Speed Up Satelite Fix for GPS on Android

Guys,

A lot of us here still facing GPS issue on their device. I almost give up on my HTC Desire HD because of the GPS problem. After I find this trick, now I realized that HTC devices have one of the most brilliant GPS hardware. It always get a location lock within 5 - 15 seconds.


This trick not only to speedup the satelite fixing. Some also found that it increase the reception (strong signal even during cloudy, light raining, and inside building's window). I am one of this case .

Here is the tricks. It is tested on HTC desire HD, SGSII, and speculated to work on most Android device (Please note that it is in sequential order):

Requirements:

    Rooted Device

    File Manager: e.g. Root Explorer

1. Searching for NTP server information

    Go to http://www.pool.ntp.org/en/

    At the right side of webpage, there is "Active Servers". Go in and look for the setting of your 1)region and 2)country

    For example, one's region is Europe then you write down the NTP server for that: 0.europe.pool.ntp.org; 1.europe.pool.ntp.org; 2.europe.pool.ntp.org; 3.europe.pool.ntp.org

    Then the servers for your country from the list down there and click the link(Example: Switzerland — ch.pool.ntp.org; 0.ch.pool.ntp.org; 1.ch.pool.ntp.org; 2.ch.pool.ntp.org; 3.ch.pool.ntp.org

    The "Italic" words are the information you need to jot down for later use

3. Modify the gps.conf file (Most Crucial Stage)

• Copy the codes in grey box (in first post) to a notepad, then change the extension name from .txt to .conf then copy to your phone

• Use file manager to copy to this location: /etc/gps.conf and replace the original gps.conf

• Open and Edit the gps.conf using rootexplorer or others file managers

• Change the COUNTRY and REGION in following lines with the info you got from the website just now. Keep other values unchange unless you know what it is. Example of REGION such as NorthAmerica, Asia, Africa, Europe.

• Your new gps.conf should look as below:

NTP_SERVER=0.COUNTRY.pool.ntp.org
NTP_SERVER=1.COUNTRY.pool.ntp.org
NTP_SERVER=2.COUNTRY.pool.ntp.org
NTP_SERVER=3.COUNTRY.pool.ntp.org
NTP_SERVER=0.REGION.pool.ntp.org
NTP_SERVER=1.REGION.pool.ntp.org
NTP_SERVER=2.REGION.pool.ntp.org
NTP_SERVER=3.REGION.pool.ntp.org
NTP_SERVER=COUNTRY.pool.ntp.org <-This is changed from the top line to here. It may works better if we put it here.

XTRA_SERVER_1=http://xtra1.gpsonextra.net/xtra.bin
XTRA_SERVER_2=http://xtra2.gpsonextra.net/xtra.bin
XTRA_SERVER_3=http://xtra3.gpsonextra.net/xtra.bin

# DEBUG LEVELS: 0 - none, 1 - Error, 2 - Warning, 3 - Info
# 4 - Debug, 5 - Verbose
DEBUG_LEVEL =0

# Intermediate position report, 1=enable, 0=disable
INTERMEDIATE_POS=0

# Accuracy threshold for intermediate positions
# less accurate positions are ignored, 0 for passing all positions
ACCURACY_THRES=0

# Report supl ref location as position, 1=enable, 0=disable
REPORT_POSITION_USE_SUPL_REFLOC=1

# Wiper (wifi positioning), 1=enable, 0=disable
ENABLE_WIPER=1

################################
##### AGPS server settings #####
################################

# FOR SUPL SUPPORT, set the following
SUPL_HOST=supl.google.com
SUPL_PORT=7276
SUPL_NO_SECURE_PORT=3425
SUPL_SECURE_PORT=7275
SUPL_TLS_HOST=FQDN
SUPL_TLS_CERT=/etc/SuplRootCert

# FOR C2K PDE SUPPORT, set the following
C2K_HOST=c2k.pde.com
C2K_PORT=1234

CURRENT_CARRIER=common
DEFAULT_AGPS_ENABLE=TRUE
DEFAULT_SSL_ENABLE=FALSE

# TRUE for "User Plane", FALSE for "Control Plane"
DEFAULT_USER_PLANE=TRUE

• Make sure the permission of the file is rw-r--r--

4. Reboot

• Go setting, turn on your "use GPS satelites" and "Integrate Google Navigation"

• Restart the device (normal restart)[/B]

5. Use GPS status and Toolbox

• Tool available in market for free, please donate so developers are encouraged for better release in the future[/B]

• Open app> tools> manage A-GPS state>Reset

• Open app> tools> manage A-GPS state>Download

• Optional restart device (not compulsory)

• Use GPS status to start fixing satelites

• Your satelite fixing speed should VERY FAST now

• After get a successul GPS Lock, open your GPS applications and use like normal (e.g. Copilot, Sygic, or TomTom)

Extra Suggestion: Please make sure your GPS is enabled before your device is turnoff or restart. It won't actually use GPS unless you open map-related app or google.com.

Thanks for JMax and Vault Killer for the gps.conf file
WARNING: Please do backup before messing with your device
Do it at your own risk, I cannot be held resposible for any damage or dysfunctional of your device

Sometime even my phone won't work consistently. It won't able to get fix within 30seconds everytime. And i found this tool can be very very help to make sure my agps 95% up to date and thus has the best performance.

The tool is called "Leo AGPS Injector" developed by Tytung. Please click thanks or consider donation on the following post to thanks for the developer - Tytung. I have no credit at all for this tool. I just share it.
Here is the link: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=16384028&postcount=1907

Step to use the tool:

1. Install and place the widget on your home screen
2. Ensure your GPS setting is on
3. Make sure you're conencted to Internet / Mobile data
4. Press on the widget to inject AGPS data
5. Now you're good to go. The internet can be turn-off now. and your gps should work well

Note: I noticed once i connect to a big internet network (such as my university internet network). My GPS won't work anymore.
This is what i do to make it back to normal:

1. Connect to Mobile data (3G) and use "Leo GPS injector"
2. if it is still not working, i switch to airplane mode and back to normal mode again, then repeat step 1

And i notice, it works better if you use mobile internet, rather than fixed source internet at home. This is just what i feel, not necessary true.