Database Users

Epic GPS issues

I have had my Epic since it was released and for the original build and the first OTA update, my GPS worked fine but I have been trying to use it lately and its not finding satellites. I am wondering if there is a fix for this or if anyone else has been seeing this issue? I know people had issues on earlier builds...

Under what conditions is your GPS not working? Indoors? Outdoors? Assisted GPS enabled or disabled?

djcslice said:
I have had my Epic since it was released and for the original build and the first OTA update, my GPS worked fine but I have been trying to use it lately and its not finding satellites. I am wondering if there is a fix for this or if anyone else has been seeing this issue? I know people had issues on earlier builds...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Search for "Cold Start" workaround in this forum or any other Sprint Epic forum.
All Epic phones have GPS bugs. The worst one, which you have just experienced, occurs after a period when the GPS has not been used lately, and the phone has not been recently rebooted. This bug has been isolated to these conditions, and obviously is caused by poor internal handling of time-sensitive GPS cache data. The workarounds force a temporary refresh of the cache.
BTW, even though all Epic's have GPS bugs, officially Sprint and Samsung are still in the denial phase. The bugs may not get fixed, so you should learn the workarounds,

You can also download "GPS Status" which lets you clear your cache data and redownload without having to gimp your GPS in cold start mode (which is horrid if you're off network).

boomerbubba said:
Search for "Cold Start" workaround in this forum or any other Sprint Epic forum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I recommend this cold start mode as well. Using GPS status to force cache only works part of the time and gimps out your GPS unless your are turning GPS status on and off a dozen times a day each time you want to use location application, not to mention background uses of GPS.

I'm having the same issue, my GPS used to work fine before the latest update and now it takes 2-5mins to acquire a single when im trying to navigate.

narn17 said:
I'm having the same issue, my GPS used to work fine before the latest update and now it takes 2-5mins to acquire a single when im trying to navigate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1)Make sure "use wireless networks" is off
2) use cold start GPS workaround

I was having trouble with the cold start workaround being an intermittent fix. I realized, however, it was usually when I left my house with WiFi turned on.
Apparently the GPS doesn't work (at least on mine) if I have WiFi on even if it's not being used (not connected to an AP). I do not have "use wireless networks" turned on, either.
That really struck me as odd because why would the GPS have anything at all to do with Wifi?

othan1 said:
I was having trouble with the cold start workaround being an intermittent fix. I realized, however, it was usually when I left my house with WiFi turned on.
Apparently the GPS doesn't work (at least on mine) if I have WiFi on even if it's not being used (not connected to an AP). I do not have "use wireless networks" turned on, either.
That really struck me as odd because why would the GPS have anything at all to do with Wifi?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think it is the GPS receiver that has a problem. It is the network-based refreshing of the GPS cache, which is what the Cold Start setting triggers -- that is a problem. Having WiFi on inhibits the cellphone network data connection, and after you leave the house your WiFi does no good.
I and some others have found that this cache refresh not only needs WiFi off, but also 4G off. The refresh occurs smoothly using 3G data. (This 4G behavior makes little sense to me, and I think it is itself another symptom of the Epic's bug.)
I use the Cold Start workaround. To make it work effectively, before I start the GPS I make sure WiFi is off. When I am outside and need to initialize the GPS, I temporarily toggle 4G off. Then I open GPS Test, which turns the GPS radio on, forces a Cold Start refresh of the cache, and confirms that I get good satellite locks. Then I turn 4G on again before using an app such as Google Maps.

Why is our Focus' GPS so slow???

Why is the Focus' gps so slow? I don't know what's wrong with my focus, I mean it just takes so long to get the coordinates of my location. I even have to go to a open sky area then wait for few minutes before it can successfully get my coordinates. Its just so annoying, this is a post ipad product, how come an ipad 1 can get my coordinates even inside the room without any difficulty?
Is this a hardware issue or just a firmware fix is due?

my focus gets a very quick lock about 90% of the time, every so often it will take a mintute or so to lock, but i've had this happen with pretty much every phone i've owned, so it seems about average to good for me...
the ipad1 (unless a 3g + wifi model) uses your network to locate you, which is why it's quite fast.

We have 2 Focuses, one AT&T and one Rogers. With both I get about the same time to get a fix, and that's slightly under a minute, in my location (several tall buildings near).
With what app do you check your GPS? I recommend GPS App

It's an AT&T. My ipad is a 3G+Wifi. It gets gps coordinates via gps chip and not A-gps. Most of the time the ipad gets coordinates very fast in span of 20-25 seconds, boom you know where you are in the map.
I am using the built in MAPS software to track my location. Does the software matters? I mean if the chip is really weak, what can the software do ?

jtphl said:
It's an AT&T. My ipad is a 3G+Wifi. It gets gps coordinates via gps chip and not A-gps. Most of the time the ipad gets coordinates very fast in span of 20-25 seconds, boom you know where you are in the map.
I am using the built in MAPS software to track my location. Does the software matters? I mean if the chip is really weak, what can the software do ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sometimes it does. To give you an example why: GPS without efemerides take several minutes to get a fix. GPS with efemerides take 20s to 1 min to get a fix. Efemerides are downloaded via software.
As for the app I found it to be good enough for testing the GPS part.

I can agree with you. Sometimes while driving if I take a different route than the one the phone provided for me, it will either fail to locate where I am for a few minutes or just fail completely.
I think it's time for a small update.

Is it just a minor driver issue? I hope so , otherwise, we have to live with it or change to another device.

jtphl said:
Is it just a minor driver issue? I hope so , otherwise, we have to live with it or change to another device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Again, other people (including me) haven't experienced any issues.
In fact, it works great for me with Turn by Turn Navigation, even inside the car on the passenger seat (not near the windshield).

Try changing some GPS settings in the focus diagnosis app
Sent from my SGH-i917 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App

what are the settings in GPS I have to adjust to make it perform beyond expectations? Which specific diagnostic option I have to tweak?

Did the OP ever find a solution to this? I'm having some slow locks and the occasional non lock.
I know in the diagnostic app you can get to the GPS with*#1575# but I'm unsure of what data can possibly be changed.

I'm having the same issue on my Focus (Rogers). It never connects to sattelite and always uses aGPS. It's very annoying. I tried many different gps apps and get the same behavior - very innacurate. Garmin allways says "Can't connect to sattelite", gMaps always shows cell tower icon. My phone is unlocked using original Chevron method (not Chevron labs). I also tired to change settings in *#1575# and turn ON/OFF TLS and GLONASS but nothing helps. Should I try hard reset?

Ecstatic12 said:
I'm having the same issue on my Focus (Rogers). It never connects to sattelite and always uses aGPS. It's very annoying. I tried many different gps apps and get the same behavior - very innacurate. Garmin allways says "Can't connect to sattelite", gMaps always shows cell tower icon. My phone is unlocked using original Chevron method (not Chevron labs). I also tired to change settings in *#1575# and turn ON/OFF TLS and GLONASS but nothing helps. Should I try hard reset?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did a hard reset last night and it seems to have cleared up. I also installed this app, have to click the link in the post, searching for it didnt work.http://www.wpcentral.com/new-samsung-high-fidelity-position-enhances-gps-modifies-settings
Not sure if it's a placebo or not, but it seems to be working better.

is Focus GPS native chip or just a-gps?

Coelho_rj said:
is Focus GPS native chip or just a-gps?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Assisted GPS, which includes standard GPS in Standalone mode, so it's better than any native GPS.

after my hard reset the GPS locked much quicker for about a week, then it started acting up again.
my new solution seems to be much easier than a hard reset. Just briefly switch to airplane mode then re-enable your data and open maps up again. Been working great for me.

Faster solution that's been working for me. Turn on and off location services. My phone never locks without this, which is sorely annoying.

I had this problem on 7392 rom. After updating to mango 7720 and 8107, I get fix in 3 to 7 seconds in my room Tested with gpsinfo, it's real satellite data, not agps. I have also installed high fidelity position settings app. Don't know if it's helping.
Sent from my SGH-i917. using Board Express

I9020t on stock 2.3.6 GPS not working.

On Google Navigation, GPS Essentials, GPS Status, it can never get a fix. Everything needed is enabled, tried multiple reboots, etc, still not working. Left it there for like a hour and after still no fix. GPS Essentials doesn't even see any satellites while trying to get a fix.
Any fixes for me or is this just a hardware issue?

Are you testing in a big open area? That's where I would test first. Is your 3G data working? With 3G data, it locks significantly faster than without it.

Tested in both outdoors and indoors by a window, doesn't even see 1 satellite.
3G data is enabled.

Might be a HW thing. Try flashing stock 2.3.4.

Hi , i had this problem but after several weeks and many searches this thread helped me to solve:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1260079
hope to help you too

Hmm, what exactly did you do? I've already cleared the Gps cache multiple times.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

everything has expressed there...

Can you explain what you did step by step? In the other thread you just said how it just worked after a month...
Thanks,

fatalityxz said:
On Google Navigation, GPS Essentials, GPS Status, it can never get a fix. Everything needed is enabled, tried multiple reboots, etc, still not working. Left it there for like a hour and after still no fix. GPS Essentials doesn't even see any satellites while trying to get a fix.
Any fixes for me or is this just a hardware issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it's definitely a hardware issue, have the same problems.
SNR values stay below 30! Insufficient to get a good fix.
Tested many gps fix apps, all not able to solve.
Fixed my problem by using an external Bluetooth GPS Antenna (old Nokia) and GPS Bluetooth app from the Market. Now GPS fix in seconds, SNR values above 40.. constant fix never looses signal etcetc...
Antenna on device is to weak!

fatalityxz said:
Can you explain what you did step by step? In the other thread you just said how it just worked after a month...
Thanks,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
of course ,see the post no.9 in that thread
i did that by using XXKD1 radio ,now i'm on XXKF1 and think it has weaker GPS config....
edit : dont forget to turn on GPS and WiFi for downloading data

GPS lock time problem

Hi,When I use my phone for finding my location without using data connectivity - without relying on A-GPS so my phone finds my location after a lot of time or sometimes google maps can't find my location.
How can I solve this?
Thanks.

After day or so it won't get fix at all. Samsung just did something wrong I'm afraid. Looks like the GPS in SG2 NEEDS data to work. I found the hard way on my trip to Japan. I know no solution.

So I cant change my gps settings?
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App

GPS in the S2 is weird. Some days it locks in seconds other times it takes forever. I never use A-GPS.
Today I couldn't get it to lock but last night it was instant. So I restored a CWM backup from last night, rebooted and it locked instantly.
I played around with MIUI for a couple of days and found lock time much better than stock or custom rom.
Also, changing server with fasterfix makes no difference when its having problems locking.
I just don't get it.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App

GPS Aids in Market. It will take a bit of time on first lock but from then it will be fast.

sxi200 said:
GPS in the S2 is weird. Some days it locks in seconds other times it takes forever. I never use A-GPS.
Today I couldn't get it to lock but last night it was instant. So I restored a CWM backup from last night, rebooted and it locked instantly.
I played around with MIUI for a couple of days and found lock time much better than stock or custom rom.
Also, changing server with fasterfix makes no difference when its having problems locking.
I just don't get it.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you 'never use AGPS' ? Btw. my problem is not time of the lock. But the fact, that without network, I don't get fix AT ALL. With network AGPS reset helps (many apps can do that). But without network GPS works only for some time (AGPS data still valid). After that you just won't get fix. It even looks like wifi connection won't help, it has to be mobile network.

It's because of crappy gps reciever or it can be improved by another rom?
Thanks
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App

It seems the problem is that GPS is in mode, where it simply relies on AGPS. In older ROMs there was app called LBSTestMode where you could change the mode to stand alone, or just AGPS based. This application is not in newer ROMs, so it cannot be switched. It clearly is just a software thing. Except it looks that there is no solution which does not involve flashing roms and/or rooting.

Dr.Sid said:
How do you 'never use AGPS' ? Btw. my problem is not time of the lock. But the fact, that without network, I don't get fix AT ALL. With network AGPS reset helps (many apps can do that). But without network GPS works only for some time (AGPS data still valid). After that you just won't get fix. It even looks like wifi connection won't help, it has to be mobile network.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I never use it. I don't tick 'use wireless networks' at all. To me that's fake GPS.
Since my last post, GPS has been perfect. Am able to lock up to 11 satellites sitting on the couch. On average it takes about 10 seconds to lock. Tested it at least 20 times today.
But who knows what will happen tomorrow!!!
Man, if you can only get a lock using wireless networks then I think your GPS might be stuffed.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App

sxi200 said:
Yeah I never use it. I don't tick 'use wireless networks' at all. To me that's fake GPS.
Since my last post, GPS has been perfect. Am able to lock up to 11 satellites sitting on the couch. On average it takes about 10 seconds to lock. Tested it at least 20 times today.
But who knows what will happen tomorrow!!!
Man, if you can only get a lock using wireless networks then I think your GPS might be stuffed.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That does not mean you don't use AGPS. AGPS is method, where data about GPS satellites are not downloaded from those satellites via GPS receiver, but rather from server via. mobile network. So I'm afraid you do use AGPS, unless you disable mobile networking (and wait about day for current data to become obsolete).

One thing I've noticed is that when I run Z-DeviceTest and bring up the GPS status display, it shows that none of the satellites have almanac data, and very rarely have ephemeris data. If that's accurate, that would suggest that if you've turned off AGPS and mobile networking, you could have some trouble.

3waygeek said:
One thing I've noticed is that when I run Z-DeviceTest and bring up the GPS status display, it shows that none of the satellites have almanac data, and very rarely have ephemeris data. If that's accurate, that would suggest that if you've turned off AGPS and mobile networking, you could have some trouble.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice find. First app I know which shows this. Now I can test if that almanac is downloading via GPS satellites or not.

Dr.Sid said:
That does not mean you don't use AGPS. AGPS is method, where data about GPS satellites are not downloaded from those satellites via GPS receiver, but rather from server via. mobile network. So I'm afraid you do use AGPS, unless you disable mobile networking (and wait about day for current data to become obsolete).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok. So does that would mean it's impossible to get a GPS lock without data enabled? Or just harder to?
Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned AGPS, but instead wireless networks which show your position even though GPS is not locked.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App

sxi200 said:
Ok. So does that would mean it's impossible to get a GPS lock without data enabled? Or just harder to?
Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned AGPS, but instead wireless networks which show your position even though GPS is not locked.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It seems it may vary with ROM, and it is possible to switch it, at least older ROMs contain service menu module (LbsTestMode) to switch it. But my SG2 seems to be unable to get a fix without network. It simply does not even try do download Almanac or Ephemerides data from the satellites.
Also for AGPS, mobile network must be used, not WiFi. As I understand it, those AGPS server names are virtual, and network provider redirects them based on location .. which is not possible via WiFi.
I wonder WHY there is such option at all. Do mobile network providers want us to be unable to get a fix without them ?

Dr.Sid said:
It seems it may vary with ROM, and it is possible to switch it, at least older ROMs contain service menu module (LbsTestMode) to switch it. But my SG2 seems to be unable to get a fix without network. It simply does not even try do download Almanac or Ephemerides data from the satellites.
Also for AGPS, mobile network must be used, not WiFi. As I understand it, those AGPS server names are virtual, and network provider redirects them based on location .. which is not possible via WiFi.
I wonder WHY there is such option at all. Do mobile network providers want us to be unable to get a fix without them ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey Dr, I think you have diagnosed my problem
Every so often I turn off data and use only wifi. One day my GPS locks in seconds then the next it takes forever.
So I have now tested it a couple of times over the last couple of days, when I can't get a lock I turn off wifi and turn on data. All of a sudden GPS locks again. Interesting!!
Hopefully that is it. Will test again the next time it won't lock.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App

Ha ! Breakthrough. I could get a fix without network ! But ..
I used newer version of 'GPS Status' app. It shows state of unconnected satellites with gray/blue/yellow based on how much data it has - none/almanac/ephemerides. So you can see if there is some progress or not.
So I disabled network (both wifi and mobile), disabled location from mobile network, left just GPS on .. run GPS status and used 'Reset AGPS'.
The connection has few 'phases':
1) you get signals from satellites .. you see it in power meter .. all are gray .. and their dots on the 'sky' view are all in the N. Sure, GPS does not know where the satellites are, and does not know where you are .. so it can't know where on the 'sky' they should show.
2) Some signals/dots turn blue. That means you have almanac data. Rough position of all satellites, which is transmitted by all satellites. That already means your GPS receiver was used to download some data from the satellites. Based on this, GPS can tell very roughly where you are, and will paint dots on the skyview.
3) Some signals/dots turn yellow. That means you successfully downloaded ephemerides data from that satellite, and it can be used in fix. Have enough of them, and you are done.
4) Some signals/dots turn green - you have fix. The error will get better over time as more satellites are used.
I took me over 5 minutes .. but thanks to this tool I could see I'm indeed receiving some data and there is some progress. Also it only worked outside, under open skies. I tried that in a car, in a bus, in a train .. after 10 minutes I did not get over phase 1. With AGPS I get fix in all such situations in few seconds.
It just looks like the data decoding module for almanac/ephemerides is not the same as for the time (which is used in fix itself). While time channel is quite sensitive and fine, data channel seems to have troubles with even slightest disturbances.
Still I'm happy I made it work in the end !
Btw. the fact that AGPS does not work over WiFi still holds.

ayosopov said:
Hi,When I use my phone for finding my location without using data connectivity - without relying on A-GPS so my phone finds my location after a lot of time or sometimes google maps can't find my location.
How can I solve this?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try fasterfix from market

I rarely have the data connection on (just to save battery) and WiFi is only on where I know I have a known connection - thus it is off when outside.
I put on the GPS then immediately run Sygic satnav program. I will have a fix normally within 30 seconds and a worst case of about a minute (that I can remember).
I have just tried switching off and on my phone, putting on the GPS (from the Pull down menu) and run Sygic. From switching on the GPS, I had a lock in about a minute.
KI3 Stock ROM

fred_up said:
I rarely have the data connection on (just to save battery) and WiFi is only on where I know I have a known connection - thus it is off when outside.
I put on the GPS then immediately run Sygic satnav program. I will have a fix normally within 30 seconds and a worst case of about a minute (that I can remember).
I have just tried switching off and on my phone, putting on the GPS (from the Pull down menu) and run Sygic. From switching on the GPS, I had a lock in about a minute.
KI3 Stock ROM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you try that with AGPS manually reset ? I recommend 'GPS Status' tool to do it, it's in 'tools' menu.

GPS lock time seems much improved in KJ4 firmware for me (i'm on orange 2.3.5)
all three DOP values in GPS Status now show figures (instead of infinity for two of them), and i'm getting reported accuracies of around 5 metres, instead of 14 - 20 metres on the older firmware.

Can't connect to GPS satellites

From few days ago my phone started to lose GPS signal, now with every GPS test apps I can see the satellites but it didn't connect to any. I tried different ROMs, came back to MIUI but nothing changed. Is there a way to restore connectivity as I think it's a software problem because I can see satellites, so the antennas work but don't connect?

Have a similar issue, started losing connection to GPS satellites, while using in the car.

Please search first
https://forum.xda-developers.com/redmi-note-7-pro/help/redmi-note-7-pro-gps-problem-t3960702

Same thing here .
Tried everything
Going to replace the phone

Update:
After one day GPS started working again without doing anything. Maybe it could be related to Android auto as I'm not using it for 2 days and my problems started when I was using it

I am currently on Atom OS and have that issue of not working GPS every time I reoot. Have to disable location service (in quick settings) and reenable them for it to work, This is probably already solved in an updated version of my ROM, but hey, it's a quick try.

I have a similar problem, but I already have several months with my redmi note 7 and after moving to miui 11, the GPS works irregularly. I have seen many comments about problems with the GPS, but I have not seen any explanation from xiaomi
Enviado desde mi P008 mediante Tapatalk

the GPS stopped working properly as if there was not enough signal,
how did you solve it? I see the satellites but a small signal and disappearing.
hardware repair - how?
or software? (goes downgrade miui?)

After update to Miui 11 i hve similar problem with my gps. I'm using app from Play stone - GPS FIX/OPTIMIZER and work fine. If i have problem with gps, run the app and restart.
Изпратено от моят Redmi Note 7 с помощта на Tapatalk

thank you, the signal is better but still not good. In the woods I used to run when I had my cell phone in my pocket and the signal was OK, now the signal is lost

I had this problem and i ve solved it turning off smart lock

staups said:
I had this problem and i ve solved it turning off smart lock
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm looking for, but I can't find anywhere, even google didn't help me much
I do not have smart lock in setup / password and security
where it should be in RN7, miui 11

I'm on Cdroid and i find smart lock under security. I had MIUI before and i Remember i had Smart lock too. When you connect a new bluetooth device system should ask you about Smart lock. Try ti search in options

Hi guys
I was having the same problem with the gps connection. after changing my region settings from Brazil to Argentina, the gps returned to work correctly. test by changing the region and always restarting with each change.
My rom: V11.0.5.0.PFGMIXM (MIUI11)

I tried everything
also unlocked the bootloader and tried other rom
fix is not a problem, but the signal is still weak (large inaccuracy), with most satellites up to 20snr
a month ago there was no problem, I suspect the gps antenna, but I do not recall any phone crash, etc.
unfortunately I find nowhere manual, video, where the antenna and how to fix it

vejvik said:
I tried everything
also unlocked the bootloader and tried other rom
fix is not a problem, but the signal is still weak (large inaccuracy), with most satellites up to 20snr
a month ago there was no problem, I suspect the gps antenna, but I do not recall any phone crash, etc.
unfortunately I find nowhere manual, video, where the antenna and how to fix it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try to change the region, restart your smartphone and check for any improvement in the gps signal.

I tried everything, fix is no problem, I catch 12 sometimes more satellites (in open area), but all with low signal. Just go under the edge of the tree, and the signal is very weak and very inaccurate.