N00b question - aGPS on the Touch Pro - Touch Pro, Fuze General

The Touch Pro is my first Windows Mobile device, and after using Symbian for 5 years I'm finding the going a little rocky so far!
Anyhow, the GPS lag on this thing is terrible - I've tried using it on car journeys and so far it's been pointless as I keep missing turns! Also, the time taken to get a fix is just unacceptable. I used aGPS on my Nokia's to get a fix ijn less than 30 seconds, and have seen the aGPS option in the Advanced Config app - my question is, do I have to do anything other than enable it?
I have noticed no difference to the time taken to get a fix, and it's still crap when I'm moving faster than walking pace.

Also, which GPS app would you guys recommend?
I've tried TomTom 7 so far, and wans't overly impressed - I have to admit Nokia Maps did the job perfectly well on my N82.

First I'd like to say fortunately this will be fixed soon in am official Rom update or cooked radio/rom here.
Most people are finding out not all GPS apps have lag with the Touch pro. For instance Both Google maps and Windows Live search have 0 lag. However they still take a little longer to get a fix than I would like. So it may be more software compatability related than just the Touch pro's fault. Rest assured though an update will be out soon to fix the lag in Tomtom7 and other GPS apps.
Only thing i don't like about google and windows live is that there is no VGA support for the higher screen resolution yet so they are hard to see the street names. I hope there is an update soon or I'll be looking elsewhere so i can clearly see everything on the screen without squenting.

Ah cool, thanks for your answer, it was most helpful.

Well, good news for AT&T customers: The Fuze had none of this. Must be a software issue, because when I had it the lag was next to none using OCN8. Also, finding a fix always took under a minute, even after a soft reset took me 56 seconds when I timed it.

Related

GPS in raphael?

HI
for me the most important function is gps, but from all of the answers here I cannot make any conclusions. Some say big lag, 20min to get a fix, others almost no lag a all, instant fix.
If someone used the kaiser can you please compare it with raphael, (kaiser was ok for me,not great but..) so I can decide if I will part with the 1000$ sitting on my desk? )
Is there a program that offers some hard evidence on the gps troubles, so I can compare it to other devices?
How long does the battery last when using gps igo or garmin mobile?
Thanx very much
20min to get a fix? It's joke ? Yesterday I've tested GPS very hard (Nav iGo8 soft) and it takes no more than 1min to get a fix. I've made some tests before (just simple test by walking around the steets) and never have had fix delay longer than 2min.
Regards
B.
I get a fix in less than 30 seconds, using destinator and garmin xt
Hi,
I use Google maps and Nav4All. With Nav4All it takes very long to get a fix. What I do is I start Google Maps, wait till I get a GPS fix (10 seconds?). Turn of Google Maps and start Nav4All.
So my gues is, that it's not the Touch Pro, but the software. I also had this with my old Mio TomTom could take forever and an old unknow AND Navigator worked almost inmediatly.
BTW, I have the Assisted GPS turned on
Regards,
AJ
Hi,
something with gps(hardware or software) in Raphael is wrong. When I compared it with Kaiser, same software one each other in the car, raphael have lag(delay) 5-15sec. When I stop the car Kaiser display 0km after 2 max(rarely) 3 transition of speed display, Raphael has much more 5-15. While driving, arows is most of time behind the car(Kaiser) and sometimes in front of car on the route.
Regards
Pajaa
Used mine in the car the otherday for the first time. Got a fix in about 30 seconds and there wasn't any noticable lag.
Using TomTom 6.
I use Garmin mobile. I get 6 satellites in less than a minute. The arrow is a little behind on the map, but less than 200 feet.
thanks for the reply on the fix, but what worries me is mostly the gps lag, and battery life. any info on that?
thanx people
bzdziagwa said:
20min to get a fix? It's joke ? Yesterday I've tested GPS very hard (Nav iGo8 soft) and it takes no more than 1min to get a fix. I've made some tests before (just simple test by walking around the steets) and never have had fix delay longer than 2min.
Regards
B.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mine takes much longer but i don't mind that as much as I mind the fact it drops the connection if I donut have the phone up in my window in the car where my Kaiser would stay connected anywhere
I had TyTN II(still have) but after I got the Touch Pro I found that the TP took a much longer time to get a fix(if at all). This is quite unexpected so I hope a newer ROM will fix this.
Hi,
something interesting for us with gps lag
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=2628634&postcount=306
Regards
I've tested my pro yesterday with tomtom 7..
I had my fix in like 2 minutes...but I runned first the quickgps.
The speed of the first fix depends very much on three conditions:
1st) when was your last fix. if that was longer ago than a couple of days the sat-position-data is outdated.
2nd) how much sky you can see (f.e. between high buildings is not optimal)
and 3rd) the weather. With clear sky the gps-signal is stronger than on a cloudy day.
But you can increase the first fix very much by using the "QuickGPS" application included in the original ROM. With this tool you can eliminate point one.
installed TomTom yesterday (version 7)
downloaded a city map.
and tested it last nicht.
fix within 30seconds indoors. (started the app to plan the way home from work)
during the drive home, i had no lag or wath ever..
worked like a charme for me.
igo8 fix less than 15 seconds but has lag. not much but noticeable more than tytn2.
i had a tytn2 before the touch pro...
also tytn2 i could see 7-8 sattelites, even 9 but with touch pro, never more than 5, usually 3-4.
bit disappointing...
also my igo8 crashes with "out of memory" error when i zoom out and pan the map, i have buildings and geographic details installed on it.
but i guess thats just because of igo8 on vga
vblues said:
I had TyTN II(still have) but after I got the Touch Pro I found that the TP took a much longer time to get a fix(if at all). This is quite unexpected so I hope a newer ROM will fix this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps more like new Radio ROMs might help
I rather use iGo8, but I hate the lag. Hope the HTC fix is out soon.
Vinh
Mine normally takes about 2 mins using TT7, which is significantly longer than my TyTn II would normally take. Lag is about the same (in fact slightly less) than on the TyTn II.
The weird thing is that if you look in the GPS config in TT7, it can be seeing 10+ satellites and still not reporting a lock. That has to be a software problem doesn't it?
When mine does lock, it always has a signal strength of 4+ bars - makes me wonder if there is something in the software that could be tweaked to make it report a lock faster (using less satellites), but with initially slightly less accuracy. That would be fine with me!
Rowan
I use the GPS and Mapking, without aGPS. It get a locked quite fast < 1 min. It manage to get a location a bit after searching a destination. So consider quite good. Almost as fast as my Garmin nuvi.
jwhitham said:
Used mine in the car the otherday for the first time. Got a fix in about 30 seconds and there wasn't any noticable lag.
Using TomTom 6.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can I ask, how you set the internal gps up in TomTom plz???
or anyone

Class action suit regarding GPS

So there are more than enough problems with internal GPS for several devices. The Fuze obviously, im sure the Diamond, and my friend and his Tilt. Basically we have to go through all these steps just to get it to work properly. So i was thinking a suit may get them to fix the problem with it.
I am absolutely certain it is regarding the internal GPS and not the anything else in the phone, because if it takes too long to find a fix i just use my BT Holux 236 Slim instead of waiting and it finds it well lets just say IMMEDIATELY lol.
I had an old toshiba WM device with pharos add on gps. It took like 5-6 mins to lock.
I can do a morning gps fix with my fuze in about 30 seconds. No AGPS, but I do download the quickgps info. It's good enough for me.
does AGPs actually slow it down? i thought that would make it faster
lbhocky19 said:
does AGPs actually slow it down? i thought that would make it faster
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AGPS + IPHONE + 3G = FAIL.
It's not just Raphael here. If you google that, there's lots of suggestions to switch to Edge, then use the GPS, then get back on 3G.
I have a Fuze and my GPS is working fine. I initially had issues getting a lock and I had to use HTC GPS Tool... only once. After that I get a lock within 1 minute if that much when using TomTom.
I am also using 3G/HSUPA. I do have AGPS turned off and I have QuickGPS configured to download updates automatically. Once other change I made was to the "External GPS" in the System settings - I changed the COM port to 1 and speed to 38400. I tested both with COM 1 and COM 4 and it didn't made much of a difference.
I have also flashed a few different ROMs and GPS works on all of them, including AT&T stock ROM.
I don't think HTC cares about Class Action Suits.
No they don't care about class action lawsuits, because we keep buying their phones I get consistent 30 second GPS locks on my fuze.
I dunno, maybe i'm just lucky but even when the Blackjack 2 came out and people were having GPS issues (and needing the Modaco GPS unlocker Cab) i never needed such things. Maybe i'm more technical and can find root of problems easily that i don't even notice i'm doing it. I don't think that's the case though, i downloaded WLS and Google Maps and configure them both properly. I knew about the intermediate driver but the current version of Google Maps didn't have support for that yet but it came out a week later and that's when it finally started working right.
I noticed there was a note about GPS concerning the Fuze so i dug into it and knew i had to use COM4 for GPS instead of the standard intermediate driver (Garmin Mobile auto configed itself to the right COM). I don't get any lag or issues, it also uses aGPS if it's enabled, my phone automatically logs on when i open it.
I have alltel TOuch Pro and my gps locks in in like 4 seconds never more than 10
GREGHARKINS said:
I have alltel TOuch Pro and my gps locks in in like 4 seconds never more than 10
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the Touch Pro as well but on Sprint, I've experienced the same.
hey guys,
what do u think about appear and disappear problem?
i mean that, my tp finds alot of satellites but two of them appears the others disappears, then they appear the others disappear.
And finaly poor reception and i.e.my car speed like "100" km but tp "0" km speed and too much lag.
I ve tried everything at this forum except roms.I couldnt have any solution.
I send 3-4 e-mail to htc support team and they turned me back with silly answers without solution.
Now i cant use my internal gps that i paid like 900$ tp.I think this will be my last htc.
The GPS issues I was having with my Fuze ultimately led to it's return.
The GPS performance was just too volatile and I need to be able to depend on it when I need it.
GL
Before you fight the power, might want to research the issue better. I believe all the people who say there are problems with their GPS, but it has to be related to particular batch/devices.
I have no issues with GPS. I run iGO8 on my Fuze, it connects very quickly, AGPS enabled. Accuracy is awesome, better than on Tilt it'd seem. So no complaints here.
So before we sue someone, somebody should compare the devices and find what is it that makes the GPS work on some and not work on others.
Just my opinion.
My GPS works great. I get a fix in around 30 seconds, and when I do, I can leave it in front of the gear stick on my car, because I still didn't buy a windshield holder, and it works just fine.
It works much better than a dedicated Bluetooth GPS I used in the past.
DarkDvr said:
Before you fight the power, might want to research the issue better. I believe all the people who say there are problems with their GPS, but it has to be related to particular batch/devices.
I have no issues with GPS. I run iGO8 on my Fuze, it connects very quickly, AGPS enabled. Accuracy is awesome, better than on Tilt it'd seem. So no complaints here.
So before we sue someone, somebody should compare the devices and find what is it that makes the GPS work on some and not work on others.
Just my opinion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting...I never usa AGPS, it always seems to mess my phone up. I do the automatic GPS download and I get a lock within 30 sec.
Obviously the people posting think since theres work than its not an issue. There are plenty of threads in the diamond, raphael, and tilt forums regarding GPS issues.
The only reason i brought the suit idea in was because it has done before and HTC then provided the drivers. I dont want any money from them, i just want my GPS to work well. I am pretty sure nobody else wants to return their phone they just a WELL working GPS.
I have no problems with GPS lock on my Fuze. I had initial issues, but after I ran the GPS Test and got a fix - one time - I was all set.
Besides, whom do you sue? HTC or the operators who are motivated to cripple GPS or tie it exclusively to their fee-for-service plan?
xboxhaxorz said:
Obviously the people posting think since theres work than its not an issue. There are plenty of threads in the diamond, raphael, and tilt forums regarding GPS issues.
The only reason i brought the suit idea in was because it has done before and HTC then provided the drivers. I dont want any money from them, i just want my GPS to work well. I am pretty sure nobody else wants to return their phone they just a WELL working GPS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Drivers are one thing.
A class action suit is something else.
I'm all for speedier, but I just did a test here.
HARD RESET
Bloat remove
Install a few apps, sync phone to restore contacts.
Disable AGPS, download QuickGPS.
Launched google maps for the first time. It took about 40 seconds to lock on 8 satellites inside my house. I don't get this good with my other dedicated gps devices, they usually take 2-5 mins to lock on to 5.
--------------------
Again,
I'm all for speedier! But I rather like how fast the GPS set works in this phone, even after a hard reset. Maybe it's ATT software that does something on the configurator load on a hard reset?
The new rom from Da_G uses gps drivers from the blackstone and for the first time since i bought the phone (since day 1) i get consistent, fast gps locks. With these drivers i consider the problem solved. Now..to get other cooks to include them as they have to be cooked in.
I have only had mine for about a week now and not really any issues with GPS. I would load up tom tom and configure it before i leave, and before i make it off my porch i have at least 3 sats locked, and by the time im in my car its ready to roll. I have only used it for short trips so far (15-30 minutes) and have not experienced the heat up issues i have read about, or the GPS lag. Time will tell i guess.

Gps and UI Lag experiences please.

If you are one of the lucky few that owns a Samsung Captivate, please post your impressions of it here. I know only one person that reported ui lag on the captivate so far but the galaxy s forum is swarming with them. Also a gps poll over there indicated that many users were experiencing unsavory searching times and bad signals.
Share good and bad impressions here please.
p.s. a video of UI lag would be most appreciated so others can see what you are talking about and compare their own results.
From the videos that I have seen, occasionally there is some UI lag but it doesn't appear to be real bad. If you install another desktop launcher the phone is quicker so to me it doesn't matter. I could care less if I use touchwiz.
As far as the GPS... I don't know. It'll be interesting to find out though.
go to Androidforums.com to see all of the videos. They have a thread going with everything.
http://androidforums.com/samsung-captivate/120716-official-unboxing-preview-review-thread-post-your-finds-here.html
wow great coverage there, Thanks!. Is the little hickup when transitioning from one screen to another by swiping the "ui lag" that peeps are talking about? Dont get me wrong, i could see how i that could get annoying, especially since this phone deff has the hardware to run smoother than butter on a hot summer day..
Still thats not as bad as i hear some people make it out to sound. Maybe some users experience exceptionally high lag? But you say the diff desktop launcher takes care even of that tiny hickup?
I ask so much because im trying to make an informed purchasing decision .
systoxity said:
wow great coverage there, Thanks!. Is the little hickup when transitioning from one screen to another by swiping the "ui lag" that peeps are talking about? Dont get me wrong, i could see how i that could get annoying, especially since this phone deff has the hardware to run smoother than butter on a hot summer day..
Still thats not as bad as i hear some people make it out to sound. Maybe some users experience exceptionally high lag? But you say the diff desktop launcher takes care even of that tiny hickup?
I ask so much because im trying to make an informed purchasing decision .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Androidforums.com have blown up with post since the captivate was announced. You should go read some of the details over there. AndroidandMe also has a video of the different desktops and yes they clear up the lag.
I havn't seen major lag on the captivate in any of the videos posted but I have seen some sluggish UI Experience on occasion. I'm not worried about it all because of the different desktops that you can download from the android market.
Samsung is suppose to be working on a fix as this is a software issue not a hardware issue. Who knows... Maybe Android 2.2. will fix it.
<3. Thats all i have to say.
Now for the record... Is this the most powerful phone on the market right now or what?
I cant find any references to where another phone beats this phone at anything (battery life excluded, haven't seen any info on that) except for that 2d stuff from the droid (which is touted to be meaningless anyway)...
Re: GPS - of all the video reviews of GPS aquisition on the Galaxy S, the speed was as fast or faster than other devices (running Android or iOS), so it should not be a problem. I will report back on the 18th or 19th after I get my Samsung Captivate.
thanks, OKMFT. Really looking forward to your input. I think the GPS is the only thing thats really troubling me now.
I just got to play with this phone in a local ATT store. I do kinda see what the OP was saying. I had an Aria in one hand and the Captivate in the other. The Aria seemed really smooth in transition while the Captivate was fast but seemed jittery. I think it may be more of a trick to the eye because the background moves just a little when you swipe the windows. Otherwise, every app I played with, email, internet, everything was really fast and sharp. The camera takes great pics with very little zoom time (unlike my HTC HD). The phone itself seems well built and extremely light weight. Overall I left very impressed and am planning to pick it up this weekend.
thnx 4 postin that here too. u didnt get a chance to play with the gps too by ne chance did you?
I unfortunately did not get a chance. I only had a couple minutes with it as the sales guy didn't want anyone else to see it because they were apparently not even supposed to have the device yet.
oh wow, nice job then!
I purchased one late Friday afternoon (after having been previously denied by two other stores and several other salespeople), and have taken it running, walking, and driving (using "Runner," "GPS Status," and Google Maps and Navigation).
I have found that it seems overall slower and less secure in GPS signal acquisition than my previous phones (iPhone 4, 3Gs, 3G) but is on par with my old Samsung Blackjack II. It took a while sometimes to get a signal and occasionally lost it when it had a reasonably good view of the sky (especially in car navigation). That being said, the iPhones weren't perfect either and all had trouble at times, so for me, it was just a little aggravating rather than a deal-breaker. Even though I didn't get instant gratification with Captivate's GPS, it never let me down for long and then was able to pick up the signal.
There've been a number of GPS fixes suggested over at Android Forums in the Galaxy S and Captivate areas...take a look and see if any work for you (oh, and report back!).
Summary: this phone is fast and snappy if you adequately manage running programs and widgets, and the GPS is kind of slow at times but not unusable.
I purchased one late Friday afternoon (after having been previously denied by two other stores and several other salespeople), and have taken it running, walking, and driving (using "Runner," "GPS Status," and Google Maps and Navigation).
I have found that it seems overall slower and less secure in GPS signal acquisition than my previous phones (iPhone 4, 3Gs, 3G) but is on par with my old Samsung Blackjack II. It took a while sometimes to get a signal and occasionally lost it when it had a reasonably good view of the sky (especially in car navigation). That being said, the iPhones weren't perfect either and all had trouble at times, so for me, it was just a little aggravating rather than a deal-breaker. Even though I didn't get instant gratification with Captivate's GPS, it never let me down for long and then was able to pick up the signal.
Also, this phone is blazing fast except when too much stuff is churning away in the background. ATK takes care of that.
(Sorry for the duplicate post, as I accidentally posted this originally in the wrong thread and couldn't figure out how to delete it).
just got the phone. Stock just out of the box. I used gps with google maps on the way home. Got a lock in the few seconds it took me to load the map. Gps was flawless all the way home.
i'll let you know if anything changes.
Have had mine since Thursday evening. GPS is slow for me, I haven't actually put it to use yet so not sure how it performs after acquiring signal, I've tried a few of the suggestions in different forums, switching it to network service does seem to help.
As far as the UI, I actually considered returning the phone. Coming from a 3gs I was suprised how little difference there was at first. Then, after using it for a few days found it actually slowed down (adv task killer was one of the first apps I installed and I use it regularly)
However, per a suggestion from someone I installed LauncherProBeta and used it instead of Touch Wiz, what a difference. I mean really it's a different phone now. There are a few other fixes I'll do once I get a new SD card too that should help.
systoxity said:
just got the phone. Stock just out of the box. I used gps with google maps on the way home. Got a lock in the few seconds it took me to load the map. Gps was flawless all the way home.
i'll let you know if anything changes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Picked up mine at local BB this morn at when they opened! Went from 3gs to this and so far please.
Now only probably I have is since 1100am central time I tried GPS and can't connect. Longest I have left it trying was the 30min drive home. No luck just a crazy icon in status bar that wont connect.
First Droid so I'm new to anymods so it could just be me. Been at this forum since Moto days and love it
This. Launcher pro beta fixed all lag. As for gps, mine catches in 5 to 10th seconds. I experimented with location settings and some were detrimental. Try turning all gps related stuff on or just play with those options to see if any help

Samsung says JH7 OTA does NOT include a GPS fix!

I just got off the phone with Samsung level 2 support, and she explained to me that:
1) The current AT&T JH7 OTA update does NOT include the GPS fix (as we've all realized)
2) The "real" GPS fix will be coming out BEFORE THE END OF THE MONTH (in the next few days)
3) This new OTA update will include JUST the GPS fix, nothing else.
I understand this is in contrast to Samsung's twitter account and facebook page that say the update is already available... I brought this up to the Samsung support lady, and she kept repeating that the "real" GPS fix is not available yet, it will contain ONLY the GPS fix, and it will be available as an OTA update before the end of the month.
She apologized for the confusion...
So should we get our hopes back up?
I hope so. Somebody on another forum was told the same thing so I really hope it's true.
Who knows what to believe anymore.
Well working for a large corporation I know that one hand has no clue what the other is doing.
My email to support got answered with the typical "we can't speculate when/if" answer.
Joe1981AL said:
Well working for a large corporation I know that one hand has no clue what the other is doing.
My email to support got answered with the typical "we can't speculate when/if" answer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The level-1 support guys were saying the update was already out with the GPS fix. They also told me to uncheck and re-check the "Use Wireless Networks" option. Basically, the level-1 support guys are clueless on the real issues, and they were likely the ones responding to your e-mail.
I'm going to wait until the end of this month... if Oct. 1st rolls around with no real GPS fix, then we know they are all full of sh*t
There is a definite difference in GPS performance on my phone since this update. It is not perfect by any stretch, but there is most definitely a difference in lock speed, number of satellites in use, and tracking.
Maybe this is not the fix, but they changed something. I don't know if it's at driver level or firmware level, but something is different.
Hopefully the rumors of a true GPS fix this month are true, but there is too much misinformation out there to even speculate as to what's accurate.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Ikonomi said:
There is a definite difference in GPS performance on my phone since this update. It is not perfect by any stretch, but there is most definitely a difference in lock speed, number of satellites in use, and tracking.
Maybe this is not the fix, but they changed something. I don't know if it's at driver level or firmware level, but something is different.
Hopefully the rumors of a true GPS fix this month are true, but there is too much misinformation out there to even speculate as to what's accurate.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, there are quite a few improvements over stock on this ROM. The compass is also much better, among a few other things.
However, the GPS is still too unreliable for Navigation, which the "real" GPS fix must still address. According to them, this real "fix" is still coming this month, and not here yet.
Dear Samsung:
Ass != Hole in the ground.
The GPS is definitely better. I saw the icon stop blinking and get a lock while standing still which I never saw before.
I call shenanigans on this. I just contacted Samsung live support and I'd post the conversation here but it was actually so useless that I'd just be wasting your time. She said she understands it's still a problem and to call so they can troubleshoot and that was it. I asked her to speculate on the source of the issue and got nothing.
GPS locks fast yes, but it loses lock just as fast too...
So the conclusion: No one really knows what is going on until I see a GPS OTA notification on my Captivate.
The Captivate is my first smartphone. My question is: has there ever been a situation where there is a glaring problem such as this GPS bug, where the manufacturer never ended up resolving the issue? What are the chances that Samsung sweeps this under the rug until it just goes away?
PhishSGS said:
The Captivate is my first smartphone. My question is: has there ever been a situation where there is a glaring problem such as this GPS bug, where the manufacturer never ended up resolving the issue? What are the chances that Samsung sweeps this under the rug until it just goes away?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know if I'm just an optimist but I don't think Samsung will leave this unresolved. The Galaxy S line is a world wide launch of smart phones and now a tab as well. They've invested too much into this to just leave it hanging. It seems pretty clear to me that they're trying to grab a huge market share and trying to be the next big thing in the smart phone/tab market.
So overall I have hope that it will be fixed. Whether it's a small update in the near future, or whether it is fully fixed when 2.2 is released, I believe it will happen eventually.
I would sassy this is true. I flashed my phone from the.zip this forum provided and my gps is no better no worse than before.. Hopefully in the next few days.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
That would make sense, because I was able to get a quick GPS lock before and after the update, it just didn't track me very well before or after. Pretty sure any improvement can be chalked up to confirmation bias and wildly varying results depending on the test conditions.
PhishSGS said:
The Captivate is my first smartphone. My question is: has there ever been a situation where there is a glaring problem such as this GPS bug, where the manufacturer never ended up resolving the issue? What are the chances that Samsung sweeps this under the rug until it just goes away?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There was a similar situation involving HTC and the Kaiser (aka ATT Tilt) about video drivers and it never got resolved officialy.
In stock form it would sometimes take 10 minutes to get a GPS lock in navigation, and on routes it would frequently lose my position, causing the nav program to reroute, and then reroute again when GPS locked again.
On JH7 (via Cognition) it took about 20 seconds to get a dead-on lock while standing in my front yard. I haven't used it in navigation yet, will do that tomorrow.
I've had two captivates prior to the OTA update, one of them was essentially non-functioning GPS, and the other was basically functional, but f-ed up. It remains that way today with no changes to the GPS settings.
The official release notes for JH7 didnt say one word about a GPS fix, and I can tell, my GPS is still broken. Thing is now, my compass is now broken. It at least used to point in the right direction but it would fluctuate within a 5-10 degree range. Now its 90 to 180 degrees completely off. I can look at maps and be driving down the road and the arrow is pointing behind me or somewhere perpendicular to my line of motion. What a crock. The only thing I noticed was an updated version of youtube, no more usb pc tethering, quick office is now included.
One positive is the battery life is longer. Where with the same usage all day at work I'm now at 60-70% and before the update I'd be at 30-40% by the time I left work.
I'm not looking forward to another OTA update, I couldnt get the last one to install, I had to use designgears' JH7-OTA.zip to get in installed, his zip worked great!
Edit: one note on GPS, the reported accuracy is much better, but its not true. Example, before it would say accuracy 100meters, and I might be within the blue 100 meter circle. Now it says Accuracy 10 meters and it reports my position as 100-200 meters from where I really am. So its not really more accurate, it just reports that it is. And it still fails to track me at all. Once I start moving (whether on foot or on bike or in car) it really gets whacky. Like I'm driving down the road and it starts to show me gradually leaving the road, by a block or so down the road I'm off in the middle of the block driving through people's houses or doing some serious offroading, when i'm still right in the middle of the road. Its tracking performance is abysmal.
And it seems that AT&T or Samsung took out the dial code to get to the lbstesemode menu. Dialing *#*#1472365#*#* now does nothing.
cesierra said:
There was a similar situation involving HTC and the Kaiser (aka ATT Tilt) about video drivers and it never got resolved officialy.
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Click to collapse
Wasn't that more of a poor performance due to lack of proper drivers, but it still functioned? All the HTC phones after that had the same deal. HTC didn't pay for the drivers from Qualcom. The phones still worked great. They just didn't perform, as far as video power, as well as the hardware was capable of.
I think this is a different matter. It's not the difference between running amazing 3D graphics and running pretty good 3D graphics. This is something that's plain broken. I can't imagine Samsung can afford to NOT fix this.
Now if the GPS universally worked "fine" at lets say with a 10 foot accuracy 99% of the time but the hardware was capable of being accurate to 10 inches 100% of the time then I could see Samsung possibly shrugging their shoulders. This clearly isn't the case though.

How confident are folks that we will get an actual FIX to the GPS issue?

Wanted to get a read from folks as to what their Gut feel is. Are you confident that Sammy will really fix this? Any by fix, I mean the following. This comes from experiences with 2 HTC smartphones (Aria, and the Pure):
1. GPS locks in under 5 seconds in clear sky conditions
2. Usable navigation; IOW, 30-50m accuracy, again under ideal conditions.
3. Usable navigation such that it stays locked while driving at highway speeds.
TIA.
I have not experienced any of the above issues (post update) except for the 5 second lock, and even my garmin can't do that. The cog2.2 had my gps jacked up so I reverted back and it works great again.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
I did My Tracks for the first time today and was surprised by the results - highway for 15 miles, 15 miles off (obtained the lock at highway speeds as well) But it lost me in this one dead area about a mile from my house - I drop most calls through this one area as well too.. must be a whole in the ozone
However! (Always a however, right?) Tonight while walking the dog around the neighborhood, the phone could see up to 12 satellites.. yet it didn't get a lock for over 5 minutes. <--- This is the biggest problem I have with the GPS on this phone. INCONSISTENT AS HELL.
What causes the inconsistency?? So since I've owned the phone (release day) and it's been this long and inconsistent from the beginning, I am beginning to lose my confidence in a real fix (at least Samsung can make some kind of formal announcement you know?)
My GPS has always worked. Stock JF6. Cognition 2, 2.1, 2.2.1-5. Anything I throw at it, it just works. Freeway, walking, indoors, etc. I think it is partly a hardware issue.
Mine is fixed
I ordered my Captivate from AT&T's online store. GPS did not work, no matter what kind of settings I played with (lbstestmode, etc.). Got the update, no help. Took it back to the AT&T store and replaced it. Got the update and it works fantastically. If yours is still in the 30 day warranty period get it switched out.
Considering that many people had the gps issue fixed with the ota update or with the newly released froyo, yet many still have problems, I think there are some bad phones. I'll try to get mine replaced even though it's outside the 30 days.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
I'm on my second Captivate. I have no faith that GPS will be reliable enough to use for navigation purposes or apps like My Tracks or even Layar. The OTA update definitely helped, but turns and changes in direction throw it off by quite a bit.
About all it is good for is telling your weather app what city you are in.
For me, the GPS didn't work from the first day I bought the phone. It got a lot better after the OTA update. However, it's getting mess up again in the last few days. I've heard other people from this forum said the GPS will go bad after a few weeks, I guess that's happening to me now. Moreover, the lag seems to be getting worse too.
I'm running Cognition 2.2 FroYo and for the first time ever I got 11/11 sattelites locked. My ride home it stayed more or less dead on the street i was on, occassionally wavered onto the sidewalk a bit or whatnot in My Tracks. That's using the stock settings (spirent-lcs.com and Standalone, with Use Wireless Networks off). If this does not degrade over time, I'd call it fixed for sure.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Keep it coming folks; seems like for the most part people's gut feel is about in line with mine. Im going to return my Captivate to Amazon and have them replace it to see if I can see any improvement. Not holding my breath though.
waiting4gingerbread said:
My GPS has always worked. Stock JF6. Cognition 2, 2.1, 2.2.1-5. Anything I throw at it, it just works. Freeway, walking, indoors, etc. I think it is partly a hardware issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine has always worked on both of captivates. It's in no way perfect but it gets the job done.
I just ordered a replacement Captivate from Amazon. I will then update the software to JH7 in the un-mollested state to see what kind of improvements I see, if any.
Crossed fingers............Bottom line, im not too confident.
So I got my replacement Captivate from Amazon. The second I got it, I stepped outside to see if I can get a GPS lock. I stood there for 5 minute, and no lock.
So I did the software update; which worked. It didnt work on my "molested" captivate.
I then went outside for a drive. Locked very quickly I think 5 seconds. Accuracy was very good; certainly on par with the two HTC smart phones Ive owned.
Maybe its dumb luck that I got a good unit; but it seems not overly molesting your captivate is a good idea until people really understand the consequences.
EDIT: The above drive I mentioned was in neighborhood roads, at relatively low speeds. On my way to work it was definitely NOT as accurate as my HTC Pure. It showed me about 1 exit behind; was about a half or three quarters of a mile.
I just want to say that I called Samsung support directly yesterday and the guy told me that "he hasn't heard anyone else who's applied the JH7 update that said their GPS wasn't fixed."
SO CALL SAMSUNG SUPPORT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. Don't stop calling. They need to know the update didn't fix it!
brandonb81 said:
I just want to say that I called Samsung support directly yesterday and the guy told me that "he hasn't heard anyone else who's applied the JH7 update that said their GPS wasn't fixed."
SO CALL SAMSUNG SUPPORT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. Don't stop calling. They need to know the update didn't fix it!
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Click to collapse
They already know. I can guarantee you that some of their dev team consistently troll these forums.
My GPS works pretty well, especially considering its a phone, since JH7 OTA update.
The problem you're talking about with locks under 5 seconds, isnt always going to happen. It depends on how long its been since the last time gps was used, and how close you are currently to where you last used it.
If you use it and then turn it off, and in a few hours turn it back on, at roughly the last location it was used, it'll get a very quick lock. If you wait days, it wont. If you use it at location A last, then are long ways away from that location when turning it back on, it wont get a quick lock, it has to calculate where its at based on new data from the satellites. Thats the nature of the beast with GPS. My Garmin in my car is the exact same way. If it has to do a cold start it sometimes takes up to 2 mins to get a lock. But once its got it, if I go in a store for a few mins and come right back out, it picks up location almost immediately.
Since JH7 I'd say my GPS performance more than meets my expectations for a mobile phone GPS.
Started out very confident.
Less confident every day.
Tinyboss said:
Started out very confident.
Less confident every day.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I'm with you here.
When it came to the HTC video driver fiasco on many of their phones it was sickening that HTC wouldn't do anything about it, or even tackle the issue on future releases. But at least slower video performance than the hardware was capable of wasn't really a deal breaker when it was still working good. So I could understand why a company wouldn't invest a ton to fix it for already purchased phones.
This however is outright broken. It's not a phone with good video performance that COULD perform better with an update. It's a phone with a broken technology that can hopefully be FIXED with an update.
I don't know how Samsung will avoid lawsuits etc etc by manufacturing a blatantly broken piece of technology unless they can rectify the situation... quickly. I think their window is slowly closing on this type of scenario.
As for myself, the GPS problem just isn't an issue since I don't use the GPS anyhow. So I'm not a consumer frothing at the mouth, but the idea that I spent money on a fancy, but broken, phone leaves a bitter taste in that unfrothy mouth of mine.
I'm very confident. I put the leaked froyo from designgears on one of my phones and the lock was fast, and gps accurate. Drove from Chicago to Kohler, WI the other day (~130 miles) and ran gps on the phone along with my dedicated gps unit to check accuracy. Had no issues at all.
I think once 2.2 is released, all of the gps issues will be resolved if the leaked version is any indication.
I'm guessing it's the sum of several issues causing problems.
1. Basic hardware configuration that results in worse signal-to-noise than other handsets.
2. Non-optimized settings that sporadically contribute to slow or poor locks
3. Some kind of software buffering or other issues that cause freeze-ups where the position doesn't update.
When my phone is working well I don't experience problems 2 and 3, and I can live with problem 1. When that's the case I get consistent tracking 95% of my trip. Sometime 2 and 3 seem to creep into the picture for no apparent reason. I hope and expect they will get those problems solved.

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