Eris GPS not working outisde of mainland USA

[willdogs]

I am visiting Puerto Rico and my eris refuses to find my location. Google maps thinks I am in Pakistan (No Joke) when "attempting" to use the built in GPS.

I have my GPS enabled and when I run GPS Tracker, it doesn't seem to show any GPS satellite locks. I was standing outside, clear sky, no obstructions.

What gives?

Does the GPS rely on the cell network? And if so, I assume it relies on the Verizon Network only? Could that be the issue?

Down here I am on 1X extended network.

Also, mt HTC weather wideget shows my current city as "Blank", says it cannot retrieve my location info.

 

[willdogs]

On a side note, I had my Garmin 265WT GPS right next to my phone and it worked great and picked up a signal within 30 secs.

Is the GPS antenna in out phones a true GPS antenna, such as in my Garmin? Or is it a hybrid type that relies on the data/voice network?

 

[TheOmega]

The Eris GPS must conduct a "cold start" after a "BIG" move in location. it may take 10 or more minutes of continuous satellite observation to get a good satellite fix to give you your current location.

 

[willdogs]

Interesting, I will give it a try now.

Do I need to reboot the phone or just leave it in clear view of the sky for 10+ minutes?

 

[TheOmega]

A reboot can't hurt, but it does need a clear view of the sky.

 

[willdogs]

I have had it on my balcony at the hotel with a clear view of the sky for the last 10+ minutes running google maps with no luck. GPS icon up on the notification area at full blast.

Still thinks im in pakistan

 

[Pinnacle]

I have had it on my balcony at the hotel with a clear view of the sky for the last 10+ minutes running google maps with no luck. GPS icon up on the notification area at full blast.

Still thinks im in pakistan

Are you positive your in Puerto Rico? LOL!!

Were you by chance taken by the FBI to an undisclosed location and told you were suspected to be a terrorist sympathizer? If so, you may well be in a gov't interrogation facility. In Pakistan.

 

[TheOmega]

Do you have "Location Setting" and "Enable GPS satellites" enabled (checked)? If so, add

 

[willdogs]

Do you have "Location Setting" and "Enable GPS satellites" enabled (checked)? If so, add

 

[TheOmega]

Just so I'm clear, it shows your location as a blue dot with a blue bubble around it in Pakistan?

 

[willdogs]

Exactly.

Blue dot with lighter blue circle around it meaning it is not using GPS, rather it is getting my "location" using Wireless Network.

For some reason the GPS is just dead down here.

 

[alainfplante]

I am visiting Puerto Rico and my eris refuses to find my location. Google maps thinks I am in Pakistan (No Joke) when "attempting" to use the built in GPS.

I had the same problem while in Puerto Rico, except that I was apparently in the ocean between Yemen and Mumbai. No solution found.

 

[willdogs]

I had the same problem while in Puerto Rico, except that I was apparently in the ocean between Yemen and Mumbai. No solution found.

Same here I am in the water but I think my blue dot is closer to Pakistan than Mumbai. Pretty much the same general area though.

What part of PR were you in? I'm currently in Mayaguez, heading to San Juan tomorrow. I'll see if there is any difference on the other side of the island.

 

[TheOmega]

Willdogs,

Any true GPS receiver will give you your location to reasonable satisfaction with a clear view of the sky (Polar Regions excluded) given time to acquire a satellite fix. I don't know why the Eris will not give you your location in PR. As you stated your other device works fine, and I can only guess this is a "feature" introduced by the manufacture to limit its ability as I see another poster had the same problem.

My original answer was based on the assumption the Eris had full GPS capability, which I see based on yours and the supporting post it may very well not.

Pleas excuse me while I remove my foot from my mouth...

 

[willdogs]

No worries. We are all still learning.

Perhaps HTC/Verizon purposely crippled the GPS not to work outside of the 50 States so that no one can have full functionality in other countries? ie someone purchasing an Eris on ebay and trying to activate it on a CDMA carrier in another country. Even if they were able to get voice and data working somewhere else, it would kind of be a turn off for that person not to have working GPS...Not sure how many other countries have CDMA networks...

 

[OfTheDamned]

The Eris is supposed to use GPS and AGPS. Since you are not getting weather info (which is cell tower based, I believe), you must not be getting the proper info from the towers.

Check Settings > Wireless Controls > Mobile Network Settings and see what is checked. If data roaming is unchecked it may be part of the problem.

Shot in the dark.

 

[erisuser1]

A couple of comments.

If you want to find out whether or not you have a "GPS problem", download the app "GPS Status" (by EclipSim).

This app will show you:

- Whether the GPS is even able to create fixes (no Lat/Lon will show if there is no fix).
- The number of satellites visible to your GPS receiver.
- Their relative signal strength (big dots better than small dots, green better than yellow)
- The compass bearing to the satellites and elevation above the horizon.
- An error estimate provided with fixes
- Latitude/Longitude/Elevation.

You can also increase the display speed and turn off "filtering" to see if the fixes are jumping around a lot - indicating either noise or very weak signals.

GPS is not guaranteed to work anywhere or at any time.

I have locations at my place where no fix is possible, and others where the fix accuracy can be as low as 9 feet. Those (indoor) spots are separated by only 20 feet. Clearly, what is going on is a reception issue, not some sort of mysterious programming problem.

A "clear view of the sky" means a 360 degree circle around you, and located on a flat plain. Obviously, that's not mandatory - but it is the best possible case. With only a small number of satellites overhead, it is easier to get a good fix if the satellites are at a large angular separation - which could mean that your device needs to be able to "see to the horizon" as well as directly overhead. In urban environments, that is very difficult, especially at street level.

eu1

 

[thetomlin2]

Different subject, but Puerto Rico is amazing! Make sure you go to [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Fajardo Bio Bay, you Kayak through a Bioluminescent Bay at night ... one of the most amazing things we did there last October. [/FONT]

 

[mikeflys]

I have the same problem you all describe with my USA Verizon Droid. I took it to England expecting the GPS to work but no luck. Was in Hyde Park in London for 45 minutes with no satellite lock as indicated by GPS Status app, and GPS Test app. Apparently the GPS needs a kick to coldstart from the Cell Network. Once it is tracking it continues to remain locked on if switched to Airplane mode on, which turns off the 3G network. I've asked Verizon reps if they know this and none are aware of this issue, pretty weak! Can a dev write a kickstart program to give us the GPS outside network coverage? Like maybe for use in the mountains around Denver? It would be nice since Verizon and Motorola imply that the Droid and Eris have true GPS capability in the technical specs, not just aGps. We could even manually type in the shutdown lat/long to enhance the GPS acquisition.

 

[willdogs]

UPDATE:


I'm still in Puerto Rico, drove all of the way from the West Coast (Aguadilla) to the north East end of the Island (San Juan)

My Eris still will not pick up any Sat Signals, even when trying to use GPS Status App. It just keeps searching forever. In google maps it still says I am near Pakistan.

Here is the Interesting part. I also have a Verizon BB Curve 8330 on me (Work Phone) and when I run google maps on it, is shows me as in San Juan Puerto Rico! It works just fine! It is using the wireless network to find my location as it does't have a full function GPS antenna in it.

So the question is...

Why does my Crappy Blackberry work fine, but yet my Eris tell me I am in friggen Pakistan!? Is this a bug with Android phones? Just the Eris? Wtf?

 

[Brinkszen]

Maybe too late for some folks who were travelling but I believe the answer is to simply shutdown the phone, remove the battery, reinsert the battery, and re-power the phone. Something in the phone firmware is getting confused. I have seen this happen on my Garmin's from time-to-time too. I was trying to get a GPS lock for hours and decided to give up on any elegant solution and resort to "brute force". The phone locked up on 8 sats in about 15 seconds. Not pretty, but when you need to know where you are - it just has to work.

 

[willdogs]

Thanks I don't think I tried that, but I will be sure to next time.

Working for an Airline, I travel often so it shouldn't be too long

I'll let you know how I make out

 

[JrzDroid]

My Eris always thinks I'm in Khasikstan

 

[erisuser1]

Thanks I don't think I tried that, but I will be sure to next time.

Working for an Airline, I travel often so it shouldn't be too long

I'll let you know how I make out

Something else to try when you are out of country...

I did some digging and it turns out the Qualcomm GPS core on the processor is known as a "gpsOne" (generically, there's lots of different individual variants).

Well, it turns out that all Qualcomm "gpsOne" GPS modules can operate completely standalone, or in any of the three "flavors" of A-GPS.

In two of the three A-GPS flavors, equipment on the cell carrier's networks coordinate with the handset GPS to get position fixes - in one of the modes the carrier's equipment actually makes the position calculation!.

This isn't your father's GPS unit anymore - and with complexity comes opportunities for buggy behavior... for instance, if you are out-of-country, and have no roaming agreement with the foreign carrier... but the cell radio in your phone is still turned on. What happens if your cell thinks it should be operating in one of those A-GPS modes?

So, try this experiment when you are there next:

(dial) *#*#4636#*#* -> Phone Information -> (scroll down) Turn off radio

I'm wondering if that will force the gpsOne receiver to go completely standalone.

Note that when you do this ... just like "your father's GPS unit", it can take a long time to get a first fix when it is completely standalone - possibly many minutes. You might want to keep the phone awake for 5 or six minutes to see if you get a fix.

Anyway, it's a thought - since satellite reception is about the same anywhere on the globe, either Qualcomm is lying about "standalone" capability, or there is a bug/feature in the software that prevents the Eris from running that way (without any A-GPS).

lemme know - I'm curious.

eu1

 

[k@droid]

Have been on PR 's west coast since Jan 2010 ... Droid via cardiotrainer tracked the first of my beach workouts in Jan but never again. .. has been switching to counting steps since then ... tried the *#*#4636#*#* trick suggested here but it simply indicates that the location is temporarily unavailable. .. so I also start believing that gpsone requires some sort of network kickoff since the accuracy in mainland us has been stellar. .. hoping for some software guru to provide this kickoff. .. will happily try any other tricks or beta test any solutions. ..