[Q] Alarm Clock goes off for one second, then stops - Galaxy S III Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hello everyone
My phone appears to have some quite bizarre problem. It's to do with the alarm clock. Regardless of what time I set it, it plays maybe a second of the song I told it to play and then turns off. Naturally, that's not nearly enough to wake me up, so I sleep through that. That's the basic problem.
I then decided to see if the problem persists if I am fully awake and I set the alarm to a minute from now. Lo and behold, it worked flawlessly. Same song and everything.
Another test was had. I thought that maybe the alarm clock crashes and needs to recover to properly work. So I set a second alarm. One was set for 6.59am, the next for 7.00am. The idea was that it would crash at 6.59 and would work properly at 7. That worked for one day.
Today, the alarm clock stopped twice after a second.
So obviously, something is wrong here. I have no idea what is going on and I have no idea how to fix it. Any help would be appreciated. I've now cleared all alarm data and re-set the alarm. But I would really like to know that I will actually wake up when I should.
Thank you for your help.

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Have you tried a different song? Is the song on the internal memory or on a microsd? What ROM?

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I'm running Android Version 4.1.2, the song is on the memory card in the directory \music.
I have tried a different song, to no avail. And it does sometimes work with the one song I'm using.

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Try copying the song to the internal memory, also try resetting the Clock's data from System Settings > Application > Application Manager, find the clock there and delete its data.

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wststreet said:
Try copying the song to the internal memory, also try resetting the Clock's data from System Settings > Application > Application Manager, find the clock there and delete its data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How can I copy a file to internal memory? I have never had to do this, so I'm sorry if I'm sounding a bit daft.

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Well, when you connect your phone to your PC (assuming you have windows) you'll see Phone Memory and SD Card, put your song in the Phone Memory

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I'm sorry to be such a bother, but I don't see it. All I see is this: http://i.imgur.com/G7iTE4j.jpg
Would I maybe need root access?

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That's the phone memory, so it's already as I suggested. I'm sorry, I have no more ideas. Maybe see if other music formats work better. I'm assuming you use mp3? Try wav. It should work with any supported format though, this isn't a solution as much as it is a workaround. I'm sorry I can't help more, hope you find a way, good luck.

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I have indeed been using an MP3-file. And I've cleared all the memory, re-set the alarms and it happened again today. One second of alarm, then silence.
I'll try do a WAV now. I have my doubts that it will work, seeing as it does work with an MP3 occasionally, but it's worth a shot.
Also, don't worry. You've been a really great help. I greatly appreciate it. So: Thank you for all the help, even if it didn't work. While you've not found the one way that works, you've found a number that didn't. And that gives us something to work on.

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Gentlemen, I have fixed it. Here's what I did: I got Tasker and I followed a handy guide to make a badass alarmclock: Have a Guide!
But because I'm too lazy to reset my alarm every day, I made multiple profiles. One - in my case - was for Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Then I added a second condition, adding 7am as the time. Tuesday and Thursday, did the same, but set the time to 8am.
It's a bit more difficult than just setting a regular alarm, but you're not running the risk of the alarm failing.

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I'm having this problem too with the alarm, and i'm being looking for answers as well...
One thing new, I found that the alarm problem stop if I disable the lock-screen.
I try for some days, and none of the alarms stopped.
Today I enable the stock lock-screen and my first alarm stop - just work for 1 second... like I thought.
I try something new now, enable the lock-screen but not in the simplest finger mode, I configured it to swipe code.
Let's see what happens.
I'll be back with feedback.
BTW, I'm with a Samsung Galaxy SII
PMoto

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Any progress made? I have the same problem on my galaxy note. Havent really tried to fix it, but it looks like the same problem. Can't remember when it started. But when the alarm goes of, it plays my selected alarm for under a second, and then goes silent.

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Well, yes and no.
I mean, I could not find a reason for this neither was able to get an answer...
But I get a workaround, you need to disable the stock lock-screen.
You will have the alarm work well with no issues if you disable it. You can use any other lock-screen, like "Go Locker", "C Locker", "Widget Locker", and so on, except the stock one.
Try and feedback.
I think this is an Android JB bug...
PMoto

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Will try your workaround. Strange thing here is that it works fine when I test it by setting the alarm 1 minute into the future and lock the phone. Goes off and works like it's supposed to. But every morning, everything else is the same, just set the alarm a few hours ahead instead of a minute, it will stop after half a sec. Deep sleep state or something (on the phone that is)? I don't know how it works.

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please,
the alarm does not work with the phone off?

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bo1e said:
Will try your workaround. Strange thing here is that it works fine when I test it by setting the alarm 1 minute into the future and lock the phone. Goes off and works like it's supposed to. But every morning, everything else is the same, just set the alarm a few hours ahead instead of a minute, it will stop after half a sec. Deep sleep state or something (on the phone that is)? I don't know how it works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, that's my problem too. If you set 2 alarms in the morning with just 1 or 2 minutes break, the second one always ring... eheheh... :laugh:
That - I don't know why - is the NORMAL BUG behavior.
Anyway, I don't have that bug now, just stop using the stock lockscreen. With me works with all the others...
PMoto.
---------- Post added at 06:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:35 PM ----------
aureliomilitao said:
please,
the alarm does not work with the phone off?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never tested that...

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Turning off the lock screen did fix it. Looked at the lockers you suggested, but go locker would only work with go launcher, which is not what I use. You can buy go locker pro, and it will work with any launcher, but I didnt really want to pay for a lock screen. C locker is free but looked a bit unfinished. Also both c locker and widget locker has comments saying just pressing the home button will bypass the lock screen all together. And widget locker is not free either. Will see if I can find one I like
However I do think it's strange if this is a known problem or bug, that not more people are reporting this. I would think the alarm is something people use and rely on.

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I'm not sure that Go Locker only work with Go Launcher...
There is an option to disable the home button from disabling the lock... in all of them. My Galaxy S2 have a fisical Home button and it's disable, don't bypass the locker.
C Locker have a new version...
I know this problem in several phones, including Sony or Assus Padfone. So, it must be Android related...
Anyway, too many rom's, lock screens and alarm app would change this, so not everyone have the issue.
PMoto.

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The go locker did work, but I could not configure it. It said to activate go locker fully, please install go launcher, when I tried to run the configuration. Mite be me doing something wrong, but I didn't bother to investigate further. Anyway, I found another work-around. There is something in the android alarm clock app called smart alarm. If you activate this, the regular alarm will work properly. The smart alarm plays a pleasant ambiant noise track before the regular alarm kicks in. I have it set to go off 3 miniutes before the regular alarm. So the smart alarm kind of wakes the phone, so the regular alarm will work

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Huummm. I never saw that...
I'm curious. And, yes, that could do the trick.
I'll try out.