GPS not acquiring satellite. Anybody else has the same problem?

Mike Lang1

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Oct 19, 2013
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Hi all,

The GPS on my Note 2 did not work. It never pick up any satellite. I tried everything.
I turned on GPS, 'use wifi & network' etc.. and etc...

- just to make sure nothing else conflicts, I did a factory reset. It's running stock JB 4.1.2. Unrooted.
- when I turned on GPS in setting and started google map, the GPS icon on the status bar did not even display and of course google map could not get a fix on my location. This is outdoor. To be sure that my test location was good, I put my wife's Galaxy S2 next to it and turn on both. The S2 acquired position under 30 seconds with 14 satellites.

- i d/l GPS Test and it did not show any satellite

- I d/l GPS Status Toolbox and it did not fix it

- I d/l "TopNTP" to clear/download AGPS data and it did not fix it.

- I then sent it back to Samsung. The repair log said:

"problem found: cannot download sw/PRL. Solution: updated s/w. Reset. Quality Control passed. "

(when I saw 'cannot download sw/PRL', I googled it and I already suspected that it wouldn't be fixed. As most people I found on google when they sent a phone back to Samsung all have this line "cannot download sw/PRL' so it sounds some kind of generic message)

I got it back after 7 days and it was exactly as before I sent it out. Same firmware version, same OS version, same everything. True enough, same problem. How competent can they be? I stated that the problem is "GPS could not acquire satellite". How hard was it to test it? Just turn it on, turn on GPS in settings, run google map. Their quality control couldn't even do that and signed it off. From the log, I saw there were 4 people involved: 1 to receive the phone, 1 technician who claimed that he fixed it, 1 quality control who signed it off, 1 shipper to ship it out.

I called them again and I'm sending it back again. This is getting frustrated.

I suspect that the problem will still be there when it gets back. Any suggestions?

Thanks.
mike
 

Mike Lang1

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Problem solved:

I have a Note 2. The GPS did not work. No white circle on the status bar when GPS is turned on and it did not pick up any satellite. I tried everything including factory reset, restore OEM ROM from sammobile and nothing worked. I sent it back to samsung. The 1st time they updated some sw and sent it back to me. Nothing changed. Not working. I sent it back the 2nd time. they replaced some power management chips. I got it this morning and it did not work either. I called Samsung again and they remotely accessed my Note 2 and they couldn't figure out so they asked me to send it back the 3rd time. Before I sent it back, I followed a reply here on xda using the diagnostic code *#197328640# :

mainmenu>UMTS>Common>NV REBUILD>Restore NV Default

I selected it, it restored the NV from default and it rebooted by itself. When it came back, everything worked!!!!!

Before I tried this, I was l already on the phone with Samsung tech support for 2 hours and they even remotely accessed my Note 2 and they could not figure it out!!!
 

jrham

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Same thing Mike Lang did worked for me, gunrunnerjohn if you haven't gotten it working correctly try this. From the stock dialer ( I don't think it works on roms that have dialers that aren't stock) dial *#197328640#*
The service menu will come up and then you just follow the above directions.



Sent from my SGH-T889 using AC Forums mobile app
 

Anand Dhuru

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On my Note N7000, the gps has gone completely dead. Tried everything, changing the gps.conf, reflashing stock JB, ICS, un-rooting, tightening the case screws et al.

Now, rebuilding the NV option looks to be the most promising; but that option on my Note yields a message "MENU NOT EXIST; PRESS BACK KEY; Current Command is 6611".

Any advice, folks? Desperate to get my gps running again!
 

Stephen Schummer

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Apr 19, 2015
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Great! Thanks. Worked for me.
My GPS stopped working as I screwed around trying different ROMS for my T-mobile note 2. I tried kitkats, lolipops,... its an OCD thing for me I think, lol.
When I realized my GPS was getting 0 satellites, I tried going back to stock, tried GPS fixes, toolkits, and even replaced some of the system files - gps.conf, ...
Luckily I backed up the old versions. When I went back to my original system files and did the dial code you suggested, it worked! Lock in 19 seconds, inside my house. Thanks.
 

sqgl

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Nov 13, 2015
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Does Restore NV Default only reset radio (WiFi/Bluetooth/GPS) or does it reset your OS and wipe all your apps too?
(I googled for an hour for an answer, without luck, so am hoping you can please clarify)
 

shaglioni

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Ok, for an update on a t-mobile Note 4. I have a T-Mobile Note 4 running 5.1.1. I've tried many methods to fix this GPS lock issue.

- From deleting cache and data for the maps app
- Taking off the phone cover and even took off all the screws and released the upper left hook shape plastic piece in the area of where the GPS hardware would be located and when removed you'll see two bronze colored prongs that I decided to curve/bend upwards in case the contact it was needing to make on that plastic piece wasn't the best. Then screwed in all screws tightly again.
- Going into the boot menu and wiping cache that way.
- Installing a couple of GPS fix apps from the playstore.
- Pushing, bending, squeezing all sides and internals pieces.
- Removing the micro sd card, I didn't bother with the sim card, and putting it back in.
- Thee ONLY method that worked for me was to install an app from the playstore called "TopNTP 1.1". I've read posts where they say the phone needs to be rooted. Well, my phone is NOT rooted and once installed and you configure the setup like I will mention, you click install, I then just wanted to reboot after the install of the config file, I had GPS lock in a matter of seconds. So the configuration I used once the app was installed: I'll list the setup that will represent the letter "Z", when making these configuration changes to have installed. "North America", "United States", "Generic", "Tmobile". Then clicked on "Install" from the bottom of the screen. And after that is when I rebooted just for my own personal preference.

There are a couple of other methods I have not tried but the last method, worked like a charm and like I stated, my phone is not rooted and my GPS had not worked prior to the install of the configuration change that is made from that "TopNTP 1.1" app from the playstore.

Good luck to all and hope that method will work for others like it has for my phone.
 

leprof31

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Thanks a lot! It works! How long??? I will see.

Great TopNTP 1.1

The only bug, is when you install TopNTP 1.1, if you chose write and reboot option, it will not reboot. You have to do it yourself. But, the GPS will be back again... Samsung suck with this «obsolescence quasi programmée»... Maybe my next phone will be a Iphone. :-

Samsung Note 2
 

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