gps issues? - Samsung Galaxy S8 Questions and Answers

just received my s8. going back from work I decided to turn on the navigation to check if gps is working. It was stuttering so I downloaded some gps info app and there is no fix on my galaxy. The location when stationary is kinda working, shows it more or less precise but when travelling it jumps around.
How long the first fix should take? Any ideas? Anyone with the same issues?

ok nevermind
After 45min outside it fixed the location.

Hello mates,
I am planning to order s8 tomorrow. How you find it?
Regards,

Not sure if the s8 is like other samsung devices, but power savings modes can interfere with the gps locking.

Not sure if its still a thing but I think the first lock can often take a bit if there isnt perfect signal. I know back in the day when flashing various ROMs the initial GPS lock wasnt always quick unless I had really strong signal to the sats.

I find the attenuation of the gps signal on my gs8 to be very strong. If I'm holding the phone it seems on the lower half of the phone during navigation the signal degrades. If I put it on my leg flat it attenuates to the point of occasionally dropping signal. If it sits upright in my dash phone holder it seems to work fine. Is this normal and is anyone else experiencing this?
---------- Post added at 01:24 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:21 AM ----------
By the way, I have gps toolbox downloaded and have redownlaoded the agps and reset the gps data numerous times

I've been having gps issues as well, especially when using waze. Basically, signal disconnects and can't reconnect (or it never connects in the first place...) until you turn off location and then turn it back on again...

First fix is always the longest, because without knowing location GPS doesn't know what sats to look for and needs those sats to download data. Also when I first turned my phone on it was on Korean time zone. Finally, to get fastest fix allow phone to read network/wifi location (I think you need to manually set it to on) to read approximate location, to sync sat table etc. Since I use GPS daily with Google maps I can't remember waiting for proper fix more than few seconds, even when surrounded by very tall buildings and its always right on the money. Now you should be good to go with fast fix also, unless you turn GPS off for longer period of time.

I am also having issues getting the gps signal to lock. If i turn location off and then on it seems to work. Does anyone have a work around?

I was having odd GPS lock issues myself. I turned off the feature that lets it connect passively to wifi and bluetooth to attempt to "improve" location. After i turned those off, my GPS has been a lot more consistent. It by default uses your cell service and GPS antenna, which personally I feel is enough, i don't need to be getting location data from random wifi points and bluetooth signals that could be messed up, since I personally don't want to rely on other peoples devices that possibly are misconfigured.
This is of course my theory. In general it really could be a problem with the GPS in the device. I'm not really certain. Anybody else have results with this sort of change I made?

I think using BT and WiFi even when those services are turned off is overkill and I agree, it could cause more problems than benefits, I never turn it on. Hi accuracy is my setting and I think that uses cell towers and I think it may use my home Wifi, when I'm logged into it, but not sure. Bottom line it works very well on my phone and it can even tell when I'm in different rooms around my house. For example right now I'm in my office on 2nd floor of 10 floor building and my location on map is within 10 yards of actual location and I'm not even anywhere near any window, so it should not work, but somehow it does .

I have the same issue. I downloaded a navigation app and planned a short 2 mile trip to my local store just to check it out but it didn't follow me on screen it was only updating every 3 or 400m, like you discribe - jumping around. When I open Google maps and it shows the orientation of my phone I discovered my compass was 180° out. I downloaded a GPS resetting tool from the App Store and this worked for only a few minutes but now my compass is again 180° out even after I used to reset tool. Any help would be much appreciated

After reading this thread I tested Google Maps on the drive home and the GPS was fine. Also works fine on a couple of biking apps. For the biking apps I use GPS Keeper Pro to keep the GPS on all the time for better accuracy. Not sure if it is needed, but on other phones I got in the habit of using it. For driving I don't use GPS Keeper.

Corrupted cache
I cleared my cache in recovery mode and then the gps worked fabulously. Problem I had was that gnaps would lock on if stationary and would go haywire if asked to navigate. Cleared cache in recovery and then used the app. Worked flawlessly. It must be some corruption in the cached files with a recent ota installed.

100% Worked for me.
Recovery mode Power + Vol up + Bingsby let go when logo comes 2sec. wait and choose clear cache.
After GPS works again.
Before I tried everything. Also Total reinstall. But no luck.
Thanks million times for the hint.........

Ditto here. I was really getting aggravated bc i need to view maps (not while navigating, but while driving) to see these FM and county roads, and it would update every ¼ Mile.
Cleared cache and all is well now...
Now just waiting on a perfect root for s8+ QGL ????

same problem please help
amritnoronha said:
I cleared my cache in recovery mode and then the gps worked fabulously. Problem I had was that gnaps would lock on if stationary and would go haywire if asked to navigate. Cleared cache in recovery and then used the app. Worked flawlessly. It must be some corruption in the cached files with a recent ota installed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did the problem came back after wiping or clearing the cache?
---------- Post added at 05:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:56 PM ----------
MaRyNoFear said:
100% Worked for me.
Recovery mode Power + Vol up + Bingsby let go when logo comes 2sec. wait and choose clear cache.
After GPS works again.
Before I tried everything. Also Total reinstall. But no luck.
Thanks million times for the hint.........
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did the problem came back after wiping or clearing the cache?

amritnoronha said:
I cleared my cache in recovery mode and then the gps worked fabulously. Problem I had was that gnaps would lock on if stationary and would go haywire if asked to navigate. Cleared cache in recovery and then used the app. Worked flawlessly. It must be some corruption in the cached files with a recent ota installed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Old Post but new solution for me thanks funny thing because I thought wiping cache from the device maintenance was the same I guess not ??*??

GPS issue
Hi to all. I did all the above mentioned things and factory reset except clear cache. Isn't factory reset clear cache also?
Should I try clear cache?
Thanks

https://forum.xda-developers.com/ga...rdware-fix-t4101705/post82610627#post82610627

Related

GPS unable to find my location.

So my G1 can't find my location via GPS no matter where I am. I am standing in the middle of a soccer field and it is "your location temporarily unavailable." So I installed GPS status from the market and it is showing that 0 satellites.
I am using JF 1.51, radio 2-22-19-26I, and the DEV SPL(the one with androids on skateboards). Anyone have this problem or know a way to fix it? This has been going on for a few days so it's not a satellite problem. It is phone related. If more info is needed from me I will do my best to get it to you.
Thing I have tried(updated last 16 JUN 2009 12:18 PM -6:00GMT)
-Toggle GPS on and off
-Reboot
-Combination of the above two multiple times
-device wipe(alt-w) and re-flash the JF1.51 ROM
-Toggles and reboots again
-wait for more ideas from you guys
Now I tried installing the dudes cupcake(awesome by the way) but GPS still doesn't work. It picked up one satellite for a couple seconds then it disappeared to 0 again.
Try toggling GPS off then back on. Maybe reboot the device too.
jashsu said:
Try toggling GPS off then back on. Maybe reboot the device too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried that. No dice. I will edit my original post to include things I have tried.
Did you try waiting a few minutes with GPS status ?
At some point my GPS was very very slow to get a lock.
Zappletoo said:
Did you try waiting a few minutes with GPS status ?
At some point my GPS was very very slow to get a lock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I let it run all night(6 hours). Still reading 0 satelites.
Update. Got one satellite to show up for a couple seconds then it disappeared. This is after I wiped and installed the dude's latest rom. Still getting 0 satellites in GPS Status and no location on my maps. I have tried the old and updated google maps.
marshallladd said:
Update. Got one satellite to show up for a couple seconds then it disappeared. This is after I wiped and installed the dude's latest rom. Still getting 0 satellites in GPS Status and no location on my maps. I have tried the old and updated google maps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have another GPS equipped device that shows satellite lock? If so, your radio might be dead.
uberingram said:
Do you have another GPS equipped device that shows satellite lock? If so, your radio might be dead.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was afraid of that and I think it is. I just rooted my friends phone and everything works fine. Also I have a Blue Force Tracker(US Army advanced GPS monitoring computer, in laymans terms) and that is working fine. I'm gonna un-root and hope i can get an exchange with t-mobile. I've only had the phone for a month or two.
Just got off the phone with android support from t-mobile. It's funny when you relize you know as much them and then some at times. This place is great.
But back to the main point. I told them the GPS is out, and I have re-flashed the OS(i left out the root and other than t-mobile os's part). Final answer from the rep, we will send you a new phone, sorry yours broke. So that's it for that. JF and TheDudes ROM's had nothing to do with it. Just a bad model I got. Now to un-root...
I just reflashed my phone with stock JF1.51 to clear out some cruft from past experimentation. Upon loading up my complement of apps from the Market (including the 3.1.0 Maps app) I opened Maps and noticed it would not lock onto GPS with a clear view of the sky.
I was able to fix it by opening settings and turning off the Use Wireless Networks option then opening maps again. After it got the first GPS lock, I turned the Use Wireless Networks option back on. All is fine.
Might wanna try that out? It's worth giving a shot.
I don't know what happened but i have reflashed my phone over 5 times today. I was trying to put apps2sd back on JF1.51(skipped a step and bricked it, twice lol) and now it is working again. Strange.

[TIP] GPS Issues Workaround

Obviously Samsung has no idea how to write proper drivers for Android phones running the QSC6085. I found a workaround that fixes any issues with GPS.
It's completely simple, turn off WiFi and 4G when you're trying to get a lock.
Proof 1: I stood outside in broad daylight with clear skies connected to my home's WiFi network. Using GPS Test, my phone discovered 12 satellites and made 0 connections for 3 minutes. I closed the app, disabled WiFi (used 3G) and I got a lock of 4 satellites within 15 seconds and 6 - 8 after another 15 seconds.
Proof 2: I left my house and went straight from WiFi to 4G. I got in the car and turned on Google Navigation. I set it to my destination and waited for a lock. After a minute I turned off 4G and got a lock within 15 seconds.
THIS PHONE HAS NO MAJOR GPS ISSUES. Obviously these are simple bugs and I have no doubt in my mind that Samsung is aware of these and will fix them in the next update.
Other GPS bugs I've noticed:
No matter how many satellites I have locked on, my accuracy has never gone below 30 meters.
SNR numbers are really low. According to a leaked ROM for the Vibrant, this can be fixed.
K.. I checked your tips..
3g only[Inside Apt] -- floats between 7 and 8 sat and usually 6-7 locks
Wify Only[Inside Apt] -- Solid 9 satalites and 7-8 locks
4G[no wifi] : stopped with 4 sat and 4 locks but I noticed that my 4g likes to sleep
Yes, it seems that when using WiFi, that updated ephemeris data is not being transmitted, however, it's not bulletproof - after a day or so, it'll try to lock, the 3G connection will go dormant, and it'll just sit there...
I have three epics and have been working with *#1472365# settings and testing for about a week.
I am concerned you maybe getting a false positive on repair of the main problem until you confirm, with no resets and further changes to *#1472365# (which reset the cache) that 24 hours later and in a diffident position you do lock most sats Epic sees.
There are a dozen things you can do to flush out the xtra data cache, just none that I have found that persist and to it regularly (ideally with a couple hours at most for ephmeris, and a day o r two for alamanc). Most proper aGPS implementation will also give the device a minute on warm/hot start, and if is seeing and not locking, grab new assistance data from the best source (first choice network, second birds)
I do think sammy is teid itself up in knots with drivers because of the many different agps environments Galaxy S is sold in. It goes way beyond GSM v CDMA, but also even bigger considerations, like agps data source adn methods, and even whether the device is in a unlimited data carier environment (like our epics) or not.
have you done any testing with the xtra settings themselves? seems to me that is where the rubber hits the road?.
aero1 said:
have you done any testing with the xtra settings themselves? seems to me that is where the rubber hits the road?.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only change I've made with my phone's *#1472365# settings is setting it to Cold Start to save battery. I know in testing builds of the Moment aGPS addresses were set to internal testing ones that didn't work.
No problem with GPS here. I use Navigation and CoPilot and both pick me in seconds. Navigated from the mechanics workshop today just to test it out and worked like a charm. Guess some have it and some don't.
yes me too, and further, with speedtest app, the only way i can get it to lock on a server that is near me is to have wifi on when I start the app, then it locks on my server, otherwise, it has me 1500 miles away as closest server.
LordLugard said:
No problem with GPS here. I use Navigation and CoPilot and both pick me in seconds. Navigated from the mechanics workshop today just to test it out and worked like a charm. Guess some have it and some don't.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, we all have the same bug and Sprint Device team is trying to get samsung on it.
You just haven't been in a condition where it occurs, whcih is turning on GPS in a different location say 8 hours later absent flushing the cache.
The Epic doesn't properly check the cache for staleness, so everyone who uses GPS will come up on this problem eventually. It is a bug Samsugn has had before.
arashed31 said:
The only change I've made with my phone's *#1472365# settings is setting it to Cold Start to save battery. I know in testing builds of the Moment aGPS addresses were set to internal testing ones that didn't work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the reason why I am asking is Epic has in that debug menu are setting to set time for attempts as well as flushing the cache manually. It would be interesting if we could get that going.
the reason I say so is cold start is a good workaround but it will murder GPS TTFF (time to first fix) in non network conditions. It will make it worse than standalone. Literally every time you start it will be a cold start and you will have to wait for almanac, which is 5 to 15 minutes if outside of network coverage. That is what I am seeing with cold workaround. I am still playings with forcing warm
Are you seeing that? with cold stat set, enable airplane mode, restart Epic, restart GPS and see what happens.
arashed31 said:
I found a workaround that fixes any issues with GPS.
It's completely simple, turn off WiFi and 4G when you're trying to get a lock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This method did not save me today, when after letting my Epic's GPS go unused for > 24 hours I tried to get a lock with WiFi and 4G disabled. Multiple satellites were visible, but only two were used. Gave up and rebooted. After which, almost immediately, I got 8 out of 9.
boomerbubba said:
This method did not save me today, when after letting my Epic's GPS go unused for > 24 hours I tried to get a lock with WiFi and 4G disabled. Multiple satellites were visible, but only two were used. Gave up and rebooted. After which, almost immediately, I got 8 out of 9.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I think the OP got hit with what hit us in all testing. That is why i am doing careful controlled tests. Since the main issue has to do with failure to consistently and properly remove expired and invalid assistance data cache lots of things may be removing that cache, for example any changes to that cause a reset.
Right now the only consistent way to remove it without user intervention is to go into the debug and set as cold start. The problem with that is it introduces a new problem affecting standalone TTFF, ie once you get outside of data range you will do worse TTFF than dedicated handlheld GPS units that keep almanac in ephemeris.
This problem is akin to some condition where the phone will freeze and not make calls if you don't use it in 24 hours but most people didn't realize there was a time consideration. 90% of the people would be saying there is no bug or that they have a fix.
to test any fix you have to:
get a gps location.
not use GPS for 12 hours or move location significantly.
do not reset or action that inadvertently fushes cache.
test again.
In every case and attempted workaroudn with this test but cold start hack I cannot get a gps fix on any of our three epics.
@aero1,
The complication in my last case is that I was in Cold Start mode. Maybe I just didn't give it enough time.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
boomerbubba said:
@aero1,
The complication in my last case is that I was in Cold Start mode. Maybe I just didn't give it enough time.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cold start set in *#, data connection on, clear sky and no fix within 30 seconds? Please say it isn't so.
aero1 said:
Cold start set in *#, data connection on, clear sky and no fix within 30 seconds? Please say it isn't so.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the setting alright. I think at first I had 4G enabled when I started GPS Test. But the first thing I did was disable it, thus defaulting to 3G, with GPS Test still running.
But it's possible I didn't give it enough time to lock. I was in my car and perhaps too impatient. I may have given up and rebooted after less time than that.
Since then I have left Cold Start set, and have not experienced a no-lock error condition again. But I have rebooted a couple of times for other reasons. When I started my commute home this afternoon and started GPS Test, it was slow to lock but it came around to a full lock in a minute or so.
I've been using the GPS quite a bit this past week. I've had no problems getting a fix except for onces. It was due to the typical bug (find satellites but not connect). I went into the GpsTest shortcut and set it to Hot Start then back to Cold Start. Immediately the GPS started working again.
Switching back and forth clears the GPS cache and fixes this issue. To me, that's the only problem this phone has. As far as I know, this can be an INCREDIBLY EASY fix if anyone can go into the source and put in a way to periodically clear the cache.

GPS after the update

I think I've updated my phone with something called Kies mini... I am trying to check my location with the gps but it aint even close to where I live!!!
Everyone talks about how satellites has their gps locked on to but I have no idea how to see that... with gps test.
HELP PLEASE! It has been always showing the same location doesnt matter which city I'm on! (before the update too)...
I think once I have tested this gps fix that was around, but then I went back to normal settings (i guess)... cause it didnt work
Now it it says that I have ECLAIR.UVJI6
I am new to all this
Search the market for an app called "GPS Test". It will show you all of the information you're looking for.
Well, I'm still having GPS difficulties with the newest update (Running Bionix 1.9).
ECLAIR.UVJI6 is the newest update, so don't worry about that.
cwoodworth said:
Well, I'm still having GPS difficulties with the newest update (Running Bionix 1.9).
ECLAIR.UVJI6 is the newest update, so don't worry about that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At least I have the right update :/
tenchi-kun said:
Search the market for an app called "GPS Test". It will show you all of the information you're looking for.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have GPS Test and GPS Status... The first one doest even move at all when I start the application and the second one on the bottom show it seems that is loading something forever. Where do I see the sats? Have no idea. From the second one I will guess that it could be that part that says "fix/sats" and right now is saying 0/2.
My goodness... The damn gps would so useful to stop loosing myself on the German streets
Nothing that I can do to fix it? Is there any news about if this is the last official fix for the gps?
My GPS was working great when I first odin JI6, now all of the sudden it just stop working, I try to odin it back to JI6 again and it still doesnt work so well.
I'm testing the GPS out right now. I've had the phone since wednesday, tried google maps and it's never been able to get my location. I just installed JI6 today and ran GPS test for the first time. I got 0 satellites for a couple of runs until my 3rd try where it eventually got up to 10.
Even though I get locks on GPS test, google maps/navi still can't pick up my location so it's useless =\
In my specific case, I found that the JI6 GPS update did not perform much better than the original version. Yes it was better, but certainly not as good as the JI2 update. So, I've applied the JI2 update and things seem to work much better.
Also, I've found that turning off wifi when making the initial GPS lock really helps reduce the amount of time needed to initially lock.
Good luck!
^ second that. Try to turn off wifi.
Try these maybe:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=728894
FYI - Ive had good luck changing to MS Based:
From link-
""In MS-Based mode, the network provides the satellite information to the device, based on a rough estimate of where the device is located, and the device acquires the GPS signals from the satellites and calculates its location. After the initial fix, the device operates like an autonomous GPS receiver, until the satellite information must be refreshed, at which time the device goes back to the network to update the satellite information. MS-Based mode is appropriate for applications that require the device location to be updated rapidly, such as a navigation application. Can the GPS work in autonomous mode? No, the GPS receiver requires the assistance of the network elements to acquire its initial location fix.""
i flashed bionix 1.9 and had more problems with gps than when i was running 1.5. atleast before it was sort of accurate... and found a couple sats after 2-3 minutes. but iwth 1.9... nothing and not even the correct side of the street (showed me east while i was way west). then i found someone who had a gps fix based on j12 and it was in zip so... i mounted that to me SD and reinstalled using clockwork recovery... now within seconds i get gps ... extremely accurate... AND... lock on to most of the satelites that are available. i love it!
Right, so here are my thoughts and experiences while using the new JI6 update:
1) Way more accurate than the previous couple of builds that I have tried. When the GPS does lock, it usually locks onto 10/12 birds and finds my location within 5-6 meters. Not bad! Definitely not as good as when I had GPS working via one of Eugene's Franken-Twiz ROMs (between 2-3 meters), but definitely good enough for daily navigation.
2) The fix for damn sure didn't fix any of the satellite aquisition problems that our phones have been experiencing. Typically for me it will aquire satellites right off the bat about 50% of the time. Other times I'm left waiting 20+ minutes for it to get a lock.
3) Solution I have found to get a quick fix. Type in *#3214789650# (for the new JI6 update) and delete the GPS Data cache. I think it's the last button on the list. After the cache is cleared, use the top button on the list to perform a location test. I've seen this take anywhere from 30 seconds up to 2 minutes... sometimes a bit longer if I am in an area with poor signal coverage. Once I have aquired a successful lock on multiple birds, I simply back out of the application and am good to go. If I leave GPS constantly on, I have found that my phone will maintain the lock almost indef. If I turn the feature off during the day to conserve battery life I have found that it will usually aquire a lock within 30 secs or so of me turning GPS back on IF I am still in the area where I turned the feature off. If I drive to an area an hour or so away from where I turned it off, I usually have to repeat the above process to get a quick fix.
I've tried every iteration of option combinations from the lbltest menu, and have mostly been greeted by similar results, with no one option particularly speeding up the process. Based off of this I am assuming the issue probably lies with the caching of stale data on our phones, and it's inability to purge this data on it's own.
The one thing I haven't tried yet is the JI2 fix mentioned above. I might give this a whirl and see how it works!
BTW, I'm an expat working in Europe, so this might also be the cause of my slow lock times... however every other GPS I own works magnificently over here.
Moped_Ryder said:
Try these maybe:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=728894
FYI - Ive had good luck changing to MS Based:
From link-
""In MS-Based mode, the network provides the satellite information to the device, based on a rough estimate of where the device is located, and the device acquires the GPS signals from the satellites and calculates its location. After the initial fix, the device operates like an autonomous GPS receiver, until the satellite information must be refreshed, at which time the device goes back to the network to update the satellite information. MS-Based mode is appropriate for applications that require the device location to be updated rapidly, such as a navigation application. Can the GPS work in autonomous mode? No, the GPS receiver requires the assistance of the network elements to acquire its initial location fix.""
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the first "fix" for the gps? I tried once but it didnt work.
I have tried pretty much all the "fixes" I can think of and this is what I have found. No matter the source (root mods, Bionix, J12/J14/J15/J16-leaked and OTA), changing from 'standalone' to msbased helps tremendously. Also using the google server and port is much much better for faster locks and maintaining lock even if you are not in clear view of the sky (tree, buildings etc will affect you lock). I willl say the stock JFD with the msbased and google server and port was better than just about all the other ones I have tried with the stock standalone and spirint server.
IMO The OTA J16 is the fastest and most accurate (less than 10 feet everytime, less than 30sec fix everytime) that I have tried, but even that required me to use the google server and port, and also switch to msbased.
theking52 said:
i flashed bionix 1.9 and had more problems with gps than when i was running 1.5. atleast before it was sort of accurate... and found a couple sats after 2-3 minutes. but iwth 1.9... nothing and not even the correct side of the street (showed me east while i was way west). then i found someone who had a gps fix based on j12 and it was in zip so... i mounted that to me SD and reinstalled using clockwork recovery... now within seconds i get gps ... extremely accurate... AND... lock on to most of the satelites that are available. i love it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, do I need to root my phone for that?
cathardicnotion said:
Right, so here are my thoughts and experiences while using the new JI6 update:
1) Way more accurate than the previous couple of builds that I have tried. When the GPS does lock, it usually locks onto 10/12 birds and finds my location within 5-6 meters. Not bad! Definitely not as good as when I had GPS working via one of Eugene's Franken-Twiz ROMs (between 2-3 meters), but definitely good enough for daily navigation.
2) The fix for damn sure didn't fix any of the satellite aquisition problems that our phones have been experiencing. Typically for me it will aquire satellites right off the bat about 50% of the time. Other times I'm left waiting 20+ minutes for it to get a lock.
3) Solution I have found to get a quick fix. Type in *#3214789650# (for the new JI6 update) and delete the GPS Data cache. I think it's the last button on the list. After the cache is cleared, use the top button on the list to perform a location test. I've seen this take anywhere from 30 seconds up to 2 minutes... sometimes a bit longer if I am in an area with poor signal coverage. Once I have aquired a successful lock on multiple birds, I simply back out of the application and am good to go. If I leave GPS constantly on, I have found that my phone will maintain the lock almost indef. If I turn the feature off during the day to conserve battery life I have found that it will usually aquire a lock within 30 secs or so of me turning GPS back on IF I am still in the area where I turned the feature off. If I drive to an area an hour or so away from where I turned it off, I usually have to repeat the above process to get a quick fix.
I've tried every iteration of option combinations from the lbltest menu, and have mostly been greeted by similar results, with no one option particularly speeding up the process. Based off of this I am assuming the issue probably lies with the caching of stale data on our phones, and it's inability to purge this data on it's own.
The one thing I haven't tried yet is the JI2 fix mentioned above. I might give this a whirl and see how it works!
BTW, I'm an expat working in Europe, so this might also be the cause of my slow lock times... however every other GPS I own works magnificently over here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gonna try this out! cheers
finds sats but won't lock on...
I'm still having GPS problems post-update. I've never installed any custom ROMs or any custom GPS fixes other than some tweaking in the LbsTestMode menus, which I have since reverted to the default.
In the LbsTest or the GPS Test app I get the same results: the phone always finds 10-12 satellites just fine (levels in the 20s) but it never locks onto my location. GPS Test will say "In View: 10" for 20 minutes but "In Use" always stays at 0.
Anybody have any ideas here? I was really hopeful that I'd finally have a functioning GPS after this update.
cathardicnotion said:
Right, so here are my thoughts and experiences while using the new JI6 update:
1) Way more accurate than the previous couple of builds that I have tried. When the GPS does lock, it usually locks onto 10/12 birds and finds my location within 5-6 meters. Not bad! Definitely not as good as when I had GPS working via one of Eugene's Franken-Twiz ROMs (between 2-3 meters), but definitely good enough for daily navigation.
2) The fix for damn sure didn't fix any of the satellite aquisition problems that our phones have been experiencing. Typically for me it will aquire satellites right off the bat about 50% of the time. Other times I'm left waiting 20+ minutes for it to get a lock.
3) Solution I have found to get a quick fix. Type in *#3214789650# (for the new JI6 update) and delete the GPS Data cache. I think it's the last button on the list. After the cache is cleared, use the top button on the list to perform a location test. I've seen this take anywhere from 30 seconds up to 2 minutes... sometimes a bit longer if I am in an area with poor signal coverage. Once I have aquired a successful lock on multiple birds, I simply back out of the application and am good to go. If I leave GPS constantly on, I have found that my phone will maintain the lock almost indef. If I turn the feature off during the day to conserve battery life I have found that it will usually aquire a lock within 30 secs or so of me turning GPS back on IF I am still in the area where I turned the feature off. If I drive to an area an hour or so away from where I turned it off, I usually have to repeat the above process to get a quick fix.
I've tried every iteration of option combinations from the lbltest menu, and have mostly been greeted by similar results, with no one option particularly speeding up the process. Based off of this I am assuming the issue probably lies with the caching of stale data on our phones, and it's inability to purge this data on it's own.
The one thing I haven't tried yet is the JI2 fix mentioned above. I might give this a whirl and see how it works!
BTW, I'm an expat working in Europe, so this might also be the cause of my slow lock times... however every other GPS I own works magnificently over here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
exact same issue. drive an hour away and the gps is hosed unless you clear it and start it again.
I am also overseas. I wonder if grabbing the GPS settings from I9000 would help? Does anyone have them or know where to find them?
EDIT: nevermind they are the same settings
00sivan said:
exact same issue. drive an hour away and the gps is hosed unless you clear it and start it again.
I am also overseas. I wonder if grabbing the GPS settings from I9000 would help? Does anyone have them or know where to find them?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used the GPS for hours going between statelines with JI6, no problems requiring a signal when I closed out GPS.
The_Tim said:
I'm still having GPS problems post-update. I've never installed any custom ROMs or any custom GPS fixes other than some tweaking in the LbsTestMode menus, which I have since reverted to the default.
In the LbsTest or the GPS Test app I get the same results: the phone always finds 10-12 satellites just fine (levels in the 20s) but it never locks onto my location. GPS Test will say "In View: 10" for 20 minutes but "In Use" always stays at 0.
Anybody have any ideas here? I was really hopeful that I'd finally have a functioning GPS after this update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Reboot the phone, it usually works in this case.
heygrl said:
I used the GPS for hours going between statelines with JI6, no problems requiring a signal when I closed out GPS.
Reboot the phone, it usually works in this case.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the thing is... mine worked in the states with the stock JFD without any problem. flawless.
it stopped working when i got overseas. and hasn't worked well since. It really seems like it ONLY works well in the states. I mean I can get it to work if I clear the data all the time, reset the phone all the time, but it's not supposed to work like that. It should just find me when i open maps like any sound person would expect from the device. can anyone contend? is anyone having flawless GPS functionality outside the US?
heygrl said:
Reboot the phone, it usually works in this case.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've rebooted at least 5 or 6 times, as well as clearing the GPS cache ("Delete GPS Data" in LbsTestMode) numerous times as well. Still never gets a location lock despite seeing 10-11 satellites.

App to load fresh almanac/ephemeris data over internet?

Apologies in advance for creating yet another GPS thread, but I'm just too paranoid that the people I want to see this are probably ignoring all the other ones (I know I am, mostly).
Back in my WM days, I had an app on my Omnia II that could load the GPS cache with fresh almanac and ephemeris data. This would result in a near instantaneous lock after refreshing the cache.
It wasn't necessary to work around a bug or anything -- rather, it was for paranoid types that didn't want to enable aGPS.
Is there anything like this for Android, and that works on the Epic? While the stale cache bug pisses me off as much as anyone, this would be a far more convenient workaround than the Cold Start (which I'm using), and less finicky (I have to force roam at my home due to near non-existent Sprint signal, and the Cold Start workaround fails in this circumstance).
dwallersv said:
Apologies in advance for creating yet another GPS thread, but I'm just too paranoid that the people I want to see this are probably ignore all the other ones (I know I am, mostly).
Back in my WM days, I had an app on my Omnia II that could load the GPS cache with fresh almanac and ephemeris data. This would result in a near instantaneous lock after refreshing the cache.
It wasn't necessary to work around a bug or anything -- rather, it was for paranoid types that didn't want to enable aGPS.
Is there anything like this for Android, and that works on the Epic? While the stale cache bug pisses me off as much as anyone, this would be a far more convenient workaround than the Cold Start (which I'm using), and less finicky (I have to force roam at my home due to near non-existent Sprint signal, and the Cold Start workaround fails in this circumstance).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
first you would have to put the device in standalone, through *#1472365+/position mode/operating mode/standalone. Otherwise you will get data calls via 3g (vs ms (device) based).
this like, cold start, has situational disadvantages, in that if you could get manual population of xtra data (assistance) cache to work, when you did not you could be waiting some time.
Next come to manual populating cache and ephemeris from a non sprint (agps) and non satellite (standalone gps) source. Since developers cannot get standard android programs such as gps status to clear the cache (manually or through standard xtra data mechanisms), it seems Samsungs cache systems, at least in the cdma versions is not standard.
So I would like to hear of any ideas as well.
aero1 said:
Next come to manual populating cache and ephemeris from a non sprint (agps) and non satellite (standalone gps) source. Since developers cannot get standard android programs such as gps status to clear the cache (manually or through standard xtra data mechanisms), it seems Samsungs cache systems, at least in the cdma versions is not standard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used to think that the GPS Status refresh just wasn't working, and I know you have talked to its developer about his difficult experience. But lately I have been careful to turn off 4G and WiFi (thus forcing 3G or even 1X standards) before starting GPS Status and it seems to work. But if I try GPS Status first, forgetting to stop 4G first, it seems like I can't recover from that by turning it off later. The botched refresh seemingly prevents a good refresh. This is similar to my experience with 4G when just using Cold Start alone and starting the GPS. So I wonder if there is some 4G problem specific to the Epic, which complicates the underlying cache bug. I doubt that it is a CDMA issue, because the refresh is done over the IP network. And there are all those anecdotal reports from users who, without knowing how, are keeping their GPS cache from becoming corrupt.
[EDIT: As I think about it, I still have been running Cold Start all along. So perhaps it is the Cold Start voodoo that is working, not the GPS Status refresh. I'll try resetting to factory stock and then try GPS Status again.]
As for XTRA, it looks like that feature it was planned or semi-developed but not finished. Or maybe it is just broken. There is a whole menu system within the UI of the GPSSetup utility to control XTRA, seemingly allowing XTRA refresh to be triggered manually or automatically on a schedule. But those menus don't seem to do anything, and even if you change the settings there your change will not survive a reboot.
Bummer.
The CS workaround works for me, but I have to remember to
Use Roam Control to switch to Home Only when I'm at home (otherwise I can't be sure Automatic will bind to Sprint's network and towers)
Turn off wifi (which, of course, I'm using 100% when at home to get decent data throughput)
Turn on GPS
Launch app I want to use
It would be so much better to just punch a shortcut on the screen, then run the app I want. All-too-often I forget one of those conditional steps above, and then run into the "can't get a lock until my "children's children have children" fiasco.
All I need is for the RC dev to add what we need to control it from tasker -- then I can create a shortcut to fire up Google Maps, Navigator, and anything else that uses GPS that automates all those steps.
boomerbubba said:
I used to think that the GPS Status refresh just wasn't working, and I know you have talked to its developer about his difficult experience. But lately I have been careful to turn off 4G and WiFi (thus forcing 3G or even 1X standards) before starting GPS Status and it seems to work. But if I try GPS Status first, forgetting to stop 4G first, it seems like I can't recover from that by turning it off later. The botched refresh seemingly prevents a good refresh. This is similar to my experience with 4G when just using Cold Start alone and starting the GPS. So I wonder if there is some 4G problem specific to the Epic, which complicates the underlying cache bug. I doubt that it is a CDMA issue, because the refresh is done over the IP network. And there are all those anecdotal reports from users who, without knowing how, are keeping their GPS cache from becoming corrupt.
[EDIT: As I think about it, I still have been running Cold Start all along. So perhaps it is the Cold Start voodoo that is working, not the GPS Status refresh. I'll try resetting to factory stock and then try GPS Status again.]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alas, I did rerun that test of GPS Status with Cold Start off. No joy.
I reset the startup mode to the factory default of Hot Start and waited a couple of days to let the cache go sour. Then I opened GPS Status, which is set to refresh the cache itself automatically. GPS Status then seemed to think it was using multiple satellites (7 green in the tiny histogram), but the GPS would never lock. I closed GPS Status and opened GPS Test, which seemed to use only 3 satellites with no lock. I was using 3G data throughout this test.
I reset to Cold Start and rebooted. GPS Test opened with multiple satellites and a good lock.
So I now believe, once again, that GPS Status alone is not a viable workaround for the Epic's GPS cache bug. I have reverted to using the Cold Start workaround routinely.

What is turning off my GPS / Location Service?

When I go to use Google Maps for navigation, I often get the message "To continue turn on device location which uses Google's location service". The problem also affects ViewRanger, an app I use for walking. GPS appears to turn off during a walk so I lose the track of my route. In this case the message is "GPS is disabled in the settings. Please enable it."
I recognise this happens after the phone has been "asleep" for a while but have not been able to measure how long it must be asleep before the problem arises. I think it is at least 30 mins.
It feels like a "battery saver" problem, but I can't see any obvious power saving setting to turn off. ViewRanger is set in App Power-saver to have no optimisation policies.
I have had my Axon 7 since Jan 2018 and this problem has only occurred in the last few weeks. My model is A2017G on stock Oreo B03 and unrooted. The problem did not emerge when I first moved to Oreo. It may have started when I moved to B03 though I think GPS was fine for a while after I moved to B03.
Something is turning off location services in the background; how do I find out what it is? Is there some sort of log I can read? What other solutions are there? Many thanks in advance, Evan
I moved from stock Oreo B03 to B04 (via B02) and wiped the cache. All now seems to be well; ViewRanger recorded a 4 hour track with no problem yesterday. Slightly strange though as I had previously wiped cache while on B03 and found that didn't fix my problem.
Too good to be true
grantem2000 said:
I moved from stock Oreo B03 to B04 (via B02) and wiped the cache. All now seems to be well; ViewRanger recorded a 4 hour track with no problem yesterday. Slightly strange though as I had previously wiped cache while on B03 and found that didn't fix my problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It did all seem a little too good to be true and, sadly, Location Services again began "turning off automatically" only a few days after my upgrade to B04. I have attached 2 screenshots from the notification log for when I started recording a route in ViewRanger at 15:07 and again 3 mins later at 15:10 when tracking appeared to stop. The logs mean nothing to me, so any insight would be very welcome.
In the meantime, I uninstalled ViewRanger, deleted all ViewRanger directories, restarted the phone, re-installed ViewRanger and wiped cache again. After that, for now at least, Location Services are again behaving.
As all this appears to point the finger at ViewRanger, I will raise direct with the application owners too.
grantem2000 said:
As all this appears to point the finger at ViewRanger, I will raise direct with the application owners too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ViewRanger, support were very responsive and supportive. They made a convincing case that the problem is not caused by ViewRanger, not least as the app has no capability to turn off Location Services.
But something is still turning off Location Services when the phone goes to sleep. How can I tell what is doing this?
In the meantime, wiping cache solves the problem for a few days, but, so far, it has always come back.
I have the same issue and that's why I think this phone's gps is useless. I find this gps not in accurate way to detect the coordinates even in all previous firmwares (nougat, all ver of oreo)
The auto turned off gps services maybe the case of software, but I think the hardware is bad either.
This is the worst part as I work using GPS a lot but I still love this guy's music features. I ended up using secondary phone/tablet to run some geographical apps, sad cant have em running in one phone only.
Update: my GPS get fixed on B04 with locked bootloader, it seems fine and fast to get POI. It's usable now. Guess the previous rom has bugs on GPS or it's broken by other apps I used before

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