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All things GPS
- Thread starter enjoimark
- Start date
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- Tags
- samsung captivate
CrimsonPride
Android Expert
mine hadnt been working ever since i flashed a new rom. i ran this thing a few times with no luck. opened gps test and left it for 20 minutes, ran the app again and all is well again like it was back before i flashed a rom.
harryzwd
Member
improved the GPS improvement of my phone by a million percent....i would say you have nothing to lose by trying this.
i had modified my settings according to some "fixes" before the update came out. after the update i saw improvement - or so i thought, but it was still as useless as before the update.
after running this "app" i have seen immediate improvement....and like as ass i try to use my GPS all the time and it never works, so after this....that it has...i would say go for it.
i had modified my settings according to some "fixes" before the update came out. after the update i saw improvement - or so i thought, but it was still as useless as before the update.
after running this "app" i have seen immediate improvement....and like as ass i try to use my GPS all the time and it never works, so after this....that it has...i would say go for it.
exactly
if resetting the defaults was the fix, than how come it broke in the first place?
Thinking about this some more, I would almost wonder if the gps getting messed up has anything to do with the carriers modifying the original software. It doesn't explain why some claim to have working gps without the cell tower triangulation, but software can be buggy like that.
The only real way to find out would be to get your hands on one straight from samsung prior to any carrier tinkering.
SuperAkuma
Member
Locking is fine with me but it is not accurate. Sometimes it would freeze on a spot or say I am on the other side of the road.
btw, I have the leaked froyo
btw, I have the leaked froyo
George0211
Android Enthusiast
This app had to be a joke. It's useless.
So the app doesn't "restore" the settings to "factory status"? Is it possible it is doing somethiing else "in there"?
KonaZXIII
Well-Known Member
I have had one GPS lock since buying the phone mid-August. Once! Not after adjusting the settings, not after JH7, not with the leaked froyo, and not with ANY of the custom ROMs.
Just that once months ago with stock rooted 2.1.
I'm back to stock rooted 2.1. I download and ran this app and now I get a FAST lock every time.
Take that as you will.
Just that once months ago with stock rooted 2.1.
I'm back to stock rooted 2.1. I download and ran this app and now I get a FAST lock every time.
Take that as you will.
BookLover
Android Expert
I think folks for whom this fix is NOT working are on custom ROMs.
If that's the case, I'd suggest they stop complaining. It's probably the custom ROMs not Samsung.
You flashed back to stock ROM, I'm still unrooted, so, of course, on stock ROM...and we're both seeing great results.
SuperAkuma, TylerDurdin, others, are on custom ROMs and seeing no improvement. Similar to ATKs interfering with the way Android works, custom ROMs interfere with the way the providers and MFGs plan for the phone to work. Root/custom ROM and ATK at your own risk.
Rooted/Custom ROM folks should be complaining to the cooks when things don't work on their rooted phones/custom ROMs that work on stock ROMs. When you use a custom ROM, it's neither MFG nor the providers' fault that your GPS ain't working, now that the GPS fix is out. If you're rooted, you've done things things to your phone the MFGs didn't intend. Rooted phone/custom ROM complaints unfairly skew the data against the phone models when things don't work.
George0211
Android Enthusiast
You're simply wrong. I have a stock JH7 ROM and this "fix" (and I call it a fix very loosely) did nothing. GPS didn't work before JH7 update and after. And this so-called fix did nothing. It reset your GPS settings, which as it's been covered ad nauseam here don't have this much affect anyway.
BookLover
Android Expert
Are you rooted?
George0211
Android Enthusiast
Nope, completely stock.
BookLover
Android Expert
Fair enough.
Did you ever try using GPS Test to jumpstart your GPS chip?
On my old WinMo, it never locked to GPS unless I first used GPS Test. Every time. So that was the my "expected" use of GPS. Get GPS chip warmed up with GPS Test, then turned on BING for navigation. Never failed.
So, the first day I tried GPS on my Captivate, it didn't lock. But I had already downloaded GPS Test from the Market. I guess I thought if it was there, it was there for the same purpose as for my WinMo.
Got a lock almost immediately once I used GPS Test first. And I never had issues with it since. At some point I also installed GPS Status as well to substitute for QuickGPS, but that doesn't exist in Android. Was great on my WinMo.
Maybe you can give GPS Test a try? It just helps the phone pick up satellites in the area, and somehow that helps the aGPS on the phone get a lock. Don't know exactly how it works.
After the GPS Restore, I did NOT use GPS Test, and it got the quick lock.
Make sure that all three data of GPS Restore (should read Done, Done, and some numbers) are registered on your phone before you exit. If you have trouble getting the third parameter set, you need to put your phone on charger and try again. I had to do that.
Sounds like a lot of work, but as I said, I always turned on GPS Test to use GPS on my WinMo, so I never thought it a big deal to use it on Android.
But with this fix, I haven't had to use GPS Test (and I actually never had to use GPS Test after I cleared the cache with GPS Status and did a new download of whatever GPS Status suggested to download.)
George0211
Android Enthusiast
Yes, I've tried GPS Test, the farthest it gets is, it can see 1 or 2 sats but never locks.
BookLover
Android Expert
GPS Test doesn't lock to GPS, just gets info about satellites.
In WinMo, I had to exit the app. In Android, exiting the app did not help GPS.
So I would turn on GPS Test. Once the bars started elevating, I would hit the home key and then go to Navigation and set my destination. It locked quickly almost all the time, maybe once or twice I had to wait 30s to 1min. But I always had it on charger.
Last week I discovered that off-charger, GPS lock was iffy at best. Always got a lock when plugged into my charger. So I theorized that GPS was underpowered on battery, causing failed accuracy and failed locks. I did the plugged/unplugged test a few times on a few trips and my theory panned out.
However, once I installed the GPSRestore, plugged/unplugged gave me the same accuracy and quick lock. Maybe accuracy is a teensy bit better plugged than not.
George0211
Android Enthusiast
That's not true. In GPS Test you will see "In View" and "In Use". "In Use" means the phone locked on those sats and is using their signal to calculate the position.
sixtythree
Member
unroot to stock rom and ran the restore it seems just great. So maybe its something in the custom roms. I will root to see if it still functions ok. It looks like you a right.
Well not being an expert on gps it seems to work as opose to it operation prior to unroot.
samsung droid galaxy s
Well not being an expert on gps it seems to work as opose to it operation prior to unroot.
samsung droid galaxy s
I want to try it, but i need to know something:
i've seen many many posts saying it restores the PHONE to factory and other many many posts saying it ONLY restores the GPS settings to factory...
what will it do with my phone? =)
thanks =)
George0211
Android Enthusiast
It only resets the GPS settings back to the original settings. It won't touch your data or your apps or anything like that.
BookLover
Android Expert
Booklover, rooting is not the root of all evilI agree that custom ROMs are another issue, but rooting for Superuser permissions isn't going to ruin your GPS. Mine was dicey long before I rooted. It's the exact same way now with this GPS Restore app. Next???
I don't think rooting is evil, but it changes things from the way the MFGs and providers planned for the phone to work.
How come you can do a total backup with Titanium and I can't? Something was changed in the system and unless you're an engineer how do you know that the Titanium code didn't do something that prevents GPSRestore from working on your phone? I'm just using Titanium backup as an example.
Root if that gives you more from your phone, but it CHANGES your phone's software from what the MFG did, so MFG fixes cannot account for changes that rooting caused. They only accounted for the change as it affected the software THEY released. Once you root, you take the MFG out of the picture. They are no longer accountable for what works and doesn't work on your phone.
Once you root, its between you and the guy that created the root program.
Once you install a custom ROM, it's between you, the root programmer, and the ROM cook.
You stay unrooted on Stock ROM, then the ONLY entity that can be blamed is the MFG.
That is what I'm saying.
reinbeau
Klaatu barada nikto
Well, I rooted, mainly because I won't have a device crippled like that that I'm paying good money for (yes, I know, it's 'subsidized' by my two year contract with AT&T, but I'm paying through the nose for that monthly service, so it's a wash as far as I'm concerned). I understand your issues with rooting, but that has absolutely nothing to do with the nonfunctional GPS we're all dealing with on the Captivate; it's basically a red herring. Rooted or not, it should work properly, and for many it just doesn't.
BookLover
Android Expert
We'll have to agree to disagree.
The MFG can't be accountable once a phone is rooted. They can't know the details about the rooting code and account for it in their fixes. That's an unrealistic expectation. Much like this guy's expectations about widgets - I liked Lenny's reply: http://androidforums.com/android-applications/227847-programmatically-remove-widget.html#post1942566
I think we can agree that widget coding is probably less complex than GPS coding. So if it's difficult to program self-removal of widgets, how much more difficult would it be to fix GPS coding?