[Q] Newer captivates - Captivate General

Hello. Since no one seems to comment on this, I was just wondering if people have been using newer captivates and if the GPS on those units is working? If you had one built recently and had GPS flawlessly working it could mean samsung quietly fixed the bug. Just wondering if getting a cheaper captivate over the atrix is worth it since custom ROMing on this phone is so easy and fun
Thanks a lot.

I got mine in December at Walmart for $48.00. It's a 1012 build and the GPS was marginal at best on stock eclair 2.1. On any custom rom here it rocks. I've had outstanding gps on Di11i's 6.0 and on Cog 4.1 with plumbbobs .93 fix.
But to answer your question, I'd say no,they haven't fixed anything.

bigbooty said:
I got mine in December at Walmart for $48.00. It's a 1012 build and the GPS was marginal at best on stock eclair 2.1. On any custom rom here it rocks. I've had outstanding gps on Di11i's 6.0 and on Cog 4.1 with plumbbobs .93 fix.
But to answer your question, I'd say no,they haven't fixed anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So in other words you can use your GPS for tracking/navigation etc and it works ok? I think these xda devs should open up their own mobile company lol. Amazing work if they can fix what a huge corporation is unable to! Hats off to you all

phonex1 said:
So in other words you can use your GPS for tracking/navigation etc and it works ok? I think these xda devs should open up their own mobile company lol. Amazing work if they can fix what a huge corporation is unable to! Hats off to you all
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got my phone about 2-3 weeks ago. It's a 1012 build as well. Stock 2.1 GPS was terrible and rarely worked.
With most custom ROMs it has seemed to work much better. Whatever GPS fix FireFly 2.3 uses works GREAT. I've had 75%-85% luck with Andromeda and ~50% with Cognition. Its kind of a crapshoot.
My guess is Samsung is making these phones using the absolute cheapest garbage components they can - It's the only explanation for the varying results in speed, GPS, and overall usability on the same ROMs on 2 identical phones.
I'm running Andromeda right now and use a Speedometer app using GPS and it works pretty damn well to give me +/- 3MPH.

It works great in Srendipity, haven't tried it in movement but it finds me fast and with +-30 meters radius...

I have an older Cappy, v1008, and truly I don't find it that much worse than my TomTom.
There are distinct caveats to each device. The TomTom takes far longer to lock in new time zones, but tracks a bit better. Both hate the concrete jungle, ie the financial district in SF... Manhattan.

I have a 1012 build also and have a flawless GPS....and it was that way out of the box on stock Eclair 2.1 too! Now, on Serendipity, I get a lock INSIDE the house within 6-8 seconds. On stock 2.1 it wasn't much different either.
I'm just one of the lucky ones I guess.....

I never did and still don't have an issue on either Captivate I own.
I asked before if people with issues live in cities, which would explain GPS issues with any device.
Sent from my Dell Streak 7 using XDA Premium App

Mine is build 1101 and out of the box I have had no GPS complaints. It locked fine in less than 10 seconds indoors with Eclair, and still does that with Froyo. Outside, it's usually less than 5 seconds. Tracking seem really accurate.

mine is one of those 1101 versions...i'm guessing it's new since i've only recently acquired it...didn't even use stock captivate, went straight to custom roms and it's gps is pretty solid...alot better than my milestone if that counts for anything

sebas.mf said:
It works great in Srendipity, haven't tried it in movement but it finds me fast and with +-30 meters radius...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, Serendipity had good GPS as well. I've flashed so many roms in the last month it's nuts...

phonex1 said:
So in other words you can use your GPS for tracking/navigation etc and it works ok? I think these xda devs should open up their own mobile company lol. Amazing work if they can fix what a huge corporation is unable to! Hats off to you all
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really don't think its that they couldnt fix it but more like they didn't want to
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

I've got an 1011 build and gps was crap with stock eclair. I have Cog 4.1 with xcalibur's kernel now and gps had been quick to lock.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA Premium App

Related

Why aren't there any Gingerbread roms for the Captivate?

What is the reason? I'm really curious about that.
We have one. Check here for a list of all roms. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=887525
The only ones I found were Froyo with Gingerbread themes...
There are some what of Gingerbread ROM's ported from the I9000, with CM7, Far from a daily ROM. As well it is sort of difficult to actually flash, crazy kernel crap.
There is a team working on bringing 2.3 to the galaxy s. I haven't heard anything in about a month but they still had some issues to work out
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
CM7 for SGS
There were people working on porting gingerbread to the captivate but many of them are now involved in the project to bring CM7 to the i9000 and the captivate. The i9000 however seems to be the priority and it is not yet complete search for cmsgs on google to find out more
The problem is that we don't have the source to all of the proprietary Samsung bits, like hardware drivers, leaving some of the hardware either completely non-functional or malfunctioning. With the 2.2 roms, it's a lot easier because we have leaked 2.2 roms that were designed for our hardware, or the source code for other devices in the galaxy s line.
Though the Nexus S is similar to the Galaxy S line, there are a few hardware differences that make porting difficult. I've been following the CM7 twitter feed for the i9000 - it seems like they've figured most of the stuff out. The major hurdle was that the camera wasn't working, which it now is, and the remaining problems are all somewhat minor things - polling problem in the radio interface layer, wifi glitches.. Hopefully we'll see a proper build a lot sooner now that the camera has been sorted.
CM7 for captivate (stock gingerbread 2.3.3) is now working fine.
QuarkGluonSoup said:
CM7 for captivate (stock gingerbread 2.3.3) is now working fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's not entirely accurate...
At any rate, once i9000 gingerbread source is released there will be a bunch of them.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA Premium App
QuarkGluonSoup said:
CM7 for captivate (stock gingerbread 2.3.3) is now working fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree, it's working fine for me...
jhernand1102 said:
I agree, it's working fine for me...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just falshed away from CM7 it is not all working
The main parts are working but many things still do not work for our cappys or the I9000 or the vibernt.
It is very useable if u dont use bluetooth, moible AP, Car docking, andmany other highly used featers.
It is fine for web surfing and Phone calls, and texting, and a few other minor things.
So for those of us that need the biger parts of the ROM to work it just isnt going to cut it.
I see there a few i9000 no CM7 2.3.2 roms also i have seen a vibernt 2.3.2 rom.
It comes down to no one has worked or completed work on 2.3.x to our cappys. besides the CM7 thats far from 100% ready for the masses.
I mean i can handle giveing up a few things but with a few custom 2.2 roms and a nice kernel i get benchmarks and many other scores just as high if not higher then CM7 2.3.3, and give up nothing.
So y flash and deal with a few reboots and force close prb i found with a few apps.
Btw yes i had the most current cm7 20110304.
i wish it worked a little better and i am sure it will it just takes time.
I figer this y work on that ROM when we have an i9000 2.3.2 rom unsure but i think it would be easier to port. then an non sammy rom.
But much many be learned there at CM7 helping in converting the sammy 2.3.2 to our cappys.
But i can say i am a bit unhappy that vibernt got the i9000 working on there ohones frist
Those are just my opions not tring to offend anyone.
I've been using CM7 with no problems
I've been using CM7 as a daily driver for a week now, with no issues. I love it actually! You can find clear instructions on how to install it here:
http://forum.cyanogenmod.com/topic/...7-for-samsung-galaxy-s-phones-build-20110303/
I would love to upgrade to gingerbread someday when they work the knicks out of it. I will wait til this phone gets old enough not to worry about abuse lol.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Agreed, I have been using Cyanogen and it's been reasonably stable, except for wifi sleep issues, a bit of bad battery life and when I pulled my battery and I had to rewipe.
But I have actually been very pleased with it, very snappy and I love all the customization!
Gingerbread is coming to galaxy s this month.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
steph2 said:
It is very useable if u dont use bluetooth, moible AP, Car docking, andmany other highly used featers.
It is fine for web surfing and Phone calls, and texting, and a few other minor things.
So for those of us that need the biger parts of the ROM to work it just isnt going to cut it.
Those are just my opions not tring to offend anyone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hate to nitpick on anyone... but I think you have the major and minor parts of a phone mixed up.... the big parts are the texting/calls and web browser... bluetooth and car docking and etc are the small parts
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA Premium App
Johosophat said:
Agreed, I have been using Cyanogen and it's been reasonably stable, except for wifi sleep issues, a bit of bad battery life and when I pulled my battery and I had to rewipe.
But I have actually been very pleased with it, very snappy and I love all the customization!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The WiFi issue was fixed today, so we migth get an updated release today.
The one issue that made come back to a Samsung ROM is the camera. The picture quality is mediocre at best, and it takes too long to start. Its really unfortunate because otherwise the rom works way better than any other rom. Seriously, I just noticed today his ****ing ****ty the browser is in stock ROMS.
MikeyMike01 said:
That's not entirely accurate...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That made me think of James Rebhorn in Independence Day haha
same here using cm7 on my captivate for a month already. best rom ever! thanks alot to cmsgs team!
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA App

Some GPS comparisons

On my stock Cappy the GPS was only so-so. With Andromeda 1.2 it was awesome. Recently flashed to Cog 4.1 and while it was still better than stock, it was not as good as it was on Andromeda. I recently got a replacement phone from AT$T and decided to do some testing with it before I have to send one back. I have Andromeda on the phone on the left, Cog 4 on the phone on the right. I used two programs available for free from Market. The first is GPS Status, the second is GPS Test. Neother phone has a SIM card installed and wifi is turned off so that only the GPS is being used. Both phones have the exact same LBSTESTMODE settings and are using the same Google server and port.
Notice that Andromeda is not only faster at locking, but sees more satellites, holds them better, and gets a more accurate lock.
(Click pic to play)
Test 1 using GPS Status
Test 2 using GPS Test
I'd really like to stay on Cog 4.1 since it is based on an actual Cappy Froyo ROM, but GPS performance is important to me. What could be different about Andromeda that it performs so much better?
Interesting, better than the multiple anecdotes (which does not equal data) that often floats around
I wonder what we would see if you swapped the roms on the phones??
I too was less than impressed with cog 4.1 gps. I tried Plumbbob's 0.93 fix from the develop forum and man what a difference.
Try it. It made a terrific difference. Follow the instructions explicitly and it should work for you.
Plumbbob knows what he's doing when it comes to gps.
Harveythedog said:
Interesting, better than the multiple anecdotes (which does not equal data) that often floats around
I wonder what we would see if you swapped the roms on the phones??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually had Andromeda on the phone on the right before I flashed it to Cog 4.0 and 4.1. That's why I was disappointed when I switched because Andromeda had run so well on that phone. When the replacement phone came and I saw the same result I knew it wasn't phone specific and had everything to do with the ROM.
Try a comparison with stock froyo.
Miami_Son said:
When the replacement phone came and I saw the same result I knew it wasn't phone specific and had everything to do with the ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good info., no good Cappy/bad Cappy variations then
Seems to be a lot of anecdotes where people are using one ROM yesterday, another today where a lot of GPS performance could just come down to stuff like weather conditions and satellite positions, so this back to back stuff is quite interesting.
bigbooty said:
I too was less than impressed with cog 4.1 gps. I tried Plumbbob's 0.93 fix from the develop forum and man what a difference.
Try it. It made a terrific difference. Follow the instructions explicitly and it should work for you.
Plumbbob knows what he's doing when it comes to gps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just tried it. Even worse. Any way to undo whatever it did?
My wife's Aria still beats my Cap in the GPS area on stock Froyo. Gets a lock quickly and often sees her at 10ft in less than 20 secs. There are times I'm lucky to have a lock at all It looks more and more like the Cap has bad GPS hardware.
Just tried it. Even worse. Any way to undo whatever it did?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's an app in the Market called Samsung GPS fix. Should put back all the factory settings. Not tried it with a custom ROM tho.
Miami_Son said:
Just tried it. Even worse. Any way to undo whatever it did?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just had a stock eclair captivate due to warranty exchange. Had Cog4 on my previous unit. I had the really good performance that some see from a new stock eclair, but I knew it would degrade quickly like most say. So I put Cog 4.1 and Plumbbob's fix on and I found it to be of little help over my experience on a Cog 4 Cappy with a bad GPS. Going to try Andromeda and see if there's any improvement, and then I might go back to the stock Eclair build I backed up just before flashing Cog4.1 and see how long that quickness lasts.
Miami_Son said:
Just tried it. Even worse. Any way to undo whatever it did?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Strange... You did the settings right in lbs test mode?
You can flash adams fix, should put it back. Cog 4.1 incorporated adams gps fix.
i was running phoenix 5.2 for a while and i seemed to get a 10m lock in a few seconds, regardless of my location
I'm back on Andromeda 1.2. Just couldn't live with the mediocre GPS performance with Cog 4.x. I wish DG would figure out how Andromeda is doing so well with the same hardware. That would get me back on Cog 4.x for sure.

Good ROM for working GPS?

Are there any ROMs being developed that have a good GPS for the Inspire in North America? I really do not want to stay stock, but everything else seems to be killing the GPS.
Revolution 2.1 imo is the perfect rom. Super fast with a custom kernel overclocked as high as 1.6ghz, extremely well optimized, ridiculously awesome battery life, GPS works perfectly....
r_3 said:
Revolution 2.1 imo is the perfect rom. Super fast with a custom kernel overclocked as high as 1.6ghz, extremely well optimized, ridiculously awesome battery life, GPS works perfectly....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got a link?
bowtieguy said:
Got a link?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=android+revolution or use this
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=840040
i keep seeing "gps not working" on every rom thread. Yet... many of those rom users have no gps issues. I think this is not related to the rom but related to something not getting cleared out upon installing a new rom (any rom). I've used both AR 2.1 and RCmix 3.4 with no gps issues at all.
I got my inspire at Costco 2 days before AT&T release, so I know I got a pretty early model. I have tried every gps fix suggested in these forums, to no avail. I am wondering if the gps problems are examples of the hardware going kaput?
I've come across a couple posts stating that they got replacement units from AT&T (one for bad gps, one for bad screen). I am now thinking that my earlybird Inspire could be a lemon. GPS worked at first, but then quit after the 1 month mark. Granted, I have flashed a TON of ROMs, so I could have borked something. I do full wipes (lately using fullwipe1.3.zip) prior to every ROM install.
Just rolled back to 100% stock att inspire with the RUU. I can confirm the same GPS issue happening. The phone is unable to get a GPS lock. I believe the GPS receivers in our phones are going bad. I am heading to the AT&T store on monday to see what they have to say about it.
Will flashing roms screw up stuff?
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA Premium App
Flashing does not mess up stuff, always do a backup in cwm
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA Premium App

Happy with rooted stock Froyo..huh?

Not sure what's happening but I got my replacement Infuse (bad camera on my original Infuse) and have only rooted and frozen a few apps thus far....and it's running unbelievable for the first 24 hours!!
wifi speedtest is very strong and as good as any other rom I've used....battery life is crazy good...and launcher speed (I always use Go Launcher) is fabulous. AND the biggie...the GPS connected within 30 seconds on the first try inside? Huh?
This is NOTHING like my original Infuse.
SO, I need to test a bit more with data speeds...cross my fingers...and maybe I can keep it almost stock Froyo ROM until the final GB comes )).
weird...not what I was expecting, BUT not complaining.
(Firmware 2.2.1, Kermel 2.6.32.9, Baseband I997UCKH1)
I used to own the captivate and would flash all sorts of different crap on it. I got the Infuse when it came out and have been on stock froyo ever since and it's been fine except for the lack of a native SIP stack.
With modems, everyone seems to keep flashing different iterations and keep getting completely different results. I like to think the majority of modem packages are more or less the same and your speed just depends on where you are and how many other people are using the same data band nearby.
GPS itself depends heavily on time servers and not just satellite connections... I find I can always get instant fixes in a particular area if I ping a bunch of different time servers listed at http://support.ntp.org/bin/view/Servers/NTPPoolServers and use fasterfix app to force the phone to always use the fastest/most stable time server instead of being distributed/randomly allocated a server from some national list. Not saying this is definitely the way to go, especially if you travel around a lot. Just sayin' it might work for you.
andrawer said:
Not sure what's happening but I got my replacement Infuse (bad camera on my original Infuse) and have only rooted and frozen a few apps thus far....and it's running unbelievable for the first 24 hours!!
wifi speedtest is very strong and as good as any other rom I've used....battery life is crazy good...and launcher speed (I always use Go Launcher) is fabulous. AND the biggie...the GPS connected within 30 seconds on the first try inside? Huh?
This is NOTHING like my original Infuse.
SO, I need to test a bit more with data speeds...cross my fingers...and maybe I can keep it almost stock Froyo ROM until the final GB comes )).
weird...not what I was expecting, BUT not complaining.
(Firmware 2.2.1, Kermel 2.6.32.9, Baseband I997UCKH1)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
refer to my post re: regarding root and custom rom...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1397287
Sorry, dont get it?
Ive been developing software and using smartphones since the Palm and your link makes no since.
Oh well.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk
andrawer said:
Sorry, dont get it?
Ive been developing software and using smartphones since the Palm and your link makes no since.
Oh well.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
have to fully agree

Is GPS on captivate good enough on ICS

My current phone got stolen, so I need something on a budget for the meanwhile. I was thinking of getting a captivate since it has lot of development with stable ICS builds..
My only concern is the GPS ? I had heard there were problems initially with early galaxy S units, resulting in poor GPS performance. Do they still exist in ICS roms or were they fixed ? Also if anyone know were these on hardware side or if they were just software bugs?
Mafioso said:
My current phone got stolen, so I need something on a budget for the meanwhile. I was thinking of getting a captivate since it has lot of development with stable ICS builds..
My only concern is the GPS ? I had heard there were problems initially with early galaxy S units, resulting in poor GPS performance. Do they still exist in ICS roms or were they fixed ? Also if anyone know were these on hardware side or if they were just software bugs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are several threads on the gps problem and it's not related to rom, per se. I am on GB and changing the etc/gps.conf file has made my GPS reliable. The position of the GPS antenna inside the phone is far from ideal and samsung didn't ship it with best settings in the gps.conf file.
if you search for 'gps.conf' you will find the threads. it is pretty simple to replace the gps.conf file or edit it.
Some ROMs include the gps.conf fix.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897
I love many things about my captivate, but the GPS is not one of them. There are fixes that help some, but it still seems too unreliable. If I'm driving it loses signal all too often.
Gps
For a decent gps signal I flash H3llstorm GPS Fix after flashing a Rom... Still Doesn't compare to other devices signal strength, but makes gps usable
It works on CM9, AOKP and MIUI
-Sorry for bad English
GPS, also, depend on your baseband version.some baseband firmwares consumes more battary charge, but gives better GPS signals. I use XXJVT modem and have no issues with GPS signal.
I figured out something cool. If I hold my captivate up to the windshield it will lock on nicely, whereas if it's in my lap when driving it won't. Then I have a windshield mount where I keep it. It's been working better. This has been true on AOCP and jelly bean.
Running aokp kang build 4 GPS locks normally < 30 sec
Sent from my SGH-I897 using xda premium
After flashing to latest stable Cyanogenmod 9.1 my GPS is very good. I get 8 out of 9 satellite lock in about 5 seconds where it used to take 30-40 seconds with stock ROM and about 20-30 with 2.3.5 ROM I used for a while. That's in exactly the same spot right in front of my house.
that's the only thing i hate about Captivate @@
GPS is unbelievably weak, it has to combine with gps from mobile network, i can never use pure gps with only satellites @@
The GPS is my least favorite component of my Galaxy S.
I do use my Captivate as my GPS while geocaching.
I find that for best reception I have to hold the phone so the back is pointed up. To do this is is slightly over my head and I have to look up at it. Going though some trees and leaning over the phone it will loose connection. In the car driving I only find occasionally it will loose connection. In the mount on the dash it is in the ideal orientation.
My Transformer Prime tablet has an even worse GPS but the update external GPS add-on improves the GPS to be much better than the Captivate.
If it realy matters you can get a blue tooth GPS that can work with this and probably any phone you might upgrade to in the future.
I am running ICS on my phone and under Location Services there is GPS source to select different GPS. I just tried to connect using bluetooth to my Garmin car GPS but the only bluetooth functionality it has is to send sound to car stereo. and I could not even pair the Garmin with the Captivate.
Lots of bluetooth GPS receivers to choose from on eBay.
This thread might give you some more information of some of the units others have tried.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1122688
I am going to stick with the GPS in my phone. It has worked good enough for two years and will be updating my phone in Feb or March.
Jim
Honestly, you don't choose the Captivate for its GPS. Although, many ROMs have GPS fix and makes it usable. I can't say I had much issue with mine, it does the job it needs to do but depending on your connection, it might not be optimal. I did lose signal for a few seconds while driving but never lost signal to leaning over it tho eh
I almost want to say that the Captivate has the worst GPS out of most phones but I don't have much experience with other phones. The captivate is decent though and I think with the latest versions of JB, it seems to operate much better.
Hi all, I have a question. Why my GPS get fix fast and strong in gpstest apk and dont get a good fix running the google Navigator?
Enviado do meu SGH-I897
^
Try this... http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=19422197
Sent from my SGH-I897 using xda premium
4-2ndtwin said:
^
Try this... http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=19422197
Sent from my SGH-I897 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is It works for CM10 stable (JB 4.1.2)?
^
Sorry, but nope. Just good for samsung stock gb roms or those based on that. Should have mentioned that before. My bad.
Sent from my SGH-I897 using xda premium
igorgomez said:
Hi all, I have a question. Why my GPS get fix fast and strong in gpstest apk and dont get a good fix running the google Navigator?
Enviado do meu SGH-I897
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've noticed that the google nav app maybe sensitive to the accuracy of the system time. When the clock is off by more that a few seconds, it seems to consistently report my position incorrectly, by 50 meters or more, in the same direction.
For example, when driving southbound, it will show me driving south, but 100 meters off the road to the east and this offset will persist until the clock is corrected.
I've installed clocksync app and set it to sync time every hour. It seems to help: Google nav doesn't give the persistant offset, but it does lose lock sometimes. I just toggle gps enable in the status bar and it recovers.
My gps.conf file uses the hellstorm fix. I am running GB debloated stock rom with Corn 7.06a kernel.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897

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