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Captivate and Nexus S back cover similarity (maybe NFC?)

Anyone notice that the back cover of the Nexus S has two little gold contacts and some sort of grounding/antenna plane just like the Captivate?
http://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/NEXUS-S-Hands-on-09-SlashGear-580x359.jpg
And
http://pocketnow.com/html/portal/news/0000011184/backopen.jpg
Perhaps it's only a ground plane or something, but there is a striking resemblance. We already know our Captivates have a little something special (in the back cover mechanism and inclusion of an Audience voice processing chip) that none of the other Galaxy S variants carry. Just speculation, but maybe there's a NFC radio hiding somewhere in our devices and that "ground plane" is actually the antenna. Perhaps if someone can discover what exactly the NFC antenna looks like (if it's internal, or integrated into the back cover of the Nexus S) we could make a better guess.
Unless someone else has a more reasonable explanation?

well thats an interseting theory. kind of a stretch though, any number of things it can be. i mean because the nexus has two contact points and has nfc doesnt mean that the points are related to nfc. i think that the cappy not having nfc is evidence that the backplate is not used for nfc. but we may have un used hardware, if i knew more about antennas and nfc and things i guess i could draw a better conclusion.
i can tell you that the round point on the cappy goes to ground through a plating on the back of the plastic over. i made no attempt to trace the contact that is on the board. if someone with knowledge in the area of antennas could coment that would be great but it's probably nothing.

I've noticed this too.
If you tilt the back door at the right angle to the light, you can see a vague pattern (at least on mine) which looks like an RFID antenna in the recessed square on the back. Maybe it's something? RF is not my specialty, but it looks awfully like the pic on the left http://www.new-rfid-concept.com/rfid_and_nfc.html.

Merlin_reloaded said:
I've noticed this too.
If you tilt the back door at the right angle to the light, you can see a vague pattern (at least on mine) which looks like an RFID antenna in the recessed square on the back. Maybe it's something? RF is not my specialty, but it looks awfully like the pic on the left http://www.new-rfid-concept.com/rfid_and_nfc.html.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Noticed the pattern too. S'why I'm curious what it's for.

Huh, but why would they put an rfid chip in a phone when android is supposed to start using nfc? My guess as to the contact points are wifi antenna contacts. I noticed I get amazing wifi pickup from routers far away. Much better than any other device I've used. Although, no signals loose reception quality when the back plate is off, wifi, cell, gps. Idk. Haven't tried bt though.
From a phone

boborone said:
Huh, but why would they put an rfid chip in a phone when android is supposed to start using nfc? My guess as to the contact points are wifi antenna contacts. I noticed I get amazing wifi pickup from routers far away. Much better than any other device I've used. Although, no signals loose reception quality when the back plate is off, wifi, cell, gps. Idk. Haven't tried bt though.
From a phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doubt it's an actual RFID in the back cover. It's just that little patch on the back cover looks very much looks like an antenna.

Really, I don't think it can be something. A mp3 player I owned for 4 years have something like this too. It's most likely to be something like digital ground just to keep the voltage stable...

Shammyh is correct, it is for NFC.

loebotomy said:
Shammyh is correct, it is for NFC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What are you saying? The captivate secretly has NFC? Seems a bit far fetched since found this yet. Would be cool though.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA Premium App

i know this thread is old, but i was searching for the same thing today. after i read this thread here, i found this, explaining some roms that support the chip:
"... Audience Chip support (Captivates have a special chip added that increases call quality... if it is used)." loraqu
@ http://forums.androidcentral.com/t-captivate/111137-cyanogenmod-7-vs-serendipity-vii.html
so i guess its like those weird sticker things they used to sell on tv that claimed "its like adding a 5 foot antenna to your phone!" and im assuming everyone knows by now it cant be nfc because the backplate is metal. i found it interesting, so there it is if anyones still searching.

Chances that an LCD + digitizer will fix this?

A coworker I started working with a few months ago told me about the much-better Sensation he had before his MyTouch 3G. It seems that he still had it, but stopped using it "because the screen cracked." I correctly surmised that it was a simple and cheap to replace touch screen digitizer and described to him that it was "just the glass cover" and that it was "cheap to replace." I have done many such repairs on other phones and gadgets.
He then told me that he had continued to use it until the LCD went blank. There is no reason to think that the LCD inside suddenly cracked, but I can only assume that it also sustained some kind of damage and now also requires replacement. Knowing that the LCD isn't cracked, what are the chances that a replacement LCD + digitizer will restore the phone? I'm concerned because we've already purchased a kit for $65.

Nobody can tell you that off the internet. If we do, that would be pure guess, just as accurate as you would have guessed.

sawo said:
Nobody can tell you that off the internet. If we do, that would be pure guess, just as accurate as you would have guessed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, someone could have had the exact same problem and already tried it. I ran into people with the same problem already. I'm just looking for more because some, no doubt, have tried it and others may have an alternate explanation. Reasonable.

there is a good chance that will fix the problem. but since the LCD was working for a while until it blank out, it is possible the problem might be with the circuit board. only way to know is to try it out.

CZroe said:
Well, someone could have had the exact same problem and already tried it. I ran into people with the same problem already. I'm just looking for more because some, no doubt, have tried it and others may have an alternate explanation. Reasonable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The LCD could go blank for several reasons. Faulty LCD, loose cable, faulty board etc. etc. Even if someone had the same problem, the reason for it could be completely different, thefore this wont help you at all except for giving you hope. If this is what you need, then i would say "yes, the change of lcd & digitizer should fix the problem" but you never can be sure unless you try When you start the phone, do you hear the startup sound? This could at least indicate that the phone isnt completely faulty.

brabusamg55 said:
there is a good chance that will fix the problem. but since the LCD was working for a while until it blank out, it is possible the problem might be with the circuit board. only way to know is to try it out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The plus side is that you can't make it worse. So you've got nothing to lose by trying to repair it, other than the few bucks for the parts.

Well, I took it apart to re-seat all the cables and it's still blank. Reading online, I see that a lot of dropped Sensations/Pyramids develop a loose/broken SMT capacitor component near the headphone jack, but I'm not registered on any of the forums I see it discussed on and I can't see the pics. They describe a slightly different problem anyway (screen goes blank after standby). I needed sleep, so I put it all back together and I'll check that out when the parts get here. My hunch is that the LCD panel is fine and that I'll have an extra, assuming the capacitor problem is fixable. I've done some delicate soldering work before but I can't really say that I'm good at it! I didn't see any loose SMT components rattling around so I hope it didn't fall completely out somewhere.
Skipjacks said:
The plus side is that you can't make it worse. So you've got nothing to lose by trying to repair it, other than the few bucks for the parts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks but it's almost $70 for the parts.

Works great! Well, it had the touchscreen sensitivity issue pretty badly but the T-Mobile OTA update fixed that. Transferring all the adhesive bits from one screen to another was down-right frustrating, but I pulled it off and I only see a single spec of dust inside. The dude will be thrilled. I broke the earhook on my Looxcie so I did not make a video but it was full of me tearing and ripping the things anyway and not a good example of how it should be done!
FWIW, there was no way to remove the old screen without denting up the backing plate and prying the heck out of it to free it from multiple adhesives and glues, so I would not have had two good LCDs after testing the replacement even if there was nothing wrong with the original. Good thing it was the LCD at fault! I didn't have to drill anything like the glass replacement video I watched instructed me to do. They didn't realize that the LCD removal allows the flex PCB through just fine. I forgot to thread it back through before seating the replacement LCD in the adhesives and tape left-overs but it flexed enough to allow it through without removing, which was quite a relief after seeing how the original fared after being removed.

[Q] A tiny bit of the antenna broke, will it make a difference?

A bit of the black part of the antenna that is circled in the picture kind of broke off when i was disassembling my phone. I think this is the thing that controls your phone signal. If it is, does anyone know if this will stop my signal completely and mean I have to buy a new antenna? I have no way of checking because I broke the cable connecting the antenna to the main board (don't ask) and the replacement doesn't arrive for a while. (The picture attached isn't the picture of my exact phone. It's from google images. But its the same model) The other 4 thingies are still in tact but the thing circled is broken off.

markboi13 said:
A bit of the black part of the antenna that is circled in the picture kind of broke off when i was disassembling my phone. I think this is the thing that controls your phone signal. If it is, does anyone know if this will stop my signal completely and mean I have to buy a new antenna? I have no way of checking because I broke the cable connecting the antenna to the main board (don't ask) and the replacement doesn't arrive for a while. (The picture attached isn't the picture of my exact phone. It's from google images. But its the same model) The other 4 thingies are still in tact but the thing circled is broken off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
anyone?

markboi13 said:
anyone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This question cannot be answered without testing. Try it, if it works, the answer is no, if not, the answer is yes.

Unfortunately, waht exad said. Stuff like that is so unpredictable. Keep in mind that pretty much EVERYTHING on modern phones is tiny. There are entire chips and resistor packs that would be described as miniscule, but are critical.
If you have it apart already, and can find a replacement part and it's easy enough to replace, I'd hedge my bets and just replace it while I'm in there rather than putting it back together and learning the hard way that you have to go through it all again.

similar issue
Have the same issue.I accidently trapped gsm antenna wire between housing and dock connector. Its been bent in 4 or 5 points.searching for network gives error."error while searching for networks ”
Please suggest what can I do.

Replace the part.
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Nexus 5 microphone only works in speakerphone [SOLVED!]

Hello everyone,
I am having a major problem with my Nexus 5’s microphone (LG-D820). Before I continue, I have searched for threads with the same issue but none appears to be the same, despite being similar. I keep finding that others mention that other people can hear them as if they're distant from the phone. Others mention a fix by plugging in headphones and toggling speakerphone as a fix. None of these are true for my device. I found a bug report thread on Google’s bug list for AOSP (https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=80251) but it has a small priority with no resolution to the issue.
Onto the issue: The microphone does not work at all unless I make a phone call and activate the speakerphone. Even sound recording apps or Google’s voice recognition search does not work. I have noticed that there is a 2 second static when trying to record audio using sound recorder, which is amplified by covering the mic on the top of the phone.
Since the mic appears to work on speakerphone, I figured it couldn't be a hardware problem. I tried restoring back to Google’s original build (4.4 KRT16M) for the nexus 5 to see if it was an issue with 5.0.1 and I had no luck. I literally tried every single build released by Google (KOT49H, KTU84M, KTU84P, LRX210, and LRX22C) and I have had no luck. I even went as far as installing Sailfish OS and Firefox OS to see if a non-android OS would fix the issue. No luck.
Desperate for a fix, I purchased the Charging USB Port Dock Connector Mic Flex Cable (for reference: http://www.ebay.com/itm/111297706019) to replace my old one and it didn’t fix anything of course.
At this point, I’m all out of options and afraid that I’ll have to buy another phone. I seriously do not want to stray from the nexus 5 but I don’t know what else to do.
Does anyone have idea what else I could try to fix the issue? Even any thoughts on why a non-android OS wouldn't fix the issue are welcome. Thanks in advance guys.

bump

Last shameless bump

You did a factory reset right?

zerosum0 said:
You did a factory reset right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes I did.
UPDATE AND FIX:
So upon reviewing the aforementioned AOSP bug list thread, someone posted a link to the product forums (https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/nexus/kUrmrlzYJ_o[301-325]) and then a user by the name of Alexandre Macedo suggested pressing on the battery cover, just underneath the camera/flash.
So i tried it and it did in fact fix the microphone issue. I opened the phone again to see what could be the cause of the problem. From what I can tell, the vibrator motor needs to be pressed down to connect with the motherboard.
In all honesty, I do not understand why the vibrator motor should affect the nexus 5's microphone at all.
In addition, I noticed I need to now press and hold the battery cover at all times in order to use my microphone. I tried another battery cover (from my brother's nexus 5) and i still need to maintain the battery cover pressed down.
Anyone have any ideas how to fix this new yet less serious issue?

FINAL UPDATE:
After applying manual pressure on different parts of the exposed motherboard, I isolated the pressure point to the left part of the connector that leads from USB Charging Port/Mic up to the motherboard.
I tried cleaning out the port and the connector and it doesn't seem to work without applying a bit of pressure on the connector. At this point I'm thinking it's just some wear and tear or a bit of malfunction on the motherboard port.
To fix the issue I ripped a small piece of my business card and used a bit of double sided 2mm tape to hold the piece of card between the connector and the chassis covering the motherboard. This pressure seems to be more than enough to establish a proper connection.
Alas the issue is fixed. Hopefully this will help someone else in the near future. Thanks everyone for reading at least.

seromba said:
FINAL UPDATE:
After applying manual pressure on different parts of the exposed motherboard, I isolated the pressure point to the left part of the connector that leads from USB Charging Port/Mic up to the motherboard.
I tried cleaning out the port and the connector and it doesn't seem to work without applying a bit of pressure on the connector. At this point I'm thinking it's just some wear and tear or a bit of malfunction on the motherboard port.
To fix the issue I ripped a small piece of my business card and used a bit of double sided 2mm tape to hold the piece of card between the connector and the chassis covering the motherboard. This pressure seems to be more than enough to establish a proper connection.
Alas the issue is fixed. Hopefully this will help someone else in the near future. Thanks everyone for reading at least.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey man ! I think I'm having the same issue on my nexus 5, if I press on the back under the camera, it hears me, but if not the phone doesn't recognize my voice.
Speakerphone is okay, voice calls are working..
Can you help me ? Can you explain how should I fix that ?
Thank you a lot I'm desperated

jordanl68 said:
Hey man ! I think I'm having the same issue on my nexus 5, if I press on the back under the camera, it hears me, but if not the phone doesn't recognize my voice.
Speakerphone is okay, voice calls are working..
Can you help me ? Can you explain how should I fix that ?
Thank you a lot I'm desperated
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hey man sorry for the late reply, i just got home from vacation.
so what i did to fix it (sort of) was put a little thick piece of paper between the plastic that covers the motherboard (top half of the phone, above the battery) and the battery cover in order to apply the pressure needed to press down on the connector/port for the Charging USB Port Dock Connector Mic Flex Cable (check my original post for reference) .
I used a bit of double sided 2mm tape to hold the paper in place. I had to sort of guess where to put the paper but it's pretty easy if you just take a look at the motherboard underneath the aforementioned plastic cover.
keep in mind i still have issues here and there when the battery cover shifts a little and removes the required pressure, so it's not a full fix.
if you need pictures, don't hesitate to ask. i'll post them asap if you do. good luck!

Having same issue exactly. I don't 'get' where exactly you put the piece of paper. Could you post pictures?
Thanks

newton23 said:
Having same issue exactly. I don't 'get' where exactly you put the piece of paper. Could you post pictures?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used MS paint to specify exactly where I placed the piece of paper needed to apply pressure. As a precaution, the photo with hands does not belong to me, I simply used paint on a photo from the iFixit website.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
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"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
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The picture above shows the problem area (on my phone at least), which includes the USB charging port connector and the corresponding port on the motherboard.
This picture is an actual photo of my device. I used the 2mm double sided tape I had to affix the piece of paper on the white battery cover panel on the right. The red circle the left (the one on my actual device) is merely there to provide an idea of where you need to apply pressure on the phone in order to have the connector and port make a solid connection.
I started having issues with the battery cover getting a little bit loose because of the paper inside so I started using a tight case (a cheap $2 Chinese knockoff case i found on eBay) to keep the battery cover and paper intact.
Also keep in mind that the vibrator motor is right above the spot I mentioned for the piece of paper so if your phone begins to have a flaky vibration, the piece of paper may be too thick.
As I mentioned in previous posts, this is by no means a permanent fix to the issue. I've come to the conclusion that this issue is hardware related and most likely a problem with the motherboard. I absolutely love my nexus 5 and I can't think of another phone I would want instead, so this "fix" will have to do. If anyone else finds a better solution, please don't hesitate to let us know!

Mine stopped working halfway through the day yesterday. Made calls all morning then zip.....pressing on the back of the phone works fine for speech input but is intolerable for phone conversation. Switching to speakerphone works fine, so I'm assuming its not an actual microphone problem. Doesn't record audio when video recording either. This sucks. Love this phone.

rehpot1 said:
Mine stopped working halfway through the day yesterday. Made calls all morning then zip.....pressing on the back of the phone works fine for speech input but is intolerable for phone conversation. Switching to speakerphone works fine, so I'm assuming its not an actual microphone problem. Doesn't record audio when video recording either. This sucks. Love this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I had a lot of trouble pinpointing the culprit for this issue since it appears to be hardware related but has hints of software relation. I haven't found any other thread or website with anything similar to what I have tried so I don't have much information.
Seems like the only solution to the problem is pressing the back of the phone around that flash area but no one seems to try opening up the phone. If you find out any info not mentioned in this thread, please post your results so we can find a fix for it.

Thanks for that. I've put a small piece of thin cardboard with doublesided tape where you indicated. It is working... so far!
It's a pretty big workaround (in a way). Not sure what a more permanent solution would be. Hopefully this works for a while.

newton23 said:
Thanks for that. I've put a small piece of thin cardboard with doublesided tape where you indicated. It is working... so far!
It's a pretty big workaround (in a way). Not sure what a more permanent solution would be. Hopefully this works for a while.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm happy I could help.
I know it's kind of a hassle, I had to play with it a few times to get it to work again (either mic would give in and out or the vibrator motor wouldn't work).
Unfortunately for me, I dropped my phone and shattered the screen for the 2nd time and I decided it was enough money spent on my nexus 5... time to go check out the desolate page for the 2015 moto e.

rehpot1 said:
Mine stopped working halfway through the day yesterday. Made calls all morning then zip.....pressing on the back of the phone works fine for speech input but is intolerable for phone conversation. Switching to speakerphone works fine, so I'm assuming its not an actual microphone problem. Doesn't record audio when video recording either. This sucks. Love this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I bought a nexus 6 and decided to try and fix the nexus 5 by sending back to have it repaired. Because I bought the phone from the google website I started by going to their website clicking on support, reading about booting into safe mode, blah blah blah. Ended by clicking on the chat with us button.
After a little Q and A, ended up talking on the phone with someone in support (google) and they told me it was out of warranty but that I could send it into LG for repair. They transferred me to LG. Was told that LG would look at it and contact me with repair options. LG sent me a prepaid FedEx airbill that week, I sent it to LG. They sent me an email quote of $50 to repair or $150 to replace with refurbished. I chose repair. It's working fantastic. Your results may vary, but I was impressed with the process and the result.

The Same Problem
So... which is the final solution for this problem (I have this exactly problem). Have I to open it? if so, could you send me a video or something to guide me please.

It's works. Thank you!
seromba said:
FINAL UPDATE:
After applying manual pressure on different parts of the exposed motherboard, I isolated the pressure point to the left part of the connector that leads from USB Charging Port/Mic up to the motherboard.
I tried cleaning out the port and the connector and it doesn't seem to work without applying a bit of pressure on the connector. At this point I'm thinking it's just some wear and tear or a bit of malfunction on the motherboard port.
To fix the issue I ripped a small piece of my business card and used a bit of double sided 2mm tape to hold the piece of card between the connector and the chassis covering the motherboard. This pressure seems to be more than enough to establish a proper connection.
Alas the issue is fixed. Hopefully this will help someone else in the near future. Thanks everyone for reading at least.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same problem and after teardown my device many times I tried this and works!!
Thanks!

seromba said:
FINAL UPDATE:
After applying manual pressure on different parts of the exposed motherboard, I isolated the pressure point to the left part of the connector that leads from USB Charging Port/Mic up to the motherboard.
I tried cleaning out the port and the connector and it doesn't seem to work without applying a bit of pressure on the connector. At this point I'm thinking it's just some wear and tear or a bit of malfunction on the motherboard port.
To fix the issue I ripped a small piece of my business card and used a bit of double sided 2mm tape to hold the piece of card between the connector and the chassis covering the motherboard. This pressure seems to be more than enough to establish a proper connection.
Alas the issue is fixed. Hopefully this will help someone else in the near future. Thanks everyone for reading at least.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you! I have to replace my battery on the phone and before I could put it in my mic stopped working. I was considering calling Google, but didn't want to be without my phone. This was holding off my new battery replacement. Now I should be able to fix both. Thanks for the knowledge, I know what to look for.

seromba said:
I'm happy I could help.
I know it's kind of a hassle, I had to play with it a few times to get it to work again (either mic would give in and out or the vibrator motor wouldn't work).
Unfortunately for me, I dropped my phone and shattered the screen for the 2nd time and I decided it was enough money spent on my nexus 5... time to go check out the desolate page for the 2015 moto e.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry to hear that you ended up needing to replace your Nexus 5 Pesky gravity. How is the Moto E working out for you?
This problem has come up recently for me during calls when I tilt my phone a certain way. No issues with voice recognition though. If you'd still bother to dredge this topic up, how did you find balance mic fix and vibration? I've been toying with the right size and thickness of the business card. Started off with a 9x3mm piece, which looked to fit about the red circle you had drawn--this worked but disabled the vibration. Tried pressing on the back of my battery cover, but vibration only worked for a couple seconds. Snipped it to 5x3mm and removed one ply from the card--vibration works but mic doesn't. I'm wondering if there's a certain way I should place it? Are there certain parts of the motherboard the card should or shouldn't touch (e.g. the metal surrounding the motor slot on the motherboard)? Been playing with this for the better part of 2 hours but don't know what considerations I should be making.
Much appreciated!!

Has anyone tried......
Has anyone tried to re-seat the the cable? I just did it to a co-workers N5 and it works just fine now.

GPS constantly out of signal

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
Click to expand...
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.