Bluetooth fix for Android/Samsung users
 

Hey guys,

I was going to make this a guide to getting Android/Samsung phones to work with the multimedia player, but soon realized it was a bite that was more than I could chew. So, I figured I'd start something more manageable, my specific combination, and then let the discussion build from there to help others with issues/combinations as they arise and are requested, and also because I simply don't have much to offer regarding those concerns. All I can give the least advice about is my specific phone, the Samsung Galaxy SII Skyrocket (SGH-I727 AT&T).

Initially I made a thread about the issues I was having with my car's multimedia and my phone's bluetooth disconnection problems. It was there that it was recommended that I update my phone's firmware to ICS (ice cream sandwich 4.X.X). After much effort, I did this, and to my delight, it seems my issues have been resolved!

This will be a guide for anyone else with similar issues, specifically with Android/Samsung users in mind. However, even if you're not a Samsung user, this may still point one in the right direction, as I suspect that BT problems are stemming solely from device firmware issues and NOT from the car's multimedia player, as I'm sure many have/had concerns about.

In my case, my phone is a Samsung Galaxy SII Skyrocket (SGH-I727), which is actually distinct from the regular GSII and, thus, has its own, unique software updates released from AT&T - which have yet to be released. I was still running Android version GingerBread (2.3.6), as AT&T has not yet released the ICS (4.0.3) update to the Skyrocket. I didn't know it at first, but, as a result (of the old software), I had problems staying connected to the multimedia player via bluetooth. It was so frustrating, it was not even worth using. I made a thread about it to try and troubleshoot, and there it was recommended to a few of us Samsung users to update. Again, at least in my case, not all of us could. So, I checked out some other forums and harnessed the power of Google...

Eventually, I came across a way to flash a leaked Android 4.0 (ICS) firmware to my Skyrocket. What's more, it was easy enough, even for a noob like me! :respekt: But, even better (than having some new fancy firmware to fool around with) is having some proper functioning fucking bluetooth to communicate with the multimedia player in my BRZ!:happyanim:

So far, so good. I gave it an initial test run and immediately two functions existed that never did before: I was able to achieve two BT bars (on the multimedia display) instead of one; and I was able to import my contacts. I then streamed some music via BT for a short trip, and had no issues reconnecting for the return journey, which would have invariably been a problem previously.

For the method I used, go to the link below and follow the instructions completely. I thought they were very clear.
WARNING: If your phone is NOT a Samsung Galaxy SII Skyrocket, this is NOT for you. However, don't give up hope. Just do a search, as I did, and I'm sure you'll come across a method unique to your specific phone, as a means of getting a legit upgrade to ICS. In my case, I read through a bunch of thread on various forums, such as XDA-developers and adroidforums. I learned a little, but I also read of many other issues to help further complicate things. Eventually, I simply Google'd "galaxy s2 skyrocket ice cream sandwich" and checked out the first result, which seemed easy and clear enough for me to follow, and I went with it, and it worked. Thus, the link below:

http://www.androidauthority.com/gala...irmware-80263/

I hope this helps.

If you have any questions or comments, post, and I'll add any advice that I can for those with different devices, but as I said, I'm a noob.

Upgrading your phone to ICS is not a silver bullet guarantee that the car's janky head unit will start properly working with your phone. Additionally, flashing a third party ROM guarantees stability issues with your phone and frequent reflashes (even with the latest most stable version of Cyanogenmod) so unless you like dinking around with your phone I don't recommend doing it. You have to be pretty tech savvy to use a third party ROM and be able to deal with the headaches it throws your way, I definitely don't suggest doing it just to see if you can get bluetooth working.

I have a HTC Evo 3D and it works perfectly with my BRZ Blutooth.

I'm hoping to get the ICS update sometime in the next month (based on sprint user forums info). Hopefully the Ice Cream won't ruin my perfect functionality.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1383

Bookmark it, read all the stickies before doing anything, and always thank the devs. Root, backup with CWM, flash any ROM you like, enjoy!

I've had three Android phones and all have been running the latest firmware with lots of fun custom tweaks many many months before the carrier releases them loaded with bloatware. Cyanogenmod 9 and AOKP are the best ROM's out there. My Galaxy note is currently running a custom version of the official AT&T ICS Leak and bluetooth audio works great in my Tiguan (BRZ comes end of July). The Skyrocket also has a very stable official ICS leak that will work well for you and likely solve any issues you have, assuming the custom ROMs don't.

This is not true for all custom ROMs. There are some ROMs that are as or more stable than the official build. I have been in the Android scene for 3 years, and have had various experiences both good and bad, and while I can second you that there are instances in which the custom ROM is a headache, there are many others that you just set it and forget it. The trick is reading a lot of peoples reviews opinions and experiences with said ROM to get which one is working the best.

NOW, my recommendation is that whomever is going to try this, make sure to research and find out what works 100% with that ROM and what (if anything does not work) and then decide if it is worth the effort.

unless there is some issue with the brz that is not in the fr-s I also have a I-727 and that was on 2.3.6 gingerbread and have had no problems to speak of with the bluetooth and the car. now for fun I have tonight rooted and updated it to a new leaked version of ICS 4.0.4 and a custom Rom to boot. but it still doesnt show any problems.

Not everyone on these forums are going to want to screw with their phones. Prior to rooting and flashing a custom ROM a smartphone is something that "just works" for people in most cases. As soon as you get into custom ROM territory you're going to run into all sorts of fun stuff -- boot loops, a bunch of force closes, radios not working properly, camera / GPS / misc. devices not working, and for each and every one of those things you're going to have to hop on the google and figure out what's going on. Not everyone wants to have to go and find out they need to reboot into clockwork recovery mod and reset their permissions or format their dalvik cache or create a sd-ext partition on their sdcard and move stuff over because their /data/data partition is full or find out that their shit's been corrupted because their battery died and the ROM they happened to install didn't use a journaling filesystem. And that's if they're actually tech savvy and can actually figure that shit out, let alone the poor saps that just followed a guide and are permanently stuck in third party hackville until their contract is due for renewal.

I've been in the "ROM / rooting" scene myself and have tried every major distribution under the sun -- CM, MIUI, AOKP (LOL someone said Kang is stable ahahahaha), Team AlphaXPlusToyotaMarshmallow, etc. etc., and my opinion is that someone should only flash a custom ROM of their own volition, i.e. they actually have a genuine interest in playing with and tweaking their phone, not because some guy on the internet said it'd make their bluetooth headunit work moar better. Especially when it probably won't help at all.

Agreed.

Those are the forums I spent the most time on researching. Also, I'm using an official AT&T ICS leak which has been flawless so far.

Not third party.

I mean, I am simply referring to a specific subset of smart phones here, particularly, as stated, the Samsung GSII Skyrocket. On top of that, the firmware I used was an AT&T official, leaked version, not some custom ROM built by someone in their spare time. Furthermore, you require further study of the word volition - I simply gave a little bit of advice, regarding my special circumstances; I'm not trying to start a cult. Obviously, the decision is left up to the end user's own volition.

Sounds like you've hacked up your own phone and just because you failed miserably, you're running around crying wolf.

Stop trying to keep the rest of us, with terrible BT implementation, down with your faceless propaganda and Doom's Day scenarios. Flame on that.

In any case, my shit's still working - in & out, on & off. STILL working.

That's funny because the title is 'Bluetooth fix for Android / Samsung users', not 'Bluetooth fix for Samsung GSII Skyrocket users'. You must not have gotten the memo -- Samsung makes a lot of Android phones and a lot of them aren't Galaxy S2 Skyrockets. It's pretty presumptuous to assume I was responding to you, seeing as how there are other users in this thread recommending they use third party ROMs -- and even so, there's a chance something in a leaked build will be broken (leaked builds often have bad radio firmware which is why they're not official) as well as the fact that auto update will be disabled and they'll have to jump through some hoops to get on the official release or future updates.

Also, that's a very specific subset of phones -- I can't imagine that a too many people bought the Skyrocket with the HTC One X out and the Galaxy S3 coming out just weeks after the Skyrocket's release. (congratulations on your poor choice of phones by the way)

Trying to attack someone's grammar is probably one of the lamest, least relevant ways you can go after someone on an internet forum, and despite that you still managed to screw that up:

Have you even touched adb before? I'm trying to just keep people from giving themselves a headache bud, if you'd bothered reading all of my earlier post and the laundry list of things I gave that could go wrong with a custom ROM you'd realize that I knew my shit.

I upgraded to the official AT&T ICS update for the Galaxy S II (non-Skyrocket) and I am STILL having pairing issues. Talked to my dealer about it, and the next step in the troubleshooting for my specific car is to pair it with an iPhone and see if it has issues. If it does, then it's the head unit, if not, it's my phone.

...and if you'd read my first POST ITT, you'd see where I then narrowed my focus to my specific phone manufacturer and model.

I only gave the thread the title that I did in order to attract a wider range of users, that might be having similar problems, with the thought that more was better, and, further, because maybe one of them might have come up with a resolution that might at least point me in the right direction. At the same time, I didn't want to try and be too inclusive, for those simpleminded folks, i.e. you, that might derail the thread because it didn't do anything (and everything) for them. I thought it was good advertising. But, apparently, in the future, I'll have caution customers that the coffee is HOT, as well.

BTW, I wasn't attacking your grammar; I was attacking your understanding or comprehension of the word volition. Perhaps, you should spend a little time defining grammar, understanding, and comprehension, as well. There is no need to come back and post the results ITT; just keep them to yourself. However, if you'd like some exercises with them, try using them in a sentence, and writing the definition of each 5 times.

Concerning ADB and my understanding of Android, you're right, it's VERY LIMITED. But, I never professed anything otherwise. In fact, that's exactly the point of this thread: I am, for the most part, ignorant about the infrastructure that is the Android operating system that runs my phone. I also lack an understanding of Bluetooth as well as any appreciation for the complexity of the Infotainment system in my car. Yet, I was still able to isolate my problem (Android OS), and manipulate it, to achieve the resolution I was after! Must've been dumb luck. And while flashing custom ROMs or leaked updates can lead to a new set of problems, I didn't leave any detailed instructions on how to do it, and I have yet to read any DYI guides that don't express myriad precautions to take beforehand, as well as potential resolutions in the event that something goes wrong. In my case, these were risks I was willing to take. I paid ~$200 to upgrade my phone, but I probably paid ~$2,000 for the unit in the car, which I find, for the most part, useless without the functioning Bluetooth for the audio and hands-free phone; I can really do without the Nav - Google Navigation FTW.

As for my phone... I got it in December 2011. According to my calendar, that's more than 6 months past, or, roughly 24-28 weeks. Too bad, I couldn't hold out for the new NEW thing! Then again, those, too will be outdated. In the meantime, I'm very happy with my phone. It's been extremely reliable and capable of everything I've intended and attempted to use it for. The only regret I have is that I wasn't aware of the upcoming (at the time) Galaxy Note, which was released 1-2 months later. If I'd have known, I'd have waited for it. In any case, I'll just have to settle for the next new NEWEST thing, when I decide to upgrade.

Anyway, resorting to (verbally) bashing another man's phone via an internet forum is where I draw the line. You've got me! You win all the arguments! You're awesome! You're a hero!:clap:

Try unpairing the phone and unit, and then repair and reconnect. Also, sometimes you just have to wait about a minute for it to connect. In my case, it's hardly ever instantaneous, although, sometimes it is faster than at other times.

Another thing that might help is to hold your phone right in front of the unit, where it gets a better signal, at least initially, while you get connected. It gets a better signal there, the closer that it is. In my case, I get both of the BT bars according to, and displayed by, the unit the closer my phone is in relation. However, this isn't a requirement, as I don't have any problems connecting while my phone is in my (left) pocket, which is invariably the case. Also, I sometimes pack my phone in my backpack where it has also managed to connect not only from the passenger seat, which is most often the case, but also, once, from inside my trunk!

Good Luck!

I've tried completely unpairing and repairing, my problem is that the head unit drops the connection to my phone CONSTANTLY. It will be connected for 2-3 minutes max, and then I get the popup on my nav screen that says "Connection to the mobile telephone has been disconnect."

At that point, I check my phone, and sure enough, there's a request from the head unit to pair up again. I confirm, push through all the requests from the head unit to pull contacts, call logs, and messages, and everything works again for another 3-4 minutes, when once again I see "Connection to the mobile telephone has been disconnect." Rinse and repeat every few minutes until I get pissed off and just turn off Bluetooth on the phone entirely.

On occasion, I don't even get the disconnect popup from the head unit, I only find out when I go to use the phone via head unit, and it comes up with "No Connection" instead of the keypad.

So yeah, a bit frustrated. Going to give it a go with an iPhone (belongs to a buddy) and see if it makes a difference.

My Samsung Galaxy S II epic 4g sux with the BRZ's Bluetooth.. It seems that you guys are having similar issues....not convinced its the phone...however it does seem to go in and out depending on signal strength. It is VERY frustrating...my wifes bluetooth, sync's up...and done..never goes in and out like mine does..but she does have a Iphone4
:/

I've got the Motorola RAZR 4G / FR-S stock tuner, have no trouble with making/receiving calls.

My only trouble is when playing bluetooth audio the volume control is inactive. If I adjust the volume before the BTA starts playing then I can adjust till streaming over bluetooth starts. (No trouble adjusting volume in calls, etc).

Is anyone else experiencing a similar problem?

Any Samsung Galaxy S3 users onboard yet? I'm hoping my phone (ICS) just works.. I cant believe 2012 models of any BT equipped car would have connection issues with the leading two OS's before getting installed.

My Galaxy 2 was no issue when I got the car, but after upgrading to ICS it connects then disconnects, it's flakey as hell - I've repaired it several times.

Yet my crappy headset still connects. UGH.

Base scion stereo btw.

Yes.

I've completely written off the BT audio connectivity w/ my VZW Droid 3 in my FR-S.

With the default "Music" player on Android:

Headunit will autoplay (on car start) and pick up where I left off just fine, title info shows properly. At this point, I can adjust volume, and change tracks on the playlist via the HU.

As soon as I go back to the phone, perhaps to change album/playlist, the HU shows PAUSE (flashing) and will never recover. Music may again start streaming, but I can no longer control it from the HU.

There is no way that I've found to change the default media player in Android. I've tried running Winamp and Subsonic manually from the phone to get music started, but I always end up with the PAUSE flashing on the HU, and no adjustable volume or track change.

As far as phone call handling, I've had situations where the HU is off, but had prior indicated "DROID 3 CONNECTED" (at car start) -- attempt to answer an incoming call, and just dead air. The caller attempted three times to reach me, all with the same result.

I'm not sure which device to smash, my D3 (which I hate anyway), or my new love, the Pioneer HU in my FR-S.

EDIT: Zero issues with BT "reception", that's been rock solid. Which, is actually useless, ultimately.

I get basically the same results, I've been attempting to stream from Live365's app. When the phone goes to 'locked' mode is when I get the flashing pause.

I tried my android tablet, worked perfectly (even with the L365 app), but as it does not have wireless service (only wifi network) it won't serve too far past the edge of the driveway.

I guess I'm relegated to using the direct audio cable instead.

HTC one x no issues

My galaxy s3 will not connect via usb at all and the Bluetooth connectivity is limited to just play and forward/back. I'm so frustrated.

Sent from my Galaxy S3 using Tapatalk 2

I have a motorola Razr Maxx (4.1.2 OS) and it's well documented the reconnect issues with that phone. BT audio is garbage and the messaging does not work at all.
I'm looking to replace the phone with a Samsung Galaxy S3, but was curious what OS you are running (ICS or JB?), and what carrier are you using. I see a few issues listed, but generally looking for some better info.

Thanks!

Ive got an mp3 player thats samaung, and an lg phone running android. I can never get them to do what i want. Every time i get in my car, i have to disable then re-enable bt on the mp3 player. Sometims the headunit decides that the phone ia the mp3 player and plays a test track. Sometimes it says the phone is a music player, and my Mp3 player is a phone. I juat think i need to take it to someone who can permenantly get them paired so theyll stop pissing me off.


Posted from phone and fat fingers, please excuse spelling

I'm on a GSIII using Synergy ROM, and it works great with Bluetooth. I switched from Droid Razr MAXX HD.

If you're trying to control your music settings on your head unit when your device is connected via bluetooth, you have to make sure that your device has AVRCP(Audio/Video Remote Control Profile). My Samsung Galaxy Nexus can be controlled by the head unit but I don't see the titles of my music that's playing.

What is AVRCP?
Here's some more info over at AndroidCentral.

http://forums.androidcentral.com/and...ate-avrcp.html

AVRCP has several versions with significantly increasing functionality:

1.0—Basic remote control commands (play/pause/stop, etc.)
1.3—all of 1.0 plus metadata and media-player state support
The status of the music source (playing, stopped, etc.)
Metadata information on the track itself (artist, track name, etc.).
1.4—all of 1.0, 1.3, plus media browsing capabilities for multiple media players
Browsing and manipulation of multiple players
Browsing of media metadata per media player, including a "Now Playing" list
Basic search capabilities