M8 is Muting itself

[deanpark]

My M8 has started self muting in two different ways. First, after about a week of operation (between re-boots), the ringer will mute itself. The sound settings will show that it is muted and the setting cannot be changed without rebooting. After rebooting, it will be fine for another week or so.

Second, also after about a week of operation, the text message notification sound will mute itself. In settings, the sound is not shown as muted and you can change the setting for notification volume, but it has no real effect; text messages are still silent until the phone is rebooted.

Has anyone else had this problem? Can it be fixed without a hard reset?

Thanks,
deanpark
St. Louis, MO

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! How new is the phone? If it's pretty new, consider bringing it back to the store for a replacement.

Is it possible that you're inadvertently pressing and holding the Power button long enough to bring up the Power dialog box (which typically includes the vibrate and mute options)? I know that the M8 has a button that's relatively easy to push, so perhaps it's getting pushed in your pocket, and then the mute button is being touched. A little farfetched, but not entirely inconceivable.

You may want to try booting into Safe Mode, to see if some app you installed is causing the problem. If the issue goes away, then it's probably due to a 3rd party app. Or you could boot into Recovery Mode and wipe the cache partition, which won't erase any personal data. Steps for both are here: Reset: HTC One (M8) | T-Mobile Support

 

[Android Optimizer]

I haven't noticed either of those problems. Before resorting to a hard reset I recommend a system cache wipe:
disable fastboot (if its enabled)
Turn off your smartphone
Press and hold the "Volume Down" button
While pressing the volume key, press and release the "Power" button to turn the smartphone on
Keep holding "Volume Down" until you see the three Android images at the lower part of the screen
From the "HBOOT" menu, press "Volume down" to highlight "Recovery"
Press "Power" to confirm the selection
A red triangle should pop-up on the screen
Press and hold the "Volume Up" and "Power" buttons at the same time
After reaching the "Recovery" menu, release the buttons
Press "Volume Down" to navigate to, and highlight "Wipe cache partition"
Press the "Power" key to select the option
Wait for the device to display "Cache wipe complete"
With "Reboot system now" highlighted, press the "Power" key

If the system cache wipe doesn't work you could try clearing the cache for the phone app, messaging app(s) you use, and the Notification Widget in the App manager -> All area and see if that resolves the issue.

 

[deanpark]

Thanks for the suggestions. These will take quite a while to test, but I'll do it and check back in in a few weeks since it takes about a week for the phone to mess up after a reboot.

Dean

 

[deanpark]

Guys;
Something didn't work quite right. I followed instructions to the letter but was unable to wipe cache. Booted phone into HBOOT menu, pressed volume down to highlight recovery and pressed power to confirm. OK so far. Red triangle pops up. Pressed volume up and power and held until reboot --however, phone continued to simply reboot over and over for as long as I held both buttons. If I let go, it fully rebooted. I could never reach the recovery menu.

Did I miss something? My hdwe version is 0005; software version is 2.16.651.4; Android version is 4.4.3; Sense version is 6.0; API level is 6.25. Phone is not rooted.

Thanks again.

Dean

 

[Android Optimizer]

Red triangle pops up. Pressed volume up and power and held until reboot --however, phone continued to simply reboot over and over for as long as I held both buttons. If I let go, it fully rebooted. I could never reach the recovery menu.
Dean

It should be more of a quick press of the two together when you get the red ! (which takes you to another menu) as opposed to truly holding the buttons down for numerous seconds.

 

[deanpark]

That did it. Thanks so much. Now, I can wait a week to see if it helps.

Dean

 

[deanpark]

Guys;
Thanks for the suggestions. I've tried them and waited for a while to see if they worked. Unfortunately not. After 8 days, my M8 quit receiving calls again. After a quick reboot, it was fine. Very mysterious. Why would it work perfectly for about a week, each time; then quit receiving calls (no problem with coverage)?

I was unable to try to clear the cache for the phone app, messaging app, and notification widget, as I couldn't find them in settings|apps.

Any other ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Dean

 

[ptwilliams]

I thought I was going mad, but mine does this too. At first, I thought I was just not hearing the notifications... changed them for louder ones, but no it definitely does it.

 

[deanpark]

Hopefully, someone smarter than us will figure this out. I'd really like to avoid a hard reset and I know there are a bunch of really smart folks on this board.

Dean