[Q] Galaxy S4 In-Call sound issues, ROM issues, app issues - AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshootin

Not sure if this is the correct place to post this, but here goes...
Just got a Galaxy S4, and there are several very annoying quirks/problems that I hope someone can help me resolve.
I'm using stock Android 4.2.2
1) I have a 200mb data limit so that flies away in a blink of an eye unless data is restricted. There is a way to disable data, but not RESTRICT it. On CyanogenMod with my Galaxy S3 there is a way to still be able to download emails other things, but restrict all other background data. At least that is what the effect seems to be because my 200mb easily lasts me a month. On the stock Android with the S4 there doesn't seem to be an equivalent option at all. Am I wrong?
2)CyanogenMod has an option to boost in-call volume, which makes the thing so damn loud, I can hold the phone about 3-4 inches away from my ear and still hear clearly. Best of all the option STAYS. It never gets disabled unless I disable it. The stock Android on S4 also has a boost option, but it hardly has any effect at all, boosting volume only ever so slightly, and what's really aggravating, has to be enabled in-call every time a call is made. There is no way to make it "stay". Is there anything I'm missing?
3)I cannot apply a latest "Stable" version of CM to my S4. That is, it installs fine, but keeps saying "unfortunately android keyboard has stopped". So I cannot type anything. Is this a known issue?
4)I have mind to keep using the stock ROM, because I want to have some of those nice hover gestures, S-Health and few other things, but the problem with disabling data is very annoying, plus S-Voice keeps crashing all the time... What gives? IS there any way to fix S-Voice?
5)Finally are there any modified stock ROMs which have all the good stuff and none of the bad? ; ) And if not, are there any ROMS except for CM that you can recommend for the S4?
Thanks very much.

Related

[Q] Phone sensors unresponsive for a few secs when receiving call.

Hello everyone. I've done a few searches on here but haven't found this exact problem. Relevant details without extra background info are in bold.
My wife and I each got an S4 with Sprint's recent BOGO promotion. My phone has had no issues. It came with MDL in the box, which I updated to MF9 via OTA, flashed TWRP via Heimdall in Linux, rooted, and installed the hotspot mod.
Her phone - completely stock MF9 and new from the store - has had problems, one of which I've so far been unable to fix. (How I wish it were mine. I develop for Android, but this is much more of a pain for her.) Hers already had MF9 at the store. It had the Google Services Framework/Core Apps runaway process issue with heat/battery drain from the start - which I fixed. However, it also has unresponsive sensors for ~3 seconds when receiving a call. It's almost as if there's some lag in activating the sensors. The phone is otherwise snappy with no other lag noted.
- Hard reset has been tried.
- The touchscreen is unresponsive during this time, though the display functions.
- The gesture for answering (when enabled) also does not work.
- We haven't tried enabling the home key to answer, but this will be next.
I've seen this before with Android a good while back. It was an inherent problem with Gingerbread on many phones. Haven't seen it pop up in Jellybean at all. In trying to diagnose, I've ensured that all bells and whistles are turned off. No air gestures are on.
We'd really like to get it working as it should. Has anyone else experienced this? Any advice?
Many thanks!
I believe this is more of a stock software issue. I have had the issue since day one.
When I turned off svoice and some of the other added features most of the lag disappeared. Svoice is pretty good at creating lag as far as ive seen.
Voice response seems to create th lag as it is awaiting a voice command from you.
This is what I have noticed anyway.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda app-developers app

SM-N900W8 & CM11 M12 bugs and issues :(

I have a Canadian Note 3 (SM-N900W8), it's KNOX 0x0 rooted and I have CM11 M12 installed. I have been using only the M builds since I got this phone, I didn't even set up Touchwiz when I got it, I rooted and installed Cyanogenmod out of the box.
Now, with the new CM12 builds coming out, what happened to CM11, are they going to fix the remaining issues? Or did they just bail on legacy KitKat users because I'm having TONS of problems and I don't want lollipop, it runs like absolute crap for the nightlies right now and CM11 M12 isn't much better. Bluetooth takes a couple of attempts to connect, when it does my phone runs super slow to the point it force restarts. For instance, if I'm driving around, listening to music on the car stereo, pull over some where, find a new album on Google Music, start playing that, it's all good, do this a few times, every time I use my phone it gets slower and slower until it force restarts and then bluetooth has trouble connecting again. I've tried this on a few other vehicles of different brands and aftermarket stereos and it's the same result.
Audio is all funky when bluetooth is on too, it sounds like robots for the system sounds and if bluetooth drops while it's connected the music starts playing from the phone and sounds all roboty. I always do clean flashes too and the latest Paranoid Android GAPPS every time I reflash, the ROM is fine out of the box, works flawless for the first few days but after awhile, it becomes so bad I have to backup, wipe, reflash, and start over for another few weeks.
Another issue is somewhere between M8 and M12 one of the builds corrupted my SD card, I tossed in a second new card, it was corrupted again, FutureShop won't give me another one and said my phone is breaking them so I'm SD-less right now.
There are also quite a few apps that force close, but always at random, it's never when doing the same thing over and over, for instance, I can be scrolling through G+ and it tells me settings has stopped working, wasn't even using settings, didn't even have it open, haven't clicked it since booting my phone, just randomly stops working for no reason, this also happens all the time with the Camera, it says it just stops working when I haven't even used it and then if I try to use it, it says the camera is disconnected and won't work until I reboot.
I turn my phone off every night while it's charging and turn it back on every morning so every morning it gets a fresh restart, and I have to restart my phone probably 5ish times a day, if I'm using bluetooth more then normal then there's quite a few more unintentional reboots in there as well.
The last issue, which is a known issue is NFC not working, is there a fix for this yet? I kinda miss this feature and with how flawed CM11 is getting I don't know where to turn since they always seemed to be the most stable out of everything I've tried.
Any before anyone says Temasek's CM builds, I tried it, the final for CM11, it was worse then M12, it's exactly the same as M12, but every issue happens more frequently. Also, the pull down menu (when pulling down from the top right to show toggles), the bottoms of the last row was cut off so it didn't look very appealing either, it also used WAY more battery life, I usually get a full day out of one charge, so around 18 to 20ish hours on one charge, with temaseks cm11 I had to charge my phone half way through the day, sometimes my phone would just die on me without me knowing, the battery usage was always Android System.
A new problem that just happened lastnight was Google Keyboard was deleted and only the voice search would work, but "voice search can't be reached" so I couldn't search for another keyboard app from the playstore. I also used the stock GAPPS so AOSP keyboard is replaced with Google Keyboard, I had to reflash again this morning because I couldn't figure out the keyboard thing, there wasn't even a keyboard under languages in settings so I had no options to pick which keyboard to use. When I reflashes this morning I used the Modular GAPPS to it keeps the AOSP Keyboard just in case this happens again but I'm getting really tired of only having a reliable phone for a few weeks.
So, are there any fixes for these issues?
Bluetooth taking multiple attempts to connect
Bluetooth forcing random reboots
Bluetooth making audio from device all funky and sounds like a robot
Corrupting SD cards
Random system apps stopping without me even using or opening them
Google Keyboard vanishing
Are there any stable ROMs I could try for the HLTE? Maybe one that has working NFC? I'm almost thinking of going back to stock *throws up in mouth* but I don't know what else to do with how many bugs there are and Lollipop is only getting worse with the issues.
I'm also trying to avoid Lollipop because everything is white, Note 3 is an AMOLED display, each pixel illuminates on it's own so white screens use WAY more battery life then black ones which was a feature of Temasek's CM11 that I liked, had the option in settings to make everything black like the good old days.
So guys? Really out on my luck here, not sure what the next step is, any fixes for these problems? Any other ROM's I could try? Would flashing a new recovery and reflashing CM11 M12 fix some of these issues? I'm using Xiaoli CWM v6.0.4.7(20140125). Would the fact that KNOX isn't tripped have something to do with this? I really don't understand why there aren't more posts for these issues which leads me to believe I'm one of the only ones experiencing them.
Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated
EDIT:
I forgot to mention that when recording audio or video, it's as if the mic gain is set on full so even the slightest sound is pure distortion, normal talking volume and it clips, I found an app that lets me choose between the mics and when I pic the external mic, it's all muffles as if something is covering it but my phone wasn't in a case while I was testing so I'm not sure what the deal is there but I can't record any decent audio with this and when I record in 4K using Cinema FV-5, all the videos turn out looking like Anaglyph 3D but all pink and green, it's really weird and I don't understand why, but 1080p at 60fps works fine.
I am on CM12 and luckily have had no issues at all. I came from KK 4.4.4 and still have the NB7 BL and modem. I tried one of the guys slim ROMs alpha builds but had issues (probably operator error) but I've tried Bluetooth, GPS, WiFi , LTE etc and everything is good. Not sure what to tell you. I do however always wipe internally and d/l all my apps again through WiFi. A bit cumbersome I know but it won't give me any residual data.
Sent from my SM-N900W8 using XDA Free mobile app

[Q] What on earth is this???

Hi Guys,
I have a Note 3 SM-N9005 and I have come across a really odd issue that I have yet to find a solution to.
All music and other audio – so that’s, White Noise Apps, Relaxation Assp ete every single music app I have tried from PowerAmp, N7, PowerPlay etc… ALL start skipping after about 20mins. The skips are always the same in terms of duration – almost Morse like in their regularity.
This NEVER happens with an un-rooted stock ROM. But happens EVERY time without exception with ANY other ROM I have tried.
One important thing to note is that it doesn’t happen immediately, which makes me think its an update that is incompatible with customs ROMS.
I have tried increasing the buffer, killing Google Music app etc…all to no avail…
I’d be well impressed if someone has a solution to this as it doesn’t seem to be anywhere else.
Edit:- Also its not a hardware issue as its been checked.
M…
Bump! Seriously, nobody else experienced this???

[G900F] Major issues with CM12.1. Any suggestions for a more stable ROM?

Hello XDA,
I recently got my hands on an S5 (SM-G900F) and it seems better than my Nexus 5, so I want to make it my main phone. As I do with all my phones, I immediately removed the vendor's bloatware/spyware by rooting and installing some custom ROM. This time I started with CM12.1, which seemed to be OK based on various comments here and reviews online.
However, I've run into several serious problems.
1.) Erratic Bluetooth behavior:
When paired with my car audio system, there are frequent pauses and "static" noises. Also, sometimes, when it pairs with the car, I can control the music via the car's navigation buttons but the music plays through the phone's speakers (!?!?). One more annoying issue: it pairs but sometimes wont start the music player, no matter how many times I press the "Play/Next" button on the car system.
2.) Wi-Fi Issues:
No matter which Wi-Fi I connect to, after a couple of hours I get the warning icon and I cannot access the internet (and it won't even switch to mobile data), so I miss important stuff without realizing. This is fixed by simply turning the Wi-Fi off and on again but, still, it's a show stopper.
3.) Random vibration:
I don't understand why the S5 just randomly vibrates in my pocket or why it vibrates and the screen turns on whenever I move it. I've found it unlocked and with random apps open, many times, after taking it out of my pocket...
4.) Bad Camera app
The Camera app that came with CM12.1 cannot take a single good picture; they're all blurry. It seems to have a problem with auto-focus. I had to install Snap Camera to take pics.
Since I originally installed CM12.1 based on positive feedback here on XDA, I would like to be a bit more cautious this time and ask people with more hands-on experience with the S5 to suggest a more stable ROM for me. I don't have any particular preferences. Anything that can run Nova Launcher is fine.
Thank you very much for your help
sekl_ said:
Hello XDA,
I recently got my hands on an S5 (SM-G900F) and it seems better than my Nexus 5, so I want to make it my main phone. As I do with all my phones, I immediately removed the vendor's bloatware/spyware by rooting and installing some custom ROM. This time I started with CM12.1, which seemed to be OK based on various comments here and reviews online.
However, I've run into several serious problems.
1.) Erratic Bluetooth behavior:
When paired with my car audio system, there are frequent pauses and "static" noises. Also, sometimes, when it pairs with the car, I can control the music via the car's navigation buttons but the music plays through the phone's speakers (!?!?). One more annoying issue: it pairs but sometimes wont start the music player, no matter how many times I press the "Play/Next" button on the car system.
2.) Wi-Fi Issues:
No matter which Wi-Fi I connect to, after a couple of hours I get the warning icon and I cannot access the internet (and it won't even switch to mobile data), so I miss important stuff without realizing. This is fixed by simply turning the Wi-Fi off and on again but, still, it's a show stopper.
3.) Random vibration:
I don't understand why the S5 just randomly vibrates in my pocket or why it vibrates and the screen turns on whenever I move it. I've found it unlocked and with random apps open, many times, after taking it out of my pocket...
4.) Bad Camera app
The Camera app that came with CM12.1 cannot take a single good picture; they're all blurry. It seems to have a problem with auto-focus. I had to install Snap Camera to take pics.
Since I originally installed CM12.1 based on positive feedback here on XDA, I would like to be a bit more cautious this time and ask people with more hands-on experience with the S5 to suggest a more stable ROM for me. I don't have any particular preferences. Anything that can run Nova Launcher is fine.
Thank you very much for your help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello, first time posting on XDA.
Recently bought a G900F aswell, rooted and flashed straight away the latest build of CM 12.1. Glad to see someone with the same issues as me.
Starting with the camera, I also notice the blur and the extreme auto focus problem. Good to know that others have it because I didn't even try it on stock so I was worried it was a hardware problem, going to give it a try on it or on another ROM to see the difference. I had a P970 and it also had camera problems initially with CM so I'm guessing it's normal for klte since there are only a few nightlies out yet.
The random vibrations are a thing, the phone heats sometimes and the battery autonomy isn't the best.
As for ROM's I'm going to start with SIXPERIENCE 7.0 because CM isn't kinda giving it to me yet, but I'd gladly hear which ones you guys recommend.
Stock ROMs are incredibly stable and smooth with a new launcher like Nova

Nexus Bugs In Update 6.0.1

So when I bought my Nexus 6P I knew I was going to get the latest updates as soon as Google released them. I also expected to find minor bugs because we are getting updates much faster as well.
What I was not expecting is to both, bugs that make for a nearly unusable device and minor annoying ones. For my device the bugs that hit me hard are;
Max Volume Bluetooth Speaker Bug - Most bluetooth speakers are stuck in max volume mode and can't be turned down. Distorts the audio and creates a situation were you could blow out the speaker. Not all speakers are effected.
No LTE On Boot - Annoying to have but "fixable" by putting the device in Airplane mode. Otherwise no Data or SMS until you do and hope your phone doesn't reboot in you pocket while waiting for an important message.
No Phone Calls - You can't make or receive calls. As a result you can't check VM either. No amount of Airplane mode or rebooting will fix it. Neither will the phone service menu.
My concern here is that Google hasn't patched these bugs yet, even after releasing another update to 6.0.1 M. For now I'm fine with downgrading to 6.0.0M but I'm missing out on updates.
To add to insult any ROM build with the 6.0.1 source is effected by these bugs, so I can't even use most ROMs unless I find an older version.
I guess my main question here is this:
Is this normal? Does Google usually go so long without patching the bugs?
Seems really silly to have a phone, but not be allowed to make or receive calls at all and not be able to send SMS or email unless you do a few tricks first. It's a phone. Don't they test these things?
Disclaimer: I already know not all 6P or Nexus devices are effected. That does add to my confusion as they all should be the same exact device.
EDIT: I also wanted to add that when I got the device I could do all these things however even downgrading will no longer allow phone calls. Something is retaining.
Well that's weird mate. I'm on 6.0.1 and have none of these problems.
I was experiencing awful battery life after the latest update but clearing the cache has made a huge difference
Have you tried reaching out to Google? It would be helpful if you could share how you upgraded to 6.0.1? As mentioned above did you clear cache? The more info you can provide; the faster someone can help you.
The Bluetooth volume issue is the only one I have and only on one of my speakers. The others with fine.
Huh, ya 6.0.1 here too and none of these issues are present.

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