yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Motorola Droid RAZR] docdockstader:
Hey guys, first off, I have searched for no less than 2 hours for an answer to this question, and while there are lots of discussions, none of them seem to replicate what I am seeing.

Can anyone confirm this, and does anyone have a fix?

GPS will not lock a single satelite in Airplane Mode. I'm in American Samoa without cell coverage, and using the GPS Status app to test. Here's my findings:

First, I turn off Airplane mode, turn on WiFi (connected), turn on GPS. I do not get a cell signal. I open GPS Status, GPS locks onto the first satelite within a minute, and locks position in 10 seconds after that. I turn Airplane mode on which turns WiFi off. Interestingly enough, GPS is not turned off. I turn GP Soff, and then turn it back on (have read suggestions to do so, and have also tried not switching it at all). I then turn Wifi on and verify connection. I open GPS Status, and let it sit for up to an hour outdoors, not a single satelite ever appears. I turn Airplane mode off, and within a minute I have a locked location.

So, two questions, is it possible to get GPS to work when in Airplane mode, or is it possible to disable the cell radio some other way (possibly keeping GPS enabled)?

Here's my stats:

Phone: Moto Razr Maxx

Rooted: Yup

Carrier: Verizon

Sys Version: 6.12.181.XT912.Verizon.en.US

Android Version: 2.3.6

Baseband: CMDA_N_04.07.01R LTEDC_U_07.1F.00

Purchased about a month ago
[Motorola Droid RAZR] docdockstader:
Playing around a bit more, I noticed that when I have airplane mode off, and GPS on, and GPS Status open, if I quickly hit the home button, turn Airplane mode on, and go back into GPS Status, a lock remains for about 3-5 seconds, and then satelites slowly start disappearing until there's none left. Airplane mode is definitely disabling GPS on my phone.
[Motorola Droid RAZR] docdockstader:
Anyone? Bueller.... Bueller... Bueller...

I can post video if you don't believe me...
[Motorola Droid RAZR] droidmo:
I have read that the GPS needs a data connection to make a lock. I don't remember where I read that, but I had the same problem when I was in Europe trying to use my phone primarily as a GPS device with cached maps. There was maybe once or twice that it actually locked, out of many many many many attempts.
[Motorola Droid RAZR] risslerp:
I have airplane mode on, wifi and blutooth off, then turn on gps, I get gps lock on my Droid Razr with stock gingerbread for a short period then lose all satellites. It appears that you can't use gps with airplane mode on.
[Motorola Droid RAZR] iolinux333:
bump i have been wondering about this also. airlines often expressly allow gps. after all, gps RECEIVES, it doesn't transmit.
[Motorola Droid RAZR] kreez:
Actually GPS doesn't need data connection to make a lock. But with data connection it helps make lock much faster.. that's the features called A-GPS (Assisted-GPS), google around about A-GPS for more detailed info how it works.

I always turn off my data connection every time i use my razr for navigation. I only turn data connection sometimes to make the GPS locked and after i got a lock i always turn off the data connection (I'm not on data plan) and even i didn't turn on my data connection I still can get a lock as long as i am outdoor. So far i never had razr GPS lock problems. This phone's GPS never disappoint me. ;)

My guess is maybe it's some kinda bug on the airplane mode or maybe that's intentionally for some safety reasons.
[Motorola Droid RAZR] kvarga:
Same here. I did:

- open maps, locate my position. ok.

- turn off wifi and data

- go back to maps, position ok.

- longpress power, turrn on airplane

- gps starts blinking, position lost

- turn off airplane, but data remains off

- gps position found in 2 seconds

(also tried with "GPS Test" app - same result)

I have MAXX AsiaRetail stock 2.3.6
[Motorola Droid RAZR] docdockstader:
Thanks guys, nice to know it's not just me! Just to clarify some other posts, GPS works with or without a data connection as long as airplane mode is off.

So, seeing as though airplane mode kills GPS, does anyone know of a way to disable the cell radio (to save battery life) without turning on airplane mode?

And just to comfort those who worry about flying, I'm just using the phone for directions and what not (American Samoa doesn't have street addresses believe it or not, and 2 houses past the third palm tree doesn't cut it :)). I download the directions while at the hotel on wifi, then go about my way, but if I can't use GPS in airplane mode, it kills the battery searching for a cell tower.
[Motorola Droid RAZR] docdockstader:
Couldn't agree more, while in the states with cell reception, this phone's GPS is fantastic! Unfortunately, if you have to keep airplane mode off to have it work, it's useless in the back country, or 3rd world countries. Maybe today's ICS release will fix the bug!
[Motorola Droid RAZR] risslerp:
I don't think it's a bug. My droid X did the same thing.
[Motorola Droid RAZR] iolinux333:
Ah yes, feature not bug. :cyclops:
[Motorola Droid RAZR] O_G:
Moved To Q&A​

Please Post questions in the Q&A section​
[Motorola Droid RAZR] droidleaf:
On my Razr Maxx I also have no gps in airplane mode. I'm running the official 4.04.

I'm going to guess this is because the droid radio chip has gps integrated along with the cellular radios. Here's my evidence:

Turning off the radio with the LTE OnOff app (it just opens the radio service menu, same as dialing the service number), and pressing "Turn radio off": Gps Test would never see any satellites and would never get a gps lock.

Setting the "preferred network type" to "GSM only" (this has no service in Seattle with Verizon): Gps Test immediately sees satellites and I get a gps lock.

I wish there was an option to turn off all the cellular radios but to leave the gps radio on. I use my razr maxx hiking with offline topo maps and OruxMaps, and it lasts about 8 hours recording tracks every 1 minute.
[Motorola Droid RAZR] Ryco26:
Possible solution?

My findings are that when using my Razr Maxx still on 2.3.6 stock settings, If I run the GPS Test application with GPS, 3G data and cellular on (airplane mode off) it acquires my location accurate of 10 feet, using 8-12 satellites in approximately 10 or so seconds. If I exit, toggle Airplane mode on, relaunch GPS Test, it will acquire my location in the same time, accuracy and with again 8-12 satellites. But If I exit, toggle GPS off and then Airplane mode on, Toggle GPS on, relaunch GPS Test, it will not be able to locate any satellites.

Now, with that said, if I go into my data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases/ directory and open the settings.db file, in the "system" entry, I do not have gps listed in either the "airplane_mode_radios" or the "airplane_mode_toggleable_radios" values. I do have "cell,bluetooth,wifi" under the airplane_mode_radios value, and "bluetooth,wifi" under the airplane_mode_toggleable_radios value.

I do not know how this looks in ICS for the Razr (4.0.4). I also do not know if gps is even able to be included here. Just a theory.

I might be on to something that may work and you will need to be rooted.

I warn you, that I have not tried modifying this myself, so I cannot verify it will work. Do not try this if you aren't comfortable with attempting it without it being verified to work first.

What I'm thinking is to use an app like Root Explorer and navigate into the data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases/ directory. Open and edit the settings.db file with an app like SQLite editor. Then open the "system" database entry. Check to see if on around lines 21 and 22 there are entries named "airplane_mode_radios" and "airplane_mode_toggleable_radios". Once located, check to see if their values include gps among the other available radios. If the airplane_mode_radios value includes gps, then long press, tap edit field, remove it and save. If gps is not listed under the airplane_mode_toggleable_radios then long press, edit field, add gps and save. Exit and reboot.

I think with doing this, it should not turn GPS off when airplane mode is toggled on and it should allow you to toggle GPS on and off while airplane mode is on.

If anyone else knows of an easier or proven way to do this then let us know.

If you know this will not work, correct me and let me know.
[Motorola Droid RAZR] hantav:
I'd like to confirm that I'm having the same issue of having no GPS connectivity when in airplane mode even though the GPS has been toggled on. Numerous other forums have stated that this is a hardware issue with Motorola phones. I'm curious if the above quoted solution has worked for anybody.

Thank you!
[Motorola Droid RAZR] hantav:
This is the response that I got from Motorola after asking the general question about having GPS turned on when airplane mode is on:

"When airplane mode is enabled, this will automatically disable all wireless and radio communication on the device including the GPS receiver. Because the phone, in order to determine location, takes readings from both GPS satellites and nearby cellular base stations (towers), with the help of a location server on the network. In other words, the phone relies on the network for help in determining location. Although the phone does receive GPS signals directly from the satellites, it can't determine actual location without help from the cell network."

Therefore, you can't use the GPS radio by itself.
[Motorola Droid RAZR] MrCavity:
But the GPS still works fine when I am far away from any cell towers of any kind...

I think whoever responded to you was trying to justify airplane mode turning off GPS. There must be a way to force it to stay on.

It has certainly frustrated me that I can't use airplane mode to save battery while using GPS.
[Motorola Droid RAZR] hantav:
I'm by no means an expert on this issue but I think the GPS and cellular radios are physically connected (on the same chip??) inside most Motorola phones. So even though you might not be near a cellular tower, and if airplane mode if off, you should be able to get a GPS signal. But if airplane mode is on, then both the cellular and GPS radios will be turned off.

Basically, the interwebs is pointing to a hardware issue rather then an a software issue. However, I hope a software solution is available.
[Motorola Droid RAZR] SoonerLater:
I'd give $20 for a software solution to this problem. I am an avid hiker. Using a cell phone in Airplane Mode you get 4x, 5x, 6x the battery life. If I can use GPS while in Airplane Mode, I can hike a very long time, but if I'm forced to leave the cell radio on merely to use GPS, the battery won't last a full day's hike. It is

ridiculous

that we can't (yet) use GPS in Airplane Mode. I have been using ViewRanger offline navigation app for years. I download to the phone before I leave home all of the topo maps that I need for a hike, so I have no need for data when I'm hiking.

Did anyone ever try editing the systems.db file in data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases/ directory? I can't tell that the guy that wrote that post ever tried it himself.

EDIT: I found here documentation of these two settings.

My XT912 is rooted and I have System set to read-write. I tried to use SQLite to edit the value of AIRPLANE_MODE_TOGGLEABLE_RADIOS in the System table of /data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases/System.db to change it from "bluetooth,wifi,nfc" to "bluetooth,wifi,nfc,gps" but even though I have write permissions to the file, when I tried, I received this error:

I went searching for how to edit settings.db and found this thread and this other thread, but I don't fully understand the instructions.

Bottom Line

: if this is truly a hardware problem, then editing this file won't fix the problem (but likely won't cause any harm either), but if this is merely a software problem, then this may finally give us GPS use while in Airplane Mode.
[Motorola Droid RAZR] morbrakai:
From looking at other posts, and talking with the Verizon reps, GPS relies on the sim card for some reason. With this in mind I am guessing that going to airplane mode bypasses the sim card in some way and renders GPS inoperable.
[HTC Sensation] flamechamp:
Hi all, I took some time creating these two splash screen. hope someone will like it ^^

[update]

NOw I've included some splash screen for CHARIZARD release in the future :)

for now, maybe only the tester will use in though :P
[HTC Sensation] Rolando88:
!!?!!!! Those are awesome!! I think you need to prepare some with Charizard ;)
[HTC Sensation] flamechamp:
no prob, it's a quick work though :P
[HTC Sensation] flamechamp:
anyone have idea what kind of splash screen should I make next? :P
[HTC Sensation] Rolando88:
These too but then with charizards beta testers will get the new Charizard rom today or tomorrow
[HTC Sensation] flamechamp:
I can make the charizard too later :)

when the ROM comes out, the splash will be there too :P
[HTC Sensation] flamechamp:
UPDATED with some Charizard screens... will keep updating ^^
[HTC Sensation] blackwing182:
if you made one with tyranitar or Gengar would be perfect ( charizard is my favorite ) but i like these 2 btw!!!
[HTC Sensation] Rolando88:
Thanks mate can you change the yellow one from yellow to more kind of red background please
[HTC Sensation] flamechamp:
Since the ROM name is Charizard, so I made one with the Charizard :P

But if I have some free time I'll made one specially customized for you :)

You mean the one with flying charizard right? I'll change it and send it to you personally :)

[update] sent to your mailbox
[HTC Sensation] Rolando88:
Thank you si much mate!
[HTC Sensation] flamechamp:
oh no, my splash screen is obsolete :(
[HTC Sensation] jslim38:
Nice work im downloading now the only thing I need now is wallpaper to complement my new pkmn Rom
[HTC Sensation] flamechamp:
The problem is that the pkmn team decided to change the ROM name...
[Galaxy S III Q&A, (US Carriers)] Eaglemaniac:
To those who have the phone, any issues with playing Pandora in your car via USB cable?
[Galaxy S III Q&A, (US Carriers)] Eaglemaniac:
Bump
[Galaxy S III Q&A, (US Carriers)] bigblue95z:
You are super early bro. And according to a Supercurio tweet, usb audio isn't possible on the international version.
[Galaxy S III Q&A, (US Carriers)] the_buzz_man:
I will be following this thread too.

Of greatest importance to me (yes, I am being selfish here) is the ability to be able to plug in one cable to charge and output audio. I would like to see a microUSB to usb/rca type connection. I know they had one working for the S2. They did something with a resistor and had it go into car mode which then enabled analog audio output. At least, that is the way I understood it. Hopefully something like that with the S3 will come out.

the_buzz_man
[Galaxy S III Q&A, (US Carriers)] Eaglemaniac:
Seriously. I mean, my wife's Blackberry Curve from 2010 connects to my car's usb and plays audio just fine. My Iphone 4 does just fine. Heck, my One X (that I had for 3 hours) could do it too. Why not SGS 3?
[Galaxy S III Q&A, (US Carriers)] msherman123:
Not to jack the thread, but is there a car mode for the S3? How does it get turned on?
[Galaxy S III Q&A, (US Carriers)] the_buzz_man:
I would like to know this as well. Would love to see a video of it working and what all it actually does when switched into car mode.

the_buzz_man
[Galaxy S III Q&A, (US Carriers)] send2amrish:
Not to brag but i have bluetooth streaming so i aint worried.
[Galaxy S III Q&A, (US Carriers)] the_buzz_man:
I was actually sitting here looking at BT decks on crutchfield. I really dont want to have to change out my deck just to get that feature, but it may be something I end up doing anyway. We will see.

Was looking at the Pioneer DEH-P9400BH. Gets great reviews on the call quality and the BT streaming. That is the two most important aspects to me. Less than $250 isn't too bad, and that includes two rear USB ports for charging.

Man, this $199 phone upgrade is gonna end up costing me a lot more......

the_buzz_man
[Galaxy S III Q&A, (US Carriers)] CZ Eddie:
I'm using my SIII with the Samsung Infuse OEM car dock.

This dock has USB and 3.5mm audio jacks built into it.

All I have to do is slide the SIII into the dock, turn on my car stereo and I'm listening to music/pandora/radio all through the USB connection on the dock.

But the dock sends audio to my car stereo through the 3.5mm audio jack.

It does work great though.
[Galaxy S III Q&A, (US Carriers)] the_buzz_man:
OK, this sounds promising. Just to verify, the only connection to the phone is the microUSB port on the dock correct? The dock itself has 3.5mm output as well as some sort of USB input for charging.

I have a few quick questions if you don't mind. First, is the S3 charging well in this dock? By charging well, I don't mean super fast. Just good enough that the percentage is going up while playing with the phone. Sometimes my little girl likes to watch movies or play games while traveling.

Second, do you notice any humming or other noises when listening to the music. I know some systems will give you that ground-loop interference when playing from the phone. I am hoping that,by coming from the digital connection of the phone, it wouldn't be an issue.

Lastly, does the phone go into "car mode" when docked this way? I'm not exactly sure what all this does, but gather that it changes the screen to make it easier to use while driving.

I appreciate your information and look forward to your reply. This gives me hope that it will soon be easy to get the connection I need and have this playing right in my car. Of course, there isn't a great rush as I haven't even ordered the phone yet. I want to hold it in my hand before I give up the money. Not keen on doing the pre-order thing.

the_buzz_man
[Galaxy S III Q&A, (US Carriers)] CZ Eddie:
Yep!

Correct on both counts.

Yeah, the charge isn't as fast as if you're connected directly to a cig lighter charger.

If you use GPS, the charge goes down instead of up. But not as bad as if you weren't charging at all.

But if you're just surfing the net or using Pandora then charge goes up very slowly.

NONE! I don't notice any noise at all.

I have an amplifier installed though, which is grounded properly.

It instantly goes into car mode. And S-Voice comes up. I'm going to be looking into options because I don't want S-Voice to come up.

Here is the current Infuse dock thread for the SIII:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1725013

And here is my SIII sitting in my OEM Samsung Infuse dock.

Audio out through the 3.5mm audio jack integrated into the dock works beautiful.

Turn my car off, then back on and the music starts playing again right away.

Wish I could say the same for bluetooth.

USB 3.5mm audio *might* sound better than bluetooth too, btw.

That "S" bracket thingy on the top of the dock is my Sony bluetooth microphone.

The other two cables plugging into the dock are the USB and 3.5mm audio cable.

I routed all the wires behind my dash, using the defroster vents.
[Galaxy S III Q&A, (US Carriers)] NA 521":
CZ Eddie,

Am I correct in assuming that analog audio is going out of the phone through the usb port or is there a DAC in the dock?
[Galaxy S III Q&A, (US Carriers)] CZ Eddie:
Initial impressions of Bluetooth vs. 3.5mm audio in my car.

BLUETOOTH:

-Bluetooth takes a minute to connect when first starting up car.

-Sometimes my car stereo needs to be rebooted to recognize the bluetooth.

-When I turn my car off and then back on, the music/connection doesn't always come right back up.

3.5MM AUDIO:

-Music instantly starts playing at all times, even when starting car up.

-If I remove phone from dock to play with it, then music stops of course because the connection was removed.

-If I plug phone back into dock, I may have to press "play" again.

-I didn't get to spend a lot of time on it, but I think 3.5mm might have sounded better. Hard to say though because I just blew a speaker. :rolleyes:

---------- Post added at 10:21 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:19 AM ----------

There is no DAC in the dock.

Pretty sure it's analog audio coming out.

The 3.5mm jack on the phone uses the phone's internal DAC. BUT, I don't know if that's the same with this weird USB/3.5mm connection? I'd sure like to find out though.
[Galaxy S III Q&A, (US Carriers)] the_buzz_man:
Awesome, Awesome, Awesome.......this makes me feel much more comfortable about getting this phone. From what I have read in the past, people would make a DIY cable and have a resistor in line that would make the phone go into car mode and enable analog output as well as usb charging. With the way they changed things with the S3 microUSB, I was scared that that option wouldn't be there anymore. This makes me think that those same DIY cables would work.

I take it the S3 fits perfect in that dock, at least it looks like it does. I plan on putting some sort of case on it, so the dock wouldn't work for me. But, that DIY cable should work great.

Now I can stop looking at BT car stereo decks.....I really didn't want to upgrade as I like my current system. It outputs to a couple of amps, so I wouldn't expect any feedback also.

I am much appreciative of you posting your findings along with the pics.

the_buzz_man
[Galaxy S III Q&A, (US Carriers)] msherman123:
Can you link your dock?
[Galaxy S III Q&A, (US Carriers)] CZ Eddie:
It's in the link I posted above.
[Galaxy S III Q&A, (US Carriers)] cproaudio:
Does anyone know when streaming audio via BT does ID tag show up on the headunit? Does this phone support AVCRP 1.3 or 1.4?
[Galaxy S III Q&A, (US Carriers)] the_buzz_man:
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1395173

Here is the link to the forum in the S2 section that I was following which shows how to make a cable that will both charge and output analog audio from the microUSB port while putting the phone in "car mode."

If any of you are so inclined to be able to forge this cable and test it out, I would very much be interested in knowing for sure that it works on the S3. My thoughts are that it should work fine since the OEM Infuse dock is working and I am sure it is using something similar to this inside the dock.

Once I get my S3 (waiting for them to be sold in stores), I am planning on making a cable like this and trying it out. Does anyone think testing this out would cause any harm to the phone? To me, if it would, then using that Infuse dock would have messed it up also.

Thanks for any input you may have.

the_buzz_man
[Galaxy S III Q&A, (US Carriers)] msherman123:
Does the phone go into car mode automatically w/ this dock? I still cannot figure how to manually put it in car mode (except w/ an nfc tag). Does all the car mode on the S3 do is not make it go to sleep or does it also put everything into landscape mode?
[Galaxy S III Q&A, (US Carriers)] CZ Eddie:
yes

it brings up s-voice and probably does a few other things.
[Galaxy S III Q&A, (US Carriers)] msherman123:
Thank you. I assume you then issue commands through S-Voice? I have not gotten into it much. I do hope you can turn off s-voice and click manually.
[Galaxy S III Q&A, (US Carriers)] CZ Eddie:
I haven't really spent any time with S-Voice yet.

I just click the "return" capacitive button to make it go away.

It then goes to my normal looking desktop pages.

I'm sure there is a way to customize car dock mode to do (or not do) various things, but I haven't had time to look into it yet.
[Galaxy S III Q&A, (US Carriers)] Ansextra:
Can anyone post screenshots of what car mode looks like on the S3? Just curious.
[Galaxy S III Q&A, (US Carriers)] gtafairlane:
Does anyone know if the SGS will read text over the Ford sync system?
[Galaxy S III Q&A, (US Carriers)] mercado79:
i know it's not the same thing at all, but i just bought a bluetooth headset, the samsung hs3000.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16875982446

simply use an auxiliary cable to connect it to your car's aux port. pair it with your phone and you're golden. it's on sale right now on newegg for only $22.99. i bought it last week for $30 and amazon sells it for $34. might be an option (definitely a cheaper one than buying a new deck!).

anyway, glad i looked this up for you. :) i'm off to see about a price adjustment!