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Problems with GPS and Lag

I have a Vibrant but the Captivate is basically a twin brother so here it goes.
I noticed that the Feeds Widget, along with the Market and some other apps took far too long to "load" whatever I asked it to do. I did a complete reset and PRESTO! Loading screen times have been cut in half, or completely eliminated in some cases. So yes, you might hate it but this might just solve the slow Email syncing
Next I want to touch on the GPS. I tried all of the "fixes". I still struggled to get a fix.
So I went and swapped my Vibrant out and PRESTO! Instant GPS lock in under 10 seconds. It's still not terribly accurate (5-10 Meters) but it is FAR better than before and my apps/phone don't lock up waiting for a GPS fix! Most notably Speedtest.net was the most problematic 3rd party app when trying to get a GPS fix. I looked at the "retrieving server list" message for 30 seconds at a time on my Old Vibrant and now it comes up within 5-10 seconds.
So yes, if you're having GPS problems you've got to get yourself a new Captivate. I can't tell you which do and don't have GPS problems but I got my phone from the same batch that originally came in and this new one has no GPS problems to speak of on STOCK out of the box settings

Interesting! Thanks for the update! I assume if you do the whole reset you'll have to re-download ALL the apps and widgets and stuff again? Even still, may be worth it. How's your batt life?

radi0chik said:
Interesting! Thanks for the update! I assume if you do the whole reset you'll have to re-download ALL the apps and widgets and stuff again? Even still, may be worth it. How's your batt life?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, all of the apps and stuff have to be reloaded but everything on the SD cards will be saved.
I wouldn't be able to give you a good answer because I was fiddling with the GPS and rebooting it so much on my old one. I'll let you know how much uptime I get from a full charge on regular usage.

I'm on my 3rd captivate with no luck. Att doesn't seem to care about swapping them out and don't really understand the issue. I've given up on the swapping and will wait for Samsung to update (fingers crossed)
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

Samsung has already come out and said there is a issue with the GPS and will be doing a OTA fix.

Pmac25 said:
Samsung has already come out and said there is a issue with the GPS and will be doing a OTA fix.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where have they done this? We need an ETA on that OTA

yeah my GPS is absolutely HORRIBLE. I wanted to show my wife the google maps last night, and we were about 5 mins from the house when I loaded the app.
It seriously took it 2:30 mins to get a fix on us, and we were in a 4-5 bar area.

heygrl said:
Where have they done this? We need an ETA on that OTA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can not tell you when they will do it but I have seen it in a couple of threads starting with the one here.
forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=732875

Pmac25 said:
I can not tell you when they will do it but I have seen it in a couple of threads starting with the one here.
forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=732875
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is what you are referring to right:
Edit #2:
I was informed by a sales rep at T-Mobile that Samsung is aware of the issue and is going to fix the GPS and the compass issue in their first update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately I would not take this as a positive confirmation. Carrier Reps will tell you what ever it takes to get you out of their cross hairs.
Anyhow, lets hope Samsung pulls through and fixes this.

Its interesting how different it is for people. Mine was taking 2-5 min to get a fix, but worked fine after that.
I applied the fix pointed to in the vibrant forum, and now I get an almost instant fix. Accuracy bounces between 5 and 10 meters. I'm not sure any GPS gets better accuracy. May be, but I don't know. But that being said, it works perfect for me when driving.

GPS Fix:
Forgive me if you have already seen this, but the fix has been done for the Samsung Vibrant and it works on my Captivate as well (turned unusable GPS into OK GPS):
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=728611
Best wishes to all,
okmft

I did it earlier to my Captivate and it didn't seem to help.. Don't know why but I got no better GPS

[Q] Did v2.2 fix your GPS?

I was really hoping it would, but after installing Cognition v2.2 BETA5.5. my GPS is no better. I really miss this feature.
If others are having this fix theirs than I need to see about getting new hardware. If not, then ... I don't know.... Start shopping for another (not a Samsung) phone?

Phredeee said:
I was really hoping it would, but after installing Cognition v2.2 BETA5.5. my GPS is no better. I really miss this feature.
If others are having this fix theirs than I need to see about getting new hardware. If not, then ... I don't know.... Start shopping for another (not a Samsung) phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
2.2 helped my GPS immensely though it was already decent before hand.
and not to be a PITA but the really shouldn't be in the dev forum, shoulda posted it in the Q&A one.

This belongs in general.
That aside, froyo is better than stock but not fixed.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

cropythy said:
This belongs in general.
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Click to collapse
I put it here since froyo is not official yet. Thus a development topic.
Thanks for the response.

Phredeee said:
I put it here since froyo is not official yet. Thus a development topic.
Thanks for the response.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google maps still can't get a fix very well, but its a software issue, my tracks shows that my gps has near perfect accuracy, sensor assist in settings does not work, it only makes the run on arrow, and driving through the woods worse.
Once you get a good fix in google maps you should then get fixes faster but the initial fix may take a while. Getting a fix with other software first seems to help, but may be coincidental.
Before you go trading in the phone make sure you do a clean install, master clear in odin one click, then odin flash jf6, then upgrade, either with odin or via clockwork mod recovery.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using Tapatalk

Didn't really fix it for me. It takes a long time to get a fix and once I get it, it would lose the fix within a few seconds.
I'm not using a window mount so the GPS signal has to go through the roof of my car. That may or may not affect it.

Didn't fix it at all for me. Very frustrating.
-Can't get a lock while moving
-Can't get a lock inside
-When I do get a lock it will lose it If I start moving
-Accuracy is waaay off.

2.2 broke my GPS It pretty much worked fine before I updated... now I cant even get a lock!!!

Mine will lock fine if I'm not moving but will not work once I'm moving, so still no navigation. I've heard it works for some so I wonder if there are just alot of hardware issues or what

My advice to you guys is to learn how to tweak lbstestmode settings. You can make your gps a lot better or a lot worse with these settings. Read up on the best settings and apply them to your phone.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

I gave up on my gps ... I am now "hoping" that the official release fixes it for everyone

update, i previously reported that it had more or less fixed my gps, that was with beta 4. beta 5.5 cant seem to get a fix, bad install im guessing. any number of things could be responsible. and no lbs test mode settings do not fix the gps. i almost wonder if it has something to do with titanium backup which i did not use before. its all purely speculation though.

Using Cognition Froyo 2.2 b5, GPS works almost 100% out of all the apps, google (Nav mostly)is the one with issues but very few now. It just looses me sometimes, usually when going under 20 mph but it does find me again in seconds.
I don't have a dash mount yet (due to questionable GPS) so it sits on the seat next to me in a truck, not the best. My trick is to run GPS test for a minute before I use Nav, seems to work every time. I lock on 7-10 sats in 6 or 7 seconds and they stay locked which never happened before, A lot of the time I'll be locked on 9 to 10 while moving with gps test reporting my speed within 1 mile an hour. I've also noticed that I get very few mistakes from Nav if I turn on the satellite layer, don't know why but works solidly for me when I do that.
This phone couldn't do a thing with gps before I flashed Cog's froyo and I had flashed a lot of different fixes, files, and roms almost bricking the phone a few times but nothing worked like the cognition froyo. I haven't used the jupiter v 006 files neither, no need with the gps working well.

GPS
I'm hoping that there was some parallel development going on and Samsung hasn't included a GPS fix in the leaked Froyo ROM. The GPS is pretty bad now - it's taking forever to obtain a fix again.

With 2.2, mine works fine. It takes a full minute to get a lock that status solid while in motion, but it gets a usable lock in twenty seconds. It's not as good as an iphone, but it's usable. In eclair, it's useless. Most of the time I can't get a lock at all, even if I let it try for a half hour. It will see 8 satellites and not lock a single one. In short, 2.2 has fixed my gps.

Mine has yet to have the GPS functioning well enough to use it.

No
........... 10 chars.

No, not at all.
My old ancient TMO G1 running Edge on ATT had lock on GPS 100% of the time. It was dead accurate and GPS was always on point. Can't say the same about my Captivate.
I'm on my second Captivate. I exchanged my first one thinking it was a hardware issue but alas I've given up. I flashed my phone with a couple different versions of ROMS (but not before trying the OTA Official fix before flashing any customs or rooting) it updated successfully but the GPS was still hella slow.
I'm not sure what's going on but these workarounds and everything absolutely do not work for me at all.
The only time the GPS works is when I turn Wi-Fi on, which defeats the purpose of having a wireless device in my opinion since you won't ALWAYS be around a Wi-Fi network (especially on a highway connected between the middle of nowhere) ...

I drove 450 miles with the GPS on my Captivate using Google Nav. It was pretty darn accurate. Only lost me 3 times the entire trip and by that I mean it went off onto the sideroads that ran parallel with the highway and then immediately came back. I'd have to say that 2.2 definitely fixed my GPS without a doubt.

I recently was having the crazy compass issue where it jumps back and forth. But my gps had always worked well as long as I wasn't moving to fast... I know I know. But cog 5.5 fixed my compass and improved my gps as well. Note I said improved not fixed, lol.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

[Q] Should I return my Infuse? GPS issues!

I know many people have complained about the Infuse's GPS performance. I have read and tried about 10 different "fixes". It does not matter what I do, it is just horrible.
I am coming from an HTC Inspire, which could sit on my lap in the car, lock within 10-15 seconds, and not show me driving in the trees.
With my Infuse, I have to hold the phone up to the windshield, with the back facing out (cannot lay it on the dashboard), to acquire a lock in 2-10 minutes. After I get a lock, if I do not keep the back of the phone at the windshield, I loose lock.
I have worked with Angry GPS & GPStest. I have tried ATT Stock UCKD5 & UCKE3, S7 (awesome ROM), Infused and Stock with Community Kernal.
Is this just how bad the Infuse performs or should I call Amazon and send it back?

Try my fix click on my name and search posts you'll.find it. If you follow directions it works. Pm me for help
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using xda premium

tyshemi said:
Try my fix click on my name and search posts you'll.find it. If you follow directions it works. Pm me for help
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Click to collapse
Your fix was one of the fixes I have already tried. I tried it under Stock and S7 and tried it again today with S7. Still no improvement.
Question for you Tyshemi which might help clarify this problem. When you have your Infuse indoors and outdoors what are the typical DBHZ (AngryGPS) or SNR (GPSTEST) #'s that you get for satellites?
Here are my typical numbers
[1]Laying on desk 2 foot from window (one floor house), 28-35
[2]in hand 2 foot from window, 17-25
[3]outside laying on leg, 22-28
[4]outside fingers only holding phone by the sides with back of phone to the sky, 25-32
[5]laying on the hood of my wifes Toyota RAV4, 35-45
[6]in the RAV4 on my lap, 20-27
When the phone is on the hood of the RAF 4 it will lock very quick, even after clearing data. But, after locking, not clearing data, I can go to any of the other positions, except #4, and it will not lock.
I am very interested in hearing what you numbers are.
Thanks for the quick response!
Also, it would be interesting to hear from other people what numbers they get and if they have issues or a working GPS.
6

First inside two story house
Second outside
These are just tonight just for you
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using xda premium

I.can help you step by step if ya want
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using xda premium

tyshemi said:
I.can help you step by step if ya want
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Click to collapse
I really appreaciate the offer but I feel at this point I have followed the directions as well as trying other fixes.
Please correct me if I am wrong but your fix as well as other fixes do not actually change or affect how the OS uses the hardware or how the hardware processes the incomming signals. I believe most fixes just affect how the phone processes available location services. The fixes may help but I doubt the fixes can help failing/deficient hardware.
I think a very clear example of a hardware issue is the fact when my phone is laying in my hand, outdoors, it may or may not reacquire a lock and if it does lock my accuracy will never go less then 100ft. When I place the phone in a metal cake pan (indoors) or on the hood of the RAV4,, my TTFF is about 60sec and accuracy holds 13 to 25ft.
I really wish you could help me but I am convinced this is hardware and I am going to try and return it and get another one.
I will follow up to let you know what happens.
Thanks again for your help.

Hmm thats weird man... i used thie fix proposed by tyshemi thread:
http://www.darkyrom.com/community/index.php?threads/guide-gps-quickest-fix-solution.2022/
Now i get locked under 30 secs In and out doors no matter the situation....
Maybe you do indeed have a bad gps on that phone.... Probably change it as gps not working, just remember to flash back to stock xD and risk it with another Infuse or change.... but those radically unfuctional gps are not common... i seriously havent had ONE single trouble locking my position on different countries, including north and south america...

sixn,
Are you sure you applied the fix and turned on auto in angry gps?
Powered by Infused v2.1.0

marty331 said:
sixn,
Are you sure you applied the fix and turned on auto in angry gps?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, but thanks for checking. I have tried multiple scenarios over the last week and have spent a lot of hours trying to figure this out. I think I finally have the answer. Check out this thread I just created, http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1260944

SOLVED
I contacted Samsung and discussed my GPS issues. I was issued an RMA on 15 Sep. I just received the phone back today and there is a huge improvment. Right out of the box (I flashed back to stock before sending of course) locked in less then 30 seconds. Much more accurate then prevously. Repair ticket indicates they "replaced component".
At least it is working better

GPS problems locking/staying locked

I've tried 3 different roms, wiping system data cache, dalvik, and gps takes forever to lock, and when it does it doesn't stay locked. I'll be driving and the signal will get lost, or it'll put me in the wrong location which causes it to give me a bunch of directions I don't need.
I've been using GPS lock to get a lock, but it's only a temporary fix. Could this be a phone issue?
Btw, this is also happening on my other s3
I've tried all the latest beans, tasteofbeans and galaxy mod releases
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium

Try faster fix GPS,GPS, test also
Clean Romed&themed the [email protected]#out

Tried that, it stays locked, but for only a couple minutes still
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium

ucpro said:
Tried that, it stays locked, but for only a couple minutes still
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Download the zip, unzip it, then copy the 2 files (gps.conf and certificate) to /system/etc of your device, reboot and try out your gps. Let me know how it goes. You must be rooted to do this.
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?o6pjy4gap7p4qu1

Simple mechanical GPS fix involving tightening the back frame of the phone
Hi,
I have a simple GPS fix that worked for me. I'd like to mention that the solution may not work for all but it did work for me after I tried just about every fix possible. For example I flashed back to stock, performed numerous battery pulls, used many of the AGPS patches, made numerous edits to the gps.conf file, reprovisioned my phone, checked different ROMs, uninstalled/reinstalled Google Maps, cleared data for Google Maps and Google Service Framework, and so on.
I tried all of the above methods because my GPS would take forever to get a fix both indoors and outdoors (I know it usually takes longer to get a fix indoors), wouldn't hold the fix while navigating and my GPS apps kept stating "Searching for GPS", would see 20+ satellites but would never lock on to them...man it was really frustrating. I just about gave up.
However, as I was trying to follow another procedure to fix my GPS which required me to pull my battery I noticed that when I removed my back cover that the back frame that has all the screws was slightly loose on the left side. Once I tightened them all up my GPS worked immediately! I've tested for a day and I consistently got a lock on the satellites in about 2-15 seconds depending on my location. My navigation also worked and wouldn't cut in and out.
Like I said it may not work for everyone but I would recommend that if you have a GS3 definitely check the back frame of your phone and make sure everything is secure. I've tried my GPS on the stock and CM 10 stable ROMs and I have achieved GPS locks consistently.
I hope this helps. Maybe this has already been shared but I figured I would post in case some of you haven't seen it yet.
Cheers.

buhohitr said:
Download the zip, unzip it, then copy the 2 files (gps.conf and certificate) to /system/etc of your device, reboot and try out your gps. Let me know how it goes. You must be rooted to do this.
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?o6pjy4gap7p4qu1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Been using this method for over a month and it works great.
Sent from my Eclipsed Galaxy SIII

[Q] GPS Issues on all ROMS

Hello all,
I'm having issues getting GPS to lock on every rom. Be it AOSP or TW based, my GPS has trouble locking and updating. Often times in Google Maps and Waze it looks as though the arrow is facing 90 degrees in the opposite direction. Another problem is that after the GPS locks, it then does not update as frequently as it should causing the arrow to stay in one place on Maps and it can take minutes to update with your new position.
Has anyone else been experiencing this?
My baseband version is VRUCML1
And my location settings have been set for high accuracy.
Edit: This issue has been fixed thanks to TheHobbyist
TheHobbyist said:
Hey there. I had gps issues before as well. I tried literally everything on the software end of things with no luck. However, I took the back off of my s3, tightened the screws (you need a special small screwdriver), booted back up, and viola!
I know it sounds odd, but trust me on this one and give it a go ☺
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Hey there. I had gps issues before as well. I tried literally everything on the software end of things with no luck. However, I took the back off of my s3, tightened the screws (you need a special small screwdriver), booted back up, and viola!
I know it sounds odd, but trust me on this one and give it a go ☺
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

tylerch said:
Hello all,
I'm having issues getting GPS to lock on every rom. Be it AOSP or TW based, my GPS has trouble locking and updating. Often times in Google Maps and Waze it looks as though the arrow is facing 90 degrees in the opposite direction. Another problem is that after the GPS locks, it then does not update as frequently as it should causing the arrow to stay in one place on Maps and it can take minutes to update with your new position.
Has anyone else been experiencing this?
My baseband version is VRUCML1
And my location settings have been set for high accuracy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Having a very similar issue. I'll try the screw fix, I suppose, but I feel that the problem is more with updating than locking, leading me to believe that it may be a software problem.
Please post if you have found a solution! Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I swear by the screw fix. After your GPS is fixed, use GPS STATUS free on the play store for optimal gps performance
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

TheHobbyist said:
Hey there. I had gps issues before as well. I tried literally everything on the software end of things with no luck. However, I took the back off of my s3, tightened the screws (you need a special small screwdriver), booted back up, and viola!
I know it sounds odd, but trust me on this one and give it a go ☺
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You Sir are a miracle worker.
If I could get a technical explanation for why this worked I would appreciate it. I have no idea how this was even possible.

tylerch said:
You Sir are a miracle worker.
If I could get a technical explanation for why this worked I would appreciate it. I have no idea how this was even possible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm glad to hear yet another success story! :good:
Regarding a technical explanation, the gps does rely on signal reception (gps signal reception) and as such, it makes use of an antennae that is incorporated into the body of the phone. When the screws are tight, the contact between the gps and the antennae it uses is better and you get better gps reception.
(This is my theory)
I don't make cell phones, but I work with electronics hardware a lot. In my case, the screws were loose because my kid is always throwing my phone across the room =)
If you ever are browsing xda and see an s3 owner with gps issues, please take the time to share this fix with them! :good: