How To Fix Samsung Galaxy Note 3 User Problems [Part 16]

Hey guys, welcome to the 16th segment of our Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Problems and Solutions series. The solutions I suggested in this post are intended to either fix the problem or to know what the problem really is. Seriously, we want to help you but remember, we don’t have access to your phone so we totally depend on your description of the problem and whatever you say the issue is. That is the reason why I want you to provide as much details as possible so we can, at least, picture out what’s happening with your phone.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3: Problems, Questions, Solutions, Answers [Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5] [Part 6] [Part 7] [Part 8] [Part 9] [Part 10] [Part 11] [Part 12] [Part 13] [Part 14] [Part 15]

For those who have problems with their phones, try to browse this post or the first 15 parts to see if we’ve already addressed them. Or, you can email us at [email protected] and I will try to respond to your emails. You can also interact with us on our Facebook page; I’m one of the people who answers questions there. We also have a Google+ page you could follow so you would be notified every time a post is published.

Brand new Galaxy Note 3 won’t power on

Q: Hi, I purchased a brand new Galaxy Note 3 on 5/6/2014 and the phone arrived on 9/6/2014. I set the phone up and after all my apps updated it said there was a software update. I connected to the WiFi and the phone proceeded with the update. I think the update was kitkat update. The update went onto the phone and all seemed well with the phone until Thursday 12/6/2014. I was out shopping took a quick look at my phone and it had powered itself off. So I pressed the power button to turn the phone on but nothing happened.

When I got home I put it back on charge even though it was fully charged when I went out. Left the phone on charge for two hours but the phone still wouldn’t power on. I went onto Google to see what I could do. It said to try taking out the battery replace the battery then hold down the volume up menu button and power button all at the same time and the phone will boot up so the phone could be hard reset on doing this nothing happened at all. The phone is still under the Samsung’s 24 months warranty so I took it into the new Samsung phone shop in town and the guy who dealt with me as booked it in for repair I’m just waiting to hear back from them when my phone is ready to be collected. Regards, Robert.

A: It’s a pretty new phone and it’s better to have Samsung’s tech take a look at it. After all, they can still replace it if they couldn’t figure out what the problem really is. However, before you send it in, try removing the battery. Once removed, press and hold the Power key for about a minute to make sure all stored electricity are drained from the phone’s components. Place the battery back and attempt to turn the phone on normally. If the phone won’t turn on, plug the charger in and if you can’t see the usual charging indicator, try to wiggle the cable to see if it charges. It could be just a drained battery and charger issue.

After 5 to 10 minutes of charging, regardless if you saw the charging indicator or not, try to booting it (again) to recovery mode. This time, follow this sequence: press and hold the Volume Up button, then the Home key, followed by the Power key. Hold on to those keys for 10 to 15 seconds. If the phone wouldn’t turn on, then there’s no option but to wait for the phone to be repaired. I understand how frustrating it would be and I’m so sorry you have to experience that.

Note 3 turns off during calls

Q: Hi, my new Galaxy Note 3 keeps turning off during both outgoing and incoming calls. Just before I hear a couple of beeps. At times I can hear the other caller but then that goes too. Vodaphone told me to put in code #330*1234# but it makes no difference. I am a great fan of the Note 1 and 2, but this is driving me crazy. Looks so unprofessional when I cant retain a call. Thanks, Anie.

A: Actually, I was confused upon reading your email because the subject said “Galaxy Note 3 keeps blocking calls” and then your actual message said the phone keeps turning off during calls. I understand you already called your service provider but what I’m interested to know about is the explanation provided to you by the representative before he/she let you enter the code above. There should be some explanation why the problem happens because there is always a possibility that it’s an issue with the network and not with the phone.

The immediate remedy for this problem is to clear both the cache and data of the Dialer app.

1. From the Home screen, tap the Menu key.
2. Tap Settings, and then tap the General tab.
3. Tap Application Manager.
4. Swipe to left or right to display contents of the All tab.
5. Tap the Dialer app.
6. Tap Clear Cache, then Clear Data.
7. Touch OK to proceed.

If the problem can’t be solved by doing this procedure, boot the phone to Safe Mode and then try to make a call while in that state.

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

I don’t know if this problem comes with the phone or just happened recently. If those two procedures fail, perform factory reset. If that doesn’t fix it, have Vodafone replace it.

Photos in SD card are corrupt

Q: I took the below quote from an existing Q&A. Only my problem is a bit different.

“Found out last night after trying to move files from internal memory to SD card. Just pictures. Deleted a few then it started showing blank squares where the pics should have been and Bam! Got the dreaded corrupt SD card error!”

I already set my phone to have the cameras default storage area be the SD card. However when I go back to look at the pictures I just took… some show and others don’t.   The other thing is I can view the blank square (guessing it represents the corrupted photo) when I select the details… there are many details for the photos that show but hardly any details for the corrupted ones. When I try to move to the computer the photos are still corrupted I have a Samsung brand 32g SD card. If I save photos to the phone itself then there are no issues. Thanks so much!

A: Photos saved in the phone’s internal storage turned out okay so the camera is working fine and it is clear it’s not the gallery app that corrupts photos. So, what do you think is the culprit? I’m sure you have thought of it already–it’s the microSD card. I’m not sure if it’s new or not but if it’s totally damaged, then we can’t do anything about it.

But try to physically unmount the SD card, insert it to your laptop and salvage as many files as possible. Then, reformat it to FAT32 format. Insert it back to your phone and this time, don’t set it to be the default storage yet. Instead, try copying an image file or two into it and see if you can view those photos normally. If they still show they’re corrupted, then it’s time you bought a new SD card.

Note 3 gallery and music issues

Q: Hi, I have had my note 3 for about a month everything was fine until last week. The default music app does not show my music, but when I go to my files it shows no files in the music selection. I then go to the all selection and look under music and it shows my music. I can the select a file and it will play through the default player. I have downloaded a third party player since this issue has occurred and it recognizes my music. The second issue is when I make an animated photo it does not store it in my gallery. I can go to my files and find it under the DCIM and open it from there. Thank you. — Chris

A: There could have been issues that led to these problems. For example, there’s no way that the music app just stopped recognizing music tracks it could play without problems before. But let’s not deal with that. The most logical procedure you can do for now is to clear both the cache and data of the music app.

1. From the Home screen, tap the Menu key.
2. Tap Settings, and then tap the General tab.
3. Tap Application Manager.
4. Swipe to left or right to display contents of the All tab.
5. Tap the Music app.
6. Tap Clear Cache, then Clear Data.
7. Touch OK to proceed.

This procedure will reset the app to its previous settings and it may work. Otherwise, you already have found a workaround to this problem. However, if you can’t bear the thought that one of the apps isn’t working properly on your phone, then perform factory reset.

As to the other problem, about the animated picture not being detected by the Gallery app, I think it has something to do with the format or extension of the picture. Try converting the photo to .gif format and see if that’s being recognized by the gallery app.

Cannot update to Android 4.4 KitKat

Q: I have a Note 3 and my carrier is Verizon but I don’t have a SIM card in my phone. I was wondering if I can still upgrade to 4.4 because I haven’t gotten a notification and when I try to upgrade manually as in going to my phone’s setting, it says “Software update is temporarily unavailable. Please try again”. And every time I try, it says the same thing.

A: It’s probably a Verizon thing but please try to use Verizon Upgrade Assistant. I know a couple of VZW customers who successfully updated their phone by using this app, so it’s worth a try. Another thing is that, try connecting to the internet using mobile data and then try to pull down the update. And if that doesn’t work either, use Samsung KIES; it often works. Lastly, you may want to call Verizon if all else fails.

Google search won’t function via typing

Q: I’ve searched for an answer to thus but have had no luck. Recently my phone no longer allows me to search via typing in the Google search bar. I get a message stating “unable to access site at this time.” However I am able to access when speaking in the microphone located in the Google search bar. It is my understanding that with the new upgrade the opposite is true….no microphone access but typing is okay. I’ve talked with my local typically quite knowledgeable Samsung guru but he is at a loss. I’m hopeful you can help.

A: It’s probably just a minor glitch on the Google Search app. I’ve encountered this problem before, not with Note 3 though, and I fixed the issue by following the steps below:

1. From the Home screen, tap the Menu key.
2. Tap Settings, and then tap the General tab.
3. Tap Application Manager.
4. Swipe to left or right to display contents of the All tab.
5. Tap Google Search.
6. Tap Clear Cache.
7. Tap Clear Data.
8. Touch OK to proceed.

I hope this helps.

Note 3 turned off but won’t switch on

Q: Hi there, I woke up today and found my mobile is switched off, I thought that the battery is dead or something, so I connected it to the charger then tried to turn it on again by pressing the power button, but it didn’t respond. Then I opened the mobile and removed the battery, returned it back again and turned it on, worked! What’s going on? The battery was 20% and I was enabling the power savings mode, any reason for such case? Regards, Amandeep.

A: Yes, cases like this happens most of the time and majority of them are caused by a glitch. Of course, you have to make sure there is enough battery to power the device on. In your case, however, the Power Saving Mode was enabled so I think the phone went into deep sleep. Eventually, the phone would be awaken when you press the power button and just wait.

I know someone who experienced this problem. When he pressed the power key, the phone didn’t respond. He left the phone and according to him, the screen turned one 8 minutes later. Considering we have high-end devices and probably used to seeing it respond the moment you enter your command. So, it is alarming for us when the phone’s response is delayed even for a few seconds. Many users immediately report their phone froze. This problem, however, can be fixed by simply removing the battery for 30 seconds or so.

Touch screen won’t work with finger

Q: First thanks for the excellent work in giving way to handle the problems with Samsung Note 3. My problem is (I have AT&T) that my screen do not respond when I touch with my fingers. I have to use the S Pen to work around. I reboot, take out the battery, also made a factory reboot and it is still doing that in an intermittent way. Sometimes it works perfect sometimes not.And the sometimes could extend for a full day or days. Can you advice with a solution of the problem? Thanks, Amin.

A: There are times when the phone freezes for some reason, so when you touch the screen, the phone won’t respond. But since you were touching the screen when the problem happened, you concluded the screen isn’t responding when the real issue is with the performance of the phone. The Note 3 is a powerful device so performance issues wouldn’t last long.

I don’t know the frequency of the problem but if the screen won’t respond to your touch but does with the S Pen, then it would be a good start if you cleaned your fingers thoroughly and try again. If still the same, you need to adjust the touch sensitivity.

1. Go back to Home and tap the Menu key.
2. Choose Settings and then tap Controls.
3. If the Auto-adjust touch sensitivity option was is already enabled, try disabling it and see if the that fixes the problem. Or, you can try enabling it if it’s disabled.

If you just installed a new screen protector, there’s a possibility that the accessory is causing the problem. You can try removing it if the problem won’t go away.

Computer can’t detect Note 3 after the update

Q: Hi! I just read some of your blog and find it interesting in answering inquiries regarding the Samsung Note 3. I bought my Note 3 February and was able to transfer file to and from my laptop-note3 using the app Samsung Kies. My laptop’s OS is windows 7, home base. but when i upgraded my note 3 into kitkat4.4.2, Samsung kies cannot detect my phone anymore, and i find it hard to transfer files. how can I fix this? is there any application aside from kies that can be used? Thank you and more power.

A: There are actually a lot of factors that could contribute to this problem but for starters, try uninstalling the Samsung KIES from your laptop, download a fresh copy from Samsung website and install it. This is the best way to ensure your laptop has all necessary drivers for the Note 3. That said, if the problem is with the drivers, then this should fix it.

Also, if you plugged the cable to the USB 3 slot in your laptop, that could be the reason why the phone can’t be detected. Try plugging the cable to the USB 2 slot instead and make sure the phone wasn’t locked. So far, I can’t think of any other things that may result to this problem except that the USB cable has some kind of a break somewhere. So, inspect it closely.

Problem opening links on the Note 3

Q: Hi, I did my very best NOT to update my Verizon Note 3, but in the end, I accidentally touched the wrong thing. I have a hard time opening links. for example, I tried to send this email using the link you provided. clicking on the link didn’t work. just said not available. Also, when someone comments on my posting on Facebook, I get part of the reply sent to my texting app (I don’t mind the stock app) with the Facebook link attached. before the update, I could click on the link in the text message and go right to Facebook. now, I just get a blank page. I have to exit and then open Facebook separately. I’m of the mind, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I really tried to not update. but I feel we get forced into something many of us don’t want. after all, shouldn’t we have some say about what goes on our phones and tablets? Thanks, Mary.

A: When it comes to opening links, the phone would ask you to choose an app that you want to permanently use in completing such task. This requires interlinking of apps in the system and while it’s a pretty simple task for a powerful phone, some things could be messed up along the process especially if you’ve chosen the wrong app. So, it is best to bring the phone back to its default settings and start all over again. That said, you should try this:

1. From the Home screen, tap the Menu key.
2. Tap Settings, and then tap the General tab.
3. Tap Application Manager.
4. Swipe to left or right to display contents of the All tab.
5. Tap the Menu key.
6. Choose Reset app preferences.
7. Tap Reset apps.
8. Reboot your phone.

Now, this time, try to choose the correct app to open links.

About your other concern, well, that’s how Android works; updates are rolled out more often to patch errors and bugs. But I understand how you feel about all these updates. No one wants to go through them especially if they bring more problems than solutions. That’s one reason why a lot of people root their device and prevent updates from coming in. But there’s nothing we can do but to hope that updates will become more stable in the future.

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