yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Vibrant General] jnutz:
+1

He may have faulty hardware because my GPS works perfectly and is more accurate than my G1 ever was. The latest official update DID fix the GPS problems so if your GPS still isn't working there might be something wrong with the hardware. I have no idea what the build date on my phone is but I got it on launch day.
[Vibrant General] androidmonkey:
I see that some people who say their GPS works perfectly is running a non-stock ROM. Does this make a difference?

BTW, I bought my SGS about a week after release. GPS started working great after the last OTA update but for the past month it sucks. Ive also had the Gallery lockup issue since the last OTA update. Today it locked my phone up and I had to restart twice.
[Vibrant General] ZachLL88:
Ya I'm not running any roms, I'm not even rooted as of now

No issues with gallery as well.
[Vibrant General] DreamcastDC:
My is a launch unit, Build date is 07/10/2010 and the GPS sucks, I try JI6 and the the JK6 Froyo rom, and it still doesn't work right.
[Vibrant General] runal:
Before the JI6, even after trying several GPS setting fixes, I could hardly had a lock inside or outside and when I did it took a long time and it could only lock to a single satellite. (phone dated 07/05/2010)

After JI6 and changing some settings, Standalone, Use Wireless unchecked, Custom config with supl.google.com, I can get a lock when I'm driving or outside about 10 secs with acceptable accuracies with multiple satellites. Indoors still takes a long time to lock even with many visible satellites. I attached a picture of a GPS test while driving the other day. Right now GPS after JI6 is acceptable for me.

In summary, it seems like GPS problem got better with the JI6 so the problem wasn't fully about the hardware (at least for me). Hopefully with the upcoming updates it'll get better.
[Vibrant General] samsamvibrant:
JI6 never work for me.neither JK2 nor JK6.But this is what i did to make it work a lot better on different version of JK2 and stock JK6. Get to lbs test mode by *#3214789650# In application setting ,change the operation mode to MS based.In SUPL/CP SETTINGS,change the server to supl.google.com.nothing else.then back out and restart. I can get locks in my house in 10 seconds.
[Vibrant General] mhousser:
Sigh.. Same here.

T-Mobile Samsung Vibrant, running in Vancouver, Canada. Build date on the box: 07/13/2010.

Using Clockwork, went form the stock 2.1 --> Obsidian V.5 --> Stock JK6 ROM (the one that came out 1 or 2 days ago).

This whole time, the GPS Test app has *never* been able to lock onto 1 sattelite. As I walk to work, I'll run the app for 5 minutes; I quickly see anywhere from 6 to 11 satellites.. but *zero* 'In Use'.

Also, I can't see this 'GPS Restore' app in the market. Is it because i'm on JK6 2.2 now?

I have long suspected that there are a combination of settings that cause this problem. For example, does anyone know if 'Use Network Location' needs to be off in order for this to work?

I also remember someone talking about 'Use Network Time' being a factor; does anyone else know if there is any truth to this?

Mostly, I'm just trying to see if there are any settings I should be changing before determining that my GPS is totally screwed.

Thanks..

-Matthew
[Vibrant General] mhousser:
*THIS* is what I'm talking about. I never knew about this menu - so many options that I didn't know were available.

I really feel like there are settings that prevent locking from working.. I'm going to play with it more tomorrow.. I'm in the 15th floor of my apartment tower and I don't wanna go out tonight =P
[Vibrant General] N8ter:
I have a September Vibrant and the GPS sucks on that one as well. I got two replacements in September (brand new factory sealed box replacements) and the GPS was borked on all 3 of the Vibrants I've had.

Not gonng bother trying to replace it again with the chance of getting a refurb, now. They were backordered before, and since I replaced through Asurion they were happy enough to guarantee me new phones due to the backorder.
[Vibrant General] Fifthfreedom31:
You sir have just made my week. It worked perfectly! After I flashed to a froyo build I lost GPS, but that has made GPS work better than ever! Thanks a lot!
[Vibrant General] bdveteran18:
I had given up on my GPS but this did the trick. I did this earlier on when I got the device after launch and my GPS was spotty at best. Switched over to 2.2 ROMS and it has never worked until right now. I'm inside and it locked on. I thought it was wrong at first until I zoomed all the way in. Perfect lock. Let's see if it stays that way.

Thank you

Sexy Vibrant featuring Obsidian V5., FFC installed
[Vibrant General] reuthermonkey:
define "sucks".

I have the exact same build date as yours. I'm sitting in my cinder block condo which destroys my 802.11n wifi (i get 1 bar of wifi 12 feet and 2 walls away) and knocks my 3g reception down 2 bars. I have another floor between myself and the roof. Yet my Vibrant gets 30m accuracy within 10 seconds from a warm start. I don't think that sucks at all. So i'd be intrigued to hear any explanations on why you think the GPS sucks, and I get sufficient performance from devices built on the same day.
[Vibrant General] dinan:
Can you go to LBStestingmode and clear GPS data, then set the phone into airplane mode and use the GPS test app and see how long it takes to get a lock and how accurate?
[Vibrant General] Zylograth:
my GPS gets a lock in 4 seconds, 10/12 satellites. excellent accuracy!
[Vibrant General] reuthermonkey:
Actually, messing around LBS test mode is what got my GPS acting wonky (see my posts above) in the first place. So i'm gonna say "no".

That said, for shts and giggles, I went ahead and pulled out my G1 to verify what I knew all along. Updated the Google Maps app on my G1 (haven't touched it since July 16, apparently), and zoomed in on my location.

Vibrant accuracy: 40m

G1 accuracy: 60m

Sitting side by side. Same building. Same obstacles. Same wifi network.

These are default JK6 settings. My Vibrant's GPS is fine.
[Vibrant General] dinan:
Ok, nevermind about the LBStestingmode. The reason I wanted airplane mode was because google maps can locate your position using your wifi IP address, which is NOT the same as GPS location. All of my phones (nexus 1, mytouch 4g, vibrant) can NOT get a pure GPS lock inside my apartment (I'm quite sure no phone can, it's just not physically possible), but they can all locate me within 10m accuracy if they are connected to my wifi network, which is because google knows my IP address and where it's located.

Can you disconnect from wifi from both of them (airplane mode preferred), and use GPS test on both of them and see if the results are similar? I really doubt you can get more than a few satellites to lock if you're inside a concrete apartment building. But I could be wrong...
[Vibrant General] JeremyNT:
The question isn't how good or bad the GPS performs in houses. Who even cares? The real issue is how it performs in the field, doing whatever activity you want to do with it (navigating, tracking, geocaching, whatever).

When I first got the Vibrant, I couldn't even get a lock many times due to the AGPS issue. After tweaking lbstestmode in various ways, lock times are now acceptable. However, accuracy is not good enough for my needs.

I've posted earlier in this thread, but tracks are unusable for recording my cycling, and google nav flakes out on me quite frequently, showing me on incorrect roads and then rerouting. The best accuracy I ever see is ~10m - good enough for navigation sometimes, but not for tracks. And even then, when the phone thinks it's got 10m accuracy, it'll often drift and show me in a location that I *know* to be over 10m off.

I don't have exact numbers, but on average I would say it reroutes me incorrectly about once every two hours of highway driving. That's not even counting dead-stop rerouting, which happens probably 25% of the time I come to a stoplight.

It's telling to me that I can hold my Nexus One and my Vibrant side by side, and the N1 reports 3m accuracy while the vibrant reports 10m. If I didn't have better devices to compare it to, perhaps I would have overlooked the Vibrant's problems; but my expectations for performance are set by other phones, and the Vibrant is not meeting those expectations.
[Vibrant General] JeremyNT:
The best way to test is either using lbstestmode or GPSTest from the market, both of which only use GPS and ignore wifi completely. They also show how many birds you're locked on and how strong their signals are, which is data that you can't get from gmaps.
[Vibrant General] reuthermonkey:
They both have "use wireless networks" enabled.

Absolutely.
[Vibrant General] reuthermonkey:
Already doing that:

Let me clarify too: Everything I've been doing on the Vibrant, I've simultaneously been doing on the G1. Vibrant maps closes, G1 maps closes. Etc. Etc. In the image above, I just opened up GPSTest
[Vibrant General] MoWeb:
I am now completely convinced this is a hardware quality control issue. My coworker has a vibrant also and we just did this test here in sunny SoCal:

•	We used GPSRestore from Samsung outside.

•	My coworker’s phone reset everything and got a lock instantly.

•	My phone failed many times.

•	I used GPS Test to allow it to finally connect to some sats and then re-ran the GPSRestore and it finally finished the reset.

•	We turned off the phones, went back inside, turned on the phones and started GPS Test.

•	My coworker’s phone locked on 7 sats in 9 seconds accuracy within 14 ft. My phone took 5 minutes accuracy within 115 ft.

The hardware on my phone and anyone’s phone that doesn’t lock quickly is just FUBAR. This, like I said is a hardware quality control issue period and nothing can fix it.

BTW, After we ran this little experiment with the GPSRestore app from Samsung my coworker says this is the best he's ever seen the GPS behave.
[Vibrant General] JeremyNT:
Do you know when your co-worker's Vibrant was built?
[Vibrant General] Zylograth:
I like GPS Status and Toolbox for testing, in settings you can set it to display time to lock.

Samsung GPSRestore does a good job, works like it should.
[Vibrant General] dinan:
Can you check which modem versions both phones are on? Go to settings, about phone and look at the "Baseband" version. I was on JI6 last night, which was giving me horrible GPS performance, and I just tried JK2 and JK6, both gave me better performance, but still not as good as my other phones. So while I think it is a hardware issue, the modem version might affect it as well.
[Vibrant General] dinan:
Thanks for the pic. So have either of the phones been able to get an actual lock inside? The vibrant is showing satellites, but did it get a lock off of any of them?
[Vibrant General] reuthermonkey:
i let it sit for a couple minutes and neither of them locked while indoors. I'm gonna head out later today and try them outdoors side by side and see what the results are.
[Vibrant General] MoWeb:
He doesn't know.
[Vibrant General] heygrl:
When did he buy it would be a better estimate of when it was built, in my thread (sig) I demonstrated that GPS flakeyness is a hardware problem..

JFD did have numerous software problems with the GPS. That I was confident in being fixed by Samsung easily
[Vibrant General] MoWeb:
We both are using T959UVJI6
[Vibrant General] androidmonkey:
Ive been messing with GPS settings again. Here is what I did today and it seems to work better but its still sporadic.

Step 1 – Disable “Use Wireless Networks” – Settings / Location & Security

Step 2 – Dial *#3214789650#

Step 3 – Under “Application settings” Change “Operation Mode” to MS Based

Step 4 – Under “SUPL/CP Settings” Change the SERVER & PORT to supl.google.com and port 7276 [ Do not use www in front of supl]

Step 5 – REBOOT

Step 6 – Turn back on the “User Wireless Networks”

I then ran the GPSRestore from the market and the settings about did not change. I thought its suppose to change those? Another thing is I can be standing completely still and the arrow in Google Maps will start moving, sometimes 100-200 yards away.

I feel duped by Samsung. They promised an update to fix the problem, so I thought "good, I dont have to send my phone in for exchange, ill wait for the fix" Now its been 4 mths since I purchased the phone and GPS still doesn't work correctly. If I call Tmobile about it I know they will send me a refurb phone, no telling what issues that one would have. Yea, im *****ing but the only thing I can do now is never buy a Samsung phone (or product) again.
[Vibrant General] MoWeb:
AMEN brother. I'm with you.
[Vibrant General] JeremyNT:
So I just walked to the coffee shop and back with both the N1 and the Vibrant. On the way to the shop, I held both phones most of the route and visually monitored GPS Test. I waited until both got a lock from cold boot before I started moving (this took substantially longer on the Vibrant, because it had no SIM card to bootstrap its location from AGPS).

The interesting thing in this little experiment is that the Vibrant displayed substantially higher S/N ratios, and locked onto 8/9 sats. The N1 displayed much lower S/N ratios, but fixed onto 9/9 sats. For most of the walk the N1 accuracy hovered between 10-20 ft, while the Vibrant hovered between 20-30 ft and never seemed to get below 20 ft, ever.

So already I'm not really sure what the heck is going on; the N1 locks to more birds but claims a worse signal on them, and it records better overall accuracy. What the heck?

On the walk home I place the devices in my pockets and record tracks on both with "My Tracks." The Vibrant's tracks are jumping around like crazy; it shows me walking back and forth across the middle of the road, etc. The N1's tracks are very close to being precise. At the end the Vibrant shows me having a much higher max speed of like 9 mph - I'm pretty sure I wasn't walking that fast :)

So what's the bottom line with this little experiment? The S/N variation I saw is intriguing, and it implies that S/N ratio is calculated differently between the two devices and may not even have any bearing on how well they perform in the real world. The Vibrant certainly *thinks* it has a better S/N ratio than the N1, even as the N1 is providing more accurate results as verified by My Tracks.
[Vibrant General] reuthermonkey:
just thought i'd leave this here:

The GPS works.

So either some people have faulty devices and should return them, or they screwed up their GPS' with one of the countless "fixes", or they simply don't know how GPS operates.
[Vibrant General] regP:
Try installing Axura 2.1 ROM. Master made some tweek to it that seems to have pretty much everyone's GPS working. I went through about 6 ROMs before that and GPS was sketchy until I jumped to 2.1. Give that a shot before giving up on the GPS, it does work.

check this thread out.

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=862519
[Vibrant General] JeremyNT:
I see your accuracy is only about 20 feet which in my experience is as good as the vibrant ever gets, and is simply unacceptable for a modern device. If this is as good as yours gets, I'd say it also qualifies as being crappy.
[Vibrant General] reuthermonkey:
This is precisely what I thought. Along with some users testing the GPS from their parents' basements, it seems some people's expectations are unreasonable for a mobile phone.

Using your assessment, then my G1 was crappy too. Yet in other threads, people laud the G1 for its supposed superior performance over the Vibrant.

(Of course, this is ironic considering the G1 ALSO exhibited similarly poor GPS performance due to misconfigured software upon its original release - which was later fixed with a software upgrade)

If you think that 6-meter accuracy is unacceptable, you should get yourself a dedicated GPS device.

Here's a cheap one for you:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-Froogle-_-GPS+Navigation-_-Garmin-_-58108273

Of course, that GPS is actually quite a bit larger and heavier than your sleek Vibrant. But hey, you want yourself a 1m GPS, so you may need to make concessions... Like mobile data, bluetooth music playing, voice calling, movie watching, etc.

But after all, you didn't get your smartphone for any of those silly things, did you? You got it so you could have pinpoint GPS accuracy in a form factor about half the size of those highly-accurate, dedicated GPS units.

So, my dear friend, I look forward to you selling your Vibrant due to its supposed unacceptable GPS performance. Me? I'll continue navigating and geotagging as I have been with my Vibrant since day 1, and as I did with my G1 before it.
[Vibrant General] Dammit2Hell:
I got an exchange yesterday for a broken Vibrant. It was a stock unit... 2.1 update 1. GPS locked on in almost 5 seconds while indoors. I was completely shocked and tried several different times. Went outside and it locked on as soon as maps loaded. JI6 came in overnight. I updated and so far same results. It locks in immediately. I'm hesitant to put Axura 2.1 on this unit since with my luck it will break the gps.
[Vibrant General] JeremyNT:
Quite frankly, you're wrong, because every other phone I've had with a GPS performs better. If the G1's GPS is just as bad as you say, that device would also fail to meet my requirements, but at least it's somewhat explainable due to the fact that the phone is over two years old.

I've seen, and in fact currently own phones with better GPS accuracy, some of which are much older than the Vibrant. I get better accuracy on my Nexus One indoors than I get with the Vibrant on a clear day in the middle of a field. The N1's *worst* accuracy with clear sky is 20 feet, the best is under 10. The Vibrant's *best* accuracy with a clear sky is 20 feet, the worst is... well, much worse. And based on my results from My Tracks, it appears that even when the Vibrant thinks it's got 20 foot accuracy, it really doesn't.

If what the Vibrant does for you is adequate, then that's great for you. But based on how I use my phones, it's not cutting it.

The bottom line is that when compared side by side the Vibrant GPS is much worse than the Nexus One's GPS, and that does matter to me based on how I'm used to using my phones. Just because you have no need to use the hardware in this manner does not discount my own use case, or the use case of others with similar requirements.
[Vibrant General] monstah_rain:
I got my exchange this week. It was a brand new phone complete with original box. New phone locks on in seconds now, it even knows where I am in my house (kinda scary accurate). I'm keeping all the spare parts (battery, rear covers, micro sd, sim card, charger) my new phone came with as compensation for my GPS frustration. They can bill me for it if they want, I won't be paying.

I really wished I wrote down the manufacture date on the box (if there was one) before I sent it back.

BTW, I am using the same roms for both the old phone and new.
[Vibrant General] reddragon72:
So are you guys calling samsung or T-Mobile for a replacement?
[Vibrant General] monstah_rain:
I called T-mobile. They were really nice about it. The "android specialist" says he's only heard of one complaint before me about the gps. I didn't know if he was lying or not, maybe he was trained to deny it. Anyways, I told him that the gps never really worked since I got the phone in late July. It took forever to lock on and when it does lock on it, it jumps around for blocks when I was driving. I told him I had already have the JI6 update and the official Samsung app. He determined that there was nothing he nor I could do to fix the GPS. So they sent me a "replacement" phone, which turned out to be a new one.
[Vibrant General] reddragon72:
Looks like I'll be calling tonight then :-) mine will "lock" but jump all over the place when setting still and while driving it shows me in peoples yards and lakes, but never on the road.
[Vibrant General] stealthx32:
I've tried them all. JFD, JI2, JI5, JI6, JK2, JK6, JL1, I've tried all the SUPL settings.

This is always the result (but at least it locks quicker now?). And no, I'm not walking through the woods, I stick to the path. The MAJOR sensor drift is killer, and if it was in navigation on real roads, I'd be rerouted 50 times over.

GPS Status & Toolbox says 6-10m accuracy at all times, even when you can see the readings drift a HUGE amount. It *can* be perfect at times, but the times that it's not is absolutely killer.

monstah_rain: So the new one works as it should?
[Vibrant General] monstah_rain:
I can tell if I'm in the living room (bottom level) at the front of the house or in my master bathroom taking a dump (top level) rear of the house. Also, when navigating on the old phone I ALWAYS see the blue circle (after two minutes) indicating my general vicinity. The circle has been as large as a two city blocks sometimes. Now, I'll only see the the blue circle if I zoom in all the way, and it's really small.

So, yes, it's working the way it should have worked.
[Vibrant General] stealthx32:
That's encouraging to hear. Any chance you take it on some long/longer drives? Like >45 minutes?

I don't have a problem with accuracy too much, but more that the sensor will seemingly "drift". It'll basically throw me off the road at random times, and continue down that trajectory (like you see in the map screenshot). It'll recover ~3 minutes later and be fine for the next 15 minutes before it does it again.

Perhaps I'll ring them up later for a new phone. Did yours come "hardware locked", i.e. no recovery mode?
[Vibrant General] presence06:
Here's something weird. Since upgrading to JK6 I had only really used the GPS when using foursquare. But I noticed it never locked on, but showed things around me. So today driving home from work I decided to test it. I turned GPS on and then opened maps. I had Use Wireless networks on and in maps it showed a general location. I waited for a bit and it just kept scanning. so I disabled wireless networks and tried, same thing. Enabled re-enabled GPS and kept trying. I let it sit for a few minutes and still wouldn't connect. I was tempted to run the Samsung GPS restore but didn't. Earlier I turned GPS on again and then opened up GPS test. It scanned and found 8 available and 0 connected. I let it go for a few more seconds and it connected and used 6 of 8 with 120ft accuracy (this was indoors on 3rd level apartment.) Cool.. so I went over to the window and tried it, got within 80-90ft.

I disabled GPS and disabled use wireless networks and all works even after re-enable.

How strange is this? Did I have "break the seal" so to speak?
[Vibrant General] monstah_rain:
I tested it out the very next day after I got the phone on my commute to/from work (half an hour). I can say it's dead on accurate. I've even steered away from the navigation to avoid traffic and I'll be re-routed immediately. Before I would have to wait because that circle was so big the phone thought I was going the intended route. It's also comforting not to hear "GPS signal lost".

I have Christmas party this weekend about an hour away, I'll post results monday.