This is talking about accuracy, I am talking about lock time. Lower signal due to water (not vapour) attenuation (especially on satellites low on horizon which run a long way in the atmosphere) require longer times to lock the CDMA correlators due to lower SNR.
Okay. I thought reception and accuracy would be closely interrelated. Anyway, for my case, given the erratic behaviour of the GPS on the XA2, it is near impossible to tell what factors contribute to the malaise.
Yes, a little. I think the much more influence comes from the satellite constellation and the own position, free area or between buildings. Also how long the GPS was switched off before (how old are the stored Kepler data of the satellites). With bad reception conditions and old Keplers data it needs the longest time to show correct position.
A year ago and before I also had a XA2 and GPS did work, but never good or usable in daily life. Now I have a Xperia 10 and it runs much better. Not as good as the Garmin GPS with which I compare the performance, but usable.
For me, it’s also a big big miracle where the big difficulty is regarding making the GPS work in an accurate way… I always thought, that a modern GPS receiver inside a smartphone is a single chip receiver that simply delivers the position data to the system…
I don’t know if this is relevant for this thread, but the GPS on my XA2 has never worked
OS: Sailfish X 3.4.0.24
Device: Sony XA2 (binary package v16)
Reproducibility: 100%
Steps:
- Activate Location service in Settings
- Configure location to use only the device (to avoid current A-GPS issues)
- Open GPSInfo
- 20+ satellites in view, 0 in use. No location data available
- after several hours in view of the sky: no change
Logs (captured by Journal Viewer but unfiltered) - tried to copy-paste only GPSInfo loading
07.01.21 14:21:06.377 [17535]: …/GPSInfo/src/harbour-gpsinfo.cpp:33 [D] main:33 - loading language “pt”
07.01.21 14:21:06.489 [17535]: …/GPSInfo/src/gpsdatasource.cpp:15 [D] GPSDataSource::GPSDataSource:15 - created QGeoSatelliteInfoSource “geoclue”
07.01.21 14:21:06.490 [17535]: …/GPSInfo/src/gpsdatasource.cpp:23 [D] GPSDataSource::GPSDataSource:23 - created QGeoPositionInfoSource “geoclue”
07.01.21 14:21:06.491 [17535]: …/GPSInfo/src/gpsdatasource.cpp:81 [D] GPSDataSource::setActive:81 - activating source…
07.01.21 14:21:06.494 [17535]: unknown:0 [D] unknown:0 - Geoclue client path: “/org/freedesktop/Geoclue/Master/client4”
07.01.21 14:21:06.498 dbus-daemon[4976]: dbus-daemon[4976]: [session uid=100000 pid=4976] Activating via systemd: service name=‘org.freedesktop.Geoclue.Providers.Hybris’ unit=‘dbus-org.freedesktop.Geoclue.Providers.Hybris.service’ requested by ‘:1.73’ (uid=100000 pid=21298 comm="/usr/libexec/geoclue-master")
07.01.21 14:21:06.505 systemd[4953]: src/core/unit.c:1396 Starting Geoinformation Service Hybris Provider…
07.01.21 14:21:06.846 geoclue-hybris[2168]: unknown:0 [W] unknown:0 - Initialising GNSS interface
07.01.21 14:21:06.861 geoclue-hybris[2168]: unknown:0 [W] unknown:0 - Initialising AGNSS interface
07.01.21 14:21:06.862 geoclue-hybris[2168]: unknown:0 [W] unknown:0 - Initialising GNSS NI interface
07.01.21 14:21:06.863 geoclue-hybris[2168]: unknown:0 [W] unknown:0 - Initialising AGNSS RIL interface
07.01.21 14:21:06.863 geoclue-hybris[2168]: unknown:0 [W] unknown:0 - Initialising GNSS Debug interface
07.01.21 14:21:06.868 dbus-daemon[4976]: dbus-daemon[4976]: [session uid=100000 pid=4976] Successfully activated service ‘org.freedesktop.Geoclue.Providers.Hybris’
07.01.21 14:21:06.869 systemd[4953]: src/core/job.c:760 Started Geoinformation Service Hybris Provider.
07.01.21 14:21:06.990 [17535]: unknown:0 [D] unknown:0 - Geoclue client path: “/org/freedesktop/Geoclue/Master/client5”
07.01.21 14:21:06.994 dbus-daemon[4976]: dbus-daemon[4976]: [session uid=100000 pid=4976] Activating service name=‘org.freedesktop.Geoclue.Providers.Mlsdb’ requested by ‘:1.73’ (uid=100000 pid=21298 comm="/usr/libexec/geoclue-master")
07.01.21 14:21:07.040 sensorfwd[3268]: nodebase.cpp:328 Invalid interval requested for node ’ “orientationadaptor” ’ by session ’ 12 ': 20
07.01.21 14:21:07.071 dbus-daemon[4976]: dbus-daemon[4976]: [session uid=100000 pid=4976] Successfully activated service ‘org.freedesktop.Geoclue.Providers.Mlsdb’
07.01.21 14:21:07.135 [17535]: unknown:0 [D] unknown:0 - Geoclue client path: “/org/freedesktop/Geoclue/Master/client6”
07.01.21 14:21:07.149 [17535]: file:///usr/share/harbour-gpsinfo/qml/pages/CoverPage.qml:152 [W] unknown:152 - file:///usr/share/harbour-gpsinfo/qml/pages/CoverPage.qml:152: TypeError: Cannot read property ‘azimuth’ of null
07.01.21 14:21:07.246 invoker[5448]: WARNING: An inactive plugin is misbehaving - tried to show a window!
07.01.21 14:21:07.249 invoker[5448]: WARNING: requestActivate() called for QQuickView(0x33abf8) which has Qt::WindowDoesNotAcceptFocus set.
07.01.21 14:21:07.258 lipstick[5038]: unknown:0 [W] unknown:0 - WindowPixmapItem does not have a source texture, cover will be dropped…
07.01.21 14:21:07.454 booster-silica-qt5[2167]: unknown:0 [D] unknown:0 - Using Wayland-EGL
07.01.21 14:21:07.455 lipstick[5038]: file:///usr/share/lipstick-jolla-home-qt5/switcher/SwitcherItem.qml:263 [D] onCompleted:263 - coverActionIndicators created harbour-gpsinfo.desktop
@tigas
The very first fix takes indeed a very long time (several hours) even outside buildinbgs. I too thought gps did not work on my XA2 plus.
Once I’ve had a fix, following fixes were quicker (10 min) if you don’t move location while phone turned off.
For GPSInfo, which version ? With version 0.13-1, in parameters you can choose “show empty channels: no” then you get 0 satellites in view.
Yes, but I’ve left it around 20+hours and still no lock.
I’ve installed the Harbour version of GPSInfo (0.8) and the OpenRepos/Storeman version is 0.8-1. I don’t seem to have the setting you mentioned.
There are 2 versions of GPSInfo in Storeman: by balta and by direc85. The version by direc85 is more up to date and has this parameter (and the graph of signal strenght by satellite).
Quite some time ago I had turned off “High Accuracy Positioning” as it didn’t seem to be working and possibly made thing worse from the perspective of getting an initial fix.
A few days ago I turned it back on and I’ve noticed a significant improvement in the time to a fix. Today was a good test. The device had been moved over 1000 km since the last time it was used about 20 hours previously and I had a lock in slightly over 1 minute.
While that’s not as good as some devices, I’m OK with that.
So, I have a XA2 Plus and I’m in the camp of “it takes 10 minutes to get a fix while driving around”.
I now also have an F(x)tec Pro1 and the difference is night and day.
I had almost gotten used to the idea that it’s a Sailfish OS issue that GPS is crappy (it’s been a while since I used the original Jolla phone or my Xperia X), but there’s really something seriously wrong with the XA2.
I think the specific problem of XA2 is the gps antenna. If I plug in the headphone jack the level of gps signal reception is much higher, as if working like a kind of external antenna.
If it be so, then why did the GPS work a expected (immediate fix!) on the original Android system - which it did on my XA2 H4113? It has got to be an SFOS issue.
I also tried this, but it makes no difference whatsoever on my end.
Both I think. On Android, getting a fix works with the help of Wifi/GSM (geoclue) and Google high precision option. On Sailfish, geoclue with the help of Mozilla no longer works. So the phone relies only on the (bad) gps reception.
There is nothing wrong with the GPS reception. The problem is with the lack of a good system like the Mozilla one.
Currently I have been using the "High Accuracy Positioning " option in the Location settings and have been getting a lock on within about a minute provided the device has a good view of the sky, i.e not inside a building.
I’m using Jolla C, also without Mozilla services, as my gps device because it gets a fix within reasonable time and doesn’t lose fix during use.
My main phone XA2 takes ages to get a fix, or it doesn’t get it at all, and it loses fix during use so there’s gaps in the recorded track.
Replacing Mozilla assist with Yandex works for me. I get location fix even inside house with no GPS signal at all. Device is Sony XA2 with sigle SIM.
My Android device (Nokia 5.3) finds now location without SIM and WLAN since I configured it to use GPS only, no WLAN, BT or Google assist. It will be interesting to compare those two on a longer road trip.
How do you replace Mozilla with Yandex?
Instructions: HOW TO: using Yandex as Mozilla location service replacement
I’m not sure if you need to change Android settings, too. I used Aliendalvik Control and to set Android use same settins as Sailfish - maximum accuracy.
I also wrote a blog post here: https://www.ncartron.org/use-yandex-as-replacement-for-mozilla-location-service-on-sailfishos.html