SM-N900W8 & CM11 M12 bugs and issues :( - Galaxy Note 3 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

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

Related

[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

Really annoying bluetooth problems on N6P

Okay so I'm gonna describe my problem as clearly as possible and will hope someone can find a fix for this.
Device: Nexus 6P
OS: Android 6.0.1 (latest vendor & security patch - June 2016)
Bluetooth devices used: Sony MDR 600BT, SOL republic tracks air, jbl synchros earphones, jbl flip 2 speaker.
1) pair earphones/speakers
2) start playing music on earphones/speakers
3) works fine on first run and when screen is off
4) when I switch on my screen to change the song the music stutters for 10 full seconds, then stuttering stops.
5) I change the song and again put screen off, works fine.
6) i put my phone in my pocket and suddenly my phone audio stops skipping??? Wtf???
7) so I change my pocket and put it in my hoodie pocket. (Nearer to earphones - maybe distance is the problem I thought)
8) audio still skips............:crying:
9) put my screen on to change song, audio starts stuttering again like crazy and then stops.
10) I request anyone here to heed this request and tell me how to workaround this problem
Currently running latest android MM 6.0.1 and no improvement .....:crying:
I don't understand one thing - top of the line flagship device and still these problems? Not getting value for my hard earned money. This is wrong.
I tried it with my iPod and it works like a charm. No stutters. No skips. Nothing.
Tried different Bluetooth headphones too in case my Sony earphones were the problem. NO IMPROVEMENT SAME PROBLEM PERSISTS.
TRIED USING IT ON ANY BLUETOOTH SPEAKER THE ABOVE THINGS KEEP HAPPENING AND I AM GETTING REALLY ANNOYED WITH THIS PHONE WHEN IT COMES TO BLUETOOTH.
I'm sorry for agonizing so much. But I hope you'll can understand my problem. And hopefully there's a fix somewhere in the world.
I am having the same issue, and my searches came up with this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-6p/help/bluetooth-audio-stutter-wake-unlock-t3384324
Is this a Play Music issue? I don't have these issues, but I don't use Play Music. usually stream through YouTube or something like that instead. Works on BT Headset and Sony BT head unit in my car.
blackwrx02 said:
Is this a Play Music issue? I don't have these issues, but I don't use Play Music. usually stream through YouTube or something like that instead. Works on BT Headset and Sony BT head unit in my car.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't speak for Zapjack12345, but I notice it with PowerAmp, Pandora, Spotify, YouTube, basically any app that is pushing audio through bluetooth. Audio is fine when the screen is off, but as soon as I pick up the phone, and turn it on to check notifications, things get screwy with the audio
Strange. I just checked with Pandora, YouTube, and IheartRadio and all seem fine with screen off and turning it on, using the pulldown menu, or changing songs. I'm using a cheap set of bluetooth earbuds from Amazon (no-name brand), and am stock with the phone, not rooted (yet) and on June updates. Phone was purchased in May new from Best Buy.
Same issue for me as well. I'm specifically using Amazon and Pandora most of the time. Its very annoying. On Chroma and franco kernel.
What rom are you using? This has been a well documented CM rom issue so any rom that uses CM as a base will and has had this issue since mid-January. Stock and AOSP based roms dont have this issue (from what I've seen and tried).
I'm currently using the 6/15 nightly for OMNIrom and do not have these issues.
As a sidenote, this was also an issue with Android N Dev Preview 2.
uodii said:
What rom are you using? This has been a well documented CM rom issue so any rom that uses CM as a base will and has had this issue since mid-January. Stock and AOSP based roms dont have this issue (from what I've seen and tried).
I'm currently using the 6/15 nightly for OMNIrom and do not have these issues.
As a sidenote, this was also an issue with Android N Dev Preview 2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm currently on Pure Nexus 5/6/16. Nothing out of the ordinary installed. Tried clearing the Bluetooth cache, as the issue I am noticing was similar to issues that the Samsung S5 was having, but there was no difference.
I am going to look to go back to stock and see what happens, but looking at what OP posted, it looks like they're on stock, and having the same issue.
I am about to throw my phone in the sea. BT seems like it's getting worse and worse with each update. Cmon Google/Huawei. Don't make me lose faith.
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
krakerx said:
I am having the same issue, and my searches came up with this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-6p/help/bluetooth-audio-stutter-wake-unlock-t3384324
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had a little less issues when using the Dev Preview 3 but there was another issue that arised that I hope gets fixed.
If you're using bluetooth when driving around when you lose signal or drop/gain data connection the audio skips for a quick second. Through past testing I've done working with kernel devs on 2 phones, the issue is related to how the hotplugging works for the cores. If only one core is running when the connection drops there is an issue with how the cpu ramps up and/or turns on another core to handle the workload. I thought this regression was pretty interesting seeing as one the things they were boasting about at the Google conference was how android would fix slow downs and issues when losing/gaining network connectivity with N. Hopefully it'll be fixed before final release.
akarol said:
I am about to throw my phone in the sea. BT seems like it's getting worse and worse with each update. Cmon Google/Huawei. Don't make me lose faith.
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You and me both. I am on my 3rd 6P and my BT problems are still the same. If the BT problems were only effecting one particular device I could understand but my Microsoft band, BT earbuds and car all seem to disconnect continuously on a bare/stock phone.
Okay guys. I changed my ROM from Resurrection Remix to Paranoid Android and this issue has been solved. Thank you so much for all your help and answers!
Does anyone else have any updates regarding this issue? Literally wanted to throw my phone out of the window during the morning commute.
Zapjack12345 said:
Okay guys. I changed my ROM from Resurrection Remix to Paranoid Android and this issue has been solved. Thank you so much for all your help and answers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't use cm based roms
Smallsmx3 said:
Don't use cm based roms
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, this is 100% the reason. It is a CM issue. AOSP roms like Paranoid Android and Pure Nexus don't have this issue. I love Resurrection Remix, but this is starting to bug me. I may jump to PA rom soon...
Smallsmx3 said:
Don't use cm based roms
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. Was about to ask this question. It is a CM issue.
I have had issues with BT dropping randomly in my car on 2 different 6P's. No rhyme or reason, and it doesn't happen often, but annoying when it does. Happened on MM and DP4 currently.
On the flip side, my audio quality went down on my S7E over BT when my smartwatch was connected. Somehow, that doesn't happen with the 6P meaning I can keep my watch on in the car, so I am happy.
Hey, I just found this thread and surprised it took me this long considering I've been having this issue since I got my phone in November.
My 64gb 6P was stock until earlier this week, when I finally rooted and flashed xposed. The issue stopped the day I rooted my phone, and I was thrilled.
After reinstalling most of my apps and getting back into my routine, the problem came back. I've tried booting my phone into safe mode several times before rooting so I'm fairly confident the issue doesn't exist because of a specific app interaction, but I can't figure out what it is to save my life. I might backup again and restore to the backup I made right after rooting to see if I can narrow down the problem.
Other than that, I am very new to this stuff and honestly just thrilled to have found other people having the same issue.
I only experience the problem while connected to my car (2015 Chevy Cruze), and not any other bluetooth device.
Let me know if you guys find/have found anything I suppose?
I kinda have up on trying to narrow down the issue. I tried PureNexus, Paranoid Android, I tried different kernels, different cases. Still kept skipping and jumping, no matter how far, or close it was to my Bluetooth device (car stereo, speakers, home audio system). I went back to stock, no root, no Xposed, pure and simple Android, and I have not had a single issue, it's beautiful.

Audio Crashing

I apologize if this ends up being long winded, I want to lay out all the details.
So I recently purchased (what I had believed to be) second hand Nexus 6P. It is in perfect physical condition however, no signs of ever being used. Battery is great, performance is great, speakers are great, camera amazing, and screen is perfect. However two odd things started to occur which I believe stems from the same issue. When hanging up phone calls the hanging up process would hang for a long while and either eventually hang up or the system would soft reboot. After reboot notifications are still set to priority only "call management", although it is easy to adjust and bring it out of that. However no audio/mic works at all (Play Music and YouTube give an error that they cannot play). No audio from speaker, or from headphone jack. I could however connect to a Bluetooth speaker and audio plays just fine. I then went to do a proper shutdown of the phone (using the power button menu), and when I manually booted it back up all audio works find again. I plug in headphones and start listening to music on Play Music. After a while however, playback fails and all the audio on the phone is once again dead...queue soft reboot. And repeat the whole process again. If I'm listening to headphones and I do anything to activate the microphone, audio crashes and go through the whole process again.
So I decided to make sure it was all up to date all the way to OTA 7.1.2. Once I did and I tested, the same issues above occurred over time. So then I thought maybe if I used Nexus Root Toolkit and did a full manual wipe and reinstall of 7.1.2 factory image from Google. Phone issue initially went away, but audio playback through headphones persisted and eventually the phone issue manifested itself again.
Today I decided that I do a full wipe again and try and install Pure Nexus 7.1.2, non rooted with BeanGapps and vender image (following the entire process here to a T.) I have not been able to replicate phone issues, however the audio playback and headphones issues are easily repeatable.
TL;DR - So this leaves me with a few things;
1. I can use the phone by never connecting it to external audio source perfectly fine, no problems at all.
2. Phones calls may sometimes get stuck at hanging up, and the result is a crashed audio system.
3. The only way to temporarily solve this issues is to shutdown via holding down lock button and Power-off using the menu that appears. And then manually starting the phone back up again.
So I'm not sure if this is a hardware or software issue. The fact that it persists between full wipes and reinstall of different roms makes me think it to be hardware. Although the temporarily fix of proper shutdown and manually start back up makes me think the OS/Kernal is somehow "clearing a buffer" or something in it's proper shutdown process. Which without doing leads to the audio system being completely down. Therefore on soft/dirty reboots the audio system is still down.
As an added bonus my sim card was a Micro SIM, before I opted to take the scissors to it instead of buying a nano sim. It works (so I thought), it just doesn't fit in the tray quite right. I tested recently with a proper nano sim from a different phone, and everything worked perfect. Then I swapped my franken sim back in and...it worked perfectly fine.
I did search for this issues in previous posts but all I could find was this. The issue (s)he describes is exactly the same issue as me, but his/her solution does not seemed to have worked. I am inclined to try doing a full wipe again and flashing completely stock older version though.
Any help, suggestions, etc are greatly appreciated. And thanks to the developers of Pure Nexus, it seems to be very polished and I'd love to use it daily driver.
Since you are having the issue after a clean install of stock and a clean install of Pure Nexus I don't see how it could be anything but a hardware issue. You could try to flash a custom kernel if you really think the kernel is an issue but I doubt that it will do much good. You could also try a clean flash of a different rom (I recommend Dirty Unicorns which is very smooth and stable) but again I doubt that it will do much good since you seem to have a hardware issue. You might have bad memory which is getting cleared when you reboot the phone.
I fear you may be correct. When you talk about bad memory, I don't want to misconstrud what your trying to say. Would there be a buffer for the DAC for example that is bad? Or do you mean the RAM or the flash memory itself?
It is very disappointing. This phone is perfect otherwise. I'd like another 6P, but I am concerned I then get one with battery issues.

Weird problems with nexus 6p

Hello.
My friend got a nexus 6p one year ago. One month ago he started to have problem. He was on stock rom
-First when he pressed the touch screen he heard small weird noises (hard to describe)
Then progressively :
-Speaker stopped working
-he could not play youtube video in you tube app : a weird error message (every time different) appeared. Gallery videos don't work as well
-But weirdly enough video played in the web browser including youtube videos, works, still without sound.
-He cannot make calls
-Jack plug doesn't works either, but he can use his Bluetooth headphones
We tried to install a custom rom (lineage os). We succeeded, but the above problem appeared again.
Then we flashed the factory image [url]https://developers.google.com/android/images[/URL] for nexus 6p. We also succeed but the above problem appeared again.
Thanks in advance for your help
ilininja said:
Hello.
My friend got a nexus 6p one year ago. One month ago he started to have problem. He was on stock rom
-First when he pressed the touch screen he heard small weird noises (hard to describe)
Then progressively :
-Speaker stopped working
-he could not play youtube video in you tube app : a weird error message (every time different) appeared. Gallery videos don't work as well
-But weirdly enough video played in the web browser including youtube videos, works, still without sound.
-He cannot make calls
-Jack plug doesn't works either, but he can use his Bluetooth headphones
We tried to install a custom rom (lineage os). We succeeded, but the above problem appeared again.
Then we flashed the factory image [url]https://developers.google.com/android/images[/URL] for nexus 6p. We also succeed but the above problem appeared again. Thanks in advance for your help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The 6P has two speakers, and they wouldn't both fail at the same time. Sounds like he's damaged the phone somehow. The audio jack and speaker output both not working seem to back this up. I've seen the headphone jack part available separately, and there are guides available to replace it. Before flagging it as a hardware issue and opening the phone up, you want to make sure you wiped the phone completely by formatting the partitions (system, userdata, cache) and use the flash-all.bat included with the full Google image. There is a remote chance it is software related, but I doubt it.
You could always flash a custom kernel, use a kernel manager app to turn off the large core cpu and see if the problems go away. If they do its related to the build problem that causes the 6P to boot loop but those particular symptoms aren't familiar. It's still worth a try if flashing the stock image doesn't fix the problem.
jhs39 said:
You could always flash a custom kernel, use a kernel manager app to turn off the large core cpu and see if the problems go away. If they do its related to the build problem that causes the 6P to boot loop but those particular symptoms aren't familiar. It's still worth a try if flashing the stock image doesn't fix the problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mean disabling the big CPU ?
ilininja said:
You mean disabling the big CPU ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. You can always turn it back on but turning it off apparently fixes the permanent boot loop problem on the Nexus 6P. If the problems you are describing are related to the same build problem then turning it off might make them go away. Sometimes people's phones would start acting odd before going into the permanent bootloop. That phone could be on its way there.
this is purely a guess but the problem may be hardware related with the headphone jack. it could have a physical short somewhere. if thats the case the device may think a headphone jack is being used and wont play through speakers because its being told its plugged in. But wont play because of some physical short or an open.

Nexus 6 speaker issue POSSIBLE fix

I had retired my Nexus 6 a while ago due to the speaker issue that's been plaguing these devices. I decided not to sell it as it would be an issue for the next user, so I instead kept it in case of an emergency.
Certain issues have lead me to recommission the device, so I decided I'd see what's new. So far it is clear that there was never a fix, and some people swear that pressing on the speakers fixes the problem (whether temporarily or permanently). I never believed this as the only thing that seemed to fix it (temporarily) when touching the speakers is tapping on the speakers, but that seems to be related to the device rotating (which has also been known to let the volume go back up) and something within the gyroscope (something that some have brought up as well). My Nexus 6 unlike many others has the bigger problem where the volume will go down regardless of battery percentage, and it was terrible as there was never an instance in which I could truly use the speakers.
Reading around I have seen other "solutions" emerge, but never anything concrete. On a YouTube video's comment sections I saw one person mention that Franco.Kernel fixes this, for me this did nothing. On another forum I read a guy who said his issue stopped using Lean Kernel, and that it may have something to do with mp_decision. Unfortunately for me, I like to stick to the latest version that was officially released (in this case 7.1.1) and Lean Kernel doesn't seem to have made it that far. I gave up on experimenting for the sake of the speakers at this point and settled on my favorite rom which is Dirty Unicorns, using the final 7.1.1 build (somebody was nice enough to provide links as I could not find it anywhere and their official page only has their Oreo based builds). Obviously the speaker issue persisted here. At this point I wanted to see if there was a Kernel with good features and battery life and came across a thread that mentioned BL4CKB1RD Kernel. I flashed that and was a happy camper as my phone runs cooler (no difference has been made to my 4 hour average screen on time) and ultimately lag free. Reading the maker of the kernel's current set up using the kernel, I decided to copy it a bit by limiting my maximum CPU frequency to 2.5GHz and using said governor profile. I came across the mp_decision setting and turned it on just out of curiosity (I have no clue what it does). Later on, I went to watch a YouTube video and before I could connect my headphones, the video was playing...with perfect sound. I thought I was going crazy, so I let it play for a bit longer. No volume drop. I picked up the phone, moved it around, rotated it, blasted the volume to the max and still not a single drop. For literally an hour I watched videos and absolutely no volume issues. I decided to undo all kernel changes and reboot to see what would happen. Still no volume changes. I also decided to lock the CPU and GPU maximum frequency to produce more heat, still nothing. I played Subway Surfers which was a guaranteed instant volume drop, nothing. Rebooted several times more, let the battery die, speakers are still perfect. Could this kernel have fixed my issue? Maybe. It is also worth noting that before flashing the kernel, I ran a command via terminal emulator (requires root) that I read about BEFORE flashing the custom kernel, and I never rebooted my Nexus 6. The command can be found here (there was another thread that also included it but also linked to this thread):
https://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-6/devs-only/speaker-amplifiers-nxp-tfa9890-research-t3236518
Anyone with the speaker issue should perhaps start by this command, reboot and see what happens. If not, try using BL4CKB1RD kernel and see what happens? If still nothing, try toggling mp_decision on and then test.
Crossvxm said:
I had retired my Nexus 6 a while ago due to the speaker issue that's been plaguing these devices. I decided not to sell it as it would be an issue for the next user, so I instead kept it in case of an emergency.
Certain issues have lead me to recommission the device, so I decided I'd see what's new. So far it is clear that there was never a fix, and some people swear that pressing on the speakers fixes the problem (whether temporarily or permanently). I never believed this as the only thing that seemed to fix it (temporarily) when touching the speakers is tapping on the speakers, but that seems to be related to the device rotating (which has also been known to let the volume go back up) and something within the gyroscope (something that some have brought up as well). My Nexus 6 unlike many others has the bigger problem where the volume will go down regardless of battery percentage, and it was terrible as there was never an instance in which I could truly use the speakers.
Reading around I have seen other "solutions" emerge, but never anything concrete. On a YouTube video's comment sections I saw one person mention that Franco.Kernel fixes this, for me this did nothing. On another forum I read a guy who said his issue stopped using Lean Kernel, and that it may have something to do with mp_decision. Unfortunately for me, I like to stick to the latest version that was officially released (in this case 7.1.1) and Lean Kernel doesn't seem to have made it that far. I gave up on experimenting for the sake of the speakers at this point and settled on my favorite rom which is Dirty Unicorns, using the final 7.1.1 build (somebody was nice enough to provide links as I could not find it anywhere and their official page only has their Oreo based builds). Obviously the speaker issue persisted here. At this point I wanted to see if there was a Kernel with good features and battery life and came across a thread that mentioned BL4CKB1RD Kernel. I flashed that and was a happy camper as my phone runs cooler (no difference has been made to my 4 hour average screen on time) and ultimately lag free. Reading the maker of the kernel's current set up using the kernel, I decided to copy it a bit by limiting my maximum CPU frequency to 2.5GHz and using said governor profile. I came across the mp_decision setting and turned it on just out of curiosity (I have no clue what it does). Later on, I went to watch a YouTube video and before I could connect my headphones, the video was playing...with perfect sound. I thought I was going crazy, so I let it play for a bit longer. No volume drop. I picked up the phone, moved it around, rotated it, blasted the volume to the max and still not a single drop. For literally an hour I watched videos and absolutely no volume issues. I decided to undo all kernel changes and reboot to see what would happen. Still no volume changes. I also decided to lock the CPU and GPU maximum frequency to produce more heat, still nothing. I played Subway Surfers which was a guaranteed instant volume drop, nothing. Rebooted several times more, let the battery die, speakers are still perfect. Could this kernel have fixed my issue? Maybe. It is also worth noting that before flashing the kernel, I ran a command via terminal emulator (requires root) that I read about BEFORE flashing the custom kernel, and I never rebooted my Nexus 6. The command can be found here (there was another thread that also included it but also linked to this thread):
https://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-6/devs-only/speaker-amplifiers-nxp-tfa9890-research-t3236518
Anyone with the speaker issue should perhaps start by this command, reboot and see what happens. If not, try using BL4CKB1RD kernel and see what happens? If still nothing, try toggling mp_decision on and then test.
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I just ordered a nexus 6, is this issue common? Does it affect stock rom or custom roms? I have a Moto X Pure at the moment, Nexus 6's brother, it has a similar issue where the sound cuts out when the phone is switched from portrait to landscape and vice versa but only affects custom roms. Its doesnt lower the volume though
DerrickTight said:
I just ordered a nexus 6, is this issue common? Does it affect stock rom or custom roms? I have a Moto X Pure at the moment, Nexus 6's brother, it has a similar issue where the sound cuts out when the phone is switched from portrait to landscape and vice versa but only affects custom roms. Its doesnt lower the volume though
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Click to collapse
Yes it is common and does effect custom ROMs as well
DerrickTight said:
I just ordered a nexus 6, is this issue common? Does it affect stock rom or custom roms? I have a Moto X Pure at the moment, Nexus 6's brother, it has a similar issue where the sound cuts out when the phone is switched from portrait to landscape and vice versa but only affects custom roms. Its doesnt lower the volume though
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Click to collapse
For most the issue occurs at low battery, and the drop isn't major. I've seen some videos of people with this specific problem and I laugh because they don't know have it as bad as us with the major drops regardless of battery life. So pretty much the low battery volume issue is more common than the worse one, and you could say it is a common issue.
We had a white one that had absolutely no issues except a faster battery drain (perhaps because the speakers worked?!).
Crossvxm said:
For most the issue occurs at low battery, and the drop isn't major. I've seen some videos of people with this specific problem and I laugh because they don't know have it as bad as us with the major drops regardless of battery life. So pretty much the low battery volume issue is more common than the worse one, and you could say it is a common issue.
We had a white one that had absolutely no issues except a faster battery drain (perhaps because the speakers worked?!).
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If you're using any of the oreo roms, try my kernel (popcorn kernel in the development section) and have a look at my post here
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=76858120&postcount=29
athulele said:
If you're using any of the oreo roms, try my kernel (popcorn kernel in the development section) and have a look at my post here
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=76858120&postcount=29
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My Nexus 6 arrives tomorrow and I'll be flashing it right away. If I have a volume issue I'll definitely keep your kernel in mind. Thank you
athulele said:
If you're using any of the oreo roms, try my kernel (popcorn kernel in the development section) and have a look at my post here
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=76858120&postcount=29
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Click to collapse
Dumb question does your kernel already have these included?
xconwayx said:
Dumb question does your kernel already have these included?
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Click to collapse
Yes.
For what it is worth, mp-decision is Qualcomm's own hotplug: it turns the processor cores on and off depending on need. I guess it may use other tricks as well, to optimize power / performance.
No obvious reason that it should affect the speakers, but you never know.
Does this thread address the issue with SEVERAL 8.1 ROMs I've used, in which the speaker phone does not function during calls... and during calls alone. I can play media just fine... IMMEDIATELY after the speaker not working on the calls. I CAN however plug a headset in and communicate normally . Just desperately seeking an answer or I guess I'll go back to 7.1.2
So now nexus 6 is running pie roms nearly perfect . Unfortunately this sound problem persists… it is truely fristrating
So is there any kernel that can fix it in pie roms? Thanks
I have been using my nexus 6 for a couple of years now and had the speaker issue about a year ago and went into recovery and wiped cashe and the. Did a factory reset. Did an OTA update and everything was fixed.
Last weekend I finally flashed TWRP and then rooted with Magisk. Went to install myself5's Bata version of Carbon room running pie... Not sure what happened but had error code 7 and bricked the phone. Had to wipe it out and went though Google to get an old OTA and reflashed and thankfully got my phone back. Tried the process 3 other times and got the same result. Each time no speaker issue.
The last time I tried it I left it alone and didn't even put TWRP on it but now the speaker problem comes and goes.
5 min agot I was playing YouTube music with no issues, made a phone call, then back to YouTube and now the bottom speaker quit and the top speaker is very quiet.
Any ideas on what could have cause my issues and can someone direct me to where Ii can find more information or what I'm doing wrong on on flashing new roms?
Currently running Android 7.1.1 build NGI77B
Suffeln said:
I have been using my nexus 6 for a couple of years now and had the speaker issue about a year ago and went into recovery and wiped cashe and the. Did a factory reset. Did an OTA update and everything was fixed.
Last weekend I finally flashed TWRP and then rooted with Magisk. Went to install myself5's Bata version of Carbon room running pie... Not sure what happened but had error code 7 and bricked the phone. Had to wipe it out and went though Google to get an old OTA and reflashed and thankfully got my phone back. Tried the process 3 other times and got the same result. Each time no speaker issue.
The last time I tried it I left it alone and didn't even put TWRP on it but now the speaker problem comes and goes.
5 min agot I was playing YouTube music with no issues, made a phone call, then back to YouTube and now the bottom speaker quit and the top speaker is very quiet.
Any ideas on what could have cause my issues and can someone direct me to where Ii can find more information or what I'm doing wrong on on flashing new roms?
Currently running Android 7.1.1 build NGI77B
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I've honestly encountered this problem a couple times but rebooting/flashing fixed the problems. Worst case scenario go back latest Google ROM with WUG's software, then you can install TWRP, then a custom ROM like Nitrogen ROM.
Sent from my shamu using XDA Labs
I know nothing about what anyone is saying, but I would like to add that using Viper4Android, and using "eXtra loud" at "Moderate" with the max gain at 4x and the max output at 0db completely gets rid of the low volume problem. Viper works system wide so it fixes it for Netflix, etc
Hope this helps guys
athulele said:
If you're using any of the oreo roms, try my kernel (popcorn kernel in the development section) and have a look at my post here
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=76858120&postcount=29
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Sorry for the late reply, I had to put the Nexus 6 on hold due to another issue with it. I tried your kernel with the latest official version of Dirty Unicorns, but unfortunately it does not boot. It will boot fine without flashing the kernel.
mahir555 said:
So now nexus 6 is running pie roms nearly perfect . Unfortunately this sound problem persists… it is truely fristrating
So is there any kernel that can fix it in pie roms? Thanks
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Having this same issue using the NitrogenOS Pie rom. Updated from 7.1.1 (didn't have this issue with 7.1.1).
Is it better with the Oreo 8.1?
centerpide said:
Having this same issue using the NitrogenOS Pie rom. Updated from 7.1.1 (didn't have this issue with 7.1.1).
Is it better with the Oreo 8.1?
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No . I can confirm that all oreo roms got the same bug .
For me am using android x unofficial pie rom with popcorn kernel. This combination seems to fix this bug !
Try them or even try the kernel with nitrogen os rom .It may work..
El Gunslinger said:
Does this thread address the issue with SEVERAL 8.1 ROMs I've used, in which the speaker phone does not function during calls... and during calls alone. I can play media just fine... IMMEDIATELY after the speaker not working on the calls. I CAN however plug a headset in and communicate normally . Just desperately seeking an answer or I guess I'll go back to 7.1.2
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Click to collapse
Unfortunately no. Mine WAS working perfectly. The charge port broke after about two weeks after I made this thread (my luck), and after having it repaired, the problem seems to have gotten worse. For one, it no longer works in the configuration I mentioned in this thread (mind you, I did not reset it or anything). It also now varies from rom to rom, with the bigger issue now being that the top speaker ceases to function on certain roms, including the way I had it. Now, it drops volume for everything, and most of the time the top speaker will be weaker for the slight moments both decide to work.
New problem
Hi Crossvxm. I have had a Nexus 6 for two years. When I wiped it to sell it, the audio problem started. I had PureNexus.
I did what you suggested. I turned on mpdecision with BlackBird kernel and kernel auditor. I installed su terminal, to execute these commands with root access:
echo 1 > /sys/bus/i2c/drivers/tfa9890/8-0034/force_calib
echo 1 > /sys/bus/i2c/drivers/tfa9890/8-0035/force_calib
And the full volume audio came back! Videos, youtube, all working again! But, the audio in calls worked no more. So, after that, I wiped all, installed PureNexus 7.1, Nitrogen 8.1, stock 7.1... I tried everything, but the audio in calls never returned. When I reinstalled all these roms, the low volume problem appeared again, but the audio in calls never came back. Even WhatsApp calls have no audio. The microphone still works, because the other person indeed can hear you.
Do you have an idea about how can I solve it? At least to leave it usable as phone. Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge and time.
Butifarra said:
Hi Crossvxm. I have had a Nexus 6 for two years. When I wiped it to sell it, the audio problem started. I had PureNexus.
I did what you suggested. I turned on mpdecision with BlackBird kernel and kernel auditor. I installed su terminal, to execute these commands with root access:
echo 1 > /sys/bus/i2c/drivers/tfa9890/8-0034/force_calib
echo 1 > /sys/bus/i2c/drivers/tfa9890/8-0035/force_calib
And the full volume audio came back! Videos, youtube, all working again! But, the audio in calls worked no more. So, after that, I wiped all, installed PureNexus 7.1, Nitrogen 8.1, stock 7.1... I tried everything, but the audio in calls never returned. When I reinstalled all these roms, the low volume problem appeared again, but the audio in calls never came back. Even WhatsApp calls have no audio. The microphone still works, because the other person indeed can hear you.
Do you have an idea about how can I solve it? At least to leave it usable as phone. Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge and time.
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Click to collapse
This sounds like what happened to me recently. The configuration I mentioned in the very first post worked perfectly. After taking it to have the charge port fixed, the top speaker stopped working, and you could not hear the top speaker at all during calls. I thought the store broke it, but after giving up using it for some time, I realized that it would randomly try to output sound from the top speaker. After starting all over (flashing back to stock and flashing my same configuration again), the problem changed to where the top speaker was very low in sound when both speakers felt like working. I flashed the latest Dirty Unicorns based on 8.1 along with Popcorn Kernel by athulele but unfortunately it did not boot (as mentioned in his thread, the kernel is Lineage based).
I gave up on the Nexus for a few more days. When I decided to give it another go, I flashed the latest LineageOS (along with root for it via their own separate flashable zip), flashed Popcorn Kernel, installed Kernel Adiutor from Google Play (yes, it's spelled that way), installed the Terminal Emulator for Android and ran the command as well as checking the kernel settings to ensure MP Decision was on, capping the max frequency to 2.4Ghz (feels much less hot) and making sure everything was set to "set on boot". Unfortunately it did not work. The only way I got it to work again was to give up again, flash back to stock and flash Lineage and Popcorn Kernel exactly as I explained in this second paragraph.
So why did it work this time around? Everything was done the same, what could possibly make it work? I have a theory. When it was taken to the shop for repair, the battery died since it was already at 20%. As you can see I mentioned a few times "I gave up" on it, meaning I stopped bothering to fix it, and eventually it would run out of battery mainly from wifi and notifications. Every time it was dead, it was usually dead for at least 24 hours. Each time around, the issue would change. I don't know what it has to do with anything, but I do believe it plays a key role. Try letting your battery die, charge it back up to 100% and then try the process from either paragraph two or from my original post. After it began working again, I abused the heck out of the speakers, rebooted the phone, tried calls, etc. all without letting the battery die and it has not stopped working. I recently sold it as is and was contacted by the person who purchased it who was confused as he did not experience any sound drops either. He was originally buying it to replace the screen on his but decided to stick with mine since it was working perfectly so far.

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