile, but am too GPS. so, i definitely am willing to check into anything that could possibly boost performance of any component. thanks again and it does help alot with the new tool. one question i have is about the virtual port driver. the message comes up and ask me to soft reset for the virtual port driver to be installed, so i do. when i run the tool again it does the same thing, to me, indicating the driver didnt install. i go into advanced options and check the status and it says my driver memory is low, please soft reset. any ideas and thanks again.

GPS working Better at higher baud
I have been experimenting with changing the settings for my GPS in GPSGate. I posted earlier that I was having trouble getting it to work reliably and that I would frequently loose lock and not be able to get it back.
Here is what I have found works best so far:
Radio: 1.64.08.21
COM: 4
BAUD: 57600
Emulating: COM 1
TomTom: COM 1 at 57600
I really don't know why this works better but I have been able to consistently HOLD a lock once I get one. I still have trouble with it sometimes taking a VERY long time acquire a lock but once I have one it is working well. I will post if I find anything that works better.
If anyone has insight on this or finds any better settings please post.

[Info/tutorial] How to manually configure a-gps server

Hi there,
This topic is about my experience of configuring a-gps manually with a French operator. This may help others.
I installed a few day ago the last french official HTC ROM (see here)
My Diamond is SFR branded (French Vodafone), and after upgrading from the native SFR ROM to the HTC one, I felt a slowdown to get a good GPS signal for the apps I use: Googlemaps and iGo8. The signal also seemed less accurate.
I decided to investigate this way.
First of all, some elements that may be obvious for most of you, but reminding them does not hurt:
A-gps is a system that enhances GPS performance, by connecting to an a-gps server. As a matter of fact, this server makes use of cellular network signal to locate you faster. For further informations, see Wikipedia a-gps article.
AFAIK, a-gps is different from Quick GPS (see here) In particular, config values for a-gps and Quick GPS are located in different registry keys on Diamond.
Now let's get deeper into a-gps:
You can, once again AFAIK (and you'll correct me if I'm wrong ), use two kinds of a-gps server:
Your mobile vendor's server (i.e. HTC)
Your operator's server
I remembered that on some phones (at least Nokia N95), you have to define manually your a-gps server when using SFR network.
For Nokia, the problem is that the port used by the vendor's server is blocked by SFR WAP connection.
This is not the case of HTC a-gps server, since using HTC rom does not inhibit a-gps: it only seemed slower to me than with my SFR rom.
Here are the registry parameters for a-gps, on the original HTC ROM:
Code:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\HTC\SUPL AGPS]
"EnableAGPS"=dword:00000001
"ServerPort"=dword:00001C6B
"ServerIP"="10.1.101.63"
"QosPerformance"=dword:00000059
"QoSAccuracy"=dword:00000032
"TimeBetweenFixes"=dword:00000001
"NumberFixes"=dword:3B9AC9FF
"GPSMode"=dword:00000002
I guess "10.1.101.63" is the IP address of an HTC's a-gps server (?!)
I then downgraded to native SFR ROM, and here was the same key:
Code:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\HTC\SUPL AGPS]
"ServerURL"="geoloc2.sfr.fr"
"GPRSConnection"="WAP SFR GPRS"
"Network"="WAP SFR GPRS"
"EnableAGPS"=dword:00000001
"EnabledPrivacyMethod"=dword:00000000
"CloseConfirmMsgTime"=dword:0000003C
"PrivacyMethod"=dword:00000000
"EnableLocInfo"=dword:00000001
"ServerPort"=dword:00001C6B
"QosPerformance"=dword:00000059
"QoSAccuracy"=dword:00000032
"TimeBetweenFixes"=dword:00000001
"NumberFixes"=dword:3B9AC9FF
"GPSMode"=dword:00000002
As you see, the server is defined with its URL, "geoloc2.sfr.fr" (known as one of SFR's a-gps servers), and some parameters are different.
Of course, you have to replace "WAP SFR GPRS" by the network connection you want to use.
I upgraded to HTC ROM again, and set the operator's rom values.
Now I've got the feeling that it's harder, better, faster, stronger (and more accurate).
By the way, QuickGPS is configured in the following key: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\HTC\QuickGPS].
Note that, on SFR branded rom, this key does not even exist.
Hope this helps.

I've wondered why Quick GPS seems to replace the A-GPS feature on the diamond. QuickGPS doesn't seem to do a damn thing for me. From cold boot, I can stand in open air for 5 minutes until I even start to get a peek at a couple of satellites. How can we be sure that QuickGPS is even working at all?
I used to own a Nokia N95 that had the A-GPS feature, the GPS inside the N95 was pretty average. But with the A-GPS feature you could at least get a lock in under 10 seconds, every time. As long as you had configured your positioning server, (supl.nokia.com) and you had a data connection, then it was consistently under 10 seconds from cold boot. Without A-GPS it was more like 5 minutes plus, basically what I'm seeing on the diamond.
As people have noticed, using tools like Advanced Config to enable A-GPS breaks the GPS completely. Probably because of the missing settings such as you have outlined above, (I noticed these settings while poking around in the registry recently too). I wonder how we can find out what the server names for other countries are and get this working for eveyone.
Also, the IP address 10.1.101.63 is a private IP address so I guess that explains why it fails when you switch AGPS on, that address will never be contactable, so they must have used it for some kind of internal testing - but if it's working for you (with your new settings) then why did HTC choose to leave it broken for the other ROMS....

Well... Since I updated to this last HTC rom, QuickGPS "does work". I mean, it is an installed program, therefore available in "programs" list, and when I launch it, I can "download" data to update it. Though I don't have a cue of what use is made of this technology on Diamond.
I've always used Advanced Config to enable A-GPS, and it has always worked for me. But if it breaks the GPS, I guess you can do it from the registry by setting "EnableAGPS" value to 1.
I also tested a N95 8Go recently, and I had the same results.
But I'm not sure to understand your need: Diamond has both A-GPS and QuickGPS. I don't think QuickGPS is very efficient, but A-GPS is.
I do also think that setting the "ServerIP" value to "10.1.101.63" must work worldwide, since I bet this is HTC's a-gps server.
With this, GPS signal takes about 30 seconds to lock (at first use after soft-reseting, but may be under 10 seconds for next uses).
Did you give it a try?

hantoucc said:
Well... Since I updated to this last HTC rom, QuickGPS "does work". I mean, it is an installed program, therefore available in "programs" list, and when I launch it, I can "download" data to update it. Though I don't have a cue of what use is made of this technology on Diamond.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I have i too, and it connects and downloads data ok. But does it speed up a GPS lock? I don't think it does. I've hard reset and just run TomTom without QuickGPS and then with QuickGPS and I cannot for the life if me see any difference at all. In TomTom Satellite screen, you can see no data. If it was working, you should see all Satellite 'numbers' in their respective little boxes and then the tracking would begin almost immediately. But I'm not seeing this.
I've always used Advanced Config to enable A-GPS, and it has always worked for me. But if it breaks the GPS, I guess you can do it from the registry by setting "EnableAGPS" value to 1.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Many people have said that enabling A-GPS (via advanced config or direct reg edit) makes the GPS stop working completely i.e. never getting a lock. If you have got this working for you, as far as I know, you're one of the first! Lucky you!
But I'm not sure to understand your need: Diamond has both A-GPS and QuickGPS. I don't think QuickGPS is very efficient, but A-GPS is.
I do also think that setting the "ServerIP" value to "10.1.101.63" must work worldwide, since I bet this is HTC's a-gps server.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No that IP address is within a private non-routable range for internal private networks and cannot be reached from the internet. Read this if you want more info.
I do agree though on the A-GPS being better, and with my experience with Nokia phones A-GPS is excellent. I don't understand what it is that QuickGPS is trying to do, because there is nothing quick about it. I thought it would be similar to A-GPS (in how it actually works) but now I'm confused :/
With this, GPS signal takes about 30 seconds to lock (at first use after soft-reseting, but may be under 10 seconds for next uses).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now that's the sort of time we all should expect when using an assisted/quick GPS aid to the actual GPS chip. It should be lightning fast. So to me it says QuickGPS is pretty lame, as everyone is using it by default in all ROMS and there are many many people complaining about the GPS not getting a lock at all. So it can't possibly be working properly. And if it is, it still sux.
I'm going to try and replicate those settings you have above on my Diamond and see how it goes. I'll post back shortly.

OK well I've put all those settings in, but still no luck. It is not working. I've been waiting several minutes and still cant even get a fix.
It's not out of the realms of possibility that SFR's A-GPS server can only be used by SFR customers. After all, they assign you your IP address when you connect to the web on your diamond so they could easily lock it down so that random people cannot use it. In fact that would make a lot of sense.
I think we're close, but I guess we need to find a SUPL A-GPS server that is open to the public, maybe? Or certainly at least find out if HTC has one that we can use that is accessible via the internet... Maybe someone else has some ideas?

you can try: "supl.nokia.com" instead of "geoloc2.sfr.fr"

Have you tried this, and what port does it use?
I'd been playing some more and found out having it enabled really screws things up - TomTom thinks it has a lock, then it doesn't, then it does, then it doesn't, etc. It's really bugging out. So I just switched it off.
I'm really interested to know though if A-GPS will help with the ongoing GPS-Lag/inaccuracies problem, some poeple have reported that the lag is fixed in the new OS builds floating around but I can confirm that it is not fixed - in fact it felt like it was worse!
This GPS is causing too many headaches!!!

salada2k said:
Have you tried this, and what port does it use?
I'd been playing some more and found out having it enabled really screws things up - TomTom thinks it has a lock, then it doesn't, then it does, then it doesn't, etc. It's really bugging out. So I just switched it off.
I'm really interested to know though if A-GPS will help with the ongoing GPS-Lag/inaccuracies problem, some poeple have reported that the lag is fixed in the new OS builds floating around but I can confirm that it is not fixed - in fact it felt like it was worse!
This GPS is causing too many headaches!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm also in Australia and i'm having the exact issues as you in regards to GPS lag and inaccuracies, i do however get a fix quite quickly, first time after a ROM change it takes a while but after that its somewhere between 30 sec and 1 min 30. I have changed my rom many times updating to all the latest custom ROM's, still its inaccuracy remains, its about 40 metres off on my device. I live inhouse number 16 and yet it tells me I'm at house 20. Like WTF........
What a pain in the arse!!!!

I got ip adress of HTC aGPS server!
its the 64.14.59.165
you got to just change the htc stock server of the diamond to this and its working well for me.

saveferris said:
I'm also in Australia and i'm having the exact issues as you in regards to GPS lag and inaccuracies, i do however get a fix quite quickly, first time after a ROM change it takes a while but after that its somewhere between 30 sec and 1 min 30. I have changed my rom many times updating to all the latest custom ROM's, still its inaccuracy remains, its about 40 metres off on my device. I live inhouse number 16 and yet it tells me I'm at house 20. Like WTF........
What a pain in the arse!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tell me about it. Mine is about 50m off 90% of the time, sometimes it looks like it might be ok. The other thing I noticed today is that the 'speedo' in TomTom i.e. the bit on the status bar that tells you how fast you're going - which is usually very accurate - still tells me I'm going 15km/h, then slowly counts down to zero anything up to 20 seconds after reaching a complete stop! I am starting to regret spending money on TomTom. But to quantify that, I don't blame THEM, I'm just pissed I've shelled out so much for the Diamond + TomTom and the fkng things dont work properly. We have to get to the bottom of this!

salada2k said:
Tell me about it. Mine is about 50m off 90% of the time, sometimes it looks like it might be ok. The other thing I noticed today is that the 'speedo' in TomTom i.e. the bit on the status bar that tells you how fast you're going - which is usually very accurate - still tells me I'm going 15km/h, then slowly counts down to zero anything up to 20 seconds after reaching a complete stop! I am starting to regret spending money on TomTom. But to quantify that, I don't blame THEM, I'm just pissed I've shelled out so much for the Diamond + TomTom and the fkng things dont work properly. We have to get to the bottom of this!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, its all the same issues I'm having, but not just with tomtom, I'm using iGo8 and garmin XT with no success.
This was written by me on another thread complaining about the GPS.
I called HTC support Australia and informed them off its fault with GPS lag and its accuracy, I informed them that over 50% of users are having this issue on the XDA forum, they told me that no fault has been logged and there isn't an issue, It may be time to call up the tech support and make some noise to get this issue resolved. its a pain in the arse and it shouldn't be happening.
I also called up Hong Kong Customer support the other day and they said the exact same thing...... i think.... the chicks English was just deplorable.
I think i may call the Australian HTC support again, and just irritate the **** out of them, hopefully this time they may have a solution for me.

saveferris said:
I think i may call the Australian HTC support again, and just irritate the **** out of them, hopefully this time they may have a solution for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hope you can get somewhere mate! Good luck!

lowrider_05 said:
its the 64.14.59.165
you got to just change the htc stock server of the diamond to this and its working well for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
anyone tried if this really works?

Is IgO 8 working with A-GPS enabled?
Thanks

Update/Refresh of GPS data
Maybe a stupid question, but how can I update the a-GPS data or does the device update the data automatically?

pls delete

lit2fly said:
anyone tried if this really works?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, it does seem to be some kind of Navigation related server - I am trying now...

Well, it doesn't seem to have made a difference - but I will test some more...
lowrider - where did you find that IP?

What is the data amount when using AGPS ?
Are some data only transferred when opening TomTom ?

steph90 said:
What is the data amount when using AGPS ?
Are some data only transferred when opening TomTom ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It should be only a few KB send, and then a little more KB received.
It should only happen when the GPS is activated (e.g. you start TomTom) and then the A-GPS would kick in then. It should not transfer any more data unless you lost the GPS signal, then it would assist the GPS in getting a lock again, and therefore transfer another few KB.

Program the uses ONLY A-GPS ?

anyone know of a program that only uses the AGPS on the kaiser? ( like how the GPS on the iPhone works or how google maps gets you location) it would be nice to have the option to use the AGPS on its own to save some battery life and have a faster fix since the fix times suck on WM6.1
Thanks guys and gals

might want to try the program KaiserTweak, i thought it has the option to activate A-GPS only.. but im not sure...
i dont know if it would work with TomTom or any other prog that normally uses GPS though..

what iphone 2g use is not agps
agps is an extention of normal gps
it's not the term used for pinpointing ones
location by requesting the gsm network

What you're referring to in google maps is Cell ID positioning, and that's what the 2G iphone uses.
As said, the AGPS as we have it on the Kaiser only refers to the ability to download satellite position data from the web via QuickGPS and thus enabling faster times to first fix, and having a "guesstimating" algorithm that will try to continue giving you a position when sat coverage is too low to get a real one.
The GPS on the 3G iphone also is a "real" GPS receiver that draws power, however while the Kaiser can get satellite path info from the sats if the online data is not available or outdated, only slower, the one in the iphone can ONLY get it online, thus rendering the GPS useless if there's no network coverage. Dead stupid IMO.

got it, thanks for the explination

kilrah said:
The GPS on the 3G iphone also is a "real" GPS receiver that draws power, however while the Kaiser can get satellite path info from the sats if the online data is not available or outdated, only slower, the one in the iphone can ONLY get it online, thus rendering the GPS useless if there's no network coverage. Dead stupid IMO.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dead wrong, sir. Read here:
http://arstechnica.com/journals/app...-the-iphones-gps-without-a-network-connection
http://www.autonavigationgps.com/using-the-iphones-gps-without-a-network-connection/
Do some research before you make statements with big capital letters that make it seem like you know what you're talking about.
I have both phones, I know that the iPhone 3G's GPS unit will work without a data connection, it just takes five minutes or so. Kind of like the GPS on my Tilt if I don't use Quick GPS first.

dzelaya18 said:
Do some research before you make statements with big capital letters that make it seem like you know what you're talking about.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, Sorry for that. I however DID research, and the source I got that info from stated it clearly enough here:
A typical A-GPS-enabled cell phone will use a data connection (internet, or other) to contact the assistance server. Alternatively, it may use standard non-assisted GPS, which is slower and less accurate, but does not lead to network charges for data traffic, which can be considerable.[3] Some A-GPS solutions do not have the option of falling back to conventional GPS (as with the new iPhone 3G).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems I just fell into my first "Wikipedia is wrong" occurrence

No problem mate. With no data connection, it's about as slow as using my Tilt with Quick GPS. Which is to say, super slow. And just like my Tilt with Live Search or Google Maps, even getting the fix doesn't do much good unless you've got the maps cached into memory.
EDIT: I meant to say, "...about as slow as using my Tilt without Quick GPS."