GPS Accuracy - Fix

[Planemaker]

Not sure if this process will fix the accuracy of those who are having problems but, it did for.  Before I did the fix I could not get a lock on any satellites.  Immediately after the fix the Thinkpad located 5 satellites and locked onto them in about 10 minutes.  Last time I looked I was locked onto 10 satellites.

FYI - I used Google Maps and navigated to my golf course and then compared yardage using Skydroid with my partners golf only GPS and we were spot on in yardage.

I download and installed:

GPS Status

GPSFix

Start GPS Status

Click on tools and select Manage A-GPS state

Click Reset

Click Download

Turn GPS off from settings

Shutdown Thinkpad

Restart Thinkpad

Start GPSfix

make sure Fix now is selected

I sat the unit on my deck for about 10 minutes and I was done.

Not sure if any or all of these steps helped but, since not having an accurate GPS was show stopped I am very pleased.

[Jamon]

It eventually got a fix on a satellite, and identified the street address of a house over 200 ft away. Google Sky showed the moon closer than it did before. I don't know how that's supposed to work, if the screen is supposed to align exactly with the sky as if it were a window or not. But a little later I tried the Navigation app, and it just did the "Waiting for location" and "Searching for GPS".

Have you had GPS off since? Did it work still once you turned it back on?

[Planemaker]

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Jamon wrote:

It eventually got a fix on a satellite, and identified the street address of a house over 200 ft away. Google Sky showed the moon closer than it did before. I don't know how that's supposed to work, if the screen is supposed to align exactly with the sky as if it were a window or not. But a little later I tried the Navigation app, and it just did the "Waiting for location" and "Searching for GPS".

Have you had GPS off since? Did it work still once you turned it back on?

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This morning when I woke the Tablet up I checked the GPS and no satellites locked.  It is an overcast day, sitting on my kitchen cabinet 5 satellites were immediately found and the GPS was able to fix a position in about 3 minutes.  With the Thinkpad sitting on the passenger seat of my car on the way to work 10 satellites were found and the GPS was locking on to 7.  Distance error was 5 meters.

FYI - My Garmin eTrex Legend was getting locked on between 10 and 12 while driving in my car.  Given the garmin has a much bigger antenna and is GPS specific I believe the Thinkpad is more than adequate.

[Planemaker]

Just a quick update.  I ran the battery completely dry on my Thinkpad (on purpose) so, the GPS was off for several hours today.  When I left from work to drive home  I opened the GPS app and the GPS was able to get a fix on my location in 3 minutes while driving.

I  generally get about 10 satellites but, usually only acquire about 3/4 of them.

Accuracy is +/- 5 m

[yahoowizard]

Which GPS status application is it? There's several of them and not sure which author to look at.,,

[ybrevic]

This worked for me!  My 1 week-old tablet could not find any satellites, although my Droid found 6 in the same place.

I thought there must be something wrong with the GPS so I called Lenovo support....   Beware,  the guy I got in Atlanta I do not think had even touched a tablet before, and barely had a clue how GPS worked.  After lengthly times on hold (puctuated with I suspect calls for help)  he confindently annouced that the GPS would not work because it did not have a WAN card.  When I explained that WAN or wireless had nothing to do with it, he remained unconvinced, and would not go any farther.  When I politely asked to speak to a supervisor, I was disconnected, and no one called me back.

Rather than waste my time again, I found this post, and voila... 6 satellites.  I'm not sure why this should be a problem, but seems to follow the same pattern as "why does the tablet report high battery use from cellular standby, when there is no phone."

[LKNMike]

Seems to have helped mine as well, sure would be nice if the next update fixed this issue (don't they test these things, I mean seriously why even have gps on them if you're not going to write a os that works with it.)

Thanks for sharing & working towards a solution, the gps is why I purchased this particular unit.

[barbfxshow]

I tried this. It made no apparent difference.

A couple of months ago, several TPT users went through something similar. I think then some people noticed a difference too, but it was only temporary.

[masabydziura]

Hello,

I follow the instructions but still not working GPS.

My phone Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 get GPS fix within 2 seconds.

Link to image 1

Link to image 2

The icon show a moment and take off.

What is wrong with my tablet?

A400_03_0070_0132_ROW

Moderator note: images larger than 50k converted to links per forum rules:  Lenovo Community Participation Rules

[z_zk_z]

Something must be wrong with your TPT2. Mine locks is seconds, not minutes.