(Q) How do people know how many sats their GPS locks onto? - AT&T Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket SGH-I727

(Q) How do people know how many sats their GPS locks onto?
When people are discussing their GPS wonders and woes I often read someone say something like "I locked onto 9 satellites in 3.7 seconds".
How are they getting that info?
.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/...wsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5lY2xpcHNpbS5ncHNzdGF0dXMyIl0.

I use GPS Test from the market.

GPS Status is a good one too.
Sent from low Earth orbit with my SkyRocket.

+1 GPS Test is a must have in my opinion.

Related

GPS patch

Hi. All. My TP2 has not arrived yet, but cruising another forum, I stumbled across this link. I know it's in the asia site, but anyone have any insight as to whether it applies to CDMA phones?
http://www.htc.com/asia/supportdownloadlist.aspx?p_id=250&act=sd&cat=all
Odd. My GPS is working wonders compared to my XV6800 so I don't think I'd need a patch personally.
GPS is fantastic on my Verizon pro2. 3rd party software all day long HUGE difference from my xv6900(vogue). No need for a patch.......
I haven't really tested "lag" when driving, but signal locks have been within a couple of seconds every time I've used it (even after a soft reset - so "cold" start).
Yes odd indeed. I got my TP2 up and running today and it locks on very quickly and in areas where my XV6800 could not. Maybe Verizon actually rolled problems that cropped up from the T-Mobile version into the CDMA version? Who knows.
anyone using third party, what's the accuracy that the radio is getting? like within 5,10,20 meters..
football0552 said:
anyone using third party, what's the accuracy that the radio is getting? like within 5,10,20 meters..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree as far as not needing a patch. From my experience with Google maps this morning, I would say anywhere from 5 to 10 meters. I was parked on the corner and google maps showed me that I was slightly into the intersection. I also locked on very quickly. I just had to set google maps manually to com4 and 4800 baud rate then config the gps to give my location always instead of just with 911 and it locked on like a charm. I'm gonna test Garmin & Tomtom this afternoon to see if they have to be set manually as well.
UPDATE: I was also able to successfully run Tomtom & Garmin without any manual configuration. All is well with my TP2. I could not be happier. Definitely an awesome device. The only thing that could make it better is a custom rom. I know it takes time so I will wait patiently.
normalguy said:
Hi. All. My TP2 has not arrived yet, but cruising another forum, I stumbled across this link. I know it's in the asia site, but anyone have any insight as to whether it applies to CDMA phones?
http://www.htc.com/asia/supportdownloadlist.aspx?p_id=250&act=sd&cat=all
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That patch is actually a Radio ROM, it's for GSM only.
Has anyone got their Verizon TP2 to work with Garmin Mobile XT? I do have it enabled for devices other than 911. I've been playing with this for about 7+ hours now and no matter what I do, I can get XT to find the GPS. Iv'e tried using different COM settings and just about every permutation of the "External GPS" settings under the settings menu. No matter what I do, it won't find my GPS. If you do have it working, please post your exact settings for GPS, both within XT and also in settings for the device.
Thanks much,
J.
Yeah - I've got it working. Just installed GarminXT and it started working right away - no custom settings or anything.
You have Garmin updated to the latest version 5.00.20?
gps
how did you get the gps to work in programs like bing and google maps mine dosent.
Since we're talking about it. What is the best GPS Navigator program out there? Garmin is 99 and TomTom is 89 so they aren't cheap. Any cheaper/free alternatives that are just as good?
edit: my bad, looks like there is no tomtom software for the US and WiMo
Humble1 said:
Yeah - I've got it working. Just installed GarminXT and it started working right away - no custom settings or anything.
You have Garmin updated to the latest version 5.00.20?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here. As soon as I put my sd card from my old titan to the tp2 it asked if I wanted to install it, I click yes. It installed, and within 2 minutes I got a lock. Then it only took about 5-10 seconds to get a lock each time after that. Maybe it is the specific version you are using.
I'm using Garmin XT as well but it does have lag. The lag isn't killer but it is annoying.
I'd like to know if there is a fix for this problem. I've looked at the registry hacks and they don't seem to conclusively work.
Does anyone have a verified fix for this problem?
Have been messing around with Waze lately. It's an interesting concept, and I like the idea of everybody contributing traffic information. I'm not nearly as paranoid about annomously submitting my driving info.
On the subject of accuracy, it seems about the same as my TP, but the lock is SOOOOO FAST...
The lag is about 10 seconds. What seems to happen is that the GPS position is updated once every 10 seconds or so... On most systems it's updated at LEAST twice a second. So this is like 20 times slower then it's supposed to be... Even once a second wouldn't be so bad but a ten second update is irritating. It's not app killing really because I can just look at the map and remember the position is slow. But it's not as good as my apache (with external GPS receiver).
I am using the Sprint TP2 and the google maps GPS is erratic in location and sometimes its WAAAAAAAAAY off its quite buggy .. i am sad to say the GPS on the Iphone is the Best in real time tracking ... even on foot
michelangeloz3 said:
I am using the Sprint TP2 and the google maps GPS is erratic in location and sometimes its WAAAAAAAAAY off its quite buggy .. i am sad to say the GPS on the Iphone is the Best in real time tracking ... even on foot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have a big blue circle around your location? if so, you are using cell tower location tracking, not GPS. the GPS should be within about 20 meters. It works just fine for me. It actually works very well.
GPS in CDMA
Hi.. I have a HTC_TouchPro2 ROM ROM 2.01.558.7 Radio 2.21.00WV from movilnet, Venezuela. The GPS works good in GSM mode; but when i tried to make it work in CDMA mode, nothing happens. How can this be? I appreciate any help from you.
Did you run quickgps? Do you have location set to on instead of 911 in cdma mode.

GPS comparison with nexus one

I've been very tempted to return this phone even though I love it over my 3GS simply because of the gps issues but I still have 2 weeks to decide. I've upgraded to JH3 and gps is worse than JH2 but I did a comparison today while on a drive with a friends nexus one using GPS test from the market. On the 15 min drive I never got lock and only saw signal from 3 sats. The nexus got lock in about 15 seconds and was tracking 12 sats with 13 visible and 6.2 foot accuracy. This was in the car driving. The best I ever saw when I was on JH2 was 11 sats tracking 10 with 16 foot accuracy and this was standing still outside with a clear view of the sky on a sunny day, so I now have little hope samsung is going to be able to fix this with firmware :-(
Edit: Apparently when I copied and pasted I didn't get the last paragraph so I'm sorry for starting what seemed like another of the same threads but I didn't intend that. I went on to ask what evidence leads most people to believe this is a software issue as opposed to a hardware issue? While the various software "fixes" and different versions appear to affect the ability for the phone to lock on to sats that it already is able to see, with what should be acceptable SNR, none of the changes that I have tried have affected which sats the phone sees, or the SNR of what it is able to see. In all the posts I have read most of them talk about the time to fix but none really talk about signal, has anyone done any testing and comparison of signals and quality?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Yes we all know GPS on the SGS is broken. Lets wait for the update until Samsung fixes it before cursing them. If you cannot wait, you are very much welcome to take your phone back. If you can wait, lets stop making these threads. /thread
lol...seriously though, unless you have some new information, you aren't really saying anything that hasn't been said 40000000 times before.
jeepin95 said:
I've been very tempted to return this phone even though I love it over my 3GS simply because of the gps issues but I still have 2 weeks to decide. I've upgraded to JH3 and gps is worse than JH2 but I did a comparison today while on a drive with a friends nexus one using GPS test from the market. On the 15 min drive I never got lock and only saw signal from 3 sats. The nexus got lock in about 15 seconds and was tracking 12 sats with 13 visible and 6.2 foot accuracy. This was in the car driving. The best I ever saw when I was on JH2 was 11 sats tracking 10 with 16 foot accuracy and this was standing still outside with a clear view of the sky on a sunny day, so I now have little hope samsung is going to be able to fix this with firmware :-(
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're beating a dead horse, we all know/have known for a month the Galaxy S (Cappy and Vibrant at least) GPS is seriously crappy until Samsung fixes it. Please stop making new threads, there's already like 50 on it.
Clienterror said:
You're beating a dead horse, we all know/have known for a month the Galaxy S (Cappy and Vibrant at least) GPS is seriously crappy until Samsung fixes it. Please stop making new threads, there's already like 50 on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what he said.
What he said x2. Lol go get a nexus one.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
beazie0885 said:
What he said x2. Lol go get a nexus one.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea go get a n1 with a wacky touchscreen with no real Multitouch, have fun with your 195 mb of rom, that's if you don't get a unit with dust under the screen...

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

Sick of the GPS issues

I really needed the GPS to work the other night and it was so frustrating i about threw the phone out the window. What are some comparible phones to the captivate that are android based and can be unlocked to get the att 3g bands? Any ideas/suggestions on a phone would be appreciated.
I think HTC Desire HD is amazing...Im almost going to take it....And also, you know...HTC is much more trustble than Samsung KOREAN SUCKS company...I dont know why I got this ****...but, is to late for me...I dont wanna spend more money to get other phone now...
I love my captivate. Then again, I did come from a G1 lol. It is a great phone with great hardware.
Sent using smoke signals.
Change your gps settings to Network Provider instead of MS based it worked for me
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
if your comfortable rooting and trying out custom roms.
i highly recommend the chronos rom that can be found in the development section.
Since installing it i have only been able to test about 18 miles of travel with 18-20 turns but to this point it has not missed a single turn or shown me off the road when going around curves as it did with the stock rom and most other custom roms i have tried. Most of the i9000 based roms seem to have better gps performance but Chronos so far has been outstanding with locks and tracking.
chronos rom:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=869860
Is it really a software issue or a hardware one?
I tested my captivate last night while I was watching meteor showers, and I thought perfect time to test my gps. I used gps yest and my captivate quickly saw 9 satellites, but didn't lock onto a signal for forever. Dunno wtf is wrong with this
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
xetrev said:
I really needed the GPS to work the other night and it was so frustrating i about threw the phone out the window. What are some comparible phones to the captivate that are android based and can be unlocked to get the att 3g bands? Any ideas/suggestions on a phone would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was frustated with the GPS since a long time. But once i upgraded to assonance rom i am getting great GPS lock with 11 SATS. Try switching to that rom and see if it makes a diff
and i getting sick of fools keep saying "my gps is perfect!!"
samsung garbage is like a 10$ radio!
no matter what you do to it, it WILL NEVER sound like BOSE quality!
netnerd said:
and i getting sick of fools keep saying "my gps is perfect!!"
samsung garbage is like a 10$ radio!
no matter what you do to it, it WILL NEVER sound like BOSE quality!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In one sense i get what you say because many of the times i see that post all people are talking about are their lock times and # of sats they see/lock with no regard to tracking and navigation.
Maybe it won't last but my GPS has been perfect with the chronos rom and i am talking about locks and more importantly tracking. (i have only limited testing but in 18-20 turns it has tracked me perfectly without so much as a hiccup.....on stock and other roms it was only able to track me through 30-40% of turns so even with limited testing this is a pretty marked difference).
One thing to keep in mind is there are different batch #'s and i don't know if they have switched chips for any of the batches. Since i got mine pre-release i am assuming i have the first batch produced but after using chronos rom i am becoming more convinced it is a firmware and not a hardware issue. I don't believe it will ever be as good as a dedicated gps like my garmin and i never expected that but so far with this rom it is working as well as the gps/mapquest combo on my wifes iphone.
also on locks i am generally getting 10-12 Sats with a lock rate of 90+ - 100% and average lock time of 13 seconds
I'm with you. I am tired of the GPS not working. I am going to the Blackberry Torch this week. Probably Thursday or Friday. Either way, I need a new phone.
maxjivi05 said:
Change your gps settings to Network Provider instead of MS based it worked for me
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This also has worked for me, but it is a band-aid option IMO. Leveraging a Wi-Fi GPS provider isn't going to help you when you're riding in your car on I-95.
I know it's a real big band-aid, but it works fine for the car and is easier than getting a new phone.
I spent 20 bucks and got a tom tom bluetooth GPS receiver, combined with a free up on the market called "Bluetooth GPS Provider" and I get 1M accuracy in Maps/Nav. Since I primarily only use the GPS in the car, it's not that big of a deal to leave an accessory in there.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HZI2YY/ref=oss_product
Ok guys not another GPS thread. We all know that for whatever reason the GPS is spotty at best. No sense in beating a dead horse.

GPS problems on desire s

Hi.
I'm from Russia. Sorry for not perfect english.
I bought my HTC Desire S about 2 weeks ago on clove.co.uk.
It is cool phone but i have problems with GPS.
Applications can't show my place if i uncheck flag "Location->Use wireless networks " in phone Settings.
I tried to use Google maps, open gps tracker, Yandex maps.
Also i tried "GPS TEST". I waited 15-20 minutes. It finds 9-10 satellites, but latitude and longitude equals 0.
I tried "GPS FIX" but it also useless.
Can anyboby help me?
Is it hardware or software problem?
Thanks.
Are you outside (not in building)? From my previous experiences, I can say GPS doesn't work in buildings (or isn't that accurate).
Numline1 said:
Are you outside (not in building)? From my previous experiences, I can say GPS doesn't work in buildings (or isn't that accurate).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same thing here. I'm from Russia too. I've just bought the device, and have almost the same problems. I tested the device outside my office - still 10 minutes to get GPS locked
I have been experiencing the same issues outdoors in south west UK makes foursquare impossible
Sent from my HTC Desire S using Tapatalk
Have the same problem here
Installed "GPS Test" and it shows the strengths of the signals of the satelites.
I haven't had a value over 36 SNR but it finds about 10 satelites very fast. Then it takes 5 min to lock and it is impossible to lock if you are walking.
Is the GPS better on your devices. Would be interesting to hear values from people who don't have problems.
Hi guys...this is most probably cause by the presence of built-in A-GPS feature....due to that feature DS can no longer lock on it's own...or it means a great struggle...Locking onto GPS requires a great computing power... apparently the GPS chip in DS isn't the top product...
Hey, if you're root/S-OFF, did you try this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1060963 ?
I had the same issue but it's gone after restart.
Having the same issues here, this is a return the phone type fault, and no gps = key things missing from the phone.
It was hard for me to get a fix accurately but GPS Fix really helped. But definitely go outside to use it.
seems like a-gps has old data, dunno how to refresh it on it's own, but the free app "gps status" will do it if necessary. be sure you have internet access (wifi or cellular), gps is on, and start the app, it should update the a-gps data and the phone should find a fix. otherwise the gps sattelites are transmitting the same data (almanach) but very slow and it takes sometimes 15-20 minutes. the alamanachs contain the latest corrections and without them any gps device will give rubbish as output.
i cant lock gps...any suggestion?
It's always worked pretty well for me.
GPS Fix works wonders.
I have the same problem and I have tested with the HTC Hero as well with the same problem. I have been on the Orange to see if is there problem but with no luck! Trying GPSfix now! I am wondering if this is a Radio problem or a handset problem! I hope it is not a handset problem!!
Using GPS Status is saying I can lock on to 2 satellites in my room but I lose them very fast. I need to test in other places around Newport and Cardiff to see if I can get similar results.
hi
gps working normal in this video?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZzJyKtPkHw
this means each time i want find my position i must wait for about 2 minutes?
thanks
Jiimbo said:
hi
gps working normal in this video?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZzJyKtPkHw
this means each time i want find my position i must wait for about 2 minutes?
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
basically yes...
Basically it's because this phone uses aGPS, not GPS. And Qualcomm's aGPS chip has some issues. Read this...
http://m.wpcentral.com/gps-vs-agps-quick-tutorial
Sent from my HTC Desire S using XDA Premium App
wnp_79 said:
Basically it's because this phone uses aGPS, not GPS. And Qualcomm's aGPS chip has some issues. Read this...
http://m.wpcentral.com/gps-vs-agps-quick-tutorial
Sent from my HTC Desire S using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes but i think that radio play his part too...i was on 20.28b.30.0805U_38.03.02.11 and now i'm on 20.28d.30.0805U_3805.04.02.01 and i can see that gps lock much faster now
maybe is placebo
Adidas108 said:
yes but i think that radio play his part too...i was on 20.28b.30.0805U_38.03.02.11 and now i'm on 20.28d.30.0805U_3805.04.02.01 and i can see that gps lock much faster now
maybe is placebo
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes likely as aGPS pulls satellite info from your cell towers. You may still find though, as I do, that even with the best radio, you'll still need to occasionally run GPS fix every few weeks. My old desire never had this. Mine will get a lock in 2 seconds now, but for some reason if I don't use GPS for a couple of weeks, I'll be back with waiting and waiting for a lock.
I may be noticing it more because oranges 3g service in my area for months (t-mobile merger issues it seems) has been so poor that I've turned 3g off to avoid shocking battery drain and hopeless intermittent data services. I rely on wifi. Now I know why I'm not getting a good lock sometimes. I use an off line gps app as I can't rely on orange 3g to let google maps work. With 3g off I'm not pulling down the aGPS data. This GPS fix app (however it does it) solves it.
Sent from my HTC Desire S using XDA Premium App

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