[Elephone P9000 Questions & Answers] cartonneexpress:
GPS (possible) FIX!

Hey guys,

I also had problems with the P9000s' GPS (in Germany). It would generally see lots of satellites, but had problems getting a usable position. In Google Maps the indicator would show the actual location for a split second, but then start to jumps around crazily in a radius of about 200m. I have had similar experiences with Mediathek chipset GPS sensors in the past and never actually found a solution.

This time I came across a solution found by djelloul, who posted it in the elephone user forum: http://bbs.elephone.hk/thread-11201-1-1.html#.V2p-w2iLRaQ

djelloul writes he found the solution himself while looking into the issue. I am not sure if he's just referring to his hardware fix, or to the software fix as well. Anyway, none of this is my work and all praise goes to him!

He primarily describes a hardware fix, which you should only consider looking into if you really have no to low GPS reception. Otherwise I would recommend to start off with the software fix. Since his description is a little rough at times I will try to condense it a bit:

1. Go into your phones "EngineerMode" (most Mediatek devices have this) by typing *#*#3646633#*#* into the dialer (it can also be accessed through MTK apps from playstore).

2. Go to the "Location"-tab and select "Location Based Service".

3. Go to the "AGPS"-tab and turn off AGPS by deselecting "A-GPS On/Off".

4. Go to the "GPS"-tab and make sure GPS is off, then clear all presets in your GPS chip by seperately choosing the "GPS MODES" Full, VzW Cold, delete EPH, delete Time. After each selection press the "DELETE" button. (maybe deleting the "Full" one os enough, not sure)

5. Now go into an open space that should give the best possible GPS reception. Turn on GPS (AGPS stays off!), then swipe over to the "VIEW"-tab and wait for your phone to find sattelites. It will take a little longer because it has to start from scratch, (but I don't think it will be more than 3 minutes) Might actually take up to 30 minutes! Use Google Maps as a reference. Position needs to be rock solid and on the spot! (Wait for it to have a really good position though - like at least 8 green sattelites.) Once you're confident with the result -->

6. Go back to the "GPS"-tab, turn off GPS, then click on "REF POSITION" and choose "APPLY LAST LOCATION".

7. Go to the "AGPS"- tab and re-enable "A-GPS On/Off".

8. Go to the "GPS"-tab and enable GPS (it will now download AGPS data).

9. Enjoy fast location fixes and a stable GPS signal!

--> all djellouls work, see link above :good:

If you still don't have a usable GPS, you might have to consider the hardware fix (or sending it in for a warranty repair).

This worked great for me on the P9000 and on a two years old Cube Talk 7X (MT8392), that I had already give up on. GPS is usable now, but to be fair, it still has far worse GPS reception than other recent phones. It will have problems in street canyons, when it's too cloudy, and if I put it in the middle console instead of under the windshield. The antenna is probably not the best and I would say it brings about 60% of what my SG5 was capable of. But I love this phone anyway! :o

I hope I could help some of you guys to the heureka moment that I had. This is quite a spectacular fix, and I was looking for it for quite a while.