Database Users

Swapping my SGS with a new one.

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.

No Fix Yet for GPS? My 30 days are up gotta return!!

My 30 days are almost up and still no 2.2.....and no fix for my GPS on the fascinate. I gotta return it now. To bad loved the phone. Guess ill wait to see if 2.2 fixes it and maybe come back. But by then something better and newer will be out.
Anyone else thinkin same thing?

martyotaku said:
My 30 days are almost up and still no 2.2.....and no fix for my GPS on the fascinate. I gotta return it now. To bad loved the phone. Guess ill wait to see if 2.2 fixes it and maybe come back. But by then something better and newer will be out.
Anyone else thinkin same thing?
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Not really. I just trick the gps into catching, and that wool work fine until a fix is pushed. There's not a better phone available atm.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App

martyotaku said:
My 30 days are almost up and still no 2.2.....and no fix for my GPS on the fascinate. I gotta return it now. To bad loved the phone. Guess ill wait to see if 2.2 fixes it and maybe come back. But by then something better and newer will be out.
Anyone else thinkin same thing?
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Good lord man!
How many times are you gonna say you want to return this thing?
Your post on september 13th said you were going to return it because "the droid x destroys it"
And considering you said then that you had the fascinate for "a few days" then I think your 30 days have come and gone.
Sorry to flame but this is annoying!
Sent from Chad's Dinc

2.2 will be here soon enough. Til then enjoy what is the best phone on the market. Besides the droid x is just ugly!
Sent from my rooted 1.2 voodoo Fascinate

See Ya !
Dx is really not that great of a phone ( except call quality)
Fascinate is exactly what the name implies......

Care to clarify how you "trick the gps into catching?" Thanks

Ummm please read carefully. I never said the DROID X destroys this. I said I owned the Droid X. And yes I said I was going to get rid of it.....but what did i say i was gonna get rid of it for? Windows Mobile 7 Phone.......Since im on verizon that is a few months away.
So Im with android till then. And well I dont want to get stuck with a phone whose GPS doesnt work.
Just asking who else is in the same boat...... The GPS is a huge issue for alot of people

Oh Also I returned and swapped it once for the GPS issue, I thought it was a hardware problem.

Yeah Im in the same boat I love the phone but my 30 days are almost up also .... No fix for the GPS scares me also.
A big selling point of android for me is the Free Navigation...with a ****ty GPS theres no point.

Everyone complains about this gps as if it NEVER works or obtains a fix which isn't true. It does work & it does obtain a fix, it just takes longer to do it. I live in rural northern MI, surrounded by thousands of acres of dense forests and I can say my google nav has never failed me yet. Yes, this phone is not perfect and it has room to improve, just like they all do, but that's where the great dev community comes in. Isn't that what "open source" means? Maybe next time do more research before you take the plunge, we really haven't come across anything new to the galaxy s family.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App

gg101 said:
Care to clarify how you "trick the gps into catching?" Thanks
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If i notice a delay in catching, I just exit navigation to the normal map, and pin point my own current location. When I go back into navigation, I'm connected.

haha it takes longer? Oh please when I use GPS to find my location it sometimes puts me in the ocean!!!!
The GPS on the fascinate is horrible.
Im suprised this doesnt get enough conversation.

my gps is fine, it locks on well... but it takes like 30 minutes to an hour to lock on lol

My last day to return the phone was Saturday and I was going to do it. But on Friday I got really drunk and went on a 3 day bender... By the time I sobered up and remembered I had to take the phone back it was too damn late

Lol. Well apparently I am not having the same problem everyone else seems to be. Like I said, mine locks when I tell it to target me, and after that navigate picks up immediately. Might have something to do with my configuration, or something I've pulled.

Mine takes a few minutes to lock, but it's accurate after that. Not really a deal breaker imo.
Did you really need a thread to tell us this though? If you're not happy, take it back. No need to let us know. We won't hate you.
Maybe I'll make a thread about how my GPS doesn't work, but I'm NOT returning my Fascinate.

Root the thing already and run a good rom like blue breeze. I did and am finally LOVING my fascinate! GPS issues are gone and I get lock in seconds. Camera is vastly improved and lag in the phone itself is gone. Why wait for a fix when it already exists? Enjoy your phone for christs sake.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App

My GPS works just fine. If I don't use it for a couple days it takes a bit to find me but that's not a real problem.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App

Same here. I travel by air a lot, so when I fire up the GPSfor the first time in a new city, it takes about 2-3 minutes to lock, but after that it's dead-on accurate. It's faster than some Garmins from a cold start.

Download "GPS Status" from the Market.
Before you go into the navigation software, open "GPS Status" and do the following:
Go to Settings -> "GPS & Sensors" -> "Manage A-GPS state" --> "Reset".
After doing this, the phone usually finds my location within 2 seconds. Works everytime!

GPS problem cannot be solved via firmware update!

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
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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.
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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?
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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?
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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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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, ..
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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,.
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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.
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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.
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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...

For those still having GPS problems after DK05 radio flash

I still could not get a GPS lock even with the new radio and the DK05 ROM was still to buggy for me. So I went back to stock then back to 4.2 release of Froyo. I needed the GPS so I flashed the radio to the DK05 release and got 12 Sats in just a few seconds. This was the only combination hat has worked for me. Maybe it's just a fluke but it works for me even after reboot. Just thought I would share. I don't know why the rom version would matter 4.2 and DK05 radio gives me orking GPS.
Hope this helps someone......
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

Well known fix for a well known bug. Don't use GPS for a few days, then try it and report back, please.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

herzzreh said:
Well known fix for a well known bug. Don't use GPS for a few days, then try it and report back, please.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
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I feel like there should be a flashing red line at the top of every forum post
"If you reboot your phone and your gps works, ITS NOT FIXED!"

herzzreh said:
Well known fix for a well known bug. Don't use GPS for a few days, then try it and report back, please.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
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I understand where your coming from but that's not what I was referring to. My point was that I could barely EVER get a GPS lock until now. I tried the "leaked GPS fix" in the other thread and if it worked it wouldn't after I rebooted the phone. I was simply reporting that with this combination of Radio and ROM that it worked very well. Before it would stop working when I rebooted but it locks right on now.
I am very aware the "Well known fix for a well known issue". This was different for me and I thought it might work for someone else still having issues.

I wasn't trying to be a **** or anything. What you did just forced a complete cache wipe and then a download of new data. Unless you use it daily and unless you have it set to cold start, I guarantee you that your issues will be back.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

herzzreh said:
I wasn't trying to be a **** or anything. What you did just forced a complete cache wipe and then a download of new data. Unless you use it daily and unless you have it set to cold start, I guarantee you that your issues will be back.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
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No problem. I guess my whole point was I had done the cache wipes many times with no positive outcome. This was really the first time I was able to use the GPS on my phone. Maybe it was just coincidence but I tried the cache wipe and anything else I could find to get the GPS to lock and this was the only thing that ever worked for me.

No GPS satellites in view
I wanted to share since I have the same problem...
I am now on my third epic as the first two would not even see a satellite for anything. Not sure if anyone else may be this unlucky but the first two were definitely defective. Third one works like a charm.
I do work for Sprint, and I've seen how shoddy quality control can be for some of the devices, but it seems like they almost rushed these out of the factory. Only had two customers come in that actually required a replacement, as the others were just the standard GPS issues, but man is it frustrating for this kind of phone.
I remember when I got my original touch that didn't even have gps enabled yet! How many years old and even with froyo on it, gps works near instantly for all tests.
But anyway, just wanted to share as I don't know that everyone who has been having issues has verified if they are even seeing satellites available.

ramsestut said:
I wanted to share since I have the same problem...
I am now on my third epic as the first two would not even see a satellite for anything. Not sure if anyone else may be this unlucky but the first two were definitely defective. Third one works like a charm.
I do work for Sprint, and I've seen how shoddy quality control can be for some of the devices, but it seems like they almost rushed these out of the factory. Only had two customers come in that actually required a replacement, as the others were just the standard GPS issues, but man is it frustrating for this kind of phone.
I remember when I got my original touch that didn't even have gps enabled yet! How many years old and even with froyo on it, gps works near instantly for all tests.
But anyway, just wanted to share as I don't know that everyone who has been having issues has verified if they are even seeing satellites available.
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Thanks. I was seeing 0/0 in GPS Status. No matter what I did I had nothing. I was swapped out a few times as well but for the capacitive buttons. I got it working pretty good now. Now I get 12/12 outside and like 7/7 inside. Stas seen/Sats locked

I'm unclear on which version is "froyo 4.2". Do you mean the DJ29 leak? NVM. I didn't put 2 + 2 together; you were referring to the 4.2 revision of leaked DJ29.
I'm basically in the same boat OP was, I'm flashed all the way up to the latest DK05 ROM and modem but GPS is still a crapshoot.
At least it's finally looking like the next OTA will for-sure fix the GPS problems. With Samsung supposedly never acknowledging the problem I was worried.

Poryhack said:
At least it's finally looking like the next OTA will for-sure fix the GPS problems. With Samsung supposedly never acknowledging the problem I was worried.
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From reading the anecdotal reports of uncontrolled testing here, I've seen no evidence of that at all. Maybe it's fixed, and maybe it isn't. You should still be worrried.
People are overcoming the novel problem particular to installing the leaked version. This problem, apparently an artifact of the way the leaked firmware is installed, was breaking GPS completely at the outset.
But that is not the same thing as saying that Samsung has fixed the longstanding GPS bug on the Epic. In fact, having the GPS work initially is a symptom perfectly consistent with that bug. (You can get the same effect just by doing of factory reset of your stock Epic running Eclair DI18.)
The Epic's GPS bug occurs over time, as the GPS almanac and ephemeris cache becomes out of date or corrupt. As far as I can see, no one running the leaked firmware has tested the use cases that can replicate the bug on the stock Epic.

boomerbubba said:
The Epic's GPS bug occurs over time, as the GPS almanac and ephemeris cache becomes out of date or corrupt. As far as I can see, no one running the leaked firmware has tested the use cases that can replicate the bug on the stock Epic.
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I'm not doubting that this is a bug, but my Epic has NEVER been able to get quick and accurate locks, and I have tried after countless wipes. Unless it's just bad hardware there is more then one bug in play here.
The OP's situation seems near-identical to mine so I'm hopeful that trying this might actually have results.

Poryhack said:
At least it's finally looking like the next OTA will for-sure fix the GPS problems. With Samsung supposedly never acknowledging the problem I was worried.
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Click to collapse
First the fact that samsung hasn't acknowledge the problem is not "supposed" it is a documented fact. They refuse 100% to acknowledge the problem and in fact say on the record all GPS issues on Epic were fixed at release.
Second there is zero evidence that the next OTA will do anything for GPS on Epic, where do you even get the slightest indication that is the case?

Poryhack said:
I'm not doubting that this is a bug, but my Epic has NEVER been able to get quick and accurate locks, and I have tried after countless wipes. Unless it's just bad hardware there is more then one bug in play here.
The OP's situation seems near-identical to mine so I'm hopeful that trying this might actually have results.
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the OP situation is totally different an yours, it has to do with flashing, which killed the GPS on many Epics. IE not an issue with time to first fix, interrmtant falure to fix, or accuracy, but a total killing of GPS.
The fix implemented restores GPS to the same function state as the rest of ours, generally working with some number of failures to flush cache and thereby no fix locaiton on occassion

Changing the GPS antennae possible?

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.