The Telstra NextG Desire and getting GPS to work

[Guest sun-drop]

Hi guys, just wondering if any one can help us down here in Aust/Nz who have the 850/2100 supporting NextG HTC desire from telstra.

background:

so when this phone was launched it was discovered that GPS was broken on the device.

using something like GPS Test from the apps store no one was getting locks in fair times, if at all.

see this thread here:

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1429739

then some of us tried flashing one of the stock eurpoean roms via goldcard .. and that didn't work, well it did, but we could only get locks if mobile data conection was off - ie gpstest would get locks on birds ..but if you turned on yr mobile data or wifi ... then poof .. loose locks and back to square one.

some with sharp eyes noted that this rom had different gps config data files:

contents of a Telstra NextG desire pre fix patch:

NTP_SERVER=europe.pool.ntp.org

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

SUPL_HOST=149.135.136.152

SUPL_PORT=7275

SUPL_TLS_HOST=149.135.136.152

SUPL_TLS_CERT=/etc/SuplRootCert

contents of gps.conf of a HTC desires imported from the UK (gps working for these phones) and nexus1's :

gps.conf

NTP_SERVER=north-america.pool.ntp.org

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

SUPL_HOST=supl.google.com

SUPL_PORT=7276

so then after a week or so HTC released a fix via way of 4mb OTA update, and optional full rom:

http://www.htc.com/au/SupportViewNews.aspx...amp;news_id=640

contents of gps.conf of a telstra NextG desire post the gps update fix:

gps.conf

NTP_SERVER=north-america.pool.ntp.org

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

SUPL_HOST=supl.google.com

SUPL_PORT=7276

And yay, all was working again, gps happy to get locks in a couple seconds, data connections on or off.

so all was well.

but the thing is ..if you falsh a stock rom after this, or root via pauls method ... gps again stops getting locks while data connections are turned on :P

the new telstra rom is a 1.16xx rom so in order to root you now have to use pauls alt method, and i've done that, and rooted fine ...but still no gps. so i decided to upgrade the radio to 32.36.00.28U_4.06.00.02_2 .. and now i have the .80 hboot and the new radio version showing when i boot with back button pressed. but sadly ..still no gps locks. no change.

and bummer .. i think due to the Hboot version i now can't flash the telstra fix rom back.

so kinda stuck without GPS here at the mo.

tried this cleaned up version of the Telstra rom below ..but i think it's messed up, i think i'm the 1st to try and after updating my phone wouldn't boot past the htc logo, thought i had bricked it but luckly i still had recovery mode access and was able to reflash pauls rooted rom.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=676782

So yeh, on behalf of us down here ... any ideas what the magic sauce is that the telstra fix rom applies? else none of us down here will be able to root our phones and have GPS working .. :D

[Guest mooves]

I second that request! :P

No you're not the only one fortunately. I too was persuaded by the flashing bells and whistles of a custom ROM to replace my fully functional (yet bloated) Telstra build. Like you after Paul's method I too was shocked to see I'd been upgraded to HBOOT .80 (and a new radio) on my Desire. So now I've got a custom ROM with no GPS functionality. If the fix is to replace the gps.conf then have you tried that. I'm going to try that now.

PS. the only ROM i can get to boot is Paul's rootedupdate.zip. Pays and Evil's ROMs don't work at all. Even after wiping everything first.

Hi guys, just wondering if any one can help us down here in Aust/Nz who have the 850/2100 supporting NextG HTC desire from telstra.

background:

so when this phone was launched it was discovered that GPS was broken on the device.

using something like GPS Test from the apps store no one was getting locks in fair times, if at all.

see this thread here:

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1429739

then some of us tried flashing one of the stock eurpoean roms via goldcard .. and that didn't work, well it did, but we could only get locks if mobile data conection was off - ie gpstest would get locks on birds ..but if you turned on yr mobile data or wifi ... then poof .. loose locks and back to square one.

some with sharp eyes noted that this rom had different gps config data files:

contents of a Telstra NextG desire pre fix patch:

NTP_SERVER=europe.pool.ntp.org

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

SUPL_HOST=149.135.136.152

SUPL_PORT=7275

SUPL_TLS_HOST=149.135.136.152

SUPL_TLS_CERT=/etc/SuplRootCert

contents of gps.conf of a HTC desires imported from the UK (gps working for these phones) and nexus1's :

gps.conf

NTP_SERVER=north-america.pool.ntp.org

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

SUPL_HOST=supl.google.com

SUPL_PORT=7276

so then after a week or so HTC released a fix via way of 4mb OTA update, and optional full rom:

http://www.htc.com/au/SupportViewNews.aspx...amp;news_id=640

contents of gps.conf of a telstra NextG desire post the gps update fix:

gps.conf

NTP_SERVER=north-america.pool.ntp.org

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

SUPL_HOST=supl.google.com

SUPL_PORT=7276

And yay, all was working again, gps happy to get locks in a couple seconds, data connections on or off.

so all was well.

but the thing is ..if you falsh a stock rom after this, or root via pauls method ... gps again stops getting locks while data connections are turned on :D

the new telstra rom is a 1.16xx rom so in order to root you now have to use pauls alt method, and i've done that, and rooted fine ...but still no gps. so i decided to upgrade the radio to 32.36.00.28U_4.06.00.02_2 .. and now i have the .80 hboot and the new radio version showing when i boot with back button pressed. but sadly ..still no gps locks. no change.

and bummer .. i think due to the Hboot version i now can't flash the telstra fix rom back.

so kinda stuck without GPS here at the mo.

tried this cleaned up version of the Telstra rom below ..but i think it's messed up, i think i'm the 1st to try and after updating my phone wouldn't boot past the htc logo, thought i had bricked it but luckly i still had recovery mode access and was able to reflash pauls rooted rom.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=676782

So yeh, on behalf of us down here ... any ideas what the magic sauce is that the telstra fix rom applies? else none of us down here will be able to root our phones and have GPS working .. :P

[Guest bcmobile]

tried this cleaned up version of the Telstra rom below ..but i think it's messed up, i think i'm the 1st to try and after updating my phone wouldn't boot past the htc logo, thought i had bricked it but luckly i still had recovery mode access and was able to reflash pauls rooted rom.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=676782

I've also been wondering the same thing. Thats my cleaned up ROM you were trying. People keep asking me if it includes the GPS fix and I can only tell them that it includes the new config file.

BTW - if you're stuck with infinite reboots, it's probably due to A2SD not working. I don't have any problems with it but my SD Card is partitioned appropriately. In theory A2SD should just not activate if you don't have an ext2 or 3 partition.

You obviously found that you can use 'adb reboot recovery' to get back to recovery menu. You can also do:

adb shell

# a2sd

To get out of the boot loop but it's still not a permanent fix - it will just exit the boot loop and load up. Next reboot, you'll be back to the loop again.

If you're getting the boot loop, its best to flash a non-a2sd ROM to be safe. I've given up on including A2SD in ROMs for now. I have had some success with the A2SD 'patch' and it means less headaches.

Edited May 9, 2010 by bcmobile

[Guest sun-drop]

I've also been wondering the same thing. Thats my cleaned up ROM you were trying. People keep asking me if it includes the GPS fix and I can only tell them that it includes the new config file.

BTW - if you're stuck with infinite reboots, it's probably due to A2SD not working. I don't have any problems with it but my SD Card is partitioned appropriately. In theory A2SD should just not activate if you don't have an ext2 or 3 partition.

You obviously found that you can use 'adb reboot recovery' to get back to recovery menu. You can also do:

adb shell

# a2sd

To get out of the boot loop but it's still not a permanent fix - it will just exit the boot loop and load up. Next reboot, you'll be back to the loop again.

If you're getting the boot loop, its best to flash a non-a2sd ROM to be safe. I've given up on including A2SD in ROMs for now. I have had some success with the A2SD 'patch' and it means less headaches.

hey BC.

is this boot loop yr talking about what i was seeing though ..it wasn't looping ..it just stayed stuck on the HTC logo ..

re the gps fix ..is yr rom based on the telstra one issueed for the fix? if so i'd bet it works, it's not just that gps file ..it's gotta be something else in the rom

Edited May 9, 2010 by sun-drop

[Guest Zilch]

+1

I'm another stuck with an un-rootable phone. (Well rooting will break GPS, and I use GPS a lot).

Any hints? We are a bit confused about why only the Australian handsets seem to be affected. We don't think there should be any HW differences except for the 850MHz thing.

[Guest negatron]

Hey guys,

I just did a little experiment and I think I have a solution for us to test.

If the 3 or 4 of us posting here can try it out for the next day or so and it always works it'll be a real work around.

But have we tried cutting 3g/wifi off and letting the phone acquire GPS signals Before reenableing the 3g/wifi?

I'm thinking the phone may keep sat lock and allow navigation once we have allowed it to get the signals.

I am running Pauls 0.80 bootloader root ROM and

I have the following programs (amongst others) installed:

APNdroid

GPS Test

Sygic Mobile Maps 10

Google Maps brut mod

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now:

1) I turned off Wifi, bluetooth and 3G

2 ) Then I ran GPS test

3 ) Once GPS test started getting picking up signals from the sats I fired up google maps / Sygic.

All seems well, GPS working fine.

4) I turned 3G back on

5) I ran GPS test, and the phone is still picking up sat signals.

6) Turned blue tooth on

7) GPS test again, sat signals still working!

8) Ran Google maps/ sygic, navigation seems to be working fine.

I'm about to take her for a test drive after a reboot and see if Nav function holds steady, will report back soon.

[Guest negatron]

Ok, seems to have been a fluke.

After the drive and a reboot I could not replicate the joy of holding Sat lock.

I've found that once the phone gets a 3g connection it cuts the Sat lock, like a signal booster gets turned off or something.

And it'll need a reboot and never touch 3g if you want to use gps.

At least I have Sygic so i can nav offline until someone finds a work around

[Guest mooves]

Thanks bc. You're right A2SD not working because my SD was used in my Magic and 3 partitions. Wiped and reparted with only FAT32 and EXT2 now all is good. Except for the GPS side.

When I enable GPS below is the logcat errors (constantly looping).

V/libgps ( 141): DeferredActionThread pthread_cond_wait returned

V/libgps ( 141): DeferredActionThread pthread_cond_wait returned

V/libgps ( 141): DeferredActionThread pthread_cond_wait returned

V/libgps ( 141): DeferredActionThread pthread_cond_wait returned

V/libgps ( 141): DeferredActionThread pthread_cond_wait returned

V/libgps ( 141): DeferredActionThread pthread_cond_wait returned

V/libgps ( 141): DeferredActionThread pthread_cond_wait returned

V/libgps ( 141): DeferredActionThread pthread_cond_wait returned

V/GpsLocationProvider( 141): SV count: 0 ephemerisMask: fefffffe almanacMask: f

effffff

BTW - if you're stuck with infinite reboots, it's probably due to A2SD not working. I don't have any problems with it but my SD Card is partitioned appropriately. In theory A2SD should just not activate if you don't have an ext2 or 3 partition.

[Guest sun-drop]

Ok, seems to have been a fluke.

After the drive and a reboot I could not replicate the joy of holding Sat lock.

I've found that once the phone gets a 3g connection it cuts the Sat lock, like a signal booster gets turned off or something.

And it'll need a reboot and never touch 3g if you want to use gps.

At least I have Sygic so i can nav offline until someone finds a work around

i think thats a mix of GPS test actually freazing on you ..and google maps using cell towers etc. like in the root thead ..google maps seems to go get a cell tower lock even if you have the setting OFF in yr phone settings :/

and yeh i've tried yr menthod before. if you fire up GPS Test before using any wifi or data connection, you will get a lock easy just like normal ... but if you then turn data on for eg .. i find GPS Test freazes up ..or at least it'll show locked satelites ..but if you watch it ..they don't up date..it's just showing u the last update while it struggles to figure out wtf just happened ..and then eventually you loose them and it refreshes all grey.

maybe it IS a hardware thing ..maybe whatever HW differences are in place to support 850/2100 freqs .. maybe it defaults to some setting that messes with incoming GPS data ..and the telstra rom some how sets a config setting somewhere that corrects this setting to what it should be.

what other files on the Desire control the through-put of gps data, other than that gps.conf file in the ETC folder?

[Guest sun-drop]

Thanks bc. You're right A2SD not working because my SD was used in my Magic and 3 partitions. Wiped and reparted with only FAT32 and EXT2 now all is good. Except for the GPS side.

When I enable GPS below is the logcat errors (constantly looping).

V/libgps ( 141): DeferredActionThread pthread_cond_wait returned

V/libgps ( 141): DeferredActionThread pthread_cond_wait returned

V/libgps ( 141): DeferredActionThread pthread_cond_wait returned

V/libgps ( 141): DeferredActionThread pthread_cond_wait returned

V/libgps ( 141): DeferredActionThread pthread_cond_wait returned

V/libgps ( 141): DeferredActionThread pthread_cond_wait returned

V/libgps ( 141): DeferredActionThread pthread_cond_wait returned

V/libgps ( 141): DeferredActionThread pthread_cond_wait returned

V/GpsLocationProvider( 141): SV count: 0 ephemerisMask: fefffffe almanacMask: f

effffff

ahh gutted ...so BC's edited Telstra rom doesn't get gps working either ? ... dam .... BC did you base this rom on THIS:

http://www.htc.com/au/SupportViewNews.aspx...amp;news_id=640

? :P

failing any way to get a rooted rom working with GPS ..is there a way to flash the above rom other than the just the normal launching the exe way? bbecause the above executable doesn't wanna work with Hboot 0.80 ...

[Guest mooves]

Thanks. I seem to be able to get sat locks now. Will try the speedo in GPS test in the morning and report back.

Hey guys,

I just did a little experiment and I think I have a solution for us to test.

If the 3 or 4 of us posting here can try it out for the next day or so and it always works it'll be a real work around.

But have we tried cutting 3g/wifi off and letting the phone acquire GPS signals Before reenableing the 3g/wifi?

I'm thinking the phone may keep sat lock and allow navigation once we have allowed it to get the signals.

I am running Pauls 0.80 bootloader root ROM and

I have the following programs (amongst others) installed:

APNdroid

GPS Test

Sygic Mobile Maps 10

Google Maps brut mod

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now:

1) I turned off Wifi, bluetooth and 3G

2 ) Then I ran GPS test

3 ) Once GPS test started getting picking up signals from the sats I fired up google maps / Sygic.

All seems well, GPS working fine.

4) I turned 3G back on

5) I ran GPS test, and the phone is still picking up sat signals.

6) Turned blue tooth on

7) GPS test again, sat signals still working!

8) Ran Google maps/ sygic, navigation seems to be working fine.

I'm about to take her for a test drive after a reboot and see if Nav function holds steady, will report back soon.

[Guest sun-drop]

Thanks. I seem to be able to get sat locks now. Will try the speedo in GPS test in the morning and report back.

oh nice...with 3g on?

thats using BC's edited telstra rom right? cool .. might try it again then if you can confirm. i'll just have to sort my SD card out like you did ..what does that involve again?

cheers.

EDIT: nevermind, found the Sd setup guide here: http://android.modaco.com/content-page/307...0/#entry1256969

Edited May 9, 2010 by sun-drop

[Guest negatron]

oh nice...with 3g on?

thats using BC's edited telstra rom right? cool .. might try it again then if you can confirm. i'll just have to sort my SD card out like you did ..what does that involve again?

cheers.

EDIT: nevermind, found the Sd setup guide here: http://android.modaco.com/content-page/307...0/#entry1256969

Guys,

Try this ROM

http://android.modaco.com/content/htc-desi...online-kitchen/

Its Paul's own r1 based on the 1.2xx roms and I just loaded it up and ran 3g with gps and it seems to behave.

Will use it for the next few days to see if it works.

[Guest sun-drop]

Guys,

Try this ROM

http://android.modaco.com/content/htc-desi...online-kitchen/

Its Paul's own r1 based on the 1.2xx roms and I just loaded it up and ran 3g with gps and it seems to behave.

Will use it for the next few days to see if it works.

which version did you use?

[Guest negatron]

which version did you use?

this one here mate:

- r1 ROM with default MoDaCo additions - DOWNLOAD (MediaFire) / MIRROR (ROMraid / CoBlitz) / MIRROR (ROMraid / Coral) - MD5: a32ba05e9f408579c3ef523cacae867f

[Guest sun-drop]

cheers boys, that worked!!

[Guest mooves]

Confirmed. GPS works a treat. Thanks all. :P

this one here mate:

- r1 ROM with default MoDaCo additions - DOWNLOAD (MediaFire) / MIRROR (ROMraid / CoBlitz) / MIRROR (ROMraid / Coral) - MD5: a32ba05e9f408579c3ef523cacae867f

[Guest bcmobile]

cheers boys, that worked!!

Sorry guys. Been off the air for a bit.

Good to hear you've found a fix. The lads over at whirlpool must be stoked!

With regards to Paul r1 ROM: are you sure its 1.20 based? Im looking at the one that was attached to the original root guide/kit and I thought it was 1.15. Reason I ask is that Pauls original 1.15 one is also the only one I have ever got A2SD working on as well ( using this update http://android.modaco.com/content/htc-desi...ny-app2sd-rom/# ). That one seems like a pretty stable base to build future ROMs from.

@sun-drop: Yes, mine is based on the official HTC / Telstra ROM.

@negatron: You have Sygic??? How did you get that you sneaky SOB :P I still don't see it in the market.

Edited May 10, 2010 by bcmobile

[Guest Zilch]

cheers boys, that worked!!

So can some Aussies confirm for the rest of us... a 'rooted' upgrade path that works is:

Store bought ROM > Telstra Fixed ROM > Paul's latest Root ROM > r1 ROM with default MoDaCo additions

Once that's done I should have a full working ROM, with no known bugs and a working GPS on a Telstra Desire yeah?

Has anyone tested the 'unroot' path to the Telstra ROM again (in case of warranty etc)?

Are people running a backup to get their Market apps and settings back, or just biting the bullet and reloading it again?

[Guest mooves]

Yes this is the case. I've got a Telstra bought Desire running r2 with a2sd and gps works as intended.

As long as you use the right root download for hboot .75 and rom 1.15.xxx you'll be able to reapply the Telstra download and get back to a store bought rom.

If you do happen to update the radio and hboot to 0.80 then you won't be able to reapply the full Telstra factory ROM.... until they support hboot .80.

I've got not problems with mine everything is stable, fast and just works.

So can some Aussies confirm for the rest of us... a 'rooted' upgrade path that works is:

Store bought ROM > Telstra Fixed ROM > Paul's latest Root ROM > r1 ROM with default MoDaCo additions

Once that's done I should have a full working ROM, with no known bugs and a working GPS on a Telstra Desire yeah?

Has anyone tested the 'unroot' path to the Telstra ROM again (in case of warranty etc)?

Are people running a backup to get their Market apps and settings back, or just biting the bullet and reloading it again?

[Guest Zilch]

Yes this is the case. I've got a Telstra bought Desire running r2 with a2sd and gps works as intended.

Cool. Thanks mooves.

As long as you use the right root download for hboot .75 and rom 1.15.xxx you'll be able to reapply the Telstra download and get back to a store bought rom.

This is what confuses me though. I tried root before the 0.80 root came out and it wouldn't work. It gave an incompatible bootloader message or some such (from memory). I believe that was because I was trying to go from the Telstra 1.16.xxx ROM back to the 1.15.xxx ROM which was part of the root process. If I'm reading correctly, the 0.75 root instructions won't work for me (us) as we don't have an bootloader <0.75 AND a ROM <1.154. I would need to use the 0.80 root instructions (with the 1.21.xxx ROM) which I assume means I can't go back.

Can you confirm my understanding, and let me know which one you used? I assume no one has actually tested the unroot process on a Telstra Desire yet?

If you do happen to update the radio and hboot to 0.80 then you won't be able to reapply the full Telstra factory ROM.... until they support hboot .80.

That would mean waiting and hoping they release another Telstra ROM I assume. Pretty unlikely I would expect.

I've got not problems with mine everything is stable, fast and just works.

Good to know. Thanks!

[Guest mooves]

You're right I tried the first link and it didn't work for me with .75 + Telstra 1.16xx ROM. I then tried the second link and it too didn't work for me either both game me error remote 41 or 43?? something or other (then realised I didn't have my GoldCard in). After I rooted it with the .80 bootloader, I thought maybe the first link would've worked with the GoldCard inserted. :)

Anyways, use the second link. the download should be r4-desire-root-alt.zip. It'll upgrade your bootloader but you'll have root access and a sweet rom to boot.

No I haven't tried the unroot process and am unlikely to ever want to. Like Kramer once said...."I'm out there, Jerry.... and I'm lovin' every minute of it."

If Telstra did decide to release an update (eg. Froyo) then they'll probably upgrade the radio / bootloader so we'd be able to revert to a factory rom. You never know. Telstra seems to be changing its ways.... for the better.

This is what confuses me though. I tried root before the 0.80 root came out and it wouldn't work. It gave an incompatible bootloader message or some such (from memory). I believe that was because I was trying to go from the Telstra 1.16.xxx ROM back to the 1.15.xxx ROM which was part of the root process. If I'm reading correctly, the 0.75 root instructions won't work for me (us) as we don't have an bootloader <0.75 AND a ROM <1.154. I would need to use the 0.80 root instructions (with the 1.21.xxx ROM) which I assume means I can't go back.

Can you confirm my understanding, and let me know which one you used? I assume no one has actually tested the unroot process on a Telstra Desire yet?

That would mean waiting and hoping they release another Telstra ROM I assume. Pretty unlikely I would expect.

Good to know. Thanks!

[Guest Zilch]

If Telstra did decide to release an update (eg. Froyo) then they'll probably upgrade the radio / bootloader so we'd be able to revert to a factory rom. You never know. Telstra seems to be changing its ways.... for the better.

How so?

[Guest Silvarbullit]

Anyways, use the second link. the download should be r4-desire-root-alt.zip. It'll upgrade your bootloader but you'll have root access and a sweet rom to boot.

I'm running r4-desire-root-alt (1.15.405.4) on mine at the moment and my GPS is stuffed again :)

Was working before rooting when using the OTA fix update.

Did you guys root with r4 and then update a kitchen ROM over the top of that which then fixed GPS?

Edited May 16, 2010 by Silvarbullit

[Guest RalphM]

this one here mate:

- r1 ROM with default MoDaCo additions - DOWNLOAD (MediaFire) / MIRROR (ROMraid / CoBlitz) / MIRROR (ROMraid / Coral) - MD5: a32ba05e9f408579c3ef523cacae867f

Negatron,

I can't seem to find this downloand (r1). Do you have a link? I found r2. Will that work?

Thank

P.S. Btw, I have been having a hell of a time rooting this Telstra version. Did you root on Windows, Linux or what? Any help would be appreciated. Actually I'm running the fixed ROM for GPS on Telstra so does that mean I need to run the .80 root? Maybe that is what I am missing or doing wrong.

Edited May 17, 2010 by RalphM