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All Things GPS
- Thread starter Robinelli
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- samsung vibrant
VegasTouch
Android Enthusiast
Is there supposed to be a fix coming today with a software download?
SamsungVibrant
Android Expert
SamsungVibrant
Android Expert
that looks good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It is, the compass is much improved as well. In fact, I think it is actually useable as a compass at this point!
My oh my! That does provide a glimmer of hope. To think...I can actually start using my map apps...what a concept.
sweetxcliche
Lurker
I scanned this thread and the rest of the forums and couldn't find anything on this particular issue; I'm hoping someone can help?
My GPS works on occasion, but when it doesn't, it places me in Soeul, Korea...I'm in Toronto, Canada! Is there a 'default location' setting somewhere on my phone that I'm not finding?
Has anyone else experienced this strange phenomenon? I've tried the latest fix, but this is completely bizarre to me.
My GPS works on occasion, but when it doesn't, it places me in Soeul, Korea...I'm in Toronto, Canada! Is there a 'default location' setting somewhere on my phone that I'm not finding?
Has anyone else experienced this strange phenomenon? I've tried the latest fix, but this is completely bizarre to me.
boomerbubba
Android Enthusiast
For anyone that is interested there is a leaked ROM over on the xda forums that has pretty much fixed my GPS. I'm currently looking at gps test and it has 12 sats in view with 11 in use. The phone is incredibly quick to lock on now and even the time is finally displayed correctly.
Overall I've been using it for the better part of a day now and am really enjoying it. It seems even snappier and the media hub is now working as well, which I used today to show off to a couple relatives with iphones at my wife's birthday party.
Could you please try this test: Let the GPS go unused for an entire day, without rebooting the phone. Then open GPS Test to see if you can get a GPS lock. If not, reboot and retry GPS Test to see if that workaround cures the problem temporarily.
The reason I ask is that there is a pretty well documented bug in the Sprint Epic and Verizon Fascinate phones -- both of which presumably incorporated Samsung's purported GPS fixes before they shipped this month. The bug shows up after passage of time under the conditions I describe above.
The question is whether this bug also propagated to Samsung's remedial GPS fixes that are apparently included in this ROM.
Thanks.
I actually sorta saw this this morning when I woke up and wanted to do some more testing while taking my kids to school.
It doesn't not work, it just takes a bit. Here is how it looks to me.
When I first turned GPS Test back on it showed 0 sats in view, then over the course of about 2 minutes it slowly found 1 after another, after it finally had all sats in view it then jumped to 8 in use instantly and has been very quick since.
When I was messing around with the orginal rom and trying many different things I encountered the exact same anything anytime I would choose "delete GPS data" in lbstestmode. I think what is happening is that this new rom is deleting the data on it's own after a period of time and perhaps people aren't waiting long enough before they think it is frozen and restart. It takes 45 seconds to a minute before the first sat appears "in view" after the first one the wait is much less for the rest to appear one at a time.
I'll try not to use it at all today on my wife's phone and then start it up in the morning to see if the same thing happens with her's.
robo21
Android Expert
Excellent! Light at the end of the tunnel... I would love to see this thread fade into oblivion - forever.
Your observations make sense. This is typical for even a dedicated GPS device, most notably when it hasn't been used in some time or there's been a significant change in position between the time the unit was last used and when it's turned on again.
boomerbubba
Android Enthusiast
@krichek,
Speaking of LbsTest mode, does that survive on the new ROM?
Speaking of LbsTest mode, does that survive on the new ROM?
Yes, it's still there. I haven't had much time to really go through it but after a quick lookover it appears most/all of the settings are the same as the original rom. Nothing stood out as being really different.
boomerbubba
Android Enthusiast
But this is not just a dedicated GPS device. It is an A-GPS device with access to a cell data network, which should add the benefit of land-based servers to update that almanac and ephemeris data more quickly. (Setting the Vibrant's A-GPS to MS Based mode was essentially all that those purported "fixes" floating around the forums ever did. That was a good idea; it just could not solve all the other real problems in the firmware, for which everyone has been awaiting an update.)
In the stock Vibrant, the default GPS mode is Standalone, and the only way to change that is through the hidden LbsTest menu. Can anyone running the new ROM tell how that configuration is set, and what the default is?
[EDIT: Just saw kricek's last post. If the default mode in LbsTest is still Standalone, that could explain the long time it took to update his satellite lock this morning.]
As I said in my previous post the settings all apear to be exactly the same as those in the original rom by default. I'll post them here tho maybe something has changed and I just didn't notice it.
Here is the settings in both sections:
LbsTestMode/Application Settings
Session Type - Tracking
Test Mode (S/W or H/W) - S/w Test
Operation Mode - Standalone
Start Mode - Hot Start
GPS Plus - ON
Dynamic Accuracy - ON
Accuracy - 50
Use SkyHook - OFF
Use PC Tool - OFF
LbsTestMode/SUPL/CP Settings
Server FQDN Type - Custom Config
Server - www.spirent-lcs.com
Server Port - 7275
SUPL Secure Socket - ON
AGPS Mode - SUPL
[EDIT]
Sorry, Saw that you edited your post while I was posting this. Honestly in the testing that I had done on the original rom, I could enable any of the assisted modes and then delete GPS data and the startup delay was still there. That lead me to believe that as it stands now A-GPS is not working quite right. I think the problem lies with the server that the software is pointed to for assistance.
boomerbubba
Android Enthusiast
You may well be right, which is why the early "fix" posted for the Vibrant recommended changing those settings. FWIW, the Sprint Epic ships with defaults (in a different user interface) that are consistent with that recommendation. Translating the settings to this interface, the key differences are:
Operation Mode - MS Based
Server - supl.google.com
Server Port - 7276
SUPL Secure Socket - OFF
I am surprised that configuration did not get set as the default in this ROM to enable MS Based mode.
p.s. The reason that just changing the configuration in the stock Vibrant didn't cure all the GPS problems is that there also needed to be real firmware fixes by Samsung and Broadcom. The hope is that these fixes are in the ROM you are testing.
Ok, I had a little bit of time so I thought I would do some other tests. So here are the results. All tests were conducted inside at my kitchen table.
Using LbsTestMode, I deleted the GPS data for each test. The test settings will be at listed at the top, above the results that were obtained.
Test #1. Operation mode set to Standalone, Use Wireless Networks is disabled.
1:05 seconds after startup of GPS Test till 1 sat showed as in view, 2:22 - Second sat in view, 3:26 the rest popped into view. 9 Total.
4:03 seconds from start and 3 appeared as in use, 4:53 seconds from startup 4th appeared in use, 5:57 seconds the 5th appeared in use. 9 In view, 5 in use after 5:57 seconds from startup. 26 Feet accuracy.
Test #2 Operation Mode set to MS Based, Server entries etc remain stock, Use wireless Networks Disabled.
:31 Seconds from start till 1 sat in view, :45 seconds from start 2 more appear in view, 1:15 seconds the remaining pop into view. 10 Total.
1:49 seconds from start 3 appear in use, 2:17 from startup 4 in use. 10 in view, 6 in use after 2:35 from startup. 20.9 feet accuracy.
Test #3 Operation Mode set to MS Based, Server settings changed to those provided by boomerbubba, Use Wireless Networks Disabled.
Houston we have a problem. Didn't work. The number of sats in view changed constantly, sometimes dropping back down to 1 in view (I've never seen this before) after 10 mins still none in use and the number in view was still all over the place.
Test #4 Operation mode set to MS Based, Server settings changed back to default, Use Wireless Netorks Enabled.
:27 Seconds from start 1 Sat in view, :43 seconds 2 sats in view, 1:19 seconds after startup 11 sats in view.
3:28 seconds after startup 3 sats in use, 3:45 seconds after startup 5 sats in use. 11 in view, 6 in use after 4:51 seconds from startup. Accuracy 33.6 Feet.
Test #5 Exactly as test #2
:22 seconds after startup 1 sat in view, 1:39 seconds after startup 11 in view.
2:15 Seconds after startup 5 in use. 11 in view, 6 in use 3:31 seconds after startup. Accuracy 21.2 feet.
As you can see, in the default configuration with GPS data either deleted or out of date it takes over 4 minutes before any sats are in use.
Option 2 Seems to be the best choice. It offered the fastest times to lock on to any sats after all GPS data was deleted and seemed to offer the most accurate positioning.
I was surprised to see that turning on Use Wireless Networks actually slowed things down and also resulted in a less accurate position. If I have time I may try and duplicate these tests outdoors to see if there are any significant changes.
Using LbsTestMode, I deleted the GPS data for each test. The test settings will be at listed at the top, above the results that were obtained.
Test #1. Operation mode set to Standalone, Use Wireless Networks is disabled.
1:05 seconds after startup of GPS Test till 1 sat showed as in view, 2:22 - Second sat in view, 3:26 the rest popped into view. 9 Total.
4:03 seconds from start and 3 appeared as in use, 4:53 seconds from startup 4th appeared in use, 5:57 seconds the 5th appeared in use. 9 In view, 5 in use after 5:57 seconds from startup. 26 Feet accuracy.
Test #2 Operation Mode set to MS Based, Server entries etc remain stock, Use wireless Networks Disabled.
:31 Seconds from start till 1 sat in view, :45 seconds from start 2 more appear in view, 1:15 seconds the remaining pop into view. 10 Total.
1:49 seconds from start 3 appear in use, 2:17 from startup 4 in use. 10 in view, 6 in use after 2:35 from startup. 20.9 feet accuracy.
Test #3 Operation Mode set to MS Based, Server settings changed to those provided by boomerbubba, Use Wireless Networks Disabled.
Houston we have a problem. Didn't work. The number of sats in view changed constantly, sometimes dropping back down to 1 in view (I've never seen this before) after 10 mins still none in use and the number in view was still all over the place.
Test #4 Operation mode set to MS Based, Server settings changed back to default, Use Wireless Netorks Enabled.
:27 Seconds from start 1 Sat in view, :43 seconds 2 sats in view, 1:19 seconds after startup 11 sats in view.
3:28 seconds after startup 3 sats in use, 3:45 seconds after startup 5 sats in use. 11 in view, 6 in use after 4:51 seconds from startup. Accuracy 33.6 Feet.
Test #5 Exactly as test #2
:22 seconds after startup 1 sat in view, 1:39 seconds after startup 11 in view.
2:15 Seconds after startup 5 in use. 11 in view, 6 in use 3:31 seconds after startup. Accuracy 21.2 feet.
As you can see, in the default configuration with GPS data either deleted or out of date it takes over 4 minutes before any sats are in use.
Option 2 Seems to be the best choice. It offered the fastest times to lock on to any sats after all GPS data was deleted and seemed to offer the most accurate positioning.
I was surprised to see that turning on Use Wireless Networks actually slowed things down and also resulted in a less accurate position. If I have time I may try and duplicate these tests outdoors to see if there are any significant changes.
boomerbubba
Android Enthusiast
Hmmm. It may be that fooling around with the SUPL server settings by amateurs is not a good idea. Perhaps the individual carriers may have to establish relationships and authenticate with the operators of those servers? So it may make sense to leave each carrier's default server config in place.
However, enabling MS Based mode in general should still be a good idea. It will be interesting to see how your outdoor tests go.
I have done the rom update and have noticed a significant improvement in both the gps and compass. One issue I am having though is that I can no longer access LBSTestMode. As soon as I enter the last * in the string the string clears and I remain in the dialer. I saw the previous post that said the test mode is still there but I cannot access it. I am considering doing a factory reset to see if this helps but am wondering if anyone else is having this problem.
SamsungVibrant
Android Expert
try *#1472365#
boomerbubba
Android Enthusiast
We really need krichek to tell us how he invokes the hidden menu.
Sorry I was making dinner and feeding my wife and kids
I'm lazy and mistype alot so I never messed with the dialer key code. Here is how I get to it.
Download LauncherPro, you can uninstall it as soon as you are done testing (I do). Then when you hit the home key, choose launcher pro. When you see the new home screen, long press anywhere on a empty spot on the screen. When the menu comes up, choose shortcuts, then activities, then scroll through the list till you get to LbsTestMode. Click the arrow, then select the first entry. It should read, com.sec.android.app.lbstestmode.LbsTestMode
Label it whatever you like, I'm lazy and just keep the default. Now you have a shortcut on the screen to LbsTestMode. Fast and convienent. When you are done simply uninstall Launcher Pro and that's it.
I'm lazy and mistype alot so I never messed with the dialer key code. Here is how I get to it.
Download LauncherPro, you can uninstall it as soon as you are done testing (I do). Then when you hit the home key, choose launcher pro. When you see the new home screen, long press anywhere on a empty spot on the screen. When the menu comes up, choose shortcuts, then activities, then scroll through the list till you get to LbsTestMode. Click the arrow, then select the first entry. It should read, com.sec.android.app.lbstestmode.LbsTestMode
Label it whatever you like, I'm lazy and just keep the default. Now you have a shortcut on the screen to LbsTestMode. Fast and convienent. When you are done simply uninstall Launcher Pro and that's it.
SamsungVibrant
Android Expert
try *#1472365#
SamsungVibrant
Android Expert
try *#1472365#