4 years later, the samsung GPS is still a POS

[slightlyhuman]

Weak rant.

Why does my GPS never lock and when it does it's always several hundred meters away. If i'm traveling on interstate, it shows me over 3 blocks. WHAT THE FUCK?

FWIW, I've had these issues on my captivate, all the way back to the first Google phone(slide out g1), the infuse, and now my Gnex.

I have been using roms(JBSourvery v5 atm) for a long time. Is it the 3rd party kernels itself or should I go back to stock JB?

It's very frustrating.

 

[dougp]

Never have this issue on my Note 2, but I did have issues w/ my Captivate and it turned me off of Android for quite awhile.

 

[ChronoReverse]

This was a hardware issue with Samsung and their entire Galaxy S line (except for the Epic). Samsung really didn't catch nearly enough flak for this as they should have (because they never fixed it).

My HTC G2 from the same era locks GPS within seconds.

 

[Red Storm]

Maybe go back to stock and try it?

 

[jpeyton]

This was an issue on 1st and 2nd generation Galaxy phones.

It's a complete non-issue on the Galaxy S3, which locks accurately in seconds on the stock ROM.

Cyanogen founder Steve Kondik mentioned that the S4 GPS locks even faster than the S3.

 

[Chapbass]

This was an issue on 1st and 2nd generation Galaxy phones.

It's a complete non-issue on the Galaxy S3, which locks accurately in seconds on the stock ROM.

Cyanogen founder Steve Kondik mentioned that the S4 GPS locks even faster than the S3.

Yeeeapp. My Droid X locked almost immediately, my note 2 does as well. My Infuse, on the other hand..... Almost never locked, was a pain in the ass.

 

[slightlyhuman]

weird. i'm using one of the most popular Gnex roms and it isn't worth DICK.

 

[ChronoReverse]

Maybe go back to stock and try it?

Won't fix the problem. It's a hardware issue with the Galaxy S series (or if it's software Samsung has refused to fix it).

Again, it's odd that Samsung didn't get dragged through the mud for this. This thread is a little enlightening (people blamed Android instead?).

 

[vshah]

Won't fix the problem. It's a hardware issue with the Galaxy S series (or if it's software Samsung has refused to fix it).

Again, it's odd that Samsung didn't get dragged through the mud for this. This thread is a little enlightening (people blamed Android instead?).

he's not on a galaxy s, he's on a galaxy nexus.

OP, i never had any problems on my gnex. i used cyanogenmod exclusively. i'd try it if i were you.

 

[Red Storm]

I don't remember the S2, S3, or Galaxy Nexus having these issues. The S1 definitely did have a widespread problem. I'm assuming he's on a Nexus right now, and if so a broken GPS is definitely not to be expected.

 

[ChronoReverse]

Oh, if he's on the GNex then I'd try pure Cyanogenmod (clean install). I know enough people with GNex's with perfectly working GPS's that I'm convinced that if the OP's doesn't work with full-wipe Cyanogenmod, it's probably his particular phone.


I wonder if it's possible that his area has some sort of GPS interference? What about other people and their phones/GPS devices?

 

[JackOfHearts]

Got to be his hardware wife's Gnex locks to with in 3 meters in seconds...

 

[ponyo]

I never had problem with GPS on my Galaxy Nexus. I'm completely stock minus root. I've tested and used GPS extensively on this phone since my previous phone was Samsung Vibrant which had horrible GPS. Defective GPS on the Vibrant was the main reason I upgraded early to Galaxy Nexus.

OP, until you run stock, you don't know if it's the ROM or your phone.

 

[Nothinman]

My Galaxy Nexus running CyanogenMod 10 works just fine too, usually no more than 5s to get down to a few meters of where I am and it's always correct.

 

[richierich1212]

Try using the app GPS Status and let it try to lock on to satellites.

 

[Chocu1a]

My GNex had a fast locking gps, as did my GS3, & same as my current Note 2. In fact, I just took a trip & the gps worked flawlessly. There was a detour due to road construction & it rerouted in seconds.

 

[shortylickens]

My Note 2 is great. Its not the OS, its the hardware.

 

[Eug]

I once had this problem on RAZR HD, but never since. I've actually had worse results though with my Garmin GPS. It's happened rarely on my Garmin, but rare on my Garmin is more than on my RAZR HD.

(I've been using my RAZR HD more and more lately for the GPS functionality because it takes voice commands and voice searches, and it's so much faster than my Garmin GPS.)

 

[bonkers325]

goto settings -> apps -> google services, clear data, then goto google maps, clear data, then reboot. after it boots up, open up google maps, it will say "updated to newest version!" then it should re-sync your gps completely. hope this helps.

edit: i use a GSM galaxy nexus and i've had this problem before.

 

[jhansman]

The Captivate was mentioned earlier, which my wife still uses (refuses to budge off of Froyo-go figure). Anyhoo, when she got the phone, the GPS was a POS, but the Froyo update did improve the accuracy and length of time it took to get a sat fix. Beyond that, it still feels ancient compared to the current offerings.

 

[McWatt]

This was a hardware issue with Samsung and their entire Galaxy S line (except for the Epic). Samsung really didn't catch nearly enough flak for this as they should have (because they never fixed it).

My HTC G2 from the same era locks GPS within seconds.

It was actually a software issue with the GS2 related to the phone being unable to use A-GPS data stored from earlier sessions. I could get mine to lock in ~10 seconds if I first cleared and then refreshed the A-GPS info using a third party app. Otherwise it took 30 seconds to 30 minutes. The fact that Samsung decided to use this as a way to encourage purchase of new phones rather than offering a fix over several generations of phone with this problem has left me reluctant to buy another Samsung device, despite the general attractiveness of a Note 2.

 

[ChronoReverse]

The Galaxy S2 is a different line from the original Galaxy S line. There never really was a fully satisfactory fix for the original Galaxies unfortunately.

Didn't realize they had an issue in the GS2 as well. The Skyrocket version had few GPS issues (probably because it was Snapdragon instead of Exynos).

 

[amdhunter]

Damn, my Nexus 4 was spot on.

 

[Phokus]

Nexus 4 owner here, no problems with GPS whatsoever

 

[Midwayman]

This was a hardware issue with Samsung and their entire Galaxy S line (except for the Epic). Samsung really didn't catch nearly enough flak for this as they should have (because they never fixed it).

My HTC G2 from the same era locks GPS within seconds.

Epic was bugged as well. GPS never worked right on that phone. OTOH my note 1 locks super quick and is accurate. Glonass + gps ftw.