Avare won't track.

[Joe Gerardi]

Been having a problem for a while now, and just recently it's become important: My Avare won't track. The plane always point at 007 degrees, and will not turn no matter what, Everything else seems to be working fine in the app, but as a GPS reference, it's not particularly good if the direction I'm actually going won't show up in the app. (unless I'm actually flying 007 degrees...)

I have completely deleted the app and re-installed now, twice, and it still persists.

As an FYI, the GPS works fine for everything else, and even in other flight apps, and on the tools page shows I am connected to 12 or more satellites.

Any ideas?

Thanks on advance for taking the time to look at this.

..Joe

[fly...@yahoo.com]

Hi Joe.
It is Not clear, to me, what the problem is?
Can you post a Screen capture  of what you see on the screen?
You should be able to see the Trk at the top, the two Heading and the direct to segmented lines and the the red acft turn to the proper direction heading? TV

[Joe Gerardi]

Here's the screenshot. See hot the plane is pointing heading 007? Regardless of which way I turn it never moves.

..Joe

[fly...@yahoo.com]

Hi Joe.
Have you tried to Create and Activate a Flight Plan, or just go to Find and search for an airport nearby, and select it as destination,and or in Simulation Mode?
Is this your first time using Avare, or did it just start?
If that does help, post your OS, Device info. TV

[C177RG]

Does it display this behavior in actual flight conditions?

[Joe Gerardi]

No, I haven't tried to create a flight plan. I mostly do free-flight in the area, so I almost never have a flight plan. It has become an issue not that I've built a Raspberry Pi ADS-B in, and I want to use Avare as the map product. But if the icon won't move, and the track never change, it's useless.

And it shouldn't make a difference about where I am: The track should follow the direction I'm facing, and the airplane icon should turn. My GPS works just fine when driving. But when I light up the app, neither happens.


This is reminiscent of when it was a subscription app, and my account got locked after the trial period...

..Joe

[fly...@yahoo.com]

Hi Joe.
This is a very unusual problem and I do not recall anyone else mentioning it. We should be able to find a solution. Let's keep trying.
I did not find any information on your Device Make Model, OS ver. Memory / storage, where is Avare installed, default / external SD, post some of that information. This will allow others with the same type of hardware to help, and see if they are having any issues.
 In addition in Settings, if you have Mock locations try to enable that? TV

[Joe Gerardi]

Phone: Samsung Galaxy S5
Android: 5.1.1
Kernel: 3.4.0-5406928
Available space: 16 Gig/9.5 used
Avare stored in internal memory (in com.ds.avare)

And thanks!

..Joe

[fly...@yahoo.com]

Hi Joe.
Very interesting problem. I personally tested Avare in an S5, older OS? and I know it works. We must be missing a step?
I would try to  install in a directory that you know exists, if not create one, other than the default, uninstall and reinstall Avare. As I recall that Model had the Developer> Enable Mock Locations, if you did not try that you may want to try it. Also make sure you Power OFF/ On after your install. TV

[Ben Setnick]

FWIW, I have the same phone and Android build. So it sounds like something with the particular install or configuration. One other obvious thing to check is that you have Avare set to "north up." Otherwise the airplane will always point up.

[John W SBA]

> track should follow the direction I'm facing, and the airplane icon should turn

It does of course. Just not on your current installation for some
reason we've not figured out yet. Hopefully when we find the solution
it will be helpful to anyone else who ever encounters this strange
problem. I thought it was just that your S5 isn't moving so the GPS
direction didn't show up, but I gather that's not the case.

> GPS works just fine when driving. But when I light up the app, neither happens.

Are you saying that the app you use for driving works, or that Avare
works when you're driving?

> reminiscent of when it was a subscription app

When the driving app was subscription? Avare has always been free open
source.

The only three ideas I've had for your problem so far are:
1. A setting in Preferences for Avare that's disabling GPS.
*Carefully go through every setting.

2. Your installation of Avare is messed up somehow.
*Uninstall and reinstall Avare.

3. Another app messing up Avare by somehow intercepting the GPS data.
*Turn off all other 3rd party GPS apps, and if that doesn't work
un/re-install Avare, and if that doesn't work, uninstall the other apps,
and if still not working un/re-install Avare yet again.

This can certainly be fixed, because right now we have over 2,100 S5
Avare installations with no similar reports.

[John W SBA]

Joe, as I recall you said Avare does not show heading when moving, or
have I misunderstood? With mine showing Altitude Accuracy: 16 while
stationary, the airplane icon is pointing straight up and Track is 347
degrees here near KSBA. At a fast walk it shows my heading, and when I
stop it reverts to 347.

just to be clear, that static number (7 in your case as I recall) is NOT
the problem? Avare does NOT show any heading while driving or flying?

Anyway, thanks for continuing to provide info so we can help. I'm
copying the Forum on my reply, with the screencaps and some of your text
deleted for brevity.

> The GPS. I use Scout for driving.

Have you tried turning off Scout and any other GPS apps?

> I tried a lot when they first started coming out

Have you definitely uninstalled all of them? Some are infested with
invasive permissions and possibly malware that might even remain after
uninstall, so hopefully that's not the problem. If all else fails you
could try a factory reset, but with luck it won't be needed. Have you
installed *ANY* apps from a source other than gPlay?

> I've attached a screenshot of my GPS settings [deleted]

By comparison, on my S4 the first two GPS settings are both off while
yours are on but those settings are unlikely related. You could try GPS
set to Internal Only in case some app or residual is messing that up,
but also unlikely.

> GPS status screen in Avare [deleted]

Good sign, that it's showing position coordinates. So it seems Avare is
communicating with your GPS source (internal I presume?). FWIW my S4
shows 56MB/128MB on that screen vs your 74/128 but I doubt that's
related either. Up in the Notification bar I see that like me you have
Background Data off. Also there though I notice an Ebay icon, and you
might want to try turning that off (along with anything else you can).
Many apps grab every possible permission they can, so they can track
you, sell ads, and generally take over your life. As you might infer
from me mentioning that, it's not my favorite thing. But spyware is
also notorious for causing inexplicable weird problems.

> re-installed it again for the third time on Friday

Wish that had fixed it for you.

> Thanks for all the help.

When we finally figure it out, the answer will probably be obvious.

[command...@gmail.com]

I have an S5 with Avare installed as a backup, and it works well for me. I can recreate your symptoms by going to preferences -> GPS -> GPS Position Source and change it to Avare IO Module Only. Soon, it will display "No GPS Signal", but until then, it is as you describe. As a troubleshooting technique, you may want to download the Avare External IO Module and use the GPS Sim to see if you can get Avare to react to that. Don't forget to use the proper position source in Avare as above. I didn't need to enable mock locations on the S5, but I did on the tablet. I wonder what apps show up as recent location requests when you go to your phone's Settings -> Location.

[John W SBA]

On 12/14/15 11:09 AM, Joe Gerardi wrote:
> I took it in the car today and it worked fine. My issue was that when
> Avare is at rest (i.e., not moving) it always points to a 007 degree
heading

I'm glad we've figured it out, and appreciate you sticking with it so we
could all help. Even more, I appreciate you letting us know it's working
fine for you now. This will be very useful for everyone else who
encounters this issue in future.

The root of the issue is that Avare is designed for flying, so it uses
relative motion (point A to point B) to sort out which way we're moving
rather than which way the device is pointing. As for the "compass"
sensors in smartphones and other typical Android devices, they seem to
me less than precision instruments because even the compass apps I've
used (which ARE designed to tell which way the device is pointing)
aren't accurate. For example Google's "Sky Map" that I use
occasionally, only vaguely corresponds with device aiming. Some day
AHRS suitable for IFR could be built into all Android devices, but maybe
not yet?

Anyway, I'm glad you'll now be able to enjoy getting to know Avare in
the air where like me it seems intended to be. :)

Happy Flying -j