Help Strange Seaker Issues?

[arkwright]

Hi all

Yesterday for no apparent reason, the earpiece stopped working on my 2104 Moto G 4G.

I can listen to a telephone conversion through the rear external speaker if I put the phone on speaker phone, but the rear external speaker does not work when I try to play media files.

The phone works fine through headphones.

So to summarise, the earpiece doesn't work at all. The external speaker works with phone calls and notifications etc but does no work with media files such as music and videos.

Any ideas?

 

[Thom]

It seems like multiple issues. There are seven volume adjustments in android. One of them is the Media volume. My guess is the volume controls are set at less than maximum and the Media control in particular is set very low.

... Thom

 

[arkwright]

Hi Thom...

Thanks for your reply. I wasn't aware of 7 volume controls. I've checked the usual suspects in 'Sound & Notifications' and the Media, Alarm and Ring volumes are on maximum.

Also, would this account for the earpiece not working?

Where else could I check please?

 

[Thom]

When you plug something into the headphone jack on many Android phones it reduces the volume automatically. The reason is someone's opinion to protect your hearing. So adjust the volume after plugging something in.

It also seems that you might have a physical problem.

With all volume controls set to maximum
The normal approach to evaluating any problem ...
First Wipe Cache Partition deleting only temporary files.
If the problem is still there ... reboot into Safe Mode. If the problem disappears it is caused by an app that you added. If it is still there you probably have a hardware or firmware problem. Replacement and/or Factory Data Reset will likely be the next step.

... Thom

 

[arkwright]

Did a factory reset this morning and has made no difference I'm afraid.

I was thinking hardware problem, but doesn't seem to make sense that the external speaker works perfectly well for everything except media files.

Something else I've just noticed which may or may not be connected, the proximity sensor appears to have stopped working when I put the phone to my ear.

 

[Thom]

Where you running after the Factory Data Reset before installing ANY apps?

... Thom

 

[arkwright]

No.... I did a factory reset which installed the usual Google apps and a few Motorola apps. I didn't install any other apps and still haven't but still have exactly the same problem as I had yesterday when the phone had considerably more third party apps installed.

 

[Thom]

If you installed anything after the Factory Data Reset I suggest you try running in Safe Mode. This will quickly indicate if it was caused by an app that you added.

... Thom

 

[arkwright]

Tried safe mode but no luck I'm afraid...

I was considering rooting and trying a custom ROM but can't seem to grasp the instructions for unlocking the bootloader so I've abandoned that idea as well at the moment.

looks like the credit card is going to have to make an appearance and purchase a new phone.

 

[Thom]

It seems you've ruled out all possibilities other than hardware. Repair or replacement seems to be the next step.

(The Factory Data Reset did a reset of the firmware.)

... Thom