MB navigation - not working
#1
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MB navigation - not working
Hi all, as some of you have read from my other post, I have an issue with the aux. battery failure warning showing from time to time. Last time it showed the navigation went shot and does not show the car in the correct place. Now the aux. battery failure warning is gone again but the navigation is stil shot.
When I get into the car. Its positioned incorrectly(but different everytime and still somewhat close) when I drive it does not actually move but it like “stutter” moving a quarter of an inch and then resets to the beginning - like a half of second and then resets. (Maybe similar to an old record which is stuck in the same groove) Meaning it does not move anywhere from the initial wrong place under the whole trip.
Does anyone have an idea what could be wrong?
Also I have a general question regarding the navigation audio instructions. It seems like its set to default to be at sound level 27 - is there anyway I can change this other than altering it everytime? I like it at 15-20 but it will not save it!
When I get into the car. Its positioned incorrectly(but different everytime and still somewhat close) when I drive it does not actually move but it like “stutter” moving a quarter of an inch and then resets to the beginning - like a half of second and then resets. (Maybe similar to an old record which is stuck in the same groove) Meaning it does not move anywhere from the initial wrong place under the whole trip.
Does anyone have an idea what could be wrong?
Also I have a general question regarding the navigation audio instructions. It seems like its set to default to be at sound level 27 - is there anyway I can change this other than altering it everytime? I like it at 15-20 but it will not save it!
#3
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Hi all, as some of you have read from my other post, I have an issue with the aux. battery failure warning showing from time to time. Last time it showed the navigation went shot and does not show the car in the correct place. Now the aux. battery failure warning is gone again but the navigation is stil shot.
When I get into the car. Its positioned incorrectly(but different everytime and still somewhat close) when I drive it does not actually move but it like “stutter” moving a quarter of an inch and then resets to the beginning - like a half of second and then resets. (Maybe similar to an old record which is stuck in the same groove) Meaning it does not move anywhere from the initial wrong place under the whole trip.
Does anyone have an idea what could be wrong?
Also I have a general question regarding the navigation audio instructions. It seems like its set to default to be at sound level 27 - is there anyway I can change this other than altering it everytime? I like it at 15-20 but it will not save it!
When I get into the car. Its positioned incorrectly(but different everytime and still somewhat close) when I drive it does not actually move but it like “stutter” moving a quarter of an inch and then resets to the beginning - like a half of second and then resets. (Maybe similar to an old record which is stuck in the same groove) Meaning it does not move anywhere from the initial wrong place under the whole trip.
Does anyone have an idea what could be wrong?
Also I have a general question regarding the navigation audio instructions. It seems like its set to default to be at sound level 27 - is there anyway I can change this other than altering it everytime? I like it at 15-20 but it will not save it!
Your major problem can be a bad GPS module, or possibly bad wiring from the GPS antenna to COMAND.
#4
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Thread Starter
You set the sound level with the volume control, but it has to be when it's speaking nav instructions. If you don't catch it, you'll be setting the radio/media volume level.
Your major problem can be a bad GPS module, or possibly bad wiring from the GPS antenna to COMAND.
Your major problem can be a bad GPS module, or possibly bad wiring from the GPS antenna to COMAND.
Satnav via apple carplay works fine, so I wonder if its worth fixing? Any idea cost wise?
#5
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#6
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Really? Well then I am back to the drawingboard... what can be wrong then? I mean, what you are saying crosses it out being the wires or the gps sensor... could it be the software then?
#7
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Yes, based on my research on the Apple CarPlay spec and what others have said it uses the car's signal, because the phone is most likely tucked away and won't have good GPS reception on its own. However, what I'm not clear on is if the phone simply connects to the external GPS antenna, but it's still the phone's internal GPS circuit figuring out the actual location, or if it receives the processed location from the car. It's possible that it only receives the raw GPS signal, so what might be going on in your car is that the GPS circuit in your car is faulty and it fails to properly interpret the raw GPS signal. So it could still be that your COMAND head unit is malfunctioning, but the GPS antenna and wiring is fine.
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#8
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Edit: Actually, I can't say for sure that MB hasn't implemented the local GPS provision for CarPlay. I use Android Auto, and it uses the phone's GPS, but I can't say for sure what CarPlay on COMAND does. I would suspect that, if your GPS isn't working and CarPlay nav is, it's an indication that it's using the phone's GPS hardware.
Last edited by whoover; 07-29-2020 at 01:33 PM.
#9
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No it doesn't. It uses the phone's GPS chip. Everything is the phone except the display.
Edit: Actually, I can't say for sure that MB hasn't implemented the local GPS provision for CarPlay. I use Android Auto, and it uses the phone's GPS, but I can't say for sure what CarPlay on COMAND does. I would suspect that, if your GPS isn't working and CarPlay nav is, it's an indication that it's using the phone's GPS hardware.
Edit: Actually, I can't say for sure that MB hasn't implemented the local GPS provision for CarPlay. I use Android Auto, and it uses the phone's GPS, but I can't say for sure what CarPlay on COMAND does. I would suspect that, if your GPS isn't working and CarPlay nav is, it's an indication that it's using the phone's GPS hardware.
But your answers still leave me at my starting point -
Does anyone have an idea of what cost I am looking at if its:
Comand unit failure?
GPS sensor failure?
Wire failure?
Software failure?
I got a price for a software update(the newest) that will give me the option of running applecarplay and MB navigation at the same time plus updating to newest maps for roughly $450
but I don’t know if it will fix anything
#10
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Can we agree on that if it only uses the Phone GPS - it would be handicapped by being put in the armrest and closed? I remember using my ipad mini(which has a gps connection) in Greece, from the backseat... I could only get a signal if I held it up to the side window, if it was laid on the rear seat bench in the middle of the car, the signal was gone - this makes me believe that the antenna needs a somewhat clear access to the satelites. So it make perfect sense if apple carplay would try to use an external antenna.
Last edited by superswiss; 07-29-2020 at 02:25 PM.
#11
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Can we agree on that if it only uses the Phone GPS - it would be handicapped by being put in the armrest and closed? I remember using my ipad mini(which has a gps connection) in Greece, from the backseat... I could only get a signal if I held it up to the side window, if it was laid on the rear seat bench in the middle of the car, the signal was gone - this makes me believe that the antenna needs a somewhat clear access to the satelites. So it make perfect sense if apple carplay would try to use an external antenna.
But your answers still leave me at my starting point -
Does anyone have an idea of what cost I am looking at if its:
Comand unit failure?
GPS sensor failure?
Wire failure?
Software failure?
I got a price for a software update(the newest) that will give me the option of running applecarplay and MB navigation at the same time plus updating to newest maps for roughly $450
but I don’t know if it will fix anything
But your answers still leave me at my starting point -
Does anyone have an idea of what cost I am looking at if its:
Comand unit failure?
GPS sensor failure?
Wire failure?
Software failure?
I got a price for a software update(the newest) that will give me the option of running applecarplay and MB navigation at the same time plus updating to newest maps for roughly $450
but I don’t know if it will fix anything
Unfortunately, your COMAND nav problem can be any of those, or more. I believe there's a signal amplifier in the circuit between antenna and COMAND, for instance. A dealer or good independent shop can figure out what's going on quickly, but without the right equipment you can only guess.
#12
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At least for Samsung phones, GPS sensitivity has improved markedly in the last five years. A couple of generations ago, I remember having to hold the phone on the dash to get a GPS signal. Today, I always get satellite lock wherever the phone is (not even using Android Auto, so it has nothing to do with the car's antenna). GPS works in my home and most buildings now. I can't speak to iPhones, of course, but I would imagine the latest ones are much better with "seeing" satellites when shielded that a few models ago. It's the same as with cell signals. My first MB phone integration had a cradle that connected the flip-phone to the car's antenna. Now, with BlueTooth we can't imagine the phone anywhere in the car not having a strong cell signal. (Actually, that was the second generation, that allowed you to use a flip-phone. My C36 had a dedicated car-phone.)
Unfortunately, your COMAND nav problem can be any of those, or more. I believe there's a signal amplifier in the circuit between antenna and COMAND, for instance. A dealer or good independent shop can figure out what's going on quickly, but without the right equipment you can only guess.
Unfortunately, your COMAND nav problem can be any of those, or more. I believe there's a signal amplifier in the circuit between antenna and COMAND, for instance. A dealer or good independent shop can figure out what's going on quickly, but without the right equipment you can only guess.
Last edited by superswiss; 07-29-2020 at 02:41 PM.
#13
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Well, you get a position lock at least, but that's not necessarily from GPS. What has happened in recent years is that Google, Apple etc. have mapped Wi-Fi hotspots among other things and use it to augment the GPS signal to get a more accurate and also quicker lock on the current position. They also use cell tower triangulation. The further away you are from a metropolitan area with a bunch of Wi-Fi hotspots the more the phone has to rely on GPS alone and an unobstructed line of sight. You might remember that with the first GPS enabled phones it sometimes took forever to get a lock on your position. That's what happens if it only uses GPS. Today, phones pretty much get an immediate lock, but if it gets a GPS lock in addition, the accuracy increases. Apps like Google Maps and Apple Maps for example indicate this with a wider blue circle around your position, which gets smaller and smaller the more position information it receives. In addition to that the map apps also do some heuristics to determine what the most likely road is you are currently on, so having the system give you your current position doesn't necessarily mean that it has a GPS lock. If you use location history, you can see how sometimes the phone doesn't have a good lock on the current position while driving, especially out in the open. The GPS signal also drifts a lot in phones. There's a good article from a Google Maps developer on the subject. I post it if I can find it again. You'd be surprised how difficult it is to get a good and accurate position in a smartphone.
#14
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I just ran another test that confirms Android Auto maps only uses the phone's GPS. I turned off location services on the phone and got this message:
I tried restarting Android Auto, even rebooting the phone and COMAND. Always the same: if the phone's GPS service is off, you can't navigate in Android Auto.
I tried restarting Android Auto, even rebooting the phone and COMAND. Always the same: if the phone's GPS service is off, you can't navigate in Android Auto.
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I just ran another test that confirms Android Auto maps only uses the phone's GPS. I turned off location services on the phone and got this message:
I tried restarting Android Auto, even rebooting the phone and COMAND. Always the same: if the phone's GPS service is off, you can't navigate in Android Auto.
I tried restarting Android Auto, even rebooting the phone and COMAND. Always the same: if the phone's GPS service is off, you can't navigate in Android Auto.
#16
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No, sorry, but that is no proof. Turning off location (GPS) service on the phone turns off location altogether, meaning you are denying every app to obtain the phone's current location. It doesn't matter how the phone gets the current location. You really need to distinguish between he location service, which is an application API, the GPS circuit on the phone and the GPS antenna. The phone can still use its own GPS circuit, but rely on the car's GPS antenna, but ultimately if you turn off the location service, then no app can obtain the current location. I think we've taken this far enough w/o getting further into the engineer weeds and start dissecting the hardware or get some clear specs from the phone manufacturers and MB's implementation of CarPlay and Android Auto. Given that certain features of CarPlay and AA are optional and don't have to necessarily be implemented by the car manufacturers, more information is required to clearly determine which GPS antenna the phone uses when connected.
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I disagree with your statement. My brother has a Golf and it didn't come with Nav but he uses apple carplay and his phone instead to navigate when needed. Apple Car play and ANdroid auto do not use the vehicle for nav.
#18
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Obviously, if the car doesn't have nav, Google maps or Waze can't use the car's nav. The discussion is about when, and under what circumstances, the location service that the mapping app uses will use the car's GPS. Both CarPlay and Android Auto have provisions for the nav app to get the location info from the head unit if it has GPS. If it doesn't, no, it can't use it.
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Obviously, if the car doesn't have nav, Google maps or Waze can't use the car's nav. The discussion is about when, and under what circumstances, the location service that the mapping app uses will use the car's GPS. Both CarPlay and Android Auto have provisions for the nav app to get the location info from the head unit if it has GPS. If it doesn't, no, it can't use it.
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I actually just read that Android Auto will use which ever has the stronger signal, the phone or the auto's signal if the car has one. If not, it will only use the phone's signal.
#21
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Try reading what I said, before making assumptions. I never said it uses the car's Nav, how could it if it doesn't have one, obviously! What I said was Android auto or Apple Car Play don't use the vehicle at all for navigation, never said it uses a nav that doesn't exist.
#22
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I suspect that what he's referring to is the fact that your phone uses its own GPS function for navigation, just as it does when you're walking around with it.
#23
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But the entire thread has gone into great detail about when it uses its own GPS and when it uses the head unit's. If you ignore the rest of the thread, that comment could make sense. But it surely doesn't add much to the discussion.
#24
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Hi all, as some of you have read from my other post, I have an issue with the aux. battery failure warning showing from time to time. Last time it showed the navigation went shot and does not show the car in the correct place. Now the aux. battery failure warning is gone again but the navigation is stil shot.
When I get into the car. Its positioned incorrectly(but different everytime and still somewhat close) when I drive it does not actually move but it like “stutter” moving a quarter of an inch and then resets to the beginning - like a half of second and then resets. (Maybe similar to an old record which is stuck in the same groove) Meaning it does not move anywhere from the initial wrong place under the whole trip.
Does anyone have an idea what could be wrong?
Also I have a general question regarding the navigation audio instructions. It seems like its set to default to be at sound level 27 - is there anyway I can change this other than altering it everytime? I like it at 15-20 but it will not save it!
When I get into the car. Its positioned incorrectly(but different everytime and still somewhat close) when I drive it does not actually move but it like “stutter” moving a quarter of an inch and then resets to the beginning - like a half of second and then resets. (Maybe similar to an old record which is stuck in the same groove) Meaning it does not move anywhere from the initial wrong place under the whole trip.
Does anyone have an idea what could be wrong?
Also I have a general question regarding the navigation audio instructions. It seems like its set to default to be at sound level 27 - is there anyway I can change this other than altering it everytime? I like it at 15-20 but it will not save it!
#25
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Long thread...
Did we agree on how Apple CarPlay work?
Is it using the cars GPS signal or the phone's GPS chip? (Phone chip = navigation is managed by the phone and the display signal is sent to the MB 12 screen)
Did we agree on how Apple CarPlay work?
Is it using the cars GPS signal or the phone's GPS chip? (Phone chip = navigation is managed by the phone and the display signal is sent to the MB 12 screen)