yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] seromba:
yes I did.

UPDATE AND FIX:

So upon reviewing the aforementioned AOSP bug list thread, someone posted a link to the product forums (https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/nexus/kUrmrlzYJ_o[301-325]) and then a user by the name of Alexandre Macedo suggested pressing on the battery cover, just underneath the camera/flash.

So i tried it and it did in fact fix the microphone issue. I opened the phone again to see what could be the cause of the problem. From what I can tell, the vibrator motor needs to be pressed down to connect with the motherboard.

In all honesty, I do not understand why the vibrator motor should affect the nexus 5's microphone at all.

In addition, I noticed I need to now press and hold the battery cover at all times in order to use my microphone. I tried another battery cover (from my brother's nexus 5) and i still need to maintain the battery cover pressed down.

Anyone have any ideas how to fix this new yet less serious issue?
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] seromba:
FINAL UPDATE:

After applying manual pressure on different parts of the exposed motherboard, I isolated the pressure point to the left part of the connector that leads from USB Charging Port/Mic up to the motherboard.

I tried cleaning out the port and the connector and it doesn't seem to work without applying a bit of pressure on the connector. At this point I'm thinking it's just some wear and tear or a bit of malfunction on the motherboard port.

To fix the issue I ripped a small piece of my business card and used a bit of double sided 2mm tape to hold the piece of card between the connector and the chassis covering the motherboard. This pressure seems to be more than enough to establish a proper connection.

Alas the issue is fixed. Hopefully this will help someone else in the near future. Thanks everyone for reading at least. :P
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] jordanl68:
Hey man ! I think I'm having the same issue on my nexus 5, if I press on the back under the camera, it hears me, but if not the phone doesn't recognize my voice.

Speakerphone is okay, voice calls are working..

Can you help me ? Can you explain how should I fix that ?

Thank you a lot I'm desperated
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] seromba:
hey man sorry for the late reply, i just got home from vacation.

so what i did to fix it (sort of) was put a little thick piece of paper between the plastic that covers the motherboard (top half of the phone, above the battery) and the battery cover in order to apply the pressure needed to press down on the connector/port for the Charging USB Port Dock Connector Mic Flex Cable (check my original post for reference) .

I used a bit of double sided 2mm tape to hold the paper in place. I had to sort of guess where to put the paper but it's pretty easy if you just take a look at the motherboard underneath the aforementioned plastic cover.

keep in mind i still have issues here and there when the battery cover shifts a little and removes the required pressure, so it's not a full fix.

if you need pictures, don't hesitate to ask. i'll post them asap if you do. good luck!
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] newton23:
Having same issue exactly. I don't 'get' where exactly you put the piece of paper. Could you post pictures?

Thanks
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] seromba:
I used MS paint to specify exactly where I placed the piece of paper needed to apply pressure. As a precaution, the photo with hands does not belong to me, I simply used paint on a photo from the iFixit website.

The picture above shows the problem area (on my phone at least), which includes the USB charging port connector and the corresponding port on the motherboard.

This picture is an actual photo of my device. I used the 2mm double sided tape I had to affix the piece of paper on the white battery cover panel on the right. The red circle the left (the one on my actual device) is merely there to provide an idea of where you need to apply pressure on the phone in order to have the connector and port make a solid connection.

I started having issues with the battery cover getting a little bit loose because of the paper inside so I started using a tight case (a cheap $2 Chinese knockoff case i found on eBay) to keep the battery cover and paper intact.

Also keep in mind that the vibrator motor is right above the spot I mentioned for the piece of paper so if your phone begins to have a flaky vibration, the piece of paper may be too thick.

As I mentioned in previous posts, this is by no means a permanent fix to the issue. I've come to the conclusion that this issue is hardware related and most likely a problem with the motherboard. I absolutely love my nexus 5 and I can't think of another phone I would want instead, so this "fix" will have to do. If anyone else finds a better solution, please don't hesitate to let us know! :)
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] rehpot1:
Mine stopped working halfway through the day yesterday. Made calls all morning then zip.....pressing on the back of the phone works fine for speech input but is intolerable for phone conversation. Switching to speakerphone works fine, so I'm assuming its not an actual microphone problem. Doesn't record audio when video recording either. This sucks. Love this phone.
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] seromba:
Yeah I had a lot of trouble pinpointing the culprit for this issue since it appears to be hardware related but has hints of software relation. I haven't found any other thread or website with anything similar to what I have tried so I don't have much information.

Seems like the only solution to the problem is pressing the back of the phone around that flash area but no one seems to try opening up the phone. If you find out any info not mentioned in this thread, please post your results so we can find a fix for it.
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] newton23:
Thanks for that. I've put a small piece of thin cardboard with doublesided tape where you indicated. It is working... so far!

It's a pretty big workaround (in a way). Not sure what a more permanent solution would be. Hopefully this works for a while.
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] seromba:
I'm happy I could help. :)

I know it's kind of a hassle, I had to play with it a few times to get it to work again (either mic would give in and out or the vibrator motor wouldn't work).

Unfortunately for me, I dropped my phone and shattered the screen for the 2nd time and I decided it was enough money spent on my nexus 5... time to go check out the desolate page for the 2015 moto e.
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] rehpot1:
So I bought a nexus 6 and decided to try and fix the nexus 5 by sending back to have it repaired. Because I bought the phone from the google website I started by going to their website clicking on support, reading about booting into safe mode, blah blah blah. Ended by clicking on the chat with us button.

After a little Q and A, ended up talking on the phone with someone in support (google) and they told me it was out of warranty but that I could send it into LG for repair. They transferred me to LG. Was told that LG would look at it and contact me with repair options. LG sent me a prepaid FedEx airbill that week, I sent it to LG. They sent me an email quote of $50 to repair or $150 to replace with refurbished. I chose repair. It's working fantastic. Your results may vary, but I was impressed with the process and the result.
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] elmisaklk:
The Same Problem

So... which is the final solution for this problem (I have this exactly problem). Have I to open it? if so, could you send me a video or something to guide me please.:D
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Lex016:
It's works. Thank you!

I had the same problem and after teardown my device many times I tried this and works!!

Thanks! :)
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] JonMayer:
Thank you! I have to replace my battery on the phone and before I could put it in my mic stopped working. I was considering calling Google, but didn't want to be without my phone. This was holding off my new battery replacement. Now I should be able to fix both. Thanks for the knowledge, I know what to look for.
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] cxu:
Sorry to hear that you ended up needing to replace your Nexus 5 :( Pesky gravity. How is the Moto E working out for you?

This problem has come up recently for me during calls when I tilt my phone a certain way. No issues with voice recognition though. If you'd still bother to dredge this topic up, how did you find balance mic fix and vibration? I've been toying with the right size and thickness of the business card. Started off with a 9x3mm piece, which looked to fit about the red circle you had drawn--this worked but disabled the vibration. Tried pressing on the back of my battery cover, but vibration only worked for a couple seconds. Snipped it to 5x3mm and removed one ply from the card--vibration works but mic doesn't. I'm wondering if there's a certain way I should place it? Are there certain parts of the motherboard the card should or shouldn't touch (e.g. the metal surrounding the motor slot on the motherboard)? Been playing with this for the better part of 2 hours but don't know what considerations I should be making.

Much appreciated!!
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] ttillman:
Has anyone tried......

Has anyone tried to re-seat the the cable? I just did it to a co-workers N5 and it works just fine now.
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Annugon:
Thanks

Please Ttillman could you explain what re-seat mean?

I have plugg it off and on, but just got it "pressing the magic point" after the reconnection... I missed something?

And thanks seromba, for your help with this issue.

I wonder which is the "real" cause of this f** problem...
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] x9x9x9x9x9:
Son of a *****. I just jumped in and replaced the chargeport/microphone daughter board. Since I have a local parts wholesaler. Actually I am spoiled by this, I replaced the part before doing any research. Then when it didn't work I ended up here. Thank you.
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Lyndzee:
Thank you so much!!!! It worked!
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] sc0use:
worked for me thanks but nfc now doesn't work haha

Anyone got a permanent fix?
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] benvaj:
Anyone came across the permanent fix for this problem? I am already more than thankful for all the information this thread gave me. You saved my life(temporarily). Thanks in advance!
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Yarra valley:
You are an absolute legend Seromba!! Have had this issue for months and scouring the web with solutions, and alas, yours worked! Many thanks to you!
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] erikpigge:
This fix works absolutely great for my mic problem, but since applying the fix, my vibrate function doesn't work anymore. Anyone have an idea as to what caused this? Incorrect placement of the piece of paper maybe?
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Ev1L4o:
Can't make it work for me :(
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] ramiki:
Mic not working - all answers including hardware answers listed here - Fix Mic not working
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] rahul.r:
Hey!

I also have got the problem solved with the steps you provided. But, after the fix, vibrator is not working. Any idea how to solve that??

Regards,

Rahul
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] vincas2005:
my fix for the mic

Hi, new on here, found you after my mic stopped working yesterday.

Had sound issues for probably a year (people could not hear me well, sound wasn't as loud from speakers, speaker not loud). my phone has been dropped couple time so i figured one of speakers died. Also charging cables wouldn't seat in all the way, hence would come out easy is i handled the phone. So...

Took a good look at it and with various size needles pulled a bunch of dust/clothing fibers that have formed like 1/32 layer on the bottom of charging port. Also noticed the speaker holes clogged up with smth partially. Took battery cover off, bottom plastic piece (4 screws) lifted the board and pulled the mesh pieces off. Then with proper size needles and tooth brush cleaned all hole so i could see trough them. Pay attention how left side mesh piece and small cube looking rubber piece goes back in(hole to right in the mesh cover, hole up for rubber piece). P.S. also disconnected all connectors and between the boards and pressed them back in. Now everything works wonderful!!!!!

P.S. pressing on the back of the phone nor piece of paper method didn't work for me all the time. Vibrator would cut out or mic would work %70 of time.. Hope this helps someone.
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] snoopac19:
I had the same follow-up problem after doing the initial fix, where vibration stopped working. I think I've fixed it.

First, thanks seromba for the pictures. My initial problem was actually a bit different (my mic was fine, but my speaker would often cut out and I'd have to press on back cover to fix etc). I had tried very similar fixes, adding paper etc. But could not find the right pressure point until I came to this thread (which took forever cuz I searched speaker not mic :).

Anyhow, about vibrator, I tried a few things that didn't work. But eventually here's how I got it going.

So I'm attaching the picture seromba attached before, but with a few more circles. The blue circle shows where the vibrator motor is, which is within the back cover (you probably knew, but just in case). As you can see the green circle (in both parts of the image) is the contact points where the vibrator motor on cover has to attach to the main board.

I think what happens is, when you add the piece of paper or whatever, it creates a slight gap so that the contacts don't touch.

So things I tried:

1. Make the paper thinner. I had initially had a piece of paper folder 3 times, on top of some tape. Reduced it to 2, then to 1 fold. Still did not help. This might help for you, would be easiest.

2. On the main part of the phone, there's a plastic piece that you can take apart by removing 6 small screws (yellow circles in image...only 4 are showing, but I'm sure you can find remaining 2). Then, I placed the paper underneath that plastic, rather than on top (try to align it in the exact same spot where seromba had it on top). Then of course screw the plastic piece back on with 6 screws. The hope was, this would apply the appropriate pressure to the same point, but at the same time, it would not put any gap between the back case and the main board, affecting the vibration. I was pretty sure this would work and all proud of myself. It did not work.

3. So I kept the paper under the plastic. Mainly because I was too lazy to unscrew etc. Anyhow, figured if it's just because the contacts aren't touching (which I confirmed by pulling the motor/contacts (entire blue circle) out and pressing them against the main board contacts) I can do the same thing we did to fix the mic/speaker. So I put a small piece of paper under just the contacts part (green circle), with some tape, put it all back together, and everything seems to work.

Note when I first did it, the glue under the vibrator motor had dried, and so it was loose, and was making weird/loud vibration noises. Might be a nice mod :). But to fix that, I just put some tape under the whole thing to keep it more stable. Seems to be fine. But its only been a few hours. Let's see how long it lasts. I might need to find some better glue (anyone have any recommendations?).
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] schoebi_zh:
fix the source of the problem: the flex cable connection

I'm thinking of replacing the flex cable. Though I'm not sure if that helps in case the socket for the connectors is the problem.

Or does cleaning the contacts help? But how th clean such small connectors?
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] passdroid:
OP did change the flex cable, but it didn't help. It hints to a problem with the port on the Mainboard. Which seems odd, because everything else connected to this port (usb charging, status led, speaker) works just fine...

I had to change the screen (mic worked fine before) and after the reassembly I got the mic problem.

Unfortunately applying pressure to the cover or the flex cable connector doesn't work for me at all. I purchased a flexcable and I am waiting on the delivery now.

If that doesn't work I'm out of ideas or have to assume it is a mainboard problem which I cannot fix. :(
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] dilipv019:
Hi All,

It worked for me. Thank you everyone for your contribution and explaining the problem and solution with proper guidance and pictures to fix the same.

Thanks everyone once again
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] nikhilsaraf88:
Thanks buddy!! I was having the exact same problem today whole day. Only after multiple attempts I discovered that microphone was working on speaker mode. Before that I didn't even know what to Google. Your post made it really easy for me to "fix" the problem! Thanks again!!
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] snoopac19:
Hey passdroid, did you ever try the new flex cable?

Just a warning to everyone. I was having continued problems with mine. I'd stick a paper here to fix the speaker, and the mic would work less, so I'd try to adjust paper locations etc. While doing this, suddenly my screen stopped working. I actually initially thought I bricked it, but it turns out phone is on and all is working, but screen is off.

After taking it to a shop (didn't actually get it fixed yet), the guy there said he's seen it before and he'd have to re-solder the the port onto the main board ($50), and that the flex cable was an unlikely culprit. I don't have the soldering skills to do it myself.

So I'm wondering if a new flex cable has worked for anyone, or if I should put up the $50 to get the port re-attached.

I'm thinking what he said does make sense. Maybe. It could be that different pins are for different functions? So on the left side of the port, there's a pin for say the mic, but if you press down there too hard, it could causes the pin for the speaker to raise and become disconnected, etc? Then when I was fiddling, I must have pressed too hard at one side and disconnected the part that connects to the display?

Note, I was having a real hard time backing up anything. When I connected, Windows detected N5 fine, but couldn't see internal storage (probably because I have to pick "MPT" which I can't because I have no screen :), and also my SSH server wasn't on by default, and adb devices was coming up blank, etc). Eventually I got it to work by pressing down really really hard and the screen came on, and without letting go, I was able to launch my SSH server and grab my pictures that I hadn't backed up yet. I haven't been able to successfully get the screen working again since then, so I'm grateful I got in that once.

Anyway, anyone have experience changing out a port like this. It's nothing that someone with little soldering experience could do, right?
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jamie1990:
You described my issue with my nexus 5x exactly. I haven't found a solution either and am curious if you have. Please let me know as I too would hate to have to get a new phone. Thanks
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] roryjj:
Hi Have the same problem with the mic not working unless in speaker mode and I have tried your fix but to no avail all was fine until a recent upgrade.

anyone else found a cure to what must be a software bug. tried mic app too still no good.

Rrory
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] jaimini:
Fix with phone case

Thanks guys for the information on this issue.

Luckily I uses phone case so instead of placing paper inside my phone, I placed paper between my case and phone and issue is fixed without any vibration problem. :)

[IMG="phone case"]https://s3.postimg.org/g1yve2dr7/1471711076602528828854.jpg[/IMG]
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] EricBlade:
Not to necro a thread lol.. but..

I just received a N5 (used) that I'm replacing my old N5 (screen shattered) .. the mic didn't work. A couple of Google searches lead me to this thread, and I realized that the tip about pressing down below the microphone got at least Google Now to work. So, I set the phone down on a cloth to absorb some pressure on the screen, screen down, and then I pushed down really hard on the mic area, and then all the way around the phone.

It seems to be holding in a functional state, for at least the last 20 minutes or so.

My thoughts are that maybe the case is designed to (or does by accident?) hold that connector in place, and if the case isn't installed perfectly, then the phone doesn't work. :|

* edit: Now after about an hour, I can't make the mic work at all, by pressing or not.
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] mutlucan96:
Pressure fixes the mic issue. But I found out an interesting fact. Without applying anything, without cover, mic works too. When I put the cover on, mic doesn't work again. :rolleyes:
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] pfizzle1:
The right fix:

Just repaired one, the charge port fpc has 4-5 broken joints therefore causing the mic not to work. So it makes sense to apply pressure in that area for it to work. Basically what I did was resolder the joints, voila works.
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] santi1993:
how have u done that and which joints are that?

can u upload a procedure?
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] pfizzle1:
I don't have a camera hook up to my scope .

Here is the pic of the customers

(On IG at a2phonerepair) it's the newest post, I put it up last night

Sorry don't know how to upload pics.

As for procedure , you must have solder skills. Basically both anchor points, and 5 solder points were cracked due to weak joints. Added flux, leaded solder and touched up each point while strengthing the joint. I did it all the way across the FPC , both sides. It creates a better connection.
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] thefiqs:
Hi all,

I tried this method OP using, but no luck. I already changed the charging port, no luck.

In my case, if I use Sony's voice recorder from the store it is working like a charm. However it isn't working under calls, and google search and apps like messenger, skype.

But if I try to shout to the bottom left part, where the microphone should be, it is working, but voice recognized is very quiet.

Are there more than one mic's in the N5?

Anything I should try?
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] SeiFeR--7:
I have the same issue with my Nexus 5.

it started after I had replaced the PCB module containing the mic, charging port, etc.

When running a recording app, or the Google phone app, etc. I only get very low volume for anything recorded through the main mic.

I had replaced the PCB because of issue with the antenna attachment points.

I tried all possible fixes from applying pressure to sticking tape, factory resets, etc.

Now, yesterday I installed the unofficial Cyanogenmod 14.1 (based on Anrdoid 7.1) and all of a sudden the issue is somewhat resolved ...

Basically, I now get normal volume using recording apps, the phone apps still register sound very faintly ...

Now, this could mean I don't have a hardware issue either, but there must be a difference in the CM14.1 code causing this improvement.

I just reverted back to original stock Android 6.0.1 firmware (build M4B30X) and the issue has returned in full meaning that the low volume is back even in recording apps.

I'm not an expert at all, but this seems quite strange. Any advice on this anyone?
[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] ovu85:
i've just bought a used Nexus 5 with the microphone problem, i though the fix was easy so i've also ordered a charging port flex cable with mic... and the problem persisted.

After reading some posts i've opened the back cover, unscrewed the plastic that protects the motherboard and i've inserted a piece of folded paper, after i've tighten the phillips screws and give it a test. The mic worked fine and i've placed the back cover of the phone.

Hope it'll help someone!