Samsung Galaxy S Series

[FreewheelinJack]

So, I set up the new car stereo, a Sony BT3000, it connects via Bluetooth to my SII with ICS and I can stream music, skip tracks, receive phone calls, everything works fine... for 15 minutes. Then the SII quickly reboots and goes to the homescreen as is not connected by Bluetooth anymore.

I've searching around and seen people saying that their Sony car stereo worked fine before they upgraded to ICS and then they got this issue. I've also seen all kinds of suggestions for fixes, such as a hard reset, which I have done, but nothing changes the error. 

Has anyone got their ICS SII working reliably with a Bluetooth car stereo?

[picadillyjim]

Hi

Refer to the post "Swithcing off".

Personally I had the problem in Gingerbread as well, but it seems there is a definite correlation between ICS and rebooting when connected to Bluetooth. 

The only thing is if it is ICS related, will not there be massive amounts of posts from all sorts fo Android users? So far I only see SII and Note users with this problem in the forums.

Anyway, I cannot stream music on my Car Bluetooth, I only use it for calls, I am experimenting with an app called Auto Bluetooth, which would only connect to the bluetooth for an incoming calls  and disconnect soon afterwards. I am hoping to avoid the problem of it being always connected to bluetooth and rebotitng 5 times in an hour. There are other apps which claim to work just as well with A2DP bluetooth services .https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=a2dp.Vol&hl=en, for example, never tried it myself though.

[FreewheelinJack]

Yes, I've been trying the A2DP Volume app - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=a2dp.Vol&hl=en - which I thought was helping, but Bluetooth crashed again today. Like you say, it is starting to look like an SII / Note only issue. Frustrating..

[picadillyjim]

One of our forum colleagues has spoken/emailed to Samsung. I myself am planning to call them up, after I have collected a bit of data.

I did call them up when I had the issue with my SII, and they recommended taking it to a service centre for free reflashing of the ICS software. In preparation for this, I hard reset and wiped the phone clean, which appeared to help matters for a bit, but soon reverted to this behaviour again.

IN the meantime, I have got myself a Galaxy Note, which got updated to ICS out of the box - clean install with absolutely no personal data on it - also factory reset after that to be on the safe side. It too has rebooted twice (I have only had it for a few days). So it is either a Samsung or ICS problem , or both.

Now my only worry is if this is something that requires a firmware update , it is going to take ages, or may never happen, especially as it seems it is not a particularly widespread problem.

[FreewheelinJack]

BTW, what brand of car stereo do you have?

[picadillyjim]

It is a Sony. Do not know the exact model number etc, but is one which was factory fitted in my Ford Mondeo.

[GoNz0]

i fixed my phone rebooting with sony stereo, 1st options not for most though.

took it back to halfords and bought an alpine, problem fixed.

before that i installed a new mod of the ICS firmware, 4.0.4 and ran PlayerPro music player as that outputs track info.

i have also emailed samsung and just sent the info they requested, i am not holding my breath. i also plan to try a few versions of 4.0.3 that have been modded as i prefer a phone based on the samsung firmware and not the stock ICS framework as it has a lot of features that do not work as well.

so far i can confirm its limited to ICS 4.0.3 in its standard form with sony BT car stereo units.

now as sony head units are not updatable its down to the phones firmware.

one thing i will say 100% is vodafone will not be able to do anything so use samsung support.

[FreewheelinJack]

Which Alpine model did you get? So, the Alpine is working with 4.0.3 or are you on 4.0.4 now?

[GoNz0]

http://www.alpine-electronics.co.za/p/Products/cd-head-units19/cde-133bt

the only bug i have found is track info not updating after the 1st track, i am working on hunting down that bug though!

i am planning a full wipe inc internal SD when i get the time, backups already on!

 works on 4.0.3 but has the track info not updating, 

4.0.4 works perfect.

i am hunting down a rom with the samsung framework and some new kernal models to see if its kernal specific, stay tuned!

[picadillyjim]

I think I may have just solved my problem,

The solution was very simple - do not use bluetooth in the car. I am just going to use the auxiliary line in for bothe phone calls and music.

Thinking about it, my only regret is trading in my car which used to give me 56 mpg for one which gives much lower but had bluetooth. Looking at the fuel prices nowadays, I would have been far better off with 56 mpg. That is life.

[GoNz0]

well 4.0.4 rom is official in china so it wont be long before we at least get an unbranded release version for the UK.

[FreewheelinJack]

I took my Sony back to Halfords and exchanged it for the Kenwood KDC-BT42U - Bluetooth works fine, no track info but I'm not really bothered about that. So, another confirmation that this is a Sony problem.

[JohnCS]

With my Nissan Connect audio system, my phone connects, starts playing music only to switch  bluetooth off 10 seconds after beginning playing a track. Phone doesn't reboot, but bluetooth connects again.

Annoying as it didn't happen with Gingerbread 2.35.

Also as others have said, Track Info doesn;t coe up on my car system with ICS: Only a minor annoyance!

[GoNz0]

powerplayer pro trial may be worth looking at, it has an option for avrcp 1.3 support

[FreewheelinJack]

Yes, can confirm turing on AVRCP with PlayerPro works fine for track info with the Kenwood.

Had issue after pairing second phone that the Kenwood will connect, but audio is silent. This is with only one phone connected.

Changing the source back and forth to BT audio a few times fixes it. Will try deleting and repairing.

Worth noting that the Kenwood does not send a 'play' message when connected via Bluetooth, unlike a lot of other stereos, so music does not auto-play on your phone. Some like that, some don't. I don't mind either way really. Also, connecting can be sluggish, with the stereo spending several seconds downloading your phonebook.

[picadillyjim]

Does any one have any strong recommendations for a car bluetooth kit? I have a built in Ford Sony Car Stereo, that obviously cannot be ripped out and replaced, and the phone does not work with it at all, as documented in this post and elsewhere..

I am basically looking for any other kind of bluetooth kit

1) Example - one that streams music via bluetooth to an FM transmitter which I can then play on the car stereo.

2) or something that clips on the sun visor thingy, plays music

I would obviously be happy if I can use the phone as well on the same blutooth thing

I have searched the obvious sites like mobilefun etc and there are some choices there, I am wondering whether anyone has a strong recommendation with personal experiences - the reviews on the site are very mixed.

[GoNz0]

not a car kit but i bought a samsung HM1500 BT headset, clips on my tie or collar with an earpiece so you don't look like the typical person with a huge headset on there ear.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003FST6HW/ref=asc_df_B003FST6HW8711230?smid=ALCD7IJ1MGT6F&tag=googlecouk...

i got that one as it lets you hook up 2 phones at once, perfect for my S2 and works PDA.

if you want a decent car kit people keep chirping on about parrot kits, they have a visor one as well


(did you spot the pun ?)

[picadillyjim]

Thanks Gonzo, I definitely need a bluetooth device to use outside the car as well, as the Note which I now use, is quite large. I used to have the Sony MW600, but it seems to have gone AWOL somewhere - maybe just as well, as the ICS phone is not goint to connect to a Sony bluetooth. I will take a look at this Samsung device.

(And yes, I did get it)

[GoNz0]

i didn't own a samsung phone when i got the BT headset, i had both ZTE and HP devices, so it works with anything

[FreewheelinJack]

Been having problems with the Kenwood - slow to connect, not reconnecting, connecting & phone playing but no sound until you cycle through sources a few times, choppy playback on wife's Xperia Arc S, so it's going back and I'm going to try the Apline.