iPhone internal speakers (or channels?)

[jsg123]

There seems to be 2 ways for the iPhone to pump out sound. The first one is for the phone itself for ringtones and the second one is for the SMS and iPod functions.

I learned this the hard way though and I think something is wrong with my unit. It actually rings, but the SMS/iPod sound doesn't work with the speakers. It works with earphones though. I thought it was just borked firmware so I restored it back to 1.1.1, downgraded to 1.0.2 and upgraded again to 1.1.1 just to check if its software related. When I still got the same result from downgraded 1.0.2, I knew it was something with the hardware.

Oh well

[Ranma]

I read something about somethin like this before. The solution involves a trimmed head of a cotton ear bud, some cleaning solution like alcohol, and hole where your earplugs go into.

[DarkCast]

When you can hear sounds from the earphones but not through the speakers, it is possible that the earphone switch is stuck or bent. A solution I have read before involves inserting and removing the earphone jacks several times. If that doesn't work, the switching mechanism is most probably bent or damaged.

[jsg123]

When you can hear sounds from the earphones but not through the speakers, it is possible that the earphone switch is stuck or bent. A solution I have read before involves inserting and removing the earphone jacks several times. If that doesn't work, the switching mechanism is most probably bent or damaged.

Eureka! This actually worked!

But it only lasted for a few minutes and it died again. The switching mechanism seems to be dying

[DarkCast]

Try it again. The switching mechanism is not an electronic switch. It's a thin piece of flat copper which flexes (either closing a circuit or opening it) when the earphone jack is inserted and springs back when the jack is pulled out. You can like it to an electrical outlet. If the copper is bent too much, it might no longer make or break the circuit. If it's just stuck, inserting and pulling out the jack might free it.

[jsg123]

This actually works but it died to me again a couple of times. I just find it annoying now that I have to do this.

Hrmm...would it be because of the recessed nature of the audio in? I haven't been using much of the iPhone as an iPod for a while because the Nano fills that up especially during the morning run. Thanks again for the tip!

[DarkCast]

It's not because the of the recessed nature of the Audio Out. If you would look into the hole, you would see some copper pieces sticking out. One of those are causing the problem. The most effective way to correct the problem involves opening up the device and manually repositioning one of those copper contacts, or replacing the Audio Out altogether.

[bagwis]

This happened to me a awhile ago. The solution worked but is there a way wherein this same problem wouldn't recur?