Galaxy S6 “unable to play during call” error when playing music or video, other issues

Hello Android community! We bring you today some #GalaxyS6 sound issues and their solutions. We hope you’ll find this article a good source of information for your own sound-related problem.

If you are looking for solutions to your own #Android issue, you can contact us by using the link provided at the bottom of this page.

When describing your issue, please be as detailed as possible so we can easily pinpoint a relevant solution. If you can, kindly include the exact error messages you are getting to give us an idea where to start. If you have already tried some troubleshooting steps before emailing us, make sure to mention them so we can skip them in our answers.

Below are specific topics we’re bringing for you today:

Problem 1: Galaxy S6 volume won’t increase unless phone is restarted

Unless i turn my phone off then on, i have a volume up problem that will not allow my turning up any volume setting dealing with sound. I have AVAST VIRUS SECURITY AND it says my phone is safe and not infected with any outside influence. So is my Galaxy S6 having an update hiccup because people have said that in question form. i u$ually can fix any problems that could cause variant glitches , but this one has me stumped. Any help would be appreciated. — Justagrowr

Solution: Hi Justagrowr. Unless you install apps from all over without checking whether they’re from a trusted developer, you can leave malware or virus infection out of the picture here. Instead, we want you to focus your troubleshooting on other important possible causes like a poorly-coded app, or software glitch. These are the usual reasons why notifications and alert sounds behave erratically from time to time. There can be other reasons apart from them of course, including a possible hardware issue but there’s really nothing much that you can do about them. If hardware is to blame, you’ll most likely end up sending the phone to Samsung or to an independent service center.

Refresh the system cache

For now, we want you to do the things that you can control. You can start by wiping the cache partition so your device can refresh the system cache. Sometimes, a corrupted system cache can lead to unexplained behaviors and it’s good if any software troubleshooting begins with a cache partition wipe. To do that, kindly follow these steps:

1. Turn off the device.
2. Press and hold the following three buttons at the same time: Volume Up key, Home key, and Power key.
3. When the phone vibrates, release the Power key but continue to press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key.
4. When the Android System Recovery screen appears, release the Volume Up and Home keys.
5. Press the Volume Down key to highlight wipe cache partition.
6. Press the Power key to select.
7. When the wipe cache partition is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
8. Press the Power key to restart the device.

Third party apps

Bad third apps can affect systems differently. With hundreds of thousands of apps available in the Play Store, it’s only a matter of time before anyone can come across an inferior one. Low quality apps are not only full of risks but they might also lead to other problems. To see if the volume issue you’re having is due to a bad third party app, you can restart the device to safe mode. In safe mode, the phone will only run pre-installed apps and services, leaving possible glitchy ones off. If the issue won’t occur while your phone is in safe mode, you can bet one of your apps is to blame.

Below are the steps on how to restart your S6 to safe mode:

1. Press and hold the Volume Down and Power keys for 20 to 30 seconds.
2. Once you see the Samsung logo, release the Power key immediately but continue pressing the Volume Down key.
3. Your phone should continue booting up and you will be prompted to unlock your phone as usual.
4. You will know if the phone successfully booted in safe mode if the text “Safe mode” is displayed at the lower-left corner of the screen.

If you think a third party app is problematic (because the phone’s volume function appears to work normally in safe mode) you must uninstall third party apps one by one and observe how the phone behaves after every uninstall. This sure is tedious but it’s the only way to identify the culprit.

Perform a factory reset

Should the phone continue its present course and the first two suggested procedures won’t change anything, you should consider wiping the phone clean with a factory reset. Here’s how to factory reset your S6:

1. Turn off your Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge.
2. Press and hold the Volume Up, Home and Power keys together.
3. When the device powers on and displays ‘Power on logo’, release all keys and the Android icon will appear on the screen.
4. Wait until the Android Recovery Screen appears after about 30 seconds.
5. Using the Volume Down key, highlight the option, ‘wipe data/factory reset’ and press the Power key to select it.
6. Press the Vol Down button again until the option ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted and then press the Power key to select it.
7. After the reset is complete, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and hit the Power key to restart the phone.

Don’t forget, factory reset will erase user data such as photos, videos, etc. Be sure you create a backup before a factory reset.

Send the phone in

Software troubleshooting can only do so much. If the volume continues to act erratically like what it’s doing right now and factory reset failed to fix it, the phone is most probably messed up at the hardware level. Be sure to contact Samsung for repair or replacement.

Problem 2: Galaxy S6 sound notifications not working

Hi. my issue is one of notification sounds. They don’t always happen or sound properly. Sometimes it’s just a funny little buzz with a nano-second of the sound. It predominantly happens with alerts I’ve set for Twitter and occasionally with the Temple Bell sound set on the WhatsApp account of a good friend. Also with emails, they just don’t make a sound at all on occasions.

It started about five months ago and probably after a system update. My carrier is 02 (UK) and my Android version is 7.0 (from software info in settings) but underneath there is info for kernel version and Knox version. It’s annoying as I’m missing some important messages/emails and alerts that I need to respond to. I hope this is enough info. Christopher Shelvey-Tutt

Solution: Hi Christopher. We have no way of knowing what is happening right now but the first

thing that we want you to try is to clear the data of BadgeProvider app. BadgeProvider is a system app that alerts users whenever there are changes or incoming notifications to some apps like new messages, new versions, new missed calls, etc. If this app is not well, it may cause notifications to work erratically. If you haven’t tried wiping an app’s data yet, here’s how it’s done:

1. Open the Settings menu either through your notification shade (drop-down) or through the Settings app in your app drawer.
2. Navigate down to “Apps”. This may be renamed to something like Applications or Application Manager in OEM skinned versions of Android 6 or 7.
3. Once in there, look for the application and tap it.
4. You’ll now see a list of stuff that gives you information about the app, including Storage, Permissions, Memory Use, and more. These are all clickable items. You’ll want to click on Storage.
5. You should now clearly see the Clear Cache and Clear Data buttons for the application.

If wiping the data of BadgeProvider app won’t help, do a factory reset.

Problem 3: Galaxy S6 “unable to play during call” error when playing music or video

Hey! I use a Samsung Galaxy S6 edge. The problem i’m facing is sometimes when i try to change my sound mode or simply play a music track or any media thing, an error pops up displaying “Unable to play during call.”Had this issue even with my previous regular S6. To solve this I have to restart my device and the error arrives again after few calls. Please help me fix this issue. — Omkar

Solution: Hi Omkar. Any phone is not designed to play any music when there’s an active call because the speaker can only handle one task at a time. The sound from the music app will simply remain muted as voice calling takes priority. When it comes to videos, your phone should still be able to run them but again, sound will be muted during calls. If your phone keeps showing “unable to play during call” error even when it’s not in a call at all, that’s a different story altogether. There must be something in the system, probably an app or operating system bug, that tells Android the device is currently in an active call session. To try and fix the problem, try wiping the cache and data of the Phone app you’re using. If you’re using a non-standard phone app, wipe its cache and data too.

Just like what we tell Christopher above, don’t hesitate to do a factory reset if the problem won’t stays.

 

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