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Tilt GPS sometimes does not receive satellites

Using IGO (legal).
This happens with the new standard AT&T ROM, and with the previous one as well.
IGO starts and quickly obtains satellites, then every now and then, without any obvious reason, I get a verbal warning that no satellites are found, and the GPS icon turns red.
After a few seconds, or even a couple of minutes, GPS signal is restored.
The Tilt is positioned near the windshield, and the problem does not occur in "urban canyons".
I don't have any other GPS app with maps that I can use to check this.
I'd appreciate any ideas.
Thank you.

You could try a free app like Microsoft Live Search or Google Maps to check against IGO. I haven't really noticed mine dropping signal unless I do go into a real canyon or something like that. One thing - when the phone goes into Standby, the GPS chip turns off for battery conservation. Is it possible that your phone is going into standby when you lose signal?

mine does the same after update to the new att rom, and honestly, i dont have an answer for you.
Live search cannot ever find any satalites, which is why I have resorted to using Google Maps. It works fine for me. So try using google maps. its works much faster and more reliable in finding sats, imo.

try a different radio. it has been reported that it works for some.

replies
snooginsguy: No, it always happens when navigating.
grandpareza: not sur ethere are googlemaps for my country (at least not with any reasonable resolution). Will check later.
P1Tater: Replacing the radio requires HardSPL, which I haven't sone yet. As I said, I'm still with the original ROM. I live abroad, so there's no issue with warranty. It's just that I'm concerned I might brick my device.

i heard that you have to update with quick gps everytime before you use your actuall gps... that would improve the sat tracking a lot better

It's on auto update
So that's not the issue.

How bad the GPS problem is?

Lets see if I understand this correctly....
on the samsung galaxy s GPS system, there are 2 options:
1)Use wireless networks: Set the device to use the
wireless networking to indicate your location
2)Use GPS satellites : Enable the GPS receiver to indicate your location
For now, we know that using the option 2 gives us crappy results (loosing signals, cannot lock sattelites, jumping around etc)
Now, for option 1: choosing option 1 means that launching the maps application should indicate where your location is currently by using some kind of triangulation method based on the availability of GSM signal, so it should even work when you are indoor or whenever there is a GSM signal......
But apparently on this phone, it only shows your initial location, then after that even if you have moved 1 km from your initial location, the location indicator arrow is stuck at your initial location, meaning that it doesnt track you and your movement, which means both options simply dont work on this phone....
On my wife's iphone, the GPS functionality works wonderfully even when i am inside a building and it keeps updating your location as you move continuosly.
It just shows you how careless and hasty samsung is in launching this product that even the simplest form of GPS functionality, one that is based on GSM triangulation method, also doesnt work..... and they still went ahead with the launch.....

Absolutely no problems with GSM or GPS positioning now that I'm using I9000XWJG5. Locks on satellites within 22 seconds from switch on. Thats at 30m precision. After 10 seconds more gets to 5m precision.
This is from inside my building. (Using GPS Status to check)

Same here. Your wife's phone probably also uses the mobile network to keep location inside buildings, or wireless networks. Try enabling skyhook, that is all i did.

used skyhook, and assited mode, accuracy set to 50, changed supl/cp settings, but compared to my g1 or hd2 or e61 or 10 year old bt/gps mouse the gps quality is just rubbish. (XXJF3)

no problem even without skyhook, but using skyhook gets locking much faster
i'm comparing it to my old HTC Athena, which takes sometimes over 5min to lock to 1 satellite in the great white open sky.... sigh...
sometimes it wont even lock if the weather is poor, takes like 30min or more to lock, under those conditions.
simply insane.
so SGS i9000 is like a dream to use.

g1 / hd2 / e61 only take seconds to get a full lock with accuracy about 3m. in my opinion skyhook and gps plus are needless if you have a working cb a-gps.

From my experience its the rom. As my gps worked fine with default FE3 (optus au) rom even indoors but when i flashed G5 (latest euro) i could only lock onto one sat outdoors even with skyhooks setting. Then i installed Samset 1.2 update.zip the gps works again, thats just my 2cents

widjaja74_us said:
It just shows you how careless and hasty samsung is in launching this product that even the simplest form of GPS functionality, one that is based on GSM triangulation method, also doesnt work..... and they still went ahead with the launch.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For the record I haven't had any issues with GPS other than it being fair slower than my Milestone.
Didn't you sell your Galaxy S anyway?

Unimaginative said:
For the record I haven't had any issues with GPS other than it being fair slower than my Milestone.
Didn't you sell your Galaxy S anyway?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey mate, I think I've seen you around the WP forums.
Quick question for you - I have a Milestone and am currently contemplating throwing it on eBay and grabbing the Galaxy S. Is there anything you miss from the Milestone?

ShaggyDragon said:
Absolutely no problems with GSM or GPS positioning now that I'm using I9000XWJG5. Locks on satellites within 22 seconds from switch on. Thats at 30m precision. After 10 seconds more gets to 5m precision.
This is from inside my building. (Using GPS Status to check)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The same here. The problems start when I go out and start to drive around in my car. My GPS is absolutely useless when you move around outdoors, but locks in a few seconds indoors.

widjaja74_us said:
Lets see if I understand this correctly....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let me see if I understand this correctly. You have sold your SGS and you are still coming back here to crap on about the GPS and other small things which are only occurring on some people's phones and not others?
For the record, everything on my phone has been running silky smooth since day one. Lag only occurs with too many apps open and this is to be expected from an operating system that can multitask.

navmanyeah said:
Let me see if I understand this correctly. You have sold your SGS and you are still coming back here to crap on about the GPS and other small things which are only occurring on some people's phones and not others?
For the record, everything on my phone has been running silky smooth since day one. Lag only occurs with too many apps open and this is to be expected from an operating system that can multitask.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I sold my phone at a profit because currently i cannot afford to have unreliable phone in doing my job... then i searched for something better and can't find any.... so i'm still following the forum to see of all the problems i experience have been fixed .... if thats the case, i might buy another one....
and for the record, i didnt crap about the GPS, i'm just investigating it deeper, becase GPS is important for me...
Thats crap for you

[Q] How can I test GPS functionality?

This might seem like a really stupid question to some. When I was on my last trip I thought it would be nice to try out the GPS function while on the road or even on the plane. I would have loved to follow my movements on the Xoom!
So I downloaded some apps that looked promising (GPS Status, GPS Test, and Maverick). I thought I would get at least the coordinates and maybe an altitude and speed reading. But all three applications failed to acquire sufficient GPS satellites to determine my position. After the plane ride I decided it might have been that the GPS receiver is turned off during airplane mode. So I enabled all radios, made sure all location settings are correct, and tried it again. Still nothing. I see a few satellites in range but they are not sufficient for some reason.
I then tested the Google map app. I tried different settings (use wireless network etc.) and it seems that the GPS location is never really showing correctly.
Am I doing something wrong? Any help is appreciated!

All of those programs you mentioned should have done the trick. Keep in mind that you were in a big metal tube and GPS signals are pretty weak. You would need to get the Xoom close to a window and even then it may not work very well due to poor coverage. I am in a building with a metal roof and no luck getting a GPS lock, but as soon as I step outside it works fine.

HuckFinn said:
I am in a building with a metal roof and no luck getting a GPS lock, but as soon as I step outside it works fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought I gave it a good chance but you are right; I should be fair and have the Xoom enjoy the nice weather outside with me once I get off work.

getting a GPS signal while flying in the air at 600mph+ is kinda hard... I've tried without success except for 1 occasion (and finally got my Garmin app on my old Nokia to register a max speed of 569mph haha)

funnycreature said:
...it might have been that the GPS receiver is turned off during airplane mode. So I enabled all radios, made sure all location settings are correct, and tried it again. Still nothing...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a similar, but not the same issue, but the work around might be helpful.
I have found that if I turn off the GPS radio, and then turn it back on, it really does not turn back on. The work around is to turn on your GPS in the settings and then turn your Xoom off (long press the power button only), and then turn it back on. Now try your GPS and see if it works.

I opened the Maps app and it put me in the exact part of my house in 5 seconds. Literally.
Sent from my Xoom

Being outside did the trick. I guess I overestimated the power of GPS satellites indoors. I am thankful for all the suggestions!
[sent with Xooming Android technology]

the xoom must have a super-GPS chip because it catches the signal and puts you instantly in the right spot on earth a lot faster than the nexus one on 3g/gps ... awesome.

MitchRapp said:
the xoom must have a super-GPS chip because it catches the signal and puts you instantly in the right spot on earth a lot faster than the nexus one on 3g/gps ... awesome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe that's because of the aGPS which takes advantage of the WiFi and wireless signals for positioning? I don't have 3G activated but the WiFi surely helps and is pretty accurate.

just tried it with the WIFI off on my xoom and booya... quick lock and exactly in the right spot in the building I'm in
this thing is awesome.

MitchRapp said:
getting a GPS signal while flying in the air at 600mph+ is kinda hard... I've tried without success except for 1 occasion (and finally got my Garmin app on my old Nokia to register a max speed of 569mph haha)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it's possible if fortune (and satellites) on your side But you will need to stick your phone to the window for a few minutes, also helps if get location just before boarding to a plane.
MitchRapp said:
the xoom must have a super-GPS chip because it catches the signal and puts you instantly in the right spot on earth a lot faster than the nexus one on 3g/gps ... awesome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tablets probably have a bigger GPS antennas, Asus Transformer and even NI Adam have a great signal reception.

Does the GPS accuracy suck on the incredible S?...please say it ain't so!!!

I need a phone that has a working gps. I have a samsung galaxy s, and gps sucks!!! I'm not talking about number of satellites, i'm talking about accuracy (on the app "gps test"). On my samsung it jumps around from 32 to 64ft accuracy and puts me on parallel streets.
Today a store rep let me take a htc incredible S in my car and drive around a bit. I was shocked to see that the gps accuracy was worse than my galaxy s!!! It found and locked onto many satellites (sometimes 11 of 11) but the accuracy sucked. It would fluctuate anywhere from 30 ft to 120 ft accuracy using the gps test app. At some points it would show me off of the road. Is this a common problem on this phone? I borrowed a friends motorolla atrix the other day and had an accuracy of 4.9ft! Thats accurate to like 2 steps! Would really appreciate your feedback. If your gps accuracy is good on your phone, then what do you think could have caused the one i tried today to be so horrible? Thanks

Nope not for me, but we're in different parts of the world. Mine's quite accurate and fast actually, with AGPS assisting.

Has always sucked for me in India.. then again I'm in the city and most of the time indoors
When I say it's always sucked, I mean it's always sucked for all my phones Incredible S does the same (quite so) lame job as my old Nokia did.. nothing to write home about. I just wrote that off to my region/country/conditions here or whatever
If I get it within 100m, I'm excited 4.5 meters? lol..

GPS accuracy really sucks on Incredible S. I've used HTC Hero for more than 1 year and never had any problem. Hero's GPS accuracy as sooo perfect. But I'm VERY disappointed with Incredible S. I've tried all possible ways, like calibrating the GPS, deleting and re-downloading a-data. But it's same. No improvements.

For me it works with no problems. Uk and Austria I used it in. Sometimes the lock times can be long, so I hardly ever disable gps, so it can collect almanac data. It is not a battery drag, it only uses lot of battery when it's active in the notification area. I use it to navigate on foot as well and I can tell it is seriously correct on location. +-1m
I had crap location info in maps and Igo myway only when the device was waiting to get a proper gps lock and only wireless location data was available which is useless for navigation purposes.

Maybe "GPS test" sucks? Works fine for me.

moyorakkhi said:
GPS accuracy really sucks on Incredible S. I've used HTC Hero for more than 1 year and never had any problem. Hero's GPS accuracy as sooo perfect. But I'm VERY disappointed with Incredible S. I've tried all possible ways, like calibrating the GPS, deleting and re-downloading a-data. But it's same. No improvements.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here. Was a Hero user before switching to IncS. I still have both devices so I tested them side by side. Hero is much better in every aspects, including lock time, no of sats discovered and signal strength. I believe IncS is limited by its antennae design.

From Canada here, and it sucks ass. My Samsung Tab works flawlessly.

projective said:
From Canada here, and it sucks ass. My Samsung Tab works flawlessly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hahah yeah I'm also from Canada and this is the worst phone for gps i've had by far

odd, i'm from Canada and i've always had awesome gps accuracy and speed on a couple of htc phones. locks within 5 seconds and accurate within 5 to 7 meters.
you guys sure you are using correct settings? perhaps it's carrier dependant, although I doubt it.

GPS works fine here in Canada as well.. which rom are you guys using? I've noticed that certain roms cause me more issues with GPS but ARHD works fine for me!

It was equally bad on every rom i've tried.
Maybe it is location specific I'm in the east coast of Canada.
Also, the test something for me..
In location settings turn off location by wireless network and try gps only

@scooby
have u tried using the updated gps.conf file from the gps thread? I also have location by network setting off.

syc7090 said:
@scooby
have u tried using the updated gps.conf file from the gps thread? I also have location by network setting off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I did. I'm using that now actually and it still sucks. My accuracy is 3600 meters lol

did u add "supl" to your apn type?

syc7090 said:
did u add "supl" to your apn type?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah default, supl, mms is already there

scoobysnacks said:
Yeah default, supl, mms is already there
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
jeez, maybe it is location specific...

syc7090 said:
jeez, maybe it is location specific...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never had an issue on my x10 though, or on sense roms if I chose wireless network location.
Now I still get nothing even when choosing wireless.

Just tested my Inc S with "GPS Test" app and I'm getting between 5-7 satellites and accuracy between 9.2-15.1 feet, from within the car. I'm running the latest OTA updated radio, with Hboot 1.16. Also, with Sygic Aura, got a lock within 5 seconds...I guess it depends on the location and radio version.

Huawei P9 Plus GPS Quality

Hello everybody,
i would like to get some estimations regarding the quality of the GPS.
Please on the hardware- and the software end.
Last years i used a samsung I9300 and the GPS was fine.
Then i switched to an Elephone P9000. I think from the hardware end GPS was fine, but
it didn't work very well, maybe due to bad software? And it seems to be a common mediatek problem?
I didn't find anything in the internet, what do you think, does the GPS in p9 plus work well?
THX a lot,
Henning

As per my experience my P9 Plus has one of the best GPS I've ever experienced and it even works in the airplane pretty much accurately when comparing to airplane instruments. I'm based in SE Asia and have reception of American, Russian and few Chinese satellites and fix is pretty fast. No complaints here whatsoever.

Yes. GPS is great...
Hi,
in the meantime i also bought this phone.
I can confirm now that the GPS is very good.
It is even possible to see the two tracks on the road next by next if you drive
to a destination and come back the same way.
Also, had never this accurate GPS before...
lg
Henning

Model number?
Great to hear that you all have a good gps signal. I just bought the p9 plus too. But strangely the gps signal seems like "not so good" , in my opinion. The story has to begin with my previous Huawei's phone.
I had previously owned the mate 7, which it was came with KitKat version and the GPS worked flawlessly. I updated it to lollipop then and the GPS still work perfectly, once turn on the gps, it takes only seconds (yes, it's really seconds, less than 5 seconds to be more appropriate...) to locate where I am. Those day I enjoyed using the gps as it was super fast and accurate. But things changed after I updated it to marshmallow recently. It became very unstable, very inaccurate. So I install the app "GPS test" and found that the accuracy is upto 150 feets which is very inaccurate (I can assure that the accuracy on KitKat and lollipop were only few feets or the most 10 plus feets, It was really super fast and accurate previously....). I know that weather, such as cloudy situation will affect the accuracy, numbers of satellites working etc so I tried to find out if that's the case but nope, I compared it with my cheap Elephone gps and under the same time same condition, I open the app and tested the gps, Elephone gave me the accuracy of 12 feets !
Sometimes when I try to use maps, it even can't detect where I am and if it does, it shows a wrong location. So I thought it is the problem of marshmallow as I searched on other forum and discovered that people also facing gps issue on Nexus phone with marshmallow version. I tried fixing it with another app "gps status & toolbox" , and also found out that "use wifi to improve accuracy" had to be turned on but the accuracy still only about 50 plus feets.
Then I bought the p9 plus, and hope that everything shall be very good just like the mate 7 KitKat and lollipop version, but it is not! The accuracy is also 50 plus feets after doing all the improvement work as above. So dear fellows I would like to ask what is your version of marshmallow and what is the accuracy of your p9 plus? Mine is VIE-L29C20B100. I am thinking if my version is not updated to the latest? And if there is a latest version , does the gps work good?

Hey guys!
I´m not really pleased with the performance of the GPS on my P9 plus ... but the app itself could be to blame. I was traveling on the highway and the navigation got confused and thought i´m traveling on the road parallel to the highway (surely minimum 100m distance between them). I´m using OSMand+ for navigation and it worked fine with other phones so far. Which app are you using?

I use Google maps, it works great imho, I came from a Galaxy S5

Try to create a new user profile on the phone. Switch to the new user and check if the GPS still behaves as you mentioned.

Hi all,
just to give some updates on my findings. Recently I went through a youtube video comparing mate 9 and p 9 plus (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0impUegGO0&t=2s), at time 10:32 it showed exactly the GPS app that I use to test the GPS signal and it also showed exactly the same results as my p9 plus. This being said, I believe there is no way we can further improve the GPS accuracy and I suspect it is due to mashmallow problem (as I had said KitKat and lollipop run very well in accuracy and Nexus user with mashmallow also complain their GPS accuracy is not good), not because phone GPS not good. So maybe we will have to wait till Huawei release firmware update for android Nougat and see if it improves the GPS accuracy.
However, having said that, I didn't really find the GPS signal "not good" in real life. I mean, when u use the GPS app test the GPS it gives "not good" accuracy, but when I open the map for navigation, what I experience so far is EXTRAORDINARY GOOD. I turn on the GPS and immediately switch on the map app, it instantly locate where I am, not even trying to "looking for GPS signal", really really fast, really instantly locate where I am. And it is super accurate. So I think maybe the GPS app is not something that we should use to gauge whether the phone GPS quality good or not, the real life performance will tell more truth. Just like Antutu does not always really reflect the real performance of the phone.
So for those who are having GPS problems when using map, I will suggest u all try to use another map app, maybe the problems really came from the map itself but not phone GPS problem. So for this moment I will stop looking for solution to improve the GPS accuracy (on the GPS app wise), and enjoy using my p9 plus, hope u guys too

Hi, as you say, forget tests, how does it actually work in real life.
Bought my wife one a few days ago and last 2 days testing gps driving around was only seconds to fix and no dropouts in about 1 hour driving. Thats my test.
Great phone by the way, and top quality finish.
If only it had an FM radio...
Sent from my HTC One_M8 dual sim using XDA-Developers mobile app

I find it's slow to lock or find a location, compared to my previous phone (Z Ultra).
If I'm somewhere (even outside, away from buildings, with clear view of the sky) it will take a good few seconds to lock onto my location. Old phone, and even my tablet, are almost instant, taking no more than 1-2 seconds.
This is using Google Maps.
Just a minor niggle, but can be annoying when in the car and needing to find directions quickly.

djyoshii said:
I find it's slow to lock or find a location, compared to my previous phone (Z Ultra).
If I'm somewhere (even outside, away from buildings, with clear view of the sky) it will take a good few seconds to lock onto my location. Old phone, and even my tablet, are almost instant, taking no more than 1-2 seconds.
This is using Google Maps.
Just a minor niggle, but can be annoying when in the car and needing to find directions quickly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Staying outside, especially without any buildings around or an empty land, could be harder for the gps to locate you. I am guessing... This sounds not logic but let me tell what I found again...
Recently I use an app which provide public transport info. This app needs gps in order to locate where are you and provide the info for the public transport at the area you are standing at. Just when I switch on the app and yet to switch on gps, my gf helped me to press the "locate me" button and I was telling her don't do silly things as I haven't turn on gps. But right after that the phone located where I was! I was like ehhh...... how come.... I double check and confirmed that I didn't switch on gps!
So again, recently I am adjusting the phone settings hoping to lengthen the phone battery (even though it's already very good. I can use it for 2 days per charge ). I found something very annoying in one of the setting - location services. Numeral time I have chose the 1st option "use gps, wifi and mobile networks (high accuracy)" and it keeps set it back to the 2nd option " use wifi and mobile networks ". I thought it was a bug of the phone but then later when I relate it to the event happened earlier (the public transport event mentioned above), I was thinking could it because I never turn on gps? then I turned on gps and yes, it automatically switch to the 1st option, and when I switch off gps, it auto switch to 2nd option again.
I then realized that other day when the phone located me without turning on gps, I was close to the MRT station which provide free wifi. And I am not sure do you guys ever experience that sometimes when you switch on the map app without turning on gps, the map itself locate where u r (maybe not very accurate but it's at the bearby area), just that when u try to use the map it will ask u to switch on gps.
That being said, I suspect the phone continuously locate where we are by using the wifi router(if any, at the nearby place) because wifi router is location specific? (not sure, maybe expert know this...) and that's why when u don't switch on gps, it is already "pre-locate" where u r and only if u switch on gps it will immediately give u the accurate position. And that also means if u stay outside without any buildings (and so without wifi too), the phone could not pre-locate u and it will solely rely on gps and that's why take some time to locate where u r?
Anyway this weekend I will be going for a long distance trip and will test the gps to see if the phone give good gps signal

just back from the long journey vacation. The phone gps works flawlessly without dropping off at all. And time to locate also excellent within 2 seconds