[Q] Phone is constantly trying to get gps fix - Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

My Galaxy S2 is constantly trying to get gps fix. Is there any way to find out which program that is responsible for this?

long-press the home-button, start task manager and see which apps are running perhaps?

According to task manager WidgetLock is the only program running.
I need a program that monitor all programs and what they do at what time

I have your answer
That damn samsung vingo voice control App(don't know name) while driving. I guarantee that's your problem. Gad the same issue when I made a mistake and clicked it
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App

intruda119 said:
I have your answer
That damn samsung vingo voice control App(don't know name) while driving. I guarantee that's your problem. Gad the same issue when I made a mistake and clicked it
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this.
You could always just turn the GPS off.

That program I mentioned auto switches GPS on.
drm111 said:
this.
You could always just turn the GPS off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App

intruda119 said:
I have your answer
That damn samsung vingo voice control App(don't know name) while driving. I guarantee that's your problem. Gad the same issue when I made a mistake and clicked it
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have run it a couple of times myself, and then a couple of times to impress women, over the course of a few days - never had GPS issues with it, or excessive battery drainage.

just checked my battery useage and was kinda shocked: gps status uses most battery
i get _decent_ battery life out of my sgs2. 60% after ~24h with moderate useage. so it does not drain the battery but
i never did turn on gps since the last charge so its strange why gps status uses battery... the process is not shown as running which is also strange...
i have german sgs2 with KE2 (no updates in Kies shown for my device so far). unrooted phone.
edit: i dont want deinstall the program as i get extreme fast gps fix (< 5 seconds) so i wanted to hear if anyone else is having similar experiences with the program first...

Related

Location Question??

I have had my new streak since Wednesday, this thing is awesome!! I do have a concern about my GPS constantly turning on, every time I take my phone out of stanby mode it starts to search for my location. I "killed" all apps with Advanced Task Killer and it still try to locate my position... I don't mind too much, but it cant help my battery life so if anyone has any ideas as to what programs could be requsting my location all the time that would be a big help. Thank You for Your Time!!
Did you set up any widget?
I think you can use power widget to turn on/off GPS.
try going to the settings/location and security/ and turn it off?
hopefully the three top checkboxes are self explanatory...
use wireless uses a bit of data, but not that much, and is much more battery friendly than using gps (the second one).
however if you're not using location aware apps or widgets (such as beautiful widget) then there's no need for them.
any app that really wants to use gps usually asks you to turn it on, if its off.
fards said:
try going to the settings/location and security/ and turn it off?
hopefully the three top checkboxes are self explanatory...
use wireless uses a bit of data, but not that much, and is much more battery friendly than using gps (the second one).
however if you're not using location aware apps or widgets (such as beautiful widget) then there's no need for them.
any app that really wants to use gps usually asks you to turn it on, if its off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply, I did turn off the GPS option and kept on the Wireless one. Seems to have fixed the issue with contantly trying to find my location... I still have no idea which program was activating it.... Just have to turn it on when I want to get acurate directions... Hopefully my battery will last a day now!!! Assuming I can manage to put it down for more than 5 min...
Just a suggestion, have a look at the threads regarding using task killers on the streak. I was a WM user for years so thought task managers were essential. Caused me nothing but bother on the streak, been using it for weeks without one now, it occasionally has a temporary slow-down, but supposedly the streak doesn't need a task manager.
Sent from my Dell Streak using XDA App
Yeah I use Advanced Task Killer... it works great!
Guest69 said:
Just a suggestion, have a look at the threads regarding using task killers on the streak. I was a WM user for years so thought task managers were essential. Caused me nothing but bother on the streak, been using it for weeks without one now, it occasionally has a temporary slow-down, but supposedly the streak doesn't need a task manager.
Sent from my Dell Streak using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my Dell Streak using XDA App

Turn GPS On only when needed

Is there a way to have the GPS Radio only turn on if I open Waze or some other GPS Aware program? Trying to conserve power here.
TIA
CradleRob said:
Is there a way to have the GPS Radio only turn on if I open Waze or some other GPS Aware program? Trying to conserve power here.
TIA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To my knowledge, having GPS on standby barely uses any battery. Only when an app updates your location.
I'd just leave it on. Maybe Juice Defender could manage it though
That's how Android works. The GPS isn't actually on unless you see the icon in the top bar. Try it yourself - open Google Maps and you'll se the icon, then close Maps and you'll see it go away.
How is it like with bluetooth? Is it a big battery hog?
Eric-1987 said:
How is it like with bluetooth? Is it a big battery hog?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haven't tried out bluetooth yet.
But again, Juice Defender can now manage that too.
Thanks for the info...I'll be sure to play with the GPS a bit more.
Juice Defender is my new best friend.
Maroon Mushroom said:
To my knowledge, having GPS on standby barely uses any battery. Only when an app updates your location.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I wasn't aware of that, I've always turned it off because I thought that it would drain my battery.
I know for a fact that the BT will drain your battery even if you have nothing connected to it so turn it off if you don't use it.
Saelee said:
Thanks, I wasn't aware of that, I've always turned it off because I thought that it would drain my battery.
I know for a fact that the BT will drain your battery even if you have nothing connected to it so turn it off if you don't use it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it doesn't. Nor does GPS.
khaytsus said:
No, it doesn't. Nor does GPS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Reason people think that I bet is because when Bluetooth was new tech and only in it's first revision it didn't have any power saving features and was constantly pinging the radio if devices were connected or not. That was fixed with Bluetooth 1.3 onwards if memory serves right.
Bluetooth will not use battery unless its connected to a device, and then only will if the phone and the device get out of range from each other. I think but don't quote me, that the connecting device is in charge of pinging and staying pared and not the phone.
Gps can actually cause battery drain of you do a ton of web browsing and are using googles locstion sharing feature...it shares your location each time you load a page in the browser...so not only uses gps but the maps app as well.
This is the only scenario where I have seen it measurably effect battery
Sent from my hand using XDA App
I use Bluetooth in my car for voice and music. As you can see by my screen grab it does not use much battery.
CradleRob said:
Is there a way to have the GPS Radio only turn on if I open Waze or some other GPS Aware program? Trying to conserve power here.
TIA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pull down status bar, toggle GPS on/off.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda premium
CradleRob said:
Is there a way to have the GPS Radio only turn on if I open Waze or some other GPS Aware program? Trying to conserve power here.
TIA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use a program called Tasker and created a rule that turns on GPS only when I open Maps and Navigation. Tasker is a paid app but well worth it. i used it to turn on bluetooth and Nav when I get in my car in the morning, it also shuts off wifi and starts streaming Pandora. When I get to my office, it shuts off the ringer and turns on vibrate mode, shuts off the data network and stops streaming Pandora. It checks my personal email twice per day at scheduled intervals so I am not distracted.
When i plug in my headphones, a menu appears asking if I would like to launch music, pandora or phone.
Though it's a paid app, it is worth the money. Tasker is awesome.
--Mike
Sent from one of many Samsung devices.
MobileData said:
I use a program called Tasker and created a rule that turns on GPS only when I open Maps and Navigation. Tasker is a paid app but well worth it. i used it to turn on bluetooth and Nav when I get in my car in the morning, it also shuts off wifi and starts streaming Pandora. When I get to my office, it shuts off the ringer and turns on vibrate mode, shuts off the data network and stops streaming Pandora. It checks my personal email twice per day at scheduled intervals so I am not distracted.
When i plug in my headphones, a menu appears asking if I would like to launch music, pandora or phone.
Though it's a paid app, it is worth the money. Tasker is awesome.
--Mike
Sent from one of many Samsung devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just bought and paid for Tasker for the GPS one click workaround.
Tasker has a learning curve, but it's like any other macro editor.
You basically make a macro that says
IF app_being_opened = Navigation
AND gps status = off
THEN Open Location Settings
DPAD Down
DPAD Down
DPAD Enter
^-- Tasker does these for you, you sit there and watch.
OPEN Navigation
And you can do the same thing for Maps or any other apps requiring GPS.
Note that I also just made one for one click 4G, too.
Works well.
Note that I'm sure the macros can be cleaned up and made more idiot-proof, but I'm nowhere near proficient with Tasker yet. There are A LOT of options.
+1 for Tasker. I am by no means an expert with it, but it definitely has a lot of functionality.
I've used it to only turn on GPS when opening certain apps (like maps, foursquare, etc.)
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium
I don't understand the need to pay for an app to turn GPS onff. Tasked has a lot more uses but to purchase it for an answer to a nonexistent problem is so...meh.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda premium
jamesd86 said:
I don't understand the need to pay for an app to turn GPS onff. Tasked has a lot more uses but to purchase it for an answer to a nonexistent problem is so...meh.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Troll keep on trolling.
There is obviously a problem if multiple threads have been started to address the problem and if all the GPS widgets on the Market have to have a disclaimer saying "1 click won't work on 2.3.x devices."
Have tasker, just waiting for my note to use it actually
Sent from my INFUSE powered by ZEUS
I made this tutorial for anyone having difficulty making their one-click GPS solution.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fg56IgNHA0Y
theleetbeagle said:
Troll keep on trolling.
There is obviously a problem if multiple threads have been started to address the problem and if all the GPS widgets on the Market have to have a disclaimer saying "1 click won't work on 2.3.x devices."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you read what I wrote you'd realize that I understand there's a small problem but c'mon..almost 7 bucks when all you have to do is pull the notification down and hit the GPS toggle? If that's all someone is buying tasker for...its a waste. Now if they are going to use it for more stuff that's cool.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda premium

Keep WIFI on during sleep

I've been try to extend the life of my battery, and one of the things I have done is set the SETTINGS/WIFI/ADVANCED "keep WIFI on during sleep" to "never".
I make this change, but most times when I go back into the settings later on, it's changed back to "Always"
Anybody offer a clue as to why this might be happening?
Thanks.
greatcapp said:
I've been try to extend the life of my battery, and one of the things I have done is set the SETTINGS/WIFI/ADVANCED "keep WIFI on during sleep" to "never".
I make this change, but most times when I go back into the settings later on, it's changed back to "Always"
Anybody offer a clue as to why this might be happening?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no idea mate it shouldn't do as i have mine set to never and it stays like that, have you been flashing ROM's or anything like that maybe that could explain it!
No, not really.
The only thing I've done is rooted it. Apart from that, It's still got stock Samsung Rom on it.
Just checked again, and even tried setting it to "only when plugged in, but after 15 mins or so, it's back to "always" again.
greatcapp said:
No, not really.
The only thing I've done is rooted it. Apart from that, It's still got stock Samsung Rom on it.
Just checked again, and even tried setting it to "only when plugged in, but after 15 mins or so, it's back to "always" again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sorry i cant be of any assistance to you mind doesn't do that,. maybe someone else might know?
jonny68 said:
sorry i cant be of any assistance to you mind doesn't do that,. maybe someone else might know?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For anyone else who might come across the same issue.
After doing a factory reset, and putting apps back on one at a time, I found out it was DoubleTwist Airsync, that was changing the "WIFI sleep" option.
Apparently, the developer knows this, but wants it to work that way.
So it's now gone for me
But you won't lose too much battery on an 7 hr sleep with the always on setting.
I go to sleep with my S3 on 98% and wake up with 92-94% battery left even with received messages from 3 email accounts and other notifications.
<------------------------------->
Sent from my S3 using Tapatalk
I keep mine on always. I lose 3% during an 8hr sleep and it'll automatically connect to my carrier data when my network is not in range. Sure beats turning it off and on a handful times a day.
Weird is that WiFi is active in either option you shoose during sleep. Even if you choose NEVER, open your battery use stats and you'll see that WiFi was active all the time during sleep. I cannot understand why is this issue so underrated here on XDA forums. Or is it some kind of misinterpreting from my side???
Moonsower said:
Weird is that WiFi is active in either option you shoose during sleep. Even if you choose NEVER, open your battery use stats and you'll see that WiFi was active all the time during sleep. I cannot understand why is this issue so underrated here on XDA forums. Or is it some kind of misinterpreting from my side???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup afaik, choosing never will produce a wakelock to check the phone state and keeping it on will cause it to constantly scan even if connected to a network. Both choices will eat up battery.
I see many threads suggesting to just manually turn it off, preventing scanning, wakelocks and syncing all together.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
rab1412000 said:
Yup afaik, choosing never will produce a wakelock to check the phone state and keeping it on will cause it to constantly scan even if connected to a network. Both choices will eat up battery.
I see many threads suggesting to just manually turn it off, preventing scanning, wakelocks and syncing all together.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So it is normal that if i choose Never in wifi sleep policy phone, i find the wifi always on in battery stats? This question is not so clear...
Is there any explanation of wifi toggles by author... Google?
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
giovag7 said:
So it is normal that if i choose Never in wifi sleep policy phone, i find the wifi always on in battery stats? This question is not so clear...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not so sure if you will see wifi in the battery stats as I think wifi processes are part of the Android system in settings >battery.
Sent from a Galaxy far, far away
So has this problem not been solved?
SlimJ87D said:
So has this problem not been solved?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i also have this problem with omega v34..i hope it will be fixed
I use the app keep Wifi alive. It pings my server to ensure I don't lose a connection. I the only thing I see missing with it is that my email sync stops until I go to mobile data.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app

NetworkLocationLocator Wakelock

Hello all,
I am more than happy with my SIII but I'm finding a wakelock rather disturbing. It happens as soon as i turn on the "Use wireless networks" under the Location services settings.
If it's turned off, the wakelock disappears. But you know, it's hard to live with it turned off, as it greatly helps the GPS set a location way faster than it would do on its own... So using location based apps while it's off is a pain in the ass.
Any suggestions?
Thanks
Alphadan said:
Hello all,
I am more than happy with my SIII but I'm finding a wakelock rather disturbing. It happens as soon as i turn on the "Use wireless networks" under the Location services settings.
If it's turned off, the wakelock disappears. But you know, it's hard to live with it turned off, as it greatly helps the GPS set a location way faster than it would do on its own... So using location based apps while it's off is a pain in the ass.
Any suggestions?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nothing can be done about it really. Applications poll location data constantly when this option is ticked. It even tells you data is collected in the background regardless of what you are doing. To be honest many can cope with the 5-10 second wait for a GPS fix. Either deal with the drain or disable it.
5-10 seconds?? Most of the time I get message saying current location is temporarily unavailable, especially when I'm indoors.
I can't believe I have to deal with this problem. Am I the only one with this problem?? I was expecting a better answer.
just deactivate it. if you use a gps-app it will tell you to activate GPS anyways and while doing that you can then activate the network location as well.
with lbe privacy guard you can Block it if you are rooted
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
So basically there's no proper fix for this. All I can do is work around the issue? Coming from an iphone I feel this is a bit frustrating.
Thing is that the option I have to disable does not use GPS. It uses mobile signal and WiFi radios, so turning off GPS is useless.
Can anybody else help?
disable Google now,I think you will find that is what is polling your location
slaphead20 said:
disable Google now,I think you will find that is what is polling your location
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's been disabled all along, as I am Spanish and the current support for that language is nonexistent.
Any other ideas guys?
Alphadan said:
So basically there's no proper fix for this. All I can do is work around the issue? Coming from an iphone I feel this is a bit frustrating.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
coming from iPhone then you should know that the 4S had a similar problem when it came out, and the workaround was about the same...how you felt back then??
edit
how do you check if you have partial wakelock on an iphone btw??
Disable location in general and use Tasker or make a profile on AOSP rom to turn on location service when you're going out. After all you don't need location indoors right?
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
Tokarin said:
Disable location in general and use Tasker or make a profile on AOSP rom to turn on location service when you're going out. After all you don't need location indoors right?
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, in theory, your solution sounds awesome. But as i stated earlier, there's a small problem: battery drain is not caused by the GPS itself, but by the other "tricks" the phone has in order to find a location (wifi and radio).
I don't know about that problem with the 4S, but as you said, it occurred when it came out. The SIII has been out for 6 months now, and there's been several updates, yet the issue is still there.
BTW, i check the partial wakelocks with Better Battery Stats (you can find it for free here on the forums)
Just a general question... Does anyone else have this issue? If any of you guys do, then i'll learn to live with it, but being the only one would really make me feel silly.
Well, I just don't use that option, AFAIK the new cm10 build changed the GPS so that it no longer favor the North America but search for the nearest satellite instead. I notice this change already make my gps quick enough so I don't bother..
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
I have the same problem. The only solution I found was to disable networks location. Is there any app to identify clearly what is the app that it's requesting location from Google services? It is not maps because with 3g watchdog installed it reports separated (maps and Google services) the leak is on Google services.
Ps: I have found that this problem only exists when connected to a WiFi network. On 3g the requests are less intensive.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
Well I've just been doing some investigating with Better Battery Stats to find out why my battery was so bad with JB compared to ICS, then googled the NetworkLocationLocator as that seems to be the problem which brought me here (I'm a member anyway).
I must say it's pretty disappointing that this problem is occurring because surely the same option was being used in ICS and it never drained my battery back then. The only thing I can think of is Google Now has something to do with this. I have Google Now disabled anyway as (although it's a brilliant feature) it doesn't really benefit me as I don't travel around much, but I get the feeling that is the root of this problem because that's the biggest change in coming from ICS to JB (other than cosmetics and UI) right?
This is not even a problem.
People tick all kind of options or fail to go to see their apps properly starting from Facebook, Google+ , Google now, weather apps... And then complain how come they get excessive polling.
Problem lies in those same people wanting those services to record their location , but don't want any battery drain... At least case with all those around me that asked.
Trust me without WiFi and network triangulation the same services when allowed waste way more power using real GPS.
Testing JKay alpha on GT-I9300
Idan73 said:
This is not even a problem.
People tick all kind of options or fail to go to see their apps properly starting from Facebook, Google+ , Google now, weather apps... And then complain how come they get excessive polling.
Problem lies in those same people wanting those services to record their location , but don't want any battery drain... At least case with all those around me that asked.
Trust me without WiFi and network triangulation the same services when allowed waste way more power using real GPS.
Testing JKay alpha on GT-I9300
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the sweeping generalisation but I had the exact same option ticked in ICS and it was never a problem. Fact is in JB it causes a problem for some reason. It may be Google Now, who knows, but one things for sure, I should be able to have that option ticked and not have it keep my phone awake all night.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
Maybe I misunderstood. Sorry.
I use Google now and maps for network location as well as fancy widget polling every 2 hours. All other apps I individually where permitted set to off.
This setup does not keep my phone all night. I see where it wakes the phone in intervals and does its thing and goes back to sleep. Combined with my exchange email polling every hour overnight, I don't see any excessive battery usage compared to what I had with ICS.
Testing JKay alpha on GT-I9300
Turn of location history, leave the rest on. Wakelock is still there but less.

[Q] gpsd drain even while GPS off?

Hi!
I have been having an issue with my S III lately. For some time I have been trying to understand and configure my gps settings so that I could have gps always activated, without it draining the battery too heavily. I mainly tried manipulating my apps' location settings.
With no consistent results, I ultimately decided to try and turn gps off altogether in the pull down bar. Now, here's the issue; even with gps off, both the stock battery tool and GSam Battery Monitor report a 25% battery drain by "gpsd".
What am I doing wrong, and what can be done about it?
Thanks!
Stock S III, 4.1.2, unrooted.
Didn't wipe data when you upgraded?
Wipe the data of the service responsible.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
Thanks! If you are referring to the Android update, I simply installed it without wiping anything.
What exactly would wiping data entail?
Might be Google now working overtime
Questions go in the QA section, not general
slaphead20 said:
Might be Google now working overtime
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am pretty sure I disabled everything connected with Google and location...
Sorry for posting in the wrong place, will do next time!
it seems there is a bug in gpsd. sometime it hangs at 100% cpu (25% -> 1 of 4 cores) you can check this in shell with "top" cmd
if it hangs only a reboot help.
you will notice a bit lag when you switch your phone on and it gets a bit warm when this happens
for me it happens once every 1-4 days and i have allready disabled all google location settings and samsung security settings
any idea ? i dont find anything else on google.
btw. it looks like this started happen with XELLA but cant say it for sure
/inteks
That sounds exactly like the issue I have been having, especially it happening only one in every few days.
I can confirm that it seems to have had a definitive starting point, but not sure what changes I made at that point. What do you mean by XELLA? And are any other ways of telling when this happens?

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