GPS Issues on ttgo t beam m8n

Support
#1

Howdy! So I made a recent purchase of two Lilygo tbeam m8n boards. One was DOA, the second board is having GPS issues.

The GPS was working on the board a couple days ago with the stock antenna, the signal got progressively worse. Yesterday it stopped working completely. Today I received a beefy good quality 25mm GPS antenna. The board is still unable to get a lock on an sats even when left outside for a couple hours. Any ideas on what the issue might be?

Things I’ve tried already:
Re-flashing firmware to lower versions.

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#2

Update. After a full day of being operational by installing the 1.2.59 firmware, it now has a Critical fault #5… Board was powered down for about an hour or two.

#3

Update:

Chip seems to be no good. That’s 2 boards from the factory that have issues. Customer support seems to be good though (Lilygo).

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#4

Let me know if they replace your devices or not.

1 Like
#5

Hi there
I do have the very same issue on three TTGO T-Beam V1.1 / SX1262 / NEO-M8N modules. Worked for a couple of hours on v1.2.57.f7c6955, GPS reception started to be flaky. Upgraded to v1.2.59.d81c1c0, one was ok, two never got any GPS signal. Had them off for the weekend, today all three get no GPS signal even after several hours outside with a clear an open sky view.

@notivan How did you do that debugging?

#6

You might want to try 1.2.52 and report if it still does not work. Then we can rule out software problems.

Otherwise, your smartphone can supply position to the nodes too, as a workaround.

#7

Can you post the links to the Arduino sketches LilyGo asked you to run here?

#8

Hey not OP but I have a t-beam with neo-m8n GPS exhibiting similar symptoms. This seems to be isolated to Meshtastic.

I’ve reset mine using the lilygo sketch and eriktheV-king GPS reset sketch> A few minutes later, full GPS fix. Flash meshtastic, “NO GPS MODULE”

I flash a helium miner sketch to the t-beam, few minutes later, full GPS fix.

Is there a known-good or stable version out there that users of t-beams with neo-8n GPS modules should be using??

Thanks!!

#9

Try 1.2.65 it has quite a few GPS specific fixes.

#10

1.2.65 seemed to be the right firmware but half of my boards still wont get a fix.

I tried the GPS reset and watched the parsing in the serial monitor but I keep getting the error
“Ublox GPS not detected at default I2C address. Please check wiring. Freezing.” I know some folks have said that lilygo’s support surrounding these devices is pretty good. My boards are at least 6 months old, time to put their customer service to the test

#11

For what it’s worth I all but gave up on my t-beams I had so many issues

#12

Unfortunately I think I’m in the same boat. I completely reset both my m8n and 6m’s GPS, loaded the sample GPS sketch, verified data on both devices. Should be good, right? Flashed 1265 and it starts all over again. Further I’m not finding that the windows python flashing app is misidentifying my m8n board as a Rak.

My heltec boards are magnitudes more reliable.

Anyways I was never fully sold on the 915mhz option anyways. As a Ham I have 70cm privileges. I’ve ordered a couple of the 433boards to play with. Perhaps that will make a difference? I’ll update if it does. Getting a ham license was a heck of alot more simple than learning C and trying to debug this firmware anyways LOL

#13

There will be a gps fix in 1.3.41 which should come out by tomorrow.

1 Like
#14

I’ve gotten frustrated many times working with this project, but I keep forgetting that these are all volunteers that are just trying to do something interesting, while also keeping it fun. My mistake has been treating it like a kickstarter funder that I financially invested in and it’s not that.

I’m not sure why this board is even up it’s not really followed up with by anybody but Garth.

I was hoping to utilize their project (especially the ability to add other antennas and boosters, not to mention possibly mix internet gateways in later on) to bring an emergency communication system to my community and others, but I’m wondering if a more commercial product, though more expensive, is the solution I need.

#15

I’m not sure why this board is even up it’s not really followed up with by anybody but Garth.

I think you’ll find that most folks have migrated to the Discord server. It has pulled a lot of the activity that used to be in this message board into a more interactive space for disussion and support.

1 Like
#16

Alpha release with GPS fix is out Release Meshtastic Device 1.3.41.80ddb81 Alpha · meshtastic/Meshtastic-device · GitHub

#17

I appreciate all the hard work you guys do. I’ve installed the new firmware and it didnt change anything.

Just to be on the safe side I wiped the flash completely. Flashed 1265. Confirmed GPS worked, flashed 341, rebooted and the same thing, cant find the GPS, serial monitor says it’s asking me to factory reset on the next reboot. I did. Same results .

I wouldn’t mind just sticking to 265 but I have a t-Echo that is rock solid stable and downgrading that isnt an option for me.

No worries or hurries, I have plenty of heltec boards we can use in the meantime.

#18

That message you saw on serial is just a notice, that the firmware itself will attempt a factory reset on the GPS chip on next bootup. Just to be sure, this is an T-Echo (ABS Case, E-Paper) and not a T-Beam? Cause this factory reset stuff only applies to UBLOX chips and that device has an L76K fom Quecktel.

Can you send me a serial log of the first 2 MINUTES after bootup in private message please?