Fixed microphone jack problem

[Kam]

The EVO 4G seems to have trouble with non-TRRS plugs.

I've had all kinds of problems with a standard 3.5mm TRS plug going into the aux of my car stereo. Songs skipping, pausing, voice dialing activated randomly, headphone icon switching from TTRS to TRS intermittently, etc. These usually seem to be caused by jiggling of the plug and/or cable.

Searching the web, it seems to be a common problem. The Headphone Blocker app tries to fix it. I've seen folks suggesting trying gold plugs, shielded cables, and various other kinds of voodoo.

IMO the problem is due to a cheap-ass headphone jack in the phone itself.

EDIT 7/8/2010:

It appears that adding a little padding on top of the jack, so that the case presses on it when closed, has solved the problem for several people (including myself). I highly recommend that you first try this before bending ANYTHING. I'm leaving the rest of the post below intact for context.

WARNING!!! DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!
-----------------------------------------------------

I opened up the phone, removed the tape from the top of the headphone jack and bent the pin on the copper lead that's over the top of the jack more towards the bottom (Away from the S ring and towards the R ring). I've had no problems since.

Your mileage may vary...

Edit 6/26/10:
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I've heard from folks who have said they had better luck bending the contact UP not down. I pulled my jack far enough apart to see the plug as I inserted it and it looks like the contact is bouncing off of the Ring onto the Tip, so I tend to agree. (In other words, make the contact touch the jack closer to the jack opening, not further away as I first suggested.)

It's likely that I just got lucky when I bent mine and it wound up in the right place.

Also, I began having the issue sporadically again. I noticed there was some up and down play on the contact. I cut a few squares of plastic tape large enough to cover the jack and stacked them one atop the other and put the stack on the jack. This caused the contact to stay down once the cover was put back on. The problems went away again and I haven't had a problem in a few weeks. I'm wondering if HTC put that original band of tape across the jack for a reason... things that make you go hmmm.

The bottom line is that the jack and the plug do not align correctly, and careful manipulation of the contact does solve the problem. But if you screw up and break things in the process I doubt you'll be eligible for warranty exchange.

I've corrected my original image and added it below:

 

[coolguy949]

I think this may have fixed it for me as well. Just did it now. I can't get the headset icon to show up after wiggling the cable. Let's hope it was this simple to fix.


EDIT: In case anyone is wondering, I just pushed down on the gold connector slightly with a miniature screwdriver. I did this until I felt it bend down a hair. I figured I would go slowly and test with each adjustment. Looks like only one try has done it.

I'll post results later today. Thanks!

 

[coolguy949]

They worked perfectly with my computer speakers after the fix. But they definitely went crazy in my car. I think the plug is slightly different. It must have pushed it back in to its old position because my computer speakers started acting crazy when I plugged them in again. I re-fixed and now my computer speakers are good again.

How far down are you pushing it? I'm scared to go too far.

 

[Kam]

In the course of working this out, I actually pulled the copper tab with the pin on it out of the top of the jack, bent the end down with a pair of small hemostats, then pushed it back in to the socket on top. Several times .

It's just copper. As long as you don't bend it enough times to create metal fatigue it should be pretty hard to permanently damage it.

How far to bend it? Since you can't actually see the connector touching the jack when it's plugged in you just have to bend it until it works with all of your 3.5mm plugs. I'd guess 1/16" or so.

You want to make sure that the contact isn't riding in the plastic groove between the Ring and Sleeve bands, but instead is in full contact with the Ring connector. If you look closely at the 'Factory Position" in my crude drawing, you can see why jiggling and bumps could cause it to temporarily lose contact with Ring. I don't know if it's the losing of contact with Ring, or the fact that it touches the Sleeve that causes the phone to freak out. Either way, as long as you've moved it so it seats fully on Ring you should be good to go. The only drawback I could see to bending it too far is that TRRS headphones (with a mic) could have an issue.

It remains fixed for me, btw, and I have the phone on a jiggly car dock plugged into the aux of my radio...

 

[Meltz014]

Sweet thanks guys. Who uses wired headsets anyways??

 

[taiguy]

Sweet thanks guys. Who uses wired headsets anyways??

aux cable for car stereos

 

[Twistax]

Sweet thanks guys. Who uses wired headsets anyways??

I just ordered some nice V-Modo wired headset. I keep a wired one around because bluetooth does have 1 limitation.. Battery.

Some times you just dont have enough time to wait for the charge.

AND

I use a AUX jack in my truck

 

[Vincent Law]

Sweet thanks guys. Who uses wired headsets anyways??

Anyone who likes audio quality.

 

[geaux4it]

Anyone who likes audio quality.

Exactly.

 

[Rob_A]

I downloaded an app for that and it's been working fine for me.

Headset Blocker - Android app on AppBrain

 

[EarlyMon]

Sweet thanks guys. Who uses wired headsets anyways??

I'll get into 4 to 6 hour conferences, VERY regularly. I've had many a day with 18 hours on the phone.

Gave up my desk phone, have used only my cell for over three years.

At that rate, I would burn out the battery in Bluetooth headsets, and believe me, I went through a lot of 'em.

So, yes, as Vincent Law and geaux4it said, anyone who likes audio quality and who also likes:
* reliability
* longevity
* fewer problems to deal with
* one less thing to charge

Kudos to the OP, btw.

 

[robbase99]

i'm having the same issue, and Kam's fix didn't stick.. Please HELP!

 

[pwnst*r]

Anyone who likes audio quality.

^that.

 

[coolguy949]

i'm having the same issue, and Kam's fix didn't stick.. Please HELP!

It mostly fixed mine but I still have issues on some plugs. What matters it that it works in my car and at home.

This phone is going back because of screen separation issues so it looks like I will be applying the same fix again.

 

[robbase99]

my problem is when I'm running and listening to music, now does anyone know if getting an integrated headset (with mic) solves the problem, or will it keep toggling between the non-mic and mic mode?

 

[IPvFletch]

It works fine on my SkullCandy headphones. Not a single problem, just jack in and jam!

 

[robbase99]

so, does anyone know if it will work better with headset earbuds instead of earphone only buds?

 

[MrPassion]

I had to try two different cables to connect to my car stereo. The high quality one did not work, the lessor did.

 

[Kam]

I mentioned in my edit to the original post that I wound up putting a stack of tape squares on top of the jack to keep the contact down.

It occurs to me that the first thing to try, before bending anything, is to just put a similar stack of tape on top of your jack. When the cover is put back on the pressure the case puts on the stack keeps the contact from bouncing.

This in itself might be enough to fix most peoples problems without risking any damage. At least it's a quick and easy thing to try.

 

[briansrt]

Hey everyone..I had the same issue on my Evo that I got a Best Buy on launch day. I figured that I didn't want to risk messing up the phone, especially within my 30 days to return it. I went to Best Buy last week and got a new Evo that is hardware version 3, and the headphone jack works perfectly now. I was having major issues with it while using it at the gym. Running on a treadmill with the Evo in my pocket caused issues between Google Listen, the HTC music app and voice dialer. I used the new phone on the treadmill to hear a podcast from Listen, and no more problems at all. I know it's a pain to go and exchange a phone, let alone setting it up all over again, but I definitely preferred that over possibly voiding the warranty on a new device. Just my humble opinion of course.

 

[Rigmaster]

Sweet thanks guys. Who uses wired headsets anyways??

No FM radio without the wired headset. I use both, but am beginning to prefer the wired set because the mic and earphone sound is miles better and there's no voice-warbling that comes with mics with voice-isolation.

 

[robbase99]

I'm trying to shed some more light on this issue to Sprint, I believe they know, due to the number of users expressing the same problem, but please assist in bringing it to the public fore-front:
Follow link below to the Sprint forum:
HTC EVO 4G:EVO Headphone jack is defective, should...

 

[snazzyjim]

After reading this and other forums, I took 5 post-its off the stack, and cut a square out of the adhesive area and placed it over the black tape on the jack. So far so good! It's a very quick fix.

 

[stas333]

i just notices that when im at the gym and the head jack cord is moving them my music skips. what i did was just bent the metal down a little without taking the tape off. then got old driver's license (credit card is too thick) and cut a very small square out. placed it on top of the black tape and then used some electrical take to hold the square in place. placed the cover one, and so far it all works great.

 

[RandomDent]

Thanks for the post guys! I haven't had any headphone problems while using my skullcandy headphones, but I recently used the Evo in my car with the Aux cable, and I felt like it was possessed. Ends up the only times it acted crazy (activated voice dialing, randomly skip tracks on pandora/music player) was when it switched to microphone mode.

I am going to go put some extra tape over the jack. Thanks OP!!