Palm Pre Plus GPS issues

shadedecho · 01/26/2010, 08:37 PM

I picked up the new Pre Plus yesterday from Verizon. Love the phone in most respects. But one big deal breaker so far. I cannot get GPS to work in Google Maps.

I have turned on GPS in Location Services (and set to "auto"). When I open up Google Maps, it says "Unable to determine your location".

When I turn on "Google Services" in Location Services, Google Maps does the whole cell-tower estimation thing with the light-blue circle around the dot. It never picks up any GPS signal.

I live in a big populated city, and side-by-side with my wife's iPhone, she can get a perfect GPS signal and I can't get any at all.

I've also done a couple of resets, still same behavior.

Anyone know what gives? Wish I had more control over the GPS settings. I can't get it to work for the life of me. Nor could the guy at the Verizon store.

vetteman303 · 01/26/2010, 08:45 PM

Did you have to buy a VZW navigator service? I wen through the online store in a mock purchase (can't upgrade until 2/5) to see what cost I came up with at checkout and was not even offered the nav service on the "features" section. I am wondering if it is included like with the Driod.

shadedecho · 01/27/2010, 12:44 AM

I'm told that the VZNavigator service is only if you want the fancy voice turn-by-turn directions and so forth. So no, I did not pay the extra $10/mo for that.

I just want the GPS-driven "dot" inside Google Maps to tell me where I currently am.

stephndudb · 01/27/2010, 06:23 AM

I was having the same problem. I went to Location Services/Preferences/Locate Me Using... I turned off Use Google Services then turned GPS off and on again. That fixed it for a while. This morning I had to do it again, though.

rwrighter · 01/27/2010, 07:22 AM

I got my Pre Plus from Verizon on Monday. Love the phone and operating system, but Google Maps tells me I'm a third of a mile north and east of where I actually am. My iPhone, in contrast, gets it right within 20 yards.

Anyone else having this problem?

And is there a thread for Pre Plus issues in general? Sorry if I missed it--I'm new to this forum.

Thanks

john3976 · 01/27/2010, 07:26 AM

Mine was off at first but after awhile it put me just about on top of my home, I wonder if it is just acquiring data from the sats?

john3976 · 01/27/2010, 07:30 AM

I just tried it again and I am several blacks from my home now, It could be because I am indoors and it is not picking up the sats.

I will try it later out side to see if gets better. To cold right now.

Bjarne · 01/27/2010, 07:52 AM

Guys, I just tested my location using both Sprint Navigation and Google Maps. Both of them placed me on top of my house. That both are the same is not a surprise since the GPS information comes from the same source. Is the accuracy in this case due to the phone has been in this location for the last 12 hours or so. If I remember it I will do some checking later today.

Note: In Oct of last year I was at the AIBF and used the FindMyCar app to re-locate where I parked a rental. I have to say it worked OK. The combination of knowing where you are, where you are going and some assistance from the app got me back to the car. Could I have handed over the keys and the phone to a stranger and asked them to get my car? Hmmm, not 100% sure that would have worked and who would have done that anyway?

GenericMusings · 01/27/2010, 07:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by john3976

I just tried it again and I am several ~~blacks~~ blocks from my home now, It could be because I am indoors and it is not picking up the sats.

I will try it later out side to see if gets better. To Too cold right now.

Sounds to me like your phone might not have a satellite lock and is instead triangulating your position using cell towers.

rwrighter · 01/27/2010, 08:04 AM

Thanks, GenericMusings

How does one go about getting a satellite lock? Or are you just saying that my phone has failed to lock onto a satellite--i.e., that it's not functioning properly?

shadedecho · 01/27/2010, 08:29 AM

I just tried that... same exact behavior, didn't fix it at all.

rc46 · 10:17 AM

Dieter had the same problem on the Palmcast. I wonder if Verizon is back to their old tricks and disabled it to force people to buy their Verizon navigation?

stephndudb · 01/27/2010, 08:40 AM

UPDATE: Chatted online with Palm Support this AM. Had me go to Device Info/Preferences/Interactive Tests and run the GPS diagnostics. He seemed to believe that would solve the problem. Recommend you contact them and do the same. The more they hear about it, the more likely a fix in a future update (I hope).

slydog43 · 01/27/2010, 10:02 AM

I have the same problem, need fix please

videogmike · 01/27/2010, 10:38 AM

mine hadn't been working since i got it monday, but it seems to be working today, not really sure why. I didn't do much to try and make it work...under location services i have geotag and share usage with google off. it seems to be working now. have you guys also tried the ##gps## in the call screen and hit "get fix"? i did that too i'm not sure if that made it work or if it was a coincidence.

swieder · 01/27/2010, 12:12 PM

I heard from another GPS applications vendor that Verizon was locking down the GPS on the Pre Plus to push people to the Vz navigation application!

I hope there is a work around for this problem so that Google Maps and other GPS-based applications work correctly.

stephndudb · 01/27/2010, 09:32 PM

OK, I think I may have a handle on this now. I forgot about something else I did yesterday. Now I think there are 2 things going on:

1. The GPS goes to sleep under certain conditions. It might be a time interval, but I suspect it's after an extended period with no satellites in view (that might be why some people don't have the problem - their Pre is near a window or something). You can wake it back up by toggling GPS off/on under the location services menu as I wrote earlier, BUT...

2. Google Location Services prevents the GPS from waking up.

My Pre was fine all day as long as I stopped/restarted GPS when I went back outside after being in for a while. Then I turned Google Location Services back on. All was good for a while. Then I went back into work for several hours tonight. When I came out, GPS was dead.

Couldn't get it to restart until I remembered that I popped the battery out yesterday before I got GPS working. So, here's how I got GPS working again tonight:

1. Go to Location Services/Preferences and stop both GPS and Google Location Services.
2. Completely shut down the Pre and remove the battery, then replace.
3. After the reboot, go to Location Services/Preferences and restart GPS.
4. DON'T restart Google Location Services.
5. If GPS goes to sleep, stop/restart it in the Location Services preferences.

This procedure has worked twice for me now. I have both compass and Google Maps running right now. Hope this helps.

b8b · 01/27/2010, 10:52 PM

This is a total PITA. Why doesn't it just work? My friend's works just fine. So strange.

MynTi FreSh · 01/28/2010, 01:51 AM

Everytime i go into google maps it shows that my location is about 1/2 mile away. Im inside right now so idk if thats efffecting it in anyway. Just wondering if its a problem or not

skohcl · 01/28/2010, 01:54 AM

I've had that happen to me once... on my VZW Pre Plus, happening right now too, kind of a bummer, but I just type in the city and I can find where I need to go from there.

Oh woops, I had GPS off. nvm! ^_^

01/26/2010, 08:37 PM	#1 (permalink)
shadedecho Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 9 Likes Received: 0 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	GPS not working in Google Maps on Verizon Pre Plus I picked up the new Pre Plus yesterday from Verizon. Love the phone in most respects. But one big deal breaker so far. I cannot get GPS to work in Google Maps. I have turned on GPS in Location Services (and set to "auto"). When I open up Google Maps, it says "Unable to determine your location". When I turn on "Google Services" in Location Services, Google Maps does the whole cell-tower estimation thing with the light-blue circle around the dot. It never picks up any GPS signal. I live in a big populated city, and side-by-side with my wife's iPhone, she can get a perfect GPS signal and I can't get any at all. I've also done a couple of resets, still same behavior. Anyone know what gives? Wish I had more control over the GPS settings. I can't get it to work for the life of me. Nor could the guy at the Verizon store.
	Liked by

01/26/2010, 08:45 PM	#2 (permalink)
vetteman303 Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Along the Front Range, CO Posts: 14 Likes Received: 0 Thanks: 8 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Did you have to buy a VZW navigator service? I wen through the online store in a mock purchase (can't upgrade until 2/5) to see what cost I came up with at checkout and was not even offered the nav service on the "features" section. I am wondering if it is included like with the Driod.
	Liked by

01/27/2010, 12:44 AM	#3 (permalink)
shadedecho Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 9 Likes Received: 0 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	I'm told that the VZNavigator service is only if you want the fancy voice turn-by-turn directions and so forth. So no, I did not pay the extra $10/mo for that. I just want the GPS-driven "dot" inside Google Maps to tell me where I currently am.
	Liked by

01/27/2010, 06:23 AM	#4 (permalink)
stephndudb Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 73 Likes Received: 11 Thanks: 3 Thanked 11 Times in 5 Posts	Verizon GPS workaround I was having the same problem. I went to Location Services/Preferences/Locate Me Using... I turned off Use Google Services then turned GPS off and on again. That fixed it for a while. This morning I had to do it again, though.
	Liked by Thanked by capt4chris, Dieter Bohn, LLC23, streetskooler

01/27/2010, 07:22 AM	#5 (permalink)
rwrighter Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 13 Likes Received: 0 Thanks: 3 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Pre Plus Problem: GPS/Google Maps I got my Pre Plus from Verizon on Monday. Love the phone and operating system, but Google Maps tells me I'm a third of a mile north and east of where I actually am. My iPhone, in contrast, gets it right within 20 yards. Anyone else having this problem? And is there a thread for Pre Plus issues in general? Sorry if I missed it--I'm new to this forum. Thanks
	Liked by

01/27/2010, 07:26 AM	#6 (permalink)
john3976 Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 69 Likes Received: 0 Thanks: 1 Thanked 8 Times in 4 Posts	Mine was off at first but after awhile it put me just about on top of my home, I wonder if it is just acquiring data from the sats?
	Liked by

01/27/2010, 07:30 AM	#7 (permalink)
john3976 Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 69 Likes Received: 0 Thanks: 1 Thanked 8 Times in 4 Posts	I just tried it again and I am several blacks from my home now, It could be because I am indoors and it is not picking up the sats. I will try it later out side to see if gets better. To cold right now.
	Liked by

01/27/2010, 07:52 AM	#8 (permalink)
Bjarne Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Napa CA Posts: 131 Likes Received: 0 Thanks: 14 Thanked 7 Times in 5 Posts	Guys, I just tested my location using both Sprint Navigation and Google Maps. Both of them placed me on top of my house. That both are the same is not a surprise since the GPS information comes from the same source. Is the accuracy in this case due to the phone has been in this location for the last 12 hours or so. If I remember it I will do some checking later today. Note: In Oct of last year I was at the AIBF and used the FindMyCar app to re-locate where I parked a rental. I have to say it worked OK. The combination of knowing where you are, where you are going and some assistance from the app got me back to the car. Could I have handed over the keys and the phone to a stranger and asked them to get my car? Hmmm, not 100% sure that would have worked and who would have done that anyway? __________________ Bjarne Winkler --------------------------------------------------- ==> Pre: There's a patch for that!
	Liked by

01/27/2010, 08:04 AM	#10 (permalink)
rwrighter Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 13 Likes Received: 0 Thanks: 3 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Thanks, GenericMusings How does one go about getting a satellite lock? Or are you just saying that my phone has failed to lock onto a satellite--i.e., that it's not functioning properly?
	Liked by

01/27/2010, 08:29 AM	#11 (permalink)
shadedecho Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 9 Likes Received: 0 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	I just tried that... same exact behavior, didn't fix it at all.
	Liked by

01/27/2010, 08:32 AM	#12 (permalink)
rc46 Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 1,650 Likes Received: 1 Thanks: 186 Thanked 203 Times in 133 Posts	Dieter had the same problem on the Palmcast. I wonder if Verizon is back to their old tricks and disabled it to force people to buy their Verizon navigation? __________________ Pilot 1000 -> Pilot 5000 ->Palm Pilot Professional -> HP 620LX -> TRG Pro -> Palm V -> Palm Vx -> Palm M505 -> Palm i705 -> Palm Tungsten\|T -> Samsung i500 -> Treo 600->Treo 650 -> Treo 600-> Treo 700p ->Centro ->Treo 800w + Redfly C8n -> Palm Pre -> HP Touchpad R.I.P Palm 1996-2011 Last edited by rc46; 01/27/2010 at 10:17 AM.
	Liked by

01/27/2010, 08:40 AM	#13 (permalink)
stephndudb Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 73 Likes Received: 11 Thanks: 3 Thanked 11 Times in 5 Posts	UPDATE: Chatted online with Palm Support this AM. Had me go to Device Info/Preferences/Interactive Tests and run the GPS diagnostics. He seemed to believe that would solve the problem. Recommend you contact them and do the same. The more they hear about it, the more likely a fix in a future update (I hope).
	Liked by

01/27/2010, 10:02 AM	#14 (permalink)
slydog43 Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 184 Likes Received: 0 Thanks: 111 Thanked 11 Times in 10 Posts	I have the same problem, need fix please
	Liked by

01/27/2010, 10:38 AM	#15 (permalink)
videogmike Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 84 Likes Received: 0 Thanks: 0 Thanked 3 Times in 2 Posts	mine hadn't been working since i got it monday, but it seems to be working today, not really sure why. I didn't do much to try and make it work...under location services i have geotag and share usage with google off. it seems to be working now. have you guys also tried the ##gps## in the call screen and hit "get fix"? i did that too i'm not sure if that made it work or if it was a coincidence.
	Liked by

01/27/2010, 12:12 PM	#16 (permalink)
swieder Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 1,968 Likes Received: 0 Thanks: 241 Thanked 67 Times in 61 Posts	I heard from another GPS applications vendor that Verizon was locking down the GPS on the Pre Plus to push people to the Vz navigation application! I hope there is a work around for this problem so that Google Maps and other GPS-based applications work correctly. __________________ Pilot 5K->Palm IIIc->Tungsten T/T2->Treo 650/680 -> Pre+ (1.4.5 & Uberkernel)
	Liked by

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Boy Genius Report	This thread	Refback	02/24/2010 09:22 PM
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01/27/2010, 09:32 PM	#17 (permalink)
stephndudb Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 73 Likes Received: 11 Thanks: 3 Thanked 11 Times in 5 Posts	OK, I think I may have a handle on this now. I forgot about something else I did yesterday. Now I think there are 2 things going on: 1. The GPS goes to sleep under certain conditions. It might be a time interval, but I suspect it's after an extended period with no satellites in view (that might be why some people don't have the problem - their Pre is near a window or something). You can wake it back up by toggling GPS off/on under the location services menu as I wrote earlier, BUT... 2. Google Location Services prevents the GPS from waking up. My Pre was fine all day as long as I stopped/restarted GPS when I went back outside after being in for a while. Then I turned Google Location Services back on. All was good for a while. Then I went back into work for several hours tonight. When I came out, GPS was dead. Couldn't get it to restart until I remembered that I popped the battery out yesterday before I got GPS working. So, here's how I got GPS working again tonight: 1. Go to Location Services/Preferences and stop both GPS and Google Location Services. 2. Completely shut down the Pre and remove the battery, then replace. 3. After the reboot, go to Location Services/Preferences and restart GPS. 4. DON'T restart Google Location Services. 5. If GPS goes to sleep, stop/restart it in the Location Services preferences. This procedure has worked twice for me now. I have both compass and Google Maps running right now. Hope this helps.
	Liked by

01/27/2010, 10:52 PM	#18 (permalink)
b8b Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 17 Likes Received: 0 Thanks: 3 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	This is a total PITA. Why doesn't it just work? My friend's works just fine. So strange.
	Liked by

01/28/2010, 01:51 AM	#19 (permalink)
MynTi FreSh Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: New Jersey Posts: 24 Likes Received: 0 Thanks: 2 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Everytime i go into google maps it shows that my location is about 1/2 mile away. Im inside right now so idk if thats efffecting it in anyway. Just wondering if its a problem or not
	Liked by

01/28/2010, 01:54 AM	#20 (permalink)
skohcl Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 68 Likes Received: 0 Thanks: 3 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	I've had that happen to me once... on my VZW Pre Plus, happening right now too, kind of a bummer, but I just type in the city and I can find where I need to go from there. Oh woops, I had GPS off. nvm! ^_^
	Liked by

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