Google Maps GPS problems

[suzola]

I'm new to all this so I may be doing something wrong.

I downloaded Google maps. I am using only GPS services. When I tried to start navigation I got a message saying "waiting for location". I stood outside for at least 10 minutes waiting for a lock but it never happened.

Is there something wrong with my phone or am I doing something wrong?

thanks for any help.

 

[suzola]

Here's what I'd suggest.. Download GPS Test (Chartcross LTD) from the market (free). Make sure you're only using GPS (not wireless, etc..) and then load up GPS Test. Sit the phone down somewhere outside with a good view of the sky (the better the sky view, the better the reception). Let GPS Test run for 7-8 minutes by itself, and don't touch the phone. (You can choose to have GPS Test keep the screen live if you want to watch it).

At some point it should find 10+ sats, and begin to use 8+ of them (assuming you have a good view of the sky). This won't always happen, but once it does you should feel comfortable that your GPS has obtained a solid initial lock. Once the 7-8 minutes is up, you're all done.

Feel free to use the GPS as normal, and you should see consistent results.

I've done this on multiple fascinates, and never had a GPS problem on any of them.

Ok, I downloaded GPS Test and followed your directions and now my google maps works like a champ. Found my location accurate to 4 meters.

thank you

 

[boomerbubba]

Thanks Martian. I've noticed that people having issues all seem to be using aGPS as well. I always use straight GPS, and I've never had a problem.

What Fascinate settings do you think corresponds to aGPS (also called A-GPS)? The standard modes within A-GPS are called Standalone, MS Based and MS Assisted. Standalone mode uses satellites only, so it really turns off A-GPS features. MS Based is the mode that smartphones typically would use to take advantage of almanac and ephemeris data loaded from the network to accelerate the first fix, while using satellites to compute the final coordinates.

AFAIK from the threads and reading the Fascinate user manual, there is no such setting in the user interface. The labels in the main Settings -> Location & Security menu have three labels (one more than in other Galaxy S phones) but those labels are nowhere explained. And they do not seem to correspond to any standard A-GPS meaning, unless one of them just means "enable A-GPS." Is that what you are calling "aGPS?"

(This gets more confusing, because much commentary in other phones' forums erroneously equates the setting labeled "Use wireless networks" with aGPS. It is not. That setting on other Galaxy phones enables non-GPS location methods based on tower signals themselves.)

Further, on other Galaxy S phones, enabling or disabling A-GPS is not done from that main Settings menu at all, but from the menu of a hidden app that can usually be invoked by a dialer code. But no one I know of has ever discovered such an app on the Fascinate. On most other Galaxy S variants, the hidden app that controls aGPS settings is called LbsTestMode. The new Sprint Epic has a different but similar app called GpsSetup. Because these system apps are hidden, they do not show up on the usual tools listing end-user apps. But their .apk files would show up to a rooted user or in a system dump.

Most older Galaxy S phones default to Standalone mode. The Epic defaults to MS Based mode. The Fascinate default is really unknown.

In short, because the Fascinate designers and marketers obfuscated the basic technical properties of the GPS, I don't think anyone really knows whether they are running A-GPS or not.

 

[namebrandon]

Edit - OK, just tested. I thought GPS would work via airplane mode, but it doesn't. GPS still says 'on', but gets no signal.

 

[Martian]

@ boomerbubba

I have been (I suppose erroneously) using the term aGPS to mean any form of non-satellite based location method. I'm sure this violates the strict meaning of the term.

I'm sure there are several hidden menus (including GPS) on the Fascinate, unfortunately the codes to access the hidden menus on other Galaxy S phones have not worked on the Fascinate. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before the Fascinate's codes are known. At this time the only setting I know of for GPS are those three check boxes in the settings menu.

Obviously those settings do control some form of assisted GPS as with those options check you can (sometimes) get a fix indoors where satellite based GPS is clearly not possible.

Martian

 

[boomerbubba]

I have been (I suppose erroneously) using the term aGPS to mean any form of non-satellite based location method. I'm sure this violates the strict meaning of the term.

I'm sure there are several hidden menus (including GPS) on the Fascinate, unfortunately the codes to access the hidden menus on other Galaxy S phones have not worked on the Fascinate. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before the Fascinate's codes are known. At this time the only setting I know of for GPS are those three check boxes in the settings menu.

Thanks, Martian. I continue to campaign for some explanation from Verizon about what each of those three settings actually does. The labels are nothing but marketing arglebargle at this point. Verizon basically made up the phrases without defining them. Also note that because they are checkboxes, they are not mutually exclusive.

Meanwhile, it may be possible to access the hidden GPS menu, if any, without the secret dialer code. If anyone has a rooted phone, they can look to discover if there is an .apk file named LbsTestMode.apk (the name for the app on most Galaxy S models) or GpsSetup.apk (the name for the new app on the Sprint Epic.)

If either of those hidden system app files is present, it can probably be run by setting up a direct shortcut using a third-party launcher utility such as LauncherPro or ADW. If there is no such app, that would also be worth knowing.

It is not necessary to have a rooted phone to run the hidden app.

 

[jksinclair81]

I did find GpsSetup.apk and HiddenMenu.apk but when I select to launch them from Astro File Manager it says "Activity Not Found"

 

[JDR92]

Bump!

I've read through these replies and didn't see anyone with my specific problem, so I'm wondering if any of you guys can help.

I'm stock with the most recent OTA update (phone purchased in Sept of 2010) and have been having GPS nightmares since day 1, but this issue has really sent me over the top:

I'll be using Google Maps Navigation to get somewhere and I'll receive a phone call or have to use mobile data in the browser or a similar application. When I return to Navigation, it'll say I'm hundreds and hundreds of miles from where I actually am, and will have a precise GPS lock. I'll exit Navigation and go into regular Maps to see my location marker speeding through cornfields and lakes in a neighboring state at the same speed I'm doing. I use GPS Test to double-check my connectivity and when this happens it'll always show that I'm connected to three of three available satellites instead of the regular 7 or 8 out of 10 available satellites. In addition, it'll show coordinates for said location hundreds and hundreds of miles from where I actually am---the phone is convinced I'm there, and the only remedy is to shut down the phone and boot it up again.

Has anyone experienced anything like this?