Stay FAR away from Vibrant/Captivate or any other Galaxy S variant - G1 General

For those thinking about getting the Vibrant/Captivate or pretty much any variant of the Galaxy S DO NOT.
I contacted them via FB and this is the only answer they sent me
"We are working on it. We're sorry about this issue. Please be patient as we know how important this is. Thanks for reaching out!"
I have just received and activated my phone with dum, dum, dum... AT&T and this phone has nothing but GPS issues while I have to admit everything else works fine and is definitely fast.
There is absolutely no way of it accurately doing a turn by turn Navigation with Google Maps.
Ive even resorted to doing a supposed fix and nothing if anything it made the major problem worse.
Same has been reported with the T-Mobile version of the phone.
I highly regret leaving T-Mobile now because the reception was a lot better with them as well.
No wonder tons of people bad mouth AT&T, LOL.
Proof below, stick to the other manufacturers guys... Samsung is testing the waters and these phones should have NEVER been released prior to having it 100% functional.
---->> http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/17/samsung-galaxy-s-gps-gate-two-problems-not-one-and-what-to-do/5#comments

legend221 said:
For those thinking about getting the Vibrant/Captivate or pretty much any variant of the Galaxy S DO NOT.
I contacted them via FB and this is the only answer they sent me
"We are working on it. We're sorry about this issue. Please be patient as we know how important this is. Thanks for reaching out!"
I have just received and activated my phone with dum, dum, dum... AT&T and this phone has nothing but GPS issues while I have to admit everything else works fine and is definitely fast.
There is absolutely no way of it accurately doing a turn by turn Navigation with Google Maps.
Ive even resorted to doing a supposed fix and nothing if anything it made the major problem worse.
Same has been reported with the T-Mobile version of the phone.
I highly regret leaving T-Mobile now because the reception was a lot better with them as well.
No wonder tons of people bad mouth AT&T, LOL.
Proof below, stick to the other manufacturers guys... Samsung is testing the waters and these phones should have NEVER been released prior to having it 100% functional.
---->> http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/17/samsung-galaxy-s-gps-gate-two-problems-not-one-and-what-to-do/5#comments
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Why didnt you wait for g2?

Hey OP!
Have you EVER tried the Vibrant or Captivate? I have the Vibrant and I have had no problems with the GPS. I use the turn by turn directions daily!
You need to know what you are talking about! Yes, there is a documented problem, but that doesn't mean that the GPS is unusable, and NO I haven't applied the GPS fix.

Ace42 said:
Why didnt you wait for g2?
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Ive bought Samsung phone before and I haven't ran into any major issues like this.
The G2 would definitely be a better option.
Thinking Im going to jump to the Sony X10, I hear that they are going to have the CyanogenMod on it pretty soon.

rwbarnes67 said:
Hey OP!
Have you EVER tried the Vibrant or Captivate? I have the Vibrant and I have had no problems with the GPS. I use the turn by turn directions daily!
You need to know what you are talking about! Yes, there is a documented problem, but that doesn't mean that the GPS is unusable, and NO I haven't applied the GPS fix.
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You're trying to come at me like everyone is going to have a working unit Barnes.
Just because YOU got lucky doesn't mean anyone else that buys it will.
There is already a "fix" in the works for units that have faulty GPS but whether it works or if its actually able to fix the issue is another story.
Read this and please don't post again if YOU don't know what you are talking about.

rwbarnes67 said:
Hey OP!
Have you EVER tried the Vibrant or Captivate? I have the Vibrant and I have had no problems with the GPS. I use the turn by turn directions daily!
You need to know what you are talking about! Yes, there is a documented problem, but that doesn't mean that the GPS is unusable, and NO I haven't applied the GPS fix.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe you are also confused, bring up an address and press the option that says navigation.
See that big blue area around your position THAT is not true GPS and it is only guessing where you are from cell towers.
Like others have said it will not accurately tell you where you are, you can not trust the voice directions at all.
That is faulty and yes Samsung, AT&T, T-Mobile and any other service provider should not be selling these units until it is fixed.

legend221 said:
Maybe you are also confused, bring up an address and press the option that says navigation.
See that big blue area around your position THAT is not true GPS and it is only guessing where you are from cell towers.
Like others have said it will not accurately tell you where you are, you can not trust the voice directions at all.
That is faulty and yes Samsung, AT&T, T-Mobile and any other service provider should not be selling these units until it is fixed.
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That Little blue arrow that tells me EXACTLY where I am on the map as I'm zooming down the freeway and accurately tells me every exit as I'm passing them? I know what I am talking about! And the turn by turn instructions work for me and it re-routes when I miss a street.
OK!!!! You all! You know EVERYTHING and I know NOTHING!
That is all! Sorry for putting in my 2 cents!
By the way, I've been on Android since the G1 in November of 2008. Rooted with the first Jesus Freke roms thru Haykuru and Dudes roms to Cyan and have been doing the same with my Vibrant.
But OK. You guys are THE EXPERTS.
And by the way, you guys never stated whether or not you own a Vibrant.

Deleted!
I have nothing to say!

rwbarnes67 said:
By the way, I've been on Android since the G1 in November of 2008. Rooted with the first Jesus Freke roms thru Haykuru and Dudes roms to Cyan and have been doing the same with my Vibrant.
But OK. You guys are THE EXPERTS.
And by the way, you guys never stated whether or not you own a Vibrant.
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Click to collapse
I only own G1 & Mytouch Slide, not interested in the Vibrant like my KB's.

buy whatever you want
ive gone thru so many phones since 09, from the g1(when it first came out), hd2, n900, x10 and finally the vibrant. the hd2, n900 and x10 in a matter of 4 months. didnt like windows mobile from being used to android. n900 wasnt what i expected it to be. loved the x10 but only running 1.6. i didnt root it because I eventually bought the vibrant.
only issues i had were facebook syncing and contacts being tripled and gps in searching for a location while in house, but GPS worked FINE when I was on the road. wish i had a car dock for it at the time but will eventually get one.
OP, if you knew of these reasons, such as lag or because of the gps not working properly, then why did you buy it in the first place? i dont think barnes was getting at you, but damn dude, someone's sensitive. no one told you to buy it despite some of the imperfections the phone has. its like people saying sony shouldnt have released the x10 with 1.6 but rather have froyo but they still buy it. and if your response is to root it to get 2.1 or 2.2, i dont think the avg. customer for phones would have any idea of what you are talking about.
you cant please everyone on here. alot of people on xda either want to be a mod or just bump stupid posts because they didnt get an answer within 3 hours.

Returned my Samsung Captivate and is officially back to the HTC Dream/G1 until further notice.
Feeling better already, I can always get that phone when and if the GPS issue is worked out.
That was pretty much the only flaw it has at least on the phone I returned.

steveruv said:
ive gone thru so many phones since 09, from the g1(when it first came out), hd2, n900, x10 and finally the vibrant. the hd2, n900 and x10 in a matter of 4 months. didnt like windows mobile from being used to android. n900 wasnt what i expected it to be. loved the x10 but only running 1.6. i didnt root it because I eventually bought the vibrant.
only issues i had were facebook syncing and contacts being tripled and gps in searching for a location while in house, but GPS worked FINE when I was on the road. wish i had a car dock for it at the time but will eventually get one.
OP, if you knew of these reasons, such as lag or because of the gps not working properly, then why did you buy it in the first place? i dont think barnes was getting at you, but damn dude, someone's sensitive. no one told you to buy it despite some of the imperfections the phone has. its like people saying sony shouldnt have released the x10 with 1.6 but rather have froyo but they still buy it. and if your response is to root it to get 2.1 or 2.2, i dont think the avg. customer for phones would have any idea of what you are talking about.
you cant please everyone on here. alot of people on xda either want to be a mod or just bump stupid posts because they didnt get an answer within 3 hours.
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In that respect I did mess up.
Was expecting the Captivate to rock my socks off but all it did was make me mad due to the GPS issue.
I didn't know of these problems until after my phone arrived.
Its stupid for Samsung to not get those fixes out asap as that is their flagship phone.
I heard the X10 is very close to getting Cyanogen on there.. definitely a major advantage there vs. the Samsung development that's going on

if cyanogen is working on the x10, then the x10 will have alot of potential.
did you switch back to tmobile since you're back to using the g1?
btw, how often were you using the gps on the road? give the vibrant a chance, im sure the kinks will be worked out.

steveruv said:
if cyanogen is working on the x10, then the x10 will have alot of potential.
did you switch back to tmobile since you're back to using the g1?
btw, how often were you using the gps on the road? give the vibrant a chance, im sure the kinks will be worked out.
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The X10 does seem like a better choice for now mainly in part to the CyanogenMod potential.
Im still on AT&T, Ive closed my account with T-Mobile.
I was using the gps on a regular basis thats why it had to be refunded as a replacement was more than likely to have the same issue.
Samsung has always had a bad track record with updating thier phones and I didnt want to be stuck waiting for an update that may take too long to be relevant.

I've just gotta jump in with my $.02 right quick here...
Not trying to piss anyone off, but damn you all cry too much! IT's A PHONE!
And on top of all that, it has an Operating System on it! So essentially, it's a COMPUTER! And what do computers have????? ISSUES!
So, quit *****ing. Flagship phone or not...It's going to have issues. It's a new device. Duh. haha
Basically, when it comes down to it, if a device were PERFECT in every standard, then EVERYONE would have one. And sense there is no such thing as PERFECT, good luck.

tribalartgod said:
I've just gotta jump in with my $.02 right quick here...
Not trying to piss anyone off, but damn you all cry too much! IT's A PHONE!
And on top of all that, it has an Operating System on it! So essentially, it's a COMPUTER! And what do computers have????? ISSUES!
So, quit *****ing. Flagship phone or not...It's going to have issues. It's a new device. Duh. haha
Basically, when it comes down to it, if a device were PERFECT in every standard, then EVERYONE would have one. And sense there is no such thing as PERFECT, good luck.
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Click to collapse
Yeah its a phone that should work my G1, HTC Shadow all work with gps and they are old phones compared to the Samsung Galaxy S.
If you prefer not to hear my advisement to everyone about this phone, DONT CLICK ON THE THREAD!

legend, so you're using the g1 on at&t's network?
the captivate is using bing, correct? there's no google maps on there? maybe that was the problem.
i guess im fortunate to have my gps on point when i'm driving, but once i eventually root, etc, then maybe the gps will lock in almost my exact point, and not off 1 or 2 blocks.

steveruv said:
legend, so you're using the g1 on at&t's network?
the captivate is using bing, correct? there's no google maps on there? maybe that was the problem.
i guess im fortunate to have my gps on point when i'm driving, but once i eventually root, etc, then maybe the gps will lock in almost my exact point, and not off 1 or 2 blocks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AT&T network, Yes I am.
The captivate is using Google Maps but has the option in using AT&T's version of it and they both were not working.
I tested how many GPS satellites it picked up through the LBSTestMode menu and it got me no where even if there were 1 or 7 available.
Once rooted it was the same story unfortunately even with all these workarounds on xda and other sites.

Further proof that the Samsung GPS issues continue....
See Samsung Facinate review released for Verizon on SEP 9, 2010 here ------->> http://www.phonearena.com/htmls/Samsung-Fascinate-Review-review-r_2529-p_4.html

Related

samsung captivate leaked firmware seems to fix gps issue

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=751518&page=10
Good news, hopefully its legit and its software.....
Here's a video of proof. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ65sS8nbRE&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Update on compass: jhego says it works, also says compass view works in google maps... he also used gps navigation for 15 mind straight without losing the route .... some good looking stuff...
Originally Posted by smashpunks Awesome. Thanks again. This will put my mind at ease and I can sleep well.
Originally Posted by smashpunks Awesome thanks for this update.. one last thing if ya could... check google maps street view in compass mode... no hurry just wondering.. may be a seperate fix but still interesting to know.. Thanks again for your testing...
Man, that's sick! I haven't used that mode before. I can tell you that it works__________________(2007-2008) CID/SIM Unlocked ATT Tilt(2008-2010) Unlocked Blackberry Bold 5.0.0.681(2010- Current) Rooted Samsung Captivate
UPDATE 2: some people are reporting no fix or worse... hmmmm.. what's going on. Half say its getting great locks and others not... maybe its a location thing?
Farkkkkk
If the GPS is fixed in this rom, can we have some crow for the people saying it's not fixable via firmware?
heygrl said:
If the GPS is fixed in this rom, can we have some crow for the people saying it's not fixable via firmware?
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Agreed. People getting 8 satellites locked..... awesome
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ65sS8nbRE
6/6 INSTANTLY! 7/7 shortly after... yep, I'd say it's fixed
heygrl said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ65sS8nbRE
6/6 INSTANTLY! 7/7 shortly after... yep, I'd say it's fixed
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Yes. This makes me very very happy.. now IMO its a perfect device... (hope not speaking to soon but I'd say its fixed also)...
Neat.
Has anyone been able to test out the compass? Whoever is making these videos, could someone ask them to demo Google Sky Map / Street View?
but this isnt for the vibrant right? or can it be ported over since they are so close to each other?
Jon C said:
Neat.
Has anyone been able to test out the compass? Whoever is making these videos, could someone ask them to demo Google Sky Map / Street View?
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I'm having the dude test the compass... also even if this exact thing don't work on vibrant.. its proof that its software and fixable
.. that's all I really wanna know...
Update on compass soon....
It's the firmware for the Captivate, which flashes for different radios and so forth. It could be ported, but it would be a lot of unnecessary work.
To be honest, I find the idea of flashing different ROMs to be stressful. I stopped using my jailbroken iPhone because I grew tired of keeping up with flashing and jumping through hoops. I just want Samsung to fix the phone with an OTA, so I can go back to my normal life.
So, we have no word on a fix for the Vibrant. But one can assume that a fix on AT&T will find itself on the T-Mobile device.
Jon C said:
Neat.
Has anyone been able to test out the compass? Whoever is making these videos, could someone ask them to demo Google Sky Map / Street View?
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Click to collapse
Your the dude wanting to bail on the vibrant right? Its cool I understand . Hopefully this changes your mind...
Jon C said:
Neat.
Has anyone been able to test out the compass? Whoever is making these videos, could someone ask them to demo Google Sky Map / Street View?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Jon C said:
It's the firmware for the Captivate, which flashes for different radios and so forth. It could be ported, but it would be a lot of unnecessary work.
To be honest, I find the idea of flashing different ROMs to be stressful. I stopped using my jailbroken iPhone because I grew tired of keeping up with flashing and jumping through hoops. I just want Samsung to fix the phone with an OTA, so I can go back to my normal life.
So, we have no word on a fix for the Vibrant. But one can assume that a fix on AT&T will find itself on the T-Mobile device.
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The fix is leaked from samsung .. we will get one too. Point again is its fixable, we never knew this before till now.
Although its still not been said if its 100% working.. could be a start though
No, it's a great piece of encouragement. Still, unless something is said soon, I will probably return my phone until the official fix is out. I can always purchase it again at a later date. It's encouraging to see a leak from Samsung fix the problem, but I'm sure you can understand: $500+ is a lot to spend on a phone.
Keep delivering the good news. Hopefully the Compass has been fixed as well. I really love TouchWiz, and was dreading the possible jump to HTC Sense.
Jon C said:
No, it's a great piece of encouragement. Still, unless something is said soon, I will probably return my phone until the official fix is out. I can always purchase it again at a later date. It's encouraging to see a leak from Samsung fix the problem, but I'm sure you can understand: $500+ is a lot to spend on a phone.
Keep delivering the good news. Hopefully the Compass has been fixed as well. I really love TouchWiz, and was dreading the possible jump to HTC Sense.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can understand your view.
For me it is also encouraging that samsung really is trying .
This is encouraging news. Hopefully it's true and I can quit obsessing with it
This gives me a damn hard-on.
My phone locked & rebooted* itself twice today, while trying to use GPS. And I was in Mountain View, even - buncha bull****.
-bZj
*when it does this routine, it resets the volume on the system (thus the startup sound) to maximu8m - makes me even angrier!
heygrl said:
If the GPS is fixed in this rom, can we have some crow for the people saying it's not fixable via firmware?
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Click to collapse
don't recall anyone saying it couldn't be fixed - can you point us at one?
the consensus opinion has been no one knew whether it was firmware or software
and btw, while this is good news, we're not totally certain this is a permanent "fix"
if it's still working in 2 or 3 weeks for the folks that installed it, then it might be considered a fix
larryccf said:
don't recall anyone saying it couldn't be fixed - can you point us at one?
the consensus opinion has been no one knew whether it was firmware or software
and btw, while this is good news, we're not totally certain this is a permanent "fix"
if it's still working in 2 or 3 weeks for the folks that installed it, then it might be considered a fix
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Regardless its getting 8 satellite locks for a lot of people .. that's never happened before ... this is a leak so not even official. So official may even be better ....
I was very concerned about the compass as I wasn't convinced that could be fixed via firmware basd on what I saw in the GPS service screens (seemed laggy even straight from the device). Eugene373 posted a fix to GPS for rooted phones here ://to.ly/5TFy (add http to follow the link). I installed it and it fixed both GPS and compass for me personally. This for me was proof positive tha there will be an official Samsung fix released to solve this issue.
K
larryccf said:
don't recall anyone saying it couldn't be fixed - can you point us at one?
the consensus opinion has been no one knew whether it was firmware or software
and btw, while this is good news, we're not totally certain this is a permanent "fix"
if it's still working in 2 or 3 weeks for the folks that installed it, then it might be considered a fix
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ignored
sfsdf
down8 said:
This gives me a damn hard-on.
My phone locked & rebooted* itself twice today, while trying to use GPS. And I was in Mountain View, even - buncha bull****.
-bZj
*when it does this routine, it resets the volume on the system (thus the startup sound) to maximu8m - makes me even angrier!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine has been doing it for a couple of weeks and I finally got fedup with this routine and called TMO and complained. I'm getting a replacement Vibrant in 3 days or so but I'm not holding my breath on it working any better really although I hope that it won't freeze and reboot at least. This official fix can't come fast enough because this GPS caused freezing and rebooting is really getting to me at this point.

Galaxy S sales so far? It seems that 1M was exceeded

http://www.unwiredview.com/2010/07/...dy-sold-samsung-wants-to-sell-9-million-more/
Just imagine the kind of support / development / roms / accessories that a phone with sales of this magnitude will get...
And I expect the pressure for GPS fix / proper Froyo support will increase. If Samsung fail on this one, they should forget about the mobile phones market...
'' Samsung sells more than 5 million Galaxy S phones! ''
http://twitter.com/SamsungFirmware
Hmm... impressive. 5 million people that are either using a paper map or pretty much lost and asking for directions. Now that's what I call mass misguidance.
cavinsoo said:
'' Samsung sells more than 5 million Galaxy S phones! ''
http://twitter.com/SamsungFirmware
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Click to collapse
well if it's the case, daaaaaaaaaamn
Beowulf_pt said:
Hmm... impressive. 5 million people that are either using a paper map or pretty much lost and asking for directions. Now that's what I call mass misguidance.
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Click to collapse
What firmware are you using?
The firmware that came with the phone when I purchased it was JF3. It was a lemon firmware. As soon as I flashed it with the latest ROMs, GPS works.
Flashed JG5, JM2, JM5. No problem with GPS. Rocket fast Android.
Did you have any probs with the europe JM5 firmwares? I wasn't game to flash with them because of any issues with getting optus to connect properly...
Beowulf_pt said:
Hmm... impressive. 5 million people that are either using a paper map or pretty much lost and asking for directions. Now that's what I call mass misguidance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Congratulations, you complained about the GPS/Lag before buying the phone, trolled whilst owning it, and now, rather than moving on with your life, are trolling after selling it. In fact, the only reason you probably purchased this phone was because you like complaining.
Anyway, the GPS is currently crap (I agree), but is usable enough for my purposes (I don't rely entirely on GPS anyway, because it is possible for even more common units to mess up the position). Hopefully Samsung fulfills their promises, otherwise, they might find 4million phones returned in October (I'll be one of the people returning them).
Good on them though for getting Android out there
Sales in South Korea alone was 800,000 in 55 days.
http://www.samsunghub.com/2010/08/1...m110s-comes-to-south-korea-800000-units-sold/
That is 14,545 phones sold per day.
Beowulf_pt said:
Hmm... impressive. 5 million people that are either using a paper map or pretty much lost and asking for directions. Now that's what I call mass misguidance.
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Click to collapse
Wow, I don't think I've seen a post by you that isn't complaining about the GPS.
And it's pretty sad that you're so reliant on the GPS and can't live without one. Not everyone is as lost for directions as you are.
Hopefully this will mean a bunch of accessories will come out!
I want this dock...
Umm, I never use gps, and i am sure many others dont.
Sent from my SHW-M110S using XDA App
cavinsoo said:
What firmware are you using?
The firmware that came with the phone when I purchased it was JF3. It was a lemon firmware. As soon as I flashed it with the latest ROMs, GPS works.
Flashed JG5, JM2, JM5. No problem with GPS. Rocket fast Android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have some kind of unusually outstanding GPS reception where you live?
I've used both JM2 and JM5 and both take ages to lock on and give that "jumpy" inaccuracy for the duration. Both of those firmwares most definitely are still vulnerable to the GPS issue. Glad to see Samsung is working on fixing the problem though.
I never experienced the jumpy behaviour of the GPS. I admit I never tried it on JF3. My phone was bought in Greece but it originally came from UK (it has a UK charger). The only difference between firmwares is the initial lock time. When used with navigon, it is always spot on.
I really am curious if all these problems with GPS exist...
guys, this is a Sales thread, let's not keep feeding the troll and turn this into a GPS thread
i'm on optus, flashed updates no probs. flashed to 2.2 no probs (rooted then did nand fix for lag).
Only thing i was annoyed with was i had to hunt the forums to redowload the "my account" app, the only useful thing optus adds.
(I do recommend the apn backup/recover app for keeping your network settings without having to manually re-eneter them)
well my upgrade was due on the 13th and i ordered the phone on the 16th from tmobile and they said the uk is all sold out and even other providers have been asking them if they could buy some so it seems uk is going mad for it but they said a fresh new batch is coming in on friday which is tomorrow so i might get the phone on monday BUT!!!! i was told theres a waiting list so i might have to wait till the next batch i cant wait any longer and im going on holiday soon and it might than come when im away GREAT!!!
GPS works fine here, since 1st day. I've only had one problem but that was cause o. HSBC froyo installed which laggggggged lol
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

Epic GPS FTW!

Originally posted by: kngyn19
Looks like the Epic's GPS is indeed working correctly! Confirmed by Samsung and Engadget!
Linky:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/18/samsung-says-gps-is-tested-and-validated-on-epic-4g-our-testi/
I wonder if they use the same gps hardware as the GSM counterparts ?
I would guess their firmware is different enough that they fixed it before releasing the Epic. Someone mentioned that may be the reason for the supposed delay.
The EPIC and Fascinate are CDMA devices. It might take a littler longer to reconfigure stuff versus GSM.
My own reaction to this news, posted in a sister forum, is more cautious optimism.
And if Sprint management did delay the release of the Epic to incorporate a fix to the GPS, good for them. If that is true, it would seem advantageous for them to make some statement to that effect. If they keep quiet on the matter, I have to wonder why.
boomerbubba said:
My own reaction to this news, posted in a sister forum, is more cautious optimism.
And if Sprint management did delay the release of the Epic to incorporate a fix to the GPS, good for them. If that is true, it would seem advantageous for them to make some statement to that effect. If they keep quiet on the matter, I have to wonder why.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe they want those worried about the GPS issue to rest assured but don't want to start a discussion about it where average consumers won't buy the Vibrant and Captivate variants after hearing there is a GPS issue..
gTen said:
Maybe they want those worried about the GPS issue to rest assured but don't want to start a discussion about it where average consumers won't buy the Vibrant and Captivate variants after hearing there is a GPS issue..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The average consumers that have the vibrant or captivate don't even know it had issues.. and some don't. We here on xda are the exception..
Most sprint customers don't even know its the same phone.. let alone know about a gps issue...
Sprint really don't need to say anything to anyone.. us here at xda are a small margin of their sales..
I honestly don't care as long as the GPS is working. For the $400 bucks i'm going to be paying for this phone (Sprint wants a $150 deposit before I can get the phone), I expect the GPS TO BE WORKING.
Im happy they are saying the GPS works but i wont believe it until I see it. I am out and about on a daily basis and use GPS just as much.
boomerbubba said:
My own reaction to this news, posted in a sister forum, is more cautious optimism.
And if Sprint management did delay the release of the Epic to incorporate a fix to the GPS, good for them. If that is true, it would seem advantageous for them to make some statement to that effect. If they keep quiet on the matter, I have to wonder why.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes.. imagine how that would go "Buy the best phone Sprint has to offer... GPS doesn't work but we'll work on it AFTER you buy the phone!" or maybe "This phone is great, GPS doesn't work but we'll fix it before you buy it!!!" ... either way it doesn't look good for the company, so keep it hush, delay it and people will get it when it comes out. The only ones *****ing about the delay are the ones on these forums which is 0.000003 of their sales.
DirtyShroomz said:
Yes.. imagine how that would go "Buy the best phone Sprint has to offer... GPS doesn't work but we'll work on it AFTER you buy the phone!" or maybe "This phone is great, GPS doesn't work but we'll fix it before you buy it!!!" ... either way it doesn't look good for the company, so keep it hush, delay it and people will get it when it comes out. The only ones *****ing about the delay are the ones on these forums which is 0.000003 of their sales.
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Click to collapse
That's the kind of spin Sprint would have to make if it released the phone with the GPS defect, and without fixing it first.
I was talking about a more positive statement in light of this news from Samsung. Sprint could affirm that there are no GPS issues on the Epic. And if there were issues in prerelease, but they held off to fix them first, that is a very positive thing to brag about. (And, by implication, a swipe at the two U.S. competitors who released defective products and are still awaiting new firmware in September.)
I hope this is true. I dont understand it though. I have read in many deferent places that they are working on a new driver to fix gps issues in all the other galaxy s phones. How did the fix the issue with out the new driver? If this is true then this makes me worried they will never really fix the captivates gps since the epic is fixed with the same gps driver.
I have asked multiple people who have the Epic for review purposes, and all of them state that there is no GPS problems. Things are looking good!
shep211 said:
I hope this is true. I dont understand it though. I have read in many deferent places that they are working on a new driver to fix gps issues in all the other galaxy s phones. How did the fix the issue with out the new driver? If this is true then this makes me worried they will never really fix the captivates gps since the epic is fixed with the same gps driver.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My guess is they did fix it..but probably want to fix all the other issues at the same time before mass pushing the update..like say the lag fix and etc..or maybe they will just include the gps fix and froyo together....either way if they release it we may be able to extract the driver and use it on the others..
gTen said:
My guess is they did fix it..but probably want to fix all the other issues at the same time before mass pushing the update..like say the lag fix and etc..or maybe they will just include the gps fix and froyo together...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Huh? In the wake of Samsung's public announcement that the GPS works on the Epic while the other brands are still awaiting new firmware, you think Sprint would secretly be planning to omit that fix and launch with the same defect they have? That is just crazy.
The implication of Samsung's statement is that the Epic firmware is already tested and installed on the units about to be sold and shipped. There would not need to be any pushing of a GPS update for Sprint phones.
If that is ambiguous to people, that is all the more reason for Sprint to make a statement about this.
gTen said:
My guess is they did fix it..but probably want to fix all the other issues at the same time before mass pushing the update..like say the lag fix and etc..or maybe they will just include the gps fix and froyo together....either way if they release it we may be able to extract the driver and use it on the others..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes you are right. If they do have the gps fix we should be able to port it over to the captivate. I wil have to return my captivate before the 30 days then get the epic and see what happens. If they fix the captivate I may go back to it since I love the slim look and design.
boomerbubba said:
That's the kind of spin Sprint would have to make if it released the phone with the GPS defect, and without fixing it first.
I was talking about a more positive statement in light of this news from Samsung. Sprint could affirm that there are no GPS issues on the Epic. And if there were issues in prerelease, but they held off to fix them first, that is a very positive thing to brag about. (And, by implication, a swipe at the two U.S. competitors who released defective products and are still awaiting new firmware in September.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now that would be great. Sprint launching a commercial attack on AT&T and Tmo... Go with them, you'll have phones that can't make calls and can't guide you to your destination! Not so smart for a smart phone huh?
I would lol so hard if they did a commercial like that. It is nice to see a company think of the end user and not about the $. I am testing the gps fix from the epic dump. So far it looks good. It locks the sats fast and shows me with 5m of my location(Use to never go below 30). I will test the gps when I go to lunch and see if it tracks me correctly.
Edit: I used my gps at lunch and it worked a lot better. It didnt jump from street to street and change route over and over. Its usable now but its still not as good as n1\evo. It will lag pretty bad then jump to your location. If the epic radio does not have updated code for gps that fixs lag issue then I would say gps is not really fixed just improved. I think we will have to wait till September to see if it gets fully fixed.
shep211 said:
... I am testing the gps fix from the epic dump. So far it looks good. It locks the sats fast and shows me with 5m of my location(Use to never go below 30). I will test the gps when I go to lunch and see if it tracks me correctly.
Edit: I used my gps at lunch and it worked a lot better. It didnt jump from street to street and change route over and over. Its usable now but its still not as good as n1\evo. It will lag pretty bad then jump to your location. If the epic radio does not have updated code for gps that fixs lag issue then I would say gps is not really fixed just improved. I think we will have to wait till September to see if it gets fully fixed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly what are you "testing" here? I gather you don't have an Epic. So you are you somehow running some hacked form of what you believe the "GPS fix" is -- drawn from the Epic dump -- on the hardware of some other Samsung S variant such as a Captivate. Right? Can you please describe the steps you used to set up this test environment. What is it about the Epic dump that you are calling "the GPS fix," and how did you apply it on the other hardware? Did you flash a ROM, change config files, or what?
boomerbubba said:
Exactly what are you "testing" here? I gather you don't have an Epic. So you are you somehow running some hacked form of what you believe the "GPS fix" is -- drawn from the Epic dump -- on the hardware of some other Samsung S variant such as a Captivate. Right? Can you please describe the steps you used to set up this test environment. What is it about the Epic dump that you are calling "the GPS fix," and how did you apply it on the other hardware? Did you flash a ROM, change config files, or what?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He is talking about this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=759976
gTen said:
He is talking about this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=759976
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. What I see there are three hacked "experimental" versions of a "fix," none of which even purport to replicate the Epic environment completely. [Edit: I gather it was the "fix" supposed to be drawn from the Epic that was tested.] (For example, shep211 himself questioned how this can be a fix without new drivers. I agree with that criticism. But how do we even know what drivers this environment has?)
So it is not valid to run this test, which showed a less-than-successful GPS performance, and declare on the basis of that test that the Epic fix is incomplete as shipped.
The Epic fix may or may not be complete. We don't know that. We can't know it until a real Epic is tested rigorously.

Swapping my SGS with a new one.

So I've got one of the many Vibrants with the flaky GPS, and none of the fixes out there seem to improve the problem. My local T-Mo store is understanding and quite willing to swap it with a new one since I'm still within the 14 day policy. The only catch is I want to put the phone as close to stock as possible before I do the trade so they can't say it was something I did to it. Right now I've rooted deodexed, and I've got clockwork ROM manager going. I've also deleted almost all the stock cruft and swapped the calendar / camera apps. Because I was so eager to make it "mine", I also failed to make any backups BUT my wife happens to have a totally stock SGS from which I can scavange from but I'd like to do it without having to root it or anything. Is this possible? If not would thread 739091 ("True Stock 2.1 firmware for vibrant"; sorry I can't post links since my account here is still new) get me there?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=734475&highlight=stock is what you're looking for. Just flash this with Odin and you'll be fully unrooted.
Awesome, I really appreciate that. I'm not timid when it comes to making the phone my own (I was an early adopter of CyanogenMod for my old G1) but I just returned from a deployment and the whole 'scene' has changed a lot more than I expected lol.
Hehe. you might want to give the new T-Mobile Vibrant firmware that was leaked, it fixes the GPS problem (result may vary). Returning your SGS for a new one isn't going to fix your problem. It's not hardware related, its firmware.
An exchange won't fix your GPS issues anyway so you mine as well keep the one you have. Trust me, we try to swap them out customers all the time at my store.... It's a known issue and Samsung is SUPPOSED to be sending us an OTA soon
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
ShanDestromp said:
Awesome, I really appreciate that. I'm not timid when it comes to making the phone my own (I was an early adopter of CyanogenMod for my old G1) but I just returned from a deployment and the whole 'scene' has changed a lot more than I expected lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just want to say thank you for serving.
zephiK said:
Returning your SGS for a new one isn't going to fix your problem. It's not hardware related, its firmware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
briguydj32 said:
An exchange won't fix your GPS issues anyway so you mine as well keep the one you have.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm, quite a few people I'd talked with locally that have the vibrant said swapping worked for them. Is it possible that newer firmware has been released for phones with a newer "birth" date than mine? Then again who should I trust more, people who hardly utilize their phones, or the people who drool over the prospect of new mods and hacks? hehe. I guess I'll just call T-Mo back and let them know I wont be bothering with a swap after all.
Droidicus said:
Just want to say thank you for serving.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, my pleasure. If nothing else, I have the Army to thank for bringing me out to Hawai'i and giving me the chance to meet my now wife hehe.
ALL out of the box Vibrant's have the same firmware. You need to update to the newest firmware version, it works really well. GPS is better than it is on my CLIQ.
I dunno, i've heard reports of GPS working perfect out of the box for some, and the new firmware doesn't seem to do much for my GPS,
10m accuracy at most unless I leave gps on for about an hour and maybe i'll get 6-7m accuracy, but driving, it SKIPS, (still at 10m) instead of gliding along like my G1 did.
So i'm considering perhaps swapping mine.
QwertyAccess said:
I dunno, i've heard reports of GPS working perfect out of the box for some, and the new firmware doesn't seem to do much for my GPS,
10m accuracy at most unless I leave gps on for about an hour and maybe i'll get 6-7m accuracy, but driving, it SKIPS, (still at 10m) instead of gliding along like my G1 did.
So i'm considering perhaps swapping mine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
10M of accuracy is not bad and if you want to get technical, GMaps interprets the data differently. What shows in GMaps as 10 meters will show up as 7 under GPS test. I've got my Vibrant here at 6 Meters under GPSTest and 10 under GMaps. Get a grip people.
heygrl said:
Get a grip people.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wont speak for Qwerty, but in my case I was LUCKY to get 10m accuracy; usually the best I could get was 40m; usually after 5-10 minutes of 'searching' and when you're driving an unfamiliar city such as Washington DC Like I was this past week, 40m is far too inaccurate for navigation. Your 'get a grip' is completely tasteless and uncalled for in this thread.
That said, I took zephiK's advice and just flashed the new 2.1 (thread 780935), and I must say its a lot better. I can get a 10m fix indoors in less than 5 seconds from a cold start (EG without GMaps knowing where I am at all); before being indoors I would never get less than a 1000m 'fix'. As soon as I get mine fully tweaked, I'll be sure to flash my wifes phone as well since she's got the same issue.
ShanDestromp said:
I wont speak for Qwerty, but in my case I was LUCKY to get 10m accuracy; usually the best I could get was 40m; usually after 5-10 minutes of 'searching' and when you're driving an unfamiliar city such as Washington DC Like I was this past week, 40m is far too inaccurate for navigation. Your 'get a grip' is completely tasteless and uncalled for in this thread.
That said, I took zephiK's advice and just flashed the new 2.1 (thread 780935), and I must say its a lot better. I can get a 10m fix indoors in less than 5 seconds from a cold start (EG without GMaps knowing where I am at all); before being indoors I would never get less than a 1000m 'fix'. As soon as I get mine fully tweaked, I'll be sure to flash my wifes phone as well since she's got the same issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No thats what im saying about.. He does have the update on his Vibrant
Sent from my SGH-T959
Anyways, Qwerty I just hope you get lucky with your swap and get a working gps and hardware recovery.I've been poking around and quite a few people are saying some of thenew vibrants have issues getting into recovery and down load mode
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Yeah, i'm still considering doing the swap, sometime this week, perhaps even today, got up this morning, and phone was off, (Charging Battery Symbol on the screen),
I'm not running any of the custom roms nor am i OCing. Just worried if I do the swap I may end up with even more problems. I don't know what it is with the Samsung phones, if perhaps a lot of the phones have hardware problems or what. I have only used the original stock rom, and the leaked samsung rom.
I don't mean to be picky with my phone, but I remember my 2 year old G1 getting easily 3m lock as soon as i open up the maps inside my room, and navigating with it, was extremely accurate as well. I also never had restart issues with the phone, till after dropping the thing really hard, and then even the restart thing went away.
Today, I'm lucky to get even 40m lock again, on that same leaked updated firmware. My gripe with the samsung vibrant is that there seems to be some sort of hardware problem with the phone and samsung is not saying a thing about it.
I'm telling you guys... don't bother with a swap... I work in a very high volume store and have seen almost every customer come back with GPS issues. We won't even swap them anymore for customers because TMO has listed it as a known issue, and Samsung has announced the firmware update soon... A swap WILL NOT fix the issue, but if you decide to swap it, don't go whining to us our TMO about how you "keep exchanging it and none of them work..." They know this, and YOU know it.

lol go att captivate!

x Samsung Galaxy S GPS + other improvements for Samsung ATT Captivate are HERE! Today - next few weeks OTA notification will be sent to customers! 11 minutes ago ยท via HootSuite
Thanks for the support TMO!
Hopefully tmobile announces something later today or by the end of the week, cuz it seems like our update is around the corner :fingers crossed:
Sent from my vibrant using the XDA app
Blah man said:
Hopefully tmobile announces something later today or by the end of the week, cuz it seems like our update is around the corner :fingers crossed:
Sent from my vibrant using the XDA app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doubt that because the still have no information about any of the update...
Android Central comments about the Captivate updates don't sound to impressive. issues with not installing and still GPS issues after the update?
Want to know how is he GPs working after the update!!
Emama said:
Want to know how is he GPs working after the update!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
its not only gps. The Update Suppose to Improve The Battery Life as Well.
Emama said:
Want to know how is he GPs working after the update!!
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Click to collapse
it isnt fixing the issue from what I read. AT&T also never mentions a GPS fix.
The more and more time that goes by, the more and more I want a G2 when it comes out honestly. Sumsung really dropped the ball here and its going to leave a bad taste in a lot of people's minds for a long time...
Windows Phone 7 anyone? This phone is making me think about it also.
jz9833 said:
it isnt fixing the issue from what I read. AT&T also never mentions a GPS fix.
The more and more time that goes by, the more and more I want a G2 when it comes out honestly. Sumsung really dropped the ball here and its going to leave a bad taste in a lot of people's minds for a long time...
Windows Phone 7 anyone? This phone is making me think about it also.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WIndows 7 phone? LOL no thank you. i ll stick with my vibrant. i think the hardware in that phone is very advanced than what is in g2. we just need software updates that will fix the bugs.
jz9833 said:
it isnt fixing the issue from what I read. AT&T also never mentions a GPS fix.
The more and more time that goes by, the more and more I want a G2 when it comes out honestly. Sumsung really dropped the ball here and its going to leave a bad taste in a lot of people's minds for a long time...
Windows Phone 7 anyone? This phone is making me think about it also.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You know what, I think Samsung is 50 percent to Blame. The other 50 percent is T-Mobile. T-MOBILE...simply does not support their phones.
Buying the G2 will be the same damn story. Sure it will come with 2.2, but as soon as 3.0 comes along, every other carrier will have it months before T-Mobile releases it on the G2, and you will cry and complain "the more and more I want Verizon."
I honestly think the problem is T-Mobile, and not so much the handset manufacturers.
tmobile is throwing Samsung under the bus, I got this back from a message I sent to Tmobiles facebook a bit ago..
Robert,
We understand your interest on updates Samsung is working on one and as soon as we have any more information on this we will communicate it.
.. notice they say that Samsung is working on one, I did ask about 2.2 though and not the gps fix.
SamsungVibrant said:
You know what, I think Samsung is 50 percent to Blame. The other 50 percent is T-Mobile. T-MOBILE...simply does not support their phones.
Buying the G2 will be the same damn story. Sure it will come with 2.2, but as soon as 3.0 comes along, every other carrier will have it months before T-Mobile releases it on the G2, and you will cry and complain "the more and more I want Verizon."
I honestly think the problem is T-Mobile, and not so much the handset manufacturers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly, my biggest regret was leaving at&t. I left because I wasn't interested in an iphone, I noticed no good new WM apps were coming along, and I wanted a 3.5 mm headphone jack on my phone. The nexus filled all those needs so when it was released I jumped ship to t-mobile. I found out the grass isn't always greener on the other side.
I still have no idea why people say T-Mobiles customer support is better than AT&T; from everything I've seen it isn't even close.
Someone else posted on here before about T-Mobiles BB getting upgraded to V.5 not too long ago.. they have 6 out or it's close to release. T-Mobile does lack in this "Software/Firmware" Update department. They have some decent phones but don't support them enough.
It's amazing, when the G1 came out, yes it was the first Android phone but updates rolled out pretty quick. I know it was stock "Vanilla" Android but updates were addressed in a timely manor. But now they have the My Touch, My Touch Slide and Cliq series and now the Galaxy S phone.
Wow everyone is a bunch of goddamn vultures here. Waaah I've had my phone a month and a half Samsung and T-Mobile suck I want my updates waaah. People need to realize that updates need to go through a lot of steps. If you don't like your phone return it and get a different one.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
speoples20 said:
Wow everyone is a bunch of goddamn vultures here. Waaah I've had my phone a month and a half Samsung and T-Mobile suck I want my updates waaah. People need to realize that updates need to go through a lot of steps. If you don't like your phone return it and get a different one.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you don't like the post why reply?
speoples20 said:
Wow everyone is a bunch of goddamn vultures here. Waaah I've had my phone a month and a half Samsung and T-Mobile suck I want my updates waaah. People need to realize that updates need to go through a lot of steps. If you don't like your phone return it and get a different one.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So what its perfectly ok for other Galaxy S phones that haven't been out as long as the Vibrant to be getting their updates, but not us? Honestly, I really think it has to do a lot with TMO and not Sammy. Luckily, I've rooted and running a custom ROM and Voodoo fix. I also know that doing that is not for everyone though.
The Captivate came out what like 3 days after the Vibrant? Maybe tmo and Samsung are waiting to see how the update goes on the Captivate. It wont matter anyways we could get it tomorrow and people will still complain that it's not 2.2 or their phone is still not fast enough or some other bullcrap.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
speoples20 said:
Wow everyone is a bunch of goddamn vultures here. Waaah I've had my phone a month and a half Samsung and T-Mobile suck I want my updates waaah. People need to realize that updates need to go through a lot of steps. If you don't like your phone return it and get a different one.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your joking right? First almost 2 1/2 months. Second the others all got a update as mentioned.
All other phones with 1ghz are running froyo, even a hd2 without android has it.lom
I vote we get /b/ to start ****. Maybe then we might get some movement from T-Mo and Samsung... just me? >.>
not that it will do anything to Tmobile but I've decided that whoever gets 2.2 on the Galaxy S device first is who I will be switching to. If its Tmobile then I won't be going anywhere, but if another carrier can get it out before Tmobile see ya.
Tmobile launched this device First int he US there is no reason they should not be the first to release the OS update even if it takes them till November
I do agree that they need to support their phones better. But at least TMO isn't forcing bing down our throats either.
I come from the Blackberry side of the fence and I remember when 5.0 devices were new last year it took forever for TMO to release an update for the 9700, and that original release was filled with bugs. I finally gave up on waiting for them and simply downloaded another carrier's release. Easy to do on that platform.
I like the Vibrant for the most part. Yes it has bugs; yes it's quality needs to be improved. Yes the GPS kind of sucks. But what other high-end phone out there doesn't have issues these days? I'm sure the G2 will have them as well.

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