Root [CDMA] Moto G GPS Woes

[startreker]

I have been seeing so many good threads about the GPS power of the Moto G and finally decided to bite the bullet and purchase it. When I went to run GPS applications like waze or ingress the GPS will lock but it gets stuck and doesn't seem to want to move when I move.

I just got the phone yesterday from boost and when I powered it on there was an upgrade to 4.4.4, which was applied.

From my other moto g members here, what suggestions do you have for getting the phone up and running properly with GPS? I really need it to be functioning very well for ingress.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[alfick3]

I have been seeing so many good threads about the GPS power of the Moto G and finally decided to bite the bullet and purchase it. When I went to run GPS applications like waze or ingress the GPS will lock but it gets stuck and doesn't seem to want to move when I move.

I just got the phone yesterday from boost and when I powered it on there was an upgrade to 4.4.4, which was applied.

From my other moto g members here, what suggestions do you have for getting the phone up and running properly with GPS? I really need it to be functioning very well for ingress.

Thanks in advance for any help.

I'm not sure what I can tell ya, I have an unlocked GSM version (XT-1034) and don't have any problems with my GPS. I get a lock and then it will move with me; I've watched it while I've had Google maps running, and I've used the Google My Tracks all as well with no problems.

Edit: after posting, I thought of this, maybe it's a matter of your network connectivity?

 

[WirelessWanderer]

I have been seeing so many good threads about the GPS power of the Moto G and finally decided to bite the bullet and purchase it.

The GPS on my Moto G is the fastest GPS I've ever seen. Faster even than the GPS on our expensive, dedicated Garmin marine chartplotter with external antenna.

When I went to run GPS applications like waze or ingress the GPS will lock but it gets stuck and doesn't seem to want to move when I move.

You mean you move and your map location does not change?

I would load GPS Status & Toolbox and see what it tells you. This sounds to me like an app problem, not a GPS or device problem.

I've used my Moto G with MapFactor Navigator and it works fine.

 

[startreker]

Thanks for letting me know you guys haven't had problems. I did finally get it to work smoothly and not 100% sure what did the trick. I checked and High Accuracy was on originally, but I went ahead and factory reset it since it just did an upgrade to 4.4.4.

From there I was still having problems so I downloaded the GPS Test and saw that I wasn't getting any satellites. So at roughly the same I did the reset in the application and found out that high accuracy wasn't enabled after the factory reset. As soon as I did those things it has been working like a charm! I was able to reboot the phone and soon as it was up it locked almost instantly. I'm going to play around with it for a few more days and if it works upgrade the other phone to the Moto G also.

It is so hard to find a budget phone that has a good GPS.

 

[alfick3]

Good to hear.

 

[startreker]

The issue keeps returning. The GPS is obviously great because normally when I clear and update the GPS starts locking on but it doesn't always seem to work seemlessly and is a very annoying thing to keep having to do.

It is strange too because I can get GPS lock for a long time with no issues.

Is anyone else on 4.4.4 without issues? I'm kind of regretting the 4.4.4 update in case that might have caused the issue. I know there are ways of installing other versions of android, is there any way to downgrade back to 4.4.2 if it works better?

With her current frustrations on phones, I'm thinking I will just need to go the extra mile to upgrade her to a nicer phone if a permanent fix isn't found ASAP. It's really a shame with all of the good things I was reading about the moto g.

 

[WirelessWanderer]

Is anyone else on 4.4.4 without issues?

I was. I was thinking the phone was perfect. But now...? Well...

... I'm thinking I will just need to go the extra mile to upgrade her to a nicer phone if a permanent fix isn't found ASAP. It's really a shame with all of the good things I was reading about the moto g.

I'm thinking I may have to do something. I'm getting this: General Mobile Signal Disappear.

Really, really disappointing

Maybe look at the Kyocera Hydro Life? Or maybe just go back to the HTC Sensation 4G I had and see if anything decent shows up?

 

[startreker]

So if I'm reading you correctly, if I can find a phone still running 4.4.2 (which mine was unfortunately when I purchased it a few days ago) it will work perfectly? I just have to find a way to disable the notification for the firmware update.

I'm planning to take the phone back to boost tonight and see if I can get them to swap it out with another moto g that hasn't been updated yet.

 

[WirelessWanderer]

So if I'm reading you correctly, if I can find a phone still running 4.4.2 (which mine was unfortunately when I purchased it a few days ago) it will work perfectly?

Perhaps. Mine came running 4.4.3, so I would've been screwed, regardless. Possibly.

I just have to find a way to disable the notification for the firmware update.

Or learn to ignore them. Problem is: Eventually they may force the update.

I'm not inclined to play that game.

 

[Thom]

The only way I have heard to stop the notifications is ... root your phone and rename the distribution file sitting on your phone.

... Thom

 

[startreker]

Do you happen to have a guide somewhere for that. I'm going to go back to the same store and hope I get lucky enough to get another 4.4.2 phone from them and I saw another guide with a service disable application but it didn't look as promising. I know the next complaint out of my wife will be that she keeps having to ignore the update. She couldn't care less what version she is on as long as it runs right.

Thanks both of you for your help. I have fingers crossed for tonight.

 

[Thom]

I can transfer this thread to the sub-forum where root-ing is discussed if you want to go that route.

I would need to know if it is a US or International Moto G.

... Thom

 

[startreker]

That would be appreciated. I have the US boost mobile moto g.

 

[Thom]

Moved to appropriate sub-forum to discuss root-related aspects.

... Thom

 

[WirelessWanderer]

I wonder, startreker, if you've tried a cache partition clear and factory reset? I only ask that because it's been my experience, and that of many others, that Android OS upgrades can have odd side-effects, sometimes, if you don't do those things.

So common are occurrences of oddball, oft-times inexplicable problems with Android devices, following OS upgrades, that I've simply gotten into the habit of always doing those things after one.

I did not do that following the 4.4.3 -> 4.4.4 upgrade. I've been given no cause to believe that doing so will solve my problem, but I finally did it, last night, anyway.

 

[startreker]

I did go back to factory prior to swapping out the phone with boost. If there is a separate step to clear the cache partition I did not do that.

I got lucky at Boost yesterday and was able to swap for a 4.4.2 phone.

The problem I had was that the OTA update kept showing up and I knew it would be annoying for my wife to keep avoiding pressing it and that eventually it would get pressed. So last night I was able to get the boot loader unlocked and root the phone.

I found through some general research that usually there is a system update service but I eventually stumbled upon a service called 'Motorola OTA'. In doing more research I found that the paid version of Titanium Backup can freeze services. I'm sure there is a free version out there that does the same but I wasn't willing to do more research for the cost and it was getting late.

So I froze the 'Motorola OTA' service and then cleared the OTA update notification and it hasn't come back.

We will see if in a few days everything is clear. The 4.4.4 update may not be issue but I'm not willing to risk it on another phone. So far just this morning she has been really happy with the phone and how it responds. I have my fingers crossed.

I appreciate the help here.