The gps module does not find satellites on the phone. Proper GPS setup on Android

The GPS function has recently become increasingly popular, and not only among car owners, but also among ordinary pedestrians.

Geopositioning determines the location of you and your smartphone, helps you build walking and road routes, and find the right place on the map. But, unfortunately, errors in the operation of navigation systems are a fairly common problem, especially among owners of smartphones from Chinese manufacturers.

In this article we will try to figure out why GPS does not work on android and we will analyze all the methods for solving this problem.

Problems with GPS

The navigation module, which is often used by location applications, can fail in various ways.

The most common:

1. The smartphone cannot determine the location.
2. The smartphone determines your location, but not exactly.
3. When moving, the pointer on the map does not change its position, that is, it slowly or completely does not update data about your position.

If your phone worked fine with the navigation system before, restarting your smartphone or moving to another part of the map may help. If the problem arose in a new device or is constantly repeated, it is necessary to identify the causes of the error and eliminate them.

Reasons for no signal

Why is GPS still not working? If this is not a device assembly problem that can only be fixed by service center specialists, the causes of problems may be:

1. Defects of the module itself, its low power.
2. A phone case that impairs signal transmission.
3. Wrong settings in system file GPS.conf.
4. Firmware related issues.

The first thing to do is to remove the case and test the GPS without it.

If the problem remains, we proceed to checking the geolocation settings and the correctness of the firmware, identifying hardware problems.

Incorrect setting

The software side of the error of the non-working GPS module lies in the incorrectly set parameters in the "Settings".

To improve location accuracy, android system uses A-GPS technology, that is, it uses cellular and Wi-Fi networks. If the detection method is set to “Satellites only” on your phone, you should change it to “Only satellites”. mobile networks". If this does not help, the problem is clearly in the device itself.

In extreme cases, you can use the network and navigation settings reset in the "Recovery and Reset" tab. This may solve the problem, however, data will be reset along with the GPS cellular networks and passwords from Wi-Fi access points.

Wrong firmware

If the GPS on the android does not work due to the firmware, this situation can be easily resolved by flashing the device.

It is better to take firmware files from trusted sites like w3bsit3-dns.com, and only for your device model, otherwise you risk getting a “brick” instead of a working device.

Of course, before any manipulations with the firmware, it is better to make a backup, that is backup. In case of "bricking" the device, it will help return the device to its original form.

Module calibration

You can also try to calibrate on your smartphone. For this you have to download special application from Play market, such as "Essentialsetup". It is not difficult to understand it, the testing itself lasts no more than ten minutes. After calibration is completed, turn on satellite navigation.

Hardware problems

Poor quality module satellite communications- a frequent puncture in Chinese smartphones in the budget segment. Solve this problem it is possible only in the service center, where the defective model will be replaced with a new, working one.

Conclusion

hike in service center- an extreme measure applied to devices of really bad assembly. Usually, if the smartphone is not cheap, hardware problems are extremely rare, and navigation systems will work properly after the usual geolocation settings.

But you definitely shouldn’t dig “deeper” alone - even a guarantee will not save you from damage caused by an inexperienced user.

Still, it’s good that modern smartphones are equipped with a GPS module: thanks to it, you can save on a navigator, and it’s also useful. However, one trifle can disrupt all your plans - the connection of the phone with the "space". Take and disappear.

Let's understand what the system is GPS navigation, what is the reason for the failures in its work and what to do if the phone is on Android based and iOS does not find or communicate with satellites.

How it works

So what does the GPS module do in mobile devices? Receives navigation signals from satellites. And not only those included in the system, which corresponds to its name, but also analogues - GLONASS, BDS and others (with support). The very concept of "GPS" today has become a generalized synonym for satellite navigation.

In addition to GPS, there is AGPS (LBS) navigation, which determines the location of the phone by signals from nearby cell towers. Despite the similarity of spelling, there is no connection between these systems. But there are differences, and very significant:

• AGPS is only available in coverage areas cellular communication, GPS is everywhere.
• AGPS determines the coordinates of an object with an accuracy of up to 500 m, GPS - up to 5 m.
• AGPS does not depend on weather conditions, only a network connection is required for its operation mobile communications and the availability of money on the balance sheet. GPS is free, to activate it, you just need to turn on geolocation on your phone, but the quality of communication is highly dependent on cloud cover and other external factors. The signal propagates only in line of sight.

Dense clouds, tall buildings, thickets of trees, and thick indoor walls dampen satellite signals. Therefore, to improve GPS communication in adverse conditions, another technology was developed - A-GPS (well, how not to get confused here?). The essence of this technology is that when the signal is lost, the phone connects to a special server, from where it receives the exact coordinates of the satellites, and already establishes a connection using them. For A-GPS to work, the smartphone must be connected to the network mobile operator or have another way to access the Internet (in particular, Wi-Fi).

What determines the speed of finding satellites

The speed of finding satellites depends on how long ago the receiver of navigation signals was turned on in the phone. The duration of its inclusion determines the type of start - cold, warm or hot. No, it's not about "warming up" the GPS module, but about what data it relies on when searching.

When turned on, the GPS receiver retrieves from its memory the latest information about the coordinates of the satellites: almanacs and ephemeris (ephemeris).

• Almanacs contain information about the parameters of the orbits of all satellites in the system. They are not very accurate, but remain relevant for several months.
• The ephemeris contains accurate clock and orbit correction data for each specific satellite. Their relevance does not exceed half an hour.

At cold start- it is considered to be turning on the GPS receiver after 30 or more minutes of shutdown, the device searches for satellites only by known almanacs. If the almanac data is no longer up to date, it downloads it again. At this time, obsolete ephemerides are also erased and new ephemerides are loaded. The duration of a cold start is 5 minutes or more, depending on the environmental conditions and the position of the phone. To make the connection faster, the device should be kept still.

At warm start, which refers to turning on the GPS module a little more than half an hour after turning it off, only the ephemeris is updated. It takes about 1 minute.

Instantaneous hot start is possible only while maintaining the relevance of the ephemeris, that is, until less than 30 minutes have passed since the GPS was turned off.

Why the phone does not see satellites or loses connection with them

The reasons for the lack and instability of the phone's connection with GPS satellites are external and internal. The former are due to the influence of environmental factors on signal transmission, the latter are due to malfunctions of the receiving device itself.

External reasons:

• Unfavorable state of the atmosphere (dense clouds), being in a forest or among high-rise buildings. Unfortunately, we have not yet learned how to disperse clouds, but A-GPS technology helps to bypass these obstacles.
• The phone is in the room. To solve the problem, it is usually enough to go to the window or go to the balcony.
• The phone is in motion, such as while driving. For a cold start of the GPS module, this can be a serious hindrance. To find satellites faster, stop and place the device on a flat surface.

Internal reasons:

• The phone is not equipped with a satellite reception module at all, or it has only A-GPS, the operation of which depends on the level cellular signal and WiFi.
• The device has a GPS-receiver with a low-power antenna, usually a film type. In this case, communication with satellites is possible, but it is unstable and highly dependent on external conditions: even a phone case can interfere with it. Sometimes the connection only works when the Internet is connected. The problem is usually detected immediately after the purchase of the gadget.
• The GPS module is defective. A breakdown (more often this is damage or a violation of the receiver antenna) is detected after a blow, drop or disassembly of the device, although not always. Sometimes it occurs without visible reasons. It is manifested by a complete or periodic inability to detect satellites and establish communication with them. Or the fact that the signal is caught only at a certain position of the phone.
• System problems. The source of the problem lies in the wrong settings or the curved firmware of the device.
• Wrong system time.
• Influence third-party software or malware. In favor of this version is the relationship of failure with the installation of any application, as well as the presence of symptoms of virus infection.

How to fix a problem on an Android smartphone

Problems associated with the absence or malfunction of the GPS receiver are not solved at home. More precisely, the first is unsolvable in principle, and the second should be contacted by a service center. But you can clean your phone of viruses, fix settings, etc. on your own. So let's get started.

If the cause is more of a programmatic nature and occurred after a period of normal operation, do the following:

• Make sure the system time is correct.
• Remove apps that you installed shortly before the crash.
• With no effect.

If the phone does not find satellites initially (no cold start), although it is equipped with a GPS module, it may very well be that it is simply not configured correctly. This is especially true for devices brought from abroad or purchased in foreign online stores - that is, not intended for the Russian market.

To correct an incorrect setting, namely, to reset the almanac that is relevant for the territory of another country, you need access to engineering menu devices. To enter this menu, use special phone codes, specific to devices different brands. They are entered in the same way as USSD commands - in the calling application.

On the bulk of Android smartphones, a code is suitable for entering the engineering menu
*#*#3646633#*#*
If your device does not accept it, use the prompts search engines. Or, if your phone has a MediaTek processor, install one of the following apps:

Or their equivalent.

• Make sure you have geolocation enabled on your phone.
• Opening the engineering menu, go to the section " location» – « YGPS».

• On the tab " Satellites» The satellites that your device recognizes should be shown. If you see only red dots there, then the phone finds them, but cannot establish a connection.

• Open the " information» and touch the « Hot», « Cold», « Warm», « Full" And " AGPS Restart". This will delete the current almanac.

• Open the " NMEALog" and press " start". This will start downloading the new almanac.

• To control the establishment of a connection, open the section " Satellites". If some of the dots in the blue field turn green, then your phone has received a signal. Open " NMEALog» again and press « stop».

In some cases, the cause of an unsuccessful cold start is an incorrectly set exact time server in configuration file GPS. To fix this setting you will need root permissions and a file manager with privileged access, e.g. rootexplorer .

• So run root explorer or its equivalent and find the file /system/etc/gps.conf

• Open it with any text editor and in line NTP_SERVER= write down pool.ntp.org. This is if you are in Russia. You can check the data for other states on the website www.pool.ntp.org/ru/zone/@ As a result, the file should look like this:

Save the changes to gps.conf and reboot your phone.

If you don’t want to mess around with the settings at all, but there is a desire to do everything faster, you can use the automatic optimization tool for satellite communication parameters, which is called “ Fix my GPS". To get the desired result, just press one button. I can’t judge the effectiveness, but many users are satisfied with this application.

If you use your phone as a navigator and it often loses satellites, for example, when turning off the screen or leaving tunnels, the A-GPS signal fixing and data reset tool will help - GPS Loker .

In addition, in the market Google Play There are quite a few free applications for testing the operation of the GPS receiver, which can also be useful to you:

And others.

How to fix a problem on iPhone

Owners of Apple gadgets are less likely to encounter satellite search problems, the causes of which lie in the devices themselves. Apparently, therefore, there are much fewer ways to solve them on iOS than on Android.

If geolocation on an iPhone does not work at all, it is usually disabled in the settings. If it is available in some applications and not available in others, the reason is most likely also hidden in the settings. To fix them:

• Open the " Confidentiality” and touch the line “ Location Services».
• The next screen contains a list of applications. Each of them indicates whether it has access to this service. Touch the items you want to change and set the permissions you want.

In cases where the location service is unstable or the iPhone does not find satellites for a long time, it is often enough to open the settings section " Main", go to " Reset» and press « Reset geo settings».

This will return the geolocation and privacy settings to their original state, and the problem will most likely be resolved.

The presence of navigation modules on smartphones with Android OS allows you to use numerous navigation applications - they are used to lay walking, cycling and car routes, as well as to track your own location. Therefore, it is customary to give special preference to the presence of GPS / GLONASS chips. GPS not working on Android? It doesn't matter - first we will try to figure out the reasons, and then we'll talk about troubleshooting.

If GPS does not work on your Android smartphone, then the problem can be extremely commonplace - the navigation module is disabled. This is often faced by novice users who have not fully understood the device of Android smartphones. In order to enable navigation, you need to slide down the top curtain, behind which numerous labels, clocks and notifications are hidden, and find the “Geodata” item here - it should become active (green, bluish, etc.).

Now we can launch the navigation program and start using it. By the way, many navigation applications are able to notify users about the disabled reception of geodata. That's how it does popular app Navitel - it will issue an appropriate warning and even send the user to the navigation enable menu. After that, it will be possible to start laying the route.

Have you turned on geolocation in your device settings, installed the necessary applications, but could not achieve any results? It is possible that the whole thing is your impatience. If this was the first launch of the GPS / GLONASS module, try waiting 10-15 minutes - during this time, the electronics will process information about the satellites visible in the area. All subsequent launches will be much faster.

You need to do the same if you arrived with the navigator turned off in another region, for example, from Rostov to Novosibirsk - the navigator needs to be given time to recognize its own location (similar to the initial "cold" start).

Here are a few more reasons for GPS not working:

• You are trying to perform a cold start on the move (in the car) - stop and let the navigator think. Some chips are quite sluggish, so they need time and rest;
• You are indoors - GPS does not work inside buildings (do not confuse with calculating the location from the towers mobile operators and Wi-Fi zones);
• You are in an unfavorable reception area - the sky is blocked by trees, nearby rocks or tall buildings. In this case, you need to get under a more open area of ​​​​the sky.

If the navigation still does not work, try contacting the service center.

GPS stopped working on Android, although it worked before? This behavior indicates the presence of some internal breakdowns.. If you are too lazy to go to a service center, try doing a factory reset.

Use the GPS Test app from Chartcross Limited to test satellite reception. If the geolocation function is turned on, the GPS chip is working, and you are outdoors, you will see points on the schematic sky map indicating satellites.

How to set up GPS on Android

Some users are wondering - how to set up GPS on Android? No special settings are needed here, but you can play around with the detection method:

• High accuracy - in this mode, the location is determined using all wireless modules(GPS/GLONASS, telephone module, Wi-Fi);
• Energy saving - Wi-FI networks and mobile networks are involved;
• GPS Only – Only satellites are used.

The detection method is selected in the "Settings - Geodata" menu. For further work with navigation, you need the right software. You can choose a demon paid application Maps.ME with offline maps or paid application Navitel.

Bad GPS on Android? Set the mode to “GPS Only” or “High Accuracy”, and then try to re-test the navigation operation - these are the most accurate modes.

In modern smartphones, navigation modules are built-in by default. In most cases, they work quite accurately. Just turn on GPS in settings, launch the Maps app, and the app will determine where you are in minutes. And if you did not turn off the GPS, then the definition will take a few seconds.

But what if the GPS is not working? How then to determine the route, speed, your location? Do not rush to carry your smartphone for repair: most often this is solved by properly setting up the phone.

Auxiliary services

In addition to the actual satellite receiver, auxiliary settings are sometimes very useful to determine your location. As a rule, they are easily enabled on the phone itself:

• A-GPS. This service downloads your location data from the Internet using data from the cellular networks you are connected to. Of course, its accuracy is much lower, but it speeds up accurate satellite determination.
• WiFi. Did you know that Wi-Fi networks can also be used to determine the location?
• EPO. However, more about him below.

When tuning is necessary: ​​Mediatek curiosity

Today, Mediatek (also known as MTK) is one of the leaders in the production of mobile processors. Even giants such as Sony, LG or HTC today create smartphones based on MTK processors. But there was a time when the processors of this Taiwanese company were used only in wretched iPhone clones or dual SIM dialers.

In 2012-2014, Mediatek released quite decent chipsets, but they constantly had a problem: incorrect GPS operation. Satellites with such devices behave according to the quote: "I'm hard to find, easy to lose ..."

It was all about the settings of the EPO auxiliary service. This service, developed by Mediatek, helps to calculate the orbits of navigation satellites in advance. But here's the problem: pre-installed by default in Chinese phones EPO data is calculated for Asia and crashes when used in Europe!

This is corrected in modern models easily. Recall that all these instructions are only suitable for smartphones on MTK processors:

• Open the menu android settings
• Go to the "Time" section and set your time zone manually. This is to opt out of network location for time.
• Go to the "My location" section, allow the system access to geodata, check the boxes "By GPS satellites" and "By network coordinates".
• Via file manager go to the root directory of the memory and delete the GPS.log file and other files with the GPS combination in the name. Not sure if they are there.
• Download and install the MTK Engineering Mode Start app that allows you to log into your smartphone (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.themonsterit.EngineerStarter&hl=ru).

• Move to an open area with good visibility. There should be no high-rise buildings or other objects that interfere with a direct view of the sky around. Internet must be enabled on the smartphone.
• Run the application, select the MTK Settings item, in it - the Location tab, in it - the EPO item. As you may have guessed, we are updating EPO data for YOUR time zone and time!
• Click the EPO (Download) button. The download should happen in seconds even with a weak connection.
• Return to the Location section, select the YGPS tab. In the Information tab, press the Cold, Warm, Hot and Full buttons in sequence. With their help, information about the location of the satellites in orbit is updated, so each time you have to wait for the data to load. Fortunately, it's a matter of seconds.

• In the same tab, click the AGPS Restart button. The AGPS auxiliary service will now take into account already downloaded data and determine the position of satellites more accurately.
• Switch to the adjacent NMEA LOG tab and click the Start button. After that go to the Satellites tab. You will see how the system detects satellites. This process should take 15-20 minutes, during which the satellite icons will turn from red to green. Make sure that the display does not turn off at this time, but rather disable sleep mode altogether. When all (or most) satellites turn green, return to the NMEA Log tab and click Stop.
• Restart your smartphone.

Yes, this is far from the easiest procedure. Depending on the version MTK processor(we described the steps for the MT6592 platform) the procedure may be slightly different, but essentially remains the same. But after these steps, GPS on your smartphone will work great.

Modern smartphones are equipped with a GPS chip, which greatly simplifies our searches or searches for a specific address. However, it is not uncommon for GPS to not work well. And it's not always enough to blame good build smartphone. You can often improve the functioning of the navigation module by digging into the settings.

Many motorists have a full-fledged GPS-navigator. Some of these devices have an antenna connector on the back wall or side end. This allows you to enhance signal reception several times - you just need to get the appropriate antenna.

As for modern smartphones, we hasten to disappoint you. In their composition, you will never find a special connector for the antenna. You can only improve GPS reception on Android software methods. If they did not work, then you will have to put up with the current state of affairs. As you might guess, budget devices work worst with GPS satellites. This is explained by the fact that they are equipped with the cheapest and oldest navigation chips that have low speed work and a weak signal receiver.

Visiting the settings section

In many smartphones and tablets, the GPS chip is disabled by default. In this case, the machine determines the location by cell towers and Wi-Fi networks. To enable the navigation chip, you need to configure the device. To do this, do the following:

Step 1. Go to the section " Settings».

Step 2 Here you should be interested in the item " Location».

Step 3 On different devices, this item may have a different name. For example, you need to select the tab " Connections” and click on the item “ Geodata", at the same time activating the corresponding switch.

Step 4 In this section, you need to enable high precision location. The device must use all sources for this - GPS satellites, WiFi networks and data from cell towers.

It should be noted that in this mode of operation, power consumption increases. And if this is practically not noticeable on new smartphones, then the owners of budget and old devices will definitely feel the reduced battery life.

Depending on the features of the device, the GPS settings may be in different subsections. Therefore, on more modern Android smartphones these steps can be done in a slightly different way.

Call the notification panel and make a long press on the icon GPS(may have a different name). In the page that opens, grant applications access to the location and in the "Location determination" section, set "High accuracy".

Compass calibration

If it is impossible to enhance signal reception on smartphones, then no one will interfere with improving the operation of a digital compass. The fact is that on some devices it is not calibrated, resulting in navigation program cannot understand in time which direction of the world your smartphone is directed. At this moment, it seems to you that the device does not catch GPS.

You need an app to calibrate the compass GPS Essentials. Download and install it, then follow these steps:

Step 1. Run the program.

Step 2 Enter the mode Compass.

Step 3 If the compass works stably, then the problem is not in it. If the compass refuses to show the cardinal directions correctly, then calibrate it.

Step 4 First, rotate the smartphone around its axis with the screen up. Then turn it upside down. Well, then flip it from left to right. This should help. In some versions of the application, you must first select the item Calibrate in section settings.

Viewing the number of visible GPS satellites

In the same GPS Essentials you can look at how many satellites your smartphone connects to. If it is large enough, then you should not blame the navigation chip - the problem is in one of the programs. To view satellites, you need to select the item in the application menu Satellites.

Reset GPS Data

A common problem with some devices is the long binding to specific GPS satellites, even when they have managed to leave the field of view. The application can help in this case. GPS Status & Toolbox. It will reset the GPS data, after which the connection to the satellites will be made from scratch.

Step 1. Download and install the utility.

Step 2 Run installed application by agreeing to the terms of the license agreement.

Step 3 On the main screen of the program, you will see the readings of various sensors, as well as information about the number of GPS satellites overhead.

Step 4 Click anywhere on the display, after which you can pull out the curtain with the main menu on the left. Here you can calibrate the compass if it was not possible to do this using the application discussed earlier. But now you need to click on the item " A-GPS state management».

Step 5 In the pop-up menu, click the " Reset».

Step 6 After the reset is complete, return to this pop-up menu by clicking the " Download».

What to look for when buying a new smartphone?

Now you know the answer to the question "How to set up GPS on Android?". But all this will not help you very much if you want to use your smartphone as a GPS navigator on an ongoing basis. It is better for these purposes to acquire a solid modern smartphone. When choosing it, be sure to read the full technical specifications. They need to find a mention of the support for A-GPS technology - it greatly reduces power consumption. The ideal smartphone for you will be one that also works with satellites. Fortunately, almost all devices that have been imported into our country over the past year have support for the Russian navigation system. But, again, you still need to look at the specifications of the device before purchasing it.