Disabling the external speaker - Hardware Hacking General

Sorry if this is the wrong forum, but I figured it would be useful here. I'm reverse engineering the Blu Studio 5.3 dock port (see this thread in this forum) and have found the audio lines, but they're apparently on the headphone line. Unless the external headphones are plugged in, the phone thinks that it should be playing through the speaker. In order to disable the phone's speaker, I need some kind of an app because it's controlled in software.
I know nothing about coding for android so I'm hoping someone here can, in the hope of helping out a fellow hardware hacker, write a simple program that just toggles all audio between the external speaker and the headphone line.
Thanks in advance.

Related

Very Strange Audio Output problem on the 2.5mm Jack

Hi,
I've noticed an audio output distortion of some frequencies when listening to music, in the sound coming out of the 2.5mm jack.
When the speakers on the device is used, there is no problem.
When I plug the headphone, there is sound output, I hear the music, but some frequencies are lowered so much that I can't hear the singers voice. When I unplug, the speakers work fine and I can hear the singer again.
In additon that, most of the background instruments can be heard as well as the backvocals, if they are female.
It's like the sound is being processed (like an equalizer) when I plug the headphone, some frequencies are lowered, given some echo, reverb etc.
I don't understand how this is possible. I am thinking of a hardware contact problem, but it's hard to believe if this is a hw problem.
I've tried two firmwares (2.16.x, 2.25.11.1) and made hard reset also. No result.
Any ideas?
Note: I can try to actually record the sound tonight if anyone wants to hear.
Best regards,
Fast
maybe try a different headset first?....could be a short in the cable, because what you are describing is a phasing issue with the headset speakers......
Thanks for the response Kiru,
Just tried a different headset plugging it into my HAMA 2.5 --> 3.5 adapter. same result.
I will try the original headphone came with the Wizard. If the source of the problem is the HAMA adaptor, this should resolve it. (i hope it is)
Could you please elaborate on the "phasing issue" ?
fastguy said:
Could you please elaborate on the "phasing issue" ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm....how can I explain.....Let's start with the speaker itself. A speaker has two terminals on it, one postive and one negative. What we want is to have the positve from the source (ie. Amplifier) to the positive terminal of the speaker, and the same for the negative. Since there is a pair of speakers, we want them to be hooked-up correctly. If hook-up correctly then the speakers are in phase with each other, and this is called constructive interference, hence in phase. When ONLY ONE of the speakers is hooked-up backwards, we call this destructive interference, hence being out of phase. Being out of phase causes frequencies to cancel or sound muffled. Hope you kind of get what I mean, but I highly doubt that this is the problem with headphones because heaphones nowadays rarely get manufactured with this problem. This is just the electrical part of phasing. Also, you can have one speaker, and it could sound out of phase because of the distance it is firing from walls or the shape of the room due to the reflections of sound, this is called acustical phasing.
A short in the cable, meaning the positve and negative wire are somewhat touching, can cause a similar effect, and I suspect that this is problem for you. As you now state that you are using an 2.5 to 3.5 adaptor, I would agree with you that most likey you have a faulty adaptor.
Hope this helps! and keep me posted!
Hi again,
Thanks again for the explanation Kiru, I know a bit of electronics so I got the problem.
However, I'm now home and tried to original headset, no result. The same problem is existing.
This makes me believe that I've broken something inside the Wizard which shortcircuits something. I'm very dissapointed.
Maybe the only way is now to buy a stereo bluetooth headset...
Thanks for your help
Any reason that you can't return to orange for repair/replacement?
PROBLEM SOLVED
I got this unit from priceminister second hand. It's origin is not France, I don't have a purchase receipt neither.
By the way, I solved the problem. I disassambled the unit using the info given in one of the posts in the forum. I played a little with the contacts, there was oxidation in the outer solders, i cleared them up etc, it 's working at the moment.
I'll post some pictures afterwards.
and I hope i will be able to reassamble it, I already have a piece of thing which I don't know where to put
I got the same problem. Was working fine for 2 months then all of a sudden the headphone plug is all messed up. Volume is all distorted I can sometimes hear a song but quality is no where near the original. Usually everything sounds echoed. I think something is wrong with the plug
I've had the same problem. The headphone jack on the Wizard is crap. If you have your Wizard in your pocket with an adapter, as you move, the adapter pries back and forth on the jack. This breaks the cheap jack.
If you want to listen to your Wizard as an music player, you should invest in a nice set of bluetooth headphones and only plug the jack in when the wizard won't be moved around a lot, like a home or car stereo.
I recommend Nextlink Spider headphones. They double as a headset and you can navigate through your library with the button on them.
MUSIC Speed
I got the same problem here. The SE stereo btooth headset isnt yet in our place.
Anyway, i experienced this one with ROM2.16 Imate. The sound speed or music speed seems to being played faster than normal. But when i tried to plug the 2.3-3.5 adopter and quickly pull it out, the sound is played in normal speed then. strange.....
are you all sure that the wizard has a stereo output ? I thought it was mono.
Anyway you can get earpieces and headphones with a 2.5mm jack so you don't need a 2.5-3.5mm adapter.
Maybe the contacts on your jack are not connecting properly with the internal contacts of your adaptor

[SOLVED] Headphone -> Line In on Stereo?

I'm not sure if this has been answered (a brief search didn't turn anything up), but it's bugging me so I figured I'd ask.
I have a Galaxy S phone and when I plug it in to my stereo using a 3.5mm -> dual RCA it works great. When I do the same with my Galaxy Tab, I get a buzzing and no audio whatsoever, regardless of whether or not I push the plug all the way in, etc... My stereo headphones work great on both, so I'm puzzled as hell, but do know that the headphones which shipped with my phone will not work with my tab.
Weird. If someone could help me fix that, they'd be very cool in my books (I want the bigger display so I can glance at the radio app and see what's playing when I hear a good song).
Aaaaand to follow up: I'm dumb. My case was preventing the cable from plugging in all the way (by about 1/16"). So if anyone else has that problem, there's the solution!

[Q] Headphone jack

So as most of us know the mic on the TF sucks completely for video chatting. Has anyone figured out how to just hook up a mic to the TF without it turning off the TF speakers?
Right now I have a removable mic from my Razor headset that I can plug into any mic jack and use it on, but since the jack on the TF is for headphones and mic, it disables the sound from playing on the internal speakers.
I'm going to try and dig around on the back end to see if I can find the code that disables the speakers, but I was just wondering if anyone has come across this yet?
Ubelmort said:
So as most of us know the mic on the TF sucks completely for video chatting. Has anyone figured out how to just hook up a mic to the TF without it turning off the TF speakers?
Right now I have a removable mic from my Razor headset that I can plug into any mic jack and use it on, but since the jack on the TF is for headphones and mic, it disables the sound from playing on the internal speakers.
I'm going to try and dig around on the back end to see if I can find the code that disables the speakers, but I was just wondering if anyone has come across this yet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My mic is detected as headphones, even worse off than you. You need to get those 1-to-2 splitter for iPad/iPhones, no way of not turning the speakers off (unless you modify the kernel source and compile your own)

Input gain adjustment (issue)

Hi
Hope I'm posting in the right forum but since this is related to hardware I'm posting it here.
For most musicians this is a big issue.
code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=9913
(I'm a new member and can't post outside links)
As I understand it there is no way of lowering the input gain on android which makes recording sound, say at a concert or in the rehearsal room, impossible because of the distortion created by the high input gain on the mic of android phones.
I can't believe that this hasn't been fixed but apparently it hasn't. I think we seriously need this fixed and it should be possible on a custom ROM shouldn't it? I'm not an app developer and I don't know how to code but it should be possible right?
If anyone manages to to fix this I'm sure there'd be a lot of people who be very grateful.
An interesting question.
I'm not sure how many Android devices use ALSA as the underlying layer.
ALSA supports controls.
I haven't looked into my Kyocera Rise.
On my Barnes & Noble Nook Touch I use a Lexicon Alpha 24 bit interface and a Shure SM58 through USB OTG and ALSA.
I use a custom recorder app (since Android doesn't support 24 bit).
It makes dandy recordings.
Thanks for the answer but what I want to be able to do is to record directly to my phone in a high volume environment without the use of an external soundcard or even an external mic. I know that the sound quality wouldn't be very good but it would suffice in the rehearsal room or at a concert for personal use.

Android head unit microphone issues

These systems are well known for their mic troubles and I have taken this up with the manufacturer. There is a post that I have seen somewhere in this forum that details a hardware fix. From what I have gathered, anyone brave enough to attempt and has accomplished this fix has not reported any issues; great for the electricians out there.
I do work in the computer industry, but identifying electrical components and soldering is not something I am too confident with. The manufacturer did however, send me an updated update.img file in response to my mic issues. I've installed this and it made some improvement, but nothing so significant that I have actually started using the mic. It also has a new wallpaper and noticed that the default apps have been updated, but not sure how?
Anyway, I've just had a bright idea! I've tried improving the mic by using various bluetooth mics, various external mics that plugin into the mic jack, using the internal mic and manufacturer software update. All make very little difference, but has anyone actually tried using a USB mic?
I don't have one to hand and don't really want to buy one if this doesn't solve the issue. Would drivers/android recognising the usb device be an issue? Hoping someone has had a go at trying this out or can try it out if thay have a usb mic?
Shame no one replied on this one. Did you end up trying a USB mic solution and did it work out for you?
Yeah... Haven't tried it yet as don't want to buy one if it doesn't work. Your reply to this thread would have bumped it back to the top so may still get a response Im hoping
According to this link http://liliputing.com/2012/09/using-skype-on-an-mk802-android-4-0-mini-pc.html, a microsoft lifecam vx-700 with built-in microphone was found to be working on some android devices. The question is whether our firmware would work too. And whether there would be a way to simply disable the built-in input and only route the external usb sound in. It all feels like its probably too much to ask....
OK so I tried a cheap usb webcam with built in microphone to see if it would make a difference. The webcam seems to be working fine for video, was instantly recognized by android and showed video, but sound is still the horrible mess coming from the internal mic. I doubt that a dedicated USB mic would be any different.
Thanks for checking... you saved me some time at least.
Could it be when using an internal mic + external at the same time that can cause this kind of trouble? That is what it seems when i read around forums.
have a look at this, maybe it helps:
http://www.autopumpkin.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=171&start=90
I simply cut the internal red wire to mic and installed external mic again and the problems have disappeared. I have been told there is a slight echo but that may be fixed by changing the BT firmware from default.
I think the mic location on the HU is excellent and we don't really need to route an external mic somewhere else. How about just trying to desoldier the old one and try to locate a high quality one and soldier a new one ?
Fortunately I am lucky and my internal mic works great.
raptor18 said:
I think the mic location on the HU is excellent and we don't really need to route an external mic somewhere else. How about just trying to desoldier the old one and try to locate a high quality one and soldier a new one ?
Fortunately I am lucky and my internal mic works great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lucky you, though to be fair without an external mic my internal worked, just not very well. I have read somewhere that soldering to the internal connections had issues but not sure why, it cant hurt to try can it?
roscored1000 said:
Lucky you, though to be fair without an external mic my internal worked, just not very well. I have read somewhere that soldering to the internal connections had issues but not sure why, it cant hurt to try can it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Shouldn't be a tough solder job.
Just make sure to use a solder sucker to remove old mic and you should be fine.
Guys,
I have the same problem with my android car navigation system.
I have a Note 4 and an android car navigation system in my car (with built in wifi and Bluetooth (BT)). The microphone of the car navigation system has a very low quality, it is almost not working/usable. I would like to pair my phone to the car system in BT but would like to disable the built- in microphone of the android car system and use the note 4's microphone by default and hear the sound of the person who is talking to me on the car speakers.
Is this possible? How? Do I need to use third party apps ?
Many thanks in advance
So frustrating... Anyone have a fix yet?
Android head unit mic barely picking up.
Why have they not fixed this issue?
So frustrating. Got everything all hooked up and straightened out except the daggum mic. I just bought this android head unit (9.0) and the person on the other end of the phone call can't hear me. So I plugged in the external and same. They can barely here me when I am screaming into it.
I have got to get this fixed.
Anyone found a solution yet???
Find out how to get into the engineering menu of your HU, there you can adjust the mic gain. Also have a look at this thread for other ideas.
did you fix it?
---------- Post added at 12:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:03 PM ----------
I improved the level of my mic built-in with th MTK enginerring app. hardware test and changing mic volumen in normal mode, headset mode and loudspeaker mode, but it is not enough when engine is working. I will try to solder and external mic to the pads of mic built-in. I think that it is problem of software filtering because when engine is off, sounds doesn't rattle, the volumen is not to high but the comunication is steady, but when i start the engine, conversation gets cuts. maybe engine sound is interfering with the mic built-in mic. I will update progresions.
8227L YT9216BJ Head Unit
even my above car android unit has mic problem. it does not recognize the voice commands unless spoken very close to the mic, which is not practical
Also, Bluetooth calls are intermittently heard (with Airtel). But when switched to JIO simcard, works fine.
Please can anyone support with a solution on both the issues
[email protected]
In short for helping anyone that has the same problem
I have a Bosion D6 android (android 10 version – 4 gb ram 64 storage, 8-core) head unit on my Ford Focus mk2.
Everything was perfect expect the microphone, even after I installed the external mic that came with it, the sound was poor and my listeners’ complaint that the quality of the conversation was not very good.
Read tons of stuff here and elsewhere so I decided to spend some money (around 20€) and bought a Sony microphone XA-MC10 to replace the Chinese original (since I have read some good reviews and you can find it in your local market also)
The difference was more than noticeable and everyone now listen to me perfect. i test it myslef through the sound recorder app and it seems like going from say 64kbits/s to 146kbits/s or more.
I don't want to open another thread because the problem is similar.
When I connect with iphone carplay, the interlocutor often hears me jerky, I tried both internal microphone and external also cutting the internal one to exclude it but nothing.
Using the application "microphone amplifier" and applying the filters instead it feels perfectly, but obviously every time it should start and set, so very boring.
Tried to use MTK Engineering mode to change the mic volume, but it doesn't solve completely.
Anyone have any ideas to try?
Thank you in advance
Did anyone ever find a solution to sounding really quiet to the person your calling? Cheers

Categories

Resources