Bluetooth in Car not working since Samsung S4 update

[WhyMe]

So my Samsung S4 Galaxy Bluetooth has worked seemlessly with the integrated Bluetooth in my car since I got my phone a year ago. Just recently my phone stopped sending MMS (picture messages) so the Vodafone store told me to do a factory reset as it has something to do with a OS update.

I did the factory reset on the phone (which now sends MMS) but from that very moment my phone will not function correctly with the Bluetooth in my car.

Frustratingly, it connects perfectly as before even showing call logs and phone book as before but the very second I make or receive a call, the Bluetooth connection is dropped and the car displays 'No Bluetooth link'.

Furthermore, my wife has a Samsung S3 Mini which has also just stopped sending MMS but we chose not to do the factory reset on hers, and it connects fine to the car just as it always has, and it functions fine for her on both incoming and outgoing calls.

So it looks like there has been a series of OS updates, one of which will prevent MMS messages being sent, but should you then do a factory reset to get this facility back, you will lose In Car Bluetooth compatibility - really sucks, unless anyone else has any suggestions?

[Retired-Simon]

Hi @WhyMe

Although a factory reset will set all of your settings to original default settings, this shouldn’t be needed for an MMS issue.

For future reference, you can text the word WEB to 40127 and it’ll send the correct APN and MMS settings to your phone.

When error shows no Bluetooth link, does the phone still have the Bluetooth on and is it showing as visible in your phone’s Bluetooth settings?

Thanks,

Simon

[WhyMe]

Hi Simon,

I'm really grateful for you taking the time to respond to my issue - thank you.

Firstly, I note what you say about MMS. I never really used this a great deal so it wasn't a big problem but when I took it to the Vodafone store in Southend, the lady changed loads of settings then apologised and said that she had now changed something which was irreversible without a factory reset and which now meant that I now had no access to data and so I was unable to connect to 3G only WiFi!

Unfortunately she was right and I had lost all ability to access most Apps, Maps, Email etc unless I connected to WiFi therefore I was forced to do a Factory Reset myself. I have of course lost quite a few bits including all my mp3 files but hey ho I can live with that.

Add to this that my wife's Samsung S3 Mini stopped sending / receiving MMS within 24hrs of my Samsung S4 being able to send / receive and it's apparent there is an issue here.

Secondly, and far more important to me is the Bluetooth connectivity to my car. Since the very second I did the factory reset my S4 will not work with my in-car Bluetooth. In answer to your questions, the Bluetooth is always on, the phone is paired, the in-car display receives my Contacts and Call Log and both the phone and the in-car confirm I'm paired & connected. The very second I make or receive a call the Bluetooth is dropped with the In-car displaying 'No Link Available'. When I then look at the phone it is cycling through 'paired' and 'connecting' and reconnects itself until I try to make or receive a call. I have tried obvious things such as turning the Bluetooth on and off on my phone and also on the in-car.

I have checked again tonight and my S4 still won't work with the bluetooth but my wife's S3 still works totally fine with it, exactly as mine used to! 

I have found my old Samsung S2 and will see if this connects. My feeling is that it will as everything points to my S4 phone's Bluetooth being somehow corrupted following the Factory reset which is never something I ever wanted to do but was forced to after the Vodafone store wiped out my ability to connect with 3G!

I'm on contract and the phone and had the phone for 6 months so perhaps I should seek a replacement.

I eagerly await your comments / advice please in desperation!

Thanks, Paul

[WhyMe]

Oh, and I forgot to mention that my S4 still connects and sends photo's via Bluetooth to my wife's S3 so I can confirm that the Bluetooth on my phone is not faulty and as my wife's S3 connects and functions with my car, I can confirm that my In-Car Bluetooth is not faulty and so there has to be a settings issue somewhere.

If required, my S4 OS is 4.4.2. - my wife's S3 is 4.2.2.

[Retired-Jamian]

Hi @WhyMe

The factory reset shouldn’t cause these kinds of issues.

As we don’t support car kits, I’d recommend speaking with Ford as they may have dealt with similar queries.

Thanks,

Jamian

[hrym]

I'd definitely take up Jamian's suggestion.  Bluetooth in cars is a can of worms as the software is often out of date relative to phones.   It may be that there's an update that a dealer can apply for you.

[WhyMe]

Hi Jamian, thanks for your response however it leave me very frustrated and disappointed.

You say the factory reset shouldn't cause this issues but it did...! 

Therefore you can see my frustration. I don't want to spend time and money at Fords when there is no knowing if this will sort the problem because it all worked fine until the factory reset and still works fine with my wife's Samsung Galaxy.

There is clearly something within the factory reset which has upset the bluetooth settings and I'd be grateful if you could give this some further consideration please.

Would my Android OS software have been automatically updated following a factory reset and if so, if I was to step backwards with my Android OS software do you thing that might work?

[hrym]

The most likely sequence of events here is that an OS update upset the ability to send MMS.  A factory reset is often required after updates and solves a variety of issues and, from what you've said, appears to have fixed this one.  I supect the update also included a change to the Bluetooth software and, if this wasn't already causing a problem, the reset fixed and activated the change, hence the problem occurred after the reset.   There's no reason why a reset should cause the issue you describe, which sounds like good old incompatibility.   I'd honestly recommend asking your dealer, or Ford themselves, whether there's an update that can be applied.   You can also ask ehether there's a cost and then decide whether it's worthwhile.

The fact that your wife's phone still works could either be that it hasn't been updated or that, being a different model, it doesn't have quite the same Bluetooth software.

The fact that your phone still communicates with your wife's tends to rule out any corruption of the system, too.

[WhyMe]

Hi & thanks for the comments.

I've found a friend of mine who has the same phone with the same OS Android 4.4.2.

I shall try his phone over the weekend with my in-car bluetooth which will prove one thing or another!

If his phone works, then my phone has been somehow corrupted by the Factory Reset and I will be asking Vodafone for a replacement, or...

If his phone doesn't work, then it will be apparent that 4.4.2 is incompatible with my in-car bluetooth in which case I shall speak with Ford and/or look at downgrading my software to a previous version. (I don't know how straight forward this is but there are videos on YouTube so I shall take a look if this becomes necessary.

One way or another I should have a definitive answer as to where the fault lies and will report back on here by the end of the weekend.

[WhyMe]

Ok - so here we go with the conclusive results of a number of tests done yesterday which I would now love a Vodafone Tech Team Expert to comment on please.

Please see from the thread that my S4 worked absolutely fine with my in-car Bluetooth until the Vodafone store worker changed some seetings on it which then meant it would not send/receive any data via 3G and so a facory reset had to be performed.

I gathered a group of freinds yesterday and used their phones which I shall refer to as Donor phones for now.

The Donor phones and their respective OS were:

Another S4  4.4.2

HTC One 4.4.2.

S3 4.3.0

S3 Mini 4.2.2.

We also had three cars with in-built Bluetooth a 2009 Ford (mine), 2012 Peugeot, a 2013 Toyota.

Ever single one of the Donor phones connected and functioned seemlessly with every one of the in-car Bluetooth systems including mine!

My phone, the 5th phone in this experiement exhibited the same problem in all three cars. It would connect, it would transfer Phone Book & Contacts, it would appear to be fine but the very second a call was made or received the Bluetooth in all 3 cars would drop the link to my phone as 'No link available'.

Now I don't wish to seem ungrateful or obtuse in any way but as my S4 Bluetooth stopped working as soon as either the Vodafone rep changed some settings or the factory reset which was done the following day & no longer works with ANY car Bluetooth, and given that ALL four Donor phones, (inc another S4 - 4.4.2) all work fine with my in-car Ford Bluetooth it is abundantly evident that something which was done either by the Vodafone store rep or the Factory reset has resulted in some level of corruption in my phone's bluetooth. The only puzzling anomality is that my phone continues to be able to send/receive images via Bluetooth to all four Donor phones.

Now with respect I do not want to hear from Vodafone that 'we do not support in-car Bluetooth' as I am not asking you to, I am asking you how can I put my phone back to where it was before the Vodafone store rep broke it? Clearly you can see that I do NOT need to go to Ford main dealer for an upgrade of the in-car Bluetooth as ALL four donor phones work fine as did mine until this incident.

What settings did the store worker change which were irreversible and meant I lost Data Transfer and 3G? This must surely be connected. Her Manager confirmed that due to the changes she had made I would no longer get 3G without a factory reset and they were correct - I couldn't! So surely there is something that they changed or did that still needs to be undone - Any thoughts?