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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.

Very Slow gps lock

I just got my sensation yesterday, coming from the G2x, my gps lock when using google maps/navigation takes more than 10 minutes to lock. I turn in in landscape mode loses data connection as well. Anyone else experiencing very slow gps locks? My g2 was instant

Something is wrong. Mine takes about 20-30 sec.

Return it
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using XDA App

Same exact thing here except for the data issue, on my second device and its nothing like my G2. Have you Tested other areas? Use gps test (by Chartcross Limited) and see your signal strength and how many satellites you can connect to.
My G2 can see 12 in a few sec
My Sensation only sees 3-0 at poor signal

Don't really have an option to return it cause I purchased it off of craigslist, and I use Simple Mobile. So I don't even have a T-Mobile account. Unless someone knows a work around this, I am forced to send it to HTC for "repair".

Just got my Sensation yesterday. First thing I tested was GPS. My heart sank when it saw zero sats outside. Tried various test apps, Google Maps, etc., checked and double checked settings, rebooted several times. Nothing. The GPS icon never even showed in the notification bar. Was about to box it up to send back and decided to pop the battery out. Rebooted, and bingo! Excellent signal strength even indoors, very quick locks, typically accurate to under 15 ft, and very stable map location. As close to perfect GPS as I had hoped for. Coming from the Vibrant GPS fiasco I'm VERY happy.

wish I could say the same about mine

mariopm2005 said:
wish I could say the same about mine
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you download GPS test from the market and use the calibration tools? It could help. Or you can also try pulling the battery (old BB trick) instead of restarting to see if that helps. Keep your head up.

I got mine yesterday and had the same experience. I fixed it as follows:
SETTINGS->LOCATION -> Make sure "Use Wireless Networks" is UNCHECKED
Since unchecking that option, my locks are much faster.
However I turned WiFi Calling on and it started behaving like before. Never seeing satellites, minutes for lock.
I turned off WiFi Calling and now I get <10sec lock again.
Sounds like a software issue that HTC needs to figure out.
Let me know if anyone has success with this.

Did you try it out inside?
I just went outside and it's pretty cloudy and got 5locks in 3seconds and 10locks in under 10 seconds.
So there is something wrong or you are doing something wrong

GPS Completely Stopped

I recently upgraded to VU 2.35 from their beta and my GPS has become non existent. I've changed radios, rils, AngelDeath fix, reflashed rom, everything. I use GPS Status and can't even pick up a single satellite. I can't see it being my radio as my data and cell works fine. Does anybody have any ideas about what it could be?

I found a link today in this forum because i too had lost gps. It was a hardware fix involving removing the flash cover, cleaning the gps antena contacts and repositioning the spring contacts. I went from 0 sats to 8 right after fix!!!! I will try and give you a link if i can find it again. Very good thread with video so its worth trying and easy to do.
This is the thread link:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1101066​

I saw that and was hesitant to try it. I went for it and I think I almost bent one too much, but now I get a lock in less than 15 seconds in my house. I recommend this to anybody having gps issues.

Abbysmal GPS and WiFi Signal

I have looked far and wide for a fix to my plagued Nexus S GPS and WiFi Signal problems. I tried GPS Test and erased all cached AGPS data. NO Towers show up. Left phone sitting there next to my window for more than 30 minutes.
Wifi Signal is always one bar while my iPod, Samsung Focus, HP Veer all get three to four bars. Including different SIM cards all recently new.
I've always tried the no battery cover trick to no end. Flashed several radios for my I9020A that i bought at best buy and nothing has helped.
I'm on 2.3.4.
Any ideas before I return this phone as a defective and give another a try?

As for the GPS, this is some sort of issue with the phone. There have been videos on YouTube explaining that it's something to do with the back cover they chose: they found that the GPS signal was stronger with the back cover removed. Not too practical.
I too have issues while using Navigation (on a bus...or even in a car sometimes...it must have a lead lines roof or something) with the Nexus S that weren't present in the Nexus One (which could lock onto satellites in a basement :what. This looks like something you can try to DRM, but it may not improve.
As for the Wifi signal, how far are you from the access point? What wireless technology are you setting up on your access point? (802.11a, b, g, or n?). If it's n? Are you trying to use the phone with a 5ghz N router? Finally, is there anything between your router and the phone that could cause interference?
- chris

Thanks for the reply chris.
I have major issues even outside. the most accurate I've seen the phone pinpoint is 2500 meters accuracy with clear skies and such.
As for my router, its a BHN SBG6580. Basically Motorola Surf Board. It's supposed to go up to N. No There isn't any kind of interference otherwise my other devices wouldn't pick up a good signal right?

Please will anyone suggest anything I really like my nexus s and it's My first real Android coming from window phones and the iPhone 4

Okay so interesting find. If I tether my nexus s to my iPod my iPod can locate itself within 20 meters where as my nexus can't locate itself with about a huge margin error where I should be. My iPod gets GPS from my Nexus S giving off wifi
Does this mean it could be an android bug causing his problem ?

That's odd. It looks like Google knows where the phone is (err..where the access point with the ESSID of your phone is) but the phone isn't picking up on it.
There's a program on market called GPS Toolkit (something like that) that has an option to refresh your AGPS cache this may help you get a fix more quickly. If this doesn't work out, it may well be worth it to get the phone replaced. Oh...and if you're not using stock firmware....give that a try as well.
If none of that works, and you're not able to resolve your wireless issues, you may want to consider taking the phone back or RMAing it. This combination of issues sounds a bit strange.
- chris

Thanks again for the reply Chris.
It looks like I'm going to bring it back to stock how I got it and return it for an exchange or just wait or for another AT&T phone that is actually decent. By the way it is on the stock ROM just rooted.
If the replacement if I do get one issued still has the problems I am at lost then. I had tried GPS test from the market and the one you mentioned without any resolve to my problem

GPS issues

Hi all. Got my att g3 the other night, was playing around with it and everything was working fine. Then I rooted using stump root, now my GPS has issues getting a quick lock. Could that have broken the GPS? I did a factory reset and no improving. I tried various GPS fix apps from the market also with no luck. GPS test app says it sees around 20 satellites with 8or 9 in use but no accurate lock. Any ideas of what else I could try?

No one has any ideas? I don't think it's a hardware problem, because sometime I get a lock in a couple seconds, other times it takes 5-10 minutes. Once I get a lock, it's rock solid, very accurate and stable.
Are there some files someone with a working GPS can give me and I can replace mine?