Just how does QuickGPS work [Archive]

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nm1213

09-03-2007, 09:28 AM

Hello and thanks in advance for any answers to my questions on QuickGPS.

I have an XDA-Orbit and am running it on Vodafone, not O2. I am also running TomTom 6.x. I find that my GPS acquisition times are not as good as people are reporting. Best case it takes about a minute or so... and worst case, longer than 15 min.

I keep my quickgps files up to date, but just what are in these files? I gather that it gets my approximate location based on which cell tower I am connected to, and then gets satellite positioning info. However, do all cell towers broadcast their location, etc. For example, is using QuickGPS with a vodafone SIM useless because it is looking for an O2 cell tower?

Also, does tomtom make use of quickgps? In my tomtom settings, the option to use quickgpsfix is greyed out. Should I be using quickgpsfix instead of quickgps, or is it basically the same thing.

Thanks again!

N.

macguffin

09-03-2007, 09:37 AM

Have a look in your windows folder and check out the file size of 'packedephemeris.ee' it should be around 50k. If it's not then as I understand it it's not updating properly. I have a mda compact iii and the default settings give me a file size of about 8k, if I use this TomTom takes about 4-5 mins to get a fix.

After following the instructions in the 'update quickGPS manually' thread and replacing the file I'm getting a fix in about 20 seconds.

However the registry fix doesn't seem to be working at the moment but you can do it manually.

nm1213

09-03-2007, 10:44 AM

Thanks for the response. I just checked the size of the file in windows and it was 47.7k, updated yesterday. One thing that may be causing this is that I travel quite a lot and often times the last known position of the gps is totally different than where I am when I start up the app. Maybe this is causing the problem.

Red baron

09-03-2007, 11:56 AM

Just use this file for update. Download it and copy it to your windows folder.

http://service.mio-tech.com/eeservice/packedephemeris.ee

nm1213

09-03-2007, 01:02 PM

Thanks for the response. How often should I update this file? Daily?

macguffin

09-03-2007, 01:16 PM

If you update it manually it updates the 'download' and 'valid time' in the quickGPS app so if you have the 'remind me when data expires' I'm guessing it should let you know when you next need to do it.

bonkey

09-03-2007, 01:19 PM

A slightly better solution :

Replace the following ip's in the register:

Use resco reg edit or any other register editor.

HKLM\SOFTWARE\HTC\QuickGPS\0\0\IP -> htctsvr.htc.com.tw
HKLM\SOFTWARE\HTC\QuickGPS\0\1\IP -> htctsvr.htc.com.tw
HKLM\SOFTWARE\HTC\QuickGPS\1\0\IP -> htctsvr.htc.com.tw
HKLM\SOFTWARE\HTC\QuickGPS\2\0\IP -> htctsvr.htc.com.tw
HKLM\SOFTWARE\HTC\QuickGPS\2\1\IP -> htctsvr.htc.com.tw

Here you go. now just use quickGPS to download the location file.

nm1213

09-03-2007, 03:03 PM

Just for reference, I did manage to download the file, and replace the existing one. The GPS signal picked up within 15 seconds! This is a huge difference from before.

One thing though... if I update through the quickgps program, my file is indeed about 50k in size, but obviously does not do much or does not contain valid data.

I wonder if the data provided is carrier specific.. Ie, an XDA gets data that will not work on a different carrier than O2.

victoradjei

09-03-2007, 06:51 PM

macguffin

09-03-2007, 07:16 PM

I can confirm the above settings work :cool:

I tried them this morning and all I was downloading was an htc html login page (3.4k) called packedEphemeris.ee

BUT.... just tried again and it's worked a treat, maybe they were in the process of switching things over lets hope they keep things as they are for a while.

Bonkey how did you know what to use as the settings?

Thanks to all for your help.

victoradjei

09-03-2007, 07:37 PM

I can confirm the above settings work :cool:

Mabe i spoke too soon. Re-connected my device and the 3.6 kb file has been downloaded again to replace the last successful one :mad: Will have to stick with the manual link until another tweak surfaces :D

bonkey

09-03-2007, 11:08 PM

Mabe i spoke too soon. Re-connected my device and the 3.6 kb file has been downloaded again to replace the last successful one :mad: Will have to stick with the manual link until another tweak surfaces :D

The ip servers i posted should work. the have been working for over a week now for me. The thing is, if you adjust the ip adresses in the register you have to do a soft reset to make sure the register keeps the setting. if you check your register now you'll see that the default values are back.

How i got them? easy, google on the file P...ee and look for url's with this structure : http://SITENAME/clm/p..ee

victoradjei

10-03-2007, 07:53 AM

The ip servers i posted should work. the have been working for over a week now for me. The thing is, if you adjust the ip adresses in the register you have to do a soft reset to make sure the register keeps the setting. if you check your register now you'll see that the default values are back.

How i got them? easy, google on the file P...ee and look for url's with this structure : http://SITENAME/clm/p..ee

Done the check and truely the reg settings did not stick. Corrected and the settings work great after soft-reset :cool:

rickgillyon

17-03-2007, 03:50 PM

Thanks for this fix. I've now got a 47k packedephemeris file, so that's better than it was. But should I have a QuickGPS option in TomTom? I'm on 6.020 but I can't see any such option...

amino

20-03-2007, 01:54 PM

thanks for this, worked a treat, I was having the sat fix time issues and looking at the packed ephomeris file it was only 3.7k,

I thought the reason that it was taking so long is that I always update it at home but I never turn it one when I depart, most time at a completley different location.

SeaDweller

28-05-2007, 09:41 PM

Hi all
First post here.
I know I am resurrecting an old thread... I found it while googling for a fix for my inoperative quickGPS on my MDA Compact III.
This has failed to connect for some weeks now and it definitely affects lock-on speeds.
Red Baron's solution above works for me - i.e. download the file and manually put it in the Windows folder on the device - but it is a bit of a chore.
So I then tried Bonkey's solution and edited the IP addresses as shown - but this doesn't work sadly.
Should I be putting a www in front of the addresses listed?
Or has there been some change to the addresses?
It's a bit of a crappy piece of software, very difficult to find out if any updates or changes are required.
I'm very glad of RedBaron's solution, it is so far the only one on the net that I can find that works!
Thanks for any advice you can give.
Simon