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Galaxy Nexus owners complain of odd volume bug, Google rolling out OTA software fix

Some early UK users of the Galaxy Nexus are reporting a problematic bug with the device's volume controls seemingly related to RF interference on the 900MHz band, used in parts of Europe for 2G service. Fortunately, Google is in the process of rolling out a firmware update that should patch it up.

  • Chris Ziegler

    Nov 30, 2011

    Chris Ziegler

    Google: Galaxy Nexus volume bug fix will be rolled out 'in the coming week'

    galaxy nexus ics
    galaxy nexus ics

    Hopefully we can put the Galaxy Nexus's ghost-operated volume rocker behind us in the coming days. Google had already said that it would be deploying a software fix for the problem — seemingly triggered by 900MHz RF interference — and now we've just gotten this follow-up straight from the source:

    So keep checking for an over-the-air update — unless you're an American waiting for Verizon's LTE version, that is, in which case you don't have your phone just yet.

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  • Nov 23, 2011

    Vlad Savov

    Google responds to Galaxy Nexus volume bug: 'we have a fix'

    galaxy nexus side
    galaxy nexus side

    The Galaxy Nexus volume bug has been squashed in Google's labs. The Android software maker has just announced it has a fix for the problem plaguing UK owners of the new Nexus, which will be rolled out "as soon as possible." Here's Google's statement in full:

    It was starting to look like the pseudo-random volume fluctuation on the device was a hardware issue, one that would potentially require the replacement of affected handsets, but Google's promise of an update would seem to indicate that's not the case. Let's hope the remedy is as simple as an over-the-air software update.

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  • Chris Ziegler

    Nov 21, 2011

    Chris Ziegler

    Galaxy Nexus volume bug seemingly reproduced by holding another phone nearby

    Galaxy Nexus interference demo
    Galaxy Nexus interference demo

    Earlier today, we reported that some British owners of Galaxy Nexuses were voicing concerns about the volume spontaneously going to zero; at the time, we'd hoped that it was a software issue, but a new video has us worried that there might be something deeper involved. A YouTuber has uploaded a brief video of a Galaxy Nexus in bootloader mode that appears to be cycling through the menu itself when another phone is brought near — in bootloader mode, the menu is actuated by way of the volume rocker, so there's your connection. The phone next to the Galaxy is allegedly connected to a 900MHz 2G network, which appears to be the band where the phones are having the problem. It's way too early to speculate whether Google and Samsung will be able to patch this up with an over-the-air firmware update alone, but the fact that this can be reproduced simply by holding another phone nearby — all the way up in the lightweight bootloader mode, no less — is cause for alarm.

    Users have discovered that they can temporarily stop the issue by locking the phone into 3G mode, but depending on where you live and where you travel, that may not be an option. The silver lining for North Americans is that there's no evidence yet to suggest that this bug (assuming it's a real bug) will affect either the CDMA / LTE variant or the GSM variant when operating on US and Canadian bands; we certainly haven't seen anything like this on our review unit, but we'll be keeping an eye on it as it develops.

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  • Chris Ziegler

    Nov 21, 2011

    Chris Ziegler

    Galaxy Nexus owners complain of odd volume bug

    galaxy nexus ics
    galaxy nexus ics

    We challenge you to find a major new tech product launch that isn't accompanied by a handful of issues in the field. It's hard to do — and the Galaxy Nexus is no exception, it seems, with reports coming out of the UK that the device's volume is occasionally going to zero uncommanded (a condition sometimes referred to as "mute"). Furthermore, it seems to stick there for several seconds while the device becomes unresponsive, so you can't immediately fix it... but that's assuming you notice it. If you don't, the danger of missing notifications gets a lot higher.

    Users seem to be noticing that 2G service is somehow related — the problem is being reported with greater frequency when the Galaxy Nexus is either connected to or in the process of switching to 2G. We checked in with a brick-and-mortar O2 store today which told us that there haven't been any complaints or returns related to the issue (their units are running build APA28, for what it's worth). If there's a bright side to this, it's that this sounds like a software problem, not a hardware one — so we're cautiously optimistic that this'll be fixed with a standard-issue OTA update.

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