Re: Nokia N900
On 05/16/2010 09:56 PM, Peter Dobratz wrote: This may be stating the obvious, but it tripped me up when I was trying out my Garmin Etrex. You have to be still in order to get a fix. All of my tests had the GPS sitting on the ground or on a bench. At the very most, I picked it up as in the last test, but that didn't move it more than a meter or so. ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Nokia N900
On Sun, May 16, 2010 at 8:42 PM, David Rysdam da...@rysdam.org wrote: I was outside, I was still WiFi'd in to the house so it was using AGPS. Result: Invalid. [...] Conclusion: The N810 GPS hardware and/or software definitively sucks. Though I agree that the N810 is not as good a GPS is most others, once the AGPS package had bee installed my experience was much better than what you are reporting. You have not indicated if you had the AGPS package installed. Last I knew, it was not a standard package. If you didn't make a point to install it, its not there. Without it, it is my impression that you always get a cold start. Response to some other comments: It is well documented that GPS's typically assume that they are restarted near where they where last used. The documentation of every GPS I have ever bought says that if you turn it off and then transport it a long distance before turning it on again, it will take much longer to get a fix. The N810 without the AGPS package seems not able to do even this simple trick. Though I've never seen any problem with slow movement, I have seen (esp. on the N810) that highway speeds can hinder an initial fix. Cheers! Ty -- Tyson D Sawyer A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many bad measures. - Daniel Webster ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Nokia N900
On 05/17/2010 09:39 AM, Tyson Sawyer wrote: On Sun, May 16, 2010 at 8:42 PM, David Rysdam da...@rysdam.org wrote: I was outside, I was still WiFi'd in to the house so it was using AGPS. Result: Invalid. [...] Conclusion: The N810 GPS hardware and/or software definitively sucks. Though I agree that the N810 is not as good a GPS is most others, once the AGPS package had bee installed my experience was much better than what you are reporting. But only if you start up near a WiFi point, I assume. When I'm driving around, this is rarely the case. And even if it were the case, 4 minutes seems like kind of a long time to wait when my Garmin can do it in around 10-20 seconds. You have not indicated if you had the AGPS package installed. Last I knew, it was not a standard package. If you didn't make a point to install it, its not there. Without it, it is my impression that you always get a cold start. I'm pretty sure it's installed. I definitely had it installed at one point. When I read that it would improve the GPS performance, I jabbed the install button before I even got to the part about but you need to be connected to the internet. The only reason I'm not sure it's installed is I had to reinstall the OS at one point. However, the backups save your installed app list, so it probably went back on. And the data seem to back that up (heh): there's the vast difference in fix times between when the network was and wasn't available. ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Nokia N900
On Sun, May 16, 2010 at 11:04 PM, Benjamin Scott dragonh...@gmail.com wrote: Unrelated to the My GPS is faster than your GPS discussion, but relevant to the Linux friendliness question: It has an apparently standard USB mini B port on the back, which serves for both power input (to charge the battery) and PC attachment (for software/data updates). One of the first things I did was (of course) plug it into my Linux home PC (Debian 5.0.4, kernel 2.6.26-2). The GPS display showed the Garmin logo and a picture of itself plugged into a computer, but Linux was indifferent. Looking at the kernel log, it appeared the GPS wasn't playing nice. I either saw nothing at all, or just over-current change on port. I noticed that if I plugged it into the USB hub built-in to my Dell LCD, the hub would apparently reset, as the kernel would re-detect my mouse and flash card reader. Reading your entire message, it seems possible that Window's didn't work without a driver update and neither were able to work until it had been plugged in for a while and recharged. It may be that it draws too much power when the batteries are low? Removing the batteries so that it wasn't charging, just powering the electronics, might have made it work right off under Linux. Updating the firmware purportedly requires installing some proprietary software from Garmin. The instructions at this address _might_ work for your Garmin. However, they are specific to the Colorado: http://garmincolorado.wikispaces.com/Versions#Colorado Software Versions-Updates using gcd files There are links there for some other Garmin GPS's and a lot of information that is likely useful for more than just the Colorado. Cheers! Ty -- Tyson D Sawyer A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many bad measures. - Daniel Webster ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Nokia N900
On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 9:47 AM, David Rysdam da...@rysdam.org wrote: On 05/17/2010 09:39 AM, Tyson Sawyer wrote: On Sun, May 16, 2010 at 8:42 PM, David Rysdam da...@rysdam.org wrote: I was outside, I was still WiFi'd in to the house so it was using AGPS. Result: Invalid. [...] Conclusion: The N810 GPS hardware and/or software definitively sucks. Though I agree that the N810 is not as good a GPS is most others, once the AGPS package had bee installed my experience was much better than what you are reporting. But only if you start up near a WiFi point, I assume. When I'm driving around, this is rarely the case. And even if it were the case, 4 minutes seems like kind of a long time to wait when my Garmin can do it in around 10-20 seconds. In my case, we were sometimes out in the woods not near any WiFi signal and typically had much better performance than 4 minutes. The AGPS package at least knows how to remember where it was last and use that to help get it started. I think that the use of last known point is good for something on the order of 100 miles. You have not indicated if you had the AGPS package installed. Last I knew, it was not a standard package. If you didn't make a point to install it, its not there. Without it, it is my impression that you always get a cold start. I'm pretty sure it's installed. I definitely had it installed at one point. When I read that it would improve the GPS performance, I jabbed the install button before I even got to the part about but you need to be connected to the internet. The only reason I'm not sure it's installed is I had to reinstall the OS at one point. However, the backups save your installed app list, so it probably went back on. And the data seem to back that up (heh): there's the vast difference in fix times between when the network was and wasn't available. You will not get me to claim or defend that the N810 GPS is as good at getting a fix as other GPSs. It is not. However, my experience was clearly better than yours and once it has a fix, it does seem to be just as good. However, you might double check that AGPS is installed and configured. There may have been some relevant setup. Since the device belongs to my fiancee, I didn't do the install/setup, but I think I recall there being a setup/config step/page. Cheers! Ty -- Tyson D Sawyer A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many bad measures. - Daniel Webster ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Nokia N900
On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 9:48 AM, Tyson Sawyer ty...@j3.org wrote: It may be that it draws too much power when the batteries are low? Possible. I'll let the battery run down some time and see if that then hinders USB connectivity. Removing the batteries so that it wasn't charging ... The battery in this model are not (easily) removable. The instructions at this address _might_ work for your Garmin. However, they are specific to the Colorado: http://garmincolorado.wikispaces.com/Versions#Colorado Software Versions-Updates using gcd files I'm sure the Colorado software won't work with this Nuvi; they're completely different things -- different form-factors, years apart in release to market, and the release numbers are way different. :-) The idea of just copying a file is intriguing and would be great, but without a link to the Nuvi software I'm SOL. Still, you've given me Google fodder; thanks. :) -- Ben ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
