Phone will not recognize new desk dock or car dock

[Ratamacue2]

Since the JB update breathed new life into our phones, I decided to blow $19(!) on a new desk dock and car dock. Unfortunately, my Bionic won't recognize either one. It will charge, but will not enter the appropriate mode. This of course is on bone stock (rooted) JB 4.1.2.

Here's what I've tried so far:

1. Uninstall updates to Google Play Music (The most recent update broke dock modes)
2. Disable/enable Google Play Music
3. Clear app data: Desk Dock, DockComm, Vehicle Mode. (Motorola Dock Helper Service and Motorola Dock Service "clear data" buttons are greyed out.)
4. Reboot/extended battery pull on phone and recycle power on docks
5. Attempt to dock in Safe Mode
6. FDR (shortly after the JB soak test OTA went out)
7. Went to the local VZW store where they had a working desk dock and webtop dock. When placed in the webtop (which uses HDMI, I realize), everything worked as it should. In the desk dock, nothing (except of course that the phone started charging).

So...

This looks to be a software issue. What in the world can I try next?

 

[dmarcus48]

try settings/accessories, make sure the dock option is checked. its called the desk home screen. you should see a clock/calendar screen. I got a rnd dock and that's what I had to do.

 

[Ratamacue2]

try settings/accessories, make sure the dock option is checked. its called the desk home screen. you should see a clock/calendar screen. I got a rnd dock and that's what I had to do.

I don't have an "accessories" menu item in system settings. Are you looking at stock Bionic JB 4.1.2?

 

[anon(40232)]

My Moto desk dock and car dock work fine. That's really odd.

 

[sbudaj]

I tried my Bionic with JB and not rooted on my mobile dock. Worked perfectly.

 

[Ratamacue2]

My Moto desk dock and car dock work fine. That's really odd.

Are you rooted?

 

[Groid]

Just checked my desk dock and it works as expected. Car mount works also. I'm stock rom, rooted, 4.1.2. I did a factory data reset after the update and set everything back up.

 

[Ratamacue2]

Just checked my desk dock and it works as expected. Car mount works also. I'm stock rom, rooted, 4.1.2. I did a factory data reset after the update and set everything back up.

Well, I thought there was a possibility that something about being rooted was causing this. So much for that idea.

 

[WebOS Refugee]

Have you tried another phone in your docks? That would give you a differential analysis, allowing you to see whether the problem followed the phone or the docks.

 

[Ratamacue2]

Have you tried another phone in your docks? That would give you a differential analysis, allowing you to see whether the problem followed the phone or the docks.

Unfortunately, I don't have access to another Moto phone to try.

 

[WebOS Refugee]

Unfortunately, I don't have access to another Moto phone to try.

Where are you located? I'd be surprised if there weren't another forum member near enough to be able to help out with the testing.

 

[Ratamacue2]

Where are you located? I'd be surprised if there weren't another forum member near enough to be able to help out with the testing.

I'm near Pottstown, PA, Philly area. If there is anyone in the area that would care to donate a minute of their time, I'd be very appreciative.

 

[matthimrod]

I think I'm having similar issues. I have two identical Bionics (one personal, one for work). Until recently, the work phone was unrooted, but now I have both rooted. The personal phone has always been rooted.

I have pretty much every dock Motorola made for the Bionic (Standard, HD, Vehicle, and Lapdock). After trying to flash a custom ROM and using Fastboot to flash back to stock back before the JB update, my personal phone stopped recognizing the Standard and Vehicle docks. The HD and Lapdocks are recognized in a limited capacity. Pretty much all USB port dock functions except charging are now non-functional. This means I don't get audio through the Standard and Vehicle docks, nor do they go into "dock mode". The HD dock's remote control and USB ports work (since they function over the HDMI port), but neither the audio nor the "dock mode" work in the HD dock. The Lapdock mostly functions except it won't indicate the dock's battery level and I don't get the "mouse options" in my notification area that allows me to disable the touchpad.

(Note to the OP: Were you trying the webtop adapter, the HD dock, or one of the Lapdocks? If the Lapdock, check to see if you can see the dock's battery level. If not, you and I are in exactly the same boat.)

The work phone functions just fine in all of these docks. I've done a factory reset and reflashed the fastboot images. I've even examined dmesg and logcat to see if the devices are detected at all.

As I mentioned before, this all started about a month before the JB update. I was running stock 6.7.246 and was getting impatient for JB. I decided to try a custom ROM until JB was released. I did something stupid and soft-bricked my phone, so as I mentioned, I restored 6.7.246 using fastboot. That's when the dock issue showed up. When the JB update was released, I got antsy to try it, and I thought I'd resolve my dock issue at the same time by re-flashing 2.7.246 with fastboot and then applying the update. Unfortunately, that didn't work.

I'm really frustrated by this since I use my standard dock and navigation dock with my personal phone several times a day. I've been considering wiping both phones and swapping the accounts and SIM cards, but I haven't had a free weekend to do so. I feel like I should be able to troubleshoot this a bit better though. I'm a little beyond the "know enough to be dangerous" level, but I'm by no means an expert. I've just gotten stuck on where to go digging.

 

[Ratamacue2]

I have the standard desk dock and car dock, and I tested the phone in a webtop adapter at a VZW store. As I mentioned before, webtop works, but the others don't.

I didn't purchase my docks until after the JB update, so I have no way of knowing for sure when this issue began. I did FXZ to stock 246 ICS with RSDLITE before the update, and given the experience of the poster above, it sure looks as if something during that process breaks the ability of the phone to recognize the docks. Unfortunately, my expertise to work this issue begins and ends with my ability to read and understand the English language and follow instructions. :-D

As a work around for the car dock issue , the app in the link below will launch the car dock mode manually as long as you are running a stock or Moto Blur based ROM. The other modes FC the app unfortunately.

https://code.google.com/p/bionic-dock/

 

[matthimrod]

I see. The webtop adapter probably doesn't really do anything over the USB port so it'll appear to work just fine.

Have you tried the FXZ for 98.72.22? I flashed a few partitions from it with fastboot but I didn't want to wipe my data partitions at the time.

I have the standard desk dock and car dock, and I tested the phone in a webtop adapter at a VZW store. As I mentioned before, webtop works, but the others don't.

I didn't purchase my docks until after the JB update, so I have no way of knowing for sure when this issue began. I did FXZ to stock 246 ICS with RSDLITE before the update, and given the experience of the poster above, it sure looks as if something during that process breaks the ability of the phone to recognize the docks. Unfortunately, my expertise to work this issue begins and ends with my ability to read and understand the English language and follow instructions. :-D

As a work around for the car dock issue , the app in the link below will launch the car dock mode manually as long as you are running a stock or Moto Blur based ROM. The other modes FC the app unfortunately.

https://code.google.com/p/bionic-dock/

 

[Ratamacue2]

Have you tried the FXZ for 98.72.22? I flashed a few partitions from it with fastboot but I didn't want to wipe my data partitions at the time.

No, I took the OTA for 4.1.2 and protected root with Voodoo. My stock ROM came straight from VZW, and I purposely didn't change a thing there. The one common denominator appears to be that we both did an FXZ to 246.

Like you, I'm fresh out of ideas...

 

[matthimrod]

No, I took the OTA for 4.1.2 and protected root with Voodoo. My stock ROM came straight from VZW, and I purposely didn't change a thing there. The one common denominator appears to be that we both did an FXZ to 246.

Like you, I'm fresh out of ideas...

When I get a free weekend, I'll try the 98.72.22 FXZ since there's a root method for it now. I'll let you know if that changes anything.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

 

[Ratamacue2]

Thanks. That may be the only thing left to try.

 

[Ratamacue2]

When I get a free weekend, I'll try the 98.72.22 FXZ since there's a root method for it now. I'll let you know if that changes anything.

A poster on a different forum attempted to resolve this with a 98.72.22 FXZ, but was not successful. Not good.

http://www.droidforums.net/forum/dr...t-working-docks-after-flashing-246-fxz-3.html

 

[matthimrod]

You're joking, right?

A poster on a different forum attempted to resolve this with a 98.72.22 FXZ, but was not successful. Not good.

http://www.droidforums.net/forum/dr...t-working-docks-after-flashing-246-fxz-3.html