[HTC Desire S] keithscarfe:
Bad / useless GPS reception.

Sorry for the long first post but I have been here for a while reading and absorbing all the information on here. I wonder if anyone can help me here.

Basically my GPS reception is rubbish. Lots and lots of people with this phone say it is great so it must be something wrong with my phone, either the hardware or some setting in the software.

I have posted some questions on another forum but I still cant understand what is wrong so I thought I would post on here as there seem to be a great wealth of knowledgeable people on here. Please feel free to tell me to look somewhere else if you know of some answers and I will apologise now for wasting your time.

Should I be looking at installing a different Rom, mine is the factory default, if so which one may make it better does anyone know.

Thank you very much for any help.

Keith.

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Here is some of the previous transcript which should explain the problem:

More of a rant really than a question, but I have come to the conclusion that the GPS on my phone is useless. When I first got the phone (feb 11) it seemed to work ok. I could use gps quite happily for navigation apps, but now it is rubbish. I put another thread on here a while ago saying that it could ‘see’ satellites but would not lock and give a position. Now it only occasionally sees any. Can the reception degrade over time? I am using it out doors with a perfectly clear sky, wifi on, data on, and have tried putting the phone down in case holding it impairs the signal but it is just rubbish. I loaded an app recently called GPS test (this is android btw) and this shows the signal strength of each satellite. When it eventually sees some or any, the strength is always in the low (orange SNR10) range again with clear sky etc. I recon when it does occasionally get a signal in the yellow (20 SNR) that’s when it locks on and gives a fix but I cant prove this as it does it so rarely these days. I am guessing there is something faulty with the phone or GPS receiver. Anyone know if this reception can be improved in any way? Eg. standing on your head with a finger in you ear. Anyone else have this phone and find the same as me, or is it just mine? My Nokia that I had before was great and would lock on straight away, is the HTC just rubbish?

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On quite a few HTC phones the config file is set to USA ... the file is a text file named gps.conf and resides in \system\etc folder

it can easily be replaced if you phone lets you have access to that folder, or a 'fix' can be re-flashed if your phone is rooted.

the correct settings for UK are as below, and if you want a working gps.conf file, or the flash, PM me and I can supply them.

if you can 'see' and edit your current file, and it is not as follows, then edit it as shown.

note that # signs are just comments and those lines need not be included.

## NTP Time server, use a local one ##

NTP_SERVER=0.europe.pool.ntp.org

# NTP_SERVER=0.uk.pool.ntp.org

# NTP_SERVER=0.asia.pool.ntp.org

# NTP_SERVER=0.oceania.pool.ntp.org

# NTP_SERVER=0.north-america.pool.ntp.org

# NTP_SERVER=0.south-america.pool.ntp.org

# NTP_SERVER=0.africa.pool.ntp.org

XTRA_SERVER_1=

XTRA_SERVER_2=

XTRA_SERVER_3=

DEBUG_LEVEL = 3

## Intermediate positioning, reduces accuracy, increases speed

INTERMEDIATE_POS=1

## Accuracy threshold for intermediate positioning

## 0 for no threshold causes 'Skipton bug'

ACCURACY_THRES=5000

## Enables network positioning before you get a gps fix

ENABLE_WIPER=1

### AGPS SETTINGS ###

## Use Google AGPS server

SUPL_HOST=supl.google.com

SUPL_PORT=7276

## Comment the above 2 lines & uncomment the lines below to use Orange UK AGPS server

#SUPL_HOST=agpss.orange.co.uk

#SUPL_PORT=7275

## More AGPS settings

CURRENT_CARRIER=common

DEFAULT_AGPS_ENABLE=TRUE

DEFAULT_SSL_ENABLE=FALSE

DEFAULT_USER_PLANE=TRUE

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I hope have fixed it. It is working great now. . . . . for the moment.

I tried lots of things, rooting the phone so I could modify the gps config file, followed all the suggestions about recalibrating it, installed FasterFix. Nothing. In fact it got so bad that it just wouldnt work at all. My next step was going to be to install a different rom to see if that made it better. I had one already to go, but first it says to perform a full factory reset. so I did this. mmmm I thought, I wonder if that makes the gps work... and sure enough this is what seemed to fix it. It now locks on with in 10 secs and is perfect, just as it was when new. I didn't bother with the rom just carried on with the original one after the reset.

So if you have a similar problem, I can recommend you do the same - perform a full factory reset.

Remember you will loose everything you have installed and all your contacts so make sure you back these up first. I then went through reinstalling all my apps and GPS is still working well. Something must have go in there to stop it working but I havent found what it was yet. Fingers crossed it keeps on working.

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Solution found! I had a HTC desire and sold it coz it had this issue. I got myself an s2 and same issue.I spent a couple of hours messing with kernel and stuff to no avail anyway the solution I found is: Download any giffgaff apn app from market and delete all old apns than add and delete giffgaff apn a couple of times and presto gps suddenly works fine with about a 30second time until first lock followed by about 3seconds overtime after that God knows what the apn has to do with gps but it works!

I hope this helps others with similar issues!

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Do you know I think you are on to it here. Well it defo works again at the moment after doing as you suggest.

I downloaded the app called giffgaffAPN. Deleted and re added it a few times. At first, it didnt seem to be any better but I then reset the phone and ta-da instant (ish) lock on. It has been ok since the weekend so looking good. I wonder how long it will go this time before it stops working. When it does Ill do the above again. Hopefully this is the fix. But like you I wonder why the APN settings affect it. Strange.

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This fix above defo worked for me to start with but now it wont. I was out the other day and needed the GPS so did the above procedure but it wouldn't work. I tried it what must have been a dozen times, deleting, restoring and resetting the phone, but nothing. It just sits there and maybe after 10 minutes it will see a couple of satellites but after 1 hour I gave up waiting for it to fix position. It is infuriating. Why is mine so bad when others say it is no problem on theirs? Time for another factory reset to see if that fixes it. Trouble is I loose all my downloaded apps which is a real pain. Anyone know how to fix this?