The Samsung Galaxy S24
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Teacher

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21 Messages

Friday, July 23rd, 2010 1:46 PM

Captivate - GPS Issues

Anyone else experiencing basically no GPS lock?

 

I've seen it mentioned in plenty of other forums, but not here. I've tried all kinds of fixes and settings and the GPS on my unit is basically useless. I can get a very poor lock using just the wireless networks, but GPS never locks.

Mentor

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73 Messages

13 years ago


@champoux wrote:

 


@skahead wrote:

Tried that, Didn't work.  


How exactly did you try?  I don't at all mean this to be insulting, but were you outdoors in clear view of the sky all around?  Many people innocently assume that GPS works (well) indoors.  Next thing to do is once you've started GPS Status is to hit menu, go to Settings > GPS & Sensors > Manage A-GPS state.  Click Reset.  Once it's cleared, then click Download to get fresh data.  Now wait for a solid lock from probably 8+ satellites.  This may very well take a very long time the first time as it's a cold start.  Once you've got a good lock, exit the app then relaunch.  No need to reset the data this time, just wait for a new lock.  You should start seeing some improvement.

 


Let me go more in-depth.   Clear view of the bright blue sky, reset all gps data, used the app to download in information (I didn’t just lunch the app and think it would work all by itself I wanted to play in the settings too)  Then I sat there for about 16 minutes... the app said the phone could see 6 satellites; however, it would not lock on to a single one.  I will say though that this would be a very nice program to have if the GPS worked.

Mentor

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53 Messages

13 years ago

 


@skahead wrote:
Let me go more in-depth.   Clear view of the bright blue sky, reset all gps data, used the app to download in information (I didn’t just lunch the app and think it would work all by itself I wanted to play in the settings too)  Then I sat there for about 16 minutes... the app said the phone could see 6 satellites; however, it would not lock on to a single one.  I will say though that this would be a very nice program to have if the GPS worked.

Hmm, only two other thoughts then.  The GPS settings in the LbsTestMode menu aren't what they should be (either because you've changed something to non-factory setting or because you haven't and you're one of the ones for whom changing these settings would benefit).  Or you simply have a defective phone; in other words, an actual manufacturing defect different from the common problem people are experiencing.

 

Mentor

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73 Messages

13 years ago


@champoux wrote:

 

Hmm, only two other thoughts then.  The GPS settings in the LbsTestMode menu aren't what they should be (either because you've changed something to non-factory setting or because you haven't and you're one of the ones for whom changing these settings would benefit).  Or you simply have a defective phone; in other words, an actual manufacturing defect different from the common problem people are experiencing.

 


 

I never went into the LbsTestMode... my thought being that the phone should push its own fix out.  I'll try it tonight and report back.  I hope its not a phone hardware defect.

Contributor

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1 Message

13 years ago

Sorry for the long post, needed to vent...

 

So, I got the Captivate on Monday and discovered that the GPS performance was marginal. Checked the net and saw that I wasn't alone (shame on me for not looking into this phone a before I purchased it). The phone didn't have the latests update, so I downloaded it and guess what? Now it won't lock at all, no matter how long I wait. 

 

Called AT&T support and they went through some stuff and verified that I had the latest version. After the tech checked all of his boxes he basically said there was nothing that he do and gave me Samsung's support number. Nice!

 

Called Samsung, same drill, however they did tell me to try the hard reset, which did nothing. Samsung recommended that since I am within my 30 days I should call AT&T and get the phone replaced. 

 

Called AT&T back and was sent directly to the "Android" support team. The android support tech was awesome, no she didn't fix the GPS but she did give me some fairly frank answers. Basically she told me that they have had numerous calls regarding the issue and to date it hasn't been fully resolved. She added that they (AT&T) had a conference call just this week with Samsung (apparently there were over 150 people on the call). Supposedly during the call the Galaxy S GPS issues were discussed and Samsung acknowledged that the last fix didn't fix everything. Unfortunately no timeline was given for when they might have the real fix. 

 

She acknowledged that if the GPS wasn't working after the update there was virtually nothing that she could do for me. She recommended that I bring it back and get a new one and hope for the best! That's great for me but what happens for all of the other people that have this phone with the GPS issues? When I asked her that very question, she said theres no way to know how it would all shake out in the end. She did add that Samsung isn't allowing them to do warranty swaps after the 30 day period until its fully sorted.  That sucks for everyone that has been dealing with this. For me, if the new phone doesn't work I will switch to another device, which is too bad because other than the GPS I really like the phone!

Tutor

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9 Messages

13 years ago

I had a similar issue before and after the update. To be frank i tried it indoors (most of the time) and couple of times outdoor. But none worked. I read in this forum to install "GPS Test" application which i did.

Now i am magically able to lock the GPS in a minute indoors and offcourse outdoor too(Less then a minute).

(Just for reference my Tom Tom One takes a little more then 2 minutes to Lock Indoors )

 

Last two days i have been using my GPS to navigate from home to Office as a test. It is not as good as My TomTom but i would say it is 90% there. I get lock to around 6-8 sattelite with 8-10 in view.

It takes few more second to understand my location if i change path then the time taken by Tomotom.

If i don't change the path it is 100% same.

 

Buit it is usable enough for Navigation. So i would suggest to try this approach it might work or might not work but you have nothinhg to loose.

 

 

Tutor

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7 Messages

13 years ago

All you did was install GPS Test?  No settings or such?

Mentor

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60 Messages

13 years ago

Which GPS Test program also? I downloaded two and both don't seem to do much...

Master

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4.3K Messages

13 years ago


@garak0410 wrote:

Which GPS Test program also? I downloaded two and both don't seem to do much...


GPS Test from Chartcross. That's the one I use.

 

1) Start GPS Test app *first* 

 

2) After you see a few bars light up, THEN click the START GPS in the upper LEFT(edited)hand corner of the app. It takes you to the native menu to start GPS. Check the GPS Satellites box (and the one above it too, if unchecked).

 

3) THEN start your navigation software. I use the Navigation that comes with the Google Maps download.

 

This should jump start your GPS Chip.

 

Works for me 100% of the time (n=5)

 

 

Tutor

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9 Messages

13 years ago

i just had Use GPS sattelites OFF.

Then i downloaded "GPS Test" and ran the application. On the Left top corner it showed GPS Off. I went and swicherd this Flag ON as well as "Use Wireless Network" ON. I later had this one OFF when it locked the sattelite.

You will have to patently wait for 2 3 mins to see if there are any satelites seen and then another 2 minutes for the lock. (First time). after that it was pretty quick.

 

It worked for me. Try doing this outdoor(I did it indoor though). Again it might not work for you but give it a try.

Tutor

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9 Messages

13 years ago

As mentioned by zandora - it is GPS Test from Chartcross.

Also in Step 2 mentioned, you will not get any bar until GPS is ON. I am not sure how he was able to get it. But you have to set GPS On after the app have started to get the bar.

 

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