External Speaker Not Working - Any Ideas?

[tlcdmc05]

My external speaker stopped working. It happened very soon after I paired with my husband's Blackberry to try and copy some pictures from his phone (which didn't work). The speaker started working once when the phone was connected via USB to my laptop and sometimes makes a sound right when I answer a call. Sounds work fine without the external speaker, using a headshet or headphones - just nothing coming through external speaker. I know it's a software issue - just not sure how to fix it without reverting to original system settings. Any ideas on what I can do other than starting fresh? I know I can get the apps back that I bought....but, it won't recover all of my associated files. And, I don't know if I'll be able to get back all of the music I downloaded. I don't even know how to back everything up onto my laptop.... Any ideas anyone? I've already exhausted all possibilities in the "settings/options" areas. Thanks!

 

[onsightit]

I have noticed a few posts on this problem already but wondered just how wide spread it is. My new, unrooted, Captivate's external speaker quit working. I missed several important phone calls because of this. I first noticed the problem when I tried to put a call on speakerphone, I could not hear the caller which was embarrassing and unprofessional to say the least. I thought it was a recently installed voice app causing the problem. I uninstalled the app but the problem persisted. I saw several posts from others experienceing the same problem, and they "resolved" the issue by pressing firmly on the external speaker. That's what got mine working again as well. This is an UNACCEPTABLE fix, as I fear that the speaker will go out again, and I will miis more calls. I also use the phone's alarm clock to wake me up... you got it, I overslept yesterday and missed two hours of work.

This seems to me to be a potentially big issue for Samsung - bigger than the GPS issue. The external speaker is a critical component of a phone.

Steve

 

[wlj777]

captivate speaker intermittently not working

I have noticed a few posts on this problem already but wondered just how wide spread it is. My new, unrooted, Captivate's external speaker quit working. I missed several important phone calls because of this. I first noticed the problem when I tried to put a call on speakerphone, I could not hear the caller which was embarrassing and unprofessional to say the least. I thought it was a recently installed voice app causing the problem. I uninstalled the app but the problem persisted. I saw several posts from others experienceing the same problem, and they "resolved" the issue by pressing firmly on the external speaker. That's what got mine working again as well. This is an UNACCEPTABLE fix, as I fear that the speaker will go out again, and I will miis more calls. I also use the phone's alarm clock to wake me up... you got it, I overslept yesterday and missed two hours of work.

This seems to me to be a potentially big issue for Samsung - bigger than the GPS issue. The external speaker is a critical component of a phone.

Steve

I also have an unrooted stock Captivate, and the speaker is very intermittent. the only fix is to press down very hard to get it to work again, but usually only for a few seconds. really sucks, but not a lot of others complaining about it anywhere. Any other ideas? Samsung?

W

 

[Theresatom]

just tried that and didn't work. Lose my speaker this morning on my capitivate. What does unrooted mean?

 

[wlj777]

Stock, and I did not update, just 2.1 j6, right out of box.

 

[ifail]

Fixed worked on my rooted captivate. Thanks for posting!

 

[AdamJC07#AC]

Easier Fix

Hey guys...I just got off the phone with AT&T support, and the only thing I had to do was turn on the "bluetooth" under the pull-down notification tab, and it started working again....

Hopefully there can be some kind of fix to this b/c I don't want to keep my bluetooth on all the time...

 

[PsychicTimo]

Solutions to the Captivate Speaker Issue

Ok, so I had my Samsung Captivate speaker cut out entirely last night and was, needless to say, very disappointed. However, I still believe it is a good phone, I cling to this notion despite the ribbing I took from my friends when the speaker cut out during a YouTube video. Grrrr... Anyway, and more to the point, what follows is my fix.

First, I pressed firmly on the speaker as suggested by many bloggers and the speaker started working again. Hooray! However, like many Captivate owners, I find this temporary fix, "unacceptable on principle alone." Ever the tinkerer and problem-solver, I thought there must be a low-tech solution to this issue as it appears to be related to the small 16mm x 5mm speaker unit?s unseen electronic contacts.

I thought: ?If only there were a way to provide constant gentle pressure to the speaker unit without interfering with its performance or voiding the phone?s warranty, gentle but firm pressure that would stabilize the speaker unit and perhaps add a level of protection from vibration.? Here is what I came up with and I believe that it is quite possibly the lowest cost solution ever stumbled upon by a mere mortal.

I took one small "3M Command? Strip," of the 16mm width variety associated with 3M's wonderful "Damage-Free Hanging Wall Solution" collection of devices. At one end of each Command? Strip there is a 5mm section of the strip that is sticky on one side, the so-called ?wall-side,? while the other side is adhesive free. I cut this end off producing a 5mm wide and 16mm long strip which has friendly adhesive only on one side. I then cut that strip to produce one 2mm wide and one 3mm wide strip exactly 16mm long.

Since the speaker unit is about 16mm long and 10mm wide, I then applied the 2mm x 16mm strip at the outermost boundary of the top of the speaker unit (closest to the camera lens) and the 3mm x 16mm strip at the outermost boundary at the bottom of the unit (closest to the battery). This seems to leave the tiny speaker grill, roughly 5mm wide, unimpeded and once the metal cover is put back in place it could, in theory, provide enough gentle pressure on the speaker unit to stabilize it and perhaps prevent a loss of electrical contact in the event of vibration and associated shifting or, God forbid, a small drop.

 

[javelinarach]

Re: Easier Fix

I turned on the bluetooth on MyTouch 4g and it worked. I also pressed firmly on the speaker but I think it was the bluetooth that did it. Thanks!

 

[Chantella Jackson]

I am sorry for your problem (and I'm sorry I am commenting three years later) but thank you for posting that you have to press hard. I am pretty sure it is temporary, although I'd like to think it's permanent, but at the moment my phone is playing sound again. Thank you. Also, just for whoever happens on this: My phone has this problem, but one time the speaker started working all by itself without me touching it.

Ah, sorry! My phone is Huawei M680, Android 2.1 (yes, I REALLY want a higher firmware than 2.1 but I can't get it ...BUT 2.1 is working for me. )

 

[DAWN CORDES]

I did the bluetooth (turn on) thing and it also got the external speaker working on my Galaxy SII. Thanks!!

 

[Jose Elias Faz Jimenez]

I had a similar problem, my external speaker decided to stop working so I downloaded an app SoundAbout, I started playing some music at the media player and opened the app to play with the values of the media device, switched from several options from earpiece to speaker, eventually it started working again.

 

[Paula Pivko-Martinek]

Just tried soundabout app on my android alcatel. The phone apparently thought the headphones were still attached, at least the icon is shown at the top of the screen and I can't change it. However soundabout app fixed the problem. Thanks for the suggestion...I thought I was going to be buying a new phone...

 

[Susiqhayes1]

My external speaker stopped working. It happened very soon after I paired with my husband's Blackberry to try and copy some pictures from his phone (which didn't work). The speaker started working once when the phone was connected via USB to my laptop and sometimes makes a sound right when I answer a call. Sounds work fine without the external speaker, using a headshet or headphones - just nothing coming through external speaker. I know it's a software issue - just not sure how to fix it without reverting to original system settings. Any ideas on what I can do other than starting fresh? I know I can get the apps back that I bought....but, it won't recover all of my associated files. And, I don't know if I'll be able to get back all of the music I downloaded. I don't even know how to back everything up onto my laptop.... Any ideas anyone? I've already exhausted all possibilities in the "settings/options" areas. Thanks!

 

[Susiqhayes1]

I have exactly the same problem can u plz tell me if u found any options to fix your external speakers plz and it s appreciated greatly...susan

 

[Queen_Shonii]

External Speaker Not Working-Any Suggestions

I have a kyocera phone.This is what happened it dropped in water,but it's a water,it still touch and stuff,it's just the speaker,what should I do?