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Captivate Firmware Update

chicknlil said:
With the new rom, you still need to update some settings. find my post with the supl info, or look on XDA. You'll notice a big difference once you do.
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If those other settings still need adjustment, then GPS is still horribly broken. Those settings you refer to relate to approximating positioning via wifi APs and cell towers. A functional GPS should be able to lock instantly and work fine with a retained lock without dependence on non-GPS sources of data. Other GPS (and GPS-enabled) devices have been doing so for many, many years without issue.
 
sremick said:
If those other settings still need adjustment, then GPS is still horribly broken. Those settings you refer to relate to approximating positioning via wifi APs and cell towers. A functional GPS should be able to lock instantly and work fine with a retained lock without dependence on non-GPS sources of data. Other GPS (and GPS-enabled) devices have been doing so for many, many years without issue.
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No, you're assuming the settings have to do with the wireless stuff - that's not accurate. I am using the GPS without wireless 95% of the time - but for whatever reason, whatever its using by default to find initial satellites sucks. Changing it to the google stuff makes a HUGE difference.

Aren't you one of the many ones who already returned your Captivate? Why try and cause trouble in a productive thread?
 
chicknlil said:
No, you're assuming the settings have to do with the wireless stuff - that's not accurate. I am using the GPS without wireless 95% of the time - but for whatever reason, whatever its using by default to find initial satellites sucks. Changing it to the google stuff makes a HUGE difference.
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You must be confused about how GPS works then. GPS doesn't involve "google stuff". That inherently implies non-GPS sources.

Yes, I am assuming the settings you're referring to are the same ones that have been spammed all over this and many other forums time and time again by people who don't understand what they are or what they do, but only that for the few minutes they've been using them, things seem better. Those settings have everything to do with wireless stuff.

But by all means, if you're talking about something other than the SUPL, Skyhook, A-GPS etc settings, let us know.

A-GPS: Assisted GPS. Uses wireless data such as cell tower triangulation and clock signals to get rough position data and seed the initial satellite GPS lock.
SUPL = Secure User Plane Location. Open A-GPS framework that uses (and requires) a wireless internet connection.
Skyhook/WPS: wifi positioning system. Triangulates rough positioning data by using Skyhook's database of wifi APs' MAC addresses and their estimated physical location.

Aren't you one of the many ones who already returned your Captivate? Why try and cause trouble in a productive thread?
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No, you have me confused with someone else. I still have my Captivate, I'm not returning it, but the GPS is my biggest issue, with the lag being my second biggest.
 
Well, regardess - I can tell you with wireless OFF (as in - no wireless signal to 'assist') ... and the phone fresh-flashed to that firmware, I wasn't finding satellites, period. Updating the settings immediately found me 8-10, and I was locking onto 6-8 immediately. So enlighten me, oh wise one....how do those settings assist if wireless is OFF? Because I can't remember the last time I had wireless ON when I was playing with GPS...

What I've been trying to say, and what you clearly don't want to see is that there is something inherently WRONG with the default settings. That even in situations that don't use/require wireless, that the default fail miserably. Great that those settings are for "wireless" stuff...but they also seem to flip a switch on in the GPS that makes it actually *work*

Even now, the only time I've had ANY issues getting a GPS signal was at a KC Royals game the other day. And quite frankly, I had trouble getting a signal period. I'd presume it had something to do with all the metal/concrete that makes up the stadium - or perhaps some Sprint influence. Regardless - that was the only time this trip that I haven't been able to whip out the phone and lock onto several satellites.

Believe whatever you want about this phone and this firmware. I think the MyTracks I've posted speak pretty damn loudly about the effectiveness and accurateness of this firmwares GPS.
 
chicknlil said:
Well, regardess - I can tell you with wireless OFF (as in - no wireless signal to 'assist') ... and the phone fresh-flashed to that firmware, I wasn't finding satellites, period. Updating the settings immediately found me 8-10, and I was locking onto 6-8 immediately. So enlighten me, oh wise one....how do those settings assist if wireless is OFF? Because I can't remember the last time I had wireless ON when I was playing with GPS...

What I've been trying to say, and what you clearly don't want to see is that there is something inherently WRONG with the default settings. That even in situations that don't use/require wireless, that the default fail miserably. Great that those settings are for "wireless" stuff...but they also seem to flip a switch on in the GPS that makes it actually *work*

Even now, the only time I've had ANY issues getting a GPS signal was at a KC Royals game the other day. And quite frankly, I had trouble getting a signal period. I'd presume it had something to do with all the metal/concrete that makes up the stadium - or perhaps some Sprint influence. Regardless - that was the only time this trip that I haven't been able to whip out the phone and lock onto several satellites.

Believe whatever you want about this phone and this firmware. I think the MyTracks I've posted speak pretty damn loudly about the effectiveness and accurateness of this firmwares GPS.
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Dude, by Wireless Data, he doesn't mean having wireless modem ON on the unit. Your cell data is wireless data. That's what A_GPS uses, cell towers, you don't have to have WiFi ON for it to work. Will your GPS still work just as well, in the middle of nowhere, where you have NO service? I would say no.
 
chicknlil said:
Believe whatever you want about this phone and this firmware. I think the MyTracks I've posted speak pretty damn loudly about the effectiveness and accurateness of this firmwares GPS.
Click to expand...

Your track is not all that accurate, and yes they speak to that. If you zoom in on it, you will see you are off the road altogether a lot. With that type of accuracy, if you get on a freeway where there are other roads running parallel, the unit will have no idea which road you are on. As well, even if other side streets that are cul-de-sacs that come near to the road you are driving, it may put you on that road. And you will be receiving all kinds of crazy instructions.

Drive out highway 71 toward Swope Park. Or drive down 75th street from Quivira North. I've experienced that problem in both of those locations. I drove in from Lawrence to Overland park and it worked perfect, 50 miles. On the return trip, it had me driving in the fields. ( I mention those drives with assumption you were in Kansas City area, given your mention of the KC Royals game. However I see your location at left says New England.)

While it is much better with the new firmware, it is still broken. I'll take a 5 minute fix if it will e accurate once it has it.
 
You're correct that I'm in the KC area at the moment. I'll be flying back to New England in a few hours.

Another new firmware out though. Will probably try it out once I'm home.
 
keredini said:
For those needing a more detailed walkthrough of how to do this:

  • Open Odin
  • Put phone in download mode (ADB or volume+power)
  • Connect phone to USB, then connect USB to computer
  • Odin should show that the device is connected
  • Add the PIT file in the pit location
  • check PDA, select I897UCJH2.tar
  • Click Start

If all goes well you will see a progress bar, then your phone will reboot after a while. This is all from memory, sorry if i forgot something.
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This post was pretty close but this is Recovery Mode, not Download mode. Follow instructions at this post to get in to Download mode:
Help, its dead - xda-developers
 
Please someone help me figure out why I having problems after flashing to JH2. My battery life and Quadrant scores took a dump after this... last night I was at 100% and woke up to 22% 6 hours later. WTF? I did check what was running and it seems like ADW launcher was consuming a lot of CPU during that time like 4 hours or so. My 900 Quadrant score is also now at 700 or so.

Here's all the steps I did to get JH2 working and see if I did anything wrong in the process:

1) Root my phone to be able to install ROM manager/Clockwork Recovery
2) Backup up my phone using the ROM manager
3) Use XDA method to flash my stock JF6 to JH2 using odin3
4) Installed/flashed "Unleash the Beast V0.2"
5) Installed ADW launcher over Touchwiz
6) Installed couple of apps from the market
7) Flashed [MOD]Fightspit's Super Circle Battery with % JH2 version C with EBB

That's all I did and now I have problems with battery and phone is slower than before.

Someone must have done that same thing and have the same issues that I do.

Update: I did restore my old backup and things are back to normal I think but under Baseband version it still list JH2 for some reason but I know it's not since I have USB tethering back.
 
keredini said:
You can always revert back to stock by using the one-click Odin Flasher...it will be like when it first came out of the box, no contacts, 3rd party apps, all AT&T crap, etc.

[STOCK ROM] Odin3 One-Click Downloader UPDATED: I897UCJH2 - xda-developers

The link has the both the new firmware (JH2) and the original stock firmware (JF6).
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Trying to reflash to the stock rom and its not working. After I connect successfully (added to com 6) it goes through file analysis, then reads all threads completed and shows FAIL! Anyone have a clue about why it isn't going back to JF6?'

Edit: Nevermind. I rebooted the computer and it worked. Back to waiting for a damn OTA update. Grrrrrr.
 
Still debating the new firmware. Waaaay too tired to attempt it tonight (thank you Delta for leaving KC late so that I missed my connection and got to spend 4 extra hours in Detroit!) ... and early reviews seem to indicate little or no difference.

If it looks like it's a real difference, I'll flash the firmware.
 
chicknlil said:
Still debating the new firmware. Waaaay too tired to attempt it tonight (thank you Delta for leaving KC late so that I missed my connection and got to spend 4 extra hours in Detroit!) ... and early reviews seem to indicate little or no difference.

If it looks like it's a real difference, I'll flash the firmware.
Click to expand...

Don't bother, this seems to be a step back, for me anyway. GPS seems to be worse than before. Now it can't even find the satellites.
 
chicknlil said:
So you're saying my phone wouldn't be able to find its ass if it looked with both hands?

Duly noted.
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It certainly looks that way. Some people on XDA are saying it's working better than ever, but they have "Use wireless networks" turned on which is not a true test. I have it turned off on mine and it doesn't see ANY satellites.
I might actually flash back to JH2 tonight if I feel like it :)

It does seem like they've improved the battery life even more though.
 
George0211 said:
It certainly looks that way. Some people on XDA are saying it's working better than ever, but they have "Use wireless networks" turned on which is not a true test. I have it turned off on mine and it doesn't see ANY satellites.
I might actually flash back to JH2 tonight if I feel like it :)

It does seem like they've improved the battery life even more though.
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You can see my post about jh2 and jh3: http://androidforums.com/samsung-captivate/152397-i897ucjh3-firmware-new.html#post1405740

It appears as though JH2 is little bit better at tracking, but not quite as fast at locking as the new jh3 is. Atleast for me. Like I said in the post, this firmware very well could be used to simply isolate an issue for them to analyze, not improve it over jh2 as one would assume.
 
JH3 has minor tweeks. If you flash make sure to turn the GPS logs off or it will fill your phone up, they seem to have left logging on in JH3. They will probably be releasing a few more of these guys before the final one so i dunno if its worth flashing if you've already flashed JH2
 
assureteks said:
This post was pretty close but this is Recovery Mode, not Download mode. Follow instructions at this post to get in to Download mode:
Help, its dead - xda-developers
Click to expand...
There is an even easier way to get in download mode that I found later...
1) With USB cable attached, turn off phone;
2) Wait till battery charging graphic appears on the phone;
3) Hold down the volume and power keys together until the screen goes black;
4) As soon as the screen goes black, let go of the power key

The phone will then go in to download mode evidenced by the big yellow triangle and Android bot with a shovel.
 
assureteks said:
There is an even easier way to get in download mode that I found later...
1) With USB cable attached, turn off phone;
2) Wait till battery charging graphic appears on the phone;
3) Hold down the volume and power keys together until the screen goes black;
4) As soon as the screen goes black, let go of the power key

The phone will then go in to download mode evidenced by the big yellow triangle and Android bot with a shovel.
Click to expand...
Oh, one other thing...once you are in download mode, disconnect and then reconnect the USB cable and then Odin will recognize the device is plugged in to the computer.
 
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