One-sided GSM calls

Daniel Dadap daniel at digsoc.com
Sat Jul 19 22:24:10 CEST 2008


Hi,

Short story: I can't hear any audio on a GSM call. I think it's my
handset, and I want to know what I should do. For the long story, keep
reading.

I received my new Neo FR on Thursday the 17th. I have been playing
with it since then, and found it to be a very exciting device. I am
happy with it except for one issue: I am able to make and receive GSM
calls, but whenever I am using the FR as a phone, the party on the
other side can hear me, but I hear nothing on the FR.

I have tried troubleshooting this problem extensively. The first thing
I tried was swapping SIMs and phones. My phone was part of a 10-pack,
so I swapped SIMs with somebody else who had working GSM calls on his
SIM and FR. The problem followed the phone, not the SIM: that is, my
SIM in his phone worked fine, and my phone with his SIM was still
unable to play audio from a GSM call.

I get the same result regardless of whether I am using the phone's
built-in speaker, or the in-ear headset. I am able to hear other audio
through the in-ear headset (for example, the phone ringing when
receiving a call.) The phone makes other sounds (startup sound, ring,
clicks, etc.) when the headset is not plugged in, but these are
probably coming from the speaker at the bottom of the phone.

At first, I figured it might be a software problem. I reflashed the
default rootfs, no go. I tried the latest daily builds of OM2007.2,
ASU, and even the official Qtopia image from Trolltech. I haven't
tried FSO yet, but I don't get the feeling it's going to work either.
(Will try it soon, and will post if it works.) None of them has
produced sound on a GSM call. On the Qtopia image, I noticed an option
for speakerphone. When I select speakerphone, all I get is a loud tone
that sounds like feedback, except it isn't. (Getting sound into the
mic, or lowering mic volume all the way doesn't help.)

I had a brief moment where I thought it was something really stupid
that I missed in my earlier troubleshooting. I dialed a call, and I
noticed that the volume was all the way down. I hit myself in the
forehead, and slid the volume slider up to max, but it actually didn't
do anything. Later, when I was doing all my rootfs reflashes, I
noticed that, at least on the OM2007.2 builds, my call volume defaults
to all the way down every time I flash it.

Also, FWIW, I have never heard DTMF from my phone when dialing, on any
of the images.

Anyway, at this point I'm starting to think there's a problem with my
handset. Maybe the GSM modem, maybe the sound controller, who knows.
Does anybody have any suggestions on other things to try? If it is my
hardware, what do I do? Where should I send it to get repaired or
exchanged? From what I remember from the community list, there's a
28-day DOA warranty for 10-pack purchases.

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks,

Daniel




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