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Philips 9050 Firmware Upgrade Kills BT Access to Samsung S20 FE

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Edited

Problem solved in post #3 below. I had to complete delete the ’s from the phone’s list of devices. It then paired and worked properly. So apparently, the update change something in the communications parameters.

I went in to Costco today to order a pair of Jabra EP 30’s to replace my Philips 9050’s which I don’t like for two reasons. The fatter HA no longer allows the receiver wire to lay flat against my head and the general program causes flanging and squealing when higher frequency music like a violin is played.

He said he’d get me a demo pair to try for a bit because he predicted I wouldn’t like them. It’s a plan, I say, and I’ll be able to check them out in 10 days.

But while there, he was look at my HA programming and the software says there is a firmware upgrade, shall we do it? Sure, I say. We get done, I drive home, I attempt to connect to my S20 FE… it sees the HA’s but won’t connect, which it used to do before the update.

So, I plugin my FlooCast dongle into my laptop, which supports LE audio and the HA’s connect and play just fine.

So now that I can’t even connect to my phone I no longer have access to the app. So while the phone/HA connection before was limited it is now zero, zilch, and I’m forced to buy a new phone… on the horizon anyway but now forced to the top of the heap.

A public service announcement for those with 9050’s and older phones that still connect.

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Hold up are you saying that the firmware update only supports ? So you can’t use protocol, what version of bluetooth did you use before? I’d uninstall the App and reinstall as well as rebooting your phone and see what happens.

I had previously used every combination of rebooting the phone, turning off and on, and turning the ’s on and off. Nothing would make them PAIR.

So I did as you suggested, twice. Reinstalling HearLink 2 forces the whole setup process again. Neither reinstall was successful… the app will not connect to the HA’s.

I wasn’t paying attention to the HA firmware version but I purchased the HA’s on Feb 25, and I think that would have been v 1.1. I found a Philips announcement about 1.2 firmware released March 22, this year, and I am guessing that’s the update I got. I’m going back to Costco tomorrow to check options and I’ll attempt to confirm firmware versions.

BT version for both phone and laptop have been the same throughout. I know the laptop doesn’t support LE; that’s why I bought the FlooCast.

At my current level of information, I’d say this update further killed backwards compatibility with older phones, and I say further because while I could previously stream, I did not have hands free and could not receive phone calls.

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@EagleHeart said:

make them PAIR

And also tried to delete all pairings from the hearing aids, and the hearing aid from the phone (in the Bluetooth menu)?
Switching them on, no matter how often you reboot would never pair them (in Bluetooth terminology) but they reconnect.

Eventually deletion and starting over would help? Put aids in pairing mode, find them in the phone and pair them.

@EagleHeart said:

used

The 1.2.1 upgrade went fine for me. It doesn’t kill . I just checked. The 9050s will only connect to one device at a time. I suggest turning off Bluetooth on your laptop, restart your aids and start again.

In reply to @Michael_Phonak

Thank you. Deleting the ’s out of the paired phone devices did the trick. Apparently the update created a different configuration no longer compatible with what was stored.

@EagleHeart said:

general program causes flanging and squealing when higher frequency music like a violin is played

You should be using the HiFi Music program for listening to music, but I’m sure the Philips fitting software has a setting for the flanging effect. It’s usually caused by as feedback management setting which can be adjusted.

I do use HiFi for music. But programs are not features, they are the means of dealing with the shortcomings of technology that can’t make the decision to switch on its own.

Interestingly, when I looked at the amplification diagrams for me HA’s, the higher frequencies were almost identical while the general program actually boosted frequencies somewhere in the 200-300 Hz range (can’t remember the exact frequency range emphasized. Struck me as odd that the flanging general setting was set this way.

@EagleHeart said:

But programs are not features, they are the means of dealing with the shortcomings of HA technology that can’t make the decision to switch on its own.

I didn’t say they were features.
If you want a which switches automatically you need to get Phonaks, which have “Autosense”.
I prefer manual program selection, because I know when I need to use specific programs. I tried Phonaks a few years ago, and found auto changing to be problematic.
The general program’s main function is to help you understand speech, so frequencies within the range of speech are amplified, whereas a music program will be more linear.
The flanging effect is, as I said before, due to the feedback management, which your fitter should adjust.

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