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GPS FAQ

Advice below is based on this GPS unit

My GPS doesn't have a lock. What's wrong with the pi?

When your GPS has a lock on satellites, you will see a green flashing light on the GPS. The GPS unit getting a lock has NOTHING to do with the pi. In fact, it will get a lock if you just plug it into a USB port power and wait (provided it has a clear view of the sky). After you install the GPS software on the pi and plug in the GPS, it can take a VERY long time (I have seen it take 12 hours) for the GPS unit to get a lock the first time. I recommend leaving the pi powered on overnight with the GPS unit plugged in and sitting next to a window. Chances are it will have a lock on the satellites the next morning. After the initial lock, it will usually get a lock within 5 minutes of booting up the pi.

GPS looses connection when HDMI is plugged in

If you are using an HDMI cable and your GPS is loosing it's lock see this post.

Conky reads NO GPS

If Conky says NO GPS, then your GPS has not locked onto the satellites yet. This is normal behavior.

If you are not able to see GPS data using the cgps command and your GPS unit shows a green blinking light, see this video. You may need to run these commands to uninstall/reinstall the GPS software.

sudo apt-get purge gpsd gpsd-clients python-gps chrony python-gi-cairo
cd ~/Downloads
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/km4ack/pi-scripts/master/gpsinstall
sudo bash gpsinstall

You may also find this video helpful.

GPS and USB 3.0

USB 3.0 is known to cause issue with the GPS. See this video

Other GPS Devices

Use the GPS Update Tool to choose your GPS. The GPS Update Tool can be installed with Build a Pi. It is found under "Utilities" during the BAP install.

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