yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Galaxy S I9000 General] Beards:
Mark,

Could you please pass on what settings you have and use.

Unfortunately I am in the same field as those who have a poor location. It jumps all over the place, quite often taking several minutes before it locates my position only to jump back again a few seconds later.

Using Layar is a nightmare which takes well over 10 minutes to update and when it does the GPS in 'Reality' mode shows everything off by such a large degree error.

I'm wondering if I have (and others here) have an incorrect setting.

Unfortunately there's not much to go by to check this out.

Thanks

Beards :)
[Galaxy S I9000 General] sjdean:
Hey Beards,

Im finding all your hiding places :-)

Like another user here, I came from an N97 and while the Galaxy S is incredible in every single way imaginable, there's a huge problem with the GPS, Im even more perturbed by the fact some people don't seem to get a problem and get locks on Satellites of between "18 to 25".

To my experience, the Galaxy S sees satellites below a 20 SnR, but refuses to use them, unlike the HTC Desire or HTC G1. Im more jealous of the G1, in the fact someone tested it in the office yesterday and he got a stable lock on all 10 satellites in the office. Im lucky to get five outside.

The question remains - is this is a firmware issue that Samsung will resolve, is it a hardware issue (remember the N97 had a problem caused by incorrect shielding causing interference to the GPS antennae), or is it a faulty phone that I should send back?

I got mine from Clove, so it looks to be some kind of pandemic perhaps?

Im compiling a list of forum reports, and also trying to compile a list of experiences with the GPS.

Here's a pic of mine in comparison to a HTC Desire. Note the stronger but instable signal on mine, while he gets more oranges:

--- I cannot post pictures at the moment --- :-(

I think this represents a good range of questions.

First, install "GPS Test" from Chartcross in the Android Market. Not that Im affiliated with them, I just think it's a cool looking app and does what it says on the tin. Then:

1) What is your baseband version.

2) Do you get any "orange" satellites, that show an SnR of 20 or less?

3) Do you see any satellites of a good 25+ SnR that appear grey and just won't lock on?

4) Do you go from having a lock on say 8 satellites to 4, 3, 2?

5) Do you get satellites that lock on at 21 to 25 SnR, but above 30, refuse to lock on?

6) Does your accuracy constantly change?

7) Does it even appear stable?

8) Are you jealous that your friends HTC Desire or HTC G1 can get a full and stable lock on to 10 satellites INSIDE THE HOUSE, while you can hardly get 5 satellites outside?

Ta

Simon
[Galaxy S I9000 General] Beards:
Hello Simon.

Welcome to the 'other side'. :)

The picture you are having problems in posting is this one I believe.

As I mentioned to you in the P.M. you sent me in Android Forums, I get the same as what you show in the photo.

It's strange as it's only recently started to play up so bad.

It makes using the likes of Layar useless, especially in 'Reality mode'.
[Galaxy S I9000 General] TravUK:
Samsung GPS Fail

Well after another day of disaterous GPS tracking its time to name and shame this phone. So here's a couple of screen shots typical of what I am seeing from my otherwise great phone.

First pic is taken indoors, as you can see the HD & HD2 have several sats locked on, and have found my location. The Galaxy S is unable to determine my location as its not using the few satellites it can see.

Similar story outside.

Come on Samsung, you need to fix this, it an embarrassment when everything else works so well.
[Galaxy S I9000 General] ewingr:
No help on this post...just fretting...

I'm seeing threads complaining about the GPS a lot. This is quite concerning for me. I have...or had...decided that I want to get the Captivate. But GPS is the ONE MAIN reason I have a smart phone.

I've commented a few times in threads that there is no perfect phone, realted to some complaints about what the SGS does not have. But this is one feature that is a must for me, and this could change my mine.

Very frustrating...if I don't get this, I'll have to change carriers too.
[Galaxy S I9000 General] TravUK:
Should have replied here but was so annoyed i created a new thread. See Samsung gps fail for my side by side pics.
[Galaxy S I9000 General] ConceptVBS:
What firmware version do you have?
[Galaxy S I9000 General] Pika007:
I seriously don't know about you, i'm getting 7 sattelites discovered indoors, 4 of them being used, and outdoors.... 10-14 sattelites, most of the time all used.

Getting a fix for 90 feet approximation within 10 seconds, for 16 feet within 19 seconds.

I'm seriously pleased with the GPS in this device.
[Galaxy S I9000 General] TravUK:
Sure, on a good day I get similar results, but lately I've been having more bad days than good, with the results like above.
[Galaxy S I9000 General] Pika007:
i use my GPS every day, didn't have a "bad day" yet.

On the other hand, i live in Israel, we have such masses of sattelites flying over our head in any given second that probably even lousy GPS modules would work properly here.
[Galaxy S I9000 General] ewingr:
Yeah....I've seen that posts too a bit ago.
[Galaxy S I9000 General] TravUK:
Then you are one of the lucky ones. Mine was great for the first week and I wondered what all the fuss was about. Of course, now everyone is comparing the Galaxy S along side other phones its becoming apparent its not doing a particularly good job of tracking satellites.

It stands to reason that it must work for some people, as it would never have passed quality testing. It just doesnt seem to have been tested well enough to cover whatever it is that causing such awful problems for many of us.
[Galaxy S I9000 General] Beards:
I am in exactly the same situation as you on this Mark.

I too when I first got the GS found the GPS to be great but after a week of using it I soon started to notice a significant drop to point me towards an err of caution when using.

Now, like yourself I'm lucky to get many Sats and those that do throw me all over the place.

I checked it on my HD2 and it worked perfectly first time... and my old HD (although no longer with me but was checked at the same time) is the same.

Trouble is you can't pin it down.

Because it worked fine at the beginning but now does not one could easily believe it's either a hardware issue that's suddenly crept in.... but then with others also reporting the same you then can't expect all machines noticing the issue to be failing at the same time.

So that brings it on to a possible software issue..... but again if it were software that would relate to an individual setting either conflicting or corrupting but again here we see several users with exactly the same issue...

Weird.... and frustrating. :(
[Galaxy S I9000 General] Tachikoma_kun:
I just tested mine in the garden with both Layar and Google Maps and got a lock on in seconds that pinned me down to what window of my conservatory I was having a smoke next to.
[Galaxy S I9000 General] appelflap:
That's not kind of you to say :D
[Galaxy S I9000 General] ghosty_uk:
further to my recent cchat i took my phone back today and stood outside the shop i got 3 satalites and 1 fix,

tried a brandnew upopened phone and within 6 secons i got 8 satalites with 5 fixes, and my location to withen 5 feet.

so mine was fixed with a new phone, but i dont know how.
[Galaxy S I9000 General] teryz:
this is a lottery ...
[Galaxy S I9000 General] dan 6a:
A lottery indeed.

I bought a UK phone, I love in AUS.

There are too many variables to play with, I play with them at home, but the real test is in transit, which nobody is able to really fiddle with settings on the go..

Its 4am in the morning and never had GPS or a smartphone but the idea of having it working perfectly really has me excited as I have a 7 month old, LOVE technology but have been unable to afford a nice gadget til now for well over a year.

The report of ZSJF7 being a heap better GPS gives me hope :)
[Galaxy S I9000 General] teryz:
Yeah but it has been proven wrong by one of our members Arkymedes :

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=7354007#post7354007
[Galaxy S I9000 General] TravUK:
A lot of these fixes cause the driver to be reset, which is why some of them appear to work at first but then later dont. What you might conclude from this is that there is a problem that can be resolved without power cycling the phone, which might imply it can be fixed in software.

I'm travelling in the US at the moment, so not running Kies, but I'm guessing we havent seen the firmware update yet we were promised last week?
[Galaxy S I9000 General] ghosty_uk:
just got back in from my bday meal with a few friends, and gave it a propper test on the way home, google navi (which never worked before) actually managed to guide me home, ok so it jumped about twice (but that coiuld be cuz it was on my lap) but always came back to where i was within seconds, it never dropped out.

i was using the satalite imagery, so i suspect that cause it to slow down somewhat, and althought not perfect it is one hell of an improvement on the last phone i had.

this has now got me beliving there may have beren a bad batch like was suggeted somewhere else in the thread, either that or there are phones with different firmware, and this is a "fixed" one.

ok so the stats off this phone are,

firmware version : 2.1 update1

baseband version : i9000xxjf3

kernal version : 2.6.29 umts_scm@s1-build05 #2

build number : eclair

never got any from the original to compare.

i can however say that in the test menu (*#*#1472365#*#*) i never changed anything, just used it to test if this new one was any better and so far so good.

i guess only time will tell.
[Galaxy S I9000 General] Evans_Prophet:
Assessment so far:

Being one of the first users of galaxy s and having the gps problems, I have followed quit closely the relevant conversations. Here is a summary of some data along with some thoughts:

1. Some people had a fine working gps which suddenly stopped working.

2. Problems occur even to captivate and thus one may expect that this is not just a bad batch of i9000.

3. Some people claim that their phones work perfectly.

4. It looks like firmware does not have any actual effect on performance (save for some dumpening of the signal in newer firmwares in order to prevent jumping around).

5. Most people claiming that the gps works fine have not actually used it / tested it a lot (e.g walk in the city while holding it in their hands).

My view is that this could be a problem of:

1. Overheating (try to use the phone in an A/C car).

2. Bad software (e.g. gps test?) affecting the drivers (the same way that fring disables the camera in some cases - had the same problem and had to uninstall fring).

3. Bad firmware (at least to some extent - yet people with same firmware seem to have different results)

4. Bad hardware which exists in all cases but the defect shows up only under certain (demanding) circumstances.

5. Bad gps drivers / settings

I will install jp1 when it is out and will test the gps only with google maps - no gps test or other software. Just to be sure..

It could be a combination of the above as well.

Any thoughts?

Btw,

The only way to test it properly is to arrange a meeting between two people having this phone in order to check it. Tyxerakias I will be in Athens, so if you are interested let me know...
[Galaxy S I9000 General] ghosty_uk:
lol i would arrange to meet you but i dont need to sincew i did this test yesterday before swapping my phone,

i checked the old one right outside the door of the shop, it picked up 3 satalites and locked onto one, i tried the one i have now in exactly the same spot say mabybe half a meter to the right as it was in my other hand, it picked up and locked 8 satalites withen 16 seconds, whereas the old one took 3 minuteds to get just one.

i had the manager of the shop standing behind me, to make sure i wasnt trying to pull a fast one, and this was after she had reset the first using the engineer code, to completely remove and restore the phone back to factory condition.

so i can confirm it seems to be just some handsets as mine seems to be ok for now.
[Galaxy S I9000 General] Kilack:
but some people have handsets that work fine then stop and as its affecting US handsets now and it seems different batches going by the t-mobile thread i think it must be a fault on _every_ phone but just certain conditions trigger it to stop working, perhaps holding it incorrectly?
[Galaxy S I9000 General] geoair:
It could be interesting if some users could do some GPS logging/tracking and see how accurate are the tracks...
[Galaxy S I9000 General] PsiIion:
I did that when doing a litte 20 minute drive.

I used GPSCompassMap, which is similar to MyTracks, meaning there is no snapping to closest road like with a navigation program.

I have JM2 with the following changes:

Edited gps.conf to the following (settings for Sweden):

NTP_SERVER=0.se.pool.ntp.org

XTRA_SERVER_1=1.se.pool.ntp.org

XTRA_SERVER_2=2.se.pool.ntp.org

XTRA_SERVER_3=3.se.pool.ntp.org

Also I changed the following:

1 - Disable "Use Wireless Networks" - Settings / Location & Security

2 - Dial *#*#1472365#*#*

3 - Under "Application settings" Change "Operation Mode" to MS Based

4 - Under "SUPL/CP Settings" Change the SERVER & PORT to supl.google.com and port 7276

5 - REBOOT

6 - Turn back on the "User Wireless Networks"

This is the path generated:

(me being a forum newb and hence not allowed to post links you have to copy and paste the url)

maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=sv&msa=0&msid=114564631644081718252.00048c71f678ed97865ca&ll=59.027748,15.051098&spn=0.079507,0.152435&z=13

EDIT: seems like copying the URL will add some spaces. Remove the two instances of %20 added to see the path.

As you can see, it's never off by much. Most of the time I was connected to 8 satellites, with occasional dips down to 6 or 7.

GPS is one of the most vital features for me. I have done quite a bit of testing and find the performance satisfactory.

With stock FW (JF3) and no changes I had occasional glitches, but it was locking fast and not performing really bad like some people seems to experience.

Now it's perfectly fine in my experience.
[Galaxy S I9000 General] ghosty_uk:
this is why i put "seem ok for now" at the end of my post, as im sure that in a couple of weeks it will be as bad as it was. im hoping this is not the case as the only route if this handset fails is a completly different make and model.
[Galaxy S I9000 General] appelflap:
Is Samsung working on the GPS problem?

It seems so. On the new alpha froyo build I stumbled upon a new setting in the location settings. It is called "use sensor aiding" and is meant to enhance the positioning of pedestrians.:

Unfortunately I clicked a little pop-up info window away a little too soon when I enabled the option. Maybe someone with the new JP2 build can fill in some extra details here.

Haven't tested it yet. Don't know if this is a poor compensation :)
[Galaxy S I9000 General] Arkymedes:
The popup says:

"Enhance pedestrian positioning using sensors. This feature works best if handset is aligned with direction of movement. Long-time use indoors, underground, or in distorted magnetic fields will affect performance."
[Galaxy S I9000 General] lgkahn:
Good idea because walking the phone cannot usually figure out which direction you are moving in because you move too slowly. Hope they add it to 2.1 also as the consensus is that 2.2

Is not quite ready for prime time yet
[Galaxy S I9000 General] appelflap:
Yeah, it don't really is a fix (it isn't a fix at all, merely an addition). But it is a nice start :) This feature is also nice for car navigation. It's always nice to know which way you have to go when you start :p
[Galaxy S I9000 General] fredphoesh:
Hi PsiIion,

Hmm, I did not try the server changing (I dont know what it would be in the UK) but I did do the GPS settings tweaks and found the GPS took about 3 minutes, found three, then four, then two, then three satellites... And was not very accurate (about 100m out) I was standing in Dean street in Soho in London, the road is quite narrow, so perhaps some Satellites would be obscured... but I do think my iPhone4 was better than this at finding my position, and was a lot more accurate...

I hope this is a software issue which can be fixed, but the fix above made no difference for me :(

tx anyway,

Mark
[Galaxy S I9000 General] ghosty_uk:
further to my recent post, i noticed something strange after turring the phone off to install my zagg invisi shield, the gps was turned on where it had not been on previously.

so i went into the test mode and it found 9 satalites, locked onto 7 of them, but the accuracy kept jumping form 750m to 10 meters im not sure if this is how it starts, but im hoping its not a big problem.
[Galaxy S I9000 General] PsiIion:
Not sure if that made a difference for me either. The odd thing is that the GPS was not that bad for me even with stock firmware and no tweaks. It would happen maybe once per hour that it would suddenly glitch for a few seconds, which makes it very hard to test the effect of any tweaks.

I just know that with those changes and JM2 I don't seem to get any glitches at all.

I really can make no sense of what could be causing the problem. I know people in Sweden which also had their phones delivered with JF3 and that find the GPS unusable. A lot of people report success with different tweaks or FW, while others report no change or worse performance.
[Galaxy S I9000 General] fredphoesh:
Hi there

And now its my turn for odd things: Walking home from the train station a few minutes ago, the GPS locked in and had me VERY accurately, even when I crossed the road it showed the arrow in a different place.

When the screen switched off and I unlocked the device again, the blue circle was huge, but then jumped back to accurate after about 10 seconds... so perhaps being in Soho London was too obscuring?

Mark
[Galaxy S I9000 General] Kilack:
Sorry, gotcha.

I emailed Clove to ask if they had heard anything from Samsung about this. They said they have had numerous customers asking and that Samsung have said "there might be a fix".

Now a couple of weeks ago, clove had told someone else that samsung had said a definite fix is on its way soon. I hope that the change in wording from clove is not an indication that samsung aren't so confident now.

Clove said they would email me back again tomorrow as they are planning to try and talk to samsung again to get some more definite answers as people are wanting to return phones now.

I am really starting to think this is a hardware issue as surely if they have dealers calling them like clove plus carriers like t-mobile etc they would have put a fix out by now, its all over the internet now and yet samsung have basically said nothing.
[Galaxy S I9000 General] Beards:
It was I whom you are referring to and yes, Clove have not heard back from the representative.... I too am waiting for an update from Clove.
[Galaxy S I9000 General] :
Someone know for what is the small connector above the battery? Maybe it is to connect an antenna ?
[Galaxy S I9000 General] sjdean:
I have to say this again. All of these fixes and hacks, are just work arounds (if that) to get over the fact that the GPS is weak.

gps.conf was a novel idea. It shouldn't solve anything, the only thing I can see it giving you is a faster access to a time server which may have some impact if you lose satellite signal. But as my £40 Bluetooth GPS receiver doesn't need an internet connection, and the time is encoded in the GPS signal, it shouldn't really matter what you have in here.

secgps.conf does not seem to be read by LbsTestMode. Change LbsTestMode to weird values, like 482 for the accuracy. Delete secgps.conf and reboot. Secgps.conf will show default values, but LbsTestMode will show your old settings. This suggests that Secgps.conf is a red herring and the real information is stored elsewhere, like an XML or Database file. Perhaps it is THAT part of the process used in communication with the driver that is broken.

Skyhook is just A-GPS with WiFi.

A-GPS just gets a faster lock.

And for every one who claims that one of these settings work, there are more who claim that they don't. Im sitting here in Standalone mode, using supl.google.com on Port 7276 with SSL getting the best reception I've ever had.

Even the firmware updates do not resolve the signal issues. People keep saying that JG5 or JM2 firmware is better. Rubbish. All it does is dampen the path a little. If you lose your GPS signal, it plots a path based on your last known good position, speed and direction. But this gives weird results, like over shooting roads and cutting corners. At least with JF3, it doesn't lie, it doesn't make things up.

Samsung need to either sort out the hardware or sort out the driver to lock onto more than 8 satellites and use satellites with an SnR < 20. If they don't then, I think we will always have a problem.

Im going to flash my phone this weekend and use JF3, JG5, JM2 and produce some MyTracks. Lets see what they're like.

Here's one using JF3:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=U...550985943901485575.00048c766e47f6432c084&z=13 - That's actually pretty darn accurate.
[Galaxy S I9000 General] sjdean:
I wouldn't hold my breath - not on Clove, but on Samsung.
[Galaxy S I9000 General] TMReuffurth:
After using my new SGS a couple of days i can´t say that i have any GPS problem. It´s getting the fix as fast as my old HTC Touch HD and has the same number of satelittes when using it right side by side in the car or even in my apartment.

I have the NDrive V9 on my Touch HD and i´ve put the Testversion from Ndrive V10 from the market on my SGS. Using it side by side in the car, didn´t show any lag or satelite cut on my SGS.

I haven´t tried it yet with Google Maps Navigation because of my small amount of traffic o can use right now until the end of the month, but i think there wouldn´t be a difference.

For me it works well like on my old Touch HD, so i cannot complain about any GPS problem, at least for now.
[Galaxy S I9000 General] Kilack:
Yeah no offense but a lot of us were saying that in the first couple of days when we got it. Then it either stopped or we started using it more and noticed just how shocking it is. Turn on mytracks and test that out for a week. See if you think the same. There is a reason why there are so many people complaining about it all over the internet :). Including all the US variants.
[Galaxy S I9000 General] sjdean:
I think Im also tempted to discuss the plethora of A-GPS options available.

First, there's the "MS Based, MS Assisted, or Network Provider" options under LBS Mode. Then there's the SUPL settings also under LBS. Then of course, under Settings and Location and Security, we see "Use Wireless Networks" to have your location determined by WiFi and/or mobile networks.

Gah. Three options for the same thing? Come on!

Cya

Simon
[Galaxy S I9000 General] Kilack:
Were you using a-gps with that?

I tend to turn it off as I really just want to use GPS, I don't mind waiting longer for locks at start up etc I want accuracy. Nevermind, I see the settings you are using.

It does look pretty accurate, I went for a walk around the block and it got it right for the most part.. just had me walking accross some peoples houses in a few parts.

Had a nexus with me too but that it got it dead on.
[Galaxy S I9000 General] sjdean:
Oh dear. Sounds worrying. It's not fixing the underlying issue at all. It's just fudging the data, as I said on JM2, it's taking your last known good position, heading and speed to work out where you could be now if your GPS position goes away. Sort of works, but no fix. It's a fudge.