Database Users

Bluetooth problems, audio & Android Wear

Anyone else having problems with bluetooth on the Moto X Pure? I'm using a Verizon SIM, on 6.0 with the February 2016 patch, fully stock (although using Nova). Having to constantly power off and back the phone to get bluetooth to work with audio in mine and my wife's car (audio cutting in and out, skipping, jumbling), and with Android Wear, constant disconnects (and this is my second android wear device).
Just wondering if this is pandemic or worth wiping and giving it a fresh load. Thanks!

Dan76 said:
Anyone else having problems with bluetooth on the Moto X Pure? I'm using a Verizon SIM, on 6.0 with the February 2016 patch, fully stock (although using Nova). Having to constantly power off and back the phone to get bluetooth to work with audio in mine and my wife's car (audio cutting in and out, skipping, jumbling), and with Android Wear, constant disconnects (and this is my second android wear device).
Just wondering if this is pandemic or worth wiping and giving it a fresh load. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I sometimes have issues reconnecting to my bluetooth headset (fixed by repairing) but no issues when it is connected. And I have a moto 360 always connected that has no disconnection problems. I would go with a factory reset!

Dan76 said:
Anyone else having problems with bluetooth on the Moto X Pure? I'm using a Verizon SIM, on 6.0 with the February 2016 patch, fully stock (although using Nova). Having to constantly power off and back the phone to get bluetooth to work with audio in mine and my wife's car (audio cutting in and out, skipping, jumbling), and with Android Wear, constant disconnects (and this is my second android wear device).
Just wondering if this is pandemic or worth wiping and giving it a fresh load. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know this is several weeks old, but yes I have this issue, and have done everything imaginable to get rid of it, to no avail.
My phone pretty reliably connects to my 360 (or, currently, Pebble), but is almost useless in my car. Fine for phone calls, but audio works 1 time out of 5 at best, otherwise it just does thta jumpy skip thing.
I initially thought it was because of Android Wear -- connecting to the watch was using too much bandwidth and interfering with the ability to talk stream audio -- but a) it's ONLY aproblem in my car (and my wife's car, so it's not JUST my car), never to, like, a standalone bluetooth speaker, and b) I completely wiped my phone and didn't install Android Wear or pear with a watch at all, and the problem resurfaced. A clean wipe almost always results in reliable bluetooth for 2 or 3 days, and then it gets jumpy, which HAS to be a clue (some state or buffer being corrupted / filled?) but I haven't been able to figure out what it's clueing me into.
This thread dives into the potential Android Wear connection, but no real solution.
If anyone who HAS experienced this figures out a solution, I'd really love to hear it.

Not sure if this applies. However, I experienced this EXACT problem when streaming music over bluetooth. This problem only happened AFTER I made or received a call. Reboot is the only cure. This is with 6.0 stock with Feb update. I tried 2 phones with the same problem. Both were new out of the box. This FW is obviously defective. I'm not sure why others aren't reporting this issue. My search for a phone continues....

insanedc said:
Not sure if this applies. However, I experienced this EXACT problem when streaming music over bluetooth. This problem only happened AFTER I made or received a call. Reboot is the only cure. This is with 6.0 stock with Feb update. I tried 2 phones with the same problem. Both were new out of the box. This FW is obviously defective. I'm not sure why others aren't reporting this issue. My search for a phone continues....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can usually toggle off Bluetooth then back on and it's okay, but sometimes it does require a restart. SUPER frustrating when you're driving! I'm glad I'm not the only one, I just wish we'd get more info on this and maybe someday a patch.

Bluetooth audio "stutter" on wake/unlock?

Recently picked up the 6P (still stock on lastest FW) and have only one issue with it.
When I am steaming audio over bluetooth in my car (usually using Play Music), if I wakeup/unlock the device, the audio stutters/lags for a good 5-10 seconds before going back to normal. Once awake, dragging down the notifications menu can cause a similar effect though less pronounced. If I turn the screen back off, it goes back to normal instantly.
I don't have any other BT devices to test this on, but I've not had this issue with any other androids in my car. I also don't see any "lag" issues anywhere else. Before I unlock and root this thing, any ideas on how to fix it on the stock rom, or is a custom rom not likely to fix this either?
Appreciate it.

codeman05 said:
Recently picked up the 6P (still stock on lastest FW) and have only one issue with it.
When I am steaming audio over bluetooth in my car (usually using Play Music), if I wakeup/unlock the device, the audio stutters/lags for a good 5-10 seconds before going back to normal. Once awake, dragging down the notifications menu can cause a similar effect though less pronounced. If I turn the screen back off, it goes back to normal instantly.
I don't have any other BT devices to test this on, but I've not had this issue with any other androids in my car. I also don't see any "lag" issues anywhere else. Before I unlock and root this thing, any ideas on how to fix it on the stock rom, or is a custom rom not likely to fix this either?
Appreciate it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a problem at the source code. It's says it's been fixed on Developer N preview 3. So when N is released publicly it should be fixed. Or you can join the beta program. I have preview 3 running now and it's pretty solid. I don't use bluetooth audio though, so I can't say if it is indeed fixed. If you do try it be sure to enable OEM unlocking in Android dev settings just to be sure you can save your device should anything happen. Also check the list of supported apps so if any app you rely isn't supported you can decide from there.
Sent from my Nexus 6P using XDA-Developers mobile app

Gizmoe said:
It's a problem at the source code. It's says it's been fixed on Developer N preview 3. So when N is released publicly it should be fixed. Or you can join the beta program. I have preview 3 running now and it's pretty solid. I don't use bluetooth audio though, so I can't say if it is indeed fixed. If you do try it be sure to enable OEM unlocking in Android dev settings just to be sure you can save your device should anything happen. Also check the list of supported apps so if any app you rely isn't supported you can decide from there.
Sent from my Nexus 6P using XDA-Developers mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gotcha, that's what I was afraid of. Will checkout the N Preview, thanks!

codeman05 said:
Recently picked up the 6P (still stock on lastest FW) and have only one issue with it.
When I am steaming audio over bluetooth in my car (usually using Play Music), if I wakeup/unlock the device, the audio stutters/lags for a good 5-10 seconds before going back to normal. Once awake, dragging down the notifications menu can cause a similar effect though less pronounced. If I turn the screen back off, it goes back to normal instantly.
I don't have any other BT devices to test this on, but I've not had this issue with any other androids in my car. I also don't see any "lag" issues anywhere else. Before I unlock and root this thing, any ideas on how to fix it on the stock rom, or is a custom rom not likely to fix this either?
Appreciate it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey! I just found this post. I have had the same issue on my 6P since receiving it in November. I was stock until just a few days ago, now just running 6.0.1 and xposed. The issue fixed itself right after I wiped and rooted, but is now back. This is odd because booting my phone into safe mode didn't fix the issue, so I'm thinking it's not caused by a specific app, although I'm yet to try it.
Since you mentioned you don't use other bluetooth devices, this problem ONLY exists for me in my car audio, a 2015 Chevy Cruze.
If you don't mind me asking, what car are you driving?

Shocknoble said:
Hey! I just found this post. I have had the same issue on my 6P since receiving it in November. I was stock until just a few days ago, now just running 6.0.1 and xposed. The issue fixed itself right after I wiped and rooted, but is now back. This is odd because booting my phone into safe mode didn't fix the issue, so I'm thinking it's not caused by a specific app, although I'm yet to try it.
Since you mentioned you don't use other bluetooth devices, this problem ONLY exists for me in my car audio, a 2015 Chevy Cruze.
If you don't mind me asking, what car are you driving?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the exact same problem with my 2015 Chevy Volt nav / stereo system. I never noticed this issue until I updated to the Android N release a few days ago. It always happens when I turn on the screen. I rooted and went back to Android M, but the issue is still there. I'm guessing that's because my phone now has the latest baseband and radios instead of the older ones that did not have this Bluetooth problem. If you guys come up with a fix let me know. I'm thinking of flashing the Android M radios to see if that's the problem since I'm now running a custom Android M based ROM anyway. I tested the phone with my wife's 2016 Mazda CX5 and it has none of this screen on stuttering garbage.
UPDATE: I went ahead rooted, installed Pure Nexus ROM (6.0.1-20160821), installed ElementalX-N6P-1.21 kernel, flashed bootloader-angler-angler-03.54.img and radio-angler-angler-03.61.img from angler-mtc20f-factory-d62de11e.tgz, and after all that the issue is still there! What a complete waste of time. What I'm guessing might be the problem is I switched to Sprint on July 2016. Before that I was on T-Mobile and I never had this screen on stuttering issue. It seems there might be some type of interference here and it's possible it is a hardware design flaw since Google has not been able to fix the issue for quite some time. As of now I've switched to my LG G5 phone which has no Bluetooth issues with my Chevy Volt. If I don't find a fix soon I'll probably sell the Nexus 6P and wait for the newer Nexus devices.

FWIW, I have the same issue with my 2014 Chevy Cruze and my HTC 10. Ran across this thread while hunting down a solution (unsuccessfully, this far).

macmanui said:
FWIW, I have the same issue with my 2014 Chevy Cruze and my HTC 10. Ran across this thread while hunting down a solution (unsuccessfully, this far).
Click to expand...
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I figured out that if I uncheck Message Access for my Chevy Volt under my phone's Bluetooth settings, the screen on stuttering is fixed!! Everything works flawlessly with my wife's Mazda CX5 so it must be a Bluetooth compatibility issue. Check it out and see if that resolves your HTC 10 issue with your Chevy. Good luck!

I have found a somewhat reliable fix - PLEASE tell me it works for you all as well.
Hopefully we are all familiar with the problem: A Nexus 6P ( Or whatever is the issue for you) is paired with my 2015 Chevy Cruze that I use to stream audio while commuting. The audio is more or less fine until the screen turns off/I lock the phone. Once I unlock the phone or a notification wakes the screen up, the audio stutters over my car speakers until I turn the screen back off, or 6-8 seconds has passed. This doesn't happen with any other device I own when paired to my car, and my phone doesn't have the same issue when paired with any other bluetooth receiver. I am on a rooted but otherwise stock 6P running 7.0.
I do not use my car for messages, only music/podcasts and phonecalls. I went into the bluetooth settings while driving ( I do not recommend you do this while your car is in motion) and noticed the stuttering was consistent the entire time I had the menu open. This prompted me to assume it must have something to do with the phone making other bluetooth actions while connected to my car, that my car didn't like.
I clicked on the gear for settings next to my car in the bluetooth paired devices list, which pops up the menu that lets you change the name of the device, and what it is used for. My options are: 'Phone Audio', 'Media Audio', 'Contact Sharing', and 'Message Access'. I denied message access to my car the last time it prompted me, but the last two on the list were still checked. I unchecked both of them, reset my phone, and crossed my fingers.
It works. It freaking works. It's not 100% and if I flip the screen on and off over and over again it'll still get a little wonky, but I no longer cringe when I have to unlock my car in the phone.
Will the rest of you give this a shot and let me know if you have similar luck? Best wishes!
Josh
---------- Post added at 01:50 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:46 PM ----------
mhajii210 said:
I figured out that if I uncheck Message Access for my Chevy Volt under my phone's Bluetooth settings, the screen on stuttering is fixed!! Everything works flawlessly with my wife's Mazda CX5 so it must be a Bluetooth compatibility issue. Check it out and see if that resolves your HTC 10 issue with your Chevy. Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're totally right. I discovered this on my own right about the same time you did apparently and I wanted to make sure it lasted before I made a post here. You deserve all the credit, I'm just so happy it's fixed. Now, I am curious if it'll still stutter a bit if you turn your screen on and off really quickly a few times?
---------- Post added at 01:50 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:50 PM ----------
mhajii210 said:
I figured out that if I uncheck Message Access for my Chevy Volt under my phone's Bluetooth settings, the screen on stuttering is fixed!! Everything works flawlessly with my wife's Mazda CX5 so it must be a Bluetooth compatibility issue. Check it out and see if that resolves your HTC 10 issue with your Chevy. Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're totally right. I discovered this on my own right about the same time you did apparently and I wanted to make sure it lasted before I made a post here. You deserve all the credit, I'm just so happy it's fixed. Now, I am curious if it'll still stutter a bit if you turn your screen on and off really quickly a few times?

Seems that GM vehicles are a common denominator too! I have the stuttering with my 6P int my Holden Cruze. Didn't have the issue with my old Nexus 6 and don't have the issue with the 6P when making calls over BT. I haven't listened to as great deal of music from the 6P over BT except in the car so can't really compare there.
It's interesting to read a comment that it was going to be fixed in M preview 3 but even now in Marshmallow release the issue is still there.

Hi, been suffering with a stutter in my Mercedes every 20mins with a 5X on 7.0. Again, seems a common problem with Mercs. I tried EVERYTHING to fix this for months, including full phone wipes and flashes.
I just fixed my issue entirely, not sure if it will work for you guys, but I believe it is an issue with the BT bandwidth that the car is able to cope with. I turned off Phone Book and SMS Message Access services and my issue is gone. I think the phone is maxing the bandwidth with A2DP and as soon as a sync is requested for phone book or message = the problem arises.

Pica_Man said:
Hi, been suffering with a stutter in my Mercedes every 20mins with a 5X on 7.0. Again, seems a common problem with Mercs. I tried EVERYTHING to fix this for months, including full phone wipes and flashes.
I just fixed my issue entirely, not sure if it will work for you guys, but I believe it is an issue with the BT bandwidth that the car is able to cope with. I turned off Phone Book and SMS Message Access services and my issue is gone. I think the phone is maxing the bandwidth with A2DP and as soon as a sync is requested for phone book or message = the problem arises.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. It certainly does feel like a bandwidth issue. I have a Moto360 and has tried turning that off but hadn't thought of turning phone functions off. I don't really want to do that either but will try it to confirm.

I turned off phonebook and SMS but it made no difference to me at all.

I have noticed a Terrible shutter from my device when paired to a portable BT speaker. at times the only fix is to turn the speaker off then back on. it is horrid.

No Audio Output from 6P

Hey guys! I am not able to listen to music or open youtube videos or even do anything related to output of audio of my phone. On Google play music, I get "Couldnt pay tax requested" and on youtube I get playback error. I am not able to make calls as well.
I have flashed numerous images and the issue still persists. If anyone could guide me towards the right direction that would be great.
I bought the phone 7 months ago and suddenly this incident took place. I was running stock 7.1.2 when this happened by the way
Thank you for the help.

First of all, 7.1.2 is a Beta stage not a release.
Second, If you can have sounds on other options such as ringtones and so on, then it is an OS issue and a clean flash might solve it.

wizardwiz said:
First of all, 7.1.2 is a Beta stage not a release.
Second, If you can have sounds on other options such as ringtones and so on, then it is an OS issue and a clean flash might solve it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the reply.
No sound from Ringtone as well. Like no audio is playing on my phone at the moment.

Cheezzyy said:
Thank you for the reply.
No sound from Ringtone as well. Like no audio is playing on my phone at the moment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So how can you tell if it isn't a hardware issue and not Android problem?

I haven't heard of what you are describing as being a known bug in 7.1.2. You can try a factory restore but personally I would do a clean flash of the latest stable Google image and see if it fixes your problem. And I would use the flash-all.bat command like Google suggests rather than flash all the parts individually like the Heisenberg guide on XDA tells you to do. I don't suppose you are running any audio mods on your phone? And you checked the obvious? Your phone isn't in Airplane Mode, Do Not Disturb isn't activated, sound shows the various volume levels aren't at 0?

Having same issue, no audio at all from speakers, cant play youtube / googleplay music or videos, headphone jack does not work eighter, wont even detect the headphones, soft reset/ hard reset wont work, havent tryed out rooting and changing rom or reverting from 8.0 (currently running), apart form audio everything works fine, im still trying to figure out warranty as its still in its period, but without proof of purchase they are beeing jerks so far, so im rooted with some ideas is ive had previous experiences with phones, might it be possible for audio drivers to go missing or messed up? or should i take it to a repair shop and see how much theyll ask for it? or shuld i just upgrade to something better and let this brave hero die alone, maybe use as hotspot in my car haha

Bluetooth issues

Having an issue with the Bluetooth on this phone. When streaming music to a stock head unit (no navigation) on a 2015 Mitsubishi Lancer, the songs speed up for about a half second, every 30-40 seconds. It's not skipping, pausing or anything like that, it's actually speeding up the temp and pitch.
An S7 Edge doesn't do this with the same head unit, but the user was not happy with the S7E.
I haven't tested with other devices (but I will shortly), because she only listens to music in the car.
Anybody else see this issue? Thanks!

Same issue here. Happens in my car, with my shower speaker, and with my portable speaker
(UE Boom 2). It is incredibly frustrating and has been an issue with my phone for a while. Really miss my note7.

raduque said:
Having an issue with the Bluetooth on this phone. When streaming music to a stock head unit (no navigation) on a 2015 Mitsubishi Lancer, the songs speed up for about a half second, every 30-40 seconds. It's not skipping, pausing or anything like that, it's actually speeding up the temp and pitch.
An S7 Edge doesn't do this with the same head unit, but the user was not happy with the S7E.
I haven't tested with other devices (but I will shortly), because she only listens to music in the car.
Anybody else see this issue? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
have you done a factory reset?

I know my bluetooth earbuds did this sometimes. It happened after trying to skip a song.. If youre not rooted, try a factory reset or see if your phone has an update? If you are rooted. Id wipe youre phone through TWRP and reflash your rom to see if that helps.

OK, so the phone isn't rooted (and never will be) and a factory reset is completely off the table. I do believe that it is either fixed or worked around, I switched the music player to PowerAMP 3.0 Beta latest build and it seems to be completely gone.

i also have this same issue when bluetoothing to my car. i still havnt found a fix/workaround for it. had this issue with stock ROM/and now the custom ROM so hopefully a update will fix it.

I've had this issue in 2 of 3 places that I've paired up.
1) Dodge Durango - Music from any app is basically unlistenable. I get about 10 seconds of music, then a bunch of stuttering, then about 10 seconds of music.....
2) Samsung Soundbar - Same description as above, but only when more than 5 feet from the soundbar. BT should be at least 30feet good in an open room, right? Yeah, not for me.
3) Jawbone Jambox - Everythign works fine here from everywhere in my condo. Separate, rooms, no problem. Weird.
So yeah.. Not sure if it's a BT buffer thing, but I certainly can't find any settings that might make any difference.
SUCKS

Same problem here. 2017 F250 Sync 3. Before I rooted it would randomly drop the bluetooth connection. Seems a little worse now that I am rooted running the stock Rom. Thinking maybe I should try an ASOP rom?

I do not have this issue or dropped connections. I do, however, get a 3-4 lag between the sound and the mouth movement on screen. It only happens with my LG V20 and my previous phone LG Nexus 5X. Before that I had a Huawei Nexus 6P that worked perfect.

mrcoolgli said:
Same problem here. 2017 F250 Sync 3. Before I rooted it would randomly drop the bluetooth connection. Seems a little worse now that I am rooted running the stock Rom. Thinking maybe I should try an ASOP rom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a 2016 F150 with Sync 3 verizon 2.2 with Android Auto and I never had bluetooth issues until I rooted my V20 with Verizon. I also was having bluetooth issues with my Android Wear watch after rooting, it would randomly disconnect and never connect again until rebooting the phone. What fixed it for me was flashing the modStock kernel, I am currently on the WETA rom and everything is perfect.

xbmoyx said:
I have a 2016 F150 with Sync 3 verizon 2.2 with Android Auto and I never had bluetooth issues until I rooted my V20 with Verizon. I also was having bluetooth issues with my Android Wear watch after rooting, it would randomly disconnect and never connect again until rebooting the phone. What fixed it for me was flashing the modStock kernel, I am currently on the WETA rom and everything is perfect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I wiped my phone and loaded the MegaROM. It's much better. Not perfect. So I believe most of the issue are likely software. Again stock the phone had significant issues. My old V10 rooted never missed a beat on this truck.

Bluetooth can always have random problems pop up unexpectedly. Aside from the occasional glitch here and there, I havent had any major bluetooth issues on t mobile stock Rom or on WETA (which I'm currently on)

My V20 never connects to my car bluetooth automatically, and doing it manually every time is driving me insane. I'll try rooting and flashing some ROMs tonight to see if that solves the issue.

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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
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
Click to expand...
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?!).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dumb question does your kernel already have these included?

xconwayx said:
Dumb question does your kernel already have these included?
Click to expand...
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
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.