GPS OTA Fix Coming

Search This thread

marshall7712

Member
Jul 23, 2010
10
0
Full-time Traveler
I took the liberty of calling directly to Samsung this afternoon and spoke with a gentleman in their tech dept. They know all about the GPS issues and regret them deeply. They are in the process of releasing OTA fixes (he let this slip) beginning this coming Monday or earlier. It will come directly to the phone (OTA) with the option of installing now or later. He said within three weeks this will be fixed worldwide. It will not be a long running problem as they want everyone to get what they paid for (his words). He made me well aware that they have the difficulty recognized and under control. I hung up well assured.
 

ranova

Senior Member
Jul 19, 2010
1,436
255
thanks, but until I see it, I dont believe reps unless it comes in a press release
 

brandonb81

Senior Member
Feb 28, 2009
264
1
Very happy to hear this. I emailed samsung support earlier over the weekend, if I get an answer I'll be sure to post it here.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
 

jmreed97

Senior Member
Jul 8, 2009
99
3
I took the liberty of calling directly to Samsung this afternoon and spoke with a gentleman in their tech dept. They know all about the GPS issues and regret them deeply. They are in the process of releasing OTA fixes (he let this slip) beginning this coming Monday or earlier. It will come directly to the phone (OTA) with the option of installing now or later. He said within three weeks this will be fixed worldwide. It will not be a long running problem as they want everyone to get what they paid for (his words). He made me well aware that they have the difficulty recognized and under control. I hung up well assured.

No way... an AT&T tech manager told me they have received no fix from Samsung yet. They would have to test the fix them selves before it was allowed as an OTA update. No way it will be here by Monday...
 

SoCADesertRat

Member
Jul 30, 2010
5
0
Southern California
I took the liberty of calling directly to Samsung this afternoon and spoke with a gentleman in their tech dept. They know all about the GPS issues and regret them deeply. They are in the process of releasing OTA fixes (he let this slip) beginning this coming Monday or earlier. It will come directly to the phone (OTA) with the option of installing now or later. He said within three weeks this will be fixed worldwide. It will not be a long running problem as they want everyone to get what they paid for (his words). He made me well aware that they have the difficulty recognized and under control. I hung up well assured.

Here is the email response I received yesterday from Samsung after writing them about the GPS issue -- certainly no indication that they are on top of the problem:

Thank you for your inquiry. We understand your distress concerning the GPS feature of your Samsung Captivate (SGH-I897). We recommend obtaining the initial lock while outdoors in clear view of the sky.

You can also try this steps:

You must select Settings > Location and security > Use wireless networks or Use GPS satellites.

We will forward your report of this behavior along to the appropriate parties for additional review and consideration. Please bear in mind that network features, to include the GPS functionality, are best supported by your service provider. We recommend contacting an at&t Customer Service Representative to confirm that there are no service issues that may be affecting your handset.

Phone: 1-888-333-6651

We appreciate your patience and understanding.

Should you also desire additional assistance resolving this, we invite you to call Samsung Customer Support by phone at our toll free number 1-888-987-4357 between the hours 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Saturday, Central Standard Time.

Thank you for your continued interest in Samsung products.

Sincerely,

Technical Support
 

Intervenient

Senior Member
Jul 20, 2010
79
0
Here is the email response I received yesterday from Samsung after writing them about the GPS issue -- certainly no indication that they are on top of the problem:

Thank you for your inquiry. We understand your distress concerning the GPS feature of your Samsung Captivate (SGH-I897). We recommend obtaining the initial lock while outdoors in clear view of the sky.

You can also try this steps:

You must select Settings > Location and security > Use wireless networks or Use GPS satellites.

We will forward your report of this behavior along to the appropriate parties for additional review and consideration. Please bear in mind that network features, to include the GPS functionality, are best supported by your service provider. We recommend contacting an at&t Customer Service Representative to confirm that there are no service issues that may be affecting your handset.

Phone: 1-888-333-6651

We appreciate your patience and understanding.

Should you also desire additional assistance resolving this, we invite you to call Samsung Customer Support by phone at our toll free number 1-888-987-4357 between the hours 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Saturday, Central Standard Time.

Thank you for your continued interest in Samsung products.

Sincerely,

Technical Support



I've gotten the same response.

Need to make up their minds.
 

haydonxda

Senior Member
Jul 20, 2010
253
48
GPS is a "network issue"?

Did the email really say that GPS was a network issue to be handled by our service provider? It's not a phone hardware issue? Well crap, I guess I'll have to call my GPS service provider.

Now where did I leave that main number for the US Air Force?

Me: "Hello Air Force, please fix my phone. Apparently there's a problem with your multi-billion dollar GPS constellation that's causing my consumer electronics device to malfunction."

AF: "Who is this?"

Me: "I have a Samsung Galaxy S phone and I demand you make it work!"

AF: "<inaudible> never should have turned off selective availability."

<click>
 

brandonb81

Senior Member
Feb 28, 2009
264
1
I received the exact canned GPS e-mail that the others received in this thread.

I wrote them back this:

Wow, thanks for taking almost a week to provide an entirely useless reply. And thanks for not actually reading what I wrote, because you told me to use 'use wireless networks' and in my original question I actually said I've used both options. Good job Samsung. That gives me a ton of confidence.

And I, nearly immediately, received this response:

Dear Brandon,

Thank you for your inquiry. We understand your distress concerning the behavior being experienced with your Captivate. Since you've already tried troubleshooting the device but still did not work, we recommend you to call us about this issue so that our technical support agents can attend to your concern. We are committed to your satisfaction and would like to assist you in finding a resolution to this issue.

Please contact us anytime, as we would be happy to provide additional information. You can also contact our Customer Care Center by phone at our toll free number 1-888-987-4357, between the hours of 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Saturday, Central Standard Time.

We thank you for your understanding and appreciate your interest in Samsung

products.

Sincerely,

Technical Support


Useless! :mad:

Everyone should call whenever they can get a couple minutes and complain about the lack of communication regarding this and when to expect the 2.2 update and the GPS issue.
 

waltah!

Senior Member
May 29, 2009
316
17
My GF received an OTA update today on her Captivate and her GPS locks fast and holds the lock now. It was worse than mine by a long shot before. I haven't seen anything on mine as I was using my N1 all day today. Just lit it up now so I'll wait to see if I get one as well.
 

jdsemler

Senior Member
Aug 17, 2007
264
22
Austin
Anyone else getting an OTA update?

I literally just walked in the door from returning it after getting an absolutely disgraceful chat session with their tech support asking me if I tried things like turning the phone on and off.

I really liked the phone, but I didn't want to get stuck without workable GPS, especially since their acknowledgement of the problem is the semi-acknowledgement of, "that under certain conditions, the GPS on our U.S. Galaxy S devices may not be meeting performance expectations," as seen in places like on the Others tab of the SamsungGalaxyS Facebook page.

If OTA updates are rolling out, I'll go re-buy it. I figured they would just roll it into the Froyo update rather than take resources away from that effort for a one-off patch.

For those wondering, the AT&T rep I spoke to was aware of the GPS issue but tried to downplay it saying it doesn't matter to most people and tried to charge me the restocking fee, saying they charge it every time unless a phone is DOA but she'd be happy to exchange the unit for me. I calmly explained that GPS is a key feature for me (I travel a lot for work), and that feature is DOA and known to be so. Rather than cycle me through exchanges that would use up store stock of good phones that other customers may be perfectly happy with, it would be better for both of us just to not charge me the re-stocking fee and call it done. She got the manager's approval, and that was that, so kudos to them for being reasonable.

I do still like the phone though. If there's more confirmed reports of a fix and folks saying it works, I'll be back there the next morning to get it back.
 

derek4484

Senior Member
Jul 15, 2010
641
27
Columbia, SC
Anyone else getting an OTA update?

I literally just walked in the door from returning it after getting an absolutely disgraceful chat session with their tech support asking me if I tried things like turning the phone on and off.

I really liked the phone, but I didn't want to get stuck without workable GPS, especially since their acknowledgement of the problem is the semi-acknowledgement of, "that under certain conditions, the GPS on our U.S. Galaxy S devices may not be meeting performance expectations," as seen in places like on the Others tab of the SamsungGalaxyS Facebook page.

If OTA updates are rolling out, I'll go re-buy it. I figured they would just roll it into the Froyo update rather than take resources away from that effort for a one-off patch.

For those wondering, the AT&T rep I spoke to was aware of the GPS issue but tried to downplay it saying it doesn't matter to most people and tried to charge me the restocking fee, saying they charge it every time unless a phone is DOA but she'd be happy to exchange the unit for me. I calmly explained that GPS is a key feature for me (I travel a lot for work), and that feature is DOA and known to be so. Rather than cycle me through exchanges that would use up store stock of good phones that other customers may be perfectly happy with, it would be better for both of us just to not charge me the re-stocking fee and call it done. She got the manager's approval, and that was that, so kudos to them for being reasonable.

I do still like the phone though. If there's more confirmed reports of a fix and folks saying it works, I'll be back there the next morning to get it back.

I havent received an update yet. But I'm rooted, so I dont know if that would stop me from receiving the update or not.

Samsung did post on their twitter account the other day that they are aware and are currently working on a GPS fix. So, however long that takes remains to be seen. They have zero credibility when it comes to putting out software fixes and updates. I'm going to stick it out for the full 30 days and if nothing then return it for an iphone4. Between the GPS being absolutely useless to the 12 hour battery life, I'll have to say that this phone is less than spectacular.
 

waltah!

Senior Member
May 29, 2009
316
17
May have been a false alarm unfortunately. I think it might have ben a gps test app update. Hers locks almost as fast as my nexus one now though so I'm confused. Sorry if it turns out to be bogus everyone.


Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
 

madjsp

Senior Member
Jul 9, 2009
644
8
Galveston County, TX
This is the real question. Anyone running the I9000 having this same issue? Then it is not really software but hardware.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
 

NOSintake

Senior Member
Jul 14, 2010
142
4
This is the real question. Anyone running the I9000 having this same issue? Then it is not really software but hardware.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

That's what I want to know. I don't know how this can be a software problem, when multiple apps can't use it correctly
 

waltah!

Senior Member
May 29, 2009
316
17
Guys it may have been bogus and just a gps app update. If that's the case then I apologize. Its locking about as fast as my nexus one all of a sudden so I thought it was legit. If that's the case I don't want to get anyones hopes up cause ill feel like a tool.
Might be a double post as the app crashed on me.


Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
 
Last edited: