Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G (T-Mobile T769) Phone speaker stopped working

I have a year old Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G (T-Mobile model T-769) with Android 4.04.

I paid for, downloaded, and installed SoundAbout Pro this morning.

Now, I cannot get the phone calls to play through the earpiece; it totally locks up and freezes the phone, with a "Sound About has stopped working" popup.

I read through this forum, including:
https://soundabout.forumotion.com/t13-main-speaker-ear-speaker-and-or-microphone-not-working
https://soundabout.forumotion.com/t54-samsung-galaxy-s3-call-issues
and https://soundabout.forumotion.com/t32-actual-phone-calls-not-coming-through
and followed the instructions posted there with no success.

As directed above, I tried to direct music to the earpiece, and the phone locks up again, with the "SoundAbout has stopped working" error. I unchecked "Wired headset detection" and rebooted as instructed, and a test incoming phone call directed to the earpiece locked up, again with the "SoundAbout" error.

In order to hear an incoming phone call I must quickly manually click on "speaker" which works and plays the call through the speaker (obviously). If I turn off the speaker to go back to earpiece there is either no sound or the phone locks up.

I am using "TrustGo" as my primary Android security software - could this be an issue?

Would one of the newer beta version be a good choice under this circumstance?

Any suggestions to get voice calls through the earpiece will be appreciated.

Thank you!

I found your crash report. For now, go into "Notification behavior", then "Caller Notification behavior" and turn off the "Speak Caller ID" setting.

Thank you for your prompt response.

I went to "Notification behavior", then "Caller Notification behavior" and turned off the "Speak Caller ID" setting as instructed.

"Phone call audio" is set to earpiece.

I rebooted the phone, and then called it from a landline. Nothing from the earpiece, but then clicking on "speaker" plays the incoming phone audio through the speaker. Turning off the speaker,the earpiece is silent (volume is all the way up). Switching SoundABout to play incoming phone calls through "speaker" plays them fine through the speaker.

Just as a test, I tried (as previously) switching "Media Audio" to earpiece, and playing a recorded selection. It locked up the phone again. Resetting SoundAbout to "speaker", and it played fine through the speaker.

If I cannot resolve the phone-earpiece problem, I guess that I will just leave the phone set to "speaker".

BTW, earlier today I went to a T-Mobile company store (not an agency shop), and an employee who claimed to be technically savvy instructed me to wipe out everything on my phone and reset it to "factory original", and then my earpiece should work fine with incoming calls. He was "pretty sure" that it was a software problem somewhere. I am somewhat suspicious of people in stores who call themselves "experts" as more often than not, they are not experts.


Thank you again for your assistance

Did you install SoundAbout because the earpiece was not working previously?

You read the thread about some phones "thinking" that a headset is plugged in when it is not, so I assume you have tried going to the "Wired Headset behavior" section, un-checking the "Wired headset detection" setting and restarting the phone?

Sometimes those factory resets can work.  It is a pain because you have to redo your home screen setup.

The earpiece is the last audio output in the order of possible outputs  Since all other outputs need to be off for the audio to get to the earpiece (and the earpiece is not working) ,then there is nowhere for the audio to go which is why the phone is freezing.

Thank you again for your fast response.

The earpiece started to intermittently fail a few weeks ago, sometimes surprising me when it does work when receiving a call.

I did do as another thread suggested and unchecked the "Wired headset detection" and rebooted the phone, but I will try it again.

I am doing it again right now. .. It seems to have worked this time, I am getting phone sound from the earpiece.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH for an OUTSTANDING PRODUCT and your great support!

OK, great. Thanks.

Phone just stopped working again through the earpiece.
It worked about 1/2 hour ago, and now I have to go to Speaker to hear or make a voice call.

Phone call audio set on EARPIECE

Wired Headset Detection OFF (unchecked and gray)

Media Audio - Speaker

Dock Behavior - everything off

Bluetooth auto enabled - works fine in car

NOT speaking caller ID

Should I just live with the SPEAKER for phone calls?

Phone call audio can be on "Let app decide" as it will default to what ever is available and end up using Earpiece anyway (if it is working).

Media Audio can also be on "Let app decide".

I seems like there is some loose connection with your earpiece. It seems to randomly work like it is connecting and disconnecting when you move the phone around.