MPx220:It Never Ends

[Jerry Raia]

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water with your MPx220, think again! The latest issue cropping up is a dead mic. Here are the two situations, both of which I have experienced with my 1.3 ROM MPx220. A call comes in, you answer it, hear the caller perfectly and the caller can't hear you at all. The other, you place a call, the person answers, you hear them perfectly and they don't hear you at all. In both cases once this has happened no matter what you do, unmute button etc. the mic is dead until you restart the phone.

This not a case of a bad connection and it is outrageous that Motorola may have let this latest ROM (1.30) out the door with issues that appear to have been known in earlier ROM versions! I am particularly interested in people who have earlier ROM versions and have had this problem.

[HalM]

My first MPx220 had the earliest firmware. I exchanged it at BB only because of all the issues discussed here. My second phone had the .34X bios, worked great for a few weeks and then died. Replaced the SIM card and it was fine. but the way it died, it made me nervous. So I called Cingular and did their exchange for a v1.3 phone.

On the first boot up, the mic did not work!!! Powercycled and it has been fine ever since. However, I called the repair center after the initial boot failure to see if I should replace it. He asked why I would want to replace it so soon since it was now working. I said because of all the other known issues with the phone. He paused a monent looking up something on his computer, and replied that there are no known issues with the phone to Cingular's knowledge.

That denial of an issue is why I am unhappy with the phone. I can live with an occcasion power cycle if that is what is needed. Just don't tell me that there are no issues when there is a large community of users saying the opposite.

[thefunkunfaked]

never had mic problems.. never even had the "volume" problems everyone else talks about.. if anything, my volume is often too loud

[Mike Temporale]

never had mic problems.. never even had the "volume" problems everyone else talks about.. if anything, my volume is often too loud

What Firmware are you running? When did you get the phone?

[Jerry Raia]

There are a handful of people who had no problems with the original 325 ROM. It seems hard to believe but its true. :worried:

[PPCMD]

I haven't had this problem yet but I don't use it during the day so my mileage may be different than the others.

[furnituremaven]

:x I had this problem on my first mpx220 from BB and took it back for a new one. Unfortunately I took it back before the new firmware. Now my replacement is doing the same thing. I have only noticed it on outgoing calls...I can hear the person I called perfectly but they can't hear me at all. It is not an all-the-time problem. Sometimes the mic is working okay.

My other problem is the horrible hearing sound level.

I've got to find the time in my busy schedule to get my butt to BB and see about getting another replacement. It really makes me mad that this has taken up so much time and created so much stress already. Oh well, this too shall pass! Maybe after tomorrow's anticipated snowstorm I'll get to BB!

[Jerry Raia]

Welcome to the forum :) Are you with Cingular?

[maximus]

Perhaps it is a problem with the network ?

[Jerry Raia]

Yeah that thought occured to me, but then why would restarting the phone cure it?

[furnituremaven]

Yes, I'm with Cingular. I'm a newbie with them. For years I've been with Sprint PCS - had a Treo 600 most recently. I had been a PocetPC adict before with a few different PDAs but longed for a PDA/phone combo. I really didn't like the Treo format - it was too big and really more PDA than phone. I love the mpx220 clamshell format and its light weight. Now if only I could get the bugs out of it. I tried the Cingular website for a phone replacement but it keeps failing before I get through the process. I guess thier website is a little too busy tonight!

[Jerry Raia]

Call this number: (800) 801-1101. Make sure you tell then you are having problems with the phone. They have taken very good care of us so far :)

[thefunkunfaked]

never had mic problems.. never even had the "volume" problems everyone else talks about.. if anything, my volume is often too loud

What Firmware are you running? When did you get the phone?

.325, november 6

[Jerry Raia]

So far in this unscientific survey it looks like a 60/40 split with ~40% having experienced the problem. Even without taking usage into account (heavy vs. light call volume) it seems to me to be unacceptable.

[furnituremaven]

:D

I finally got the time to call Cingular today and they werr great. I should have my new mpx220 with the latest firmware build tomorrow. I'm anxious to see if I get one without any problems.

[Jerry Raia]

Good luck. Let us know :)

[Andrew]

I got a 1.3 ROM phone from a Cingular store a couple of weeks ago, it had the mic problem when making/receiving calls. I would reboot and the mic would work for about the next 12 hours.

I took the phone back and got another 1.3 ROM phone from the same store. Never had the mic problem with this phone and it hasn't been rebooted in the last 1.5 weeks. A friend has had his 1.3 ROM 220 for about 2 weeks and hasn't had the mic problem even once.

[Michael95GT]

Hmmm, I just had a thought!!(Yeah, I know it's rare!! :lol: ) I have the mic cut-out problem sparatically(Only noticed it on outgoing calls) Everyone with 1.30 software check to see if what your sticker under the battery says; Version #?

I orginally had a .325 version, it had all the other problems, but nothing with the mic. Did an XBM swap, everything is fixed/good except for the mic glitch.BUT my sticker says Ver: .325 H/W Ver: 6

Ya'll think maybe it's just the reflashed versions that are having the glitch?

Andrew, would you and your buddy please check the sticker under the battery and see if it says, .325 or 1.30?

Anyway, it was just a thought.

[Jerry Raia]

and a good thought, mine is 325 re flashed and I have had the problem.

[Andrew]

Hmmm, I just had a thought!!(Yeah, I know it's rare!! :lol: ) I have the mic cut-out problem sparatically(Only noticed it on outgoing calls) Everyone with 1.30 software check to see if what your sticker under the battery says; Version #?

The sticker on both is S/W V1.030 and H/W V6.0

[Michael95GT]

Hmmm, that what I kind of figured, that leads me to believe it might be a hardware/software conflict/problem. But at the same time it doesn't make sense that the Voice Recognition still works fine during these episodes :?

I really don't know what to do, call XBM and get another phone, hoping it'll be a "NEW" non-flashed version or wait for another Firmware revision, 1.70 or 1.90 and the "Self-Installer" thats supposedly in testing right now.

I use a B/T headset all the time, so it's isn't really an issue. I just can't stand it when I can't figure something out!!!! :2gunfire: :grinning devil:

[Andrew]

What's the Self-Installer version? I missed that.

[Michael95GT]

There is talk on several forums about a "Install" application that is supposedly in Beta testing now, that would will allow us to download and flash our phones with the latest Firmware ourselves, instead of having to swap them out or send them somwhere.

http://www.mpxgeek.com/ is one of the other sites it's being talked about on. I believe it's been mentioned in the forums here too.


GOD, I hope it's true.

[kmichalec]

and a good thought, mine is 325 re flashed and I have had the problem.

Mine is also version 325 reflashed, and I seem to be getting it more and more lately. Probably about 2-3 in the last week and half. Incoming and outgoing.

Anyone heard anything newer on this topic? The phone is almost starting to become unusable...

[Jerry Raia]

I actually haven't had the problem since my last hard reset about a month ago.

[kmichalec]

I actually haven't had the problem since my last hard reset about a month ago.

So you did a Hard Reset, and it seemed to cure it (at least so far it has)? A hard reset is resetting the phone back to it's out of box state using the "hold the blue button while powering on the phone" method, correct?

I was considering getting the Sprite Backup program. Maybe now is a good time to do it and then do the reset.
Question: If I use the backup program to back up my phone, will it backup the programs too, or will I have to reinstall those? Is there anything I shouldn't backup and just resync (I only sync my calendar and contacts, not email)?

Sorry, this is a little off the original topic. Maybe there's a thread that already discusses this that I could be pointed to?

[Jerry Raia]

So you did a Hard Reset, and it seemed to cure it (at least so far it has)? A hard reset is resetting the phone back to it's out of box state using the "hold the blue button while powering on the phone" method, correct?

That is correct.

Question: If I use the backup program to back up my phone, will it backup the programs too, or will I have to reinstall those? Is there anything I shouldn't backup and just resync (I only sync my calendar and contacts, not email)?

The backup program will back up everything but it does have options for not backing up certain areas. There are good arguments in this case to just hard reset and start over. Maybe others have a different view on this though. In my case I just started over.

Sorry, this is a little off the original topic. Maybe there's a thread that already discusses this that I could be pointed to?

I think every MPx220 thread ends up discussing hard resets. In fact I think threads about baking bread on cooking boards end up talking about hard reseting the MPx220. For example;

Marge, great bread recipe but after I made the loaf I had to hard reset my MPx200

See what I mean?

[jdecker]

Just bought 2 MPX220's from buy.com.

The sticker under the battery says S/W V1.030 and H/W V6.0

And I am with Cingular.

[Kris Kumar]

Question: If I use the backup program to back up my phone, will it backup the programs too, or will I have to reinstall those? Is there anything I shouldn't backup and just resync (I only sync my calendar and contacts, not email)?

The backup program will back up everything but it does have options for not backing up certain areas. There are good arguments in this case to just hard reset and start over. Maybe others have a different view on this though. In my case I just started over.

I agree with Jerry.

I recommend backups. But backup is only as good as when the backup was taken. Since you have a phone that is giving you problems. Taking a backup now and restoring it after the hard reset may not remove the problem. It is better to start fresh and reinstall apps. Painful but may work out better. And once you have a clean install. Backup the phone. So that it can be used later on. ;-)