Ibolt dock doesn't work since Jellybean

badboybubby said:

Bought an Ibolt dock for my S3, was working perfectly with ICS. Installed the official JB update and the dock no longer charges my S3 when connected?

Anyone else noticed this?

Ps. It's definitely not faulty, phone charges normally.

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Hello Badboybbuddy, your observation is correct, no car-dock, OEM or aftermarket (including our iBOLT.co product) works with Jellybean. The Polish, UK and Swedish version (the ones released as of today) all have the car-mode and aux-out turned off in the kernel. Unfortunately Samsung customer support does not seem to know why this has changed, or if this is a mistake or not. There's some XDA threads on this but essentially as of now you must install a custom Kernel to make it work, which entails rooting your phone and flashing it, which is not for the faint of heart and something we DO NOT recommend.

We have notified the Samsung Product Management Team personally and also their people in charge of testing and approvals. although no response as of today. Their customer service in Germany and UK have clearly been made aware of the issue as well. If you have a Dock with a JB issue, make sure Samsung customer service is notified, www.samsung.com/us/support/

We are surprised that Samsung would release JB with the car-dock and aux-out "turned off" in the kernel, doesn't make any sense, especially in light of the fact that they must have them "turned on" when rolling out JB for Note 1 and 2 as a Samsung branded OEM car-dock can be purchased for both these two devices. Our understanding is that every Kernel released from Android has these features and they have been supported by Samsung for a couple of years now, across their Smartphone offerings. It is also a unique selling point and great benefit compared to other Smartphone platforms so why remove them?

Here's a technical note from an internally knowledgeable person at iBOLT, a single post which shows Kernel settings, http://forum.xda-developers.com/show...&postcount=175 Not sure if it helps, just wanted to share.

We will post as soon as we can confirm JB official version is released somewhere in the world with the car-mode and aux settings activated again. So at this time we are recommending all users to revert back to ICS and NOT upgrade to Jellybean until further notice if the car-dock and aux-out are features you want. Sorry not to have better news but this is the status right now. Thanks for buying our product!

Well, I contacted Samsung about this issue and this is their reply:

"Dear Loay

Thank you for contacting Samsung about the issue your are having with your phone.

I’m sorry you are having issues with your device after upgrading the firmware. I can understand your frustration about this.

Old systems settings can be left on the phone after an update occurs, which is why we usually recommend a full factory reset after updating. If this isn’t done your device may begin to give false readings from system resources, or experience technical problems, which may explain the issue you are having.

We would advise on doing the following, which is designed to reset the settings on your device. Please back up your device using Samsung KIES before you do this.

1) Remove the battery for at least 40 minutes, put the battery back in and allow it to fully discharge. Afterwards, perform a full battery charge with the device turned off. Do not interrupt the charging process.

2) After the battery is fully charged, we would like you to perform a full factory reset, which can be done via Settings > Backup > Reset.

This process will reset your device, remove old system files that are no longer needed and enable your device to operate normally again.

Please let us know if your device continues to experience problems after the reset so we can investigate further.

If you require any further assistance, please contact Samsung again and we will be more than happy to help.

Kind regards"

So, in short, do a factory reset, which didn't work! I really don't think they have a clue about this problem!!!

Have also submitted a Support Request to Samsung via My Samsung.

(Which reminded me that they never did fix Dual View/Smart TV on the S3, my last support ticket. Still, I only spent

Today I called Vodafone who put me through to Samsung who eventually understood the issue and admitted that others had called with the same problem.

You can call them (UK) on 0330 726 7864 and Tier 3 are Option 3 > Option 1.

They said I need to either wait (probably a long time) for an update or flash back to ICS. I can post my phone back to Samsung or take it to my local service centre (which happens to be about 5 miles away, so not that bad, I guess).

...or I could just use Odin like anyone sensible would do.

So now I (we) have a choice: Keep warranty but don't use in car OR void warranty and flash. Or wait while some muppet at a service centre to screw it up royally! (Oh, I'm so cynical...).

Is there really no app or less invasive way of turning this function back on?

Odin wont increase the flash counter if flashing an official ICS. Flash counter 0 = No voided warranty.

well, I found a low-key way to temporarily resolve this issue until samsung get off its ass and start fixing this problem. I use an NFC tag (I stick it on the car dock itself) and used NFC Task Launcher app to write the following commands on the NFC tag:
- Enable car dock (which would start the Car Home Ultra app)
- Enable Bluetooth.
- Max brightness.

But I'm not really sure if this would fix the AUX connectivity problem. My car doesn't have an AUX in plug so I'm using an FM transmitter that connects to my device via bluetooth. Also I plug my device into the cable coming out of the charger directly because the small cable coming out of the dock doesn't charge anymore after the update.
I can live with this setting right now until samsung does something about this problem.

Hey folks, iBolt just posted news on their website saying they tried JB through another carrier (I think Sprint, but I'm not sure) and the car dock/aux out stuff STILL works! So, it looks like the removal of these features is (yeah, I know -- surprise, surprise!) carrier and model dependent. I believe the earlier reports of this being removed were for the International S3 version, not the U.S. version.

So, since the Verizon US JB update is not out yet (at least, AFAIK), maybe we'll get lucky and get a version that does NOT have these features removed.

Peeps,

Asked Samsung TSU re ibolt docking problems, here is their reply

Thank you for contacting Samsung.

I am sorry about the issue you are experiencing with your Samsung Galaxy S III handset since the Jelly Bean update.

We are currently developing a fix for this issue and we will be rolling it out via a firmware update in due course.

I

badboybubby said:

You're right that you can charge by bypassing the dock, but the AUX doesn't work and apps that require a dock presence no longer work.

Bottom line, there is no fix unless you root a custom rom.

Click to expand...

I don't have the 4.1 JB update yet but had a question/suggestion. Has anyone tried using 'Locale' as a work around? Currently I use 'Locale' to turn on BT, change the display brightness, turn of wifi, etc. when I plug into my iBolt. 'Locale' has a "Car Dock" plugin that you could use to launch the 'Car Home Ultra' app (for example). Or will 'Locale' not even be able to recognize there is a car dock connected?? Again, I'm not an expert by any means, just throwing out a suggestion.

I use the Infuse 4G dock that includes a micro-usb socked that gives power and takes audio. No of these work-arounds will work in that scenario.

Hopefully the official fix will come sooner rather than later.

All, we here at iBOLT.co have received multiple confirmations from observant end-users (thanks all for the help!) that Samsung's UK customer service is now responding that the car-mode will be supported shortly through a firmware update. This is significant as the "international" Kernel covers multiple countries so it appears logical to assume that there answer will apply to all of Europe.

To confirm we contacted Samsung's end-user support ourselves yesterday and we also received the response below. So, for anyone using any model car-dock with the S III, be patient and it appears that the problem will go away soon... Here's the email response from Samsung...
Dear Martin,

Thank you for contacting Samsung.

I am sorry about the issue you are experiencing with your Samsung Galaxy S III handset since the Jellybean update.

We are currently developing a fix for this issue and we will be rolling it out via a firmware update in due course.

I

Guys, user Profidd gave a solution over on XDA that might work:

guys...driving mode isn't lost, it was moved and hidden deep in settings,,,
go to settings> language input> txt to speech> drive mode.....there it is in default "off" mode...just turn on.,,)

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Hope this helps some people out.

http://androidforums.com/samsung-galaxy-s3/635949-ibolt-dock-doesnt-work-since-jellybean.html#post5110302

My UK samsung sIII has been bumped to JB 4.1.2. It has not got any fixes for this issue. Am really peed off as I have waited ages for my iBolt to come that I had to order from the US. And to find it doesn't even charge really takes the micheal!!

It's my understanding that it's not a bug. They removed support from the kernel for some reason. At least that's what I read.

Unfortunately I think going custom is the only solution right now

Don't know about 4.1.2, but my phone is running 4.1.1 (Verizon US stock) and the iBolt car dock works exactly as it did with ICS. Unfortunately, it may be ONLY the US Verizon OTAs that have "fixed" this.

SUroot said:

It's my understanding that it's not a bug. They removed support from the kernel for some reason. At least that's what I read.

Unfortunately I think going custom is the only solution right now

Click to expand...

What kernel supports the Car Docking mode?

dan_kwc2000 said:

What kernel supports the Car Docking mode?

Click to expand...

SiyahKernel | "One kernel to rule them all"

i have installed the SiyahKernel from here via odin. everything works perfect again with the infuse car dock

The latest update seems to have finally fixed this. My iBolt was charging and automatically switching over to car mode following an OS update yesterday.