Rear speaker problem fix! FINALLY!!!

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Eric Qel-Droma

New member
Feb 27, 2011
2
0
Thanks for the post and the links. I managed to fix (I think it's fixed) my Captivate's speaker problem because of this post. I'd hit the "thank you" button, but I'm too new around here, apparently.
 

agasagas

Senior Member
Mar 19, 2011
121
18
Vancouver, B.C.
I know there are thousands of people looking all over the web for a solution to their captivate's rear speaker cutting out and I am happy to report I have a solution for you! I searched all over these forums, all over google, and by the grace of God I somehow found this suggestion in a comment on a pointless YouTube video with around only a thousand views. But whatever! Here it is...

Thanks for this post :) Very helpful.... My son accidentally dropped my phone while playing games last week then my CAPPY speaker starts acting weird. I tried everything but to no avail. At first I thought it has something to do with rom I installed so I've been trying to install, un-install, wipe name it I tried it. I even went back to stock rom. Whew! :) But thanks anyway :) Such a big help!!!;)
 

dapana

Member
Jun 7, 2011
6
0
Thanks for the speaker fix info, but now I lost my vibrate function... the cable is back in, but any ideas why it won't vibrate anymore?

Edit: Found out the cable wasn't pushed in all the way which caused vibration to stop. But the cable just doesn't seem long enough to totally fit in right as well as the speaker to sit back in it's spot without pulling it out. Seems like a big design flaw... I can't get it to set right anymore.
 
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stevespens

Senior Member
Nov 19, 2010
154
31
Fort Mohave Arizona
Thank you so much. It was my phone, gave it to my wife and it started acting up. She was missing work calls. Did the screw loosen and so far so good. Again, Thank you.
 

tr10

Member
Dec 30, 2010
20
0
I am so happy I found your thread. Been dealing with this problem for a long time. Thanks again.

Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA
 

Darkangels6sic6

Senior Member
Feb 3, 2011
1,000
90
After I had this issue I bought screw drivers and got in, loosened the screw and realigned the cable. It did not work. This was months ago and I thought the speaker was dead. Last night my phone fell off the table and the speaker was working for a bit. When I went into voodoo to make sure nothing was changing anything I checked the tune speaker and it cut out again. Not on since, but it was on for a few hours that I did not realize and then for the few minutes I used it.
 

Darkangels6sic6

Senior Member
Feb 3, 2011
1,000
90
I have now come to find that even after adjusting the screw and re aligning the cable that I still have the speaker issue. At points if I tap it then it will work for a few seconds to a minute. This method works much better if it is done without the back cover on so that it only takes light taps to accomplish the job....which I will not be doing cause it's too much hassle and obviously could cause damage.
Edit: so would this more than likely just mean my speaker or connection is faulty
 
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gado45

Senior Member
Feb 8, 2012
372
19
Thanks.. I used to have speaker problem suddenly it stopped, will bookmark this anyway

Enviado desde mi SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 usando Tapatalk 2
 

III Man

Member
Jan 17, 2011
15
3
I was lucky enough to identify this problem a week before my year warranty was up. There is a local repair place here, so I got them to replace it, but this will be great to know in case it happens again, Thanks!
 

joeylproctor

Member
May 22, 2012
10
1
hmmm

I've only ever had this issue when running a cyanogenmod rom. Was on stock froyo then gb for a year, then cognition, serendipity 7 each for a couple months, never had this problem till cm7. Flashed back to serendipity and the problem disappeared. Been over a month back on s7, decided to flash cm9 today and poof, audio problem is back. Such a strange coincidence. I love Cyanogenmod, hope the screw trick is my fix.
 

oldgreyhouse

New member
Jun 28, 2012
2
4
Whitby
The Foundling and our JOURNEY

It was a dewy July morning in 2011 when I found this Captivate SGH-I896 laying in the grass. Poor thing...I had to find its owner. I went to the Rogers store, reluctantly putting the foundling in their hands. They asked me to wait and they searched. "'Nothing we can do. It's all yours."
And so our JOURNEY began. (What is this lovely thing and how does it work?)
Google...YouTube...more Google...and xda? I kept ending up at this xda site.
I've been lurking here for nearly a year, so here I am - a new member...and a NOOB. Nope, I don't hate myself, in fact I'm quite proud of myself for learning so much about this android, how it works and best of all - fixing it.
We've been through a lot together, from Froyo to Gingerbread, from bootloops and shutting down to just fine. Yesterday? I took my precious apart and fixed the speaker. It's not always a bad thing, to have a screw lose!
A huge thank-you to all of you here at xda and guiding me on this incredible journey. (Who knows how far it will take me?) :victory:
 

mattsternc

Senior Member
Aug 2, 2008
105
9
Cary, NC
So I had this mysterious speaker problem in the last month or two. I took my Cappy apart .... and the screw was missing that was supposed to be next to the speaker!! I know there was at least one other person who had this same issue. So I used one of the screws that was to go underneath the battery cover to secure it. I figured that one wouldn't matter too much, as I keep my phone in an Otterbox Commuter 100% of the time (unless I am flashing, etc.). I also adjusted the ribbon cable while I was in there.

Result = speaker works a lot better and seems to be a bit louder now if that is possible. :cool:
 

johnnyrichter

Senior Member
Jul 4, 2012
425
37
Missouri
Registered just to post this reply...THANK YOU FOR THIS THREAD!

Just got myself an ATT Captivate for free, untouched/OEM condition, solely because the rear speaker wouldn't work at all. I tried the first fix(screw adjust) which didn't make a difference, so I then tired the second fix(ribbon cable adjustment) which made it work intermittently. I pulled the ribbon cable from the slot on the PCB to find the two leads closest to the edge of the phone had some sort of corrosion/oxidation on them. Cleaned that up, reinserted the ribbon cable in to the slot, speaker has been working fine ever since.

Pulling the case apart is a huge PITA, by the way. I had trouble getting the sides unclipped, then had trouble getting the top unclipped which resulted in a few cracks around the USB port but nothing too bad or detrimental.
 

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  • 33
    I know there are thousands of people looking all over the web for a solution to their captivate's rear speaker cutting out and I am happy to report I have a solution for you! I searched all over these forums, all over google, and by the grace of God I somehow found this suggestion in a comment on a pointless YouTube video with around only a thousand views. But whatever! Here it is...

    • Take off the back casing of your phone (it's not too difficult; here are the instructions http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=740022)
    • Once you have the back all opened up you should see one lone screw remaining just to the left of the speaker
    • Loosen the screw

    That's it!!!!!!!! The guys' comment on YouTube said he noticed the screw was in so tight that that it was bending the circuit board and messing up the connection. Which makes sense to me because earlier I noticed that pushing down on the right side of the speaker (on the opposite side of the screw) seemed to help better than pushing anywhere else.

    So stop listening to all the threads that say "just push on the speaker" or "get it repaired" or "just deal with it." I had jammed stuff in behind my back cover that was so thick it started to bend the metal, but it was always just a temporary fix. No pressure was ever enough pressure to get the speaker consistently working. Who knew the answer would be less pressure? Or that it would be so simple...

    Now go fix your phone and enjoy!
    :):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)



    UPDATE: If you are still having problems, try mithileshpatel007's fix from page two of this thread. Sounds like people have had luck with his method too. He suggests repositioning the speaker ribbon. The ribbon is located on the far right and can be seen going from the bottom of the speaker housing to a small terminal that may be covered by a piece of blue tape. Everything is so tiny that it sort of all looks like one piece but what you can do is...
    • flip up a tiny black latch (bottom of the terminal)
    • reposition or remove + replace the ribbon (enters at the top of the terminal). There isn't much slack, but try to get it as far in there as possible

    PLEASE BE CAREFUL! The ribbon is tiny and pretty stiff and some people have reported problems just getting their phone open, much less playing around. Remember this is a tiny device made to do big things so it's not as durable as your GameBoy Color! :) Handle with care.
    9
    For those of you who do not have warranty or insurance, there is a fix for this.
    I just got done with re assembling the phone after a fix I performed. It is real easy to do.

    Things you need:
    -A screwdriver (whatever the size is when you open the back cover, the four screws you see, that size)
    -A small flat head screwdriver if you have one (not necessary but would help)
    -Patience and some common sense.

    Ok, to start off follow these steps http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=740022 to open the first 6 screws and then how to pop open the screen from the bezel(this is when a flat head screwdriver would be useful).
    (go just to the step till the fifth picture in that thread, no need to go beyond that opening things!)

    Now, you would see a screw on the left of the speaker. Now, other threads said that by loosening that screw the speaker would work. But, I did that and still had issues so I opened the phone like 4 times in total before I found out what it was. Now, notice that the speaker unit has a cable (orange colored) running into the main phone chip. It is connected there through which it functions. When you open that above mentioned thread to open the phone there is a picture showing to remove the that belt from the board. Follow that instructions, flip that tiny black clip up to remove the belt. In some cases there might be a blue sticker kind of thing on the belt, just take off that sticker. The problem seems that the belt is loosing contact which doesn't allow the speaker to get the sound input to put out sound through the speaker. So, take off the belt by flipping that switch and re insert it out there. Try to push it in properly or enough to align a white line on the belt and the chip. There is a white line to guide us there. That line should be totally straight when the belt is inserted appropriately. And now, flip that clip down and lock it. If you have loosened the screw left to the speaker, put it back in in normal force not excessive(no need to be more gentle here). You cannot leave it loose because it makes the whole unit move when it is loose eventually pulling off the belt from its place which causes the sound cut outs. The whole trick is to get the belt right in its place. So, make sure it is tight but not extra tight after you have managed to get the belt right. Put everything back together and now when you screw the last 6 screws again, the one in the top speaker corner affects the speaker unit, so don't push it too hard in. Just normal screwing. The rest should be done properly with normal force. This should solve it. I figured this out after opening the phone 4 times. And now playing songs since the past 6 hours non stop and its back in action again!

    For all this, i did put in the battery and start the phone when I had opened it and tried messing around and figured out what was killing the sound, so this should be the ultimate solution to it. There is nothing else that can be affecting it now.
    Most people must had faced this because they dropped their phones before which made the belt to move and hence the loose contacts inside. If not then, there are high chances that you bought it from someone or somewhere who had dropped it before!

    Well that's it! Also, don't freak out in having to open the phone. You should just go to the step till the fifth picture. Which is very easily achievable!

    Go, have fun with your WORKING speakers now! :)
    3
    Can somebody help me with getting the ribbon out?... I am not able to get the ribbon out :( ..

    Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

    I pulled the speaker/vibration component up from the right side after removing the screw. The component is attached to the mainboard by little tabs that snap into place. Pulling up from the right (top right as to not overly stress the ribbon) gently should dislodge the component. ....The ribbon is held in the seat by the little clip on the opposite end of where the ribbon goes in. Flip up the clip (it is hinged) gently using a fingernail or similar. That will free the ribbon. ..Then just reinsert the ribbon and keep slight pressure on it while pushing the clip back down into place.

    It worked for me on a few cappys.
    3
    The Foundling and our JOURNEY

    It was a dewy July morning in 2011 when I found this Captivate SGH-I896 laying in the grass. Poor thing...I had to find its owner. I went to the Rogers store, reluctantly putting the foundling in their hands. They asked me to wait and they searched. "'Nothing we can do. It's all yours."
    And so our JOURNEY began. (What is this lovely thing and how does it work?)
    Google...YouTube...more Google...and xda? I kept ending up at this xda site.
    I've been lurking here for nearly a year, so here I am - a new member...and a NOOB. Nope, I don't hate myself, in fact I'm quite proud of myself for learning so much about this android, how it works and best of all - fixing it.
    We've been through a lot together, from Froyo to Gingerbread, from bootloops and shutting down to just fine. Yesterday? I took my precious apart and fixed the speaker. It's not always a bad thing, to have a screw lose!
    A huge thank-you to all of you here at xda and guiding me on this incredible journey. (Who knows how far it will take me?) :victory:
    2
    Check back in a day or two. A couple hours of a fixed speaker doesn't impress me...been there done that. But I did fix mine tho.

    Sent from my SGH-I897 using xda premium