[Q] Galaxy S3 S-Voice issues

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ScratMan38

Senior Member
Feb 4, 2011
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505
Grenoble
Google Pixel 6 Pro
Hi, I have some issues with S-Voice on my Galaxy S3.

When I use S-Voice to send a text message or make a call by using contact name (for example if I say "Call François Dupont"), it records my sentence, starts the voice recognition phase, and perfectly writes back my sentence on the screen, but nothing happens. It does not call Mister Dupont as I asked him.
But if I tell him the phone number instead of contact name, it's working perfectly, so if I say "Call 01 99 88 77 66", S-Voice use an audio feedback to tell me he is calling the given number, and it starts the call.

Someone else with the same issue ? is there a solution somewhere ?

I'm using ArchiDroid 1.7.9 (based on stock 4.3 UGNA7) with bloatware package installed, I face the same issue with an older stock ROM (it was the stock Samsung MK1), and it worked again with a previous AD version (1.7.6, based on ML4 if I remember well).

What is causing this ? it looks like S-Voice is unable to access the contact list...
 

ScratMan38

Senior Member
Feb 4, 2011
1,013
505
Grenoble
Google Pixel 6 Pro
I made some trials to understand why this phenomenon happens.

First I started with a backup of my actual ROM (ArchiDroid 1.7.9 based on Samsung NA7) and the content of my internal memory and SDcard.

Then, I tried to install the latest official 4.3 ROM for my version of the Galaxy S3 (code FTM, branded by Orange) : the firwmare is ML2.
I downloaded it and flashed it with Odin 3.09. I had the surprise after reboot to find my apps and parameters... I thought Odin would erase everything, but no, it has left everything.

So I made the test :
** Stock official Samsung ML2 : S-Voice fails. If I tell "her" to send a message, she asks who to send the message to, I say "François Dupont" (name has been changed), she writes "François Dupont" after the speech recognition, and stops.

So I made a factory reset, wiping data, internal memory and sd-card, entered my account, wait for the syncs to end, and started again :
** Stock official Samsung ML2 after full wipe : S-Voice fails. If I tell "her" to send a message, she asks who to send the message to, I say "François Dupont" (name has been changed), she writes "François Dupont" after the speech recognition, and stops.


So I decided to return to ArchiDroid 1.7.6 (based on ML4).
I flashed recovery through Odin and installed ArchiDroid 1.7.6, making a full wipe again, and test again after end of syncs :
** ArchiDroid 1.7.6 : S-Voice works perfectly. If I tell "her" to send a message, she asks who to send the message to, I say "François Dupont" (name has been changed), and after the speech recognition, she asks to select the phone number I want to send the message to, then requests the message to be sent, and proposes to send it.

I continued the test by installing ArchiDroid 1.7.7 (still based on ML4) over 1.7.6 (no wipe, using previous preset, only used the forced update mode of ArchiDroid installer).
** ArchiDroid 1.7.7 : S-Voice works perfectly. If I tell "her" to send a message, she asks who to send the message to, I say "François Dupont" (name has been changed), and after the speech recognition, she asks to select the phone number I want to send the message to, then requests the message to be sent, and proposes to send it.

So I continued the test by doing a backup and installing the ArchiDroid 1.7.9 (based on NA7) over 1.7.7. Strange thing is that it could not use my previous preset, I had to recreate it.
** ArchiDroid 1.7.9 : S-Voice fails. If I tell "her" to send a message, she asks who to send the message to, I say "François Dupont" (name has been changed), she writes "François Dupont" after the speech recognition, and stops.

I wiped everything, and restored the backup of 1.7.7, reboot and again :
** ArchiDroid 1.7.7 : S-Voice works perfectly. If I tell "her" to send a message, she asks who to send the message to, I say "François Dupont" (name has been changed), and after the speech recognition, she asks to select the phone number I want to send the message to, then requests the message to be sent, and proposes to send it.

I then tried to make a TB-backup of the ML4 apps (contacts, phone, s-voice and messages) and install the ArchiDroid 1.7.8 :
** ArchiDroid 1.7.8 : S-Voice fails. If I tell "her" to send a message, she asks who to send the message to, I say "François Dupont" (name has been changed), she writes "François Dupont" after the speech recognition, and stops.

I then tried to restore the different apps backup I had from ML4 and rebooted, but no way, S-Voice is still broken.

So I'm going to use ArchiDroid 1.7.7 for the moment.
 

JustArchi

Inactive Recognized Developer
Mar 7, 2013
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Warsaw
If you've installed the whole bloatware before first boot, then there's no way that something could not work properly (I'm talking about .zip package).

Eventually you can compare my deodexed bases with stock bases, but I highly doubt that deodexing could cause such strange issues, especially because it works in some much more customized releases (ArchiDroid).
 

ScratMan38

Senior Member
Feb 4, 2011
1,013
505
Grenoble
Google Pixel 6 Pro
If you've installed the whole bloatware before first boot, then there's no way that something could not work properly (I'm talking about .zip package).

Eventually you can compare my deodexed bases with stock bases, but I highly doubt that deodexing could cause such strange issues, especially because it works in some much more customized releases (ArchiDroid).

I tried both, it does not change the behavior whether I flash the bloatware package before or after first boot. The only thing that seems to have an effect is the version of the base ROM.
 

JustArchi

Inactive Recognized Developer
Mar 7, 2013
8,739
38,807
Warsaw
I tried both, it does not change the behavior whether I flash the bloatware package before or after first boot. The only thing that seems to have an effect is the version of the base ROM.

I'm out of ideas then. You'd need to compare my deodexed base with stock base, it's the only thing which comes to my mind.
 

ScratMan38

Senior Member
Feb 4, 2011
1,013
505
Grenoble
Google Pixel 6 Pro
I'm out of ideas then. You'd need to compare my deodexed base with stock base, it's the only thing which comes to my mind.

I agree with you, it seems the issue is not from your mods but from stock samsung firmwares. With the stock Samsung ML2 (official firmware) it doesn't work, but with your modded ML4 it is working.

I made this post mainly to inform you it was not your fault if S-Voice was failing, but only Samsung's fault.
The only thing I don't understand is why I'm the only one to report this issue.
 

ScratMan38

Senior Member
Feb 4, 2011
1,013
505
Grenoble
Google Pixel 6 Pro
Update : with the UGNB1 firmware, using the corresponding ArchiDroid ROM (v1.7.13), S-Voice is working correctly, it correctly resolves the contact's name and asks for the text of the message.:victory:

Hope Samsung will keep it the good way for future updates.