GPS not working

[ShanTheMan]

hey guys, i have a problem, all of a sudden my gps stopped working, no navigation, and my google maps is WAY off, this is a huge problem since i use navigation on a daily basis for work, anyone know what this could be?

 

[JayWill]

1) Download https://market.android.com/details?id=com.chartcross.gpstest&hl=en and see what's going on with your satellites.

2) Do you have sensor aiding on? If so, turn it off and see what happens.

3) I assume you've tried rebooting your phone?

4) Installed any apps today that could be causing a problem?

That's all I can think of at the moment.

 

[handsomeprince#AC]

That's all I can think of at the moment.

Or...could be that the hardware on Samsung phones when it comes to GPS simply sucks??

I'm not trying to be funny as I myself have the Epic 4G Touch...and I love the phone overall; but the GPS locking is horrid.

 

[DirkBelig]

I have had a few instances of GPS losing lock - it always locates in less than 5 seconds, but after some time it just goes crazy (once showing I was traveling across Mississippi at 849 mph!) - and GPS Status & Toolbox shows only one satellite found, but after a reboot it's fine again. (I'm also noticing data speeds crawling to nothing until a reboot.) Fortunately it only takes a minute to reboot.

 

[JayWill]

I'm not trying to be funny as I myself have the Epic 4G Touch...and I love the phone overall; but the GPS locking is horrid.

Maybe I've just been lucky then, or it has something to do with where I live. I haven't had a single GPS issue in the 7 weeks I've owned the phone. Locks fast for me (I consider fast to be under 15 seconds) and is generally very accurate. *shrug*

 

[folarino]

There is definitely an issue with GPS on this phone. It works fine sometimes and other times simply won't lock.

The other day, it simply wouldn't lock on. Used google navigation and it just kept saying GPS searching.
It showed my location as where I was about 4 hours ago.
I have all GPS settings turned on.

It's my main issue with this phone and it is incredibly annoying. I love the battery life, I love the colors and the blacks, I love how thin it is and I rarely have the LOS issue.

This GPS thing is getting on my nerves and if it keeps continuing I'm getting rid of it.

 

[ihbsbA]

Just had this happen today.... I was in a roaming area, my phone had not gone into ROAM mode (unbeknownst to me at this point), so I thought then would be a good time to test this GPS locking "ISSUE" that so many have complained about. I have never had an issue. So I launch Maps and try to navigate my way to one of my starred places.. it gave me the "Searching for GPS" message for 5 minutes... I then loaded the GPS Test app, cleared the GPS info, and refreshed - still no lock.. I then rebooted the phone, it came back on and gave me the "Roaming" warning, I accepted (hadn't moved the car, I had pulled over) - and the GPS locked in 2 seconds. I was roaming, so I tried my data (another test on one of the issues complained about) - data worked, phone worked...no LoS - behaved as any other phone would. I thought maybe I needed to have my GPS loaded and locked in place if I were to navigate in unfamiliar territory in case I were to begin roaming, but really, the reboot fixed it, so I didn't fret... honestly, it was painless.

..for those wondering, I have LoStkernel, and I have applied the 3/4G speed increasing "hack" - my data has been great, even while roaming, it was snappy.

 

[ihbsbA]

There is definitely an issue with GPS on this phone. It works fine sometimes and other times simply won't lock.

The other day, it simply wouldn't lock on. Used google navigation and it just kept saying GPS searching.
It showed my location as where I was about 4 hours ago.
I have all GPS settings turned on.

It's my main issue with this phone and it is incredibly annoying. I love the battery life, I love the colors and the blacks, I love how thin it is and I rarely have the LOS issue.

This GPS thing is getting on my nerves and if it keeps continuing I'm getting rid of it.

Even if I had to reboot it on every trip, I'd keep it - for the other perks it offers. I had an Evo 4G before this and it had its share of quirks - you just get used to them and work around them. I know all the complaining that we "shouldn't have to" but people, seriously.......this is wireless technology. It's not flawless....

With my EVO, I got to where I couldn't click on links with videos in my browser, or twitter, or even facebook...now everything flows perfectly. Videos open like they should, I'm directed where I should logically go when I click on anything in this phone. Everything works well. I disagree that the GPS "sucks", but I think it's a little quirky sometimes.

 

[folarino]

You got the searching for gps for 5 mins and had to pull over, but it was painless?

I had the EVO 4G as well and NEVER had GPS issues with it. I shouldn't have to reboot my phone everytime I need to use GPS. I don't know what lowered expectations you have but that is inconvenient for me.

 

[folarino]

I know all the complaining that we "shouldn't have to" but people, seriously.......this is wireless technology. It's not flawless....

Everything works well. I disagree that the GPS "sucks", but I think it's a little quirky sometimes.

You are contradicting yourself and not really making sense. The GPS certainly does not work well. Lots of people experienced LOS issues and lots of people (including yourself) had to hack the phone to get better data speeds.

There's nothing wrong with acknowledging problems with a phone. It' still a pretty good phone but it has issues.

 

[ihbsbA]

You are contradicting yourself and not really making sense. The GPS certainly does not work well. Lots of people experienced LOS issues and lots of people (including yourself) had to hack the phone to get better data speeds.

There's nothing wrong with acknowledging problems with a phone. It' still a pretty good phone but it has issues.

I'm so to have been unclear. I think the GPS works just fine. I was roaming, and I think that had to do with it since the GPS first finds the tower then the GPS signal. I have never had a problem before, and I've had ONE LoS in the 12 days I've owned the phone, possibly tied to the LoStkernel that I applied. As for the phone hacking, my speeds were incredible before (I posted pics) but now they're just faster. The hack wasn't needed, but anything that tweaks for improved performance without too much deep level programming is something I will try. Clearly that "hack" is working because it's a server that's not being used as much.

I will travel to the same area tomorrow and try my GPS then, to see if it was a quirk, or something predictable/replicable. If the latter, I may concur with there being an issue....however, I doubt it.

 

[ihbsbA]

You got the searching for gps for 5 mins and had to pull over, but it was painless?

I had the EVO 4G as well and NEVER had GPS issues with it. I shouldn't have to reboot my phone everytime I need to use GPS. I don't know what lowered expectations you have but that is inconvenient for me.

I had pulled over to enter the place I wanted to go, let Gmaps try to find it - sat for about 5 minutes letting it "search for GPS". I rebooted and it locked immediately.

I don't think or suggest that you will have to reboot your phone to use GPS. Take it back, get another unit. I was saying, *even if I had to*, I probably wouldn't mind. You could ask me again if it becomes a habit and I may have a different answer, but so far it hasn't had to happen but once. I've traveled far and wide in my state to all the "known" areas of poor signal... I don't "seem" to have an "issue". -

 

[maddmatt02]

My ET4G gps SUCKED straight out of the box. it would tell me to turn onto a road that was 20 miles away, that also didnt even intersect the road I was on, happened over and over. I downloaded that gpstest app and cleared then updated the agps data through that app and now it locks on within 4 seconds every time so far.

 

[ShanTheMan]

hmmm, well it just started working after I downloaded the gps test app, let's see if it was a glitch or not, never had any problems with it before, thanks everyone

 

[androidpirate]

I am considering whether to get this phone and have been following a few forums since it was launched. this is the first time i've heard the GPS being a problem (maybe because i usually ignored threads with GPS issues chalking it up to the user getting a bad phone). but reading this thread, it looks like another samsung phone has a GPS issue. does it effect a lot of people like LOS does?

 

[sfhub]

When it is working, the GPS works great. There is however a bug where the phone gets into a state that won't lock to GPS at all. You need to get the GPS reset to resolve it. Rebooting is one way to reset the GPS.

The phone also has a similar bug where it will get into a state where it can only do 1x roaming (it is always displayed as 3G so you'll just think the roaming is slow) I don't know how to deterministicly fix that one, but if you play with the settings enough and reboot, eventually it'll get out of that state and start doing 3G roaming again.

 

[ihbsbA]

The phone also has a similar bug where it will get into a state where it can only do 1x roaming (it is always displayed as 3G so you'll just think the roaming is slow) I don't know how to deterministicly fix that one, but if you play with the settings enough and reboot, eventually it'll get out of that state and start doing 3G roaming again.

What settings do you recommend changing? I did the data hack to increase data speeds (which wasn't really necessary) and I'm wondering if this is related.. I'm pretty sure I had 3g roaming when I bought the phone. I rooted and applied that little hack three days later - today I was in an area that I thought I was able to data roam before and I couldn't today.. your thoughts?

 

[drewsg]

What a coincidence, my GPS has stopped working

 

[sfhub]

What settings do you recommend changing? I did the data hack to increase data speeds (which wasn't really necessary) and I'm wondering if this is related.. I'm pretty sure I had 3g roaming when I bought the phone. I rooted and applied that little hack three days later - today I was in an area that I thought I was able to data roam before and I couldn't today.. your thoughts?

I don't think it is a settings problem (or at least it isn't in my case) It is likely a bug in the firmware. The only workarounds I have are to reboot and play with the roaming settings until it works.

You should verify if we are talking about the same problem. Regardless of whether you are 1x or 3G, the notification bar will always say 3G. To tell whether you have a 3G/EV connection or 1x, you can do ##DEBUG# in your dialer and look at data status. If you already 3G/EV, then you have a different problem, possibly Sprint is just slow.

Or are you saying you have no data at all (as in it doesn't say 3G in the notification bar)?

 

[linzgeneral]

There is definitely an issue with GPS on this phone. It works fine sometimes and other times simply won't lock.

The other day, it simply wouldn't lock on. Used google navigation and it just kept saying GPS searching.
It showed my location as where I was about 4 hours ago.
I have all GPS settings turned on.

It's my main issue with this phone and it is incredibly annoying. I love the battery life, I love the colors and the blacks, I love how thin it is and I rarely have the LOS issue.

This GPS thing is getting on my nerves and if it keeps continuing I'm getting rid of it.

I totally agree, very spotty, and inconsistent AT BEST. Some people will swear there is absolutely no issue because they were fortunate to have their's work all the time. I find it extremely annoying and actually a bit frightening considering how we have come to depend on GPS systems to get about