How to Fix Samsung Galaxy S4 Problems and Errors [Part 34]

Welcome to the 34^th part in our series of troubleshooting articled dedicated to the Samsung Galaxy S4. In this part we will be answering some of the latest emails sent to us by our readers concerning this particular model. If you are following this series you may notice that some of the issues have already been tackled in previous posts however since we provide an individualized experience for our readers we still tackle these issues.

If you own a Galaxy S4 or any other Android device for that matter feel free to send us an email at [email protected] regarding the issues you are experiencing with your device. We will be more than happy to assist you in any way we can. This is a free service we offer with no strings attached. What we do ask from you is that you try to be as detailed as possible when sending an email so that we can make an accurate assessment of the issue and a suitable solution can be presented.

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Galaxy S4 Stuck In Manual Mode

Problem: Hi, Droid Guy, Saw the conversation from December 2013 on the blog about Samsung Galaxies stuck in “boot loop” mode. I don’t know if mine is the same problem, but I thought I’d ask for your advice. I don’t have the right computer language to describe it, probably, but what I’m seeing on the screen is very, very teensy type at the bottom saying “manual mode” and some other stuff, and on the top, there is a list of choices that I can scroll up or down to. One is reboot, another is wipe clean and restore to factory default. There are others, too. In the center is the little Droid, on his back, looking close to death, poor guy, with his little stomach hatch open. Trouble is, I tried the reboot option, and all it did was bring me back to this screen. It did seem to be responding — at first the screen went black. It vibrated for a second. Then it displayed the “Samsung Galaxy S4” logo in white. But then it went back to this screen. The exact same thing happened when the Verizon tech help guy walked me through this on the phone as we attempted a wipe clean/default choice. I did recently drop the phone, lightly but enough to slightly dent the volume/rocker button on the side it is very hard to operate. I can operate it, though, with enough pressure. And the Verizon guy told me that this reboot problem has nothing to do with the rocker switch problem. Nonethless, Samsung told me the dent would probably void my warranty, so i will probably have to replace the entire phone. It’s only 5 months old, so this will clearly cost me a ton of money. Any advice for me? Should I attempt to replace the SIM card? I really don’t even know where to find the SIM card, let alone replace it…

Solution: Unfortunately for this issue it does not appear to be related to a faulty SIM. There is something wrong with the phone software which is making it act this way. Try following the steps below and see if it fixes the issue.

Reboot Device

• Take out the battery
• Press the Power button for around 3 minutes then release
• Re-insert the battery
• Turn on the device

Check and see if your phone boots normally. If it doesn’t proceed to the next step.

If you are still seeing manual mode then try to click on the restore to factory default option. This will however delete the data you have stored in your device.

If the above steps do not work then you will need a PC with the latest Kies software installed to try to resolve this issue. You can download Kies from the Samsung website.

• Launch Kies.
• Go to Tools and choose Firmware Upgrade and Initialization.
• Enter the name of your phone.
• Input the model name of your Galaxy S4 (in CAPS). It is found at the back of its casing.
• Select OK.
• Kies will now verify if your device is supported along with a warning message saying that all data from your device will be deleted during the process.
• Click OK if you agree with it.
• Kies will download and initialize the firmware update. Wait until it finishes.
• Just hit Continue with every warning message until you reach the emergency recovery process.
• Don’t forget to put a check on the confirmation message saying, “I have read all of the above information” once you have performed all the required information in the window.
• Configure your desired information saving option, connect to Kies and switch your phone to Recovery Mode.
• Hit the Start Upgrade button and wait until the process finishes. Do not interrupt the process.
• After you see a confirmation message saying that everything is complete, hit the OK button to finish.

Galaxy S4 Shuts Down When Running Apps

Problem: I read the letter from Rodrigo about his S4 shutting down when running apps but will work fine as long as it is plugged into a power source. Mine does this as well. In his letter he states that it shuts down without warning and won’t restart without plugging it in.  I’m experiencing this as well. Your solution to try a new battery as it’s being drained too fast, but this is not the case. I can have a full charge, unplug the charger and use anything on the phone that requires “multitasking” or involves the processor and it will shut down. When I plug it back up, it will still have 70, 80 and sometimes 90% or more of battery charge. So in my case it’s not a dead battery that shuts it down, it’s moving too fast for it to multitask that does it. Please help.

Solution: In this case it doesn’t seem to be caused by the battery. This issue may be caused by lack of memory or even a faulty SD card. Try removing the SD card first and see if your phone still shuts down. If it doesn’t then you have found the cause of the issue. Simply replace your SD card. If the problem still exists then try booting your device in Safe Mode. In this mode the third party applications you installed from the Google Play Store will be disabled thus freeing up memory.

• Turn the device off completely.
• Press and hold the Power button.
• Once the Samsung Galaxy S4 logo appears on the screen, release the Power button.
• As soon as you release the Power button, press and hold the Volume Down key.
• Continue holding the Volume Down key until the phone has completed the reboot process.
• If you can read ‘Safe Mode’ at the bottom left corner of the screen, release the Volume Down key. Otherwise, repeat the process until you can boot the phone to Safe Mode.

In most cases the problem will not appear in Safe Mode. This means that an app or several apps that you have installed is causing your phone to shut down. Try to determine which app or apps is causing this and uninstall.

If the problem still exists even in Safe Mode then there could be a glitch in the software of your device. Wiping the phone cache partition will help solve this. You should however make a backup copy of your data first.

• Turn the phone off completely.
• Press and hold the Volume Up, Home and Power buttons.
• Release the Power button when the phone vibrates but continue holding on to the Volume Up and Home buttons.
• When the Android System Recovery screen appears, release both the Home and Volume Up buttons.
• Using the Volume Down key, highlight ‘wipe cache partition.’
• Press the Power button to select the option.
• The phone will automatically restart once cache data are wiped out.

Galaxy S4 Automatically Lowers Media Volume

Problem: I haven’t seen this problem addressed yet. My Samsung Galaxy S4 keeps resetting the volume for my games, media, etc. To just below half. I’ll go to settings>my device>volume>media (or whatever) and set it to max volume. Within 5 minutes, sometimes in the midst of playing a game, all of a sudden I can’t hear a thing. Oh, and I go in and shut off notifications on all of my apps and, many of them reset to notifications on.

Solution: Have you recently updated your device to the latest software version? Most of the time when you do a major update some issues will exist. This is usually caused by data from the previous software version that hasn’t been completely removed from your device. A quick factory reset should solve this issue. Just make sure to back up your data first.

• Turn the phone off completely.
• Press and hold the Volume Up, Home and Power buttons.
• Release the Power button when the phone vibrates but continue holding on to the Volume Up and Home buttons.
• When the Android System Recovery screen appears, release both the Home and Volume Up buttons.
• Using the Volume Down key, highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset.’
• Press the Power button to select it.
• Using the Volume Down button again, highlight ‘delete all user data.’
• Press the Power key to select it.
• Once the reset is complete, choose ‘Reboot system now.’
• Press the Power button to restart the phone.

Galaxy S4 Water Damaged

Problem: Hello, I have Galaxy S4 and I dropped it in the pool. I turned it off, remove the battery, the SD and the SIM card. I put it in rice. After about 24 hours I turned it on and it worked. The problem now is that the front camera and the keys that are usually in white light (next to the button that moves you to the home page) are not working. My question is how can I fix it without a technician’s help or it’s necessary to bring it for repair. Thank you

Solution: Unfortunately in this case it is difficult to fix not unless it can be verified that the components inside your phone has not been damaged by water. We know of some cases where a phone that has been dropped in water shows signs of damage a month or two months later. Your best option is to really bring the phone to an authorized service center for checking.

Galaxy S4 Randomly Reboots

Problem: hi there i am having a problem with my samsung galaxy s4 my phone reboots by itself then doesn’t turn on when i restart my phone i wait a couple of minutes and the starts ok and after i use a little bit but nothing hard it freezes and reboots, ones i tried to change my os and was better but when i got that back to stock firmware 4.4.2 was more bad than ever what can be the problem a an getting nervous and starting to dislike the samsung

Solution: Do you have an SD card inserted in your device? If you have then try taking it out first and see if your phone still randomly reboots. A faulty SD card is known to cause this issue.

Another possible reason why your phone is acting this way is because of certain apps. Try to boot your device in Safe Mode to verify this.

• Turn the device off completely.
• Press and hold the Power button.
• Once the Samsung Galaxy S4 logo appears on the screen, release the Power button.
• As soon as you release the Power button, press and hold the Volume Down key.
• Continue holding the Volume Down key until the phone has completed the reboot process.
• If you can read ‘Safe Mode’ at the bottom left corner of the screen, release the Volume Down key. Otherwise, repeat the process until you can boot the phone to Safe Mode.

Once in Safe Mode if the issue does not occur then try finding for the app that is causing this and uninstall it.

One final troubleshooting step you can do is to perform a factory reset on your device. Make sure to back up your data first before performing this procedure.

• Turn the phone off completely.
• Press and hold the Volume Up, Home and Power buttons.
• Release the Power button when the phone vibrates but continue holding on to the Volume Up and Home buttons.
• When the Android System Recovery screen appears, release both the Home and Volume Up buttons.
• Using the Volume Down key, highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset.’
• Press the Power button to select it.
• Using the Volume Down button again, highlight ‘delete all user data.’
• Press the Power key to select it.
• Once the reset is complete, choose ‘Reboot system now.’
• Press the Power button to restart the phone.

Galaxy S4 Account Password Issue

Problem: I have a galaxy s4 and am having trouble with my account password. I have a notification that says “account action required”. When I tap on it, it sends me to a screen that says I have typed an incorrect password or my account has changed. When I retype my password, it won’t accept it. I have gone to the link to recover my account and that doesn’t work either. It says “signing in”…but never signs in. I am unable to click on any links to get onto the internet. Can you help me with this?

Solution: Have you recently updated the software of your device?  Most people who updated their device usually find this message. Try checking if there are new software updates for your device which may address this issue. You may also want to try the following troubleshooting steps below.

Clear browser cache

• Navigate to settings
• Application Manger
• Click chrome or the browser you are using
• Click clear cache
• Reboot phone

You may also want to boot in Safe Mode to see if an app is causing this issue.

• Turn the device off completely.
• Press and hold the Power button.
• Once the Samsung Galaxy S4 logo appears on the screen, release the Power button.
• As soon as you release the Power button, press and hold the Volume Down key.
• Continue holding the Volume Down key until the phone has completed the reboot process.
• If you can read ‘Safe Mode’ at the bottom left corner of the screen, release the Volume Down key. Otherwise, repeat the process until you can boot the phone to Safe Mode.

If the issue does not occur then I suggest manually uninstalling your apps then re-install them to find out what is causing the issue.

Galaxy S4 Won’t Connect To Secure Wi-Fi

Problem: Hi android guy, my galaxy s4 wont connect to the secured Wi-Fi at work. The password is logged in but it won’t actually connect to an internet of source. I’ve tried to reset the phone to factory setting but no avid. I’ve also tried to reset cache, and permissions. Any advised would be appreciated

Solution: If your phone can connect to other Wi-Fi connections but not in your work Wi-Fi then it’s probably an issue with the router in your work. The IT administrator may have placed restrictions on its access. Try to consult with your IT administrator on this matter.

Galaxy S4 Screen Flickers

Problem: Dear droid guy, I have this galaxy s4 i9500 and recently the screen on the phone occasionally flickers. The battery works fine. But its sometimes annoying and i really don’t want to do a factory reset on it because of all the apps and setting. My question is if i continue using it this way will it damage my phone? Any extra tips on solving this would also be much appreciated.

Solution: Try to uncheck the Auto Brightness toggle on the Notification menu. Go to Settings-> My Device-> Display-> “scroll to the bottom of the list” and uncheck “Auto adjust screen tone”. This should help solve your screen flickering issue.

Galaxy S4 Can’t Access Camera Zoom

Problem: Cannot access camera settings, zoom, only have 6 selections available to choose from to take pics. I have cleared cache and data and still doesn’t allow me to choose all options or zoom in for pics.

Solution: Make sure your phone is not in Easy Mode as you won’t be able to use the zoom function. To change this go to settings > home screen > change home screen mode from Easy Mode to Standard Mode.

Galaxy S4 Push Notifications Sometimes Fails

Problem: I have a Samsung Galaxy S4, running Android version 4.4.2. I’ve used it with no trouble for nearly 10 months now. Recently, I’ve been facing a problem regarding push notifications. I noticed that applications such as WhatsApp do not give me notifications when I receive a message unless I actually have the app open. I recently got an app called Pushbullet, and (for those who know of this app) it was working fine when pushing things from my phone to my computer, but when pushing things from my computer to my phone, again, I was not receiving the notifications, although the links or files pushed would appear if I opened the app manually. Note: Sometimes when I turn my router off and on again, I receive a whole bunch of notifications as soon as my phone reconnects to the Wi-Fi, so perhaps it could be an internet connectivity issue?

Solution: If all your settings are correct (i.e. Auto Sync enabled) then the issue could be with your Wi-Fi connection. Try to check if the Wi-Fi sleep policy on your phone is properly set.

• From the Homescreen, press Menu
• Go to Settings
• Proceed to Wireless & Networks
• Choose Wi-Fi Settings
• Tap Menu followed by Go Advanced
• Open Wi-Fi Sleep Policy
• Tap the radio button beside Never

If you have any battery saving app installed in your phone then try to disable it first as this may also be the reason why you are having push notification issues.

Another possible reason is your Wi-Fi router itself. Try to check if the issue exists if you are connected with your mobile data network.

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