Database Users

How's the GPS?

How is the GPS on the G2/Desire Z?
Is it fast? Can it lock quickly on the signal? Is it accurate?
I'm currently using a SGS I9000, and let just say it is quite crap.

GPS is pretty ****ty for me. Not as bad as (I assume) the GalaxyS line, but still pretty ****ty. 30m is unacceptable when my Droid (1) can get me walking around my house.
edit: Lock on takes for-frickin-ever indoors (if at all), and is decent outdoors. Yes, I've run gps status and cleared/redownloaded gps data, before anyone asks, lol.
Again, spoiled motodroid former user. I'd go back but vzw rapes with charges, and I like the G2 aside from the horrid (imo) gps. Ymmv.

zerosx's report is the first negative report i've seen re the GPS - mine's on the money (usually within 10') and 40-45 seconds from cold start to a lock on 4-9 satellites. not unusual to see a lock on 11 sats out of 11 in view
below is a screen capture of GPS Sat map i took, while in the house. It actually had me located withing 10 feet of where i was, until i plugged the phone into the usb port to take the screen capture and it jumped back 10 feet more at the instant i plugged it in.
did a "my tracks" log on a short trip across town - none of the path that looked like a drunk had drawn the lines like on my Vibrant, no cutting across corners at turns, no driving 75 feet off to the side of the road, etc
check the forums - you won't see any threads on the GPS - there just haven't been any issues
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Meh, maybe I got a bad one? I really don't know, I seriously can't get the damn thing working.

i wasn't attacking the credibility of your report, just stating it was the first one i've seen
you might consider taking it back for exchange cause mine is eerily spot on - i say "eerily" cause after the vibrant, being located on the right block of my subdivision while outside, was a lucky day. Inside the house, it wouldn't even lock on one satellite

I have had issues with it picking up GPS in my house as well. Right now I have been looking at the GPS Test app and it still displays 0 satellites. When I go to Google maps my location is close but about 10 m off or so. When I am outside I have not had a problem with it. Yesterday I was able to pick up 4 to 6 satellites within about 40 sec. I'll try out the Tracks app later today and see if it is accurate.

This! GPS Status shows no satellites indoors. It's quite frustrating.
Larry - haha no prob. I didn't give it a second thought, and you're pretty much describing my former iphone4 to the letter. It was... creepy.

The GPS works fine if I just want to lock down where I am but the moment I start trying to use it in my car for turn by turn it goes south quick. It loses all signal and is stuck on "Searching for GPS..." for about 2 minutes then comes back and gives me about 30 seconds of information before freezing up again.
It's an improvement coming from the Vibrant but still not as solid as my Nexus One.

Mine is flawless, locks up withing seconds and it's super percise. The native nav app also works rather well.
GPS is one of the strongest points of my phone.

Mine is pretty accurate.

gps is all good here

Mine Locks way way faster then my old ass G1

GPS is fantastic. Locks about twice as fast as my nexus one does. 5ft-10m accuracy generally.

The GPS has been the best I have had. It locks a lot faster than my N1.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

Well, today I haven't been able to use GPS at all. No lock. I cleared everything through GPS status and still no joy. Earlier in the week I had trouble, but that was due to a setting I had turned on in Beautiful widgets. I turned it off, and everything was fine. Its still turned off so now I'm left scratching my head. Granted, we're experiencing ****ty weather today due to a Nor'easter, but it isn't that bad, as I'm having no issues with my satellite tv signal. Typically I've been able to acquire lots of satellites (8 or more typically) anywhere in my home, so I'm a little worried, especially since I just past my remorse period and am now into t-mobiles "go **** in a hat" part of phone ownership. Any suggestions? I've done two battery pulls today and GPS is still dodgy. Stuff like this makes me miss tin cans and string.

since you've already noticed one app affecting your GPS, have you thought about backing all your apps up to your SD card (OnTheFLy backup app) and then un-installing them, doing a factory reset and seeing if GPS functionality comes back?

Yeah, I thought about that. Gps started working again a short while ago. I'll probably give the backup/wipe deal a shot tomorrow. Out of all of the apps I've installed that have options concerning control of gps the beautiful widgets home weather widget is the only one that appears to knacker gps functionality. We shall see.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

if its the beautiful widgets with animations, iirc some folks have complained about that update version
i'm still running the first version, with no problems

It works very well with in 5 feet. I believe the G2 is A-GPS it uses cell towers
and other means too track your location.

I used it in LA all last week when visiting. It was awesome and there was only one time where it navigated incorrectly.

Crappy GPS *With screen shots*

My GPS has been rather worthless, it used to be perfect but even before I rooted it went south. Now I"m on CM6.1 Stable and it's pretty bad. Every thread I see about the issue just says get GPS Status from the market and clear the GPS cache and download assist data. I've had Status since my old phone, and it's not helping.
When looking in status, it rarely locks on. It picks up several satellites but fails to ever lock on. Like this:
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The accuracy is HORRBILE, won't narrow down from this:
I was in that bubble at the time, but the very edge of it.
And While moving *At 70mph in this pic, don't worry I was just riding...*, the curser is always crooked like this:
And the only time it would move down the road is when I'd wait till outside of that bubble, and click the my location button again, then it would be another still shot.

It appears that setCPU has something to do with it. Anyone else getting this? Even leaving it at stock speeds gps acts up. I removed the widget, killed Set on Boot, rebooted and now have gps back.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

theratdude64 said:
It appears that setCPU has something to do with it. Anyone else getting this? Even leaving it at stock speeds gps acts up. I removed the widget, killed Set on Boot, rebooted and now have gps back.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am running CM 6.1 and am using SetCpu to overclock the processor and have had no problems with GPS. The initial lock took a minute or so, but it was easily able to determine my exact location. I used it yesterday afternoon to navigate to a christmas party and it was able to find my location quickly and kept up with me as I was driving in my car.

Hrm, maybe different kernel? I was on the 1.8ghz one but did a full wipe and put cyanogen with the kernel it comes with, verifying that it didn't let me go all the way back up to 1.8, that fixed lots of my issues but gps still flakey.
I work in photography which takes me all over the city, so I need my gps
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

Send it back, get a new one.

works perfectly fine without the SetCPU though, so it's not hardware.

My gps always screws up at first too. It'll put me across the neighborhood and say "accurate up to 3200 meters" or something stupid. However, if you tap your little arrow, it should fix itself. That's what I do with mine. Works every time.

I can try that, I'll be riding around today so I'll play with it lol. I've been tapping on the My Location Button in the top right, think that does the same thing?

theratdude64 said:
works perfectly fine without the SetCPU though, so it's not hardware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can also try using CPU Tuner in place of SetCPU and see if it works that way.

alright, I'll try that. I'm quite android modded out for the day and got homework, but I'll attempt that tomorrow

GPS works perfectly for me on the G2 using Virtuous ROM. Way better than it did on my old Vibrant

I have the same problem!! I accidently hit power save setting, and came back to conservative.
I have even unistalled setCPU, but GPS still not working! help!!

Galaxy Note GPS inflight

Hello everybody,
I have been trying my Galaxy Note for weeks in airplane at high altitudes/high speeds, till now I couldn't figure out when & how to use the Galaxy Note GPS as a reliable equipment as for unknown reasons to me it gets locked to satellites inflight randomly this could happens sometimes immediately & other times takes hours with no signal or 3 satellites at most, even when its locked to satellites it keeps working fine but if close GPS for 1 minute it couldn't come back to life again, one time I tried it locked already from ground before take-off and it kept working fine the whole flight as i didn't turn it off. I'm starting to develop a pattern on how to get a signal faster while in airplane and it seems to me holding the Galaxy Note like an LNB for satellite antennas helps you to get it locked faster I can't confirm this even its just an idea.
I hope some body can figure out why the Galaxy Note GPS acting like this inflight. Also if any one have some software that can let me send the GPS NMEA data I could use that to see my position on any windows map software like Google earth or aviation software like Jeppesn Flite star/JeppView
Here is some pictures for my randomly successful trials
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not an expert on this. but sometimes if the device have satellite data cached while it has data access, it will lock on faster.
Back in my galaxy s days, the a common fix to resolve the crappy gps issue was to clear agps data and force the phone to get a new set of data from google's server.
Not sure if that's what cause your problem tho...

slow fix when in flight is possibly due to the speed you're doing at that point, it's going to be tough getting a fix when going that fast (coming from a cold lock)

From your pictures I gather you are a pilot as well
If you have a decent fix before takeoff, and you have your Note
stuck to the sidewindow, you should retain your fix.
As soon as you take it away from the window you
start loosing your fix fast. Reobtaining the fix will get harder and harder.
This behaviour is least noticable at ground level, most noticable with increased
speeds and altitudes.
Just stick it low on a side window in a mount, should keep working.
BTW : What the name of the app there ?

Off topic but what plane were you flying?

lucid said:
From your pictures I gather you are a pilot as well
If you have a decent fix before takeoff, and you have your Note
stuck to the sidewindow, you should retain your fix.
As soon as you take it away from the window you
start loosing your fix fast. Reobtaining the fix will get harder and harder.
This behaviour is least noticable at ground level, most noticable with increased
speeds and altitudes.
Just stick it low on a side window in a mount, should keep working.
BTW : What the name of the app there ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The interesting is that I had many cheaper Nokia around me on the same flights and all of them got GPS locked in less than a minute without any concerns how you hold the device just put it facing the windows nothing more so its unbelievable to have the latest Samsung state of the art Galaxy Note with such GPS unreliable performance, you can also notice in pic no. 5 the speed is only 180 km/h which is totally error.
The programs: GPS STATUS & GPS TEST

mogambo000 said:
off topic but what plane were you flying?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
boeing 737-800

Wow, I never owned a Nokia with GPS, but that is amazing!
I've seen many pax and crew struggle to get GPS fixed, no matter where they are in flight. Maybe Nokia's are just really good at highspeed/alt. fixing. (commercial jets)
From old "serial" GPS , to bluetooth mouse GPS, to internal (a)gps, it has always been a struggle at highspeed/alt.
Then again, stuff I fly rarely exceeds 200knots/20.000 feet so I'm all good up there
Safe skies !

PM sent.

I was sent this post in a PM, dont know why maybe to help explain, or offer my gps fix, honestly dont know. But after reading this, here are some reasons why you might be havng this issue:
Phones put the antenna (gps) in different places, holding it sometimes blocks the signal or weakens it (Yes the signal and antenna is that weak).
Speed plays a factor, inflight will take longer then before.
Time of day, sats remember are not in the same position all the time.
Warm lock opposed to a cold lock, Hard lock opposed to a soft lock.
And who makes the gps chip.
There are many factors when it comes to gps signals.

GPS issue

I have my S3 since Saturday. Sunday was actually the first day to test it. The only thing I did Saturday was to update it, OTA.
Of course, I took it for a drive several hundred miles. Everything looked good. It fixes the location very fast and accurate... many times better than my previous S2... however, at one point it did lost the location....... after a reboot it started working fine again and was able to complete my drive very happy about it.
Unfortunately, I have to say, the serious problems started Monday.
My S3 is loosing the satellites constantly. A reboot fixes the problem, but again, after about 10 minutes, it looses the satellites. No matter what I am running, waze, Google maps, GPS Test Pro etc., it is all the same: it sees a big number of satellites, but it doesn't lock on them... even if the signal strength is considerable good with some of them (that could turn them to green if in GPS Test Pro).
I don't see any reason why it would loose the lock of the satellites.
Getting tired rebooting my S3, I tried a couple of tools from the market: GPSfix and GPSaids... although I am not sure about the first one, even that it helped, the later one helps indeed. After running it and return to my navigation program the S3 starts locking the satellites again and fast and very price... for another 10 minutes.
Not sure what to do... guess my next step is to root my device and try FasterFix and other tools that requires root... or even try a custom rom and different rom/modem.
Any idees, suggestions?
The phone is purchased from Vodafone Romania.
AP: I9300BUALF1
CP: I9300BULF1
CSC: I9300VFGALF1
Thanks in advance.

To be on the safe side I think you should return it, otherwise flash xxalf6 rom and check if you still have the same problem
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

how about trying to calibrate the compass first
http://jjpda.blogspot.sg/2011/10/how-to-calibrate-your-compass.html

Another thing I noticed:
for example, at home, with or without wifi enabled, I let the GPS on for more than an hour and haven't noticed it loosing the lock on the satellites.
I guess it happens only when my position changes (driving).
So, am I the only one with this strange behavior of the S3?
It might be as well, as you suggest, the firmware/modem branded version from Vodafone Romania.
I will certainly contact Samsung and ask them about it.

the_slasher said:
how about trying to calibrate the compass first
http://jjpda.blogspot.sg/2011/10/how-to-calibrate-your-compass.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will give it a try...

I am on Omega V6, and the GPS literally saved my friends and I over this weekend in the desert with almost no gas and no reception.
THANK YOU SGS3!

I had to rotate it a lot to get to 3 where the line pointing to North (I guess) was blue.
LE: Now I will give it a drive test to tell if it helps.

SlimJ87D said:
I am on Omega V6, and the GPS literally saved my friends and I over this weekend in the desert with almost no gas and no reception.
THANK YOU SGS3!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doesn't really helps me... how about when you were on stock rom?
GPS' performance was one of the main reasons I switched from S2 to S3... being able to point me down in areas where's no GSM network and no roads.

I am using the navigation regularly for a 2 hours car trip. I haven't noticed any lost position, Crossing the country side with about 30mn without gsm connection.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium

This is what it was looking like yestarday...
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Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium

spookyx said:
This is what it was looking like yestarday...View attachment 1158790
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
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Click to collapse
In the app, hit menu then settings and clear agps the update agps. Used to help me on the S2, especially when far from home or overseas. Even though it shouldn't need it bit try just in case.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium

I have a strange problem:
I'm on omega 6.0 and my GPS fixes 14-18sats in about 5-10 seconds. sometimes ti finds satellites and just don't fix them without data connection or Wifi. Tried both LF2 and LF5 modems. cleaning cache and dalvik cache helped. but I'm aware it will happen again
any ideas? I'm using GPS status and toolbox to monitor GPS

I have calibrated the magnetic sensor. From 1 went to 2 and then to 3. From 2 to 3 had to spin the phone A LOT.
Anyway, left the house with GPS on. The GPS stayed locked for about 2 hours.
Later on the day, the GPS started to lose the lock again.
I checked again with the magnetic sensor and it was down to 1 again. Brought it quickly to 2 again. GPS started working.
Minutes later, GPS lock lost again. Using GPS Test Pro (clear AGPS) or GPS aids or other similar application... or even doing the magnetic (re)calibration offers only a TEMPORARILY solution.
Beside trying a different/newer modem/rom, does anyone have a permanent solution to this stock UNrooted rom?
Thanks.
Anyone else from Vodafone Romania experience this issue as well?

I am coming to the conclusion that the magnetic sensor is broken (keeps decalibrating) and that affects seriously fixing the location.

GPS lock on stock

I got a new note 3 a month ago. Finally Tested out the gps when I went on vacation. The gps could not always lock. It was loose GPS signal every 10 min also. It would tell me to u turn and get off the highway routinely because it thought I was on the wrong street or going backwards. Really frustrating when going long distance. Since it's stock is there a fix. I've tried a few apps. GPS fix, gps status, etc. any options out their that might actually work.

When using the gps apps are you getting locks? How many satellites are you seeing?
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have you tried clearing agps?

I turned on the GPS status app. I can get a lock on two out if 19 after 2 min. Waited 5 and it didn't improve. The maps app locked good on my position however.
jlear3 said:
When using the gps apps are you getting locks? How many satellites are you seeing?
have you tried clearing agps?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Did you try to clear the agps data? May help

I cleared it and tested. Then downloaded and tested. Reset all setting and tested. Reset phone and tested. Still only to get 2 sats but not a full lock.
Any other suggestions.
jlear3 said:
Did you try to clear the agps data? May help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

cterrell16 said:
The gps could not always lock. It was loose GPS signal every 10 min also. It would tell me to u turn and get off the highway routinely because it thought I was on the wrong street or going backwards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the exact same symptoms. When setting up navigation of a trip it will take forever to lock on and after it does it is very slow to update position. Many of the updates to my position are in correct putting me just off the highway on a side street. Sometimes it will have me driving reverse to the direction of my arrow.

I actually uninstalled my weather app and the issue was corrected to a degree. It's not perfect but it does help.
QUOTE=thefugugitive87;49634961]I have the exact same symptoms. When setting up navigation of a trip it will take forever to lock on and after it does it is very slow to update position. Many of the updates to my position are in correct putting me just off the highway on a side street. Sometimes it will have me driving reverse to the direction of my arrow.[/QUOTE]