Phone "mutes" in middle of call

[becca]

I have had my moto droid for about 3 months and this is driving me nuts. I will be in the middle of a call and it is like my phone mutes itself. Except the mute button isn't pressed. The other person cannot hear anything from my end, even if I scream. Also, I have noticed that right before it happens, my phone vibrates like in "haptic feedback", but I don't have haptic turned on in my settings. The only way to fix it is to hang up and call back. Does anyone have a solution? I'm not covering the mic or anything, and as I said the mute button isn't green when this happens. Help please!!! Thanks

 

[Johnly]

...take it in and get it checked, it is under a year warranty, so nothing to worry about...

 

[jlaidlaw]

Have you tried muting the call then unmuting? If nothing is working just return it like john said

Sent from my Droid

 

[becca]

Yeah, I tried everything, I found in another thread that this is a common issue and replacing the phone does nothing. Evidently will have to wait for a firmware update. Any chance Froyo will fix this? Or will I have to wait for Moto to do something? My phone isn't rooted, so I will have to wait for the "official" update.

 

[hookbill]

Yeah, I tried everything, I found in another thread that this is a common issue and replacing the phone does nothing. Evidently will have to wait for a firmware update. Any chance Froyo will fix this? Or will I have to wait for Moto to do something? My phone isn't rooted, so I will have to wait for the "official" update.

I don't know where you got the idea that this is a common issue. It isn't. I've never had that happen to me and as a matter of fact you're the first I've heard of it happening to. I've heard of other issues people have while talking but not this one.

Let me ask you this. Do you have long hair? If so that could affect the proximity sensor and maybe your face is muting the phone. If that's the case just make sure your hair is either tossed to the other side or ponytail. My wife has long hair however and I've never heard her complain about this at all but from what I read that is an issue.

As I tell most people, do a factory data reset and if that doesn't resolve the issue then do indeed take it back for a replacement. This just isn't a common issue.

 

[Jcassell1]

I have read in other post (Im not going to search and provide link in this post) about the same thing. This looks to be happening to more people than you think. The reason I know there are other posts on this same issue is because my phone and my wifes phone does the same thing. Pretty annoying when it happens and no long hair in the way or cheeks/ear hitting the mute button. Just goes mute during a conversation.

 

[ty.stebbins]

This also happens to my wife on a regular basis. Especially on lenghty calls. We both travel quite a bit and I can't count the number of times this has happened when talking to each other. We swapped out her phone and now the same thing is happening again. I originally thought it was her. She is now in the habit of not even letting the phone touch her cheek and it still does it.

She ends up having to mute and then unmute the call like jlaidlaw suggested. It may not be a common problem, but it is a problem...

 

[wlsblessed]

This also happens to my wife on a regular basis. Especially on lenghty calls. We both travel quite a bit and I can't count the number of times this has happened when talking to each other. We swapped out her phone and now the same thing is happening again. I originally thought it was her. She is now in the habit of not even letting the phone touch her cheek and it still does it.

She ends up having to mute and then unmute the call like jlaidlaw suggested. It may not be a common problem, but it is a problem...

I too am having the same problem and travel a great deal. Cannot figure out exactly what's going on but it is a problem. Also, I did noticed a few times that I had to unlock the phone before I could mute and unmute. Still searching for a problem.

 

[jsh1120]

Folks,

Sorry to point out the obvious but if this problem (a) affects a small but significant number of users and (b) users who replace their phones encounter the "same problem," it stands to reason that's it is very unlikely that the Droid itself is to blame.

In other words, if the problem were relatively common, affecting, say, 1% of the phones, the chances that one could get two phones with the same problem is .01 * .01 = .0001 or ten thousand to one.

So that means that the problem is very likely associated with (a) the individual user; (b) the apps the user has on his/her phone; or (c) network issues common on the cell sites being used by the individual user. Frankly, these are the only features common to a particular user.

If I were betting, I'd guess it's a network problem, especially if the "hair in the way" problem is ruled out. But it could be interference between a third party dialing app and the operation of the phone. If I experienced the problem, I'd take the precaution of uninstalling any apps that might be interfering with the operation of the voice functions and be sure that the screen is going black when the phone is being used.

 

[jsw111]

This is a problem I am having too. I love my Droid and i'm a very experienced user. I have limited apps (under 20) and nothing that effects the way a phone call is made with the exception of Google Voice, no dialer, not rooted. They replaced my phone under warranty and I am having the issue again, however, it is only on lengthy calls. The only solution that works (some of the time) is muting and unmuting. It's very irritating and I think i'm going to bring it back again.

If anyone has a permanent solution let me know.

And 10,000 to 1 it's the user just sounds ridiculous. It's an issue with the phone

 

[vzwtek]

Whats happening on your droids is that the sensor that detects when you pull away from your face is too sensitive. What happens is that your cheek will hit that "plus sign" which is the add call button. it will mute your audio, but you will still be able to hear the other party. What i would recommend is downloading tedds droid tools. It puts a lock on while you are in call to prevent you hitting that button.

If that doesnt do it, the other question i have is what is the call quality of the other caller, can you hear them ok?

 

[jsw111]

I just did a test on hitting the "plus" sign...and when that's done the microphone icon on the top right of the notification bar has a line through it indicating the call is muted. This is NOT what happens when my phone mutes itself. The microphone does not have a line through it, but the call is muted nonetheless. Additionally, the call quality on the other end is perfect.

Again, I love my Droid but this is an issue I'm having for the second time...and it happened when I lived in NYC, and now I'm in Miami,both on Eclair and Froyo so I'd assume that would indicate the problem is not the network or the build.

 

[vzwtek]

did you even try the app? Motorola has not issued any tech bulletins for that issue. Before I would say its a "wide spread" problem, i would try a few things like that first.

 

[Dinomight]

What ver of android are you running. I'm guessing 2.2. Because of a simple line of code changed in the release of 2.2 the phone has a new and in my opinion undesireable feature. What happens is that you are placing the phone to you face which turns off the screen but then chances are that you are holding it to your face using your sholder. In the old ver of android doing this wouldn't do anything. With 2.2 as soon as the phone goes horizontal the screen turns back on.... reguardless of whether or not the proximity sensor is active. your cheek then touches the mute or end call button, and there is your problem.

Here is a test you can do.
dial a number. then hold your had over the upper left corner of the phone.
Your phone screen should turn off. now turn the phone flat (horizontal) but leave your hand covering the proximity sensor (upper left). Viola, the screen turned back on.

When you do turn your head balancing the phone on your sholder, your cheek then touches either the mute or the end call button, which causes your problems.

There is a way to fix this but it involves commenting out a line of the phone apk's source code then compiling it and replacing the existing phone.apk file with the new fixed phone.apk

As far as i know there is only one 2.2 rom where the developer fixed the problem. (sumply stunning froyo).

My wife has the same problem so i'm going to be placing a good phone apk on her phone.

I guessing there is nothing wrong with your phone but your issue is with this dumb 2.2 code change.

 

[JenniB]

What ver of android are you running. I'm guessing 2.2. Because of a simple line of code changed in the release of 2.2 the phone has a new and in my opinion undesireable feature. What happens is that you are placing the phone to you face which turns off the screen but then chances are that you are holding it to your face using your sholder. In the old ver of android doing this wouldn't do anything. With 2.2 as soon as the phone goes horizontal the screen turns back on.... reguardless of whether or not the proximity sensor is active. your cheek then touches the mute or end call button, and there is your problem.

Here is a test you can do.
dial a number. then hold your had over the upper left corner of the phone.
Your phone screen should turn off. now turn the phone flat (horizontal) but leave your hand covering the proximity sensor (upper left). Viola, the screen turned back on.

When you do turn your head balancing the phone on your sholder, your cheek then touches either the mute or the end call button, which causes your problems.

I've been having the same problem and after checking like you said, i noticed you're right. Thanks