I have the need to disable all 2 way radio interfaces on my devices, cell, wifi, bluetooth, I still need to be able to use GPS so simply hard setting airplane mode to on is not useful to me. I would prefer to do this by not opening everyone device I own and clipping wires. I was wondering if there is either and APP or MDM solution that allows this level of control over the device. Any help or at least someone pointing me in the right direction would be appreciated.
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We all know the Tilt's GPS is slow, uses a lot of battery, and often continues to use battery after exiting all programs using it unless you soft reset. So I use my bluetooth GPS.
Works great, for programs which have a com port setting. There are some which do not, some are on the todo list, but some other programs are no longer under development.
What I'd like to be able to do is to 'fool' any program into using the Bluetooth's com port. I have GPSGate listening to the bluetooth GPS and outputting to com1 so that I can run whatever number of programs using the GPS data on com1, but I can't get several Wifi scanners to use com1, can't get the camera's GPS feature to use com1, etc.
I've tried a few things like messing with the built-in GPS settings and changing them to com1 hoping programs might then access com1, tried setting GPSGate to com4 to see if programs would access it instead of the built-in, but I think when programs access the built-in device they don't access it on com4, they access it on GPD4 or such.. Anyway.
So again, how to make programs which you cannot specify a com port use GPSGate's com port? Or another program if necessary..
Thanks!
Bumping in case anyone missed it.
Thanks!
SOLVED! But not for the faint of heart.
The developer of BasicGPS pointed me to this URL when I was asking him if he could implement selecting the com port for the GPS, since I use GPSGate with a Bluetooth GPS, not the built-in one:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb202089.aspx
From this, following these steps, I was able to make the Intermediate Driver use COM1, therefore using GPSGate/Bluetooth! So far this works in BasicGPS and I'm pretty sure it works in the camera too, so probably works in every program! Good news for people who hate the built-in GPS as much as I do!
Here are the basic steps, but you'll want to read the URL above. It's really written for developers, which I am not, but it made enough sense for me.
I used Resco Explorer to browse into this registry key. I made a copy of the whole key, then browsed in.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\GPS Intermediate Driver\Drivers
There is a key named CurrentDriver, which was set to GPSOneDevice, which is apparently my built-in GPS. So I made a copy of the whole GPSOneDevice registry key, named it GPSGate. Then went into that key, changed the InterfaceType from POLL to COMM and added a string called CommPort and set it to COM1: where GPSGate outputs its info. I also modified the FriendlyName to "GPSGate Bluetooth". Finally, I changed the CurrentDriver to reference my new GPSGate registry key, and voila!
I'm not 100% sure it's working, as the built-in GPS is warmed up and would respond fairly quickly, but in a few days I'm going to try the camera in GPS mode and see if it immediately gets a fix from my Bluetooth unit vs 5+ minutes with the built-in GPS.
That said, I've tried GPSTest, BasicGPS, camera, etc, all get a fix immediately and update with the Bluetooth GPS on. If I turn the Bluetooth GPS off, they all stop getting updates. Previously when I was trying to figure out how to do this, I would discover the built-in GPS was still being used because I'd turn off the Bluetooth GPS and programs would continue to get new GPS data. So this tells me it's working! I'll follow up again in a few days to say for absolute sure.
Yay!
Just a followup here.. I think it's working, but if I monitor the data on COM9 (bluetooth) or COM1 (GPSGate re-distributing COM9 data), the data streams in at a reasonable pace.. Perhaps 6k of data in 10 or so seconds.. I didn't measure it closely.
But when I monitor data on COM4 the data is very fast, after about 10s it was up to 60k and when I left a few different programs open for a while they either crashed, never got a real lock, or locked up.
So not sure why, but the string of bluetooth->gpsgate->intermediate driver is causing a LOT more data to be produced.
I wasn't planning on using the intermediate driver for applications, I am still going to use the COM1 port for that when possible, but I wonder about the stability of using the camera and/or other programs which can't change the com port with this configuration.
Oh well! So far the camera seems to pick up a coordinate very quickly and probably disconnects from the GPS, so it's probably fine.
I suppose if I were truly curious I could capture the NMEA data and compare between the two. If anyone can do that who is also curious, I can do it and attach the data. I wouldn't know what to look for.
Hi,
ok, perhaps I know the Problem why my intermediate driver doesn't do his job. I can find this key in my reg:
Code:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\GPS Intermediate Driver\Drivers
But that is all. This key hasn't any values or subkeys. But why?
I'll try to find out the default Settings...
So. I've created following settings:
Code:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\GPS Intermediate Driver
CurrentLogFile="\Temp\gps.log"
IsEnabled=dword:00000001
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\GPS Intermediate Driver\Drivers
CurrentDriver="TestFile"
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\GPS Intermediate Driver\Drivers\TestFile
File1="\Temp\test.nmea"
FriendlyName="File Test #1"
InterfaceType="File"
After creating settings I "rebooted" my device. Then I start my GoogleMaps-App and configured it to use "managed GPS".
Result: GoogleMaps didn't get data from test-file and I cannot find the log-file in Temp-Folder. What the hell is going wrong here?
YFI: If I configure GoogleMaps to use GPS an COM4 (115200 Baud) then all works fine.
Is there currently any way of tethering the GPS to a computer/laptop so i can use it as a serial or Bluetooth GPS device?
Could this be achieved using scripts similar to the way WiFi tethering is done, or is it more complicated then that?
Also, could an app be written that achieves this?
I agree this would be a nice feature. Hopefully with bluetooth tether. Can use old wm for gps program
This should be possible. Someone would need to write a script or app that takes the GPS position data and outputs it in the standard NMEA format that most other mapping software and/or hardware accepts.
Once you have that, you can perhaps broadcast that via bluetooth or maybe even wifi on a specific port.
Hello,
I did quite some searching on this topic but nothing to be found. Maybe some developers can shed some light on this issue?
Many developers have written excellent applications that take the GPS output of the phone and display your coordinates, altitude, speed, and other variables. Presumably, this information can be gathered without the need for a data application.
Now, let's say the data format that the GPS is outputted in (NEMA Standard) is slipstreamed consistently into a Maps application (like Microsoft Streets & Maps), then you would have a winner. The combination of preloaded maps with the power of the GPS receiver in the G1 would give you awesome maps functionality on the cheap (perfect for that Netbook).
However, much GPS status applications only display the output on screen. While it is nice to have a coordinate staring at you in the face, that's all it's doing. Instead, utilizing those NEMA values for the computer to interpret would simplify the process.
My friend and I proposed a couple of concepts on how to take this on:
1) Upload the NEMA data to a server
*Okay idea but defeats the purpose of going Data-less. I might as well use Google Maps
2) Upload the NEMA data to a local server
*Good idea but if the laptop is connected to an ad-hoc network or some weird [sic] network, the phone maybe unable to connect to the same network (i.e. business-style wifi logins)
3) Bluetooth. Beam data through OBEX file transfer or other method.
*Better idea but the implementation of bluetooth in Android does not currently support OBEX file transfers or other pairing mechanisms. Would this be possible to carry out?
4) Serial output via USB.
*Best idea. This would put the GPS receiver in tandem to the other devices.
So...any ideas? Would love to hear them. Are there people who could utilize such functionality for a netbook/laptop combination? Spill your comments, questions, concerns.
Developers, feel free to chime in at any time Thanks.
~NerveBand
try BlueNMEA witch is avaible on the market, it send NMEA over bluetooth.
So does anyone use BlueNMEA and if so can you help set mine up. I cant seem to find any real documentation.
Are there any other options for utilizing the gps on a program like streets and trips?
Can anyone confirm blueNEMA and CM-4.1.9999?
Has anyone successfully gotten this blueNEMA working with a G1 + Bluetooth + Laptop and Streets and Trips?
Love to get this working too... I have the BlueNMEA installed, paird with my laptop over BT but I cant get MS Streets and Trips to see it, if I scan it doesnt see it either... weird.
Here's a bit of documentation I found: http://git.snow-crash.org/?p=blue-nmea.git;a=blob_plain;f=README
Sorry for the bump, but...
Is there any possibility of this ever working over USB rather than bluetooth?
Does anyone know of an app that you can use to track your phone without an active data/internet connection? Basically something that can run on GPS only. I have a Samsung Galaxy Player 4.0 which does not have SMS/Calling/3g/4g etc... All it has is Wifi and GPS. I would like to somehow be able to track my location if I am not in a wifi hotspot. The other downside is I use the lock screen on the phone. If someone steals it chances are it could be quite some time before the phone would actually connect to a network (considering there wouldn't be any way for them to get to the wifi settings to log into a network).
Does anyone know of anything like this? Is it possible?
Wont be possible without either data/internet connection or cell/texting service. GPS will show the location on the device, but you have to transmit that somehow.
GPS is purely passive, you don't send anything and neither do satelites transmit something specific to you.
You just grab what ever signals you can find, and if its enough calculate the current position.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System
Hi there,
I'm using my old Nexus 5 for navigation. Each time when the phone is going to standby, the bluetooth connection (tethering by another phone) get lost.
Is there a solution to avoid this?
Bluetooth timeout is one of the most common reasons Bluetooth is turned off without warning. By default, after about 10 minutes of being idle, your device will usually go into "standby" mode to conserve power. This turns the screen off and removes certain connections, like Bluetooth.
Is there anybody possibility to change the timeout? I can't find this option in developers options.
Guaranteed not to be found under Developer Options.
Not all devices will let you control when your Bluetooth turns itself off automatically.
Every smartphone or device is different when it comes to setting Bluetooth connections and connectivity preferences. You can usually find instructions on how to alter your Bluetooth online by searching for your phone model.