yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Fascinate General] boomerbubba:
It's not a matter of CDMA. It's a matter of marketing mumbo-jumbo obfuscating technical reality. No such choices appear in the settings of the new Sprint Epic.

On the Epic (also a CDMA device) the choices on the main Settings -> Location and Security menu are just two, which are checkboxes: "Use wireless networks" and "Use GPS satellites."

But there is a hidden menu structure controlling GPS details on the Epic. That menu is accessed by a variation of the so-called secret codes: *#1472365# (Note the subtle difference in prefix and suffix). That invokes the hidden menu of a hidden system app called GpsSetup, an app that did not exist on the earlier Galaxy S phones. It allows, among other things, the user to select the three standard modes of assisted GPS: Standalone, MS Based, and MS Assisted. The default is MS Based.

I notice from the system dump of the Fascinate that it also includes a hidden app called GpsSetup.apk. Perhaps some variation of the secret code runs it, or perhaps it is called from the mysterious 3-way choices that Verizon marketers gave the Fascinate on the main Settings menu.

[Edit: Also, I notice that there is a new and different secret code to access the GPS menu on the latest firmware of the international I9000. You might try that.]
[Fascinate General] namebrandon:
GPS is fine here, used it for navigation this afternoon. Strange how it's hit or miss, but I think we're seeing far more people with a working GPS receiver than malfunctioning ones.
[Fascinate General] boomerbubba:
Testing the GPS is not a popularity contest, but a scientific exercise. As a veteran of GPS testing on other Galaxy S platforms over the past several weeks, I sincerely hope that your Fascinate's GPS does work. But in the forums we saw plenty of such anecdotal reports on phone platforms that really had GPS defects.

Take a little advice from our experience: Navigation programs are the least useful and demanding tests of the device-level GPS, and really don't prove much. The main reason is that there is another layer of software that obfuscates the underlying GPS performance. Most street-navigation apps snap-to the closest streets, for example, while the GPS may have significant errors under the covers.

For testing accuracy, it is better to use Google's My Tracks utility, record your actual tracks and to upload them to the Google web site with a link we all can explore and judge for ourselves.

For testing low-level GPS indicators, such as how many satellites are used for a fix, and with what estimated accuracy, the best apps to use are GPS Test and GPS Status.
[Fascinate General] namebrandon:
Hey man, I'm not trying to start a fight, just share what I saw. ;) I'll take a walk tonight and use MyTracks and upload it so we can check it out. Sound good? :)
[Fascinate General] boomerbubba:
Honest, I'm not trying to start a fight either and didn't mean to sound harsh. Just passing on some advice learned the hard way testing on other platforms. If testing is to be useful, it needs to be performed rather rigorously.
[Fascinate General] acuddihee:
after 3 days with the phone i have only been able to get the GPS to lock once and that was only after leaving it enabled and the phone stationary for nearly 20 minutes. :mad:

with all these success stories coming from other Fascinate owners i am beginning to think perhaps there is something wrong with my phone and not the Fascinate in general.

I figure i will give it till Monday and if i can not get the GPS to play nicely i will take it back to VZW and get a new one.
[Fascinate General] namebrandon:
I have the same opinion. Some are definitely working. I would exchange it out.. Sooner the better, I know my store only had 10 units in. Don't want to get stuck waiting for a shipment!
[Fascinate General] acuddihee:
@ namebrandon

I just came across this YouTube video "Samsung Galaxy S GPS Fix" in which DNthenumber10 suggests install a free app called "GPS Status" to "unstick" the GPS receiver. I figured it wouldn't hurt so i installed it and sure 'nuff my GPS seems to be working!

Not sure what this app does exactly but things are currently working as i had originally expected.

I am still going to keep a close eye on it for the next couple days...
[Fascinate General] Zennmaster:
Along with GPS Status (which is a really cool app, anyway), I stumbled on something else that seemed to help.

After watching the phone struggle to grab a good lock last night, I noticed today that the only one of the three GPS options I had checked was "Google location services" (don't know how THAT could have happened, since I generally have all three checked). I unchecked that box, and just checked "Standalone GPS services". After that I got an immediate lock from Google Maps, and GPS status grabbed 6 satellites in a matter of a few seconds.

I almost think this gave the GPS a chance to get a "clear" shot, without any help from the other services? Anyway, it seemed to work, and all my location stuff is working well and clean.

Good luck!
[Fascinate General] mjb4385:
Man what's the deal guys? Trying to decide between the Fascinate and the Droid X, I am leaning towards the Fascinate but this GPS stuff concerns me. I like to use the imapmyrun app to track my runs, would the GPS issues affect that?
[Fascinate General] boomerbubba:
There is no definitive answer yet. You should take a look at the sample walking track posted in this thread.
[Fascinate General] acuddihee:
So I did a little side-by-side testing between an original Motorola Droid (left), a Droid Incredible(center) and a Fascinate (right) to see which one would indicate the least margin of error while sitting stationary on my desk. The picture isn't the greatest quality but it is legible.

The Droid and Incredible acquired a lock before the Fascinate but only by a matter of 10 to 15 seconds.

The Incredible had a lock on 9 of 9 with an error of 4 meters.

The Fascinate has a lock on 5 out of 6 also with an error of 4 meters.

The Droid had a lock on 7 of 9 but indicated an error of 16 meters.

I repositioned the three phones a few times within the same area on my desk and the numbers remained relatively consistent. The Incredible consistently saw more sats and was able to acquire a lock on more than the other two devices.

The lowest error value I saw on the Fascinate was 3 meters, which considering it was inside for this test isn’t bad.
[Fascinate General] kbcarroll:
For what it's worth

I've had my fascinate since the morning of release. I hadn't had GPS locked once. I tried Bing and Google, with the "use standalone" or "use google" options both checked, one of which checked, and no dice. Only when I selected all 3 of them did I finally get a lock. I got a lock within 3 seconds, I'd say.

So, for me, I had to make sure all 3 location service check boxes were checked.

GPS status tells me my margin for error is 1m--2m when I go inside.
[Fascinate General] Zalyia38:
I have no problems with gps. I use Google maps all the time to get me where I need to go for my job.

Am I missing something that you guys are talking about?
[Fascinate General] SeaWo|f:
Had the phone since its release on the 9th and have been trying to remember to use the gps as much as possible to see if samsung has sorted out the problems.

When first leaving the store and going back to my place it would not lock. GPS test was showing no signal from any gps satellites. I tried messing with the device for an hour or so making absolutely no progress; it was completely unable to see a signal. So I decided to get on with my program, root the phone and remove bloatware. Miraculously after rooting it, my phone was suddenly getting great gps signal strength from the sats in view, but was and is still taking upto 2 minutes to get a good lock.

After I do get a lock it seems to be tracking well. I live in an urban area with tightly packed roads and many of which are service roads that run right next to interstates(which can be very tricky for GPS navigation). While driving the gps has been able to find and track my correct position even when on services roads running next to and in the direction of the local interstates.

While walking around the gps has worked well too When standing at an intersection the gps has been able to correctly lock on to which corner I am on and continue tracking well even when obstructed by buildings in the city center.

Currently for me the gps tracks well but takes up to 2 minutes to lock(far to long). GPS test generally reports an accuracy of 3-4 meters which isn't great but is good enough for me.
[Fascinate General] smashpunks:
Funny how the phones compasses all point in a different direction..
[Fascinate General] Seuldieu:
I've rooted, and removed all traces of Bing from my phone. The GPS functionality, in tandum with google maps, seems to be fairly reliable... and quick. I watched it track me and my buddy to Taco Bell last night.

I look forward to Samsung releasing an imrovement, but currently--it works pretty damn well... definitely better/faster than my old Palm Pre.
[Fascinate General] mrmomoman:
My experience is opposite. Unchecked VZW location.checked standalone and Google. All five phones were about 1600meters off. I downloaded gps status since I wanted to see signals in my area. That helped my GPS locate me within meters of my location. All five samsungs had issues prior. Now they are grabbing signals correctly and consistently.

I haven't have time to post about my settings and test until now. Glad someone else also used the gps status trick. Coincidence? Dunno but I have 5 phones telling me otherwise.

Now I can send them off to the clients.
[Fascinate General] pleuston:
I'm not really sure what to do at this point. The only GPS location feature that produces any results is Google Location Services from within Google Maps. If I disable that, my location will be entirely unavailable.

I grabbed GPSStatus, and it's been churrning for about ten minutes and produced no results. No accuracy, altitude or last fix. I have all three location services enabled -- VZW, Standalone, Google. I've even disabled/re-enabled and rebooted my phone.

This is in NYC/NJ, in the same locations where other VZW phones have no problems locking within 6 yards of accuracy. Is it time to trek back for a return?
[Fascinate General] namebrandon:
Pardon the stupid question, but you are doing this outside, correct? :)
[Fascinate General] pleuston:
Haha! Yup. I've tested it outside while stationary, outside with movement (during a 5 block walk), and indoors. I've given this a try both in NYC and in a more open area of NJ.
[Fascinate General] pduboise:
pleuston, I had the same issue and was getting really frustrated that I couldn't get a lock even when outside. What I finally ended up doing was a factory reset, turned on all 3 location services during initial setup, installed GPS Status from the market and went outside to test. Picked up on several satellites in about 3 minutes and now Google Navigation locks on almost instantly when I'm in the truck and starting a new route. I'm inside right now about 5 feet from any windows, input a new address using Navigation and just locked on in about 3 minutes.
[Fascinate General] pleuston:
Ugh. I feel like a dumb ass for not trying this sooner. Ripped out the battery, rebuilt my roaming profile (*228 -> 2). Now I'm sitting on 9 fixed out of 10 known satellites, 6 meters of accuracy. Snappy as hell to locate, too.
[Fascinate General] pleuston:
Hysterical. An amazing night of accurate, quick GPS locks followed by absolutely zero fixes after a few hours on the charger.

Looks like everything from last night unfixed itself, and I'm back to nothing, again.
[Fascinate General] boomerbubba:
Sounds like the Fascinate may be afflicted with similar symptoms affecting some other Galaxy S siblings that also, presumably, have Samsung's purported GPS fixes -- the Sprint Epic 4G, and the developmental ROM for the Vibrant that was recently leaked: The bug shows up over time. This very likely is all due to problems with cached GPS data that expires over a period of days or hours.

There also were time-dependent satellite locking bugs in earlier versions of the Galaxy S. It is not clear if these bugs just never got fixed, or if today's bugs are a new strain.

When you experience such a failure, try rebooting the phone and see if that is a temporary cure. If so, that is also consistent with symptoms on the other platforms.
[Fascinate General] DeezNotes:
What I'm noticing is it takes 30 sec to 1 min for gps to lock when using Google Navigation. Once it gets a lock, its good. Even if I stop navigation and come back to it, gps locks immediately as if there was never a problem. When acquiring a signal, I don't stay still. I'm usually driving and I'll have it in the car dock.
[Fascinate General] apnews:
Solution galaxy s GPS

I found a solution. But not perfection

1. Download "GPS test" from market.

2. Run GPS test

3. Run google map or naviagtion

that it.

Do not forget "Turn on GPS" :D
[Fascinate General] glemery007:
Compared Side-By-Side to Garmin Edge 750

Went on a trail run today - I used the CardioTrainer App on my HTC Incredible quite frequently so thought I'd give it a whirl on my Fascinate and bring my Garmin Edge 750 along for comparison.

One Word ---> TERRIBLE

The Fascinate was off by 100's of yards at times and often behind from 1.5 to 3 mph.

WTF?!

My Incredible never had these issues.

I'm hoping we can find some fixes for these problems - I'm guessing that Samsung SHOULD release some??

Good news is battery life is absolutely fantastic!!!
[Fascinate General] jorge3687:
Gps issue resolved

Yes, it worked, just downloaded gps test and run it, then run navegation and it found the gps signal, a verizon representative told ,me that google navegation did not work in the fascinate.
[Fascinate General] cjsmokey:
Get google maps navigator, look up an address to gps, it will begin searching and take forever. Just let sit until it finds it. After that it will find every address quickly. The initial wait time can take up to 20 minutes. I did this with two phones and it worked like a charm
[Fascinate General] Div033:
I talked to a verizon rep about the fascinate today... I told him about the fascinate gps trouble and he tells me "yeah but they put out an OTA that fixed the problem."

I'm reluctant to believe him as I know him semi-personally and he's a pathological liar, however I still want to pose the question: is the fascinate gps still borked? I have an opportunity to upgrade to one via a trade with my brother, but I like having reliable gps.

Sent from my Droid Incredible running SkyRaider Vanilla 3.0
[Fascinate General] glemery007:
Yes - It is still very much borked.
[Fascinate General] Seuldieu:
VZW location services, Standalone GPS and Google location services are the 3 options. With all 3 selected (it seems the Standalone GPS is the important one) my GPS is ridiculously accurate and fast.

Takes about 2 seconds to get a fix on where I am; I have installed the recent OTA update, but I can't tell what's making the difference--I didn't have Standalone GPS turned on before, because I figured it used more battery life.

+1 for Standalone GPS, and the September 22nd OTA update.
[Fascinate General] glemery007:
Honestly - Should there be a need to "poke here and there" to get the GPS on a released product to function properly?
[Fascinate General] pleuston:
Going to go ahead and confirm this. If i run GPS Test for even a couple of minutes, it'll locate 10-12 satellites and provide accuracy up to 3m. Absolutely infuriating, but a workaround, nonetheless. If nothing else, it lends additional hope to the fact that this is more of a software issue than anything.
[Fascinate General] sheth1nks:
Thanks boomerbubba, my GPS on both wifi and 3G is working. I received my Fascinate yesterday and had pretty much completed all testing and tweaking (havent rooted yet :-)

Went to use my GPS this morn for my run and Lo n'Behold, no signal,zero,nada on 3G. Same thing on wifi. I downloaded GPS Test which confirmed same,no signal. I then installed GPS Test on my roomie's year old Motorola Droid (yes the Droid 1). The Droid showed 12 in-view and 8 in-use.

I had found *#*#1472365#*#* with previous Google searches. Dialing this code did not fix my problem.

Went for my run, Googled again and found this post. After dialing your code, *#1472365#, 3 mins later I had 9 in-view 6 in-use.

I also did a power button long-press to POWER-OFF. Powered Fascinate on and GPS still works on 3G and wifi.

Also, just found another great related post here :

xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=794551
[Fascinate General] Sweeny Russ:
Holy crap, I need two of fascinate's by the end of next week for my employees and I would have figured by now there would be a true fix like when this happened to the touch pro. But you guys are still unable to secure a consistent gps lock? Not attacking anyone personally, but I am really amazed that there would be an android phone running eclair or froyo at this point that we need to worry about google nav, firstly not even loaded on the device, then gps software that isn't working properly. I was already upset about the whole bing thing and having to remove and install right out of the box. My guys drive and need nav and this is a deal breaker, but I love the buy one get one. Did I make a mistake not taking advantage of the droid BOGO? Can someone please pm me when there is a true fix? P.S. I personally use an Incredible love android, have several lines through big red, and hate unfunctionalberrys. I don't want to shell out and extra $200 for 2 dinc's, x's, or droid 2's. Come on samsung.
[Fascinate General] parksa90:
I just fixed my fascinate gps

I struggled with gps of my phone and tried lots of tweeks. All of them didn't work. An hour ago, I ran VZ navigator maps (it is free) which I never opened. It required me to update VZ navigator and several automatic settings and installations were done. Actually the VZ navigator maps spotted my location correctly with great accuracy. So I ran google maps and found that gps also works with it now. The gps test showed I got signals from 4 satelites and 3 or 4 are locked. (Before, 2-4 satelites were in view but it never used it.)

Actually I installed "GPS status". I am not sure this helped or not.

I suggest to run VZ Navigator just once if you never ran it recently.
[Fascinate General] DeezNotes:
I disagree. I never installed VZ Nav, so I gave this a try. It only updates the app from v4 to v6. It doesn't download any updates related to GPS. Furthermore, this app sucks donkey balls.

If you leave Google Nav on long enough (typically a minute or two at the most), it'll grab a lock and keep it for the rest of the day. There's a possibility that you had GPS-based apps active long enough to get a lock. The only time I have trouble is usually in the morning after I haven't used the phone for a while.
[Nexus One General] KidTech:
I just noticed today, that my Nexus one wont vibrate when i receive text messages. I first thought it might of been Handcent SMS so i deleted that and started to use stock. Yet the problem continues. I checked the settings and i have it set to always vibrate. Any fix around this?
[Nexus One General] vexingv:
make sure that you have vibrate checked in settings for the messaging application. other than that, i think sometimes apps mess around with the vibrate settings. try the app Sound Manager from the market place and then in the context menu they have a vibrate setting. if it's not already selected, which explains what's been going on, select "vibrate whenever possible." that's what worked for me...
[Nexus One General] incredulous:
I had this problem with 2.2 on my G1, would vibrate sometimes then would never vibrate again.

I think it must be possible to burn out the motor that makes the vibration.

Do you use any apps that vibrate heavily often?
[Nexus One General] yayramen:
Use Ringo Lite. Works for me. You can even set a vibrate pattern.
[Nexus One General] usmc.0311:
I had a similar problem except i had no vibrations; all settings squared away, hard reset, basic troubleshooting. Turned out the motor burned out. Sent it to HTC and they repaired it for me.
[Nexus One Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] mamboking:
I was trying to upgrade to the final cyanogen mod and bam my phone usb to computer won't work anymore .I can still go to rom manager..my market won't download after signing in...it just says installing that's it..I had at one point a message stating "android process is not responding something like that with the 2 options force close or wait...please help me..this phone is the best i have ever had and I love it so much..

Nexus one cm6
[Galaxy S I9000 General] DougEdey:
So I am one of the unlucky so-and-sos who got a Galaxy S without the recovery mode or download mode, go me.

This didn't matter until I got a failed update.

And Bell can't replace my handset, even tho it's within the first 30 days by 10 days when the failure occurred.

So the issue itself is that the phone has continual force closes on the TWLauncher, I can't connect it to the host software (KIES) or enable Debugging because of the force closes, I think the host issues are related to the media scanner package failing.

So what can I do... Bell seem useless!
[Galaxy S I9000 General] Electroz:
Why won't they replace it? I've gone through 3 of these, on my 4th, so far. Purchased from Bell.
[Galaxy S I9000 General] DougEdey:
Because no stores have it in stock to do an instore replacement, they're all on back order
[Galaxy S I9000 General] Fatherboard:
They don't want to or just can't?... there's a difference.
[Galaxy S I9000 General] DougEdey:
I have stated "can't" but I strongly disbelieve this. I find it unbelievable that I have to go into a store to get a replacement and that I can't swap it at a non Bell World store.
[Galaxy S I9000 General] xZeDgEx:
I could not exchange mine, everyone is sold out. Its now in for repair for who knows how long. They did give me free loaner though, too bad its a useless piece of **** Nokia. I now have a new found hate for Nokia phones.
[Galaxy S I9000 General] nalinbhatt:
You can try this...but YOU WILL LOSE ALL YOUR DATA (Apps will stay)

I cannot gurantee if it will work

Go to settings > SD card storage > unmount > format

I have sent mine for repair. Fortunately download/recovery mode works on my phone.
[Galaxy S I9000 General] DougEdey:
I can't get that far, I cannot PHYSICALLY use the phone, TWLauncher/Core/Media are in a force close loop.
[Droid Eris Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] whojabacod:
Now that both kernels are out and a lot of people have had time to play with them, I was just curious as to anyones preferable tastes, stats, why's, issues, side by side comparisons, recommendations, settings, what rom your running, things of that nature.
[Droid Eris Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] chicken59:
Well apparently BFS was developed by an Australian anesthesiologist and everyone knows Australia sucks, so go with CFS.:p

Seriously though, I get consistently higher Quadrant scores, 5-10 points at the most, with BFS but the applications and webpages seem to load slower. I don't normally use Quadrant to call or text so I have CFS flashed. Thanks to Decadenc3 and Conap they're both pretty stable and easily interchangeable.
[Droid Eris Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Hungry Man:
CFS is the standard honestly. CFS is best for multitasking and general use. If you're going to use something like an emulator or a lot of heavy games I suggest BFS, since it's best at single tasks and making the best of minimal hardware.
[Droid Eris Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] zwade01:
I agree with the above. I got a 480 with BFS on the Quadrant benchmark test, but CFS is better for me in terms of day to day and I still hit high 460s.
[Droid Eris Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] 5thAgent:
CFS is running flawlessly for me on Nonsensikal. Everything feels more responsive.

Sent from my Nonsensikal Froyo Eris of beastly-ness.
[Droid Eris Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] DS36:
CFS
[Droid Eris Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] MrObvious:
Y'all like some chicken fried steak! :D