Magnetometer is crazy

[Yorb]

I'm thinking about taking my Eris back for the following issue: the magnetometer is totally nuts. Is anyone else experiencing these symptoms?

• jumpy/erratic/nonexistent compass mode behavior in street view
• ditto for google sky map
• "Compass" app (by Snaptic) always tells me I have an abnormal magnetic field and to recalibrate
• recalibration only lasts for one app launch, if that. I have to recalibrate every time I launch an app
• i look like a damn fool waving my phone around in awkward figure 8s all the dang time
• both Compass and the "Metal Detector" app routinely report values between 200 and 220 (out of 40...?)

Possibly related symptoms:

• battery life sucks (not actually related i dont think but i can dream)
• zero bars in places my old phone (same carrier) got full bars, dropping to 1x all the dang time, etc.
• GPS will sometimes report me in other parts of my state, hundreds of miles away (yes, GPS, not wifi network detection)
• GPS jumps around like crazy and takes a long time to update correctly (on a regular basis)

any reset procedure or something I should try before taking it in? Thanks for the help.

 

[jwm2]

If you need a compass that often, why not, umm buy a compass?

 

[robertredd]

My Eris does the exact same thing.... kind of stinks. Maybe 2.1 will fix it?

 

[Yorb]

If you need a compass that often, why not, umm buy a compass?

because real compasses don't have augmented reality apps

 

[dracozny]

dude its a gps, unless your moving its pure guess work on which direction your facing.

 

[Blrfl]

dude its a gps, unless your moving its pure guess work on which direction your facing.

The Eris has a real compass in it.

--Mark

 

[bberryhill0]

I have the same problem and 2.1 leak one didn't fix it. My GPS works fine.

 

[dracozny]

well it seems to be a common issue for people needing to recalibrate thier phones regularly especially when flipping between applications that use the compass. amusingly my GPS functions better in my truck. when walking its accuracy goes out the window and about another 5 miles across town.

 

[lessit]

If you need a compass that often, why not, umm buy a compass?

Because the GPS needs an accurate compass to get a fix on the satellites. BTW, helpful post.

 

[alprazolam]

I have the same problem and 2.1 leak one didn't fix it. My GPS works fine.

Leak 2 didn't fix it either although I don't have problems with getting my GPS location. I camp a lot and I have to set my outside dish to a certain azimuth so that I know which way the satellite is. I had to use my old manual compass because the Eris one was completely useless. Fortunately, compass is not a must-have feature for me as long as my GPS apps are getting a correct fix.

 

[Slugdoc]

I am not sure if the magnetometer is "crazy" or just way way sensitive.

I experienced all of the above symptoms as well -- made google sky all but useless.
Until I realized that my car was affecting the magnetometer too much. I had to walk well away from any metal objects, at all, then recalibrate it and it would work fine.

Parking lots? Forget it. Near your house? With all those electric wires and EMF fields, probably forget it.

I think that is the issue.

 

[adammsu]

Because the GPS needs an accurate compass to get a fix on the satellites. BTW, helpful post.

Not true. GPS as a technology does not need your direction in the slightest. Most portable GPS does not use a compass at all, it merely calculates where you are, and then where you WERE, then figures the direction. This is why my TomTom doesn't know which direction I am facing until I start moving.

 

[alprazolam]

I am not sure if the magnetometer is "crazy" or just way way sensitive.

I experienced all of the above symptoms as well -- made google sky all but useless.
Until I realized that my car was affecting the magnetometer too much. I had to walk well away from any metal objects, at all, then recalibrate it and it would work fine.

Parking lots? Forget it. Near your house? With all those electric wires and EMF fields, probably forget it.

I think that is the issue.

I think that you're right but I'm glad that my manual compass isn't this sensitive. You have to think of every electrical field as a magnet and the needle of your compass is a magnet as well so metal will screw it up. The earth is just one giant magnet with stronger magnetism at each pole. This attracts that little needle or in the case of our phones, the magnetic sensor.

Not true. GPS as a technology does not need your direction in the slightest. Most portable GPS does not use a compass at all, it merely calculates where you are, and then where you WERE, then figures the direction. This is why my TomTom doesn't know which direction I am facing until I start moving.

This is true. Our phones have a digital compass and many of the apps supplement with GPS as well.

 

[Yorb]

But isn't returning 220 out of 40 solidly near no metal after calibration a LITTLE unusual?

 

[alprazolam]

But isn't returning 220 out of 40 solidly near no metal after calibration a LITTLE unusual?

Do you wear a big metal belt buckle or something? Or perhaps it's your zipper. Kidding.

 

[hookem]

Mine has been acting up here recently. My compass app points in a different direction when I spin the phone around. Needle does not stay pointing due north no matter how many times I calibrate it. Same goes for Sky Map. Polaris is showing to be NW instead north.

Thankfully Maps and Nav are unaffected.

Anyone else having issues?

Edit: Messing with it some more and it seems to be accurate... for now.

 

[xScorch Muffinx]

It may just be that the developers of the apps used different android phones to test the apps and that the Eris calibrates differently.