Since I reported the GPS issue to Orange, I have received 2 replacements. This afternoon I updated my SGS to latest JPA firmware and went out to test the GPS. Now I can confirm that the GPS issue cannot be fixed by any kind of software firmware update. I've tested JF1,JF3,JF7,JH3,JPM,JM1,JP3,JPA. I have used GOOGLE MAPS, NDRIVE,IGO MY WAY, COPILOT on all these firmwares. On the 3 SGS I have (an original one from contract upgrade and 2 replacements since I reported the GPS issue to Orange), with all types of firmwares, navigation softwares, none gives stable GPS navigation. There are always 2 issues:
1. accuracy. never stop showing me on a different street.
2. GPS LAG. showed me stay still while I was moving. When turning in a cross, always lag till I passed the cross.
I have contacted Samsung mobile UK to report the GPS performance on latest firmware. This time they have no excuse at all to avoid admitting the GPS problem.
I will also contact Orange for a solution. I will ask for a different phone. Hopefully they have Desire HD. Or I may consider cancelling the contract and leave Orange...
Anyone claims a great GPS improvement after JPA update, if you had poor performance before, please go test it fully, see if you have the same issue I had. If you do, you can join me ask a refund from your retailer.
UPDATE: Just now went out for a little walk, use my tracks to track my movement. Was very surprised! the JPO firmware gives a great improvement. check it here:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=e...53.466879,-2.220461&spn=0.00213,0.006539&z=18
remember this is by walk and i can confirm this is pretty much the way I passed by. During the walk I stayed on the pavement. On Cavanagh Close I went from left side pavement to right side pavement, made a U turn and walked back to Lauderdale Crescent. Note that my end point was on Lauderdale Crescent,not Wilson St. This isn't perfect, but it's a great improvement! The accuracy is the only issue I'm concerned now. Also some reported after 10ish minutes navigation it would lose signal all the sudden. I can't confirm this coz my track only took around 5 mins. Need further test!
Has there been any revision when it comes to the gps hardware or do (should) all, even those straight out the factory now, i9000 have problems?
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Schmich said:
Has there been any revision when it comes to the gps hardware or do (should) all, even those straight out the factory now, i9000 have problems?
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I cannot confirm this yet. All the 3 phones I have are made roughly Q1 2010, base on IMEI information check.
ehe12 said:
I cannot confirm this yet. All the 3 phones I have are made roughly Q1 2010, base on IMEI information check.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a serious question here about the GPS issue. I am really starting to think that this GPS issue is somthing that is being manipulated by specific "carriers" so that if you are a big GPS user you will us the "carrier specific" GPS app like TeleNav.
The reason I wonder this is because as I read the threads I see tht people with "unbranded" phones do not seem to have as much GPS issues as those with branded ones.
As I read the new froyo posts I see that those who have upgraded through Kies "officially" (and there by are unbranded) are reporting that GPS is locking onto 7 - 8 satelites in under 30 seconds and get a PERFECT positioning while those who have used the reg. hack method (and there by are branded) still report that the GPS is horrible.
I may be way off here and dont mean to sound all "conspiracy theory" or anything but this is just my 2 cents. What do you think?
yiannisthegreek said:
I have a serious question here about the GPS issue. I am really starting to think that this GPS issue is somthing that is being manipulated by specific "carriers" so that if you are a big GPS user you will us the "carrier specific" GPS app like TeleNav.
The reason I wonder this is because as I read the threads I see tht people with "unbranded" phones do not seem to have as much GPS issues as those with branded ones.
As I read the new froyo posts I see that those who have upgraded through Kies "officially" (and there by are unbranded) are reporting that GPS is locking onto 7 - 8 satelites in under 30 seconds and get a PERFECT positioning while those who have used the reg. hack method (and there by are branded) still report that the GPS is horrible.
I may be way off here and dont mean to sound all "conspiracy theory" or anything but this is just my 2 cents. What do you think?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a complete guess on my part, but I would think the unbranded phones come off a different line then then branded phones.
Also, the folks reporting their GPS fixed might need to wait a few days to see if it still works. It's happened before where someone reports their GPS working after a flash, to later say it was broken again.
yiannisthegreek said:
I have a serious question here about the GPS issue. I am really starting to think that this GPS issue is somthing that is being manipulated by specific "carriers" so that if you are a big GPS user you will us the "carrier specific" GPS app like TeleNav.
The reason I wonder this is because as I read the threads I see tht people with "unbranded" phones do not seem to have as much GPS issues as those with branded ones.
As I read the new froyo posts I see that those who have upgraded through Kies "officially" (and there by are unbranded) are reporting that GPS is locking onto 7 - 8 satelites in under 30 seconds and get a PERFECT positioning while those who have used the reg. hack method (and there by are branded) still report that the GPS is horrible.
I may be way off here and dont mean to sound all "conspiracy theory" or anything but this is just my 2 cents. What do you think?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
all my 3 phones have no problem in finding satellites,they can find 7-8 satellites within 30 secs outdoor, only the accuracy is a big issue. also during navigation it seemed keep the lock very well, yet the navigation software actually lost signal and started repositioning, then reroute and ask me to turn around again and again.
branded and unbranded? My first 2 phones came without any network brand, no simlock, non branded firmware. I suppose they are unbranded? the final one came with simlock and orange official firmware. they all have the same issue. this means you theory is very doubtable.
crabjoe said:
Also, the folks reporting their GPS fixed might need to wait a few days to see if it still works. It's happened before where someone reports their GPS working after a flash, to later say it was broken again.
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Click to collapse
exactly.
Branded or unbranded, luckily I have had both. all the 3 phones have crappy GPS. I doubt that at early producing stage they didn't realise the GPS problem and kept producing for a coupla months, then they found out and made some changes durling later producing. this can explain my case because all the 3 phones are produced on first quarter 2010 (JAN-MAR), the latest ones would have no problem at all.
Its definatly not a crap gps broadcom supplied the chip but its up to the manufacturer to write the drivers. unfortunatly samsung has failed miserably.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
emms said:
Its definatly not a crap gps broadcom supplied the chip but its up to the manufacturer to write the drivers. unfortunatly samsung has failed miserably.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
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I didn't mean crap gps chip, I mean maybe the gps signal is poor due to some crappy design. or maybe you are right, samsung didn't write a proper driver. but i doubt this coz even a crappy little company could have worked out some solution after 6 months. still no luck means it's more than just driver issue.
This GPS thing is simply ridiculous. I can't believe Samsung could launch his top of the line phone with such a bug, and worse of all, I can't believe they haven't been able to solve it several months later.
People reporting the problem fixed with every firmware update, and people reporting the GPS working well when they haven't even tested it properly are also of no help whatsoever for the Galaxy S users and for themselves.
I think we should start complaining massively to Samsung since the phone is definately faulty. I think that'd be the only way we, Galaxy S users would get a properly working GPS.
You drive to slow!!
But you've experienced navigating with your cellphone on other phones before?
Cos i hear nothiong but bad from my nokia costumers about their gps reception and accuracy, ..
compuse said:
You drive to slow!!
But you've experienced navigating with your cellphone on other phones before?
Cos i hear nothiong but bad from my nokia costumers about their gps reception and accuracy, ..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My old Samsung Omnia GPS works perfectly. Actually I keep that phone on my car since my Galaxy S GPS is completely worthless and able to guide nothing.
Ah good then you must atleast admit that the sgs is way faster on the fix, and the accuracy, .. well, .. it wasn't that noticable on the tomtom, igo8, sygic and stuff available for the windows mobile 6.5.3 or less, right?
The omnia had hickups, for instance; tomtom placed you back about a 50 meter and jumped back again, that's not how navigational software should work.
Even after the omnia you knew that there was something wrong with samsung's idea how a gps should function, you needing to mod or translate the gps with gps-mod, gpsgate or gpsproxy.
So this is really a step forward!
Yeah, the Galaxy is faster at fixing but, accuracy?? As soon as I start moving the damn thing keeps pointing me all over the place. Teletransporting me from one street to the other. The Galaxy GPS is simply a useless joke.
The Omnia's GPS was far from perfect but at least it gets the job done. Maybe Tomtom didn't work properly, but all other navigation softwares I've teste do work properly. Now I use iGo and it guides me flawlessly, even into the city driving thru narrow streets. I WISH THE GALAXY S HAD A GPS AS UNPERFECT AS THE OMNIA!!!
I think it's just pathetic the way the SGS GPS performs, even compared with other presumably flawed GPS like the Omnia one. Wich makes the Galaxy even more pathetic since its GPS can't even compare to other below average old hardware.
Honestly, I don't get it. I don't understand peoplo who defend Samsung on this matter, unless either, they were lucky and got a better phone than those who complain, or unless the work for Samsung and don't dare telling things the way they are.
using google maps on x10 my gps was perfect, quick lock, great accuracy and would hold connection with satellites. x10 wouldn't hold 3g connection for me.which is more important than gps.
sgs doesn't seem to be able to hold its connection with satellites, that's my problem anyway. oh, and when it does hold it seems to "drift" slowly away from my location to other streets. as in car nav its pretty useless!
I'm on jm1 fw from o2, waiting for an update, either 2.2 or a later 2.1.
compuse said:
You drive to slow!!
But you've experienced navigating with your cellphone on other phones before?
Cos i hear nothiong but bad from my nokia costumers about their gps reception and accuracy, ..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
ehe12 said:
all my 3 phones have no problem in finding satellites,they can find 7-8 satellites within 30 secs outdoor,.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Big deal, that's not the issue, the phone still fails to find enough sats in-car or inside buildings and still keeps losing the lock and I've tried four of them now.
And please don't tell me thats normal, because it's not, my HTC Legend gets 10 locks in less then 30s, inside or outside and I don't lose them.
Shocky2 said:
Big deal, that's not the issue, the phone still fails to find enough sats in-car or inside buildings and still keeps losing the lock and I've tried four of them now.
And please don't tell me thats normal, because it's not, my HTC Legend gets 10 locks in less then 30s, inside or outside and I don't lose them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mmmm, do you have read all the post or do you have stopped right here?
I've had my generic handset since march and can honestly say I have never had any issues whatsoever with gps, I use navigon software and it never skips a beat I've done tons of journeys near and far and I think its absolutely fine.
Over the past weeks I've also changed firmware a few times and currently iam using jpo froyo, the only issue I have had has been with the accuracy of the compass apps but since downloading"travel compass " its been ok.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
I have now installed the free maps from orange on my phone which is part of my plan (generic handset) and did around 60 miles on call out this morning and my gps was pefect as with the navigon software , i wonder if this problem is related to provider handsets and google software or there are lots of faulty handsets out there .
I ran mine side by side with my tom tom 530 this morning and while it wasnt as smooth it was just as accurate .
Im using jpo/jpp on orange uk. Flashed it last week. My gps is excellent locks on very quick and works well with google maps. Its the only software i have flashed that works well gps wise. Locks on quicker than my tom tom. Its a great improvement over the other 2.2 and 2.1 releases official and unofficial.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
maesebit said:
This GPS thing is simply ridiculous. I can't believe Samsung could launch his top of the line phone with such a bug, and worse of all, I can't believe they haven't been able to solve it several months later.
People reporting the problem fixed with every firmware update, and people reporting the GPS working well when they haven't even tested it properly are also of no help whatsoever for the Galaxy S users and for themselves.
I think we should start complaining massively to Samsung since the phone is definately faulty. I think that'd be the only way we, Galaxy S users would get a properly working GPS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A GPS is supposed to give position and speed when moving, so to test it you'd need to log those two eh?
Some of us here (maybe more elsewhere) have reported their GPS as "Working Well" with track recorded to coroborate the statements. How the hell do you wan to argue with someone that puts the proof in front of your eyes? Are you so blinded by your "hatred" that you can't accept that some SGS might work perfectly well?
Come on now, if you'd realy want some "improvement" with your issue, you'd get some facts and compare them, surely there's a reason why some works and some don't. We need to find THIS reason instead of argueing pointlessly...
Related
http://www.unwiredview.com/2010/07/...dy-sold-samsung-wants-to-sell-9-million-more/
Just imagine the kind of support / development / roms / accessories that a phone with sales of this magnitude will get...
And I expect the pressure for GPS fix / proper Froyo support will increase. If Samsung fail on this one, they should forget about the mobile phones market...
'' Samsung sells more than 5 million Galaxy S phones! ''
http://twitter.com/SamsungFirmware
Hmm... impressive. 5 million people that are either using a paper map or pretty much lost and asking for directions. Now that's what I call mass misguidance.
cavinsoo said:
'' Samsung sells more than 5 million Galaxy S phones! ''
http://twitter.com/SamsungFirmware
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well if it's the case, daaaaaaaaaamn
Beowulf_pt said:
Hmm... impressive. 5 million people that are either using a paper map or pretty much lost and asking for directions. Now that's what I call mass misguidance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What firmware are you using?
The firmware that came with the phone when I purchased it was JF3. It was a lemon firmware. As soon as I flashed it with the latest ROMs, GPS works.
Flashed JG5, JM2, JM5. No problem with GPS. Rocket fast Android.
Did you have any probs with the europe JM5 firmwares? I wasn't game to flash with them because of any issues with getting optus to connect properly...
Beowulf_pt said:
Hmm... impressive. 5 million people that are either using a paper map or pretty much lost and asking for directions. Now that's what I call mass misguidance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Congratulations, you complained about the GPS/Lag before buying the phone, trolled whilst owning it, and now, rather than moving on with your life, are trolling after selling it. In fact, the only reason you probably purchased this phone was because you like complaining.
Anyway, the GPS is currently crap (I agree), but is usable enough for my purposes (I don't rely entirely on GPS anyway, because it is possible for even more common units to mess up the position). Hopefully Samsung fulfills their promises, otherwise, they might find 4million phones returned in October (I'll be one of the people returning them).
Good on them though for getting Android out there
Sales in South Korea alone was 800,000 in 55 days.
http://www.samsunghub.com/2010/08/1...m110s-comes-to-south-korea-800000-units-sold/
That is 14,545 phones sold per day.
Beowulf_pt said:
Hmm... impressive. 5 million people that are either using a paper map or pretty much lost and asking for directions. Now that's what I call mass misguidance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, I don't think I've seen a post by you that isn't complaining about the GPS.
And it's pretty sad that you're so reliant on the GPS and can't live without one. Not everyone is as lost for directions as you are.
Hopefully this will mean a bunch of accessories will come out!
I want this dock...
Umm, I never use gps, and i am sure many others dont.
Sent from my SHW-M110S using XDA App
cavinsoo said:
What firmware are you using?
The firmware that came with the phone when I purchased it was JF3. It was a lemon firmware. As soon as I flashed it with the latest ROMs, GPS works.
Flashed JG5, JM2, JM5. No problem with GPS. Rocket fast Android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have some kind of unusually outstanding GPS reception where you live?
I've used both JM2 and JM5 and both take ages to lock on and give that "jumpy" inaccuracy for the duration. Both of those firmwares most definitely are still vulnerable to the GPS issue. Glad to see Samsung is working on fixing the problem though.
I never experienced the jumpy behaviour of the GPS. I admit I never tried it on JF3. My phone was bought in Greece but it originally came from UK (it has a UK charger). The only difference between firmwares is the initial lock time. When used with navigon, it is always spot on.
I really am curious if all these problems with GPS exist...
guys, this is a Sales thread, let's not keep feeding the troll and turn this into a GPS thread
i'm on optus, flashed updates no probs. flashed to 2.2 no probs (rooted then did nand fix for lag).
Only thing i was annoyed with was i had to hunt the forums to redowload the "my account" app, the only useful thing optus adds.
(I do recommend the apn backup/recover app for keeping your network settings without having to manually re-eneter them)
well my upgrade was due on the 13th and i ordered the phone on the 16th from tmobile and they said the uk is all sold out and even other providers have been asking them if they could buy some so it seems uk is going mad for it but they said a fresh new batch is coming in on friday which is tomorrow so i might get the phone on monday BUT!!!! i was told theres a waiting list so i might have to wait till the next batch i cant wait any longer and im going on holiday soon and it might than come when im away GREAT!!!
GPS works fine here, since 1st day. I've only had one problem but that was cause o. HSBC froyo installed which laggggggged lol
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
If whatever Samsung did to the Epic 4g's GPS is what they end up giving the rest of the Galaxy S owners out there we will be in good shape!
Friend at work got an Epic 4g today. First thing I did was compare GPS's. Mine and a coworkers Vibrant, a Captivate and the Epic 4g.
We did this from a cold start (everyone restarted their phones)all standing INSIDE our single story building (where you cannot get a signal if you aren't by a window) by the front door with wireless networks turned OFF. The Captivate locked onto 3 sats out of 10 in view. The Vibrants locked onto 2-3 with 10 in view and the EPIC saw 10 and locked onto 7 in a matter of seconds (compared to 2-3 minutes for the others).
If the rain lets up we may try and do a walking test out in our parking lot to see what difference there is in real world use.
Wanted to take a pic, but since we were all using out phones we couldn't. This was running GPS test on all four phones.
This gives me hope that the fix will actually fix something. BTW, the Epic looks more substantial (with the keyboard and all) but feels just as light as the Vibrant. So far, looks like the Captivate has the sturdiest feeling build of the Galaxy S phones out in the US now.
Yea. I'm confident they got the same gps hardware so hopefully they get it fixed. This is the only issue of the awesome phone.
I am still pissed that our phone's are not fixed, and people getting these newer phone's are working out of the box ...
aohmer said:
I am still pissed that our phone's are not fixed, and people getting these newer phone's are working out of the box ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sure it's harder to make a 100% reliable patch than it is to simply release with the fix already cooked into the ROM. It's also possible that Sprint delayed release of the phone until it was fixed, which probably would have lit a fire under Samsung to get it ready.
GPSTest obviously doesn't report all locked sats. It often showed 0 sats but had a 10-20 meter fix. Impossible.
This could be a result of faulty software, but either way it's still not reporting correctly.
heygrl said:
GPSTest obviously doesn't report all locked sats. It often showed 0 sats but had a 10-20 meter fix. Impossible.
This could be a result of faulty software, but either way it's still not reporting correctly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here. It'll say no sats with 20 ft accuracy and give me a route on navigation .
Gps is weird on this but still works good enough for me. I would like it better if possible but it works on my end.
Any word on how the Epic's compass is working compared to the Vibrant?
XfooYen said:
Any word on how the Epic's compass is working compared to the Vibrant?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
same question. Compass on vibrant is useless now.
I'll check out the compass tomorrow. And PLEASE, EVERYONE, PLEASE don't turn this into a GPStest or a mine works fine flame war like the other threads.
Hopefully we will have time to compare any actual differences in performance with apps like maps, flixster and others that rely on location based services.
Well sammy said that the fix is coming next month .I'm very interested in the out come.
Sent from my Samsung Vibrant using XDA app
From what I gather, it's not truly fixed. People are still having issues. For some reason there are only a few threads about it on here. On AndfroidForums, however, there are multiple threads. It seems most people are getting 98ft accuracy. I don't see anything to be excited about anymore. I am very unimpressed by Samsung. I don't know if they can actually fix it. If they can, they might just be waiting to roll it out with FroYo. Unwise IMO. If the Epic 4G really is not fixed, they are in for a hell ride of bad press after making the statement to Engadget that it's fixed.
http://androidforums.com/samsung-epic-4g/158086-samsung-epic-4g-sprint-gps-test.html
http://androidforums.com/samsung-ep...right-way-have-use-wireless-networks-off.html
http://androidforums.com/samsung-epic-4g/163257-epic-gps-does-yours-work-not.html
Sadly the compass sill doesn't work on the epic.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
some people are reporting it is not fixed, accuracy is way off.
tweak89 said:
If whatever Samsung did to the Epic 4g's GPS is what they end up giving the rest of the Galaxy S owners out there we will be in good shape!
Friend at work got an Epic 4g today. First thing I did was compare GPS's. Mine and a coworkers Vibrant, a Captivate and the Epic 4g.
We did this from a cold start (everyone restarted their phones)all standing INSIDE our single story building (where you cannot get a signal if you aren't by a window) by the front door with wireless networks turned OFF. The Captivate locked onto 3 sats out of 10 in view. The Vibrants locked onto 2-3 with 10 in view and the EPIC saw 10 and locked onto 7 in a matter of seconds (compared to 2-3 minutes for the others).
If the rain lets up we may try and do a walking test out in our parking lot to see what difference there is in real world use.
Wanted to take a pic, but since we were all using out phones we couldn't. This was running GPS test on all four phones.
This gives me hope that the fix will actually fix something. BTW, the Epic looks more substantial (with the keyboard and all) but feels just as light as the Vibrant. So far, looks like the Captivate has the sturdiest feeling build of the Galaxy S phones out in the US now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You may have gotten excited a bit too early, pre-mature excitement. It appears the epic is locking onto satellites, but the accuracy is way off, 100ft off, and google maps is still placing people in the wrong place.
QUOTE=coolguy949;7944614]From what I gather, it's not truly fixed. People are still having issues. For some reason there are only a few threads about it on here. On AndfroidForums, however, there are multiple threads. It seems most people are getting 98ft accuracy. I don't see anything to be excited about anymore. I am very unimpressed by Samsung. I don't know if they can actually fix it. If they can, they might just be waiting to roll it out with FroYo. Unwise IMO. If the Epic 4G really is not fixed, they are in for a hell ride of bad press after making the statement to Engadget that it's fixed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
[
I might have missed something, but when did Samsung say that the Epic 4g gps was fixed? I see on engadget where the reviewer talked about it being fixed based on his limited observations, but he didn't say that SAMSUNG told him it was fixed.
Again, I might have missed it, but I couldn't find on engadget where they quoted or even said Samsung said the Epic was fixed.
In fact, rereading the review on engadget, it seems to suggest that it was never fixed.
"Surprisingly, the now-infamous AGPS bug is still alive and well right now on the Epic. We're not sure how Sprint can justify releasing it with this bug now so well-known, well-documented, and critical to the operation of the phone -- seriously, it cannot find you most of the time -- but we suppose it'll just get fixed at the same time as the remainder of the Galaxy S models in September. In other words, unless we see a quick firmware update prior to the 31st, don't expect Google Maps to work particularly well out of the box. Oh, and here's another bug: like the Captivate and Vibrant, the Epic doesn't seem to want to mount as mass storage. We weren't able to get it working in USB debugging mode on our Mac, either, though we were able to download media to Image Capture without a problem -- it seems as though the computer is treating the phone as a camera, not a drive.
[Update: We just spoke with Samsung, who told us that Google is now requiring that the "use wireless networks" setting for location-based services be turned off by default in Android devices -- in other words, no AGPS unless you manually enable it. Sure enough, we went into Settings, found that it was disabled on the Epic, turned it on, and we were good to go. No GPS bug!]
[Update 2: The fact that AGPS comes disabled by default is a separate issue unto itself, unrelated to issue with actual GPS satellite triangulation. See our full breakdown here.]"
I had the opportunity to play with an Epic tonight and the gps issue affecting the vibrant appears not to be there for the following reasons.
Using tge gps test app from the market:
- it obtained a lock indoors in less tha 5 secs
- it was able to view 8 satellites and obtained a fix from all of them
- accuracy was about 6 metets
- gmt and local times were correct
- speed remained at 0 while the phone was standing still on a desk.
We were not able to replicate any of the above with any of the vibrants sitting next to the epic.
On another note, the compass on the epic appears to be as lame as one of the vibrants. The other vibrant at least pointed to a north-ish direction, although very slow.
Epic gps behavior is comparable to that on the nexus one, which I consider pretty good.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
guardian855 said:
I might have missed something, but when did Samsung say that the Epic 4g gps was fixed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Two weeks ago, Samsung made the following statement to Engadget (my emphasis added.):
We have tested and validated both Network Assisted (indoor) and Autonomous (outdoor) GPS on the Epic 4G. With regards to Vibrant and Captivate, we are currently testing software updates which will optimize GPS performance. We expect to be able to make the updates available in September and will communicate more information and download instructions in the next few weeks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Suspicious observers noted that neither Samsung nor Sprint ever quite said that this "tested and valdiated" GPS software was actually installed on the units shipped yesterday. But they certainly implied it and many customers expected it.
Today, according to one user, Sprint tech support acknowledged that there is a "known issue" with the Epic GPS.
GPS works intermittantly but rarely when on call
My GPS is very intermittent and rarely (but not never) works when I'm on a call. If the signal strength is weak, the GPS cuts off, but when the signal strength is okay, it can lock on, even when I'm on a call.
So I've got one of the many Vibrants with the flaky GPS, and none of the fixes out there seem to improve the problem. My local T-Mo store is understanding and quite willing to swap it with a new one since I'm still within the 14 day policy. The only catch is I want to put the phone as close to stock as possible before I do the trade so they can't say it was something I did to it. Right now I've rooted deodexed, and I've got clockwork ROM manager going. I've also deleted almost all the stock cruft and swapped the calendar / camera apps. Because I was so eager to make it "mine", I also failed to make any backups BUT my wife happens to have a totally stock SGS from which I can scavange from but I'd like to do it without having to root it or anything. Is this possible? If not would thread 739091 ("True Stock 2.1 firmware for vibrant"; sorry I can't post links since my account here is still new) get me there?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=734475&highlight=stock is what you're looking for. Just flash this with Odin and you'll be fully unrooted.
Awesome, I really appreciate that. I'm not timid when it comes to making the phone my own (I was an early adopter of CyanogenMod for my old G1) but I just returned from a deployment and the whole 'scene' has changed a lot more than I expected lol.
Hehe. you might want to give the new T-Mobile Vibrant firmware that was leaked, it fixes the GPS problem (result may vary). Returning your SGS for a new one isn't going to fix your problem. It's not hardware related, its firmware.
An exchange won't fix your GPS issues anyway so you mine as well keep the one you have. Trust me, we try to swap them out customers all the time at my store.... It's a known issue and Samsung is SUPPOSED to be sending us an OTA soon
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
ShanDestromp said:
Awesome, I really appreciate that. I'm not timid when it comes to making the phone my own (I was an early adopter of CyanogenMod for my old G1) but I just returned from a deployment and the whole 'scene' has changed a lot more than I expected lol.
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Just want to say thank you for serving.
zephiK said:
Returning your SGS for a new one isn't going to fix your problem. It's not hardware related, its firmware.
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briguydj32 said:
An exchange won't fix your GPS issues anyway so you mine as well keep the one you have.
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Hmmm, quite a few people I'd talked with locally that have the vibrant said swapping worked for them. Is it possible that newer firmware has been released for phones with a newer "birth" date than mine? Then again who should I trust more, people who hardly utilize their phones, or the people who drool over the prospect of new mods and hacks? hehe. I guess I'll just call T-Mo back and let them know I wont be bothering with a swap after all.
Droidicus said:
Just want to say thank you for serving.
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Hey, my pleasure. If nothing else, I have the Army to thank for bringing me out to Hawai'i and giving me the chance to meet my now wife hehe.
ALL out of the box Vibrant's have the same firmware. You need to update to the newest firmware version, it works really well. GPS is better than it is on my CLIQ.
I dunno, i've heard reports of GPS working perfect out of the box for some, and the new firmware doesn't seem to do much for my GPS,
10m accuracy at most unless I leave gps on for about an hour and maybe i'll get 6-7m accuracy, but driving, it SKIPS, (still at 10m) instead of gliding along like my G1 did.
So i'm considering perhaps swapping mine.
QwertyAccess said:
I dunno, i've heard reports of GPS working perfect out of the box for some, and the new firmware doesn't seem to do much for my GPS,
10m accuracy at most unless I leave gps on for about an hour and maybe i'll get 6-7m accuracy, but driving, it SKIPS, (still at 10m) instead of gliding along like my G1 did.
So i'm considering perhaps swapping mine.
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10M of accuracy is not bad and if you want to get technical, GMaps interprets the data differently. What shows in GMaps as 10 meters will show up as 7 under GPS test. I've got my Vibrant here at 6 Meters under GPSTest and 10 under GMaps. Get a grip people.
heygrl said:
Get a grip people.
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I wont speak for Qwerty, but in my case I was LUCKY to get 10m accuracy; usually the best I could get was 40m; usually after 5-10 minutes of 'searching' and when you're driving an unfamiliar city such as Washington DC Like I was this past week, 40m is far too inaccurate for navigation. Your 'get a grip' is completely tasteless and uncalled for in this thread.
That said, I took zephiK's advice and just flashed the new 2.1 (thread 780935), and I must say its a lot better. I can get a 10m fix indoors in less than 5 seconds from a cold start (EG without GMaps knowing where I am at all); before being indoors I would never get less than a 1000m 'fix'. As soon as I get mine fully tweaked, I'll be sure to flash my wifes phone as well since she's got the same issue.
ShanDestromp said:
I wont speak for Qwerty, but in my case I was LUCKY to get 10m accuracy; usually the best I could get was 40m; usually after 5-10 minutes of 'searching' and when you're driving an unfamiliar city such as Washington DC Like I was this past week, 40m is far too inaccurate for navigation. Your 'get a grip' is completely tasteless and uncalled for in this thread.
That said, I took zephiK's advice and just flashed the new 2.1 (thread 780935), and I must say its a lot better. I can get a 10m fix indoors in less than 5 seconds from a cold start (EG without GMaps knowing where I am at all); before being indoors I would never get less than a 1000m 'fix'. As soon as I get mine fully tweaked, I'll be sure to flash my wifes phone as well since she's got the same issue.
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No thats what im saying about.. He does have the update on his Vibrant
Sent from my SGH-T959
Anyways, Qwerty I just hope you get lucky with your swap and get a working gps and hardware recovery.I've been poking around and quite a few people are saying some of thenew vibrants have issues getting into recovery and down load mode
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Yeah, i'm still considering doing the swap, sometime this week, perhaps even today, got up this morning, and phone was off, (Charging Battery Symbol on the screen),
I'm not running any of the custom roms nor am i OCing. Just worried if I do the swap I may end up with even more problems. I don't know what it is with the Samsung phones, if perhaps a lot of the phones have hardware problems or what. I have only used the original stock rom, and the leaked samsung rom.
I don't mean to be picky with my phone, but I remember my 2 year old G1 getting easily 3m lock as soon as i open up the maps inside my room, and navigating with it, was extremely accurate as well. I also never had restart issues with the phone, till after dropping the thing really hard, and then even the restart thing went away.
Today, I'm lucky to get even 40m lock again, on that same leaked updated firmware. My gripe with the samsung vibrant is that there seems to be some sort of hardware problem with the phone and samsung is not saying a thing about it.
I'm telling you guys... don't bother with a swap... I work in a very high volume store and have seen almost every customer come back with GPS issues. We won't even swap them anymore for customers because TMO has listed it as a known issue, and Samsung has announced the firmware update soon... A swap WILL NOT fix the issue, but if you decide to swap it, don't go whining to us our TMO about how you "keep exchanging it and none of them work..." They know this, and YOU know it.
First Samsung said they were aware of the GPS issue and would try to fix it but after that they went quiet. A few people have had it confirmed that the problem is hardware-wise. The Nexus S was delayed due to hardware problem and now that it passed through the FCC again the phone has gotten a new set of bluetooth, WIFI and GPS antennas. http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/28/samsung-nexus-s-reappears-at-the-fcc-with-a-pair-of-new-antennas/
So pretty much assuming it is a hardware problem my question is: is it possible and would it help to change the GPS receiver antennae?
No issues with my antennas. I got the galaxy when it was first released and it locks 8 satellites in about 10 seconds.... Gps was not working well with the initial firmware but now on froyo its working fine.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
stierney said:
no issues with my antennas. I got the galaxy when it was first released and it locks 8 satellites in about 10 seconds.... Gps was not working well with the initial firmware but now on froyo its working fine.
Sent from my gt-i9000 using xda app
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go drive for 2 hours and see what will happen...
I posterd about this yesterday and got told I was wrong because this proves nothing...I still think that it does prove the GPS can't be fixed...every body needs to start complaining at Samsung because they are getting a way with some thing that's been miss sold as working but its not...
You'll always have fanboys of <insert brand> that will say that a problem does not exist. Fact is that for many of us it doesn't matter what firmware or "fix" is used, our GPS either takes minutes to lock or doesn't look at all. Evidence that it's a hardware issue is quite overwhelming so that is why I'm wondering if swapping the antennae is possible?
stierney said:
No issues with my antennas. I got the galaxy when it was first released and it locks 8 satellites in about 10 seconds.... Gps was not working well with the initial firmware but now on froyo its working fine.
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First of all, how does that help me figure out if it's possible to change the antennae? Secondly, I got it back when it was first released as well and the gps is both schizophrenic on eclair and froyo. Thirdly, just because you have it well does that mean it works well for everyone else? Thought not.
Thought i'd post these here. Others can post theres as well. If I get any answers I'll post those here also.
1. Are there plans to fix the gps issues on the epic? Or is it simply hardware related?
2. Why did samsung choose the rfs file system?
3. What is Samsung's corporate position on open-source software development?
Sent from my last samsung phone using tapatalk.
I have a question for you and other members. What exactly is the gps issue? Mine works perfectly on my epic on 2.1 and 2.2.1
Sent from my SPH-M900 using XDA App
rgregg504 said:
I have a question for you and other members. What exactly is the gps issue? Mine works perfectly on my epic on 2.1 and 2.2.1
Sent from my SPH-M900 using XDA App
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Some people have gps issues such as accuracy i believe. some don't
Oh ok thanx just curious because me and my wife both have the epic and both are fine.
Sent from my SPH-M900 using XDA App
I have a problem where the gps doesn't lock at random. Usually a battery pull clears the problem. Accuracy is usually within 30 feet or so.
Rfs? It was the thing they had at the time. On new phones they are using ext4.
Supposedly 2.2.1 official on Monday will address GPS.... we will see... not sure the point of that Q&A at this time (the next few days) as we have yet to see what they listened to for the build they are dropping in a few days. I honestly think he wants our input on matters other than software/hardware complaints that are well known. I think that will be useful if everyone is contented with the 2.2.1 release, Its not a bad thing to have a suggestion box, IF the issues are addressed somewhat promptly...
I asked:
Does Samsung intend to address the hardware keyboard issue that causes the phone to miss keystrokes?
and
one other question that I completely forgot.
Edit: strike that, just remembered.
Is Samsung going to offer firmware updates for the Camera which is available in the settings menu of the leaked 2.2 rom??
rgregg504 said:
I have a question for you and other members. What exactly is the gps issue? Mine works perfectly on my epic on 2.1 and 2.2.1
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Gps locks fine and quickly, but then loses lock after 5-15 minutes. You have to manually turn the gps on and off again to get it to re lock.
And I asked because it was supposed to be addressed in an update that came our months ago but still happens for a lot of us.
aleph23 said:
Gps locks fine and quickly, but then loses lock after 5-15 minutes. You have to manually turn the gps on and off again to get it to re lock.
And I asked because it was supposed to be addressed in an update that came our months ago but still happens for a lot of us.
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Dont forget you cant lock GPS with wifi or 4g on.
Well there must be enough wrong with GPS for them to mention it as one of the main features of the udpate to happen monday... hopefully they will fix your issues, I have got my GPS to 2 meters on DK28, but actually have yet to leave it on for an extended period of time, dont really use Nav, I know my city from jobs... and dont really like leaving that on, Ive disabled it since they first came in phones... tinfoil hat and all...
HW Keyboard!!! If it does not improve, I will take it in for service. I got a replacement like Jan 3, for my OG that I had since launch week, and aside from the screen fail, my original never dropped keys... not that I can remember... it also seems to be getting worse, and since January I have not gotten that much faster at typing on it to make a difference that way... but I HOPE its software... else I may end up with another TEP claim.
muyoso said:
Dont forget you cant lock GPS with wifi or 4g on.
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I lock with wifi on.
My question is what is samsung's plans for future os updates for the epic?
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
From the sound of it, Svetius at captivate says that xda will be filtering the questions before they go to Sammy.
Sent from my last samsung phone using tapatalk.
I can probably easily tell you how they will answer it or at least summarize it..
aleph23 said:
1. Are there plans to fix the gps issues on the epic? Or is it simply hardware related?
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Click to collapse
We are working hard to isolate and fix this issue..
2. Why did samsung choose the rfs file system?
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Click to collapse
We chose RFS for its reliability (they made RFS themselves they are not going to say any bad about it)
3. What is Samsung's corporate position on open-source software development?
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Click to collapse
Samsung is committed to open source
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Those will be your answers..in a fancier manner..
As for GPS locking , I lock just fine..I noticed Google Maps gets stuck here and there but if I use any other software there is no issue...
aleph23 said:
I lock with wifi on.
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Generally not for long. Leave WiFi on for 2 days, without ever shutting it off. Then try getting a lock. Promise you won't be able to.
I've never had problems locking on to GPS
The problem that I share with many others is that the GPS will randomly stop connecting with satellites after 10-20 minutes of use. Sometimes a lot sooner than that. It'll reconnect after about 2 minutes, but its really annoying when you're using google nav.
I've tried using GPS status and I can see that it has a great signal, but it won't connect to a couple of sats at random times. Very buggy.
AFTER the update, if it happens, those with GPS issues should get an ALL GPS thread like the 2.2 one... it seems like a real clusterfuk as it stands, and theres no clear proof that its software, or a crappy GPS radio, and thats the end of the story. After the update, which claims to address GPS, those with GPS issues need to compare notes, and figure out as best as possible what is hardware limitation, what is software, what is user error. As stated above, other software besides google maps should be tried as well, in case there is something weird happening with that... I dont use GPS much, so I wonder why this issue keeps popping up so much, and people dont collaborate enough on solving the issue. After that best GPS fix ever thread popped up, I Odin'ed to DI18, and did all the steps, even considered going to DG27 or whatever to be extra retentive, but once I got all the way up to my rooted, rom'd setup, got 2 meters, or maybe 1... thats all I bothered with. I understand those that use their epics as a tom-tom need much higher standards of connectivity.... hopefully you wont be disappointed.
I hope so too. I work at several different locations and user the phone as nav. Gps locks fine, just loses lock soon enough, often at critical times...
Sent from my last samsung phone using tapatalk.