If I install Ubuntu onto my Nexus 7 via this guide will I still be able to use GPS and Google Maps?
Ubuntu – Does Ubuntu on Nexus 7 support the GPS hardware
gpsnexus-7ubuntu-touch
Related Solutions
The Nexus tablet is not a full PC. It has an ARM CPU, which while having a pretty OK clock speed, doesn't necessarily perform well at some very CPU intensive tasks. It is designed for minimal power consumption. It also does not have the same instruction set as the x86 CPUs you're used to using in a PC. Therefore, some software will just outright not work or be available (such as VirtualBox), or may perform very poorly. You can see what packages are available by looking through the archive for binary packages built for the architectures armhf or all.
However, most software will be available, even though there are plenty of packages in the archive which only build on x86 architectures, or even on other architectures, but not ARM.
You can use GPS in two ways on Nexus 4.
- With Normal GPS.
- With A-GPS (Assisted GPS with anonymized Wi-Fi and cellular network info; it can be named as Nokia HERE service as well).
1. Usage with GPS
Go to location settings and select "Using GPS only".
The problem this is option, that it can take a long time to get position the first time. So put your phone near the window, open uNav app (Ubuntu navigation application), tap on a button to find your position, and leave it for an hour with uNav app open untill it finds your position. If it does not find the position, review the GPS settings (check at the bottom of battery settings too), try enable/disable. If everything is OK, try reboot a device. Then go to uNav application and try again untill it finds your position.
Then it finds your position, then navigation works very well. But if you experience any issues using navigation (navigation stops, is choppy or does not the direction), close other apps that might be using navigation as well at the same time (if it does not help, remove GPS permissions from other apps) (this is a known bug, bug report here)
2. Usage with A-GPS
Benefit of this way is that it immediately finds your position and you don't have to wait.
Main Ubuntu channel does not use third-party services, so this option is only available if you flash bq-aquaris.en channel to your device. This channel is adapted for use of several devices, including mako (Nexus 4).
Instruction how to change channel:
- Install developer tools on your computer (more info here)
- Enable developer mode on your phone (Settings > About > Developer mode > Enable)
- Connect the phone to the computer.
- In terminal write "adb reboot recovery"
- Phone restarts automatically and enters screen with android picture.
- In terminal write "ubuntu-device-flash touch --channel=ubuntu-touch/stable/bq-aquaris.en"
- Wait untill ubuntu flash the image and boots up. Finish.
Now you will find A-GPS setting on your device, select it.
If it does not find your position immediately, restart your phone and try again.
If after finding the position navigation does not work well, then again, close other apps that might be using navigation as well at the same time for it to work well (see https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/location-service/+bug/1468020)
Other notes:
- A-GPS works independent of radio version, it can be old or new, does not matter.
- Compass is not yet implement on Ubuntu Touch, but it calculates your correct direction then you are driving, so its fine.
Best Answer
It would seem to me that currently there is not support for the onboard GPS. Developers are still working on getting functionality out of the firmware for broadcom wifi and bluetooth.