Continuing and growing issue; Galaxy A12 Microphone Issues

[nwgeorgia1]

I am opening up this new message just to revive an existing message that is errantly marked as "Solved", even though the solution that is referenced clearly states that it is not solved. This problem centers around one of the two microphones within the Galaxy A12, mic 1 to be specific, that is no longer working. A growing number of people are saying the same thing has happened with them, which gives indication that something along the lines of a firmware upgrade or something of that nature is creating a problem. 

This is a link to the existing still-ongoing discussion concerning this problem, but which is errant... 

[HKG88]

Thanks for that. In addition, I found this YouTube video helpful:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCESJtcrmuI&t=7s

However, I fixed my Mic1 problem today without having to replace the whole Charging Port Board. I'm in Hong Kong this week, where I found I could pick up a replacement  board for HKD 14 (<USD2) except they were closed today for public holiday. Instead I went to a street-side phone repair 'shop' in Sham Shui Po where they opened the phone and replaced the mic transistor (?) only, as I watched. Took 10 mins, cost HKD 200 (USD25) and it's fixed. Appeared to be a known problem: no messing about, they just opened the phone, replaced that tiny part and all good.

Will try to post a pic highlighting the part in question, but as easy to replace the whole board if you don't have a cheap phone repair guy to help you out.

[nwgeorgia1]

Interesting. So, they go down to the component level and actually replace the source of failure... the transistor. That's good to know. I have ordered a replacement board on eBay, which came out to just over $9 USD, including shipping. I will have to open the phone and replace the board myself. But I will follow the instructions given in the previous Youtube video that I sent. I have done something similar to this one time previously when I had a phone where the battery started to swell. I bought a replacement battery and had to go through a very similar level of effort to get inside the phone and replace it.

Thank you for sending those details. Very good to know. Obviously, there is some issue in that there are frequent failures involving this particular transistor, as those guys knew straight away what was needed to resolve the problem.

[nwgeorgia1]

Yes, replying to my own message. I ordered a replacement board on eBay and followed the steps given in the Youtube video (very well done video) and my phone is now working correctly.

I still think it is "interesting", at the very least, that there is such a high number of failures of this very part of the phone. One other person pointed out that a specific transistor was replaced on his phone, and that he was told that this is a frequent problem. It would be good to know what is causing such a high number of failures.

[nwgeorgia1]

OK... well, doggone it... Let me just take everything back. So, I swapped out that board. The microphone is now working properly. But guess what..... Now my media speaker isn't working. I can see that this blasted thing has a faulty headphone jack. I can insert a headphone connector and push it around a bit and I can get little blips of sound to come out of my media speaker. I swear... I guess they sent me a faulty replacement board. Unbelievable.

[HKG88]

What was your source on eBay? Will they send a replacement?

[nwgeorgia1]

I messaged the seller, explaining the situation, and they responded (quickly), saying they are sending a replacement.

I bought the card from this eBay listing:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/334915950320?mkevt=1&mkpid=0&emsid=e11051.m43.l1123&mkcid=7&ch=osgood&euid=...

[Jfceklosky]

Glad to hear they are sending a replacement.

I ordered mine from the same place.

[nwgeorgia1]

A mistake I made after installing the new board was to test the microphone, finding that it now works, and saying "Woo Hoo!! It is fixed!!", only to find out a couple of hours later that my media speaker would not work. That was a major let-down. I did a bit of online lookups, messed around with it a bit, and found that by inserting a headphone connector into the jack and gently manipulating it back and forth, I could get the sound to blip in and out of the speaker. I was glad to see that the seller replied so quickly and said they were sending a replacement. I'll post an update if/when it arrives and I am able to get it installed and tested.

[nwgeorgia1]

Just an update; I did receive the second board/replacement for the first one received where the external speaker did not work. I've just finished swapping it out and... knock on wood... it seems that everything is working correctly. I've tested out both mic1 and mic2 (mic2 was always working... but I tested it just to be sure) and I made sure that the media/external speaker is working.

I will be honest and say that I'm hesitant to plug in headphones or earbuds, just to avoid potentially causing an issue. I'll just hold off on that for the time being. I'm kinda enjoying my phone actually working correctly again. 🙂

[DonBailey]

Hi All,

I am glad to see/hear that you are all progressing with the DIY option. I managed to fix mine as well, reading the posts ordered 2 piece straight away, hoping at least one will he working fine. Touch wood the first I installed worked as a charm with the headphone as well so, so far so good. Since I had 2 phone with the same issue, both fixed now. My supplier was mobspares.com (China) it cost me €15 for the 2 incl. shipping and took 15 days to land, but all good so far.