Help GPS question from a newbie

[patc477]

Hello i have an Eris running OTA 2.1. The google maps only seems to work via wifi. when not connected it usually does not work using GPS. but i have a GPS tracker & that works all the time telling me longitude & lastitude & how many sats it sees. Anyone have any ides, even the app whats close to me does not work if not connected to wifi. do i have the settings wrong, location on, wifi on use gps sats on. help & thanks

 

[Frisco]

Hello and welcome to Android Forums, patc.

I'd first try running GPS standalone with wifi turned off (shut down and restart the device after turning off wifi and checking the GPS box in menu > settings > location and security).

 

[OfTheDamned]

If a simple restart doesn't help, you may want to try uninstalling the updates to Google Maps and see if you can get a lock in the old version.

 

[erisuser1]

Hello i have an Eris running OTA 2.1. The google maps only seems to work via wifi. when not connected it usually does not work using GPS. but i have a GPS tracker & that works all the time telling me longitude & lastitude & how many sats it sees. Anyone have any ides, even the app whats close to me does not work if not connected to wifi. do i have the settings wrong, location on, wifi on use gps sats on. help & thanks

Seems like there are several things going on here - as well as some confusion.

It almost sounds more like you don't have your mobile network turned on (instead of a GPS problem).

First - the map data for Google Maps comes from the network - you need either a functioning Mobile Network or WiFi connection to get map data. Same thing for "what's close to me" - you have to be connected to the internet one way or another, as these results are produced via a (Google) search. So, the fact that you mention that it works with WiFi suggests that you have your Mobile Network turned off.

That is completely different from whether or not the GPS unit is working - that is a separate issue.

You can check to see whether or not your GPS unit is working correctly using the free app "GPS Status" (Eclipsim). It will show you the number of satellites, give you Lat/Lon, and also an error estimate to your current position. Compare that to your other GPS and see if it is working.

Note also that the Eris relies on what is called "aGPS" (Assisted GPS) - a rough estimate of your location is provided to the phone through the cellular network, and then the GPS hardware on the phone quickly refines this initial position guess. The reason that this is done is because a "cold start" of a GPS unit can take many minutes - but having an imprecise fix (within a few miles) speeds up the time required to get a good fix; this works well for cell phones, because it is desirable to turn the GPS unit off when not in use (to save battery).

The reason that I mention the aGPS feature is that you can manually force a "A-GPS Xtra Data" request using the previously mentioned app (GPS Status).

Menu -> Settings -> Gps & Sensors -> Manage A-GPS state


HTH

eu1


[ Edit ] Off-topic, but I just experimented using "GPS Status": first I turned off "A-GPS" updates (set to "Never"), and then did a "Clear A-GPS State", and then watched it to see how long it would take to get its' first fix. (GPS Status will toggle the color of the signal bars and some of the result data on the screen: yellow = no fix, green = fix. You can use this color change to observe the first fix time). Result? With 7 satellites visible, it took just under 2 minutes for it's first fix, and 2 min 15 sec to get a fix precision better than 900 feet. (When it finally stabilized, the error estimate went down to 9 feet). Shows you why A-GPS is so valuable to a cell phone.

Performing a similar experiment (turn off auto-update of A-GPS, Clear the state, and perform a manual download of A-GPS data), first fix times were as short as 15 seconds, and as long as 50 seconds.

 

[patc477]

Seems like there are several things going on here - as well as some confusion.

It almost sounds more like you don't have your mobile network turned on (instead of a GPS problem).

First - the map data for Google Maps comes from the network - you need either a functioning Mobile Network or WiFi connection to get map data. Same thing for "what's close to me" - you have to be connected to the internet one way or another, as these results are produced via a (Google) search. So, the fact that you mention that it works with WiFi suggests that you have your Mobile Network turned off.

That is completely different from whether or not the GPS unit is working - that is a separate issue.

You can check to see whether or not your GPS unit is working correctly using the free app "GPS Status" (Eclipsim). It will show you the number of satellites, give you Lat/Lon, and also an error estimate to your current position. Compare that to your other GPS and see if it is working.

Note also that the Eris relies on what is called "aGPS" (Assisted GPS) - a rough estimate of your location is provided to the phone through the cellular network, and then the GPS hardware on the phone quickly refines this initial position guess. The reason that this is done is because a "cold start" of a GPS unit can take many minutes - but having an imprecise fix (within a few miles) speeds up the time required to get a good fix; this works well for cell phones, because it is desirable to turn the GPS unit off when not in use (to save battery).

The reason that I mention the aGPS feature is that you can manually force a "A-GPS Xtra Data" request using the previously mentioned app (GPS Status).

Menu -> Settings -> Gps & Sensors -> Manage A-GPS state


HTH

eu1


[ Edit ] Off-topic, but I just experimented using "GPS Status": first I turned off "A-GPS" updates (set to "Never"), and then did a "Clear A-GPS State", and then watched it to see how long it would take to get its' first fix. (GPS Status will toggle the color of the signal bars and some of the result data on the screen: yellow = no fix, green = fix. You can use this color change to observe the first fix time). Result? With 7 satellites visible, it took just under 2 minutes for it's first fix, and 2 min 15 sec to get a fix precision better than 900 feet. (When it finally stabilized, the error estimate went down to 9 feet). Shows you why A-GPS is so valuable to a cell phone.

Performing a similar experiment (turn off auto-update of A-GPS, Clear the state, and perform a manual download of A-GPS data), first fix times were as short as 15 seconds, and as long as 50 seconds.

i have gps status & it works well so i should set phone to use networks & gps where do i turn on/ off mobile network i am interested in usuing a golf gps app. thanks

 

[erisuser1]

i have gps status & it works well so i should set phone to use networks & gps where do i turn on/ off mobile network i am interested in usuing a golf gps app. thanks

Settings -> Wireless & networks -> Mobile networks (or similar)

Or use the HTC settings widget

+ (add to home screen) -> HTC Widgets -> Settings -> Mobile Network.


The thing is, it is a little bit unusual to have the Mobile network turned off - usually Eris users leave it turned on all the time, unless there is a reason to save battery life. (This would only occur if you were in an area with a good WiFi signal, or in an a rural location with weak or no cell signal at all.) So, I was suggesting (in my typical long-winded way) that perhaps your mobile network setting had been toggled off accidentally; sorry for not making that more clear.

Note that if you had accidentally turned off mobile networking, things like using the web browser would also not work (if there was no Wifi signal available) - not just Google maps.

Unless you have good reasons, "mobile networks" should be left ON.

eu1

 

[CXXV]

I keep mobile networks turned off most of the time. Only use it when I want to check e-mail. Just like I do at home when I don't keep Outlook on all the time.

You'll be amazed at the battery life with MN turned off. In fact I've gone almost a full 3 days with moderate phone/SMS usage.

I just placed two widgets next to each othe to turn on GPS and MN's.

Frankly I don't see any reason to keep MN on all the time. Yeah I know some people want to get thier Tweets and stuff immediately.

BTW...GPS Status is one of the coolest apps I have ever tried.