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GPS fix that definitely worked for me

I used a method found on the samsung vibrant forum that works perfectly for me. Directions:
call *#*#1472365#*#*
choose "delete gps data"
go outside to maximize gps lock potential
choose "get position test"
Now let it do its thing for a few minutes. For about 5-6 minutes it was not getting a lock, but it was detecting between 1-4 gps satellites. Then it all of a sudden the phone got a lock and detected 8 satellites, at which point the phone recorded the gps data. The other forum post said wait until the phone sees 10-12 sats before backing out; my phone only saw up to 9 and locked on 8. Nevertheless, I backed out after the gps data was recorded, and now the GPS works wonderfully in Google maps, places, and navigation. Previous to this, I never got a lock with this phone, now I get a lock in about 5-10 secs. I didn't want to activate using wireless networks because that is not real gps. This is the real deal and easy to do. Try it and report back.

will do. In the meantime, take ur phone on a run with you and see if the gps still jumps within a small radius. I noticed that when i was driving this worked really well but when i try to use it to to record my run route (so i can see distance and speed) it doesnt follow me very smoothly.

I just tried this and my Captivate got a lock on 8 satellites within 4 seconds! Hopefully this will keep working til Sammy gets their update out.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

this fix works for me too! However, after a few days you may need to delete the gps data again. Good news is that it gets things working again.
Also, I have had great luck setting accuracy to 150 in lbstestmode. I think this is because the software wont drop satellites too aggressively. As a result, once the satellites are locked, they stay locked - which helps reliability alot.

phr00t said:
this fix works for me too! However, after a few days you may need to delete the gps data again. Good news is that it gets things working again.
Also, I have had great luck setting accuracy to 150 in lbstestmode. I think this is because the software wont drop satellites too aggressively. As a result, once the satellites are locked, they stay locked - which helps reliability alot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only locks into 1 Sat for me. Every once in a while it locks into 2. I think I got a lemon.

I posted a potential fix in the stickey, key value to change is accuracy and using the GPS Test Application....

The OP worked for me as well. I was getting so so GPS locks and would only get a "true" lock if I enabled the phone to use cell towers as well. After the above I get a lock almost immediately and per the test I had accuracey down to 5 meters. Untill a true fix comes out (def seems software related) this is a quick fix that works.

Hoooooooly ****.
I went from getting a lock in about 2-3 minutes to getting a lock in less than 20 seconds. I even rebooted the phone and it still worked that fast. I was able to confirm my lock with GPS Test(app) and using Google Maps to find my position.

trying it now.
looks like its thinking.
will update in a few.
Update
it has 9 and has an accuracy of 10 meters and it jumps to 30 and back to ten.
how often does the * drop on your sats, or do they stay on once locked on?

WeAreVenom said:
Hoooooooly ****.
I went from getting a lock in about 2-3 minutes to getting a lock in less than 20 seconds. I even rebooted the phone and it still worked that fast. I was able to confirm my lock with GPS Test(app) and using Google Maps to find my position.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Update: I get a lock in my house in less than 10 seconds! Bwahaha! Bow before me puny mortals!
I wonder how long this fix will last?

time to lock is not the primary problem with the GPS, I can get a lock within 5 seconds if I opened up GPS test app before I open up navigation. Especially in the house or standing stationary, where it uses skyhook.
the REAL gps problem is maintaining a lock with GOOD (<5 meters) accuracy WHILE moving. Which, I have not seen any fix remedy.

andy2na said:
time to lock is not the primary problem with the GPS, I can get a lock within 5 seconds if I opened up GPS test app before I open up navigation. Especially in the house or standing stationary, where it uses skyhook.
the REAL gps problem is maintaining a lock with GOOD (<5 meters) accuracy WHILE moving. Which, I have not seen any fix remedy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why would you want it to be less than 5 meters? How wide is the average highway? That's all I need.
Regardless, I'll test it out tonight on the way in to work.

The problem is it can't maintain 5 meters or even 10 meters lock for long. If Captivate can stay locked at 10 meters accuracy, I'll be happy.

Tried in and locked onto 8-9 sats with an accuracy of 10m. Went into GM and got a lock in under 30 seconds.

andy2na said:
time to lock is not the primary problem with the GPS, I can get a lock within 5 seconds if I opened up GPS test app before I open up navigation. Especially in the house or standing stationary, where it uses skyhook.
the REAL gps problem is maintaining a lock with GOOD (<5 meters) accuracy WHILE moving. Which, I have not seen any fix remedy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe the problem with maintaining an accurate lock is because the Captivate defaults to having a very high threshold of satellite accuracy. Using the default setting of "Accuracy: 50", it takes a long time to get that level of accuracy. In addition, when you do have a lock, if the satellite drops below this accuracy (even for a short moment) -- the satellite is dropped. This is why you see many satellites being picked up and dropped all the time, and this is why the accuracy ranges so much after a lock is gained. The fix is simply setting the accuracy to 150 (in addition to the other recommended settings) -- which gives the satellites more "room", and keeps them in use.
My theory anyway... seems to work so far

2 minutes after selecting test:
11 sats found
8 locked
Located within 10m, 7 seconds after Google Maps launch.

Okay, this is my first post. I've been reading these forums for a couple weeks now. This is the first and only thing that made mt GPS work correctly. I tried almost every other gps fix I read about but none seemed to do anything. Thanks.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

So is this with the stock settings or with other tweaks?

This does seem to help somewhat. I was able to get view 9 sats and get 6-7 to lock. GPS Test app was working and could calculate my speed as I walked across a parking lot. I could even see myself move on maps (never seen it move without bouncing around and such).
I will test later this evening on my drive home and see if I can get google navigation and actual turn by turn to work.

frankencat said:
So is this with the stock settings or with other tweaks?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tested mine using the stock settings bud I had changed the server and port to the google recommendation in previous "fixes".

GPS problems related to the display?

As we all know, the GPS is very spotty on our Captivate and very often we have problems getting a good satellite lock. However, after work one day I
opened up Google Nav to route myself back home. As usual, Google Nav gave me the usual "Searching for GPS" and it stayed there for at least 5-10 minutes.
Frustrated, I hit the power button and turned off the display. 20 seconds later, the female voice started shouting out directions?? I turned on the display and sure enough I had a lock. Also interestingly, 5 seconds after I switched on the display, the blue circle appeared over my position and I also lost my lock. I turn off the display, lock again. I do get a good lock once and a while with the display on, but if I'm having trouble I'll switch off the display and without fail I'll get one and I'll use the voice prompts to guide me. Anyone else notice this?
I'm running a completely stock GPS settings.

Complete coincidence, would kind of suck for Samsung if this was true.

That's odd. For me, whenever the screen turns off and locks for my Captivate, the GPS shuts down, losing whatever lock it previously fixed if it had one. I always get mad when my screen turns off when I'm using Google Maps as a result...

soloDOTcom1185 said:
That's odd. For me, whenever the screen turns off and locks for my Captivate, the GPS shuts down, losing whatever lock it previously fixed if it had one. I always get mad when my screen turns off when I'm using Google Maps as a result...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you use google maps, yes, the gps shuts down when you turn off the screen. But if you were to use google navigation, the gps stays on even when the screen is off.

I don't remember where it was, but I remember some ceo or engineer claiming that the large screens on most new cell phones were likely to cause major gps issues because of interference. I think it was someone who worked within the GPS industry themself (think: Garmin).
Now I don't know if this person was just speculating or not but it's something to keep in mind.

Well I don't know about anyone else but DAMN! It's true! For me anyway. Screen off, navigate works. Turn the screen on and it immediately stops working and starts searching for gps.
Sent from my GT-I9000M using XDA App

Could be why they replaced the antenna in the Nexus S. A better/different antenna may be more resistant to interference.

GPS slow in Google Maps after OTA update

Ever since i did the update, the GPS takes several minutes to get a lock. Even if I exit Google Maps after it gets a lock and then re-start GMaps again within seconds, it takes again several minutes to get a lock. As if it is doing cold start every time GMaps gets active.
Before OTA update it would take a second to get a lock after just exiting GMaps and re-starting it. A couple of hours later, and dozen miles away, it was still locking within 10 seconds.
Now everything takes many minutes.
GPS Status is showing strong signal from 4-5 satellites, but GMaps is not locking.
Does anyone else have similar problem?

Are you actually getting a lock from gps status or just 4-5 satellites?
I had a similar problem before the update, first lock took about half an hour in gps status, after that it was quicker but still not great.
Sorry to report the update fixed the issues in my case. It could be due to the old radio being better suited to your geographic location than the new one. Unfortunately its hard to really test this unless you are willing to s-off and test some radio/ril combinations.
Sent from my Cyanogenmod hungry Htc Sensation.

My experience is pretty much the opposite of the OP. I've noticed GPS locks are much faster after the OTA. Using GPS Test they were fast before, typically less 15 sec and nearly always under 30 sec, and after the update closer to 5 sec. However, over time I've seen a good bit of variation day-to-day so I can't say with any certainty that my observation is directly related to the OTA. And based on the reports in this thread it seems likely the OTA didn't fix or break GPS.
I have seen Google Nav take much longer than GPS Test to get a lock. I've also had it completely hang my phone where a battery pull was the only option. This when GPS Test would work fine. So I'm quite certain that Google Nav is buggy. Mostly it works, but sometimes not. If it's taking too long to get a lock I will exit, use GPS Test to get a lock, then go back to Nav and it typically locks quickly.
Regarding GPS Test taking minutes to lock that's most likely due to either not having a data connection or a corrupted ephemeris. If you do have a data connection then use the options to clear and update the AGPS data. The next lock may take 20-30 sec but after that it should be back to normal.

samnada said:
My experience is pretty much the opposite of the OP. I've noticed GPS locks are much faster after the OTA. Using GPS Test they were fast before, typically less 15 sec and nearly always under 30 sec, and after the update closer to 5 sec. However, over time I've seen a good bit of variation day-to-day so I can't say with any certainty that my observation is directly related to the OTA. And based on the reports in this thread it seems likely the OTA didn't fix or break GPS.
.
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Click to collapse
EXACTLY the same as that.. 6+ satellites in less than 10 seconds (usually about 5) and the same is true when using google maps.

same thing here instant lock few seconds
less then 30 sec inside

The thing with the GPS Status is that it is showing many satellites with strong signal (i.e. 11 with green bars) but it is not locking either for minutes.

alexsql said:
The thing with the GPS Status is that it is showing many satellites with strong signal (i.e. 11 with green bars) but it is not locking either for minutes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you running stock or a ROM?
I'm on stock and have seen this a couple of times. I've been able to fix it by clearing and reloading the AGPS data. This can be done under Settings in GPS Test (https://market.android.com/details?id=com.chartcross.gpstest&hl=en).

OK, i fixed it.
I am on stock and I've tried reloading AGPS but that did not fix it.
I used GPS Status ->Settings ->GPS&Sensors ->Sensor Filtering
After I changed the filtering from Weak to None the GPS locks within seconds.
The weird thing is that now, if I change the filtering back to Weak or even Strong, it still locks in seconds

alexsql said:
OK, i fixed it.
I am on stock and I've tried reloading AGPS but that did not fix it.
I used GPS Status ->Settings ->GPS&Sensors ->Sensor Filtering
After I changed the filtering from Weak to None the GPS locks within seconds.
The weird thing is that now, if I change the filtering back to Weak or even Strong, it still locks in seconds
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you say reloading AGPS didn't fix it, how long did you wait for a lock? It can take longer for the first lock after reloading than normal. From your description it may have been the AGPS reload that actually fixed it, then once it got the first lock it was back to the normal fast locks regardless of the filter setting. Just a guess. I haven't played with the filter setting since far as I can tell it's only available in GPS Status, which I normally don't use.
Regardless, glad it's resolved. Also glad to know about that filter setting for future reference.

I did AGPS reload 2-3 hours ago and it did not work until I did the filter thing.

alexsql said:
I did AGPS reload 2-3 hours ago and it did not work until I did the filter thing.
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Click to collapse
Ok. That does seem odd. Also odd that changing the filter back didn't break it. Hard to diagnose that without knowing a lot more about how it works underneath. Still a useful trick to know about. Thanks.

samnada said:
Ok. That does seem odd. Also odd that changing the filter back didn't break it. Hard to diagnose that without knowing a lot more about how it works underneath. Still a useful trick to know about. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That filtering is for the sensors for your gyroscope on the device not the GPS. It smoothes out the display in the program so your "bubble" in your compass isn't jittery.

[Q] google's Navigation constant gps loss

I'm not sure whether to post this in the question or the app area.
So I'm constantly losing gps signal in google's Navigation app. GPS status and angry gps will maintain a lock indefinitely but navigation will lose the lock often and takes a long time to regain the lock.
I saw http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=997647 but don't know if it'll work due to it being for another phone.
I'd also like to avoid buying a gps app as I don't use gps a great deal, it is just nice to have to find another route through traffic or to find the occasional new place.
Any tips on this?

Anyone?
Sent from my Samsung Infuse

Still having issue. Tried different apn values. Did odin to stock and a factory reset from there. Navigation constantly drops gps lock even after trying multiple modems.

Download faster fix, and select your region,
or try using waze, its better than maps.

Thanks for the advice on the waze app. Ill try it soon. Ive used faster fix but unfortunately it didn't help. My GPS locks within 10 seconds ussually, the problem is that when navigation is loaded it screws it up. I can even load GPS test lock on the GPS and navigation will then update to the correct spot but will soon lose it's lock
Sent from my Samsung Infuse

Waze worked great. Locked onto my spot within 20 secs and never lost gps lock. It was surprising that it asked for a traffic update within 5 seconds of stopping behind a school bus picking up some kids this morning.

GPS lock

I'm having an issue where it takes fund minutes to lock location on the phone. The problem is most noticeable on Waze. I turn Waze on every time I get in the car (the speed traps alone are worth it), and sometimes it's half my trip before it locks on.
The location is set to high accuracy, and it does eventually lock on. My 6p would lock on in one second.
Anyone else? Thanks

lanternca said:
I'm having an issue where it takes fund minutes to lock location on the phone. The problem is most noticeable on Waze. I turn Waze on every time I get in the car (the speed traps alone are worth it), and sometimes it's half my trip before it locks on.
The location is set to high accuracy, and it does eventually lock on. My 6p would lock on in one second.
Anyone else? Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've seen issues in Waze as well, with both GPS lock and the Compas going screwy...

Have you guys tried running gps status or gps toolbox?
What settings do you have selected in location settings?
On my v10 if I enable the additional low power Qualcomm IZat location estimation option, gps runs all screwy.
Id like to know if gps is hit or miss, as its another of the main features I need and use on a daily basis, along with Ok Google..

My Pixel is now locking GPS in a few seconds after I open Waze. Probably even faster than my 6P.
For anyone else having these problems, here are all the steps I did (not sure which if any of these actually solved the problem)
1. Uninstalled Waze. Turned off Location. Rebooted into Safe Mode (Long Press "Power Off")
2. Once in Safe Mode, turn location back on, open Google Maps outside, let GPS lock (that time still took a while) and use navigation for a while
3. Rebooted the phone again into safe mode. reopened Google Maps and let GPS lock on
4. Rebooted the phone normally, open Goolge Maps first to make sure GPS was working. Then installed Waze
It's been working pretty well for the past few days.

I'm still seeing issues with the compass, I get a GPS lock quickly, but it always shows I'm pointing 100-160 degrees off from my actual heading. Tried using GPS status to calibrate, it now says I'm calibrated, but I still see the issue, even in GPS Status.The compass points in one direction, then once I start moving, the GPS corrects the heading to my actual direction...
I've never had this issue with any other phone, very frustrating.