Official v20L GPS problem and some newbie questions

[Guest vrowdy]

Hello all,

I have had my Optimus 2x since May and there have always been some problems, that's a well-known fact.

This week, I used the KDZ Flash method to update to the official (stock) v20L release from LG.

It seems a bit faster, the front cam works, but I'm (still) experiencing the following issues:

• GPS issues (new in 20L, not in 10D)
  When using GPS, the GPS icon flashes until it has a fix. However, often the GPS icon then disappears completely.
  I have to reboot the device to get it working again. This problem is random, it can also occur after a fresh boot.
  This is a major issue for me.
• Performance issues (present since 10B, better in 20L but still present)
  After the phone's been on for a day or so, mainly video/audio and games start to stutter and have micro-freezes. Youtube seems to be the worst.
• 3G disconnects (new in 20L)
  When the phone is standby for several hours, 3G seems to get disconnected. When I turn on the screen, the network signal bar is white, indication no 3G. After a few seconds, 3G reconnects itself. Then the battery drains itself real-time: you can see the percentage running back. About 1% per 30-40 seconds.
  You have to reboot quickly then to stop this and still have some battery left. Also, the fact that 3G is disabled is annoying since you don't get a lot of notifications from programs.
  
  
  I have several questions now:
  
  Are any of these issues fixed in the GR5 version Paul is going to release next week, or are any other fixes known for these issues?
  
  How can I 'upgrade' from the stock 20L to the GR5 release? I have been looking and searching everywhere, but I can only seem to find bits and pieces of info.
  I guess I need to root the device first (is this already possible on stock 20L? If not, can I KDZ-flash back to 10D), then install some version of Clockwork and then somehow flash the GR5? Any more information or pointers would be greatly appreciated. I do have expert PC/tech knowledge but the whole phone-flashing is new to me.
  
  
  I am of course more than willing to upgrade to a paid account if any of these issues will be resolved and/or flashing this rom over stock 20L is at all possible.
  
  
  
  
  Thanks for any help and also thanks to Paul and people like him for trying to give us a usable P990.
  
  

[Guest vrowdy]

It seems the GPS problem is known over at XDA.

It appears Topogigi has explained this problem, something about the hardware being addressed wrongly. I cannot find Topogigi's original post on this, only people saying what he said (like I'm doing now) or people quoting him.

It does seem Topogigi and Paul do know each other, so perhaps this fix will already be included.

I did find a rooting (for dummies) topic over at XDA for 20L which also installs CWM version 5. I will try that later.

So that's half of it then. Just wondering about the 'nandroid backup' (is that an option within cwm recovery? Or in Rommanager?) and the 'wipe' I need to do.

Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

In the mean time, it appears the GPS issue is present when you boot with GPS off. If you boot with GPS on, the problem isn't there - it appears. Don't know if this (gps on) will drain your battery any faster or not, since it seems gps is only really active when you have an App open that uses it.

Edited November 6, 2011 by vrowdy

[Guest rasta666]

Never had GPS issues on any rom, now I am on gr4, but I always boot with with GPS on, because I think it does not drain battery, if it does, than it is a very small amount.

I never use any GPS fix that are floating around (some will not help as are configured for different parts of the world), just added the Nokia supl servers at some point, maybe it helped sometime but they are not activated in the last 4 flashes made and I still have no issues with GPS.

The main thing is to let it get a good fix for the first time.

Nanodroid is just a regular backup made in CWM.

When updating the same rom, full wipe is not needed.

If flashing a different rom, then do a "full wipe", cache wipe, dalvik cache wipe (advanced in CWM), and be sure to delete battery stats in CWM to recalibrate (full process is explained on many web sites.

[Guest vrowdy]

Never had GPS issues on any rom, now I am on gr4, but I always boot with with GPS on, because I think it does not drain battery, if it does, than it is a very small amount.

I never use any GPS fix that are floating around (some will not help as are configured for different parts of the world), just added the Nokia supl servers at some point, maybe it helped sometime but they are not activated in the last 4 flashes made and I still have no issues with GPS.

The main thing is to let it get a good fix for the first time.

Nanodroid is just a regular backup made in CWM.

When updating the same rom, full wipe is not needed.

If flashing a different rom, then do a "full wipe", cache wipe, dalvik cache wipe (advanced in CWM), and be sure to delete battery stats in CWM to recalibrate (full process is explained on many web sites.

Thanks for your reply.

You can test the GPS issue easily: turn off GPS, reboot.

Turn on GPS, start Nav-App. As soon as you get a fix, the GPS disappears completely.

The work-around is indeed keeping/having the GPS on when (re)booting.

Thanks for your answer to the other questions.

I'll wait for the GR5 and then try to install CWM with the tutorial over at XDA. It's specifically for 20L - but I guess that doesn't matter since it uses NVFlash anyway.

Am I also correct in assuming, that I don't need to root 20L?

I can just install CWM (flash it with the tutorial) and then (backup and) install some new ROM? I can't use Rommanager from within Android then, but I don't really need to. Is this correct? If it is, I think I'm finally getting everything now. And I really like to understand everything before I try anything potentially dangerous.

Thanks!

[Guest rasta666]

Thanks for your reply.

You can test the GPS issue easily: turn off GPS, reboot.

Turn on GPS, start Nav-App. As soon as you get a fix, the GPS disappears completely.

The work-around is indeed keeping/having the GPS on when (re)booting.

Thanks for your answer to the other questions.

I'll wait for the GR5 and then try to install CWM with the tutorial over at XDA. It's specifically for 20L - but I guess that doesn't matter since it uses NVFlash anyway.

Am I also correct in assuming, that I don't need to root 20L?

I can just install CWM (flash it with the tutorial) and then (backup and) install some new ROM? I can't use Rommanager from within Android then, but I don't really need to. Is this correct? If it is, I think I'm finally getting everything now. And I really like to understand everything before I try anything potentially dangerous.

Thanks!

You are welcome.

Actually it happened once or twice that i booted with the GPS off, did not make any difference, but to me the always GPS works fine, the main reason being that after every flash I let it boot with GPS on and let it get a good fix for the first time, that way I avoid the GPS cold start after booting with GPS off. Also the first cold boot and first fix I make trough the hidden menu GPS testing, avoiding any GPS apps and A-GPS location data download.

I observed that following that procedure I did not have any issues even after flashing multiple times,.

Just follow the CWM procedure and use it to flash u new ROM and You are set to go, as probably the ROM You will flash is already rooted, there is really no need for Rom manager.

There are multiple guides and if You get unlucky there is always a guide of a way to fix it, all You need is on the first page of this 2X forum section.

In a few days You will be flashing, bricking,fixing restoring,reflashing and changing kernels during Your first morning coffee directly from Your device with multiple roms stored on the SD card.

Have fun :)

[Guest vrowdy]

You are welcome.

Actually it happened once or twice that i booted with the GPS off, did not make any difference, but to me the always GPS works fine, the main reason being that after every flash I let it boot with GPS on and let it get a good fix for the first time, that way I avoid the GPS cold start after booting with GPS off. Also the first cold boot and first fix I make trough the hidden menu GPS testing, avoiding any GPS apps and A-GPS location data download.

I observed that following that procedure I did not have any issues even after flashing multiple times,.

Just follow the CWM procedure and use it to flash u new ROM and You are set to go, as probably the ROM You will flash is already rooted, there is really no need for Rom manager.

There are multiple guides and if You get unlucky there is always a guide of a way to fix it, all You need is on the first page of this 2X forum section.

In a few days You will be flashing, bricking,fixing restoring,reflashing and changing kernels during Your first morning coffee directly from Your device with multiple roms stored on the SD card.

Have fun :)

Thanks for your help.

I will wait for Gr5 and otherwise go with Thanatos2X. They seem the most promising to me.

Edited November 8, 2011 by vrowdy

[Guest rasta666]

Thanks for your help.

I will wait for Gr5 and otherwise go with Thanatos2X. They seem the most promising to me.

You can try that now, and later switch back to GR5 when public, because later You will think "wonder how Thanatos or Topo feels like" and it is easy to restore from a cwm backup to a working rom, if You do not like it :) and is hard to try a new rom if the one You are using is working good (but as we know every rom, stock or custom has its own little issues and/or benefits).

Additionally it will make You more comfortable with the flashing process, and since You have kitchen access I predict a lot of baking :)

[Guest vrowdy]

You can try that now, and later switch back to GR5 when public, because later You will think "wonder how Thanatos or Topo feels like" and it is easy to restore from a cwm backup to a working rom, if You do not like it :) and is hard to try a new rom if the one You are using is working good (but as we know every rom, stock or custom has its own little issues and/or benefits).

Additionally it will make You more comfortable with the flashing process, and since You have kitchen access I predict a lot of baking :)

But the Thanatos ROM is Ext4, where most other roms are Ext3. I did find tools to convert/format Ext4 back to Ext3. Am I correct in assuming, that the recovery partition which contains CWM, always remains Ext3 (or perhaps it's even FAT?) and CWM will always remain available, even if the conversion from Ext4 back to Ext3 goes wrong for some reason?

I will flash another ROM tonight, because the radio keeps crashing on me with stock 20L, several times a day now so this is unusable.

[Guest rasta666]

But the Thanatos ROM is Ext4, where most other roms are Ext3. I did find tools to convert/format Ext4 back to Ext3. Am I correct in assuming, that the recovery partition which contains CWM, always remains Ext3 (or perhaps it's even FAT?) and CWM will always remain available, even if the conversion from Ext4 back to Ext3 goes wrong for some reason?

I will flash another ROM tonight, because the radio keeps crashing on me with stock 20L, several times a day now so this is unusable.

CWM will always remain available, but depending on the version it will or will not read EXT4 backups.

Use this version, it works with both EXT3 and EXT4: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1098745

With this You will be able to restore backups no matter what EXT version they are.

It is good to always keep "back to EXT3"(wipes data) and "universal EXT4 converter"(converts to ext4, without wipe) on Your SD card.