Database Develop

Google Maps 2.0 with My Location - no need for GPS?

Just tried the new GMaps 2.0 and my location works flawlessly.
Called "My Location," the feature comes as part of the release of version 2.0 of Google Maps for mobile. My Location uses cell tower ID information to determine (approximately) where you are. Google says that it uses special "Google-developed-algorithms" to determine this, which sounds like fancy talk for triangulation (a supported phone can determine how far it is from the three closest cell towers and then pinpoint the approximate spot of the caller).
Anybody else tried it?

Did you try while driving ??
(I'll still keep my GPS chip for a while)

It's better than nothing but not very accurate. On my Kaiser, I will continue to use my GPS.

sebbes said:
Did you try while driving ??
(I'll still keep my GPS chip for a while)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
About to will update when I get back

Just tried it in the UK and the location thingy is temporarily unavailable.

kavi said:
Anybody else tried it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, though when I'm on 3G towers it gives the "temporarily unavailable" message, works when I get an EDGE tower - 1600meter granularity!
Great feature, very cool, will not replace GPS. Our 3G towers just came up last month so that may be why they're not in the Google database yet....though I recall other reports of 3G location not working.
Richard

Didn't work for me either, I'm in the UK (south wales)
Did notice the GPS location is a little more accurate with 2.0
Tended to jump a lot with the older version

I heard it was only good to a 3 mile (4.8km) radius. Not nearly good enough to give you turn by turn directions.

jgermuga said:
I heard it was only good to a 3 mile (4.8km) radius. Not nearly good enough to give you turn by turn directions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, even google's site says the accuracy is dependent on the cell tower spacing. In my case, at my desk at work it reports 1600m (1.6km) accuracy, so definitely not turn-by-turn. In a densely towered (urban?) area, I suppose it's vaguely possible to have sufficient accuracy for rough turn-by-turn though.
Richard

Still, GPS is obviously much better.
I would have appreciated this with my older non-gps phone though and I am hopeful that they will offer this as an iPhone update for my wife.

jgermuga said:
I heard it was only good to a 3 mile (4.8km) radius. Not nearly good enough to give you turn by turn directions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried the Navizon version and it can be a lot better in urban environments where the cells are far smaller. In most of central london, Navizon can get a fix to an accuracy of a hudred yards or so. I have seen it do better than GPS since it is less vulnerable to the "Urban Canyon" effect. In rural areas, the coverage of each cell is much larger and I would expect the accuracy to fall to half a mile or worse.
Martin

I live in Minneapolis. AT&T rolled out 3G here on 1 November. I loaded up GM2.0 and it was right on the money. I was even inside my house.

I don't see how the program could triangulate a device out in the suburb. In a metro, yes, it's possible. Satellite GPS navigation is not going to be replaced anytime soon; however, I can see the "traingulation" come in handy for emergency situations.

sherpa said:
I don't see how the program could triangulate a device out in the suburb. In a metro, yes, it's possible. Satellite GPS navigation is not going to be replaced anytime soon; however, I can see the "traingulation" come in handy for emergency situations.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It doesn't matter where you are, suburbs or metro. If you have 3 antennas, you can use triangulation, period.
While it's not good for turn-by-turn navigation, it would be good enough to get a quick fix and be able to search for something in the immediate area.

Try thinking of it as a tool for people without gps. Imagine you're lost and you can get a general idea of where you are. Then drive a mile and do it again...now you have a bearing on where you are headed.
This won't replace gps or give you directions until it can get to that accuracy.

I just install it, and i was coming on here to create a thread but looks like someone beat me to it. gMAP just got a whole lot better, I was like oh sh*t it uses the cell phone towers to show my location. this the bomb. google stepping the game up.
Mine works great on the 3G but i do get that unavailable bar sometime.

so for those of us that like the way the old version works with 'track location' gps feature, is the new 2.0 version beter or just stick with the old ?

bobcho10 said:
so for those of us that like the way the old version works with 'track location' gps feature, is the new 2.0 version beter or just stick with the old ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It still works with GPS, but you can also get a quick location fix via cell towers like people have been discussing.

Built in GPS not working anymore
Lidberg said:
It still works with GPS, but you can also get a quick location fix via cell towers like people have been discussing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do not appear to be able to use my built in gps in this new version of Google Maps. The settings are identical to my previous installation which worked flawlessly. The cell based location does appear accurate on my initial tests. But if I turn off the gprs or 3g radio and switch to wifi I am unable to get a fix at all.
I broke my own cardinal rule and overwrote my backup of cabs so I cant reinstall the previous version, Doh.
Does anyone have a copy of the previous version installation cab? Or is there a trick to using the Kaisers built in gps? as I said earlier my settings are setup the same way as worked previously.

wizzzard said:
Does anyone have a copy of the previous version installation cab? Or is there a trick to using the Kaisers built in gps? as I said earlier my settings are setup the same way as worked previously.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
2.0.0 works fine on my Tilt, as did 1.7.1 - both with the GPS Options set to let Windows manage the GPS. Way back when I had to tell it COM4: to get Gmaps to work, IIRC.
In any case, 1.7.1 can be downloaded from Google here:
http://www.google.com/gmm/winm_apps/v1.7.1/L1/GoogleMaps_compressed.CAB
HTH,
Richard

GPS not working without Data Plan

Afters many hours searching the net and xda i could not find answers to these questions.
1) Does the rogers dream/g1 GPS work without a data plan? (using a standalone GPS app for example: CoPilot)
2) Does rogers Dream/G1 require data in order to initially find the satellites?
3) If you have no data plan are you able to get a lock on the satellites?
4) Can i manually enter my coordinates (longitude/latitude) for my gps in order to find the satellites quicker?
Here is what happened, i got fed up with rogers and decided to cancel my data plan (its just not worth paying 25$ for just 500mb per month). But since i canceled i noticed i am unable to find satellites for my GPS. Using multiple apps (GPS Test, GPS Status, CoPilot, etc...) none of them could get a lock on any satellites or even find one for that matter. I had my phone outside in a clear view of the sky when i was trying these apps.
By the way its not a hardware issue, because it worked before i canceled the data plan. I purchased the standalone map software called CoPilot in order for me to use when i canceled my data plan. (The US/CANADA maps are already installed on my sdcard).
Data was not important to me, since i quite often use my wifi, but not having my GPS working because i canceled my data is really making a paper weight out of my phone
Any help with this would be greatly appreciated!, as i am sure that there are many other users who would like to have these questions answered before making the decision to cancel their data plan.

1) Yes.
2) No.
3) Yes.
4) No.
Note that robbers really screwed some things up badly on the latest "update" that they sent out for DREAM hardware -- along with locking the thing down to prevent you from fixing it yourself. I think they want to make it look like crap and be locked in to its obsolete version of Android permanently. They are obviously fishing for more service contracts. I wouldn't be surprised if they broke GPS.
Note: It could be that you just aren't in a spot to easily receive GPS.

Thank you for the response!!! lbcoder, and i am happy you kept your answers to a yes or no (that was exactly what i was looking for).
I was wondering if you could help me some more. Instead of doing the robbers 911 update, i followed the instructions from cyanogen to bypass this since i already had my phone rooted, i used this guide wiki.cyanogenmod.com/index.php/Upgrade_Rogers_Dream_Radio
Before i did this update i was running enomther rom and also wesgarner rom. Both worked flawlessly and GPS also worked with both. But once rogers sent out the 911 update, that's when i cancelled my data plan, and followed cyanogen instructions to bypass this.
1) Could it be that its cyanogen new v4.2.14.1 rom that is causing the issue of my gps not working?
2) What are other roms i can try that works with cyanogen new radio update?
Thanks again for your help!

ifactory said:
1) Could it be that its cyanogen new v4.2.14.1 rom that is causing the issue of my gps not working?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Possible. Cyanogen isn't known for being particularly stable.
2) What are other roms i can try that works with cyanogen new radio update?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe that you should be able to use ANY ROM that you like. The only issue is that the kernel you use must be compatible with that radio (i.e. built from the HTC source).
There is no guarantee, but there is a high likelihood that the appropriate kernel will work with pretty much any system image. So you should be able to switch out the boot.img and any kmods from any rom to make something that works.
Just be sure that you don't go messing with the radio or spl on your phone and keep a good nandroid backup in case you need to backtrack.
Now if you aren't comfortable making this kind of modification (i.e., if you have to ask....), then you might want to go searching for ROMs that are specifically listed as compatible. I don't have any robbers hardware, so I don't know which specific roms to suggest to you.

I was able to install two roms aside from cyanogen, using the new radio. One was by wesgarner and the other by benbuchacher. Both roms are not able to find any satellites for the gps.
So i can confirm this issue has nothing to do with the roms.
CAN ANYBODY CONFIRM THAT THEY ARE ABLE TO USE THEIR GPS WITH A ROGERS DREAM PHONE, WITH THEIR DATA PLAN CANCELED?

The G1 GPS uses ASSISTED location when it can, meaning when you use the GPS along with the data services it will be able to lock onto a signal pretty much instantaneously. If you turn off your data, if can take the GPS a LONG time to find location (I've seen it take upwards of 5 minutes.)

lbcoder said:
Possible. Cyanogen isn't known for being particularly stable.
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not sure which version were you using but Cyanogen is one of the best roms and stable ones, maybe you used the experimental version

lbcoder said:
Possible. Cyanogen isn't known for being particularly stable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GPS is working fine with & without data for the version of cyanogenmod mentioned.

pk198105 said:
not sure which version were you using but Cyanogen is one of the best roms and stable ones, maybe you used the experimental version
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any of them. They're all bloated piggish things that barely work at all. Fine if you like bleeding edge and useless features. Not if you actually want your something productive.

it works fine.

GPS not working after flashing android on

I started with a stock/locked Verizon xv6900, went through the unlock process and then flashed Myn's warm donut build onto the phone. I know the GPS was locked down by Verizon with the stock WM 6.1 rom, but now I don't get any signals on the droid build.
GPSTest never acquires any satellites, even though it states that GPS is on, but with a yellow dot next to it in the program. I have checked the settings and it is in fact turned on. Google Maps is unable to find my location.
Appreciate any thoughts or help.
Peter

myriad67 said:
I started with a stock/locked Verizon xv6900, went through the unlock process and then flashed Myn's warm donut build onto the phone. I know the GPS was locked down by Verizon with the stock WM 6.1 rom, but now I don't get any signals on the droid build.
GPSTest never acquires any satellites, even though it states that GPS is on, but with a yellow dot next to it in the program. I have checked the settings and it is in fact turned on. Google Maps is unable to find my location.
Appreciate any thoughts or help.
Peter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm pretty sure this is tied to the radio you're using - did you flash any other carrier roms (ie sprint, bell, etc.)? If not see the "Verizon how to fix gps really we mean it this time" thread in the winmo rom dev forum. You can ignore the part about flashing a custom winmo rom and just flash android instead.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=533639&highlight=verizon+gps

Yes, what he said.
There are a lot of people around here who have Verizon who have working GPS, so it is possible to get it working.
Android uses WinMobile's configuration, so if you have it working reliably in WinMobile, it should work in Android. If it isn't, then try going back to WinMobile again, and then flash back to Android.

Thanks for the info! My apologies, but I guess I didn't realize that I needed to have it working in WinMo before flashing Android on it. Try a custom WinMo later today and then Android.
Peter

[util] vib GPS fix for rooted users

just saw this come across twitter:
Eugene373
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 213
Default {UTIL}Vibrant GPS Fix for Rooted User's
As everyone Know's, the Samsung Vibrant GPS does not work Correctly, after getting some what **** when trying to use Maps, I decided to track down the Issue's with it!
The .zip is for Rooted user's only & I take no liability if it hoes you're phone.
I flashed from ClockworkMod Recovery, Can't say it will flash via stock recovery.
File Download > http://www.4shared.com/file/0reX2yyi/Vibrant_GPS_Fix.html
<edit 8-9> theres an updated version in 2nd post
<disclamer> this is not my work, i am in no way responsible .
original thread located here > http://forum.androidspin.com/showthread.php?p=15337#post15337

I posted it in the Correct thread.. Why do people insist on Posting other's work before the Author can Make the Thread?.
I know everyone is just trying to help, but I post on several other Forums as well. I can't post on them all at once lmao!
Thanks for posting it neverless.
~Eugene
Correct GPS Fix Download > Vibrant_GPS_Fix.zip

What do you mean by you people....
Sent using xda app...

blackerwater said:
What do you mean by you people....
Sent using xda app...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
he didnt say you people he was refering to people in general

Lol I'm just playing bro
Sent using xda app...

blackerwater said:
Lol I'm just playing bro
Sent using xda app...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol well you can never tell on here

skater4690 said:
lol well you can never tell on here
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sarcasm never translates well over text... Unless you use italics..

getting a lock is a minor problem compared to MAINTAINING an accurate lock, does this fix address that issue or just the lock on time?

Well I gave this a shot, and now the GPS doesn't seem to function at all. The market tool GPS TEST, Navigation, Latitude, and the built in GPS testing tools (from the phone menu *#*#1472365*#*#) all hang requiring a force close.
But this is really no worse than the largely non-functional GPS I had in the first place so I'm not bothered.
UPDATE: Using "Fix Permissions" from Rom Manager fixed the FC's.....will be testing GPS now to see if it's any better.
UPDATE#2: Taking my daughters back to my ex-wife (oh the joys of divorce) I ran Navigation during the trip, letting my oldest daughter drive so I could pay attention to the accuracy. It took a good while (about a minute) to get a proper GPS fix, but once it did it remained accurate during the entire trip except for one instance where it bounced a few hundred yards off the route for a couple of seconds. This is a marked improvement over my previous experiences where it would bounce off route like that numerous times during a Navigation run.
So...better...but still a bit less accurate than I'm used to with other Android devices.

Italics you say. Nice I'll give that a try next time.
Sent using xda app...

Tried it. Got a fix in about 5 seconds indoors and pretty accurate. The compass is still all over the place. But as for accuracy it helped a lot thanks eugene.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

I changed mine to ms-based and it works well. In certain buildings, however, it cannot get a lock on any satellites even when it detects as many as 10.
A weird thing that started recently is that in lbdtestmode, when running a position test, it takes forever to get a lock or sometimes to even find satellites. However, if I open google maps, it proceeds to quickly lock my position with 10m accuracy. Then if I run a posistion test it finds a 8-12 satellites and locks on quickly.
What is weird is that it used to be the opposite: I would have to get a lock in posistion test before google maps would get a lock. May also just be a coincidence or a placebo effect.

thats becuase google maps uses network to get intial fix.. change it to ms assisted not ms based which does the same thing

Thank you for the post Eugene, my gps is actually functional now, locked on very fast and is accurate. Donate link?
Sent via my Vibrant with Tapatalk Pro

lgkahn said:
thats becuase google maps uses network to get intial fix.. change it to ms assisted not ms based which does the same thing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I forgot to say with wireless network location disabled.

Going to Be Posting my Daily Rom that I use shortly that has the gps fixed & a few other nice little feature / skin / mod's added to it..
Likely will be another week before I get to play with android again
~Eugene

eugene373 said:
Going to Be Posting my Daily Rom that I use shortly that has the gps fixed & a few other nice little feature / skin / mod's added to it..
Likely will be another week before I get to play with android again
~Eugene
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can you tell us the specifics you did that "fixes" the gps problems?

andy2na said:
can you tell us the specifics you did that "fixes" the gps problems?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I posted the Files! Just Diff them.. It's not that hard honestly

Thanks for the patch eugene373 but unfortunately it seems to do nothing for my GPS. Still takes forever for sats to get into view and never locks in to more than 1.

Unfortunately this didn't work for me at all. I even re flashed to stock then applied the gps fix and for me the gps was worse then any other thing I have tried. I never got a satellite lock, used to at least get 1 and it put me at times on the other side of the street,the accuracy decreased greatly

Finally a GPS fix for SGS

after applying the attached zip through CWM the GPS is finally working!
instructions:
1. apply the fix through CWM
2. in LBSTestMode:
a. verify all values in the application test are default
b. in the SUPL put supl.google.com and change the port to 7276 with no secure socket
c. wipe GPS data
3. after the first fix (~3 minutes) you will get a fix instantly almost in any condition at any time
the fix was validated on 2 different vibrants with GPS issues
goodluck
big credit to:
Mr. Pilot
BobLeponge23 & johndoe1000

No offense, but who are you? I'm not one to flash random zips I download off the internet.

stealthx32 said:
No offense, but who are you? I'm not one to flash random zips I download off the internet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He got this from the i9000 forums. I've personally used this, and it helps with the gps dramatically.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

This is an old, well known pre-JI6 fix. DO NOT APPLY! This also NOT development related, try the General forum next time.

Hi all,
you can say what you want about this fix however, both I and BobLeponge23 have vibrant's phones with GPS issues.
we have tried all possible fixes:
JI6, JI2, JK2, JK6, samsung restore app, changing all the settings through LBSTestMode
nothing worked until we tried this fix.
The change is instant.
we have now a working GPS under:
the new axura 2.1 (JK6) and Obsidian_V5_beta (with modem JI6 installed).

Ok. Won't argue with that. Whatever works for ya!

Do you have "Use wireless network" unchecked? And WiFi off? With only "Use GPS Sat" checked? Cause that is the only way to see if your GPS is really fixed.
Sent from my Samsung Vibrant Galaxy S using XDA App

in LBS Test mode you wont get fix just with wireless networkor or WiFi.
in general when the GPS icon is flushing you dont have a satt. fix although
you might get general fix from the wireless network.

DreamcastDC said:
Do you have "Use wireless network" unchecked? And WiFi off? With only "Use GPS Sat" checked? Cause that is the only way to see if your GPS is really fixed.
Sent from my Samsung Vibrant Galaxy S using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's not a good test for phone GPS units. The phone's GPS uses network location to help get a faster fix. Apps like GPSTest, GPSStatus, and LBSTestMode won't report a GPS fix with only a network/wifi fix, so I don't understand the obsession with this sort of a test. All it will do is slow down your GPS locks.
Disabling wifi does make a difference on newer firmware (worked on JFD, but JI6 and up broke it). With wifi connected, the phone doesn't download the GPS data properly, so it acts like a standalone GPS and will take a long time to get the needed data from the GPS sats.
The GPS chips in our phones are NOT designed to get fast locks without assist data. Even the ones that are, sometimes take a while for the accuracy to really get good because of this data. That's why you should have a data plan for best results. The GPS needs data to calculate your position. It can get the data from the sat network, but that's SLOW. Getting it over the internet is many times faster, even over GPRS. That's one reason why it's irritating that wifi doesn't work with it. Those without data plans are basically screwed. GPSStatus seems to be able to get it over wifi, so you can try that. The data should be good for up to 24 hours.
I have no idea what this fix does, and I won't be installing it as I'm satisfied with the GPS performance post JI6 with my phone. Even with JFD, it worked fine once I set the supl settings up.

they are sharing a fix.
[highlight]Mod Edit: Watch your language[/highlight]

epakrat75 said:
This is an old, well known pre-JI6 fix. DO NOT APPLY! This also NOT development related, try the General forum next time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly, it worked for me on JK6.....
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

If this is working for folks where flashing Axura 2.1 didn't then, that's all that matters. Go for it. However as I'm running Axura 2.1, I have no need of this.
I just don't want people thinking this is the ultimate fix and breaking their phones trying it. I've seen it happen with simpler fixes.

I was using a jk2 rom also, and GPS would work at times, even in a large Metro area. i flashed this, and now I even get GPS locks inside of buildings where it would never lock before. I am happy. Indoors, it gets a lock in about 10 - 12 seconds, outdoors about 5 or less.

I don't understand how it can work, it uses jupiter.xml subsystem that TMO US Vibrant lacks

lqaddict said:
I don't understand how it can work, it uses jupiter.xml subsystem that TMO US Vibrant lacks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
JK2 and JK6 now use the Jupiter xml

is this working in eugenes ginger clone?
is this working in eugenes ginger clone?

It worked for me! Why don't you just test the files and see why it works instead of whining?

saved
10char

well fellas, i have so much dragons in the vibrant already i figure what could possably go wrong now lol. Running nero beta 3 and it actually works,got an instant lock on precisely where i was,dident had that before with all the other fixes,couldent believe it but yep works. Thanks for this fix

Didn't make a difference for me. Since JK2 ive always got a fix in under a minute. With this installed it was over a minute but under two minutes. I'll keep it for a day to side if anything changes and report back.
I'm running a vanilla SxE4.1 with super io kernel.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App