How to fix Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017) black screen of death issue [Troubleshooting Guide]

The black screen of death is often characterized by an unresponsive display despite having signs that the phone is powered on. For instance, the screen may be blank but you can see the notification light flashing or the device actually sounds off when messages or calls come in. Without these signs, it’s a different problem and a more serious one. Needless to say, when you’re dealing with a black screen of death issue, there’s a higher probability you can fix the problem on your own.

In this post, I will tackle the black screen of death issue with the Samsung Galaxy A5 being the subject of our troubleshooting. The best thing we can do about it is try to make the screen turn on by doing some procedures are that safe for both your device and your data. If we can only make the screen turn on, then that would be the end of the problem. So, if you have a phone like this and are currently bugged by a similar problem, continue reading this article as it may help you.

But before we go to our proper troubleshooting, if you happen to find this page because you were looking for solutions to a different problem, then I suggest you visit our Galaxy A5 troubleshooting page as we’ve already addressed the most commonly reported issues with this phone and you may find what you’re looking for in there. Feel free to use the solutions and workarounds we provided. If they don’t work for you or if you need further assistance, fill up our Android issues questionnaire and then hit submit and we’ll do our best to help you.

How to troubleshoot your Galaxy A5 with black screen of death

Problem: Hi guys. I hope you can help me with my problem. I have a Galaxy A5 I bought online in March and I’ve taken care of it and I’m sure it hasn’t been wet or dropped. Recently however, I noticed the phone seemed to become really slow in opening apps until one day the screen just went black and no longer responds. The funny thing is that it still rings when I call my number from a different phone but the screen remains black. How can I fix this?

Solution: Well, have you heard of what phone users often called “system crash?” That seems to be the case with your phone. At least, it’s one of the common causes why a fully working device freezes or turns its display off and decides not to respond. But don’t worry, an issue like this can easily be fixed. I want you to do some procedures below to see if we can make the phone turn its display on but the first one might be the only thing you need to do to bring the phone back to life.

Step 1: Force Restart your Galaxy A5

When it comes to a system crash, pulling the battery out often fixes it. However, your Galaxy A5 doesn’t have a removable battery that’s why you can’t do this. But you can simulate the battery disconnect which basically has the same effect as the battery pull procedure. All you gotta do is press and hold the volume down and the power keys together for 7 to 10 seconds and your phone reboot normally. After this, your phone’s memory will be refreshed and the problem may be fixed. However, if the screen stays black after doing this, then you have to move on to the next step.

Step 2: Try booting your phone up in safe mode

There are times when third-party applications cause the system to crash and may result to this problem. Well, at least, it’s a possibility that we need to rule out before moving to other troubleshooting procedures. So, try starting your phone up in Safe mode to temporarily disable all third-party apps. If one of them is causing the problem, then your A5 shouldn’t have issues booting up in this environment and here’s how you do it:

1. Turn the device off.
2. Press and hold the Power key past the screen with the device name.
3. When ‘SAMSUNG’ appears on the screen, release the Power key.
4. Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.
5. Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
6. Safe mode will display in the bottom left corner of the screen.
7. Release the Volume down key when you see ‘Safe Mode’.

Basically, what we need to find out here is whether the phone starts up in this mode or not. If it doesn’t, then move on to the next step, otherwise, you need to find the app that’s causing the problem and then uninstall it. But the good news is your phone’s hardware is fine and the problem is with third-party apps only. So, if you’re suspecting an app or two, follow these steps to uninstall it:

1. From any Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
2. Tap Settings.
3. Tap Applications.
4. Tap Application manager.
5. Tap the desired application
6. Tap Uninstall.
7. Tap Uninstall again to confirm.

On the other hand, if finding the culprit takes a lot of time, then just backup your files and data and then reset your phone.

1. From the Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
2. Tap Settings.
3. Tap Backup and reset.
4. If desired, tap Back up my data to move the slider to ON or OFF.
5. If desired, tap Restore to move the slider to ON or OFF.
6. Tap Factory data reset.
7. Tap Reset device.
8. If you have screen lock turned on, enter your PIN or password.
9. Tap Continue.
10. Tap Delete all.

This should fix the problem.

Step 3: Try starting your phone in Recovery Mode

The Android system recovery or popularly known to Android community as Recovery Mode is the fail-safe for almost all Android devices. When you start your device in this environment, all hardware components will be powered up but the user interface won’t be loaded. We just have to find out if your phone can still boot up in this mode or if the screen actually turns on when you do this because if so, then you can proceed with the wiping of the cache partition to see if the problem gets fixed. If not, then a reset would do.

How to boot Galaxy A5 in Recovery Mode and wipe cache partition

1. Turn off your Galaxy A5.
2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key, then press and hold the Power key.
3. When the device logo screen displays, release only the Power key
4. When the Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
5. Press the Volume down key several times key to highlight ‘wipe cache partition.’
6. Press the Power key to select.
7. Press the Volume down key to highlight ‘yes’ and press the Power key to select.
8. When the wipe cache partition is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
9. Press the Power key to restart the device.

How to start A5 in Android system recovery and do the reset

1. Turn off your Galaxy A5.
2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key, then press and hold the Power key.
3. When the device logo screen displays, release only the Power key
4. When the Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
5. Press the Volume down key several times key to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset.’
6. Press Power button to select.
7. Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
8. Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
9. When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
10. Press the Power key to restart the device.

When doing the reset, all your files and apps will be deleted so it’s your last resort but I hope this troubleshooting guide can help you.

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