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GPS Time to lock on

When I first got the phone it seemed like I could lock on in about a minute. Tried to use the GPS the other day and after it searched for a few minutes in the car I just turned it off. Very frustrating... What are you guys experiencing?
I am on stock rom, rooted, gorilla v05 OC kernel.

Are you moving when you were trying to get a lock? When your moving it takes much longer to get a lock, this is true even with dedicated GPS units. Having said that my MT4G takes about 10-15secs to lock outside not moving, very nice coming from a Galaxy S which couldn't lock or track to save it's life. To many variables if moving to make a good comparison in GPS performance.

mine locks in seconds... love it after the vibrant lol

Yes, I have tried while walking and while in the car. Just tried to put the phone up to the window of my apartment for several minutes with no luck. I will try to stand still outside tomorrow.

larryg2k3 said:
Yes, I have tried while walking and while in the car. Just tried to put the phone up to the window of my apartment for several minutes with no luck. I will try to stand still outside tomorrow.
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I had the same issue! It wasn't like that in the beginning but the other day I was trying to get directions while driving and it was such a pain in the ass that after 4 minutes, it still said "searching for GPS". Garbage...
i wonder what was wrong. I was outside and the weather was pretty decent but nighttime.

Same thing here, although I was blaming it on CM rom....

borodin1 said:
Same thing here, although I was blaming it on CM rom....
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I didn't root mine but I have the same problem. When I first got the phone it used to lock on GPS very fast, now I use Igo or Copilot and both take like ever to find lock on GPS . I use GPS test app and it shows like 6 GPS Sats but the programs still can't get the gps reading.

I have just tried it after uninstalling copilot just to keep one navigation application and I disabled wireless network location assistance and I think gps worked fine,i have to try it tomorrow again.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

Gps is not stable, today I tried it by holding the phone in street and standing . Gps test apo got about 6 or 8 but no location locking on google maps or igo . I went to my room, placed the phone on the window I got sometimes 3 and then 8or 9 .it worked eventually and started to become fast (i turned the gps on and off) it seems like a software problem!i am not sure
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

I had a lot better luck trying to lock on while standing still. I have also since switched to Iced Glacier 1.1.1 and now 1.1.2, but I think that being stationary with a good view to get initial lock is key.

My brand new Mytouch 4G (stock rom, not rooted) has the same issue. It tries to get a GPS lock using google nav for minutes without ever getting a lock. I can disable GPS and enable it to sometimes speed up the lock process, but it never locks in less than 30 seconds. From the previous posts, it sounds like the GPS hardware is sub par on this phone and there may be no quick fix. Fortunately, mine is still new and can swap it out for another and see if that helps.

My gps works fine, although once it would not lock on, and a simple reboot took care of that...
I often use GPS test or navigation just because I love seeing how well it works...
...coming from a Vibrant

I experience the same problems with the mytouch before and after rooting and installing custom roms, I think its the phone itself, I never had this problem with the nexus one

I too have noticed it is sometimes really really slow.
Much much slower than my old E-71 sometimes.
I wonder if cases/how you hold it can affect it.
- Frank

Amazing GPS performance

Went on a 180 mile trip today through SoCal and I was stunned at how good my GPS is now working. I'd done some tests locally, but never far enough of a drive to consider the results of any significance. Today, I headed east from the San Fernando Valley, through Pasadena, out to San Bernardino, then north through the Pacheco Pass into Hesperia in the high desert. From city to boonies and from about 350 feet elevation to over 3,500. My Cappy got a lock within seconds while sitting in my driveway and never once dropped lock the whole way there and back. Watching the screen the position marker remained steady on the road and did not wander at all. GPS is important to me and I finally have the performance I was getting on my Tilt 2. Yes, I had to go to a custom ROM to get it (Andromeda 1.2), but it runs so well on so many levels that I'm OK with that. Screw stock Froyo (which I tried along with Cog 4.x and GPS was mediocre at best on both).

I drove about 175 miles today using it, and never lost a lock also... I was using my girlfriends phone with stock 2.2. Was accurate to 10 meters whole trip... Had never had anything close to that before upgrade
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA Premium App

Mine is horable.. just don't know What rom to go to
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

Mine works good on any rom as long as I don't put the phone in my lap. Seems that the antenna gets a weak signal if placed back down and gets the dreaded large blue circle and looses accuracy. If I hold the phone up though it is balls on accurate.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

Stock, I could lose GPS by just flipping the visor down. Today, I had the phone in my car mount, I put it on the seat at one point, put it to my head to answer a call...didn't lose lock once. All while playing MP3s via BT through the radio.

Im on stock 2.1 and my GPS has always worked fine in my car. I have trouble getting a lock indoors. I went on a 7 hour drive Thursday and didn't lose a lock once.
I wonder if some peoples GPS's are just junk and its the luck of the draw.

Mr_Ditters said:
I wonder if some peoples GPS's are just junk and its the luck of the draw.
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That may be for some, but I've had stock Froyo and Cog 4.1 on this same phone and neither had the GPS work as well as it does on Andromeda.

Miami_Son said:
put it to my head to answer a call
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Not the best habit in California, pretty steep fines for that.

Gerle said:
Not the best habit in California, pretty steep fines for that.
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I was offroad at the time.

Mine works pretty well most of the time.. seems to have a slight 'drifing' issue when stopped tho.. say at a stop light.. kinda strange..

hate to poop on the whiner party, but stock 2.1 and now stock 2.2 have worked as expected. totally. this is a gnarly phone.

FireFly is by far the best results I have ever had with GPS...locks super quick and stays!

It seems a lot of the Captivates' GPS, like mine, worked great when the new phone was used for the first 2 to 3 weeks, then it would degrade. Load a new rom on the phone and again it would work fine for 2 to 3 weeks then deteriorate again. I'm always interested in knowing how long the current rom has been installed and how much the GPS has been utilized. The fact that it worked good when new, makes me think the hardware is not the problem. I'm no programmer but I always wondered if the deterioration was the result of some "file" that grew in size as the GPS was utilized. And, as the "file" grew, time/power requirements increased causing the GPS to deteriorate. How could it ever work correctly if it is a hardware issue?
retnuh

hbgregg said:
hate to poop on the whiner party, but stock 2.1 and now stock 2.2 have worked as expected. totally. this is a gnarly phone.
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Oh, well, then I guess your singular experience negates that of the many other users whose GPS has been total crap. It must be all their fault and not the device.
At one point I had 3 Captivates in my possession and all had stock Eclair, Froyo, Cog 4.x and Andromeda on them at various times. This was typical of their GPS performance (the phone with Andromeda is on the left).

I've had fairly good gps performance but I'm not picky. However, in the last couple days it won't get a lock no matter what..just flashes. I'm not that picky, but I don't like that it doesn't even get a lock

My first captivate, bought in September, was exchanged at Best Buy on day 30. The GPS on stock eclair never was very stable from day 1, slow to lock, very unreliable on the move much of the time, although not always.
My second captivate had very good GPS on stock eclair. Not perfect, but fast lock and rarely wandered, for three months. Then one day, out of the blue, it turned into my first captivate. I factory reset it. No joy. I exchanged it at ATT warranty center, told them the GPS wasn't working.
The third captivate GPS on stock eclair was an order of magnitude better than the second one ever was. Locks instantly, indoors or out, always good to 5 meters no matter the conditions, it's just unreal. Still is with Froyo.
So, I can say I have had wildly varying experiences with the same software. That tells me there is hardware variance. I haven't tried software fixes, ever, so I can at least be a reference point from that perspective.
Bob

retnuh said:
It seems a lot of the Captivates' GPS, like mine, worked great when the new phone was used for the first 2 to 3 weeks, then it would degrade. Load a new rom on the phone and again it would work fine for 2 to 3 weeks then deteriorate again. I'm always interested in knowing how long the current rom has been installed and how much the GPS has been utilized. The fact that it worked good when new, makes me think the hardware is not the problem. I'm no programmer but I always wondered if the deterioration was the result of some "file" that grew in size as the GPS was utilized. And, as the "file" grew, time/power requirements increased causing the GPS to deteriorate. How could it ever work correctly if it is a hardware issue?
retnuh
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I haven't noticed that before, but I've had the current ROM (Paragon) for a couple weeks, and now I can't get a lock - worked great at the start, after a master clear. Maybe the old Samsung GPS reset app would work here.
What you have proposed is something we should all keep in the back of our minds...

My 1008 build had mediocre (at best) GPS. The I sent it in for repair and when I got it back (and installed Andromeda) the GPS worked so well I was beside myself with joy. The GPS remained fabulous for almost 2 month then, while running Cog 4.1 with Adam's GPS fix (and still working great--I got 10 sats while sitting on my toilet!), nirvana ended. I'm lucky to get 4 sats and locking is painfully slow.
It's been this way for about a week. I'm going to complain to Samsung and see if I can send it back for repair again.

Soccer_Dad said:
I haven't noticed that before, but I've had the current ROM (Paragon) for a couple weeks, and now I can't get a lock - worked great at the start, after a master clear. Maybe the old Samsung GPS reset app would work here.
What you have proposed is something we should all keep in the back of our minds...
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Isn't paragon a kernel?

I'm not as lucky as you with Andromeda 1.2. I live in the SF bay area and can barely get a lock. Any suggestions?

Still having GPS issues?

I'm just wondering if anyone else with a MT4GS is still having GPS sync issues. Mine still takes forever, and I've tried every trick in the book. I even tried my own gps.conf file with pure GPS without any A-GPS and everything in between.
I'm starting to think it's a hardware problem at this point and was going to see about doing an exchange, but if it's just a "feature" of this device to have a garbage GPS lock then I guess I'll have to sit on it.
I get jealous of my tablet and my GF's phone which have near instant lock of the GPS; even cold it's within 20 seconds. It seems like my phone and the one before it took being plugged into power sitting still in an open field in order to achieve lock.
Thanks for your feedback!

Is this across ROMs?
Hastily spouted for your befuddlement

Been here?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=16822068

Blue6IX said:
Been here?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=16822068
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Yep, tried that. And yes across ROMs
I just remember people saying they were having problems when our device first came out. Just wondering if that's still the case.

WangChung81 said:
Yep, tried that. And yes across ROMs
I just remember people saying they were having problems when our device first came out. Just wondering if that's still the case.
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I get a lock in 30 seconds or less on either doubleshot from a cold start unless it's really overcast or stormy, then may take a bit longer.
I am always outside and with a clear view of 50% or more sky when I activate it.

Blue6IX said:
I get a lock in 30 seconds or less on either doubleshot from a cold start unless it's really overcast or stormy, then may take a bit longer.
I am always outside and with a clear view of 50% or more sky when I activate it.
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Wow.
I stand outside perfectly still for 5 minutes on a sunny clear sky day and sometimes it just doesn't lock period. I'm going to try 1 more ROM then I'm doing an exchange.

Yea, movement definitely adds extra communication with the satellites, and that cripples you by 6-18 seconds each time.
If you are pretty stationary with a clear view of a clear sky, and sometimes don't lock at all, there is a problem there.
Try gps status on a fresh install of a rom. Go through the normal rom stuff, let it settle and then reboot, connect to your network and reboot, then install the app and inject current agps data.
Even if it takes a while for first lock - all subsequent locks will be shorter. The only true cold locks are on fresh installs, removing yourself from the geographic area of last lock and/or after a long time of no agps data.
Use it for a day or two and use the gps to death.
If still no joy i'd start looking into hardware issues.
One last thought - battery strength may play a factor here as well. Try to do all your testing on 80% or better or while charging and over 20%.

WangChung81 said:
I'm just wondering if anyone else with a MT4GS is still having GPS sync issues. Mine still takes forever, and I've tried every trick in the book. I even tried my own gps.conf file with pure GPS without any A-GPS and everything in between.
I'm starting to think it's a hardware problem at this point and was going to see about doing an exchange, but if it's just a "feature" of this device to have a garbage GPS lock then I guess I'll have to sit on it.
I get jealous of my tablet and my GF's phone which have near instant lock of the GPS; even cold it's within 20 seconds. It seems like my phone and the one before it took being plugged into power sitting still in an open field in order to achieve lock.
Thanks for your feedback!
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As I noted in your other post about the Miktouch ROM, Miktouch is based on the much newer 1.63.531.2 codebase. One of the things HTC improved in that release is the GPS code. It gets a lock very quickly for me, I have no GPS issues. Even when I was in China, I got GPS lock very fast, and Google Maps was spot-on accurate.

Fuzi0719 said:
As I noted in your other post about the Miktouch ROM, Miktouch is based on the much newer 1.63.531.2 codebase. One of the things HTC improved in that release is the GPS code. It gets a lock very quickly for me, I have no GPS issues. Even when I was in China, I got GPS lock very fast, and Google Maps was spot-on accurate.
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I'll try it out for sure then. Thanks!

[Q] Is my gps faulty?

Have had my GSIII for about 2 months now and I'm wondering if something is wrong with my gps. I have taken my phone and compared it to 2 other GSIII's using the app GPS Status & Toolbox. On my phone when the app is opened it says 'Looking for GPS Location' and will quite often never find anything. Sometimes it will lock on however. If I'm outside it locks on quicker but indoors it does not. On the other phones I compare it against they both lock on almost immediately.
The other weird thing about my phone is the compass in the GPS Status app. Mine never sits still it is always bouncing back and forth. The other 2 phones I compare against the compass locks on and never moves unless I move the phone.
Now when it comes to navigation my phone seems to work decent. The only places it does not take me directly to are houses it is usually off by about a block, but businesses it is spot on. I figured the maps app just doesnt have the exact house locations?
I am running stock 4.1.2 on Verizon. After reading many threads about gps problems I have already tried tightening the 10 screws under the back cover of my phone. I also did the whole clear cache and remove Maps updates and reinstall. Would this be enough to call Verizon and try to get a different phone while its still under the year warranty?

I have the same problem. Mine worked great for a few months and suddenly became very unreliable. I can be driving down the freeway at 70MPH and navigation will suddenly freak out and think I'm on some other side street and start giving me directions to get back to the freeway. It will do this constantly and never shut up and it will even show me driving in totally different directions down streets that are blocks away from where I actually am.
I tried the screw thing and cleared the cache and reinstalled the Maps updates but that did not help. The problem has recently become even worse. Sometimes it takes 15+ minutes to get a GPS lock while in my car and in my house where it used to work perfectly it won't lock at all.
Another problem I've had, while I don't know if it's related, is that Google Maps flickers when scrolling and randomly goes blank. Along with that, it will randomly scroll out into the middle of the Atlantic when I'm just trying to zoom in on a particular location near me.
Have you tried a factory reset? That's probably the last thing I'm going to try before going to Verizon and requesting a replacement though I really don't want to go through the hassle of setting everything up again just to do it yet again if I have to replace the phone.

I have not tried a factory reset yet but I should probably give it a try. I posted this on another GS3 forum and a former Verizon support person recommended to not get a replacement from Verizon cause they send out real crappy ones they have laying around. He said to call Samsung and get the phone fixed that way so I will probably try that if the factory reset does not work.

have read where removing battery door and tightening the body screws has fixed most gps problems. It seems that the contacts are very susceptible to the body getting loose. Daily vibration can cause them to slightly loosen and thus the problem. I would give it a try, it only a few seconds work.
Good Luck
See the Galaxy sIII shine via SynergyRom

I just tried the screw thing again. I think there is definitely something to that. Sitting here at my desk I could not get a GPS lock at all. After tightening the screws I get a lock within 1-2 seconds. Maybe I should get some Loctite to keep them from backing off? I'll have to drive around to see if it's really working but this is what fixed it before. The only thing now is the strange flickering/graphical glitches that I see when in maps/navigation.

bbolton_98 said:
have read where removing battery door and tightening the body screws has fixed most gps problems. It seems that the contacts are very susceptible to the body getting loose. Daily vibration can cause them to slightly loosen and thus the problem. I would give it a try, it only a few seconds work.
Good Luck
See the Galaxy sIII shine via SynergyRom
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Tried this and worked for me. Thanks Mine locks on a lot quicker now

[Q] GPS Problems CM11

Hello, and thanks in advance to whoever contributes to trying to help me here. Heres my situation
I started with a Galaxy SIII [Verizon] on JellyBam [the most recent version before kitkat] I had GPS working just fine, there were some bugs and I saw a KitKat version came out so I figured I'd give it a try, ever since then regardless of what ROM I run I can't seem to lock on to GPS.
I tried CM11 and still to no avail, I get GPS through my location and google maps and such so I am able to get step by step directions but no turn by turn navigation, sometimes I just float along roads as if it knows where I am but it can't 100% lock on. Since then I've done everything short of an ODIN flash because that is such a hassle..
I've tried CM11 nothing on the GPS location end.
I tried LiquidSmooth still couldn't grab a GPS signal
Any JellyBam even RC2 still no GPS lockon.
Anyone got a proposed fix, I even grabbed GPS Status and cleared my A-GPS data, and also tried those work arounds like turning your phone on with location already enabled before the restart etc etc. I just can't get GPS to work. I'm wondering if I'm going to have to ODIN and if somewhere along the line a tweak changed something
Also Question 2 - Do system tweaks like AndroidTweaker and such stay after a full rom reload..
Example; On Jellybam use android tweaker to optimize battery life play with GPS on android tweaker
then I format my phone to another rom [cm11] do those tweaks stil stay there until I ODIN or something?

izzo540 said:
Hello, and thanks in advance to whoever contributes to trying to help me here. Heres my situation
I started with a Galaxy SIII [Verizon] on JellyBam [the most recent version before kitkat] I had GPS working just fine, there were some bugs and I saw a KitKat version came out so I figured I'd give it a try, ever since then regardless of what ROM I run I can't seem to lock on to GPS.
I tried CM11 and still to no avail, I get GPS through my location and google maps and such so I am able to get step by step directions but no turn by turn navigation, sometimes I just float along roads as if it knows where I am but it can't 100% lock on. Since then I've done everything short of an ODIN flash because that is such a hassle..
I've tried CM11 nothing on the GPS location end.
I tried LiquidSmooth still couldn't grab a GPS signal
Any JellyBam even RC2 still no GPS lockon.
Anyone got a proposed fix, I even grabbed GPS Status and cleared my A-GPS data, and also tried those work arounds like turning your phone on with location already enabled before the restart etc etc. I just can't get GPS to work. I'm wondering if I'm going to have to ODIN and if somewhere along the line a tweak changed something
Also Question 2 - Do system tweaks like AndroidTweaker and such stay after a full rom reload..
Example; On Jellybam use android tweaker to optimize battery life play with GPS on android tweaker
then I format my phone to another rom [cm11] do those tweaks stil stay there until I ODIN or something?
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Try taking the back cover off and screwing tight all the screws. (sounds mad but it actually works, there's a whole thread about this)

sunstreak said:
Try taking the back cover off and screwing tight all the screws. (sounds mad but it actually works, there's a whole thread about this)
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Okay, I will try that. I think its a software issue though, but I will certainly give it a whirl.

Update: That did not work.

izzo540 said:
Update: That did not work.
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Did you REALLY tighten them? What I mean by that is get yourself a good quality small phillips head screwdriver, not a flat head. Turn those screws on the back with a good screwdriver, they're probably loose. I've had the exact same problem twice and both times this worked like a charm. I also did it for a friend of mine, same result. It's worth the $5 investment. I got a "teeny turner" at my local computer store, worked like a charm.

rgrossie said:
Did you REALLY tighten them? What I mean by that is get yourself a good quality small phillips head screwdriver, not a flat head. Turn those screws on the back with a good screwdriver, they're probably loose. I've had the exact same problem twice and both times this worked like a charm. I also did it for a friend of mine, same result. It's worth the $5 investment. I got a "teeny turner" at my local computer store, worked like a charm.
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I'll be honest I actually didn't tighten them that hard.. I am going to give it a good twist tonight and see what happens because I have started to grab a signal since I did the original turn. But when I did the turn I Also pulled the SIM card and the SD card and the battery for over 60 seconds, I am wondering if that potentially aided inf ixing it as well.

izzo540 said:
I'll be honest I actually didn't tighten them that hard.. I am going to give it a good twist tonight and see what happens because I have started to grab a signal since I did the original turn. But when I did the turn I Also pulled the SIM card and the SD card and the battery for over 60 seconds, I am wondering if that potentially aided inf ixing it as well.
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The first time I thought I tightened them it had no effect. Then I got the correct screwdriver and really tightened them, as in they turned at least 180 degrees each and pretty easily with the correct driver. My GPS will lock from the middle of a highrise in Chicago and get 11 satellites. Prior to that I needed to be near a window and pray that it would find 3. Trust the experience of hundreds of others, get yourself the right screwdriver and try it again. Don't use a cheap screwdriver or flat head, you'll just strip the screws. Get a small phillips, shouldn't cost more than a few bucks.