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Two Updates? Lets see if we can figure this out!

How you got your update and how it did/didn't fix GPS

  • Recieved via PUSH- GPS now works in all aspects!

    Votes: 3 3.4%
  • Recieved via PUSH- GPS is still crappy

    Votes: 6 6.7%
  • Manually "Pulled" update- GPS works in all aspects

    Votes: 32 36.0%
  • Manually "pulled" update- GPS sucks

    Votes: 39 43.8%
  • Manually "pulled" update- GPS is WORSE

    Votes: 8 9.0%
  • Recieved via PUSH - GPS is WORSE

    Votes: 1 1.1%

  • Total voters
    89

Infinite-t

Android Enthusiast
Jul 23, 2010
412
74
Just what we need, another poll right? Just maybe this one might be worth looking at. Please read on.

Ok, so I just read a post by another member saying that they were told by Samsung that, "The update to JH7 is not complete until you have recieved a message from AT&T that you have an update available and you accept it." I read around online and have found in verious other forums people claiming that they were told that the update you pull manually from AT&T's server is somehow incomplete and that the one you recieve via the "push" is the complete one that really "fixes" your GPS.

This all sounds a little fishy. Not that people are being told this, but that it is true or not.. so just out of curiousity, I present this poll, just maybe we will see a pattern and be one step closer to sorting this all out...Especially since many of us (mayself included) seem to not be fixed.

Just maybe, this could explain why it seems to have "worked" for some and not for others. Maybe, just maybe this could explain why some peopes seems to have gotten WORSE. Maybe those that pulled it got worse because of this "other version". Maybe those who seem to be "fixed" are the ones you got the "push".

Another question would be, if this is true, for those who manually updated, would we still even recieve a notification from AT&T since we already have some version of the JH7?

Before you proclaim yours truely "fixed" be sure you have recently tested it not only in stationary tests, but on the road using navigation. Mine, and many others seem to get a quick, accurate lock while still, but driving around loses the lock and is inaccurate!

Clarification Update:

Ok, well if it needs to be more defined, maybe I can define it better. If your GPS performance improved, but it still drops lock, is inaccurate, takes long to lock or does other wierd things that hinders your ability to us it fuctionally as you would on any other smartphone with propperly fuctioning GPS, then for all intensive purposes, it sucks. If for some reason that makes someone feel uncorfortable to call it sucking instead of "less than perfect" (your vote is annonymous) feel free to not vote.

I am not looking for "sort of" fix, "almost fixed" or better. I am looking for is it working reliably and fully, or is it not, and how you went about recieving this update.

But as far as the data goes now there seems to be a reasonable amount of folks who say that they pulled the update and it works great.. Which sort of kills this "2 different update" rumor.

Perhaps the next step may be, if you updated and your GPS is "less than perfect" was your phone stock or modded in any way during or prior to the update. Just trying to nail down WHY it worked perfectly for some, sort of for some, the same for some and even worse for some. Is it totally random or is there something else going on here? If you want to participate, great, and thank you, if you do not, then please dont.

In case it is not clear what I am trying to do here, I am not trying to start a bash, troll, flame, wine thread here. I am trying to apply scientific method to the problem. Take each possible explaination, no matter how radical, and eliminate one by one each possibility, and perhaps introduce new ones until we find a possible explaination, then test it and resolve the mystery of why it works/or doesnt work for certain people... Then just maybe we can get it working for many if not all people...
 
im not voting because im on a custom rom so it dosent apply, but i fail to see how thats possible, the update section looks for the same thing that you get when you get a message for a pushed update as far as I am aware. I believe that the os actually cannot differentiate between the two. therefore i am suspicious that they may have been wrong about the difference.

also. i cannot remember how the builds show up on the official roms, but this would be a definitive answer as any good development environment would never allow two builds of the same number to be built. even if nothing has been changed
 
Upvote 0
im not voting because im on a custom rom so it dosent apply, but i fail to see how thats possible, the update section looks for the same thing that you get when you get a message for a pushed update as far as I am aware. I believe that the os actually cannot differentiate between the two. therefore i am suspicious that they may have been wrong about the difference.

also. i cannot remember how the builds show up on the official roms, but this would be a definitive answer as any good development environment would never allow two builds of the same number to be built. even if nothing has been changed

I agree fully, that is why I am suspicious of this statement, If people are truely being told this by Samsung... is just weird, but Samsung is notorious for doing "wierd" things. I am just curious to see for those who claim to be "fixed" how they recieved their update in conjunction with those who seem to have not been "fixed".

Yea, its only been 2 votes so far and that is totally insufficient to make any conclusion, but, it also seems that just out of these two, both pulled their update and are still broken
 
Upvote 0
I agree fully, that is why I am suspicious of this statement, If people are truely being told this by Samsung... is just weird, but Samsung is notorious for doing "wierd" things. I am just curious to see for those who claim to be "fixed" how they recieved their update in conjunction with those who seem to have not been "fixed".

Yea, its only been 2 votes so far and that is totally insufficient to make any conclusion, but, it also seems that just out of these two, both pulled their update and are still broken

well maybe it would be also important for people to post their build info (from settings) in this thread to eliminate any doubt that you or others may have.

and on samsungs part its not really werid, im sure they were told that by customer support, they are notoriously incorrect ( not just samsung, its pretty much every company imo)
 
Upvote 0
There isn't an option for "updated and works better". GPS is not completely fixed but is definitely better. Even if only a percentage of the owners have an improvement, it's an improvement.

Samsung is still working on software updates, but I'm afraid this is going to be the last until Froyo in the next couple months. We saw this formware leaked to AT&T a couple weeks before it was pushed to us. I have seen no reports of anything else given to AT&T for testing. However, the reports from the leaked the Froyo firmwares (for the international Galaxy S) have an even better functioning GPS so there's hope in the future.

Regarding the poll, there is no difference between manually pulling the update and getting it pushed. The only part that is pushed is the notification, not the update. Both methods go through the same process.

My theory is that many people had messed with the GPS settings, lag fix, rooted, etc, and have now found themselves with something that isn't working right. For me, there is a very clear improvement, but it's still not working as well as other phones. It's working well enough to get by, and I can't wait for the Froyo update to really unleash what this hardware can do.
 
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Upvote 0
I was rooted, and running Unleash the Beast on stock firmware. After a few days, I did not get the message from AT&T and wasn't going to hold my breath for it since so many people had problems with the OTA opdate.

designgears on XDA released the JH7 OTA with the ability to flash via Clockwork. I took that route and had a stock JH7 implementation within 10 minutes. I ran stock for about 20 minutes but missed all the benefits of having a modded rom. At this time, I didn't try out the GPS (which I should have done). I reflashed my phone to designgears's Cognition 2.1 which is built on the JH7 FW. Running Cognition 2.1, my GPS now works. It might not work to the standards some of you guys expect...but it works for me. I can get driving navigation, and any apps that require GPS location like Yelp work for me.

So it's a big improvement for me... I'm not about to go play with Tracks and see how "accurate" the GPS is, because I could care less. So far, my needs are being met and as long as the GPS continues to work for me in the way it has been for the past few days...I'm a happy camper until 2.2
 
Upvote 0
I got the txt but I postponed it. Then, later, I click on 'Software Update' and downloaded + installed it. My phone is still pretty much stock and non-rooted. The only things I did to fix GPS were change the Skyhook option and set it to Auto. I'm not sure if the update helped or not because it seemed to work pretty good just by changing those two options. After the update I can lock on to my location in about 30-45sec I'd guess. I've tried driving with it and it's spot on. I haven't tried walking around a city though. But even my old BB Curve had issues with tall buildings sometimes.

Now, my brother has the same phone and did the same exact things as I did. He claims his GPS isn't working as well as mine, either before or after the update. Go figure.
 
Upvote 0
I read somewhere that the Update will only work if you got an actual text message from AT&T with a link, and not the manual update. So that makes me curious to see if all the people claiming that GPS works, got an actual message from AT&T

That is what i am trying to find out with this thread, seems a bit dubious, but I wanted to see if i could find a pattern with how people updates vs. how well their GPS is working.

So far more than 65 % of the people who manually pulled the update GPS got worse or stayed crap. So far not many that actually got the push have responded.
 
Upvote 0
I read somewhere that the Update will only work if you got an actual text message from AT&T with a link, and not the manual update. So that makes me curious to see if all the people claiming that GPS works, got an actual message from AT&T

I manually pulled mine by changing my phone's time, and GPS is much better for me. I was /am completely stock, non-rooted, and I had changed the supl and port to google's prior to the update. The notification is just a notification, nothing more. It is AT&T's way of making sure their server doesn't get overloaded by everyone downloading the update at once.

My question is isn't it odd that all the early documentation about the update did NOT say anything about fixing anything with the GPS? After that video that surfaced and some people reporting that it had, the FAQ page and Samsung's twitter and facebook pages updated claiming it was the update... Seems suspicious...
 
Upvote 0
My phone, once it receives a painfully slow lock, seems to keep fairly accurate position on the highway with only a couple drops (noted using GPS Status). I find that ATT Navigator keeps my location better than Google Navigation does, although they both have had hiccups, ATT appears to do better.

I base this upon using them alternate days while driving the same mostly highway route to work for comparison purposes. I use GPS Status on the way home to monitor lost signals and sat coverage and seem to lose a lock for a few seconds about once per 25 minute trip. Admittedly, there is no sure way that I know of to check them all side-by-side on the same phone, using the same GPS lock under exactly the same conditions, but I think what I've done should be a reasonable approximation.

Aside from one cloverleaf that neither nav program seems to handle well, the ATT program has only once shown me off on another road while the Google app seems to put me on a parallel surface street at least once (up to three times today) per trip although it usually corrects itself within a .25 mile travel or so. I keep reading about people loving the free Google app over the ATT paid version but I do think ATT's is more accurate.
 
Upvote 0
My phone, once it receives a painfully slow lock, seems to keep fairly accurate position on the highway with only a couple drops (noted using GPS Status). I find that ATT Navigator keeps my location better than Google Navigation does, although they both have had hiccups, ATT appears to do better.

I base this upon using them alternate days while driving the same mostly highway route to work for comparison purposes. I use GPS Status on the way home to monitor lost signals and sat coverage and seem to lose a lock for a few seconds about once per 25 minute trip. Admittedly, there is no sure way that I know of to check them all side-by-side on the same phone, using the same GPS lock under exactly the same conditions, but I think what I've done should be a reasonable approximation.

Aside from one cloverleaf that neither nav program seems to handle well, the ATT program has only once shown me off on another road while the Google app seems to put me on a parallel surface street at least once (up to three times today) per trip although it usually corrects itself within a .25 mile travel or so. I keep reading about people loving the free Google app over the ATT paid version but I do think ATT's is more accurate.
i was using a omnia2,unbranded unlocked on att, tracked perfect using google maps on edge,always tracked never was i off course,now wtf is reallllly going on here?? samsung needs to fix this, i called them today,they said the att update has the fix,i call att they the fix is in the update,gps still is garbage,so if froyo dosent fix it i hope i can get 100$for this thing on ebay,,,,i will only lose 100,,imagine someone who paid full price?thats gotta hurt
 
Upvote 0
That is what i am trying to find out with this thread, seems a bit dubious, but I wanted to see if i could find a pattern with how people updates vs. how well their GPS is working.

So far more than 65 % of the people who manually pulled the update GPS got worse or stayed crap. So far not many that actually got the push have responded.

I agree with what someone said before, there is no option for GPS improvement. You only have 2 extremes either perfect or completely broken (basically). You have twice as many options for negative responses compared to positive and your 2 positive options are exaggerated which serves to disincline votes. Hence mine improved but I didn't vote since there is no option. And I pulled it.
 
Upvote 0
Ok, well if it needs to be more defined, maybe I can define it better. If your GPS performance improved, but it still drops lock, is inaccurate, takes long to lock or does other wierd things that hinders your ability to us it fuctionally as you would on any other smartphone with propperly fuctioning GPS, then for all intensive purposes, it sucks. If for some reason that makes someone feel uncorfortable to call it sucking instead of "less than perfect" (your vote is annonymous) feel free to not vote.

I am not looking for "sort of" fix, "almost fixed" or better. I am looking for is it working reliably and fully, or is it not, and how you went about recieving this update.

But as far as the data goes now there seems to be a reasonable amount of folks who say that they pulled the update and it works great.. Which sort of kills this "2 different update" rumor.

In case it is not clear what I am trying to do here, I am not trying to start a bash, troll, flame, wine thread here. I am trying to apply scientific method to the problem. Take each possible explaination, no matter how radical, and eliminate one by one each possibility, and perhaps introduce new ones until we find a possible explaination, then test it and resolve the mystery of why it works/or doesnt work for certain people...

Perhaps the next step may be, if you updated and your GPS is "less than perfect" was your phone stock or modded in any way during or prior to the update. Just trying to nail down WHY it worked perfectly for some, sort of for some, the same for some and even worse for some. Is it totally random or is there something else going on here? If you want to participate, great, and thank you, if you do not, then please dont.
 
Upvote 0
I manually pulled mine by changing my phone's time, and GPS is much better for me. I was /am completely stock, non-rooted, and I had changed the supl and port to google's prior to the update. The notification is just a notification, nothing more. It is AT&T's way of making sure their server doesn't get overloaded by everyone downloading the update at once.

My question is isn't it odd that all the early documentation about the update did NOT say anything about fixing anything with the GPS? After that video that surfaced and some people reporting that it had, the FAQ page and Samsung's twitter and facebook pages updated claiming it was the update... Seems suspicious...

Yes I recall that too. On the 21st there were a few threads about this thing being released and the official changelog that day had no mention of GPS "optimization". Then on the 22nd people started getting it and all of the sudden the new official word was that it DID infact include the "fix".
 
Upvote 0

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