Compass not working since Pie

hughmnyksj

Can we count on this getting fixed? Anybody out there used the Galileo satellites in Pie?

user1545639856013

On my Nokia 8, the compass turns in the wrong direction as I turn the phone. So, it looks like they mistakenly inverted the input, rather than a calibration issue. In fact, no matter how long I try to calibrate it, it keeps being wrong, and turning clockwise if I turn counterclockwise.

marsic

On mine the compass dial actually follows the direction in which I rotate the phone, most of the time. It wobbles a little, as if struggling to point the North, but to no avail. Very weird behaviour.

user1535316420182

Compass works all wrong!! And still there is no update. in xda developers forums there is only one coder can makes better updates for any device but now i can see that hmd hasnt got any REAL CODER. 

user389

Supplementary, when using a Compass app from the store, pointing the top of the phone directly South (and holding it perfectly level!) North is correctly behind me. Slowly rotating the phone 90 degrees clockwise the North arrow rotates 180 degrees clockwise until it points South, and West is East and East is West.

Rotating the phone another 90 degrees clockwise so the top of the phone is pointing North, the North arrow rotates 180 degrees clockwise and is correct again. - And yes, it's nervous and sensitive to tilting the phone.

I can't find Pixel users complaining about this since the Pie update, so it must be a firmware mistake?

This is a good example of an issue where it would be useful to have an engineer or programmer confirm the issue in this forum ASAP.

@hughmnyksj the location is correct and will also use Galileo satellites in Pie.
It 'only' affects the compass - which has a big impact on augmented reality and some of the features in Google Maps. (Sports-Tracker works as usual for me).

Except for this, my TA-1012 Nokia 8 appears stable on Pie, and the important Danish apps for e-boks, Nem ID and Sparkron homebanking is business as usual with fingerprint login.

--
Hans

madbilly

@user389 thanks for the scientific test! Definitely a firmware issue.

hughmnyksj

@madbilly and Hans
My compass (TA1004) is in Star Walk 2, in Viewranger map app it points mainly North when it's supposed to but seems a bit jittery.
GPS Sat Viewer by applicality, coorect but jittery, Galileo PVT spot on, GPS Status by MobiWIA ok-accurate - all compared to Silva 'hardware' scouting compass, in rural Denmark
Finger recognised as usual - faster and more stable than in Oreo for me.
BUT I constantly get either Select photo or Choose action when editing text in this forum. Editing here is a difficult balancing act for me (this also happened in Oreo).

user1536323754226

@user389 Hans my star apps Star Walk 2 and Stellarium both show North and South reversed, but E and W are as they should be (checked against same apps on an iPad - I don’t have night vision yet). How this can be, I am wondering, when the compasses in Galileo apps and Viewranger (which also has Denmark geodetisk 25k and 50 k BTW) all work more or less accurately. 
Do you use and/or check out the Galileo sats? They were one reason I bought a Nokia 8, and I would actually like to compare notes with someone else in DK, I’m in Nordvestsjaelland.

user1536323754226

@user389 Just downloaded three compass apps and they show the same as you got. That suggests perhaps that the two Nokia 8 models only differ in terms og RAM. But then I opened Star Walk 2, which defaults to showing the points of the compass on the horizon, with phone pointing South. It shows North on the horizon (wrong) BUT East and West are as they should be. The same applies to Stellarium, and both apps are a bit jittery. N and S are the exact opposite to correct whichever way I point the phone. I.e. the behaviour is different from that of the compass apps I tried.
Hope folks aren’t falling asleep, but I really like to have North where it belongs.
I reported the basic problem to the Chat Help on the Nokia website and waited 15 mins for a reply, only to be told they’d report my feedback to the relevant department, after which I was ignored.

martin.fd

@hughmnyksj & user1536323754226:

Here is a nice little app that shows you which satellites you are connected to:
https://github.com/barbeau/gpstest

and "Yes!" Galileo is working

user389

@user1536323754226

I don't worry about specific satellites, only the practical result, as in
https://www.sports-tracker.com/workout/hpholm/5bc0af308bfe5d4691dfb53a

The tracking is very good in open land, in the sample above while walking along the river, and is skewed a few meters when next to buildings (and WiFi(!)) or under trees etc. I'm happy with it.

I've never used the chat, HMD will have to read my comments in the forum!

@martin.fd ,

Yes, the GPSTest app by barbeauDev is a great tool.

In its 'Sky' view you may notice the same odd compass behaviour as with magnetometer compasses in Nokia 8 with Android Pie.
^^^
EDIT: It used to work as expected in Oreo.

--
Hans

martin.fd

user389 said:

EDIT: It used to work as expected in Oreo.

Seems logical to me, if GPSTest uses the GPS data for direction finding and not the (incorrect) compass data. I will perform some tests later ...

(off topic: looking at your GPS track brought back nice memories of some holidays we spent in Søstrup Slot - beautiful surroundings and very nice people )

Ox King

I hope they fix the compass soon. 
One thing i expect from a Google smartphone is the use of the Sky Map App from Google to identify stars in the night sky.
Impossible now. Worked on Oreo.
Also Google Voice Match isn't working.
No "OK Google" recognition  without to a microphone button. 
If i could i would return to Oreo, but support told me that's not possible. 

martin.fd

I tried some more with different compass/GPS/map apps and made the same observations as @user389 / Hans described above:
- sometimes the compass points correctly to the North,
- if you turn around (+/- 90 degrees) it jumps around sometime and points -more or less- to the south,
- at first I thought it makes a difference whether you stand still or move - but it's not like that,
- all in all the compass is extremely nervous and is fidgeting a lot.

user1536323754226

@martin.fd Yes GPSTest is my app of choice. Galileo sats have turned up in record time in Pie, usually 5-6 at a time, of which five have AU status as I write.

petrus

I've tried multiple compass apps from the Google Play store. I still have Oreo. I have to say that even in Oreo the compass does not work properly. The South and West are showing right, but the North and East from the actual direction deviate from 35 to 45 °. 
It's better in Oreo than in Pie, but I recommend using a classic compass. 

martin.fd

 I always know where to find my old DP6 …

madbilly

Thanks for the detailed info everyone. I still don't have the update to Android 9 so can't test.

petrus

petrus said:

I've tried multiple compass apps from the Google Play store. I still have Oreo. I have to say that even in Oreo the compass does not work properly. The South and West are showing right, but the North and East from the actual direction deviate from 35 to 45 °. 
It's better in Oreo than in Pie, but I recommend using a classic compass. 

After a long test I found an application that works perfectly in Oreo. It's Compass Steel 3D. Link:  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.simplywerx.compass3d

The question is, will it work in Pie?

martin.fd

Thanks for the info! I will try … but I'm not too optimistic

martin.fd

To make a long story short: also the Steel Compass under Pie (unfortunately) shows the same weird behaviour as all the others.

Looks like the sensor is not read correctly by the operating system …

petrus

martin.fd said:

To make a long story short: also the Steel Compass under Pie (unfortunately) shows the same weird behaviour as all the others.

Looks like the sensor is not read correctly by the operating system …

Thank you for your feedback. So HMD needs to fix it. 

martin.fd

@user1539839567956

You realized, that this is a Nokia 8 Forum and we are talking about compass problems in this particular thread …???

martin.fd

 I received email answer from support:

Guess what it did?! Nothing … same weird behaviour as before

martin.fd

Next answer from support (to my mail that the suggested actions didn't change anything and that there weren't any such problems bevor the Pie Update)):

Let's hope that "We will make sure that the next security update brings a fix. It won’t take long" will really come true ...

user1536323754226

@martin.fd I usually get my security updates around this time of the month. Let us hope they have found all the issues. I have just done the procedure you quoted from Support and North is still South. However, West is displayed almost correctly (290 degrees instead of 270), as is East (60 instead of 90 degrees).
I got a response from Paula last year concerning the camera app and its various problems, and she said they were doing everything they could. Things have improved, but problems remain...

Flamerx

Have the same problem (TA-1004). Contacted support and the representative told me to try using the phone vertically and if it works like that "then you should use it that way". The bigger issue is that the representative would not acknowledge that this is a problem, simply saying "usually you should use the phone vertically". So I don't expect they will be fixing this bug with that attitude.  

marsic

@Flamerx that'd be hilarious, IF they'd be part of a comedy show. As representatives of an "innovative, fresh startup", they only harden the bitter taste that they leave for customers.

It's baffling to keep reading about them being a small start-up company as an excuse for the improper software on most (if not all) devices and the increasingly slower and poorer quality update cycles, while on the other hand they themselves brag how they're ranking higher and higher as the N-th biggest manufacturer in X or Y market.

That only tells me one thing: they're in for making quick money, whereas investments in their infrastructure (update servers, more competent developers to sustain the ever growing portfolio of models, etc) are not visible!

I'll definitely never buy from HMD Global again (this phrase has gotten to be a cliche already)

martin.fd

Flamerx said:

try using the phone vertically and if it works like that "then you should use it that way".

This is ridiculous!

But at least the support staff member I've been dealing with (see my post above) has -after several unsuccessful attempts- agreed to pass the problem on to the developers ...

Mihail Tinchev

Couple of days ago, I contacted the support about this issue. They suggested to me to reset my Nokia 8 (which I had done previously and it did not help) or run a graphic test in the recovery mode which, the support guy told me, fixes firmware errors and reinstalls all drivers. Unfortunately, this process did not solve the compass problem either. Finally, they told me that the developers are aware of this bug and are working on it and that a fix will be included in the next update. I hope that they will stay true to their promise and not lie to us, again, as with previous ones. "cough" Camera "cough"