Bluetooth problems on phone calls only

[srs5694]

I took delivery of a Model 3 on March 30 of this year. At the time, it was running 2019.5.15, but within a day it had upgraded to 2019.8.4, then 2019.8.5, then 2019.12.1 a couple of days ago, and finally to 2019.12.1.1 today. Through all of this, I've had no problems with Bluetooth connections to my OnePlus 5t phone for media streaming; however, I have had problems with placing and receiving phone calls, and the problem has gotten worse with 2019.12.1 or 2019.12.1.1 (I'm not sure which).

I never tried making phone calls in the day or so I had 2019.5.15, but I did with 2019.8.x, with about a 50% success rate. Sometimes it would work fine, but other times I'd get very stuttery sound, as if the connection was cutting in and out about ten times per second. Initially, I was running Android 8.1 (LineageOS 15.1, to be precise); however, in part because I hoped to resolve this problem, I updated my phone to Android 9 (LineageOS 16) about two weeks ago. That update did not fix the problem, unfortunately, but it also did not make it any worse.

Since my car has updated to 2019.12.1 or 2019.12.1.1, though, the problem has gotten worse: Now, when I try to place a call, at best I'll hear a brief click, short series of clicks, or beep, and then I get silence. When receiving a call, the phone rings, I hear a ring tone over the Tesla's audio system, and the Tesla's screen shows an incoming call. I can answer the call via the Tesla's screen, but again, I get no audio. Worse than all of this, sometimes, on both incoming and outgoing calls, the Tesla's screen has gone completely blank a few times. This isn't guaranteed to happen, but it's happened at least four times to me today as I've been testing things.

Some of what I've tried, with no success:

• Adjusting volume settings on both the car and the phone
• De-pairing the phone and the car, rebooting both, and then re-pairing them
• Updating the phone to the very latest LineageOS build
• Using "developer mode" Android options to adjust every Bluetooth option I could find (AVRCP version, audio codec, audio sample rate, bits per sample, channel mode [stereo vs. mono], LDAC codec)
• Testing with both incoming and outgoing calls

This same phone works fine with a Bluetooth headset. On my previous car (a 2017 Chevy Volt), I had few problems, although on about 5% of the calls, I did experience the stuttering audio problem that kicked up to 50% frequency with the Tesla before it stopped working altogether.

I've gone to Tesla's Web site and used their "contact us" link to file a bug report (although there was no "bug report" option, so it may not get routed correctly).

Does anybody here have any other ideas of what I could do, short of replacing my phone or installing another Android version? (I'm really trying to avoid the pain of setting everything up again!)

 

[chargeshare]

Same problem with 2014 S85 / Pixel 2 XL and 2012 S85 / IPhone. Got the usual de-pair/repair run around from service. The 2012 was just in and there was some work done, hopefully that worked. If not... not sure.

 

[srs5694]

FWIW, I pulled out an LG V20 I have and it's working much better, even with Android 9 (an unofficial LineageOS 16 build). I'd prefer to use the OnePlus 5t, though, since it's a better phone in most respects.

 

[turok3000]

@srs5694 I saw your pointer to here from the phone key thread. Don't think I've tried any calls yet since upgrading to 2019.12.x, will test on my oneplus 5t with lineage-16.0 and let you know.

 

[turok3000]

@srs5694 I totally see what you mean. Trying to dial my voicemail results in a brief period of static followed by silence. Will have a look at adb logcat but I think it will be tricky because we don't have a working / non-working setup to compare with the same phone. I can also try some other phones in the house.

 

[srs5694]

Thanks for confirming this. At least I know it's not user error, then. Unfortunately, my LG V20 is proving to be unreliable in other ways (it keeps crashing ), so I'm back to the OnePlus 5t.

 

[ModelX]

I am now finding this today with my iPhone. Have rebooted, re-paired, etc.

 

[ModelX]

Got the new update last night and everything is fixed!

 

[srs5694]

Got the new update last night and everything is fixed!

Which version is that? The latest I see being available on TeslaFi is 2019.12.1.1, which is what's not working for me! If you've just updated to the same version, then it sounds like Tesla is struggling to support so many phone models, and a fix for one phone model may have broken another.

 

[ModelX]

I can’t look right now, as it is in for some other service as of a couple minutes ago, and access has been disabled. My guess it that it is as you are speculating. All I noticed is it first update lately didn’t list any fixes. The one last night showed dog mode as a change.

 

[ericem]

Same issue with my model 3 after 12.1.1 update!!

 

[srs5694]

Last night I received the 2019.12.1.2 update, so I tried again. Unfortunately, the problem persists.

 

[srs5694]

I did some more testing today. I installed the latest LineageOS, to no avail. I also tried installing an alternative dialler app and Google Hangouts dialler. Neither of those worked, either. Google Hangouts surprised me; I'd assumed that the problem was something quirky about how Bluetooth was interfacing with the phone's GSM data stream, but if Google Hangouts isn't doing that (which I now realize might not be the case), then the problem is something else -- maybe having both a microphone and speaker connected? I guess I'll do some more testing tomorrow. It's too late for me to think straight now....

 

[ericem]

I still have had no luck here either

 

[ericem]

It's our phones. Try enabling developer options and set Bluetooth codecs to SBC.

 

[srs5694]

It's our phones. Try enabling developer options and set Bluetooth codecs to SBC.

Unfortunately, that didn't work for me. (I'd tried it already, but just now tried it again.) What phone and OS are you running?

 

[ericem]

Running a Xiaomi Redmi note 7.

Paired a Samsung s9 after 12.1.2 and it worked perfectly.

I still have not solved my phone. Going to experiment more today.

 

[derichio02]

I also started experiencing this issue with my iPhone XS Max this morning has anyone found a solution?

 

[Arvoreen]

Hello I confirm this on a one plus 3 with lineageos 16 and a one plus one with lineageos 16.
Since 12.1.1 (came from 8.5) and now 12.1.2 I have those problems Bluetooth works for Music and as key card,although not so good as before some cracks from time 2 time and not unlocking as good as before. Before it unlocked with a 98% chance now a feeled 70%. But calling someone or when I get called, I have only silence...

I was this afternoon at a Tesla Service Center and the guy did some tests with the phones, but no change. But his phone a Samsung Galaxy worked without a problem... :-( He told if I woudl find out something he would transmit it to the engineers... So I will now head down to the garage and do some testing with ADB and Wireshark. Let's keep the fingers crossed that I find something.

 

[srs5694]

I also started experiencing this issue with my iPhone XS Max this morning has anyone found a solution?

I haven't heard of any solution, other than @ericem's suggestion a few posts back, which did not work for me.

I suggest filing bug reports with Tesla. Assuming they aren't totally dysfunctional, the more bug reports they get, the more likely they'll be to invest the time and effort required to fix it. Although the problem doesn't occur with all phones, the fact that it popped up with a Tesla software update on certain models of both Android and iOS devices suggests that a fix on the Tesla side should be possible.