Database Users

Digital compass not working properly?

I think I may be having problems with the compass on my Aria. On all apps I've used that utilize the digital compass (sky map, compass, AR apps like wayfinder nyc), the compass movement seems jumpy and will give extremely inconsistent results, most times settling on an inconsistent heading.
Is there some way to check that the compass is properly calibrated?
Has anyone else been having problems?
Sent from my HTC Aria using XDA app

I very much have the same problem. Skymap and compass apps are incredibly underwhelming

Same here, skymap is basically unusable.
update:
Figured out a pretty good way to calibrate it. Launch skymap, then rotate the phone around several times on every axis (ie, rotate around x axis a few times, then y, then z). The magnetometer should reset itself and point in the correct direction.
update2:
After playing around with it for a while, I noticed that there is a difference of about 5-10 degrees between north in landscape mode and north in portrait mode. Pretty disappointing and lesson learned - don't rely on your Aria if you're going to Man vs. Wild it in the jungle for a while.

As with all digital compasses, it needs calibration, rather some sort of reset.. I haven't see true calibration.
See this video on it.. It's very simple to do. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sP3d00Hr14o
No, it's jot a joke. Compare against a real compass. Without this, I've found my N1 20+ degrees off, after, +/- 2

When i had the backflip you could go into the settings and click on compass calibration, you have to rotate/spin the phone on all it's axis or just do a figure 8 in the air with the phone. I did this yesterday on my Aria on google skymap, told me the sun was underground so I did a figure 8 to calibrate the compass and then it was all good. Just do it when you open any compass using app when you launch it.

Google maps update fixes compass and GPS issues

Hey so I just installed the update for google maps and now the GPS and compass finally seem to be working properly. Anyone else seeing this?
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

Yes and no. The pointer turns a little smoother in maps but if you go to street view and activate compass mode you will see that the XY axis lags terribly. The vertical axis is fine and very responsive but horizontal is slow like molasses. Compass is IMO still broke.

I installed it, and things seem to be somewhat improved. However, I still consider them to be broken.
Hopefully, this isn't the 'fix' Samsung and T-Mobile was talking about. Spotted nine satellites again, but can only lock onto a single one. The cycle continues.
The Compass is still slow to update and not at all 1:1 with my movement. GPS reception is still poor, and Google Maps still can't decide if I'm in Seattle or Issaquah (hint: I'm not in Issaquah).
Slight improvements, but not fixed.
Thanks for the heads up, though. Anybody else tried it?

I'm pretty sure you're imagining things. The compass problem is strictly a hardware/firmware issue. Simply updating a single app like GMaps isn't going to fix it. But don't take my word for it.
To see the raw sensor data, go to the dialer, and type in *#*#1472365#*#* then press Test Application, then Show Sensor Data. Look at the compass and tell me it's functioning correctly.

My GPS connects faster than heck, but being 30meters off really sucks. I mean my G1 would be 3-9meters off not 30

My vibrant isn't even connecting to a satellite tonight. This ain't no G1.

Compass is inconsistent

I was just checking how bad the GPS is (again) and noticed that the compass is inconsistent, in that 'North' can change by up to 30 degrees depending on the orientation of the phone.
For example if I line up north with the phone on the table and place a piece of paper next it, then flip the phone round by 180 degrees and line the phone up to the edge of the paper, then the direction that was previously north is now 330 degrees, and 'north' is now 30 degress to the east.
I've now tried it in several places using different apps and with the hpne horizontal/vertical/upside down/whatever and it's always the same - when the phone is pointing 'south', 'north' moves 30 degrees to the east.
Obviously the sensors in the phone are just junk and Samsung have sold me a lemon. Anyone else have any similiar problems?

The problem is clearly aliens! their technology is not compatable with our own and they threaten all navigational devices.
the only solution is silver foil around the phone.

<stu> said:
I was just checking how bad the GPS is (again) and noticed that the compass is inconsistent, in that 'North' can change by up to 30 degrees depending on the orientation of the phone.
For example if I line up north with the phone on the table and place a piece of paper next it, then flip the phone round by 180 degrees and line the phone up to the edge of the paper, then the direction that was previously north is now 330 degrees, and 'north' is now 30 degress to the east.
I've now tried it in several places using different apps and with the hpne horizontal/vertical/upside down/whatever and it's always the same - when the phone is pointing 'south', 'north' moves 30 degrees to the east.
Obviously the sensors in the phone are just junk and Samsung have sold me a lemon. Anyone else have any similiar problems?
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Click to collapse
Have you ever tried to calibrate the sensors? Doesn´t look so. No matter in what position i hold the phone, the difference is never more than 1-2 degrees!

The first few times I tried it, it was fine, but it did go out of alignment eventually after moving he phone around a lot. Although, that can happen due to external magnetic fields. In planes we normally use compass correction cards to help correct mistakes in the compass, and I'm not sure how good the Galaxy S is at compensating for those errors either (although, I don't think that would explain 30 degrees error).
Also, where are you living? Remember, the earths magnetic field is strongest closer to the poles, and weakest at the equator.

TMReuffurth said:
Have you ever tried to calibrate the sensors? Doesn´t look so. No matter in what position i hold the phone, the difference is never more than 1-2 degrees!
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Click to collapse
Yes I've calibrated (and re-calibrated) the sensors and it doesn't make any difference.
I'm glad yours works so well - I bet your gps is super-accurate too.
I live in the uk and my trusty G1 has no problems, so I can only assume it is the SGS.

<stu> said:
Yes I've calibrated (and re-calibrated) the sensors and it doesn't make any difference.
I'm glad yours works so well - I bet your gps is super-accurate too.
I live in the uk and my trusty G1 has no problems, so I can only assume it is the SGS.
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Click to collapse
My GPS is not so accurate, but its usable. The sensors are very sensitive. If you use the compass near my laptop (15 cm away or nearer) it´s becoming completely useless too.
try to use the compass far from electrical equipment like computers or tv´s. Makes a huge different for me. When using the phone 15 cm away from my laptop, the compass get´s unusable too. As soon as i reach 20 cm far from the laptop the compass works as it should.

Also, one more thing, the "sheet" trick is easily affected by interference if the compass isn't located in the centre of the galaxy S.
If it were results would be better. Does anyone know where the magnetic sensor is located on the i9000? Because if you spin it around the sensor, rather than the middle of the phone, the compass should remain consistant, provided the magnetic interference is constant.

I found since updating to JPM froyo from JM9 my compass is not just 30 degrees off, its sometimes 180! I've done the recalib etc but it jumps around all over the place. Good thing I'm not bothered one bit by it as I rarely if ever use gps/directional apps.

my Gps works good. But Compass not so much. Does GPS have to be on to use Compass? How do I calibrate the compass?
@andrewluecke with so many electrical equipments/circuits inside the phone, I reckon it must be hard to isolate the compass from the interference as we are able to do in aircraft.
ANyways there is no practical daily use of compass for me.

Well I was messing around last night and found that if I tip the phone backwards nad forwards slightly (so it is still mostly horizontal) then "North" can vary quite a bit. I tried the LBSTestModes which seemed to be better, but it still has issues, and like ickyboo I've managed to make it face 180 degrees off North.
As for everyday applications - well I suppose Navigation is the main one I use, although any augmented reality app is gonna be affected. So that means the Layar app that Samsung advertise as a feature of the phone is useless.

<stu> said:
Well I was messing around last night and found that if I tip the phone backwards nad forwards slightly (so it is still mostly horizontal) then "North" can vary quite a bit. I tried the LBSTestModes which seemed to be better, but it still has issues, and like ickyboo I've managed to make it face 180 degrees off North.
As for everyday applications - well I suppose Navigation is the main one I use, although any augmented reality app is gonna be affected. So that means the Layar app that Samsung advertise as a feature of the phone is useless.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't suppose you know if this is why the Google Skymap application is always misaligned? (I've tried all the calibration methods I've been able to find and it's still always off)

retro83 said:
I don't suppose you know if this is why the Google Skymap application is always misaligned? (I've tried all the calibration methods I've been able to find and it's still always off)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it would definitely explain that.

Compass accuracy?

It seems like my compass is somewhat off. I've downloaded a compass app from the market and used its calibration function several times, but it still seems off. This appears to be somewhat problematic when using google maps 5.0 in compass mode as well, since the actual compass directions don't line up with the calibration of the phone.
What's the most accurate way to calibrate the compass? Is there an app, or some other way, to manually adjust the calibration if its off?

In what way does the compass seem off? I have no problems with the compass on my end.

in maps 5.0, is so OFF!
Tested actually a few hours ago, my compass was like 30 degrees off.

ArcticWolf91 said:
In what way does the compass seem off? I have no problems with the compass on my end.
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Click to collapse
Like the previous poster said...using compass mode in Google Maps 5.0, the direction of the map is off compared to how I'm holding the phone (if that makes sense).

Omg I know what you guys mean in the new maps 5.0 the compass is showing for me that its pointing a couple of degrees to the right. So has anybody figured out how to fix it?

Make sure when you're checking the accuracy of the compass that you are not using it around something that would be causing interference, especially the MyTouch Car Dock that T-Mobile sells. For some reason, that thing causes major interference, and makes my compass think it's 90 degrees off.
... Ironic for a Car Dock designed to help the phone act as a GPS device.

Omnia compass in Mango - total crap?

As many others, I have updated to official Mango yesterday. And i was really surprised by compass - its accuracy is much worse than simply guessing "where the hell could that north be" . Do you experience the same?
Majority of applications I tried required "calibration" - shaking Omnia in 8 shaped movement, but I found this absolutely useless. Even if the pointer is in north-south orientation, it usualy swaps north and south part of the pointer.
I tried:
Compass 7 from Redtalon - points north in 1 from 10 cases, usualy points towards west. Rotating phone makes this absolutely crazy
123 Compass from Agulhas Solutions - sometimes points north, but pointer is shaking as hell, most usual direction is south-west. Rotating your phone means rotating pointer anywhere. No sign of pointing towards north...
Compass from KanzSoft - this one looks to be the most promising. It shows at least basic knowledge where to point, but is oscilating in +- 10°
Maybe I just found wrong applications - do you have any suggestions?

I totally agree...
It sucks and they didn't even implement it in bing maps, that's the only thing I miss from the iPhone.
I tried the first two compass apps and the first one was stuck at north until i shook my phone, the second is not better than the first...

Agreed. My compass is utterly useless.

The compass that is included in the diagnosis app by entering *#0*# works pretty well over here. It does oscillate quite a bit though...

If I understand well the Mango SDK docs, our crap compass doesn't manage to pass the calibration test made by the devs. Only the Compass app from KanzSoft seems to use results even if the sensor is not calibrated.
I'll try to play with the sample as soon as i find so time to.
As far as i'm concerned, I didn't even know that the Omnia7 came with a compass, so it's a good news.

well, not for me - for me, it does not do anything - diag version 0103

Marvellou said:
If I understand well the Mango SDK docs, our crap compass doesn't manage to pass the calibration test made by the devs. Only the Compass app from KanzSoft seems to use results even if the sensor is not calibrated.
I'll try to play with the sample as soon as i find so time to.
As far as i'm concerned, I didn't even know that the Omnia7 came with a compass, so it's a good news.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey.. Remarkable. I tried the app. I won't get passed the calibration. But in the background you see a compass and it's working quite well (best I've seen so far). So if Samsung just fixes this calibration issue, we could actually have a proper working compass on our Omnia7. They fixed a lot of issues in the Mango driver update package. I hope they're gonna fix this one too.
Heathcliff74

Optimus 7 too....
Something, somewhere is completely screwed
Through the engineering menu, compass works fine (a bit jumpy - but at least points to North!)
But...every compass app I've tried points the the wrong way, usually by 10-20 degress
Even the official Scansearch app is ropey - allthough it it does seem to get it right eventually after rotating the phone a few times
(often gets N/S flipped)
Mango RTM + latest firmware (1.0.13.10)

Confirm: mine pointing west too.
how to fix ?

Deleting and reinstalling the diagnosis app made mine run much better.
However, mine is 180 degrees inverted (i.e. North shows as South)....

illuzn said:
Deleting and reinstalling the diagnosis app made mine run much better.
However, mine is 180 degrees inverted (i.e. North shows as South)....
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Click to collapse
Well you guys are upside down, down under! Sorry couldn't resist!
---------- Post added at 08:29 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:26 AM ----------
On a serious note though - My compass is pretty rubbish too. It may point vaguely in the right direction. I wouldn't trust it though, I do a lot of hiking and fell running and i'm not about to trust this and go without a real compass!

Freypal said:
Well you guys are upside down, down under! Sorry couldn't resist!
---------- Post added at 08:29 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:26 AM ----------
On a serious note though - My compass is pretty rubbish too. It may point vaguely in the right direction. I wouldn't trust it though, I do a lot of hiking and fell running and i'm not about to trust this and go without a real compass!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was a cheap shot haha...
It more for a stargazing app I use - Skymap... check it out its pretty good... it uses the compass and telemetry data to orientate the map on the screen so it knows where you are looking.

Try Compass VO, it's the most accurate one compare to my actual compass.
It looks like the compass on the Omnia 7 is off by 10* according to Compass VO accuracy fix.
http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/apps/5b51fa9c-14c7-4dce-92ec-f12649076e7d
edit: so, compass is confirm to be crap. Rotation is in consistent.

I used to have heading at least in diags, but no more. I've got only those XYZ values. However it doesn't change the fact that I never got trustworthy readout from compass. Sometimes it was correct heading, but I never knew that until I compared it to real compass. And when I turned 90 deg compass heading changed only little bit, like 20 to 40 deg or sometimes it didn't changed at all.
I have to say it's quite disappointing and I'm thinking about trying luck with RMA.

On my Focus, at first all compass apps didn't worked correctly. After I read this diagnose menu, I tried to enter. The XYZ changed as I change my direction, but the compass didn't move at all.
Then I tried the compass app again (from Kantz something), It now pointing in a consistent direction and rotate (keep pointing in the north???) as I rotate my position.
Dunno what really happened here ...

Ok, this is my first post. But I hope this willl help some Omnia 7 owners.
I tried also a lot of compass Apps but without luck. There was no App which showed the correct cardinal direction. Then I read in another Forum someone had reinstalled the diagnostic tool and after that everything was fine. So I tried this also.
And...after the deinstallation of the diagnostic tool the 'My Compass' Apps works perfect. Now the app didn't ask again and again for reinitialization of the compass.
I didn't installed the samsung diagnose tool again and I didn't tried other compass apps but this was for me a first step.
Omnia 7
Mango 7.5
OS: 7.10.7720.68
Firmware: 2424.11.8.5
Hardware version: 3.15.0.4
Bootloader: 5.8.1.9
Unbranded and official Mango update process

"My compass" works well after installing the diagnostics & proving that it actually worked.
it seems to be reading backwards until you set it to "rotate face"
firmware 242.11.9.3

timbuktu said:
Ok, this is my first post. But I hope this willl help some Omnia 7 owners.
I tried also a lot of compass Apps but without luck. There was no App which showed the correct cardinal direction. Then I read in another Forum someone had reinstalled the diagnostic tool and after that everything was fine. So I tried this also.
And...after the deinstallation of the diagnostic tool the 'My Compass' Apps works perfect. Now the app didn't ask again and again for reinitialization of the compass.
I didn't installed the samsung diagnose tool again and I didn't tried other compass apps but this was for me a first step.
Omnia 7
Mango 7.5
OS: 7.10.7720.68
Firmware: 2424.11.8.5
Hardware version: 3.15.0.4
Bootloader: 5.8.1.9
Unbranded and official Mango update process
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hey! That actually works! Weird, I did reinstall the diagnosis app after the Mango update and the Samsung KH5 update. But I just tried it again. Immediately opened Diagnosis and dialled *#0*# and tapped compass. Then it worked! I tried another compass app and that one worked too. Thanks!
EDIT: Cool! My Reality Scanner in Navigon 4.0 works now too!!
Heathcliff74

Something else... Calibration!
From this article: http://blogs.microsoft.co.il/blogs/alex_golesh/archive/2011/05/24/windows-phone-mango-what-s-new-new-sensors-amp-tooling-enhancements-part-3-of-8.aspx
In addition, compass sensor enables application to subscribe to the Calibrate event, since magnetometer sensor which used to implement the compass is subject to external interference. Metal obstacles, high-voltage electrical installations and some electronic devices could interfere with Earth’s magnetic field and change the local magnetic field’s values. In case the sensor needs to be calibrated and the compass API fires the Calibrate event. When this event fired the application have to present the UI with instructions to perform sensor calibration. Sensor calibration performed by waving the device in figure 8 pattern.
The API doesn’t provide any “CalibrationComplete” notification, and it is up to developer to decide when data accuracy sufficient to the application. In general, HeadingAccuracy below 10-15 degrees should enough for most applications.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most compass apps have a calibration function. I couldn't get this to work. Didn't matter how I moved the phone in a "figure 8". Then I tried Youtube and found this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sP3d00Hr14o. It's for an iPhone, but it works the same. The guy in the video wave just once to calibrate it. I had to do it a few times, but then the app said: Calibration complete!
I now finally have a working, calibrated compass in my Omnia 7!
That also means I can use all apps that need the Mango Motion-sensor. Omnia 7 doesn't have a gyro, but with compass and accelerometer combined you have a fully functional Motion-sensor (although slightly less accurate than newer devices that also have a gyro).
Ciao,
Heathcliff74

Compass-VO update
stan2 said:
Try Compass VO, it's the most accurate one compare to my actual compass.
It looks like the compass on the Omnia 7 is off by 10* according to Compass VO accuracy fix.
edit: so, compass is confirm to be crap. Rotation is in consistent.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actualy Compass VO works very well on my Omnia 7 .. once the phone digital compass is calibrated (8 shape) I have no issues with rotation, pointing magnetic and geographic north.
I like it because it allows you to set a map (topographic) in the background and use it together with compass to navigate. Not to mention multiple themes + other features ...
Really recomended.
Cheers,
Clody