Database Users

Samsung GPS fix. NEW!

ATTN #Vibrant users: We've created an app to help optimize GPS. Go to the Android Market & search for GPSSamsungRestore: http://ow.ly/3hEpr
Straight from their twitter about 10 minutes ago.
Update: Before anyone gets excited the app ONLY resets GPS to the original settings. Not a real fix as most of our GPS' were not working properly out of the box.

Don't get your hopes up.
# Does the application contain new values for GPS?
* No. The application only resets settings to factory defaults and then writes data in setting file.
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Epic failure! As I expected it would. Tested this app and it tried to lock on 3 times before it gave me a message saying that I needed to contact a service center.

I have tested this application few times. I can officially say that it dies, while soft rebooting the phone, more times than to actually work. This application is as good as GPS itself.

Yes, I have positive results with it also. Used it and I got a lock instantly. Opened up navigation and it was spot on, no arrow jumping all over the place. It may say that it just reverts it back to stock settings, but whatever the case may be, it works.

edit: nm found it

Samsung gets pwned by XDA ... once again!
Two of the epic failuers of this phone is the lack of flash and improper GPS.

I downloaded the app as soon as i seen the tweet. It looked good initially, i got lock instantly, multiple times after running the app, but when I tested it out on a drive my phone would lose GPS signal after less then 5 mins, then it take another 7-10 mins to get another GPS lock, this kept happening the whole time....

Didnt make a difference. Still takes 2 or 3 mins to find my gps location. Nice try samsung. I mean WTF is the REAL problem with the GPS? I know! a hardware issue! EPIC FAIL!!
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

Brand new 10.12 i9000m has non working gps

so i got my replacement bell vibrant after it bricked from 2.2.. this new phones gps does not work. ive tried several times outside with clear sky and all it does it finds a few satellites then drops them, over and over, never getting a lock.
should i open it up and try that bending the gps antenna contact trick? to me it does sound like the antenna is at fault here. its like its getting a really weak signal or something.
any ideas?

No get sg tools and clear Gps data and set to cold start and go outside for ten minutes
Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk

I remember seeing more elegant threads but this was the first one that popped up for changing some GPS settings.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=10099970&postcount=6
Give it a try.

lgkahn said:
No get sg tools and clear Gps data and set to cold start and go outside for ten minutes
Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk
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thanks. that seems to have done the trick. after it reset everything i was able to get 5 meter accuracy fairly quickly. and can even sometimes get a lock indoors, altho only 15-20 meters, but still, thats better than my old one

any ideas if the gps icon just doesn't come on at all / not function when i click the gps shortcut and it goes green like it ought to be on?
think this is only since root and/or flash to speedmod kernel k13e

It happens also on my phone sometimes. I'm running rooted stock firmware KC1. Just go out from the app that needs the gps and go in again. It usually activates it. I get this problem only with google maps. I think it's google maps app bug...

Why does my GPS STILL not work?

Loving the phone and the community here, but I'm starting to get frustrated with this thing. Before DL09, I could never get a lock. After updating to it (manually, before it was an ota), my gps worked for the first time ever. However after switching to DL30 and subsequently EB01, I can no longer achieve a lock. I thought this fix was already taken care of? How come the newer radios aren't working on my phone?
I'm currently using the EB01 radio on Superclean 2.4

You turned on all of the GPS settings (Google, verizon, standalone) and cannot get a lock?
Im getting a lock on EB01 way faster than DL09.

I'm on super clean 2.2 and I have no issues with GPS. Have you considered that your phone's GPS may be faulty? I'd exchange it.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App

I leave the GPS on all the time. In most buildings it keeps the lock. I really hope that leaving it on makes it easier to live with.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App

In my foray into EB01, GPS was flawless... for a day. After that I couldn't get a lock to save my life, rebooting clearing stats etc.
The difference was four friends came in from out of town with GSM android phones. We all were having issues. It is like they were kryptonite.
Of course it is ridiculous to think that one GPS would mess up another since they are passive devices. I would advise taking this as weak entertainment or with a grain of salt. DL09 is back yup normal, usually 10 seconds sometimes two minutes for a lock.
In my opinion, getting stable froyo on these units won't be so easy, and I hope we get a few timely releases until they get it right. If EB01 does go OTA, I am screaming bloody murder the moment my clock goes out of synch.
Swyped w/ XDA App. When in doubt, mumble.

try turning on your wifi network (even if your not on a wifi network) this gives you a pretty good position.

xtrimsky said:
try turning on your wifi network (even if your not on a wifi network) this gives you a pretty good position.
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For positioning, I just use the cell towers. That's fine. Its for turn-by-turn directions where I really want the GPS lock.

After 48 hours or so of uptime my GPS is definitely not as quick to fix as it was under DL09. I'm sitting in my favorite armchair looking at a fix with three satellites whereas I used to get a fix with 7 or 8 and an accuracy of 8 feet. After a reboot my fix time drops to about 15 seconds and I get a lock on 8 satellites.

these have been my experiences with Super Clean 2.x (voodoo and nonvoodoo):
- sometimes turning the GPS off from notification window and back on again will do the trick
- sometimes when the above doesn't work, turning it off and then back on again from within settings (where you need to click "agree") will be more effective. In this case I've even noticed a difference between doing this by going directly into settings vs. letting Google Nav tell me that GPS is disabled, and agreeing to let it take me to the location settings.
- bizarrely, sometimes opening "GPS Test" app (market, free) identifies satellites more immediately than Google Navigation. Then after GPS Test can see them, I go back into Google Nav and it will see the satellites right away.
- if all else fails rebooting the phone has always done it (and then doing the same dance described above)
Don't get me wrong I wish it were more stable/reliable but the above seems to do the trick. When it locks at all - it locks right away. I have just forced myself to make sure that the GPS is working before leaving the driveway, or else I run the risk of being frustrated when I need to make a snap decision to go somewhere that requires navigational aid. For me it's almost as if the Android OS isn't properly wrapping its arms around the GPS hardware than an issue of the apps locking a fix.
Last night I almost missed a flight and even went as far as to say "I really need to start bringing my old GPS around with me again". I really hope to avoid this.

gps is not working

I received my phone yesterday and gps did just fine. I drained the battery and left it off while charging.
Today my gps won't work, I can't seem to get a single fix anymore (google maps, gps test, mytracks, nothing). I don't know what to do to fix it.
Also my battery drains extremely fast (5 hours and it's dead). Screen acounts for 63%.

I am having similar problems.
mainly with the GPS. it won't get a lock onto the satellites.
very dissappointing.
other than that it's a great phone.
hope it gets fixed with a firmware update soon!

Factory reset first step .
jje

Same problem here.
GPS sees like 10 satellites but just won't lock.
Factory reset does NOT solve the problem. rooted - not rooted does not fix the problem.

Me too, see like 10 satlellites but cant get it lock TT

Just curious, are you guys rooted now? Have been rooted before?
What firmware are you all running? i am on XWKDD. today i upgraded to XWKE1 but didn't have to a chance to see if it fixes the GPS issue just yet.

Same problem here, sometimes I have 10 satellites but it just won't get a fix, no root here.

I get a fix within a few seconds of firing up the GPS, every time.
Even in my rucksack the GPS tracked me for an hour and a half, within a few metres accuracy, whilst cycling a few days ago, no problem.

Shocky2 said:
Same problem here, sometimes I have 10 satellites but it just won't get a fix, no root here.
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I assume you're trying this outside without major obstructions around.
I would turn off: wifi, "Use wireless networks", and "Use sensor aiding". Run GPS Status. Under Settings > Tools > Manage A-GPS state, press Reset, then Download.
See if that helps.

Sensor aiding
samnada said:
I assume you're trying this outside without major obstructions around.
I would turn off: wifi, "Use wireless networks", and "Use sensor aiding". Run GPS Status. Under Settings > Tools > Manage A-GPS state, press Reset, then Download.
See if that helps.
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Click to collapse
Can you explain to me what 'sensor aiding' actually does, as it's not really clear on the settings menu?

robot1000 said:
Can you explain to me what 'sensor aiding' actually does, as it's not really clear on the settings menu?
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Click to collapse
I don't know anything more than the description it shows under Settings. I've seen theories that it uses the accelerometer, say for instance if you're driving through a tunnel. My experience is it makes my GPS accuracy worse rather than better, so I don't use it. But I'd suggest trying it both ways on the S2 to see if it makes a difference.
I went here:
http://www.google.com/mobile/navigation/
did a search on "sensor aiding" and got zero hits, so it seems Google doesn't want us to know what it is either.

usually over 50% of what people reporting that it isn't working is down to user error.
Have a look at this vid and do what this guy does on his SGS II. And see if it works for you
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZzJyKtPkHw&feature=player_embedded

samnada said:
I assume you're trying this outside without major obstructions around.
I would turn off: wifi, "Use wireless networks", and "Use sensor aiding". Run GPS Status. Under Settings > Tools > Manage A-GPS state, press Reset, then Download.
See if that helps.
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Click to collapse
Yes I've done all that and yes I'm trying this outside, 10/11 sats in view but no fix.

Today i upgraded to XWKE1 and giv it another try. I have to wait around 4 minute and it get gps fix !!

himarmy said:
Today i upgraded to XWKE1 and giv it another try. I have to wait around 4 minute and it get gps fix !!
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So, is that the new normal with your phone? Are locks working faster now, or do they typically take minutes? Is the accuracy ok?
It is odd that there are such differences between individual phones. If problems continue I would get it replaced if possible.

dk206 said:
usually over 50% of what people reporting that it isn't working is down to user error.[/url]
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Really? How did you calculate that number?

Still same problem here. It takes full minutes to get a lock. Not sure what else we can try to fix this.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App

Having problems here too. tested today on the way to the supermarket, got a lock within a couple of minutes and worked fine for the duration of the journey. Didn't get a lock all the way back, GPS was definitely turned on, even stopped halfway home to reboot the phone and try again.
Just taken my wife's iPhone 4 outside which locked within 30 seconds, still can't get a lock at all with my GS2.
I've installed that GPS status application, but doesn't lock on to any satellites (at least not within two or three minutes anyway)
Not impressed

siksik6 said:
Having problems here too. tested today on the way to the supermarket, got a lock within a couple of minutes and worked fine for the duration of the journey. Didn't get a lock all the way back, GPS was definitely turned on, even stopped halfway home to reboot the phone and try again.
Just taken my wife's iPhone 4 outside which locked within 30 seconds, still can't get a lock at all with my GS2.
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Click to collapse
Forget Apple, if you want "real results" grab a Nokia E-Series like the e71 or e72.
You get like 2 second instant lock, and that's indoors!...

ccrows said:
Forget Apple, if you want "real results" grab a Nokia E-Series like the e71 or e72.
You get like 2 second instant lock, and that's indoors!...
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Click to collapse
This thread, and posts like this, are what make me so frustrated with Samsung over the GPS issue. They never fixed the SGS, and now with their flagship top-of-the-heap phone they still can't get it consistently right. Even the best reports I've seen on the S2 don't match what some other phones are clearly capable of. It's hard to imagine Samsung is truly technically incapable of making GPS work, so I have to conclude it's just not worth the cost to them. They sold 14 million SGS's, with abysmal GPS, so they've apparently decided most don't care if it works well or not. They may be right, but for some of us it's one of the absolute key features. Very disappointing. Maybe HTC will get it right on the Sensation...

[Q] Wonky GPS on AT&T S4?

Hi all. I'm having a bit of GPS weirdness. GPS can get a lock quickly and accurately, however, I have to turn it off/on every time I open an app that uses it. Otherwise, it won't ever find the location. Once I turn it off/on it picks up and stays locked while the app is running. Also, if I switch to another app that uses GPS I have to do the same thing to get a location fix.
So obviously, the GPS function works, but something in the OS is not recognizing it until it's reset. Not the end of the world, but definitely annoying. Is anyone else seeing this?
This is on the AT&T version, by the way.
Thanks!

Check if you have GPS and Mobile Networks turned on for Location.
Else return it.... and get a new one... GPS has been quick and spot on...

slider2828 said:
Check if you have GPS and Mobile Networks turned on for Location.
Else return it.... and get a new one... GPS has been quick and spot on...
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Click to collapse
GPS is quick and spot on. Per what I wrote, I have to turn it off and on for an app to be able to use it.

burhanistan said:
GPS is quick and spot on. Per what I wrote, I have to turn it off and on for an app to be able to use it.
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I've noticed this once, where something in the background was starting a GPS lock, but seemed to cancel, and retry before it ever succeeded. Turning the GPS and location services off, then back on worked for me. Haven't had an issue since.
If you haven't tried resetting to factory default, I suggest doing so.

TwistedMexi said:
I've noticed this once, where something in the background was starting a GPS lock, but seemed to cancel, and retry before it ever succeeded. Turning the GPS and location services off, then back on worked for me. Haven't had an issue since.
If you haven't tried resetting to factory default, I suggest doing so.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I was hoping for a bit more granular approach than a full reset. I'll wait until the new OTA is applied before doing anything drastic.

burhanistan said:
Well, I was hoping for a bit more granular approach than a full reset. I'll wait until the new OTA is applied before doing anything drastic.
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Click to collapse
Less drastic than returning it. I suppose it depends on how attached you are to your current setup - but I would say if you're experiencing that issue repeatedly, the factory reset is exactly what you'd need. I doubt the OTA will address it since it appears to be an isolated problem.

burhanistan said:
Well, I was hoping for a bit more granular approach than a full reset. I'll wait until the new OTA is applied before doing anything drastic.
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Be my guest but to get the quickest results please just turn off all gps settings then do a battery pull. Restart it and turn the gps services back on... Viola
If that's to drastic for you then your SOL
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2

You can also try to download GPS Status from the play store and download aGPS data and see if that helps

mcmb03 said:
You can also try to download GPS Status from the play store and download aGPS data and see if that helps
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Click to collapse
Nope, the issue is with ANY app that requests GPS data.

So, yeah. Today's OTA update did indeed fix this. i would press my own Thanks button, but that would be sinning!

burhanistan said:
Hi all. I'm having a bit of GPS weirdness. GPS can get a lock quickly and accurately, however, I have to turn it off/on every time I open an app that uses it. Otherwise, it won't ever find the location. Once I turn it off/on it picks up and stays locked while the app is running. Also, if I switch to another app that uses GPS I have to do the same thing to get a location fix.
So obviously, the GPS function works, but something in the OS is not recognizing it until it's reset. Not the end of the world, but definitely annoying. Is anyone else seeing this?
This is on the AT&T version, by the way.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same issue here and it's driving me INSANE. lol I am on stock rom just rooted and unlocked. If i ever want to use Gps I need to turn on/off the toggle. Very annoying. Wasn't like this from day one so something must have changed. I have tried clearing the cache for Google Maps as well as re enabling all of my location settings downloading aGPS data data did not work

Do you have yahoo weather installed ?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

I do not have yahoo weather installed. Another bit of info I forgot in last post:
I do sometimes, in a quick glance, see the gps icon running out of the blue. The notification of "acquiring gps signal bla bla" is present as well.. only to disappear within seconds. So it seems as if a specific service or application is using the gps in a faulty manner, blocking other services/applications from using it. May be why resetting the gps allows the application your trying to use access it. (my only fix)
If someone could read a logcat of what's going on I could post one up
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda premium

I've actually been combing through the logcat output and see a line reappearing often referring to "no secgps file" I do remember on my previous devices messing around with that file and others for GPS configurations. Does anyone know if this file is supposed to be included in the stock rom?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda premium

BUMP
Seeing a few other posts in this sub forum for GPS locking issues, and most the others see the fix to turn on and off via the toggle.

tyshemi said:
Do you have yahoo weather installed ?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
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It was Yahoo Weather for me! As soon as I deleted it the GPS started to work well with apps that need it such as Waze and Google Navigation. Wow. Thank you. I was going crazy. Tmobile GS4 btw!

Lol people probly thought I was crazy but it causes lots of issues
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

tyshemi said:
Lol people probly thought I was crazy but it causes lots of issues
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
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Definitely no yahoo weather installed. I've disabled yahoo news and yahoo finance so far
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda premium

Sucks man faulty phone then I've had zero issues after the yahoo incident
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

It does suck.. I'm starting to get the feeling its Google now. I love it and use it extensively
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda premium