I had problems getting the gps to work for a while. It works now pretty much, but it can sometimes take forever to get a lock, and it's especially hard to get when Im driving, I guess since Im moving too much.
Anyway, this is what I have on my phone, Im not sure if they are all necessary, but it just happened to be what worked for me. I unlocked the GPS Settings by doing the registry hack (I will post a link to how to do it in a sec, in case you dont know). Once the settings are unlocked, put the GPS program port to COM 8, GPS Hardware port to None, Baud Rate to 4800, and check off Manage GPS automatically. I also installed GPS Gate, a program that I dont even know exactly what it does, but it seemed to help so I bought it, it was like 20 bucks. Ih GPSgate, i have the settings to COM 8, Baud 57600. Last but not least, I have Google Maps, and the settings in Google Maps are COM 8 and Baud 57600.
I know it seems like a lot of crap, but not too long ago I was making the same posts you are now, wondering why the heck my GPS isnt working when everyone else's seems to. Let me know if you have any questions
Link with directions to enable external gps icon in phone settings:
http://knguyentu.com/wordpress/2009/...ta-rom-leaked/