Stuck In Headset Mode? No Earpiece or Back Speaker Sound? [FIX]

[Se7enth]

Update - 2-23-2010:

Originally Posted by neville

If you guys are still having issues, can you please take a bit of time to beta test my new app. I created it after having this happen to me the 5th time (all times hardware related). The app will allow you to FORCE speaker/headset audio mode at will.

http://forums.precentral.net/homebre...dset-mode.html

edit: forum doesn't seem to want to format the URL correctly.. sorry guys. You should be able to find it in the homebrew forum.

-------------------------------------


I think this should be stickied as this issues seems to be a reoccurring one on this forum. So hopefully with a stickied topic, it can end the multiple topics.

Here are some past topics. There are a ton of other topics out there:
- http://forums.precentral.net/palm-pr...one-works.html
- http://forums.precentral.net/palm-pr...d-working.html
- http://forums.precentral.net/palm-pr...dset-mode.html
- http://forums.precentral.net/palm-pr...set-issue.html
- http://forums.precentral.net/palm-pr...s-speaker.html

And here is the "fix" that seems to work. It has worked for me EVERY time:

1) Plug in a headset into the jack
2) Open up a media player (either the MP3 player or Pandora)
3) Begin to let the music play.
4) Stop the music from playing after a few seconds
5) Completely exit out of the media application.
6) With the headset still plugged in, wait about 15-30 seconds. (this is so that the media/pandora app task can "fully" stop from running)
7) Unplug the headset.
8) Try to make a call. The phone should now be able to emit sound from the earpiece.

If the above does not work, other methods I have read tell you to plug in a headset & play music. While the music is playing, quickly remove & insert the headset into the jack (not too rough so if doesn't break anything) until you hear the music coming out of the speaker.

Some compressed air blown into the headset jack might help. It didn't work for me, but again I have read that it helped for some. One method that I didn't want to risk trying is to lightly coat the headset with WD-40. With the headset coated, try the method in the above paragraph.

There might be other solutions. Feel free to suggest them if anything different has worked.

<<The following is added by berd>>

Originally Posted by voltageROCK

This Worked -> http://forums.precentral.net/palm-pr...sue-fixed.html

READ THIS THREAD. IT WORKED FOR ME THE FIRST TIME!!!! TRY IT. MODERATORS, PLEASE VERIFY THIS AND STICKY THIS AFTER POSTING THIS IN ALL OF THE RELEVANT THREADS. THANKS BE TO LIZARD FOR HE IS MY SAVE*****. OK, UNNECESSARY LANYGUAGE, BUT IM HAPPY WITH THIS FIX DAG NABBIT.

Originally Posted by palmpre06062009

I have had this issue at least a few times. The first time the pandora trick worked. See below.

1) Plug in a headset into the jack
2) Open up a media player (either the MP3 player or Pandora)
3) Begin to let the music play.
4) Stop the music from playing after a few seconds
5) Completely exit out of the media application.
6) With the headset still plugged in, wait about 15-30 seconds. (this is so that the media/pandora app task can "fully" stop from running)
7) Unplug the headset.
8) Try to make a call. The phone should now be able to emit sound from the earpiece

Today the above didn't work.

I tried many things listed under this thread. Finally, the thing that worked was plugging headset and unplugging headset while on a call. However, there is a caveat associated with this. If you have a bluetooth connection on, this doesn't work. For this to work, disable the bluetooth and then try plugging/unplugging the headset while on a call and hopefully it would work. It did for me.
Thanks

Added 2-2-2010:
http://forums.precentral.net/palm-pr...ml#post2197018

[lldsandsll]

ur doing it wrong.

super easy fix:

plug headphones/headset in and out a few times. it will come back. done this multiple times, so have others.

[Se7enth]

Originally Posted by lldsandsll

ur doing it wrong.

super easy fix:

plug headphones/headset in and out a few times. it will come back. done this multiple times, so have others.

I have tried that one. I spent 20 minutes putting the headset in & out with no avail. Doesn't hurt for others to try though. =)

[vader4633]

I just took mine back to sprint and they ordered me a replacement. I tried blowing air in, multiple headphone jack in & out nothing works. I want to keep this phone since I have my phantom skin on perfect....

[RC46]

Originally Posted by vader4633

I just took mine back to sprint and they ordered me a replacement. I tried blowing air in, multiple headphone jack in & out nothing works. I want to keep this phone since I have my phantom skin on perfect....

Try trimming down a q-tip and cleaning the 3.5mm jack with rubbing alcohol. That has worked for others.

[RC46]

I agree this should be a sticky and the OP's method for restoring earphone speaker works for most people. Others have reported success by toggling the mute button. Others have reported success by cleaning the jack with rubbing alcohol or lens cleaner.

The fact of the matter is that there are many phones being exchanged needlessly and if this issue was stickied it could solve a lot of people some grief.

I think that Pandora may have a bug in their software that is causing this because to the best of my knowledge nobody has reported this problem from listening to Mp3s using the built in media player.

[sveilien]

I pulled the battery when this happened to me, that fixed it. I also pulled the battery when my keyboard stopped working once, fixed that too.

Pulling the battery should be a step for a lot of "lockup" type things that happen to the Pre.

[Bigtuna00]

Guys, seriously:

If pulling the battery, resetting the phone, opening an app, etc. actually fixes the problem this is a SOFTWARE problem. No amount of sucking or blowing will fix that.

If a mechanical solution is what really works (blowing air, cleaning, etc.) then this is a hardware problem.

It's really important to differentiate the software solutions from the mechanical ones, and be sure which one really works.

[bds9487]

Try this:

orange key + sym key + "r" key

That's what the Sprint tech did to fix mine.

[vader4633]

I was playing mp3's on mine when it happened, I've even done a hard reset. Still thinks it's in headphone mode. This is a hardware problem not a software one. Just waiting for my replacement which will probably be a refirb.....

[lldsandsll]

Originally Posted by bds9487

Try this:

orange key + sym key + "r" key

That's what the Sprint tech did to fix mine.

fascinating

[BDoG76]

Originally Posted by vader4633

I just took mine back to sprint and they ordered me a replacement. I tried blowing air in, multiple headphone jack in & out nothing works. I want to keep this phone since I have my phantom skin on perfect....

I did the same. The refurb I got actually had a better feel to it than the old one.

[vader4633]

Originally Posted by BDoG76

I did the same. The refurb I got actually had a better feel to it than the old one.

Just got back from sprint and the refurb I got worked but it looked like someone tried to open it from the left side instead of sliding it up. I showed the sales clerk and he apologized and ordered me another. Hopefully it will be better but think it will probably be one of the early returns for the oreo exchanges. I've had the original since a week after launch and I kept it in great shape. I would expect to get a replacement with the same quality.

[pennpre]

Mentioned this in another thread, but plugging a set of headphones in while on a call , I just call my voicemail, then unplugging them while still on the call should switch you back to handset speaker mode. Works for me at least.

[vader4633]

Got my third replacement today. It's a launch day refurb but it does have the black rails on the slider. No oreo effect.

[le_seus]

palm pre's tech support said this is a known issue. he said to basically do the stuff that is on this page until a fix is in. so any of these fixes to get the pre to recognize the headphones are out might work so you will have to go thru all of them. goodluck guys.

[L-Boogie]

I've been having this problem too, I took it to the Sprint store today but the guy there couldn't fix it and said to wait until tomorrow when the specialist comes in, but I will try the steps posted right now since alot of other people have had this problem and encountered success using these methods. Lol on a side note the rep was perplexed at the apps I had on my phone the Checkers app in particular he asked me how did I get it and I told him I got it from precentral.net, I also told him that life is a game of Chess not Checkers :-D

[jcbone]

Same thing happened to me! I was restarting it, plugging and unplugging headphones in multiple times but still didn't fix the problem. Finally I got a qtip and trimmed it down a bit and dipped it in some rubbing alcohol and cleaned it out. Let it dry for a minute or two and than started my music player and it finally WORKED! lol man I was gettin frustrated too. So if the other methods don't work, which I tried all of those a few times then I would try the alcohol one. Thanks for all the help guys!

[jcbone]

Same thing happened to me! I was restarting it, plugging and unplugging headphones in multiple times but still didn't fix the problem. Finally I got a qtip and trimmed it down a bit and dipped it in some rubbing alcohol and cleaned it out. Let it dry for a minute or two and than started my music player and it finally WORKED! lol man I was gettin frustrated too. So if the other methods don't work, which I tried all of those a few times then I would try the alcohol one. Thanks for all the help guys!

[Bishounen]

In my case, the video player, MP3 player, and Pandora don't have sound, but everything else does, both on headphones and on speaker. So I can hear the "swipe" sound when dismissing a card, both on speaker and headphones, and the ringer works fine on both as well. but NO multimedia apps will output sound to the speakers, JUST the headphones!

I've tried a soft reset (orange, sym, r) and a power down and back up, and I've even pulled the battery. None of those worked.

I tried the headphone jack in and out, no go, and I blew into the headphone jack. no go.

I'm out of ideas and frustrated. It was working earlier today too.

Any suggestions?


UPDATE:

I tried popping the battery out WHILE THE PRE WAS ON and it fixed the issue. So it's absolutely a software problem. Doing a full shutdown SAVES any software settings (such as being in headphone mode) immediately to non-volatile memory, thus the problem is back when you restart. but popping the battery rather than doing a full shutdown would dump the volatile memory IMMEDIATELY, thus wiping any settings.

So, at least in my case, the problem was software not hardware.