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Nexus S compass not working?

I recently acquired two NS phones, one for wife, one for me. After playing them for a few days, I found the compass is not working for both of them,even after the calibration. They point to everywhere but the right direction.
I came from Samsung Vibrant, the reason I switched was because Vibrant has bad GPS and defective compass, which really bothered me. Now after the jumping, I found NS has the similar compass problem...
Can Samsung really make a working phone?

Maybe you got a bad one, I came from the vibrant a month ago and I'm hooked. Everything works and never going back to a non nexus phone ever. GPS works perfectly and locks in less than ten seconds. My first one was a dud so I got exchanged. If you're not happy than demand to be satisfied. Do it!!
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

I gave up on my compass, too. It rotates with the phone... Not completely anyway, but the display is nearly completely independent from magnetic north. I think the sensor value may be computed by something like
Code:
north = sha1(/dev/urandom + /dev/accelerometer);
On a more serious side note: We have some metal parts in our phones. If one close to the magnetometer sensor is only slightly magnetized, that would likely seriously impact compass performance. Unfortunately, there is neither a (simple) way to find out, whether it is so, nor a (simple) way to fix it.

since I acquired the two NS phones from two independent channels, now both of them showing bad compass, I'd suspect this is something systematic.
I'm surprised to see so little echo on this issue...

coolmib said:
since I acquired the two NS phones from two independent channels, now both of them showing bad compass, I'd suspect this is something systematic.
I'm surprised to see so little echo on this issue...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just checked my compass on my NS and it seems to be real close to pointing north.
I had a G1 before and the compass would occasionally get stuck and give inaccurate readings. To fix that I would shake the phone vigorously like I was trying to take the fizz from a soda bottle and that would make the compass work properly. However I don't think that that is a problem with the NS.

The compass points wherever the point of gravity is. North is always facing down for me for some reason but gps status seems to work, but not entirely accurate.
Is there still no fix for this issue?

I often have to do the figure 8 when I want the compass to point north. Normally this works for me.

Seems like it was a rom issue. I had the newest cm rc1 and north was pointing wherever the ground was. I just returned it back to rooted 2.3.4 stock and seems to work fine, except it's shaky now.
EDIT: There is the "Compass" app that still points down, but google map and the other compass apps works somewhat fine (still shaky and about 10-15 degrees off or so)

I wonder is it pointing TRUE north or MAGNETIC north? Where I live there is almost no declination however some areas are +-15 degrees.

For my case in the original post, both phones are running the stock ROM of 2.3.4 (unrooted). I tried several compass Apps from the Market, none of them pointing to the right direction.....I wonder if it's a hardware problem.

coolmib said:
For my case in the original post, both phones are running the stock ROM of 2.3.4 (unrooted). I tried several compass Apps from the Market, none of them pointing to the right direction.....I wonder if it's a hardware problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try using "Smart Compass" if you search for "Compass" in the market, it's usually the second one from the top.

koyanishi said:
I just checked my compass on my NS and it seems to be real close to pointing north.
I had a G1 before and the compass would occasionally get stuck and give inaccurate readings. To fix that I would shake the phone vigorously like I was trying to take the fizz from a soda bottle and that would make the compass work properly. However I don't think that that is a problem with the NS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have experimented a bit more with NS compass and have to agree that its accuracy is random - occasionally it will point north but more often it will be off by 10 to 20 degrees.

SovereigN7 said:
Try using "Smart Compass" if you search for "Compass" in the market, it's usually the second one from the top.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just downloaded and installed "Smart Compass"。 Same problems persist...

try the compass built into the mapping app Locus. Best compass i've found yet.

coolmib said:
For my case in the original post, both phones are running the stock ROM of 2.3.4 (unrooted). I tried several compass Apps from the Market, none of them pointing to the right direction.....I wonder if it's a hardware problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I think it is a hardware problem.
While researching a problem I have with NFC reading tags I cam upon this gem from this tread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=905512&highlight=nfc+-reading+tags
And chadrockey had this to say in post # 1 of that tread.
chadrockey said:
So I've been noticing that my compass would always misbehave (in terms of accuracy, not stability a la Sky Maps). I would get a pretty large static error (30 to 40 degrees obviously not declination); rotations would not be consistent (IE, a 180 degree turn would yield 100 degrees change.); and the magnitude of raw measurements was not like that of the magnetometer I got from Sparkfun.
Turns out the neodymium magnets I had near my desk actually latched onto my phone and magnetized the NFC antenna. I tested this by removing the cover and putting the magnet near the antenna and it sticks. Without the cover on, the compass worked much better.
I've mostly demagnetized my NFC antenna now by doing some magnet sweeps and leaving it near the heater, but I've learned to keep the magnets away.
If anyone is having problems with the compass overall accuracy, removing the back cover may help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now I never, as far as I know, have had strong magnets near the nfc antenna, but the nfc app does not read nfc tags so it could be that it is magnetized.
But if I take the back cover off my NS as chadrockey recommends, then the compass reading will be spot on.
oh, and btw, the best compass app that I know comes from swiss army knife which is one app containing a number of other neat apps

I have the same problem with my nexus s compass, north is not accurate ever and augmented reality application like streetview defect because the compass seems to vibrate, even if I have my hand stable the screen vibrates like I'm shacking the phone...

walker7373 said:
I have the same problem with my nexus s compass, north is not accurate ever and augmented reality application like streetview defect because the compass seems to vibrate, even if I have my hand stable the screen vibrates like I'm shacking the phone...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
did you try using the compass without the case back cover?

tried removing the back case, compass still not working

I gave up my compass a couple of weeks after i got the phone. Shakes like a drug addict and the accuracy is worse than a blind guy trying out sharp shooting for the first time.
Ive removed the back cover, tried different apps and "calibrated" the compass multiple times but to no avail.

Join the club. The compass is a failure and google is not fixing, or not able to fix it.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

[Q] Light Sensor

Well i am very confused whether our phone has a light sensor or not. In the official user manual of I5801 (English-India), at page number 17, its clearly stated that the left one of the two sensors on top left side of our phone is proximity sensor and the right one is light sensor. If there is one, then why is there not any option for automatic brightness? and what its use is? And if its not there, then why is it given in the User's manual ?

Does anyone have any information on this at all? Was/is there any rom that supported automatic brighness via the light sensor?

So why isn't it included in Samsung' Stock Rom ?
Do you think really that no-one ever try to use it .

nishant_713 said:
Well i am very confused whether our phone has a light sensor or not. In the official user manual of I5801 (English-India), at page number 17, its clearly stated that the left one of the two sensors on top left side of our phone is proximity sensor and the right one is light sensor. If there is one, then why is there not any option for automatic brightness? and what its use is? And if its not there, then why is it given in the User's manual ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no light sensor on Galaxy I5800/5801. The proximity sensor is actually a pair of sensors, one sends an electromagnetic/Infrared radiation while the other one is to receive it back for the sensor to get activated.

nsm1234 said:
There is no light sensor on Galaxy I5800/5801. The proximity sensor is actually a pair of sensors, one sends an electromagnetic/Infrared radiation while the other one is to receive it back for the sensor to get activated.
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Click to collapse
Wow, this is kinda shocking news!

Proximity Sensor calibration?

is there anyway to calibrate the proximity sensor on the sensation, not 100% sure thats my problem but worth a try if poss

bradmax57 said:
is there anyway to calibrate the proximity sensor on the sensation, not 100% sure thats my problem but worth a try if poss
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Click to collapse
Would like to know this as well.Proximity and light sensors not working properly on my Sensation (only occasionally).

I'd like to know how to recalibrate / get it functioning again.

Yes,i like to know that to.
Still having problems with both proximity and light sensors...

The proximity and light sensors cannot be calibrated, as they put off specific amounts of voltages based on results from the input. It is up to the ROM/Kernel to interpret the voltages from the sensors as usable values to produced the desired results. If you wish, you can download a testing program such as AndroSensor to view the interpreted sensor readings.

Calibrate Accelometer p3113

Don't think this has been asked before:
So I usually use my tab sitting in my chair chilling with it up in front of me in landscape.
I have tried to play 2 games now that use the device's accelometer (since it doesn't have a gyroscope from what Ztest says). Both are going totally nuts. Is there anyway to calibrate it internally so that when I am chilling out with it upright it uses that calibration rather than the one when it is laying flat (ie on a table).
I doubt there is, but hey its worth a shot, and just in case anyone was curious, it was Grabtron (indie free game from the market) and Asphalt 5 both with the issue.
Grabtron actually has a calibration option, however you can't calibrate it with the position I use the device in, which I find kind of interesting.

So I am guessing that is a no? There is no way to calibrate it for an upright position rather than a laying down position?

Gtab2 have gyroscope: MS-X orientation sensor

Good to know, any way to calibrate it?
Rotundjere said:
Gtab2 have gyroscope: MS-X orientation sensor
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Learned something new today, the diagnostics software I was using said it was an accelometer, and did not have a gyroscope, guess it doesn't know how to read ours correctly.
The next question is any way to calibrate it? So I can enjoy my games chilling out in a chair rather than leaning over using it over a table?

Sensor next to front cam?

Hi guys,
Noticed a very interesting thing today: suddenly a white light started to pulse next to the front cam every time I was tilting the phone. It was quick 3-4 pulses with strict intervals as if a sensor was working. It didn't pulse when phone was in a fixed position, only when tilting, in all apps.
A reboot fixed this, but I wonder if there is any sensor there that activated because of something? Never experienced this before!
Any thoughts what it can be? Thx.

Sounds like proximity sensor to me.

znel52 said:
Sounds like proximity sensor to me.
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Click to collapse
Thanks. I also thought so but the phone didn't turn off the screen when I was placing my finger on that sensor. The proximity sensor should turn the screen off as far as I am aware. Maybe a glitch after doing a video call via Viber?

VirtualWaver said:
Thanks. I also thought so but the phone didn't turn off the screen when I was placing my finger on that sensor. The proximity sensor should turn the screen off as far as I am aware. Maybe a glitch after doing a video call via Viber?
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Click to collapse
A glitch with viber thats causing excessive proximity sensor usage. It will eventually burn the pixels around that area like the other post posted today.

Limeybastard said:
A glitch with viber thats causing excessive proximity sensor usage. It will eventually burn the pixels around that area like the other post posted today.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for this! I did test my screen and all looks good but this is worrying. However, this only happened once although I use Viber video calls every day.

VirtualWaver said:
Thanks for this! I did test my screen and all looks good but this is worrying. However, this only happened once although I use Viber video calls every day.
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Click to collapse
Im going to try this out myself next week and see what's going on. Mine ain't coming until Monday.

Limeybastard said:
A glitch with viber thats causing excessive proximity sensor usage. It will eventually burn the pixels around that area like the other post posted today.
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Click to collapse
Hoe bright is it?
Normally it could blink during SOT and with that duty cycle it will outlast many of the other screen pixels.
Or is there something I'm missing???
Are it's pixels IR?

blackhawk said:
Hoe bright is it?
Normally it could blink during SOT and with that duty cycle it will outlast many of the other screen pixels.
Or is there something I'm missing???
Are it's pixels IR?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Who's a hoe?
Probably much ado about nothing. But I can't test it. , The only thing that came to mind was screen being full brightness and proximity sensor being on for hours causing this. But just a hunch .

Limeybastard said:
A glitch with viber thats causing excessive proximity sensor usage. It will eventually burn the pixels around that area like the other post posted today.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Limeybastard said:
Who's a hoe?
Probably much ado about nothing. But I can't test it. , The only thing that came to mind was screen being full brightness and proximity sensor being on for hours causing this. But just a hunch .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even at full brightness because it's flashing, it's duty cycle is less than the surrounding pixels plus it will "flash" by darkening its pixels depending on screen color.
If it has specialized IR emitters I could see that happening maybe; if there's a design or manufacturing flaw.
Because it's flashing visible light it would be hard to use a cam to detect IR... which is how I normally check IR emitters.

While it was easily seen on the Note 10 i can't see it on the Note 20

Nastrahl said:
While it was easily seen on the Note 10 i can't see it on the Note 20
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Click to collapse
Interesting. Maybe it uses IR diodes?
If it doesn't display when it's active maybe that's why some think it's "burnt out"?
Lol, until someone mentioned the flashing circle I never noticed it.

blackhawk said:
Interesting. Maybe it uses IR diodes?
If it doesn't display when it's active maybe that's why some think it's "burnt out"?
Lol, until someone mentioned the flashing circle I never noticed it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know.
I've read that they replaced all the sensors with the front camera, and that′s one of the battery killer since a few were completely passive like the ambiant light one, that's now active.
When a passive sensor needs no electricity to operate, an active needs to, and the camera can't work passively so it drains battery.
They advised to turn off all the features that use the front camera as a sensor like the auto brightness, smart stay (and also what can use the accelerometer like smart alert and raise to turn on the screen), etc. to avoid the process Android System to take to much battery.

Nastrahl said:
While it was easily seen on the Note 10 i can't see it on the Note 20
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nastrahl said:
I don't know.
I've read that they replaced all the sensors with the front camera, and that′s one of the battery killer since a few were completely passive like the ambiant light one, that's now active.
When a passive sensor needs no electricity to operate, an active needs to, and the camera can't work passively so it drains battery.
They advised to turn off all the features that use the front camera as a sensor like the auto brightness, smart stay (and also what can use the accelerometer like smart alert and raise to turn on the screen), etc. to avoid the process Android System to take to much battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even passive sensors use some current although it may be in the microamps.
Autobrightness is a trash apk anyway.
Seems highly unlikely that the whole cam be used for these functions if at all.

VirtualWaver said:
Thanks. I also thought so but the phone didn't turn off the screen when I was placing my finger on that sensor. The proximity sensor should turn the screen off as far as I am aware. Maybe a glitch after doing a video call via Viber?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure if anyone told you this sorry haven't had time to read the thread but I would suggest avoiding viber calls on this phone. The proximity sensor is damaging the screen when on viber. It seems viber is accessing the sensor too aggressively.
Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Tapatalk

warriorvibhu said:
Not sure if anyone told you this sorry haven't had time to read the thread but I would suggest avoiding viber calls on this phone. The proximity sensor is damaging the screen when on viber. It seems viber is accessing the sensor too aggressively.
Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You know this is most likely a digital circuit; a fixed voltage of an either high or low value... those values are fixed and don't change. Even firmware can't alter that let alone apks. Duty cycle rate/length maybe.
This urban rumor about the proximity sensor causing screen damage has been around since at least 2015, long before OLED screens.
A Google search yielded nothing except this:
https://us.community.samsung.com/t5/Galaxy-S10/Proximity-sensor-issues-S10-S10/td-p/498492/page/9

blackhawk said:
Even passive sensors use some current although it may be in the microamps.
Autobrightness is a trash apk anyway.
Seems highly unlikely that the whole cam be used for these functions if at all.
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Click to collapse
Trash apk ? Sorry i meant the built-in adaptive brightness.
---------- Post added at 01:16 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:15 AM ----------
blackhawk said:
You know this is most likely a digital circuit; a fixed voltage of an either high or low value... those values are fixed and don't change. Even firmware can't alter that let alone apks. Duty cycle rate/length maybe.
This urban rumor about the proximity sensor causing screen damage has been around since at least 2015, long before OLED screens.
A Google search yielded nothing except this:
https://us.community.samsung.com/t5/Galaxy-S10/Proximity-sensor-issues-S10-S10/td-p/498492/page/9
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I personally never heard about it. Thanks for the insight

Nastrahl said:
Trash apk ? Sorry i meant the built-in adaptive brightness"
I personally never heard about it. Thanks for the insight
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My opinions.
There certainly are long standing Samsung issues that span more then one generation of phones. The proximity sensor trashing the screen doesn't appear to exist at all. If anything it conserves screen life.
Auto brightness was always twitchy even on my S4+.
Auto brightness was never truly adaptive... and still isn't. Lol, all it does is give me a headache and waste resources.
The other thing is I always try to avoid using my phones in direct sunlight. Very rarely do I ever go past 65% brightness.
Direct sunlight+high ambient temperature+high power consumption can really overheat a phone fast.
Even worse...
Auto brightness on+charging+sunlight+accidental screen turn on that's not noticed, can fry a phone in a few minutes. Real easy to do in the car... been there.

blackhawk said:
My opinions.
There certainly are long standing Samsung issues that span more then one generation of phones. The proximity sensor trashing the screen doesn't appear to exist at all. If anything it conserves screen life.
Auto brightness was always twitchy even on my S4+.
Auto brightness was never truly adaptive... and still isn't. Lol, all it does is give me a headache and waste resources.
The other thing is I always try to avoid using my phones in direct sunlight. Very rarely do I ever go past 65% brightness.
Direct sunlight+high ambient temperature+high power consumption can really overheat a phone fast.
Even worse...
Auto brightness on+charging+sunlight+accidental screen turn on that's not noticed, can fry a phone in a few minutes. Real easy to do in the car... been there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, i never thought about that so it's a very valuable information.
Just in case if it can be useful :
A few years ago I found an app called Underburn which is a complete new approach about adaptive brightness.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.out386.underburn
Instead of adjusting the screen brightness from the ambient light, it set it according of the amount of white pixels displayed on screen to avoid binding you, and it doesn't care about sunlight.
The more white is displayed, the more it will dim the screen (by reducing the screen brightness, not by applying a filter ; even if there's also a setting for that if its too bright for you even at the minimum level) by the amount of your choosing.
It can play a role to save battery too somehow.

Nastrahl said:
Thanks, i never thought about that so it's a very valuable information.
Just in case if it can be useful :
A few years ago I found an app called Underburn which is a complete new approach about adaptive brightness.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.out386.underburn
Instead of adjusting the screen brightness from the ambient light, it set it according of the amount of white pixels displayed on screen to avoid binding you, and it doesn't care about sunlight.
The more white is displayed, the more it will dim the screen (by reducing the screen brightness, not by applying a filter ; even if there's also a setting for that if its too bright for you even at the minimum level) by the amount of your choosing.
It can play a role to save battery too somehow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you
I'll take a look at it. I'm running on dark mode but since it's Pie it's not native to all apps like Gmail which burns my eyes out.
*I'm playing with it. It will run on Pie. It takes some time to set up but definitely has potential.
Haven't been able to fairly gauge it's configured battery usage.