Sound to quiet to hear

[foofang]

Recently I was getting problems with the battery not holding a whole charge so I updated the firmware thinking this might help.

Around the same time as adding the firmware the sound stopped working. When I play music I can just about hear something, but its so quiet that I can bearly make out whats being played. Changing the volume shows up on the screen but makes no difference to the sound.

The jack doesnt seem to be loose and moving it around makes no difference to the sound, and I cant see anything inside the socket that might jam it up.

Ive since reformatted the drive and tried the recovery software on creative website neither has helped.

As for the battery (I dont have an a/c charger, I use the PC) the charging symbol appears on the screen when plugged in and the yellow lightening flashes. Ive left it overnight and in the morning the charge symbol will be full but never lasts more than an hour or so.

Also if I fully charge it then leave it unplugged, the battery slowly drains despite being turned off.

Ive contacted Creative but they have asked for £70 ($140) to fix it, so any help would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[CrowdAds]

[kernalk]

Dude, not shure about your battery probs but as for the quiet sound are u using european
firmware, [are you in uk ?] if your using ie 162.02e download usa firmware without the e for uk, the uk version is limited in sound level cause we cant be trusted to turn are
players down so we dont cause ear deafness lol, hope this solves your sound problem dude !!!

[BobbyRS]

Yeah, it sounds like you just need a new battery. Have you tried to reload/install the latest firmware to see if the sound issue changes?

Also, have you tried different headphones to see if the volume issue is the same when using them?

The European firmware does limit the volume, but it doesn't sound related due to the volume being so low and non-adjustable.

[foofang]

Thanks for your replies guys. Yeah Im in the UK, and Ive been using the european version of the firmware.

Ive just tried reformatting the hard drive again and then reinstalling the firmware but still no joy.

Ive noticed that as i put the headphones into the socket the sound switches from one ear to the other, but when fully in its only playing on the right side. Ive tried other headphones (different makes and models) and get the same results.

What I thought was odd is that you can still hear the faint music even with volume down to zero.

Ive read others peoples sound problems on this site and someone suggested that their socket might be loose and need the connections redoing, so im gunna have a go at taking it apart and having a look.

Any other suggestions would be great. Thanks

[BobbyRS]

Ive noticed that as i put the headphones into the socket the sound switches from one ear to the other, but when fully in its only playing on the right side. Ive tried other headphones (different makes and models) and get the same results.

What I thought was odd is that you can still hear the faint music even with volume down to zero.

Yeah, it definitely sounds like a hardware/jack issue now. Try using the following guide and video to open up your ZVM to take a better look at the jack. Perhaps it is loose or a broken solder point.

Here is the ABI disassembly guide.
Here is a video of a disassembly.

[foofang]

okay... Ive had a go at taking it apart but the jack was fine, no movement at all, the connections all looked good as well.

Put all together again and of course have the same problem with the sound.

Strangely the battery seems to be holding a charge better recently! Which just makes the no sound problem even more annoying.

[BobbyRS]

Hmmmm. perhaps the jack is just going bad. Perhaps try resoldering or replacing the jack will correct the problem.

Thread of interest.

[foofang]

Ive had a look at the thread... and finally borrowed a soldering iron.... resoldered the connections.... and it didnt work! Seems there was no problem with the connections and the sound problems continue.

I got to the point where I was gunna buy the new X-fi but the reviews arent that promising. Reviews on this website and others say if you have a vision:m sick with it until the next ones come out.

So Ive looked at ebay for a faulty vision:m for parts to swop over the jack, but I'm relectant to pay £40-50 ($90) for a second-hand, faulty player that I dont know will fix the problem (especially as they are new for £100 [$180] on play.com)

Im all out of ideas, so if anyone has any suggestions they would be MORE than welcome!

Thanks

[werezenwolf]

I realize this is going to be kinda out there, but... is it possible that you are plugging the headphones into the line out jack on the dongle? Please forgive my question, but occam's razor and all that

(the only reason I even ask is that my son did this)

[foofang]

Ha... wouldn't it be funny if I had!!! Ive spent months taking it apart and putting it together and taking apart and putting it together again. Installing new firmware, old firmware, using soldering irons and all sorts.

But unfortunately no. Believe me, although I would have felt pretty stupid, it would have been a MASSIVE relief if I had, I'm desperate to get it working again!

Thanks for your suggestion though. If, as I said above, you or anyone has any more suggestions please let me know. Thanks guys

[BobbyRS]

Well..... perhaps the jack is bad and needs replaced and not just resoldered (maybe even a amp issue due to the low sound)..... or perhaps their is a more serios issue within the SoC.

[Teafa]

Hey guyz ive got a similar problem....its in the sound socket of my zen vision w..when i connect the headsets the sound partly appear..ive sent it to the creative thingy and they have told me that we will change the whole motherboard which costs 800 LE (egyptains pounds)...which is to expensive...if anyone has an idea plz plz help........and foofang my friend has the same problem of urs but in a ipod!!

[BobbyRS]

Originally Posted by Teafa

Hey guyz ive got a similar problem....its in the sound socket of my zen vision w..when i connect the headsets the sound partly appear..ive sent it to the creative thingy and they have told me that we will change the whole motherboard which costs 800 LE (egyptains pounds)...which is to expensive...if anyone has an idea plz plz help........and foofang my friend has the same problem of urs but in a ipod!!

Welcome Teafa. It's your call really. You could take a chance and have Creative send the ZVW back and you find someone else to resolder the headphone jack back onto the mainboard and take a chance of there being something else wrong. Creative did say they needed to replace the entire mainboard, so have you asked them exactly why they need to do this if it is just the headphone jack that is bad? They may tell you that something in addition to the headphone jack is bad.

As for the IPod..... I would say tell him to look into buying another DAP. You know....any-thing-but-ipod.

[Teafa]

Thx bobby for the reply ....but im sure the problem is in the sound socket cuz when i press on it hard it works...i have to keep my finger on it u know...but when i remove my finger or any pressure the sound is heared partly..AND the zvw closes weird :S...n creative here in egypt isnt that good they just want to changed the board they dont want to bother themselves fixing it i guess im not sure but ill try Radioshack...n if it didnt work ill try soldering it myself after watchin the disassembeling video but its a zvm one!!!....oh wait a minute its same like http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum...ad.php?t=25579 that problem ill try soldering it and ill contact u k!

[BobbyRS]

No problem. Sounds like you got a handle on the problem. Fom what you've explained, re-soldering sounds like the solution. Good luck and let us know!