To Everyone Who IS/WAS Having GPS Problems

[PDAGuy]

Look, the "workarounds" don't work. I'm a new AT&T customer with this phone that is pretty cool but a crappy GPS experience means they have 30 days from when I got it to get it fixed. I've tweeted to @Samsungtweets and @ATTNews and I know Samsung is paying attention because the followed me the next day, but bottom line... if its not fixed before my 30 days is up, I'm bailing from AT&T and going to put another chalkmark in the "Samsung sucks at phones" column.

 

[wdsport]

I love this phone, but my GPS doesn't work unless it's 'wifi-assisted', which really isn't GPS at all and puts me back in the days when cell tower tri-angulation was all we had. If not fixed by next week when the new Blackberry Torch is available from AT&T, I'm probably going to swap it. Captivate is a great phone for me otherwise, but I want my phone to have GPS.

 

[askpcguy]

Did you even bother to read the VERY FIRST post in this thread?

Did you notice that your "work around" is posted all over the internet already?

Look, I appreciate you wanting to help out but at least be productive. Most of us herein are looking and waiting for the "solution" to this problem and are well aware of this work around.

Are you seriously this clueless? I understand the settings, work arounds, and other tweaks can be found on many websites. How do you think I found them for myself in the first place?

I'm posting my method and want to know from other people if they get similar results or what their experience is. I also understand and am fully aware (must mention AFTER purchasing the device) the general consensus is the GPS is not 100% solid. However, again, using the method I posted I do get mediocre results.

This is the purpose of the online forum otherwise known as a bulletin board. I am sharing my experience with the Captivate, the GPS settings and would like to know what other people think. Not to get berated for posting something over and over and over.

 

[askpcguy]

wdsport and PDAGuy: Have you tried changing the GPS settings at all? I'll say this again, long as I use the LbsTestMode app to get GPS position first while stationary, and then open Google Maps, things will usually work in 3-5 minutes.

 

[wdsport]

I've tried all the different settings on the different threads and I never get any kind of lock on Google Maps (or anything else) unless I have 'use wireless networks' enabled (and then it's never exact), so I know it's not really GPS, it's just cell tower triagulation. I am not rooted, which I think you have to be for the Lbstestmode app, right? "things will usually work in 3-5 minutes" doesn't sound like a strong endorsement.

I love all the other things this phone can do. I was a Blackberry user (the Bold) and happy, but when upgrade time came, I jumped on the iPhone4 expecting to love it. It was missing some things BB had, but I was hooked on the big screen, so jumped to Captivate, love it, but I need a real GPS on my phone (mountain bike tracking,--things like that, as well as directions). I get the feeling this fix could be months away (we're all just guessing, aren't we?), so since the new BB has a bigger screen finally, I will likely jump there.

 

[no driver]

I've tried all the different settings on the different threads and I never get any kind of lock on Google Maps (or anything else) unless I have 'use wireless networks' enabled (and then it's never exact), so I know it's not really GPS, it's just cell tower triagulation. I am not rooted, which I think you have to be for the Lbstestmode app, right? "things will usually work in 3-5 minutes" doesn't sound like a strong endorsement.

I love all the other things this phone can do. I was a Blackberry user (the Bold) and happy, but when upgrade time came, I jumped on the iPhone4 expecting to love it. It was missing some things BB had, but I was hooked on the big screen, so jumped to Captivate, love it, but I need a real GPS on my phone (mountain bike tracking,--things like that, as well as directions). I get the feeling this fix could be months away (we're all just guessing, aren't we?), so since the new BB has a bigger screen finally, I will likely jump there.

I am not rooted either. LBSTest works regardless.

 

[wdsport]

Oh, sorry, LbsTestMode, yes, I've been in there and changed the settings and tried Skyhook off and on, blah blah. (I'm dialing *#*@1472365#*#* in my sleep these days) and still, with 'use wireless networks' turned on, I get a lock right away but it's only close, not exact (and sometimes not even close if I'm driving), nad with 'use wireless networks' turned off, it just stays in "waiting for location" forever.

 

[no driver]

Oh, sorry, LbsTestMode, yes, I've been in there and changed the settings and tried Skyhook off and on, blah blah. (I'm dialing *#*@1472365#*#* in my sleep these days) and still, with 'use wireless networks' turned on, I get a lock right away but it's only close, not exact (and sometimes not even close if I'm driving), nad with 'use wireless networks' turned off, it just stays in "waiting for location" forever.

Fair enough, just trying to help.

 

[mongstradamus]

Look, the "workarounds" don't work. I'm a new AT&T customer with this phone that is pretty cool but a crappy GPS experience means they have 30 days from when I got it to get it fixed. I've tweeted to @Samsungtweets and @ATTNews and I know Samsung is paying attention because the followed me the next day, but bottom line... if its not fixed before my 30 days is up, I'm bailing from AT&T and going to put another chalkmark in the "Samsung sucks at phones" column.

I am in the same boat as you , They will have 2 more weeks to fix the issue, which i doubt they will. The same issue has been on the galaxy s for a few months now and they havent done anything about it. Samsung should stick to make televisions i guess

 

[robhs]

It is nice to be able to read these forums to get advice about how to make our devices work the way they should, but....I should not have to do anything to my phone but turn it on to get it to do what it is supposed to do.

Considering the price I paid for my Captivate, I expected to get a fully functional device right out of the box. Not something that has to be hacked, rooted, modded, or whatever else it needs. After all, that is why I bought this phone new, so I could use it NOT fix it.

Don't get me wrong, this is the best phone I have ever had. I just wish that AT&T and Samsung would have made certain that it was fully functional before they released it for sale.

 

[mongstradamus]

Sounds like to me phone was really rushed out to market they never fixed initial issues with the phone. Seems like right now they care more about getting it into most markets.maybe they will try and fix gps issue and maybe they won't

 

[robhs]

I think so too. I wonder if the release of the iPhone4 had anything to do with it.
I can almost see the guys at AT&T and Samsung crossing their fingers as they watch the delivery trucks ship these phones to their customers.

 

[mongstradamus]

I dont know if its coincedence that iphone 4 and droidx came out around same times as captivate. Those phones right now are superior to captivate. People can complain on how closed the ios system is but it works, captivate is really rough around the edges right now and doesn't have an functioning gps

 

[sinjin]

not sure, but after hearing all the complaints about the gps, I took the wife's captivate outside started Navigation and boom locked on with in seconds. Now I have not tested while in the car, but did try the speak destination bit(very star trekkie) and it seem to give the proper route. i will test more this weekend on our trip, but we rarely use the GPS- we do not travel out of town or in area that are unfamiliar.

 

[mongstradamus]

when i got my replacement captivate it used to get full lock on gps , but after a while it got worse and worse, and not its not much better then my old captivate

 

[SamsungVibrant]

Someone needs to tell the person at xda-developers forum to change the tittle for that supposed "fix." Some nerd infront of his computer is getting way to much credit around the internet and from various tech websites for a "fix" that is far from a "fix." I mean, I thank this person for their attempts at helping to resolve the GPS issue, but the tittle misleads people to thinking its a true fix, and the truth is, for many it doesn't do squat. Am I the only one that tried the supposed "fix" with absolutely no luck?

 

[SamsungVibrant]

when i got my replacement captivate it used to get full lock on gps , but after a while it got worse and worse, and not its not much better then my old captivate

All along i've said this problem is software based, but i'm starting to think it might be hardware, for the exact reason you stated.
when I first got my vibrant, gps worked semi-okay. Then it got progressively worse. I'm at a point now where it no longer views 9-11 sats, instead it sees a max of 2 if i'm lucky. I've also noticed the phone runs hot when GPS is on.

I have a theory, it might be wrong. My theory is, that since the GPS gets progressively worse with time, it might infact be hardware. The more we run the hardware, the hotter it gets, and basically is slowly frying the the hardware, causing the gps to progressively get worse with time. Thats the only explanation I can think of why GPS would progressively get worse. If it was software a factory reset should restore it to its initial working state, i've tried that and I still can only view 2 sats.

Also the slow response from samsung has me believing they are pretty confused too, I bet they aren't even sure whats going on yet.

 

[gflare]

when i got my replacement captivate it used to get full lock on gps , but after a while it got worse and worse, and not its not much better then my old captivate

I was on the fence about replacing my captivate with a new one, but I'm glad you've been active on these forums to let us all know you can't just guarantee a good GPS by getting a replacement.

Just out of curiosity, what's the build date on your new one?

I have a theory, it might be wrong. My theory is, that since the GPS gets progressively worse with time, it might infact be hardware. The more we run the hardware, the hotter it gets, and basically is slowly frying the the hardware, causing the gps to progressively get worse with time. Thats the only explanation I can think of why GPS would progressively get worse. If it was software a factory reset should restore it to its initial working state, i've tried that and I still can only view 2 sats.

I like the theory, but unfortunately my phone didn't exhibit that. I still have my original captivate, and the GPS problems have seemed to be consistent throughout my entire length of ownership.

 

[SamsungVibrant]

Just out of curiosity, what's the build date on your new one?

How do you find the build date? According to some people, the date on the box is actually just the ship date, and not the build date. Unless we make the assumption that later shipped units are more currently built, but we can never assume. Also I don't think the build date matters, as people purchasing today are also experiencing problems.

 

[jmreed97]

I decided to call AT&T again today about the issue. After being transferred to a high level tech manager, I was told they are aware of the issue and they have no idea when or if Samsung will fix the GPS. I was actually advised by this tech manager, to return my phone (not get a replacement, return it).

I am still going to hold on to it until 8/20 when I will call back and see if there is any new info. If not, the phone is going back.

 

[mongstradamus]

Right now am pretty disappointed with the captivate, yes its a beautiful phone, and its fast after you root it and apply the lag fix. Out of box tho its an very subpar phone imo, non functioning gps and very laggy out of box. Seems to me samsung did an real rush job trying to get this phone out to market.

I am probably going to send both phones back until till they apply an fix, if they do at all. Right now my thoughts on samsung are they should stick to just making television, at least they are good at that

 

[BobPaul]

Right now am pretty disappointed with the captivate, yes its a beautiful phone, and its fast after you root it and apply the lag fix. Out of box tho its an very subpar phone imo, non functioning gps and very laggy out of box. Seems to me samsung did an real rush job trying to get this phone out to market.

I am probably going to send both phones back until till they apply an fix, if they do at all. Right now my thoughts on samsung are they should stick to just making television, at least they are good at that

Yeah, I'm getting this sinking feeling about the whole Captivate thing.

Now if only ATT had a better selection an Android phones.

Hmmm, maybe it is time to switch carriers. Should I go back to T-Mobile?
Verizon? More research to do.........................

 

[mongstradamus]

well vibrant has same issue as the captivate i am not sure about the other options on tmobile with android. As far as vzw goes they have two pretty good android choices with droid inc and droid x,

 

[gflare]

How do you find the build date? According to some people, the date on the box is actually just the ship date, and not the build date. Unless we make the assumption that later shipped units are more currently built, but we can never assume. Also I don't think the build date matters, as people purchasing today are also experiencing problems.

One of the other threads mentioned putting in the phones information to samsung's website will show you the phones build date.

I would just find it interesting to know if the new phone was part of a later shipment, or just an original shipment that happened to not be sold yet (or simply a rebox'd one).

 

[askpcguy]

I just want to offer that today using Cold Start with SkyHook OFF in a parking garage, I was able to obtain a satellite fix in the LbsTestMode app while driving 40 mph for 3-4 minutes. Within Google Maps I got my position pin pointed to 5 meters in 1-2 minutes. The lock was solid all the way home for me.

This is often the case with new devices, the initial device released to market is often problematic and once the version 2 is released, those problems (as reported by consumers) are normally resolved.

Am I upset about the performance of the GPS on my Captivate, yes? I had Tomtom on my Treo 650 with a standalone Bluetooth GPS receiver. Worked perfect, only a few times I had to pull the battery from the receiver to force a cold start. In the long run I gain much more features with the Captivate and its GPS.

What can be proposed now is to collect data from all these settings being changed, either no change or a slight improvement, and bombard Samsung to repair the problem and get us new devices. Class action law suit perhaps? If Samsung and AT&T knew the devices would have GPS problems yet still released them to market...shame shame.