RUTX50 GPS broken

NETWORKING SOLUTIONS
1

Hi!

I have successfully used GPS forwarding with Ruhavik in the past.
On long trips I sometimes had to disable and re-enable GPS on the webinterface to get data again.

At some point in Q4/2023 I did a firmware update (which fixed a hanging modem on every 1st reboot) and did not realize the GPS feature was broken.

Today I have updated to RUTX_R_00.07.06.6 and realize:

  • my previous forwarding configuration is gone.
  • if I click on GPS-> Map I get an error message “No GPS signal”.
**ubus call gsm.modem0 info | grep gps**
        "gps_port": "/dev/ttyUSB2",


**cat /dev/ttyUSB2**

$GPGGA,,,,,,0,,,,,,,,*66
$GAGGA,,,,,,0,,,,,,,,*77
$GNGNS,,,,,,NNN,,,,,,,V*67
$GPVTG,,T,,M,,N,,K,N*2C
$GAVTG,,T,,M,,N,,K,N*3D
$GPRMC,,V,,,,,,,,,,N,V*29
$GARMC,,V,,,,,,,,,,N,V*38
$GPGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,*32
...

**gpsctl -pseix**
0
0
1970-01-01 01:00:00
0.000000
0.000000

ubus call gsm.modem0 get_nmea '{"satellite": "gpsnmeatype"}'
{
        "types": [
                {
                        "type_id": 2,
                        "type": "gsv"
                },
                {
                        "type_id": 3,
                        "type": "gsa"
                },
                {
                        "type_id": 5,
                        "type": "gga"
                },
                {
                        "type_id": 6,
                        "type": "rmc"
                },
                {
                        "type_id": 7,
                        "type": "vtg"
                }
        ]
}

GPS on/off and reboots don’t fix the issue. What can I do?

3

Hello,

Based on the information provided, it seems that your router does not have a GPS connection with satellites. It’s not detecting any satellites (gpsctl -p states 0), which is why you’re receiving “chewed up” NMEA sentences.

Here are the steps to troubleshoot this issue:

  1. Check if the antenna is screwed correctly and is undamaged.
  2. Ensure that there are no obstructions blocking the antenna’s view of the sky.
  3. Attempt to reestablish the connection with satellites by pointing the antenna directly towards the sky.

Please try these steps and let us know the results.

Best regards,

Marijus

4

Hi Marijus,

thank you for your suggestions.
Besides the firmware update there were no changes to my camper setup. The van has a free view of the sky.

Previously it was working with the Puck-5 Antenna. Out of curiousity I’ve hooked up the supplied GPS antenna and it works immediately :thinking:

Antenna and Router have a decent fixed mount. 5G reception is still good.
Could it be possible that somehow compatibility with the Puck-5 has been impacted after Firmware RUTX_R_00.07.06.3?

5

Hello,

It’s highly unlikely, but there’s a small chance the Puck antenna might have failed. However, it’s a very remote possibility. As you mentioned, it could have been related to the firmware update, perhaps causing a minor change that affected the connection to this antenna, but it seems more accidental than intentional.

Have you considered downgrading to a previous firmware version to see if it works with the Puck5 antenna?

Best regards,

Marijus

6

Hi! No - I didn’t consider downgrading yet. The wireguard connection is quite vital to me. As a software developer I am also a bit cautious: if an upgrade wipes out user data this leads me to believe that the structure of the config itself has changed somehow. My “new” config might no longer be compatible with the old firmware?

In addition the GPS stopped working again - even with the included antenna at the same spot. I now get this message:

# gsmctl -A AT+QGPSLOC?
+CME ERROR: 505
7

This topic was automatically closed after 15 days. New replies are no longer allowed.