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All things GPS

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  • Yes, it looks like a poll.

    Votes: 42 26.3%

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    Votes: 31 19.4%

  • Why in the world is there a poll here?

    Votes: 87 54.4%
  • Total voters
    160
I am unable to get to the GPS settings since the latest update
I tried going to *#*#1472365#*#* and it's not doing anything for me at all.
 
RanChan03 said:
I am unable to get to the GPS settings since the latest update
I tried going to *#*#1472365#*#* and it's not doing anything for me at all.
Click to expand...

A search for the string *#*#1472365#*#* will pull up a boatload (or is it buttload?) of threads about this issue.
 
lilo said:
That's because Galaxy is probably the first (and only) phone on the market with the latest version of GPS chip from Broadcom. iPhone 4 has the previous generation chip. I read some place that the new chip has different achitecture which requires that more software be executed on the CPU (but this saves power). It appears that Broadcom is still working out their issues with the chip driver which is regrettable.
Click to expand...

So I was curious and did a little research on the GPS chip in the captivate. For one it seems the i9000 has a different GPS chip than the the Captivate (possibly the same for all the other US Galaxy S phones). Reference - What is the Galaxy S BT/GPS/FM chip? - xda-developers However, they are both Broadcom chips. I suggest reading this thread for all the GPS woe is me people. So the Captivate uses the Broadcomm BCM 4751 chip.

The i9000 is also suffering from GPS issues correct? Please correct me if I'm wrong. If it has a different chip it casts a small shadow on the theory that it is a driver issue unless Samsung and Broadcom messed up the drivers on both chipsets.

As for the iPhone 4 having a different Broadcom chip I found some corroborating evidence.

"Broadcom brought the now proven BCM4750, which offers the same ***8211;162-dBm tracking sensitivity as the 130-nm Hammerhead II, but its 90-nm technology reduces size and power consumption. Infineon countered with its new Xposys GPS chip, which is rated at an industry-leading sensitivity of ***8211;165 dBm. Built in 65 nm, Xposys offers a smaller solution size than the BCM4750 and even lower power consumption: just 11 mW when tracking at one sample per second. Apple, however, was concerned that Xposys had not been deployed in the field. Once again, it chose the proven solution, this time from Broadcom." - reference - Broadcom Gains Ground In The GPS Chip Market

It's important to notice that the Xposys GPS chip mentioned in the article is NOT the chip in the Captivate. The captivate has the exact same model as the iPhone 4 EXCEPT there's a "1" instead of a "0" at the end. So one can conclude that it is an updated or revised version of what is in the iPhone 4. I don't think it's too much of a stretch to speculate that Apple had the option to use the new Broadcomm chip but went with the proven solution. - reference speculation. More information on this new chip - Broadcom Offers Single-Chip GPS for Mobile Devices, the BCM4751 | GPS World - sounds like an awesome GPS chip!

Finally, I ran into a driver for our GPS chip...which was easy to find. But here's a link! - [PATCH RFC 1/1] MISC: Broadcom BCM4751 GPS driver
 
Endoran said:
So I was curious and did a little research on the GPS chip in the captivate. For one it seems the i9000 has a different GPS chip than the the Captivate (possibly the same for all the other US Galaxy S phones). Reference - What is the Galaxy S BT/GPS/FM chip? - xda-developers However, they are both Broadcom chips. I suggest reading this thread for all the GPS woe is me people. So the Captivate uses the Broadcomm BCM 4751 chip.

The i9000 is also suffering from GPS issues correct? Please correct me if I'm wrong. If it has a different chip it casts a small shadow on the theory that it is a driver issue unless Samsung and Broadcom messed up the drivers on both chipsets.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily. I read somewhere (apologies for a lack of citation) that the I9000 chip includes GPS, FM radio, and something else. If Broadcom makes one version with FM and one version without (which it appears the Captivate does not have the FM transmitter), then they would have different model numbers, even if the GPS chip, itself, is the same on both.
 
i was told by Samsung level 3 that the update did contain GPS fix (i'm sure something happened, because my GPS got worse), and I HAVE to have "use wireless networks" checked in order for it to work properly (i never used wireless networks before update and it worked fine sometimes...not always, but after update, didn't work at all without wireless networks, if turned on, works perfect). I'm very confused about this setting....why is it necessary for the GPS to work?
 
gocats7 said:
Sounds interesting, what were the original settings and how long has this fix worked for you. I have had many "wow" days after changes only to have it suck again a few days later.

My 3rd captivate should arrive today so I am hoping for the best out of the GPS.
Click to expand...

So far it has been 3 days. 3 trips with the navigation on. So far no issues.
Before the fix My GPS will not lock on even after 10 mins. on google maps I had to have the "use network" turned on to get a fix, which was not accurate. Today morning when i checked my GPS locked on in 3 secs in test mode. took 5 to 10 seconds on google map navigation. Once, locked on it was spot on. Hope i have answered your concerns.:rolleyes:
 
just curious..dont know if anyone has mentioned this or even tried this but is using the paid att navigator make any difference? better gps performance?
 
I"ve read that it does not work either, and that makes sense, because it still has to rely on the GPS of the Captivate.

Regarding hearing "Samsung support said XXX", they all apparently don't know, or many don't, and every other message you hear is opposite. I was enthused at first when I read "Samsung support said this is not the fix, and it is still coming", but I no longer listen to any of that. Its a roller coaster.

Net net, the GPS is broken for many of us, and until/unless another GPS fix comes out we are SOL. At this point that is the only message I am watching to see pop up in this thread. ;)
 
i first tried to update many times ota and it always failed even tho it looked like it installed just fine

then i tired the designgears jh7 update with clockwork and now my gps is much better it does lock on right away and i can drive around town and use it and i use gps everday all the time in the las vegas area :)

it still does lose lock sometimes and does say im on the wrong road sometime but not as horrible as it was before this update

if anyone wanted to try his update even if urs is sucessfull at installing OTA and ur gps dont work try his JH7 update cause that sure did help with me

and battery life is 1000000 times better to now

HUGE THANKS to whoever "Designgears" is for making this update zip it worked perfectly for me
 
I carried the AT&T Navigator app from my BlackBerry when I bought the Captivate. I tried using it a couple of times but kept getting "off course" messages and the program would re-route. :mad:

I cancelled this service ($9.99/month) a few days ago but am keeping the phone hoping for a fix down the line.
 
I'm running Cognition and have noticed, in addition to being much less laggy, the GPS performance is right on -- assuming I can get a lock to begin with. I've had issues getting a lock, but once I get it, the tracks are very clean and right on.
 
SlappyMcgee said:
WoW really? Didnt you know:

Every time someone creates a new thread regarding issues about GPS in the Captivate.
An iPhone 4's "Indestructible Gorilla Glass" shatters....

iPhone-death-ijustine.jpg
Click to expand...

Starts 1000s of new threads :D :cool:
 
wampro said:
For those of you having a problem with the captivate in real world testing please read you won't be sorry.


Guys I'm running a stock version of the Captivate, I did the update hoping to fix the GPS myself and to my dismay it fixed nothing and actually made my phone run worse. I called Galaxy S support and after some painstaking hold times I finally got thru to a level 3 support guy. I told him that the update downloaded and installed over the air properly, the phone rebooted on its own and that I was having the problems I stated earlier. He had me back up my phone (which it turns out I didn't need to as far as music and pics went) and then had me open the dialer and enter *2767*3855#. This immediately took the phone into what he called a "GSM Reset", this was different than the factory reset, it took all of 3 minutes if that and the phone was back up and running. He got off the phone with me and told me to call him back if there were any problems persisting. I immediately went outside, the gps got a lock in 8 seconds. I couldn't believe how fast it locked. My contacts were synced with at&t address book, as soon as I opened the contacts app the phone asked if I wanted to sync my phone, within 5 minutes every one of my 178 contacts had downloaded back into my phone. While my address book was syncing I noticed the pictures I was assigning to my contacts were reappearing. I checked my gallery and every single pic that was on the phone was still there, I then checked the music and all my music was there too. I immediately noticed how much faster the phone was running. I went to the adroid market, hit the menu button, selected downloads and all the apps that I had purchased and downloaded were there waiting for me to reinstall. I downloaded over the 3G network 30 applications in about 8 minutes. I think the update actually "clocked up" the processor, I can't believe how responsive the phone is, nor can I believe how much faster the internet is running.
Being skeptical that it was a temporary fix, I shut the phone off and restarted it, the gps locked again in 3 seconds this time. I tried the navigator built into the google maps app and it was flawless. It held a lock for 45 minutes straight. I then shut the phone off still skeptical restarted it a few times, got back in my car and drove home an hour from work, I intentionally didn't drive the route suggested to see how fast the phone would realize i was off course, everytime I "missed" a turn I looked at the phone and within 5 seconds it was rerouting and choosing a new route. I just checked google maps in my driveway and yes I was standing in my driveway! It took all of 4 seconds for my phone to tell me that, oh and wifi was turned off.



Trust me, follow the simple instructions and do a GSM reset, you won't be sorry.
Click to expand...

So I did this last night and it worked!!! Thanks!!!
 
has anyone else tried the gsm reset?? does this really help the gps at all? or will it only last so long until the gps starts acting up again..
 
BigBubleFan said:
So I did this last night and it worked!!! Thanks!!!
Click to expand...

He has disappeared from the forum. Only 3 posts. Not sure why. Someone replied with a message that he took it his credibilitiy was in question. That may have run him off.

I don't have a phone to test with at the moment or I would.

Some that did supposedly test it, based on what they wrote, I don't think they followed his instructions, and did a hard reset, rather than a GSM reset.

Would be interesting to see if anyone has had lasting success with it.
 
I'd like t try the procedure described above by wampro, but I'd like to back up my contacts first on the AT&T website. Each time I try to access the login for AT&T Contacts I get a "Secure Connection Not Available" message. Anybody know what that's all about? :confused:

Has anyone else tried this procedure, and if so, what were the results?
 
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