Help GPS issues?

[ardyer]

You know, I heard a rumour that 512 Meg of memory should be addressable on Android 2.1, but not on the Samsung line of processors.... that comes in a much later Kernel 2.6.32....

Usable memory is rarely related to the processor. It would have to be either software or the size of the system bus. Plus everything I've read says it is android 2.1.

 

[fiscme]

I've changed the GPS settings a few times now and my lock seems to be quick and accurate.

The only problem now is that the GPS seems to be permanently stuck on. Even if I close all applications there little satellite icon flickers away in the notification bar.

Any ideas which setting I've changed which could have caused this?

Could you please list the settings you have settled on?

I have just finished a series of long trips and a load of smaller ones over the weekend using the settings I posted earlier and google nav, and the phone performed brilliantly. Quick fixes and No drop outs.

It seems from reading other posts that the firmware updates have not altered things much but I would like to see if we can fine tune the other settings as a group.
I fwe are going to have to suit around til at least september them lets work out the best settings in the mean time? Anybody else keen on this?

Perhaps I am being naive here but why is it so difficult to get anything out of samsung? What is so bad about saying "we know there is a problem with the GPS, we are trying to fix it, when we do we will either realise a minor update or add it to a major one (which by the way is set for september at the moment)."

 

[Bertie]

Hello everyone,

I've read through the whole of this thread with interest, as someone who was going to get a Desire, but decided that I liked the look of the Galaxy S.

I am concerned, however, about the GPS situation, as I wanted to be able to use the phone as a car sat nav, here in the North West of the UK.

My current contract runs out mid August, but I was thinking of taking a monthly contract until this Galaxy issue is sorted out to everyone's satisfaction.

Can we now be sure that it is not a hardware issue? I really don't want to become involved in having to argue about getting a new phone from Samsung etc.

Are there now any estimates upon when this fix may become available, either freestanding or as part of Froyo?

I have some general questions about Galaxy S, but will post those on a more generl forum, as I don't want to annoy people only interested in GPS.

Thanks

Bertie

 

[larryccf]

fwiw - over on the xda i9000 general forum, one poster apparently purchased 3 versions of the phone, and is reporting his UK version, as well as another, both had GPS issues, but the chinese version he purchased, with firmware ending "7" works perfectly, and he then installed that firmware on the other two phones and their gps issues vaporized

if that is accurate, then it would appear to be firmware and not hardware

i've got my fingers crossed as i'd really like this phone

 

[sjdean]

Usable memory is rarely related to the processor. It would have to be either software or the size of the system bus. Plus everything I've read says it is android 2.1.

I think it was this phrase that caught my eye:

In 2.6.32, HIGHMEM support for ARM will allow us to avoid this requirement for a 1:1 mapping which will allow us to increase memory available to userspace without running the system out of virtual memory adddress space.

 

[sjdean]

fwiw - over on the xda i9000 general forum, one poster apparently purchased 3 versions of the phone, and is reporting his UK version, as well as another, both had GPS issues, but the chinese version he purchased, with firmware ending "7" works perfectly, and he then installed that firmware on the other two phones and their gps issues vaporized

if that is accurate, then it would appear to be firmware and not hardware

i've got my fingers crossed as i'd really like this phone

Take these results with a pinch of salt.

I've been doing a bit of testing, and I do have rigorous standards, so I don't just tell anything.

Here's my review:

XXJF3 firmware - Seems good initially, but then seems to falter over time. Perhaps the good reports are people just not using it properly. I use GPS Test, GPS Status, MyTracks, Google Maps Cardio Trainer. This IMHO is the best of the bunch. When it's working. When it loses Satellite signal, it will flip to A-GPS and not be very intelligent. You'll see loads of zig zag lines over the map in MyTracks as it tries to establish a lock.

XWJG5- Seems better, lines are more rounded, no big zig zag jumps. My suspicion, is that there is some clever buffering going on, but badly implemented. If you lose signal lock, the phone will go back to A-GPS and put you 100 metres away, but then it will remember your last known good and where it thinks you should be, and plot a path, irrespective of your actual new position.

XWJM2 - Getting there. Seems to also buffer information but seems to use both last known good position, heading and speed to try and constantly plot a path. Unfortunately, due to the underlying problems, if you suddenly turn right with no warning and the system loses lock, this firmware will plot you as if you're going straight on. Eventually it will figure out where you are and draw a path back. This can yield odd results, including overshooting roads, sweeping corners, cut corners, track backs...

I'd rather have a GPS that was 50% accurate and then cut me off as in the XXJF3 rather than a GPS that was 50% accurate then make up the rest as in XWJM2.

My humble opinion? Samsung seem to be doing a lot to manipulate the information coming out of the GPS, rather than fixing the GPS itself.

The Galaxy S GPS Receiver in its current state, seems to suffer from not locking onto more than eight satellites despite being able to see more, and it will not lock onto anything with an SnR < 20.

The system should be able to keep a few satellites in reserve for those times you do walk past a tall building.

Cya
Simon

 

[larryccf]

had to pop my bubble didn't you

i'm sending mine back in in the couple days, Tmobile USA has 14 day return period, and past coupe days i've seen posters indicating after they exchanged their phones, GPS works fine

i'm on the fence whether to exchange or just take a credit and wait a month or so to see how sammy resolves this issue

 

[adambrooks015]

Hi guys, just thought i would share my experience with the GPS in SGS.
Over the weekend i went for a drive through the country for 1 1/2 hours each way, every 15 mins i would check my phone for GPS and i could not even get a lock.

I tried the same thing today going a similar route and i had perfect reception all the way (except for 30 seconds it said i was about 200km from my actual position).

The only difference between the trips was the weekend was very cloudy and overcast, and today is a perfect clear day.?

I should also let you know im running TJF3, and was using GPS tracker , and Google maps.

 

[Beards]

Mmmmm... think about it.... The SGS will simply not pick up and use a sat that has an SNR below 20.
So what's the thoughts that with the SNR changing day to day ~ 'thus on a bad weather day (I know, clouds should not effect GPS)' the sats simply don't get used!

 

[winchuff]

Guys, one way we can apply more pressure to Samsung on this issue is to give a voice to those who experience problems with GPS and other (probably also firmware-related issues)

Your support here would help prevent Samsung from dodging these issues...

Samsung Mobile : Community

 

[Beards]

Guys, one way we can apply more pressure to Samsung on this issue is to give a voice to those who experience problems with GPS and other (probably also firmware-related issues)

Your support here would help prevent Samsung from dodging these issues...

Samsung Mobile : Community

Been doing this for weeks and left messages in another topic.
Simple answer ~ Samsung can't even be bothered to come back and chip in.
Besides the problem with the phone the biggest problem is Samsung themselves....

 

[larryccf]

if this report on the AT&t captivate forum is accurate, then there's some light at the end of the tunnel

http://androidforums.com/samsung-captivate/133545-official-gps-fix-being-pushed-out.html

 

[dsjr2006]

if this report on the AT&t captivate forum is accurate, then there's some light at the end of the tunnel

http://androidforums.com/samsung-captivate/133545-official-gps-fix-being-pushed-out.html

I don't believe it one bit

 

[Dalepa]

Here's a video that shows a comparison of a cliq to 2 vibrants and how to test your gps for the issue...

Vibrant GPS Test: Motorola CLIQ vs TWO Vibrants initial lock - xda-developers

 

[larryccf]

I don't believe it one bit

well, i don't give it the credibility of "moses on the mountain" but the OP in the thread was vouched for, so i'll accept he did hear that as he reported it

whether samsung was blowing smoke up the AT&T tech's skirt is another matter - but at least it's one positive rumour with a little credibility to it

i want to be optimistic

 

[galaxysser]

I'm in Singapore and have set a new world record according to Runkeeper. I ran 8.77km in 16 minutes! WOOHOO!!!

Oh wait, I had the SGS in my pocket and I only just found this thread reporting the GPS issues....damn you Samsung!!! My name will now never be glorified!!!

On a serious note though, my firmware is 2.1 Update1 and the Baseband version is : I9000DXJF4

So it trumps most of yours, with the exception of the JX5 fella

I'm going for another run on Friday with my wife who has the iphone 3GS, will get her to activate Runkeeper and see how it compares...let's see if I can set another world record!

 

[funksplutter]

I've been having the same problems with GPS so called Orange last night and they are sending a new phone out today.

Can't fault the customer service but I'm not convinced a new phone will help. I'll post an update later today when I've had a chance to test it.

 

[Evil Peter]

I'm in Singapore and have set a new world record according to Runkeeper. I ran 8.77km in 16 minutes! WOOHOO!!!

Oh wait, I had the SGS in my pocket and I only just found this thread reporting the GPS issues....damn you Samsung!!! My name will now never be glorified!!!

On a serious note though, my firmware is 2.1 Update1 and the Baseband version is : I9000DXJF4

So it trumps most of yours, with the exception of the JX5 fella

I'm going for another run on Friday with my wife who has the iphone 3GS, will get her to activate Runkeeper and see how it compares...let's see if I can set another world record!

JF4 is still pretty old and the bigger reported changes in GPS performance have been in later firmwares so it was to be expected that you could have problems with yours, even though everyone doesn't have the same even on JF3.

 

[krillo]

Just had a chat with an operator on the Swedish Samsung chat. His guesstimation was that the update will be rolled out in the middle of August based on the information he had at the moment. He wasn't sure if the fix would just be GPS related or would include other updates as well e.g. Swype in Swedish which I asked about.

Not much to go on but at least I have bugged a Samsung worker about it today.

 

[funksplutter]

I received my new phone from Orange a couple of hours ago and, much to my surprise, the GPS now appears to be working acceptably i.e. lock gained on around 10 satellites pretty quickly and retained throughout my drive back to the office. Accuracy was fairly steady at 5.0m and myTracks was pretty much spot on.

If you are having problems and are able to get a replacement it may be worth nagging your provider.

 

[Maca0716]

I got my Galaxy S yesterday and everytime i have gone onto Navigation APP it just does not pick up any GPS at all it just says searching for GPS.

My Desire however picks up GPS within seconds.

Now do i go through the hassle of sending my phone back in the hope i get one of these 'magic' working phones or not?

To be honest i doubt i will bother.

 

[sjdean]

I received my new phone from Orange a couple of hours ago and, much to my surprise, the GPS now appears to be working acceptably i.e. lock gained on around 10 satellites pretty quickly and retained throughout my drive back to the office. Accuracy was fairly steady at 5.0m and myTracks was pretty much spot on.

If you are having problems and are able to get a replacement it may be worth nagging your provider.

No you don't. You may see 10 or more, but you only get a lock on 8.

Try GPS Test to see. Remember, in GPS Test, a grey satellite is a satellite it sees, but one that it's not locked on to.

 

[larryccf]

well, sent mine back for exchange - if the replacement doesn't show good GPS functionality, then it goes back

i'm not confident enough in samsung's ability or willingness to fix this - they're obviously aware of the issue, and like you stated in an earlier post, they've had the phone in production 3-4 months - i would have thought on a product they wanted to dominate the market with, that they've have done better preproduction testing / evaluation. But even ow, when they've become aware of it, at least 45 - 50 days now, they should have had a fix by now, if it was solely a software issue. I'd have thought they've have put an engineer if not a team on this right away - this isn't a bug where certain apps forceclose or lag

if the replacement doesn't work, i'll wither wait it out - and if not resolved by the time nokia releases the N8, i'll go for it. the nokia N8 isn't quite the phone the galaxy could have been, but ... without GPS functionality, neither is the galaxy - plus i've got more faith in nokia

 

[karnka]

Mr Beards

I take it clove have gone quiet on you?

 

[Beards]

Mr Beards

I take it clove have gone quiet on you?

Funnily enough I sent them another message in the early hours this morning asking them for an update and a clarification to an email they sent to another member in xda-devs.
That message stated Samsung had informed Clove there was 'possibly' going to be a fix!
Quite the different from what had been previously reported a couple of weeks back.

Rest assured the second I receive a reply I'll post the entire message (as I normally do) here in this thread.