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Touch Pro GPS Hell?

I have a fairly new touch pro and have been having nothing but trouble with the built in GPS. At first I thought O2 had released a customised model without gps because it could never get a fix. After going through all the tweaks it now gets a fix somatimes. I can only get a fix if moving at over 30mph. Even then it takes 10 minutes! I can leave it for an hour outside with poer and if it is still it will not get a fix.
Tomtom 7 asks if I am indoors because of the poor signal even when outside.
It is driving me mad trying to find something that will help get a fix in less than 3 minutes (even that is a long time). A dedicated sailing gps will get a lock in under 30 seconds even inside my house. Even my other half's iphone will get a lock indoors in less than a minute.
Lastly when the GPS does have a lock the altitude is always wrong. It shows +60 meters when at sea level (literally with waves crashing at my feet). The altitude readings sometimes go down as I go up or up as I travel down.
It is rather bad considering the retail price of the device.
Anyone have some suggestions as the rest of the phone is rather good (battery life could always be better).

Come on....
There's several threads about this. Use the GPS Tweaks Cab in the lag thread it fixed the loss of lock issue.

Any problems with the GPS on the captivate?

Hi Guys,
I've been hearing about lots of problems with the GPS not picking up low SNR satellites and the GPS being wildly inaccurate on the samsung vibrant and also the euro variants of the galaxy s.
Does the captivate have the same issue?

Its true. I bought it on sunday an notice that issue. Hope there will be a update(Bug fix) soon.

Compare to my G1, the Captivate take about the same time to lock and GPStest says the SNR is better. I'm happy with it.

MFister said:
Hi Guys,
I've been hearing about lots of problems with the GPS not picking up low SNR satellites and the GPS being wildly inaccurate on the samsung vibrant and also the euro variants of the galaxy s.
Does the captivate have the same issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Define Wildly inaccurate. On my Captivate it is dead on (within 9 feet)

I am having major problems with GPS. I am getting a lock but only within 50-75 feet. It isn't good at all. The GPS is slow to update and throws me everywhere.
I amthinking of returning the phone if Samsung doesn't make an announcement about s fix for this.

dial this from your phone:
*#*#1472365#*#*
Change startup from hot to cold.....worked for me. GPS locks much much faster

What are the settings on your phone Citznfish? My phone is off by anywhere from 100-500ft. Thanks!

Ok, I tried it again... In the house I'm about 500 ft off from where I really am and placed in a golf fairway. Outside I am FURTHER off: I'd estimate at least 5 blocks and placed in the middle of a different golf fairway. For comparision sake, my wife's iPhone 3Gs has her within 10-20' while inside the house. To me, this is unacceptable and a great cause for concern. What can I do???

Smalls2 said:
dial this from your phone:
*#*#1472365#*#*
Change startup from hot to cold.....worked for me. GPS locks much much faster
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm having the same problem here. My iPhone 3GS GPS responded way quicker then this phone does. I have a Weather Channel widget up, and it doesn't find the location to display the weather for a good minute and a half after. Same goes for using Google Maps to find my location. Lot of times it says, "Your location is unavailable." I even tried switching the startup from hot to cold, and that didn't have much effect either.
When I was driving today, the GPS locator had a bad lag in it, I would be down two blocks before it would catch up, and I live in a 3G area, and not a giant city like NY or something.
I wonder if it's because it's so bloated with Samsung UI on it, or if it's just the a bug. Either way, if I'm still having issues with it, I'll see if AT&T will exchange it out for a different one. Otherwise back to the 3GS, which I really don't want to do since I'm loving Android right now.

What does hot start and cold start do?

skizzz said:
What does hot start and cold start do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hot Start - The GPS receiver remembers its last calculated position and which satellites were in view, the almanac used, and the UTC Time. It then performs a reset and attempts to acquire satellites and calculate a new position based upon the previous information.
Cold Start - The GPS receiver dumps all information and resets. It then attempts to locate satellites and then calculate a GPS lock. This takes the longest because there is no known information. The GPS receiver has to attempt to lock a satellite signal from all of the satellites, basically like polling, which takes a lot longer than knowing which satellites to look for.

Danm a cold start sounds like it would be slower. I tried it and I still can't get a lock within a reasonable range.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA Appb

I've been reading online that the Galaxy S got a firmware update that greatly improved/fixed the GPS problems we are experiencing. I can only assume that we will have to wait as well for this firmware to completely fix the gps issue.

Try the fix/workaround in the Vibrant forum.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=728611
I went from seeing 1 satellite and none locked to 7-10 seen and 5-7 locked.

tbae2 said:
I've been reading online that the Galaxy S got a firmware update that greatly improved/fixed the GPS problems we are experiencing. I can only assume that we will have to wait as well for this firmware to completely fix the gps issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where did you read this? I've been looking for something like this, preferably from Samsung.

i havent had too many problems with GPS here
Google maps usually locks me in a few seconds
Third party applications can take much longer, however
The problem might be the way the third party apps utilize the GPS

lyu370 said:
Try the fix/workaround in the Vibrant forum.
I went from seeing 1 satellite and none locked to 7-10 seen and 5-7 locked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually that isn't a fix at all. It makes locking onto satellites much faster, but nothing to address the sensitivity issues, and there is definitely an issue. I 'found' 9 satellites, but could only lock onto two of them, for a few seconds at a time, then back to zero, out in the open.
Hopefully a software fix is on the way.
Source: /showthread.php?t=728611&page=5

This fix did help me so now i get a quick lock...as ling as i dint start moving around. It stays close enough to exact to use for driving around but not more accurate than that. The problem isn't really getting a lock so much as keeping it.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

tdusen said:
Compare to my G1, the Captivate take about the same time to lock and GPStest says the SNR is better. I'm happy with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I change my mind. While what I said still stands, I've since found that the GPS and the Compass don't track very well. I tried find a geocache using the same GeOrg software I use on my G1. The location seemed to be stuck as I was walking. From my experience with the Tilt, I'd say the GPS is running in "Static Navigation"
The clock is ticking, GPS has to be fixed in 28 days, or the phone gets returned.

lyu370 said:
Try the fix/workaround in the Vibrant forum.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=728611
I went from seeing 1 satellite and none locked to 7-10 seen and 5-7 locked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was having problems w/ GPS on my phone as well. Would be way off in Google Maps, Navigator took forever to lock, and geo-tagging photos was also way off. I did something similar - dialed the code to get to the GPS settings. However, all I did was turn Skyhook to ON and switched configuration from manual to auto. I don't seem to have any problems between yesterday and today. It locks incredibly quick and is very very accurate.
Some of you should try this method and see if it helps with anything. Good luck.

what are these GPS issues?

not to sound like i'm bragging, because my GPS locks perfectly fine in under 10 sec (usually around 4-5 sec), but what are the issues that every seems to be having with GPS? is it not finding a lock? is it not putting your location in the correct place?
all i'm seeing are threads with GPS fixes and whatnot... but i don't recal seeing what the issues were.
thanks

Lucke said:
not to sound like i'm bragging, because my GPS locks perfectly fine in under 10 sec (usually around 4-5 sec), but what are the issues that every seems to be having with GPS? is it not finding a lock? is it not putting your location in the correct place?
all i'm seeing are threads with GPS fixes and whatnot... but i don't recal seeing what the issues were.
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are problems and non-problems for every aspect of the GPS.
People like you get a fix in under 10 seconds with no problems.
People like me get a fix within a minute with no problem
People who can't get a fix unless they are in the middle of an open field after a few minutes
People who can't get a fix period
People who can see satellites in GPS test, but can't connect to them
and people who can connect, but end up miles off of their true location.
I suspect that the underlying factor may be location in the US coupled with the cell phone radio (depending on obstacles, some people will be on different bands, and that may affect downloading GPS updates), because all cell phones should have the same factory defaults. The factory defaults work for me, but not with other people.

And then there are people like me, who one day, the GPS would lock on within seconds, have a perfectly accurate location, and work flawlessly. Then the next morning (when the phone had only been on charge overnight, not dead, not off, not anything) could drive for two hours in the middle of the prairie and not get a lock all day.
When mine worked, it was perfect. When it didn't, it acted like all the satellites fell out of the sky. There was NOTHING I was doing different.

Lucke said:
not to sound like i'm bragging, because my GPS locks perfectly fine in under 10 sec (usually around 4-5 sec), but what are the issues that every seems to be having with GPS? is it not finding a lock? is it not putting your location in the correct place?
all i'm seeing are threads with GPS fixes and whatnot... but i don't recal seeing what the issues were.
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i'm in your boat, mine's been flawless since day one on both my captivates. (had to return one). I think location is the biggest factor here. I know two phones isn't enough to show a strong correlation, but its something.
when i say location is the biggest factor, i mean its what separates our experience from others who have sucky gps. Samsung still needs to fix the gps issues so everyone can have a positive experience .

thanks for explaining, and summing up, the GPS issues.

[Q] Is my GPS chip defective ?

Hello,
I'm encountering some issues with my Samsung Nexus S GPS. I got the i9023 (Europe/SLCD) version of the phone, which is running default rom (stock), freshly updated to 2.3.4 (via official OTA!).
I couldn't figure why, when using Maps, my position would usually be around 1 km away from where I am. I found out later, this time using Navigation, that it is desperately searching for a GPS signal, that it can't find. Sometimes I manage to get a lock, when I keep it running for like 30 - 40 mins, but it immediately disappears. GPS Statuts keeps showing 0/5 sats.
I was convinced that my GPS chip was defective.
But today, I was hanging out in the city and tried running Navigation. I got a lock, for the first time, within a 15 sec delay. That was the first time that I managed to get live GPS tracking. I've walked a bit around, and the tracking was really, really accurate.
Back home, in my apartment, again I can't get any signal. I live in the 3rd floor, walls aren't that thick and, as for an anecdote, in the same room, my iPhone 3Gs instantly finds my position.
I've bought this phone 6 days ago and therefore still under warranty. Question is, can we say my GPS chip is defective ? Is it worth requesting a replacement ?
Thanks !

1st) You cannot expect to get gps reception inside even with professional equipment. When your iPhone gets a fast fix it's most likely WLAN triangulation. As Apple uses a different database than Google, it may work on on your iPhone and not on your Nexus for a paticular place and vice versa.
2nd) It's unlikely that your gps is broken if you can connect to GSM/UMTS/CDMA2000 networks as gps is processed using the same chipset.
3rd) That 1km-off-fix might be celltower based location, 1km sounds quite plausible.
4th) Try _NOT_ to move until you get GPS fix.
5th) Keep internet access while trying to get a fix. The Nexus S as most phones on the market use assisted gps, where your phone contacts a server that provides data which enables your phone to track its position more easily.
6th) Good luck.

Yes, well, I had 2 friends which came to my place, in my room, and just activated GPS on their iphones and it located them straight away, to our exact position. So it was definitely the GPS tracking and not triangulation.
Indeed, when MY phone locates me off 1 km, this is definitely triangulation or cell-towers.
Of course, when I try to get a fix in my apartment or on my balcony, I just put it on a table and must wait for at least 30 mins to get a lock, and it disappears quickly. Doesn't seem normal to me ...
Finally to answer your 5th point, I got 3G, so a perfect fast & smooth inet connection.

GPS testing should always be done outside, you are not supposed to use it indoors.
What is probably happening there is that the other devices are more sensitive and can still get a lock. You might be able to get a lock if you place your phone very close to the window.
I got a Nexus S recently and noticed that the GPS is quite weaker than the one on my old HTC.
Although the Nexus is faster to get a lock (if you let it use 3G) the GPS itself is less sensitive and accurate.
It looses signal easier, for instance, if i go under some trees, and it takes more time to get signal back after loosing it, for example, if you go under a bridge, the old HTC would get the lock back in 2 seconds after leaving the bridge, the Nexus took half a minute.
Having said that, i think it's good enough for driving navigation, i have done some tests and on the road it behaves well enough.
You shouldn't be surprised, this phone is very similar to the Galaxy S and that had terrible GPS issues, this nexus is better, but still weak.

Thank you for your feedback, temp9300 !
I guess the Nexus S can't compete with iphone's. But it's ok, as long as it works fine outdoors, this is what matters.

Poor GPS?

Does anyone find this phone has poor GPS reception? I have been on many ROMS since i've had my phone and the GPS locking is not good compared to an iPhone. Inside my house my iPhone 4 can lock on and get a perfect signal where as my desire can only lock onto like 3 sats and cant pinpoint me.
Venturing outside I can get a lock but it sometimes takes a while, compared to my iPhone 4 which is instant. When trying to lock on in a moving car also causes difficulty.
Is this normal for this phone? Its becoming quite frustrating now - When I just want to go on maps in the street and instantly know where I am I end up standing there trying to get a lock. I'm wondering if my phone has been damaged due to dropping it or something?

I agree, I have found the GPS on this phone to be terrible - I get faster and more accurate results just by having wifi enabled.
I have changed radios and ROMS and used different apps (actually, try Google Navigation - for some reason that seems to get a lock when maps or any other app can't). I have used the app FasterFix to make sure the phone is searching for the right satellites. Nothing makes any difference. Thankfully I'm in a city and wifi location is accurate enough for me.

1. update radio
2. use faster fix to change the area to where you are
3. use gpsfix to find your location
= no more then 5-10 sec to fix outside

INDEED ! it sucks.
This Desire S which so many people love (why??) has really dissapointed me and this GPS reception is one of the poor criteria. Coming from a HTC Diamond I have so say that the GPS reception and battery consumption was waaaaay much better,
My next phone will not be HTC anymore, too much trouble with the damn thing.
bongo1 said:
Does anyone find this phone has poor GPS reception?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Tik_Tak said:
1. update radio
2. use faster fix to change the area to where you are
3. use gpsfix to find your location
= no more then 5-10 sec to fix outside
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've done each of those steps multiple times in lots of ROMS, and it rarely gets a lock at all, even after minutes of waiting.
I have tried to make the excuse that in the UK the weather and cloud cover is often responsible, and GPS does connect faster on the rare sunny days but like the OP said, other phones work. To be honest the GPS on my old Huawei Pulse was better than I get from the Desire S.

I'll have to agree with OP is well. GPS reception is realy bad on DS. Nothing to compare to my previous phone - Galaxy S 2.
Sent from my HTC Desire S using xda premium

4myphone said:
I've done each of those steps multiple times in lots of ROMS, and it rarely gets a lock at all, even after minutes of waiting.
I have tried to make the excuse that in the UK the weather and cloud cover is often responsible, and GPS does connect faster on the rare sunny days but like the OP said, other phones work. To be honest the GPS on my old Huawei Pulse was better than I get from the Desire S.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also tried different roms, steps and apps, GPS status is a good app as it shows you the sats locking on etc. Generally i can only get about 2-3 sats between tall buildings which is not enough for a accurate lock on where as other phones can get an instant lock fine. Also shouldnt be required to have to take steps and use apps to get a lock every time. I think its hardware and not software related.