Add more NTP server option

[bovirus]

Now is possible to open a single NTP server.

Please add amroe option for ntp server, like

NTP SERVER 1 / NTP SERVER 2 / NTP SERVER 3 / NTP SERVER 4 / NTP SERVER 5

In this way you can add a configuration like

NTP_SERVER=eu.pool.org
NTP_SERVER=0.europe.pool.ntp.org
NTP_SERVER=1.europe.pool.ntp.org
NTP_SERVER=2.europe.pool.ntp.org
NTP_SERVER=3.europe.pool.ntp.org

Thanks. Bye.

[dschuermann]

Are you sure that this would work? I mean its only one key identifier with different values.
Are you sure that the Android OS is parsing this and not just overwrite the variable over and over again, resulting in only "3.europe.pool.ntp.org" being used?

[bovirus]

Hi. Thanks for quicly reply.

I'm not sure if it's correct and if the option are used really (infact I have some doubt like you because same variable has several values), but I checked in many sites about GPSfix for Android and all sites report the same scheme for gps.conf with more values for the sae varabel of NTP server.

Thanks.

[GermanKiwi]

Actually having more than one NTP_SERVER entry is not correct, and should not be used.

The reason why is explained here:
http://rootzwiki.com/topic/28989-the-end-all-be-all-guide-to-your-gps/

Therefore I would ask that the request in this issue is NOT implemented. Otherwise unknowing users will use it to add unnecessary extra entries which will have a negative impact on GPS fixing.

So this is a -1 vote from me.

[bovirus]

I'm noit agree More server it's an opportunity.
Who set this opion should ise live server if set 1 ore more server.
The first rule IS NOT avoid to set more than one serevr but check before (also if you set only one server) if teh server is a live server.
In the network board you have two value for DNS (use the second if the first fail).
With your idea MS should limit to only one. Wrong.
If you are set one or more you should know what are you using and should use it right.

Also the article is useful as notice but wrong in the context.
It should suggest (as other article did) to check on ntpool web site which servers are available for your region and help to select the live server.

The the multiple value it's an opportunity to enhance the feature.
The user should check ALWAYS (also one value) the right value for gops.conf.

[GermanKiwi]

Are you really comparing the NTP server lookup with the MS Windows DNS settings? The DNS settings in Windows have absolutely nothing to do with how Android uses the gps.conf file - you are comparing apples with oranges! They are totally unrelated! This is Android, not Windows. This is NTP, not DNS.

The reason Windows uses two or more DNS servers, is because each DNS server maps to just one IP address. So it's helpful to have more than one, for redundancy, in case one is offline.

This does not apply to the 'pool.ntp.org' lookups for the NTP server though. Because every FQDN within *.pool.ntp.org already maps to multiple IP addresses. You can test this yourself: do an nslookup on 'north-america.pool.ntp.org' and you will see that it contains 4 different IP addresses. That means it already provides redundancy, within just one FQDN. If one of the IP addresses is unavailable, it will try the next one. So it's not necessary to use multiple NTP servers.

The author of the article at http://rootzwiki.com/topic/28989-the-end-all-be-all-guide-to-your-gps/ already described why having multiple NTP server entries in gps.conf can in some cases result in big delays for a GPS fix. He also provided a reference to the Android source code to support his statement. I cannot see any reason why he is "wrong in the context", and you have not provided any reason or proof of this.

The most important point is this: whether or not Android will even read multiple NTP_SERVER entries in the gps.conf file, and what affect it will have if Android does support reading multiple NTP_SERVER entries.

So far you haven't provided any proof of your claim. If you believe that Android is programmed to read and use multiple NTP_SERVER entries, and that using multiple NTP_SERVER entries will result in a better or faster experience, then please provide proof of this from a reliable source. Otherwise, it's just your opinion.

The fact that many Android custom-rom developers are using multiple NTP_SERVER entries is not proof. Many developers just copy-and-paste the gps.conf file from somewhere else, eg. xda, without really understanding it. That is proven by the article I linked to, as you can see there, many of the gps.conf files that are included in custom-roms contain other errors and mistakes because the developer doesn't understand what he's doing. (Example: "SUPL_TLS_HOST=FQDN" - it's not a valid entry, but many developers include this in their rom!)

Unless you can prove that Android's code will use multiple NTP_SERVER entries and give a better experience, then I request that FasterGPS does not support this feature, because I believe that it will give a negative experience to the people who use it. As I explained already, only one entry is needed, because one NTP server already contains multiple IP addresses for redundancy.