Hi there,
Seeking advice with GPS shutting down on my Sony Xperia 10iii. Sony have inspected it under warranty and can't find a problem.
The GPS often fails after sustained use (typically 3-5 hours).
Once it fails, it stays failed.
It appears that only a phone restart will get GPS working again.
I use the GaiaGPS app to locate my position and track my movements when bushwalking. It operates in Airplane Mode (maps are downloaded to the phone) to preserve battery life.
GPS has failed to provide my location on off-track routes in areas that are open space and not previously a problem. However, on the occasional bushwalk the GPS will work perfectly. You can understand this lack of reliability is a concern for me and my group.
Details for the most recent failure that occurred during a bushwalk on 25/02/23 are as follows:-
After prior failures I did a full factory re-set & removed unnecessary apps etc.
The GaiaGPS app was granted all necessary permissions.
I ensured the phone was in airplane mode and the battery saver in Android was switched off. Wifi was also turned off. Ensured that Location was still turned on.
On this occasion I also turned off “Improve Location Accuracy” in Android to ensure the device used strictly GPS and wasn’t interfered with by wifi or mobile network signals. This adjustment wasn’t made on previous GPS failures and evidently made no improvement.
The phone battery was fully charged at the start of the walk. It finished the day with more than 60% charge remaining.
I commenced recording our track on the app when we got underway at 8:57am. The app correctly located our position on the map and started tracking as normal.
I can see from the app data that at 1:59pm the app failed to receive a signal from the GPS. The app kept recording until we finished the walk at 6:42pm, but there was no further location data after 1:59pm.
At 1pm on the following day the GaiaGPS app + GPSTest app + GPS Test app were all still failing to receive any data from the GPS. They could not see any satellites.
As a test, I then removed the ‘location’ access from every app on the phone to see if that might release the GPS and get it working again. No luck – the GPS on the phone still did not work.
When I finally restarted the phone for the first time since the bushwalk the GPS test app immediately found satellites. A restart seems to get it working.
There have been several previous failures that have occurred both in the bush and when turning on my driving navigation app (Metroview) in Sydney city. There was no GPS signal, then finding no other GPS app would work either. So a consistent problem across all apps.
What have we missed? Thanks in advance.
Related
I keep having problems with getting a gps fix on my DHD.
I turn on the GPS on the phone, also setting it to checked in the "Location" settings, and I wait forever. Yesterday I tried using the Compass app (By Catch.com), the GPS Status app, Tried using My Tracks and RunKeeper, and couldn't get a fix.
Every time I go back to the "Location" settings, and check and uncheck the "Use wireless networks" box, and also turn on or off the WIFI radio. But nothing seemed to work.
This morning I tried again, set My Tracks to record the road, and it did get a fix after about 5 minutes - So sometimes it does work.
I did manage to get fixes at various times, using all the apps above, but most times I need to fiddle with it quite a lot before it works, by checking and unchecking stuff. Sometimes it finally gets a fix with the "Use wireless networks" checked, and wifi turned on (even on locations where I have no wifi), and sometimes when its off.
Using the GPS Status app I see it usually finds 8-11 satellites, and they all seem green and with high bars, but I get no location at the end. Also with the Compass - I can see it connects to 10/10, but there is no long/lat.
What can cause all this mess? Is there some known bug with the gps? Or maybe some apps are interfering with others?
I also don't have any data plan (2g or 3g), so I only surf on wifi. Maybe this trows the location off somehow?
My location results are less accurate than 3g but still usable. Have you had better gps results from other devices? Your area might have some problems.
Cheers from my DHD.
When it works, it works just fine. Today on my way to work it succeeded in getting a fix after several minutes (which I still consider to be a bit too long - it should do it in less than a minute).
Last week, during a short jog outside of my house, it got a fix using RunKeeper.
Two days ago, while walking outside for well over an hour, and seeing in all the apps it finds multiple satellites, I could not get any fix at all. I want to use GPS only, no need for 3g or wifi. It should be enough (And had been enough on other occasions).
And it wasn't only defective two nights ago - many times I can't seem to get a fix. And only occasionally I get it to work properly.
I have the same problem ,i flashed a few different radios to try them and getting a gps lock was a nightmare.Originally i was on radio 26.03.02.26 and it was actually fine(shouldnt have messed with something that works.I have now flashed back to that radio and same problems.
i am sitting here with the misses hd and it instantly finds 6 sats and gets a gps lock while my hd finds one and does nothing.
i turn off gps on both phones ,turn back on and now her phone gets a lock at least 1 min faster.
Seems to be first time using gps after booting phone,once i have turned gps on give it a few mins then turn it off.I now run gps status on both phones,gps turns on and now get 2 more sats and a much lower error reading.
I have the same issues with gps, if I leave my phone flat on the dashboard of my car so that the screen is facing upwards, the gps seems to work without losing a fix, maybe because it connects to more satellites.
when I place the phone in my dash mount, it seems to drop signals and loses location.
I have tried a solution which I found while browsing the net extensively for the problem you mentioned and there does not seem to be much info on the issue. The solution I found on the net seemed to have made a huge difference although more testing is needed.
I have downloaded a program called "Tracker Booster - Tracker Booster is a small utility to help sports tracker applications (e.g. Endomondo) to get best possible GPS signal by keeping the GPS unit active in the background." It is available for free from the market, the way to use it is by starting this program up and then clicking "Start Booster" followed by "send to Background", then load GPS Status, hopefully once you see some satellites on GPS status and have a fix, you can now load your sat nav software or google maps, I use co-pilot.
Once you have finished with using the GPS, remember to stop Tracker Booster as it runs in the background and keeps your GPS on constantly which will no doubt drain the battery.
This so far has worked for me and as I have stated earlier, I need to do a few more trips before I can say that it works all the time.
I think this is the best solution until something better comes up.
This is not whats happening to me - When it's not working properly, I can't seem to get a fix at all, even after a long while. When I do get a fix, it works just fine even when the DHD is in my pocket, or facing sideways.
Has anyone one of you guys tried using gps status from android market?
Download it reset agps data than redownload agps data and that's it.
I get a fix in aprox 10s without it is few minutes
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
Ever since I've had this phone, I've not had any issues that would make me want to start a thread, except one -- the GPS. Here are the issues I've had, which are probably similar to other's experiences:
1) GPS just stops locking occasionally, and required reboot to fix. This happened at random times, but it always seemed like I had to have the phone on for a long time before it occured.
Solution: Sometimes I can use the "GPS status" program to reset the GPS state, and this would work sometimes. It doesn't always work though, and I need to reboot to get it back.
2) GPS stops turning on at all. This was traced down to my company requiring full encryption of the flash/SD card, which apparently this phone has a bug that prevents GPS from working at all when you do this. I had to remove my work email from the phone to get GPS back.
Solution: None yet, except turning encryption off.
3) The GPS icon in the notifier bar stays on in the "locked" status, even when GPS is turned off.
Solution: Reboot. Not ideal, obviously.
I've also tried replacing the gps.conf file as another user pointed out, but that doesn't appear to have fixed anything. Does anyone have a solution for these issues that I haven't already mentioned, particularly #1? It's getting very annoying when I need to use navigation and I have to reboot just to have a chance of it working.
Get your phone looked at/replaced. I literally have none of those issues.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App
I know some people have issues with GPS but mine locks INSTANTLY and I have no issues with it.
Locks WAY faster then my HTC EVO 4G ever did!
I havent had one issue with the GPS. I use it in the mornings with runkeeper and it locks nearly instantly. I would say get the phone looked at
I've had similar issues with my GPS.. it takes a long time to get a lock and afterwards it's very temperamental. Unless my phone has an absolutely clear view of the sky in my car it will lose the lock instantly. It's extremely frustrating since I'm coming from a Samsung SGS Vibrant that had a horrible GPS. Samsung needs to start putting in better GPS modules in their phones. Many HTC owners have reported that their GPS works incredible and can lock on sats in their basement etc.
Just to add to my above post about my GPS locking instantly, it even locks instantly in my basement when I have like one bar of phone service.
I'd have to say the GPS is one of the better features on this phone.
I'll echo the view that you should have the phone looked at, I'm coming from a Thundebolt which frequently, literally never locked. My E4gT locks nearly instantly even when my signal is weak.
i leave my gps/ wireless networks off 90% of the time, so sometimes when i first put it on, it takes forever to lock on. i started just putting it on and rebooting and then it locks instantly
sidebar, i love how data isnt needed. i put it on to load the map correctly then turn it off to save battery
Just to clarify, if I reboot the GPS does seem to lock MUCH quicker.. I'm going to flash the stock ROM that was leaked recently and see if my issues go away, if not.. I'll probably see if Sprint can swap my phone out with another. LOS has been driving me insane.. I'm an on-call support engineer so missing a call due to LOS would be very bad for me.
My GPS sucks as well. When it locks (hardly ever) it is super inaccurate. I went to sprint and since I don't have the insurance I had to call Samsung. I'm going to send my phone to them (no loaner). They said once they receive it, I will have it back within 6 days. I'll let you know how it goes.
No problems with gps on both of the phones that I have had. The current one is exceptional actually. I use a GOLF gps program/app WEEKLY and the accuracy is actually remarkable. From my comparing it to a friends gps (also pretty accurate) as well as a LASER rangefinder (to center pin locations) it is usually within 2 or 3 yards from our calculations, which we think is pretty acceptable for our single digit games.
It helps alot on shots inside 150 yards, especially inside 100 when we think it is 50 yard shot and it is really 70, you have a big advantage there whether its 67 or 70 yards compared to your shot of 50 if you didnt have the gps.
It does take about 10 to 15 seconds once you stop moving to catch up and give an accurate yardage, this is likely the program/app as some of them I have tried find it quicker some slower...
JC
Disable "Use sensor aiding" if it's enabled. Locks much faster.
I recently updated from CM 4.0.4 to CM 4.2.2 (10.1.3 to be exact), and I found that my gps is ALWAYS on, no matter what I do.
What I mean by is that, when I first boot the phone, gps is off, everything is good. Then I use an app that uses GPS - most likely Google Maps, which prompts me to turn on the GPS. I do that, GPS connects just fine, Google Maps locates me using GPS, everything is good.
The problem is when I turn OFF the GPS. I turn off the GPS via notification drawer GPS button, and GPS goes off, and I exit maps. The issue is then is shown in the battery history. Even when I turn off the GPS after using it, according to battery history it was never OFF, and from that point on it would keep showing GPS as on in the battery history.
What's funny is that even though it says GPS is on in the battery history, when I go to Locations Access it is clearly shown that Access to my location is OFF, and the gps box is greyed out as well. However, battery drain seems to suggest that GPS is actually eating away my battery, since my battery drain is significantly higher. Just to check if my GPS is actually on despite saying it is off in Location Access, I try using maps, and it is clear that GPS is not working in maps.
The only way to solve this funny situation is to reboot my phone, after which it would be shown that GPS is off in the battery history. However if I turn on GPS even once, the problem happens, all over again.
I have of course checked all my apps - the only apps that access GPS are Maps, Google Now, Facebook, and GO Weather, and I've made sure that location access in these apps are off. Well, with the Location Access in the system setting off in the first place, these shouldn't be working anyway.
I tried re-flashing 10.1.3, re-flashing gapps, and factory reset, to no avail. I suspect that kernel might be an issue, since I was using an old KT kernel before I updated, and it was slightly unstable. But if that is the case, I have no idea how to fix the kernel aside from re-flashing 10.1.3.
Can anyone help me solve this problem?
Has anyone else noticed a strange increase in GPS usage after the Lollipop update?
I've always kept the Location mode on High Accuracy, and didn't have this behavior until recently. Basically, whenever an app attempts to find my location, and I'm indoors or somewhere I can't get a GPS satellite, the GPS will say "finding location" for a very long, if not infinite, amount of time. It seemed that until recently, the device would give up after a few seconds with GPS and use Wi-Fi/Mobile to approximate my location - it doesn't seem like it's doing this anymore.
Most of the time, it's the Live Weather app that's looking for my location. I do use that for wallpaper on the lock screen, I know it probably drains the battery faster. However, I have not seen this behavior until recently; I used the wallpaper since I got my phone in December.
I have already factory reset and wiped system cache after the Lollipop update, and wiped the data and cache of Live Weather, no change unfortunately.
Has anyone else seen something like this before?
Quick update for more details:
It looks like this only occurs whenever I first boot the phone, whether it be a reboot or a cold boot. According to the Location settings menu, Live Weather is the only app with "Battery usage: high" listed under it; when I kill Live Weather, the GPS will turn off.
However, if I do step outside and get a lock, the GPS will eventually shut off. Whenever I come back inside, it behaves as I would expect it to, i.e., the GPS will come on periodically, then shut off after a few seconds.
supertoast92 said:
Quick update for more details:
It looks like this only occurs whenever I first boot the phone, whether it be a reboot or a cold boot. According to the Location settings menu, Live Weather is the only app with "Battery usage: high" listed under it; when I kill Live Weather, the GPS will turn off.
However, if I do step outside and get a lock, the GPS will eventually shut off. Whenever I come back inside, it behaves as I would expect it to, i.e., the GPS will come on periodically, then shut off after a few seconds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it looks like I have probably the same problem too. In my case it behaves as follows: if I'm not connected to the GSM network (when using the device without a SIM) and out of reach of any WIFI signal, then the GPS does not work at all. :crying:
Did you try changing your location settings to use only the GPS?
Also, I found a workaround: killing the Live Weather service seems to have no negative effect - it comes right back whenever you open the weather widget or view your lockscreen. Still a pain, but it works. It still sorts itself out the minute I step outside.
I recently bought a Mate 20 (not Pro, Lite, or X), mainly because of the dual GPS feature. But now I have noticed, and reproduced, that when tracking my activity, the phone will the GPS signal when I don't move for several minutes (in the first instance it was about 5 minutes, the second time 26 minutes before the signal was lost).
The GPS signal will not come back after this, even when moving again, except for very short timespans (5-10 seconds, twice over several hours).
This behavior does not occur if not moving at all: You have to move, then stop moving for several minutes, and then GPS signal is lost.
The GPS signal was not blocked by anything, I was on the outside. I also did disable all power-saving features, but the problem does not seem to be connected to any particular tracking app: I was running 4 apps simultaneously, and neither was able to record a position after not moving).
So it seems like the firmware turns off GPS reception once it determines that the phone isn't moving anymore - without any notification, and while GPS is still turned on in the settings (and it stays on in the settings even though the firmware blocks actual GPS reception.
Is there any way to stop this behavior, so that GPS will always try to receive a signal even if I don't move for hours?
*Please do not post anything like "did you do all updates", "do a factory reset" and other general tips like these.