Compass not working since Pie

user389

Regarding the compass issues on Nokia 8 phones, the root cause must be the changes for augmented / virtual reality in Android Pie.
It could be an old HAL / hardware driver issue, or maybe somebody made a mistake in the engine room while applying required changes - but it could IMO also be a mistake in Google's API's.

I don't blame anybody, just offering a possible explanation.

On a phone that move in 3 directions in a 3 dimensional room and can be tilted up/down and sideways, while moving around. I count up to 11 inputs to consider, and to display correctly / 'as expected' on the phone:
Length, width, height, up, down, 2 x tilt, vertical or horizontal display, distance & speed.

Arguments for the above:
The GPS compass (and the blue 'fan' in Google Maps) on my reference Nokia 6 phone with Android Oreo is wrong when the phone is held face-down above you - but works correctly in this unusual scenario on Nokia 8 since the Android Pie update.

I'm curious if the GPS compass in any other phone regardless of brand and model works correctly since Pie - both when the phone is held in front of you (held 'as expected'), and when it is held above you with the screen facing down - using the GPSTest app by BarbeauDev > Sky view?

It's a cold day in Denmark ;-)

--
Hans

martin.fd

@user389 (Hans)

That is an extremely interesting thought ... and it becomes even more interesting! I just played around with two different apps (Nokia 8 on Pie):

- GPSTest (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.android.gpstest) and

- GPS Status (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.eclipsim.gpsstatus2)

Face up (so "normal") both show the same (known) faulty behaviour, but face down the directions differ (more or less mirrored to an axis yet to be defined?)! I add some pictures where you can see this: the big app in the background is GPSTest (grey triangle = north), the small window is GPS Status (red arrow = north)

1. Picture: without GPS, face up

2. Picture without GPS, face down

3. Picture: with GPS, face up

4. Picture: with GPS, face down (1)

5. Picture: with GPS, face down (2)

martin.fd

Addendum: On my wife's Nokia 5 the compass under Pie works great, by the way! GPS Status ALWAYS shows the right direction (face up and face down), while GPSTest face down shows the somehow mirrored behaviour again ...

ThatOneWolf

Joining the reverse compass club.

Kronos1

Well I hope next update will fix compass issue

terminusaquo

Can't say I've had all of the issues you guys are having. My Fitbit Blaze doesn't sync correctly but that's an app issue, Compass seems fine for me but then I haven't tried it extensively, Voice Match works for me and can be retrained but the "Hey Google" and "OK Google" voice activation is hit and miss for me, Battery life is marginally worse for me but not by much and I have a weird intermittent issue in multitasking where you close an app and then open another but the only app showing in multitasking is the one you just closed.


Does the compass issue affect Google Maps as well or is it just third party apps?

user1508928527225

terminusaquo said:

Does the compass issue affect Google Maps as well or is it just third party apps?

Google Maps is also affected.

Mick1965

terminusaquo said:

Does the compass issue affect Google Maps as well or is it just third party apps?

with the phone vertical the blue fan supposed to show the direction that you are looking.

It's 180 degrees out.

This shows in other apps too. But when the phone is horizontal the direction shown is random at best.

MrG

My compass is broken too.  I'd really like to go back to Oreo to be honest.

Joel Jaramillo

Just updated my phone with the latest security patch (January). Problem persists... If you put your phone horizontally the compass goes crazy and turns back and forth in all directions.

Is there a timeframe of when this will be fixed?

Hugh Matthews

That kind of info is never released. I hope they are checking all the details that are missing and fix them at the same time.

Hugh Matthews

@ Hans and @martin.fd May I ask hos many Galileo satellites (triangles in Sky) do you normally get and do they take longer to appear than GPS, Glonass and BeiDou. I get 2-6 of them but timing varies a lot. 

Mick1965

I've since been in contact with Nokia care regarding the problem.

With back and forth suggestions to try to resolve the issue and to be fair their response times were excellent.

Anyway, unfortunately nothing suggested had any effect on the compass working the way it should.

The last email I received, simply said

"In this issue, we will escalate to the relevant department of Nokia. We would like to advise you to stay tuned for the next update"

So it seems that they maybe working on it.

martin.fd

Hugh Matthews said:

@ Hans and @martin.fd May I ask hos many Galileo satellites (triangles in Sky) do you normally get and do they take longer to appear than GPS, Glonass and BeiDou. I get 2-6 of them but timing varies a lot. 

Under optimal condition (clear blue sky & slowly moving) I had 5 ... but indeed the fix takes longer and seems a bit unstable

martin.fd

P.S.: In the meantime I even had 6 Galileo Fixes ... but very unstable

user389

Galileo is not fully operational until 2020. Please refer to:
https://m.esa.int/Our_Activities/Navigation/Galileo/What_is_Galileo

gwm

had this problem with a samsung phone too. found that the reason was the magnet in the case which i used that time. fixed the issue by using a magnet-free case, but had to recalibrate the sensor with an app „GPS-Status“. since then no more problems.

user389

Thanks @gwm but this issue also affects the GPS compass, not just the magnetometer.
It has a surprisingly big impact when Maps or Sports Tracker think I started walking north instead of east, and rely on the pedometer input for some time before it realises it's lost!
I've had a couple of app or phone shutdowns that I blame on this. Telemetry is on, it's for the developers to resolve.

-- 
Hans

Danielsphone

Hey guys im sorry that this is off topic but i got a very serious problem with my Nokia 8 and i would love to know how to open a thread on this forum. I cant find the option... Could you please tell me?

martin.fd

App: top / website: top right -> new discussion -> "new discussion" or "ask a question"

user1536323754226

@ Hans and @ martin.fd Thanks for your Galileo feedback. More or less the same as me in NV Sjaelland Denmark, although I do sometimes get 5 sats indoors after ca. a minute.
I had the same problem @gwm with ipads and cases, all of which seemed to have magnets. I use Nokia’s leather flip case, which stays shut with magnets and protects extremely well.
See new thread on cameras and GPS
hughmnyksj

Danielsphone

@martin.fd thank you very much!

Danielsphone

Well there seems to be a bug with the site, or new members cant post for some time, since i cant see a blue button with new discussion anywhere on the site. So sad, a forum where i cant post to and a phone that does not work... my first and last device from nokia.

Hugh Matthews

@ Hans and @ martin.fd Thanks for your feedback on Galileo. 
There is a bug on this site that causes text to corrupt and constantly asks me upload photos. Anybody else seen it? It forces me to use an iPad to enter text here. HMD more or less ignores my reports of the error.

user1508928527225

Hugh Matthews said:

@ Hans and @ martin.fd Thanks for your feedback on Galileo. 
There is a bug on this site that causes text to corrupt and constantly asks me upload photos. Anybody else seen it? It forces me to use an iPad to enter text here. HMD more or less ignores my reports of the error.

Yes, the issue with unwanted upload dialogs while using the phone with my phone has been there since the forum software update and I recall seeing several complaints about it in the past. Not a big problem for me personally as I prefer using a device with actual physical keyboard for any longer comments anywhere, but something that definitely should be fixed...

martin.fd

Corrupted text I haven't had yet, but the upload requests are indeed quite annoying ...

madbilly

@all Have you tried the built-in self-test functions which @Petrus gave the code for? https://community.phones.nokia.com/discussion/comment/69514#Comment_69514

@Danielsphone you need to post a few times before you can start a new discussion, it's to stop spam.

Hugh Matthews

I have tried the self test. Not all of it is self-explanatory, and at least one test failed while my phone obviously worked fine in that regard. Does it test the actual hardware, or do drivers plays role?
I will do the test again and check the current situation.

martin.fd

madbilly said:

@all Have you tried the built-in self-test functions which @Petrus gave the code for? https://community.phones.nokia.com/discussion/comment/69514#Comment_69514

Just tried it out: The compass test doesn't run through but exits exactly at the moment when you have to turn on your own axis - i.e. exactly where the problem discussed here occurs.

Hugh Matthews

Which makes me wonder whether the test really is a hardware test. The compass used to work, so...