i know were sick of the gps threads but i must ask

i know were sick of the gps threads but i must ask - Vibrant General

Is anybody's working to satisfactory? Or am I the only one?
I never really used GPS till I got this device and only from the complaining here had it really got me interested . Although I use GPS maybe 3 times a year, I've made it a point to use it every drive I take to see if its still working.
I always get a lock within 5 seconds to at most a min. Stationary or moving don't matter. I've never had my phone say location not available.
My phone always sees 11 or more and only locks on to 3 or 4 once it locked 7...
When I hit navigate to then a destination it instantly finds me and routes me. While driving it every now and again has a blue circle but that's usually during lots of overpasses turns on freeways and etc. For the most part it has no circle ...
I will admit every now and again it'll lose route and not reroute so I back out and hit navigate again and back to navigating.
Its even found me in portland Oregon in the city.
So my question is, although GPS could be better I.e. faster lock, more birds to lock on and tracking while moving, it still has served its purpose and found me my way a few times when I'm lost.
On the way home I will use it again and it will find me almost instantly and navigate me all the way home...
Am I lucky? Or do others work good enough to get around, yes could be better, but is yours good enough like mine to where even if they don't fix it, its not that big of a deal cause for the most part for me it works?
Another thing is I'm beggining to think its hardware and software. Reason is messing with the settings does improve or have different results, but on the other hand the gps fixes seem to give everyone different results and why would Samsung release them all with poor GPS just to supposedly fix it in a few weeks/ wouldn't it have been easier to fix then ship em out?
Who knows, no one is for sure, but I just want to know who's is atleast satisfactory like mine? Maybe I just don't have high GPS standards cause I don't use it to get 1 meter off. If I'm atleast 50 meters away I think my eyes and brain can help me find the other 50 meters.
So are you satisfied even though it needs improvements? I am. I don't think it needs fixed, but as Samsung says "optimized".
Please no there are many GPS threads comments this is a little different ...
Is your GPS useless, or does it get the job done, not how you wish, but gets it done?
Edit: this is no gps fixes. Pure stock.

Mine isn't as terrible as some people say on here, but there are definitely problems. Latitude, for instance, often falls back to network location even with a clear view of the sky. Driving, it will randomly drift far enough that the GPS goes to rerouting mode, trying to bring me back on course. And there are times that it just refuses to get a lock for 10-15 minutes, though luckily that doesn't happen too often. Definitely worst GPS performance than my G1.
But, all that being said.. Not so bad that I'm really stressing about it. I'll give Samsung/TMO a few more weeks for an update and hopefully they patch up the issues with Froyo. If not, or if the update gets delayed, I'll start tinkering with the fixes from the forums.

mine works fine too. quick to lock, navigation works perfectly. i was locking on 3-4 satellites last time i tried.
it's not very good indoors, and often has trouble determining location, but outdoors it has been completely satisfactory.
this is all with gps on, and use wireless networks off, btw. completely stock, and the compass works fine too.

I'm the same, I don't use GPS that much, but when I do it works fairly well. Its not the best I've used but it gets the job done. Only once when I was driving on the freeway could it not lock on.
I remember reading that a GPS fix leaked for the Captivate and it seemed to fix the issue. And the new SGS phones coming out for Verizon and Sprint seem to have better luck with GPS.

For me too GPS locks 95% times. However Navigation is the only application that crashes my phone once in a while....and I dont like that

Mine seems OK, with the light use I've given it. Haven't tested it out with route-tracing software like some have -- but for just getting an accurate lock, it seems on par with other phones I've used. (Maybe a little slower to lock.)

I had tested my GF's Samsung Moment alongside my Vibrant many times and the Moment hooks to GPS quickly and consistently. I cannot think how Samsung could implement an inferior GPS in their flagship phone!

My gps works flawlessly, when I read all these threads its hard to remaster because everyone I use gps it takes a matter of seconds to lock in and route me to my destination. Even in my area of living which is outside of the city it is very vet close to where I actually am and even right on. I would be frustrated if it didn't work as I do use my gps every so often but it is precise in my experience and I'm very happy with the final product.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

I now have two GPS's in two of our cars. The primary reason for buying a GPS a while back was so I could meet up with guys that I often 4wheel with in various locations. I would get lost when somebody told me to meet them in a city that I didn't know very well. My wife saw how handy my GPS was and took it. I finally got a G1 and it was used as a backup in case the wife wouldn't let me use "My GPS".
Anyways fast forward a year or so. We bought a second GPS for her car. Why because she got the new one of course.
Now that I have 2 GPS's in my cars my phone has been well a secondary or I should say hardly ever used. However when I'm on foot and I get backwards its always been nice to know I could fire up my GPS and find my way somewhere. Lord knows I've been lost a few times in down town Seattle. Wandering around and firing up maps and then using the by foot option has saved me many times. Sure it didn't have to be accurate since all I needed to know was do I walk 3 blocks north then 1 to the west or is it 3 blocks to the west then 1 block to the north?
The Vibrant GPS works when I need it, but honestly I really wish it was a bit more like the G1. Its nearly useless when I use CardioTrainer and a few more apps.

I have had my Vibrant for about 45 days and the GPS has been awful since day one. I have tried some of the fixes which did help a little bit but I still have problems. The GPS cuts on and off so much that Cardio Trainer is pretty much useless most of the time. It has started to freeze on me while attempting to use Cardio Trainer today, which necessitated pulling the battery. The GPS normally shows me about 2 of 3 miles from where I actually am. The compass is just about totally useless. This is a wonderful phone and would be a fantastic phone if the compass and GPS just worked normally. I am starting to be concerned with the phone starting to freeze up as it has not done that in the past.

Mine worked great for a few weeks. Even though it wouldn't lock more than 3 or 4 satellites the performance was completely satisfactory. Then it got a little quirky with accuracy and my position started jumping around a lot. Then it started positioning me miles from where I actually was sometimes, causing Maps to lock up, causing the entire phone to lock up, and generally being unreliable.
Over the past week or so I've had to reboot the phone half the time I try to use the GPS in order to get it to work. I can usually get it to work at a satisfactory level eventually, but it's far from painless. I haven't tried any of the "fixes"...my GPS settings are stock.

On my first phone the GPS and phone in general was a disaster.
Once returned, my second phone is "ok" for driving assistance use, it takes awhile for a lock but it works. But I otherwise leave GPS turned off or else my phone will randomly shut down/reboot.
With trepidation I applied a no lag fix and it has turned my opinion of the phone from "meh" to wow (even though I was not even sure I had a lag problem, but little did I know).
So if GPS gets fixed and 2.2 deployed, and assuming 2.2 solves lag or a no-lag fix is implemented for 2.2, then I will be very happy. But it sure seems like a bit of grief to get to that point. Anything goes wrong down that path, and I'll focus on HTC or other devices... cause for similar past issues with hardware I never buy HP

mjpacheco said:
So if GPS gets fixed and 2.2 deployed, and assuming 2.2 solves lag or a no-lag fix is implemented for 2.2, then I will be very happy. But it sure seems like a bit of grief to get to that point. Anything goes wrong down that path, and I'll focus on HTC or other devices... cause for similar past issues with hardware I never buy HP
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Add a compass fix to that list and I'm there with ya.

After applying the gps fix I haven't had a problem since. I use the gps daily and have only had 1 restart. Had my vibrant since day 1. Maybe I just got lucky.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

I completely understand the need to get the GPS fixed, but I have to honestly ask...why do so many people seem so worried about the compass?
Are there that many of you out there that wander around using the compass all the time ? Is it because of apps like Layar ?
Using a smartphone as a compass/gps on a hike is useless if you plan to be out more than a few hours so that can't be it.
Is it just the principle of the thing ... that they provide the feature so it should work properly out of the box?
I'm not trying to be a wise ass here...I'm honestly curious.
Sent from Samsung Vibrant

Stresa said:
I completely understand the need to get the GPS fixed, but I have to honestly ask...why do so many people seem so worried about the compass?
Are there that many of you out there that wander around using the compass all the time ? Is it because of apps like Layar ?
Using a smartphone as a compass/gps on a hike is useless if you plan to be out more than a few hours so that can't be it.
Is it just the principle of the thing ... that they provide the feature so it should work properly out of the box?
I'm not trying to be a wise ass here...I'm honestly curious.
Sent from Samsung Vibrant
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In a word: yes.
While I don't use Layar much, it would be great if it worked. I've tried to use Google Skymaps several times and gave up due to the compass completely freaking out when I hold the phone up to, you know, look at the sky. It's nice the have a working compass for Google Maps...even if it's just for street view. Yelp taunts me with directional functionality that doesn't work, and I could go on. In general I'd like to know that apps that use the magnetometer to detect orientation (and who knows what will come along that will use that functionality) will work. I don't think that's too much to ask.
Now, I also do a lot of city navigation on foot, and having a compass to figure out which way to walk when I come up from a subway on my way to a meeting is a huge help. Seriously. At that point I don't have a GPS because I've been underground.
I've used Android devices (like the G1) that are old-ish, and I've used Android devices that are not considered high-end devices with working compasses, so yeah, on principle I expect my high-end $500 device to work at least as well as they do. Had I known about the worthless compass before I purchased the phone it would have given me pause...I probably would have at least considered another device. It bugs me that such a simple piece of functionality being broken will prevent me from using apps and features that I'd otherwise find useful on my expensive device.
Now I have a Swiss Army knife with a broken saw blade. Yeah, it's just the saw blade, but I paid for one with a working saw blade, dammit, and it wasn't cheap.

dex1701 said:
In a word: yes.
While I don't use Layar much, it would be great if it worked. I've tried to use Google Skymaps several times and gave up due to the compass completely freaking out when I hold the phone up to, you know, look at the sky. It's nice the have a working compass for Google Maps...even if it's just for street view. In general I'd like to know that apps that use the magnetometer to detect orientation (and who knows what will come along that will use that functionality) will work. I don't think that's too much to ask.
Now, I also do a lot of city navigation on foot, and having a compass to figure out which way to walk when I come up from a subway on my way to a meeting is a huge help. Seriously. At that point I don't have a GPS because I've been underground.
I've used Android devices (like the G1) that are old-ish, and I've used Android devices that are not considered high-end devices with working compasses, so yeah, on principle I expect my high-end $500 device to work at least as well as they do. Had I known about the worthless compass before I purchased the phone it would have given me pause...I probably would have at least considered another device. It bugs me that such a simple piece of functionality being broken will prevent me from using apps and features that I'd otherwise find useful on my expensive device.
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that sucks dude. i just noticed what you were saying about google sky map, mine was tripping out for a little while but then it finally settled down. can't really tell if it's pointing in the accurate direction because it's daylight
my compass has worked just fine on maps though. it always points me in the right direction, and even the compass on the "gps status" app is correct, birds locked on or not

lolcopter said:
that sucks dude. i just noticed what you were saying about google sky map, mine was tripping out for a little while but then it finally settled down. can't really tell if it's pointing in the accurate direction because it's daylight
my compass has worked just fine on maps though. it always points me in the right direction, and even the compass on the "gps status" app is correct, birds locked on or not
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If I hold the phone "just right" I can usually get the compass to work ok in things like Maps where accuracy isn't terribly important. It's still painfully slow compared to other Android devices I've used, though. Most I've seen have nearly instantaneous compass updates when you turn...on my Vibrant (both of them) I have to wait a while for it to settle down before I can tell how it's reading. When I hold it in an odd position...like you do for Skymaps...it's all over the place. Sometimes it works, but it's hard to tell unless you're manually keeping track of which way is North, which kinda defeats the purpose, eh?

dex1701 said:
If I hold the phone "just right" I can usually get the compass to work ok in things like Maps where accuracy isn't terribly important. It's still painfully slow compared to other Android devices I've used, though. Most I've seen have nearly instantaneous compass updates when you turn...on my Vibrant (both of them) I have to wait a while for it to settle down before I can tell how it's reading. When I hold it in an odd position...like you do for Skymaps...it's all over the place. Sometimes it works, but it's hard to tell unless you're manually keeping track of which way is North, which kinda defeats the purpose, eh?
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true
hopefully samsung releases a fix baked into some froyo here soon. they had better do SOMETHING this month anyway

Related

[Discussion] GPS Problems, Lock speed, Accuracy, Fixes - The Poll

Few people are complaining now about the low quality of gps. Can you prove this?

oxylos said:
Few people are complaining now about the low quality of gps. Can you prove this?
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Hmm, I did try and track myself on the bus this morning and it did seem to have a problem finding me - it kept flipping between near where I was and about halfway back home. Used it walking down the street and again it didn't seem to be very good at nailing where I was (HD2 seemed much better). I've enabled location via cell location as well as GPS, so I'll see if that makes much difference.

This doesn't sound too promising :/
I've been using my iPhone 3G to track my runs when I head out, and I assumed the Galaxy would do just as good (or better!) at it. Hopefully it's something they can fix with a software patch and not a hardware problem...

Nicolopolus said:
Hmm, I did try and track myself on the bus this morning and it did seem to have a problem finding me - it kept flipping between near where I was and about halfway back home. Used it walking down the street and again it didn't seem to be very good at nailing where I was (HD2 seemed much better). I've enabled location via cell location as well as GPS, so I'll see if that makes much difference.
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Did you get it from Expansys? I am trying to find out whether it is just a batch or it is a more generic issue.

I too am seeing poor performance with the GPS. Seems to be a hardware issue.
I did a test over the weekend comparing my Galaxy S with a friend's HTC Desire. Using one of the many GPS utilities the Desire was consistently seeing and locking more satellites when stood in an open area outside. When running Google maps and showing the current location I found that the "accuracy circle" (for want of a better description) was growing and shrinking several times a minute causing the map to zoom in and out.
I've also noticed that the compass is almost unusable and showing a much lower signal compared to the Desire. I did perform the figure of 8 calibration several times.

Evans_Prophet said:
Did you get it from Expansys? I am trying to find out whether it is just a batch or it is a more generic issue.
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Nope, got mine from Handtec. Really hope it's just a software issue that can be easily solved! Also noticed that google homepage in browser keeps saying I'm in China?!

Think I've read somewhere that samsung galaxy (the first one + the spica) have a broken gps driver causing such issues...don't remember if it was in sportypal forums or for a similar application. Very sorry to hear it's not fixed.

Nope I tried out google navigation at the weekend and was really impressed by the accuracy, it made my old tom tom look really bad.

So can we say that GS favours google navigation?
Can anyone confirm that?

This is very worrying, GPS is important for me, I don't want to have another N97 on my hands... fingers crossed it's a software issue....

Tyxerakias said:
This is very worrying, GPS is important for me, I don't want to have another N97 on my hands... fingers crossed it's a software issue....
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I'll have another play on the way home and let you know if there's any improvements.

Nicolopolus said:
I'll have another play on the way home and let you know if there's any improvements.
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I've not noticed any problems in Google Navigation. It found me almost instantly, and was so accurate in terms of showing me where I was while driving that there was almost no perceivable lag.
Whatever people are seeing it very unlikely to be a hardware issue, most phones use GPS chips from only 1 or 2 suppliers, its much more likely something temporary like a driver issue.

TravUK said:
I've not noticed any problems in Google Navigation. It found me almost instantly, and was so accurate in terms of showing me where I was while driving that there was almost no perceivable lag.
Whatever people are seeing it very unlikely to be a hardware issue, most phones use GPS chips from only 1 or 2 suppliers, its much more likely something temporary like a driver issue.
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TravUK, have you tried google maps - did you have any problems with it? (although I assume navigation would be using the same data to find you)

Nicolopolus said:
TravUK, have you tried google maps - did you have any problems with it? (although I assume navigation would be using the same data to find you)
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Yep, Maps works fine, including latitude. Also used Waze which took a little while to get a fix, but was also ok.

Well the journey home was much better! Probably helped that I was sitting by the window on the top deck of the bus, but I managed to get a much better fix, using both google maps and navigation. It wasn't like 100% accurate or anything, but certainly no worse than my hd2. Hardly got the large blue circle, but it did think I was in a field a few times, but that's to be expected. To note, didn't seem to make much difference whether I had both gps and cell data selected, or just gps.

My gps works perfect. Google maps finds it instantly and waze and speedometer apps work fine too. Localization is spot on. The gps even connects when I'm inside the house wich my Diamond never did.

I tested Navigon, which can be download from Market for a tryal period of 30 days now, and it working great on my Samsung i9000

it may be a firmware issue , everyone who is having problems should post the sw. version for comparision with others

Comparison of Galaxy GPS and iPhone 3G gps.
Hey everyone,
There's been some discussion regarding the "quality" of the GPS function in the Galaxy S, and after testing it out today, I sure hope it's a software bug or I'm going to be very disappointed.
This is my run as recorded by my iPhone 3G (with Fitnio): http://dl.dropbox.com/u/810054/samsung_fail/Picture%203.png
Now this is the same run as recorded by my Galaxy S (with RunKeeper): http://dl.dropbox.com/u/810054/samsung_fail/Picture%202.png
Take a wild guess which one actually reflects reality. Can anyone shed light on if the new "leaked" firmware fixes these problems?

They're all based on standard chipsets so its unlikely there's anything wrong with the GPS receiver itself. I hope it gets updated soon as it seems to be affecting a fair number of people.

Has anyone ever stopped to think that maybe the third party GPS apps are wrong?

Okay so now that I have my vibrant I tested it out (only a few times) but I did test it in different applications, websites, and maps and navigation. Yes in the gps and compass apps it doesn't pick up at all compared to my slide BUT in every other application, on google where it finds your location, on yelp, movie phone, maps, and navigation it finds my location each and every time. It doesn't get me lost, it doesn't show me going in a different direction, and it doesn't show me somewhere else.
What if the configurations or settings are different with samsung, what if the third party app is not completely accurate? Why else would every other program find my location if the app says I am not found by even 1 satellite? I think the"fix" is just a change of setting that helps the app not the gps or the phone.
Time will tell but for me it us working fine for now.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

Well you can do gps tests within the os that say basically the same thing...

Ive used my gps with google navigate nermous times with no problem. in fact, it guided me on a 160mile trip just fine... What problems are people having with their gps?

Well, I've only had the phone for a day, so I'm still getting used to the quirks coming from a G1. GPS so far is the biggest disappointment. Android has been pushing location based stuff since the beginning, so the lack of a solid GPS is really screwing up some of my favorite apps. Locale for instance, it's worthless. It can't ever find me. The G1 always worked fine with it on Donut, Eclair, and Froyo.
Google Maps is the ONLY app I have that seems to even be able to get a rough idea where I am, and even then its circle is pretty big, about 4 city blocks. That's not GPS, that's network location, and it's fine for what it is, but not good enough when there aren't a lot of cell towers around. At home, it puts me out in the middle of a corn field. All the time I'm in maps, the GPS icon is up there blinking at me, telling me it can't lock. I've seen it work a couple times, for a short while. In GMaps and in GPS Test. But it takes a LONG time. The G1 could get a lock indoors in about 10 seconds. The Vibrant takes minutes, even with the A-GPS turned on in the test menus. That's insane. And it's not any better outside with a clear sky view. That might be acceptable, if it could hold the lock, but it doesn't.
Even stranger, in GPS Test, I get a single colored bar saying it's using that signal. There are 6 more with the same or higher signal strength being ignored. Very odd. Something is wrong with this GPS. It could very well be software, but Samsung needs to get on this and fast. If I can't find a way to get acceptable GPS performance within my 14 day period, I will likely return it. That will really suck, as otherwise I really like the device, but I need a decent GPS.

ttabbal said:
Even stranger, in GPS Test, I get a single colored bar saying it's using that signal. There are 6 more with the same or higher signal strength being ignored. Very odd. Something is wrong with this GPS.
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This has been my experience as well, and I found the same thing when trying a friend's phone. If only T-Mobile/Samsung would acknowledge that there is a problem and say they are working on it...

No problem here
But as I came from the G1 I use Google Maps exclusively. I haven't had a single problem with it. Inside my house I can get a fix on my location on the map, exactly where it should be. Are you guys using the TeleNav?

ttabbal said:
Even stranger, in GPS Test, I get a single colored bar saying it's using that signal. There are 6 more with the same or higher signal strength being ignored. Very odd. Something is wrong with this GPS. It could very well be software, but Samsung needs to get on this and fast.
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I have the same issue... I can only ever lock on to 1 sat. This is not right. My G1 would lock on to many birds.

zoid_99 said:
I have the same issue... I can only ever lock on to 1 sat. This is not right. My G1 would lock on to many birds.
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I wonder if GPS Test is either wrong about that, or more likely, getting bad data from the OS or GPS driver. IIRC they are just parsing the NMEA data from the GPS driver, so "garbage in, garbage out". You don't get 20ft accuracy with 1 satellite being used.
I fooled with the settings in the "GPS fix 101" thread and got the thing working decently. Took a number of tries, and we'll see if it keeps working over time.
This really is something that TMO and Samsung should acknowledge and at least promise a fix for. Preferably with a close release date. And we shouldn't have to wait for Froyo either, get us a fix for JUST the GPS and a lot of people would be VERY happy. Well, that and the compass, that thing is even more worthless than the GPS before the fixes.
For the poster with Google Maps working, did you try with network locations disabled? Is the GPS icon in the status bar flashing or solid? If it's flashing, you DON'T have a GPS lock. Maps seems to be really good at using the network location stuff. I also enabled Skyhook in the GPS settings screen and Maps really seems to like that. Doesn't help with GPS performance though.

This thread is idiotic.

cashless said:
This thread is idiotic.
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Wow.. that statement was idiotic. Maybe you aren't having the GPS issues that others are having but this thread is helping me debug and decide weather or not I'm keeping the Vibrant or returning it.

You guys are not alone. There is obviously something wrong with either the hardware, or the software. Either way, the buyer's remorse period is halfway through, and neither company has said so much as a peep.
I will definitely be returning my device by the time the remorse period expires. What a shame that would be, because I really love this screen. All it would take is for T-Mobile and Samsung to acknowledge the problem, and state that a fix is on the way.
Here's my post, detailing my contact and findings with the two companies.
It's been a few days now, and I've heard nothing back. Never a good sign.

EDIT. Got it working

Care to share?

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.

Should I give up on i9000? GPS will NEVER work! Can't we sue them or get a recall?

I actually need gps quite a bit in my line of work. I bought this phone because of it. But, it just does not work. Some claim it works fine, but at the same time they are saying they get 5-10m lock! (thats off by 30ft!) With a borrowed motorola atrix i was getting 4.9 feet accuracy (thats like accurate by 2 steps!). I think I have come to the conslusion that it will never work, and samsuck doesn't even care! Why else would they keep releasing newer phones with the exact same problems? I'm gonna jump ship...everything else about this phone is awesome. Any ideas if HTC has good gps/reception? I am thinking about the incredible S. (and i'm not a troll, I have lived with this phone's gps issues for almost 1 year now).

Get a real GPS receiver, and don't expect it will be cheap if you want a real 4.9ft accuracy.
and for i9000 is about 15ft~30ft accuracy, quite good when compare to my garmin unit.

Samsung should get sued for that piece of hardware ****... but the i9000 is still the best phone
You should try Darkys 10.1 with Darky Core and JVO Modem. GPS works okay but no perfectly !

i do like this:
android market : gps toolbox , in settings has 2 options - download agps satelites and reset gps
1st i download the satelites data
2nd i reset gps
and after closing this app , i open my gps soft and it works , i use iGO

Why do i always hear people with problems my gps works fine since day one. even on the old roms. only with these newer ones i get real fast lock.
never had any problem with navigation software and driving my car
i a using sygic mobile maps because i dont wanna waste data with google maps.

And if your unit performs worse than everyone else's SGS, then you might consider bending the contacts that connect the GPS antenna inside. Seems they don't make good contact on many units.
There is a thread about it somewhere.
Mike
Garbled meaning induced by swype when posting from XDA app on SGS I9000.

at the beginning gps was not very good but after android 2.2 and newer fw gps is totally fine for me. outside and in car it works very good. btw data network is activated for me and it helps for faster fix...

I gave up on the Internal GPS after a few Months.
Purchased an External Bluetooth GPS Receiver and now have accuracy to around 5 meters at times.
Also easier as the GPS Receiver can be turned on the get Satellite lock then connected to the Phone.

GPS on JVO ROM is all you can get. It's not enough to lead you driving on a city. GPS antenna is too small, does not update position often enough, keeps using guessing instead of real GPS position (your previous speed is used to calculate the supposed position, something very bad when you're turning around many times).
It's good enough to use it walking outside the city (main reason for me), or in highways (smooth curves and slow change of direction), but the GPS on the Galaxy S is real ****. Worst than the one in my previous two phones, and worst than the one in many current phones.
I really don't understand why having a phone that big we keep having to deal with so much unuseful plastic. 1.5 cm above an below the screen. Just make the phone the same size as the screen. The speaker can go in the top, like in many Motorola models. The battery could be bigger. If they have to make an GPS antenna that's 5 cm long, make it, running along one side.
It's like the phone hanging after a call. I would not advise this device for anyone depending of his phone to receive critical calls at any time. This **** just hangs radomly and you have to force a reboot.

Just to let people know that I've spent all afternoon trying 3 different ROMS, 2 times each, and the GPS sensivity is better on XXJVO.
I flashed the deodexed versions from Ramad, and used GPS status app to test. Just flash the ROM, install GPS status, see how many satellites it detects.
JVJV9 and XXJVP detect 1 or less while on my desk
XXJVO detects 4 and gets a fix, and sometimes it mantains the fix
Next to a window, JVJV9 and XXJVP detect 5 or 6 satellites, get a fix but lose it, most of the time 0 satellites in green.
XXJVO detects 8 satellites, 7 in green all the time
Accounting for the fact that satellite positions change between one test and another, I repeated tests twice.
I tried XXJVP on the field last weekend and was unable to get a fix while on the car.
Phone is sitting now on my desk, and has 4 satellites in green and intermitent fix. Much better than the other ROMs that see 0 or 1 satellites sitting on the same spot.

SKeijmel said:
Why do i always hear people with problems my gps works fine since day one. even on the old roms. only with these newer ones i get real fast lock.
never had any problem with navigation software and driving my car
i a using sygic mobile maps because i dont wanna waste data with google maps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gmaps 5.x and above has cache option...I'm finding very useful. Plus offline navigation should be coming this summer

Personally, I've given up on the GPS.. Samsung should honestly be sued, but it is too expensive to do so.
It has gotten better with newer ROM's, but, the sensitivity still appears to be a joke compared to my years old garmin forerunner. It may be good enough for some people who use it for navigation (because, I'd imagine there are plenty of algorithms which can probably be employed). However, the track quality produced seems semi-laughable, and the GPS appears to be nowhere near the quality of a dedicated unit.
People also need to stop checking programs like "gps status". They don't tell you if the location is correct (because it wont show you on the maps). So the accuracy value means nothing (the accuracy value means nothing without RAIM/FDE anyway regardless of unit).

GPS doesn't work at all on my SGS.
I tried that 'push the upper part of the rubberplastic thingy' trick, no result.
Whenever I try to find my location in Google maps, it can only find the WIFI center about 1km away from here. I think that's thanks to the Use Wireless Networks setting. but the GPS in my own SGS has never ever succeeded in locking any satelites.
Must be a hardware fauly I guess?
I bought it in October IIRC.
I don't mind though, never had the need to use GPS.
But it just bothers me that I got a somewhat malfunctioning device.
No big deal though!

Its been working fine on mine.. The only time i had issues was with 2.2/2.2.1
Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk

Some data points:
The signal to noise levels reported by the test tools seem reasonable.
All GPS systems use averaging to get a lock.
All GPS systems use Kalman filtering, which filters and connects location and speed, to make the system work at all. The stronger the filter, the more stable the position. But this gives bigger problems in turns.
Dedicated receivers have a much bigger antenna and thus need less averaging to get a stable position.
Receiver software has 'modes' - for example walking and driving mode. In driving mode, movements at low speeds are suppressed.
GPS is still a work in progress; there must be a reason Samsung renamed LBStestMode into AngryGPS!

[Q] GPS trouble on Acer Iconia 500

Hey,
I got an Iconia A500 about a week ago and have been moderately happy with it, except for one thing. The GPS. I've been all over the internet, through a variety of searches and found this to be a common problem. Acer's build quality is a little crappy in the case of this tablet (you get what you pay for), but the GPS is an exceptional case, it seems.
What I am trying to determine is if it is a hardware issue, or software. If it's hardware (which I suspect), I need to know before the return period runs out. If it's software, I can wait for a fix. That is my dilemma.
The first tablet I had didn't work at all. Inside, outside, sunny, cloudy, I never got ANY results on GPS Test. I have rooted the tablet and used the Fasterfix mod with no effect. So I returned it.
The second device works, but only intermittently and in ideal conditions. If there is any kind of cover (including a car roof, sun umbrella or cloud cover), the satellites disappear. What is interesting is that once a connection is established, it seems to hold onto it for a brief period after I bring it under cover. I have to leave it on my dashboard for about 2-5 minutes to get a connection, which will sustain itself for about 30 seconds after I bring it further into the vehicle. After that, the satellites disappear from the screen.
This is frustrating. It would be one thing if it was completely broken or completely working, but this intermittent stuff is driving me nuts.
So should I take it back for round 3, should I return it outright, or should I wait and hope for a software fix?
I'm otherwise happy with the tablet, despite it being a little slow to render PDF files, which I use it for regularly. I understand this is supposed to speed up with 3.1 though.
Cheers,
-PW

Make sure you upgrade to 3.1 Lots of GPS Fixes it in..
Download an App called GPS Status. its Free.. And see what and how many satellites its even getting if any. Also I do know Acer has said repeatedly for the GPS to work on 3.0 for the first time you have to be connected to a wifi access point, because the GPS is a A-GPS (Assisted GPS) However If you have Android 3.1 installed you should be good to go and no require a Access Point. I proved that one myself yesterday.
A Co-Worker of Mine had to return his Acer Tablet for the same reasons you are describing. So I wouldn't put it past a bad allotment of Tablets. But his second one ended up working. You May need to try a 3rd I wouldnt put it past it.

I have been using GPS Test, which I understand provides the same functionality as GPS Status.
I manually flash updated to 3.1 and noticed now that I've been picking up exactly 1 satellite indoors now, which is odd since I got nothing before. Now I'm even more confused.

I thought that the GPS was buggered in mine too because I opened mapdroyd and it wouldn't find my location. I decided to let it sit for a while with the app open and after about 5 minutes it locked on and stayed locked for a 40 minute drive.

I think the agps information that GPS Status was downloading was making my GPS fix times considerably worse. I removed that application and all other GPS third party applications. My fix times in google maps is much better now (about 30 seconds indoors right now tonight).
Rob

Update:
I let it sit overnight, with the screen forced on and GPS Test running. In the 40 minutes before I went to bed it didn't find anything, but in the morning (roughly 8 hours later), it had found 9 and was locked onto 3. This makes me think that the hardware is capable of seeing these things, but the software is too dumb to lock onto them or look in the right direction to find them.
Strangely enough, the 3 it locked onto had the lowest SNR. The other 6 with 25+, some over 40. What are the parameters that cause it to "lock" rather than simply be detected?
Of course, I've since relocated to work and its now not picking up anything at all. Obviously, if I have to wait 8+ hours before each use, it's not going to be a very useful function.
Maybe my almanac data is not updating. Does anyone know what the best server to use for western canada is?
Cheers,
-Chris

Another Update:
As it turns out, most of my GPS problems look to be caused by a faulty compass. That makes sense, if you think about it. A broken compass makes the almanac data useless, since the tablet has no point of reference in which to follow the directions given by the almanac data.
I tried calibrating the compass to no effect. It just kept spinning around like it was drunk. So I returned the tablet and got a new one. I'm getting better results.
An interesting note is that the sales guy at the store (Future Shop) said that GPS not working was the number one reason this tablet got returned, and he got back a lot of them. Seems there is a hardware issue after all.
Cheers,
-PW

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