Help Galaxy Nexus Bluetooth bug

Dignan17 · Apr 1, 2012

I have been experiencing a 100% repeatable bug affecting the bluetooth on my Galaxy Nexus.

First a little background:

I connect my GN to my car's bluetooth for hands-free, and I also connect it to the Tunelink adapter for bluetooth audio playback because my car doesn't support it. Both devices only register as having the only profile they're capable of: The Tunelink knows it can only do "media audio" and the car knows it can only do "phone audio."

Now the problem:

The problem is, when both devices are connected to the GN, every single phone call I make is a garbled mess. Ever since I got the Tunelink, I've hand to initiate calls and then switch them to handset or speaker mode, and that's not a good thing when you have to drive in D.C. every once and a while with their handsfree laws.

If I'm in the middle of one of these garbled calls and I unplug the Tunelink and wait for the bluetooth connection to drop, the call clears up immediately. But this just isn't a suitable solution to the problem, and repeated stress on my car's power outlets isn't a good thing.

Does anyone have a solution? I can't get rid of the Tunelink. It's by far the best product I've used for this purpose, and I listen to podcasts in my car all day every day (I do a lot of driving). Apparently 4.0.3 was going to have some bluetooth fixes, but I'll have to wait for a future update (and for Verizon) before I see any of those, and who knows if they'll address this specific issue? This is so frustrating. I finally found a great product, and now I can't use it.

Oh, and I contacted Tunelink, and they saw no problems on their end (naturally - not sure whether to believe them on that one). They said to wait for a bug fix...

dalesponyrider · Apr 1, 2012

Sorry, I don't have an answer to your question, but would like to ask you if your GNex charges through your tunelink? My old Nexus One used to charge as well as play but my GNex only plays, doesn't charge. I haven't actually taken a call whilst driving yet so can't answer your query. Will have a go and let you know!

Paul1201 · Apr 1, 2012

Are you sure it isn't the car's bluetooth causing the problem? Have you tried connecting to a bluetooth earpiece to see if there are any audio issues? I would suspect the car's bluetooth is the issue if it does not support media playback.

To me it seems like you have three potential problem areas and you are taking the word of one of the manufacturers that it is not their fault.

heat57 · Apr 1, 2012

Paul1201 said:
Are you sure it isn't the car's bluetooth causing the problem? Have you tried connecting to a bluetooth earpiece to see if there are any audio issues? I would suspect the car's bluetooth is the issue if it does not support media playback.

To me it seems like you have three potential problem areas and you are taking the word of one of the manufacturers that it is not their fault.

I'd go with that. I use my GN in-car via bluetooth to my car's radio. My gadget is a venturi mini and I have used 4 devices with it without any problem (HTC Desire, iPhone 4, Nexus S, Galaxy Nexus). I would be very surprised if your GN was at fault and even on ICS 4.0.2 I had no such experiences. As Paul1201 suggests, an alternative bluetooth connection to say an earpeace would be the way to test this.

Jay3 · Apr 1, 2012

I wonder if this problem is what is keeping Samsung from releasing the car dock? I know it apparently used bluetooth to link the media play to the dock. Maybe it keeps crapping out when tested with a car that has bluetooth phone.

TheyCallMeBT · Apr 1, 2012

I've never heard of this Tunelink, but it sounds like exactly what I've been wanting! Except I also use my car stereo for phone calls via bluetooth (the stereo unit doesn't have A2DP). lol, so I know I want it, but I know there may be an issue with it. It has a 3.5mm input jack, but I usually just don't end up plugging it in unless it's a long drive and I'm not running late.

Does the phone disconnect from it when you turn your car off? And does the USB jack charge the phone at full speed or just USB speed? And lastly, do GPS directions come through the stereo when it's hooked up or through the speaker on the phone?

Sorry to ask questions in your support thread, but if I buy one, I'll let you know if it works ok for me with my car unit. By the way, what's the name of your stereo unit? Mine is an aftermarket Pioneer unit.

Dignan17 · Apr 2, 2012

First off: apologies for not seeing these replies sooner. For some reason these forums are not alerting me via email like I've asked it to... Anyway:

Paul1201 said:
Are you sure it isn't the car's bluetooth causing the problem? Have you tried connecting to a bluetooth earpiece to see if there are any audio issues? I would suspect the car's bluetooth is the issue if it does not support media playback.

I'm not sure what you mean. The car's bluetooth works flawlessly when the Tunelink is not plugged in/powered on. It's only when both the car and the Tunelink are connected that I have these problems. Both devices are supposed to only connect to the Galaxy Nexus by single but different profiles, so they're each supposed to let the other do their thing. I don't see how they could mess each other up if not for something the phone was doing wrong.

Sorry, I don't have an answer to your question, but would like to ask you if your GNex charges through your tunelink? My old Nexus One used to charge as well as play but my GNex only plays, doesn't charge. I haven't actually taken a call whilst driving yet so can't answer your query. Will have a go and let you know!

Sadly, it doesn't seem to charge. If the car is on and there's power to the Tunelink, when you plug in the Galaxy Nexus the phone doesn't even indicate that it's plugged in (the battery icon doesn't change). Apparently this is a common problem with the GN. I brought this up with the people at Tunelink, because the thing is supposed to be able to charge an iPad, so it should have enough juice to charge a GN. They suggested plugging the phone in before turning the car on. This did seem to at least make the phone realize it was plugged into something, and the icon does change. However, after driving around like this quite a bit, it seems that either the phone gets a very small charge from the Tunelink, or it's not charging at all. I've gone back to the Samsung car adapter, which is annoying because I'd rather just do it all from the Tunelink.

Does the phone disconnect from it when you turn your car off? And does the USB jack charge the phone at full speed or just USB speed? And lastly, do GPS directions come through the stereo when it's hooked up or through the speaker on the phone?

1) it turns off as it only gets power from the car
2) see above - it doesn't really charge a GN, but it might charge other phones with less notorious issues in this regard
3) all audio the phone produces goes through the Tunelink

The Tunelink really works great except for this one thing, but I'm not certain it's Tunelink's fault. I'm much more willing to blame the phone, which has been a disappointment in other areas anyway.

TheyCallMeBT · Apr 2, 2012

Dignan17 said:
1) it turns off as it only gets power from the car

I think my truck still powers whatever is plugged into it when the engine is off/ key is out. Is that not normal?

Dignan17 · Apr 2, 2012

TheyCallMeBT said:
I think my truck still powers whatever is plugged into it when the engine is off/ key is out. Is that not normal?

This very much depends on the vehicle.

Paul1201 · Apr 2, 2012

Dignan17 said:
I'm not sure what you mean. The car's bluetooth works flawlessly when the Tunelink is not plugged in/powered on. It's only when both the car and the Tunelink are connected that I have these problems. Both devices are supposed to only connect to the Galaxy Nexus by single but different profiles, so they're each supposed to let the other do their thing. I don't see how they could mess each other up if not for something the phone was doing wrong.

My point is that the two bluetooth devices (your car and the Tunelink) signal may be interfering with each other. By eliminating the car as a variable (using a bluetooth earpiece) you can see if the problem is still present. The only way to isolate the problem device is to systematically replace each device and see if the problem persists (do you have access to another phone to try also). Before making the assumption that an update to the phone will fix this I would recommend making sure it is the phone. The fact that powering down the Tunelink eliminates the problem really makes me believe that the car's bluetooth signal is being interfered with by the Tunelink.

Dignan17 · Apr 2, 2012

Paul1201 said:
My point is that the two bluetooth devices (your car and the Tunelink) signal may be interfering with each other. By eliminating the car as a variable (using a bluetooth earpiece) you can see if the problem is still present. The only way to isolate the problem device is to systematically replace each device and see if the problem persists (do you have access to another phone to try also). Before making the assumption that an update to the phone will fix this I would recommend making sure it is the phone. The fact that powering down the Tunelink eliminates the problem really makes me believe that the car's bluetooth signal is being interfered with by the Tunelink.

I'm sorry, but I don't really follow the same troubleshooting logic. If anything, by your logic the Tunelink is the problem, not the car.

I also doubt it's the case of the "signals" interfering with each other. It just doesn't work that way. You can use bluetooth around other bluetooth devices without issues, or you hear about signal interference a lot more.

I do have a bluetooth headset, and I'll try doing this with that, but given my troubleshooting steps, I don't see how you can eliminate the phone as the culprit.

TheyCallMeBT · Apr 3, 2012

Dignan17 said:
This very much depends on the vehicle.

That's what I was thinking. If I'm right, then I guess the phone would stay connected to the device as long as it was in range. Which wouldn't be most of the house, but maaybe the kitchen. So I'm just curious on that part. I leave bluetooth turned on, but right now it only connects to the car's phone BT system and that is only on when the car is cranked. If the phone was occasionally connecting with the Tunelink throughout a day at the house, that would drain the battery, I'm guessing.

As far as the logic of the troubleshooting steps, I agree with Paul's logic. If you replace the car's phone bluetooth protocol with the same in a bluetooth headset, 1) The problem persists and you know that the problem isn't with the car, or 2) The problem is gone and the car's phone bluetooth system maybe be the issue.

If you have access to another (preferably android) phone that isn't a G'Nex, pair it to both the Tunelink and the car. If 1) The music and phone calls operate correctly, then the G'Nex is the problem. If 2) The problem persists, and the above test favored the car operating correctly, then the Tunelink is likely the issue.

TheyCallMeBT · Apr 4, 2012

Ok, I just bought one online from Best Buy. It'll be some time next week before I get it probably. I went with the iPhone version because I prefer the blue light over the green one and they're cross compatible, including with the app that you download. Actually, it said that iPhone's with iOS5 have a bug in them that makes them not work with the Android version, so they were recommending the iPhone one any way. It has a feature where the other people in the car can connect their phone and add their songs to a queue somehow. I'll probably never use it, but it sounded cool, so I wanted the iPhone compatibility for friends/ family.

I'll let you know if I have problems once it gets here. If so, I hope that the .4 or .5 update gets out in time to know if that will fix it.

Dignan17 · Apr 4, 2012

Heh, I also bought the iPhone version for the same reasons you stated. I also thought that queue stuff sounded cool, but like you, I probably won't ever use it either.

ig88 · Apr 5, 2012

Dignan17, I have the same problem with my Galaxy Nexus. Whenever my car handsfree is connected to an A2DP device my calls are garbled or have a fast clicking/popping sound. Music streams fine. I have tried a Blackberry Stereo Gateway and a Garmin Bluetrip as A2DP solutions and both have the same interference issue when paired to my car or any of my bluetooth headsets. I'm sure it's a BT Stack/kernel issue because my old HTC Incredible has the same interference when running CM7, but not when running sense Roms. The only Rom/Kernel combo that hasn't had interference for me is AOKP M3 with the Codename V1.4 kernel. I keep flashing the latest releases hoping the issue is fixed, but no luck so far. I wonder if this is a bitpool issue with ICS. Many when A2DP and handsfree are active, A2DP is receiving too much of the BT bandwidth? I am hoping 4.05 or a port from another device fixes this. Being stuck on one Rom version is taking alot of the fun out of having a Nexus device.

Dignan17 · Apr 6, 2012

ig88 said:
Dignan17, I have the same problem with my Galaxy Nexus. Whenever my car handsfree is connected to an A2DP device my calls are garbled or have a fast clicking/popping sound. Music streams fine. I have tried a Blackberry Stereo Gateway and a Garmin Bluetrip as A2DP solutions and both have the same interference issue when paired to my car or any of my bluetooth headsets. I'm sure it's a BT Stack/kernel issue because my old HTC Incredible has the same interference when running CM7, but not when running sense Roms. The only Rom/Kernel combo that hasn't had interference for me is AOKP M3 with the Codename V1.4 kernel. I keep flashing the latest releases hoping the issue is fixed, but no luck so far. I wonder if this is a bitpool issue with ICS. Many when A2DP and handsfree are active, A2DP is receiving too much of the BT bandwidth? I am hoping 4.05 or a port from another device fixes this. Being stuck on one Rom version is taking alot of the fun out of having a Nexus device.

Couldn't agree with that last statement more. I know Verizon needs to do their own testing, but honestly, how much motivation do they really have to get it out fast? They haven't cared about the GN since day 1.

But thanks for your input. I was thinking bluetooth stack too. It really seemed like an issue with the phone software and you seem to have confirmed it. Like I said, 4.0.3 supposedly had "bluetooth bug fixes" as one of the more prominent improvements listed, so perhaps this was one of the fixes they were talking about. Hopefully that made it into whatever update we'll eventually get whenever Verizon feels like giving it to us.

I still wish I'd gone with a GSM Nexus.

TheyCallMeBT · Apr 9, 2012

Ok, I just got mine. It's a pretty awesome device. But I have the same issues listed here. The phone calls through my Pioneer stereo unit are very garbled on both ends. Unplugging it, then switching it to "Privacy mode" on the stereo unit, which routes the audio back to the handset, and then waiting a few seconds until I'm able to do the same function on the stereo unit to switch back to the car audio fixes it. It's possible that simply unplugging it and waiting that period of time may fix it, I only waited a couple of seconds when testing it.

I also have some issues because my Ford F150 keeps power going to the power points when the car is off. So the automatic stopping and restarting doesn't work like it should. I think I can get around this issue, though by just pausing from my unlock screen when I leave the car, and then when I get back in the car, unplugging the Tunelink and plugging it back in.

I'm going to wait for the software update for the phone to see if it fixes it. Hopefully it happens within 30 days because I'm not sure yet if I'm going to keep the Tunelink (even though it's awesome).

One other weird thing worth noting. I tried using it to charge the phone. I didn't expect it to work, but it actually did, and showed up as USB charge. That's still not fast enough, and I'm just going to use the $3 one I bought on Amazon that charges at full speed. So that's fine. But I d/l'ed the app and there's a setting that asks if the power connector should be set for an android device or a non android device. The default was non android. On this, it gave me USB. I switched to android device and with that setting, it didn't have any power at all. I switched back again and it charged at USB speeds again. Interesting.

I sent a detailed email to their support address asking about some of this. I also gave them the link to this page in case they want to read it. Here's what I wrote:

Hi. I just bought a Tunelink (iPhone version) through Best Buy to use with my Samsung Galaxy Nexus. I really like it and it does what I've been looking for before I knew about it, but I've got a couple of questions before I decide if I'm going to keep it or return it.

I've got a 2000 Ford F-150 with an aftermarket Pioneer MVH-P8200BT stereo unit. The stereo unit has bluetooth, but just with phone profiles and it also has an aux in.

1. My truck supplies power to anything plugged into the power points at all times, even when the truck is turned off. I understand that some cars do this and some don't. Will it damage the Tunelink in any way if it stays plugged in at all times?

2. Since it receives power constantly, the automatic playing and stop playing does not work. I have to pause playing from my unlock screen after leaving the car, or the music will continue "playing" silently (even after bluetooth connection is dropped from walking away). I believe it also will not automatically reconnect the bluetooth connection after walking away and returning to my vehicle. Would unplugging the tunelink and plugging it back in quickly when I get back into the car be the best way to deal with this?

3. With the Galaxy Nexus and I believe some other phones, when you have the Tunelink connected and then get a phone call that is connected via bluetooth to your car hands free unit, the phone call will be very garbled on both ends. I tested it with my Pioneer unit, and I've read where others have the same problem. Unplugging the Tunelink and waiting (and it might also be necessary to switch to the handset's speaker and back again) will make it work right again, but it's a pain. Are you all looking into this in any way? The Galaxy Nexus has some issues with Bluetooth, and I'm hoping that it may be addressed and fixed in the next software update. Apparently there is one ROM and kernal combination being used right now that can be loaded onto the phone and it will fix the issues, but all others retain the problem. I'm running stock and waiting for the upcoming update to decide if I'm going to root and flash the phone to another ROM and kernal.

Here is the thread where I first learned about the product and the issues are discussed. Especially my question #3. I'm user TheyCallMeBT on it.

http://androidforums.com/samsung-galaxy-nexus/524885-galaxy-nexus-bluetooth-bug.html

Thanks!!

GorillaTheHutt · Apr 25, 2012

glad i found this thread so i know i'm not alone. i've been talking with Tunelink, and here's what they said:

OK. Your phone uses Bluetooth to communicate with both TuneLink and your car's hands free audio. They use different Bluetooth profiles - your car uses the Hands Free Profile (HFP) and TuneLink uses the Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP). While your phone is pausing the music, it's not closing the A2DP channel to TuneLink. What I think is happening is that your phone just doesn't have enough processing power to fill both the A2DP and HFP channels simultaneously or it's a bug in the version of Android your using. As far as TuneLink goes, it doesn't really "know" of any other devices around it. It's just an A2DP sink to your phone. As a test you could try unplugging TuneLink while in a call. When your phone closes out A2DP several seconds later, your call will probably sound fine. Unfortunately, there's not much we can do about it from the TuneLink end. The only thing I can suggest is to make sure you're not running the TuneLink app on your phone while in a call as this causes another a channel to open up and drain more processing resources. You could also check some online forums related to your phone and see if others have issues with A2DP and HFP running simultaneously.

i wonder where this bug resides. i'm willing to believe it's either GNex BT hardware or ICS. is there an issue filed with google's bug tracker for this?

please keep us updated if any of you figure out a workaround.

EDIT: FWIW, i'm on ICS 4.0.4 and still have this problem

scoobdude · Apr 26, 2012

Bandwith sounds about right. The problem sounds like audio playback is not being stopped/paused for music and then HFP tries to take the rest of the bandwith. Correct me if I am wrong but the tunelink receives A2DP and send it via FM right?

Having a radio that does both/hence eliminating the tunelink should work well. I do not believe this is a BT stack issue but a "confusion" issue. Most every device I have ever used that supported both profiles would stop the music and take the call and then restart the music. Not sure if this was initialized by the device or the phone. But since the tunelink only handles A2DP it will attempt to keep playing since nothing told it to stop and the phone sees no reason to change priority to HFP.

Best solution, get a radio that supports BOTH profiles (pioneer is notorious for only supporting one

) and now a days for much cheaper (crutchfield just had a jvc for 80 bucks...no cd though). Or you could try something like the T505 which is what i used back in the day.

GorillaTheHutt · Apr 26, 2012

scoobdude said:
Having a radio that does both/hence eliminating the tunelink should work well. I do not believe this is a BT stack issue but a "confusion" issue. Most every device I have ever used that supported both profiles would stop the music and take the call and then restart the music. Not sure if this was initialized by the device or the phone. But since the tunelink only handles A2DP it will attempt to keep playing since nothing told it to stop and the phone sees no reason to change priority to HFP.

so i checked and my GNex does pause the music when it goes into phone mode. it's possible it's doing something stupid like still transmitting "empty" A2DP packets to tunelink which are using up BT bandwidth. that would be sad, but fixable (if Google decided to ever fix it).

Tim K · Apr 26, 2012

TheyCallMeBT said:
I also have some issues because my Ford F150 keeps power going to the power points when the car is off. So the automatic stopping and restarting doesn't work like it should. I think I can get around this issue, though by just pausing from my unlock screen when I leave the car, and then when I get back in the car, unplugging the Tunelink and plugging it back in.

Did you check all the power points? Usually on a vehicle with more than one, they setup one as always hot and one as 'key on'. I know in my Mercury its setup that way and I think in my wife's car too. If not, you can pretty easily rewire one of the power points to a 'key on' fuse so it shuts off when your truck does.

scoobdude said:
Having a radio that does both/hence eliminating the tunelink should work well. I do not believe this is a BT stack issue but a "confusion" issue. Most every device I have ever used that supported both profiles would stop the music and take the call and then restart the music. Not sure if this was initialized by the device or the phone. But since the tunelink only handles A2DP it will attempt to keep playing since nothing told it to stop and the phone sees no reason to change priority to HFP.

GorillaTheHutt said:
so i checked and my GNex does pause the music when it goes into phone mode. it's possible it's doing something stupid like still transmitting "empty" A2DP packets to tunelink which are using up BT bandwidth. that would be sad, but fixable (if Google decided to ever fix it).

My wife's Toyota radio handles both flawlessly. If the GN is pausing but still causing problems it does sound like it could be doing something dumb like streaming nothing via A2DP.

GorillaTheHutt · Apr 26, 2012

i started an issue over at Google here:

Issue 29564 - android - Problems with simultaneous bluetooth A2DP and HFP on Galaxy Nexus and/or Ice Cream Sandwich - Android - An Open Handset Alliance Project - Google Project Hosting

Dignan17 · Apr 26, 2012

It has nothing to do with the FM. I don't use the FM and have it turned off, using the AUX connection instead. The Tunelink also has no problems pausing the playback of music or podcasts when a call comes in.

One weird thing that I can't remember mentioning: one time I restarted my phone while the car was on, so it had been connected to the Tunelink immediately before and after restarting. After that I everything worked perfectly. Clearly, though, this is NOT a good long term solution

I also haven't tried to repeat it, so it could have been a fluke or maybe the Tunelink didn't really reconnect.

Have I mentioned I hate bluetooth?

EDIT: FWIW, i'm on ICS 4.0.4 and still have this problem

Crap. Is that 4.0.4 by way of an alternate ROM, or is that actual 4.0.4, as in from Google?

GorillaTheHutt · Apr 26, 2012

Dignan17 said:
Crap. Is that 4.0.4 by way of an alternate ROM, or is that actual 4.0.4, as in from Google?

it's by way of Bugless Beast ROM, which is about as close to a vanilla ROM as you can get, but no, it's not the official Google 4.0.4.

TheyCallMeBT · Apr 27, 2012

Tim K said:
Did you check all the power points? Usually on a vehicle with more than one, they setup one as always hot and one as 'key on'. I know in my Mercury its setup that way and I think in my wife's car too. If not, you can pretty easily rewire one of the power points to a 'key on' fuse so it shuts off when your truck does.

It worked out. It goes into a low powered mode after 10 mins when the truck is off. When it's like this, the light will be a slow blink and not solid. And for someone else's question, the music does pause where you left it when you get a phone call. So it's not ACTUALLY playing the music during the call, but like someone said, it's probably sending empty packets.

Thanks for posting the bug report, I'll write on it, too.

I forgot to post the reply I got from them, so here it is.

1. It won't damage your TuneLink if stays plugged in all the time. It will go into a low power mode after about 10 minutes when your truck is off. It will detect when you start it up and should re-connect to your Nexus.

2. The stopping of the music is really app dependent and is out of our control. We've found some apps pause the music when Bluetooth is dropped while others (like Pandora I believe) will just continue to play usually through your phone's speakers. As I said above, it should reconnect if it's coming out of low power mode but if you return to your truck before it goes into that mode, you can either un-plug and plug it back in or go into your phone's Bluetooth settings and re-connect by tapping on the TuneLink device.

3. TuneLink supports the Bluetooth A2DP profile only (audio / music streaming). Your phone also has support for the Hands Free Profile (HFP) which allows for hands free phone operation so we have no control over anything related to the phone call. I believe it is an issue with Android; some Nexus owners have reported this issue and I believe it is an Android 4 issue as prior versions seem to handle A2DP and HFP simultaneously fine. Unfortunately, the Galaxy Nexus is the only Android phone I'm aware of that is running ICS so there's nothing else to compare it with yet. I believe it will be fixed in an upcoming Android release but unless you root your phone, you'll have to wait for your provider. Personally, I've used Cyanogenmod with good success on several phones. It can be a little scary if you've never rooted your phone before because there is always a chance you may "brick" it, but once rooted, you can always go back to the factory default code if you want (at least with Cyanogenmod.)

Help Galaxy Nexus Bluetooth bug

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