Calibrating compass

[dThurman]

This has been tried multiple times by multiple people: Calibrating the compass. We have done the "rotate back & forth in three axis" thing many times and cannot get the compass to change to "green". It will always change to "red". This is with and without the keyboard extended. When I turn the Navigation on, the compass is always 90º out of sync, with North being 90º clockwise out of place. I'm always going down the road sideways, not straight ahead. This has always been done outside to eliminate any interference, supposedly. Any suggestions? Thanks, David

 

[Kimo91]

I've been having the same problem too and its frustrating to no end and I've tried everything and every hint to get it calibrated

sent from Kimo's rooted DROID 2

 

[random190user44]

This has also frustrated me as well. I'll follow the instructions, and sometimes just randomly move the phone around but it just turns red and does nothing.

 

[RVdroid]

This thread got me curious so I tried it out on my global. The first time it failed, compass turned red. The second time I pretty much ignored the way the graphic suggests you turn your phone and I flipped it around randomly end over end left to right right to left corner to corner etc., as fast as I could and it worked. I don't know if it will work for you but give it a try.

 

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

My experience has been that once the compass goes red, you can't get it to calibrate properly. No matter what you do, it will not turn green once it has turned red. The only thing I've found that changes this is either a factory data reset or an SBF... I'm not sure which one does it, as I always do them together.

Edit: Also, be sure to calibrate your compass with the keyboard closed AND open.

 

[dThurman]

I have made attempts to calibrate wit the keyboard open and closed. Doesn't work either way. So, I'm an old fart, not a young techy. How does one do the factory data reset or SBF?

 

[cron666]

Someone should make the SBF thread sticky for exactly this question.

$ent from a DeRezzed Droid2

 

[trook]

Factory reset can be done by going to menu, settings, privacy, factory reset. Anything you need to know about sbf as well as required software can be found in the hacking /rom install class in the droid2 hacks section. Make sure to backup contacts before doing either.

Sent from my DROID2 using DroidForums App

 

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

Someone should make the SBF thread sticky for exactly this question.

$ent from a DeRezzed Droid2

Uhhhh... it IS

Thurman: Everything you need to know about SBFing is in that thread. An SBF is the file that Motorola writes to the phone before it leaves the factory. It will overwrite every piece of factory software on the phone.

BEFORE you SBF, you should turn off your phone. When you turn it back on, hold the X key while you hold the power key. You'll get a triangle with an exclamation point inside it, and a little android. That's the stock recovery screen. Press the search (magnifying glass) key and use the arrow keys to select "Factory data wipe". This willl wipe ALL data that you have added to the phone since you got it. Your contacts and downloaded apps are linked to your google account, so they will be automatically re-synced later. However, if you have any important files, or save games or anything, you should back them up with one of the hundreds of free apps on the market. I personally use Titanium Backup, but it's not free.

After you do a factory data wipe, select "Wipe cache". Then reboot.

See if that resets it so that you can re-calibrate. If it doesn't, then you can try SBFing.

For the actual calibration, some have said to wave the phone over your head in a figure 8. I get the best results when I lay the phone flat on a surface and spin it 3 times in both directions, along all 3 axes. Make sure you're at least a few feet away from large hunks or metal, or electronics, as the magnetometer is pretty sensitive, and these can throw off your calibration.

 

[txter]

I had the same problem with the stock compass calibrate. So I got Compass from the market and calibrated through that. I waved my phone in a figure 8 and it works everytime. Its accurate on all map programs I've tried.

Sent from my DROID2 using DroidForums App

 

[Rocket Pak]

I had this problem too. Got it to calibrate both way right out of the box but then I had to reset and haven't been able to calibrate since.

 

[Khiraji]

I had the same problem with the stock compass calibrate. So I got Compass from the market and calibrated through that. I waved my phone in a figure 8 and it works everytime. Its accurate on all map programs I've tried.

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I can confirm that this works. I couldn't get my compass to calibrate for months, and then one day I read this tip and tried it. I made figure-8s with my phone in every direction possible, and bam! Green compass. Recommend doing this at home, or at least somewhere where people won't notice you jumping about waving your phone around like a monkey on acid.

 

[Mrgrey06]

Been trying this method myself (without the looking like a monkey part) with no luck.... Tried figure eights, nines, but nothing worked...... Its showing the west is north.....

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