Hey Danielle,

First, make sure that the ring/silent toggle on the top of the left edge of the phone is flipped to ring (not displaying a red dot). Then, go into your settings and click on Sounds. Under the "Ringer and Alerts" option, make sure that the "Change with Buttons" option is toggled to on. Try using the volume buttons again.

If this doesn't fix the problem, use the slider under the "Ringer and Alerts" to turn the volume all the way up. See if this allows it to make noises.

• If the buttons work after toggling the "Change with Buttons" option to on, your device is fixed!
• If the buttons still don't work but the screen's slider allows you to turn the volume up, you will probably need to replace the volume control cable.
• If after all of this, you still do not hear the ringer or alerts, let us know and we can troubleshoot further.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

Ok so, I was determined that the port did not need replacing (slipping it in and out of the dock port, i could see I was getting a few more milliseconds of the speaker...and after two more replies about cleaning, i have made another attempt!

I carefully took cotton from swab and nail tool to clean the long edges of the port pin inside the dock connector on the phone. Several gentle yet firm passes along this edge did the trick. It took determination (30 mins) but was successful!

Thank you for your support and tips!

Hi all

I tried all of the above but the thing that worked was very simple. I brought a can of compressed air from my local computer shop, I turned the phone off and blow out both the headset jack and the charging connection, turned the phone back on and all working again :-)

I did drop my phone in the snow which started my problems with the volume buttons but the symptoms were as described above.

Hope this helps

My phone is having trouble

Seems to be the mute button and the plus volume

It won't ring or make noise

Help!!

MIne is doing the same thing. If I change my ringtones, I can hear the short clip. The alarm sound works too.

However, the phone doesn't ring when someone calls or texts. The speakers won't play out loud on the ipod or youTube. But, if I have my headphones in everything works.

I've tried the switch on the side of the phone obviously.

I've tried the airplane mode thing, didn't work.

I've tried playing with the slider in the setting>sounds AND the "change with buttons."

Nothing is working.

I had my phone jail broken about 6 months ago, so now I can't take it in. WHat can i do?

my phone is doing the same thing. if i hit the volume up key it shows me a speaker with no positions underneath it

My iphone 4s is doing this too - I get sound plus slider control via headphones but not the side buttons for main speaker. Apple recommended a back up & then restore as new device via itunes. I did this & now get the speaker symbol but still no control. I was advised to check that my device woks via a docking station etc.... but do not have one to test. They advised that th headphone & docking/charging sockets collect dust etc.... & at times need to be cleaned out with a toth brush or similar. With your device on, you should be able to see a light inside your headphone socket once cleaned. Problem still not fixed having tried all of the above?????

Sounds very stupid but I found via google & Itunes help that if you try sucking (without getting wet) the headphone jack it will clear the fault. I tried this (looking silly at the same time), guess what - IT WORKS. Not sure if you will get the same results by using a hoover instead of sucking if you don't want to look silly.

i have an iphone 4 and the following things are wrong

• when clicking the volume + and - no on screen picture shows up and volume doesnt change

• the mute switch doesnt work when switched (buttons are allowed in settings)

• when putting volume up and down in settings volume goes up and down and everything can be heard

• when typing you cant hear the little tapping noises

• when previewing message tones and phone ring you can hear out load or in head phones

• When headphones are in the volume buttons and switch still dont work

I dont know what this means as the sound sometimes works but then doesnt work for things like when typing, does anyone know how to fix this?

I had no sound when receiving a imessage, text or email.

Here's how I got it fixed. I went into itunes. The volume was all the way down. I turened it up and all is right with the world again. If you think about it all these sounds are sync'ed in iTunes so...I think it's a bit of a needed fix by Apple, but you know-Apple will do what Apple wants- when Apple wants. Until then---------

I can't get any ringing volume I have to put people on loud speaker to talk to them and have no volume on my phone I've tried all suggested answers could someone please help its driving me crazy! Thanks Kim

Could this be a malfunctioning dock? as i mentioned earlier I have the simliar issue but my iphone got wet. in the beginning it thought it was on headphone mode but after sucking the air out of the headphone port it worked.

later it will only work with headphones, when i do the volume control it will ring, but +- Volume gives a picture of a speaker with no dashes underneath.

feels like its stuck in dock mode.

is there actually any solutions for this problem?

Try cleaning the headphone socket with a cotton bud and some surgical spirit, as well as cleaning the charging socket with a toothbrush. This worked for me.

I agree with Cathie, I tried everything, restarting it, wiping it, the lot. My phone would not show the volume bars and I would hear no sound when playing something.

From what I can gather the phone is thinking it is docked i.e. to a speaker of some kind and is getting confused. There is a sensor in the bottom of the dock which is supposed to sense if anything is connected. However if dust allows to gather at the bottom then this is where the issue starts to creep in. I had used a toothbrush before to clean the gap but when I used a toothpick I found there were large clumps of dust and fluff that came out, and hey presto it worked. This type of stuff isn't just you're loose fluff that blows around, this is stuff that might have been in there a long time and started clumping so when you clean it, make sure something comes out.

I have tried it all too.

The only noteworthy observation: when i remove the iphone 4s from the dock in playing mode (while playing), there is about 2 seconds with the volume control and sound, then it disappears and volume ceases. It is still playing though. If I pop in my headphones, the volume is there and the volume slider appears again.

This is definitely a software glitch. I hope to not have to update to new os6.

I have been using airport mode more regularly lately...I am thinking there may be a relation here.

I feel as though, a certain workflow is what caused this glitch and am trying various workflows to "kick it out of dock mode"

Anyone?

(my phone is NOT jailbroken)

i left the phone on silent for about an hour and then the phone started working again. hope this helps

I get Iphones with these symptoms all the time, the first thing I do is clean lint or any debris out of the charge-data port with a dental pic, then I clean the charge-data port with an alcohol soaked toothbrush while holding the phone upright so the excess alcohol cant find its way deeper inside the phone, if that doesn't fix it the charge data port gets replaced and takes care of it.

I have had 2 separate occasions when the side volume controls in the iPhone 4S do not function and can not get audio from the speakers when playing music, or receiving alerts, or calls.

When pressing the up or down volume buttons on the side of the phone a window with the speaker icon in the center would appear in the middle of the display screen. The bars beneath the speaker icon were missing and pressing the up or down volume buttons did NOT initiate the sound level bars beneath the speaker icon to appear.

Tried many suggestions from several forums and ONLY when I reseated the iPhone in a DOCK did the problem disappear. Apparently the connector pins at the bottom of the iPhone collect debrie over time and can cause electrical grounding that will cause this problem to occur.

Take note that using an iPhone USB cable to simulate the receiving end of a DOCK connector will not work. It must physically be reset into an actual DOCKING STATION.

To help eliminate this problem in the future clean the connector pins on your iPhone periodically.

slide keys problem,, volume up down key is not working thats why the ringer not working when somebdy calls while it works when u go straight to ringtones

I need help!! my iphone is still not working. Same condition with danielle

Try charging it an play music an then try to change the volume an see if that works

people don't Go crazy, i fond the real problem, its a dirty headphone jack, clean it with the phone is OFF, use a wet cotton ( alcohol) , clean it few times till it works, worked for me , thanks god good look!! !!Please Vote so other users can find this quickly

Agree with Cathie Cahill!

"Try cleaning the headphone socket with a cotton bud and some surgical spirit, as well as cleaning the charging socket with a toothbrush. This worked for me."

It really works!

Check for dirt in the dock connector by software :)

Here is how:

• Double tap the home button
• Move bottom menu all the way to the left (sound slider)
• Look for the Sound Selector (round button next to volume slider)
• Tap on Sound Selector
  • The choices should include "iPhone"
  • If you do see "Dock Connector" that's where the problem stems from

Solution:

Take a soft bristle toothbrush and clean the dock connector thoroughly.

Do not use any liquids or the liquid might shorten out signal and you might

have even more problems (a possibly dead iPhone).

Make sure you insert the soft bristles gently (no forcing!) and move it side to side

gently. Use some computer grade compressed air to clean out the now loose debris.

Repeat once and blow it out again.

By tapping on the round button as described above you should now see an 'iPhone'

choice. Tap on it, increase your volume in case it's all the way down and enjoy your

iPhone once again. 5 minutes well spent.

--Kai

hai helo can u help me

if u go to setting slide it onto airplane mode for a minute then slide it off. ur volume buttons n txt alert n ringer shud work now. mine does it all the time its so annoyn.