Gpsd Woes

[Bane]

I am trying to get qpegps running on my sl-6000. I use a bluetooth gps mapped to rfcomm0. I was previously using zgps perfectly. Maps didnt work quite right but it connected to my gps and gave me streaming telemetry lat-long and compass heading. Zero issues getting data from the GPS. So I am now trying to get qpegps running because people seem to get maps running on it without too much trouble. But when it tries to connect to the GPS it works initially. Then it cuts out. And to get it back up I have to go to the configuration window and select the port and hit enter to refresh the connection. I dont know how or why it stops but it does. I am assuming that because the connection is driven by gpsd that GPSD is the source of my woes. Any thoughts on what might be wrong with GPSD and qpegps?

[ashikase]

Are you using the version of gpsd provided on the qpegps SourceForge page ("gpsd_from_qpegps_0_9_1")? You must use this version with the current release of qpegps.

- ashikase
- anpachi, gifu, japan

[Bane]

It is the gpsd that installs with qpegps. If qpegps is installing the wrong version... well that would be novel. I have not tried overwriting GPSD with a different version than comes with qpegps. Should I be overwriting the version of gpsd that is installed when qpegps is installed? I have been trying to install the latest version of the qpegps ipk from the sourceforge site. Is there something I am failing to take into account ? When gpsd cuts out its after like 2 seconds of data from the gps.

[lardman]

To have qpegps work, you must use the version of gpsd that comes with it (or an older version). So you're using the right version.

I don't know what the problem is, however I'd recommend you look at the following:

Does zGPS still work? Is it using sirf or NMEA (I wonder if any changes have been made in more recent versions of gpsd).

You should be able to telnet to gpsd (port 2947 iirc), try this and see if it's still running/producing useful data.

After that try running gpsd from the command line (rather than starting it through qpegps - though use the same parameters). There's a switch (-N) which stops it from becoming a daemon (so you can see any output).

-D might also be useful (give it a number) to produce debugging messages.


Si

[Bane]

zGPS doesnt use gpsd to run. It works perfectly well feeding off of the nmea info from my gps. I will have to try running gpsd from the command line. and telneting to port 2947. What should I expect to see when I telnet to 2947 if there was nothing wrong with gpsd?

[ashikase]

It's been a while since I've used the old version of gpsd, but if it's anything like the current version, when you first connect via telnet nothing is displayed. After connecting, try typing "w+" followed by Enter; this command should put gpsd into "watcher mode", which will report any data received from the GPS (assuming that gpsd is receiving data).

I personally use the latest version of gpsd (2.30), but it doesn't work with the current release of qpeGPS. Even so, if you would like to try it , let me know. (It will eventually be made available on the qpeGPS site.)

- ashikase
- anpachi, gifu, japan

[Bane]

I would love to use the new version when it gets released with qpegps. I will keep an eye one the qpegps site for updates.

[xamindar]

What gps reciever are you guys using?  I want to add gps to my zaurus and want to know which ones work the best for a reasonable price.

[Bane]

I have a 16 channel bluetooth GPS made by Wonde-X. It was like $60 off of ebay. It has an external antenna port. And a built in rechargable battery and charging port. I can run it off of a car adaptor. Or run it on batteries. The battery lasts for like 22 hours on a single charge. It connects to my mappoint software on my laptop perfectly. And it will connect to zgps perfectly. I just have to figure out what is wrong with my qpegps.

[Bane]

On the topic of GPSD.

I start the service from the command line with a "GPSD -p /dev/rfcomm0 -s 4800"
I telnet to localhost port 2947 and when I type in w+ I procede to get info from the gps. Shortly after I get A "connection closed by foreign host" and telnet closes. If I try to reconnect to to localhost port 2947 there is nothing to connect to.

Effectively gpsd is shutting down, is it not ? What can I do to fix this? The GPSD Daemon is shutting down or off on its own. This would be why qpegps has problems. What could be causing the gpsd process to die?

[ashikase]

I start the service from the command line with a "GPSD -p /dev/rfcomm0 -s 4800"
I telnet to localhost port 2947 and when I type in w+ I procede to get info from the gps. Shortly after I get A "connection closed by foreign host" and telnet closes. If I try to reconnect to to localhost port 2947 there is nothing to connect to.

I apologize. After a bit further thought, I remembered that the current qpeGPS does not use watcher mode, but instead sends repeated queries for the information it wants to retrieve. Thus, your problem with gpsd (apparently) crashing in watcher mode might be unrelated.

I'm afraid I have no other advice to offer. The only thing I can say is to wait for qpeGPS2... assuming I ever get around to releasing it.

- ashikase
- anpachi, gifu, japan

[Bane]

ashikase,

Thanks for the help regardless of outcome.
If I understand qpegps2 will use the latest version of gpsd ?

If you dont mind me asking are you simply going to add in support for the latest gpsd or are there other new features being added in as well?

Gpsd daemon is crashing; is there a log somewhere that might give an error code from when gpsd is crashing. I realize alot of logging is turned off on the zaurus because of limited storage.

My bluetooth gps is mapped to /dev/rfcomm0. Could something else be trying to access rfcomm0 and disabling the gps ? Something that kills the daemon but wont or cant kill a program accessing rfcomm0 directly?

I will experiment and see if mapping the gps to rfcomm1,2,or 3 yield better results.

I look forward to seeing qpegps2. More developement in gps software is a must. The z has a lack of variety in the gps/mapping software dept. I think qpegps, zroadmap, and zgpsdrive are the only actively developed gps/mapping packages I have found so far.  Anything that can be done to improve features/utility is greatly appreciated.

[ashikase]

If you dont mind me asking are you simply going to add in support for the latest gpsd or are there other new features being added in as well?

So far, the major changes in the version that I'm working on are:
- uses gpsd 2.30 (latest release)
- uses non-overlapping map segments
-- this saves a lot of storage space
-- maps segments are seemlessly stitched together so that segment edges are never seen (except, of course, at edges of entire map)
- no longer uses a tabbed interface

Right now I am working on moving the GPS unit status information to a separate Qtopia task tray applet; I'll probably release the applet (along with the ipk of gpsd 2.30) before qpeGPS2.

- ashikase
- anpachi, gifu, japan

[lardman]

Oops, sorry, I lost track of this thread.

Try starting gpsd with the -N switch, which will stop it from becoming a daemon, hopefully you'll see the reason it's crashing on stderr (the terminal).


Si

[Bane]

-n doesnt seem to tell me anything. I get no message of any kind in the terminal. I have no idea why gpsd would auto terminate. Is there some command that I can give it to tell it to run no matter what or maybe set it to never terminate its process? I watched it in the process manager and it runs for a couple of seconds and then just disapears. No message to error no nothing.