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On April 6th there was the GPS week roll over, which was paired with an update of the time format from 10 bit to 13 bit.

Today I have tried to get a connection to a GPS satellite using the internal GPS feature of the Canon 6D (Mark I) and failed:

GPS Info in Camera

I see no firmware update from Canon yet. Can anyone reproduce this? What about the interal GPS on newer cameras like the Canon 5D Mark IV or Canon 6D Mark II?

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Received an report from a Canon 6D Mark II owner for whom GPS stopped working as well. \$\endgroup\$
    – Yaba
    Apr 8, 2019 at 11:13
  • \$\begingroup\$ Update: It's still working. See comments below. \$\endgroup\$
    – Yaba
    Apr 10, 2019 at 19:13

2 Answers 2

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The last row on your display indicates the camera doesn't have any satellite signal reception. Are you outside with a clear view of the sky?

If you are outside with GPS enabled and have waited more than a minute but still show no signal in the GPS reception signal status, then your camera may need service.

I've tested both my 5D IV (which has built-in GPS) and my 5D III using the Canon GP-E2 GPS module and both handled the roll-over without a problem.

I don't anticipate many GPS units will have a problem with the roll-over considering this is the 2nd such roll-over (any GPS that didn't understand how to deal with a roll-over event would likely already be malfunctioning before this most-recent roll-over event.)

GPS satellites drift in orbit and their orbital elements used to calculate a position fix is regularly updated. The satellites continuously broadcast those updates. If your GPS hasn't been used in a while, it can take significantly longer to get a fix. The update protocol completely re-broadcasts the GPS "almanac" in a loop that takes 12.5 minutes. As long as your GPS has a non-obstructed view of the sky, it will download the update (this is a passive thing ... you don't have to do anything other than make sure the GPS is switched on and has an un-obstructed view.) See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GPS_signals#Almanac

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Yes, I am outside with a clear view and waited for a couple of minutes. The last time I used the GPS successfully was on Saturday, before the week roll over. The issue with this roll over is that it is not just a roll over as in the past, but also a format change of the date. \$\endgroup\$
    – Yaba
    Apr 10, 2019 at 8:58
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    \$\begingroup\$ I would contact Canon support. It would be great to know if other 6D owners have similar issues. I would normally suspect a connection problem to the GPS module, but the notion that this issue occurred at GPS roll-over time sure seems suspicious. \$\endgroup\$
    – Tim Campbell
    Apr 10, 2019 at 15:44
  • \$\begingroup\$ Tried again today... several minutes under clear sky - no update. Even though I set the update interval to one second. Then I took a picture, and et voila - I got a connection. Strange! Didn't notice this before that I have to take a picture. Or just a coincidence? Anyway! Thank you for your reply. Seems like it is still working. \$\endgroup\$
    – Yaba
    Apr 10, 2019 at 19:12
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My 6D got a GPS location today, Monday, April 8, 20-30 seconds after enabling GPS on the camera. I haven’t updated the firmware recently; the camera is currently at version 1.1.4.

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    \$\begingroup\$ I have the same firmware version. Interesting. Yesterday I waited a couple of minutes under clear sky. Will try again today. \$\endgroup\$
    – Yaba
    Apr 8, 2019 at 11:57
  • \$\begingroup\$ Left it on for 30 minutes today. Nothing :-( It worked the day before the roll over. \$\endgroup\$
    – Yaba
    Apr 10, 2019 at 9:52

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