Unable to determine location

Question

Level 2

431 points

Unable to determine location

Today I noticed Location Services stopped working on my Mac Pro. I go to the Maps app, Google maps in Safari, time zone in settings, etc. and all report that location cannot be determined.

I fully understand that Location Services uses my Wifi router as one factor to determine my location. I have two different Wifi routers and can use an iPhone as a hotspot, and even after trying all three, there is still no location determination.

However, my iPhone can connect to the same Wifi and Location Services is working just fine there.

Any ideas? Thanks.

Mac Pro (Mid 2012), macOS Sierra (10.12.6), 32 GB, 3.33 GHz 6-Core

Posted on Jul 20, 2017 8:48 PM

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Answer 1

tygb

Level 9

65,270 points

Jul 21, 2017 8:11 AM in response to sparky67

It happens sometimes in system , if we take computer near to wifi router or in open air ( within the range of wifi ) it will show correct location .

Basically a red dot should come over when time zone is opened and it will create a blue dot and a combination of red dot over the map .

And in front of time zone : correct country

Closest city : your correct city should be shown .

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Answer 2

sparky67 Author

Level 2

431 points

Jul 21, 2017 8:46 PM in response to tygb

Yes, this problem, everywhere, maps, Google maps, and time zone settings ->

Yes, this set as was always and continent is same & correct ->

Yes, this set as was always ->

And yes, this set as was always ->

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Answer 3

tygb

Level 9

65,270 points

Jul 26, 2017 9:36 AM in response to sparky67

Sparky67 ,

Please open system preferences > iCloud > if Find My Mac is unchecked , check the box for it .

Article : macOS Sierra: Use Find My Mac

As long as your lost Mac isn’t in sleep and is connected to a Wi-Fi network or tethered to a personal hotspot, you can locate it on a map.

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Answer 4

tygb

Level 9

65,270 points

Jul 21, 2017 8:14 PM in response to sparky67

Please read these articles : macOS Sierra: Create and manage network locations

: How to use network locations on your Mac - Apple Support

: macOS Sierra: Create and manage network locations

If possible try to explain in a easy way what exactly is happening in the system .

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Answer 5

Barney-15E

Level 10

125,758 points

Jul 21, 2017 7:00 AM in response to sparky67

It uses many WiFi routers to determine location. If it knows where yours is, then it can use it for location.

If it doesn't know where your router is located, it will try to see others you are in range of. You don't have to connect to the WiFi access point for it to use it for location. It just has to be able to see it.

The iPhone gets location from cellular towers and GPS. If you share the information with Apple, it may eventually locate your router via your iPhone location services.

My guess would be that it doesn't know your router's location, but it did know some neighbor's router which your Mac Pro can no longer see.

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Answer 6

sparky67 Author

Level 2

431 points

Jul 21, 2017 7:23 AM in response to Barney-15E

Barney-15E wrote:

My guess would be that it doesn't know your router's location, but it did know some neighbor's router which your Mac Pro can no longer see.

I'm in a rural area (too far to see any neighbors' Wifi) and my routers have been the same for years. Nothing has changed recently around here that coincides with when location services stopped working.

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Answer 7

Barney-15E

Level 10

125,758 points

Jul 21, 2017 7:33 AM in response to sparky67

If you have all of the Location services enabled, then I can only imagine that Apple has lost the location of your WiFi router.

Nobody seems to know the process by which Apple populates the location database on their servers.

Your Mac has to talk to the servers to determine the location. It doesn't store a "local copy" on your Mac.

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Answer 8

sparky67 Author

Level 2

431 points

Jul 21, 2017 12:38 PM in response to Barney-15E

Ugh. Worked great from 2013 until a couple days ago.

Before then, Location Services never worked for me on any devices at home. Then I bought an iPhone in 2013 and it worked flawlessly until now. Something about Apple using the iPhone connected to local Wifi to gather that Wifi info and report its location.

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Answer 9

sparky67 Author

Level 2

431 points

Jul 21, 2017 12:43 PM in response to tygb

Yeah, I'm not really sure if you're giving me some new suggestions or just reporting something you've seen.

But I already know all this stuff... my settings are the same and everything was working fine since 2013 until recently. It's not really practical for me to move a 40 lb. computer around, especially when said computer can already see both Wifi networks.

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Answer 10

sparky67 Author

Level 2

431 points

Jul 21, 2017 5:04 PM in response to tygb

tygb wrote:

If your location is set properly , then it is quite normal .

Yeah, I have no idea what that means or what you're trying to say.

Of course my location is set properly, and I don't think it's normal for Location Services to be broken after working fine for 4 years.

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Answer 11

sparky67 Author

Level 2

431 points

Jul 21, 2017 8:40 PM in response to tygb

tygb wrote:

If possible try to explain in a easy way what exactly is happening in the system .

I don't know how I can explain myself any easier...

1. Location Services stopped working. It was working fine for last four years and then stopped working yesterday.

2. All system settings, routers, and hardware are the same for last four years with the only exception being regular OS updates.

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Answer 12

tygb

Level 9

65,270 points

Jul 21, 2017 9:28 PM in response to sparky67

Click on finder > Go > Computer > Macintosh HD > Library > Preferences > find com.apple.timezone.auto.plist just drag and drop it to the desktop , restart the computer and see if it works .

Many of us use Etrecheck : https://etrecheck.com/

to find issues in the machine example malware , third party apps , anti - virus if installed , you can take help of it .

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Answer 13

sparky67 Author

Level 2

431 points

Jul 25, 2017 7:46 AM in response to tygb

This made absolutely no difference. As stated elsewhere in this thread, I think Apple must have dropped my routers from their database as my iPhone location is no longer accurate while I'm at home. In fact, when I use Find My iPhone, out of my four devices at home, only the iPhone shows on the map, and it's off by several miles. I have to disable Wifi on my iPhone to force GPS and get an accurate position.

Ugh... seriously... and no way to report this to Apple to fix or update.

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Answer 14

dialabrain

Level 10

138,503 points

Jul 25, 2017 8:26 AM in response to sparky67

Seeing your iPhone is now having an issue without GPS it doesn't seem likely it's a Mac issue. You did say you are in a rural area. Perhaps something happened to one or more WiFi towers in your area. Location services needs more than one tower to fix the location.

I don't know another reason that would affect all your devices.

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Answer 15

sparky67 Author

Level 2

431 points

Jul 25, 2017 8:38 AM in response to dialabrain

dialabrain wrote:

Seeing your iPhone is now having an issue without GPS it doesn't seem likely it's a Mac issue.

I agree.

dialabrain wrote:

You did say you are in a rural area. Perhaps something happened to one or more WiFi towers in your area. Location services needs more than one tower to fix the location.

Wifi towers? There are no Wifi towers. I see cell towers, but that has nothing to do with this.

As I stated previously, I'm in a rural area so the only wifi signals I can see are from my own private wifi routers, and Location Services has been working fine at this location since 2013 up until last week.

Apple either tweaked how this works, breaking it for me, or they dropped my routers from their database for some reason. Looks like I'll send a note to Cook's office.

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