yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Vibrant General] s235421702:
I did this tweak last night, worked great, connected 4 birds in less than one minute.

But this morning, i put it in the same place, 5 minutes still cant get fixed.

How does this happen? Is that i should bend the copper every time i want fixed?

Thank you KWKSLVR anyway.
[Vibrant General] KWKSLVR:
You shouldn't have to every time. The more time goes by the more I think it's a pretty permanent modification. You may want to clear your GPS Data and try to connect again.
[Vibrant General] Damonkashu:
ugh I want to try this but I bought this phone used from craigslist so I don't think I can get it replaced by t-mobile if I mess up :(
[Vibrant General] Plato56:
LOL, yes im still around, just been working alot. I was supprised to day when I was looking for this thread and couldnt find it, I thought it was dead, then someone referenced it in another thread as a sticky lol.

NO i didn't break my tabs, I thought that was KWKSLVR who replaced his. BAHH I need to go back to the old thread a see who it was. Now you guys got me currious becuase I remember that whoever it was used replacement contacts from radio shack.

Ok, now for some more updates. I've been working with JL4 based firmwares for the past week. If your on JL4 REMEMBER TO TURN OF YOU WIFI RADIO!!!!! All JLx builds seem to have this issue just like some of the old 2.1 builds did. Also, I dont know if I said it in this thread but I think it need repeating. DO NOT USE GOOGLE MAPS AS YOUR TEST METHOD. I was having problems with maps today while navigating, I was all over the place. I turned on GPS Test and locked up 8 birds (in about 5 seconds) and switched back to maps.... What do you know, i was accurate to 15 feet and stayed that way all the way home.

Our GPS is not and probably will never be perfect, but with this fix, its not only the best we can hope for, it realy not that bad. I used it all day to day, eveyday and Its been doing great. Oddly, i do have some drifting problems around sunset sometimes, but I pretty shure that just atmospheric interfence or something like that in my area.
[Vibrant General] raegae2000:
I broke one of the tabs at the bottom left of the phone. Mannymal are u able to provide a picture of your molten metal improvisation?

If the molten metal goes past the gold tab and into the circuit board will it damage anything?
[Vibrant General] Mannymal:
I used a very small drop of metal, just enough to touch the antenna... I can't take pictures because I dont have a digital camera
[Vibrant General] mattchew008:
*Tried the navigation last night, wasn't so great...

I did the hardware fix and saw some immediate improvements.

But to be completely honest with you, my GPS "worked" terribly to begin with.

I was able to lock and it began navigating decently, then it began re-routing terribly and said I was on some side road (which I was not).

I have a Vibrant build Sept-10. I do admit the h/w fix helps a bit, but so far it has left my GPS barely usable.

I'm going to try to open and bend the metal connector again in hopes that it will improve the GPS to a working state.
[Vibrant General] KWKSLVR:
Possibly. but the danger would really be in your soldering iron being so hot that the iron touching the board burns it. The good news is that burning it probably isn't likely. If you have any rouge solder, it will come off with just a touch from the soldering iron.

There are some good soldering tutorials on YouTube.
[Vibrant General] nomadrider123:
This is a interesting concept. The op says for the CONTACT to gently bent up. What your suggesting wouldn't it almost press it down? I know your pressing down on plastic so I wonder if it really presses down on the contact? Also how thick is that metal piece you are using? I used the filing part of a fingernail clipper as my metal piece. I might have gained a lock or two more satellites. Now to try a little thicker piece of metal. I think more testers are needed to get a more definite answer.
[Vibrant General] Br1cK'd:
Posted this in the other thread but feel its worth exhoing in here. Be careful with that, if that piece of metal touches the sim card cradle or anything else its not supposed to, you will have a very expensive lincoln log.

Sent from my Loki powered Vibrant via the XDA App
[Vibrant General] nomadrider123:
Would a piece of plastic do the same job? It's just pressing down on the phone's insides
[Vibrant General] stevedrz:
I used a piece of a plastic pen cap. That also worked.
[Vibrant General] traicer:
Yeah I've now move to plastic in fear of shorting something out. Thinker around.with it till you find the perfect spot fir your piece if plastic
[Vibrant General] KWKSLVR:
Bending the contact up is to make a better connection with the antenna. Anything that helps the antenna and the contact touch is probably good. However, I would advise against anything that may break the antenna.
[Vibrant General] traicer:
i dont think the pressure been apply is enought o break the antenna since its under the plastic. the phone cover would probably break first
[Vibrant General] KWKSLVR:
The antenna looks pretty flimsy. I wouldn't be surprised if cracking the case breaks the antenna.
[Vibrant General] traicer:
then it might be worth noting to try at your own risk lol, like everything on these forums, theres a risk of breaking or bricking your phone, im not responsible for anything
[Vibrant General] nomadrider123:
Very good advice. Do you have a idea why this seems to work? I could follow the logic of bending the contact up.
[Vibrant General] VICosPhi:
I've tried bending the contact few months ago, and didn;t notice any difference compared to wife's unmodded vibrant.

Tried it again yesterday, this time I put a piece of credit card in the connector clip so it stays up. Still no difference, best accuracy I get is 10m in maps and 22 feet in gps test. GPS test averages to 40 feet of accuracy.

Nonetheless, this is an excellent support thread, Samsung should consult with KWKSLVR and T313C0mun1s7 ;)

Anyways, the verdict here is our GPS hardware is defective. Please see my thread in Galaxy S 4G general showing a poll of how well Galaxy S4G gps works
[Vibrant General] Br1cK'd:
I have not done this mod to my phone but understand the concept. The object on top probably works by doing the opposite of the original fix, and pushes down on the antennae towards the contacts, rather than bending the contacts up to meet the antennae. I would opt for the steps in the OP of this thread if it were me, rather than a loose object jammed under the back cover of my phone, but thats just my opinion.

Sent from my Loki powered Vibrant via the XDA App
[Vibrant General] traicer:
so i went ahead and did the hardware gps fix now, since i knew my problem was the connection not making contact. everything is working great
[Vibrant General] xsteven77x:
Well getting the back off without an actual pry tool was an experience and a half, but after finally getting this off it's a breeze. For those of you on the fence about this, the little metal contact is not THAT easy to break. i was expecting this fragile little piece of trash. as long as you dont put too much pressure i dont see how anything can go wrong here.

But DEFINITELY an average SNR improvement. Using the jillette fix (1st one) before i did this drastically improved my gps, with these two together i get down to a 5 foot accuracy IN THE HOUSE.

I have always been able to tweak the gps to get half decent locks, the REAL test will be when i go on a drive if it actually stays on the road for more than 60 seconds. Will report back afterwards!
[Vibrant General] xsteven77x:
Just went for a short drive. This if the first time it did not take me off the road every minute or so. Only have changed the supl settings in lbs to google since the original url points to nowhere
[Vibrant General] granduke:
I'm debating doing this fix.

Unlike most of the modders here my status seems fine. I lock on quick to 8-10 sats with a snr between high-teens to low thirties and decent accuracy.

My only issue is track drift. When I stand still the screen is quickly covered by a zigzag track.

Do you think this hardware fix might help me? Wouldn't want to go thru the effort and risk when it appears my reception is rather good.
[Vibrant General] xsteven77x:
The risk is very minimal. After you do it you will wonder why you worried. Was your phone made before october? If not chances are this wont do anything drastic but the ease of the actual process makes even a marginal gain worth it. Reading the OP scared me too but he is just trying to stress not to rush and its not his fault if you **** it up. After watching the youtube video, I was sold! Loving my new flawless gps!
[Vibrant General] KWKSLVR:
Added an optional tweak to the OP. Nothing major, but worth taking a look into and trying for yourselves.
[Vibrant General] jkruijff:
Then please also take a look at this thread: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=881941

I was in the same situation as you, snr was ok, but tracking not so much, and this helped great (using the google tweak). Hope this helps.

J.
[Vibrant General] naack:
i still think the antenna is not good enough. the reception is not good still looks weak.

for some reason it keep fluctuating from 50 - 90 feet accuracy. locks on from 3- 6 birds in use. this is without moving the phone.

terrible...

--edit--

still better than not locking at all i guess :D
[Vibrant General] gregc2009:
My phone has always had good GPS. Got it back in late July. It has gotten me ~20 ft accuracy on almost all ROMs. The birds levels were never 40s+ constantly though. Reading others achieving this pushed me to try the mod. Now, lock on is even faster than before and I get 3+ birds with 40+ signal. Well worth the fingernail twisting of getting that blasted plate off!
[Vibrant General] naack:
oh wow. mineare mostly 16 - 28 sometimes i get a 39 but thats not often at all.

i think we need to get some photos to compare the gps antennas from the old and the new model.
[Vibrant General] xsteven77x:
Ya this whole process seems to be ****-up free except for that getting the back off. I felt like if i slipped with the tool that i was trying to use to pry it open, that it would slip inside and bust a circuit board in half!
[Vibrant General] naack:
no tools needed to pry it open if you do u'll get scratches on it for sure.
[Vibrant General] gregc2009:
I just trimmed my nails yesterday... I did need to use the flat blade (miniture) to do a little prying after I get the trim ring pulled out enough to get it to fit.
[Vibrant General] AEguyNYC5:
This might sound silly to some but it actually does make a difference. The first time I opened the phone I had just trimmed my nails and it was very uncomfortable & painful. The good thing is that once the case is opened it just gets easier every time, kind of like women. :D

I got a foot of 12 AWG copper wire from my local hardware store for free! :) I am just waiting for the desoldering pump to open this thing back up and conduct my hmm 5th or so open heart surgery on the GPS. I will be posting pictures as usual whether it is successful or not. :p
[Vibrant General] xsteven77x:
Not true. It makes it a 100 times easier, but i did mine with a tiny eyeglass flathead and i dont have any scratches. Even if you got a couple tiny nicks, its all hidden underneath the battery cover. No need to scare people into thinking they gotta buy **** to try this.
[Vibrant General] kboater:
will you guys check out my thread here: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=985271

I cant figure out if my GPS problems are hardware or software related

Thanks
[Vibrant General] jonyolea:
I did it and love it!!!! Worked perfectly good for me, I used gps aids and gps samsung fix and its amazing how its working now, much better than before, I had 8 meters of accuracy!!! :O ... thank you guys for this!!!! :-)
[Vibrant General] real977:
Help! I broke the damn tab and I don't have any soldering experience :(
[Vibrant General] YetisAreReal:
Find and shop near you that will fix electronic devices or sell your phone as is. Not sure how people are breaking that contact it is really springy.
[Vibrant General] AEguyNYC5:
I broke my tab as well, by accident of course, but it is not the end of the world. Go to your local hardware store or a Home Depot or Lowe's and purchase the cheapest Soldering Iron kit that you can. I got one at HD for $10 by Benzomatic and a can of refiller butane. Then just watch the videos that TEL linked for us, I think on the 2nd post of this thread. I am still trying to get this done right, so just be patient and keep trying. :)

There are some sample pictures, attached to the first post I think, taken by MannyMal, to use as a guide as to how high the solder should be to make contact.
[Vibrant General] xsteven77x:
Yikes im really happy mine didn't break. I kep thinking what would happen if it did while I was actually bending it!
[Vibrant General] real977:
Whew, got it fixed btw... Luckily I have a friend who's experienced with computer building and he did it for me. And its working fantastic! Gotta take it for a test drive on my day off :)
[Vibrant General] AEguyNYC5:
congrats! you mind taking a picture of the fix and posting it here? :)
[Vibrant General] real977:
For sure, ill do it wen I get home from work
[Vibrant General] Guticb:
I used this fix on my Vibrant today. When I was putting the phone back together the first time, the volume buttons weren't aligned right and were just stuck. That was awkward and it freaked me out...

It works beautifully now. It used to not even get a lock when I was outside. Now it locked within about 15 seconds from inside my house!
[Vibrant General] regP:
Did you shrink or file the bulb a little bit to get it to fit? If not you might wana try that.
[Vibrant General] r60us:
I sure hope it works...

I sure hope this repair works. I found this thread too late. My phone is currently on the way back to Samgsung for the second time! The first time they did no do anything other than tell me they found a "software error." I got it back and went out of town and tried to use the GPS... It did the same thing. It would slowly find the satellites and set the route. I would start driving down the road and it would loose the satellites and get me lost!:mad:

I am expecting that Samsung will again return the phone unrepaired so I am sure I will be trying this fix.

Also, I was thinking, would putting a piece of dense foam under the antenna so it would constantly apply pressure to help keep the contact work?
[Vibrant General] T313C0mun1s7:
It does not need to be dense, but it does need to be small. I used the foam for lining drawers that can be purchased in the same section of your favorite discount store where the contact paper shelf liner is.
[Vibrant General] r60us:
Thanks, that sounds good. I am sure I will be trying it when my phone is returned unrepaired.
[Vibrant General] Telanis:
Thanks for this. I was reluctant to believe it was a hardware issue, but this did the trick!

By-the-by, I bent up all 4 contacts instead of just the one circled in the picture. Even if the others don't affect GPS, they were intended to make contact so I figure they're better of that way.
[Vibrant General] Ilmoran:
I know I'm replying to an older post in the thread, but that 10.06 isn't October 6, it's June 2010.
[Vibrant General] medzed:
The only working solution thx to the poster easier than it seems fixed my gps in 5 minutes
[Vibrant General] norbert.lasky:
Hi guys, I , trying to move the contact, break it. Well, from what I red, I'm not the only one in here, but I'm probably the laziest one. I tried to fix it with some scotch, and strangely it doens't work great as the ones who fixed correct, but it works! I mean, if i broke it at all, how can it work? btw, the signal is very poor, but I'm still searching for someone to fixed it with iron stuff since i'm not good at all.
[Vibrant General] d33dvb:
Just fyi these are cold solder joints. My gps broke through only light bending.
[Vibrant General] T313C0mun1s7:
Yea, I came up with that back in the day when we first figured out this fix, it was back in one of the two original threads that led to this one. First thing to cross my mind with intermittent and poor contact was a cold solder. I don't personally think the contact is too low as much as the additional pressure helps to counter the cold solder by holding it in place. This is also why I still contend that the solder solution id a "better" fix. . . but whatever (works) you know?
[Vibrant General] Telanis:
OK, so every time my phone reboots I need to run the Position Test in LBSTestMode before my GPS works. Apps can't get my potision before the test, but they can afterwards no problem. Even if I change my location.

Any help?
[Vibrant General] phalanger:
Bending it seems tricky, it breaks for too many people..

How about applying some solder to the contact side instead of the connector side? Seems safer to me, both in less risk to overheat sensitive parts aswell as the chance for electrosensitive parts (such as IC's) to get damaged from the (indirect) contact with the iron (which I know from experience in soldering fine electronics, is a bit of a risk). Also its easier to clean up in case the phone ever has to be turned in for warranty.

Anyone tried it that way?
[Vibrant General] Telanis:
I thought that's the way the OP said to do it.
[Vibrant General] regP:
This seems to be the case for a lot of not most of us. Dont think there is anything we can do about it. Just have to get used to getting lock in one of the gps test apps before using any navigation apps.
[Vibrant General] r60us:
If it means anything my phone is currently at Samsung for repair for this problem (for the second time). I was advised today that they are replacing the mother board. When I get my phone back, I will report if what they did fixes the problem.

I wonder if they know about this fix :D
[Vibrant General] slackerlack:
My GPS is off by at least 30 to 70 feet. I did not see a fix in this post.
[Vibrant General] slackerlack:
Ignore my post. I am a tard. So tired, forgot which forum I was in.
[Vibrant General] Sdobron:
So, sometimes my gps locks quick with no trouble others it takes forever with very poor accuracy. I've tried all gps software fixes, but am still debating on this hardware fix. I've also tried various modems with not much difference. Should I give this a go or return to samsung for warranty?
[Vibrant General] regP:
If your on the fence about it I'd use the warranty first.
[Vibrant General] Case_:
Amazing. Done this fix (just went with the bending solution) on my I9000 yesterday and saw immediate jump of SNR in GPS Test from 25 average to 35 average. Also the position accuracy went up from 15 meters max to 10 meters average, often jumping up to 5m accuracy (I've almost never saw 5m accuracy before in all the time I've spent trying to tweak GPS on my SGS and it was a LOT of time, let me tell you). Been testing it throughout the day today and it's still the same - better than ever.

Thanks A LOT for this tip, feels like a whole new phone GPS-wise!
[Vibrant General] madguitarist63:
GPS Fixed!!!!

Great work. My GPS is between 16 and 25 feet stationary. Havent checked moving but this is significantly better than it was!

You're the shiz! :D
[Vibrant General] KWKSLVR:
Check the link I put up at the end of the OP about downloading the flashable gps tweaks. I can boot up, open google maps and get a lock in just a few seconds
[Vibrant General] hippotek:
OMG! I just applied this little fix plus heathes latest GPS2.zip! Getting GPS fix indoors now!!! AMAZING!

I also "fixed" the other contact (3G antenna) DRAMATICALLY improving recption! WOW!!!
[Vibrant General] chaosthebomb:
will this work with a t959d?

I have the Canadian Telus T959d. I'm wondering if anyone knows if this fix will work for me? The guide says I need to update my modem first, but the modem I'm using is different than any of the models most of you in the states(or elsewhere) use... I'm using the TLJL3 modem I think.
[Vibrant General] CrazyCharlie:
All the inside parts should be the same. I just did it and saw a huge improvement. I went from my gps being totally non functional to working perfectly. It's very simple to do. Give it a try.
[Vibrant General] Sdobron:
Never got any locks before? I'm getting close to trying this.
[Vibrant General] kdf2883:
I'm getting ready to try this sometime today :o
[Vibrant General] henriquesb:
Heathen's tweak suggested on OP doesn't work properly on the international I9000, tried both versions, first one works bad and second one not at all.

I was using Dagnarf's tweak before with much better results, and GPS works again after applying Dagnarf's over Heathen's. Stock JS5 plus Voodoo 5.5.1 .
[Vibrant General] madmack:
same experience on the i9000 here. Da_G's gps fix works wonders, however.
[Vibrant General] henriquesb:
Yep, Dagnarf = Da_G, same thread.
[Vibrant General] mystycs:
I have a vibrant that was bought day 1

Does the hardware fix non soldering actually work? And do you recommend it?
[Vibrant General] T313C0mun1s7:
Let me answer your questions with some questions.

If it did not work, would this thread be so large as to have outgrown the threads of even many of the ROMs?

If it was not recommended, would it have made it to sticky status, and later to the sticky roll up thread?

If it was not both, would this thread have been covered by both Android Dog and Life Hacker?

Then again you can just look at the results of the poll, and realize that because this is being performed by individuals, most of whom have no electronics experience, a percentage of those who did not get reasonable result probably did something wrong.

That said, this is truly a case where you should fully read and understand in it's entirety the first two posts before you choose to act.
[Vibrant General] mystycs:
Understood! I just want to be sure about everyting haha

I looked at an image of the Samsung 4g, it looks exactly the same!

Did they just add more of those copper things to fix the GPS issue?!
[Vibrant General] KWKSLVR:
Nope, its got an entirely new GPS Receiver in it.
[Vibrant General] mystycs:
So in the event i break the clip, i can just solder it back on and wala its fixed right?
[Vibrant General] KWKSLVR:
Those that have broken it seem to have the best results when removing the antenna contact all together and place a small amount of solder in it's place.
[Vibrant General] mystycs:
Okay! Sounds good! Thanks i will try this later. :)
[Vibrant General] benoitb85:
I did the hack yesterday. I found it difficult to remove the back cover (the 2nd one).

That step apart, it's easy to do. I can see better SNR and navigation this morning was better, but I was on my bicycle. I still have to test it on the motorbike and inside Paris. That was the case when I had the poorest results before.

Thanks for documenting this fix, I might have just fixed the only real problem left on my Galaxy S.
[Vibrant General] reddragon72:
I have a couple Q's and this post is far to big to read in it's entirety.

1. has anyone tried soldering a wire in there? solder it to the antenna and the contact to alleviate any contact issues.

2. the antenna appears to have two contacts. There is the spring one everyone is focused on in this thread then there is a sponge looking one.

has anyone looked into this.

3. the little "button" that pops out when you take the back cover off exposes a micro BNC connector. Could this be used to add on your own antenna? I have been reading up on how to make a GPS antenna and it seems to be fairly simple so I'm wondering if this is the connector for and external GPS antenna.