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All things GPS

Is this a poll?

  • Yes, it looks like a poll.

    Votes: 42 26.3%

  • No, there is no way this is a poll.

    Votes: 31 19.4%

  • Why in the world is there a poll here?

    Votes: 87 54.4%
  • Total voters
    160
So I've been suffering from the poor GPS for many months like most (non-rooted), and finally tried GPSRestore a week ago. After failing to get a lock 3 times the program itself told me to go seek help from tech support. And I verified twice it would not work and GPS still took forever to get a fix if it ever did. I called AT&T and after an hour of blah-blah and moving me from tech to tech they agreed to send me a replacement unit since I'm under the 1 year warranty. As if the phone knew its replacement was coming, for no reason it started to work great - sort of. It now gets a fix almost every time within a few seconds, something it *never* did, and has been doing that pretty consistently all week. But... its accuracy is something else. It seems to go up and down every few seconds, which means Google Nav thinks I'm on and off the correct path all the time, routing and rerouting sometimes every few seconds, sometimes every few minutes. I got the replacement phone today, but I'm not sure whether to replace or not? I would try the new one, but there's no obvious way to completely backup and restore everything form one phone to the other easily. I just realized MyBackup Pro really doesn't backup everything at all, and the apps cannot be restored anyway because they're not soyrced from the app market, it thinks. Sigh...
 
EarlyMon said:
OK, if enough people verify this - unlike at XDA - I'll pin this one for attention.

Time to hear from people!
Click to expand...

It still points to a reception issue, not really sure if that's actually the resolution if Froyo itself is resolving the problem in its own way.

But that's just me!
 
gcobb said:
It still points to a reception issue, not really sure if that's actually the resolution if Froyo itself is resolving the problem in its own way.

But that's just me!
Click to expand...

Yes, that's my concern with pinning the clean-the-contacts technique. Page 3 on that site said, wow, immediate lock! - but I lose accuracy when I move...

My instincts are that this is a multi-dimensional problem, without a silver bullet to slay it.

My mind is open however to what our users have to say about the total, complete and absolute fix that nails this for everyone.

On that day, we'll happily pin the full fix. Personally - I can't wait!
 
I tried it and it didn't do anything for me. I tried with the cover off, on, used the eraser, etc. I started GPS Test and after 10 minutes still nothing from inside my home. Maybe it'll work better outdoors.
 
GPSRestore repeatedly tells me "Please move to open sky and try again." I was standing near the beach with almost completely unobstructed sky last time I tried this. AT&T has told me they won't exchange my phone because it's a known firmware problem. But neither AT&T nor Samsung will give any meaningful information. Since the phone I bought was spec'd as having GPS capability, and the one I have clearly doesn't, I believe AT&T needs to come up with a better response. Soon.
 
I got in my car, started GPS test and in 1 minute I had many satellites. I loaded Navigator and chose a location. It was dead on, down to the stop sign and turn in the road.

Someone said you won't ever lock a satellite while moving. I proved that theory wrong.

While we're touching on obstructions I think it's worth mentioning that your speed is relative to an accurate position as well. I know it was with my car GPS.
 
LOL! Hanging around the GPS forums for years taught me a bit - I can follow it. Point is, our beloved Cappy's have a bad implementation of GPS, maybe someone like him can figure it out. I'm convinced it is an inadequate antenna, bad algorithms and bad handling of the ephemeris data.
 
I noticed one thing he said he had to do was to assign the gps daemon a higher cpu priority, I really think that is a big chunk of our issue. Especially now that someone who knows what the heck they are talking about had to do it at some point. I'd wager you are though Reinbeau, it is looking more and more like bad implementation of almost everything in it.
 
reinbeau said:
I'm convinced it is an inadequate antenna, bad algorithms and bad handling of the ephemeris data.
Click to expand...

Algorithms relate to procedures
Ephemeris data relates to parameters

Both adjustable.

Question is, to what degree can they compensate for an inadequate antenna if your assumption is correct?
 
That's a problem, Jack, with ' combo' GPSs I believe. The iQue is a great example. Give it an outside antenna it was wonderful. Use it handheld and all bets were off. Some had great luck, others not so much.
 
Has anyone used the AT&T stuff that relies on the GPS? Do they work? If they work, then I'd have to conclude that AT&T is gumming up the works so they'll sell more services. If not, then they have as much to lose as we do their stuff won't work without it.

The debate seems to be: is it the hardware or the software? If it's the hardware-then we're stuck with a crappy GPS and the only thing we can do is get a new phone if you want GPS.

If it's the software (driver, app, whatever) and they are not fixing it, why not? Apathy? laziness? something more nefarious?

I've seen a lot of conjecture and very few facts.

So. Do the AT&T GPS reliant apps work or not? I'm not going to be the test subject-but has anyone tried it?
 
faderman said:
Has anyone used the AT&T stuff that relies on the GPS? Do they work? If they work, then I'd have to conclude that AT&T is gumming up the works so they'll sell more services. If not, then they have as much to lose as we do their stuff won't work without it.
Click to expand...

I would think the fact that all (or at least most) Galaxy Ss, regardless of carriers are having gps problems would indicate it isn't AT&T's fault. At least not without some serious collusion going on.
 
Just to weigh in here on this gps thread..I am currently in the south of Chile..and my Captivate's gps works a charm...got us out of a couple of "lost" situations. I'm using it with mapdroyd to avoid data. Maybe it's the clearer air here..
 
fldude99 said:
Just to weigh in here on this gps thread..I am currently in the south of Chile..and my Captivate's gps works a charm...got us out of a couple of "lost" situations. I'm using it with mapdroyd to avoid data. Maybe it's the clearer air here..
Click to expand...

Elevation...
 
My latest assessment with GPS is this:

I did the restore and took a white eraser to the contacts inside the back cover. In my car for the 700 or so miles I drove yesterday my GPS was dead on and locked within 10-20 seconds.

But as someone in another thread mentioned, we may be content with this while other phones outperform with their GPS.
 
So in my xmas shopping, I swung by Best Buy. Out of boredom, I walked to the AT&T kiosk in the cell phone section. They had 15 phones. By each phone is a card that outlines the features and highlights, along with the price. On this card is also a line of icons mentioning things like whether it runs Android, has GPS, etc.

All of the phones had the "GPS" icon... except the Captivate. I thought that was rather interesting.

My phone was out of commission at the time and I didn't have a camera with me otherwise I would have taken a photo. I'll try to swing by again sometime and get a pic.
 
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