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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.

Problems with location (GPS, cell, wifi, ...)

I've had the NS (i9023 on stock 2.3.3) for a few days now and I must say I'm generally rather impressed ... if only the GPS and other location sources didn't suck so much.
GPS (outside, on my top floor balcony):
With mobile data and wifi on it more often than not won't get a lock for tens of minutes, if at all. Even if it has a lock it'll lose it every few seconds. With both off it's actually somewhat usable - takes a while, the accuracy isn't too good (10 m does seem to be the best it can do), and the lock's rather erratic, but still, better than nothing. Makes the thing bloody useless for navigation, though.
For comparison: A Galaxy S (i9000 on stock 2.2.1) locks within 3-10 seconds, gets about a third more satellites and gives me 10-5 m accuracy. Almost no fluctuation in either accuracy or number of sats. A Desire S locks as fast if not faster and shows 8-3 m accuracy even, even though it generally shows the fewest sats.
Wifi- and/or cell-based location (indoors)
Even my trusty old i5700 (Galaxy Spica) puts me within 100-20 m of my true location even when GPS is disabled, using just cell towers, or that and wifi. Even more importantly, it gauges the accuracy correctly, that is, I'm always within the blue circle.
The Nexus S (and, to be fair, the Desire S) on the other hand puts me in a 1000-400 m circle - and I'm not even near that, it's a couple of kilometers off. What's with that?
Compass
Well, it's not strictly about location and the horse has been beaten to death but it still needs to be said: It doesn't work. At all. Instead it spins wildly, even when the phone's perfectly stationary.
On to the questions:
Is this a sw bug, a hw bug or just a defective unit?
If it is a sw bug, is there anything known about the eta of an incoming hot fix?
Are there any known workarounds?
I really hope there's a solution to this because I really like the thing generally.

+1
roughly the same here.

Same problem. We need help.
Enviado desde mi Nexus S usando Tapatalk

Yes .. I just don't know if I should return it over this issue or not, and I'm running out of time as today's the last opportunity.
Does anyone know if the GPS, network location and/or compass work flawlessly under CM7? That would at least tell us that a fix is possible.

yep, and i'm guessing as it's on stock it's not a software issue. it's a major issue for me as i want to dev augmented reality stuff and having the visual jump around when you're stood still is not cool.

Same thing here. Acquiring a lock can sometimes take forever. I think it's Samsung's crappy hardware, so we may all be stuck.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA Premium App

I am also facing the same problem with my SNS here in Bangladesh.
Peculiarly the sets gets location data using Cell tower in some areas while it doesn't in many of the areas. As for example, I dint find any problem in checking in Facebook places ot Google Place in my Work.
But have never been able to do the same same in my Home. :-S !
This flaw is giving some hard time.
Is it bcz I've rooted my SNS and using CM7 ?

MarkusPO said:
i'm guessing as it's on stock it's not a software issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's dire news ... You'd think with all the problems the SGS's GPS had and all the attention the early reviews of the NS gave to the issue someone would have spotted it - yet most were quite positive the GPS was fine.
Unfortunately reports on this and other forums are very mixed on the question if and when the NS GPS started acting up.
I guess I'll just have to send it back for now, after all I can always get another one if there's an update that fixes GPS and the rest of the location providers.

like i said in my own thread: exactly the same problems. really sucks. especially GPS and Compass are pissing me off, really doesn't work at all..
bought this new phone and expected a perfect device but got a device full of bugs, i even had a HW problem and had to give it to the support here..i thought i have a completly defective device but since others got this problems i have a little more hope.
and i really hope for a fix soon and really hope this is a SW and no HW bug.

Has anyone with a sucky GPS tried this trick (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1043034) or a similar one on the Nexus S?

I haven't had any issues with my GPS, however sometimes it may take 30sec-1min to find a solid signal. My experiences have been with stock rom and also SupeAosp 6.2 (which I'm currently using).

[Q] GPS troubles

Hi guys. I've been using Sensation 4G for well over a year and modded roms for almost as long. I use GPS functions extensively and have always had good results but in the past week and a half my GPS is having trouble getting a lock or even keeping a lock once it has enough satellites to position within 10 feet or less. I'm in NYC area and I don't know if it's related to the UN summit and the military is scrambling GPS signals to keep us "safe" or is it another solar flare that's messing things up? One thing that I did do, is to reformat the external SD card because I was getting some weird errors when apps tried to access the card to store data.
Is anyone else experiencing anything similar?
I'm on insertcoin 2.4 currently.
Going to try to re-apply GPS fix to see if it fixes the issue.
Thanks!

amelnik said:
Hi guys. I've been using Sensation 4G for well over a year and modded roms for almost as long. I use GPS functions extensively and have always had good results but in the past week and a half my GPS is having trouble getting a lock or even keeping a lock once it has enough satellites to position within 10 feet or less. I'm in NYC area and I don't know if it's related to the UN summit and the military is scrambling GPS signals to keep us "safe" or is it another solar flare that's messing things up? One thing that I did do, is to reformat the external SD card because I was getting some weird errors when apps tried to access the card to store data.
Is anyone else experiencing anything similar?
I'm on insertcoin 2.4 currently.
Going to try to re-apply GPS fix to see if it fixes the issue.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it's a military issue every GPS device would be effected. You can rule that out by grabbing any other phone or Garmin device and testing it.
Alternatively, go elsewhere if you can and see if the problem fixes. There are weird dead spots in the GPS network. I get one on the way to work every day. GPS drops out in the exact same spot for about 2000 feet of highway.

Skipjacks said:
If it's a military issue every GPS device would be effected. You can rule that out by grabbing any other phone or Garmin device and testing it.
Alternatively, go elsewhere if you can and see if the problem fixes. There are weird dead spots in the GPS network. I get one on the way to work every day. GPS drops out in the exact same spot for about 2000 feet of highway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, after applying agps fix v3.1 it's much better now.
It still looses signal while in Manhattan sometimes but most gps' do, other than that, gps fix is usually done in under 10 seconds.

Glad you got it worked out. When I first started flashing the Sensation, from ICS to MIUI stuff, along with random kernels, I had all types of GPS issues. Because of that, I was involved with a few betas for gps 'fix' testing by another member here and a small group of people with different phones/devices.
What I found out is that in ICS anyway, that the kernels play a big part in the functionality of gps. Next is the gps.conf file. Depending on how many servers on that file, will depend on how many servers you can connect to depending on your local.
When I was living in NY, I had decent coverage as well. GPS like you worked for the most part in NYC.
What I do whenever I see that my gps is not connecting within a minute, I check to see if there is any supl.cert in your system/etc. That file is not needed really (Im on tmo).
Then check to see which kernel you are using. Are you using a custom kernel? Or a stock one? Rule of thumb is to revert back to the bundled kernel/stock kernel if I have any GPS problems.

GPS Stopped working

Friend of mine recently told me her GPS on her verizon S3 stopped working. she brought it by, i flashed the newest build of cleanrom on it today and sure enough the GPS still doesnt work. everything needed is turned on but it doesnt get a lock. i checked it with the GPS Status app and it shows like 0/20 satellites and doesnt lock to any. only way i was able to actually get somewhat of a lock on google maps was to hook it up to WiFi and let it gather from that.
any suggestions?

Somewhat common problem. I haven't found a fix as of yet. There is a gps fix somewhere in these forums though that sort of helps. my phone had the same problem. Going back to stock or to any custom rom, nothing worked, the gps was just dead. After flashing one of the fixes I finally managed to get it to get locks, but it needs like 7-8 satellites to get a fix, is highly inaccurate, and loses gps lock a few times on every trip.
Here's the gps fix page
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1880411
I use Galaxy s3 test 3 alt, it's the only one that gets any lock for me. The first time and other intermittent times can take up to 10 minutes or more though, and rebooting the phone or trying again another day does sometimes help.
I know it is definitely the phone, as my pantech marauder which has the same SoC which should be very similar for gps location, finds and locks on to 6-8 towers in like 10 seconds or less all the time, even indoors, and gets location accurate to less than 100ft with 4 satellites while the gs3 needs 7-8 satellites to get a lock to 300-600ft

If none of the software fixes work. And the stock unrooted software does not receive GPS lock.
I would highly recommend replacing the GPS antenna just in case.
I'm 90% sure the headphone jack. External speaker. WiFi antenna and GPS antenna are all in one unit.
This piece is sold for cheap on Amazon. Or eBay or whatever.
Replacing is simply a removing a couple screws and popping the old one out.
Here is a link to eBay
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=160890063224
Possibly you could find one cheaper.
Hopefully this is it for you.
Let me know how it goes.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

I too have this problem: the GPS no longer gets a fix w/o a data connection
the phone recently did an update to jb 411 and now no gps fix w/o data.
I do NOT believe its the antenna.
does anyone else with the os in sight have any info?

palm2droid said:
I too have this problem: the GPS no longer gets a fix w/o a data connection
the phone recently did an update to jb 411 and now no gps fix w/o data.
I do NOT believe its the antenna.
does anyone else with the os in sight have any info?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I too have the same problems on this rom

Trouble Shooting GPS

I have a XT1540, rooted, stock 6.0 ROM. I am searching for advise on troubleshooting the poor performance of the GPS. Is there a way to determine if it is software or hardware related? Recently my GPS has been acting sporadically. Today I am getting a fix. Yesterday I did not. Last week in another location I never had a fix better than 30 meters since only 3 or 4 satellites were used in the solution. I don’t know if this is a software or hardware issue. I don’t know if this makes a difference, but I recently changed carriers from ConcumerCellular (AT&T SIM) to Mint which is a T-Mobile MVNO. I did have to open the phone a few times to change SIM cards, so is it possible the GPS antenna was damaged? I do have GPS Status and Toolbox, installed and have rest AGPS.. Maybe I was not patient enough for the update. I saw the XDA video on How to Make Your GPS Lock Faster. I have not tried changing my gps.conf file yet. The replacement file looks far different than the current file. Any suggestions or recommendations to restore my G3’s GPS reliability is appreciated.

Update and bump
So I restored an older ROM to a time I believe the GPS was working. The GPS performance did not improve. GPS status will show connection of 10/20, but no solution. And the few times I get a solution, the error is in the 100s of meters. Are there any recommendations before I trash this phone?