New Fasciniate and Certified Replacement won't track GPS
howyoudoin
Newbie

I bought a Fascinate from the Verizon website in June, and since day one it either does not track GPS at all, or tracks very poorly (low SNR's and frequent dropped SV's even with a sky void of any obstacles). I convinced a Verizon store employee that my GPS didn't work (first I had to explain to her how GPS worked and then we both downloaded the same test app and walked out on the sidewalk in front of the store --- her Fascinate immediately lit up with a bunch of SV's with decent SNR's and mine tracked nothing). She then ordered a Certified Like New replacement that arrived last week. My replacement phone behaves exactly the same as the first one. The Samsung registration page shows that my phone was manufactured in August 2010.

I have read many forums regarding Fascinate GPS problems that were reported when the phone first hit the market in 2010. I haven't seen very many GPS complaints in 2011 so I am assuming Samsung must have fixed the problem in later production runs. Is this hardware version (I500.04) known to have bad GPS hardware? Is there a revision that is known to have good (acceptable) GPS reception?
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Re: New Fasciniate and Certified Replacement won't track GPS
Herbb623
Contributor - Level 3

Well, i have 3 fascinates. All bought sept 9th, 2010, the day they came out. All built in Aug 2010.

 

It seemed over the various OTA's updates, the GPS on all 3 phones would work better...much better...

 with some software versions than others.  ( the earlier ones last year being the worst. )

 

 With the latest release, ED05, all 3 seem to have the GPS working OK.

( menu...settings...about phone..  scroll to  build number...should be  SCH-I500.ED05 ).

If not that version..you can try system updates to get the latest OTA version.

( backing up your contacts, calender, etc FIRST !  )

 

I find the best ( and this varies by user..greatly..) way to use gps is to:

- turn it on only using the menu..setttings...  location and security..

       turn on standalone gps...turn on google location services.     accept agreements

 ( I personally seem to have troubles when turning it on via the notification bar. )

 

- turn on wifi   ..   even if you're not near a wifi connection..

 

start google maps or whatever GPS app you're trying to use.... give it a minute or two...and it seems to work...

 

you can also download GPS Status and toolbox from the market to test and 'see' satelites.

 

do the above steps to turn it on... then start gps status..  outside and on a fairly clear day

with a clear view to the sky .....and ...   I see 6 to 12 satellite locks within a minute or two.

 

Have used google maps..turn by turn voice navigation on many occassions.. Works just fine.

 

But, as I said earlier,  GPS reliability and useability seems to vary greatly with GPS and the Fascinate.

 

Hopefully, as more updates and with any luck Gingerbread/android 2.3 come out..it will get better

and more stable.

 

 

 

 

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Re: New Fascinate and Certified Replacement won't track GPS
howyoudoin
Newbie

Thanks Herbb623. I do have the latest software. I did just try turning on the Wifi in addition to already having GPS Standalone and Google Location Services checked. It didn't seem to trick it into tracking, however after trying GPS Test and a couple other GPS apps I decided to turn on VZ Navigator, which didn't want Wifi enabled and did need VZ Location Services checked. VZN locked on almost immediately. While leaving VZN running I opened up all the other GPS related apps and they were working as well. Something related to VZN kicked it into a functional state. I will investigate this some more......looking for consistency.

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Re: New Fascinate and Certified Replacement won't track GPS
NuDroidUsrr
Specialist - Level 3

howyoudoin wrote:

Thanks Herbb623. I do have the latest software. I did just try turning on the Wifi in addition to already having GPS Standalone and Google Location Services checked. It didn't seem to trick it into tracking, however after trying GPS Test and a couple other GPS apps I decided to turn on VZ Navigator, which didn't want Wifi enabled and did need VZ Location Services checked. VZN locked on almost immediately. While leaving VZN running I opened up all the other GPS related apps and they were working as well. Something related to VZN kicked it into a functional state. I will investigate this some more......looking for consistency.


  I have found that if I run the Google Location Services, it doesn't lock, but if I turn it off and use just Standalone GPS Services, it locks almost immediately.

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Re: New Fascinate and Certified Replacement won't track GPS
Not applicable

Howyoudoin, thanks for your inquiry and thanks to everyone for responding with your own personal experiences. I also purchased a Fascinate in September 2010 and noticed some huge improvements in the GPS with each software enhancement to the device. I recommend turning on all 3 location services when using Google Maps or Navigation. You mentioned that after using VZ Navigator, Google Maps seemed to be working fine. This may be caused from turning on VZW location services also. If you start to have any more issues, please let us know. 

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Re: New Fascinate and Certified Replacement won't track GPS
howyoudoin
Newbie

Thank you for responding. For the past week I have been experimenting with the GPS. It appears that having VZW location services turned on isn't enough to force the GPS to function when using Maps, etc.. It seems that VZ Navigator is the only way to aid the GPS receiver with VZW location service data. With all three location services checked and starting VZN first, I can usually get a GPS fix. The fix usually occurs within a minute, yet sometimes takes several minutes, and sometimes never fixes. 

On Saturday I drove for one full hour and couldn't get a GPS fix using VZN at all. I tried entering and exiting VZN a handful of times and got nothing. On Sunday I tried it again and it locked on within a minute or two. I assume the aiding information the receiver gets from VZN is different than that of anything else (Google Maps, plus a dozen or so other GPS-related apps). Why doesn't the GPS receiver aiding work with non-VZN apps? VZN is useless beyond using it as general map. I am pretty sure navigation features require a subscription of some sort. 
So far I have only received the major bundled OTA releases such as Froyo and the recent ED05 update. Is it possible the big bundled updates don't have the appropriate GPS improvements that were made incrementally?
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Re: New Fascinate and Certified Replacement won't track GPS
ArnettH_VZW
Verizon Employee

Hello howyoudoin,

 

Thank you for the feedback on the GPS issue. I need some additional info from you so I can better understand your situation. May I ask how many bars of signal do you have? Also, what software ? What city & state are you in? I have provided some step for you to try, in order, to help resolve the GPS issue. 

 

Uninstall VZNavigator from the device.

Confirm that Bluetooth and wi-fi is turned off.

Clear temporary internet files and Cookies.

Turn GPS off then remove the battery.

Reinsert that battery & turn on all 3 GPS services in settings. (This does help with location accuracy)

Reinstall the VZNavigator app on the device & re try services.

 

 

Once you have tried these steps, please respond with your findings. If the issue is not resolved than I would like to investigate the issue further. May I have you send me a private message with your full name, mobile number that's in question, and a contact number for you. Also, please provide the results of the action taken above so we can pick up where we left off. 

 

Thank you...

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Re: New Fascinate and Certified Replacement won't track GPS
howyoudoin
Newbie

ArnettH_VZW, I tried your listed steps. I couldn't actually uninstall VZN -- I can only uninstall updates to it. After completion I don't notice any difference in performance. Seems the same to me. I live in southern Maryland. Number of signal bars seems weak most of the time, it drops out completely in some parts of my house even though the nearest Verizon tower is about a mile away. My old Palm Pre+ had no issues with signal quality.

Let me know if you want me to communicate privately.

Thank you

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