Problems with GPS: Myth or fact?

rrush271 · Feb 13, 2013

syintiphic said:
Hi,

I have a simple GPS fix that worked for me. I'd like to mention that the solution may not work for all but it did work for me after I tried just about every fix possible. For example I flashed back to stock, performed numerous battery pulls, used many of the AGPS patches, made numerous edits to the gps.conf file, reprovisioned my phone, checked different ROMs, uninstalled/reinstalled Google Maps, cleared data for Google Maps and Google Service Framework, and so on.

I tried all of the above methods because my GPS would take forever to get a fix both indoors and outdoors (I know it usually takes longer to get a fix indoors), wouldn't hold the fix while navigating and my GPS apps kept stating "Searching for GPS", would see 20+ satellites but would never lock on to them...man it was really frustrating. I just about gave up.

However, as I was trying to follow another procedure to fix my GPS which required me to pull my battery I noticed that when I removed my back cover that the back frame that has all the screws was slightly loose on the left side. Once I tightened them all up my GPS worked immediately! I've tested for a day and I consistently got a lock on the satellites in about 2-15 seconds depending on my location. My navigation also worked and wouldn't cut in and out.

Like I said it may not work for everyone but I would recommend that if you have a GS3 definitely check the back frame of your phone and make sure everything is secure. I've tried my GPS on the stock and CM 10 stable ROMs and I have achieved GPS locks consistently.

I hope this helps. Maybe this has already been shared but I figured I would post in case some of you haven't seen it yet.

Cheers.

I was having the same problems, gps wouldn't lock etc. I was about to send it in for a replacement when I found this thread. I checked the screw under the gps antenna and it was about 1/2 turn loose. Tightened it up and now I get a gps lock in seconds.

Thank you for the suggestion. It saved me from getting a refurb.

JBaxendale · Feb 13, 2013

Been having GPS problems for a long, long time on my S3. Happened on this post today.

It is true. I tightened the screws and now GPS works perfectly. Get fix in one or two seconds every time now. I am also getting 19 of 22 satellites connected and accuracy is at 10 feet which I think is the very best you can get.

Amazing, but true. Thanks.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

Gervin · Feb 20, 2013

JBaxendale said:
Been having GPS problems for a long, long time on my S3. Happened on this post today.

It is true. I tightened the screws and now GPS works perfectly. Get fix in one or two seconds every time now. I am also getting 19 of 22 satellites connected and accuracy is at 10 feet which I think is the very best you can get.

Amazing, but true. Thanks.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

LOL - I'd hate to think the production run that Verizon admitted to about the GPS is only related to loose screws.

syintiphic · Feb 24, 2013

rrush271 said:
I was having the same problems, gps wouldn't lock etc. I was about to send it in for a replacement when I found this thread. I checked the screw under the gps antenna and it was about 1/2 turn loose. Tightened it up and now I get a gps lock in seconds.

Thank you for the suggestion. It saved me from getting a refurb.

I'm glad the fix worked for you.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

syintiphic · Feb 24, 2013

malo1m said:
I can't find the original post, because I cannot remember in which thread it was on.

A fellow xda member said he looked at the screws on his wife's s3 and notices they were loose. He then said he simply tightened them and was getting instant lock.

After fighting with all the software fixes and patches I could find, & thinking that sounded like a goofy reason the GPS wouldn't work. I decided to go ahead and give it a shot.

Lock in seconds, and never loose Nav on the road. Have done it to three of my buddies other phones and they thought I was nuts, but it works.

I'll give all the credit to the CDA member once I find that post. Tighten your screws and you will see a drastic drastic difference!!

Edit: I found it!
syintiphic

I'm glad the fix worked for you and your buddies. Thanks for the credit.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

s10blazed · Feb 25, 2013

Well I would like to thank those of you who have mentioned tightening the screws under the rear panel. I am amazed that could be the problem! I tried it on my wife's phone with it turned off. Only 1 screw in the bottom left even turned at all. It turned about 1/4 turn. Now the GPS on her phone locks rock solid in seconds! Its like night and day. I tried it on my phone while it was on and searching for a lock. It wasn't instantaneous, but before I could put my case back on I had a lock.. in my garage. I'd like to note my screws ALL turned a bit. My wife's only the one screw moved.

So to sum up - if you have GPS problems, tighten the damn screws first!

Ovreel · Feb 25, 2013

I had trouble with the Liquidsmooth RC9 GPS, it would always take a long time to lock in. Since updating to the new 4.2.2 build, it works much faster.

syintiphic · Feb 26, 2013

s10blazed said:
Well I would like to thank those of you who have mentioned tightening the screws under the rear panel. I am amazed that could be the problem! I tried it on my wife's phone with it turned off. Only 1 screw in the bottom left even turned at all. It turned about 1/4 turn. Now the GPS on her phone locks rock solid in seconds! Its like night and day. I tried it on my phone while it was on and searching for a lock. It wasn't instantaneous, but before I could put my case back on I had a lock.. in my garage. I'd like to note my screws ALL turned a bit. My wife's only the one screw moved.

So to sum up - if you have GPS problems, tighten the damn screws first!

Yea, I came across this as noted in my original post. Im glad this seems to be working for people.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

The5Venomz · Mar 1, 2013

So my gps hasn't worked in a couple of weeks and I stumbled upon this thread and holy sh** my screws were loose and this fixed it... Lol amazing!!!

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

UberSuber · Mar 10, 2013

I had regular problems, stock and roomed, until I unrooted and replaced my phone under warranty. Now, zero problems.
Wish I had tried the screws first tho. To late!

salas2324 · Mar 10, 2013

This is why I love XDA. All I had to do was tighten my screws

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

fixxxer0 · Mar 11, 2013

Tightening the screws fixed my problems!!

My VZW Samsung Galaxy S3 (GS3) has had a crappy GPS signal from DAY ONE. coming from my DX, i noticed the difference instantly, and just chalked it up to different phone being crappier - in this regard.

the sat strength was always spotty and would lose the location fix regularly while driving. i've done everything.... i mean everything, to try and fix this... gps fix, deleting aGPS data, clearing framework data, reinstalling/uninstalling gmaps like 20 times, switching to CM10.1, AOKP, SYNERGY ROM, odin to back to stock, new kernels, you name it i've done it. Honestly, i have spent countless hours trying to get to the root of the problem.

the results were always mixed, sometimes appearing to be "better" for a few days, then deteriorating back to the original state. so i assumed it was always due to my tinkering and the software updates.

in GPStest i never really got a sat signal of greater than 25-30. and it would take sometimes 5-10 minutes for a lock in the best outdoor conditions, and even then the phone would struggle to hold a fix.

i was at my wits end when i read this thread where it said "try tightening the screws on the back". i thought - ah not gonna do anything, and didnt bother. until this morning, i was walking by the IT guys desk and saw a micro screw driver laying out.... so i borrowed it and tightened all the screws. some of the screws went about one full turn. most went only half to 3/4 of a turn.

i walked outside the office and fired up GPStest. oh my god, i almost screamed. 8 Sats in 3 seconds - ALL with signal strengths of 40+!!!! i have NEVER, EVER seen a signal above 30 on this phone, and even 30 would only be maybe 1 sat for a minute or two max. honestly, from my cube the middle of the office right now, i have a fix, with 15-20db signal on 6 sats, this is like the best i could do before if i OUTDOORS.

BOTTOM LINE: if you have GPS signal issues, TRY TIGHTENING THE DAMN SCREWS!!! it was worth it. so worth it.

Mattish13 · Mar 11, 2013

Anyone else like me who tightened their screws and all the other fixes and still got no improvement? Should I unscrew and tighten them all again?

Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

stupidchicken03 · Mar 14, 2013

Just tried tightening all 10 of the screws, and my Nav still crashes.

I thought (think) it is something to do with the JB update we got in Dec. Ever since the update, my Nav/Maps does not work. Looking at the Play Store, a lot of GS3 users are having the same issues.

Ive booted into recover and cleared permissions, ive cleared the data/cache for Maps and Google Services, I Odin'd back to stock ICS and then even did a stock internal system reset. Maps/Nav worked fine. Then I installed AOKP and Maps/Nav started crashing again (I have another friend who NEVER took the OTA to JB and went from ICS to the same AOKP ROM and has never had issues). Then I have another friend running CleanRom and does not have issues. So I Odin'd back to ICS and installed CR. Again, crashing.

Ive got more details in this thread I made - http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2115108 but its seriously bugging me

compir99 · Mar 15, 2013

I think its really two things:

GPS Hardware
How old your AGPS file is.

In my own experience, once I download a current AGPS file, I was able to get a lock under a minute.

hollywoodfrodo · Mar 15, 2013

Definitely a real issue. I'm now on my 3rd S3. My first one lost GPS lock about 2 months after I got it (back in September). I had just gotten off a plane in a city I didn't know and was trying to navigate to my hotel and it couldn't lock. I spent several days doing all the "fixes" I could find online and also with Verizon Tech Support including updating agps, clearing cache on maps and uninstalling/re-installing, etc. Even did complete factory reset. Nothing fixed it so had to get new phone.

New phone GPS worked great until after JB update. Even after that it worked well enough that I didn't really notice it at first. It seemed like it would take longer to lock and sometimes would put me just slightly off the road I was on, but it did good enough that I didn't let it bother me too much (except that my spouse's iphone always had instant perfect lock which made me envious). Then about 3 weeks ago it started getting worse and worse and would have me going in sporadic directions so that gps became pointless. Once again, I tried a lot of fixes that Samsung Tech Support gave me and ultimately reset the phone. The reset seemed to help some, but the fix still seemed less exact than it should and again my spouse's iphone was miles ahead on getting a fix and having perfect pinpoint location. But after a few days, it started doing the sporadic thing again so ultimately Verizon replaced the phone.

Once I got the new phone I realized just how bad the old one was because the new one locates me exactly as it should - quick fix and exact pinpoint location. I had just gotten use to the "good enough" and hadn't even realized it. The new phone of course came with JB pre-installed so not sure why the update seemed to screw it up. But anyway, at least some S3's definitely have serious gps issues...

Hoping this phone's gps stays good!

stupidchicken03 · Mar 16, 2013

compir99 said:
I think its really two things:

GPS Hardware

How old your AGPS file is.

In my own experience, once I download a current AGPS file, I was able to get a lock under a minute.

Can you elaborate on this (or someone else)? Havnt heard of trying this yet.

Is it a .zip file to load in recovery?
Where do we get the current files from?

warusk · Mar 17, 2013

Ditto!

fixxxer0 said:
My VZW Samsung Galaxy S3 (GS3) has had a crappy GPS signal from DAY ONE. coming from my DX, i noticed the difference instantly, and just chalked it up to different phone being crappier - in this regard.

the sat strength was always spotty and would lose the location fix regularly while driving. i've done everything.... i mean everything, to try and fix this... gps fix, deleting aGPS data, clearing framework data, reinstalling/uninstalling gmaps like 20 times, switching to CM10.1, AOKP, SYNERGY ROM, odin to back to stock, new kernels, you name it i've done it. Honestly, i have spent countless hours trying to get to the root of the problem.

the results were always mixed, sometimes appearing to be "better" for a few days, then deteriorating back to the original state. so i assumed it was always due to my tinkering and the software updates.

in GPStest i never really got a sat signal of greater than 25-30. and it would take sometimes 5-10 minutes for a lock in the best outdoor conditions, and even then the phone would struggle to hold a fix.

i was at my wits end when i read this thread where it said "try tightening the screws on the back". i thought - ah not gonna do anything, and didnt bother. until this morning, i was walking by the IT guys desk and saw a micro screw driver laying out.... so i borrowed it and tightened all the screws. some of the screws went about one full turn. most went only half to 3/4 of a turn.

i walked outside the office and fired up GPStest. oh my god, i almost screamed. 8 Sats in 3 seconds - ALL with signal strengths of 40+!!!! i have NEVER, EVER seen a signal above 30 on this phone, and even 30 would only be maybe 1 sat for a minute or two max. honestly, from my cube the middle of the office right now, i have a fix, with 15-20db signal on 6 sats, this is like the best i could do before if i OUTDOORS.

BOTTOM LINE: if you have GPS signal issues, TRY TIGHTENING THE DAMN SCREWS!!! it was worth it. so worth it.

I've read a lot of posts about the GPS issues on the S3... and when I saw this i was like ok what the hell... I've tried everything else... HOLY MOLY it actually worked!!! honestly I didn't think it would!
:good:

JubbaBlubba · Mar 17, 2013

A lot of GPS problems in my experience are due to a hidden setting involving the acceptance of Google Location services ToS

dmudd · Mar 18, 2013

Count me as another success with GPS after tightening the screws on the back. I've always had problems with the GPS on my phone. I still had issues even with the AGPS patch. It would work intermittently, and when it did, the most satellites I ever connected to were 13/20. After tightening the screws, my phone immediately connected to 12 and even got up to 21/23 and stayed locked... in my apartment! This is amazing lol.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

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