IOS 5.1.1. update bug (Volume Control)

Hey,

I must ask you then, if you believe it is not a software glitch then how come all of those people who report that problem are people that never experienced this issue before and the common thing to all of them is the update to iOS 6?

You know I'm not sure, it could very well be, however I had my phone jailbroken, I downgraded, I upgraded I tried every posibble software solution. In my case it was a faulty dock connector. Only way was to remove that file, which I was not crazy about. I used it like that for a month or so and finally had the dock connector replaced 3 days ago and it's been flawless.

Just letting you know what fixed this pain in the neck issue that apple doesn't seem to be addressing once and for all.

Cheers

You said: I must ask you then, if you believe it is not a software glitch then how come all of those people who report that problem are people that never experienced this issue before and the common thing to all of them is the update to iOS 6?

For me this problem cropped up long before iOS 6 came out. Read the title thread and all 18 pages previous. A lot of people contributed it to iOS 5.1.1. I had 5.1.1 installed several months before my problem reared its ugly head. I did a complete wipe and reinstallation of OS... Nothing, I tried the toothbrush method and it did NOT work for me. Now I will admit I was probably not as aggressive as some people on here as I had previously killed another Iphone 4s because something went into the docking port shorting out the charging system. But I figured air could not do as much damage so I went to the garage where I have an air compressor and put it on 80psi and not only blew the charging port out, but also the earbud port. It immediately started working. Never heard of a software glitch being fixed by air!

I was a little hesitant to upgrade to the iOS6, but I did it anyways because I was expecting a change in the OS to do something that was rumored but I still have sound and it is going strong. I have gotten into the routine every few weeks I take a can of air in my office and I give the phone a shot or two just to keep things cleaned out

My wife encountered the same problem with her iPhone 4 - the volume buttions would display the ringer but there were no volume bars. Under settings > Sounds, the ringer and alert volume slider worked and when changed the phone speakers worked.

Some months ago I had internal speaker issue with my MacBook Pro, which turned out to be a dirty earphone jack (which I cleaned and solved the problem). Thinking along those lines, I used a high power magnifying glass to inspectthe earphone jack and docking connector on the iPhone. The docking connector was filthy. I cleaned it with a sliver of a business card and alcohol wipe and viola - the ringer started working again. I'm thinking that the gunk inside the docking connector was conductive and had the phone thinking it was docked.

I don't dispute there can also be software issues as the same symptom can be from many causes. But in my case, the issue was a dirty docking connector.

yes thank you the tooth brush worked, thank u so much, at first i tried multiple times to update to ios 6 but it kept on erroring so i started to get very annoyed with my iphone, at one point almost through it at the wall, but after reading thhis post i cleaned the charger hole and the headphones hole and bang i could stat using the sound again, so the toothbrush thing works, and it helps to blow really hard intoo the holes.

This was my final fix after trying everything else . Thanks.

Well this has just happened to me again as soon as I put my phone on charge. I got a safety pin and used this to gently remove any dirt inside the charging dock and I was amazed at how much actually came out. Tried the phone again and everything back to normal. I am now 100% convinced that this has nothing to do with any software bugs but just a dirty connector

Hi, i had exactly the same problem with my Iphone 4s software 5.0.1 the volume bar wasnt working after i unplugged my earphones so i was ready this post and replys after a while i unlocked my phone and the sound just came back, i have experienced this before and after a bit of time goes back to normal this time was worst though as i was switching on and of and kept locking and unlocking but after about 15 minutes it was normal so i guest just need to wait and should be ok

Csomer

I have the same problem

I always use my Bose speakers to play music on my iPhone, now that I updated to ios6

I used my iPhone on the speakers, and the audio for music, apps, web, alerts is not working on the iPhone speaker, only works with my

Headphones on, and even like that the audio goes mute constantly, this is so frustrating,

everything was perfect until I updated to ios6, I even cleaned the dock and nothing seems to work.-

Any advice?

iPhone 4S, iOS 6, Audio problem

So, I went for a month with no problems since I last cleaned the port and the sound returned. Yesterday the problem started again.I tried all the previous things and a couple new ones to finally get the sound and volume control to work again.

iPhone 4S; iOS 5.1.1

I tried all the things I'd tried before. Toothpicks, alcohol swabs, toothbrush, to no avail. FInally in frustration I just wadded up a corner of one of my business cards and stuck it in there and rubbed it back and forth for a bit. Surprisingly the sound came back again.

I've been through this three times now with this phone though. I've arrived at the theory that this is both a hardware issue and a software issue. There is some hardware component that is getting dirty or clogged and it is telling iOS that the phone is docked, when it's not. I think it's a bit erratic though, because I can have it docked sometimes to play music and it won't, saying the device is not compatible, although I'd played music from my iPhone through it within the past month with no problems.

It's all very strange and as far as I can tell, Apple hasn't really bothered to comment on this issue, here or elsewhere. I haven't read any of the more recent comments here, but I wonder if anyone has yet experienced this with the iPhone 5 yet?

Replicated (but not consistently solved)

I had this issue too. The problem is that it does not appear to have a consistent and replicatable cause. Different people offer up different causes and solutions. To summarise:

• suspected causes include: iOS update, dust in connector or earphone socket, software issue, hardware issue
• solutions vary from: reverting iOS update, clearing dust, connecting/disconnecting earphones/dock, reset all settings, and exchanging device

Replication

I have been able to replicate this issue on my phone as follows (it might be different for you):

1. I start with the phone able to control the ringer volume with the hardware buttons (check they work by pressing them and verifying that the ringer volume image shows on the screen, not the music sound volume)
2. I sometimes use an alarm app that features "background alarms", meaning it uses the music sound channel, not the system sound channel
3. I start the alarm app (there are several, but the one I use, and I like it very much, is Sleep Time, but they all work on the same principal), and set an alarm for say 35 minutes' time, to allow the app to go through its normal functionality
4. I put the phone down and don't touch it until the alarm sounds
5. When the alarm sounds I turn it off, and press the home button to go to the home screen
6. Verify that the hardware volume buttons now control the music sound volume, not the ringer volume!

Intermittent workaround

I have not been able to consistently solve this problem, but I have been able to show that I can trigger it.

One of the solutions that has worked intermittently for me was:

1. Open a game or media app that uses the standard media sound channel (most games do)
2. Play it for a minute or so, making sure the sound is audible, then exit by pressing the home button
3. Adjust the ringer volume control using the hardware buttons (sometimes works, sometimes not)
4. If the ringer volume is still not being controlled by the buttons, I have sometimes managed to get it working by turning the phone off (Standby button at the top held together with the Home button, then swiping the red slider to turn off), and then turning the phone back on again

My interpretation

This problem has been around since at least iOS 4, at least intermittently. I've certainly seen it ages ago. I don't think this is a problem specifically to do with the type of alarm apps that I mentioned, I think it is to do with the mechanism Apple uses to control the ringer volume, and the fact that the same hardware buttons control both ringer and music volume, depending on context. It's a lovely feature, but it clearly hasn't been implemented correctly, and Apple need to look into it.

I know this is still not very clear, but I hope at least it adds a little bit to the understanding of this issue.

Some more thoughts on my post above.

Your iDevice can play music in the background, while you use other apps. I think the problem is related to this, and to the control of 2 different volumes depending on context.

Context is always tricky for machines, especially in this case where apps are able to play sound in the background.

If you're playing music in the background and checking your email, what should be the result of turning down the volume? Music down or ringer down? Apple thinks music down.

But then, say an app doesn't make it clear to the system that it no longer is playing music in the background. The device still thinks it is playing music (maybe it thinks "strange, this music is very quiet, but oh well, must just be his/her musical taste"). So the system reacts to the up and down buttons to control the music volume, not the ringer volume.

I think the problem hinges on the system knowing when it is actually playing music. And I think the solution is easy, it just needs to be picked up by the Apple boffins.

If you imagine you're playing music in the background, and then you switch back to the music player and pause it, I would say it is reasonable that from that point on, when you switch away from the Music app, the volume buttons no longer control the music but the ringer.

The same should apply to apps with sound. An app playing sound should tell the system it is no longer playing music or making noise, so the system knows to switch the buttons to ringer. If not, switching to the Music app, pressing play (to take over the background music channel), and then pressing pause and exiting to the Home screen should tell the system to control the ringer again.

That is my take anyway.

Hi. I had a same issue with f***king ph 4s. I use docking station my sound is not coming for a month but i dont know what rubish thing happen to its start working now since 5 dAys no complain at all

I had experienced the same exact problem after I updated to the latest iOS 6 and it went away on its own. Last night after I installed an app the same problem returned. I restored it without avail and then cleaned out the charging port with alcohol along with my business card and success.

I didn't have any problems until I installed and started using Sleep Time. I think belovedRa has hit the nail on the head. Thank you!