GPS stopped working

Bug Reports
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#666

I tested enabling XTRA servers today with my XA2 (h4113).
I got GNSS fix faster that usual about 60s or less.

Here is my gps.conf

# XTRA_SERVER_QUERY (1=on, 0=off)
# If XTRA_SERVER_QUERY is on, the XTRA_SERVERs listed
# below will be ignored, and instead the servers will
# be queried from the modem.
XTRA_SERVER_QUERY=1
# XTRA_SERVERs below are used only if XTRA_SERVER_QUERY
# is off.
XTRA_SERVER_1=http://xtrapath1.izatcloud.net/xtra2.bin
XTRA_SERVER_2=http://xtrapath2.izatcloud.net/xtra2.bin
XTRA_SERVER_3=http://xtrapath3.izatcloud.net/xtra2.bin

# Error Estimate
# _SET = 1
# _CLEAR = 0
ERR_ESTIMATE=0

# NTP Server
# NTP_SERVER=time.gpsonextra.net
# Asia
# NTP_SERVER=asia.pool.ntp.org
# Europe
# NTP_SERVER=europe.pool.ntp.org
# North America
# NTP_SERVER=north-america.pool.ntp.org

# NTP_SERVER = time.google.com
NTP_SERVER=europe.pool.ntp.org

# If NTP_SERVER is commented NTP_SERVER=time.izatcloud.net is used

# DEBUG LEVELS: 0 - none, 1 - Error, 2 - Warning, 3 - Info
#               4 - Debug, 5 - Verbose
# If DEBUG_LEVEL is commented, Android's logging levels will be used
DEBUG_LEVEL = 2

# Intermediate position report, 1=enable, 0=disable
INTERMEDIATE_POS=0

# GPS Capabilities bit mask
# SCHEDULING = 0x01
# MSB = 0x02
# MSA = 0x04
# ON_DEMAND_TIME = 0x10
# GEOFENCE = 0x20
# default = ON_DEMAND_TIME | MSA | MSB | SCHEDULING | GEOFENCE
CAPABILITIES=0x37

# Accuracy threshold for intermediate positions
# less accurate positions are ignored, 0 for passing all positions
# ACCURACY_THRES=5000

################################
##### AGPS server settings #####
################################
# Bitmask of slots that are available
# for write/install to, where 1s indicate writable,
# and the default value is 0 where no slots
# are writable. For example, AGPS_CERT_WRITABLE_MASK
# of b1000001010 makes 3 slots available
# and the remaining 7 slots unwritable.
# AGPS_CERT_WRITABLE_MASK=0

# FOR SUPL SUPPORT, set the following
SUPL_HOST=supl.sonyericsson.com
SUPL_PORT=7275

################################
# EXTRA SETTINGS
################################
# NMEA provider (1=Modem Processor, 0=Application Processor)
NMEA_PROVIDER=0

# Mark if it is a SGLTE target (1=SGLTE, 0=nonSGLTE)
SGLTE_TARGET=0

##################################################
# Select technology for LPPe Control Plane
##################################################
# 0x1: DBH for LPPe CP
# 0x2: WLAN AP Measurements for LPPe CP
LPPE_CP_TECHNOLOGY = 0

##################################################
# Select technology for LPPe User Plane
##################################################
# 0x1: DBH for LPPe UP
# 0x2: WLAN AP Measurements for LPPe UP
LPPE_UP_TECHNOLOGY = 0

##################################################
# AGPS_CONFIG_INJECT
##################################################
# enable/disable injection of AGPS configurations:
#     SUPL_VER
#     SUPL_HOST
#     SUPL_PORT
#     SUPL_MODE
#     SUPL_ES
#     C2K_HOST
#     C2K_PORT
#     LPP_PROFILE
#     A_GLONASS_POS_PROTOCOL_SELECT
#     USE_EMERGENCY_PDN_FOR_EMERGENCY_SUPL
#     GPS_LOCK
# 0: disable
# 1: enable
AGPS_CONFIG_INJECT = 1

# AP Coarse Timestamp Uncertainty
##################################################
# default : 10
# or as per clock uncertainty of product
AP_TIMESTAMP_UNCERTAINTY = 10

#####################################
#DR_SYNC Pulse Availability
#####################################
# 0 : DR_SYNC pulse not available (default)
# 1 : DR_SYNC pulse available
DR_SYNC_ENABLED = 0

#####################################
#PPS Device name
#####################################
PPS_DEVICENAME = /dev/pps0

#####################################
#AP Clock Accuracy
#####################################
AP_CLOCK_PPM = 100

#####################################
#MAX ms difference to detect missing pulse
#####################################
MISSING_PULSE_TIME_DELTA = 900

#####################################
#Propagation time uncertainty
#####################################
PROPAGATION_TIME_UNCERTAINTY = 1
#667

Thank you for clarification. Does A-GPS need the cell location to work? So, if i install MLS offline packages, like the ones from the Jolla store, and i don’t get the rough 9000m fix, will A-GPS still work?

#668

Hi @miau ,

sorry for the delay… well, I think it should be independent of MLS location data(*). That data makes a lot of sense if you’re not going to allow A-GPS support or as a fallback. That is, a rough position will be detected by using the cell tower IDs and injected into the gnss modem subsystem to support position calculation (e.g. the modem can figure out which satellites will be visible at your approx. position and listens for the specific data pattern. This speeds up the first time fix.). On the other hand it’s always helpful to estimate your approx. position to support the modem in case of A-GPS failure so I would highly recommend to install the MLS database.

(*) Your modem knows your current cell ID and queries SUPL service with that information to gather ephemeris data that will be injected into gnss. This together with XTRA almanac data speeds up the FTF as your GPS RX must not download the ephemeris and almanac data from the sky. Without online services this would take a long time if started from the green field. In case of XA2 with faulty hardware and eventually broken downloads from the satellites you possibly end up in a retry-loop and getting no fix at all.

2 Likes
#669

not sure what the issue same phone same hardware ( XA2 )
android os ( sony) worked great GPS locking awsome in house any where outside etc.

2022-21
switched to SFOS , GPS only locks outside home + when start driving car 4-5 minutes after i start driving car ( google maps ) - and waze ,

, i switched to android waiting and hoping that it will fix in future

now its march 2023 ,
came back again to SFOS same issues ,

Navigation is intergral part of my travel cannot work without , GPS now a days is a critical most thing
SFOS team Please look into this and kindly fix this on priority ,

1 Like
#670

Have you tried suplpatcher?

#671

Hi!

I checked my gps.conf and everything seems alright. But i never got a faster fix than 15 seconds(normaly around 30-60 seconds) on the x10iii.

Grapheneos has its own supl proxy, which can be used by non grapheneos users too.

I changed the AGPS part of my gps.conf to these settings

# FOR SUPL SUPPORT, set the following
SUPL_VER=0x20000
#SUPL_HOST=supl.google.com
SUPL_HOST=supl.grapheneos.org
SUPL_PORT=7275

(Yes it is port 7275)

and did some tests.

OUTSIDE 1st test: 3 sec until fix
OUTSIDE 2nd test 2 sec until fix
OUTSIDE 3rd test 5 sec until fix

INSIDE 10 sec until fix.

I did a reboot between every test, so the graphene os proxy seems to work for me.

4 Likes
#672

Updates:

Its working fine , so what i did is i just moved near to the window and got the fixe under 60 seconds ( havnt changed any thing ) . so i am pretty happy, My basic test has been passed which was GPS now i can test the rest which would be pretty fine as well e.g. emails , insta , fb , filemanagers , terminal , whatsapp ( another big challenge
due to DB crypt and non google integration )

1 Like
#673

Hi @miau ,
Thanks for your information and update on the issue. It’s interesting to know that the SUPL request is working with a Let’s Encrypt certificate.

Did you inject the Let’s Encrypt ROOT CA via suplpatcher? If that’s the case and you enabled secure SUPL connection then you should be able to use other vendors SUPL service (the modem wouldn’t reject the connection as the LE ROOT CA is known).

2 Likes
#674

Nope, i didn’t inject any certificate. I only used your suplpatcher, which like you mentioned doesn’t need to patch anything on the 10iii and made the changes above and finally it it is working again.

#675

Just out of interest could someone with an XA2 who didn’t use suplpatcher test this?

#676

A few days ago i read the following blog post (in german):

It provides some nice information about the data, which google gets when using “supl.google.com”.
It also mentions the use of “supl.grapheneos.org”, like @miau suggested.

@miau:

I tested your gps.conf on both of my XA2s. The first try on the first XA2 was with only 2g-mobile-data (provider Aldi Talk) activated and it took too long to get a fix.
After switching to 4g-mobile-data the fix was there after about 40 sec, which is quite fast for my XA2s.

The second try was with the other XA2 with only wifi activated. It did not get a fix after 3 minutes. Switching from wifi to 4g-mobile-data (provider Telekom) did not change anything. It did not get a fix.

Tests where made outside under a clear sky.

First XA2:

Bildschirmfoto_20230403_003
Bildschirmfoto_20230403_0031080×1920 162 KB

Second XA2 next to first XA2 after >3 min.:

Bildschirmfoto_20230403_002
Bildschirmfoto_20230403_0021080×1920 150 KB

1 Like
#677

From your pictures, I conclude that on your second XA2 it’s not a software configuration problem but a hardware problem of antenna for the reception of GPS signal as stated earlier in this topic.
You can try to put some metallic wire in the headphone port and see if the level of reception is better.

1 Like
#678

Yes, it might be a problem with the hardware.

On the first XA2 the cap of the top once fell off. I took the chance and cleanded the contacts, before glueing it again.

#680

This is standard situation with XA2 Devices, just like motherboard connectors for antena wires.
The good idea is to take it apart and clean it thoroughly. My cases shown, that there is always some improvement

#681

Hi,

I tested with mine and do not have a fix. But I don’t have fixes since a long time, even the MLS update didn’t helped me, so I might have a bug elsewhere.

1 Like
#682

Thanks everyone. So, then the suplpatcher route seems the only way on the XA2 to fix the not working AGPS issue.

1 Like
#683

Last weekend i took our dogs for a walk in a light forest under a cloudy sky. With 4g activated i did not get a fix within 4-5 minutes, so i cancelled the test.
The next day at the same location under a clear sky i also did not get a fix within 5 minutes. With my Xperia X (no SIM, only device-GPS, cold start) i got a fix within 2 minutes. GPS on XA2 stays at least unreliable if not unusable. Even with the adaptation of supl.grapheneos.org.

Another problem on XA2 is, if it got a fix, the gps-signal is not “continuous” but “choppy”. In Puremaps the position-mark is stuttering and the map is rotating constantly, because XA2 is often not clear in witch direction it is moving.
XA2 seems to always forget any information of satellites after some period of time. It seems to always start with the use of 0/x satellites in GPS-Info. While the Xperia X starts with e. g. 4/x satellites.

I never had those problems with XA2 in the beginning. I could use it reliably even in thick forests. All problems startet with some update or with the deactivation of Mozilla Location Service. I don´t know.

#684

Same conditions but different situation here. With a Xperia 10ii the GPSInfo tracks 7 satellites but no one is locked (0/7) and thus it do not get the position. The GPS was working pretty well using Android 12 but after the switch to Sailfish, I am not able to receive my position.

#685

* The new location stack does not support UnifiedNlp modules anymore. This was a step necessary to take to get locations properly working on latest Android versions. This means that some features previously available through UnifiedNlp modules do no longer exist. The goal is to merge the most important of those features into GmsCore. For now, the new locations stack is relying exclusively on Mozilla Location Service for network based location.

Would this affect GPS use in Android apps?

#686

Those have the original /vendor/etc/gps.conf for Xperia 10 II and III, could send me that files, pealse? Thanks, R-