Related
This hardware fix was posted in the Vibrant, General forum. Can it be implemented on the Captivate?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=878970
I actually think this was done and posted in the dev section. I'm gonna check real quick and post the link, but our GPS contact is just under the battery cover, no need to disassemble the phone.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=876179
It was in the general section.
So it's a hardware and software issue.
Clearly Samsung is never going to fix this, the design is bad. This is crazy to use this type of contact on an antenna. Let alone on a removable back cover. Especially at these frequencies.
I can't believe Google let them get away with it using pretty much the same design for the Nexus S.
This will definitely be my last Samsung. Well, after I have AT&T replace it to fix the turn off problem...
haydonxda said:
So it's a hardware and software issue.
Clearly Samsung is never going to fix this, the design is bad. This is crazy to use this type of contact on an antenna. Let alone on a removable back cover. Especially at these frequencies.
I can't believe Google let them get away with it using pretty much the same design for the Nexus S.
This will definitely be my last Samsung. Well, after I have AT&T replace it to fix the turn off problem...
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Click to collapse
Wrong! My phone works as it is...!!! Samsung fixed it!
I returned my phone since it was having sleep death issues. They issued me a refurbished phone of 10.07 batch since it was within warranty. I had a GPS lock within 10 seconds even on the supplied stock 2.1 JH7.
Check for later batches of phone, or keep exchanging till u get the working one. The initially released batches were flawed.
You don't need to disassemble the Captivate to do this fix, because the antenna contact (or antenna ground contact) is exposed under the battery cover. There's a thread covering this in general.
diablo009 said:
Wrong! My phone works as it is...!!! Samsung fixed it!
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Click to collapse
Ugh. Whatever. This is a design defect similar to the iPhone 4's stupid antenna placement. Samsung at least had the sense not to use this lousy contact mechanism for their cell antenna. If they did they'd have sold about 10 of them before word got out that it drops calls constantly.
This type of contact for this range of RF can not work reliably - period. (I realize I may have a different sense of reliably than you. Reliable is far more than 90% of the time ...)
hey guys i was very upset that i had to turn my Wifi calling in order to check my email, call or even text someone at home. i was looking on what could be blocking the antenna so i decided to take of my body glove, then i removed the back cover, then on the bottom by the speakers i noticed a piece of "tape". (mine was blue and my co workers was black) i removed it and turn my phone off and guess what, im writting this without using my wifi and my text messages are going through fine since i texted my co worker to remove his "tape/sticker"......can anyone else try this....ill try to post some pic tomorrow of what "tape/sticker" im reffering to even tho it should not be too hard.
I noticed that too, already partially damaged from the cover being removed before I even got the phone. It is indeed safe to remove?
i just send a lg rep what i noticed, so far i have had no issues, my co worker keeps texting to test and so far we have noticed a improvement.
Huh, interesting just removed mine as well. It is the really thin plastic that is used to protect something before it is sent to consumer, like what you would find on a tv or kitchen appliance. Guess they forgot to take it off or expected us to do it. I get signal at home so I am gonna report back once I go too school bc reception is there is awful and I am finally getting a bar when I normally didn't.
Nice post!!!!
Ok mine was black tape... i just popped the cover off pealed it off and laying in the exact same spot it was when i read this post i went from 2bars to 3bars.
Coincidence? Hmmmmmm
Thanks though, never noticed the damn tape....thinking maybe it did help... normally where i sit and lay my phone on my desk here at home i float between 1-2 bars, same place it has 3 now...
Wow thanks for the info! I too was curious as to the purpose of it, but feared if I removed it there would be consequences lol
i see it but im not touching it. just gives tmobile another reason to screw you over.
no, you still have a 14 day trial. is like taking of the screen protector that comes with the phone and have tmobile not taking it back because of it. besides a close source says it should be okay.
Really? TMo will voide warranty for a piece of plastic tape that doesn't say "void warranty if removed" just peel it off.... lol
ozkerr said:
no, you still have a 14 day trial. is like taking of the screen protector that comes with the phone and have tmobile not taking it back because of it. besides a close source says it should be okay.
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Click to collapse
nope not doing it lol. call me paranoid.**peels slowly**
charlieb620 said:
nope not doing it lol. call me paranoid.**peels slowly**
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Click to collapse
im sorry your reply had a bit of a delay....lol what did you say
They already beat this up pretty badly on the O2X forum...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1023053
General consensus was any benefit was "placebo effect." I left it on my phone for a day and then took it off and didn't notice any difference.
charlieb620 said:
nope not doing it lol. call me paranoid.**peels slowly**
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Click to collapse
im sorry your last comment had a bid of a delay..lol
Some damn good placebo then cuz i can assure you around all these servers etc here i've never gotten better than 2 bars... hmmmmm
thats it, i'm putting it back on and off and on and off and on and off and... ok i'm confused now...
idk, i have never seen another "plastic/sticker/tape" on another tmobile phone (i have 25). i mean i really relied on wi fi calling to do anything on my phone at home on my g2x. is been two hours now. if this has nothing to do then im wrong but in the meantime my text are not delayed.
ozkerr said:
idk, i have never seen another "plastic/sticker/tape" on another tmobile phone (i have 25). i mean i really relied on wi fi calling to do anything on my phone at home on my g2x. is been two hours now. if this has nothing to do then im wrong but in the meantime my text are not delayed.
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Click to collapse
Just noticed yer in houston... i'm in mcallen area... so guess this tape thing working for us must be a Texas thing lol
lol hahaha, i guess we will find out once everyone wakes up and try this......i have another friend that we will try to test again ill try to update with pics before and after
It seems odd that a thin plastic tape would affect signal, but I saw a solid 1 bar increase as well. It appears the tape is directly over the antenna.
x-ravin said:
It seems odd that a thin plastic tape would affect signal, but I saw a solid 1 bar increase as well. It appears the tape is directly over the antenna.
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Click to collapse
Yep as did I! Phone seems better now signal wise, and true, data / sms / mms is behaving now? I dunno... maybe it's us wishing for better signal by removing tape so hard that it actually affected the earths EM field allowing for one more bar of signal.
and people with iphone thought the death grip wasnt real until they got a free case from AtTT.
Ok after the previous journey with hd2's thermal problems and since i got a new htc sensation, i found myself a little bored until either devs or htc gives us some s-off for our phones. So i've heard of this death grip issue and want to give it a try to find a hardware fix for it. Some of you may know me for the geeky technical approaches, so i'll try to get some stuff working here.
Anyway, i have the Sensation from about 4-5 days. I'm yet to determine the seriousness of this issue and how much wireless transmissions are affected.
After inspecting the device construction, it's simple to assume that the reason for the death grip is an interference between the antenna emissions and the EM interference from the human body (hand).
I'll be conducting a series of measurements using some hardware tools to find out the exact cause. Only after this i can begin to work for a fix.
So far this future fix must comply with these conditions:
1. NOT to void the warranty. The fix have to be removable and the phone brought to it's original condition.
2. More easier and safe then my hd2 reheating thread . The solution must be clear, simple and must make use of generic household materials.
3. The death grip issue must be solved in a satisfactory way so that the fix itself is worth the trouble.
This is the start of a new project, it may take a while for some real results to come and the first thing to be determined is if the issue is really user solvable.
So, wish me luck.. i guess i'll be starting tomorrow and post some pictures/things i find during the process.
Good luck, I'm also tempted to start some experiments. BTW it might be worth having a extra Back cover to due testing with. You can get one from HTC.
well, that's the idea. the method must be non invasive for that back cover and must also present no risk in damaging it.
I was so annoyed by the touchscreen issue I never got round to this one :\
I wanted to test if the problem could be "reduced" by simply adding a strip of aluminium foil along the cover... You can probably come up with something better
Thank you for helping!
Thanks! If you can even slightly improve things, you'd be a god. I love this phone, but the WiFi dying (in landscape) is the one issue that constantly nags. [:
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App
Xlythe said:
Thanks! If you can even slightly improve things, you'd be a god. I love this phone, but the WiFi dying (in landscape) is the one issue that constantly nags. [:
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Click to collapse
That's funny, mine doesn't die on any orientation about the wifi.
2003evo8 said:
That's funny, mine doesn't die on any orientation about the wifi.
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Click to collapse
I've yet to experience this also...
Sent from my Htcclay's SuperCM7 G2 using XDA App
Ditto...I haven't experienced this either. *knocks on wood*
2003evo8 said:
That's funny, mine doesn't die on any orientation about the wifi.
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Click to collapse
Well it really depends on where your router is and how strong is the signal... I've tested mine with wall between it dropped significantly and even disconnects, while next to it only a bar or more but return to normal state after a few moments. But it shouldn't do that, and I've got asus wl520-gc router.
MerLinh said:
Well it really depends on where your router is and how strong is the signal... I've tested mine with wall between it dropped significantly and even disconnects, while next to it only a bar or more but return to normal state after a few moments. But it shouldn't do that, and I've got asus wl520-gc router.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's true but he was saying he looses it in landscape mode.
FOTA reduced the death grip issues for me..
i will be making some physical measurements on how the phone's transceiver produces and handles 2.43 Ghz ISM type signals. At this moment i haven't tested my device for the death grip but like i've said, i have some spare time and want to help on this.
By using an oscilloscope i will try see what's happening to the signal level in real time.
2003evo8 said:
That's true but he was saying he looses it in landscape mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's my hand touching the top of the phone when I hold it in landscape. Sorry if there was confusion. Light touches cause dramatic losses in signal on my phone.
Edit: WiFi only.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App
Looking forward to results. Godspeed.
I hate to sound like an Apple fanboy but I was not able to replicate this "accidentally."
Now it might have to do with the different frequencies of the Bell verison of phone, or my signal strength.
I watched a video of someone placing the phone flat on their hand and the signal strength completely dropping off. While I was able to drop a bar of cellular signal, it was far from the video.
I did not get any noticeable drop in wifi.
I went to 3 different tmobile stores and had 3 replacement phones. They all had death grip.
also don't think its EM. I lose wifi signal by covering with single sheet of paper.
joon82 said:
I lose wifi signal by covering with single sheet of paper.
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Click to collapse
Cover what with a single sheet of paper, the back of the phone? You lost the wifi signal completely? I get no effect by putting a piece of paper on my phone. Never heard of lead paper.
any updates ?
is it possible to solve it with hard cover... i read smowhere that with a silicone one won't solve it.
Xlythe said:
It's my hand touching the top of the phone when I hold it in landscape. Sorry if there was confusion. Light touches cause dramatic losses in signal on my phone.
Edit: WiFi only.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have the same problem
At first it worked fine but after 1 month it starts losing signal. I downloaded GPS fixes but no luck, anyone has same problems? I have a lenovo k3 note but that works fine even it is even cheaper. I look into specs, seems like stylo only eqipped with AGPS since most high end devices offer both GLONASS and AGPS.
eddie24902005 said:
At first it worked fine but after 1 month it starts losing signal. I downloaded GPS fixes but no luck, anyone has same problems? I have a lenovo k3 note but that works fine even it is even cheaper. I look into specs, seems like stylo only eqipped with AGPS since most high end devices offer both GLONASS and AGPS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here dont really know what's going on
Other than that, I love this phone,great price and overall performance. Still I gonna dump it soon as I need GPS everyday.
Same experience here. Even the digital compass just jiggles all over unable to lock GPS or direction.. Going to try a factory reset because it used to work fine before but today it's just failing to do anything at all... But seeing others with this phone with same or similar issues does not bode well even with a reset. It seems the phone can find some GLONASS locks in the attached images "triangles" but I think this may be in error in GPS Test.
Not happy to see so many people suffer from same thing but I am glad that I am not the only one. lol
It's the antenna.
I had problems like this as well. One day, I got mad enough to smack the back of the phone against my dashboard... and lo and behold, it started working again!
As it turns out, the NFC antenna is also the GPS antenna. There are a couple of pins on the phone that touch a pair of pads on the antenna, and if they don't make good contact, the GPS won't get a good signal.
I've found that removing the back and replacing it (being sure to snap it firmly in place) will usually fix the problem. I tried (not too hard) to pry up the little tab with the pads and stick some paper under it to force it firmly against the pins, but I'm thinking that the tab (and the rest of the antenna) might be glued in place.
Bobby Tables said:
I had problems like this as well. One day, I got mad enough to smack the back of the phone against my dashboard... and lo and behold, it started working again!
As it turns out, the NFC antenna is also the GPS antenna. There are a couple of pins on the phone that touch a pair of pads on the antenna, and if they don't make good contact, the GPS won't get a good signal.
I've found that removing the back and replacing it (being sure to snap it firmly in place) will usually fix the problem. I tried (not too hard) to pry up the little tab with the pads and stick some paper under it to force it firmly against the pins, but I'm thinking that the tab (and the rest of the antenna) might be glued in place.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
seems like it is the solution! Hopefully can last........
So the factory rest worked on taming my digital compass and gps is now locking on but clearly the antenna on this phone is less then stellar because my old HTC Vivid seemed to have better gps reception (even with it metal backplate cover) as the snr ratio is worse here than my old phone. Its also much slower to lock on and more sensitive to your hand cupping the phone or how your holding it. I dont rely on gps much so at least its usable to a fault.. Everything else this phone provides is spot on.
The paper trick worked for me to just peel up the little contacts on the back piece and put a piece of paper behind it
darrick505 said:
The paper trick worked for me to just peel up the little contacts on the back piece and put a piece of paper behind it
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Click to collapse
Hello, Is there anyway possible you can provide a pic? Is it the two contacts on the backplate?
Dolemaine said:
Hello, Is there anyway possible you can provide a pic? Is it the two contacts on the backplate?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used toilet paper
fixed by replacing back plate
I was having the same problem with my TMobile LG G. I tried putting some paper underneath the antenna contacts, no luck. I ended up buying a used back plate off eBay for $9.
Completely fixed it. In my case, I think the original antenna was just faulty. I'd have sent it in for a warranty replacement if I hadn't, um, dropped the phone within a week of getting it and shattering the screen so I'd already had to get that fixed by an aftermarket repair place.
GPS lock fix
I tried a new back, and the paper under the contact trick, they didnt work. BUT I did read that taking the back off and tightening the screws that hold it together, will get the gps lock back. I pulled the back off and I did have several loose screws. After correcting, I rebooted the phone and gps is now operating perfectly!
I took off the back and made all the screws tight. It works fine now. Hopefully this helps others.
In the past week, this phone has stopped enabling "fast charge" and now, it takes all day (literally) to charge the phone. Also, battery draining is quite rapid (IMO). I've had the phone 2 months now and it's starting to have other issues as well. I have a question.... is it possible that a minor crack in the screen would have anything to do with the charging issues? BTW, the crack developed within 10 days of purchase. I did not drop the phone but perhaps, may have sat on it while in back pocket, but I question this for it's "supposed" the have Gorilla glass3 and I would think it would be more resistant to cracking in such a manner? Anyway, looking for answer, mostly, to charging issue. THANX Rick
69Rixter said:
In the past week, this phone has stopped enabling "fast charge" and now, it takes all day (literally) to charge the phone. Also, battery draining is quite rapid (IMO). I've had the phone 2 months now and it's starting to have other issues as well. I have a question.... is it possible that a minor crack in the screen would have anything to do with the charging issues? BTW, the crack developed within 10 days of purchase. I did not drop the phone but perhaps, may have sat on it while in back pocket, but I question this for it's "supposed" the have Gorilla glass3 and I would think it would be more resistant to cracking in such a manner? Anyway, looking for answer, mostly, to charging issue. THANX Rick
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Take it back to the store
69Rixter said:
In the past week, this phone has stopped enabling "fast charge" and now, it takes all day (literally) to charge the phone. Also, battery draining is quite rapid (IMO). I've had the phone 2 months now and it's starting to have other issues as well. I have a question.... is it possible that a minor crack in the screen would have anything to do with the charging issues? BTW, the crack developed within 10 days of purchase. I did not drop the phone but perhaps, may have sat on it while in back pocket, but I question this for it's "supposed" the have Gorilla glass3 and I would think it would be more resistant to cracking in such a manner? Anyway, looking for answer, mostly, to charging issue. THANX Rick
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you put your whole body weight on the phone while bending it (that is, having it in your back pocket while sitting), why are you surprised that it cracked? Sturdy doesn't mean indestructible. And you were asking about custom roms for that phone so if you did something wrong in that regard it wouldn't be surprising if you had problems. Return it for a new one, if they will even take it back. They cover defects not abuse so don't be shocked if they tell you that its your problem.
RE: pwilson33(why does that sound familiar?)
I guess your not aware of durability of Gorilla glass 3, as touted by the manufacturer. But, I'll do some more "checking" and ask them(Gorilla Glass). Funny thing, the phone started charging, in reasonable time frame, albeit without "fast charge". Leads me to believe it's the charger(?). That too, I'll check out with a dealer. I was asking about a ROM. Haven't employed one as yet. Going to inquire at Samsung if it would be alright to revert to Android 9 so that I can continue to use the FM receiver. Strange...but had no problems until a few weeks after "upgrading" to Android 10
69Rixter said:
RE: pwilson33(why does that sound familiar?)
I guess your not aware of durability of Gorilla glass 3, as touted by the manufacturer. But, I'll do some more "checking" and ask them(Gorilla Glass). Funny thing, the phone started charging, in reasonable time frame, albeit without "fast charge". Leads me to believe it's the charger(?). That too, I'll check out with a dealer. I was asking about a ROM. Haven't employed one as yet. Going to inquire at Samsung if it would be alright to revert to Android 9 so that I can continue to use the FM receiver. Strange...but had no problems until a few weeks after "upgrading" to Android 10
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't go back to Android 9
69Rixter said:
RE: pwilson33(why does that sound familiar?)
I guess your not aware of durability of Gorilla glass 3, as touted by the manufacturer. But, I'll do some more "checking" and ask them(Gorilla Glass). Funny thing, the phone started charging, in reasonable time frame, albeit without "fast charge". Leads me to believe it's the charger(?). That too, I'll check out with a dealer. I was asking about a ROM. Haven't employed one as yet. Going to inquire at Samsung if it would be alright to revert to Android 9 so that I can continue to use the FM receiver. Strange...but had no problems until a few weeks after "upgrading" to Android 10
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Guess you're not familiar with things breaking if you put too much stress on them. You can't go back to 9 unless you root the phone and load a custom ROM which voids the warranty, so you're then out of luck for a warranty replacement for the phone you broke.
Personally I'd not trust a battery that had been bent enough to crack the phone. But you obviously know everything, so have fun.
RE: physwizz
Thanx for replying. Damn, did not know that.(" You can't go back to Android 9") Well, gonna have to figure out some other way(?) Hopefully, there is an app out there I haven't discovered.
Re: pwilson33
Funny, when I took the phone to the dealer, they checked out the battery and said it was "in fine working order" (???). Kinda blows your comment right outta the water, huh? No, I don't know everything, but is apparent that neither do you!!! Keep your snide comments to yourself.
69Rixter said:
RE: physwizz
Thanx for replying. Damn, did not know that.(" You can't go back to Android 9") Well, gonna have to figure out some other way(?) Hopefully, there is an app out there I haven't discovered.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My fast charging works fine if I use the proper charger and a short lead.
Did you do a reset after updating? Lots of issues the pop up after an update are due to leftover data messing with things.
Move your files off and give that baby a factory reset real quick.
69Rixter said:
Re: pwilson33
Funny, when I took the phone to the dealer, they checked out the battery and said it was "in fine working order" (???). Kinda blows your comment right outta the water, huh? No, I don't know everything, but is apparent that neither do you!!! Keep your snide comments to yourself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't say it wasn't ok did I? I said I wouldn't trust it and I wouldn't. Like said, if you bent it enough to crack the screen a LiOn battery could get the foil exposed and it would go up. Was there a word that was too hard for you?
And if you want to have a comment "blown out of the water", what about your junk regarding gorilla glass? Yea, I'm sure you have NEVER EVER heard of ANYONE BREAKING THEIR SCREEN BEFORE, RIGHT?
Want FM Radio on A10? Nextradio app in the play store. And before you moan about anything, your radio working has nothing to do with Android, but what the firmware allows from the vendor.
Charging Issue
Re: ninjainabag
I was just returning here to state that I'd just done what you suggested. Geez... DUH, why didn't I think of/do that sooner. Yes, now charging is working as supposed to. THANK YOU. How do I change the "header" to solved? Hope this can help someone else :good:
RE: pwilson33
If YOU want your comments "blown out of the water", keep making comments on subjects you don't know what your talking about. NextRadio does not work on android 10. Again, I did not say the radio didn't work...read again...I said I couldn't find an app that would access the FM chip. The apps I've investigated all use i-net access. And..."my junk regarding gorilla glass"...you've already proved you know know little to nothing about it. If you can't help out on a thread, which your unable to do, just stay off it.
69Rixter said:
RE: pwilson33
If YOU want your comments "blown out of the water", keep making comments on subjects you don't know what your talking about. NextRadio does not work on android 10. Again, I did not say the radio didn't work...read again...I said I couldn't find an app that would access the FM chip. The apps I've investigated all use i-net access. And..."my junk regarding gorilla glass"...you've already proved you know know little to nothing about it. If you can't help out on a thread, which your unable to do, just stay off it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try again. NextRadio works fine on A10, and have it installed and working. Since you appear to have trouble reading, note the part about the firmware on the phone, and some vendors disabling it. If its disabled it doesn't work with any app. And spouting off about it being gorilla glass is supposed to mean what? Or are you seriously trying to say that NO ONE HAS EVER BROKEN THEIR PHONE SCREEN since gorilla glass came out? Because if they have I obviously know more about the possibility of it breaking than you do.
And I'm pretty confident that I've seen many broken phones of all types. Maybe you should get out more.
I've not found an app that can access the FM chipset. Next Radio is defunct now and doesn't work on And. 10. I'm going to mark this thread closed...as soon as I find the proper "tool" to do so.
69Rixter said:
I've not found an app that can access the FM chipset. Next Radio is defunct now and doesn't work on And. 10. I'm going to mark this thread closed...as soon as I find the proper "tool" to do so.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Love how you ignore what you don't feel like answering. Can't wait for your follow up where you insult people and act like you're 9, because you don't have any rational responses.
NextRadio is not 'defunct', and received an update not too long ago. And again it works fine on A10. Did you not understand when you were told very, VERY simply (maybe not simply enough for you, though), that unless your provider ALLOWS that feature to be turned on, it won't work no matter what the app??
And can't you answer the simple question of whether or not you've ever heard of someone dropping their phone and breaking the (in your mind) ABSOLUTELY UNBREAKABLE gorilla glass, that you claim to know all about?