• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

All Things GPS

I am running with DJ05 and my GPS gets a fix quickly but puts me in the wrong location. I am in central IL, but yesterday it had me in Iowa and today it put me in Canada. Rebooting fixed it both times but this is getting pretty annoying.

I am running with Standalone and Google location enabled and VZW disabled as suggested in this thread.

I've also tried recovering using GPS Status and GPS Fix and neither was able to resolve the problem before I rebooted.

Anyone else seeing the same behavior or have any suggestions?
 
Long time listener, first time caller. LOTS of questions, but I'll start with Nav. LOVE it. But, is there an app or any way to have the Nav (google nav) automatically mute when the phone rings? I'm anticipating a Samsung Car cradle tomorrow, and trying to get as much infront of my new toy as possible! Thanks and Merry Christmas.
 
Merry Christmas everyone. Thank you for the great tips on this forum! I am wondering what the percentage of Fascinates with GPS problems is? I suppose nobody knows, but the trouble with forums is that you hear from all the people that do have a problem rather than people that don't have a problem, so the problem often tends to look more prevalent than it actually is. LOL.

I am going through the obligatory Fascinate versus Droid X buy decision. After checking the forums, I have decided that the alleged reception advantage for the Droid X is overrated: most folks are basing the Droid X reception advantage on bars rather than actual measured signal strength, and the real difference may be non existent or insignificant.

The only thing still worrying me about the Fascinate is the GPS; I don't have another GPS, and would definitely expect to rely on the google navigation on the Fascinate from time to time. I want it to be fast and accurate. I would prefer not to have to try various fixes either; so I am wondering whether picking up a Fascinate at Best Buy and returning or keeping it, multiple times if necessary, based on out of the box GPS performance is a reasonable strategy? If this GPS problem is impacting only a small percentage of Fascinates, then the odds would be quite high that I could get a Fascinate with good GPS out of the box if I was willing to return it two or three times. Or is this strategy wrongheaded, and I should go directly to a fix like standalone if the GPS is not correct out of the box? Thank you for your answer.
 
I for one, never knew anything about GPS problems until I got here. It took me to Florida from Ohio, and all around Florida, and then back home over thanksgiving with no issues what so ever........ that's what made me know I needed the car cradle. (got it today, by the way... awesome). Merry Christmas!
 
dbryant11 said:
I for one, never knew anything about GPS problems until I got here. It took me to Florida from Ohio, and all around Florida, and then back home over thanksgiving with no issues what so ever........ that's what made me know I needed the car cradle. (got it today, by the way... awesome). Merry Christmas!
Click to expand...

Great! Good to hear! I should probably just go ahead and buy one and try it out. I suspect that I am worrying too much about a problem (GPS) I don't even have, and may well never have. LOL.
 
The vast majority of Fascinate GPS's "work," they just take forever to lock from a cold start compared to other phones which is extremely frustrating.

Most people don't understand how it works at all, so it's hard to take online comments seriously. I for one would be shocked to find a stock Fascinate with an adequate assisted gps cold lock, but allegedly they're out there.
 
NOsquid said:
The vast majority of Fascinate GPS's "work," they just take forever to lock from a cold start compared to other phones which is extremely frustrating.

Most people don't understand how it works at all, so it's hard to take online comments seriously. I for one would be shocked to find a stock Fascinate with an adequate assisted gps cold lock, but allegedly they're out there.
Click to expand...

Agreed, mine varies frm a minuite to up 3-4 min. By contrast, my original D1 whilst on the freeway and GPS off, I spoke into the voice search "navigate to Chipotle" and literally within 10-15 seconds it was up and running with directions and (no kidding) the exit was less than 1/4 mile. The SF would kave been "searching for GPS" well past that exit. The way around that is to leave Nav up and running whilst on the road as long as you are charging. Froyo is supposed to be the end all fix - :rolleyes:

Edit: Once up and locked, it is great- quick and accurate and usually picks the smartest route but just like my TomTom, it may pick a route that is less than spectacular on occasion.
 
II Kings 9:20 said:
Agreed, mine varies frm a minuite to up 3-4 min. By contrast, my original D1 whilst on the freeway and GPS off, I spoke into the voice search "navigate to Chipotle" and literally within 10-15 seconds it was up and running with directions and (no kidding) the exit was less than 1/4 mile. The SF would kave been "searching for GPS" well past that exit. The way around that is to leave Nav up and running whilst on the road as long as you are charging. Froyo is supposed to be the end all fix - :rolleyes:

Edit: Once up and locked, it is great- quick and accurate and usually picks the smartest route but just like my TomTom, it may pick a route that is less than spectacular on occasion.
Click to expand...

Well the gps.fix was scheduled to be in dj05 (which many of us run and it works great) and then dl09....but assuming that neither of them see the light of day....then most likely the gps fix would be rolled into froyo
 
Ah, if the GPS issues is time to located satellites, then agreed. It does take a while, but my old Garmin did, too, so at least for me, its no worse than that i'm used to, and its way ahead of the old garmin in every other area......... Does anyone know anything about if we can mute the nav during a call? Thanks!
 
Thanks for the additional comments. I have actually read about two different Fascinate GPS problems on these forums: slow lock on and in some cases, incorrect location --- off by a few blocks or more. However, it does appear that nearly everyone has been able to solve their GPS issue, if they have one, with some of the fixes suggested in this thread. I can recall a few exceptions though.

I found my missing legacy cell phone yesterday.:D Now I am tempted to wait (master procrastinator) for the Fascinate with 2.2 out of the box. Surely the Froyo release is imminent. Happy New Year everyone!
 
Ok, so since i updated to dj05, i've been getting GPS locks within a couple of seconds. I just went to South America for the past 3 weeks and i was not able to get a GPS lock even once, and this is with standing in the middle of fields with no trees in sight. I used "GPS Status" to clear the AGPS state and also update the assisted GPS data but still i couldn't get a lock. I also had my camera with me which has an internal GPS for geo-tagging and it was able to get GPS locks with no problems.

I got home today back to California, went outside, and was able to get a GPS lock in a couple of seconds again.

Is the Fascinate's GPS locked to work only in the US or something? I tried almost everyday for 3 weeks in Bolivia to get a GPS lock (in different locations) and couldn't get it once.

Any ideas?
 
Did you have a data connection?

Or an offline maps app?

Or did you just want long/lat?

It's aGPS, so without the data network it would take a loooong time to lock
 
Updated maps now has two finger drag to go 3D, tap to locate address, and one other thing I don't recall. Also, one can tap the blue triangle on the map to get instructions on improving accuracy- it suggess turning Wi-Fi on.
 
dbryant11 said:
Ah, if the GPS issues is time to located satellites, then agreed. It does take a while, but my old Garmin did, too, so at least for me, its no worse than that i'm used to, and its way ahead of the old garmin in every other area......... Does anyone know anything about if we can mute the nav during a call? Thanks!
Click to expand...

Same for my Tom Tom in the initial lock- 5 min or more. Not so for my D1- 10-15 seconds max, just like my buddys iphone- we compared in a restaraunt and both located us at our table equally quickly.
 
NOsquid said:
Did you have a data connection?

Or an offline maps app?

Or did you just want long/lat?

It's aGPS, so without the data network it would take a loooong time to lock
Click to expand...

I had a data connection when i was trying it in the backyard of the house. i tried also when online with google maps.

I waited at least 15min and no lock.
 
Opened google maps and it was locked upon opening (had not opened it before now). Accuracy was within 3700 meters and had me in the hospital across the street. An icon pops up that says "tap to improve accuracy" - recommends turning Wi-Fi on. I did that and it put me in my building with accuracy at 6 meters.
 
nitsuj17 said:
Well the gps.fix was scheduled to be in dj05 (which many of us run and it works great) and then dl09....but assuming that neither of them see the light of day....then most likely the gps fix would be rolled into froyo
Click to expand...

A comment on this - with DJ05 and geeknik's stupidfast 1.54, I can get a GPS lock within a few seconds, BUT if the phone has been on for several days, it takes an indeterminate amount of time (meaning I got tired of waiting and rebooted the phone). After rebooting, locks are again nearly instantaneous. Does anyone know of a way to alleviate this issue?
 
Here's something interesting. I live in St. Louis and have had my Fascinate for a few months. I have NEVER gotten a GPS lock, even after letting it sit for ~20 minutes. I was just in San Francisco for a few days, and I was able to get a lock (sometimes) in a few minutes. Very strange.
 
I had a question for anyone in this thread. I went ahead and did what NOsquid had mentioned, I set up a shortcut with LauncherPro to go to the GPSSetup.apk and went in and changed the startup from Hot Start to Cold Start. I'm not 100% sure if this made a difference or not. I seemed to be pulling down a lock within less than 30 seconds. I also tried turning off the GPS completely in hopes that it would help to get a cold start and about an hour later I tried again and pretty quickly pulled down a lock in under 30 seconds. This seemed to help. I'll have to mess with it some more tomorrow.

I was wondering if anyone has messed with this and noticed a difference in the lock speed/accuracy/overall function with and without using Google Location Services? I can't really tell if it makes a difference or if it just happens to be more of a coincidence.

I've got my phone rooted now, removed TouchWiz, put LauncherPro in the System/App folder and the phone has become much faster/smoother. I also installed Clockworkmod Recovery a little earlier and am now debating whether I should go to DJ05 or not. I hear alot of people have seen a real improvement, but then I see other people saying no difference. Any word on whether or not I should go this route?
 
DJ05 helps an overwhelming majority achieve quicker locks from what I can tell. That cold lock thing didn't really work. Don't use the gps then try getting a lock tomorrow morning when you wake up, i'd be surprised if it was quick. DJ05 is well worth it IMO
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom