soo....are they gonna fix the GPS problem or not..

[Zeinzu]

Oh... It's so worth it for the performance alone.

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

 

[cluefree]

On a sample space of 1...
I rooted and put in "mostly stock" GB, including Nubernel's kernel (which includes the gps fix to use more than just 3 satellites)...I didn't know if this would alleviate the gps lockup issues or not, our just give me faster gps lock and better accuracy... On the way to work this morning, kept gps and google maps on for the whole drive (35 minutes) and it worked like a charm... Was using 8/8 satellites at the end and was accurate to single digit feet...

Again, I stress: sample space of ONE! However, I could bit do this

 

[Jaggrey]

Yes, we will miss the keyboard, but we would rather have a phone that works. We have had other issues since GB, like phone locking up and requiring a battery pull, and random reboots several times a week. And yes we both have had the phones replaced since GB with no changes.

I wish my Sprint store gave me that option. They just hard reset the thing and say "see if that works", and it never does. It seems to be more Samsung's wonky radios, but a Nexus S replacement that works is better than an Epic that doesn't. Guess I'll try them again, or maybe a different store. I'm ready to try to let go of the keyboard, at least until I qualify for an upgrade.

 

[Skunkape60]

I am really surprised that there has been no word from Sprint or Samsung about a fix to the GPS issue. My wife and I both have an Epic 4g and were in LA for two weeks and could not use our phones for navigation.

Went to a Sprint store and they had no solution to fix the Epic 4g GPS issue other then to give us another one, already did that with no luck.

I then asked if there was another phone they could give me that would work. I do not qualify for an upgrade so they said the best they could do is switch my Epic 4g for a Nexus S.

There are other issues that we are having with our Epic 4g since being upgraded to GB that has pushed us to change to the Nexus S. We should be getting our phones in a couple of days.

Have any of you thought about doing this or have done this?

I went from the epic to the nexus s4g. No issues with gps.

Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk

 

[TechnoGeezer]

I switched to TeleNav today instead of using Google Nav to test the lockup issue and had no problems to or from work today. So I'm thinking the lockup issue may be a Google Nav problem and not a GPS or system problem. I'll keep trying it for a few days. I switched to using Google Nav just because I wasn't navagating and just wanted to view the maps. Before that I always used TeleNav to actually navigate to unknown destinations.

 

[uscpsycho]

I hate telenav. Seems to have fewer features and it locked up even more than Google navigation for me.

That being said, my navigation is rock solid now. I drove for over four hours straight today before I had any issues. During this time I texted, streamed music, made phone calls, checked for alternate routes and turned satellite imaging on. It was amazing. At the very end of my drive I had issues when my battery got really low. Not sure if that was the cause of my lock up but my battery was essentially dead so I think it was a factor.

Not sure why my luck has turned, other than previously mentioned theories, but now that GPS is working I'm pretty happy with my phone. Now if Chomp SMS would stop force closing I'd be really happy.

 

[TechnoGeezer]

USC, glad to hear your GPS & Nav are working. One small victory at a time. I liked & used TeleNav 'cause it worked. I'll stick with it for now til it crashes.

 

[Skunkape60]

Used my daughters epic yesterday for navigation because my battery was dead on my nexus. GPS worked fine the whole time. Only issues was when i lost 3g data. Without data there is no maps. For this reason a true GPS is always better than a phone. I have never had any issues with GPS on the epic once i rooted and loaded clean gb ROM.



Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk

 

[uscpsycho]

So pros & cons of rooting with a gb rom vs cm7?

I know there are issues with visual voice mail on cm7 which is a bit of a deal breaker for me.

My GPS is working but I'm still having major memory issues so rooting still may be in my near future.

 

[TechnoGeezer]

My GPS is working but I'm still having major memory issues so rooting still may be in my near future.

Seems to be true for many of us ... something doesn't work that we need/want so rooting may be the solution. I'm thankful there are devoted devs out there who figure this stuff out & solve these probs ... but it really shouldn't be necessary (IMHO).

 

[Jaggrey]

I'm inspired to try my GPS again. My phone is still acting wonky, but if GPS starts working again it'll at least be some sort of progress. Still looking forward to my upgrade now.

 

[jmuru]

I agree that it's unfortunate to need to root your phone to have it working the way it should, and Samsung should definitely fix it, but if you do root and flash a custom ROM, you won't have any GPS problems. I've never had GPS issues with my phone, but I've also almost never been on stock GB. It's scary at first, but it's not difficult to do.

For noobs, I recommend sticking to BML so you can avoid Odin, and I'd prolly start with legendary or CleanGB. If you have GPS issues with either of these ROMs, I'd definitely be interested in hearing about it.

 

[Zeinzu]

So pros & cons of rooting with a gb rom vs cm7?

I know there are issues with visual voice mail on cm7 which is a bit of a deal breaker for me.

My GPS is working but I'm still having major memory issues so rooting still may be in my near future.

Cm7 is a gingerbread based rom. The only issue with vvm is that you receive text notifications as well. Which you can blacklist with your sms application.

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

 

[peterallen]

I went from the epic to the nexus s4g. No issues with gps.

Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk

So my wife and I got our Nexus S 4g phones Monday 1/9 (had Epic 4g phones, but had issues with GPS when upgraded to GB) and spent the evening getting them setup. My wife is ecstatic to have a working phone again and she was the one who was not liking the idea of loosing the keyboard, but she says she is loving the virtual keyboard a lot more then she thought.

We have not had any issues with GPS and the phones seem to be working well, but it has only been a day. Let's see what happens over a week.

I thought I would miss the keyboard, but I am liking not having to slide the phone open and shut.

I am also liking a slab phone, more then I thought.

I cant wait for this years crop of phones. ICS, I am looking forward to and a bigger screen.

 

[Zeinzu]

You should already be able to put ICS on that, shouldn't you? I was pretty sure it either already got the update or there's a leak of the build somewhere.

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

 

[digdouug911]

My GPS was flawless and deadly accurate on Gingerbread but now it takes 2-3 minutes to lock and then bonks out 7 miles into my run. I did a full factory reset and it still is sluggish and unreliable. Add me to the list.

 

[boocephus]

My GPS was flawless and deadly accurate on Gingerbread but now it takes 2-3 minutes to lock and then bonks out 7 miles into my run. I did a full factory reset and it still is sluggish and unreliable. Add me to the list.

The main reason I rooted in the first place was to apply the GPS fix. I have had to re-apply it a few times, but it is just a zip on my sd card. i boot into recovery and apply the patch and then it kicks arse again. I lock like 10/10 satellites sometimes. I had 4 feet accuracy before.

 

[Jaggrey]

Was this never fixed? What software version is the bad GPS on again? I just updated my friend's Epic but I hope I didn't update her to the bad one.

Sent from my EVO using Android Central Forums

 

[rando991]

Was this never fixed? What software version is the bad GPS on again? I just updated my friend's Epic but I hope I didn't update her to the bad one.

Sent from my EVO using Android Central Forums

First I'll answer the title of the post. No. They (Samsung) is never going to fix GPS on this phone. Samsung doesn't consider it broken. THEY wrote the code to change it from a 12 satellite lock to only 4. They think or thought they were improving battery performance by reducing locks. In Eclair it was fine. The good news is you can fix the GPS. You have to install the GPS_Fix. In other words, you have 3 choices: live with the problem, root and fix yourself; or get a different phone.

I'd suggest rooting. It is easy if you watch qbking's videos and follow the instructions to the letter on this forum. I'm not a developer, but I decided long ago to try rooting and I studied how tos before doing so I'd minimize my chances of mucking it up. I rooted 2 phones, mine and my wife's and have never ever regretted doing so.

 

[Jaggrey]

So the update that came out after the one that broke gps didn't fix it?

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