yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] ShapesBlue:
With the newer devices there is technically a way to get into the battery department but it requires a kit to do so and a lot of prying. This fix was for devices, specifically the S3 that had a removable back and battery

Sent from my Nexus 6
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Zentac:
Last thing you think of, but I guess the first thing we should think of... electrical problem! brilliant, and thanks!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] avd:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eo93EF7rVIw

3:55 in. According to this guy, we should also reseat the ribbon for the gps antenna.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Data56:
Totally ridiculous but it seems to work

My screws were not even loose, but after struggling with GPS even out of doors for days, now it seems to work even indoors. Puzzled but grateful. I would click Thanks if I could find it.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] kingmateusz:
I put piece of paper under gps sensor pressure connector because I cannot pry contact pad. Also I tightened all screws. It haven't worked to me. Gps is catching fix but it show my position 2-3km away from me. Sometimes even 30km.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] bacabrasil:
Amazing just tightened the screw and GPS running
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] chodex:
Samsung galaxy s4 i9505 gps Исправил!!!Работает!!!!

сомневался , но все заработало .... что я уже только не перепробывал .... спасибо за пост ...:хорошо:
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] farshadqeysari@gmail.com:
you are a genius! Worked!!!!!!!!!!!!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] soohyunk83:
Oh thanks!

So looks like there is some logic to this miracle.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] jasonl99:
I think you are right about this. The fix worked for me for a day, then quit working (it went back to locking only occassionally). After I saw this post with the picture of the location of the GPS antenna, I thought maybe all the screws shouldn't be torqued quite so much.

I really tightened the screw in the upper left, right near what you are suggesting is the GPS antenna connection point. I also tightened the other two screws on the left pretty tight. Then, as you work right, I didn't tighten quite so much.

Since I did that, my GPS is working great, and -- more importantly -- it staying great. I think that upper left screw needs to be tighter than all the rest, and the further you get from it it needs to a little looser (still tight, but not torqued down).

Having said that, I don't know if anyone else had this fix only "sort of" work for them -- it seems like it works for everyone. But if you do you have any difficult with the fix keeping the phone fixed, give this a try.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] dmudd:
Yeah that screw needs to be screwed on as tight as you can get. I posted earlier that I was having the issue where I would tighten and then have to retighten because my gps would stop locking great after a couple of days. After I posted that, I REALLY made sure that I tighten the screws on the left side as much as I could, and I have had no intermittent problems since then. GPS has been perfect since.

So, for anyone that tightens the screws and loses gps quality after a day or two, make sure that you screw the upper left screw on pretty much as tight as you can manage.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Jurassitol:
Wouldn't using a drop of loctite keep you from having to rescrew? If its just 3 screws, thats 3 drops to a permenant fix.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] supercell2000:
Has anyone tried loosening that upper left screw to see if it hurts GPS? That would confirm Hypnosis4U2NV's theory.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] NZitney:
Personally, I would be very hesitant to put loctite inside my phone. It's one thing to use on a bolt, but I wouldn't want to take a chance of getting it on something inside a $600 piece of electronics.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] mustbevick:
saved me

you just saved me from booting up my old ass windows computer.. and doing the Odin reset dance...

thank you sir.. may all your kids grow up rich and strong...
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] jbdan:
Scared to honestly lol. But you're right
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] edstreiff:
Thank you thank you thank you

This worked perfectly my GPS locks instantly. I can't tell you how many rooms and patches I flashed trying to get the GPS to work. I happen to stumble upon this thread looking for a different GPS patch and figured, what the he'll, let me give it a try. All my screws were a little lose so I tightened them up. Powered the phone on hit the GPS test and BAM! Instant lock

It's a real shame these screws were not tight to begin with shame on Samsung. I feel bad for people like my sister who also has this phone. She would have never stumbled on this forum if I hadn't told her

Thanks again
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] 12manytimes:
IT WORKS!!

Another believer here!! GPS was off by half a mile, googled the prob, found you, said 2 myself "its worth a try right?" YES!! Now its like I have my own personal satellite lol
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] wareynolds:
Mine was never that bad until recently I started having problems. I was not even really looking for a fix, but since there have been recent replies I noticed it. I screwed them in and I got a lock right away.

This thread should be made sticky.

Walt
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Jonny Steele:
Just tried, will see what happens.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] jbdan:
Agreed. I said this a month ago in the other gps fix thread and mentioned it to the mods. I haven't seen one person say it didn't work. It is a overwhelmingly positive result tip and should have been stickified weeks ago imo
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] coldvodka:
You guys are life savers. I was going completely nuts without GPS! I don't know if it's just me, but I've noticed that my battery life has also improved. I don't know if there's any rhyme or reason to it. I'm just happy with my phone again!. Please sticky this!

Cheers!

-CV
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] supercell2000:
If you have apps that search for GPS throughout the day, the quick lock would allow them to run less improving battery performance.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Jonny Steele:
Just lost gps. Didn't work for me. :(
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] dmudd:
Try retightening them really good. I had that problem where I tightened them and it worked for a day or so and then it would stop working. I thought about it and assumed it was because the screwdriver I used didn't fit perfectly; so, I went and got one that would and made sure I tightened the screws really well and I have not had a problem since. It's been working perfectly every day for me since then.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] misteroh:
what the ****? what is this wizardry. this totally fixed my GPS woes. You're the best man!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] tekhna:
Worked on one of my phones, not the other. Still 0 satellites on one. Urgh.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Mrreg:
My wife and I each got a GS3 in September. Hers (a white model) has always had great GPS lock times. Mine (pebble blue) has been fair to poor. They're both rev. B, but I guess the screw tightening employees on the white assembly line must work a little harder. Thanks for this tip, after tightening the screws, I get lock in about 2 seconds outdoors and about 7 seconds indoors.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] crobs808:
If this REALLY is helping people, then I am really frustrated at Samsung. It is ridiculous that this kind of thing would even be needed to be done by users. I am a HUGE Samsung fan, but this is a big potmark on an otherwise perfect face. Luckily my S3 was good when I got it, but after reading this thread I tightened all my screws - hey, it can't hurt.

I am still not sure if it is voodoo, placebo, or whatever you want to call it, since I did not have the problem before hand.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] tbuff80:
This worked for me! Thank you!!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Hypnosis4U2NV:
No sir.. Actual results here..

Check here for my opinion why it works..

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=39570338

Sent from my Commodore 64..

READY.

load"*", 8,1
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] crobs808:
I know about the piece of metal that gets pushed down to contact the other, which is why I am frustrated. That is something I would expect from Daewoo, not Samsung.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Hypnosis4U2NV:
I was referring to your comment of:

It's not voodoo, placebo or whatever.. Like you observed it's technical and damn shameful.. They could of at least had a connector attached rather than simple pressed contact..

Sent from my Commodore 64..

READY.

load"*", 8,1
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] derberts:
Do you guys think its possible for this to also be an LTE fix? I've had my LTE lock consistently after doing this I don't know if it's a coincidence or not...
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Hypnosis4U2NV:
Maybe, but the cell antenna is located opposite of the GPS antenna which is the bottom right corner of the rear.. It's also connected by clip rather than just mere pressure like the GPS antenna.. Maybe screwing the case down helped seat the clip of the antenna a bit better..

Sent from my Commodore 64..

READY.

load"*", 8,1
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] fatasian:
Thank you baby Jesus. Loosening a few others did it!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Samsung.Galaxy.S3:
Tiny Screwdrivers

Ok, I need to give this a whirl. Now only if I have screwdrivers that tiny! Doh! :silly:
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] nicholi2789:
I thought I would share my testimonial as well.. I've always had kinda wonky gps. I've had two S3s, one was brand new, the other refurbished. Both of them always took at least 60-120 seconds to get a lock, and usually it would only be accurate to around 30 feet or so (I just figured that was kinda the limit of this technology). Then I came across this thread and saw that the GPS inaccuracy is a wide-spread issue with S3s, and thought, what the hell? What do I have to lose?

So I shut my phone down and got out my precision screwdriver set. I was appalled at just how loose those screws were on the back. Some of them I was able to get two or three full turns before they were tight. Couldn't believe it.

It even seems as though I am getting a better signal, thought that could be a placebo effect. I live in a rural area and don't have 4G (soon says VZW) at any give time my signal strength would usually be around -90--95 dbm 6 asu. Now I'm getting a consistent -75 to -80 dbm 2 asu.

Maybe that is coincedence but I'm definetely getting a stronger signal.

Thanks for posting this!!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] chayesfss:
I was very doubtful this would fix my issue. Thought it was rom/kernel related and as such had changed roms quite a bit looking for something that worked.

I pulled the back off, just tightened all of them and am amazed that I'm getting a lock right away! Wouldn't have ever thought this would work and can't figure out why but I can't thank you enough!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] engelba:
Another "me too" story but... I had started having problems about 2 weeks ago with my phone getting a poor fix and in the past 5 days it getting no fix what so ever. I tried a couple of GPS tools to reset it and download new satellite data - nothing. Reflashed and wiped with a new ROM and new Radio.... nothing - same problem.

I saw this solution and thought it was total BS but figured what do I have to lose? Flipped the phone over, took the back off and tightened up the screws (esp the ones in the upper left corner). Put the back back on and without even rebooting, walked outside and bam! nearly instant fix.... 19 of 20 satellites.

Sounds crazy but this does really work. I would urge folks to not go too crazy and over tighten the screws as you risk stripping them. Just snug them up, and see if it makes a difference. If not, snug them a little more and see if that works.

Making me wonder if I should take the back off and clean the contact between the board and the GPS antenna in the back of the phone.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] syintiphic:
There is a lot of good positive feedback and suggestions on this thread. This is great! I am glad this has helped many people. So funny, many people were just like me. I was about ready to give up on my phone until I stumbled on the screw fix.

I've read in other forums that some ROMs are better than others are at enhancing/maintaining GPS functionality. I definitely think this is true. Although I believe tightening the screws should definitely be the first thing to check, I would however also say some ROMs degrade GPS functionality.

I can't really explain this but I was on a TouchWiz ROM for about 2-3 weeks with the GPS functioning great. I noticed that I started to get slower locks and the location wasn't as accurate. I checked the screws and all were screwed in pretty well. I still was able to use my GPS but it just wasn't functioning as well as previously...it didn't bother me too much. As many of you do, I like to try out other ROMs. I tried an AOSP ROM and noticed that the phone (beyond just GPS) wasn't functioning quite the way I would have liked it so hours later I flashed the nandroid of my TouchWiz ROM. After flashing I noticed that my GPS worked fine again. Was this dumb luck or a coincidence? Did it have something to do with the fact that I wiped and did a factory reset before flashing my nandroid?

This got me thinking that there is something deep inside the OS or folder structure that is impacting my GPS so I decided that I would experiment a bit and wipe my phone so that I can start fresh with another TouchWiz ROM. Well I'm happy to report that the past month or so my phone's GPS has been rock solid. Not one issue. I can't really explain this. I have noticed that overall the GPS locks are faster and more accurate, even indoors. I'm sure many of you probably know the reason for this.

After discovering the screw fix, which improved my GPS (noticed a night and day difference), I also think there is something that may get corrupted when flashing ROMs, which impacts your GPS. I haven't tested it too much but I wonder if there is something with the sdcard/0 folder that gets created when using 4.2.X ROMs. Perhaps something there is causing the GPS to act erratic.

I must say, now that I have my phone functioning the way I want it I don't tweak it too much. I use GPS quite a bit so I'm always hesitant to tweak or add something unless I research it quite a bit and fully understand how it may impact my phone. I just don't want to take a chance impacting my GPS.

I'm interested what you all think about corrupted files that are impacting GPS and what ROMs (types or specific ones) you think are better for GPS functionality?

Cheers.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] jonsoini:
Just another 'this fixed it for me' reply. Thanks for this, was driving my wife nuts and I wasn't looking forward to a warranty exchange. Simple tightening of the screws and GPS fired right up, no more 'waiting for location' from Navigation.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] stas_:
Worked Magically for my Galaxy Note

Another satisfied customer here, except with a different device.

I have a Galaxy Note, and I haven't had a GPS lock in weeks. I tightened the top left screw in the back and now I have instant, perfect GPS lock, even with an obstructed view of the sky.

Thank you!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] InfInIteGMKg:
This is a DIFFERENT, but easy fix that worked for me!!!

I tried everything, tightening screws, apps, etc. FINALLY GOT FED UP my Gps was turning on but could not get a lock on my location. My GPS would blink in status bar and whatever app I was using would say searching for signal... To make a long story short THIS FIX WORKED FOR ME, BUT BE CAREFUL, IF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND OR SOMETHING GOES WRONG WITH YOUR PHONE I WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE...

Ok I ran USSD code running, First,

On dialpad press *#197328640# this will bring up a page automatically after pressingthe last # symbol.. DONT FORGET TO DIAL * at the beginning

Next- press UMTS-then press Common-NV Rebuild - NV Rebuild again, then wait till system says to reboot... Press and hold power button to reboot and your done.

After I completed these steps my GPS worked perfectly again, hopefully this does some people some good.

If curious Iam running 4.1.2 rooted sg3 tmo, should work on 4.1.1 also. Not sure about cm, pac, ROMs etc.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Wontfinishlast:
Anyone with a vzw model get this menu to work?

EDIT: Had to enable hidden menus. For anyone else that had this problem, first dial *#22745927 and click hidden menu then "enable". The above code now works. Now to see if this finally resolves my GPS woes!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] nomad2172:
solution worked perfectly

This solution worked perfectly for me on my Galaxy S3. Now my GPS locks in every time and is fully functional. This post saved me countless hours in attempting to work with Verizon support. Thanks a milliom!!!!!!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] vandizzam:
Tried it and still nothing. Did the screw thing as well. Any more ideas?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] ///MB:
Can Anyone Please Help Me? =(

I have a Verizon S3 (unlocked bootloader, rooted, twrp recovery, but otherwise the stock MD1 firmware) and my GPS waas working fine until I was trying to get rid of the ongoing wifi notification and had to restore from nandroid backups several times because my phone was getting stuck on the 4G colorful boot up sequence.

I have already done the tightening of the screws trick a few times and it worked well but not this time. So, I found this thread and decided to try the *#22745927, followed by the *#190... ->UMTS->common etc etc. Right after I did that, I lost my Verizon LTE signal. So in a panic, I went thru and tried (randomly) changing different values and settings in that hidden menu. No matter what I did, I could only get my 4GLTE data and it's usual speeds no problem. BUT now my voice calling and texting would not work whatsoever. It won't even start ringing when I try to make a call. 611 doesn't work, nothing. So I restored from my TWRP nandroid backup hoping the reflashing would fix it but it didn't. I tried all sorts of different stock and rooted roms as well as trying to change more settings in the hidden menu, but still the mobile network wouldn't connect. :(

I finally called VZW tech support and even the level 2 tech had no idea and thinks it's something wrong with the signal in my area, which I know is not true. So, she is consulting another tech to investigate it and I am waiting to hear back. Hopefully they will end up shipping me a warranty replacement tomorrow.

But does anyone have any idea if I could fix this somehow?

Thanks!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Hypnosis4U2NV:
I'm sorry to say that if nothing worked for you, your phone has hardware issues..

Sent from my Commodore 64..

READY.

load"*", 8,1
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] vandizzam:
Finally fixed my gps but now I have worse issues. I fixed it by removing the back housing and putting it back on. Gps locks super quick now but I can't make and receive calls or send texts. I can receive texts. I did upgrade the modem in trying to fix the gps so that may be an issue. I didn't really move anything when I opened the phone up but who knows, maybe I messed up the cell antenna? Any ideas?

I get data and my signal bars are good but always grayed out.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Hypnosis4U2NV:
I'm going to recommend you do a full wipe and reinstall your ROM.. We could sit here all day going over what could be the problem and trying things, but it's going to be much quicker if you just reinstall the ROM and return everything back to what it was before you started trying different methods of fixing it..

Sent from my Commodore 64..

READY.

load"*", 8,1
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] vandizzam:
I wiped and reinstalled my rom. Didn't work so I Odined stock unrooted. Still no luck. I've gotten the message in the pic attached but don't know if that has anything to do with it.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] vandizzam:
Got it working by Odin to stock ics and reprovisioned the sim
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] mamba94:
Thank you!!!! I've been dealing with crappy gps forever. I can't believe the fix was so simple. Thanks again.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] powells85:
I'm in the same situation, any luck figuring this out?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] powells85:
I was able to open Terminal Emulator and type "su" enter and then "reboot nvrestore" and eventually the phone came back on and I am able to text again.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] ///MB:
Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. I got fed up with it after spending hours and hours on it and called Verizon to send me a warranty replacement. I'm not sure if the Terminal Emulator would have worked for me anyway because I had tried every possible setting in that "hidden menu" so who knows what else might have been messed up.

Glad you got it working. That's the last time I try anything like that again! lol. I'm happy to say that my replacement locks onto GPS perfectly.

Does your GPS finally work after doing all that?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] rgrossie:
I had a similar situation that was happening because my phone was trying to use the wrong band (I had messed with the sim). I fixed it using this trick: http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=41286117&postcount=5

I don't know if that's your issue, but it's worth looking at.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Dr_MC:
It really works!

I wish I had known about this before leaving for Europe, where I needed the GPS!

Thanks!

Dr_MC
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] EViollet:
Simply awesome.

The flaky GPS was making be crazy...
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] cjoc:
Went from spotty gps to no gps this week. Opened the phone turned the top left screw a few times and boom almost instant lock. Thanks for the fix.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] azsde:
Well, i had the same problem but on the GS4, the fix was the same, i've tighten up all the screws and voilà !

My GPS works now :)

Thank you very much !
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Hypnosis4U2NV:
Well that is just upsetting.. Not that you fixed your GPS issues on the S4, but that Samsung still uses the same antenna connection and that it still has issues.. You would think that after 3 Galaxy phones they would get GPS right..

Sent from my Commodore 64..

READY.

load"*", 8,1
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Bielinsk:
I thought this was a joke. But I went for it. Tightened the screws, now I get an instant lock. I thought it was a ROM problem.

Thank you.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] iamjackspost:
This worked for me too. Although it took the right phillips head to get it done. I tried EVERYTHING before hand to fix my GPS, and tried to tighten the screws with a precision flathead. I thought they were tight, and I was still getting no lock or 1-2 satellites at best. I found a precision phillips head that fit the screws pretty well, and REALLY tightened them. They were pretty snug before, but I was able to get a quarter turn out of most of them. Now I have a near instant lock. So glad this worked, I was resorting to trying to read google maps while driving and probably would have got into an accident sooner or later.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] th3drow:
This thread made me so hopeful, I've tightened the screws like 3 times now, I have even taken all the screws off and the back cover, and put them back on like another user did. However I sit there forever and get like 5 satellites. When on google maps it gets a lock to like 30 meters for a few seconds then loses it and restarts completely.

Edit: so i did the trick where you put the 2 files in your System/Etc and it fixed my problem :) atleast my hardware is good!