Database Users

FINALLLY!!! A fix for the Nexus S Navigation. Hardware mod required.

OK, after being so annoyed with the Navigation on this phone not working, I finally found a fix that is working for me and I am in shock that what I did produced a working GPS. First, anyone who doesn't know how to take apart the black cover (not the battery cover) do a search. Next, after removing the cover, the GPS Antenna without a doubt is one right next to the power button. I found this out by putting a piece of electrical tape over every gold connector that touches an antenna, then closing the black cover, turning on the phone, running gps test, and after trying different spring connectors, I noticed I had the correct one when the app GPS Test couldn't locate any satellites. Next, I also noticed that on the inside of the cover that I took off, the one that requires six screws, there is a silver looking strip that is supposed to make contact to the connector that has a full metal top part, so when the cover goes back on, the silver strip must make contact to this negative grounding harness top. I added a bead of solder to the silver strip on the inside of the black cover so that I knew it was making contact. I believe that this is a source of everyone's problems with navigation. That strip must be a shield and the design doesn't look like it makes good contact to the connector's ground metal plate. You'll see what I mean when you open the cover.
Next, while I had the cover off, I wrapped a 30 gauge wire around the gold spring pin that connects to the GPS antenna and ran that wire down the side of the phone right along the PC Board in hopes that it extends the antenna. I just ran it like 3 inches and remember, I ran it down, not up. The GPS antenna already goes up. I put a tiny bead of solder on the wire where it contact the gold spring contact that is attached to the PC Board so that it does not come off accidentally. And believe me, it is really simple. You cannot mess anything up. Just a dab of solder is all it takes.
I put the black cover back on, and then ran the GPS test app and at one point I had 12 satellites read and used with a 7 foot accuracy!!! Next I went to the Navigation app and started playing around with different addresses and my navigation WORKED!!! I am still in awe three days later. I drove from New Jersey to Rhode Island yesterday and had the Nav running for the entire trip. Only one time did I get a small circle about the size of a half inch which lasted for 4 seconds. At that point, I was driving though a forest type side road with limited sky view.
Please try this fix for anyone who has Navigation issues with their Nexus S and let me know if it fixes it.
Dan

Awesome. Samsung should have hired you before they released the Nexus S and 1st-gen SGS phones. My Captivate never had reliable GPS. I might as well have had Ray Charles giving me directions.

Funny thing is Google nexus phones are bugged...
Nexus one multi touch bug
Nexus s compass not working...
I think the issue here is with whoever was choosing and picking the hardware that would have powered a nexus...
HTC and Samsung do not surprise me... But Google not testing the compass on a flagship phone before releasing scares me :-\
Luckily my gps works fine (i9023 here) but the broken compass create a lot of troubles with gps navigation as very often the phone thinks to be driving in the reverse direction...

The nexus one digitizer wasn't a bug. Just a crappy digitizer. It worked as it meant to. It sucked but wasn't a bug.
The GPS and compass issues for the nexus s are different as well. Some devices have crappy ones and apparently don't work. My GPS and compass works perfect on the other hand. Always has

evcz said:
Funny thing is Google nexus phones are bugged...
Nexus one multi touch bug
Nexus s compass not working...
I think the issue here is with whoever was choosing and picking the hardware that would have powered a nexus...
HTC and Samsung do not surprise me... But Google not testing the compass on a flagship phone before releasing scares me :-\
Luckily my gps works fine (i9023 here) but the broken compass create a lot of troubles with gps navigation as very often the phone thinks to be driving in the reverse direction...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have problems with navigation, even tho i hardly ever use it. However, this compass thing; I downloaded an app called Smart Compass and it works really well... Where I know it's north, the compass points north and so on. but mind you, I got my phone after companies stopped selling it so I might've gotten the last of the good batch

Could you post a photo of the finished fix so I can check if I'm going to fry something ? Thanks !

@VOLTAGEROCK:
post some photos for better help if it's possible, before and after modifications please
thanks in advance

I will but gimme a day or two. All I know is I'm on day five and its still working!

wow
Sent from my
RESSURECTED Nexus S
CM10 NIGHTIES

DmA81 said:
Could you post a photo of the finished fix so I can check if I'm going to fry something ? Thanks !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I should have at the time of doing it, but I didn't know what i was doing was going to work!! Now I have to take the phone apart again, but you give me a reason to hook up my Touchstone from the Pre while the phone is open and accessible. I will do my best to put the pics up in a timely manner and in the meantime, if there's anyone out there, go to the iteardown fix it (i think that's what its called) and look at the video or pics of the Nexus being taken apart.
Again, I have no reason to believe that I didn't fix the problem as it's working everytime, when it wouldn't work at all before the mod. When you're looking at the phone from the back, the GPS antenna location has a letter G engraved into the black cover after the battery cover has been taken off. It's right below the electrical type tape that covers the antenna FYI.

*#*#gpsclrx#*#* always fixed my gps woes and i had a lot. no hardware mod required.

Sputnikk23 said:
*#*#gpsclrx#*#* always fixed my gps woes and i had a lot. no hardware mod required.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What does that do by the way.? Because my mod works everytime and you never have to use the code you just put up. Even though I appreciate you putting that there. Also, what type of problems were you having with your navigation? Did it work periodically? Did it never work like mine? Just curious as to the problem you had with your navigation. Thanks
Dan

I can confirm this hardware mod fixed voltages gps. He's gone thru 2 nexus s phones and both GPS would constantly lose the position every few minutes then reacquire, and show a huge circle for his position. Somehow this hardware mod fixes some design issue with the nexus s where a shielding isn't properly grounded. And also he extended the GPS antenna with a wire for good measure.
By the way it was the sprint nexus s 4g he modified.

Please post pictures to go with your narrative. I would like to try this!

O
RogerPodacter said:
I can confirm this hardware mos fixed voltages gps. He's gone thru 2 nexus s phones and both GPS would constantly lose the position every few minutes then reacquire, and show a huge circle for his position. Somehow this hardware mod fixes some design issue with the nexus s where a shielding isn't properly grounded. And also he extended the GPS antenna with a wire for good measure.
By the way it was the sprint nexus s 4g he modified.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the clarification nation, Podact.

VOLTAGEROCK said:
What does that do by the way.? Because my mod works everytime and you never have to use the code you just put up. Even though I appreciate you putting that there. Also, what type of problems were you having with your navigation? Did it work periodically? Did it never work like mine? Just curious as to the problem you had with your navigation. Thanks
Dan
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wipe gps data. not the same thing as the gps status wipe (which didn't work for me). try it, doesn't really hurt anything. seems a software code is worth a shot then opening up the phone you know?
Some ROMs it never worked. Other ROMs it was sporadic. When I would get it to work, it always eventually "lost" its ability to lock, etc.
But hey.. if you want to get all hyper-sensitive over your mod.. go for it. Was just throwing another method out there for the faint of heart.

Sputnikk23 said:
wipe gps data. not the same thing as the gps status wipe (which didn't work for me). try it, doesn't really hurt anything. seems a software code is worth a shot then opening up the phone you know?
Some ROMs it never worked. Other ROMs it was sporadic. When I would get it to work, it always eventually "lost" its ability to lock, etc.
But hey.. if you want to get all hyper-sensitive over your mod.. go for it. Was just throwing another method out there for the faint of heart.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am sensitive as I cried at your remark, and then I got really hyper and started running in circles with joy that my nav works. So I guess you're right, I am hypersensitive! Btw, I was being nothing but nice to your reply. Its OK. I forgive you.

Pics requested
Check out the pics. One of them shows some solder on the silver shielding so it makes better contact with the connector when they close back up. The other shows a 30 gauge red wire soldered to the gps pin and running down the phone. Hope this clears up what you guys need to do to get the gps to finally work on this dag gone phone.

.I've been using navigation and never had such a problems.my gps always locking under 10sec and doesn't loosing signal.
Btw i live in UK and using nav in big city.

Do a search for Nexus S 4g on sprint nav problems and you'll see a whole slew of people with problems.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using xda app-developers app

Lg spirit h420 gps issue

i have a seriuos issue with this device
3 brand new devices all having the same problem with GPS.
it doesn't connect even for a second
i open gps status and toolbox, it recognizes 12 satellites but can't fixate on any of them.
changed gps.conf to the proper continent and country, still nothing.
could this be bad gps module on all of them?
version is v10a-eur-xx

Any, and I mean ANY Mediatek chipsed based phone has issues with GPS, at least in Europe.
This is the sole reason I avoid Mediatek like the plague.
Just Google "Mediatek GPS problem". There are possible fixes, but you have to try them out yourself.

I have the same problema whith my LG H420...
How can i fix it ?

I had the same problem minutes ago. The views may come from a-gps sinse it didin't detect any signal. The problem is that the 3 screws on the bottom of the phone, where the gps antenna is, get loose. I have tighten the screws and... it worked. Now it find singal and fix on sattelites indoor and outdoor.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=67805410&postcount=1522
Worked for me, on H440N.

When I Lollipop GPS was wrong , since I upgraded to MM GPS has improved a lot , however, often use the app " GPS Connected" to fix in a stable satellites

I tried everything but it does not set the satélites !
3 screws were tight !
But even then I squeezed more !
what can I do ?? :crying: :crying:

I have tried "EPO Tools free" by eben80 and the connection and stability of GPS is better

Rats, I have the same issue with my h440n ... it used to work now and then before ... like half the time. Recently it sorta worked 1 out of 10 times and now it seems dead completely. Maybe that's due to the fact that I dropped it seriously multiple times and recently even cracked the digitizer big time. I'm NOT with Mediatek so I should be fine, but I'm not. Has anyone else with the h440n had this issue and resolved it successfully? I'm trying to find sth on ebay but other than this
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Loud-Spea...478333?hash=item25a70da17d:g:dRAAAOSwv0tVZK2P
I cannot find anything else as a spare part. Not even sure if that one includes a gps module ... just says speaker and antenna ...

jonathansmith said:
Rats, I have the same issue with my h440n ... it used to work now and then before ... like half the time. Recently it sorta worked 1 out of 10 times and now it seems dead completely. Maybe that's due to the fact that I dropped it seriously multiple times and recently even cracked the digitizer big time. I'm NOT with Mediatek so I should be fine, but I'm not. Has anyone else with the h440n had this issue and resolved it successfully? I'm trying to find sth on ebay but other than this
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Loud-Spea...478333?hash=item25a70da17d:g:dRAAAOSwv0tVZK2P
I cannot find anything else as a spare part. Not even sure if that one includes a gps module ... just says speaker and antenna ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The trick with tightening the bottom 3 screws, close to the speaker, actually DID help me. I tightened them quite a bit and that seems to have resolved the issue for now. Big ups to whoever it was that came up with this super easy fix and damn LG ... poor build quality, still an ok phone though, for the bucks.
EDIT: After some testing - the fix worked, as I said, but GPS signal is still somewhat poor. It is enough to get you from point A to B, in a way, but the signal keeps on dropping. It simply won't lock to any satellite gps, constantly loses connection and reconnects again, and then the same again. I've read there are some apps that can help with that. Will try out some. If anyone has a solid one that fixes this, do mention it.

We need to fix it soon, or we forget Pokemon Go!
:crying::crying:

This did work for me
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2243965
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=71635848&postcount=2266

GPS fix
Search on YouTube: "GPS fix - Easily improve your GPS antenna of your MT6589 based phone" by gersonnl
Worked on my LG Spirit!

milisav1 said:
Search on YouTube: "GPS fix - Easily improve your GPS antenna of your MT6589 based phone" by gersonnl
Worked on my LG Spirit!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where exacly have you put tape? Can you show photo of cover?

trouble with GPS

Anyone having trouble with their GPS? I can't get mine to find any satellites. GPS Status and Toolbox is not helping. I have the US996 version. Any fixes?
Thanks.

I'm not having that issue. Are you running stock?

Yes, stock

ww15 said:
Anyone having trouble with their GPS? I can't get mine to find any satellites. GPS Status and Toolbox is not helping. I have the US996 version. Any fixes?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Gps reciver working perfectly....if you cant find satellites then your devive need service or replace...you dont need 3d party apps...Im using Igo and sygic and both ran excellent...

Mine is acting weird as well. Mine is tmobile version. I found that toggling location off and back on helped but we shouldn't have to do that. I'm probably going to have mine replaced if it persists.

I thought that maybe I was having an issue but now I think it has something to do with the pipes and towers, and blast resistant buildings where i work. Wasn't an issue with the Notes i had. but outside driving its fine.

I guess I will try a factor reset and if that doesnt help, I guess its time to figure out how to get a replacement.

I was having issues where it keeps thinking I'm home when I'm not

I'm still having frustration with gps. I have an Alcatel idol 3 that gets much better gps signal than the v20 running "gps test" from app store. I still get "searching for GPS" message in google maps from time to time in locations my other phones have performed flawlessly. I had a similar issue on the g5 and had to trade it for refurb which fixed the issue. I really dont want to do that with the v20.
The antenna is in the plastic trim at top which you can remove with 4 screws. It could be ours have a weak connection there or it could be a lousy solder joint on the underside of bga (ball grid array) chip.

Major problems with a two month old V20.
LG says they will not honor warranty because phone was sold as an "unlocked" ATT.
Also say that they show IMEI as activated two years ago!
This was brand new from newegg.com. How could it be activated two years ago?
Tremendously frustrating.

The top plastic cap in the H918 contains multiple antennas. Other models of the V20 which work on other frequency bands often have different antennas in this endcap, so when you replace it you need to select one for your particular model. Unfortunately the ebay sellers don't seem to know what cap to supply so often list the wrong models for the caps they are selling. The end cap connects to the phone's sprung metal contacts with either metal or conductive plastic pads, six in total for the H918. When I replaced my endcap GPS stopped working completely and picked up no satellites, on examining the replacement cap two contacts were missing which must be for the GPS - everything else seems fine (or I haven't noticed if some of the frequency bands are missing). I have attached a photo of the contacts in my phone and the replacement cap so you can see the problem.
I am now having difficulty finding a seller of the endcaps who can supply the correct part - I will keep on trying.

Been a loooong time since I've visited XDA....ah the memories, anywho, I have ATT LGV20 (keep it for removable battery and 2nd screen), The oreo update totally borked my GPS, it it always turning off and on, on its own and I get annoying location accuracy pop up which I have to agree or disagree to a lot.
It could just be big brother spying on me too I guess...
Any thoughts without doing a factory reset? I do NOT have root, though I wish I did. It is a refurb that was working fine before Oreo. Maybe an app that will monitor what is turning it on without root?
Thanks guys, happy holidays.

GPS issue - possible reason?

Hi Folks
I am having severe GPS issues with my S7 edge. It just takes a lot of time to see the satellites and use them for getting a fix. Could any of the following be the reason for this
1. Phone has moved from USA to India
2. Firmware of phone has change from 935V to 935U
3. Display/LCD of phone has been changed as the earlier one was cracked.
Could any of this have caused an issue ?

Folks any ideas, i am going crazy with this GPS issue. Will replacing the antenna help ? I have tried all the software solutions, its just not able to see any satellite or takes a good 2 minutes to even see one satellite (based of app GPS essentials)

deltacharlie said:
Folks any ideas, i am going crazy with this GPS issue. Will replacing the antenna help ? I have tried all the software solutions, its just not able to see any satellite or takes a good 2 minutes to even see one satellite (based of app GPS essentials)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like something is blocking the antenna or like you thought it's damaged don't happen to be using a metal case Do you?

No not using any case at all. Looks like i will have to open the back again to see if the antenna is placed properly or probably replace the antenna itself.

deltacharlie said:
No not using any case at all. Looks like i will have to open the back again to see if the antenna is placed properly or probably replace the antenna itself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
did you solve it??

No it did not work. I opened and checked the antenna and connectivity, but still no GPS.

deltacharlie said:
No it did not work. I opened and checked the antenna and connectivity, but still no GPS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok it's hardware related problem then!
hope you are still under warranty for the repair!!
I just went to Samsung Assistance and they directly ordered a new motherboard because I have had other issues some days ago plus no gps signal.. hope this fixes it entirely!

Z3Z GPS and bluetooth absolutely terrible after fixing phone.

Alright long story short broke my screen, didn't want to buy a new phone, bought a for-parts Z3Z, was ready to swap the battery and screen over to the components then I realized the motherboard is the first thing to come off anyway, so I just swapped the motherboard from my old phone to the rest of the components from the new one. So I did that, yes all cables and everything are connected. But my bluetooth range is like 10 feet through air and won't go through a piece of cardboard or whatever at 1 foot. The GPS takes forever to lock and loses signal every couple minutes for a while.
I assume the antennae for BT and GPS are both on the motherboard that we know was working fine in my old phone (really well actually!), so what's the deal? Any ideas? It's making my phone almost unusable.
Also, wifi seems like MAYBE but not definitely it's been affected... I used to get 2 bars in my car in my garage at least, now I lose the connection the second I close the garage door behind me. It's weird how like all the antennas except the actual cell antenna don't work....