topic Re: Ringtone volume locked at 0 in Z Series

Ringtone volume locked at 0

p_vestjens — Mon, 10 Aug 2015 11:31:07 GMT

Somehow the volume of my Z3C got locked at 0. When I press the volume up button on the side, the slider is displayed but the volume is not increased. When I press the button to show all volume sliders, the Ringtone slider is grayed out, the other two not. Also the slider for Ringtone volume in Setting->Sound and notification is grayed out. So now I need to regularly check if messages have come in and phone calls are probably missed. How to resolve this?

The phone was updated to Android 5.1.1 over the weekend. May be that has something to do with it?

Best regards,

Patrick.

Re: Ringtone volume locked at 0

Thommo — Mon, 10 Aug 2015 11:43:19 GMT

Try performing a system repair using PC Companion as this will often fix issues - This will factory reset your phone and erase all data so best to backup before you begin

Switch off your phone and unplug from Pc (Hold volume up and power for around 10 seconds)
Start PC Companion and select Support zone then Update my phone/tablet then in Blue Repair my phone/tablet and follow the on screen instructions - When prompted connect your phone still switched off holding volume down or back button - This should start the repair or reformat process

If you are using Windows 8/8.1 or a 64bit operating system then adjust the settings for PC Companion and run in compatibility mode and chose Windows 7 or XP

Re: Ringtone volume locked at 0

Qatrium — Mon, 10 Aug 2015 11:51:58 GMT

Try go to Settings -> Apps -> All -> Audio settings -> Clear data and restart your phone.

Re: Ringtone volume locked at 0

p_vestjens — Mon, 10 Aug 2015 14:10:29 GMT

Thommo:

Thank you for your reaction but I'm not going to do that, for now. After a factory reset I will have to reconfigure my entire phone which will cost me a lot of time and I was hoping to avoid that. Furthermore, I've been reading several posts on this forum first and it seems that this is a standard answer to any problem so I'm not sure that this will actually do any good. I'll wait and see if any less intrusive solutions come by first.

Re: Ringtone volume locked at 0

p_vestjens — Mon, 10 Aug 2015 14:20:10 GMT

Quester:

Thank you for your suggestion. Unfortunately it did not make any difference.

I already tried wiping the entire cache partition but that did not help either.

Some more information: the slider behavior suggests that the sound policy None is selected. However, I cannot select sound policies anywhere. According to screenshots on the internet, there should be buttons underneath the sliders to select one of three sound policies but these are not there. Nor is the appropriate symbol shown in the status bar. See the screenshot below for my Audio settings screen (in Dutch but you'll recognize the symbols):

Re: Ringtone volume locked at 0

maurice282828 — Mon, 10 Aug 2015 15:19:13 GMT

This has also happened with my device since updating to 5.1.1. I find that when I have headphones plugged in ringer volume works correctly, but when the headphones are unplugged it often reverts back to zero and is locked there.

I tried a couple of things, that seem to work to varying levels, which might help:

1) Reboot the phone in safe mode - I did this and the ringer worked as it should in safe mode. It then worked correctly for a while in normal mode but reverted back, so it might not fix the issue.

2) I've found that when I come to unplug my headphones from the phone, if I press the volume key so the level of the ringer is displayed, and pull the headphones out when the volume level is on screen, it works correctly from then on. Not sure why, but if you use headphones with your device perhaps this might work?

Re: Ringtone volume locked at 0

Uliwooly — Mon, 10 Aug 2015 16:59:11 GMT

@maurice282828

It's a third party app creating this problem, since it works fine on safe mode, you have 3 options

* do nothing about it

* repair the phone with PCC

* uninstall apps by app until you find the culprit.

Re: Ringtone volume locked at 0

p_vestjens — Wed, 12 Aug 2015 12:42:11 GMT

Thank you all for your input.

Somehow the problem resolved itself. While demonstrating the problem to my wife when I got home on Monday, suddenly the volume slider was no longer grayed out and I was able to change the volume as usual. Unfortunately, I have no clue what made the change. I was going to try your suggestions in the evening but that was no longer necessary.

To some degree I can reproduce the problem by pressing the Volume Down once more after it has reached Vibration. Then the ringtone volume slider grays out again. The difference with before is that I now do see the Sound Profile icons. And when I press the Volume Up button again, it switches to vibration as it should. Also, I'm able to select different Sound Profiles.

So, thanks again and let's hope that the problem doesn't comeback by itself as well ...

Best regards,

Patrick.

PS: I'm glad I didn't do a system repair yet.

Re: Ringtone volume locked at 0

MisterMeeseeks — Tue, 13 Oct 2015 11:40:03 GMT

Hey, same problem here. No idea as what could have made your volume bottons work again?

Re: Ringtone volume locked at 0

p_vestjens — Wed, 14 Oct 2015 13:14:22 GMT

Do you get to see the Sound Profile icons when you press the buttons?

Re: Ringtone volume locked at 0

Zorricko44 — Fri, 23 Oct 2015 19:33:29 GMT

Solution:

This is caused by headphones screwing up volume.

1) Connect headphones (mine was blu-tooth)

2) Play Music

3) Adjust music volume (you will see the slider pop up) Hit the "BELL" symbol - now you can adjust your ringtone volume.

4) Switch back to music volume.. and don't ever change the ringtone volume while listening to music ever again!!!

You might be able to just plug in headphones and adjust it right away, but this worked for me.

Source: Been trying to figure it out for about a week after a workout in the gym, and I accidently changed my ringer volume to zero while trying to adjust my music volume..

Re: Ringtone volume locked at 0

VerseChorusCurs — Wed, 04 Nov 2015 10:26:24 GMT

Hmm. I had the same problem and fixed it as so:

- Press the volume up key: the volume won't increase but the notification will show

- Drag the volume slider up on the notification. Now you'll have volume!

Software bug perhaps?

Re: Ringtone volume locked at 0

bmb7 — Sat, 05 Dec 2015 12:25:33 GMT

VerseChorusCurse's suggestion worked for me.

The fact that it is impossible to change the ring volume when it is set to zero is definitely a software bug in my opinion.

I suspect that I might have set it to zero by mistake when changing the volume of sound on a manual video, even though that would be strange – sound on a video should be a completely different control; anyhow thanks for the suggestion!

Re: Ringtone volume locked at 0

SillyTechi3 — Sat, 19 Dec 2015 17:36:25 GMT

I have found that resetting the device works for me. I am sure that it is probably an after-effect of using headphones.

Re: Ringtone volume locked at 0

Brejonet — Thu, 14 Jan 2016 22:25:57 GMT

Hi. I have this problem all the time on the xperia Z ultra. It appears to be linked to media volume as I have this set to 0. Upon exiting a game or media app my ring volume will reset to 0 and will be greyed out.

My 'fix' is to turn up the volume using the side buttons once I finish a game. Sometimes even this does not work, however if I go home screen and try again it generally will at this point.

Re: Ringtone volume locked at 0

Mujtaba143 — Fri, 05 Feb 2016 12:11:03 GMT

I experienced same issue on my z1 today, I resolved it by pressing volume up button and then pressing bell icon on left most side. Grey bar turned on.

Re: Ringtone volume locked at 0

tHINKin — Fri, 12 Feb 2016 19:44:04 GMT

It works. By pressing volume up button and then press bell icon.

thank you..

Re: Ringtone volume locked at 0

lloydy26 — Mon, 29 Feb 2016 23:16:56 GMT

I believe it's to do with the smart connect app. I've only had this several weeks and it's bn fine. I had issue with ringer volume but cld adjust media sounds with side buttons. I noticed smart connect wasn't active so activated and works as normal. Probably can delete if not used

Re: Ringtone volume locked at 0

sebseb39 — Tue, 08 Mar 2016 08:51:10 GMT

Had the same problem and this solved it !

Re: Ringtone volume locked at 0

Mohammed-1983 — Fri, 22 Apr 2016 20:22:06 GMT

Hello this worked on my z2, press the volume button, then click on the bell icon that comes up, cycle through and it should be fixed, let me know if it works.