yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] rgrossie:
I absolutely agree with this. I've tried this a few times with a flat head with very little effect. I recently bought a great little screwdriver that I found in the checkout lane at my local computer store. It's called the teeny turner & for $5 it has 8 different mini bits. I used it& got more than a full turn off many of my screws. I now get 11 satellites in my bedroom, previously I got none.

Someone I work with had the same phone, so we did a test today. We held our phones side by side inside the building we work in. I was getting 3-5 satellites, he was getting none. I tightened his screws with my little driver, then we did our experiment again in the same location. He got the same number as me immediately. Pretty awesome stuff.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Caporeira:
Hi,

when I tighten the screws I will lose the warranty ?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] syintiphic:
I think it is safe to say that tightening the screws won't void your warranty.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Caporeira:
Thank you, it's helped :)
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Alfyne:
One more

Add me to the list of those that can't believe it worked. Amazing. Have had trouble with every rom imaginable for a month now. After I tightened the screws - I was locked on instantly. THANK YOU.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] xenster:
Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you x 10000000000
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] zuki46:
Guys try it worked for me as well. Thanks for your help.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] cppc:
I started with the problem of GPS not working after some amount of usage. It started working great, locks fast and correct, then after a while (a day or so) it stopped; by that I mean I couldn't even get the "round dot" on status bar flashing, or sometimes while I'm using Google map, the "round dot" just disappear! All I could do was restarting the phone and I get the dot back whenever I open an app that uses GPS. Then I read this fix, did it and even though it did not solve my problem completely, at least I can have about 4 days without needing to restart the phone. But now the problem gets worse, I almost have to restart my phone everyday. And I don't know what to do, I did all the fix I can find on the Internet; the screws on the back of my phone are not loose even a bit.

I really love this phone but to me I think Samsung is going to its dusk. A Nexus phone or Moto X next!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Hypnosis4U2NV:
I would suspect two things.

1) Hardware issue

2) Software issue from applying other "fixes".

I would suggest going back to stock by reinstalling the ROM to rule out one of the two above.

Sent from my Commodore 64..

READY.

load"*", 8,1
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] joshua5683:
Darn if only I had a super microscopic screwdriver

Sent from my SCH-I535
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] royta:
#0 Phillips will work.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] myinc:
it works!

weird, after tightening all the screws, my S3 can lock the satellites immediately as before.

thanks a lot, you find the true reason of this problem!!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] GreenMunky:
I did this almost a year ago when I first got my SGS3, and was starting to have GPS issues again these last couple weeks. Tightened the screws again last night and BAM! 2-second GPS lock without Wi-Fi turned on. Just blows my mind how well this trick works...
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Hypnosis4U2NV:
It's not really a trick but a horrible hardware design.. As the screws loosen, the GPS antenna loses contact with the GPS sensor..

I'm considering just popping off the back case and putting something behind the antenna contacts so they make better contact with the sensor regardless of how much you tighten the screws..

Sent from my Commodore 64..

READY.

load"*", 8,1
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Finn81:
I have this problem too,and it was annoying.First,i am tryed to tighten the screws as much as possible but it didn`t help.Finding satellites is still takes forever.Then i decide to disassemble the thone and look too it closer.Everything was good,nothing loose in their places.I assemble it back,twisted the screws near GPS module a bit harder.And finally it works.20/23 for 1 minute in a wooden building.

Thx a lot.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] spaco22:
genuis
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] awenthol:
Are you effing kidding me? I have been struggling with how terrible the GPS is for almost a year now. How the hell could it have been this simple? I am now fixed....
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] syintiphic:
Quite simple isn't it. :)

Cheers.

Yes, I was definitely blown away when I tightened the screws and realized that this fixed my GPS. I really just thought it was my device but when others posted that they were having issues too I figured I would share what I did and lo and behold this fix has helped many SGS3 users. I'm glad you now have a functional GPS.

Cheers.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] denbeaux:
Not fully solved, opened the phone up further

Thanks for the great information. I tried the screw tightening to solve my recent (last few weeks) frustrations with a sudden lack of GPS after a year of good GPS. My screws were pretty tight and it seemed to help slightly but not enough. I followed the ifixit teardown of the GS3, got down deep enough to tip out the "L" shaped piece, and close to the region for the screw near the flash was a bent metal (copper/gold looking) spring tab. I poked a screwdriver underneath and bent the spring tab so that it extended farther toward the back case, and reassembled. Everything works great now!

Thanks again for all of the useful information, and if the screw method doesn't work for you, you might want to try to dig a little deeper and try this.

Edit - I now see that this is exactly what Hypnosis4U2NV was suggesting in posts 13 and 93. It worked well for me just by bending the tab.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] syintiphic:
Great! Thanks for sharing [MENTION=2561173]denbeaux[/MENTION]. Yeah, [MENTION=3224352]Hypnosis4U2NV[/MENTION] provided an explanation on why the fix works. Seems like some people may need to go beyond just tightening the screws.

Cheers.

Sent from my SCH-I535
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] speedingcheetah:
I didn't think there was any truth to this...but i was wrong!

2 of the screws on my S3 were incredibly loose. I tightened all of them...

I now get 10 foot accuracy on my patio...when before...it was over 30ft....I even seem to have better data signal now.

AWESOME ...who ever discovered this trick is a genius.

---------- Post added at 02:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:08 PM ----------

Yes...metal cases will hurt your signal....its cool to have...but not functional, especially if you live in area with poor signal...I made the mistake of getting a $70 one at best buy...so nice looking...but had to return.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] syintiphic:
Good stuff [MENTION=3720465]speedingcheetah[/MENTION]. :cool:

Sent from my SCH-I535
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Hypnosis4U2NV:
Decided to try something a little different beyond the screwdriver fix.. I took apart my GS3 and performed a mod on the antenna itself.. Of course the usual disclaimer applies:

ATTEMPTING THIS MODIFICATION YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU ALONE ASSUME ANY AND ALL RISK INVOLVED.

Hit the THANKS button if this helps!

1. POWER DOWN YOUR PHONE

2. REMOVE THE BATTERY, SD CARD AND SIM CARD!

3. UNSCREW THE BACK COVER OF YOUR PHONE

4. PRY OPEN THE BACK COVER

5. GENTLY PEEL BACK THE GPS ANTENNA CONTACT PAD

6. ADD A SMALL THIN PIECE OF PAPER TO RAISE THE CONTACT PAD

7. REAPPLY THE GPS ANTENNA CONTACT PAD BACK TO ITS ORIGINAL POSITION

8. SCREW THE BACK COVER OF YOUR PHONE

9. REINSERT THE SIM CARD, SD CARD AND BATTERY (IN THIS ORDER)!

10. POWER UP YOUR PHONE AND TEST YOUR GPS

11. IF ITS GRABBING FAST LOCATION LOCKS - PROFIT!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] syintiphic:
Wow, this is really detailed Hypnosis4U2NV. Thanks so much for sharing. So far the screw fix has been sufficient for me but I know what to do now should I encounter further issues.

Cheers.

Sent from my SCH-I535
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] khicau:
The fix worked for me. Thanks
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Cicatrize:
YES! Thank you! I've been having trouble with my GPS for a couple months and tightening the screws fixed it. Finally. :)
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] ibshar:
I wonder if this will fix my GPS issue on Canvas 2! I have been strugging with it since i bought the phone.. I'm gonna try this tonight when i get home.. :fingers-crossed:
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] syintiphic:
I've never heard of the Canvas 2. Just googled it and it looks like an SGS3. Give it a try. It might work.

Sent from my SCH-I535
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] justinnotjason:
Wow....that totally worked. I been banging my head against the wall for like 2 months as my GPS slowly got worse...

THANKS!!!!

:victory:
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] ameanl:
Thank you man, this worked for me...

screw the screw :)
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] marclec:
3 words

un freakin believable !!!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Deeaycee:
success

SPH-L710

I took all the screws out, pulled the covers, cleaned all the contact points with a pencil eraser and put back together.

GPS is now GPSing.

Thank you!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] syintiphic:
You got it! :cool:

Sent from my SCH-I535
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] cautery:
Awesome!

Thought I was going to have to warranty my wife's SIII... She and I have twin S3s and mine is still working great (10' error avg.), but her's wasn't getting a fix at all.

I tried the screws, but they were all pretty tight, so I went ahead and removed the screws and back panel... Didn't have the guts to mess with the antenna pad, so I carefully lifted the contact up to increase the contact pressure. I also cleaned the contact with an eraser followed by 91%+ iso alcohol.

Reassembled, and wife's phone now has sub 30' fix instantly. Occasionally, she is getting 10' fix, but her phone has an additional wonky feature. It appears the accelerometer is wonky, as she constantly is showing a positive velocity... around 0.12 mph. I need to research this.

Side by side, mine will be rock steady, and hers will show a constant rocking in the mag compass and a sub-1mph velocity. And the fix twitches back and forth on maps about 10-20 feet... less than the width of the room I'm sitting in...

yeah, this is all indoors. :)

Thanks!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] assafk88:
SGS2

Does anyone know if this also works on Galaxy S2?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Hypnosis4U2NV:
Why don't you just try it?

Sent from my Commodore 64..

READY.

load"*", 8,1
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Kennedy87:
Used to fix my Fiances phone. Thanks!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] devo1929:
I had originally tried the screw fix and that worked for awhile, but my gps still was not 100%. Maps and other gps apps would lock to my position, but could NEVER follow me. Maps would typically show me facing a completely wrong direction as well. I decided to use your method of actually lifting the contact pad to make better contact and profit! Lock is near instant and not the slightest hiccup when using navigation now. Thanks!

Sent from my GS3
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] extremeodd:
Tried tightening just the screws and now I get a decent lock in my car without holding the phone to the windshield hooray!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Hypnosis4U2NV:
You can also pull up the tab on the GPS sensor connector but you risk snapping it and/or it would probably eventually get pushed back down again. Glad it's working for you..

Sent from my Commodore 64..

READY.

load"*", 8,1
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] devo1929:
Although, it's too late at this point, I was thinking putting a piece of paper under that tab would work as well.

Sent from my GS3
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] shadizzle79:
This worked for me..thank you very much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Hypnosis4U2NV:
Verizon Users: DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS FIX!

Well I screwed myself big time last night but trying this ridiculous and DANGEROUS attempt to fix (which wasn't broken) the GPS on my phone.. Never doing anything like this again..

Basically the NV Rebuild killed my phone and data after doing it. Couldn't make or send texts even though it showed service. The service indicators would go away everytime I tried to. Then read down about doing "reboot nvrestore". Did that and bricked the phone. Couldn't even get past the Samsung logo. Got so frustrated that I decided to Odin back to ICS stock and in the process erased everything on my internal storage card. Finally got up and running CleanROM 7, and everything works except for GPS. It doesn't even lock anymore. Went back to Odin stock image and re-provisioning the SIM in ICS. Again, no locks.

Whatever this NV Rebuild and NVRestore **** did, it completely hosed my GPS. If anyone has some other ideas how I could get it to work, I would appreciate it.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] BadUsername:
NV restore will only work if you made a prior backup with your correct ems images, my guess is you didn't make a previous backup which is why it bricked your phone.

Your GPS is more likely hardware related than software related, I have no other ideas to get it to work besides this method or using an agps patch.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Hypnosis4U2NV:
Its not hardware related. It was working fine before I made the mistake above.

I do have a prior backup of the IMEI/MEID/EFS on dropbox.. Any idea how I can get this restored?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] BadUsername:
No idea, did you back it up using a recovery or was it a rom option? Or was it a synergy backup?

Using nvrestore will put a dummy image in your efs slot. If you did back it up then you could try restoring that in some way. But I need more specifics.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] syintiphic:
I think if you backed up using the Synergy Rom method you can just restore using recovery. Check part B of this post

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=30682712

Sent from my SCH-I535
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Hypnosis4U2NV:
Woke up this morning and it looks like GPS is working again.. Getting ~40ft locks inside my home where as I got no locks all day yesterday.. I couldn't find any info that would confirm the EFS data has anything to do with the GPS..

I'm going to monitor my GPS throughout the day, but I think it needed to clear some sort of cache not normally accessed by means we know of, which resets after a while..

Appreciate your help.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] syintiphic:
Glad your GPS is working again.

Sent from my SCH-I535
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] skyFx:
Hypnosis4U2NV's analysis/hypotesis ( http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=39432869&postcount=2 ) seems legit to me.

in my case, I had to change the display of my sgs3 after the replacement everything but gps worked.

after reading this thread, I removed the (inside) back-cover, cleaned the contacts and put it back together.

result: I FINALLY CAN PLAY INGRESS AGAIN - many thanks to both of you (shadizzle79 + Hypnosis4U2NV)
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] rgshoup:
I have a Samsung SCH-I510, and suddenly had no GPS. I tried tightening the screws, but none seemed loose, and there was no improvement. Then I tried taking out the battery, the SD and SIM cards, and loosening each screw by 1 turn or so and retightening it. Remarkably, after reassembling everything, the GPS works fine again.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Hypnosis4U2NV:
You may find yourself with poor GPS functionality again. If you do, I detailed a mod you could perform to keep it from failing. You can find the link in the second post of this thread.

Sent from my Commodore 64..

READY.

load"*",8,1
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] yc1437:
My S3 top right corner screw was so loose that I need to turn 2 rounds, and finally I got a consistent 15 satellite lock, thanks you!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] sidthekid28:
Here's my question...why is it that gps and maps AND navigation all work FLAWLESSLY when I'm on a 4.2.2 or 4.3 Rom? But then just will hit work when I come back to anything that's based off of sick 4.1.2...I'm sorry but I already tried tightening the screws AGAIN, and don't wanna do the paper thing risk cause it makes NO sense...someone PLEASE help, if I get a lock on custom firmware then why wouldn't I get one on stock???? PLEASE HELP SOMEONE I'LL HOOK YOU UP!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Hypnosis4U2NV:
Well there's definately code in the phone's software and in the ROM that can cause all types of things to get screwy.. Maybe the code in the 4.2.2 ROM handles the GPS hardware differently and calculates the location more effectively..

I screwed something up when I performed a NV Rebuild and it isn't the stock ROM because it was working flawlessly before that.. Even after going back to stock ICS, it takes forever to start acquiring locks and accuracy is worse..

Sent from my Commodore 64..

READY.

load"*",8,1
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] TDPsGM:
This is a really nice idea, but all you have to do is gently pry the piece you have labelled as the "GPS Sensor" up a bit.

It is looped back on itself so it can act like a "Spring" for contact pressure.

Prying it up so it sits a little higher will allow it to apply the pressure you are looking for WITHOUT the RISK of damaging the GPS antenna contact.

I have done this and it made a WORLD of difference. (read as: FIXED)

Thanks again for getting me looking in the right direction.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] devo1929:
To extend your idea a little further, perhaps wedge a small piece of paper under the spring loaded GPS antenna to keep it from eventually pressing back down.

Sent from my GS3
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] rosenhauer:
I just had my phone unbricked (don't ask) and while GPS is working great I can no longer get 4g. Tried Slim/DU/Clean roms and all the same. Weak 3g and no 4g. Does anyone know if the other antennas have contacts that could be bad? From what I have read they are down by the microphone (but haven't pulled the cover off to look yet - no tools here at my office).

Also has anyone tried a contact cleaner like DeoxIt?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] pedrocfernandes:
Thanks

Amazing! It worked! Thank you so much! :D
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Xyqo:
instant differnece

I did this and the result was instant no probs at all anymore thanks
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] moonshot:
I just bought two new S3's a few weeks ago. I noticed mine stopped working yesterday, checked my wife's today, it stopped working too.

Your fix got them both locking on instantly.

THANK YOU!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] alanwrench:
try using a bit of loctite... it will help keep the screws from loosening up.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] dmudd:
Thanks I'm sure that would work but I did the mods with gently lifting the sensor and it's worked perfectly since then.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Olestas:
Omg, I will even post here too. GPS signal on my SGS3 started to worsen after ~3 months. Good thing was, I already saw this thread earlier, so I knew what was waiting for me. The problem was to actually find PH0 screwdriver. I could turn most of the screws about 3/4 of a turn. No problems now. Good signal on the road through woods, where signal started to disappear earlier. And it fixes even indoors now, which was not accessible earlier. Thanks. I tried asking in some service centers about this, they told I should not believe what they write on forums :laugh:
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] agr8lemon:
OMG! This works. After months of frustration and wasted hate, this is the fix.

Thank you so much!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] robbieas:
It might have taken only 1/15th of a turn on every screw, but I've gone from 1,200' accuracy to 10. I can't believe something so simple works so well.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Glocker23:
Wish this worked for me. Still not locking on after doing the tighten screw procedure
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] kerndan1:
It worked for me!!

I have a Samsung Galaxy S4 Blaze (TMobile). This fix worked for me, too!!!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] johnnytraveler:
I took an old battery terminal (not on the battery, but on the device side) off a dead toy, cut the terminal to size and placed it in between the gps unit and antenna. This guarantees contact without peeling the contact back or breaking it off by prying it back.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] SirVilhelm:
Wanted to chim in and say this worked for my wife's White G3. Her GPS signal was almost non existent and after several factory resets and rom refreshes I found this thread. The screw right next to the GPS antenna was about a 1.5 turns loose! After tightening it down she locks onto 14 - 17 satellites in 4 seconds! Perfect. Thank you!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] syintiphic:
Right on! :thumbup::)

Many contributors in other forums keep recommending the screw fix as the fix of choice, at least to try it before trying other methods. Glad your wife's GPS is working again.

Cheers

Sent from my SCH-I535
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] shibalsekki:
just wanted to say thank you OP, my S3 gps now work fine instead of getting no locks
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] syintiphic:
You're welcome. I'm glad your GPS is working now. :cool:

Sent from my SCH-I535
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] ATGkompressor:
What is that app u r using that looks like a naval radar grid?

Via Solitary Confined SGS3
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] dmudd:
It's called GPS Status & Toolbox
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] hisham1234:
I dont know what happen but it seems my gps lock much faster after tightening the screws..

<micromax a110..>

:D
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] gryno:
Works good

I used a somewhat too large of a Phillips head screwdriver but was still able to slightly Titan the screws and the Fixx worked well for me.I would suggest getting a Phillips head screw driver made for I glass Repairs.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] k4if:
:fingers-crossed::fingers-crossed::fingers-crossed:

no locks anymore... very nice !!!

thx very much OP!! :D
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] syintiphic:
Good stuff. :cool:

Good suggestion. ;)

Glad it worked for you. :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

Sent from my SCH-I535
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] tlogank:
I can't believe it, but this fixed my issue as well. Thank you so much to the OP.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] :
Worked for me! From 5/16 locks after 50 seconds with 120ft+ error to 12/16 in 5-10seconds with 40ft error. Maybe I''ll tighten just a little more.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] nadimsoze:
This fix is not working for me. I'm getting no satellites whatsoever. I think my problem may therefore not be related to the antennae. I've also tried other back plates.

Is there anything else I can do to debug? Could it be software related.

Running cm11. Just had my screen replaced, so possibly the repair damaged the gps sensor?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] syintiphic:
Sorry this is not working for you. Given what you have stated you probably would have to try an alternate fix, which could include a software fix.

Here is a forum that may help you. I have not tried this fix and not sure how well it works but you can read through and see if it is something that you think could help you.

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1239713

Good luck.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] GrimPivo:
It works! :victory:

GPS signal is rock stable now (18/18 satellites)!

THANKS.A.LOT, syintiphic!

:highfive:
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] kumoli1002:
Excellent

Really Really Really Really thanks

The solution working perfectly

^^
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] IISaintII:
totally awesome. Thanks man. Tightening the screws didnt work for me. But this did perfectly. Thanks again.