How to fix Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge that won’t bootup or turn on after a firmware update [Troubleshooting Guide]

ByHarold Hisona

We received a lot of complaints from our readers who own the #Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge (#S7Edge) and one of the most common issues is that the phone would no longer bootup or power on after a firmware update. So, a question about whether or not to update the phone was raised and of course, we have to investigate this as it seems to be a very serious firmware issue, although some cases may have been caused by hardware problems.

First off, I want to put a clear distinction between the terms “booting up” and “powering on” to avoid confusion. When you say the phone isn’t booting up, it actually powers on but it can’t successfully load everything and reach the Home screen. Most of the time, the device is stuck on the logo or the black screen after that. Boot loop is also a part of this problem because of the time the logo is farthest the phone can reach before it restarts.

When you say the phone isn’t turning on, it means that there’s no sign of power whatsoever. The device won’t respond when you press and hold the Power key or any other buttons for that matter, although a combination of buttons may bring the phone back to life provided that the problem is a minor issue with the firmware and not with the hardware.

Read on to understand more about these issues and learn how to fix them or, at least, troubleshoot your Galaxy S7 Edge in case one of these may happen to you. If you have other problems, however, make sure you visit our S7 Edge troubleshooting page for we have already addressed a lot of problems that occurred with this device. We may already have a solution to your problem so try to find issues that are similar to yours. On the other hand, if you need further assistance, you can always contact us by filling up our Android issues questionnaire.

Troubleshooting Galaxy S7 Edge that won’t boot up successfully after an update

The booting up issue is the first I want to tackle in this post because more often, it’s firmware-related. Below are some troubleshooting steps you can actually use to see if you can fix the problem on your own without any help from a technician or your provider. But before that, here’s one of the problems we received.

Related Problem: My Galaxy S7 Edge just got updated and I thought everything went well but after a few days, I noticed the phone seemed to have slowed down noticeably and after that it shut off. When I tried turning it back on, it just stays on the black screen after the logo. Turning it off and then on again will result to the same thing. Can you guys help me out here? What can I do to fix this problem and I’m also curious as to what caused it? Thanks a lot!

As our reader said the S7 Edge’s performance noticeably deteriorated before it actually turned itself off and got stuck on the black screen after the logo appears on the screen. It’s actually a typical “stuck during boot up” issue and while it seems minor based on the description, there were reports about the same problem that are more complicated than this one. Therefore, we need to troubleshoot the device thoroughly and not just based on the problem I cited here.

Step 1: Verify it’s not just an issue with any of your downloaded apps

There are cases wherein the phone gets stuck during boot up as soon as the update gets installed and there many also reported to have used their devices for a few days before the problem started. But whatever the case is, the safest thing to do while you’re still trying to find out what the culprit is is to isolate the problem but restarting the device in Safe Mode. In this state, the device will run at default settings with only pre-installed apps and built-in services running in the background. In other words, all third-parties will be temporarily disabled.

The other term for Safe Mode is diagnostic state wherein you can immediately know if the problem is with pre-installed apps, firmware or downloaded apps.

If the problem still occurs even in safe mode, then it’s either a problem with the pre-installed app or the firmware itself, otherwise, the third-party apps have to be looked into. You need to find out which app is actually causing the problem and uninstall it, although it’s really difficult to determine which one is the culprit. But anyway, here are the steps on how to boot your Galaxy S7 Edge in safe mode:

  1. Press and hold the Power key.
  2. As soon as you can see the ‘Samsung Galaxy S7 EDGE’ on the screen, release the Power key and immediately hold the Volume Down key.
  3. Continue holding the Volume Down button until the device finishes rebooting.
  4. You may release it when you can see ‘Safe mode’ in the bottom left corner of the screen.

The purpose of this procedure is actually to know whether your phone can boot up successfully and if so, try booting it up normally and if that doesn’t make any difference, boot it up in this state again and this time, find the apps that are causing the issue.

On the other hand, if the phone cannot boot in safe mode successfully, the next step is necessary.

Step 2: Try booting the phone in Recovery Mode and wipe the cache partition

This procedure must be done if the phone still cannot boot up normally after getting out of safe mode or if it cannot start up in that state. The problem might be in the cache because it occurred after an update. More often, the system cache gets corrupted during the update process and if it continues to use it, issues like this occur.

When it happens, you should delete the system cache so that Android will be forced to create new files that will replace them. So, here’s how you boot your S7 Edge in Recovery Mode and wipe the cache partition:

  1. Turn off the phone.
  2. Press and then hold the Home and Volume UP keys, then press and hold the Power key.
  3. When the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge shows on the screen, release the Power key but continue holding the Home and Volume Up keys.
  4. When the Android logo shows, you may release both keys and leave the phone be for about 30 to 60 seconds.
  5. Using the Volume Down key, navigate through the options and highlight ‘wipe cache partition.’
  6. Once highlighted, you may press the Power key to select it.
  7. Now highlight the option ‘Yes’ using the Volume Down key and press the Power button to select it.
  8. Wait until your phone is finished wiping the cache partition. Once completed, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and press the Power key.
  9. The phone will now reboot longer than usual.

If the phone gets stuck during boot up still, then you have no other choice but to do the next step.

Step 3: Boot your phone in Recovery Mode again and do the Master Reset

For firmware issues, this is a very effective procedure as it doesn’t just delete your apps, data and files, it also reformats the entire data partition where system files are saved. In that effect, no corrupt will be left behind that’s why it’s imperative you do this step before deciding to send the phone for checkup and/or repair. Here’s how you do the master reset:

  1. Turn off your Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge.
  2. Press and then hold the Home and Volume UP keys, then press and hold the Power key. NOTE: It doesn’t matter how long you press and hold the Home and Volume Up keys, it won’t affect the phone but by the time you press and hold the Power key, that’s when the phone starts to respond.
  3. When the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge shows on the screen, release the Power key but continue holding the Home and Volume Up keys.
  4. When the Android logo shows, you may release both keys and leave the phone be for about 30 to 60 seconds. NOTE: The “Installing system update” message may show on the screen for several seconds before displaying the Android system recovery menu. This is just the first phase of the entire process.
  5. Using the Volume Down key, navigate through the options and highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset.’
  6. Once highlighted, you may press the Power key to select it.
  7. Now highlight the option ‘Yes — delete all user data’ using the Volume Down key and press the Power button to select it.
  8. Wait until your phone is finished doing the Master Reset. Once completed, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and press the Power key.
  9. The phone will now reboot longer than usual.

If the reset fails, then visit a local shop or go to your provider and have it taken care of.

Troubleshooting Galaxy S7 Edge that won’t turn on after an update

If the phone refuses to come back on after being updated, it could mean that the firmware installed on it is totally corrupt, damaged or lacking many files. However, there is also a possibility that it’s a hardware problem and it’s just a coincidence that the problem occurred after the firmware update. With those things under consideration, follow the steps below in troubleshooting your device but before that, here’s one of the problems we received related to the issue at hand.

Related Problem: I hope you guys are doing well as I really need your help. I bought the S7 Edge several months ago and while I was satisfied with its performance before, I’m very disappointed now and it ceases to work already. There was an update that got installed then the phone turned off and won’t power back on no matter what I do. I need your advice on this please. Thanks.

Step 1: Verify that it’s not just a problem caused by a system crash

The firmware works hand-in-hand with the hardware but there are times the former crashes and when it happens, both of them may suffer. Being unresponsive is just one of those symptoms. Since the Galaxy S7 Edge doesn’t have a removable battery, you cannot just do the battery pull trick just like old models.

Samsung engineers, however, already thought of this so they included a combination that will simulate battery disconnect. That’s what you need to to do rule out the possibility of a system crash. To do that, the press and hold the Volume Down button and the Power key together for 10 seconds. If there’s enough battery and that there’s no actual damage to the hardware, the phone should reboot.

Step 2: Charge the phone to make sure the battery has enough charge

It’s a power-related issue so you immediately need to rule out the possibility that the battery only got drained that’s why the phone won’t turn on even just after a firmware update.

Aside from that, you can also immediately tell if the firmware detects the phone being connected to the charger because if so, it should show the usual charging signs like the charging icon on the screen and the red or green LED on top of the screen. If none of those show up, then try a different charger and if still no, then you might be looking at a possible hard-bricked phone. Your last chance is to send the phone for repair.

If you’re verified it’s not a battery issue and that the phone actually responds while charging but the device still won’t turn on, then try to wipe the cache partition but first you need to boot your phone in recovery mode. If that fails as well, then the reset is also necessary provided the phone turns on. Lastly, you need a real technician to get it fix if the problem remains.

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