How to fix Galaxy Note9 sound issue: volume decreases when using headset

Hello Android fans! Today’s troubleshooting article covers some of the issues reported for the #GalaxyNote9. As usual, the problems mentioned in this post are taken from some members of our community who reached out to us. If you can’t find a solution for your own Note9 problem in this post, continue to watch out for other upcoming posts.

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.

Problem #1: How to fix Galaxy Note9 sound issue: volume decreases when using headset

Hello. My Note 9 has a volume issue. When playing anything through wired headphones, when I try to max out the volume, the last 2 levels decreases the volume for some reason. The bass increases slightly but I can clearly hear the rest getting quieter and so it feels like the phones volume maxes out at 80%. I have tried uninstalling all the apps like equalisers and other music players doesn’t seem to help. I have also tried various headphones including the AKG included in the box. Thank you.

Solution: We haven’t heard of such issue being reported by other Galaxy Note9 users so we suggest that you treat it as an isolated case. There may be other users actually having the same problem as you but since the Note9 has only been recently released, others may yet to report the trouble. Since it’s impossible to know the real reason for your problem, you must exhaust all possible software troubleshooting. Below are the troubleshooting steps that you can do:

Forced reboot

Many bugs are fixed by simply restarting the system. Make sure to reboot your Note9 by doing the steps below:

Press and hold the Power + Volume Down buttons for approximately 10 seconds or until the device power cycles. Allow several seconds for the Maintenance Boot Mode screen to appear.
From the Maintenance Boot Mode screen, select Normal Boot. You can use the volume buttons to cycle through the available options and the lower left button (below the volume buttons) to select. Wait for up to 90 seconds for the reset to complete.

Clear the cache partition

A lot of different issues can occur due to a corrupted system cache. To ensure that your Note9 has a good system cache, follow the steps below on how to clear the cache partition.

Turn off the device.
Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
When the Android logo displays, release all three keys.
An ‘Installing system update’ message will show for 30 – 60 seconds before the Android system recovery menu options appear.
Press the Volume down key several times to highlight wipe cache partition.
Press Power key to select.
Press the Volume down key to highlight yes, them and press the Power key to select.
When the wipe cache partition is complete, Reboot system now is highlighted.
Press the Power key to restart the device.

Check for third party apps

We don’t have a list of your third party apps so we can’t fully eliminate the chance of a third party app causing the problem. There’s an easy way though to check. All you need to do is to boot your Note9 to safe mode. In this mode, all third party apps will be suspended, with only pre-installed apps allowed to run. If the problem is absent on safe mode, a third party app must be to blame.

To boot your phone to safe mode:

Turn the device off.
Press and hold the Power key past the model name screen appearing on the screen.
When SAMSUNG appears on the screen, release the Power key.
Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.
Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
When Safe mode appears in the bottom left corner of the screen, release the Volume down key.
Check for the problem.

To identify which of your apps is causing the trouble, you should boot the phone back to safe mode and follow these steps:

Boot to safe mode.
Check for the problem.
Once you’ve confirmed that a third party app is to blame, you can start uninstalling apps individually. We suggest that you begin with the most recent ones you added.
After you uninstall an app, restart the phone to normal mode and check for the problem.
If your Note9 is still problematic, repeat steps 1-4.

Clear all settings

Before you wipe the phone with factory reset, a less drastic troubleshooting step can be performed. This troubleshooting step calls for resetting all settings of the software. Here’s how it’s done:

From the Home screen, swipe up on an empty spot to open the Apps tray.
Tap General Management > Reset settings.
Tap Reset settings.
If you have set up a PIN, enter it.
Tap Reset settings. Once complete a confirmation window will appear.

Factory reset

Lastly, try to wipe your phone and return all software settings back to their defaults with a factory reset. This is an inevitable solution that you should do if all our suggestions above won’t help. To factory reset your Note9:

Create a backup of your data.
Turn off the device.
Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
When the green Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
Press the Volume down key several times to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset’.
Press Power button to select.
Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
Press the Power key to restart the device.

Repair

Doing a factory reset is the ultimate software troubleshooting that most Android users can do. If there’s no change after you factory reset the device, the problem is most probably beyond your ability to fix. There may be a hardware issue that causes the volume to behave erratically. Since there’s no way to know for sure what this problem might be, you want to let Samsung take care of it. If it’s a known hardware glitch, they’ll most likely suggest a unit replacement. Otherwise, repair may be attempted first. Either case will mean going to your local Samsung Service Center or calling their hotline. Make sure to do either one to resolve this problem.

Problem #2: Galaxy Note9 won’t allow sign in to Mobile Legends app

I can’t encode my email address and password when changing account in Mobile Legends using my Note 9. The keyboard is disappearing immediately when I tried to enter anything.

Solution: Most probably an app-specific bug. Try to restore the app to its default settings to see if it helps. Here’s how:

Open Settings app.
Tap Apps.
Tap on More settings at the upper right (three-dot icon).
Select Show system apps.
Find and tap your app.
Tap Storage.
Tap Clear Data button.
Restart your S9 and check for the problem.

Should wiping the app’s data won’t change anything, delete the said app then reinstall it.

As a final troubleshooting step, you can report the bug to its developer so they can look into it. Because Note9 is a recent addition to Samsung’s line of flagship devices, it’s possible that the game may not yet modified to make it fully compatible. You can raise the issue to the developer so they can update the current version and make it work with the new Note9.

Problem #3: How to fix a Galaxy Note9 that has non-working sensors after an update

My auto rotate, iris scanner and heart rate sensor is not working after an update 2 weeks ago in my note 9. please help. I did wipe my cache and also factory reset the phone but still my sensors won’t work. One time i updated my galaxy apps, while updating, my auto rotate starts working again but after all apps were updated then it goes back with problem.

Solution: We’ve seen this issue happen to a lot of Galaxy Note8 for the past few months and all of them point to the start of the problem after an update. This means that there may be a firmware coding glitch causing it. A problem like this can’t be fixed on your end. Apparently, nothing changed after factory resetting the device so there’s nothing much that you can do. We suggest that you visit your local Samsung store or service center so they can help you with it. Devices affected by this bug will most likely end up with a replacement so be sure to talk to your local Samsung rep.