Develop Bugs

[Q] GPS Hardware fix for Epic?

I noticed that there's a thriving conversation in the Vibrant forum on the topic of physically modding the phone to improve the electrical contact with the GPS antenna. I couldn't find any mention of the Epic in there; is this something that anyone has tried to apply to our model? My phone has no warranty and across several different kernels, radios, ROMs and configurations I've never gotten a GPS signal, so I'm ready to try something drastic.
Are the Epic's GPS problems of a different bent?

seroaddict said:
I noticed that there's a thriving conversation in the Vibrant forum on the topic of physically modding the phone to improve the electrical contact with the GPS antenna. I couldn't find any mention of the Epic in there; is this something that anyone has tried to apply to our model? My phone has no warranty and across several different kernels, radios, ROMs and configurations I've never gotten a GPS signal, so I'm ready to try something drastic.
Are the Epic's GPS problems of a different bent?
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Click to collapse
It's possible that your phone has a defective GPS chip, but from what I understand, the Epics GPS issues are different from the other Galaxy S devices. The other Galaxy S phones actually have trouble acquiring a GPS signal, where the Epic locks pretty quick, but runs into issues when the GPS cache fills up and doesn't flush itself (at least with the di18 modem). Some folks have reported experiencing this in EC05 also.

After upgrading to EB13 (and subsequently to EC05) my GPS issues all but completely went away.
Whereas I used to only get a 30m accuracy lock (even after minutes of searching) my Epic can now get a GPS lock accurate to 1m within a minute.
However, I have noticed that (on occasion) it reports my location as being a few hundred feet away from where I actually am.

s84471 said:
After upgrading to EB13 (and subsequently to EC05) my GPS issues all but completely went away.
Whereas I used to only get a 30m accuracy lock (even after minutes of searching) my Epic can now get a GPS lock accurate to 1m within a minute.
However, I have noticed that (on occasion) it reports my location as being a few hundred feet away from where I actually am.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ditto.....

GPS strong like bull since EB13/EC05.

My GPS has been "accurate to 2500" or "3000 meters" across several roms and Android versions. It seems to locate me very well, but reads as being accurate as stated.
I've NEVER seen it indicate "accurate to 1 meter," though I'd sure like to.

s84471 said:
After upgrading to EB13 (and subsequently to EC05) my GPS issues all but completely went away.
Whereas I used to only get a 30m accuracy lock (even after minutes of searching) my Epic can now get a GPS lock accurate to 1m within a minute.
However, I have noticed that (on occasion) it reports my location as being a few hundred feet away from where I actually am.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same for me!!
mjben said:
My GPS has been "accurate to 2500" or "3000 meters" across several roms and Android versions.
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Click to collapse
Those distances seem to me to be from the WiFi and not GPS

I haven't had any issues since EC05. I don't ever use WIFI for location. I have had better luck with some kernels than with others, however.

Any Idea how the GPS will be?

i havent gone threw every review but any of u guys catch anything in any review?
the epic by far was the best phone ive used but the GPS was down right awful and sprint nor samsung did anything to fix it

XDA fixed it enough to keep me happy. I think people are blowing this gps thing way out of proportion. "If it doesn't work perfectly or, at least as good as other phones then it must be the most awful thing ever!".

Silent25r said:
XDA fixed it enough to keep me happy. I think people are blowing this gps thing way out of proportion. "If it doesn't work perfectly or, at least as good as other phones then it must be the most awful thing ever!".
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Click to collapse
was never blown out of proportion.....my girls epic who is stock can never get a lock
mine who was rooted would get signal but never better then 40m lock and would lose signal constantly.....try taking an 9 hour drive with it on and see how many times ur signal is lost

imtjnotu said:
was never blown out of proportion.....my girls epic who is stock can never get a lock
mine who was rooted would get signal but never better then 40m lock and would lose signal constantly.....try taking an 9 hour drive with it on and see how many times ur signal is lost
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Click to collapse
I certainly remember that a lot of people had trouble, but I never did. Mine always locked perfectly and quickly and never gave me trouble on drives short and long.

imtjnotu said:
was never blown out of proportion.....my girls epic who is stock can never get a lock
mine who was rooted would get signal but never better then 40m lock and would lose signal constantly.....try taking an 9 hour drive with it on and see how many times ur signal is lost
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Click to collapse
I never understood the gps deal. It seemed so sporadic. Mine always worked and I am stock. I used it last weekend on EH17 to drive 5 hours to saint louis and it was perfect the entire way there and back. Didn't cut out once. But you see some people worth working gps and others without it.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium

I have to agree on the gps sucking. On any drive over an hour I could expect to loose lock. I'd imagine if we looked in some of the other GSII forums we might get a clue.

the only thing i ever loved more about my evo then the epic was the gps....htc never gave me gps issues ever

when i had the bionic or droid x they both locked on quick

Backing up the GPS being just short of useless. Remember, just because YOU haven't experienced the problem doesn't prove there isn't one. On Eclair I had very little trouble, but on FroYo I would constantly lose signal mid-trip, having to frequently turn it off and back on to re-lock and hope I wouldn't lose it right when I was in the middle of complex turns or had missed a turn and needed re-routing. In the Gingerbread leaks it turned to completely useless, locking up 100% after as little as 10 seconds of use, requiring a full restart of the phone to be useful again.
So yes, the Epic's biggest flaw was its next-to-useless GPS, hands down. That said, most reviews of the entire Galaxy S line agreed the GPS was bad on all versions. So far I've heard nothing of the sort about the Galaxy S II phones in Europe which suggests the entire line will be similar, including our new Epic 4G Touches.

imtjnotu said:
was never blown out of proportion.....my girls epic who is stock can never get a lock
mine who was rooted would get signal but never better then 40m lock and would lose signal constantly.....try taking an 9 hour drive with it on and see how many times ur signal is lost
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you couldn't fix it then that wasn't the norm. I would have returned it to Sprint and got a different one within the first 30 days.
9 hour drives? No problem. Longest I've been on was 6 but the GPS didn't have any problems. The battery on the other hand...

got mine yesterday, used GPS with google nav and telenav. drove for about an hour in farm country Ohio. GPS took a few seconds longer to lock than my EVo but once locked didn't drop signal. Still a little early to tell but no obvious problems yet.

TurboFool said:
Backing up the GPS being just short of useless. Remember, just because YOU haven't experienced the problem doesn't prove there isn't one. On Eclair I had very little trouble, but on FroYo I would constantly lose signal mid-trip, having to frequently turn it off and back on to re-lock and hope I wouldn't lose it right when I was in the middle of complex turns or had missed a turn and needed re-routing. In the Gingerbread leaks it turned to completely useless, locking up 100% after as little as 10 seconds of use, requiring a full restart of the phone to be useful again.
So yes, the Epic's biggest flaw was its next-to-useless GPS, hands down. That said, most reviews of the entire Galaxy S line agreed the GPS was bad on all versions. So far I've heard nothing of the sort about the Galaxy S II phones in Europe which suggests the entire line will be similar, including our new Epic 4G Touches.
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Click to collapse
Since I don't know who you were responding to I will assume it was me. You know that goes both ways right. Just because YOU have experienced the problem doesn't prove there is one. I have used every official build and every gingerbread leak except EE03 and I have never had a single problem. I use GPS frequently. I have never had a lockup. I have always had an instant lock. And I have always been able to get within 10 meters with the average being 3 meters. However, I never said there wasn't a problem. I just said I never understood the issue as to why it worked for some and not others. You would think that it would be global if the hardware is identical. Makes me wonder if it has anything to do with location in respect to the satellites. Never tried to dig into it because fortunately I didn't have the issue. But I do hope that the touch is without issues because not having gps would be a deal breaker for me.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium

crawrj said:
Since I don't know who you were responding to I will assume it was me. You know that goes both ways right. Just because YOU have experienced the problem doesn't prove there is one. I have used every official build and every gingerbread leak except EE03 and I have never had a single problem. I use GPS frequently. I have never had a lockup. I have always had an instant lock. And I have always been able to get within 10 meters with the average being 3 meters. However, I never said there wasn't a problem. I just said I never understood the issue as to why it worked for some and not others. You would think that it would be global if the hardware is identical. Makes me wonder if it has anything to do with location in respect to the satellites. Never tried to dig into it because fortunately I didn't have the issue. But I do hope that the touch is without issues because not having gps would be a deal breaker for me.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just because he experienced the problem means that a problem exists. Whether it's a wide spread problem or a unique incident, the problem still exists. On the Epic forums people are constantly complaining about GPS issues. There are few fortunate ones like you who haven't had the same issues. I didn't have GPS issues for a while until my job had me drive long distances.

cachorropedorro said:
Just because he experienced the problem means that a problem exists. Whether it's a wide spread problem or a unique incident, the problem still exists. On the Epic forums people are constantly complaining about GPS issues. There are few fortunate ones like you who haven't had the same issues. I didn't have GPS issues for a while until my job had me drive long distances.
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Click to collapse
So if you brick your phone because of something you did is the phone bad. Is there a flaw in the phone? No. And again, I never said there wasn't a problem. Actually I said that there was a problem for some and not for others. The only point I was making is that I didn't understand why it worked for some and not others. I wish we could have found the root cause.

Generally speaking GPS on the galaxy S line sucked world wide. Generally speaking it appears that samsung fix this in the galaxy s II.
This is based on reading numerous reviews on both; though it is always possible they messed up on the epic touch as it is slightly different and has wimax; I'm expecting it to work like a charm.
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I do wonder how many folks who tested gps on the galaxy s remember to ignore wifi triangulation when voicing a comment.

Forgot about this thread and started another a bit further down. I managed to sneak GPS status onto our demo phone yesterday and it locked to 9/10 sats in less than 2 seconds from inside. Accuracy was only at 30m when I cut it off, but it was indoors in a spot where my epic cannot lock at all. Pretty sure it's fixed.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

crawrj said:
The only point I was making is that I didn't understand why it worked for some and not others. I wish we could have found the root cause.
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Click to collapse
I did spend a fair amount of time investigating the GPS issues on EC05. There are at least two problems: (i) GpsOne Xtra data that fails to download and update, eventually resulting in stale ephemeris and inability to get timely locks, and (ii) a RIL synchronization bug that results in the GPS crashing with 5% probability on every exit/switch of a GPS utilizing app.
The latter of those two problem is definitely confirmed and affects every EC05 Epic. However, if you only use Navigation once a day, you'll run into that bug an average once a month and might not even notice it. But it is possible to reliably reproduce.
The former of the two problems I never fully understood. The GPS should work as long as you reboot once a week, but we know folks whose phones chronically couldn't download new Xtra data on reboot, likely becuase it was attempting to do so "too quickly" after establishing a network connection. Forcing an Xtra download through GPS Test, GPS Aids, or with a patched framework resolved the issue for most of those folks. The remaining issue is that the ephemeris would still go stale very quickly (hours) on some phones, and an EFS/NVRAM clear appears to help that.
Part of the issue is that the "brokenness" of the GPS is somewhat subjective. It's entirey possible for the GPS to absolutely not be able to get an Xtra-assisted lock, but using almanac data still get one in 30-60s in a vehicle. For some folks, that might be "good enough" and wouldn't think there's much of a problem.

cachorropedorro said:
Just because he experienced the problem means that a problem exists. Whether it's a wide spread problem or a unique incident, the problem still exists. On the Epic forums people are constantly complaining about GPS issues. There are few fortunate ones like you who haven't had the same issues. I didn't have GPS issues for a while until my job had me drive long distances.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the opposite of what your saying is true. This problem isn't as wide spread as it seems. The few who have this problem are very loud about it and complain about it over the forums. Though I seriously doubt that they are the majority.
If fixing your gps doesn't work then you can always set it back to stock and take it in for repair. If they can't repair and you don't have insurance then you can pay a small fee for a epic with a working gps. I doubt anyone is forcing people to live with a phone that the gps doesn't work on.

Considering that it has a dedicated GPS chip "SiRFstarIV GSD4t GPS" I doubt that we are going to see the same issues.
The integrated GPS on the SoC stinks, and samsung knows that. Using the SiRFstarIV will solve 99% of peoples GPS problems.

engadget claims it is solid. fwiw. http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/15/samsung-epic-4g-touch-review/
Our calls were absolutely solid. The phone's reception is on par with the best handsets around, and we never suffered from dropped calls or degraded quality. Our calls came in absolutely clear, and we think the speakers go to 11 because we had to actually turn down the volume to comfortably hear the other end of the line. The same thing could be said about the loudspeaker for calls and music, which both came out loud and clear without needing to strain our ears or feeling like we needed to break out the headphones. However, the sound seemed a bit limited when watching a full-length blockbuster movie, though we believe this had to do with the quality of the movie itself and not the phone.Last but not least, we double-checked the GPS to make sure it wouldn't have similar concerns to the Galaxy S series, and weren' t disappointed. In several locations -- including a basement next to a window -- the GPS pulled up our location in less than ten seconds. Needless to say, this is definitely a sound improvement, one we imagine had special attention given to it throughout the course of the phone's development.
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Click to collapse

Signal & GPS Reliability

All -
I'm hoping for a clear honest assessment of the reliability of the signal and GPS on the E4GT. I use CoPilot a TON for navigation and absolutely need the GPS to get a reasonably fast lock and be both fast (in terms of true-to-location while moving) and accurate. I also need the phone to not be dropping calls (I left AT&T for this very reason).
The reason for my post is simple - I've done a ton of reading threads both here and other sites and at this point am a bit worried that my planned purchase of the dreamy SII may have a few flaws. I've read post-after-post about signal loss issues as well as posts about very unreliable GPS qualities. But many of these posts appear to have been from the September-to-December timeframe and potentially were fixed or were older hardware versions.
SOoooo... I'm hoping a few of you real-life current owners can quell the fear - I so covet that gorgeous screen and dual-core processor. But the fact of the matter is that my Evo 4G gets near instantaneous GPS lock and pretty much never drops a call. I don't want to buy the E4GT and end up hating it for the 2 features I need most.
Thank you all in advance for your time -

I came from an evo as well and the call quality isn't an issue but the GPS is non existent on the phone. To be fair some time it locks with a few minutes some times it won't get a lock for 30 minutes even when I use GPS tool box to clear data and download the agps assistance. I'm in So Cal, in the high desert where we only have 2 story buildings and a pretty clear view of the sky.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App

Rats... bad GPS is a deal-breaker for me Maybe you're alone and I'll get nothing but rave reviews, right? Right?

I use GPS 4 to 5 times a day. You just need to turn GPS on. Then reboot. It sometimes takes a few minutes but always locks and always gets me where I want to go. Miner glitch in otherwise perfect phone

best gps for getting to a known address
Never had a dropped call yet. Use the gps multiple times a day and takes 1-20s to lock on, usually if it takes longer than that then something is wrong with the address. One notable problem is when using Google Navigate to search for say a McDonalds,it might give an address only relatively close and you'll need to look up the real address manually and have it go to that one instead. Also remember all phones are build a little different too so result can be way different.

The turn on-reboot-wait method on the GPS is straight up a deal breaker for me. With my "OG" Evo, I turn on GPS, and by the time CoPilot is loaded (typically about 10 seconds) the GPS is locked and ready to rock. With a newer and significantly more expensive phone, I refuse to be taking steps backward. I so badly wanted this phone but I think I'll have to wait... Or try the 3D.
Again - thanks all for your input -

mybikegoes200 said:
I so badly wanted this phone but I think I'll have to wait... Or try the 3D.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is one of those areas that really has no definitive answer. Luckily my GPS seems to work fine with pretty instant lock (knock on wood). I've seen reports of others that can't get locks unless they stand on their heads and rub their bellys, lol.
The best advice I can give is to actually get the phone and try it... if it doesn't work you have 14 days to return it and go with another one.

I have only seen problems with my GPS using google maps but if i use telenav or just Nav which also came on my phone its comes up w/i 5-10 seconds. Signal is good but not bad, i had the EVO 3d which was horrible, moto photon was excellent but i would put this signal right in the middle of them at "OK". I havent dropped very many calls but i do travel in rural areas so i cant down grade the signal for dead spots from Sprint

I have never really experienced GPS issues... I have only had one time where it took it about a minute to lock and route address.

I'd say bite the bullet and go for it. Seems like many who don't get good GPS trade their phones in for another and then they get good GPS. Seems like a quality control issue with samsung and GPS. You could always trade yours in if it's no good.
For me, my GPS locks take a while, unless I use GPS Status first, which locks consistently in < 10 sec.

If you decide to take the plunge and your ET4G has crap GPS, have them exchange it. I have a YouTube video that shows my first copy (which was aweful) and my second copy that to this day is fantastic.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

I appreciate all the input. Maybe I've been spoiled by the GPS quality on the OG Evo - which pretty much never takes longer than 10 seconds to lock. I don't have to do any silly reboots or gps status or clearing this or that... I turn on GPS, click the link for CoPilot - and by the time CoPilot loads gps has a lock. I've talked to enough people both online and locally to have the heebie jeebies about the E4GT.
Soooo... Right or wrong, what I decided to do is buy an Evo 3D on Craigslist to try that and hopefully either wait for a consistently good report on E4GT or a different phone with a more reliable GPS. That way I can still upgrade via contract if and when that time comes.
Again I thank you all for your input -

I never had a problem with gps on the et4g. It works perfect. When I saw buddy got gps working on cm7 I couldn't believe it bc it never worked for me when I had the evo...
I believe this device had better gps quality..
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

HTC One X Newcomer

Greets all,
Just wanted to say I will be amongst you all by Wed, I got my HTC one X phone in white (after reading the posts about which is better), I always had black, but time for a change.
My Birthday present to myself
One question is does anyone know if the GPS is any better in this phone then prior? I know that in the past my files for the gps have made a vast improvement to the gps, and I was wondering if anyone uses it on this phone or if its even neccessary?

You should have read a little more on here as lots of people have gps not working due to a bug

AngelDeath said:
Greets all,
Just wanted to say I will be amongst you all by Wed, I got my HTC one X phone in white (after reading the posts about which is better), I always had black, but time for a change.
My Birthday present to myself
One question is does anyone know if the GPS is any better in this phone then prior? I know that in the past my files for the gps have made a vast improvement to the gps, and I was wondering if anyone uses it on this phone or if its even neccessary?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You've got to dig a bit to find most of the GPS complaints, but they're out there. Some minor, some severe. Minor ones fix with an update to aGPS files. Others like mine have major issues holding an accurate location. I'm thinking it's a hardware flaw for those of us with that problem.
Good luck with yours.

Compare with my HD2, which can't fix location indoor near window (I'm in HK), HOX can get the location fixed in around 20s indoor near window, I think it is such a great improvement. However, I didn't check if the gps information is accurate or not.

I'm curious how come you guys are having problems with GPS, it locks faster than my old DHD and pin point my location accurately

Well mine will be obviously the international one and will be testing it out Wed when it comes in. To the ones that have issues, have you tried the files I made for different regions? Most if not all Android phones use a generic gps.conf file, and when the HD2 didnt have agps working properly, I crafted the gps.conf to basically work with the HD2 until the agps driver was rebuilt, but along the way, it turned out that native android phones greatly benefited from the files I made for the HD2 because the agps driver was already there. All my phones (Aria, HD2, Inspire, Vivid) all get gps locks in under 15 seconds outdoors, and near 20 indoors, with the exception of hardware related issues.
Also take something into consideration as well, the ril/radio obviously makes a difference, as well as if you have a casing on your phone, rubber or hard will also hamper your signal, but i will be looking at how well mine handles once it gets here, going to see stock and 2 days later with my file in place.

AngelDeath said:
Greets all,
Just wanted to say I will be amongst you all by Wed, I got my HTC one X phone in white (after reading the posts about which is better), I always had black, but time for a change.
My Birthday present to myself
One question is does anyone know if the GPS is any better in this phone then prior? I know that in the past my files for the gps have made a vast improvement to the gps, and I was wondering if anyone uses it on this phone or if its even neccessary?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was shocked how fast GPS lock on is on this phone, I have the International version and I lock on to satellites within 10 seconds. usually when I set up navigation i'll be searching for GPS on average for 5 seconds with no drop outs.
A far cry from the Miserable GPS on my old Desire HD which could take up to a minute or just never connect.

TommUK, most complained about that, but after my file, it was a 180 degree turnaround, mine locks on avg with 5 seconds of turning on any navigation app I have (Sygic, Navigon, Google Maps, or IGO), I use mine quite often, and as soon as I put the phone in the cradle and hit navigon, by the time I hit the map button the lock is already there. I know my daughters HTC Vivid when she got it brand new I tested the gps, couldnt get jack for 5 minutes, so I said F this, she wanted it rooted anyway, rooted it, then put my file in, fired up gps status, downloaded the agps, 15 seconds later lock.
But I'm eager to toy with this baby, cant wait, hate waiting, I want my new toy now! (Damn I sound like that girl from Willy Wonka that wanted a gold laying goose LOL)

I remember using your files on my hd2 and they worked a treat, however gps doesn't work at all on it now sadly. (Nothing to do with your files I might add)
On my one x no such problem, I can get a fix indoors even if I'm not by the window within 30 seconds.
I've navigated to the lake district on a two hour journey without any loss of signal at all.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium

The GPS is very good on the One X for acquiring signal and the no of satellites it locks on to.
However, compared to phones can also use Glonass (Russian satellites), the performance is not that good. You can see the test I did comparing the One X to the Galaxy Note here.

AngelDeath said:
TommUK, most complained about that, but after my file, it was a 180 degree turnaround, mine locks on avg with 5 seconds of turning on any navigation app I have (Sygic, Navigon, Google Maps, or IGO), I use mine quite often, and as soon as I put the phone in the cradle and hit navigon, by the time I hit the map button the lock is already there. I know my daughters HTC Vivid when she got it brand new I tested the gps, couldnt get jack for 5 minutes, so I said F this, she wanted it rooted anyway, rooted it, then put my file in, fired up gps status, downloaded the agps, 15 seconds later lock.
But I'm eager to toy with this baby, cant wait, hate waiting, I want my new toy now! (Damn I sound like that girl from Willy Wonka that wanted a gold laying goose LOL)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The GPS problem that has many returning their phones isn't that the GPS takes too long, it's that it can't maintain a lock or accurate position. Keep the phone perfectly still, not moving at all, and the GPS will still report you as moving at high rates of speed and wandering all over the neighborhood, sometimes many blocks away from your actual position. There's a few vids on youtube demonstrating this.
I've tried a few "fixes", including crypted's and fasterfix from the market; no joy in fixing my phones. GPS is useless for me. I haven't tried your fix, will seek it out, but not anticipating it to fix the issue.

Mine works fine, better than any phone I have used so far.
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA

There ARE issues with the GPS

I'm sure people are going to flame me and adamantly disagree, but please hear me out. No one wants this to be wrong more than me. I really like this phone, but I can't live with a broken GPS.
I have tested this two days in a row. I go to work for 9 hours, all radios are on. I never turn the GPS off. When I get home, I change clothes and go on a four mile walk. I use Runtastic to track this. Two days in a row, the GPS symbol comes up, but never stops blinking. If I toggle GPS off and back on, it gets a lock immediately and the GPS icon stops blinking. It will hold the lock for the rest of the walk. Rinse and repeat. Launching Maps or GPS test does not help it get a fix. It stays blinking until I toggle the GPS off/on.
The moral here is that I would have to toggle the GPS off/on every day before I walk. I have not tested this with navigation yet because I ride a motorcycle most days, but I intend to before sending it back. This is strangely similar to the (known) issues that my AT&T Note 3 had.
Please tell me that some of you have seen this. I don't see how it could be a faulty unit. My GS5, G3, and Z3c do not have this issue under the exact same circumstances. The GS5 being the most similar in hardware/software.

I used GPS in the car today and it never lost a lock. I haven't used the app that you speak of however. Is there anything that I can do to help test?

This happened to my note 3. The GPS chip was bad. The hardware was the problem. If you call att they can connect to your phone remotely and see what percentage you are connecting the GPS chip. They told me I was only getting 60%. Sent me a new phone within 2 days...

WizeGuyDezignz said:
I used GPS in the car today and it never lost a lock. I haven't used the app that you speak of however. Is there anything that I can do to help test?
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Click to collapse
Good to know it didn't lose the lock on your drive. My Note 3 used to jump around all over the place.
Honestly, I'm not sure what you could do. I don't think it's the app. When it gets like this, Maps, GPS Test, etc. will not get a solid lock until I toggle GPS off and on. The only reason I notice it on Runtastic is because that's when I use the GPS every day.
Something is happening with the GPS chip. It's either going to sleep and not waking up, or it's getting stuck on old GPS data or something. Like I said, I can reproduce it every day just by using it normally and then trying to use the GPS when I get home from work.

b0Ne83 said:
This happened to my note 3. The GPS chip was bad. The hardware was the problem. If you call att they can connect to your phone remotely and see what percentage you are connecting the GPS chip. They told me I was only getting 60%. Sent me a new phone within 2 days...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I had the Note 3, but from what I read it was software. I never did get my unit replaced and I sold it that way.
I bought my Note 4 through Amazon, so I'll have to do a return through them, if it really is defective.

It's possible. I hope you can get it to work. My note 4 is running flawless

Here's the thing too, guys. After I toggle the GPS off/on, the thing works flawlessly for the rest of the evening and through most of the next day. Like, it gets a lock inside within seconds.
That's the thing. It's not that it doesn't work at all. It just sort of goes on strike at the same time every night and has to be woken up again.
Sent from my Surface Pro 3 using Tapatalk

How can anyone here, including me, make declarative statements about what a device that's been out less than a week is or isn't doing across the board? Here's my GPS experience and I use it a lot. I use "GPS only" with Wi-Fi and carrier network sensing turned off. The GPS is slow on first lock; slower than my Note 3 was. Once it's locked it stays locked with the exception of losing signal when it encounters obstructions. That's normal and a byproduct of GPS technology not anything specific to the Note 3 or 4. I never had the issues with my Note 3's GPS that some people reported. Other than the slower initial lock I'd say, based on my experiences, the Note 4's GPS is significantly more stable and better at holding a signal. I use Here Beta a lot and the only other issue I've encountered is when the app's out of focus and comes back to the foreground it takes about a second for it to reorient itself. All that said I'd rather have the Note 4's GPS than the Note 3's (keeping in mind my Note 3's GPS served me well).

BarryH_GEG said:
How can anyone here, including me, make declarative statements about what a device that's been out less than a week is or isn't doing across the board? Here's my GPS experience and I use it a lot. I use "GPS only" with Wi-Fi and carrier network sensing turned off. The GPS is slow on first lock; slower than my Note 3 was. Once it's locked it stays locked with the exception of losing signal when it encounters obstructions. That's normal and a byproduct of GPS technology not anything specific to the Note 3 or 4. I never had the issues with my Note 3's GPS that some people reported. Other than the slower initial lock I'd say, based on my experiences, the Note 4's GPS is significantly more stable and better at holding a signal. I use Here Beta a lot and the only other issue I've encountered is when the app's out of focus and comes back to the foreground it takes about a second for it to reorient itself. All that said I'd rather have the Note 4's GPS than the Note 3's (keeping in mind my Note 3's GPS served me well).
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I was actually just hoping that someone may have noticed similar behavior. I always seem to be the first to discover issues because I get my phone early and really test it. Often times, I post something like this and no one replies or reports the same issue, then months later a new thread blows up about it or my thread gets resurrected. I'm just trying to determine if this is a real issue so I can return the phone, if necessary. I can't life with a buggy GPS. I use it way too much.

It takes about 5 seconds to get a gps lock for me. And about another 10 to get the most accurate reception.
This is indoors, just tested it in my bedroom.

harlenm said:
It takes about 5 seconds to get a gps lock for me. And about another 10 to get the most accurate reception.
This is indoors, just tested it in my bedroom.
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Yeah, well thanks, but that's really not the issue here.

greyhulk said:
Yeah, well thanks, but that's really not the issue here.
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The topic is gps and initial locking, which I commented that I'm not having the issue.
If the OP is, then it's possible he has a defective device since I don't see that issue.

harlenm said:
The topic is gps and initial locking, which I commented that I'm not having the issue.
If the OP is, then it's possible he has a defective device since I don't see that issue.
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The topic is GPS and occasional initial locking. Mine works fine when it works, but it's situational. Telling me that yours locks fine doesn't help me because mine does too, right now.
I'm trying to see if anyone else is experiencing times when the GPS simply stops working until they toggle it off and back on.

greyhulk said:
I was actually just hoping that someone may have noticed similar behavior. I always seem to be the first to discover issues because I get my phone early and really test it. Often times, I post something like this and no one replies or reports the same issue, then months later a new thread blows up about it or my thread gets resurrected. I'm just trying to determine if this is a real issue so I can return the phone, if necessary. I can't life with a buggy GPS. I use it way too much.
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I wasn't being "*****y" at you on purpose. For some reason the Note 4's forums have had a large number of "gate," "OMG!!!," and threads liberally using the royal "we" with much of what's said being baseless or exaggerative. My tone was carry over from the thread on the international forum where a guy launched a "Pen-gate" thread complete with video because his cheap-ass magnetic case was causing S Pen dead spots. So apologies. Notebook Check does thorough GPS testing and their review of the Note 4 should be up soon. Here's a sample from the Xperia Z3 Compact.
They tested the Note 3's GPS here...
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Samsung-Galaxy-Note-3-SM-N9005-Smartphone.104798.0.html

I just finished a 1700 MI trip I lost location once but it was in the back woods of Iowa. Much better than the note 3 I owned.

BarryH_GEG said:
I wasn't being "*****y" at you on purpose. For some reason the Note 4's forums have had a large number of "gate," "OMG!!!," and threads liberally using the royal "we" with much of what's said being baseless or exaggerative. My tone was carry over from the thread on the international forum where a guy launched a "Pen-gate" thread complete with video because his cheap-ass magnetic case was causing S Pen dead spots. So apologies. Notebook Check does thorough GPS testing and their review of the Note 4 should be up soon. Here's a sample from the Xperia Z3 Compact.
They tested the Note 3's GPS here...
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Samsung-Galaxy-Note-3-SM-N9005-Smartphone.104798.0.html
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Thanks, man. It may just be something in my environment or software setup, but it's definitely odd.
I see you on here a lot and I've always found you to be helpful, so no harm no foul.

I was having issues with my phone holding a lock too. It would find satellites, but would keep dropping out every couple of seconds.
I downloaded the "GPS Test" app, updated AGPS data from the settings menu, and now it locks and stays locked 100% of the time. And locks really fast, too.
May not help anyone else, but thought I would share.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A

I had a bad GPS chip in my Note 3, it wouldn't get a lock. Seems to work great on my Note4 so far, I use Waze every day driving to and from work.
One thing though is that if you have GPS accuracy set to also use WiFi/mobile networks you will drop GPS a LOT, that was something I noticed as it tried to lock onto WiFi carriers. I turned this off and only use GPS for accuracy and it works perfectly with the usual caveats, tunnels etc.

greyhulk said:
That's the thing. It's not that it doesn't work at all. It just sort of goes on strike at the same time every night and has to be woken up again.
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I haven't seen this myself. I just checked Google Maps and it displays my location immediately, without my having toggled the GPS today.
So I believe that you're having a hardware problem, but luckily it's not inherent in the Note 4, so you should be able to exchange for one with a properly working GPS.

Okay, guys. I'm an idiot. Turns out that this is all Runtastic. As long as the app is open in the background (during my runs/walks), the GPS icon blinks. Even opening Maps, GPS test, etc. will not give me a solid lock. As soon as I kill Runtastic, though, all is fine. It would seem that this is just how Runtastic uses the GPS and it overrides everything else. I had to do further testing to figure this out, but it would appear that I jumped the gun. For that, I apologize. I'm just glad I don't have to send my Note 4 back.
Thanks to everyone who participated.
Sent from my Surface Pro 3 using Tapatalk