How do I get the OTA update and/or confirm that my N7 has this OTA update? My gps still drops off line randomly.
GPS Problems on Nexus 7 (2013)
- Thread starter BgameDroid
- Start date
If the update was pushed to you, you'll get a notification in the upper-left drag-down menu. You need to confirm to update.
Once applied, Settings\About Tablet will show build number JSS15Q.
Hint: Leave your WiFi enabled!
Last edited:
Citizen Coyote
Well-known member
Epidemic you say? A Google search turned up very little on this related to the 2013 model. I did find some posts on eMMC corruption, but XDA posters seem to believe the most recent build fixes this issue. So if you have some evidence of this "epidemic" problem, please start a new thread and post it.
YAYTech
Well-known member
My GPS issues were not resolved immediately after the update. However, I just finished a factory reset with the latest update, and they seem to be resolved. So if anyone else updates & still has GPS issues, start backing things up & do a factory reset.
seanpr
Active member
Well, I am that OP. I don't know how to quantify scale, but if you are looking for corruption they manifest themselves in more subtle ways:
- Help, OTA update fails and I'm on pure stock with locked bootloader
- System UIDs inconsistent, are you feeling lucky
- Help, I rebooted and I'm stuck on X
- Cannot flash factory image, stuck on erase
They did 2 things to alleviate this:
- change the mount options to turn off delayed write back enhancements in the kernel ext4 code
- disable an advanced performance related option for the Hynix eMMC part
Citizen Coyote
Well-known member
Thanks for the clarifications and additional info. I have seen the "stuck on X after a reboot" thing myself once, but thankfully it corrected itself (I hesitate to say I fixed it because the steps I took may have been entirely coincidental to the problem going away). This is the kind of information that's helpful to see posted here.
ultimate_ed
Well-known member
Well, I seem to have gone from bad to worse. When I got my Nexus 7 a week ago, it suffered from the "lock on for 10 minutes and then lose signal" problem.
Yet, seeing a patch was on the way, I waited patiently. Today, I installed the update.
Now I have no GPS at all. My GPS box is checked, but when I go into maps now, the GPS indicator in the status bar doesn't even start blinking, much less get a lock.
GPS Test indicates "GPS ON" when I fire it up, but there is no action.
Am I alone? I haven't seen that one in my browsing of this thread.
Yet, seeing a patch was on the way, I waited patiently. Today, I installed the update.
Now I have no GPS at all. My GPS box is checked, but when I go into maps now, the GPS indicator in the status bar doesn't even start blinking, much less get a lock.
GPS Test indicates "GPS ON" when I fire it up, but there is no action.
Am I alone? I haven't seen that one in my browsing of this thread.
GPS used to work for me, but completely stopped working after latest update. It keeps on forever searching.
YAYTech
Well-known member
I too had the GPS stopped working completely after the update. After a factory reset it works perfectly.
Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk 4
Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk 4
My Nexus 7 is 16GB Wifi (second gen) version.
It is updated to the latest version of the stock firmware (OTA. No rooting).
i.e.
Android 4.3.
Build JSS15R.
The GPS is still unreliable.
The Navfree and OsmAnd apps will run from several to 10+ minutes and will stop because GPS is off.
I live in Ottawa, Canada.
It is updated to the latest version of the stock firmware (OTA. No rooting).
i.e.
Android 4.3.
Build JSS15R.
The GPS is still unreliable.
The Navfree and OsmAnd apps will run from several to 10+ minutes and will stop because GPS is off.
I live in Ottawa, Canada.
No change, no improvement through all the n7 updates. Sometimes the GPS works and sometimes it doesn't.
YAYTech
Well-known member
For those still having GPS issues - have you tried a factory reset since installing the latest update? I too had GPS issues after the latest update, but have had zero issues since doing a factory reset. It's a bummer to have to do it, but worth it IMO to have the issue fixed.
I bought a new Nexus 7 32gb wifi-only tablet on Saturday. I had read about multi-touch and gps issues on the internet, but it looked like they were fixed in JSS15Q. The store let me test it, and it worked fine. It had JSS15R factory-installed out of the box. I went for a two hour walk the next day, and the gps kept a lock the entire time. On Tuesday, I tested it again, and the gps would not lock, even after 20 minutes. I tried removing apps, and I rebooted a few times, but it did not help. I also tried using a gps test app to refresh the agps data. I have an old Nexus 7 that I put next to it, and the old one locked with 10 satellites within a few seconds. I have not rooted either tablet, and I have installed only a few apps, all from the google play store. Some people have posted that a factory reset will fix the gps, at least for a while, but that isn't a solution when you are driving. I am going to return it.
When the new Nexus 7 was working, it showed visible satellites with numbers into the 80's, so it can see more than US GPS satellites, but when it got a lock, it used only the lower numbered, US GPS satellites in the fix. Side by side with the old Nexus 7, the new Nexus 7 (when it was still working) took longer to lock (15 seconds to 3 minutes for the new Nexus 7 vs. 2 or 3 seconds for the old Nexus 7) and often had 1 or 2 fewer satellites in the fix. So in addition to the broken gps software, the gps hardware might be inferior as well.
When the new Nexus 7 was working, it showed visible satellites with numbers into the 80's, so it can see more than US GPS satellites, but when it got a lock, it used only the lower numbered, US GPS satellites in the fix. Side by side with the old Nexus 7, the new Nexus 7 (when it was still working) took longer to lock (15 seconds to 3 minutes for the new Nexus 7 vs. 2 or 3 seconds for the old Nexus 7) and often had 1 or 2 fewer satellites in the fix. So in addition to the broken gps software, the gps hardware might be inferior as well.
Last edited:
YAYTech
Well-known member
Did you have any OS updates after you left the store? If so, did you try a factory reset after the OS updates?
Settings -> About tablet -> System updates -> Check now
says "Your system is up to date". "About tablet" shows Build number JSS15R, which I think is the latest build.
I was wrong before -- it did the JSS15R update when I initialized it in the store.
I am pretty much decided to return it because I depend on the gps when I travel, and I don't want to risk another problem.
In any case, I am doing a factory reset now.
I have a photo and more information at https://plus.google.com/109904539145143933071/posts/3eUNmW9wwys
says "Your system is up to date". "About tablet" shows Build number JSS15R, which I think is the latest build.
I was wrong before -- it did the JSS15R update when I initialized it in the store.
I am pretty much decided to return it because I depend on the gps when I travel, and I don't want to risk another problem.
In any case, I am doing a factory reset now.
I have a photo and more information at https://plus.google.com/109904539145143933071/posts/3eUNmW9wwys
Last edited:
I saw no change after the factory reset. I have not rooted the device, and all of the apps are from the google play store.
I had a case with a magnetic wake/sleep. Watching the graphs on "GPS Test", the case seems to reduce the GPS signals by around 5dB. Even without the case, I can find locations where the new Nexus 7 will lose GPS lock and show 0 signal strength on all satellites, while an old Nexus 7 next to it can get a GPS lock within a few seconds.
In the photo, an old Nexus 7 is on the left and a new Nexus 7 is on the right. The old Nexus 7 has a lock with 5 satellites while the new Nexus 7 has no signal after searching for 8 minutes.
I called google support one last time. The woman said 1) that google does not answer questions about third party apps, so they do not care what the GPS Test app says, they only care about google maps and 2) that on a wifi-only tablet, the gps will not work out of wifi range. She repeatedly insisted that the gps would not work out of wifi range. She didn't know the difference between the gps receiver and the google maps app. I suggested that she did not understand the problem and asked to talk to a supervisor, and she said that she could not do that, and that the supervisor did not know anything more than she did. I told her that I would return the device if I couldn't talk to a supervisor, and she still refused to pass me to a supervisor.
After the call, I returned the new Nexus 7 to Best Buy. They gave me a full refund without any problems.
I had a case with a magnetic wake/sleep. Watching the graphs on "GPS Test", the case seems to reduce the GPS signals by around 5dB. Even without the case, I can find locations where the new Nexus 7 will lose GPS lock and show 0 signal strength on all satellites, while an old Nexus 7 next to it can get a GPS lock within a few seconds.
In the photo, an old Nexus 7 is on the left and a new Nexus 7 is on the right. The old Nexus 7 has a lock with 5 satellites while the new Nexus 7 has no signal after searching for 8 minutes.
I called google support one last time. The woman said 1) that google does not answer questions about third party apps, so they do not care what the GPS Test app says, they only care about google maps and 2) that on a wifi-only tablet, the gps will not work out of wifi range. She repeatedly insisted that the gps would not work out of wifi range. She didn't know the difference between the gps receiver and the google maps app. I suggested that she did not understand the problem and asked to talk to a supervisor, and she said that she could not do that, and that the supervisor did not know anything more than she did. I told her that I would return the device if I couldn't talk to a supervisor, and she still refused to pass me to a supervisor.
After the call, I returned the new Nexus 7 to Best Buy. They gave me a full refund without any problems.
Last edited:
When my gps isn't working it doesn't even matter if its in wifi range or not. I can't get a location fix even if it is in wifi range range. But when it is working I can get a location fix in or out of wifi range.
I assume that you were within Bestbuy's 15 day return period.
PS I HATE typing on this thing!
I assume that you were within Bestbuy's 15 day return period.
PS I HATE typing on this thing!
Correct, wifi has nothing to do with it. The reps at google support are probably reading from a script, and if someone says "gps" and "wifi-only", the script tells them to say that google maps works only in wifi-range. A rep that I had spoken to a few days earlier had at least been willing to advance to the next step in the script, which was rebooting in safe mode. Safe mode was actually a good suggestion because it had no effect on the problem, which meant that I didn't have the problem where multiple apps accessing the gps simultaneously could lock it up. I never saw that problem or the touch screen problem, so I think that JSS15R solved the more blatant issues, and now some of the smaller issues are becoming visible.
Correct, also, that I was within the Best Buy 15 day return period. They didn't ask any questions, and they even checked that I had done a factory reset. They also let me return a $40 case (which was expensive for being plastic and for closing with a clip instead of a wake/sleep magnet). The only other local store that had it in stock was the Office Depot where I bought my old Nexus 7 last year. I had originally gone to the Office Depot first for the new Nexus 7 because they said over the phone that I could return it for a refund if it didn't work, but when I asked again right before they took my credit card, they said electronics were replacement only and no refunds, so I left, and I happened to pass by the Best Buy on the way home.
I was sorry to return it because it was a nice device, compared to the old model, it boots in less than half the time, the screen is about twice as bright (readable outdoors in sunlight), the screen is sharper, it has a rear facing camera (apps like goggles and price check are usable), it is thinner and lighter, etc. I might not have noticed the gps issues if I didn't have an old tablet to compare against.
I imagine that google will eventually fix the gps issues, but I travel a lot, and I didn't want to be stuck with an expensive paperweight for an undetermined amount of time, and my old 2012 Nexus 7 still works fine. I also suspect that the new 2013 Nexus 7 has a design mistake that the gps antenna is too close to the wake/sleep sensor so the metal clips in cases with wake/sleep magnets block some of the gps signal. None of the cases sold by Asus have wake/sleep functionality, and since Asus knows better than anyone else where all the internals are located, that is a good indication that cases with wake/sleep cause some sort of problem. I have the Sygic navigation app and their off-line maps on my old tablet. When I travel and I am walking around or on a bus, I keep Sygic running but asleep by closing the case. It is fast to open the case, check where I am, and then close the case. With the new Nexus 7, I would have to use a case without wake/sleep which means that I would have to hunt for the power button (which is tricky to find when the tablet is in a case) or remember to push the navigation app into the background, which is a bit inconvenient.
Hopefully the 2014 model will be better.
Correct, also, that I was within the Best Buy 15 day return period. They didn't ask any questions, and they even checked that I had done a factory reset. They also let me return a $40 case (which was expensive for being plastic and for closing with a clip instead of a wake/sleep magnet). The only other local store that had it in stock was the Office Depot where I bought my old Nexus 7 last year. I had originally gone to the Office Depot first for the new Nexus 7 because they said over the phone that I could return it for a refund if it didn't work, but when I asked again right before they took my credit card, they said electronics were replacement only and no refunds, so I left, and I happened to pass by the Best Buy on the way home.
I was sorry to return it because it was a nice device, compared to the old model, it boots in less than half the time, the screen is about twice as bright (readable outdoors in sunlight), the screen is sharper, it has a rear facing camera (apps like goggles and price check are usable), it is thinner and lighter, etc. I might not have noticed the gps issues if I didn't have an old tablet to compare against.
I imagine that google will eventually fix the gps issues, but I travel a lot, and I didn't want to be stuck with an expensive paperweight for an undetermined amount of time, and my old 2012 Nexus 7 still works fine. I also suspect that the new 2013 Nexus 7 has a design mistake that the gps antenna is too close to the wake/sleep sensor so the metal clips in cases with wake/sleep magnets block some of the gps signal. None of the cases sold by Asus have wake/sleep functionality, and since Asus knows better than anyone else where all the internals are located, that is a good indication that cases with wake/sleep cause some sort of problem. I have the Sygic navigation app and their off-line maps on my old tablet. When I travel and I am walking around or on a bus, I keep Sygic running but asleep by closing the case. It is fast to open the case, check where I am, and then close the case. With the new Nexus 7, I would have to use a case without wake/sleep which means that I would have to hunt for the power button (which is tricky to find when the tablet is in a case) or remember to push the navigation app into the background, which is a bit inconvenient.
Hopefully the 2014 model will be better.
Similar threads
- Question
Trending Posts
-
News Major Google Pixel 8a leaks highlight features and software update promise- Started by AC News
- Replies: 0
-
-
News 24 hours with Rabbit R1, and I'm not completely sold... yet
- Started by AC News
- Replies: 0
-
WTB Samsung Galaxy Note 4 SM-N910T unlocked
- Started by sfeinbe
- Replies: 0
-
[Chatter] "Where everybody knows your name ..."
- Started by zero neck
- Replies: 53K
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram