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Hi! I hope to write in the right area, but if not I ask someone to move my post in the right one.
Now I have a HTC Diamond device, but I've to change it for a GalaxyS or an iPhone4.
I would like to buy a GalaxyS device, but I read many posts about bugs, lags, gps problems, so I wonder if it is a great choice this GalaxyS.
I like android and all the development opportunities around it (thanks to XDA), but it seems to be not so stable yet...
I flashed many ROMS on my Diamond in the past, so it's not a problem to do the same for my GalaxyS, but problems are fixed? The GPS works fine? Maybe not...
Maybe with Froyo 2.2?
iPhone4 is not so open as an Android device, but it's a very stable device!
What do you think about?
coming from a winmo background you're gonna love the galaxy s! its miles ahead in terms of refinements, polish and brilliant integration. The GPS problems are nothing so critical...its more of a sw fix im guessing. I live in India, and i have ZERO problems on my GPS....i feel the bug is something country/carrier specific.
there are many things to love and obsess with the galaxy s....go get yourself one, you sure wont regret it
While I'd love to echo what dreamtheater39 has said, I can't. It's a brilliant phone, but after having mine for just under a month, it's starting to lag like crazy, and in the last two days I've had a ton of dropped calls and the phone has switched itself off/crashed three times in the last few hours resulting in data loss because the power button doesn't respond (forcing me to hard-reset the phone).
All I can say is that, if you do get one, have an open mind. And make sure you don't get locked into a lengthy contract in case things do go awry.
same here GPS working great since day 1
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=775450
Maybe I got a lemon
Maybe I got a lemon but I can not stand the i9000. I have 4 bugs that drive me crazy.
1. Market Place hangs at starting download. I have to do a factory reset to download an update an app.
2. GPS just stops working or it puts you on a different street when you are using navigation. The worst part is then it has to recalculate the directions twice, once for the wrong location and then again for the correct location, which is a real pain in the pocketbook when you are rooming.
3. Receives invalided cert from a hotspot connects the 1st time then never again. So I cannot use my hotspot at work, my old iphone connects no problem.
4. Does not always switch between wifi and mobile network. Have to go to airplane mode and back to get 3G network. (I tried changing the wifi sleep settings)
Mmmm...so maybe it's a good device, but I understand that who had an iPhone before it seems to be a step backward...is it?
Since some think that the GPS hardware (that can't be fixed by software settings) in the Captivate is crap, do you think that Samsung should use hardware from a different GPS provider in their next version of the phone? Does Broadcom have any GPS hardware in other phones that work well? Other than buying a Garmin phone, are there any other phones out there that use "true" GPS, as in one that you would find in a "real" handheld GPS device? I see/hear a lot of people returning their phones strictly because of the GPS not working well.
I'm just wondering if there will ever be a GPS fix for my Captivate, if the hardware is at fault. If it is a poor GPS chip in the phone, there's not much we can do about it, unless the GPS manufacturer updates their driver and they produce some type of software fix.
I updated my Captivate with the OTA update that claims to "fix" GPS performance. It has improved from never getting a fix to providing one relatively quickly. However it loses the fix moving, it loses the fix for NO REASON when stationary (sitting on a surface with a clear view of the sky), goes nearly a minute without updating at times and isn't accurate. People that are using it and saying it works great have never used a real GPS before. The Captivate is useful for location based services at best and hopefully with more improvements navigation.
I compared it side by side with a 9 year old Garmin eTrex and the ancient eTrex blew the Samsung out of the water. Initial fix on the Samsung was faster (thanks to AGPS) but while the Garmin hovered between 6-8ft CEP and the Galaxy S was about 32ft CEP. This makes the Garmin about 30x more accurate in my book.
This was both outside and INSIDE in my home. To the naysayers that say GPS shouldn't be working indoors please take a walk. It depends on the construction of your home. The fact that a 9 year old GPS receiver that was never known for its sensitivity beats the pants off off the Galaxy S really speaks to how much of a terrible joke the phone's GPS is.
If I could I would return the phone. This OTA update was AT&T and Samsung's fix for the GPS and I believe they're going to say it's "done". Because they'll claim to have fixed it already I hold out no hope that this issue will be further addressed and am upset I have the phone. GPS is a basic feature for such a well-spec'ed phone - we shouldn't be thankful when features work - we should demand that they do.
I'd say probably that's all Samsung can do for its crapy implementation of BroadCOM 4751 chip. The GPS chip may be the latest and greatest (newer than the one used in iPhone4, BCM4750) but we are the beta testers for BroadCom/Samsung as the chip is very new (released in April 2010) and never field tested in any devices.
I have no doubt that we will see great GPS performance from this chip later on from other phones or GPS devices. Just not from any of the current Samsung Galaxy S phones. There is only so much they can do to compensate in software for the bad hardware implementation. Ultimately they have to change the board design and/or chip designs to address the real issue. I just can't see Samsung willing to recall millions of existing SGS phones back and replace the motherboard on each one of them.
The update was certainly discouraging. The phone really has no ability to track you correctly on GPS when moving and it loses its lock frequently. Wasn't there a leaked vibrant rom that fixes the tracking part of GPS? Having something like that come to the Captivate is really the only hope we have left at this point.
I'm not a GPS expert, but since basically every phone that comes out these days has a working GPS, I really can't understand how Samsung managed to screw this up. I'm sure that GPS is quite complicated, but aren't the methods and alrogithms for calculating position from the data pretty well established at this point? I don't know why its this difficult for them to get this right. They souldn't have to reinvent the wheel with this; just implement an existing algorith. I wish I knew what is so challenging for them, it seems way to easy for this much time to go by without addressing this properly.
This needs to go in Q&A or General.
TheSopranos16 said:
They souldn't have to reinvent the wheel with this; just implement an existing algorith.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is not the algorithm, it is the chip. For what ever reason, Samsung decided to use the latest and greatest, but untested, GPS chip that was officially anounced only the spring of 2010. Basically, we are beta testers for BroadCom for its BCM4751 version 1.0 sillicon. Of course, adding a slighly bigger or better GPS atenna inside the phone probably will help too but Samsung has to cut corners somewhere (they always do)
I'm also disappointed with the GPS in this phone. I have a standalone Garmin that I bought this summer, but its nice to know that I can use the phone if I don't have my Garmin with me...but I can't rely on this thing.
I had the Nexus One before this and its GPS was great. I used it on a 300+ mile trip between St. Louis and Chicago and it never lost its fix.
I like the Captivate better for its screen, true multitouch and better graphics processor (although I don't really notice a difference there).
I like the Nexus One better for more ROMs (Cyanogen), stock Android, WORKING GPS, first for updates.
IF (and that's a big IF), they can get GPS to be reliable while driving, then I will prefer this phone.
It is very frustrating. I purchased 2 Captivates, one for my wife and one for myself. Both phones are factory still. The wifes gps works excellently, fix within 5 seconds (indoors too).....whereas my gps couldn't find me if I was the only crumb on the plate.
I returned the first phone. The second phone handed to me worked just as my wifes did. Excellent gps fixes. This phone unfortunately had the turn off problem. If the phone was in my pocket for any period off time it would turn off.
I returned this one for a third phone. The third phone stays on but still has the gps problem.
Is it the device, the hardware or the software, you be the judge!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
drez22 said:
It is very frustrating. I purchased 2 Captivates, one for my wife and one for myself. Both phones are factory still. The wifes gps works excellently, fix within 5 seconds (indoors too).....whereas my gps couldn't find me if I was the only crumb on the plate.
I returned the first phone. The second phone handed to me worked just as my wifes did. Excellent gps fixes. This phone unfortunately had the turn off problem. If the phone was in my pocket for any period off time it would turn off.
I returned this one for a third phone. The third phone stays on but still has the gps problem.
Is it the device, the hardware or the software, you be the judge!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its still hard to say. Signs are starting to point towards hardware, but it could also just be poor drivers, which will eventually get fixed hopefully.
I've said this in another post.. but these phones are being produced on an assembly line - errors get made - the phones are all using the same hardware.
this is my #5 captivate - the last 2 phones were battery issues, but att replaced the entire phone.. I tested gps before I left the store with the new phone -
everyone needs to understand that there will ALWAYS be problems - It's technology. If your GPS didn't work within the first 29 days, take it back!
There is a reason Samsung is creating a "fix" for the GPS - they aren't RECALLING the phone because of a hardware problem. I will eat my words if the phone gets recalled because of a bad "GPS chip." But for now, if you are within 30 days and you aren't happy, please go return it, test the new phone in the store before you leave!
There is still SOME home for this chipset. Nokia is developing a device with the same chipset. I made a thread in i9000 - Android Development forum with the linux driver source code written by Nokia. We'll have to see. If Nokia releases a device with this chip and the GPS works, we know it's Samsung's fault.
Has anyone ever tried to get a comment from Broadcom about the GPS issues? Since its their chip and there are over a million Galaxy S phones out there, I would think it would be appropriate for them to weigh in on this...
born_fisherman said:
I've said this in another post.. but these phones are being produced on an assembly line - errors get made - the phones are all using the same hardware.
this is my #5 captivate - the last 2 phones were battery issues, but att replaced the entire phone.. I tested gps before I left the store with the new phone -
everyone needs to understand that there will ALWAYS be problems - It's technology. If your GPS didn't work within the first 29 days, take it back!
There is a reason Samsung is creating a "fix" for the GPS - they aren't RECALLING the phone because of a hardware problem. I will eat my words if the phone gets recalled because of a bad "GPS chip." But for now, if you are within 30 days and you aren't happy, please go return it, test the new phone in the store before you leave!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have to realize that the percentage of the bad SGS with GPS issues are too high to be caused by any reasonable manufacturaing defects.
You can't test GPS properly in a store without going through a driving test. Period. The problem with the GPS is not about whether or not you get a lock, it is whether or not the phone can keep an accurate lock on you while driving. Unfortunately, most ppl didn't realize this at all.
Samsung will not recall the phone even if it turns of the GPS chip or motherboard is the problem. It is not some kind of safety issue.
TheSopranos16 said:
Has anyone ever tried to get a comment from Broadcom about the GPS issues? Since its their chip and there are over a million Galaxy S phones out there, I would think it would be appropriate for them to weigh in on this...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Broadcom made some small fixes in the driver. That's why with JH7, you can see your phone can lock on to more than 8 satellites now. Old drivers will only allow max lock of 8 satellites and minimal SNR value of 20. New driver allow lock on to more than 8 satellites and minimal SNR value of 10 or so. But unfortunately, it didn't improve moving accuracy.
So when you go to the AT&T store take the phone outside and the phone you are going to walk away with doesn't see any satellites, you should just take it and run?
I'm saying this with experience. I've had 2 phones that didn't pickup any satellites even after waiting 5 minutes.
My current phone immediately saw satellites and got a lock within 45 seconds.
Regardless if you are moving or not, the phone should be able to see satellites - I understand the problem is when you are mobile and keeping the lock, this is not my argument.
my argument is that people are still complaining that they can't get a lock even after the OTA update - Test your phone before taking it home. That's all. Not a big deal if you ask me! If your new LCD TV with HD tuner isn't picking up HD channels, you would bring it back right??
My gps was pretty terrible until I flashed Cognition the first version. Now my gps works amazingly and never has the blue circle of ambiguity. Very happy with the gps performance now. So much that I haven't flashed the cognition that is updated with JH7. Worried it could brea kit haha. might as well try though.
Yeah, the new one (Cognition v2.1) with OTA JH7 in it is pretty bad based on my reading. JH7 is an old firmware. Original Cognition has some files from T-Mo Vibrant JI2 firmware which is newer than JH7.
Our only hope is that the final version of Froyo has some improvement baked into.
My OEM Hong Kong Milestone 3 (ME863) just got a 28 MB OTA update today. System is now 2.3.6. No mention of what this update brings anywhere....... Kind of weird.
Anyway, looks slightly more smooth. Camera app slightly quicker... No idea of the improvements except that. Need more time to tell about the battery life and the bugs I had before (GPS bug).
If anyone has more info, please share.
So XT862 officially has oldest android
Not sure exactly how to do this, but could you check to see if the OTA has an unlocked bootloader? If it does that would mean some progress, if not, back to square 1!
GPS bugs? Elodie1, care to clarify what do you mean by the GPS bug?
I have the ME863 that the GPS fail to work at all. I cannot see a single satelite with the GPS Status app, even with AGPS turn on. What GPS bug are you experiencing?
Sometimes (not all the time), GPS would not work at all. It's turned on, but the logo does not appear when I launch Maps. And of course, my phone doesn't can't locate me correctly. Same thing with any app.
A simple reboot actually fix this... But it is quite annoying since it makes you waste several minutes.
But, if you're in HK and you think your problem is more a hardware problem, you should bring your phone to the Moto tech centre, they can usually fix it within one day if you bring it in the morning... and they lend you a phone of course.
I see, i guess my problem is different from yours then. Unfortunately I'm not in Hong Kong, I'm sending it back to the seller and hopefully he'll be able fix it or send it back to Hong Kong to fix it.
Don't know how fast it can be fixed though
I see. Anyway, I can now confirm this update does not fix this GPS bug (despite the fact it has been reported by several users on the Motorola forums since the very beginning).
I am happy that the system seems to be slightly more smooth. But I am astonished by how little Moto seems to care. E.g. what would it cost to add the same camera shortcut than on the Razr? Hello Moto! This is basically the very same lockscreen and system! So let's not talk about Smart Actions (but since they are one of the very few things that will differentiate D4 from D3, so let's not care about the D3 early adopters...)
Bought that new MS-3 yesterday and got that OTA update on my way back. Everything seems good even with the GPS navigation program. I can't find any problem so far. I traded in my HTC Sensation which is a total disappointment !
Say... ME863 owners, one thing that I found to be inconvenient, is that the Milestone3 can't do video call directly through 3G. It needs to be done through an app.
Have you all tried it?
I'm sure it's not an android limitation, because Samsung Galaxy S can video call without an App. Maybe Motorola don't think it's worth to support this function?
I always have raved on how great the GPS is on my S4. It will lock onto satellites with 10' accuracy in the house. It was always spot on and never gave me any issues. That was until the 4.3 update. (I am not positive this was the reason - but it is around that time).
I am a runner so I use my phone 3-4 days a week to track my run 3-10 miles each time out. Before it was always perfect. Now it will lock on and track for a various amount of time.. from a few minutes to 15 minutes - but it will eventually just stop working. If I turn on the phone to look, the GPS icon at the top is not there, and the app does not know it lost gps signal. I can touch the screen and then the gps icon reappears, blinks, reconnects and all is good. I turn off the screen and go about my run and it will work for some period of time and then off again.
It "seems" like to me some app is using the gps and then not playing friendly and turning it off for the other apps. I don't know if that is what is happening but it seems that way.
I get the same results no matter if I use Google Maps, Waze, Runkeeper, or GPS Test... so it is not application issue persay.
I restored to factory and installed only what I need to run (Runkeeper and Google Play music) and it worked without a hitch for the entire 6 mile run. Great! Fixed! So I re-installed my apps and now it is doing the same thing again. So that seems to indicate another app not playing nice like I mentioned above. So I uninstalled any apps that I thought might be an issue and it is still there. So I fear it might be one of the ATT bloatware apps that I cannot uninstall.
Before I undertake the very tedious task of restoring to factory, running 6 miles, installing 1 app, running 6 miles, repeat --- until I find the culprit - I was hoping someone might no a quicker solution?
Thanks!
Obeg said:
I always have raved on how great the GPS is on my S4. It will lock onto satellites with 10' accuracy in the house. It was always spot on and never gave me any issues. That was until the 4.3 update. (I am not positive this was the reason - but it is around that time).
I am a runner so I use my phone 3-4 days a week to track my run 3-10 miles each time out. Before it was always perfect. Now it will lock on and track for a various amount of time.. from a few minutes to 15 minutes - but it will eventually just stop working. If I turn on the phone to look, the GPS icon at the top is not there, and the app does not know it lost gps signal. I can touch the screen and then the gps icon reappears, blinks, reconnects and all is good. I turn off the screen and go about my run and it will work for some period of time and then off again.
It "seems" like to me some app is using the gps and then not playing friendly and turning it off for the other apps. I don't know if that is what is happening but it seems that way.
I get the same results no matter if I use Google Maps, Waze, Runkeeper, or GPS Test... so it is not application issue persay.
I restored to factory and installed only what I need to run (Runkeeper and Google Play music) and it worked without a hitch for the entire 6 mile run. Great! Fixed! So I re-installed my apps and now it is doing the same thing again. So that seems to indicate another app not playing nice like I mentioned above. So I uninstalled any apps that I thought might be an issue and it is still there. So I fear it might be one of the ATT bloatware apps that I cannot uninstall.
Before I undertake the very tedious task of restoring to factory, running 6 miles, installing 1 app, running 6 miles, repeat --- until I find the culprit - I was hoping someone might no a quicker solution?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you sure it's not staying connected but not displaying the icon? Ie, if the app hasn't realised the connection has dropped, maybe that's because the connection hasn't dropped, just the icon has? In tech terms, to solve a problem you must first find it by isolating the cause, which would be the tedious task you're referring to.
Even then, it is possible it's a hardware or firmware issue, so a factory reset still might not fix it. Have you tried an app like this? It ill set your NTP Server without searching for it so that it connects quicker, maybe (I'm not sure) it will be able to keep it connected to that server.
Do you have CWM? You could flash a different ROM.
I can confirm this problem. It is intermittent. GPS loses the location fix. I had a similar problem with certain Motorola Attic ROMs that had something to do with a conflict with the "Use Wireless Networks" setting. I'm those ROMs, I could turn that setting off, and GPS would work fine. That workaround doesn't work for this ROM. I only mention it to help rule some things out. I thought that it worked fine right after I updated, but I may not have used the GPS much our maybe I just didn't notice. Yesterday, it was barely usable. I remember that epinter, in the Atrix 4g forums, had a tool that reset some GPS settings. I'm see if I can find it and test it. I will report back.
Update: Today, GPS works perfectly fine. Seems to be intermittent.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk
Still having the issue. Reset my phone to factory again this time taking the extra step to format the SD card to just in case. By the way - I am running stock AT&T 4.3. This time when I reset I did not connect to the WiFi so it would not automatically install / update any apps.
I then added only 2 apps - Runkeeper and Play Music and went for a run. The GPS tracked perfectly for a 5 mile run.
I then installed GPS test and let it run for an hour or so. It never lost connection.
So I updated GMAIL. Repeat GPS Test.
Updated Hangouts. Repeat GPS Test.
And so on.. finally after about the 10th app it failed. The last app I had installed was Facebook.
So uninstalled. Failed again. Uninstalled the previous app to that which I think was My Fitness Pal.
It seemed better - it would go hours before failing... and then only seemed to fail when a phone call came in. So thought I could live with that.
So went to the gym and to test it I used Google Maps to navigate. Terrible! Would not work for more than a mile. I finally gave up.
When I say it is not working - I mean the GPS says it is on. The GPS Test app says the GPS is on. But the icon at top goes away and Google Maps says "GPS Signal Lost." In my Run Keeper app - same thing - icon goes away and no more mileage is recorded. If I turn on the phone, open Runkeeper - it then restarts the GPS and all is good for another few feet or maybe a mile and then it does it again.
I tried turning off the Use Wifi for GPS option and that has not helped. Thanks for the suggestion though - you gave me hope.
I have have been a software developer for 20 years and this just smells like buggy code somewhere and not a hardware issue. Either something to do with the new OS update from ATT (but why is no one else complaining) or some combination of apps I use. Runkeeper. My Pebble. Something. But it is driving me nuts. The GPS really is the main app I use on this phone... so it is making for a really expensive mistake at this point and I hate to admit that since I love Samsung and Android.
I should have updated my status again. The problem is intermittent, but it happens often. Like you, I am fairly certain that the ML2 update brought bugs with it. My GPS always worked perfectly before that. Now, even when it does work, it doesn't work well. The fix is jumpy and slow to update. My guess is that others also have the problem, and they don't use their GPS often enough to notice or care. I bet that Samsung is aware of it, but so many people had problems installing the last update that they will not be so quick to provide an update that doesn't affect many people. I guess a better way to put it is that Samsung probably doesn't want to take a chance that a small update might break more than it fixes.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk
I also have same GPS issue since 4.3 , same issues note 3 is having actually if I plug my active in while GPS is on it will stop working and when switching data network types it will lose GPS signal
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk
Convinced it is the 4.3 ATT Active update now after repeated and very controlled resetting and testing.
Frustrating and makes my phone fairly useless to me for my main purposes. Today during a 7 mile run - it lost connection at least a half a dozen times. I have to run with the phone in my hand and restart the gps constantly.
Some people said they had success using Odin to flash the MF1 modem bin file. The thread discusses it here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2691264
However, this did not fix my issues with GPS unfortunately, but thought maybe I'd post it in case it helps someone else.
So it appears that it is, as suggested, the radio that causes this issue.
A "workaround" for using the GPS is to put the phone into airplane mode (turning off the Radio and WiFi) fixes the GPS 100% in my testing.
However this is not a real fix for real use of the GPS to navigate since you have no access to data.
It appears these are the circumstances that cause my GPS to drop:
- Cell radio changes towers (which happens a lot in my remote area)
- WiFi changes antennas
- Phone is plugged in or unplugged
- A phone call is received.
So yeah - as long as your don't use your phone as a telephone - you are grand!
The new HTC One is looking mighty nice to me right now. First non Samsung component (phone, laptop, TV, etc) that I have considered in years...
Obeg said:
So it appears that it is, as suggested, the radio that causes this issue.
A "workaround" for using the GPS is to put the phone into airplane mode (turning off the Radio and WiFi) fixes the GPS 100% in my testing.
However this is not a real fix for real use of the GPS to navigate since you have no access to data.
It appears these are the circumstances that cause my GPS to drop:
- Cell radio changes towers (which happens a lot in my remote area)
- WiFi changes antennas
- Phone is plugged in or unplugged
- A phone call is received.
So yeah - as long as your don't use your phone as a telephone - you are grand!
The new HTC One is looking mighty nice to me right now. First non Samsung component (phone, laptop, TV, etc) that I have considered in years...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's weird that even in airplane mode my Active won't get a gps signal. Used a few apps to test as well: GPS Status, FasterGPS, GPS test, and all say no satellites in site.
I was getting GPS issues for quite some time, until I tightened the screws at the back of my case. It was supposed to be a fix for the S3 but it worked fine on my S4 as well.
Hope this helps
trenzterra said:
I was getting GPS issues for quite some time, until I tightened the screws at the back of my case. It was supposed to be a fix for the S3 but it worked fine on my S4 as well.
Hope this helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On your S4 Active? I'll try. Thanks!
TransformixS4 said:
On your S4 Active? I'll try. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine was a normal S4 but I guess it might be the same on the S4 Active as well
trenzterra said:
Mine was a normal S4 but I guess it might be the same on the S4 Active as well
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried tightening up the screws a bit, which they did, but still no GPS for me. Going to do a backup and another full wipe and restore.
AT&T fixed my phone
I too had the GPS signal lost issue after the 4.3 update on my S4 active on AT&T. I called AT&T yesterday and they advised me they were aware of the issue. Their instruction was to take my phone to Best Buy where they have a "Samsung Solutions / Experience" dept / kiosk. So I did. They flashed my phone to 4.4.2. I am happy to report that all GPS problems are resolved. I drove for over an hour using Google Maps this AM with no problem at all.
GPS is a big deal for me too. I drive in a lot of unfamiliar towns. I'm also a sportsman and spend a lot of time in unfamiliar woods. I rely on my phone to allow me to retrace my steps back if need be. I also use it to set waypoints and mark areas for possible future hunts. The woods look a lot different at night then during the day. So I rely on the phone to help navigate off the beaten trail and get to my tree stand. GPS failures are not an option. Pure and simple. I can get out of the woods with a compass - but I may not find my tree stand in the dark without my phone.
I don't know about rooting this ROM, etc as I don't have need to root my phones. But it did fix the GPS issue and the phone seems a little faster with battery battery life too. YMMV.
Thanks for your post! Did you l lose any data with the update to 4.4.2?
I have the same exact problem with my S4 active, definitely a software issue. For a while I used the airplane mode work-around which was great, until a recent update to Google Maps causes maps to crash when airplane mode is on, so now I'm back to having no navigation. I'm frustrated that AT&T has dragged their feet on getting an update out to the public. They must have zero QA to let a bug this obvious get into the public. I wonder when they'll push 4.4.2 out as a regular update?
AtrixInFL said:
Thanks for your post! Did you l lose any data with the update to 4.4.2?
I have the same exact problem with my S4 active, definitely a software issue. For a while I used the airplane mode work-around which was great, until a recent update to Google Maps causes maps to crash when airplane mode is on, so now I'm back to having no navigation. I'm frustrated that AT&T has dragged their feet on getting an update out to the public. They must have zero QA to let a bug this obvious get into the public. I wonder when they'll push 4.4.2 out as a regular update?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No I did not lose any data or apps. I have no complaints. Phone is working great. I'll never accept another update OTA though - I don't care if I have to root to avoid them.
I got the 4.4.2 over the air update, and it fixed my GPS problems. No new problems.
Hello XDA guys. Your webpage is awesome.
I have a problem witn my Z3C (5833) for a month now and I have tried many things with no success. I hope you can help.
My phone was updated to Lollipop not long ago (May - June to 5.0.2) and in one moment (I cannot tell exactly when) the GPS sensor stopped working. The Wifi and Mobile location work, however the GPS is dead. Phone not unlocked or rooted. Original Stock ROM.
I go to the about phone - Diagnostics and test the GPS.. and it stays as "GPS is starting ... the GPS couldnt be started". When I download GPS test apps, they dont detect a single sattelite. I also tried the *#*#7378423#*#** GPS diagnostics, "purged assistance data", and it keeps on "waiting for location update" eternally
Because of this I wrote to Sony and they answered asking me to do a phone repair from Sony PC Companion. I did the phone repair and the problem was not solved.
Because of this I thought .. hey, maybe Lollipop is the problem. So I unlocked the bootloader and downloaded Emma (Sony recommended flash program for stock ROMs).
Emma downgraded my phone to 4.4.4 (23.0.A.2.93). However I still had the problem.
Next, I enter XDA and downloaded Flash tool. I downloaded one of your stock ROMs: 23.0.1.A.5.77 - Unbranded - Australia (1288-4214) {4.4.4}
I installed it and nothing. Same dead GPS.
So now I have no clue what might be the problem. Maybe the antenna got broken inside? How can I know if its a hardware or software issue?
Any help would be appreciated
Additional data:
Right now I have the 4.4.4 (23.0.A.2.93)
Baseband: 8974-AAAAANAZQ-00005-05
Kernel: 3.4.0-g0961cdf Build [email protected] #1 Tue Aug 19 19:48:36 2014
Thanks
If the issue still exist with different firmware i guess its a hardware failure.
basti2909 said:
If the issue still exist with different firmware i guess its a hardware failure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do I open the phone?
Thanks
Emi85 said:
How do I open the phone?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I opened the phone. Now i need to know where is the GPS antenna, anybody know?
In sony it says its near the headphones plug. No more details.
Thanks
Hi,
I have the same issues. It says since about two months. 23-26 sattelites found, but no signal and no fix. On 4.4.4 was OK, since updating nothing anymore.
I went back to Kitkat but still dead.
Anyone managed to get it back without sending it in??
Same problem...no GPS.anyone with a solution??? New motherboard? Soldering a antenna. Someone's got to have a fix for this problem.
Sent from my D5803 using Tapatalk
Same problem and even tried to update to Android 6.0 with Marshmallow and still no GPS. 23-26 sattelites found, but no signal and no fix.
Any updates?
Hello,
I noticed since some time the same problem. I did a quick search on Google, and the problem seems more then usual after one of the official updates by Sony. The problem is discussed on the Sony Xperia Care support forums. All the affected user seems to suffer not from a complete signal outage, but rather from a substantially downgraded performance due to a bad SNR value and poor signal tracking, as can be seen by using the GPS Test app.
Resuming what has been written in the threads, all the following operations seems not to solve the issue:
- factory reset / repair with PC companion
- downgrading to an earlier release
- installing a custom ROM
- returning unit at service
What is annoying is the total disinterest by Sony that seems to ignore the problem, maybe they only want to take time to better understand the problem. If anyone should have news about this please let me know, because the only solution for this issue for now seems to be wating for a solution!
Thank you!
Same problem. Original Kitkat. In May worked excellent. During August I mentioned,it dosn't work. Some photos had changed infos about time and date of creating. On camera disappeared SCENE function in manual mode. When I allowed gps function on camera, gps worked immediately. Unfortunately only once. Camera Blocks gps?
Same problems here...
Hey, same issues here. I think it's just really slow to connect. I've recently sent my phone in for a warranty repair with Vodafone. It came back and was still broken.
Today however... I checked my phone and itw as working again (for about half an hour). Now I'm getting nothing again.
I've tried everything suggested, even down loaded AGPS file etc. But nothing seems to work.
Mega frustrating!!!
the only way for today is replacing motherboard... sony sucks. never again
I just wrote on the sony xperia support forum, somebody talks about a fix they provided for the xperia m series that seems to be affected by the same issue. But for our z series it seems not to be any fix at the moment.
After suceeding the GPS diagnostic test in the settings once, the GPS seems to be fully broken with no tracked satellite at all (before it was at least tracking a few satellites with a very poor SNR, now nothing according to GPS Test app). Repeating the GPS diagnostics now always results in an error. I'll try the warranty return but I'm pretty sure they'll give me a faulty device, as many other here and on the other forum have experienced.
Same problem ... just got the phone days ago.
Any solution ? or do I need to return it ...
I had issues with GPS, could see satellites but no fix on any. after expired warranty I rooted it and used 4 different ROMs, worked on all of them. instant lock on min 6 satellites. I am aware it could be HW issues but this is my experience with this problem.
gnjurac said:
I had issues with GPS, could see satellites but no fix on any. after expired warranty I rooted it and used 4 different ROMs, worked on all of them. instant lock on min 6 satellites. I am aware it could be HW issues but this is my experience with this problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm more and more convinced that this is a SW issue. Sony did something wrong when updating the firmware in August 2015. The fact that the satellites are visible comes in my opinion from the AGPS data, which loads the konwn satellite positions from the Internet. Instead, the problem seems to be the locking of a satellite signal, and it seems that something is disturbing the GPS antenna. If it comes out that this is really the issue, it is very disappointing that Sony didn't do absolutely nothing to solve the issue since last summer.
I'm using CM12.1 nigthlies and since about December/January I have the same problem. So a custom ROM does neither help nor prevent the problem. In addition to that, compass is uncalibrated and I don't get it calibrated again. Really sucks, last year I used the Z3C for lots of outdoor navigation, and suddenly something has happend which makes the device unusable...
I did root with kingroot and changed /etc/system/gps.conf as described in code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=81140#c695
Now my GPS is locking again.
Did not help for me. Currently I don't even get bad fixes, I get no fixes at all. Never ever, even after hours in the open. This sucks.
Hi,
Disabling google maps helped me. Before 0 sats visible, after disabling it locks within seconds.
apneist said:
Hi,
Disabling google maps helped me. Before 0 sats visible, after disabling it locks within seconds.
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Click to collapse
I had the opposite experience, I had no lock, I was trying everything, then I opened maps and I had lock in under ten seconds.
I wonder if it's a glitch in accepting the google 'we're going to follow your movements' contract. Because until I agreed to that, gps didn't work.