Audio problems after reset & restore

[Ambee47]

I reset my Galaxy Light (running Android 44.2) because when an incoming call arrived, the .m4a ring tone -- which had been playing perfectly for years -- cut off after no more than 1 second, followed by silence. I also rooted the phone for the first time before the reset so that I could install and run Titanium Backup Pro, which requires root. I did this so that I could restore everything after the reset (which didn't work fully, since some Google processes kept failing in an infinite loop).

But the Google automatic restore seemed to work fine, except that none of my audio files (a mix of .m4a and Flac and mp3 files) would play at all!

I downloaded and ran a little tool called Media Codec Info, which reported that all those codecs (and more) were present. So why whenever I try to play any audio file, whatever player I'm using reports an error to the effect that it "can't play that kind of file"?

I've tried resettinng to the factory defaults again without trying a Titanium restore (just the automatic Google restore), but it still won't play any audio file.

What gives, and how can I fix this? Thanks!

 

[lunatic59]

Can you get any audio from the phone? I'm wondering if your DAC was failing.

 

[Ambee47]

Can you get any audio from the phone? I'm wondering if your DAC was failing.

That was a good thought, but the pre-installed ring tones play fine.

 

[lunatic59]

Hmmm. Do you have the T399 or the T399N? The N is the only one that went to 4.4.2.

What method did you use to root? If you changes something in the system partition, you are going to have to re-flash the factory firmware to restore it. A reset won't work.

 

[Ambee47]

Hmmm. Do you have the T399 or the T399N? The N is the only one that went to 4.4.2.

Yes, I have the T399N.

What method did you use to root? If you changes something in the system partition, you are going to have to re-flash the factory firmware to restore it. A reset won't work.

I used Kingo Root, but I'm perfectly willing to do it a different way. What do you recommend?

I'm too much of a noob to know whether or not I changed anything in the system partition, I'm afraid. I certainly didn't do anything to it intentionally (that I know of).

Finally, where do I obtain the factory firmware? I'm sure I can find a guide telling me how to flash it, but I have no idea where to find it.

Thanks for your reply!

 

[lunatic59]

I always get confused with King Root and Kingo Root. One is generally okay and the other has some questions about it's security and/or effectiveness. In either case, I don't think either root by replacing or modifying any system files, but use known exploits for that particular version of Android.

Your firmware can be found at https://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/database/SGH-T399N/

There are two versions listed. I couldn't tell you what the difference is but the later version probably has a specific T-Mobile feature or patch already included. The instructions to flash are right there on the download page.

Just so you know, if you choose the "regular" download, it will be a throttled connection and download very slowly. It's the same file as the fast download but you don't have to pay for the privilege.

 

[Ambee47]

Thanks enormously, lunatic59! What a great guy you are, even if you are a lunatic!

You did a lot of leg work for me, and I greatly appreciate it!!

So, I used Odin to flash the firmware, which all worked perfectly. Unfortunately, while everything else on th phone worked fine, I still got the same error messages trying to play any mp3, m4a, or flac audio files.(Though for some reason .ogg files would play).

So I thought that perhaps the Google auto-restore might have restored something that was causing the glitch, so I did another hard reset and re-flash, then did NOT allow the restore. Sadly, the problem remains...

It's as if although the codecs are definitely available, the music players can't "see" them, or they're not "enabled" (and I've tried several different players, all of which claim they're able to play m4a and flac files).

I'm quite stumped!

 

[lunatic59]

Awww nuts. I was hoping that would fix it.

When you say *any* mp3 or m4a file, are these files you copied from a PC or downloaded directly to your phone? Most of the default ringtones are ogg files, so I would expect those to work if you do have any audio at all.

What happens when you click on this link?

http://www.stephaniequinn.com/Music/Canon.mp3

(don't critique the music, just see if it will play )

 

[Ambee47]

Awww nuts. I was hoping that would fix it.

When you say *any* mp3 or m4a file, are these files you copied from a PC or downloaded directly to your phone? Most of the default ringtones are ogg files, so I would expect those to work if you do have any audio at all.

What happens when you click on this link?

http://www.stephaniequinn.com/Music/Canon.mp3

(don't critique the music, just see if it will play )

Yes! That played fine! (And I liked the music, too)

 

[Ambee47]

Oh, and to answer your question, I transferred the music files to mt SD card via USB, which always worked fine in the past. And I tried copying one of the mp3 files from the SD into local storage, but it wouldn't play there, either.

 

[Ambee47]

I have to take off for an hour or two, so I'll check back later...

 

[lunatic59]

Okay, so your phone will play the mp3 files. If this problem began when you updated to 4.4.2, then the problem is one of file permissions. KitKat had very aggressive sandboxing for apps to access user files and I have to think that's where your problem lies.

FYI, Android sees your internal storage pretty much the same way it would an SD card. It's mount point is, afterall, /sdcard

Try taking an mp3 or m4a from your PC and copy it to the folder named 'ringtones' in the root of your sd card. If you don't have a folder named 'ringtones' create one and then copy the file. Then reboot your phone.

After it boots completely, let me know if that file shows up as a ringtone in settings>sound>ringtones (or whatever it calls it ... could be just tones).