Verizon Q9c GPS Hack

[ohjeez99]

I doubt that it will do any good but i decided to shoot an email off to verizon anyway. It reads as follows.

I'm not usually one to complain about things but there's a few things i have wrong with you relating to the Motorola q9c smart phone. I realize that you are a business and your first priority is to make money, however the fact that the gps ability has been blocked to any program other then the Vznavigator software is very unpleasant. If i paid for gps functionality in a phone, the last thing i want is to have to pay an additional 10 dollars a month when i can get almost the same services free via programs such as Google Maps and Windows live search. It is an extremely bad business practice to lock people out of things that they own, and it will only cause one of two responses: 1) people WILL figure out a way to get around it but not after 2) many people switch to a service provider that doesn't lock their hardware (aka Sprint). Also another thing that sprint seems to be on top of is updates. It has been almost 2 months since sprint came out with the windows mobile 6.1 update for the q9c, and if they are the same device, it should take a minimal amount of time for you guys to come out with the same update. Yet many people are left to just be envious of the added functionality of the windows mobile 6.1 update that the sprint users get to have. I have loved the service/customer relations in the past, so this just sort of surprised me that such a great company would do something as childish as lock people out of their own phones. Is the extra 10 bucks a month you earn worth the many many customers your infuriate? I guess that is up to you to decide.

[nerotoxen]

Originally Posted by poboy975

[HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\GPS Intermediate Driver\Multiplexer\]
String name="DriverInterface"
String value="COM1:"

[HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\GPS Intermediate Driver\Multiplexer\ActiveDevice\]
String name="DriverInterface"
String value="COM1:"
DWord name="Index"
DWord value="1"
String name="Prefix"
String value="COM"
(if you change the COM port #, I think you have to change the index to match: ie, com3 and index 3)

[HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\GPS Intermediate Driver\Drivers\GenericGPSDriver\]
String name="CommPort"
String value="GDD0:"
(I believe this is the internal GPS port; I think this is the default setting...just making sure that it still is. you can check to make sure the internal GPS/intermediate GPS driver are working by using WLS or GMM and selecting intermediate driver and seeing if you can get a fix)

Use GMM(google Mobile Maps) or WLS(Windows LIve Search) and try COM1 in the settings to see if you can still get GPS signal and location...

These programs I was able to get to see GPS on COM1:
Google Mobile Maps (2.0.0.11)
Windows Live Search (2.5.2859.37360)
gpsVP (0.3.7)
trackr! (0.9.10)
Sprint Navigation (1.0.13)(prolly uses intermediate GPS driver; worked before these edits and there are no settings in the program for GPS port...)

These programs I was NOT able to get to see GPS on COM1:
Efficasoft GPS Utilities (v2.0)
Nav4All (8.0.62)
Reperion (SF1.50)
Virtual Earth Mobile (1.71)


ok saw this post in another thread...havent tried it out, but it might give yall some of the registry setting... also there was a user talking about being in ht efield test menu and geting a gps menu that didnt seem to do anything..


I access the Field test menu by hitting ##* send. I have it saved as a contact cause I sometimes have to turn off EVDO in low signal areas. Anyway if you hit option B - Field Test Menu, that takes you to another menu that has (3) GPS menus: B -GPS Session Update (new, lastest, continuous) C - GPS performance level: (1-6) D - GPS Location Privacy: (All, None, MO, MT). I played around with some of these settings and it didn't seem to do much, google maps still didn't see the gps receiver and I didn't expect it too. I did notice that the GPS icon on the home screen now shows what looks like a satellite receiver )) next to the "target" icon. don't know what that does either. It really would be great if the Q9M has the same gps chip as the Q9C and it only needs to be activated some how

The Field Service Code for the Motorola Q9m is "##073887* send". You will be asked to enter a security code (enter all zeros). From that menu one must enter "test mode", then exit the service menu. After this you use the code "##* send" to get to the field test menu. Use these codes with caution.

OK! Well I have a Q9M from verizon... I did everything in the post. I had everything in my reg. except for this part

[HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\GPS Intermediate Driver\Multiplexer\ActiveDevice\]
String name="DriverInterface"
String value="COM1:"
DWord name="Index"
DWord value="1"
String name="Prefix"
String value="COM"
(if you change the COM port #, I think you have to change the index to match: ie, com3 and index 3)

So I added it and did a soft reset. I'm off to do some testing here so stay with me! And cross your fingers!!

[poboy975]

kk I should think the hardware is same between sprint and verizon...its made by motorola anyway...anyway these might give an idea of what kind of reg entries are needed...

[skot0123]

Originally Posted by ohjeez99

I doubt that it will do any good but i decided to shoot an email off to verizon anyway. It reads as follows.

I'm not usually one to complain about things but there's a few things i have wrong with you relating to the Motorola q9c smart phone. I realize that you are a business and your first priority is to make money, however the fact that the gps ability has been blocked to any program other then the Vznavigator software is very unpleasant. If i paid for gps functionality in a phone, the last thing i want is to have to pay an additional 10 dollars a month when i can get almost the same services free via programs such as Google Maps and Windows live search. It is an extremely bad business practice to lock people out of things that they own, and it will only cause one of two responses: 1) people WILL figure out a way to get around it but not after 2) many people switch to a service provider that doesn't lock their hardware (aka Sprint). Also another thing that sprint seems to be on top of is updates. It has been almost 2 months since sprint came out with the windows mobile 6.1 update for the q9c, and if they are the same device, it should take a minimal amount of time for you guys to come out with the same update. Yet many people are left to just be envious of the added functionality of the windows mobile 6.1 update that the sprint users get to have. I have loved the service/customer relations in the past, so this just sort of surprised me that such a great company would do something as childish as lock people out of their own phones. Is the extra 10 bucks a month you earn worth the many many customers your infuriate? I guess that is up to you to decide.

Well I did the same thing Friday. I found an email address for some of teh execs at VZW and emailed them with my complaint about them locking the GPS receiver.

I surprisingly enough received a reply from the Director of Communications on Sunday evening and we emailed back and forth two or three times. I can sum it up by him saying that Verizon does not limit functionality in its phones and that it is a decision that they have made to not allow certain third aprty application to not work on their telephones.

He said: "With devices we offer, our marketing teams also determine which services to offer. While I understand you want a particular application that we don't provide, and are frustrated that we don't, this situation is analogous to virtually any consumer product offering. If you value a particular brand of appliance, and you love Best Buy - but that store doesn't carry the appliance you want to buy, then as a consumer the choice is entirely yours: do you select the appliance you want or buy a different appliance from the store you love?"

Along with some other nonsense.

[skot0123]

I have written a short email to a couple of newspapers, one local and one national. I'm not sure if they would be interested in running an article in their technologies section but its worth a shot to get the word out in the public about this so that people will know what VZW is up to. I would suggest that other users facing this problem do the same.

[jhos]

I wrote Verizon too. I was told the GPS was locked because it did not pass Verizon's "strict safety and reliability guidelines."

[Herb04]

I found this link that verizon had. To Introduce ‘Any Apps, Any Device’ Option For Customers In 2008. So it really doesn't make any sense
that based on their statments that google maps or microsoft live search
would not meet their network requirements as a third party app. That would be a cause to lock the gps feature to third party apps..
http://news.vzw.com/news/2007/11/pr2007-11-27.html

[skot0123]

Yeah, I just got a call back from my round of emails to VZW execs. The call came from teh "executive relations" department of VZW and he stated the same as what jhos got for an excuse. The guy referenced the open applications thing being launched later in the year also. I asked him if this was also gonna cost us more a month and he said that he wasn't sure.

[jhos]

Originally Posted by skot0123

Yeah, I just got a call back from my round of emails to VZW execs. The call came from teh "executive relations" department of VZW and he stated the same as what jhos got for an excuse. The guy referenced the open applications thing being launched later in the year also. I asked him if thsi was also gonna cost us mroe a month and he said that he wasn't sure.

Nothing in my history with Verizon would lead to me believe any service from Verizon would be "free" (or at least already included in the monstrouous bill I am already paying).

[skot0123]

Yep, I agree.