iphone 3G GPS not working?

[galgu]

If you're weary let me set you at ease by giving you the manuals for these standard unix commands (if you don't trust my sources either, just Google the commands).

http://www.unixprogram.com/cgi-bin/man.cgi?comd=killall
killall -9
killall terminates all processes that match the given name (kill is used when you have the ID of the process you want to terminate); the 9 option is a signal that ends the process immediately and cannot be ignored (compared to the default software kill signal which is equivalent to pressing the red button at the top of a window, which doesn't always work immediately and sometimes not at all). There will only ever be one process that matches the string "locationd" so this won't cause any
problems. It's necessary to terminate the process first so that we can restart it.

http://www.unixprogram.com/cgi-bin/man.cgi?comd=rm
rm -rf
rm deletes files; the r option allows it to delete directory trees too, and the f option keeps it from asking to if you're sure you want to delete the files.


With root access to the iPhone I was able to precisely trigger and identify the problem (compared to people who try random fixes and have no way of knowing for sure if the problem was solved). After performing these two steps the problem was conclusively solved.

Please post your results, I would like to know how well this works for everyone's GPS problems overall.

Worked like charm!!! thanks !!!
I used CyberDuck to SSH into my iphone using root user and deleted the folder manually (using GUI).

 

[Ben.Totoro]

Hello,

I got a GPS issue on my 3GS / 4.01 iPhone, and none of the tricks related in this topic seems to work.

Is there a way to proove that the problem is hardware ? Is there something, or a lack of something that we should have (or not) in the /var/root/Library/Caches/locationd that reveals the correct activity of the GPS ? for exemple, my directory "ephemeris" is empty. Is this OK ? What file should I analyse to see the trace of the GPS unit activity ?

 

[crixaliss]

Please help me....
My gps won`t work.

I don`t understand last step:
Open "MAPS", click NO on all that wi-fi crap, then click the little gps icon, and let it sync up with the satellites (this could take a few minutes).

MAPS - Google Maps ? where is gps icon in google map ?

I do all steps and nothing, i try with rm... my gps don`t work.

I want to know if when I check gps, 3g must be on ?

Thanks

 

[bauckbur]

CONFIRMED GPS FIX
(Only confirmed for people whose GPS randomly stopped working, but since it doesn't harm anything it's still worth a try for any other GPS problem. It's just a general cache refresh.)

Q: So what's the problem?
A: "locationd", the process that makes GPS work, isn't working correctly.

Q: Why?
A: It's Apple so who the hell knows why. One thing that's for sure however is that deleting the cache can fix the problem.

Q: Tell me more.
A: No restore required, not even a restart. It's a simple fix, you'll just need a jailbroken iPhone to do it. If you haven't jailbroken yet, you should consider. You'll need to be able to send commands to your iPhone, which can be done through SSH or through Terminal, which is an app that can be installed from Cydia.

1. Go back to the home screen.
2. Open Terminal or establish a SSH connection. Note that these commands are case sensitive (capitalization matters). If you're using Terminal, you need to log in as root to run these commands. To log in as root type 'su' and enter the root password 'alpine' when it asks.
3. Type the following, it will terminate the locationd process (the process will restart next time your iPhone uses the GPS):
killall -9 locationd
If the above command says no matching processes found, that just means locationd isn't currently running and you can continue to the next step.
4. Type the following, it will delete the GPS cache (don't worry about deleting the cache, it'll rebuild itself next time your iPhone uses the GPS):
rm -rf /var/root/Library/Caches/locationd
5. Open Maps, your GPS should be working now.

So to reiterate the commands:

killall -9 locationd
rm -rf /var/root/Library/Caches/locationd

Thanks buddy I actually sold my last Iphone coz of this but now i tried it and tomtom works like a champ....icant believe this....thanks again buddy

 

[wenfuu]

sigh, didnt work for my 3gs

nothing work so far. sigh, please help. 3gs 4.1 bb05.14.02.

 

[Luscious]

Doesn't work, you were apparently a special case.

Here's how you fix it:

- Go to settings, general, auto-lock, change it from 1 Minute to NEVER
- Go to settings, general, reset, reset network settings (THIS WILL REBOOT YOUR IPHONE)
- Go outside, in a clear place with NO tree's, buildings, or anything blocking your view of the sky
- Open "MAPS", click NO on all that wi-fi crap, then click the little gps icon, and let it sync up with the satellites (this could take a few minutes)

It will work.... unless you don't do something right. You do not need to sync up with itunes or restore in itunes first.

Let me know if it works or not, i just tried it on my girlfriends phone and it worked great after that. Also, a few other people with the same issue reported success as well.

SEND ME A PM if you have questions though, as I may or may not be checking this thread.

This deserves a bump. I have the 3GS and the GPS started acting whacky a month ago. It would triangulate in the general vicinity of where I was but could never lock in and narrow it down to anywhere close. I tried doing a hard reset, doing a restore, waiting for the next iOS release hoping it was some kind of bug, etc. Nothing worked until I read this. This did the trick.

 

[gcletsos]

GPS not working on jailbroken iphone

Try this. It worked for me.
Go to General settings and turn off location services.
Reboot your iphone.
Turn location services back on.
GPS should start working again.
I hope this helps.

 

[preston.lanier]

Awesome!!!

Doesn't work, you were apparently a special case.

Here's how you fix it:

- Go to settings, general, auto-lock, change it from 1 Minute to NEVER
- Go to settings, general, reset, reset network settings (THIS WILL REBOOT YOUR IPHONE)
- Go outside, in a clear place with NO tree's, buildings, or anything blocking your view of the sky
- Open "MAPS", click NO on all that wi-fi crap, then click the little gps icon, and let it sync up with the satellites (this could take a few minutes)

It will work.... unless you don't do something right. You do not need to sync up with itunes or restore in itunes first.

Let me know if it works or not, i just tried it on my girlfriends phone and it worked great after that. Also, a few other people with the same issue reported success as well.

SEND ME A PM if you have questions though, as I may or may not be checking this thread.

You da man! I was beginning to think it was a conspiracy on ATT's part. I thought they were trying make people upgrade to iPhone 4 on the new data plan when iPhone 3g users on the unlimited plan. I have been on Edge (lol) for the past few months.

Thanks!

 

[adeplk]

Fix GPS Iphone 3G

Today i got the funny thing, the gps will have a good signal after i open facebook, and allow to see the location, and if the gps can't fix again, i open facebook again, and then everything fine again, maybe this only solve my problem, but let's try

 

[Cammyfarooq]

Gps error

Hi guys
Wondering if someone can help me with a wee problem?

I have an iphone 3gs when i put on any navigation it ginds your location but it doesnt move when you drive, you have to refresh every few minutes to update it

Any help??

 

[sweetpeet]

Doesn't work, you were apparently a special case.

Here's how you fix it:

- Go to settings, general, auto-lock, change it from 1 Minute to NEVER
- Go to settings, general, reset, reset network settings (THIS WILL REBOOT YOUR IPHONE)
- Go outside, in a clear place with NO tree's, buildings, or anything blocking your view of the sky
- Open "MAPS", click NO on all that wi-fi crap, then click the little gps icon, and let it sync up with the satellites (this could take a few minutes)

It will work.... unless you don't do something right. You do not need to sync up with itunes or restore in itunes first.

Let me know if it works or not, i just tried it on my girlfriends phone and it worked great after that. Also, a few other people with the same issue reported success as well.

SEND ME A PM if you have questions though, as I may or may not be checking this thread.

That did not work for me.... The firmware that I'm using is 5.1.1 long way off from 3.0 but I'm still having the same gps problem. Any ideas?

 

[sungsing]

Doesn't work, you were apparently a special case.

Here's how you fix it:

- Go to settings, general, auto-lock, change it from 1 Minute to NEVER
- Go to settings, general, reset, reset network settings (THIS WILL REBOOT YOUR IPHONE)
- Go outside, in a clear place with NO tree's, buildings, or anything blocking your view of the sky
- Open "MAPS", click NO on all that wi-fi crap, then click the little gps icon, and let it sync up with the satellites (this could take a few minutes)

It will work.... unless you don't do something right. You do not need to sync up with itunes or restore in itunes first.

Let me know if it works or not, i just tried it on my girlfriends phone and it worked great after that. Also, a few other people with the same issue reported success as well.

SEND ME A PM if you have questions though, as I may or may not be checking this thread.

My IP is 3G, fw custom White00d 6.0 (IOS3.1.3, bb 5.13).
I tried on my IP and..." Your location could not be determined"
Pls help me
I also deleted foder "locationd" at privited/var/library/locationd as some guide

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Try this. It worked for me.
Go to General settings and turn off location services.
Reboot your iphone.
Turn location services back on.
GPS should start working again.
I hope this helps.

not working