Abnormal magnetic field in Compass

[ericp74#CB]

I have searched through all the forums & Google, but I can not find a fix to my problem.

My Compass App keeps telling me that it has detect an abnormal magnetic field & to recalibrate. Which does not work no matter how many times I do it. Which also affects my Google Sky Maps & a few other apps.

It strange the Google Maps is not affect as much, but I assume it uses more of the GPS location & direction I am traveling to determines that.

Is this a hardware issue or software?

I have reset my phone to factory settings & it not help. Any suggestions will be helpful.

Thanks in Advance.....

 

[qbking77]

I have searched through all the forums & Google, but I can not find a fix to my problem.

My Compass App keeps telling me that it has detect an abnormal magnetic field & to recalibrate. Which does not work no matter how many times I do it. Which also affects my Google Sky Maps & a few other apps.

It strange the Google Maps is not affect as much, but I assume it uses more of the GPS location & direction I am traveling to determines that.

Is this a hardware issue or software?

I have reset my phone to factory settings & it not help. Any suggestions will be helpful.

Thanks in Advance.....

Try this and see if it helps: YouTube - ‪How to fix screen rotation lag on the Samsung Epic 4G‬‏
the upside down method

 

[ericp74#CB]

I cant believed that fixed it....I have been going crazy the past couple of days trying to fix this issue. I tried to calibrate before, but never upside down.

Thank you so much..........

 

[qbking77]

I cant believed that fixed it....I have been going crazy the past couple of days trying to fix this issue. I tried to calibrate before, but never upside down.

Thank you so much..........

Anytime

 

[Andrew Ruffolo]

I cant believed that fixed it....I have been going crazy the past couple of days trying to fix this issue. I tried to calibrate before, but never upside down.

Thank you so much..........

The Compass on the Epic doesn't work properly. It reports your heading about 30* off. It doesn't affect navigation because google maps uses where you've been and where you're at now to determine direction when in motion. However, when stationary, the built in compass displays incorrectly on the map.

On the left, my heading is displayed correct. On the right, is my Epic.

 

[Galane]

I've noticed this with GPS Status. Point the top of the phone West or East and it indicates the correct direction, with north and south on the dial correct.

Point the top of the phone North or South and it indicates the *opposite* direction! Rotate the phone and the dial spins around the same direction instead of staying still with the 'needle' pointing North.

Did someone setup the assembly line to install a component backwards???

Yay! Thanks for that link! It makes the compass work correctly too! Upside down calibration should be added to the sticky FAQ.

 

[qbking77]

I've noticed this with GPS Status. Point the top of the phone West or East and it indicates the correct direction, with north and south on the dial correct.

Point the top of the phone North or South and it indicates the *opposite* direction! Rotate the phone and the dial spins around the same direction instead of staying still with the 'needle' pointing North.

Did someone setup the assembly line to install a component backwards???

Yay! Thanks for that link! It makes the compass work correctly too! Upside down calibration should be added to the sticky FAQ.

It is a sticky
Just go to my how to video thread

 

[rando991]

The Compass on the Epic doesn't work properly. It reports your heading about 30* off. It doesn't affect navigation because google maps uses where you've been and where you're at now to determine direction when in motion. However, when stationary, the built in compass displays incorrectly on the map.

On the left, my heading is displayed correct. On the right, is my Epic.

Andrew, you keep saying this (on other posts), but not all our Epics have this problem, granted they maybe off initially, but doing a compass calibration usually fixes it. I compared mine with my wife's Epic and a friend's Captivate and the headings improve with the figure 8 manuever everytime. NOT 30 degrees off standing still. Try a compass calibration.

 

[Andrew Ruffolo]

Andrew, you keep saying this (on other posts), but not all our Epics have this problem, granted they maybe off initially, but doing a compass calibration usually fixes it. I compared mine with my wife's Epic and a friend's Captivate and the headings improve with the figure 8 manuever everytime. NOT 30 degrees off standing still. Try a compass calibration.

Out of 5 epics, all 5 have this problem. I've tried calibration with the figure 8 motion and as you can see, its still all jacked up. When you attempt to use Google sky map, it will appear to work with subtle movements, but if you turn a full 180, you'll see most of the same items as you did before (which isn't possible).

 

[Stearmandriver]

Andrew, I agree. I can't speak for your 5 devices, but I can say that mine does not have this problem. Like any electronic compass it benefits from occasional calibration, but I've never seen anything approaching a 30 degree error. Sky maps DOES display correctly all the way around the horizon. I mean... I'm a pilot and I sail and I've been map & compass navigating the backcountry for years... I know how to use a compass. Mine works. So, like I said, while I can't speak for your devices, I can say you are incorrect in saying "the epic has this problem" as though it afffects all devices. It clearly does not.

 

[Skunkape60]

Andrew seems to have issues with the epic. He has told me that you have to load custom roms for the epic to work. He cited several reasons for this. However my daughters epic, my 1st and 2nd epic works perfect completely stock.

I even setup a pop 3 and hotmail account on the stock mail app to test some of his complaints. In the past day and a half, none of his issues have shown up on my phone. I don't get bogus email alerts and I am receiving all of my mail (verified with my desktop). I asked my daughter about her phone and she also has no issues.

The compass seems to be pretty accurate as well. I compared it to my cars compass and my garman and it seems to be spot on.

Gps also seems to function well. I get a lock in 15 seconds or less usually accurate to 15ft or less.

He complained about the epics speed. My phone usually scores just faster than the evo on the benchmark app.

He actually told me if I wasn't willing or couldn't root my phone and load a rom, I needed to get a different phone because that's the only way the epic worked properly.

Either he has really bad luck with his 5 epics, or I have good luck with my 3 epics. I have heard plenty of both views here.

My ONLY issue is the inability to disable geo tagging in the camera app.

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

 

[Andrew Ruffolo]

Andrew seems to have issues with the epic. He has told me that you have to load custom roms for the epic to work. He cited several reasons for this. However my daughters epic, my 1st and 2nd epic works perfect completely stock.

I even setup a pop 3 and hotmail account on the stock mail app to test some of his complaints. In the past day and a half, none of his issues have shown up on my phone. I don't get bogus email alerts and I am receiving all of my mail (verified with my desktop). I asked my daughter about her phone and she also has no issues.

The compass seems to be pretty accurate as well. I compared it to my cars compass and my garman and it seems to be spot on.

Gps also seems to function well. I get a lock in 15 seconds or less usually accurate to 15ft or less.

He complained about the epics speed. My phone usually scores just faster than the evo on the benchmark app.

He actually told me if I wasn't willing or couldn't root my phone and load a rom, I needed to get a different phone because that's the only way the epic worked properly.

Either he has really bad luck with his 5 epics, or I have good luck with my 3 epics. I have heard plenty of both views here.

My ONLY issue is the inability to disable geo tagging in the camera app.

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

You tried (or successfully) committed insurance fraud to get a new phone. The e-mail complaint isn't mine, its my gf and involves her AOL account which her ipod touch and ipad seem to handle perfectly (issue is with epic specifically). I had similar issues with a hotmail account, but haven't had it on the phone since around September. The compass on mine and many others is borked (simple search on here will reveal some had success calibrating, others, like myself didn't. Doesn't work on my original, replacement or 3 epics in my gf's family). My 2 other android phones can get GPS lock indoors, epic just gives the "Your current location is temporarily unavailable"

The epic is running stock EC05 unrooted right now. In order for me to get a range of my general location, I have to go outdoors and keep the app running (i.e. Maps) and go inside. Weather apps don't work for this reason.

 

[Stearmandriver]

That bottm screenshot isn't showing a gps position, if that's what its meant to suggest. Note the large circle of uncertainty. That's a network triangulated position. The epic will do that too if you have it enabled in preferences. Personally, I've been impressed with my epic's gpsr sensitivity. It works indoors most of the time (in a house shaded by large fir and cedar trees, which are even harder for gps to see through than a roof). Locks are almost instant when outside.

I think I have a newer device, which could account for some issues being worked out. It seems like every new device has bugs in the early builds. Look at all the complaints that come out with each new iteration of the iphone!

If I had to replace 5 phones I'd be skeptical too, but it appears there are also plenty of folks who don't have these issues.

We'll see what fresh batch of issues gingerbread brings. Personally I'm gonna wait to update till they get the kinks worked out. SRF is just fine for me . (Note: all my hardware worked correctly while stock as well... I only went custom to get rid of sprint spyware and improve batt.)

 

[kicker42]

I have had 3 phones now that the compass does not work on after Froyo update, and four phone at the store with Froyo did not work either... the tech at the service center told me If I want a compass to get another phone cause if he orders me another one it is going to do the same thing. In otherwords the compass is not working on the epic with Froyo before that update it worked fine. This has to be a software issue. And one that can not be patched so they wont admit its a problem. hopefully they can fix it in the Gingerbread OS.