yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Captivate General] ScottyNuttz:
That would make sense, because I was able to get a quick GPS lock before and after the update, it just didn't track me very well before or after. Pretty sure any improvement can be chalked up to confirmation bias and wildly varying results depending on the test conditions.
[Captivate General] cesierra:
There was a similar situation involving HTC and the Kaiser (aka ATT Tilt) about video drivers and it never got resolved officialy.
[Captivate General] nooomoto:
In stock form it would sometimes take 10 minutes to get a GPS lock in navigation, and on routes it would frequently lose my position, causing the nav program to reroute, and then reroute again when GPS locked again.

On JH7 (via Cognition) it took about 20 seconds to get a dead-on lock while standing in my front yard. I haven't used it in navigation yet, will do that tomorrow.
[Captivate General] ScottyNuttz:
I've had two captivates prior to the OTA update, one of them was essentially non-functioning GPS, and the other was basically functional, but f-ed up. It remains that way today with no changes to the GPS settings.
[Captivate General] derek4484:
The official release notes for JH7 didnt say one word about a GPS fix, and I can tell, my GPS is still broken. Thing is now, my compass is now broken. It at least used to point in the right direction but it would fluctuate within a 5-10 degree range. Now its 90 to 180 degrees completely off. I can look at maps and be driving down the road and the arrow is pointing behind me or somewhere perpendicular to my line of motion. What a crock. The only thing I noticed was an updated version of youtube, no more usb pc tethering, quick office is now included.

One positive is the battery life is longer. Where with the same usage all day at work I'm now at 60-70% and before the update I'd be at 30-40% by the time I left work.

I'm not looking forward to another OTA update, I couldnt get the last one to install, I had to use designgears' JH7-OTA.zip to get in installed, his zip worked great!

Edit: one note on GPS, the reported accuracy is much better, but its not true. Example, before it would say accuracy 100meters, and I might be within the blue 100 meter circle. Now it says Accuracy 10 meters and it reports my position as 100-200 meters from where I really am. So its not really more accurate, it just reports that it is. And it still fails to track me at all. Once I start moving (whether on foot or on bike or in car) it really gets whacky. Like I'm driving down the road and it starts to show me gradually leaving the road, by a block or so down the road I'm off in the middle of the block driving through people's houses or doing some serious offroading, when i'm still right in the middle of the road. Its tracking performance is abysmal.

And it seems that AT&T or Samsung took out the dial code to get to the lbstesemode menu. Dialing *#*#1472365#*#* now does nothing.
[Captivate General] sschrupp:
Wasn't that more of a poor performance due to lack of proper drivers, but it still functioned? All the HTC phones after that had the same deal. HTC didn't pay for the drivers from Qualcom. The phones still worked great. They just didn't perform, as far as video power, as well as the hardware was capable of.

I think this is a different matter. It's not the difference between running amazing 3D graphics and running pretty good 3D graphics. This is something that's plain broken. I can't imagine Samsung can afford to NOT fix this.

Now if the GPS universally worked "fine" at lets say with a 10 foot accuracy 99% of the time but the hardware was capable of being accurate to 10 inches 100% of the time then I could see Samsung possibly shrugging their shoulders. This clearly isn't the case though.
[Captivate General] derek4484:
I would hope you are correct, but the problem is, these phones are still selling pretty damn fast even with the broken GPS and the rest of the minor issues and people know ahead of time that these issues exist. So they really have no monetary incentive to fix it. And if you notice, there's really no word of the GPS being broken, except for really on here or androidforums. The "mainstream" media has stopped talking about it. Engadget did a story or two on it and just dropped it.
[Captivate General] ScottyNuttz:
The Samsung Epix (Not EpiC), had long-standing GPS issues on many of the phones. Acutally the issue was created by the first update they released for the phone, it basically hosed the GPS, and they didn't get around to fixing it for like 18 months.
[Captivate General] phr00t:
You probably just spoke with tier-1 support (live chat) and they don't know what they are talking about. If you complain enough to them, they will give you the tier-2 phone number to speak with a real technical consultant. This is where I got the message that the real GPS fix is still to come.

Do I believe another GPS fix is coming? Maybe... they did say they would have a GPS fix by the end of the month, and it isn't the end of the month yet...
[Captivate General] DanDem:
Here is what I found

http://androidandme.com/2010/09/pho...eleases-gps-fix-for-captivate-no-eta-for-2-2/
[Captivate General] phr00t:
.... and then I find this:

http://www.wireless.att.com/answer-center/solutionDisplay.jsp?solutionId=KB114392

"# Update Content Details: The firmware update will be a 12MB download. Included in this update is:

* Preinstalled software update - QuickOffice for Android will allow users to edit various Microsoft Office documents.

* Messaging update - Exchange 2003 support will be added, MMS and other messaging enhancements will also be included.

* Voice enhancement - Improved calling experience.

* Media software enhancement.

* GPS performance improvements."

I'm currently on hold with Samsung for a supervisor of tier-2 support to get a clarification here... :mad:

EDIT: They told me to call AT&T. F*ck you Samsung.

EDIT 2: AT&T tells me to call Samsung, of course.
[Captivate General] cpk86:
This is what I keep thinking of. Their customer service and updates for that phone were abysmal! Although, my GPS seems to be working well enough. Accuracy to 5m or so in about 30 seconds and doesn't loose me while moving. Compass works too.
[Captivate General] joeybear23:
Since day 1 navigation has always gotten me exactly where I need it to... and with verbal directions. Yes, every now and then the GPS thinks I'm on a side-road instead of the highway, but within moments it gets itself back on track. If it was a Garmin, I would complain, but for a phone it is awesome.
[Captivate General] swedishcancerboi:
I'm assuming the GPS is off because it doesn't show you in your yard.....or wherever you were testing.not that I don't believe you, but I noticed something yesterday. Mine showed me in the wrong spot, about 100 yards off. However, that was according to the satellite view layer. Upon review of the map layer, it was dead on. At least in my case, the 2 layers were off.

Just a thought. Not that there isn't a problem with the GPS, but maybe google maps is making it a bit worse. I have to say that before update my GPS was unusable, but now its spot on. Something has changed. Maybe not the official update, but mine works much better (so far).
[Captivate General] netnerd:
the new update might have gps performance (lock/fix on satellites faster) but it' still the same samsung garbage!

gps navigation shows "Turn right on Main Ave", i turned Main Ave 2 blocks ago, gps still showing "Turn right on Main Ave"!
[Captivate General] Dell2:
Sorry to tell you guys this, but my GPS is without a doubt changed since the update. It's been locking quickly in my home, and I just made it in from a 4 hour test drive and it was flawless.

My advice to you guys is to make some adjustments in your settings. My LbsTestMode settings were unchanged after the update, I had to change them back to stock with a couple of tweaks.

Back on topic, why would Samsung put out another fix, when so many people are reporting an improvement in their GPS? Whether the GPS meets your needs is not the question, but did Samsung address the issue? And my phone, not me says yes they did.
[Captivate General] netnerd:
if i bought a HDTV and only able to receive 30 channels while all other HDTV able to receive 80 channels. now they made a improvement and you can recieve 40 channels! so should they stop making more fixes since they already make a improvement?
[Captivate General] superdlb:
Captivate gps

I have had my phone for a couple months now and just today finally tested the gps, since I have a very nice Garmin nuvi gps unit, the gps wasn't a real high priority. I programmed in the location (in Memphis Tn) I live about a 100 miles from there and set my phone and garmin side by side and started out. I have a short cut I take to the main highway that is different from what both units wanted me to take, which was great so I could compare recalculations both units performed flawlessly the phone was actually faster at recalculating most of the time. The phone showed more of the smaller rural roads out in farm country. Both stayed connected and were spot on even after going to eat in Memphis in the opposite direction of my destination, then both guided me through the down town traffic all the way across town. I didn't have any problems at all with my captivate gps, in fact I believe it is faster than my garmin. I was using google maps on the phone. I surely hope they get the problems fixed for all you that are having problems, because this phone is far superior than my I-Phone 3g ever thought of being. I love this phone and will never, I say never go back to an I-phone. I am now just using my old I-phone a stand-by I-pod.

P S this is with the stock setup and no updates to the phone.
[Captivate General] Krad:
my gps is now spot on and works very well. I can't imagine it working better then it is now... I will be really happy if there is another gps fix to make it better.
[Captivate General] ScottyNuttz:
What are you settings? Stock?
[Captivate General] Dell2:
Once again the topic is NOT how well the update works, but whether or not the update addressed the GPS issue. No intent to be rude, just relaying the information that my phone's GPS was definitely adjusted.
[Captivate General] superdlb:
I totally agree. It is a great smart phone with gps capabilities not a gps unit with a phone. This is an awesome phone and I would have bought it even without the gps. If people need a good dependable gps they should do as I did and plop down another couple hundred dollars and buy a good Garmin unit. even my garmin gets lost sometimes.
[Captivate General] Krad:
i haven't changed the settings but i have agps disabled. Changing the settings really is only for agps or so i have read. I got stock settings.
[Captivate General] phr00t:
There isn't a straight answer anywhere.

Samsung is saying a new fix is still coming, AT&T saying the fix is already here.

People are saying it is fixed and works fine for them, others saying it still sucks.

People are saying it is just some settings, but nobody has found just what those settings are.

This is probably why even Samsung hasn't been able to solve the problem -- it is way too chaotic. What is the fix? Who knows! What is the problem? Lock times? Accuracy? Reliability? I've been reading this forum since it started and I don't even know anymore!

Whatever it is, the GPS is a POTA... and it doesn't work for me.
[Captivate General] foxbat121:
The settings are mostly only for the lbstestapp. System wide default comes from else where. There is really no need to change those settings. That's why it is now disabled.
[Captivate General] boomerbubba:
Everyone on this thread should bear in mind that one property of the longstanding GPS issue is that it seems to appear over time, possibly related to caching of time-sensitive GPS almanac and ephemeris data. And resetting that cache by any of several methods -- including the installation of new firmware, changing settings in LbsTestMode, or a factory reset with no change at all -- can make the GPS appear to run better immediately. That does not mean it is fixed. The sad history of the GPS saga on Galaxy S phones is littered with false-positive anecdotes from users declaring that doing X, Y or Z "fixed" their phone.

There are other threads today with negative reports of Captivate owners who say they applied the update and their GPS is broken. Some say it appeared fixed at first, and then broke. Others, like the commenter above, still think it is fixed.

Deja vu all over again.

I find the theory that no real GPS fix was applied to be quite plausible. There was a similar report on another forum three days ago.

I find the commenters reporting these conversations with Samsung and/or AT&T to be very credible, established members of their forums. So I believe that they were, in fact, told by tech support at Samsung that the GPS fix didn't really happen. This is, of course, at odds with the conventional wisdom spread by Samsung and AT&T marketing pawns and various sloppy blogs such as Engadget etc., which report uncritically the company statements they read in press releases, Twitter, Facebook, etc. It is not difficult to believe that all those who spun the conventional wisdom were wrong. Samsung PR dweebs are just as incompetent as Samsung engineers.
[Captivate General] phr00t:
I'm sick of hearing this argument.

Google navigation is AMAZING on any other modern smartphone, and beats other expensive stand-alone GPS units:

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/07/22/1215239/Googles-Free-Satnav-Outperforms-TomTom?from=rss

The only reason you would need a "good dependable gps" is because the Captivate is not a "good dependable gps." My old Fuze was dependable, my wife's Aria is dependable, and so isn't iPhones, Evos and Droids dependable.
[Captivate General] netnerd:
i have no problems or complains if cappy doesnt have gps, when it has gps i expect it to work! if i bought a new car with AM/FM radio, i expect the AM/FM to works!
[Captivate General] FIREONHIGH:
updated,gps does not work:mad:i had the omnia2 i sent overseas to my wife,lol,,,i miss it,,not her, the damn omnia2 :D the gps,i has a lock in in 10seconds,tracked perfect all on edge,but yeah galaxy kills it everywheres else,also in many areas i could pull the 19003g..oh well,heres hoping to froyo?:confused:
[Captivate General] galaxyjeff:
I sent mine back to Wirefly but it was probably futile. I think they'll maybe send another phone with a faulty GPS. Now we know why a phone that was out for about a month withy the fastest processor of any current smart phone was sold for 1 penny with free shipping and free activation on Amazon.com. I'm thinking of dumping the Captivate for the lesser Aria phone but I hate to do that only to see Froyo released for the Captivate with a perfect working GPS all of a sudden. :)
[Captivate General] jdsemler:
My GPS is slightly better but it is far far away from what I expect it to be.

I'm thinking they were in the middle of working on a GPS fix when a deadline came in from AT&T to remove the free tethering feature that they forgot to remove. They probably put their latest in-progress GPS work and whatever other improvements they've beenworking on into the ROM, which explains some of the improvements we're seeing, but I would think there would be a simultaneous (or near simultaneous) Vibrant GPS fix released, instead of just the Captivate.

If I were a betting man, I'd say this release was just to meet business requirements with AT&T. Any other bonus features/improvements were just that.

It also explains why the story suddenly changed from the GPS fix being included with the Froyo update with no other releases discussed to the sudden appearance of this OTA release.
[Captivate General] galaxyjeff:
I'm wondering if at&t gets their phones cheaper by not having the latest software on it. If you look at the Xperia X10 running a somewhat suped up version of Android 1.6 and the Backflip running 1.5 I think. It's as if they may be somehow saving money by using outdated Android versions. I think this phone should've debuted with Froyo already running on it. I'm sure google probably charges something for their Android OS. Maybe this is a way they cut corners to be able to sell the phones for less.
[Captivate General] nybmx:
Any issue this phone may have has nothing to do with amazons pricing. I'd sell products for that amount too if it attracted new customers and made me money in the long run.
[Captivate General] galaxyjeff:
We'll see about that judging by how quickly the broken GPS and (yes it is broken no matter who in here claims it works) gets fixed and how high the price of the phone may increase after it gets fixed. Samsung knew they were selling GPS-less phones.
[Captivate General] JRd1st:
Take this for what it's worth. At least this explanation from Samsung fits the facts as we know them;

"Thank you for your inquiry and Samsung continues to listen to customer feedback on GPS performance expectations on launched Galaxy S devices.

We are currently testing software updates which will optimize GPS performance. The main GPS fix is not yet available

.

However, Samsung and At&t have released a maintenance release for the SGH-i897 (Captivate) which is recommended to be installed. This update includes software improvements and additions. The update will be rolled out via FOTA (Firmware Over The Air).

The Captivate originally launched with software version JF6, the maintenance release will update the software on the device to JH7. This is a Maintenance Release only and not an Operating System update. The update includes improvement GPS performance TTFT and accuracy and other feature enhancement.

Thank you for your continued interest in Samsung products.

Sincerely,

Technical Support"
[Captivate General] qwertyaas:
I was told yesterday by a Samsung rep that it will roll out by the end of October... Sadly, today is my 30th day and I think I will be returning the phone until the issue is fixed.
[Captivate General] PhishSGS:
Where did you find this?
[Captivate General] JRd1st:
That's how they replied to an email I sent them.
[Captivate General] fooldog01:
I want to hear more on this. My GPS is still useless after the OTA update.
[Captivate General] fooldog01:
Is there another thread where this particular topic is being discussed? Im surprised no one has dug into this deeper.
[Captivate General] josh2112:
Sorry for quoting from the first page (and this may have already been answered), but there's still a way to get to the LBS Test app. If you use Launcher Pro you can add it to your home screen as an activity shortcut. Touch hold on home screen -> Shortcuts -> Activities -> LbsTestMode -> com.sec.android.app.lbstestmode.LbsTestMode.

To echo some of the other people in this thread, I've fiddled with the GPS settings and achieved a quicker lock time, but it loses lock just as quickly. It'll be perfect on the interstate, but when I take an exit ramp and come to a stop my navigation arrow will barrel on over the intersection and continue at full speed into the woods on the other side :eek:
[Captivate General] s.m.knipe:
Has anyone yet examined the JH7 update itself (perhaps as found here or anywhere else people know of) to ensure whether parts of it would address the GPS or not? I myself do not have the expertise to, but perhaps someone out there does...
[Captivate General] grmcgee:
I bricked my Captivate trying to apply the JH7 update. I pulled the download over wifi. After the update started, I got a message "update failed... your phone will now reboot". The screen went black and never came back. Brick.

I was outside my 30 days, so AT&T replaced my phone through warranty support. The new phone came today. Before doing anything other than syncing with Google, I called Samsung and got to level 3 support. I asked for the proper way to install JH7 to make sure I didn't end up with another brick. I received a two part answer:

1. Wait for the notification from AT&T. When you get the notification, make sure you have a full battery and a strong 3G signal. The update is hosted only on the AT&T 3G servers. If you attempt the update over wifi, it is very likely to fail and brick your phone.

2. Download the update from the Samsung website and install it with mini-Kies. If you do not want to wait for the AT&T notification, you can call Samsung level 3, and we will walk you through the download/install process.

For now, I have decided to wait for the AT&T notification. I do not have a 3G signal at home (I barely have any signal at all), but I can get a strong 3G signal by driving a couple of miles.

I asked level 3 about GPS and was told that JH7 does include some GPS fixes, but he was not specific about whether this is intended to fix all GPS problems. I asked about Froyo, and the tech said that he knew it was being worked on, but he has not been given a date yet. He said that he wants Froyo for his Galaxy S also. He indicated that the biggest part of delay is working with the carriers to integrate all of their specific crap that nobody wants.
[Captivate General] daylefmp:
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Getting back into LBS test mode allowed me to change the settings and now I even get a full 8 satellite lock in my house :)
[Captivate General] erezak:
Is this for real?

I am trying to do it, but it doesn't improve lock time.
[Captivate General] EWP000:
I upgraded to JH7 with Kies Mini yesterday and for my surprise GPS doesn't lock at all!

Prior to the upgrade to JH7, it used to take long to lock but it locked after sometime. Now it doesn't lock at all!

Did anybody experience that? There would be some setting to change?
[Captivate General] erezak:
I suggest you try the Froyo build. It works like a charm.
[Captivate General] cappysw10:
I flashed back from Froyo today and still had a great lock time with GPS. Go figure ;)
[Captivate General] erezak:
This is interesting. Can you please monitor this and report in a few days?
[Captivate General] superdlb:
update and gps

I had a chance to put the gps through its paces this weekend. Made a trip from NE Arkansas to NW Ar. Went the major roads through central Ar then up to Fayetteville, Ar. (Razorback country) in the Ozarks. Then back through the secondary roads across north Ar. It worked flawlessly all the way even used it to locate good restaurants. I have decided to retire my garmin for now since the phone gps is faster than the garmin.

PS I also got the ota upgrade notice and went through the procedures and after it finished, a message stated that the phone did not require an update and that the update was not performed. But the baseband version has changed to I897ucjh7, go figure. I was very happy that it did not perform the full update, since my phone was not broke and worked fine. I had been postponing doing the update because of all the phones being reported bricked by the update.
[Captivate General] Xaltotun:
That is in complete reversal of the thousands of posts here:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=732030

How is this possible??? Do the new phones come with new chips or something?
[Captivate General] chappatti:
For real?

Okay, now how come I got no OTA:confused:. My GPS still sucks. Are you in the USA? But good for you....;);)

Geez....this GPS thing requires a class action suit...:mad::mad::mad::mad:
[Captivate General] kataishin:
All u have to do is tell tech support to note your next round of ota update suggestions and they'll fix it. Be sure to be very specific in your description so they can fix allll the bugs they are not already aware of at samsung tech support. They fixed many things for me already.

Go to samsung.com for their customer support number and please help revolutionize this phone.
[Captivate General] ScottyNuttz:
I was able to get a lock immediatley after the update, however, after a few days I was in your boat... no lock whatsoever. I tried a program called 'gps optimisation' that I found in the market (you run it while you have a GPS app open), and I got a weak lock. Who knows if it was just a coincidence or not, but at any rate it's still horrible. I have played with the settings, but none of them really do much from what I can tell.