Help weird problem with speakerphone setting

albemuth · Mar 13, 2012

Hello, just joined, have a Samsung Galaxy SII Epic 4g Touch, and of late (since about 3.11.12 or so) every time I get an incoming call, it defaults to speakerphone. This is, for obvious reasons, a pain in the rear. Now it has also decided to add the mute button to the equation, so whilst I can hear the callers, they cannot hear me. I have to unlock my phone and then enter the settings to turn off both mute and speakerphone.

The OS is Gingerbread 2.3.6. I've checked under the settings (for some reason I found it under the voicemail settings; is this standard?), and it is most definitely set to 'off'.

While I do work IT, and am extremely comfortable in a Windows environment, Android is a bit new to me. I'm the only one with access to this phone, and while I will not rule out mucking with the incorrect setting at one point or the other, I noticed most of these issues occurring after Google dumped the Android App store and implemented the Google Play instead.

Regardless, hope that is enough info. Looking forward to being a member here, as I've found that the best way to get better at something is to hang around folks who know it a heck of a lot more than oneself.

IAmSixNine · Mar 13, 2012

Make sure your not in Driving Mode.
On my device i have a Widget with 3 buttons.
Voice Command, Voice Talk, and Driving Mode.
Driving mode enabled causes my device to answer thru speaker phone. Off it is back to normal.

albemuth · Mar 13, 2012

IAmSixNine said:
Make sure your not in Driving Mode.
On my device i have a Widget with 3 buttons.
Voice Command, Voice Talk, and Driving Mode.
Driving mode enabled causes my device to answer thru speaker phone. Off it is back to normal.

Checked that as well. I found the red led light was staying on, and was dipped if I could figure out why; that was driving mode activated.

I don't think I hit that, but it's entirely conceivable. It's been acting nice since I joined here and posted (of course) but I'll keep an eye on it and let you know tomorrow.

thanks for the response, btw.

a

albemuth · Mar 13, 2012

okay, it's something called 'car mode'. NOT driving mode......off to google to figure this one out. If anyone has any input, it's most definitely welcome, as this has appeared out of the blue (although I'm still leaning towards the google play app) and is utterly random as to when it starts.

thanks,

a

albemuth · Mar 14, 2012

think I may have found the culprit. I've noticed that when using the charger it work (believe it's an older BB model, as I had about 8 of those) that is generally when I get the steering wheel icon in the top left and the 'car mode' pops up.

Now the million dollar question is, how the heck do I turn this damn thing off permanently?

rbasusparky · Mar 14, 2012

albemuth, I believe you have to go to Menu->Settings->Voice input and output->Text-to-speech settings, disable or uncheck "Always use my settings" feature or option.

Always use my settings overrides any conflicting application settings with those you set up within this text-to-speech settings screen. If enabled and available as a feature, your device will default to using the text-to-speech feature.

You might want to disable or uncheck the Driving mode option as well - allows incoming calls and new notifications to be read out automatically.

This feature is an integration with Samsung and Vlingo on their newer phones. I've been experimenting between the actual Vlingo app from Google Play and I find the In-Car mode (Driving Mode) pretty useful (it's easier to disable it compared with the integrated app on the E4GT because the "Always use my settings" option is not in effect), especially the ability to do hands free operation for calls, navigation, voice to text and vice-versa for incoming and outgoing SMS, etc. However, it struggles somewhat with identifying the correct contact, especially with uniquely spelled names or similar sounding names like Terese and Therese. A combination of Google Voice Search or Skyvi for outgoing SMS, since they have the ability to use the nickname assigned to the contact to identify them easier unlike Vlingo (e.g Dad, Mom, wife/husband) and using Vlingo's Control widget or Vlingo's SafeReader widget to turn on the SafeReader feature to allow Vlingo to read aloud incoming SMS (without activating the entire In-Car Driving mode that may conflict with Google Voice Search or Skyvi), since Google Voice Search and Skyvi can't read incoming SMS for now, is a good combination setup.

albemuth · Mar 14, 2012

rbasusparky said:
albemuth, I believe you have to go to Menu->Settings->Voice input and output->Text-to-speech settings, disable or uncheck "Always use my settings" feature or option.

Always use my settings overrides any conflicting application settings with those you set up within this text-to-speech settings screen. If enabled and available as a feature, your device will default to using the text-to-speech feature.

You might want to disable or uncheck the Driving mode option as well - allows incoming calls and new notifications to be read out automatically.

Already have done that......again, what's weird about it is that a steering wheel icon shows up (never seen that one before) and a woman's voice states 'car mode activated'......and I've never heard of car mode either.

This feature is an integration with Samsung and Vlingo on their newer phones. I've been experimenting between the actual Vlingo app from Google Play and I find the In-Car mode (Driving Mode) pretty useful (it's easier to disable it compared with the integrated app on the E4GT because the "Always use my settings" option is not in effect), especially the ability to do hands free operation for calls, navigation, voice to text and vice-versa for incoming and outgoing SMS, etc. However, it struggles somewhat with identifying the correct contact, especially with uniquely spelled names or similar sounding names like Terese and Therese. A combination of Google Voice Search or Skyvi for outgoing SMS, since they have the ability to use the nickname assigned to the contact to identify them easier unlike Vlingo (e.g Dad, Mom, wife/husband) and using Vlingo's Control widget or Vlingo's SafeReader widget to turn on the SafeReader feature to allow Vlingo to read aloud incoming SMS (without activating the entire In-Car Driving mode that may conflict with Google Voice Search or Skyvi) is a good combination setup for now.

Which feature? Driving mode, or the vlingo one? I've noticed that when I kill the processes 'voice talk' and one other (it's not currently running, and I don't recall the exact name of the service, but it definitely had vlingo in it and the driving microphone icon) that makes it go away.

I am beginning to think it's a charger issue; I do not use a dock, but I have a variety of different chargers I use. Any input on that? Or do you think I'm just chasing my tail?

rbasusparky · Mar 14, 2012

The Driving mode feature that comes on the E4GT, other Samsung Galaxy SII models, Galaxy Note, etc.

I agree with your assessment that the Driving mode is being activated on your E4GT by your charger (some other users seem to have a similar experience as well). I thought that if you disabled the "Always use my settings" and "Driving mode" options in Menu->Settings->Voice input and output->Text-to-speech settings that the Driving mode feature would not get activated. However, if it turns on, can't you just use the 3 mode widget (Voice Command, Voice Talk, and Driving Mode) to quickly turn off driving mode once you notice it is activated as long as the "Always use my settings" option is disabled?

albemuth · Mar 14, 2012

rbasusparky said:
The Driving mode feature that comes on the E4GT, other Samsung Galaxy SII models, Galaxy Note, etc.

I agree with your assessment that the Driving mode is being activated on your E4GT by your charger (some other users seem to have a similar experience as well). I thought that if you disabled the "Always use my settings" and "Driving mode" options in Menu->Settings->Voice input and output->Text-to-speech settings that the Driving mode feature would not get activated. However, if it turns on, can't you just use the 3 mode widget (Voice Command, Voice Talk, and Driving Mode) to quickly turn off driving mode once you notice it is activated as long as the "Always use my settings" option is disabled?

That was what I had thought as well.........but, and this is the key; it's NOT driving mode. It's car mode, and it has a steering wheel icon.

Very strange.

On a related note, what screen cap software (preferably free) do you recommend? That way I can show you what I'm looking at.

thanks,

a

rbasusparky · Mar 14, 2012

You don't need a third party screen capture app as your E4GT already has that feature:

Screen Capture

To capture a photo of the phone’s current screen, touch and hold the Home key and Power key at the same time.

There's another setting that you might check related to the Samsung-Vlingo integrated app:

Menu->Settings ->Motion Settings, disable "Double Tap" option.

Double tap prepares the phone for voice commands, if the Voice Talk application is open.

albemuth · Mar 14, 2012

double tap was indeed on.....hopefully that will fix it.

I've got a screenshot, waiting for it to email from phone > pc as I don't have a phone > pc connector at home......give me a few and I'll post it.

really want to know what the heck that steering wheel icon is.

albemuth · Mar 14, 2012

et voila.

albemuth · Mar 14, 2012

nope, disabling the tap feature did not solve it. Furthermore, if I am doing anything else in the phone and car mode magically activates itself, once I deactivate it I'm taken to the home page, and whatever else I was doing is toast.

Irritating to say the least......

albemuth · Mar 14, 2012

Fyi

http://androidforums.com/samsung-ga...oure-having-car-mode-problem-look-here-2.html

dougleppard · Mar 15, 2012

rbasusparky said:
albemuth, I believe you have to go to Menu->Settings->Voice input and output->Text-to-speech settings, disable or uncheck "Always use my settings" feature or option.

Always use my settings overrides any conflicting application settings with those you set up within this text-to-speech settings screen. If enabled and available as a feature, your device will default to using the text-to-speech feature.

You might want to disable or uncheck the Driving mode option as well - allows incoming calls and new notifications to be read out automatically.

This feature is an integration with Samsung and Vlingo on their newer phones. I've been experimenting between the actual Vlingo app from Google Play and I find the In-Car mode (Driving Mode) pretty useful (it's easier to disable it compared with the integrated app on the E4GT because the "Always use my settings" option is not in effect), especially the ability to do hands free operation for calls, navigation, voice to text and vice-versa for incoming and outgoing SMS, etc. However, it struggles somewhat with identifying the correct contact, especially with uniquely spelled names or similar sounding names like Terese and Therese. A combination of Google Voice Search or Skyvi for outgoing SMS, since they have the ability to use the nickname assigned to the contact to identify them easier unlike Vlingo (e.g Dad, Mom, wife/husband) and using Vlingo's Control widget or Vlingo's SafeReader widget to turn on the SafeReader feature to allow Vlingo to read aloud incoming SMS (without activating the entire In-Car Driving mode that may conflict with Google Voice Search or Skyvi), since Google Voice Search and Skyvi can't read incoming SMS for now, is a good combination setup.

Thank you for this, it helped my problem which was it automatically was reading out notifications (like text or email coming in) which was irritating. It would not stop even when phone was on silent. So you answered my problem with above thanks. It was a weird place to put the driving mode option.

rbasusparky · Mar 15, 2012

dougleppard, you're welcome. The newer smartphones are faster, more powerful, and more feature rich than ever.

albemuth, the steering wheel icon on your notification is very similar in appearance to Vlingo's (Google Play regular version) In-Car mode icon (steering wheel with 4 spokes instead of 3). I believe that the Samsung-Vlingo Driving mode functionality is similar if not identical to the Vlingo In-Car mode. I hope that your issue with the USB charging port can easily be resolved by replacement of the USB port. Are you going to see if Sprint or Samsung will replace the malfunctioning part?

albemuth · Mar 15, 2012

rbasusparky said:
dougleppard, you're welcome. The newer smartphones are faster, more powerful, and more feature rich than ever.

albemuth, the steering wheel icon on your notification is very similar in appearance to Vlingo's (Google Play regular version) In-Car mode icon (steering wheel with 4 spokes instead of 3). I believe that the Samsung-Vlingo Driving mode functionality is similar if not identical to the Vlingo In-Car mode. I hope that your issue with the USB charging port can easily be resolved by replacement of the USB port. Are you going to see if Sprint or Samsung will replace the malfunctioning part?

Sprint will replace the entire phone free, so that's not an issue. But if it happens with one, there's a good chance it will happen again.

I have seen that vlingo service running when the car mode pops up, and generally after killing it (the service) about 5 times, it stays off. I'm trying to narrow down what charger is doing it currently, but holy jeezum, is this an annoying issue.

Any idea how to disable that feature sans root?

thanks again,

a

Help weird problem with speakerphone setting

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