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Help GPS issues?

Just an update.. I just used the KIES reg hack to upgrade my Branded Orange UK phone from 2.1 to 2.2 (didn't even do a factory reset before or after) and it's tits. the GPS finds loads of sats now and logs on in (on average) 8-12 seconds. Locks on to about 7 aswell I should add.

I'm now using the Official Un-branded UK SGS Firmware and I'm a very happy bunny... just need to install the voodoo lagfix now.
 
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Sorry Nerfie. Could you explain a little more about this. KIES reg hack - is this a hack for KIES, so that it gives you the latest software not approved by Orange, or a hack for 2.2 itself?
Where would I find this hack and what are the potential implications?
Many thanks. G

Essentially, when you connect your phone to KIES it puts an entry in your registry, telling KIES what the product code of your phone is and what version of firmware it's running.

If you have, like I did, a phone from orange (some of them were not sim locked like mine luckily, and some of them came with stock firmware... not like mine) then you're product code will end with ORA and will probably be running Orange's firmware for the device. This is essentially the same firmware from Samsung but with Orange's crap added.

In this scenario, you can use the KIES reg hack tool to change your product codes to something else, Stock European, Vodafone UK, Stock Russian, etc etc. As I got Jarated off with waiting for orange to release their official version of 2.2 (even though Samsung's has been out since October) I used the Reg Hack tool to fool KIES into thinking I had a stock - Un branded UK Galaxy S. Where upon I was able to update from Orange's version of 2.1 to the Stock (un touched by any phone company) 2.2 Froyo Galaxy S firmware for the UK.

It's not official from Orange, but it is official from Samsung. However I believe there are some "beta" versions of Froyo on KIES from Orange... I'd avoid those.

You can find the Reg Hack tool on the XDA Developer Forums. However, and you'll find this stressed by a lot of people... there is the potential you could 'brick' your phone. Make sure you do plenty of reading on the XDA forums about using the Reg Hack to get updates Via KIES. There is a risk involved.

I'm at work at the mo, so can't really go around looking for links sorry. If I get chance at home I'll reply with some.
 
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Just an update.. I just used the KIES reg hack to upgrade my Branded Orange UK phone from 2.1 to 2.2 (didn't even do a factory reset before or after) and it's tits. the GPS finds loads of sats now and logs on in (on average) 8-12 seconds. Locks on to about 7 aswell I should add.

I'm now using the Official Un-branded UK SGS Firmware and I'm a very happy bunny... just need to install the voodoo lagfix now.

I bet you also have that phone plugged in more often that not/most?! GPS is one of the most power hungry bits of the battery useage (apart from calling mail too often with the wish that one gets loads of it - lol).

I use Orange (and have done for 15 years) watching them do occasionally naughty things like say things on their website that are not quite kosher. I've watched them put little bits of firmware code to divert for example 'wi-fi' to 'Orange data' and try and mask it ... till I spotted it! Damage limitation was them giving me a refund for return postage - now there's a 1st! Oh, followed by my HTC Hero.

I think my TomTom picks up roundabout the same Sat contacts. When I tried Copilot (prior to 2.2 froyo) on my Hero it kind of told me of safety cameras that I knew were simply not there. Heck knows of the grid spacial system they must use in the mapping.

Anyhow I'm seeing mixed reactions to Android SatNav systems (now I have a Desire) - can anyone recommend the best as in for what you get vs. value for money? I looked at Navicon site which in 2010 must be one of the most confusing places I've ever visited with no prices shown (well I could find none anyhow!). A shame TomTom have not released an Android version. Anyhow I've always thought that SatNav systems seem more to do with business services and ongoing fees if you want the best up to date systems.

Sorry, I've now got off my soap box and await the replies. LOL

Michael
 
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I am having a weird problem with my X10. I do not have a data plan and just use wifi at home and office. Last month, two times somehow two different add-ons were added to my account. I never logged into my service providers account (Rogers) from my set; neither anyone else uses my set. When I called them, they told me, its activated through phone. Any suggestion, why this kind of weird stuffs are happening and how to prevent them?
 
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I am having a weird problem with my X10. I do not have a data plan and just use wifi at home and office. Last month, two times somehow two different add-ons were added to my account. I never logged into my service providers account (Rogers) from my set; neither anyone else uses my set. When I called them, they told me, its activated through phone. Any suggestion, why this kind of weird stuffs are happening and how to prevent them?


Blimey they have to give you some loyalty data - maybe just 80 megs BUT you need some. Otherwise you'll get extra charges. There are various 'basic' services that activate automatically. Maybe with your phone you can see what 'battery' services are used and that's the key to what runs in the background which might well surprise you. You can of course stop these services but be careful.

Michael
 
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Somthing similar happened to me when I was in between contracts, I had just received my SGS in July and my vodafone sim was only going to be activated in august. When I used my, still active T-mobile SIM on the SGS it showed that the 3G was available. I didn't think much of it... until later Tmobile charged me 1 euro for every MB I used (about 35MB). Needless to say I wasn't very happy.

I would recommend you install the APN-on-off widget until you get your situation sorted out.

APN on-off Widget - Android app on AppBrain
 
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Hmm. Gotta wonder if the AT&T delays might be because Samsung's release doesn't really fix the GPS properly and AT&T are sick of the complaints. Probably just AT&T dragging their feet though. No way to tell I guess. We could really do with some transparency here. I've tolerated major f-ups before happily because those responsible were open and kept me up-to-date with what they were doing to set things right.

Samsung products? Never again...
 
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Just an update.. I just used the KIES reg hack to upgrade my Branded Orange UK phone from 2.1 to 2.2 (didn't even do a factory reset before or after) and it's tits. the GPS finds loads of sats now and logs on in (on average) 8-12 seconds. Locks on to about 7 aswell I should add.

I'm now using the Official Un-branded UK SGS Firmware and I'm a very happy bunny... just need to install the voodoo lagfix now.

What firmware were you on before? Was your phone simlocked?

For people who have experienced better GPS on froyo, did you get it via the reg hack or an official upgrade?
 
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good news everyone.

It seems that our GPS woes are (almost) finally over. I have just flashed the new firmware (Froyo 2.2.1 JPX) and for funzies I decided to test the GPS and I could not be happier. It locks to half a dozen satellites in second and stays that way. Now I am in an apartment building and I have 6 sats in use with a consistent accuracy of 10 m.

Wish I had flashed this a week ago when I was on a trip abroad, it would have saved me some grief.

EDIT: Just replying to the next post, I own an European Galaxy S
 
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good news everyone.

It seems that our GPS woes are (almost) finally over. I have just flashed the new firmware (Froyo 2.2.1 JPX) and for funzies I decided to test the GPS and I could not be happier. It locks to half a dozen satellites in second and stays that way. Now I am in an apartment building and I have 6 sats in use with a consistent accuracy of 10 m.

Wish I had flashed this a week ago when I was on a trip abroad, it would have saved me some grief.

Hope this ROM goes official soon!
 
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Hope this ROM goes official soon!

Its official on Kies for XEU country codes, I updated mine yesterday.

Whilst GPS is miles better than before, its still useless on Google Navigation, placing me on the rail line next to the road, and in several peoples garden, rather than on the road itself.

When using it for photos however, it was absolutely spot on, much like when I used some other tracking software.

If I hadn't used Google Navigation extensively with my HTC Magic and known first hand how accurate it was, I would have said it was the software at fault, rather than the GPS, as everything else seems to work flawlessly now!

Either way JPX (or 2.2.1) is without doubt the best ROM to come out of Samsung by miles. If you ask me, THIS is the new "fast" ROM that they told Beards they were working on back in November.

I also read on Supercurios twitter feed that Samsung insiders have confirmed they are working on 2.3 for the SGS, and have been for several months. Expected early 2011.
 
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i have been following this chain and i'm a little confused. how do you know how many satellites have locked on. i looked in google navigation software but it doesn't appear immediately obvious to me. could someone give me some direction. thanks :D

Google Navigation doesn't show that information as far as I know, you'll need to download something like "GPS Test" of "GPS Status" from the Market.
 
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good news everyone.

It seems that our GPS woes are (almost) finally over. I have just flashed the new firmware (Froyo 2.2.1 JPX) and for funzies I decided to test the GPS and I could not be happier. It locks to half a dozen satellites in second and stays that way. Now I am in an apartment building and I have 6 sats in use with a consistent accuracy of 10 m.

Wish I had flashed this a week ago when I was on a trip abroad, it would have saved me some grief.

i also was very happy with the result of jpx on my sgs. it says in the maps that it is accurate to 10m but i say more accurate than that. at arms length i could see on the map my exact location. i was standing near the bus stop sign and as i zoomed in the map on google, i could see the kiosk nearby which is at arms length only. i came from jf3, upgraded to jpm, to jpo, to jpu and now i think i'll stay for a while at jpx unless 2.3 i officially released.
 
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True, JPX is the official version of froyo 2.2.1 and I think I have heard some people say that they updated through kies, though I am not sure if they used the IMEI hack to get the vanilla kies UK release.

I used odin and samfirware to get JPX, but mind you it is not for the faint of heart. I actually 'bricked' my phone in the process, but managed to get it working again (tried to go from JPA to JPX, only worked when I went JPA>JPU>JPX). Anyhow it should be in kies by now.

A for the number of sats, I did use "GPS test" from the market, I will try to make a test on my tracks next time I go cycling, it has been snowing a quite a bit since friday so I couldn't be bothered to do that just yet.

but hey, things are looking up

oh yeah, I also noticed that samsung introduced an update feature onto the phone, so it may be the case that future updates will be done without needing to connect to a computer.
 
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JPX is very good for GPS indeed. Both accuracy and fix-speed are better than ever for me, and they already weren't bad..
Fix without AGPS is always under 20sec and tracking is as good as you'd expect from a gps.

To illustrate, a mytracks track i made today of 2 hours. Phone was inside my coat pocket lying on the backseat of the car to make it extra hard :). Lots of turns and repeating the same paths to easier show actual accuracy.

heres the track: Auto2 - Google Maps

Pretty good I'd say. The little circling on Rijksstraatweg is where I stopped for gas and coffee.
 
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True, JPX is the official version of froyo 2.2.1 and I think I have heard some people say that they updated through kies, though I am not sure if they used the IMEI hack to get the vanilla kies UK release.

I used odin and samfirware to get JPX, but mind you it is not for the faint of heart. I actually 'bricked' my phone in the process, but managed to get it working again (tried to go from JPA to JPX, only worked when I went JPA>JPU>JPX). Anyhow it should be in kies by now.

A for the number of sats, I did use "GPS test" from the market, I will try to make a test on my tracks next time I go cycling, it has been snowing a quite a bit since friday so I couldn't be bothered to do that just yet.

but hey, things are looking up

oh yeah, I also noticed that samsung introduced an update feature onto the phone, so it may be the case that future updates will be done without needing to connect to a computer.


I have a vanilla UK phone and JPO is the most recent available to me
 
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