I never could get a lock, then I waited the 4-5 minutes it took to actually lock (didn't think it would) and ever since then it locks almost instantly. I am on stock though.
www.ryanhortonmusic.com
www.ryanhortonmusic.com
Problems with GPS: Myth or fact?
- Thread starter dunderball
- Start date
I use two tools you can get for free on the Play Store:
- GPS Monitor - Displays how many satellites are locked on in the notification bar.
- GPS Status - Downloads an updated AGPS file every X number of days.
If I start navigation in a parking structure I obliviously won't get a GPS lock, even when I get out of the structure.
You have to start and maintain a constant clear view of the sky.
If I have an updated AGPS and start and maintain a clear view of the sky, I usually get at least 15 satellites locked on within ~60 seconds.
This past weekend, I was able to get 23/25 satellites locked on.
Hoped this helped with you and others.
I yet have to try tightening the screws.
Attachments
I'm assuming the screws mentioned are the dozen or so small shiny ones around the outside? Or am I missing something....
Also are the two pairs of gold sticks poking out of the PCB antennas or what?
Also are the two pairs of gold sticks poking out of the PCB antennas or what?
Its actually like 10 screws. The one on the back of the phone when you take the top off. And those gold sticks are used for wireless charging.
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As crazy as I thought this was, it made a difference to me too! Just tried it, and it locked in my house within 5 seconds. Took me at least 2 minutes before tightening my screws.
Not sure why, but it worked for me
Wow after trying several software fixes I saw this and decided to give it a try.I took my battery cover off and checked and it didn't seem loose at all.I got out my little screwdriver and all the screws on the back were able to be tightened a decent amount.I tried it after tightening the screws and got a lock within the minute on plenty of satellites. Previously I was able to get a lock but it would take several minutes and be very inaccurate (1600 Meter radius).I would be driving on the freeway while using navigation and it would jump and put me on side streets.I tried it again today on the way home and lock was super fast and accurate and was showing accuracy of 3 meters.Maybe this is why people that are getting replacement phones are having good luck the screws haven't worked loose yet.I would recommend anyone having issues with their GS3 gps give this a try you have nothing to lose.
I just installed both you suggested. Sitting in my house I got 18 satellites.
I know Maps just had an update, and even still it crashes for me.
I installed Waze GPS (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.waze&feature=nav_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDNd) and I tried it out today. Didnt crash at all, but deff is not as accurate as Maps was.
Gunna try the new apps on my way to work tonight.
I started a thread about the GPS fix with screws since many people have tried it and have had great success.
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2201668
Cheers.
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Well yesterday I had a constant 18-20 satellites locked on but Maps/Nav still crashed 
Booted up Waze and it worked fine. Not as spot on as Google's, but better than nothing I guess. Ive seriously debated putting my phone back to stock and bringing it into Vz for a replacement.
Booted up Waze and it worked fine. Not as spot on as Google's, but better than nothing I guess. Ive seriously debated putting my phone back to stock and bringing it into Vz for a replacement.
Another the putting the screws to it fixed the gps for me too, thankyou all for the suggestion
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
It's important to make sure your radio/modem and rpm version are matched.
When I downloaded and flashed blk3 but not the blk3 rpm, I got significantly worse performance on GPS.
When I downloaded and flashed blk3 but not the blk3 rpm, I got significantly worse performance on GPS.
This totally works!
This totally works. I had tried everything and had just about given up but figured "What the heck..." AND IT WORKS!! It doesn't take any expertise or special tools. Just a small phillips head. Just do it. Unbelievable. If I knew it was that easy, I would have tried it months ago...but now I'm a believer.
Thanks!
:good::good::good:
This totally works. I had tried everything and had just about given up but figured "What the heck..." AND IT WORKS!! It doesn't take any expertise or special tools. Just a small phillips head. Just do it. Unbelievable. If I knew it was that easy, I would have tried it months ago...but now I'm a believer.
Thanks!
:good::good::good:
Here the simple GPS fix thread. Many people have tried this method with great success. I'm glad you too have also had success with this method.
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2201668
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
I started to notice that my GPS was going in and out if I didn't have it mounted directly under my windshield, so I decided to try this. Before attempting, I stood in the backyard and only locked 5 satellites after 2 minutes. The screws hardly turned at all, but when I powered on and started up Maps, I had a lock in two seconds. Started up GPS Test and it showed 16 satellites locked. Nice.
Update- I needed a better fitting screwdriver... barely got one screw to move, maybe less that's a quarter turn and with a good amount of force. Gps improved from one satellite in use to around twenty... thanks!
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+1 screwdriver trick worked for me too. Almost instant lock now. I had to mess with the top three screws while I looked at the GPS test app though. This should be posted on androidcentral or Engadget to help many more people. I took the whole phone apart and some sensors just connect to the motherboard by touching pins not with actual plugs. If there's too much pressure on one side of the top piece the other side will lift, causing a poor contact of the pins.
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Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
Last edited:
I am on the fence with this. While I'm usually flashing a ROM on average once per month, I've definitely had my ups and downs with GPS. There is no well defined answer, I've had great GPS and bad GPS on both AOSP and TW ROMs. Right now, I'm on CM10.1 Mar 31 nightly and have instant lock on GPS (in under 2 seconds).
Prior to that, I was on Liquid Smooth's rom, and had 2 second lock (awesome.)
Prior to that I was on Clean ROM R2 and couldn't get a lock for 20 seconds, then when I did it threw my GPS all over the place when navigating so much it was unusuable.
Prior to that I was on Beans ROM and had terrible GPS as well.
Prior to that I was on CM10.1 and couldn't get lock either.
I cannot explain why it comes and goes with flashing.
Screw fix worked for me
Tightening the screws worked for me. Many thanks to the solution poster. You have ended several months of daily frustration. The GPS had not worked properly since day 1. My SIII 32GB, purchased new on eBay, had been to Samsung for repair three times to address the erratic or complete lack of GPS performance, as well as inferior voice/data reception compared to my wife's SIII 16gb. After the third repair Samsung told me they replaced every part except the case and screen. When the issues persisted, they offered a fourth attempt at repair. Under no circumstances would they replace the phone. Since the phone was disassembled/reassembled three times, their repair techs must be regularly under-tightening. I would tell them, but the phone is still under warranty. I worry that any admission of tinkering might void it.
Tightening the screws worked for me. Many thanks to the solution poster. You have ended several months of daily frustration. The GPS had not worked properly since day 1. My SIII 32GB, purchased new on eBay, had been to Samsung for repair three times to address the erratic or complete lack of GPS performance, as well as inferior voice/data reception compared to my wife's SIII 16gb. After the third repair Samsung told me they replaced every part except the case and screen. When the issues persisted, they offered a fourth attempt at repair. Under no circumstances would they replace the phone. Since the phone was disassembled/reassembled three times, their repair techs must be regularly under-tightening. I would tell them, but the phone is still under warranty. I worry that any admission of tinkering might void it.
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7Tightening 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.4Simple mechanical GPS fix involving tightening the back frame of the phone
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.4gps fix read here and worked on three different phones ive done it on
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!
syintiphic33Been 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.
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