All things GPS

[ewingr]

My friend's ancient iPhone locks instantaneously. My Captivate takes up to ten minutes. And it has ridiculous lag lag. The camera on the Captivate is a disgrace to cell phone cameras. It takes up to 10 seconds to come up or to switch modes.

Not sure what version OS or fixes are on your phone, ori if you have a bunch of programs, or what. But my experience is not like your at all.

The camera works well, and takes very decent pictures.

On the GPS, I am now on Cognition 2.3b2, wiht the Jupiter files applied from the thread over on XDA, and I am having fast locks, 8-11 satellites hooked to; and am getting 16.4 foot accurace (5 meters) most of the time. Since putting the Jupiter files on, I seldom get the blue circle.

Alas, that is over just 3-4 days, and about 200 miles of testing. We'll see how it holds up over time.

 

[jonnycat74]

Buddha64, I think you may have something here! I took the back cover off mine while running GPS test and had the same results! For the first time ever, I got a lock in my house (1st floor of a 2 story condo). The back cover is made of some sort of metallic material. Perhaps if Samsung were to craft a plastic replacement cover it would yield better results? This should defiantly be researched more!! Another thing I found while running the tests...I power cycled the phone to see if I could get the same results and I couldn't lock at all after the power cycle. I ran ATK and got a lock almost instantly! Seems it could be a combo of apps AND the back metal cover hurting the GPS performance. I'm glad I found this...if I ever really need GPS, I'll just take the back metal cover off and run ATK

 

[Hr2burn]

Sorry, not hip to the lingo...what is ATK?

 

[ewingr]

Buddha64, I think you may have something here! I took the back cover off mine while running GPS test and had the same results! For the first time ever, I got a lock in my house (1st floor of a 2 story condo). The back cover is made of some sort of metallic material. Perhaps if Samsung were to craft a plastic replacement cover it would yield better results? This should defiantly be researched more!! Another thing I found while running the tests...I power cycled the phone to see if I could get the same results and I couldn't lock at all after the power cycle. I ran ATK and got a lock almost instantly! Seems it could be a combo of apps AND the back metal cover hurting the GPS performance. I'm glad I found this...if I ever really need GPS, I'll just take the back metal cover off and run ATK

I am finding the GPS to be relatively good now. Keeping fingers crossed. My combination of things that is helping is this:

• Running Cognition ROM (currently 2.2b2)
• Applied the Jupiter Files (Jupiter6 for 2.2)
• Took back cover off. But is in a Seido Case, so it is still covered

I have about 150 miles of driving on it, and very seldom even get a blue circle.

Given that time seems to degenerate it, I am not yet convinced I am good to go. But, knock on wood, looking promising. (Did I say that?)

 

[Buddha64]

Sorry, not hip to the lingo...what is ATK?

Advanced Task Killer - a somewhat controversial app used to kill other apps and processes (both automatically and manually).

 

[fldude99]

If anyone is running stock-as I am-change the supl settings to google, port 7276, secure connection: off and see what happens. I get a lock outside in 10 seconds or less consistently, and it locks indoors (via agps I assume) in 30-40 secs usually.

 

[cadcoke5]

I just got off the phone with AT&T Tech support. I told them that I was having difficulty getting and maintaining a GPS satellite lock. The customer service rep said that they are aware of the problem, and that a software fix is being planned. However she did not know when it would be released. I said that I had 30 days to return the phone, and perhaps I should return it before the 30 days are up. She replied that it could be months before the update was released.

I don't think she was really trying to give me a time frame, but apparently she was doubtful it would occur before my 30 days were up. So, the phone is going back.

The frustrating part is that I like the phone. Now I need to figure out what phone I want to replace it with. I like AT&T's data plan pricing. It does seem that several carriers are creating new tiered data plans. So, perhaps I can wait a week and will have more choices.

Joe Dunfee

 

[sremick]

I didn't realize GPS satellites weren't geosynchronous. Interesting.

They don't need to be. They send a signal with a time code and their position. The rest is just math and is done at the receiver end.

See the links at the bottom of this page:
GPSnav - CapFAQ

I think most folks expectations are way high for a convergent device to have Garmin like GPS performance

Why not? A new Garmin that has many times the GPS performance of the Captivate can be had for under $100, and most of that cost are parts that the Captivate has and needs anyway (touchscreen, CPU, battery, case, etc). A raw GPS module can be had for under $30 on the consumer market, and under $10 in quantity for manufacturers.

"GPS" is a commodity item now. It's not fancy untested technology. There's no excuse for any device with GPS to not have "Garmin-like GPS performance" any more than the radio in my car should have more trouble tuning to radio stations than my dedicated stereo.

p.s. I've experimented with the google supl server and find it's better than the stock spirent-lcs

Read up on how GPS works. This is irrelevant. GPS doesn't require "servers".

 

[bhr]

Surprise! I took the over of my Captivate and within a few seconds the GPS locked onto the satellites...inside! I put my cover back on and lost the signal. Can repeat this many times with the same results.

Maybe it's just a coincidence for me... or, it could similar to the poor reception the iPhone 4 was getting with a faulty design.

I am anxious to take my captivate on a little road trip, with the cover off, and see if I can actually stay locked onto the satellites.

 

[fldude99]

They don't need to be. They send a signal with a time code and their position. The rest is just math and is done at the receiver end.

See the links at the bottom of this page:
GPSnav - CapFAQ



Why not? A new Garmin that has many times the GPS performance of the Captivate can be had for under $100, and most of that cost are parts that the Captivate has and needs anyway (touchscreen, CPU, battery, case, etc). A raw GPS module can be had for under $30 on the consumer market, and under $10 in quantity for manufacturers.

"GPS" is a commodity item now. It's not fancy untested technology. There's no excuse for any device with GPS to not have "Garmin-like GPS performance" any more than the radio in my car should have more trouble tuning to radio stations than my dedicated stereo.

Read up on how GPS works. This is irrelevant. GPS doesn't require "servers".

I'm not sure the gps chip in the Samsung is of the sirf variety (but I'm far from an expert). But a Garmin cannot make a phone call, etc..I still maintain that you cannot expect a standalone performance from a convergence device such as the Captivate.

I'm glad to get the feedback on the google.com supl server. I think EVERYBODY should make this change and report back. I read somewhere that the spirent-lcs server is basically defunct and useless...and in my experience, the speed of the lock was really the main issue-accuracy is very acceptable

 

[Buddha64]

I'm glad to get the feedback on the google.com supl server. I think EVERYBODY should make this change and report back. I read somewhere that the spirent-lcs server is basically defunct and useless...and in my experience, the speed of the lock was really the main issue-accuracy is very acceptable

None of the servers (spirent, google or the one which shows up when auto config is selected) made a whits worth of difference in the two months I've had the phone.

 

[fldude99]

None of the servers (spirent, google or the one which shows up when auto config is selected) made a whits worth of difference in the two months I've had the phone.

Please define "difference". Difference from what? In other words what is the issue for your GPS performance

 

[s.m.knipe]

Hey guys/gals, I have had a revelation and/or breakthrough this afternoon. First the two cases...
1. Last night, for kicks, I used Navigation to "guide" me home from work (like 6 miles) and of course the Navigation app kept hanging at "searching for GPS." But then, A tweet notification came through and right afterwards the GPS locked on and I didn't think too much of it.

2. This evening I had GPS Status open when I was just starting to drive home and I had some notifications in the pane, and because I didn't want to read them right then (driving) I just pulled the pane down and hit "clear." Before this GPS Status was showing only 2 satellites after about 30 seconds or so, after I hit clear and swiped the pane back up, there were 10 satellites visible and locked on to 8 over a span of literally a second.

So my bright idea (and it might not be novel, and if not please point me to where else this might be being investigated) is that perhaps these issues with GPS lock (NOT the accuracy or holding lock issues, although potentially it could play into the holding locks issue) is related to processor load when the app that needs it starts. Notification pulling/pushing seems to be hanging the GPS process by probably bumping it out due to lower priority. It seems that the GPS chip is designed to rely on the main CPU for processing the data and running the algorithm as per Broadcom's statement here, and if there is sufficient load on the processor, it sounds like it might be getting pushed aside as higher priority items claim the resources, working only after the resources get freed up (i.e. the notifications come in and are displayed). Also, this might explain the hit-or-miss nature of the GPS locks, as some phones will have different processing loads than others, and when the phone is new there are less applications downloaded (to run in the background) and so faster locks that degrade over time.

If this is the case, Samsung needs to assign the GPS process a higher priority and perhaps change the RFS filesystem for faster handling/logging of processes...

I am not saying this is the total issue, but I really think this is a significant chunk of it.

Now if I could just reason out the fluctuating accuracy and locks during changes in velocity (speed and direction)...

 

[reinbeau]

s.m.knipe, I think you are brilliant, unfortunately, good luck getting anyone at Samsung to give a flying hoot. I've thought all along it was implementation, not hardware. What you've said makes perfect sense. There's no way to get in touch with anyone but the drones that answer the phone, and they seem to be hired to be clueless.

 

[Buddha64]

Please define "difference". Difference from what? In other words what is the issue for your GPS performance

I've used each for a period of time (along with all the other suggested "fixes"). The GPS performance seems improved for a short period - a week or two maybe - and the goes to shyt.

Shyt means I get a lock some days, and other days nada. Doesn't matter if there's a clear view of the sky or clouds, rain or dry, moving or stationary.

That I can get a great lock (8 - 10 satellites) at times is encouraging. Means that it may not actually be hardware.

My wife's Garmin doesn't require me to frack with settings to get it to lock. It just locks.

 

[fldude99]

^^^that really sux. I have to think it's a defective device. Once I (and a couple of other users I know) switched the supl server to google, the GPS performance now lives up to expectations regarding getting a lock...the accuracy has always been there however

 

[robhs]

I still maintain that you cannot expect a standalone performance from a convergence device such as the Captivate.

I disagree. I went from a Tilt2 to the Captivate, and the GPS is much better on the Tilt2. It was just as reliable and fast as standalone GPS units I have used.

 

[Buddha64]

^^^that really sux. I have to think it's a defective device. Once I (and a couple of other users I know) switched the supl server to google, the GPS performance now lives up to expectations regarding getting a lock...the accuracy has always been there however

Just this morning I ran a an unscientific test. I couldn't lock, standing outside in the bright sunlight. So I reset a bunch of settings, deleted GPS data*, rebooted, and surprise, I locked in 15 seconds, 8 satellites.

Next I ran My Tracks and the cursor wandered aimlessly. At least it was in my neighborhood - but it showed that I was two houses to the right ... then across the street... then a house to the left. You get the point.

My experience with this, and that of many other Captivate users on many other Captivate message boards, suggests that while you have adequate (adequate in that it locks, but accuracy is fracking terrible) performance now, it likely won't last. Give it a couple of weeks, because what I have read is that, on average, two weeks is about all the GPS needs to start fracking up.

Edit:

* Actually, I only deleted GPS data.

 

[Buddha64]

The track...

 

[s.m.knipe]

s.m.knipe, I think you are brilliant, unfortunately, good luck getting anyone at Samsung to give a flying hoot. I've thought all along it was implementation, not hardware. What you've said makes perfect sense. There's no way to get in touch with anyone but the drones that answer the phone, and they seem to be hired to be clueless.

Thank you reinbeau!
I know Samsung won't care, but luckily I think they are getting tired of hearing me complain to them on every channel I can. I have a promise from the SPSTV (Samsung Product Service TV) people that if I email my findings they will translate it and send it to the development team (who are all in Korea?) on the accuracy issue (I have a poll thread on here). I think I will email them this too, as well as my thoughts on it.
Thanks again for the vote of confidence (that I am not going crazy over this thing)!

 

[s.m.knipe]

Update: I compiled everything I have (as above and what can be gleaned from my accuracy poll) and two different people at Samsung have taken it and forwarded it to the development/software design teams. Everyone should utilize the @GalaxySSupport people on twitter, they have been awesome to me during this whole thing, and the SPSTV people grudgingly took my "data" (I have issues calling it that), so here's to hoping something will get done...

 

[Buddha64]

Just this morning I ran a an unscientific test. I couldn't lock, ....

blah blah blah blah

...two weeks is about all the GPS needs to start fracking up.

By the afternoon, the GPS was completely fracked again. Couldn't lock for shyt. Deleted GPS data, and rebooted and it locked on 4.

 

[poonfc]

I saw there was a GPS thread already but Im kind of getting fed up I have some friends with this phone whos gps works just fine i have froyo and everything and somehow it still isnt working anyone have any advice?

 

[sammycaptivate]

I have had the dreaded GPS problem (where mine would not even get a GPS signal let alone navigate) as well as the random shutdown problem.

So I held on to the captivate for months ... holding out for these updates that supposedly fix everything. I got fed up and went to exchange my phone. AT&T overnighted me a new phone and the first thing I did when I took it out of the box was check the GPS. It locks to street level within 4-5 seconds. About the same as my iPhone 3GS I had previously. It even has the same performance indoors.

Obviously I have to simply wait to see if there is a random shutdown problem but no problem so far. My previous captivate would only do it once or twice every few weeks.

I am a heavy user of location based features on the phone (as that is where I believe where the utility of having MOBILE data is) ... so this phone is really now where it should be in my view. Having a functioning GPS makes this phone and its other features (that are superior to the iPhone) worth while.

 

[jblaze5779]

give it a week and see if it still works well...