Epic 4G GPS problems.

[justinsaneeeee]

I want to take the time to discuss the GPS on the Epic 4G. I actually work for Sprint and I own a Evo and an Epic and my technitian looked at my Epic and saw no internal problems but I can not get and GPS signal like using Google maps and Facebook Checkin and Foursquare. I then got a replacement Epic and now the replacement still doesnt work and our instore demo also wont pickup GPS. Anyone having the same issues if so let me know. I dont know if this has to do with the 2.2 (froyo) update because they all 3 were on 2.2 but I did notice this before the update on mine a while back but it would eventually pick up but was very slow.

 

[Paul627g]

I want to take the time to discuss the GPS on the Epic 4G. I actually work for Sprint and I own a Evo and an Epic and my technitian looked at my Epic and saw no internal problems but I can not get and GPS signal like using Google maps and Facebook Checkin and Foursquare. I then got a replacement Epic and now the replacement still doesnt work and our instore demo also wont pickup GPS. Anyone having the same issues if so let me know. I dont know if this has to do with the 2.2 (froyo) update because they all 3 were on 2.2 but I did notice this before the update on mine a while back but it would eventually pick up but was very slow.

The link below has some methods we used in the past to fix GPS problems. Procedure #3 and #4 seem to have the most success.

Four Ways to Fix GPS Problems in Froyo

 

[a_c_s]

There are many of us on 2.2 with no GPS issues... mine is actually better now on a rooted 2.2 than it ever was in the past... more likely unfortunate hardware issues, but try the methods Paul suggested... good luck...

 

[freeze]

My GPS was working fine (better than ever on EC05) then all of a sudden it stopped working altogether (as if the GPS radio locked up). It wouldn't search for satellites in any application. I had to reset the phone in order to get it back. I'll have to try those other suggestions next time (from Paul's link).

 

[wynand32]

I have to say: the GPS on my EC05 Epic locks in faster than just about any device I've owned, including some dedicated GPS units. I walk outside, start Runkeeper and within a second or two I have a solid lock. I'm extremely pleased with its performance.

 

[sammmmmyg]

i have had the same phone with various levels of gps reliability/availability depending on the software. I've had decent but spotty gps (stock eclair), completely non-functional gps (leaked dk28), better gps (eb13), and finally perfect gps (ace 1.7 and syndicate frozen). I think it was a software/driver issue for my phone, but i'm sure it could also be hardware for people. I had an Instinct and the gps on that was a piece of garbage and was never fixed so I wouldn't put it past Sammy to use sub-standard gps hardware for their phones....

 

[garapueto]

My GPS was working fine (better than ever on EC05) then all of a sudden it stopped working altogether (as if the GPS radio locked up). It wouldn't search for satellites in any application. I had to reset the phone in order to get it back. I'll have to try those other suggestions next time (from Paul's link).

I have had this happen to me a handful of times after the EC05 upgrade. I've found myself trying to check-in via Foursquare, but it thinks I'm somewhere else completely. I then check Google Maps and, of course, it too thinks I am somewhere else. At one point last week, it thought I was in the Bahamas which is a complete impossibility! Anyways, after a reboot, the GPS picks me up immediately and is spot on. It will then work for "a while" and then crap out again forcing another reboot.

Before the EC05 upgrade, I tried Procedure #3, but it did not help. One of these days, it will bug me enough to try the others, but again, I'm pretty lazy

 

[mouseglider]

I want to take the time to discuss the GPS on the Epic 4G. I actually work for Sprint and I own a Evo and an Epic and my technitian looked at my Epic and saw no internal problems but I can not get and GPS signal like using Google maps and Facebook Checkin and Foursquare. I then got a replacement Epic and now the replacement still doesnt work and our instore demo also wont pickup GPS. Anyone having the same issues if so let me know. I dont know if this has to do with the 2.2 (froyo) update because they all 3 were on 2.2 but I did notice this before the update on mine a while back but it would eventually pick up but was very slow.

It sounds stupid, but I hope you tried your gps "outside" - just trying to get a lock inside, depending on the obstruction or lack of signal can be difficult for any gps system - and from all the comparison test I have done, the Evo definetly has a better gps antenna for picking up weak signals.

But when outside, the epics pickup and lock sats as fast as the Evo's IMHO

 

[comets8518]

I have had this happen to me a handful of times after the EC05 upgrade. I've found myself trying to check-in via Foursquare, but it thinks I'm somewhere else completely. I then check Google Maps and, of course, it too thinks I am somewhere else. At one point last week, it thought I was in the Bahamas which is a complete impossibility! Anyways, after a reboot, the GPS picks me up immediately and is spot on. It will then work for "a while" and then crap out again forcing another reboot.

Before the EC05 upgrade, I tried Procedure #3, but it did not help. One of these days, it will bug me enough to try the others, but again, I'm pretty lazy

I also had this happen. No real major GPS issues as long as I used GPS status to help get signal if it was hiccupping. Then during a long drive this weekend (sydicate rom EC05) the GPS would lock up as above. Everything returned after a restart. Going to try methods 3 and/or 4

 

[Aero]

gps status tools to clear or downland cache don't work on epic.

What people are noticing both of good locks and no locks are completely consistent with known bug pr-eb13 bug affecting the gps cache. that is why people having a hard time get a lock after a reboot. the ec05 firmware has a problem with the assistance data cache.

In all respect to Paul, his recommended fixes are irrelevant to this issue.

 

[Intentionally Blank]

One thing I have never seen mentioned in any of the GPS posts is to turn off your wifi before you turn on GPS. I have never gotten a GPS lock with wifi tuned on. If I turn off wifi and wait a few seconds for it to quit before I turn on GPS I get a lock, generally within about 30 seconds.

 

[Paul627g]

As I posted back a few days ago in the update thread, supposedly there is another update in the works. Otherwise I really have no other information available other than my source didn't hesitate to answer yes, when I asked them about the rumor of another update.

 

[Aero]

As I posted back a few days ago in the update thread, supposedly there is another update in the works. Otherwise I really have no other information available other than my source didn't hesitate to answer yes, when I asked them about the rumor of another update.

I know for a fact they are tracking sd card issues as well as reports of issues with GPS.

As we know from the pre-eb13 stock firmwares there was a problem for six months with the gps xtra (almanac and ephemeris assistance) cache. I worked out a workaround, essentially forcing cold start, for that which was sticky'ed on a few sites.

While unofficial eb13 had some gps problems, which you addressed with proper fixes, they were not cache issues.

When people talk about turning wifi on and off, or intermittent or even not experiencing the bug, we should recall that of course people saw that with the pre eb13 firmware as well. There are a dozen possible reasons* for bad data in the cache and we never found out which one or more were the cause. User habits matter: how long the GPS is off, how far one moves, whether it is old ephemeris or partially old almanac etc, plus any number of habits that could unstick or make sticky the cache and/or a myriad of possibilities that could affect data calls to network by the cache repopulating routine. We only know the final eb13 didn't have the problme and it seems to be reappearing in ec05. We know that of the people reporting the problem, a soft reset or invoking cold start worked for virtually everyone

*
- failure to recognize age of data in cache
- failure to calculate age properly
- data stuck even if recognized as old
- no attempt if data is recognized as old
- no reattempt by device if data call fails
- some other stock routine occasionally blocking repopulation
- improper re-population even if old data is recognized as expired/partially expired and fresh data properly obtained from assistance server
- etc etc etc.

 

[boomerbubba]

I don't happen to have experienced any GPS problems under EC05. But I know from experience testing earlier GPS bugs that doesn't prove others don't have problems. As Aero mentioned, there are many variables in the mix.

It may be that my own experience is due to my particular history and upgrade path. YMMV.

Under DI18, I had the Cold Start workaround in place, which worked for me as long as I used 3G connections to get the initial satellite lock.

I updated to EB13 using the update.zip from Samsung's site. I don't know if that update overwrote my Cold Start setting or left it alone. And from that point on, the GpsSetup utility and the dialer code that invoked it were removed, so I could not see what the settings were (Cold Start, Warm Start, or Hot Start; AGPS enabled or not; assistance server URL etc.) In any case, I had no significant GPS problems.

I updated to EC05 OTA, which effectively just applied a small update.zip to make the delta changes. I doubt that it changed any GPS settings, but I have no way to know what the various GPS settings really are under the hood.

So for all I know I still have Cold Start applied.

I can report that now I get pretty quick locks using 4G connections, which did not use to work for me.