The Best GPS Settings I have found so far...

Damn, those folks at xda are good.

"?Standalone - Use hardware to get almanac, ephemeris and position
?MS Based - Use SUPL to get almanac. Use GPS for ephemeris and position
?MS Assisted - Use SUPL to get almanac, ephemeris and position
?Network Provider - ???"

In theory, if you use "MS Based" and use the supplemental server to load the almanac information into your phone, the phone should be able to keep itself updated afterwards in "Standalone" mode. (Like most GPSes, it will lose track if it is "off" and then moved a large distance.)

But...again in theory, once the GPS has established all that information and sees 4 satellites, it should be providing accurate information. There's something more wrong with these phones, because they show "weak" satellites when other GPSes show strong signals. A commodity-grade SIRFStarIII based GPS is so sensitive that you can stick it in between your car's visor and the metal roof--which blocks everything except weak reflected signals--and it still works just fine!
These phones don't do that. Using the supplemental server may help, but it is not fixing the real problem. These GPS systems are about as sensitive as "generation I" GPS, and that's obsolete.

The supplemental server that is listed in the phone's factory load? Apparently is no longer on the web and a domain parking company has taken over that address, which is why the factory address isn't working.

I'm betting Samsung has a hardware problem, like the bad antenna design in the iPhone4, and don't think that can be fixed. I'd love to be wrong about that.

Are you referring to the "spirent-lcs" server? If so, then we should all change it to the google server, at least for agps. My only gripe so far with the GPS is the time it takes to get a lock (2 minutes on avg). Once locked it works very well IMO. Hopefully using supl.google.com will help the speed of the lock
 
fl-
"Are you referring to the "spirent-lcs" server? " Yes.

And a two-minute "warm" time-to-lock, i.e. after the GPS has been off for some time but is still more or less in the same place it last was used in, just means that it is not getting a good signal from the satellites.

On a warm start, the ephemeris/almanac data that was last loaded is still valid, so the GPS "knows" which satellites to look for first. If the signal is too weak, it doesn't see them, it cycles to the next satellite, it keeps looking again and again until it gets signal lock.

In comparison, an old bottom-of-the-line Garmin Nuvi (2xx series) is rated for signal acquisaition times of 1 second (warm) 30-odd seconds (cold) and still less than a minute after a full factory reset has been done.

In real life, 15 seconds is all a commodity-grade GPS needs unless there is a signal problem, or it has been moved a great distance (i.e. 1000 miles) while it was off. If these phones are using single-channel GPS chips (which can only look for one satellite at a time, as opposed to real GPSes that now look for multiple satellites at the same time) that might explain some more delay. But again, there's a lot less delay IF the GPS can "hear" the satellites the first time around.

If your phone has a clear sky view and still takes two minutes to find its head...Move to Korea, where heaven is closer to earth so the signals are stronger.<G>
 
I used the settings in the first post on this thread. I plug in my car charger and there is a quick lock under 30 sec and the it holds on as I continue to drive. Google Navigation works just fine. I have tried this for a few days now. So far so good. Keeping my fingers crossed.
 
These GPS settings worked for me

Server: h-slp.mnc410.mcc310.pub.3gppnetwork.org
Server Port: 7275
SUPL Secure Socket: ON
AGPS Mode: SUPL

Below is the link:
Fix Samsung Captivate GPS Issue, Get Position Faster

Like I said, worked for me. Got lock on 9 sat in about 8 sec when standing outside. Seemed to hold on to at least 6 even in a moving car. Still testing, but better than supl.google.com as far as I'm concerned.
 
"AGPS Mode: SUPL"

Understand that you are not "just" using GPS, you are using AGPS and that's not at all the same thing.

You are getting position information courtesy of some BIG HELP from outside equipment, which can include the supplemental server supplying information that your GPS is unable to reaed form the satellites. If there's a weak signal and you are losing half of the ephemeris data from each satellite--that's OK, the supplemental server may correct for the loss. Or, the system may also grab information from your local cellular towers to fill in for the fact that you are only seeing ONE satellite instead of three.

There are lots of tricks a supplemented AGPS system can use.

But that's like saying "Tofurkey" is the same thing as a real nice roasted trukey dinner. It isn't. It's still flavored tofu, not turkey. If you're hungry and don't care what gets plopped on your plate...hey, sometimes tofurkey is good enough.

A cell phone that claims to have GPS functions, should be able to work without needing network assistance. If it can't work without the network, then it should claim to have "AGPS" not "GPS".
 
I believe that most cellphones, including the Captivate, advertise AGPS. Which is fine and useful, as it helps the initial lock. After that, the GPS is on its own..so nothing wrong with having AGPS working to its utmost
 
Nothing wrong with having either one working, but when Samsung & ATT both claim "GPS Capability" they conveniently forget to mention that the phone has almost no GPS Capability unless it can get assistance from a network. This may be the poorest GPS implementation on the market, as there are many situations where it simply will not work--GPS or AGPS--where other phones and real GPS units work very well.

And shipping the units, after two sets of FOTA upgrades, with the AGPS software configured to use a disconnected server...really...isn't that like selling a new car with four flat tires? It just needs a little work by the new owner, sure.<G>

There was a classic settlement between Campbell's Soup and the FTC back in the days when the FTC was a new agency. Campbell's was advertising one of their vegetable-noodle soups with mouth-watering pictures that showed how much good stuff was in the soup. Except, the bottom of the bowl had been filled with marbles to force the noodles and vegetables to the top. What, you don't use noodles in your soup? You think that's misleading?

Same same. If the GPS can't work the way every other GPS works...it isn't working, and there's no excuse for that. An honest man calls that "fraud" when the seller has long been informed of the problem, then ignores it and refuses to address or admit it.
 
The advice in this thread worked for me:

Here's what worked for me

However, I am running Cognition v2.3b6. I extracted the files in the Vibrant-Files.zip attachment, and the Cognition zip file on my PC, replaced the necessary files in the extracted ROM, re-archived the ROM, then flashed. Booted up, deleted GPS data in LBS Test Mode, rebooted, and I get a GPS lock in about thirty seconds, with an accuracy of 10 meters, with no changing of settings in LBS Test Mode.

Of course, if you're already flashed, you can always replace the files using Root Explorer. If you're running a stock ROM, you will need to root to apply the fix.

I went for about a twenty five minute drive, and everything seem to be working well, with no GPS signal drop.

Disclaimer: I am a noob, but, again, this is what works for me on my device. No guarantees...
 
The "what worked" link says:
"Even with the files you have to hold the phone in the windshield vertically, like a normal GPS unit."

IOW, even when it is working at it's best, it won't work if you take it out from under the windshield. The cheapest Nuvi will work when it is lying on the front seat, or in a center console compartment.

Captivate GPSes are simply DEAF. If anyone tells you this is acceptable GPS performance, remind them this is not 1990. This is NOT ACCEPTABLE PERFORMANCE in 2010. Not even in 2005. Maybe ten years ago, marginally, but not now.
 
the best quick fix without unlocking the programming function is to turn off the wifi that gets it to within5 meters or so.
 
Set my new Captivate next to a Motorola Flipside, and the Motorola saw and used 10 satellites in roughly 5 seconds and locked (very first time using GPS on that phone, my wife's). I just installed GPS test on both, and turned on the "Use Signals" to speed up acquisition.

The Captivate was struggling to see 3, and using GPS Test on both, The Captivate SNR readings are MUCH worse than the flip-side.

My guess is the antenna is sitting underneath that amazing display trying its hardest to "see" through it.

Note, this was inside our house through a roof and two ceilings. The Flipside just lays the smack-down on the Captivate for GPS performance.

The phone is just deaf as a post for GPS, so I am considering returning it is it is one of the primary features I am gearing to use. :-(.

Drat.
 
I got a second warranty replacement Captivate from AT&T this week. My first warranty replacement wouldn't get a GPS fix in less than 5 minutes and then would almost instantly lose it. It was a Batch 1008, version 0.4. I tried all the recommendations short of rooting it and flashing another ROM. I had upgraded to Froyo with no change, perhaps even worse if possible.

The new one is a Batch 1007 and came with Froyo pre-installed. The new Captivate gets a GPS fix in less than 20 seconds inside (measured by LBS Test). In a new location, it takes less than 60 seconds and sticks like glue. I drove 30 miles with it tonight and it never lost the fix and it always showed me ON the road, not in the fields nearby!

I haven't run GPS Restore, no need to. It came with SUPL server pointed to spirent-lcs.com and port 7275 but I'm not touching it for now.

It is absolutely unbelievable how different the 2 units are.
 
I have to believe a big factor is the modem.

Running Andromeda ROM and no fixes, GPS was better than stock ROM but still just marginal. Running Di11i ROM with fixes, it was horrible. Running Darky's Extreme along with PlumbBob's recommendations (XDA) it has been spot on. I'm talking about 90 to 150 mile round trips to "work" everyday with the majority in fairly low EDGE reception (northern Michigan).
 
"It came with SUPL server pointed to spirent-lcs.com "
Home of "You've won a free laptop!" and your choice of ipad and other great prizes. If I were a cynic, I'd suspect that someone at AT&T or Samsung was personally hosting that page and profiting from it. The alternative is to think they're just too dumb to know they are sending business to...a scam domain parking page that someone else is making big money from. Hmmm....Oh Be One Kanobe, help me, I cannot read the Force!

Nice to nice they've started shipping Froyo and possibly gotten the GPS fixed by now. Well, it can't be fixed, I suppose, since it never was broken.
(That's their story and who are we to doubt it? <G>)

Does the Froyo patch also include a fix for the battery charging, so it doesn't light up and ring ALL the time to tell you to unplug the charger? Even in the middle of the night? (Leave phone in normal mode, plug in charger, power down phone, go to sleep and see if it wakes you up with the urgent news.)
 
I have tried to enter on my epic the dialer codes mentioned here and else where for my recent ota update to froyo, with no success. The 2.1 code doesn't work either. I have also tried to set a shortcut to lbstest as well, but I can't find it on my phone. Is it possible I am missing this service? If so any ideas on how to get it installed?
 
The codes tend to be specific to a particular model(s) of phone and a particular OS level, once an OTA update has been pushed some of them are intentionally disabled. Odds are that you are not missing the service, but that it needs a different code for your phone and your OS level.

You might try calling Samsung support, they openly gave me the codes to confirm (well, refute<G>) gps operation on my captivate.
 
The instructions say to dial *#*#1472365#*# then press SEND. I can't find a send button anywhere. (I assume it's the green phone button?) Instead, the numbers just simply disappear in outer space.

That's what I got when I tried it out--but then later, it got a good fix.

Then, I upgraded to 2.2 (it FINALLY worked when I enabled USB Debugging) but then I started having the GPS problem again. I went by this post where it has you downloaded a program called "GPS Restore" (called GpsSamsungRestore or GpsRestore by Samsung Mobile) from the market (it apparently reverts the GPS settings back to their original state & runs a test to make sure it gets a lock) yet even after running that I couldn't get a lock. Then I read somewhere to try turning off Wi-Fi--I did, and I got a clear signal then.

I wonder what the GpsSamsungRestore application did? (It also was located at this link.)

LRH
 
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The code for lbs test mode on the captivate is *#3214789650#. I think SGS tools also has a shortcut built in to this and other dialer codes
 
fldude99 That helped so much, why in the world has no one said anything about it until now? I kept punching in the original code & wondering why nothing happened?

I tried out those settings (I have Froyo 2.2 I thought I'd have the update, oh well) and right away I could tell a difference. It seems to pick up the location way better than I've seen yet. I still have the Samsung GPSRestore app installed in case, but I don't seem to need it now.

LRH
 
Glad to help. Don't know why it wasn't mentioned..sometimes people look for complicated answers to simple things. Anyway, the only change I've made to settings is to replace the spirent server with google and change the port to 7275 and it works pretty good. I use lbs testmode quite often first to get the lock then proceed with the app I want to use that needs gps
 

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