Oh boy. I really don’t want to take my phone apart. Was there no warranty claim possibility?
Yes, they offered that. I’m not sure if it is still valid (I have my Librem 5 now for over a year). But I did not want to put an extra burden on Purism as long as I was not sure if the software would even work.
Here are instructions how to disassemble the Librem 5:
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Great. I guess this means that other people have GPS working fine? Your post suggests that it is most likely a hardware issue particular to my device.
I’m not so sure. A friend of me also has a Librem 5. That Librem 5 does get way better a GPS fix, but I did not read a clear post on this forum from someone who could really use the Librem 5 for navigation.
Yes, I suspected as much. Frustrating.
Has anyone tried a bluetooth GPS as a workaround?
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I have not tried that. Great idea.
To test that, forget about all the fancy apps and just check the basic GNSS output to see whether you get a fix e.g. New Post: November Librem 5 update: Byzantium Released
It can take a long time (e.g. 20 minutes) outside to get your first fix but thereafter it should be quick - or you may indeed have poor connection on the antenna - but best to eliminate other possible issues first.
The other thing to confirm is that, assuming you are using geoclue as the source of location information for the applications, you have configured geoclue to use only the GNSS as the underlying source. You need this anyway for any kind of sane troubleshooting, but you also really really don’t want geoclue using e.g. WiFi for location information (since that involves leaking information, including your location, to the online service that maps WiFi MAC addresses to physical locations) and e.g. most people wouldn’t want it using mobile tower for location information (since that is not very accurate).
I will try this. Thank you.
I would also like to report GPS results that are ttally erratic, and of no use whatsoever for navigating.
Am I correct in thinking the GPS module just needs to be initialized and/or calibrated? Or is it something that is not so easily solved?
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This is how I initialized the GPS on my L5.
- Turn off wifi.
- Enable cellular data.
- Go outside to an area of widely clear, unobstructed view of the sky
- Keep phone away from extraneous metal.
- Quit all other applications and then open Maps app and let phone sit undisturbed for 15 minutes.
- After this time, the initialization should be complete.
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On a cloudless day?
I will give that a try as soon as we have a clear day over here.
Hope it does work (never had a phone that needed to be initialized in this way), otherwise that part of the phone is pretty much useless.
The L5 has a lot of things that it does differently. Not all of them are awesome.
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Perform what @Zimmy it saying, let me help too a little, i have 2 fancy librem 5, one Librem 5 do not have the gnss fix, the other L5 is has the gnss fix, so in my test both phones get work and precision at same time. If that Zimmy recommend do not work i will helping you a little to troubleshooting.
Thanks, Carlos! That might come in handy.
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Doesn’t have to be cloudless. What I mean by “widely clear” is that you should be away from large trees or buildings which can inhibit the GNSS signals. An open field would be good.
Another thing I’ve noticed is that when I reflashed my phone, I had to rerun the GNSS initialization procedure.
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Ok. I did a short walkabout with th L5, location on, Pure Maps running, wifi switched off. And it worked: the indicated location was spot-on within minutes.
Hope it stays that way from now on.
Once again: thanks for the advice. If this info is not in the L5 start-up guide, it should be.
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I tried your initialization procedure and let the phone sit outside in the open for two hours. My location still varies between Spain (where I am, though not very accurate) and somewhere in China, so didn’t work for me. Also makes you wonder why location in China lurks on the L5. I guess several of the parts originate from China, but otherwise my phone has never been near that part of the world!
Edit: I also notice that in the Settings app under Security/Location no app has asked for permission to use location services. Why is that?
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