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GPS Inaccuracy while in car?

Strange error I haven't noticed until a few weeks ago.
I've tested in both Damage Control v1, v2.05, and Fresh 2.0d (current ROM i'm running)
With google maps/nav it always places me about 50 feet+ to one side of the street. It moves with the vehicle just fine, but always puts me on a side street, so if I'm traveling down a 2 lane highway it's constantly saying "turn right onto hwy xxx"
My GPS is always DEAD ON accurate though. I mean even inside my house if I'm at the front of the house it puts that dot within 5 feet, if I goto the back of the house (bedroom) it puts me RIGHT OVER that spot. The movement however is not so great. My phone while in the GPS mount has a clear view of the sky through the windshield.
Am I the only one experiencing this?
Google NAV is basically useless, because of the annoying constant re-routing.

I had this on Thursday when I was traveling for the holiday. I was using DC2.0r2 at the time however. I didn't have the same experience with my last install of DC2.05. I will repost after my trip today. Might be some time.

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Same here.gps problem with 2.1?

Yes I have this problem. It's been mentioned in the main damageless thread and the bug thread so I think people are aware of it.

I was having the same issue with the dcr2 but it went away when I wiped and went over to freshes. Might be cuz It's based off the latest Sprint leak?

Works very well for me on dcv2. I think it's almost as good as co-pilot with the directions. It's so easy to start by going "navigate to 123 fake st". I usually had to restart my phone every time I wanted to use co-pilot otherwise it couldn't find a gps signal.

Also seeing this issue.
When I fired up navigator it started telling me to make the first turn (down the street) before I even got in my car -- so I had to use maps instead. Using maps, my marker was always a bit off. For example, it was showing me consistently North of the road (not on any road) when I was traveling West. Not sure exactly when this started, but I am currently running Fresh 2.0d, just for the record.
EDIT: Also, just FYI, this is with a good and proper GPS lock. It does follow my every move and turn, and is entirely responsive, but it seems as though my location is consistently mis-calibrated somehow, and always by the same amount/direction.

Anyone tried pushing one of the 1.5 gps.conf files to a 2.1 rom and seeing if it makes a difference?? I remember that was a fix in the early 2.1 roms from flipz that came out. Try it and see.

All seemed to be working OK today for me. This is like my third/fourth flash of a 2.1 ROM that seemed to have done it for me. No more flashing for a little while. Not that it is a fix at all, but I've had it both not work and work after switching out a few different ROMs.

I was going to make a thread on this. It was off for most of my trip. I muted the audio and just watched for my exit. After awhile it moved me on top of the road and it was ok, but it did it again a few other places.
It was a really odd bug. DC2.05

It worked for me in D1. But it's off in D2. GPS seems to be fairly accurate when just finding my location in maps. It's when I start to nav that it goes off.

It actually started doing that thing today where it can't find a GPS signal until it's restarted again, so I guess it's not unique to the ROM or nav software. My phone just seems to be bad with GPS if it's been a while without a fresh restart.

Has anyone tried using the Sprint Navigation on this or is it just Google's beta Navigation application? For me I never did actually try the Sprint nav, just stuck in the Google one. I knew where I was going the whole time, so instead of trying things I just shut it off.

Fascinate GPS is officially useful

Not trying to start a fight, but I do want to prove that the GPS on the Fascinate is working, at least on some units.
I started out on my rooftop deck, and got a lock on the GPS. You can see I turned off wi-fi. I got 10 sats locked, ~4ft resolution. I then walked out of the building, and went around my block, purposely crossing the street at time, and even walking 3 sides of a 4 way intersection to see if the GPS would track it. Consider this is Chicago as well, with plenty of buildings around, I think it's doing darn well.
I've got a bunch of screenshots from the GPSTest utility I took during the walk, which I tracked with MyTracks from Google. I'll upload a few images here, as well as the .kml and .gpx file for those who want to break down the trip into detail. I'll post a link to the full gallery. I kept the 0 signal strengths in there, since they showed up every now and then. I assume this is normal, I don't know, I'm not a GPS expert.
The file names are by date/time so you should be able to cross reference signal strength / sat lock at a given time with the track data from the gpx/kml file.
Hope that helps encourage a few people, perhaps you just need to exchange your unit for a new one, instead of return it for a different phone?
Happy to answer questions.
Brandon
Edit - Gallery Link - http://picasaweb.google.com/111158456836091222310/GPSWalk#

Been using it since yesterday and I havent had a GPS problem at all. Google Maps is amazing on this thing, as it always is

namebrandon said:
I started out on my rooftop deck, and got a lock on the GPS. You can see I turned off wi-fi. I got 10 sats locked, ~4ft resolution. I then walked out of the building, and went around my block, purposely crossing the street at time, and even walking 3 sides of a 4 way intersection to see if the GPS would track it. Consider this is Chicago as well, with plenty of buildings around, I think it's doing darn well.
I've got a bunch of screenshots from the GPSTest utility I took during the walk, which I tracked with MyTracks from Google. I'll upload a few images here, as well as the .kml and .gpx file for those who want to break down the trip into detail. I'll post a link to the full gallery. I kept the 0 signal strengths in there, since they showed up every now and then. I assume this is normal, I don't know, I'm not a GPS expert.
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Thanks for the detailed test data. The GPS Test screens do look pretty good to me except for that bizarre example that is all zeroed-out. Recurring cases of that do not seem at all normal to me. But at least the unit recovered.
As for accuracy of the track -- and walking tracks are among the more demanding tests you can do -- I would say it is mixed but at least understandable given the conditions. Seems okay on the north-south streets. But it goes a little wonky on the east-west legs, especially near the end along the north side, when I guess you were in the shadow of those high-rise buildings, and the track wandered maybe as much as 15 meters into the block interior.
The pragmatic question about such tracks, which are never perfect, is: How accurate is acceptable? Sometimes it is useful to carry another known, good device recording a simultaneous benchmark so the two tracks can be compared. Also, when walking, it is good to set My Tracks to its maximum granularity of only 1 meter between data points instead of the default of 5 meters. I think the reasonable issue is how this performance compares to competitive smartphone devices.
Do the aberrant part of the track coincide with the places where GPS Test showed the satellites zeroed out? I am guessing that is true for the portion near the end of the circumnavigation.
In any case, this is the sort of test that users here can sink their teeth into, far better than andecdotal impressions.

Hey man! Thanks for the tips on how to correctly (or I guess, usefully) test the GPS. Thanks for taking the time to check the data too.
You can see if you look at google maps the buildings are a bit tall in some areas, so it certainly killed some signal. The zeros seemed to happen when I shook the device, which I had to do to take a screenshot (shaking is the trigger for the program). I think that is when the device lost signal every once and a while.
You'll notice I was on the sidewalk, which I think is portrayed pretty accurately. I was originally confused why I wasn't dead on center to the street.
It also caught when I purposely cut across the street at one point in time to see if it would track to the other sidewalk, and it did.
Regardless, it's accurate enough for me, and hopefully, accurate enough to give confidence to others out there that at least some Fascinate units have a good, working GPS.

Great news! Thanks for sharing. Can't wait to pick up my Fascinate tomorrow and try this out myself where I live.

I've had nothing but good performance from my GPS so far. On the way home from work 2nite I copied a myTrack of it and did a little meandering through a parking lot to see how accurate it was. GPS Test could saw up to 12 satellites at one time, but mostly 10 and locked onto 10 of them for most of the drive home. Accuracy was down to 3.3ft as well, but fluctuated up to 9ft from time to time. highest SNR I saw was 37, while most hung around 27-34. No screen shots of the GPS Test unfortunately, but I do have my tracks. I did stay in the right lane on the free way most of the way home, but had to go around traffic once I hit Modesto. I did go into the fast/left lane just before Jack Tone Rd and again after Briggsmore Ave and it captured that pretty good. I got off the freeway at one point just to mess with Google Nav and it handled it great. Once I got off on my exit I did some driving around the parking spots in a large parking lot. Pretty close to what I did. I'd say with in the 4-10ft estimated accuracy the GPS Test was showing.
Its been about a day since i rebooted the phone, so we'll keep it going to see if has the problem where it will work after rebooting or changing settings and then stop after a few days.
since I cant post links yet, here the map of myTrack
maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=113114085618005181110.00048ff7980f2df305ac9&t=h&z=12

I haven't had much chance to use it on mine, but I will say that the first time I enabled it, it took about 10-15 seconds to get a lock. After that, it appears to lock virtually instantly every time an app activates it. Also, it seems to be very accurate within Google Maps and Navigation. I guess I'm one of the lucky ones.

I've also had generally good results from the GPS. The only problem I've seen is that it is sometimes slow to lock on, especially indoors or inside a car. Once locked on, accuracy has been perfect. I tried out Google's new "walking directions" feature, and it announced "You have arrived" right as I stepped up to my mailbox.
Even the slow lock-on hasn't always been an issue. I was rather amused on Saturday night when I stepped outside with a friend who has a Droid X so I could show him how to use the walking-directions feature. My Fascinate locked on as soon as we got outside, and the X was still searching several minutes later.
I'm sure the GPS issues are real, since lots of people are seeing problems (and Samsung has acknowledged the issue). But for me, it has worked well enough; after Samsung ships the fix, I can only assume it will be even better.

My phone arrived today and the first thing I tested was the GPS. Seemed to lock on much quicker than my previous Android devices.
After leaving the phone's GPS alone for a while, I went back into GMaps and it would not lock on...which is not to say its a phone problem. It would lock onto the wifi signals, so it was locking in my general area. However, I also experienced this on my other phones (it actually locked to the exact spot my other phones would). A simple exit of Maps and reopen and it locked to my location in 2 seconds.
For now it seems to behave as it should. I do have all three settings checked, btw.

Compass affecting GPS? My Thoughts.

Here are some observations I have made in dealing with the GPS and compass.
Applications I used during this observation include:
GPS Test
Goolge Maps
MyTracks
Trapster
Compass
There are a few things that led me into looking into this. It started with my first Vibrant.
I bought it at the beginning of September and during that time I was working 6 12 hours days and didn't have a whole lot of time to play around with it.
In the middle of September I went out of town for a week. I went from Oklahoma to South Carolina. Basically on the trip my GPS worked pretty much spot on even though GPS Test showed a few in view and 1 or 2 in use. My compass never really worked all that good and it was real slow to update.
I used Google Maps for nav and was running Trapster. If you never used Trapster it shows your location with an animated radar wave emitting from it showing your direction of travel, this is important as you will see later in this post. I ran MyTracks a few times just to play around with it and it pretty much worked as expected. The arrow would correctly show which direction you are traveling, again important. So after traveling about 2600 miles round trip my GPS worked about as good as my Wife's MyTouch 3G. Sometimes it would take a while to lock, but once I had one it worked well.
On to the next phase. I was able to update to JI5 when it was available on Kies and tested the GPS right away. When I fired up GPS Test I had 12 in view and 8-9 in use and it locked in pretty fast. I thought to myself awesome, it's fixed! or was it? After updating I noticed that the accuracy was not as good as it was stock.
Later that night my wife and I went somewhere and I let her drive so I could mess around with the GPS and apps. I wasn't too happy with what I was seeing. Remember earlier how I said Trapster and MyTracks was showing correct direction of travel? Well after the update the arrow on MyTracks was going crazy and could not figure out which way to point and Trapster was showing it's radar icon as a circle around me as if I wasn't moving but my location on the map was moving. My position on the map was off at times and when we stopped my location would jump around. When I was stock I never had that issue. I flashed back to stock because I would rather deal with a longer fix but have the accuracy and my apps work right. After flashing to stock Trapster and MyTracks still could not show a correct direction of travel.
Around this time I came across the "hardware lock" issue and found out that phones were being replaced so I went down to the store I bought it from and exchanged it. When I was in the parking lot I loaded up the apps mentioned in the beginning of this post to test. Accuracy was still off a little and Trapster and MyTracks still could not display direction of travel. Google maps could display it correctly. GPS Test showed a few visible and 1 or 2 in use.
I figured I would just deal with it until the update came out. That day was today. I did not get the update OTA but did flash JI6 since that was what the OTA was showing on others phones.
I wiped everything after flashing and did a master reset. I then installed the mentioned apps again for some testing. GPS Test 12 in view 8-9 in use, accuracy was still not as good as my first Vibrant stock. Google Maps found me pretty close to where I was, but not spot on like the last phone and drifted a little bit. MyTracks arrow moved when I rotated the phone but did not point in the right direction. Started the compass app and it was way off and barely moving, I did the calibration and it actually started working pretty good even though it was a little off. I started MyTracks and low and behold the arrow was pointing in almost the exact direction i was facing. I though great everything should be ok!
I had to run to the store so I tested while driving. Accuracy was pretty good, Trapster and MyTracks could still not display correct direction of travel so I fired up the compass and it was all over the place and shaking around a lot trying to determine which way it was facing. When I got to the store and stopped the compass was working like it was at the house and MyTracks was pointing in the right direction again. I though how odd and tested more on the way home.
Here is where I think it gets interesting. As I was driving and in GPS Test I hit the button on the bottom left of the screen. That brings up a compass view. It was showing my heading correctly. Google maps showed my arrow pointing in the correct direction of travel as well but Trapster and MyTracks could not.
I made 2 observations that I think may be important. When I stopped and had GPS Test open to the compass part I noticed that the heading was now off a little. Google maps was the same, the arrow was just not stable. When I started driving again both apps started showing the correct heading. That is when it hit me. When stopped GPS Test and Google Maps must be relying on the compass when not in motion to get it's bearings and that Trapster and MyTracks must be relying on the compass alone for it's heading information! I confirmed this by opening the Compass app while in motion and taking a note on which way it though I was going and then opened MyTracks and would you believe it, the arrow was pointing in the same direction that the compass showed me going!. I was traveling straight west and the compass along with MyTrack were pointing south! I confirmed this after driving around for a while that whatever way the compass was pointing that is the direction the arrow in MyTracks pointed. When I stop everything points correctly, or at least close to being correct.
So now the million dollar question is since GPT Test and Google maps fall back on the compass when stopped could that affect accuracy? If it is pointing in an incorrect position but thinks it is pointing in the correct position could it think the satellites are in a different position in the sky thus some of the jumping around when you are stopped and once you are moving it gets it's bearings straightened out and is able to track you correctly? I am thinking it might have some play in it since sometimes when I am sitting still out in the yard and I rotate my phone my position will jump 1/4 mile away and move all over the place but if you click the arrow it shows accuracy to 10 or less meters.
What would make the compass show the correct postion when stopped, but all over the place when moving? Are the compass and GPS tied that close together?
Thoughts?
I tried to email this to Samsung but the web form was messed up and I'm not sure if it went through or not.

Interesting. It would seem that the compass has no place with driving directions. It should ideally be ignored unless you are walking or on street view.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

Another thing I just found out after messing with it more is that when I have the compass app open and hold the phone in my hand horizontally and shake it gently up and down the compass goes all over the place. Do the same thing in MyTracks and the arrow goes bonkers.
I didn't think of street view until you mentioned it. When I launched it, it was way off and not working well. I held the phone in my hand horizontally with the back of the phone facing the floor and it got it's bearings and started working. I am starting to think that the sensors are still screwy.
Edit to add that the compass and MyTracks acts the same on my MyTouch 3G when shaking it but not as bad. It still doesn't explain why the compass would be so far off on the Vibrant when driving. I will have to test the MyTouch and Vibrant side by side while driving when I get the chance.

GPS Problem

IS anyone else having a problem with GPS on their phone? I was having a problem with mine, and i even did a complete wipe of my phone (odin and all) and its still having a problem. When i try to use navigation, it just says searching for GPS constantly.

Yes. If you nose around the Fascinate forum a bit, you'll find more users of these phones with GPS issues. There are a couple of fixes. I haven't tried them. Sometimes it locks on immediately, other times or can take a minute or ten. The I01 OTA update seemed to help a little. For me I just leave the GPS powered on extra much, and the wifi gives google maps a hint toward where I am. Once it does l lock onto the satellites, it works very well.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App

it used to work fine, i was using it all weekend, now it wont lock at all. ill have to try somewhere else maybe its bc of where i am atm.

I was browsing through the fascinate forum a day or two ago and ran across a thread with a free app from the market its called GPS Booster. I can honestly say it 100% works. Before when i would open google maps it would put me up to 4 streets away from my actual location. Now i was able to zoom in and it put me in the right room of my apartment.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=825375&highlight=gps
the above link is where i came across it

janorton05 said:
I was browsing through the fascinate forum a day or two ago and ran across a thread with a free app from the market its called GPS Booster. I can honestly say it 100% works. Before when i would open google maps it would put me up to 4 streets away from my actual location. Now i was able to zoom in and it put me in the right room of my apartment.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=825375&highlight=gps
the above link is where i came across it
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I will have to check this out. My phone has never had accuracy issues, just problems locking. I spent five days in New Orleans, primarily downtown and in the French Quarter, and could only get it to lock twice! Talk about aggravating.

[GPS] Possible GPS Fix with Google Sky [works]

Hey guys I am new to the community and just recently picked up a vibrant for being a loyal T-Mobile customer haha.
Anyways I just wanted to point out something that I noticed while trying yo fix my GPS issue or non-issue. I have detailed my steps exactly so please read below:
1. Got vibrant out of the box and after 5 tries connected it to mini kies and updated to 2.2.
2. Applied GPS restore from market. It did not work at first, but after stepping outside it worked.
3. Tested the GPS and it works, I am amazed and thought the issue is fixed.
4. Went to my other residence 50 miles away, tried GPS, big fail.
5. A week later I remember the GPS issue and try it again at my place, fail again.
6. I became curious and tried Google sky, with GPS on. Google sky reported longitude and latitude. I am in shock because I thought the GPS was broken. I turn on Google maps and bam, location is found again.
7. I become more curious and try the same approach 50 miles away at my other residence, bam location is found again.
My conclusion is something is up, can any of u guys explain and/or try my method?
Thanks!

I've found that google maps doesn't like a cold GPS start, that is, the first time used after changing locations or waiting a few hours. But if I use another gps program, like gps test, wait for it to lock (which is usually pretty fast), then close out and open google maps I'll get a near instant gps lock since it's a warm start. Something about google maps doesn't seem to want to convince our phones that it should get a gps lock.

Google Maps is terrible with cold starts. The solution is to use GPS Test to lock into more than 4 satellites and then open Google Maps. You were basically doing the same thing with Google Skymap, but Mike Lockwood's GPS Test is better because it keeps polling the GPS while you check Maps.

Mannymal said:
Google Maps is terrible with cold starts. The solution is to use GPS Test to lock into more than 4 satellites and then open Google Maps. You were basically doing the same thing with Google Skymap, but Mike Lockwood's GPS Test is better because it keeps polling the GPS while you check Maps.
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+1 I found this to work the best as well. I use Ulysses Gizmo though
Either way, with the New KB1 modem (you can flash that by itself) this REALLY improved the GPS

thanks guys your input helped me clarify alot because i always thought my GPS was broken because of google maps didnt show my position.
The iPhone I had and my mytouch 4g and g2 both do not have this problem, this is vibrant isolated, correct? I mean the cold start to the GPS from Google Maps.

oka1 said:
Either way, with the New KB1 modem (you can flash that by itself) this REALLY improved the GPS
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Plus 1 - KB1 has great GPS.. I did however have the hardware problem. So the combination of fixing the hardware problem and KB1 has my GPS running better then ever.