[Samsung i780] GPS cannot fix on any satelites

[co6ra]

Hi,
I am new here and just bought an i780 in S'pore 4 weeks ago, running on i780DXHD1 (Radio + PDA). I have been trying to use the GPS for weeks using the bundled NavFone but it always could not fix on any satelites. In the signal strength, there is no single bar appear. I tried MapKing, it is the same. When i checked on MapKing GPS data stream, it is always empty. when i checked on the dailpad, the GPS logo is active(not crossed). When i turn off the GPS application, the GPS logo is inactive (crossed). With this, can i assume the GPS hardware is working? But why no data stream? I have tried turning on XTRA, but it is the same. Below is my configuration:

[NavFone]
Software Port GDP1:
Hardware port COM9:
baud 4800
Windows managed: yes/checked

[MapKing(trial)]
Software Port COM8:
Hardware port COM9:
baud 4800
windows managed: yes/checked


Please help.... Thanks!

[g00ndu]

Hi,
I am new here and just bought an i780 in S'pore 4 weeks ago, running on i780DXHD1 (Radio + PDA). I have been trying to use the GPS for weeks using the bundled NavFone but it always could not fix on any satelites. In the signal strength, there is no single bar appear. I tried MapKing, it is the same. When i checked on MapKing GPS data stream, it is always empty. when i checked on the dailpad, the GPS logo is active(not crossed). When i turn off the GPS application, the GPS logo is inactive (crossed). With this, can i assume the GPS hardware is working? But why no data stream? I have tried turning on XTRA, but it is the same. Below is my configuration:

[NavFone]
Software Port GDP1:
Hardware port COM9:
baud 4800
Windows managed: yes/checked

[MapKing(trial)]
Software Port COM8:
Hardware port COM9:
baud 4800
windows managed: yes/checked


Please help.... Thanks!
co6ra,

First off, you need to stand in an open space before you activate your GPS. I uses Agis software too, and based on my experience when you use it the first time, the signal tends to get a little longer than usual. At times, it can even be over 10 minutes before I get a signal.

To assist your time to get the signal, I would advise you to use the Enhanced GPS found in your settings>system. Clicked on the enhanced gps and select Enable in the XTRA Enable. There is no need to select Auto Download (that is, Disable).

This would mean that the device will also use the base stations to assist in finding the location of your device. Of course the downside to it is you will incur GPRS charges.

Try it and see if you can get the signal. :)

[g00ndu]

Deleted....

[co6ra]

co6ra,

First off, you need to stand in an open space before you activate your GPS. I uses Agis software too, and based on my experience when you use it the first time, the signal tends to get a little longer than usual. At times, it can even be over 10 minutes before I get a signal.

To assist your time to get the signal, I would advise you to use the Enhanced GPS found in your settings>system. Clicked on the enhanced gps and select Enable in the XTRA Enable. There is no need to select Auto Download (that is, Disable).

This would mean that the device will also use the base stations to assist in finding the location of your device. Of course the downside to it is you will incur GPRS charges.

Try it and see if you can get the signal. :)


Hi,
Thanks for your reply. For the past 4 weeks, i have been trying all sort of methods; standing at my aprtment balcony, in an open field, in a bus, windows seat, etc. all with at least 30 minutes. When i was at home, i stood at the balcony, turn on my wifi, and kept downloading the XTRA. Sometimes, i cannot see any bar at all; sometimes, i saw a lot of bars, with different PRN number, but all empty (strength 0), and kept changing, but still no fix...:(

help....~~

[vincal]

i have the same problem too until I download a software call GPSgate, there after I am uable to use my gps, I do not have the link , try seaching on the web.

[co6ra]

i have the same problem too until I download a software call GPSgate, there after I am uable to use my gps, I do not have the link , try seaching on the web.

I thought GPSGate is some kind of port sharing program? Both NavFone and MapKing is able to connect to the GPS unit, it just could not fix. Is it possible that the GPS is locked?

Anyhow, will try on GPSGate later. What is the recommended configuration?....


Thanks!

[co6ra]

Installed GPSGate, and found that now MapKing is able to connect to the port and receive data. When i check on the GPS stream, it always appear to have the first line with data(some figures deliminated with ","), but follows by a few line with empty data (no figure, but a lot of ","). When i checked GPSGate, the status of the input port is always "GPS data but no position". I have tried just now in an open space, clear night sky, for at 40 mins, it still cannot fix on any satelite....


Help!...is this something to do with hardware?

[alex16s]

Hello,

I've got the same pb. No gps fix and no satellite. I've tried with gpsproxy, portsplitter. No way : no signal...
My phone version :

PDA : i780dxhe1
PHONE : i780puhe1
Rom : EFN WM6.1 - 3.3XG

[co6ra]

Hello,

I've got the same pb. No gps fix and no satellite. I've tried with gpsproxy, portsplitter. No way : no signal...
My phone version :

PDA : i780dxhe1
PHONE : i780puhe1
Rom : EFN WM6.1 - 3.3XG

I just tried gpsproxy, it still does not solve my issues.

Where did you buy your unit? I am thinking of sending back to samsung. If i am sending back, this will be the first and last samsung unit that i am using...:mad:

[g00ndu]

I just tried gpsproxy, it still does not solve my issues.

Where did you buy your unit? I am thinking of sending back to samsung. If i am sending back, this will be the first and last samsung unit that i am using...:mad:
Since you have not flashed to any custom rom (I hope you did not) why not send your device back to the SSC and lodge a complain that the GPS is not working at all.

If they say nothing is wrong, ask them to demonstrate that the GPS is able to lock in the signals.

I know it is frustrating to have features and yet not working. It can be a case of hardware issue. Let's see how the SSC can help you, since yours is still under warranty.

I wish you would be able to solve your GPS issue. i780 is still a great phone. Let us know how it goes, okay? :)

[co6ra]

ya...i am travelling now and expect the GPS to work....should have not trust it will work out from box. will visit the SSC when i am back to S'pore 3 weeks later....

[g00ndu]

ya...i am travelling now and expect the GPS to work....should have not trust it will work out from box. will visit the SSC when i am back to S'pore 3 weeks later....
In the meantime, just keep on trying, if you have time to spare. :) Who knows? You might have it resolved by then.

All the best... :) And good luck...

[co6ra]

hi,
I just enable the log in NavFone and here is how it looks:

$GPGSV,2,1,05,07,20,040,,26,68,205,,04,00,111,,14, 37,310,*75
$GPGSV,2,2,05,25,23,045,*4B
$GPGGA,,,,,,0,,,,,,,,*66
$GPRMC,,V,,,,,,,,,,N*53
$GPGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,*32
$GPVTG,,T,,M,,N,,K*4E
$GPGSV,2,1,05,07,20,040,,26,68,205,,04,00,111,,14, 37,310,*75
$GPGSV,2,2,05,25,23,045,*4B
$GPGGA,,,,,,0,,,,,,,,*66
$GPRMC,,V,,,,,,,,,,N*53
$GPGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,*32
$GPVTG,,T,,M,,N,,K*4E
$GPGSV,2,1,05,07,20,040,,26,68,205,,04,00,111,,14, 37,310,*75
$GPGSV,2,2,05,25,23,045,*4B
$GPGGA,,,,,,0,,,,,,,,*66
$GPRMC,,V,,,,,,,,,,N*53
$GPGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,*32
$GPVTG,,T,,M,,N,,K*4E
$GPGSV,2,1,08,07,20,040,,26,68,205,,04,00,111,,14, 37,310,*78
$GPGSV,2,2,08,25,23,045,,22,28,187,,12,37,299,,13, 49,299,*7A
$GPGGA,,,,,,0,,,,,,,,*66
$GPRMC,,V,,,,,,,,,,N*53
$GPGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,*32
$GPVTG,,T,,M,,N,,K*4E

According to http://gpsinformation.org/dale/nmea.htm, GGA is one of the most important stream to provide location data. From the log, it seems like the GPS is not able to calculate the current location at all? What is wrong with the GPS unit???...

Ya...i have been trying to put the GPS on everytime i am outside, in total, i think i have tested no less than 10 hours, but still no luck.... :(

[g00ndu]

co6ra,

From the looks of your log file, it seems that your GPS chipset might not be working. Those coordinates that you have should come from the base station of the phone.

I tried it indoor, and it seems that there are satellites showing, but just could not get a fix on it too (But then, I was indoor).

Your log file might be useful, especially when you bring your unit back to SSC for service.

P/S: My settings are as follows:

Enhanced GPS XTRA is enabled but Auto Download is disabled.
When running NavFone, my settings are as follows:

http://img373.imageshack.us/img373/705/navfoneun9.jpg (http://img373.imageshack.us/my.php?image=navfoneun9.jpg)

Don't worry about the external GPS settings, just leave it as it is.

I will feedback later when I am on the balcony. Please be patient. :)

Update:

Log of my GPS Data:

$GPGSA,A,3,13,17,20,23,,,,,,,,,,7.5,4.6,5.9*15
$GPVTG,,T,,M,0.0,N,0.0,K*4E
$GPGSV,3,1,12,07,66,357,,08,28,336,14,11,68,046,18 ,13,42,213,20*7C
$GPGSV,3,2,12,17,24,257,27,19,07,028,,20,24,143,30 ,23,27,175,25*7A
$GPGSV,3,3,12,25,81,061,,27,55,338,15,28,04,315,17 ,32,13,119,18*76
$GPGGA,095555.0,0119.614273,N,10352.209341,E,1,04, 4.5,38.5,M,,,,*39
$GPRMC,095555.0,A,0119.614273,N,10352.209341,E,,,1 50808,,,A*67
$GPGSA,A,3,13,17,20,23,,,,,,,,,,7.5,4.5,5.9*16
$GPVTG,,T,,M,0.0,N,0.0,K*4E
$GPGSV,3,1,12,07,66,357,,08,28,336,14,11,68,046,18 ,13,42,213,22*7E
$GPGSV,3,2,12,17,24,257,28,19,07,028,,20,24,143,30 ,23,27,175,25*75
$GPGSV,3,3,12,25,81,061,,27,55,338,15,28,04,315,17 ,32,13,119,18*76
$GPGGA,095556.0,0119.616592,N,10352.210679,E,1,04, 4.5,44.5,M,,,,*3D
$GPRMC,095556.0,A,0119.616592,N,10352.210679,E,,,1 50808,,,A*68

Yes, what you said is true, the GGA data is the coordinates of your device and determine your location.

[co6ra]

I have sent the same log to Agis and Samsung via emails. Waiting for their reply. Hopefully they can solve this by next week, so that i can use it when i need it most as i am travelling to Malaysia now.

BTW, do you guys think that this might be a locked GPS? Anybody has any ideas? If so, how to unlock?

[g00ndu]

Locked? what do you mean? It shouldn't be and it should work right out of the box.

[co6ra]

i am not sure also...read few article on locked GPS topic, which they key in a code to unlock/activate the gps unit.

[co6ra]

No luck. Samsung Singapore support does not even want to reply to my email.... :mad:

Just happen that one of my colleagues travelled to my local office. Has switched back to my old BenQ P50 and let my colleague to bring down the unit back to Samsung S'pore. They claim that it might be a software issue and saying that they are going to flash the latest ROM to see if it helps.

[co6ra]

Locked? what do you mean? It shouldn't be and it should work right out of the box.


Hi,
I notice that u r using the cooked ROM. Did you backup the original ROM before flashing the cooked ROM? If so, how do you backup?

[homer285]

Hello,

I've got the same pb. No gps fix and no satellite. I've tried with gpsproxy, portsplitter. No way : no signal...
My phone version :

PDA : i780dxhe1
PHONE : i780puhe1
Rom : EFN WM6.1 - 3.3XG
I went through this same thing, I now have Tomtom7 running perfectly and getting a fix in seconds.
It is highly important that you have a working Sim card, correct GPRS or EDGE settings and that XTRA is Enabled!
Use GPS Gate stock settings! ie. prior to running GPS Gate goto External GPS and select com2, then run GPS Gate and use the wizard and let it find Com2.
GPRS/EDGE should try to connect automatically if not then switch it on, exit and restart GPS Gate. Be patient on the first fix it can take 5 mins, it should not take this long though.
Wait until GPS Gate shows that dark green icon in app tray and has a valid position, once it does then execute your GPS software and use (Franson Virtual com 1) default comport generated by GPS Gate.
GPRS/EDGE can be turned off after GPS Gate shows that it has your position and this need only be done once. This has worked on Omnia after many many hours of failure and frustration.

[sommozx]

I just tried gpsproxy, it still does not solve my issues.

Where did you buy your unit? I am thinking of sending back to samsung. If i am sending back, this will be the first and last samsung unit that i am using...:mad:

hi,
yesterday, after the upgrading at XG version i resolved an issue like your. with settings:
Software Port COM8:
Hardware port COM9:
baud 4800
windows managed: yes/checked


My gps sw in Mcguider

[minhgi]

I use EFN rom plus other utilities like GPSgate, GPS proxy, and ......etc.

Could never get the GPS to run. I can see it running and searching for the sattalite, but no lock. Try on TomTom and Garmin (Samsung).

I am starting to think that it have to do something with registry lock.

I see some where in the registry with GPS address liking to "http:\\agps.france.com:2745".

Since I am using the phone in the US, does it matter with the GPS. Otherwise my phone is working perfectly.

[co6ra]

my friend brought that unit to Samsung service center in S'pore, they just flash it with the latest ROM and claimed that they have fixed the GPS. In fact they din test at all..&@!#&!#@&!@#

The ROM version now is E1 and still the GPS cannot fix on any satelites. The samsung service personnel insisted that it is the software issues and ask my friend to bring it to Agis, which is quite far away from the center. Now my friend needs to travel to that place and get confirmation from Agis that the software has nothing wrong.

What the hack? Can't they differentate between software bugs and hardware bug? even if it is software bugs, it is bundled together. Samsung suppose to make sure it works!! If Agis claims that there is no software setting problem. I am going to screw them later....:mad:

[co6ra]

Finally...i got back my i780. What a waste of 2 weeks sitting in SSC. It happened that they totally forgot about my unit until i call them to check up....what a mess...

They changed the motherboard, according to the service desk. Now i get everything back to what it is expected....So, i can conclude that it was hardware issue, and the GPS unit was defective on the very first day itself..:mad:

FYI, when i tried to collect over the counter on Tuesday(they called me to go), they told me they mis-placed the unit and asked me to go home. Then they delivered to my office the next day. On the day i was there at the SSC, another guy was there complaining exactly the same issue as mine, but with very much higher level of "volcano" power. Suddenly i felt i was so "polite" to the SSC people comparing with this guy.... ;)

[g00ndu]

Finally...i got back my i780. What a waste of 2 weeks sitting in SSC. It happened that they totally forgot about my unit until i call them to check up....what a mess...

They changed the motherboard, according to the service desk. Now i get everything back to what it is expected....So, i can conclude that it was hardware issue, and the GPS unit was defective on the very first day itself..:mad:

FYI, when i tried to collect over the counter on Tuesday(they called me to go), they told me they mis-placed the unit and asked me to go home. Then they delivered to my office the next day. On the day i was there at the SSC, another guy was there complaining exactly the same issue as mine, but with very much higher level of "volcano" power. Suddenly i felt i was so "polite" to the SSC people comparing with this guy.... ;)
Congratulations, now you can use the i780 to its full potential. :) Glad that you can put this episode behind you. :)

[scofield.0124]

I managed to run GPS on my i780 using Mapking and GPSGate. I just played with different settings and after some couple of trial and error, it locks on the sattelite and everything works perfectly. After some time playing with it, Mapking hangs, after I reset, I cannot lock to GPS anymore. Can somebody explain what's the meaning of the setting on the GPSGate? What's the input, output, COM1, COM2, etc use for?

[dgtel2]

Don't use GPSGate. It's not compatible with i780 ROM. Use JAL Port Splitter. you can download the latest version 1.20 at http://www.gpsmeter.com/index.php?page=downloads . Download "portsplitter_mobile6_setup".

[dirlan2001]

I managed to run GPS on my i780 using Mapking and GPSGate. I just played with different settings and after some couple of trial and error, it locks on the sattelite and everything works perfectly. After some time playing with it, Mapking hangs, after I reset, I cannot lock to GPS anymore. Can somebody explain what's the meaning of the setting on the GPSGate? What's the input, output, COM1, COM2, etc use for?


Hi,

There is absolutely NO reason to use any secondary app for ur GPS to run. Just make sure that u check which softwareport is used by ur GPS applet, and set the port accordingly in the navigation app...
e.g. Hardwareport = COM8 /// Softwareport = COM6 /// automanaged : ticked ;;; then make sure u set the navtool to COM6 .....

Cheers,

Dirk

[scofield.0124]

Don't use GPSGate. It's not compatible with i780 ROM. Use JAL Port Splitter. you can download the latest version 1.20 at http://www.gpsmeter.com/index.php?page=downloads . Download "portsplitter_mobile6_setup".

I'm using EFN cooked ROM on my i780 and GPSGate is running well, I just managed to make it operational again. Without the use of secondary application, i really can't turn on the GPS, maybe its on the ROM used?