I posted a question about this last week thinking it was a wifi problem, but it turns out it happens when I'm on data too, so it's an overall data problem... I'm just using wifi most of the time so that was the only place I had noticed it.
Occasionally my phone will stop being able to send/receive data. I'll turn it on and try to load a web page, for example, and it will just hang. Turning wifi on/off doesn't fix it, and turning data on/off doesn't seem to fix it either. The only solution I've found is going into airplane mode for a second. The frequency varies.. it seems to happen between 1-5 times a day, so it's pretty inconvenient.
I've read around a bit and it sounds like it's caused by the phone trying to get a 4G connection but it isn't able to or something, so it just hangs there and never lets the 3g/wifi connections get used (due to priority of connections or something). I almost always have wifi and don't care that much about data speeds, so if disabling 4g altogether would fix the problem I'm game (although I'd prefer another solution...). I tried the *#*#4636#*#* code to change it to GSM only (I read somewhere that that'll disable 4g), but it instantly reverts back to what it originally was, so that doesn't seem like it'll work. Is there another way to disable 4g?
I've got the stock ROM running Entropy's latest DD kernel.
I've had this same exact issue while running Miui and the Siyah kernel. What I've narrowed it down to is likely to be some sort of power save mode that kicks in when the phone goes into deep sleep mode. I haven't had the issue since I've ran the Kernel cleaning scripts and reflashed the latest Siyah kernel, but it reappears occasionally. On certain releases of Siyah, I've ran SetCPU at a minimum of 200Mhz to keep the phone from going into deep sleep just so it wouldn't turn off the cell radio.
Also, as a side note, I've had this happen when my phone loses signal. After so much searching, it will turn off the entire cell radio and display "Emergency Calls Only" until Airplane mode is toggled.
I had this same problem even back with my Captivate. Hoping ICS won't have the same issue. I'm running CM7 and Siyah kernel.
I am having the same problem Data wont work until i turn airplane mode on and off
I am having the same problem Data wont work until i turn airplane mode on and off.
Have you found a resolution?
My Droid Razr Maxx is my third Android phone in three years. My last phone (Samsung Droid Charge), when I put it in Airplane Mode, it did not disable the GPS -- which is exactly the way that it should work IMHO. Anyway, I use my phone as a GPS unit in remote wilderness areas which are miles from the nearest cell tower. On a 15 hour hike, it's a ridiculous waste of battery life to allow the phone to keep searching for a cell tower that it's not going to find (or even worse, finding a 1x tower connection that is very weak and intermittent). I need to be able to turn off all cellular communication (voice and data), but leave GPS running. On my Droid Charge, just putting it in airplane mode would do that, but on the Maxx, Airplane Mode also kills the GPS.
On a rooted Maxx with 100% stock ROM, is there a way to modify this?
I think that the easiest solution in your case would be removing the sim card.
Tapatalked
geesoos said:
I think that the easiest solution in your case would be removing the sim card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the suggestion, but not very practical. I need a software solution. The SIM is tiny enough that I'd lose it about the 3rd or 4th time that I did that. But thanks anyway for replying.
use the power control widget to toggle it on/off, after switching to airplane mode
putting ur phone to airplane mode disables gps but there is nothing stopping you from re-enabling it while in airplane mode
SoonerLater said:
My Droid Razr Maxx is my third Android phone in three years. My last phone (Samsung Droid Charge), when I put it in Airplane Mode, it did not disable the GPS -- which is exactly the way that it should work IMHO. Anyway, I use my phone as a GPS unit in remote wilderness areas which are miles from the nearest cell tower. On a 15 hour hike, it's a ridiculous waste of battery life to allow the phone to keep searching for a cell tower that it's not going to find (or even worse, finding a 1x tower connection that is very weak and intermittent). I need to be able to turn off all cellular communication (voice and data), but leave GPS running. On my Droid Charge, just putting it in airplane mode would do that, but on the Maxx, Airplane Mode also kills the GPS.
On a rooted Maxx with 100% stock ROM, is there a way to modify this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use a Smart Action to disable whatever you want instead Airplane mode.
Just set an action: Meeting, Driving, Taking a snap.. (use the time trigger)
Then set
Disable wi-fi, 3g, background sync, etc.
Cheers
Or instead of airplane mode just shut of all radios with phone info app
I just tried Airplane Mode and looked in GPS settings, they were all on. I opened maps and it located me within a few seconds. Am i missing something??
EDIT: I am on a rooted MAXX, 100% stock rom.
I just tried it on my Maxx and switching to Airplane mode did not turn off GPS !!!
Hey guys, first off, I have searched for no less than 2 hours for an answer to this question, and while there are lots of discussions, none of them seem to replicate what I am seeing.
Can anyone confirm this, and does anyone have a fix?
GPS will not lock a single satelite in Airplane Mode. I'm in American Samoa without cell coverage, and using the GPS Status app to test. Here's my findings:
First, I turn off Airplane mode, turn on WiFi (connected), turn on GPS. I do not get a cell signal. I open GPS Status, GPS locks onto the first satelite within a minute, and locks position in 10 seconds after that. I turn Airplane mode on which turns WiFi off. Interestingly enough, GPS is not turned off. I turn GP Soff, and then turn it back on (have read suggestions to do so, and have also tried not switching it at all). I then turn Wifi on and verify connection. I open GPS Status, and let it sit for up to an hour outdoors, not a single satelite ever appears. I turn Airplane mode off, and within a minute I have a locked location.
So, two questions, is it possible to get GPS to work when in Airplane mode, or is it possible to disable the cell radio some other way (possibly keeping GPS enabled)?
Here's my stats:
Phone: Moto Razr Maxx
Rooted: Yup
Carrier: Verizon
Sys Version: 6.12.181.XT912.Verizon.en.US
Android Version: 2.3.6
Baseband: CMDA_N_04.07.01R LTEDC_U_07.1F.00
Purchased about a month ago
Playing around a bit more, I noticed that when I have airplane mode off, and GPS on, and GPS Status open, if I quickly hit the home button, turn Airplane mode on, and go back into GPS Status, a lock remains for about 3-5 seconds, and then satelites slowly start disappearing until there's none left. Airplane mode is definitely disabling GPS on my phone.
Anyone? Bueller.... Bueller... Bueller...
I can post video if you don't believe me...
I have read that the GPS needs a data connection to make a lock. I don't remember where I read that, but I had the same problem when I was in Europe trying to use my phone primarily as a GPS device with cached maps. There was maybe once or twice that it actually locked, out of many many many many attempts.
I have airplane mode on, wifi and blutooth off, then turn on gps, I get gps lock on my Droid Razr with stock gingerbread for a short period then lose all satellites. It appears that you can't use gps with airplane mode on.
bump i have been wondering about this also. airlines often expressly allow gps. after all, gps RECEIVES, it doesn't transmit.
droidmo said:
I have read that the GPS needs a data connection to make a lock. I don't remember where I read that, but I had the same problem when I was in Europe trying to use my phone primarily as a GPS device with cached maps. There was maybe once or twice that it actually locked, out of many many many many attempts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually GPS doesn't need data connection to make a lock. But with data connection it helps make lock much faster.. that's the features called A-GPS (Assisted-GPS), google around about A-GPS for more detailed info how it works.
I always turn off my data connection every time i use my razr for navigation. I only turn data connection sometimes to make the GPS locked and after i got a lock i always turn off the data connection (I'm not on data plan) and even i didn't turn on my data connection I still can get a lock as long as i am outdoor. So far i never had razr GPS lock problems. This phone's GPS never disappoint me.
My guess is maybe it's some kinda bug on the airplane mode or maybe that's intentionally for some safety reasons.
Same here. I did:
- open maps, locate my position. ok.
- turn off wifi and data
- go back to maps, position ok.
- longpress power, turrn on airplane
- gps starts blinking, position lost
- turn off airplane, but data remains off
- gps position found in 2 seconds
(also tried with "GPS Test" app - same result)
I have MAXX AsiaRetail stock 2.3.6
Sent from my XT910 using XDA
Thanks guys, nice to know it's not just me! Just to clarify some other posts, GPS works with or without a data connection as long as airplane mode is off.
So, seeing as though airplane mode kills GPS, does anyone know of a way to disable the cell radio (to save battery life) without turning on airplane mode?
And just to comfort those who worry about flying, I'm just using the phone for directions and what not (American Samoa doesn't have street addresses believe it or not, and 2 houses past the third palm tree doesn't cut it ). I download the directions while at the hotel on wifi, then go about my way, but if I can't use GPS in airplane mode, it kills the battery searching for a cell tower.
kreez said:
So far i never had razr GPS lock problems. This phone's GPS never disappoint me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Couldn't agree more, while in the states with cell reception, this phone's GPS is fantastic! Unfortunately, if you have to keep airplane mode off to have it work, it's useless in the back country, or 3rd world countries. Maybe today's ICS release will fix the bug!
I don't think it's a bug. My droid X did the same thing.
risslerp said:
I don't think it's a bug. My droid X did the same thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah yes, feature not bug. :cyclops:
Moved To Q&A
Please Post questions in the Q&A section
On my Razr Maxx I also have no gps in airplane mode. I'm running the official 4.04.
I'm going to guess this is because the droid radio chip has gps integrated along with the cellular radios. Here's my evidence:
Turning off the radio with the LTE OnOff app (it just opens the radio service menu, same as dialing the service number), and pressing "Turn radio off": Gps Test would never see any satellites and would never get a gps lock.
Setting the "preferred network type" to "GSM only" (this has no service in Seattle with Verizon): Gps Test immediately sees satellites and I get a gps lock.
I wish there was an option to turn off all the cellular radios but to leave the gps radio on. I use my razr maxx hiking with offline topo maps and OruxMaps, and it lasts about 8 hours recording tracks every 1 minute.
Possible solution?
My findings are that when using my Razr Maxx still on 2.3.6 stock settings, If I run the GPS Test application with GPS, 3G data and cellular on (airplane mode off) it acquires my location accurate of 10 feet, using 8-12 satellites in approximately 10 or so seconds. If I exit, toggle Airplane mode on, relaunch GPS Test, it will acquire my location in the same time, accuracy and with again 8-12 satellites. But If I exit, toggle GPS off and then Airplane mode on, Toggle GPS on, relaunch GPS Test, it will not be able to locate any satellites.
Now, with that said, if I go into my data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases/ directory and open the settings.db file, in the "system" entry, I do not have gps listed in either the "airplane_mode_radios" or the "airplane_mode_toggleable_radios" values. I do have "cell,bluetooth,wifi" under the airplane_mode_radios value, and "bluetooth,wifi" under the airplane_mode_toggleable_radios value.
I do not know how this looks in ICS for the Razr (4.0.4). I also do not know if gps is even able to be included here. Just a theory.
I might be on to something that may work and you will need to be rooted.
I warn you, that I have not tried modifying this myself, so I cannot verify it will work. Do not try this if you aren't comfortable with attempting it without it being verified to work first.
What I'm thinking is to use an app like Root Explorer and navigate into the data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases/ directory. Open and edit the settings.db file with an app like SQLite editor. Then open the "system" database entry. Check to see if on around lines 21 and 22 there are entries named "airplane_mode_radios" and "airplane_mode_toggleable_radios". Once located, check to see if their values include gps among the other available radios. If the airplane_mode_radios value includes gps, then long press, tap edit field, remove it and save. If gps is not listed under the airplane_mode_toggleable_radios then long press, edit field, add gps and save. Exit and reboot.
I think with doing this, it should not turn GPS off when airplane mode is toggled on and it should allow you to toggle GPS on and off while airplane mode is on.
If anyone else knows of an easier or proven way to do this then let us know.
If you know this will not work, correct me and let me know.
Ryco26 said:
My findings are that when using my Razr Maxx still on 2.3.6 stock settings, If I run the GPS Test application with GPS, 3G data and cellular on (airplane mode off) it acquires my location accurate of 10 feet, using 8-12 satellites in approximately 10 or so seconds. If I exit, toggle Airplane mode on, relaunch GPS Test, it will acquire my location in the same time, accuracy and with again 8-12 satellites. But If I exit, toggle GPS off and then Airplane mode on, Toggle GPS on, relaunch GPS Test, it will not be able to locate any satellites.
Now, with that said, if I go into my data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases/ directory and open the settings.db file, in the "system" entry, I do not have gps listed in either the "airplane_mode_radios" or the "airplane_mode_toggleable_radios" values. I do have "cell,bluetooth,wifi" under the airplane_mode_radios value, and "bluetooth,wifi" under the airplane_mode_toggleable_radios value.
I do not know how this looks in ICS for the Razr (4.0.4). I also do not know if gps is even able to be included here. Just a theory.
I might be on to something that may work and you will need to be rooted.
I warn you, that I have not tried modifying this myself, so I cannot verify it will work. Do not try this if you aren't comfortable with attempting it without it being verified to work first.
What I'm thinking is to use an app like Root Explorer and navigate into the data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases/ directory. Open and edit the settings.db file with an app like SQLite editor. Then open the "system" database entry. Check to see if on around lines 21 and 22 there are entries named "airplane_mode_radios" and "airplane_mode_toggleable_radios". Once located, check to see if their values include gps among the other available radios. If the airplane_mode_radios value includes gps, then long press, tap edit field, remove it and save. If gps is not listed under the airplane_mode_toggleable_radios then long press, edit field, add gps and save. Exit and reboot.
I think with doing this, it should not turn GPS off when airplane mode is toggled on and it should allow you to toggle GPS on and off while airplane mode is on.
If anyone else knows of an easier or proven way to do this then let us know.
If you know this will not work, correct me and let me know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd like to confirm that I'm having the same issue of having no GPS connectivity when in airplane mode even though the GPS has been toggled on. Numerous other forums have stated that this is a hardware issue with Motorola phones. I'm curious if the above quoted solution has worked for anybody.
Thank you!
This is the response that I got from Motorola after asking the general question about having GPS turned on when airplane mode is on:
"When airplane mode is enabled, this will automatically disable all wireless and radio communication on the device including the GPS receiver. Because the phone, in order to determine location, takes readings from both GPS satellites and nearby cellular base stations (towers), with the help of a location server on the network. In other words, the phone relies on the network for help in determining location. Although the phone does receive GPS signals directly from the satellites, it can't determine actual location without help from the cell network."
Therefore, you can't use the GPS radio by itself.
hantav said:
This is the response that I got from Motorola after asking the general question about having GPS turned on when airplane mode is on:
"When airplane mode is enabled, this will automatically disable all wireless and radio communication on the device including the GPS receiver. Because the phone, in order to determine location, takes readings from both GPS satellites and nearby cellular base stations (towers), with the help of a location server on the network. In other words, the phone relies on the network for help in determining location. Although the phone does receive GPS signals directly from the satellites, it can't determine actual location without help from the cell network."
Therefore, you can't use the GPS radio by itself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But the GPS still works fine when I am far away from any cell towers of any kind...
I think whoever responded to you was trying to justify airplane mode turning off GPS. There must be a way to force it to stay on.
It has certainly frustrated me that I can't use airplane mode to save battery while using GPS.
I'm by no means an expert on this issue but I think the GPS and cellular radios are physically connected (on the same chip??) inside most Motorola phones. So even though you might not be near a cellular tower, and if airplane mode if off, you should be able to get a GPS signal. But if airplane mode is on, then both the cellular and GPS radios will be turned off.
Basically, the interwebs is pointing to a hardware issue rather then an a software issue. However, I hope a software solution is available.
MrCavity said:
But the GPS still works fine when I am far away from any cell towers of any kind...
I think whoever responded to you was trying to justify airplane mode turning off GPS. There must be a way to force it to stay on.
It has certainly frustrated me that I can't use airplane mode to save battery while using GPS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd give $20 for a software solution to this problem. I am an avid hiker. Using a cell phone in Airplane Mode you get 4x, 5x, 6x the battery life. If I can use GPS while in Airplane Mode, I can hike a very long time, but if I'm forced to leave the cell radio on merely to use GPS, the battery won't last a full day's hike. It is ridiculous that we can't (yet) use GPS in Airplane Mode. I have been using ViewRanger offline navigation app for years. I download to the phone before I leave home all of the topo maps that I need for a hike, so I have no need for data when I'm hiking.
Did anyone ever try editing the systems.db file in data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases/ directory? I can't tell that the guy that wrote that post ever tried it himself.
EDIT: I found here documentation of these two settings.
AIRPLANE_MODE_RADIOS -- A comma separated list of radios that need to be disabled when airplane mode is on.
AIRPLANE_MODE_TOGGLEABLE_RADIOS -- A comma separated list of radios that should to be disabled when airplane mode is on, but can be manually reenabled by the user.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My XT912 is rooted and I have System set to read-write. I tried to use SQLite to edit the value of AIRPLANE_MODE_TOGGLEABLE_RADIOS in the System table of /data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases/System.db to change it from "bluetooth,wifi,nfc" to "bluetooth,wifi,nfc,gps" but even though I have write permissions to the file, when I tried, I received this error:
Update Failed - Error Code 5. Database is locked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I went searching for how to edit settings.db and found this thread and this other thread, but I don't fully understand the instructions.
Bottom Line: if this is truly a hardware problem, then editing this file won't fix the problem (but likely won't cause any harm either), but if this is merely a software problem, then this may finally give us GPS use while in Airplane Mode.
I was going to try and post in devoper section, but I can't yet. I have an issue with battery usage, where I work, inside at least, the cell service is bad. I was wondering if anyone has heard of or can even make an app that would automate the airplane mode, while maintaining wifi.
I was thinking if there was no service for more than a certain time, it automatically enable airplane mode and re-enable the wifi, until it is manually turned off, maybe by a widget. If anyone has any knowledge of this, please give me an idea, I'm using 60% of my battery just searching for service.
I am rooted running hyperdrive rls14.
Airplane mode automatically disables all wireless services. Why don't you just disable mobile data when you get to work? You'll still be able to receive text messages.
Also, for future reference, the developer's section isn't for questions, but a place for developers to share their work. This thread should really be in Q&A.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using xda app-developers app
bradbb2009 said:
I was going to try and post in devoper section, but I can't yet. I have an issue with battery usage, where I work, inside at least, the cell service is bad. I was wondering if anyone has heard of or can even make an app that would automate the airplane mode, while maintaining wifi.
I was thinking if there was no service for more than a certain time, it automatically enable airplane mode and re-enable the wifi, until it is manually turned off, maybe by a widget. If anyone has any knowledge of this, please give me an idea, I'm using 60% of my battery just searching for service.
I am rooted running hyperdrive rls14.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a similar issue with where I work. However, I just turn on airplane mode and then turn on wifi. You can have wifi on while being in airplane mode. It is just two or three button presses, so I don't think it is that big of an issue. When you leave your job, just turn airplane mode off...
Phoneweaver
That's your answer. Set up a profile to turn on airplane mode and wifi at whatever time you want. Set up other profiles as you like. It will launch apps, toggle GPS (if you have secholeutils), mobile data on/off, volume levels, change ring tones, notification tones... pretty much anything you want.
You can always use NFC to trigger it too. I have a NFC tag on my desk at work the puts my phone into "work mode"