Unsatisfactory GPS reception on PinePhone?

[sog8b]

Tracking sats for a long time without getting a fix is not unusual if you haven't loaded the AGPS data. There's more about this in the mobian wiki:
https://wiki.mobian-project.org/doku.php?id=location
Can you post the output from the AGPS uploader script?  I assume you're aware that it needs to be run every time you need a GPS cold start, not just once.

I wasn't aware that I needed to run the script every time I was doing a cold start. It makes sense though as otherwise the data wouldn't be up to date.
Running the script didn't appear to make any difference in the ability to obtain a fix.
I've included the full output below from the script I used to disable the modem service, run the python script, re-enable the modem, and then finally enable nmea on the modem.

[root@manjaro-arm ~]# mmcli -m 0 --location-get
  --------------------------
  3GPP |      operator code: XXX
      |      operator name: XXX
      | location area code: XXXX
      | tracking area code: XXXX
      |            cell id: XXXXXXXX
[root@manjaro-arm ~]# mmcli -m 0 --location-status
  --------------------------------
  Location |        capabilities: 3gpp-lac-ci, gps-raw, gps-nmea, agps-msa, agps-msb
          |              enabled: 3gpp-lac-ci
          |              signals: no
  --------------------------------
  GPS      |        refresh rate: 30 seconds
          | supported assistance: xtra
          |  assistance servers: http://xtrapath3.izatcloud.net/xtra3grc.bin
          |                      http://xtrapath1.izatcloud.net/xtra3grc.bin
          |                      http://xtrapath2.izatcloud.net/xtra3grc.bin
[root@manjaro-arm ~]# ./start_gps.sh
Removed /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/ModemManager.service.
Removed /etc/systemd/system/dbus-org.freedesktop.ModemManager1.service.
open serial port
Check modem will talk to us
AT
[b'\r\n', b'OK\r\n']
Is GPS turned on?
AT+QGPS?
[b'\r\n', b'+QGPS: 0\r\n', b'\r\n', b'OK\r\n']
Turn off GPS
AT+QGPSEND
[b'\r\n', b'+CME ERROR: 505\r\n']
Is AGPS enabled?
AT+QGPSXTRA?
[b'\r\n', b'+QGPSXTRA: 1\r\n', b'\r\n', b'OK\r\n']
Precautionary enabling of AGPS
AT+QGPSXTRA=1
[b'\r\n', b'OK\r\n']
Is valid AGPS data already loaded?
AT+QGPSXTRADATA?
[b'\r\n', b'+QGPSXTRADATA: 0,"1980/01/05,19:00:00"\r\n', b'\r\n', b'OK\r\n']
download status:  200
delete previous AGPS data file
AT+QFDEL="RAM:xtra.bin"
[b'\r\n', b'+CME ERROR: 418\r\n']
upload new AGPS data
AT+QFUPL="RAM:xtra.bin",38653
[b'\r\n', b'CONNECT\r\n']
[b'+QFUPL: 38653,e3a4\r\n', b'\r\n', b'OK\r\n']
set current UTC time using local system time
AT+QGPSXTRATIME=0,"2020/11/28,00:45:58"
[b'\r\n', b'OK\r\n']
set AGPS data to file we uploaded
AT+QGPSXTRADATA="RAM:xtra.bin"
[b'\r\n', b'OK\r\n']
what does it day about data validity now?
AT+QGPSXTRADATA?
[b'\r\n', b'+QGPSXTRADATA: 0,"1980/01/05,19:00:00"\r\n', b'\r\n', b'OK\r\n']
NOTE: it's given us the same response as before, despite having new data uploaded
enable gps
AT+QGPS=1
[b'\r\n', b'OK\r\n', b'\r\n', b'+QGPSURC: "xtradataexpire",0,"1980/01/05,19:00:00"\r\n']
close serial port
Created symlink /etc/systemd/system/dbus-org.freedesktop.ModemManager1.service → /usr/lib/systemd/system/ModemManager.service.
Created symlink /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/ModemManager.service → /usr/lib/systemd/system/ModemManager.service.
successfully setup location gathering
[root@manjaro-arm ~]# mmcli -m 0 --location-status
  --------------------------------
  Location |        capabilities: 3gpp-lac-ci, gps-raw, gps-nmea, agps-msa, agps-msb
          |              enabled: 3gpp-lac-ci, gps-nmea
          |              signals: no
  --------------------------------
  GPS      |        refresh rate: 30 seconds
          | supported assistance: xtra
          |  assistance servers: http://xtrapath3.izatcloud.net/xtra3grc.bin
          |                      http://xtrapath1.izatcloud.net/xtra3grc.bin
          |                      http://xtrapath2.izatcloud.net/xtra3grc.bin
*** waited around 10 minutes ***
[root@manjaro-arm ~]# mmcli -m 0 --location-get
  --------------------------
  3GPP |      operator code: XXX
      |      operator name: XXX
      | location area code: XXXX
      | tracking area code: XXXX
      |            cell id: XXXXXXXX
  --------------------------
GPS  |              nmea:
      |                    $GPGSV,3,1,10,02,45,167,,05,64,036,,06,03,149,,07,12,040,,1*6F
$GPGSV,3,2,10,09,,,,12,,,,13,76,278,,15,38,254,,1*6C
$GPGSV,3,3,10,16,,,,18,10,319,,1*51
      |                    $GPGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,*32
      |                    $GPRMC,,V,,,,,,,,,,N*53
      |                    $GPVTG,,T,,M,,N,,K,N*2C
      |                    $GPGGA,,,,,,0,,,,,,,,*66

As an aside I ran into someone on reddit who seemed to think it might be a hardware issue. I'm not entirely sure though if that's the case for my phone.
https://www.reddit.com/r/PinePhoneOffici...atellites/