Argh!!!

 I'm pretty technically-savvy.  I may not be able to do much with the smaller components on a laptop or build a whole computer, but I can change out periphery device cards and upgrade memory.  I know a lot of Windows and Android tricks, and I'm proficient with both.  I used to program in three older computer languages, so I know the basics of coding. And I've always been able to troubleshoot things to do with my computer or phone, eventually.

Enter the Amazon Fire.  This tablet (the latest generation of the Fire 10, which is the 11th generation) is so good in so many ways, and I'm actually able to use it as a min-computer because I have software compatible with Office and a keyboard.  I did the game notes entirely on it yesterday because my roommate was using my laptop (as a kind of desktop, as all sorts of things are plugged into that). But one trouble I have had is the headphone jack.  Right after I got my Fire this summer, the headphones I'd bought specifically for it that were wired, didn't work when I tried them.  I tried another pair, with nothing. I tried all the things I'd found on Google, including a factory reset, to no avail. I contacted Amazon and they couldn't help.  It hadn't even been a month, so they replaced it.

I usually use wireless Bluetooth headphones anyway, but sometimes I don't want to use up the battery, such as on Sunday mornings, when the wireless ones are better for my chores.  So I tried wired ones again, and lo, on the replacement tablet, it was the same.  The headphones didn't work. I tried everything short of a factory reset to no avail. As a last ditch effort, I tried a pair of headphones that I'd never used before, one that came with my last phone, the Samsung S7 (I'd preferred the ones from the S5, until they'd finally died, and the S20 has a USB-C jack instead of the 3.5 mm one).  I plugged in those, so frustrated with how my morning was going...and they worked, unlike two other headphones.  I checked the one set for any kittly nibbling and didn't find any.  I guess they were just somehow incompatible, even though they work on other devices.  So sending the other back didn't need to happen.

So everything works now. Now to determine why my Bluetooth earbuds are not pairing with each other (i.e. only the right one works).  But that is for another day.