Database Info

Vibrant GPS fix - good news for us?

T-Mo Vibrant has a new firmware (not official) but its name indicates it is a September build (T-959UVJI2).
Anyway, those that have flashed it are reporting perfect GPS tracking using mapping and NAV - some even retracting their statement claiming the issue was hardware.
Let's hope we see an official release by the end of the month.
Vibrant ROM thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=780906

Can we flash Vibrant ROMs? I've flashed I9000 ROMs (and then done our own kernel)... I'm tempted to try it

I am one of those vibrant owners and one that claimed pure hardware.
I was gonna dump this for the g2 untilled I flashed the newest firmware. I even made a topic on how its hardware and Sammy will never fix it. Well that same day the rom leaked, I flashed it and it's Now awesome.
Gives better battery
Better GPS
Taskkiller in recent programs list
Hd video
Better reception
Etc.
Definitely a great update and now I will not be getting ride of this, hold on guys its for sure now software. Your GPS is fine it just needs
OPTIMIZED LMAOOO WOOHOO IM HAPPY. JUST NEED FROYO

I just searched through the Vibrant thread on this fix for every reference to the GPS fix. It overwhelmingly came back positive. But there was a minority of folks that indicated it did not help.
The real test will be for longer trips / more time on it to see how the reports go.

Wow, it would be amazing to have this update. Come on, AT&T!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

Awesome! I really do hope this does the trick. I could use a working gps and a better battery life.

*Staying tuned........*

This has my attention. Subscribed .
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

Does this fix the jumpy compass too?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

someone extracted the GPS files and set it up with instructions for installation by itself http://forums.t-mobile.com/t5/Samsu...flashing-a-new-ROM-Check-this-out/td-p/470739
i flashed the complete leaked unofficial rom and GPS now works great, and i mean ecstatically great - but for non-vibrant owners, you may want to try the above until the AT&T version comes out, official or unofficially

I'm worried the "GPS fix" will be just what we've been seeing... quicker locks on more satellites, and we will get shafted on accuracy. I've had tons of satellites locking very quickly for a long time, but Navigation and My Tracks sucks. My GPS wanders off the road too often, and I'm growing worried that Samsung is not fixing this.
Vibrant people are all happy they are getting lots of satellites, but nobody is showing good tracks.. all negative reports have been from people saying the GPS accuracy still wanders significantly.
*sigh*

phr00t said:
I'm worried the "GPS fix" will be just what we've been seeing... quicker locks on more satellites, and we will get shafted on accuracy. I've had tons of satellites locking very quickly for a long time, but Navigation and My Tracks sucks. My GPS wanders off the road too often, and I'm growing worried that Samsung is not fixing this.
Vibrant people are all happy they are getting lots of satellites, but nobody is showing good tracks.. all negative reports have been from people saying the GPS accuracy still wanders significantly.
*sigh*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is still not announced as a release candidate and is already an older build - so we just have to see what we get.

phr00t said:
I'm worried the "GPS fix" will be just what we've been seeing... quicker locks on more satellites, and we will get shafted on accuracy. I've had tons of satellites locking very quickly for a long time, but Navigation and My Tracks sucks. My GPS wanders off the road too often, and I'm growing worried that Samsung is not fixing this.
Vibrant people are all happy they are getting lots of satellites, but nobody is showing good tracks.. all negative reports have been from people saying the GPS accuracy still wanders significantly.
*sigh*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I took a few my tracks. Here's a few http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=203177861999786056973.00049039ea9c9e23685c5
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=203177861999786056973.00049039f8910f0711655
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=203177861999786056973.00049039fce7454f32df5
this one wigged out in a couple places, but that was down on the bottom of a hill with tons of trees and etc. Not perfect, but for me, its all I need. Today I'm driving about 40 mins and ill my track it and navigate the whole way. So far my test are good. Edit: just looked at this one again and its junk.lol still better than nothing..lol
Anyone got a mytracks uploaded from another phone to compare?
Seems like it tracks better driving and gets a little confused when stationary. That's where my wigged points came....

I have attached two track screenshots of the same trip..
Most of the time, it is good (good_track)
Some of the time, it is very bad (bad_track). It sucks knowing I just can't rely on my phone's GPS navigation... if I am in a tricky area, the GPS will jump to other streets randomly... but on long straightaways, it could be just fine. The randomness of reliability is frustrating.

phr00t said:
I have attached two track screenshots of the same trip..
Most of the time, it is good (good_track)
Some of the time, it is very bad (bad_track). It sucks knowing I just can't rely on my phone's GPS navigation... if I am in a tricky area, the GPS will jump to other streets randomly... but on long straightaways, it could be just fine. The randomness of reliability is frustrating.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have a captivate or vibrant? I've got a vibrant...

Captivate here..

phr00t said:
Captivate here..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea, accuracy still not best on vibrant but locks on well, fast and doesn't lose route in navigation. Way big improvement than before.
If this is as good as it gets for me, I'm happy with it...

can't wait to try this out
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

One of these threads starts every time a new ROM is released and every time the masses cheer, "A GPS Fix at last!". Many posts claim confirmation, others claim no difference, and eventually the results are nearly nill. I'll believe it's fixed when I see it. For me, it works well enough, it could be better, but I don't rely on a GPS device to get me from point to point, I read the map, plan my trip, note key turns and streets, and use the GPS as an assist. I think map readers are going to be huge paying jobs in the future.

has anyone tried to do this on their captivate? i'm hesitant to try.
edit: tried to apply it but it doesn't look like it has any effect because its probably not designed for it

[Q] Did v2.2 fix your GPS?

I was really hoping it would, but after installing Cognition v2.2 BETA5.5. my GPS is no better. I really miss this feature.
If others are having this fix theirs than I need to see about getting new hardware. If not, then ... I don't know.... Start shopping for another (not a Samsung) phone?

Phredeee said:
I was really hoping it would, but after installing Cognition v2.2 BETA5.5. my GPS is no better. I really miss this feature.
If others are having this fix theirs than I need to see about getting new hardware. If not, then ... I don't know.... Start shopping for another (not a Samsung) phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
2.2 helped my GPS immensely though it was already decent before hand.
and not to be a PITA but the really shouldn't be in the dev forum, shoulda posted it in the Q&A one.

This belongs in general.
That aside, froyo is better than stock but not fixed.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

cropythy said:
This belongs in general.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I put it here since froyo is not official yet. Thus a development topic.
Thanks for the response.

Phredeee said:
I put it here since froyo is not official yet. Thus a development topic.
Thanks for the response.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google maps still can't get a fix very well, but its a software issue, my tracks shows that my gps has near perfect accuracy, sensor assist in settings does not work, it only makes the run on arrow, and driving through the woods worse.
Once you get a good fix in google maps you should then get fixes faster but the initial fix may take a while. Getting a fix with other software first seems to help, but may be coincidental.
Before you go trading in the phone make sure you do a clean install, master clear in odin one click, then odin flash jf6, then upgrade, either with odin or via clockwork mod recovery.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using Tapatalk

Didn't really fix it for me. It takes a long time to get a fix and once I get it, it would lose the fix within a few seconds.
I'm not using a window mount so the GPS signal has to go through the roof of my car. That may or may not affect it.

Didn't fix it at all for me. Very frustrating.
-Can't get a lock while moving
-Can't get a lock inside
-When I do get a lock it will lose it If I start moving
-Accuracy is waaay off.

2.2 broke my GPS It pretty much worked fine before I updated... now I cant even get a lock!!!

Mine will lock fine if I'm not moving but will not work once I'm moving, so still no navigation. I've heard it works for some so I wonder if there are just alot of hardware issues or what

My advice to you guys is to learn how to tweak lbstestmode settings. You can make your gps a lot better or a lot worse with these settings. Read up on the best settings and apply them to your phone.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

I gave up on my gps ... I am now "hoping" that the official release fixes it for everyone

update, i previously reported that it had more or less fixed my gps, that was with beta 4. beta 5.5 cant seem to get a fix, bad install im guessing. any number of things could be responsible. and no lbs test mode settings do not fix the gps. i almost wonder if it has something to do with titanium backup which i did not use before. its all purely speculation though.

Using Cognition Froyo 2.2 b5, GPS works almost 100% out of all the apps, google (Nav mostly)is the one with issues but very few now. It just looses me sometimes, usually when going under 20 mph but it does find me again in seconds.
I don't have a dash mount yet (due to questionable GPS) so it sits on the seat next to me in a truck, not the best. My trick is to run GPS test for a minute before I use Nav, seems to work every time. I lock on 7-10 sats in 6 or 7 seconds and they stay locked which never happened before, A lot of the time I'll be locked on 9 to 10 while moving with gps test reporting my speed within 1 mile an hour. I've also noticed that I get very few mistakes from Nav if I turn on the satellite layer, don't know why but works solidly for me when I do that.
This phone couldn't do a thing with gps before I flashed Cog's froyo and I had flashed a lot of different fixes, files, and roms almost bricking the phone a few times but nothing worked like the cognition froyo. I haven't used the jupiter v 006 files neither, no need with the gps working well.

GPS
I'm hoping that there was some parallel development going on and Samsung hasn't included a GPS fix in the leaked Froyo ROM. The GPS is pretty bad now - it's taking forever to obtain a fix again.

With 2.2, mine works fine. It takes a full minute to get a lock that status solid while in motion, but it gets a usable lock in twenty seconds. It's not as good as an iphone, but it's usable. In eclair, it's useless. Most of the time I can't get a lock at all, even if I let it try for a half hour. It will see 8 satellites and not lock a single one. In short, 2.2 has fixed my gps.

Mine has yet to have the GPS functioning well enough to use it.

No
........... 10 chars.

No, not at all.
My old ancient TMO G1 running Edge on ATT had lock on GPS 100% of the time. It was dead accurate and GPS was always on point. Can't say the same about my Captivate.
I'm on my second Captivate. I exchanged my first one thinking it was a hardware issue but alas I've given up. I flashed my phone with a couple different versions of ROMS (but not before trying the OTA Official fix before flashing any customs or rooting) it updated successfully but the GPS was still hella slow.
I'm not sure what's going on but these workarounds and everything absolutely do not work for me at all.
The only time the GPS works is when I turn Wi-Fi on, which defeats the purpose of having a wireless device in my opinion since you won't ALWAYS be around a Wi-Fi network (especially on a highway connected between the middle of nowhere) ...

I drove 450 miles with the GPS on my Captivate using Google Nav. It was pretty darn accurate. Only lost me 3 times the entire trip and by that I mean it went off onto the sideroads that ran parallel with the highway and then immediately came back. I'd have to say that 2.2 definitely fixed my GPS without a doubt.

I recently was having the crazy compass issue where it jumps back and forth. But my gps had always worked well as long as I wasn't moving to fast... I know I know. But cog 5.5 fixed my compass and improved my gps as well. Note I said improved not fixed, lol.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

Lack of captivate issues

My phone works perfect. My gps tracks perfectly through the woods and in my house I get 15' accuracy when running a GPS test. My phone doesn't randomly shutdown. Actually both of my captivates have the same lack of issues.
Wait, nope I did have one issue. I removed GTalk after I rooted and flashed Cognition to fix it, without enabling lagfix.
Am I alone in this? Are there other people who don't have problems?
I love the developers here, they constantly are working on improving perceived issues and do it without whining about inferior products or people. Oh and they do it for free.
Thank god for developers.

thumbs up!
go devs!

I think you're in denial or you just aren't OCD enough to realize the phone does have flaws. Mostly due to laziness in design by Samsung, not enough testing. I have an inside source saying the entire Samsung Development team was frying on mushrooms when working on this...

After Paragon RC4 fixed my GPS issue I can't think of any problem my phone has and I hammer away on it all day. I have build 1008.
Sent using XDA App

1 shut down when I first bought the phone. Going on 3 months (of ownership) now, with no issues. Of course I suppose a lot of the credit goes to Cognition 3.04 for being a great stable rom

yeah my gps is great... if im walking.. not if im driving.
no shutdown issues though.
had denied access though when trying to use "usb storage mode" returned phone. no issues with new one except gps...

I've been very fortunate as well. GPS isn't perfect, but got me around downtown Philadelphia perfectly just yesterday.
Phone is rooted, with stock rom. Removed AT&T bloatware. Using K-9 for mail, Dolphin HD for browser and of course advanced task killer.
No shutdowns, battery gets me through the day. Worst thing is the new Android Market, which is much slower than the previous versions.
I am a Samsung fan, having progressed from a Sammy flip phone, to the Blackjack, to the Jack, to my Captivate, so I am a bit biased. Folks in the office have several Verizon models, including an older HTC model, an Incredible, and a Droid 2. Each one has a few quirks, so take it for what it's worth
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

Never had any issues here, either.

My GPS works perfectly too; I get 1.2 m accuracy in my house which is surrounded by trees . . . but only since I started using a TomTom Wireless MKII (bluetooth) receiver.
It's funny how the MKII which was designed and built 5 years ago can get a lock in my house in a few seconds when the Captivate's built-in GPS always takes 248 seconds to lock under better conditions (outside). I wonder if that metal case back is a problem . . . hmmmmm

Listen to the audio of a video recording.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

Hurricane Andrew said:
Phone is rooted, with stock rom. Removed AT&T bloatware. Using K-9 for mail, Dolphin HD for browser and of course advanced task killer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you are aware that using a task killer is a waste of time... right? it is totally unneeded on android.
http://geekfor.me/faq/you-shouldnt-be-using-a-task-killer-with-android/

So, honestly, I've had more issues with custom roms than with the phone at stock. I've had weird mass storage problems, GPS lock quality, force closes, strange wifi lock ups that require a reboot or a complete dump of programs in ram, data network loss until a reboot, just to name the major ones.
With the stock software, even though there was a crap ton of bloat, the phone worked. Sure, there was random lag, and the GPS took a little longer to lock(up to 1min), but when it did, it never had issues with maps or navigation like it does now, where the program thinks I'm driving in a river, or suddenly changed directions going 80 on the interstate. The mass storage worked better also, as did BT audio.
I gained speed and customization with the roms from this community, but it was essentially trading one issue for another.

groves226 said:
My gps tracks perfectly through the woods
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your GPS works cause you're in the woods. Try skyscrapers... then you'll have a fun time with that GPS unit.
That's good that you like it though. Never let someone convince you its broken if it ain't...
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

groves226 said:
My phone works perfect. My gps tracks perfectly through the woods and in my house I get 15' accuracy when running a GPS test. My phone doesn't randomly shutdown. Actually both of my captivates have the same lack of issues.
Wait, nope I did have one issue. I removed GTalk after I rooted and flashed Cognition to fix it, without enabling lagfix.
Am I alone in this? Are there other people who don't have problems?
I love the developers here, they constantly are working on improving perceived issues and do it without whining about inferior products or people. Oh and they do it for free.
Thank god for developers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're not alone.
GPS has worked for me from day one (I bought it on launch day), literally. My first full day with the phone I flew to another state, had no clue about the area and it got me everywhere I needed to go.

any gps receiver wll have issues with multipath. There is nothing that can fix, actual yes, remove tall building which are close to each other

My original phone worked fine at first, then developed the random shutdown issue. It was bone stock. I tried rooting, ROMing, etc to fix it, but it still shutdown.
I exchanged it for a "refrubed replacement" 12-31-2010. I left the replacement stock for almost a month to make sure it was going to work right before I did any mods. The shutdown issue was gone, and the GPS worked great.
I was hesitant to flash it cuz it was working and stable. But I had already had a taste of custom roms so I couldn't bear leaving it stock forever.
Flashed different roms, different kernels, numerous different modems etc.... So far so good.
No issues yet. But now that I said something it'll probably die on me tomorrow!

I do live in a small city(Fayetteville NC which is a small town compared to Philly) but driving in Raleigh and Dallas I don't have any issue. (bought my phone in dallas) Driving or walking or running it just works. Alsk I get lock in less then 20 seconds which is pretty average for a lot of gps devices I have used. (well not the military PLGR which seemed to take 30minutes to lock)
I thought about it and there is one thing I do with a custom rom I didn't do with stock: live background.
Cognition was ok but now I'm running Phoenix Rising.
Great dev community in XDA all around, and if I hadn't removed GTalk I would never have tried one of these roms.
And for playing video or media I get issues with 1080 files but everything else works good enough for a phone. Yeah a phone, compared to an Ipod touch or Zune Hd or a computer it isn't as good but I also can't make phone calls on some or fit the other in my pocket which makes this Captivate a great device.

Right on about the multipath! I wonder how many GPS complaints are from this.
Heh like listening to the radio or watching old school pre-HD tv in a city.

The only issue I had with stock cappy is it would not connect to pc. I tried every driver under the sun, on xp, vista, and even bought windows 7. Nada. My wifes would connect immediately. So I just made att swap it out for a new one and it works perfectly. I really didn't care until I got tired of waiting on froyo and decided to flash. I wanted a backup on my pc so I called att and did a swap. 3 days later I flashed my first rom. Now my OTA download rate is faster than my dsl, so I'm sticking it to att by dl'ing over their network.

My wife and son also have Captivates, both stock. They got them in November 2010.
My wife's has been fine for the most part but has shutdown maybe 3 times over the months. She has opted not exchange it yet since the shutdowns have been very rare. Her GPS works fine but is a little slow to lock.
My son's just started shutting down over the last week or so. It's to the point we are probably going to have to take it in for an exchange.

The real cause of nonworking gps!

so this is my 3rd G2X, my first was a horrible rebooter so i exchanged it for a second, which was pretty good but i could never get the GPS to work. so i just got my 3rd g2x sent to me, and everything was working, including GPS. Then i downloaded GPS status and toolbox. when i opened the app it told me GPS assistance downloaded, and from then on my GPS won't work. i tried a factory reset and it is still broken, so i think i have found the cause of the problem. Anyone agree?
also is there a fix, or do i need to get a 4th g2x sent to me?

I have GPS status on my G2X and my GPS works perfect.

slowpig38 said:
so this is my 3rd G2X, my first was a horrible rebooter so i exchanged it for a second, which was pretty good but i could never get the GPS to work. so i just got my 3rd g2x sent to me, and everything was working, including GPS. Then i downloaded GPS status and toolbox. when i opened the app it told me GPS assistance downloaded, and from then on my GPS won't work. i tried a factory reset and it is still broken, so i think i have found the cause of the problem. Anyone agree?
also is there a fix, or do i need to get a 4th g2x sent to me?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You, sir, should work as a journalist. What a wonderfully sensationalist headline!
'This is the absolute truth!! I think...'
Why would an app that a lot of us don't use be the cause of such a widespread problem?

Man, there is no need to be rude. He is just trying to figure out what is going on with his gps.
Slowpig, I highly doubt it's the program making the gps nonfunctional. You have several options though. You could try rooting and flash EaglesBlood (froyo) and see what that does. I like it a lot better than the stock, and everything works just fine. Also, try searching before you post, as there about a million gps fix threads. Here are a few I found doing a quick search....
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1092016&highlight=gps+fix
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1079304&highlight=gps+fix
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1085664&highlight=gps+fix
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1078750&highlight=gps+fix
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1049370&highlight=gps+fix
Anyway, do some reading, and see what you come up with. Again, I'd give a new rom a shot and see what that does for you. Hope this helps.

before you guys go off calling me retarded, know that this is my 3rd g2x and my second one ahd a faulty gps, and i tried all of the fixes on the forum to fix it. when i aquired my new one it worked out of the box, but after the instalation of the app in question it stopped. when i went into the hidden menu and deleted all aiding data it worked perfectly again. see why i might be led to my conclusion? it mightve been a bit rushed, but i was very upset that my brand new G2X's gps had suddenly stopped working after only an hour of use.

slowpig38 said:
before you guys go off calling me retarded, know that this is my 3rd g2x and my second one ahd a faulty gps, and i tried all of the fixes on the forum to fix it. when i aquired my new one it worked out of the box, but after the instalation of the app in question it stopped. when i went into the hidden menu and deleted all aiding data it worked perfectly again. see why i might be led to my conclusion? it mightve been a bit rushed, but i was very upset that my brand new G2X's gps had suddenly stopped working after only an hour of use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If that is the reason then can you explain why I have those apps on my G2X and the GPS still works better than any other GPS I've ever used?

It seems its just random, some g2xs have problems while others don't. Its just poor QC by LG
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App

I finally got around to try the gps. Maps, earth, gps status all work fine, except for the speedometer apps.

Are you not getting a lock at all, or is it just taking FOREVER to get a lock. There was a fix I flashed for mine (mine took forever to lock), and now mine locks almost instantly! I'll try to see if I can search and find the thread, but the thread had different files to flash with cwr and each had it's own region. (ie south east, west coast, etc).

Mine works now. I just had to do a factory reset
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App

Mine finds satellites but takes forever to lock. Even on stock ROM with a factory reset.
Like n 1-2 seconds it find 6 satellites, but lock takes 10 to 20 minutes at least.

ce3jay said:
I finally got around to try the gps. Maps, earth, gps status all work fine, except for the speedometer apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same problem with speedometer apps!
It acts like it only wants to display speed in increments instead of the actual speed.

strung said:
Mine finds satellites but takes forever to lock. Even on stock ROM with a factory reset.
Like n 1-2 seconds it find 6 satellites, but lock takes 10 to 20 minutes at least.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine was taking a long time until I flashed this fix. Give it a shot, it worked for me. I get locks in a few seconds. Here is the link...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1085354
Hope this helps!

This is my third G2X and all have had gps issues. Currently I applied the download fix (southeast region fix) last night and I saw an immediate transformation. Very quick locks and much improved accuracy.Unfortunately this morning I am back to either no locks or locks after 30 seconds to 5 minutes and the accuracy is horrible. Right now where last night I got almost instantaneous locks and 16 to 39 ft accuracy I am getting very very slow locks and 37209 ft accuracy. I was elated last night but now I am as confused as ever. I have tried every gps fix I can get my hands on and I am right back where I started.

Mine works pretty well. Glad a factory reset fixed your problems.

slowpig38 said:
It seems its just random, some g2xs have problems while others don't. Its just poor QC by LG
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed!
I love my android phone but coming from an Iphone 3gs to a vibrant to a g2x. The phone(s) on paper are Superior to Iphone (specs are amazing and way faster) But apples qc is far superior to lgs and sammys I hate waiting over 7 months for an os upgrade so they can bloat it up with crap, What I hate even more is when you spend your hard earned cash on a phone that looks amazing, and a standard feature (GPS) don't work. Despite apples ass raping when it comes to hardware and its lack of software features(android is an will always be king) They put out solid phones (other than that iPhone 4 antennagate crap). Androids strength and most detrimental weakness is its partners. Google Does not get that if a person is disappointed over and over they will jump ship! This is my second disappointment after my vibrant (GPS not working correctly). But i'm quick to forgive, others are not... If I were a regular customer and not a geek who loves tech and i switched from Ios (iphone) to android (vibrant, G2x) and had all these issues screen bleed, gps,freezing etc. id switch back after the first week, and androids image would be tarnished.

Anyone with GPS problems????

I've searched the threads for are Verizon variant of the SGSIII. If this has been discussed , mod please remove.
I'm not a noob by any means. My GPS is driving me up a freaking wall. I've tried from on a pure stock ROM, yes out the box and both rooted .img's. Plus all available ROM'S .
Here is where my adventure begins. It takes forever if at all , to get a lock. If I do get a lock it will stick but that is about 1 out of ten times. I've tried to modify the GPS.conf , with known general tweaks and NTP servers to pull from with no luck, also a few general build.prop tweaks. Then I turned to the market and we all no how that goes , thousands of apps claiming to give you the world with a click of a button. Nada , nothing. I've done full restores, formatted system, efs etc ect, a clean start. Still no luck. Now I thought at one point that maby my GPS is fubared, I highly doubt this. I can see all satellites in my region and it connects to about one or two at the most. When I just look at my maps on my location it is close , it will show me about 100 ft away from the road I'm on or the next road over, or show me on the road but riding along side it. If I'm in navigation it just says follow route , searching for GPS. So I no its close.
This is frustrating cause I'm a self employed contractor and I depend on my phone for everything. So if anyone can confirm some of the problems I've been having or any links or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
(EDIT) After some reaserch and tinkering with the gps.conf I have made my GPS 50% better. See page 2.
DirtyDroidX
Sent from my SCH-I535 or XT913

I've had the same problem. My GPS takes forever to lock on (if I try to start it up while navigating, it usually doesn't lock at all). And when it does lock on, the accuracy is terrible.
I haven't tried any of the tweaks, apps, or different ROMs or anything, but I shouldn't be really have to. GPS worked great on my now 2.5 year old HTC Incredible, and works fine on the Rezound I play with a lot. This was one of the things I was worried about when I bought this phone... HTC phones are known for having the best radios around... and Samsung radios are known to be ****. Well, this has only reinforced that for me.
For a comparison to the Rezound, see the attached screenshots taken at pretty much the same time, in pretty much the same spot. In fairness, I was moving (although coming to a stop) when the SGSIII one was taken, but the results that came out were actually one of the better ones. Around the time I took the screenshots, I was getting measurements similar to this as well as much worse than this, while both moving and stopped. Hell, you can even see that the 3G signal is weaker on the SGSIII.
I've seen these same issues discussed in a number of forums on here, and I recognize that not everyone has this problem. Most people's GPS locks on instantly and the accuracy is great. But there are still a lot of people who do have this problem, so it's definitely not just a couple isolated cases. I realize that I can take it in for a warranty replacement, but then I get a refurbished phone back, and those usually come with even more problems... which is the thing that pisses me off about the Verizon warranty program... I buy a brand new phone... it doesn't work... I get a refurbished phone in it's place. Samsung needs to just stop making shoddy hardware and it won't be a problem.
Don't get me wrong, I'd still take this phone over the Rezound any day. It's sexier, has a way better processor, camera, and battery life, and has a bigger screen. I just miss Sense and having radios that actually work well

For whatever reason, the old GPS issue thread disappeared. Initially I had no problems on stock, but when I flashed Invisiblek's JB 8-10 build, I wasn't able to lock on.
What I did was download FasterFix from the PlayStore. With GPS off, I launched it, set the region to my region, closed, and then turned on GPS, waited a minute and launched navigation again. See if that works for you. I think FasterFix calibrates your region or something if it's trying to find you somewhere in the world and is taking a while.

xmrlazyx said:
For whatever reason, the old GPS issue thread disappeared. Initially I had no problems on stock, but when I flashed Invisiblek's JB 8-10 build, I wasn't able to lock on.
What I did was download FasterFix from the PlayStore. With GPS off, I launched it, set the region to my region, closed, and then turned on GPS, waited a minute and launched navigation again. See if that works for you. I think FasterFix calibrates your region or something if it's trying to find you somewhere in the world and is taking a while.
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Click to collapse
FasterFix seems like it might fix the lock-on time but not the accuracy, which is the (much) bigger problem.

I hope I don't. S2 had a POS GPS at first that took forever to fix.

Yea I can get a lock faster with a few play store apps. The thing is like said before, the accuracy is ****ty. Plus the navigation won't function cause of this. I hope someone with in depth knowledge can see what the problem is. I have not given up hope yet lol. I have a few things I want to test out and then I might throw my hands in the air. I need to get ahold of nitroglycerin33 on talk and ask him a few questions.
Jmo. I flashed the radio before Verizon got there ignorant hands on it. I forget what the version name is . I live on a fringe area and I was dropping calls left and right ,bad 4G conection. Now I would say its 60% better.
Sent from my SCH-I535 or XT913

You should exchange the phone if you can. Mine was terrible before and now its perfect on the new phone.

ChrisNee1988 said:
You should exchange the phone if you can..
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I agree, GPS not working in these phones seems to be a hardware problem.
My G3 GPS works perfectly (better than my old Rezound in side by side comparisons, it locks almost instantly even inside where I work), but my boss had one that didn't work for ****.
VZ replaced his & now it works great.

My wife's S3 does something entirely different. GPS locks on fine and fast, but it says she's in Clintwood VA, about 500 miles off. First noticed it in the weather widget, but if she opens maps it starts in Clintwood, but locks on correctly in just a few seconds. Weather can be changed manually, but goes back to Clintwood after a while.
Never been to Clintwood, may need to see if there's anything worth seeing there.

johnnyvol said:
My wife's S3 does something entirely different. GPS locks on fine and fast, but it says she's in Clintwood VA, about 500 miles off. First noticed it in the weather widget, but if she opens maps it starts in Clintwood, but locks on correctly in just a few seconds. Weather can be changed manually, but goes back to Clintwood after a while.
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Click to collapse
That is just a bug in the [email protected] stock weather app, mine does the same thing. It always puts me in NYC which is a 6 1/2 hour drive away.
I use weather & toggle widgets flip clock/weather instead in Nova Launcher & that weather app always locates me perfectly no matter where I am.

Just got it and this is one of the best GPS's I have seen yet. Better than my S2 and my Razr.

My last GS3 had a similar issue too on top of the lock taking forever and it being a bit off. At one point it thought I was in Florida but I really live near DC. My friend noticed it when I was chatting with the FB app and it included Geotags and was wondering what I was doing in Florida.
johnnyvol said:
My wife's S3 does something entirely different. GPS locks on fine and fast, but it says she's in Clintwood VA, about 500 miles off. First noticed it in the weather widget, but if she opens maps it starts in Clintwood, but locks on correctly in just a few seconds. Weather can be changed manually, but goes back to Clintwood after a while.
Never been to Clintwood, may need to see if there's anything worth seeing there.
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Click to collapse

I'm leaning toward a hardware issue myself cause I'm adjusting the NTP servers as we speak. I've used about 6 different ones . No change. I'm going to try some prop tweaks now.
Sent from my SCH-I535 or XT913

dirtydroidx said:
I'm leaning toward a hardware issue myself cause I'm adjusting the NTP servers as we speak. I've used about 6 different ones . No change. I'm going to try some prop tweaks now.
Sent from my SCH-I535 or XT913
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I could be misinterpreting what you are trying to do, but why would the NTP servers have anything to do with your GPS problem? NTP simply delivers UTC time....

GPS works prefer for me. Takes about ten seconds at most to lock
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

Beemer533 said:
I could be misinterpreting what you are trying to do, but why would the NTP servers have anything to do with your GPS problem? NTP simply delivers UTC time....
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Click to collapse
I'm not sure what the problem is that's why I'm trying to distinguish between hardware or software. Just exploring all options. Can't hurt.
Sent from my SCH-I535 or XT913

OK might be on to something
If anyone wants to try it out I will post it here in a little bit. From tweaking the GPS.conf file I got this>>>
When I started the day I got not one lock on a satt !
Sent from my SCH-I535 or XT913

dirtydroidx said:
I'm not sure what the problem is that's why I'm trying to distinguish between hardware or software. Just exploring all options. Can't hurt.
Sent from my SCH-I535 or XT913
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Click to collapse
No, it certainly can't! I was just wondering, as NTP just delivers time, and has no positional information...

Agreed the lock does take forever UNLESS you turn on Google Location Services (which I usually have off), and it is accurate as all hell even indoors. I wonder if turning that on with Standalone GPS will solve your issues.
Edit: GPS lock was great with Maps indoors, but switching to Navigation it never locked onto GPS even though it had my location perfectly!

OK if you want to prove my concept feel free to . Let me no if it works for you. Go out side or be in a car while locking on!
1) Download new gps.conf file>>>
http://db.tt/5xvFneRt
2) Replace it in /ect . Rename the original one from .conf to .bak. using a file explorer with R/W enabled , so yes you have to be rooted!
3) Download GPS toolbox https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.eclipsim.gpsstatus2
4) Reboot.
5) Enable standalone GPS and Google services NOT Verizon services.
6) Open GPS status select options/tools/reset . Then options/ tools/download
7) Reboot
8) Open GPS status and wait for lock . Mine took 5 min a friends took 3. Then open up navigation .
9) Profit
Sent from my SCH-I535 or XT913