Palm Pre and GPS (Additional GPS modes: Autonomous, Assisted, and Cached)

[Ebag333]

Some of you might remember me from back in the day of the 800w. Well, I recently picked up a Pre, and started playing around with it.

Similar to the 800w, the Pre lacks some GPS functionality out of the box. I was not really impressed with the acquisition times, the accuracy, or the speed of updates with the Pre's GPS. I figured I was able to enable a lot more functionality for the 800w, so I'd give it a shot with the Pre.

The process is essentially the same for the Pre as it was for the 800w. Because I'm lazy, I'm going to go ahead and reuse my walkthrough.







The Pre, stock, seems to have pretty typical aGPS Satellite Acquisition times (at least in my experience) of around 30 seconds to 2 minutes, depending on conditions.

I believe I have discovered a way to reduce this time. Additionally, it appears (from my quick tests) that this enables true standalone GPS.

This is not an easy hack, so for those who aren't phone savvy, be aware that you will be using some incredibly powerful tools that can literally destroy your phone beyond repair.

That being said, if you follow the simple instructions, then you should be just fine.


This involves several tools, none of which are mine. (There's a change!)

Note: The directions below have changed and are now simpler and even easier to follow! You can safely ignore any steps that have a strikeout through them. I've left them in there to assist users who want to attempt a more advanced approach.

Tools Needed:

• Palm Pre: beezlewaxin's 800w/Centro/Pre Diagnostic Driver (Note: If you are having trouble getting the drivers to install, try the suggestion in this post. Thanks Rudedog!)
  Palm Pixi: Pixi Diagnostic Driver - Thanks to Mhous33 for finding these!
  GSM Users: You can use the GAK Asterman drivers, which are included in the unlock client for GSM Pre's (developed by JIC Technology and sold by Nextgenserver). Thanks to GuyFromNam for pointing that out!
• QPST -- As this is a Qualcomm program, I will not post or link to it here. I used QPST 2.7.323 (or "QPST 2.7 build 323" as it is sometimes called) for this. (Hint: Google is your friend.) (Bonus Hint: Be careful of viruses if you are downloading from random servers.)
• QXDM (GSM Users only) -- As this is a Qualcomm program, I will not post or link to it here. I used QPST 3.9.19 for this.
• The USB Passthrough patch.
• Your SPC/MSL code (CDMA users only). I simply called Sprint, selected the option for tech support, kept drilling down until I got a tech, and asked for it. I told him that I needed to do a factory (also known as an RTN) reset. He happily provided it to me. If they question you about it, you can tell them that you need to reset it and have all the instructions in front of you, you just need the MSL.
• A normal MicroUSB sync cable.
• Your Pre.

That's an intimidating list I know, but it's really much simpler than the list might imply.


CDMA Users
To apply the hack:

• Connect your phone to your PC, make sure you have a good connection.
• Install QPST.
• Install the USB Passthrough patch.
• Launch USB Passthrough.
• There are four USB "ports" available, on USB PORT 1 or USB PORT 2 (either one works) assign DIAG. You will be prompted for your MSL. Thanks to Thibaud for his sharp eyes in spotting this!
• You should be prompted for several (two) hardware installs. Both times point the installer to the location where you placed beezlewaxin's Diagnostic Driver. (Note: If you are having trouble getting the drivers to install, try the suggestion in this post. Thanks Rudedog!)
• Once installed, run QPST Configuration.
• Under the Ports tab, click Add New Port...
• Here you will see a list of comm ports. Don't worry about most of these, the one we want is labeled USB/QC Diagnostic. If you see more than one, that's okay, just add all of them (I had two). You may need to uncheck the box Show serial and USB/QC diagnostic ports only.
• One of the comm ports will list a phone. Mine displayed SURF6800-65. Simply make a mental note of the comm port number for this one.
• From the QPST tools, launch QPST Service Programming. (Warning: This is an incredibly powerful tool, and it has the capabilities to completely brick your phone, rendering it useless. If you do not know what something does, don't touch it! webOS Doctor cannot fix anything you break in here.)
• Make sure that your phone is selected, and click OK.
• Click the Read from Phone button. This is where you will enter your MSL/SPC code.
• Browse to the gpsOne tab.
• Check the following boxes:
  Assistance-Cartesian
  AFLT
  GPS Almanac
  GPS Ephemeris
  GPS Almanac Correction
  Autonomous
  GPS/AFLT Hybrid
  
  The Allowed and Assistance-Spherical boxes should have already been checked. (Screenshot below is of original/factory settings.)
  
• Enter the following settings:
  (Note: different settings for different carriers)
  (Note: Verizon users please try both PDE IP addresses and use the one you find works best for you.)
  
  Sprint
  

  PDE IP Address = 68.28.31.49
  PDE Port Number = 5017
  PDE Transport = IP
  Position Calculation = PDE

  Bell
  

  PDE IP Address: 206.47.201.75
  PDE Port number: 8888
  PDE Transport: IP
  Position Calculation: Mobile

  Verizon
  

  PDE IP Address: 216.198.139.92
  PDE Port Number: 8889
  PDE Transport: IP
  Position Calculation: PDE

  Verizon Alternate
  

  PDE IP Address: 66.174.95.132
  PDE Port number: 8888
  PDE Transport: IP
  Position Calculation: Mobile

  Alltel (works for US Cellular too)
  

  PDE IP Address = 205.142.19.100
  PDE Port Number = 8888
  PDE Transport = IP
  Position Calculation = Mobile

  Telus
  

  PDE IP Address = 216.198.139.92
  PDE Port Number = 8889
  PDE Transport = IP
  Position Calculation = Mobile

• Double check that you didn't change anything you weren't supposed to!
• Click the Write to Phone button. (Note: You may be promoted for your MSL/SPC code again.)
• On your Pre, unselect DIAG from USB PORT 1 or 2 (which ever one you had set).
• Soft reset your phone.
• Enjoy your GPS!

GSM Users
To apply the hack:

• Connect your phone to your PC, make sure you have a good connection.
• Install QPST.
• Install the USB Passthrough patch.
• Launch USB Passthrough.
• There are four USB "ports" available, on USB PORT 1 or USB PORT 2 (either one works) assign DIAG. You will be prompted for your MSL. Thanks to Thibaud for his sharp eyes in spotting this!
• You should be prompted for several (two) hardware installs. Both times point the installer to the location where you placed beezlewaxin's Diagnostic Driver. (Note: If you are having trouble getting the drivers to install, try the suggestion in this post. Thanks Rudedog!)
• Once installed, run QPST Configuration.
• Under the Ports tab, click Add New Port...
• Here you will see a list of comm ports. Don't worry about most of these, the one we want is labeled USB/QC Diagnostic. If you see more than one, that's okay, just add all of them (I had two). You may need to uncheck the box Show serial and USB/QC diagnostic ports only.
• One of the comm ports will list a phone. Mine displayed SURF6800-65. Simply make a mental note of the comm port number for this one.
• Launch QXDM. (Warning: This is an incredibly powerful tool, and it has the capabilities to completely brick your phone, rendering it useless. If you do not know what something does, don't touch it! webOS Doctor cannot fix anything you break in here.)
• In the View drop down, select NV Browser. Alternatively you can choose View -> New -> Common -> NV Browser.
• In the Category Filter, select GPS. At this point you should see something very similar to the screenshot below.
  
• Select item 00400 GPSOne Capabilities.
• Double click on the Input field where you see 0x00. (Note: You may have to double click multiple times before the application registers that you are selecting the field.)
• Change this to 0xFF.
• Click off the field. The line should change to read:
  0xFF 0xFF gps1_capabilities 8 UINT8
• Double check that you didn't change anything you weren't supposed to!
• Click the Write button.
• On your Pre, unselect DIAG from USB PORT 1 or 2 (which ever one you had set).
• Soft reset your phone.
• Enjoy your GPS!

A note for GSM users:
Because the PDE TCP Address and Port fields are not readable/writable from QXDM (you receive a Parameter Bad error), you will not get the full benefit that CDMA users get. However, you will still receive most of the benefit. Namely standalone GPS, cached GPS, and AFLT should all work, in addition to the default aGPS. It's really about 99% of what CDMA users get, so don't feel too bad about it.




Old Manual Method
(Note: This method should no longer be needed. I'm keeping this for reference. Please use the CDMA or GSM method outlined above.)
To apply the hack:

• Connect your phone to your PC, make sure you have a good connection.
• Install QPST.
• Install the Palm SDK. (If you are using novaterm you can skip this step.)
• On your phone, enable developer mode. This may require a restart.
• Open a command prompt window (Start -> Run -> CMD). (If you are using novaterm, run it, connect, and skip the next two steps.)
• Run: novacom -t open tty://
• At the root@castle prompt, enter: mpt 0d (Note: Do not issue this command without having Terminal installed on your Pre. If you do, you will not be able to restore data services. The command to restore data services is mpt X.)
• You should be prompted for several (two) hardware installs. Both times point the installer to the location where you placed beezlewaxin's Diagnostic Driver. (Note: If you are having trouble getting the drivers to install, try the suggestion in this post. Thanks Rudedog!)
• You are now ready to run QPST, QXDM, or any other application which requires data mode.

Originally Posted by Ebag333

To run through the different options:

Assistance-Spherical
Assistance-Cartesian
These two options are your aGPS (assisted GPS) options. They utilize the GPS server on Sprint's network to speed up acquisition times of satellites. This is less a case of the GPS servers on Sprint's network actually giving you your location, and more of them telling you how to find the satellites.



GPS Almanac
GPS Ephemeris
GPS Almanac Correction
This is your "cached" GPS information. The Pre does in fact store the GPS information (I found it while browsing through on QPST), but the chipset isn't setup by default to look at it. Basically GPS devices can download a set of data that will store where satellites currently are, and more importantly where they will be in the future. By using cached information, this means your device can find satellites without needing to go to an outside client (aGPS) or figuring it out mathmatically (which is slow). This is the fastest method.



Autonomous
This is your standalone GPS option. This is the slowest option, but should work when all else fails. This allows the device to find satellites using some formulas and trial and error. This is what lets you use GPS without an active network or WiFi connection.



AFLT
GPS/AFLT Hybrid
AFLT is Advanced Forward Link Trilateration aka "tower triangulation". AFLT is supported in WebOS. AFLT is also known as "My Location" on the old Palm's. Blackberry also used to use AFLT instead of GPS as it was far less power intensive. It's basically a way of finding your location based purely off the location of the towers. This is not to be confused with aGPS (which basically tells you how to find the satellites, not where you are). AFLT is the least accurate, and will tend to be at least a couple hundred feet off (see two posts down where it ranges from being almost 3,000 meters off to nearly spot on).


Malatesta has an excellent article on the difference between GPS and aGPS.
http://www.wmexperts.com/articles/gp..._tutorial.html

[kasl33]

I haven't had too much of a problem with the GPS aquisition times - usually it has the general location almost instantly and will take about 20 seconds (in Seattle anyway) to get the pin point accuracy. I don't know if you came up with that on your own, but if it is, then you are one hell of a cracker!

[Ebag333]

How I tested Standalone GPS:

• Turned on Airplane mode.
• Ensured all radios were disabled (bluetooth and WiFi).
• Powered the Pre off.
• Powered the Pre on.
• Went and got a sammich.
• Pre's finally on, launched the default GPS application via ##GPS#.
• Verified results recieved.
• Moved about 250 feet away.
• Refreshed the GPS information.
• Verified results changed.
• Launched Go To Lite.
• Set waypoint.
• Moved about 250 feet away.
• Verified Go To Lite pointed at the waypoint, showed correct distance, speed, etc.

Looks like it works to me!
(Note: I also tested this by disabling all modes except Autonomous, and saw the same results.)



How I tested AFLT:

• In QPST disabled all modes except AFLT.
• Powered the Pre off.
• Powered the Pre on.
• Launched the default GPS application via ##GPS#. (Note: At this point I am inside a building with fairly poor signal.)
• Verified results recieved. According to ##GPS#, the accuracy is within 2,797 meters (9,176.5 feet, or 1.7 miles). Notice also the lack of an altitude.
  
• Launched Google Maps. Notice the blue circle showing the area that the accuracy is not extremely close.
  
• Moved about 250 feet away. (Note: At this point I am outside the building with full signal strength.)
• Refreshed the GPS information.
• Verified results changed. The accuracy is basically dead on. The altitude also shows, which is also correct. (Wikipedia lists this area at 421 meters, so even if 400 meters isn't exactly correct, it's accurate enough. We're not flying a plane here. )
  
• Launched Google Maps. The accuracy is basically spot on (under a hundred feet).
  

How I tested Cached GPS:

• Disabled all modes except the cached options.
• Powered the Pre off.
• Powered the Pre on.
• Launched the default GPS application via ##GPS#.
• Verified results recieved.

Note: This test is only going to work if the cached information is fairly recent. The device only caches a certain period of information. I'm not sure how long the Pre's is but it is over 1 week, as I've had only AFLT enabled for over a week, meaning my cached GPS information is at least a week old. If the cached information is too old or if you have moved too far away from the location where you downloaded the cached information (as the cached information is location specific), then it's useless and the device will not be able to find the satellites. So if you download the cached information then don't use your GPS for over a month, you will need to fall back on one of the other options. If you have your GPS off and drive 600 miles away, you will need to fall back on one of the other options.




Speed and accuracy:

This is only my personal experience with the speed of acquisition and the accuracy of the location. Your results may differ.

Speed:

1. All Modes
2. Cached
3. AFLT
4. aGPS
5. Standalone

Accuracy:

1. All Modes
2. Cached
3. aGPS
4. Standalone
5. AFLT

Note: Standalone ranks low on the accuracy based on the initial acquisition. The device will continue to search for sats and pull down more information, meaning if you give it time it will become more accurate, and seems to (eventually) become more accurate than pure aGPS. Standalone is actually surprisingly fast, this is possible one of the fastest acquisition times for pure standalone that I have seen. It is still noticably slower than the other methods, however.

AFLT ranks so low for accuracy because of the variations it goes through. If you have full signal strength, the accuracy is spot on. But if your signal strength is less than half, or if it is spotty (jumping around a lot) your accuracy falls off rapidly. While an accuracy of less than 2 miles is better than nothing, it's certainly not as good as the other options.

Cached of course only applies if the cached information is valid. Move the device too far away, or wait too long, and the cached mode will not work for you at all. But when it works, man, it works.

All Modes is of course cheating somewhat, as you get the best of all the different modes.

[Ebag333]

Originally Posted by kasl33

I haven't had too much of a problem with the GPS aquisition times - usually it has the general location almost instantly and will take about 20 seconds (in Seattle anyway) to get the pin point accuracy. I don't know if you came up with that on your own, but if it is, then you are one hell of a cracker!

Aquisition times are usually not bad. I live in a very mountainous area which can cause issues with satellites as I may not have good line of sight to them. When I'm in the shadow of a mountain, aquisition times seem to suffer.

The main annoyance for me was the location was off about half the time. Never too far away, but enough that it made the GPS about useless.

I haven't had the opportunity to do any significant travelling with the GPS since I applied the hack, but based on my previous results with the 800w I suspect that it'll be greatly improved.

It's actually awsome that the Pre is a gpsOne chipset, and it looks like it has full functionality. The 800w was also a gpsOne chipset, but lacked the drivers to take full advantage of it.

[gbp]

Ebag333,
Welcome sir, I remember you from the 800W forum.

Your tweaks on Alarm, GPS, system volumes and modem are invaluable to me. I still have the 800W. It would have been my primary phone only if it had a 3 inch screen and a good browser.

I am glad that you have a Pre now. Rest assured we will have some good tweaks from you.

[gbp]

Ebag333,
So that means standalone is possible on the Pre ?

[Ebag333]

Originally Posted by gbp

I still have the 800W. It would have been my primary phone only if it had a 3 inch screen and a good browser.

I would probably still have the 800w if it hadn't fallen off the table, landed right on the USB cable (was plugged in charging), and broken something internally. Worked fine, just wouldn't charge/sync.

My wife still has hers and loves it.

Originally Posted by gbp

Ebag333,
So that means standalone is possible on the Pre ?

That's what it looks like. I'm sure someone is going to claim that the test I ran above isn't valid for some reason, so I'll try and get outside of service coverage in the next few weeks and test it then.

I'll also be curious to see if this helps with the problem of GPS going to sleep and not waking back up if you leave service and the screen gets shut off.

Now we just need a standalone GPS app.....

[gage006]

Ugh, all my computers are 64-bit. Any drivers for 64-bit?

[dragbug]

Can you explain in lamens term what exactly this hack would benefit for us? I understand the idea behind standalone GPS and it sounds like you claim a quicker acquisition time, but is that it or is there more to this hack? What will it REALLY do for me? There are a huge minority of people out there that might not truly understand the reasoning behind this hack.

[gage006]

Got it (borrowed a friend's computer) and holy crap acquisition is fast now, even indoors. Can't wait to test this out on the road.

[Ebag333]

Originally Posted by gage006

Ugh, all my computers are 64-bit. Any drivers for 64-bit?

beezlewaxin would need to create a 64 bit version. That's a bit out of my jurisdiction.

Originally Posted by dragbug

Can you explain in lamens term what exactly this hack would benefit for us? I understand the idea behind standalone GPS and it sounds like you claim a quicker acquisition time, but is that it or is there more to this hack? What will it REALLY do for me? There are a huge minority of people out there that might not truly understand the reasoning behind this hack.

Well, to run it down....

• Standalone GPS (no need for WiFi or cellular signal).
• Faster acquisition times.
• More accurate positioning.

To run through the different options:

Assistance-Spherical
Assistance-Cartesian
These two options are your aGPS (assisted GPS) options. They utilize the GPS server on Sprint's network to speed up acquisition times of satellites. This is less a case of the GPS servers on Sprint's network actually giving you your location, and more of them telling you how to find the satellites.



GPS Almanac
GPS Ephemeris
GPS Almanac Correction
This is your "cached" GPS information. The Pre does in fact store the GPS information (I found it while browsing through on QPST), but the chipset isn't setup by default to look at it. Basically GPS devices can download a set of data that will store where satellites currently are, and more importantly where they will be in the future. By using cached information, this means your device can find satellites without needing to go to an outside client (aGPS) or figuring it out mathmatically (which is slow). This is the fastest method.



Autonomous
This is your standalone GPS option. This is the slowest option, but should work when all else fails. This allows the device to find satellites using some formulas and trial and error. This is what lets you use GPS without an active network or WiFi connection.



AFLT
GPS/AFLT Hybrid
AFLT is Advanced Forward Link Trilateration aka "tower triangulation". AFLT is supported in WebOS. AFLT is also known as "My Location" on the old Palm's. Blackberry also used to use AFLT instead of GPS as it was far less power intensive. It's basically a way of finding your location based purely off the location of the towers. This is not to be confused with aGPS (which basically tells you how to find the satellites, not where you are). AFLT is the least accurate, and will tend to be at least a couple hundred feet off (see two posts down where it ranges from being almost 3,000 feet off to nearly spot on).


Malatesta has an excellent article on the difference between GPS and aGPS.
http://www.wmexperts.com/articles/gp..._tutorial.html


Does that help clear things up?

Originally Posted by gage006

Got it (borrowed a friend's computer) and holy crap acquisition is fast now, even indoors. Can't wait to test this out on the road.

I suspected acquisition would speed up quite a bit, as that was the same results we saw with the 800w. Glad to hear it confirmed.

Let us know how it works on the road for you.

[gage006]

Tempted to go take a drive just to see if it makes any changes, haha.

[dragbug]

Originally Posted by Ebag333

Does that help clear things up?

Perfectly and much appreciated!

[gage006]

I don't even get the "getting gps" bar in Sprint Nav now. It used to hang there for a bit sometimes. I was hoping it might increase the update frequency in the map, make it more of a smooth scrolling like a real GPS but no luck. Guess it'd still need an offline GPS app to do so.

Still worth the 5 minutes to get the increased acquisition time for me.

[santos]

I didn't make any of these changes. However, I was in Germany and Austria for the past two weeks and the GPS did not work unless I had a wifi connection.

I tried all sorts of tests with the phone in airplane mode and while searching for a Sprint signal. Obviously there was no CDMA there but wifi was.

[Ebag333]

Originally Posted by santos

I didn't make any of these changes. However, I was in Germany and Austria for the past two weeks and the GPS did not work unless I had a wifi connection.

I tried all sorts of tests with the phone in airplane mode and while searching for a Sprint signal. Obviously there was no CDMA there but wifi was.

This should take care of that.

[gage006]

With the hack complete, airplane mode on and wifi on:

Sprint nav wouldn't work. Says I have to turn airplane mode off and have an internet connection (won't work through wifi or just doesn't like airplane mode?).

Google maps worked perfectly though. Which I figure is fine seeing as how Sprint Nav is US only I believe.

[Ebag333]

Well from my understanding of what I've read, with WiFi on GPS would work. So I'm not sure that the hack changed that particular behaviour (though it may change acquisition times and accuracy).

Sprint Nav is setup to require the radio on, though I would be willing to bet on improved service with the hack if you leave coverage.

[Gaurav]

Ebag, great to see you on P|C! Thanks for sharing this hack!

[mencho]

Great news!

Can't wait for Pre owners to enable this hack and confirm that Pre can do standalone GPS!