Thread: N900 GPS problems: slow to lock or never locks, particularly without data connection
View Single Post
torpedo48 is offline torpedo48
2010-02-10 , 08:53
Posts: 489 | Thanked: 404 times | Joined on Dec 2009
#101
Originally Posted by Wild_Doogy View Post
I just bought a N900, and I love it. As a Linux user with Ubuntu on my home machine, I love the terminal, and the openness of the system.

The only think that the N900 hasn't satisfied on my smartphone wishlist, (made before seeing the N900) besides multi-touch, is the GPS. I know it has one, but I cant get it to work.

I do not have any sim card or plan, as my wallet is still recovering. The N900 is working fine without it, but do I need a sim card to use the GPS?

I have left it outside where it should get good reception, and connected to a wifi network as was mentioned earlier by Torpedo48:

and all it did was say "searching."

Not too important, though it would have helped me from messing up my directions today.
(I probably would have wrecked the car, looking at it though.)

Any help, or enlightenment would be helpful.
Question: Do I need a sim card/data plan to get the GPS to work, and if not, what is required?

Wild_Doogy
Hi Wild_Doogy,
you do not need a SIM card for making the GPS working, but if you want a faster lock (from 5 to 10 secs in my case) you need an Internet connection (and the A-GPS to be activated of course).

By the way, were you using Ovi Maps for searching GPS lock? Ovi Maps can't get a lock by itself without an Internet connection, because it has a riddiculous timeout (30 secs) and loses signal if you leave it in the background or you turn off the screen.

You should use a third party app for testing your GPS until OVI Maps gets an update, for example Location Test or GPSJinny. After getting a lock with them, you can open OVI Maps and comfortably use it with the lock.

EDIT: in this thread I've given some useful links to Location Test:
http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=513077&postcount=9
Last edited by torpedo48; 2010-02-10 at 08:57.
 

The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to torpedo48 For This Useful Post: