Database Develop

How bad the GPS problem is?

Lets see if I understand this correctly....
on the samsung galaxy s GPS system, there are 2 options:
1)Use wireless networks: Set the device to use the
wireless networking to indicate your location
2)Use GPS satellites : Enable the GPS receiver to indicate your location
For now, we know that using the option 2 gives us crappy results (loosing signals, cannot lock sattelites, jumping around etc)
Now, for option 1: choosing option 1 means that launching the maps application should indicate where your location is currently by using some kind of triangulation method based on the availability of GSM signal, so it should even work when you are indoor or whenever there is a GSM signal......
But apparently on this phone, it only shows your initial location, then after that even if you have moved 1 km from your initial location, the location indicator arrow is stuck at your initial location, meaning that it doesnt track you and your movement, which means both options simply dont work on this phone....
On my wife's iphone, the GPS functionality works wonderfully even when i am inside a building and it keeps updating your location as you move continuosly.
It just shows you how careless and hasty samsung is in launching this product that even the simplest form of GPS functionality, one that is based on GSM triangulation method, also doesnt work..... and they still went ahead with the launch.....

Absolutely no problems with GSM or GPS positioning now that I'm using I9000XWJG5. Locks on satellites within 22 seconds from switch on. Thats at 30m precision. After 10 seconds more gets to 5m precision.
This is from inside my building. (Using GPS Status to check)

Same here. Your wife's phone probably also uses the mobile network to keep location inside buildings, or wireless networks. Try enabling skyhook, that is all i did.

used skyhook, and assited mode, accuracy set to 50, changed supl/cp settings, but compared to my g1 or hd2 or e61 or 10 year old bt/gps mouse the gps quality is just rubbish. (XXJF3)

no problem even without skyhook, but using skyhook gets locking much faster
i'm comparing it to my old HTC Athena, which takes sometimes over 5min to lock to 1 satellite in the great white open sky.... sigh...
sometimes it wont even lock if the weather is poor, takes like 30min or more to lock, under those conditions.
simply insane.
so SGS i9000 is like a dream to use.

g1 / hd2 / e61 only take seconds to get a full lock with accuracy about 3m. in my opinion skyhook and gps plus are needless if you have a working cb a-gps.

From my experience its the rom. As my gps worked fine with default FE3 (optus au) rom even indoors but when i flashed G5 (latest euro) i could only lock onto one sat outdoors even with skyhooks setting. Then i installed Samset 1.2 update.zip the gps works again, thats just my 2cents

widjaja74_us said:
It just shows you how careless and hasty samsung is in launching this product that even the simplest form of GPS functionality, one that is based on GSM triangulation method, also doesnt work..... and they still went ahead with the launch.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For the record I haven't had any issues with GPS other than it being fair slower than my Milestone.
Didn't you sell your Galaxy S anyway?

Unimaginative said:
For the record I haven't had any issues with GPS other than it being fair slower than my Milestone.
Didn't you sell your Galaxy S anyway?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey mate, I think I've seen you around the WP forums.
Quick question for you - I have a Milestone and am currently contemplating throwing it on eBay and grabbing the Galaxy S. Is there anything you miss from the Milestone?

ShaggyDragon said:
Absolutely no problems with GSM or GPS positioning now that I'm using I9000XWJG5. Locks on satellites within 22 seconds from switch on. Thats at 30m precision. After 10 seconds more gets to 5m precision.
This is from inside my building. (Using GPS Status to check)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The same here. The problems start when I go out and start to drive around in my car. My GPS is absolutely useless when you move around outdoors, but locks in a few seconds indoors.

widjaja74_us said:
Lets see if I understand this correctly....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let me see if I understand this correctly. You have sold your SGS and you are still coming back here to crap on about the GPS and other small things which are only occurring on some people's phones and not others?
For the record, everything on my phone has been running silky smooth since day one. Lag only occurs with too many apps open and this is to be expected from an operating system that can multitask.

navmanyeah said:
Let me see if I understand this correctly. You have sold your SGS and you are still coming back here to crap on about the GPS and other small things which are only occurring on some people's phones and not others?
For the record, everything on my phone has been running silky smooth since day one. Lag only occurs with too many apps open and this is to be expected from an operating system that can multitask.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I sold my phone at a profit because currently i cannot afford to have unreliable phone in doing my job... then i searched for something better and can't find any.... so i'm still following the forum to see of all the problems i experience have been fixed .... if thats the case, i might buy another one....
and for the record, i didnt crap about the GPS, i'm just investigating it deeper, becase GPS is important for me...
Thats crap for you

[Q] Will GPS ever be "truly" fixed

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.
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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.

[Q] Streak 7 wifi, stock ROM- gps unable to lock

My Streak 7 wifi, stock ROM- gps unable to lock. Other than that, device is great. Wifi connected. In settings, Wireless networks and GPS satellites in use. GPS Status & Toolbox app downloaded aGPS data but not helping, GpsFix app not helping to lock also. Any other suggestions? thanks in advance.

dang1970 said:
My Streak 7 wifi, stock ROM- gps unable to lock. Other than that, device is great. Wifi connected. In settings, Wireless networks and GPS satellites in use. GPS Status & Toolbox app downloaded aGPS data but not helping, GpsFix app not helping to lock also. Any other suggestions? thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not to be too mundane, but have you tried a simple reboot, or going outside where you'd be more likely to get a GPS fix? My T-Mobile S7 has had trouble getting a GPS fix several times, but other times it locks right in.

How long have you left in in clear line of sight of the sky to get a lock? I use mine as my primary in-car multimedia center/GPS and at first, to save battery, would turn it completely off when not in use. I found that when I'd get in my car to go home from work it could take up to 10 minutes to get a lock. Then I started just letting it sleep, have had no battery issues and GPS lock is nearly instant.
Long story short: Give it a good while to lock after a full shut down.And maybe you have, I just thought I'd share my experience.
Jeff

I have absolutely the same issue. After turning it off completely, the GPS does not lock for ages in any sky conditions, etc. Moreover, I put another two Android devices (Galaxy S and Optimus One) also after complete shut off juyst nearby and they are getting locked almest immediately. No doubts, there is a bug in the S7 GPS. But what is it ? Is it a hardware problem ? Can it be fixed ? Keeping it in a sleep mode for a long time is not a good solution for me, though it works indeed.
Does anybody know how to fix it ? At the moment I am using an external GPS. It works perfect, but it is also not that elegant solution.

Same thing here too. I downloaded "GPS test", and found that it will lock on pretty quick, then fire up GPS, and all is well.

margol1 said:
I have absolutely the same issue. After turning it off completely, the GPS does not lock for ages in any sky conditions, etc. Moreover, I put another two Android devices (Galaxy S and Optimus One) also after complete shut off juyst nearby and they are getting locked almest immediately. No doubts, there is a bug in the S7 GPS. But what is it ? Is it a hardware problem ? Can it be fixed ? Keeping it in a sleep mode for a long time is not a good solution for me, though it works indeed.
Does anybody know how to fix it ? At the moment I am using an external GPS. It works perfect, but it is also not that elegant solution.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GPS on android devices need the assistance of the cell tower or ISP location to get a quick lock. When you first boot up the ds7 and turn on GPS, make sure you are connected to wifi in order to get a quick lock. If you search this forum you will see a thread that give a fix for this, but I think its too much of a hassle. Just be on wifi for your first lock will do the trick. This is not bug on the ds7, its android.

otnos said:
GPS on android devices need the assistance of the cell tower or ISP location to get a quick lock. When you first boot up the ds7 and turn on GPS, make sure you are connected to wifi in order to get a quick lock. If you search this forum you will see a thread that give a fix for this, but I think its too much of a hassle. Just be on wifi for your first lock will do the trick. This is not bug on the ds7, its android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really? More misinformation on this subject? No, Android devices do not need aGPS, in this case you're confusing aGPS (ie: download of ephemeris data) with Network location, which are quite different.
And it really doesn't matter if it's the first or the Nth time, if the DS7 is always offline for some reason, it would likely make that first fix take 5+ minutes but subsequent fixes (for 7 or so days) would be fine. However, as soon as he goes online, it's going to download the ephemeris data.
My guess is that his GPS conf is set to the wrong part of the world, so the ephemeris data is basically invalid. FasterFix in the market can help correct this mistake if you're rooted, or you can replace it manually.

khaytsus said:
Really? More misinformation on this subject? No, Android devices do not need aGPS, in this case you're confusing aGPS (ie: download of ephemeris data) with Network location, which are quite different.
And it really doesn't matter if it's the first or the Nth time, if the DS7 is always offline for some reason, it would likely make that first fix take 5+ minutes but subsequent fixes (for 7 or so days) would be fine. However, as soon as he goes online, it's going to download the ephemeris data.
My guess is that his GPS conf is set to the wrong part of the world, so the ephemeris data is basically invalid. FasterFix in the market can help correct this mistake if you're rooted, or you can replace it manually.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I beg to differ with you. When I was on stock froyo, I had the same GPS lock problem on one of my trip. So I pulled into a McDonald and connected to their free wifi and got an instant lock. This morning I tested it again. I have been running honeycomb sine Oct 5th and have never turn on the GPS. I connected to my wifi, turned on GPS, and opened Google map and got an instant lock. I didn't have to wait 5+ min..

otnos said:
I beg to differ with you. When I was on stock froyo, I had the same GPS lock problem on one of my trip. So I pulled into a McDonald and connected to their free wifi and got an instant lock. This morning I tested it again. I have been running honeycomb sine Oct 5th and have never turn on the GPS. I connected to my wifi, turned on GPS, and opened Google map and got an instant lock. I didn't have to wait 5+ min..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And none of that has anything to do with what I said.......

This is a little FAQ I wrote up on how to fix this problem. Just a matter of replacing the file that runs the GPS, based off the area you live in.
http://tabletroms.com/forums/showwiki.php?title=DellStreakFAQ:GPS-FIX

giveen said:
This is a little FAQ I wrote up on how to fix this problem. Just a matter of replacing the file that runs the GPS, based off the area you live in.
http://tabletroms.com/forums/showwiki.php?title=DellStreakFAQ:GPS-FIX
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good list, although not sure why you're specifying dozens of NTP servers vs the pool server, but I assume t-mobile lets anyone connect to its server to download the ephemeris data? Otherwise, probably better to use supl.google.com
Here's mine, for North America, with other regions commented out for NTP. http://dl.dropbox.com/u/334233/gps.conf
It'd be interesting to know if all of the other dozen or so configuration options are actually used, I've heard they aren't, just part of a spec.

I bought my DS7 in the US and I live in Israel. The above explanations perfectly fit my case. Unfortunately, the given link does not include my region (Israel or Middle East, etc). Can somebody help me ? My DS7 runs a stock HC 3.2. The device is unrooted, but I will root it just for solving the GPS problem. BTW, why my Galaxy S bought in Europe does not have such problem ? Is this gps.conf specific in tablets only or in the US devices ?

Another thoughts. Now it seems to me extremely unreasonable to run specific GPS files in different regions. GPS, by definition is supposed to be used in different regions. Should I replace the GPS file in my every trip? Sounds more than unreasonable. I used a Windows CE based PDA with GPS all around the globe without that issue. It does took me a while to fix satellites in a new region for the first time. But then it was getting fixed fast even after complete shut off.
I can't beleive Android is that imperfect. If this option would be included in the menu (e.g. in Regional settings), I would like it. But performing such complicated actions in each trip ???

margol1 said:
Another thoughts. Now it seems to me extremely unreasonable to run specific GPS files in different regions. GPS, by definition is supposed to be used in different regions. Should I replace the GPS file in my every trip? Sounds more than unreasonable. I used a Windows CE based PDA with GPS all around the globe without that issue. It does took me a while to fix satellites in a new region for the first time. But then it was getting fixed fast even after complete shut off.
I can't beleive Android is that imperfect. If this option would be included in the menu (e.g. in Regional settings), I would like it. But performing such complicated actions in each trip ???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stop your trolling, ephemeris data, ie: what's set up in gps.conf, is to speed up cold starts. it does nothing else, it's not Android specific, in fact all it's doing is downloaded a set of the data that your GPS would otherwise have to slowly acquire from the satellites, which takes 2-10 minutes, depending on conditions and how many sats are seen.
All GPS units do this, but GPS units that have a network available will potentially download ephemeris data to speed up satellite acquisition. Otherwise they just download it. Only time you'll really notice it going slow is if it's been more than 4-5 days (I believe 7 is the official data expiration, but the older it is, the less accurate it is) or you've changed areas since you last turned on the GPS.
Keep in mind that phone-based GPS's suck. They're inaccurate, they're not sensitive, their antennas are not optimal. This is true for nearly all PDA's or Phones, Tablets, etc.. Some may be better than others. They're optimized for space, price, and somewhat for battery life. Not accuracy, precision, or cold starts (beyond A-GPS data downloads, which is an OS function that makes the data available to the GPS)

This means my unit is faulty (apparently it is a common problem for DS7). Otherwise I would have similar cold starts for all three devices I have tested (DS7, Galaxy S and Optimus One). On the other hand, in the light of your explanataion, my tests are, probably, wrong. DS7 is WiFi only, while another two are GSM (no data plans though). In other forums, I read that changing gps.conf file in WiFi only devices dramatically improves cold starts. Apparently they all have been connected to WiFi while starting. I have prepared the appropriate file for my region, but don't know how to root my DS7 with stock HC 3.2. The thread I found here is not sufficiently detail for noobs like me. So, in the mean time I will continue using the external GPS. It is indeed much better than the internal one besides the cold start problem (though much less convinient). If you know a link to the step-by-step instructions for rooting DS7 running stock HC 3.2, I will greatly appreciate it.

margol1 said:
The thread I found here is not sufficiently detail for noobs like me. So, in the mean time I will continue using the external GPS. It is indeed much better than the internal one besides the cold start problem (though much less convinient). If you know a link to the step-by-step instructions for rooting DS7 running stock HC 3.2, I will greatly appreciate it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Always possible there's a problem with the GPS, maybe the antenna is defective or connected badly. Hope you figure it out.
I have two bluetooth GPS, one Holux 236 I've had about 6 years, another Columbus V900 I was going to replace the Holux with, as it's newer, should have better sensitivity, and has built-in track logging. Except that its accuracy is off, it's precise.... precisely wrong. It's always about 9 meters off. And my primarily use for it is Geocaching, and my Holux 236 is always dead on.. So my new BT GPS is basically used as a track logger. Ah well All that said, I primarily use the BT GPS with my phone while geocaching or hiking or such, but I have used it on the tablet a few times, but most often I just use the built-in GPS on my DS7 because I don't need high precision with it the way I use it.

khaytsus said:
Stop your trolling, ephemeris data, ie: what's set up in gps.conf, is to speed up cold starts. it does nothing else, it's not Android specific, in fact all it's doing is downloaded a set of the data that your GPS would otherwise have to slowly acquire from the satellites, which takes 2-10 minutes, depending on conditions and how many sats are seen.
All GPS units do this, but GPS units that have a network available will potentially download ephemeris data to speed up satellite acquisition. Otherwise they just download it. Only time you'll really notice it going slow is if it's been more than 4-5 days (I believe 7 is the official data expiration, but the older it is, the less accurate it is) or you've changed areas since you last turned on the GPS.
Keep in mind that phone-based GPS's suck. They're inaccurate, they're not sensitive, their antennas are not optimal. This is true for nearly all PDA's or Phones, Tablets, etc.. Some may be better than others. They're optimized for space, price, and somewhat for battery life. Not accuracy, precision, or cold starts (beyond A-GPS data downloads, which is an OS function that makes the data available to the GPS)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you, khaytsus.
All this fix does is speed up the initial contact to the GPS satellites for your region. You don't have to use this, you can wait till the GPS in the DS7 makes contact if you want.

khaytsus said:
Always possible there's a problem with the GPS, maybe the antenna is defective or connected badly. Hope you figure it out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The most strange is that the GPS is fine after getting fixed . At least, no difference with Galaxy S, i.e. roughly the same number of satellites, SNR, accuracy. So, the only problem is unreasonably long cold start. I am not sure how it could be caused by a defective antenna. Anyway, in the mean time I decided to use an external GPS. I have three units, two BT and one mouse, which I used to use with my nettop in the pre-tablet era. Yesterday I connected my Hollux 236 to 12 V using a concealed cable and switch. So, now the procedure is reasonably simple: switch on 236, a few clicks on BluetoothGPS and, when the connection is established, I am clicking iGO8. It works like a charm, besides several additional actions I have to perform. When I will sicceed to root my DS7, I will try to play with the gps.conf file anyway.
P.S. I got an idea to connect my mouse GPS using the DS7 docking unit. I have a simple one with two microUSB I/O. Not sure it will work, but, if yes, it can simplify everything dramatically. I will try it on the weekend and let you know about the results.
Thanks.

OK, after two weeks of testing I still don't have a reasonable solution:
1. The USB mouse GPS connected the cradle does not work at all.
2. My greatest disapointment is with the external GPS. It works perfect... when it works. I am using the Bluetooth GPS application to get connected. After several successful connections, without any visible reason, the GPS is not getting connected to DS7, although the application shows many satellites with large SNR (>30-35). However accuracy = 0 and no GPS signal message in iGO8. This happens only from time to time and as I have already mentioned without any visible reason.
Will try another applications and GPS devices.

GPS Navigation Problems

Anyone having GPS issues with this phone? I'm using it with Google Navigation and it isn't getting a good lock on a signal. I'm seeing the blue circle around my location changing sizes and the GPS will frequently show me suddenly on a different nearby road trying to reroute me.

I have not had any issues with GPS. It has worked for me quite well. What you describe sounds like 1 of 2 things. 1, possibly a weak or lapsed coverage area. I have seen this with automotive GPS units. The signal doesn't lock, or the vehicle travels thru an area that is obstructed and the mapping software basically tries to guess where you should be based on the last known location. 2, possibly hardware. With the same devices, the issue has come up from improperly mounted antennae, or damaged/faulty units.
If it happens everyhwere, I would lean toward faulty hardware. If you only notice it in certain areas, then more likely #1.
Also, on this phone I did notice that VZ Navigator is pre-installed. You don't happen to have that subscription do you? Not sure it will conflict, but its possible. I don't use it, really itching for root access so I can remove things like that.

Thanks. I just wanted to be sure it wasn't the phone design as I had a Samsung Captivate where it was a known problem.
Yea, I'm also planning to root this phone as Verizon really loaded this one up with too much pre-installed software.

Thanks. I just wanted to be sure it wasn't the phone design as I had a Samsung Captivate where it was a known problem.
Yea, I'm also planning to root this phone as Verizon really loaded this one up with too much pre-installed software.

I had this issue actually. What I did is disable all the lacation options(network, google, standalone gps) and then just enabled gps standalone and restarted the phone and then opened weatherbug and it locked right in within 3 secs
Sent from my DROID3 using XDA App

[Q] GPS Sporadic after 4.3 update

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.