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iPhone 3GS GPS broken

makismagoo99

makismagoo99

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 17, 2006
229
0
Hey all,

The GPS on my iPhone 3GS has stopped working. When using google maps or apps like MotionX GPS Lite, the phone only ever uses cell triangulation. I spoke to a Genius at the Apple store, and after running diagnostics, he said it was likely a firmware problem.

Unfortunately, the fix will require a hard restore/new phone setup...wiping out application data and SMS messages. Has anyone else had this problem and found a better fix? Is there any way to keep my SMS messages?
 
C

cdiez

macrumors newbie
Oct 27, 2009
4
0
makismagoo99 said:
Hey all,

The GPS on my iPhone 3GS has stopped working. When using google maps or apps like MotionX GPS Lite, the phone only ever uses cell triangulation. I spoke to a Genius at the Apple store, and after running diagnostics, he said it was likely a firmware problem.

Unfortunately, the fix will require a hard restore/new phone setup...wiping out application data and SMS messages. Has anyone else had this problem and found a better fix? Is there any way to keep my SMS messages?
Click to expand...

I´m having exactly the same problem since a few days ago. I dont know if it was the 3.1.2 update or it just stoped working.
Have you found any solution? Has anybody know any solution?
Im just getting cell triangulation.

One more thing: how do I make a backup of all my contacts and calendar? does the automatic backup of itunes backups the contacts and calendar?
 
makismagoo99

makismagoo99

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 17, 2006
229
0
Moi un Mouton said:
Yes, back up the phone in iTunes before you go
Click to expand...

Right, however if you restore your phone and choose "Set up as new phone" (as I was instructed to do by the Apple Genius), you lose all your SMS messages.

cdiez said:
I´m having exactly the same problem since a few days ago. I dont know if it was the 3.1.2 update or it just stoped working.
Have you found any solution? Has anybody know any solution?
Im just getting cell triangulation.

One more thing: how do I make a backup of all my contacts and calendar? does the automatic backup of itunes backups the contacts and calendar?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure if this was a 3.1.2 update problem either. I know it used to work at one point in its life, but I really only use it when out of town, which is when I discovered the problem last weekend. So, for all I know it's been like this for some time, but I really can't say for sure.

I tried the restore and set up as a new phone, but to no avail. The guy at the genius bar was very nice and told me that if this didn't work, they would swap my phone, so I'm headed to the genius bar this weekend for a replacement.

As for backing up your contacts/calendar, are you on a Mac or Windows? The iTunes backup does backup your contacts/calendars, but they should also be synced to Address Book/iCal (Mac) or Outlook (Windows). You can re-sync them if you ever have to restore your phone.
 
C

cdiez

macrumors newbie
Oct 27, 2009
4
0
makismagoo99 said:
Right, however if you restore your phone and choose "Set up as new phone" (as I was instructed to do by the Apple Genius), you lose all your SMS messages.



I'm not sure if this was a 3.1.2 update problem either. I know it used to work at one point in its life, but I really only use it when out of town, which is when I discovered the problem last weekend. So, for all I know it's been like this for some time, but I really can't say for sure.

I tried the restore and set up as a new phone, but to no avail. The guy at the genius bar was very nice and told me that if this didn't work, they would swap my phone, so I'm headed to the genius bar this weekend for a replacement.

As for backing up your contacts/calendar, are you on a Mac or Windows? The iTunes backup does backup your contacts/calendars, but they should also be synced to Address Book/iCal (Mac) or Outlook (Windows). You can re-sync them if you ever have to restore your phone.
Click to expand...

Im on windows, but I have the sync with outlook disabled. The itunes makes the backup each time I connect the iphone to the pc. Is this backup making the backup of all my contacts and calendar ?

I tried to leave the iphone for several minutes and after around 5 minutes the gps starts working and I get the pin point accuracy. I really dont know what is the problem but it seems that although it takes an awful amount of time the gps is not broken.
 
makismagoo99

makismagoo99

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 17, 2006
229
0
I believe the backup contains your contacts, calendar, etc. But I use a Mac, so I can't say for sure what happens on Windows. You may want to turn on outlook syncing just as a safeguard. You don't have to actually use outlook for anything other than a glorified backup system, but it would be an easy way to look at your contacts in the event your phone gets misplaced or lost.
 
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