I upgraded from Froyo to Gingerbread through Sprint's "push" during November. Since then, I've been experiencing problems with GPS in Google Maps, which "bleed over" to Google Navigation as well as Sprint's TeleNav app (they can't locate me, much less give me routing).
Example: I recently drove from Arlington up to Denton, TX, about 60 miles, with GPS on (didn't actually need it), turned it off, then drove back down to Fort Worth. When I got there, I wanted to see a map of the area where I was, turned on GPS, and Maps insisted that I was still 40 miles away in Denton. Had similar problems in other towns with Maps telling me I was where I'd been before.
Depending upon whom you talk to at Sprint, it either is or isn't a known issue. The only solutions I've found are to (1) cover the GPS antenna with thin cardboard (e.g., business card scrap), and (2) to root the phone and use a GPSfix.zip fix (which I'm loathe to do since it voids warranty).
Today, a seemingly knowledgeable Sprint rep said that they have "no reports" of such problems on this phone, tho' there are threads upon threads on the Sprint Community about this. Their only suggestion is to retrograde the phone to Froyo, which necessarily involves wiping the phone of apps and data. I'm not concerned so much about the data (I can back most of it up), but it takes a couple of days to get the phone back to where it was (multiple email accounts in different apps, etc., not to mention re-downloading everything).
I've also done a forced stop of Maps and removed all updates and data, but don't get any better or consistent results using either the "factory" Maps or after re-installing updates.
Does anyone have a clue about this? It's been going on for more than a month and I'm getting rather frustrated.
I have this problem. The GPS indicator stays on, but no position info gets updated. A power-off restart is required - it then works for 1 minute to 1 week... very frustrating when you are lost and relying on your GPS.
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Hi all, I am experiencing a bit of a strange problem that I have only seen duplicated here http://forums.verizon.com/t5/PDA-Sm...6;jsessionid=CA9AC87365188A46401DEAC053629BFF
My issue is that no matter what I try (including exchanging my phone for another new tp2) I can not get my gps to acquire satellite locks in bing or google maps. My location is on, my gps settings are all correct, always use quick gps and still nothing. The best I ever got was using gps viewer I managed to "see" up to 6 satellites at a time but never got a location or a lock...usually it sees 1-3 at a time and they fade in and out quickly. Still google maps has never shown anything but (0) satellites....UNTIL! I found the link above and called tech support. He informed me that because I was a prior alltel customer that I could not activate vz navigator (even for testing purposes) and I would have to switch my plan to allow this.
After reading the above forum link I called BS and proceeded to install VZ navigator and activate the free 1 day trial without issue. VOILA! I get an instant gps lock..full navigation (not just a-gps) and I can even turn off vz navigator and all of my 3rd party apps receive the same reception and all get locks near instantly.
I know some of you geniuses out there can figure out what and why this is happening. Also I would like to note that although I never ran vz navigator on them, I did reflash to 2 different roms and had no luck with gps lock either.
Here is my basic info in case it is relevant.
Rom version 1.18.605.12
Date 8/15/09
Radio 1.88.07WV
PRL 40059
I refuse to believe that I will have to pay for something that should be unlocked and free OR that if I want to use a different program that I will have to start and run VZ nav first.
Have you used the QuickGPS tool provided by verizon? I used this and the GPS then worked instantly. I never used VZ navigator
Yes. As I stated in my first post, I used quickgps each time with no luck. I again today tried before my trial ran out and vz navigator is the key to my gps receiving a signal.
I am having this same issue. I stood out in a blizzard today for 15mins to try and get a signal with no luck. Although I have not tried VZ nav to try and get a signal...I cant stand VZ nav anyways...
I'm not sure if I should be puzzled, or happy?...but suddenly my gps works!
After my vz nav demo ran out I noticed that the gps went right back to the same broken state, and was that way for a couple days until I finally just gave up playing with it, until yesterday when a co-worker asked if I could get directions to a supply house we were driving toward... I said "well yes, and no" so I fired up google maps and before the map loaded I saw "gps active" then "(8)" and it tracked me in less than 4 sec. Since then my gps has locked every time with every program, even inside my house.
Trust me im glad that everything is working now, but my question is... why? Very random, and I hope it doesnt stop working again, even though I powered it off several times just to make sure.
Sometimes there is no answer as to why. Could just be a glitch. I had a very similar problem in that Remote Desktop wouldn't work unless I had Internet Explorer loaded in the background. Sounds similar to your problem but with different hardware/software. Anyway the problem went away when I flashed my phone to MightyROM. Hope this helped!
Hi guys,
In the last couple of weeks I noticed my data traffic increased hugely (it used to be around 10MB for a week or so) up to the limit where my phone provider (Vodafone) told me I had reached the limit for my contract (500MB in 7 days). I did some research and it seems that the responsible process is android.process.media, which downloads i don't know what i don't know where at crazy speeds, some megabits per seconds, then stops, and then does it again after some hours.
I really have no clue what this process is doing, and why, since I don't remember changing anything since the time when this problem was not occurring. Any clue? This is really annoying because for the moment I have had to switch off 3G connectivity completely.
BY THE WAY: I don't know if this could be related, but a couple of days ago I was driving in my car and turned to google maps to get my location. Latitude was active and it kept saying that I was in China (!?!?), then as soon as my GPS receiver fixed the signal my location changed to the correct one, and then again back to China etc. For a while I thought that my google account could have been hijacked, but:
1) is it really possible for android malicious apps to steal your google account password?
2) that did not happen again, it just stopped after 10 minutes or so
3) I changed my password just to be sure, but now I am really wondering what malicious apps can do in Android...
I am running the basic nk02 rooted version of the original 1.6 Donut from HTC.
Thanks for your help,
Andrea
I have the exact same problem on a different phone with a different ROM... did you ever find a solution? I hit 5gb in 7 days :/
Tonight I noticed a pattern on my LG Optimus T running CM7 2.3.5.
If I disable "use wireless networks" under location and the GPS comes up to find my signal (I assume Google Latitude was calling for it even though it was backgrounded?????) it flashes super fast. I'm talking 12-15x a second. It's far faster than the searching for GPS icon we're all used to seeing.
If I re-enable "use wireless networks" it's instantly fine. If I disable it, it goes back to flashing.
I even signed out of Latitude to make sure it wasn't Latitude causing it to act up, but it did the same thing in both scenarios.
What could be causing this? I tried rebooting it, powering off and pulling the battery, etc. Any ideas?
Well, some new findings, and some new questions.
I have no idea what was causing the issue. Someone suggested I may have several GPS apps at once trying to get a grip on my location. I'm not sure what exactly happened but I ended up pulling a recovery from 10 days ago when I backed it up and it took care of the issue.
Moving along... I'm reading that "use wireless networks" helps the GPS antenna to find my location significantly faster since it can hone in on the area instead of the entire globe. Okay, fine. But I noticed something today. Previously I noticed that Google Latitude was wildly inaccurate. Further research after driving up and down the east coast reveals that Google Latitude (using only cell tower triangulation) is actually pretty damn accurate. In fact, it's always triangulated me within 2.5 miles of my location.
Here's the curve ball. Today I had wifi enabled. On a hunch, I opened Latitude. It said I was in Mineola, New York. Uh. No. I'm definitely in the very very southern most area of Pennsylvania you can get (Maryland border is a mere 5 minute bike ride away). I disable wifi, back in PA. I enable wifi, back in New York.
That said, it's obvious my wifi is throwing off the accuracy of Latitude. Personally I can't even find use with Latitude since I'm ALWAYS on wifi with work. Always. There are several buildings many miles apart I could be at, and since I'm always on wifi, the use of this app is really tanked if my wifi is going to throw off co-workers from knowing where I truly am. And this isn't Latitude's fault from what I can tell... something is goofed up in the database (whoever's database it is) that signifies my current wifi = New York when it should have been Pennsylvania, clearly.
So here's my next question - is it possible to separate wifi vs mobile tower triangulation? I noticed on my Android (Optimus T running CM7 2.3.5) that it specifically says:
Use Wireless Networks
Location determined by Wi-Fi and/or mobile networks
Keyword being... "or"...
Any ideas??
Anybody? No dice?
My phone is 100% stock. I have noticed that sometimes when I go to use GPS, I fail to get a fix, or I get a fix on a location that is between 500 ft and 20 miles away. I first noticed the problem in Google Maps, but I believe that all other GPS-using applications have the same problem. I first noticed this perhaps a few weeks ago. When it gets into this mode, it will usually resolve itself after 1-20 minutes of continuous use.
I've downloaded both the "GPS Test" and "GPS Status" apps and had several thoughts:
1) I thought this might be related to data in Google Maps. I deleted all the data and cache from the Settings->Application. No difference.
2) I reset and re-downloaded the AGPS information. I initially thought this made a difference, but I no longer think so.
3) Sometimes rebooting seems to resolve the problem.
4) I thought maybe some hardware was damaged causing me to get a weak signal, but in one case where it was unable to get a fix it actually saw at least 10 satellites, probably at least 6 of those had a "green" (30+ dB SNR)
5) I thought the problem is initiated by going into Google Maps and the other applications worked so long as you didn't go into Google Maps. I no longer believed that.
6) I've set location services to device only as well as high accuracy. I don't see a difference.
I think I've had similar problems in the past and recall fixing it somehow (in software) -- but I can't figure out what was done.
HELP!
I'm on a custom rom and have noticed the same thing within the past couple of weeks. It used to be fine, but now it can way over a minute to get GPS lock. Sometimes it thinks I'm still where I was a long time ago or somewhere completely different. This is in google maps too. Waze also has trouble locking on frequently now so I doubt it's an app issue.
iivisionii said:
I'm on a custom rom and have noticed the same thing within the past couple of weeks. It used to be fine, but now it can way over a minute to get GPS lock. Sometimes it thinks I'm still where I was a long time ago or somewhere completely different. This is in google maps too. Waze also has trouble locking on frequently now so I doubt it's an app issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had it take 10-20 minutes in some cases, it always reports a location within 30 miles of me, but that's still way too far to be helpful. I've sometimes had it report locations within a half mile of me and that's still equally useless. Once locked, it seems to stay locked. for my entire usage, will later be off, even if you start at the same location you last used it (i.e. use Google Maps to drive somewhere, and then leave a couple hours later using Google Maps).
The other really weird thing about this is that I had initially thought there was maybe a problem with the GPS receiver itself, like the antenna was damaged or the feedline between the antenna and the receiver, etc. But I've gone into GPS Status or GPS Test applications and it gives SNRs from each satellite, and its got adequate SNR from enough satellites to get a 3D fix even when it doesn't have one, which implies its something goofy in the software somewhere.
It does seem to have gotten better in the last few days, maybe?
I'm not entirely sure what the problem is. I did change my battery out personally a couple of months back. I was wondering if I may have damaged something. As far as GPS fix and those other apps, yes it does lock on, but it does take a little longer than I would take to lock on. Mine sometimes takes quite a while, like 5 minutes+ like yours to fix too.
I've only had my phone a little over a week now, outside the 7day instore exchange window. G7 Supra from cricket, aka power
Played with maps at home a couple of times, no issues the short drives.
Take a trip to North Chicago. No issues getting from Milwaukee to n Chicago.
But in several short trips around the hotel using Google maps I've gotten GPS signal lost, and it stopped tracking or giving directions.
It's clear sky, open fields, so not blocked by clouds or tall buildings.
Haven't tried Waze yet to see if hardware or software.
Wife has same phone; started to use hers simultaneously; and I'd lose gps; hers was fine.
Maps is same version.
I've rebooted; really don't wanna do a factory reset just to find out it's hardware & will need to install everything yet again. (I have password issues aka memory)
installed the moto help apk (play store said not compatible) and it passed the gps test.
Didn't coincide with anything else happening; no calls, texts, or foreground apps; something in the background?
Any ideas?
I'm still testing; but I now believe it had something to so with my Pebble watch and/or the Navme app...