Verizon Q9c GPS Hack

[L0c0]

could anyone who purchased vznavagator tell me if you sign up for an account when you buy it? like do you get a username and password or at any point do you enter your verizon account information?thx

[thebixcuit]

you can download the software for free through the verizon home page. you'll have to add the vznavigator service to you account either online like I did or call them. vznav does a check when you access the gps functions to see if you have it. mine was available instantly after I added it.

[L0c0]

thank you.

in that case from what i've gathered from this thread and various other tid bits of information, it would seem in order to access vz's gps server (what the sat's talk to to triangulate your position) you need access (valid account) to that server. sprint on the other hand has allowed all there gps enabled phone users access to their gps server.

if for some reason there were public access gps servers that could work directly with the gps on the phone. that would work. we (vzw users) would probably still need the sprint drivers for the gps on the Q.

what do you guys think?

[thebixcuit]

GPS is not provided by a server. There is a radio in chipset in the phone that can read GPS signals broadcasted by the GPS satellites in the sky. Verizon has simply modified the Windows Mobile drivers to not provide access to the radio directly OR they modified the Windows Mobile installation itself to disable access through the GPS Intermediate Driver and are using a proprietary driver distributed with VZNav. I haven't been able to get a hold of the Windows Mobile Development Kit through our current license at work to see what the options are. We only have access to XP Embedded.

Getting the Sprint registry and files is important since the GPS hardware is the same. We may be able to simply replace the provided driver, add ones that are missing or modify the registry in places that are also missing. Based on what Microsoft provides about the GPS Intermediate Driver it looks like we are missing the appropriate radio driver.

The GPSID plays interference between the user applications and the real driver and hardware. GPSID provides "Virtual" COM ports to applications for the "Real" COM port of the GPS reciever. This allows multiple applications to use the GPS radio simultaneously and gives them a common API to do so.

[L0c0]

I don't know, it's just what I read and it made sense to me.

gps vs. aGPS

limiting access to vzw's aGPS server would be the simplest solution since all the hardware and even wm6 is the same. They could also make some $$ to "provide" access to their servers. Like I said...it makes sense to me.

[L0c0]

Originally Posted by thebixcuit

you can download the software for free through the verizon home page. you'll have to add the vznavigator service to you account either online like I did or call them. vznav does a check when you access the gps functions to see if you have it. mine was available instantly after I added it.

If you can get vznav for free wouldn't you get the proprietary driver with it? But it still doesn't work until vz turns it on (enable an account setting)

I'm not trying to argue, I would love to get this thing to work as much as anyone. So I'm trying to help.

[n55rc]

looking at the Reg files again I notice the
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Autodesk] [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Autodesk\LBSDriver]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Autodesk\Program Files]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Autodesk\Program Files\VZ Navigator]

Sections have been added. The [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Autodesk\LBSDriver] section has a large block of hex...... ????

[thebixcuit]

I noticed that too.

I found a ROM image of the GSM version. Unfortunately I havent found any differences yet. Its kind of hard to sort it all out.

[weinster666]

It is possible that the GPS chip in the phone can be flashed to only allow GPS functionality if aGPS through the phone provider (such as VZ Navigator) is active. Motorola would not tell me the make and model of GPS chip in the phone. They only told me that the GPS hardware within the Sprint and Verizon phoes was identical.

Qualcomm's gpsOne chips I believe are the most popular GPS chips within cell phones today. From QualComm's web site:

Integrated single-chip solution.
Our fully integrated solution means wireless device manufacturers can offer gpsOne-enabled handsets while minimizing development costs and time-to-market. Space and power demands are also reduced, enabling smaller form-factor devices with enhanced battery life.

Complete coverage
By using wireless networks and GPS satellites, gpsOne brings positioning capabilities to areas where cellular networks are not accessible. It works in all types of terrains and provides fast, turn-by-turn map positioning with a high level of precision, even in areas as difficult as shopping malls, parking garages, and dense metropolitan areas.

New opportunities for revenue
gpsOne presents both product and service differentiating opportunities. Our technology enables a new class of mobile position-location applications and services, such as E911, navigation capabilities, zone-based billing, local weather and traffic information, asset tracking, mobile commerce and more revenue-generating solutions that create distinct opportunities for market expansion.

Flexibilitiy and standards compatibility
QCT's gpsOne solution fully supports four modes of operation, including three A-GPS modes, standalone GPS and gpsOneXTRA Assistance™ technology, providing enhanced operation for Standalone-GPS, to ensure maximum performance and optimal support of various applications. Our ubiquitous position-location technology can be deployed on CDMA, GSM, GPRS and WCDMA (UMTS) networks.

This seems to imply a single chip that can be set to function in different modes, depending on the desires of the manufacturer. That might further imply that Motorola flashes the chip one way for the Sprint phones and another way for the verion phones. In that case, the only way to make it work would be to have access into the flash utility for the GPS receiver chip. :-(

[n55rc]

I was able to enter the sprint reg edits to allow com3 to be detected by GMaps. It seems the output from the gps back to gpsid.dll is being blocked. Still working on it. Anyone have luck getting the dll files from a Sprint phone?