Database Info

Touch Pro GPS Hell?

I have a fairly new touch pro and have been having nothing but trouble with the built in GPS. At first I thought O2 had released a customised model without gps because it could never get a fix. After going through all the tweaks it now gets a fix somatimes. I can only get a fix if moving at over 30mph. Even then it takes 10 minutes! I can leave it for an hour outside with poer and if it is still it will not get a fix.
Tomtom 7 asks if I am indoors because of the poor signal even when outside.
It is driving me mad trying to find something that will help get a fix in less than 3 minutes (even that is a long time). A dedicated sailing gps will get a lock in under 30 seconds even inside my house. Even my other half's iphone will get a lock indoors in less than a minute.
Lastly when the GPS does have a lock the altitude is always wrong. It shows +60 meters when at sea level (literally with waves crashing at my feet). The altitude readings sometimes go down as I go up or up as I travel down.
It is rather bad considering the retail price of the device.
Anyone have some suggestions as the rest of the phone is rather good (battery life could always be better).

Come on....
There's several threads about this. Use the GPS Tweaks Cab in the lag thread it fixed the loss of lock issue.

GPS issues that I cannot resolve with xda tips

Hello
Before I get blasted for not searching, I went through multiple posts, tweaked the registry in different directions and used GPS test HTC GPS tool and Beeline GPS and none of them can get a satellite lock. I changed it to com4/38400 baud and no dice. I have a new phone (to me at least) from warranty replacement through AT&T with my Fuze which I received yesterday. The refurbished phone had the old standard ROM on it and I updated it with the offical update from HTC's site. I cannot flash a new ROM because they don't have the unlock code yet since it takes them a while to find all that stuff with different IMEI numbers.
Does any one have any other suggestions? Thank you

One time got an at&t tilt refurbished device that never got a gps lock and had really bad reception. I went to the at&t device support center and they gave me another device.
I'd try re-flashing the device with the latest rom and see if that helps.
Also what unlock code are you talking about?

I know this is going to sound stupid. But im so sick of hearing everyone complain about a 20 second lag to get a signal. Those satellites are almost 26,000 miles away!
Your not trying to get a signal INDOORS RIGHT?

No I was not trying to get a signal inside. I left the phone outside on an uncovered porch for 20 minutes (not seconds) on a sunny cloudless day for each gps tool, beeline etc. Most certainly not a lag. Definitely not able to get a lock at all with any setting configuration. GPS tools stayed on 1D then failed. So did Beeline etc.
reflashing the htc fuze update totally did the trick. GPS tools got a lock in less than 5 minutes for the first go around then google maps had no problems. I was having a brain fart about the sim unlock being required to change roms. That was the code I was talking about. My bad. I'm frazzled as I had the phone just how I wanted it to have the speaker die and have all sorts of quirky crap come up on this refurbished warranty exchange. Frustrating.
Thanks for the advice.

My GPS improved dramatically after upgrading to a new radio, 1.12.25.19.
But it wasn't so bad, I need around 40 seconds to a minute to get a lock, but I often lost it while driving.
Now I get a lock in around 10-15 seconds, even while driving, and even indoors in some places, like my house.

My GPS improved dramatically after upgrading to a new radio, 1.12.25.19.
But it wasn't so bad, I need around 40 seconds to a minute to get a lock, but I often lost it while driving.
Now I get a lock in around 10-15 seconds, even while driving, and even indoors in some places, like my house.

gps lock trouble

So half of the time when i use my gps, it will lock me with towers and be up to like 1600 meters or something. and one time i let it sit for 10 minutes and it got no closer. If i toggle the gps on and off once or twice though it will work usually (and it works fast when it does). also one time i just restarted the phone too.
anyone else see issues like this?

My GPS issue is that even though it locks on within 7 seconds when I run Cardio Trainer it always shows me at least 1.5 to 2 tenths of a mile farther than I have gone. I have checked the distance with my Vibrant and also with my Nexus One and they both show the same distances. For whatever reason the MT4G seems to add on distance not traveled.

mine doesn't like to lock on, but before I goto nav I just go load GPS status and reload the aGPS info every so often and keeps it honest

This phone definitely has gps that is inferior to one in G2 or even G1. However, my gps has no problem locking on and holding on to my exact location. Every now and then it losses orientation and spins the map around but that only lasts a sec or two and only happens when its cloudy or in downtown. Get your phone replaced I would say.
Sent from MT4G.

[Q] Is my GPS chip defective ?

Hello,
I'm encountering some issues with my Samsung Nexus S GPS. I got the i9023 (Europe/SLCD) version of the phone, which is running default rom (stock), freshly updated to 2.3.4 (via official OTA!).
I couldn't figure why, when using Maps, my position would usually be around 1 km away from where I am. I found out later, this time using Navigation, that it is desperately searching for a GPS signal, that it can't find. Sometimes I manage to get a lock, when I keep it running for like 30 - 40 mins, but it immediately disappears. GPS Statuts keeps showing 0/5 sats.
I was convinced that my GPS chip was defective.
But today, I was hanging out in the city and tried running Navigation. I got a lock, for the first time, within a 15 sec delay. That was the first time that I managed to get live GPS tracking. I've walked a bit around, and the tracking was really, really accurate.
Back home, in my apartment, again I can't get any signal. I live in the 3rd floor, walls aren't that thick and, as for an anecdote, in the same room, my iPhone 3Gs instantly finds my position.
I've bought this phone 6 days ago and therefore still under warranty. Question is, can we say my GPS chip is defective ? Is it worth requesting a replacement ?
Thanks !

1st) You cannot expect to get gps reception inside even with professional equipment. When your iPhone gets a fast fix it's most likely WLAN triangulation. As Apple uses a different database than Google, it may work on on your iPhone and not on your Nexus for a paticular place and vice versa.
2nd) It's unlikely that your gps is broken if you can connect to GSM/UMTS/CDMA2000 networks as gps is processed using the same chipset.
3rd) That 1km-off-fix might be celltower based location, 1km sounds quite plausible.
4th) Try _NOT_ to move until you get GPS fix.
5th) Keep internet access while trying to get a fix. The Nexus S as most phones on the market use assisted gps, where your phone contacts a server that provides data which enables your phone to track its position more easily.
6th) Good luck.

Yes, well, I had 2 friends which came to my place, in my room, and just activated GPS on their iphones and it located them straight away, to our exact position. So it was definitely the GPS tracking and not triangulation.
Indeed, when MY phone locates me off 1 km, this is definitely triangulation or cell-towers.
Of course, when I try to get a fix in my apartment or on my balcony, I just put it on a table and must wait for at least 30 mins to get a lock, and it disappears quickly. Doesn't seem normal to me ...
Finally to answer your 5th point, I got 3G, so a perfect fast & smooth inet connection.

GPS testing should always be done outside, you are not supposed to use it indoors.
What is probably happening there is that the other devices are more sensitive and can still get a lock. You might be able to get a lock if you place your phone very close to the window.
I got a Nexus S recently and noticed that the GPS is quite weaker than the one on my old HTC.
Although the Nexus is faster to get a lock (if you let it use 3G) the GPS itself is less sensitive and accurate.
It looses signal easier, for instance, if i go under some trees, and it takes more time to get signal back after loosing it, for example, if you go under a bridge, the old HTC would get the lock back in 2 seconds after leaving the bridge, the Nexus took half a minute.
Having said that, i think it's good enough for driving navigation, i have done some tests and on the road it behaves well enough.
You shouldn't be surprised, this phone is very similar to the Galaxy S and that had terrible GPS issues, this nexus is better, but still weak.

Thank you for your feedback, temp9300 !
I guess the Nexus S can't compete with iphone's. But it's ok, as long as it works fine outdoors, this is what matters.

Is there any way to make the GPS better?

I use my phone for geocaching and so it is very important that the GPS is accurate, problem it that the accuracy is usually around 39 feet which is not nearly good enough for what I need it for. Is there anyway to fix this or does the phone just have a bad GPS?

I practically always get down to 10 feet in a few seconds, unless I'm in a canyon or under dense trees.
Download GPS Test and see what it really going on. It'll show you actual GPS satellite locks and signal strengths. I'm at 30ft right now and I'm inside my house and behind dual pane tinted windows.AVG sat signal is in the low 30's.
I've found you can clear up GPS issues sometimes by clearing the AGPS data via GPS Test and then refreshing. Just seems to get confused once in a while.

Thanks for the help, I've already done that though. I dusted off my note 2 and it locks on immediately to 20+ satellites with 10 foot accuracy while my nexus 5 maybe gets 10. I think I will stick with my note 2 for geocaching.