A number of #GalaxyA5 owners have contacted us about their device not turning on and screen staying black so we decided to tackle them here. We hope you’ll find this post useful.
If you are looking for solutions to your own #Android issue, you can contact us by using the link provided at the bottom of this page.
When describing your issue, please be as detailed as possible so we can easily pinpoint a relevant solution. If you can, kindly include the exact error messages you are getting to give us an idea where to start. If you have already tried some troubleshooting steps before emailing us, make sure to mention them so we can skip them in our answers.
Below are specific topics we’re bringing for you today:
Problem 1: Galaxy A5 screen turns black due to water damage
Hi. I placed a small bag of water which I have opened beside my Samsung A5 which I saw in a casing and slept off. I woke up in the mid night and noticed that the water has poured on the stool and my phone casing was soaked. I brought out the phone and cleaned it but did not switch it off. In the evening I discovered that the bottom part of the screen was doing as if the ink had poured and the color of the screen was changing too. Around 10pm I remembered the rice magic and put the phone inside the rice but with the phone charging as I was using the wifi to brought on this phone am using now. I woke up this morning and discovered that the phone has gone completely black but the wifi is still on which is what I am using now. The only thing is that I cannot access the phone. what do I do? I am scared of switching it off and it won’t come on. The phone internet is still on as I am using the hotspot to send this message now. — Onyinyechiangela
Solution: Hi Onyinyechiangela. First of all, you have to remember that your phone has been damaged by water. This means that the reason why the screen has turned black is due to hardware failure. Since you can’t fix a hardware malfunction by tweaking the software, it’s basically pointless to do the usual software troubleshooting steps that we recommend.
Secondly, once a hardware component like the screen assembly has already been damaged, there’s nothing “rice magic” can do to fix it. To make the entire phone fully functional again, you must either replace the affected component or the phone itself. The reason for putting your phone in a bag of rice is to let the device lose the water or moisture it has collected by allowing rice to absorb them. If the device has been immersed in water significantly, it may take days or weeks for rice to absorb the liquid. That said, it’s not a very efficient way to dry a wet device. In most cases, it won’t even absorb all of the moisture, especially if the phone is not dismantled.
Thirdly, drying a wet device requires that you do more than placing it in a bag of rice. The other basic things that must be done is to ensure that the battery is removed and that parts are taken apart for easier drying. Not doing these two things can cause serious problems. For one, leaving a battery connected to a wet motherboard run the risk of shorting more components. Water and electronics don’t mix and almost always result to problems. If your phone’s screen was working normally before you got the device wet, water damage must have caused it to malfunction or stops responding right now.
Finally, water damage is a serious issue that must only be addressed by a professional. Due to the possibility of multiple component failure at this time, only an experienced and trained technician must check the hardware to see if the phone can still be saved. If you’re lucky and the damage is only isolated to the screen, replacing the screen assembly may bring the phone back 100%.
Problem 2: Galaxy A5 won’t turn on, screen remains black
Black screen of death probably. 35+% CHARGE REMAINS WHEN I PUT ON THE DESK. SOMETIMES LATER I PICK UP THE PHONE AND IT WAS OFF. TRIED ALL THE METHOD YOU DESCRIBED BUT IN VAIN. NOT IT’S CHARGING AND NOT SHOWING ON MY :computer:PC. I HAVE AUTHORIZE OCTOPUS BOX ON MY PIC ALSO MIRACLE BOX. WHAT SHOULD I DO? MY EXAM IS RUNNING SO I CAN’T ALLOW IT ON CC. THE PHONE BROUGHT FROM UA. MADE ON VIETNAM(UK VERSION) I ALSO HAVE THE BOXED CHARGER. HELP ME OUT PLEASE. AND ONE THING TO NOTE WHEN I CHARGE MY PHONE IN THIS SITUATION SOMEONE ITS WARMED ON THE UPPER SITE SO IT’S CONFIRM THAT IT’S CHARGING. COOL.. WHAT CAN I DO? — Adityoanik
Solution: Hi Adityoanik. These are the troubleshooting steps that you can try:
Use another set of charging cable and adapter
When it comes to power- or boot-related issues, the first thing that you want to do is to ensure that the phone charges normally. Yes, checking for warmth while charging can be an indicator in this case but it’s not everything. Some phones that doesn’t charge properly can still warm up. The best thing that you can do to verify if the charging cable and adapter are working is by using them in another device, or by using another known working adapter and charging cable.
Is it a screen problem?
Sometimes, users mistake a screen not turning on problem for a phone not turning on issue. Well, obviously there’s an important difference. A phone that has a screen problem will continue to work and exhibit signs that it’s turning on though the screen may remain black or unresponsive. Among the signs that you should watch out for includes the LED light, vibrate and sound notifications, and ringing during calls. If, for instance, your phone still rings when you call your number though the screen stays black all the time, the issue must be screen-related. To fix it, you must let Samsung or a third party technician replace the screen for you.
Restart the phone to alternate boot modes
If your phone appears to show signs that it’s not totally powered off, you may still be able to fix the problem if it’s being caused by software rather than by hardware malfunction. To do that, try to see if you can turn it on to other modes and do follow up troubleshooting. Here’s how:
Boot in Recovery mode:
- Turn off the phone. This is important. You won’t be able to boot the phone to Recovery if it’s on. If you can’t turn the device off normally, wait until the battery drains and all signs that show it’s on (like LED light, ringing, vibration/sound) are deactivated.
- Charge the phone for at least 30 minutes.
- Press and then hold the Home and Volume UP keys, then press and hold the Power key.
- When the Samsung Galaxy logo shows on the screen, release the Power key but continue holding the Home and Volume Up keys.
- When the Android logo shows, you may release both keys and leave the phone be for about 30 to 60 seconds.
- You can either wipe the cache partition or do a factory reset when in this mode.
Boot in Download Mode:
- Turn off the phone
- Charge the phone for at least 30 minutes.
- Press and then hold the Home and Volume DOWN keys, then press and hold the Power key.
- When the Samsung Galaxy logo shows on the screen, release the Power key but continue holding the Home and Volume DOWN keys.
- Wait until the Download screen appears.
- If you can boot the phone in download mode but not in other modes, that means that your only way out may be to flash a stock or custom firmware.
- Use Google to look for a guide on how to do it.
Send the phone in
A dead phone is a dead phone. Unless you are trained to troubleshoot and diagnose (there’s a difference between the two) hardware issues, it’s best if you can let someone who does repair for a living help you. Fixing a non-responsive device requires experience, training, and tools. We know you’re looking forward to us for guidance on how to possibly fix a hardware problem but we need to be able to physically check the device before we can troubleshoot it. The best thing that you can do right now is to bring the device to a Samsung shop. If that’s not possible, let a third party technician do the job.
Problem 3: Galaxy A5 suffered multiple issues after installing Nougat update
On my Galaxy A5, I’ve had nothing but issues since this damn update downloaded & installed. It ruined the way my main screen looks, making everything miniature. The display/screen area (font size) is stuck at “loading…” & never does anything. This is even after I supposedly installed some update to the truly crappy 7.1.1 thing in the first place. I’m so angry that they changed this & made everything so damn foreign & unusable. I even had issues with the camera not saving to the SD card. I HATE it!!!! This thing is only a little over a year old & I want to smash it across the room. Btw, this is A, just plain A, but that wasn’t a choice. — Freecy.gb
Solution: Hi Freecy.gb. Released in 2014, the Galaxy A5’s hardware is not really designed for Android Nougat (Android 7) though it can still run it. Keep in mind that the newer the operating system is, the more demanding it becomes as new advanced features are added. While the A5 can still work with Nougat, it may exhibit some lag or performance problems when working with Android Nougat. If you want, you can revert the operating system version back to the previous one via flashing. Just make sure that you follow a good flashing guide to avoid encountering problems. Remember, flashing modifies system level files and one misstep can potentially brick the device.