Lost GPS signal

I have a generic Chinese 2 din DVD/SD/IPOD, etc, GPS unit with Primo 2, Primo 2.4, and IGO8 3.5 on 1 SD card. All of a sudden I am not able to receive a GPS signal on any of the 3 programs!

I have set the port/baud values to the mfg specs for the GPS (p 2, baud 9600), set to auto, tried autodetect, moved the antenna everywhere, reset the headunit, no luck. IGO displays 6-8 satellites as red dots on the GPS screen and green dashes at the bottom right to indicate searching, but never connects.

Presently I havethe car battery neg disconnected to see if the ability to connect returns with a hard reset. deleting the save folder(s) had no effect either.

If the headunit hard reset does not solve the problem does anyone have any other insight, or is the GPS module just bad? Everything was working great until now. Hoping someone can suggest something I haven't thought of that solves this frustrating development!

Could the antenna cable come loose?

Antenna cable is secure and connected to the correct input, NOT the TV input. I know the input is correct because up until a few days ago I was receiving a signal in all 3 programs, and usually almost an immediate connection, especially with Primo. IGO8 sometimes took a couple of minutes. Now, nothing.

I just had the exact same problem.
The fix was to re-tighten the gps antenna where it entered the unit.

It sounds like the antenna may have become disconnected from the board. Sometimes they don't tighten them properly. How handy are you? Might need to take the front off? Luckily, there's not much to go wrong with these units.

That is 3 (including me) giving the same possible reason. Therefor, suprat87, don't be sure without checking again.

Thanks all for the input .... looks like an antenna issue is the consensus. As for rechecking the connection on the back of the unit, I have removed the connection, reinstalled and tightened the connection with no change. Disconnecting the car battery for several hours was also unsuccessful. I have no idea how to go about getting inside the unit to check the internal connection ... the unit is a 7" 2 din with a motorized face with DVD-SD card access behind the screen.

What I find strange is that the google-translated manual states that the port/baud rate for the module is 2/9600; IGO8 autodetect stops at 1/57600; GPS_scan_debug and SirfTech.exe find port/baud to be 1/4800. The GPS connected flawlessly for 6 months with port/baud set in systext at 2/9600.

To be honest, I'd ignore all that baud rate rubbish. In my experience of China Double Dins (several years, several devices), iGo, especially Primo, pretty much makes its own decisions, even if you tell it to do something else in your sys.txt. That's one of the reasons it's such a good piece of software for China 2Din's. It's literally fool-proof. All that baud rate stuff, you could put any old rubbish in there and it will still work it out for itself.

The fact it's a motorized screen does pose a slight problem. I've never disassembled one with a motorized screen and wouldn't know where to start. However, let's not be alarmed. If you're able to, can you take some photos of the device? If not link me to the product itself? There may be another way of doing this. Some allow you to remove the cage from the back meaning you don't have to touch the mech at all.

Finally, one other method of testing is, have you confirm the GPS antenna isn't defective or broken?

@skezza
Thanks for the reply .... the info about IGo and port/baud is enlightening - I had the impression that correct p/b settings held much more importance.

The headunit is presently installed in the vehicle, so taking a picture would probably not help much unless I were to remove it in order to get several angles, but here is a link which shows the same model:

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I had not considered that the antenna itself could be defective, it worked very well for so long, but I suppose it could have become pinched at some point since it is routed beneath windshield moulding and behind the dash near brake/clutch pedals. When I can get hold of another antenna I will check, hopefully before I have to resort to attempting to disassemble the unit.

If I don't find a solution soon, I will probably just purchase a new unit. Do you have any experience with Android 2-dins ?

I don't, but I've noticed lately that Erisin are producing some really good looking units for Android. I think my next will be one like this

Skezza wrote:I don't, but I've noticed lately that Erisin are producing some really good looking units for Android. I think my next will be one like this

Such as the 7" one with the removable android 4.0 tablet?

suprat87 wrote:

Skezza wrote:I don't, but I've noticed lately that Erisin are producing some really good looking units for Android. I think my next will be one like this

Such as the 7" one with the removable android 4.0 tablet?

No no no, keep away from those. I'll be perfectly honest, anything that's removable is a risk. Primarily because it's the removing and re-attaching that is most likely to result in failure. Having the device work via metal contacts is also introducing a risk of failure. Don't get me wrong, those tablet head units seem to have a decent reputation, but I personally wouldn't consider one. I noticed their original model is still for sale, yet they've released a newer model in-which one of the 'features' in the description is 'Safety Hook'. The hook is designed to stop the unit from moving excessively while on the road. The fact they have added this feature makes me think it was possibly an issue on the first models.

I was thinking more their vehicle specific ones, e.g. for Volkswagen, Audi, BMW, Ford etc. These are dual core with extra RAM etc.

@skezza
I noticed the added "hook" also, added due to customer complaints. Too bad, I liked the idea of being able to remove the android tab from the vehicle and take it with you but the suspect connectivity with the base unit is a deal breaker.

Have you looked at the link for my unit with the troubled gps reception problem? I have ordered a new antenna, will try that before I risk trying to disassemble the case to check for a loose connection to the gps module.