Galaxy Note 4 Galaxy Play Store app won’t load, stuck in download mode, other issues

Hello Android fans! Welcome to another #GalaxyNote4 post. As usual, issues mentioned here are taken from reports we received from some members of our community. We hope that this material will become yet another reference for those users facing issues with their Note 4.

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 Note 4 Google Play Store app won’t load

Hello All! I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 using 4.4.2 (Kitkat, I’m told). The Google Play Store kept failing to load, it would flicker the little loading circle, periodically ask me which account I wanted to use, but would do nothing else. It was affecting my Google Play Music, as it kept thinking I did not have permission to play songs. So I went in search of solutions. Clearing cache, data; force stopping, resetting app defaults, the fairly simple and easy step-by-step solutions did not work. An easy idea was to try updating to the latest version of the operating system, you know, make sure my device was up to date. But when I try to update the Samsung Software it says “com.samsung.syncservice has stopped” and it takes me back out to the settings menu. I can’t update. So I set that one aside for the moment.

The next solution in line was to remove the account and re-add it in the settings, which I did. Except I couldn’t. Because now it says it can’t communicate with the Google Servers. This happens if I try to sign in through any of the apps, too. So now nothing Google is working at all. A solution to /that/ issue says re-download Google Play Services through apkmirror but make sure you get the right version, which is reliant upon CPU and DPI information that I don’t have. The only ‘fix’ I can find for that is to download a device monitoring app through the Play Store that can tell you all about your device. … You can imagine my frustration. So I’m at a crossroads. I have the original issue of the Play Store flickering and failing, the probably related issue of being unable to communicate with the Google servers, an additional inability to update my Samsung software, and now a How Do I Find Out What CPU and DPI I Have? complication. The last /could/ resolve the rest. Or it could not, and I won’t know until I figure it out. Soft reset didn’t do anything, btw. I did bother to try it. I’m a good little Hufflepuff like that.

I suppose I will try finding the recommended device monitoring app through apkmirror and pray I’m not downloading a virus instead, unless you guys get back to me with a better idea before I do. Thanks for trying, because yeah, wow do I have a messed up device. Good luck, all. — Andrea

Solution: Hi Andrea. Instead of exerting effort in finding out what CPU and DPI mean (which by the way are not relevant in fixing your problem), why didn’t you simply wipe the phone clean via factory reset? It’s not only efficient but effective as well. Factory reset will return all software settings to defaults, including all pre-installed apps like Google Play Store. Clearing Google Play Store’s data should have achieved the same result but if that did not work, factory reset may be your last resort.

For reference, here are the steps on how to factory reset your Note 4:

  1. Create a backup of your important files such as photos, videos, contacts etc. You can use Smart Switch for this task.
  2. Turn off the Galaxy Note 4 completely.
  3. Press and hold the Volume Up and the Home keys together, then press and hold the Power key.
  4. When the Note 4 vibrates, release both the Home and Power keys but continue holding the Volume Up key.
  5. When the Android System Recovery shows on the screen, release the Vol Up key.
  6. Using the Volume Down key, highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset’ and press the Power key to select it.
  7. Now highlight ‘Yes — delete all user data’ using the Vol Down key and press the Power key to begin the reset.
  8. When the master reset is complete, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and hit the Power key.
  9. The Note 4 will restart but it will be longer than usual. When it reaches the Home screen, then begin your setup.

Problem 2: Galaxy Note 4 keeps booting on and off by itself

My phone started randomly turning off and rebooting, then started getting the Android robot with a screen saying “do not turn off downloading.” I left this over night and still it was like this in the morning. After a few days of trying to get the phone to behave, i bought a new battery. it worked for a day then went back to rebooting, or trying to with the robot screen.

I wiped the cache partition. I tried a different charger, to no avail. I have done a factory rest and wiped everything to start again. Still error messages. I took it to have a flash software fix at the phone shop but although it worked slightly better, i still get the random reboots and the robot screen. The guy in the shop said the chip might be degrading but this is where i am at now. Considering i spent 2 years paying £45 a month to buy it, i kinda want to save it if i can. I’m not sure what operating system i have on it or how i find that out. — Ancientredwood

Solution: Hi Ancientredwood. An issue like this can be due to a software glitch or bad hardware. Since you’ve already tried all software solutions for this problem, the technician from the shop may be right to say that the issue is hardware-related. There may be an issue with the phone’s power management integrated circuit. It can also be due to other failing components in the motherboard. Both cases can only be determined by checking the entire board so do-it-yourself repair is out of the question. We suggest that you send the phone in so a professional can check it.

Problem 3: Galaxy Note 4 won’t charge, gets hot when charging

I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 4. The other day I charged my phone and the charging icon flickered, the sound when it charges was repeated a few times, and then it didn’t charge. I used my original charger. I thought that the problem may lie in my charger, so I tried a Galaxy S5 Neo’s charger that I borrowed from my mom. It didn’t charge at all, not even the charging sound played.

So I cleaned the port and it worked for 2 hours. Then, even cleaning wouldn’t help. Today I tried charging with my friend’s charger and it worked. At this point I am confused. I am currently switching batteries with my mom so I can use the phone. Today the battery was charging for 2 hours and it charged for 15% with my friend’s cable. My battery gets hot if I even use the phone for more than internet or calls for 10 minutes and it drains in approx. 1day. Please respond soon. — Jan

Solution: Hi Jan. First, you want to recalibrate the battery to ensure that you re-train the operating system in detecting true battery levels. Here’s how to do that:

  1. Use the phone by playing games or doing tasks to hasten power discharge, until the phone turns itself off.
  2. Turn the phone on again and let it turn itself off.
  3. Charge the phone without turning it back on.
  4. Wait until the battery says it fully charged to 100%
  5. Unplug the charger and turn the phone on.
  6. If the phone says it’s not 100% anymore, turn it off, plug the charger back in and wait until 100% charge is reached.
  7. Unplug the charger the turn the phone on again.
  8. Use the phone until you drain the battery down to 0.
  9. Repeat the cycle once.

Should battery recalibration won’t work, don’t forget to do a factory reset. This will help you tell if the issue can be fixed on your end or not. Of course, if the battery and erratic charging issues continue after that, you can assume bad hardware is the culprit. It can be the charging port, the battery, the motherboard, or all of them at once. To know if the phone can be fixed, have it checked by Samsung or an independent service center.

Problem 4: Galaxy Note 4 voice call conferencing not working

When I call certain conference call numbers, the call is answered but the phone indicator continues to say “Dialing” and after 40 seconds it times out and hangs up the call. I noticed this happens on 2 call in numbers that I frequently use. The first time it happened was when I clicked on a phone number and access code and dialed. Ever since then I cannot call those numbers without getting a dropped call. I tried to clear the cache and reboot the phone but it did not solve the problem. —        Anoce

Solution: Hi Anoce. Delete the cache and data of your phone app and see how it goes. Here’s how:

  1. Open the Settings menu either through your notification shade (drop-down) or through the Settings app in your app drawer.
  2. Navigate down to “Apps”. This may be renamed to something like Applications or Application Manager in OEM skinned versions of Android 6 or 7.
  3. Once in there, click on an application.
  4. You’ll now see a list of stuff that gives you information about the app, including Storage, Permissions, Memory Use, and more. These are all clickable items. You’ll want to click on Storage.
  5. You should now clearly see the Clear Data and Clear Cache buttons for the application.

You can also try to see how conferencing works when your phone is in safe mode. This will help you tell if a third party app is causing your issue. Here’s how to boot to safe mode:

  1. Turn off the phone completely.
  2. Press and hold the Power key and the Volume Down key.
  3. When the phone starts to boot, release the Power key but continue holding the Volume Down key until the phone finished restarting.
  4. Safe mode will be display at the lower left corner; you may release the Volume Down key now.
  5. Check how conferencing works again.

Should the issue remain, contact your carrier and ask for direct assistance.

Problem 5: Galaxy Note 4 stuck in download mode

Hello. I tried the fix for the “Downloading … Do not turn off target!! I have done this several times but my phone still keeps rebooting. T-Mobile store told me, what do you expect? The phone model is 4 years old. They said they weren’t fixing the software issue and that it is a known issue. I have had the phone for less than 2 years. Paid $600 or more for it. I expect it to work at least 2 years. Any suggestions on a fix besides the one already posted??? — Kathy

Solution: Hi Kathy. If you’ve already tried a factory reset before contacting us, the only thing that you can do right now is flashing the bootloader and/or firmware. Below are the sample steps on how to do this. The exact steps may vary depending on your phone model so make sure to do your own research on how to do this procedure properly. The steps below are provided only for demonstration purposes.

  1. Look for the correct firmware for your phone model and download it. Make sure that you select the right one. It should be the same exact firmware that ran previously on your device. We assume that you list down the firmware version somewhere. If you did not take note of it before, there’s a chance that you may pick the wrong one. As you may know now, using an incorrect firmware can cause complications so good luck with that.
  2. Let’s now say that you have identified the correct firmware. You then want to download it to your computer. The firmware file should have a bunch of files in it like AP_, BL_, CSC_, etc.
  3. Look for the file that starts with a label BL; this should be the corresponding bootloader file for this firmware. Once you’ve identified the bootloader file, copy it to your computer’s desktop or to any other folder that you can easily access.
  4. Proceed with the rest of the flashing procedure using the Odin program.
  5. In Odin, click on the BL tab and make sure to use the bootloader file you’ve identified earlier.
  6. Now, make sure that the “Device Added” status and its “ID:COM box” has turned blue before hitting the START button. This will initiate the flashing of your phone’s bootloader.
  7. Restart the phone once the procedure is finished.

Problem 6: Galaxy Note 4 keeps freezing after installing Android Marshmallow 6.0

Note 4 had a system update a few weeks ago. it now runs on Android 6.0, but ever since then it freezes constantly. However, music still plays and will either work a few minutes later or restart. Sometimes it will restart without warning, and can’t do multiple things at once. I have an app open and send a message on messenger. Clearing cache and doing a factory reset has not helped and it is still restarting, skipping freezing entirely. — Stephanie

Solution: Hi Stephanie. Does the phone continue to freeze after a factory reset, with no apps and updates installed? If yes, then try flashing an older official firmware like Android Lollipop to it. If that won’t help still, consider repair or replacement.

Problem 7: Galaxy Note 4 battery is not working

Ok, I have a Galaxy Note 4 and the battery is not working. It keeps shutting on and off my cellphone and I can only use it while is connected to the charger. I’ve trying getting a new one and did not work. I use my boyfriend’s battery and my cellphone work perfectly so I don’t think it is the cellphone; it must be is the battery. I have no idea what to do because the cellphone is new and is not rooted. Please can you help me? I already tried everything. — Cici

Solution: Hi Cici. If you’re positive that your phone works normally when you’re using your boyfriend’s battery, then simply replace the current battery. Keep in mind that Lithium-based batteries like the one in your phone gradually loses capacity as it grows older. Exposing your device and battery to temperature extremes (too hot or too cold) can also lead to poor battery performance.

Problem 8: Galaxy Note 4 stuck in bootloop, overheating, won’t charge to 100%

Recently, my Galaxy Note 4 started to randomly reboot and on every time it reboots the charge changes. At first it wasn’t so disturbing. But after a while it got very disturbing. The problems that is happening right now are:

 

  • the phone usually doesn’t charge to a hundred percent
  • Randomly reboots
  • Sometimes says it is unable to charge make sure you’re using compatible Samsung battery and charger
  • sometimes it gets hot. — Rathwanhussein

 

Solution: Hi Rathwanhussein. All the symptoms you mention appear consistent with a hardware problem. It can be a bad battery, that’s why the phone does not charge to 100%, overheats and reboots randomly. It can be a malfunctioning power IC, especially since the phone gets stuck in a boot loop. Again, make sure that you try all the software troubleshooting mentioned in this post — cache partition wipe, battery recalibration, observing the phone in safe mode, factory reset, and flashing. If all of them won’t work, you can try a new battery. Generally though, we strongly suggest that you consider a phone replacement.

Problem 9: Galaxy Note 4 stops connecting to DSLR via OTG cable after an update

Hi. I have a Galaxy Note 4 and while running the original Android OS  used it to control my DSLR. The app i used was DSLR controller using an OTG cable. Since upgrading to Android v 5.01, this no longer works. I have run OTG checkers which confirm the phone has OTG capability. but there is no way to get the phone to act as an OTG host. I can however download images from either my phone or camera to a pc. Samsung reloaded the OS but this did not help. They were not able to resolve this issue. Hope you can help. Regards. — John

Solution: Hi John. There may be a compatibility issue somewhere. We really don’t know what app you’re using so we suggest that you start there and check if it’s compatible with the new Android OS on your phone. If possible, contact the developer of the app and ask direct assistance.

Problem 10: Galaxy Note 4 won’t turn back on

My Galaxy Note 4 switched off as l was switching from one app to another (using the soft key to the left of the home button). the battery percentage was somewhere around 25-30% and l wasn’t having any battery issues (the battery appeared to have been working properly though it was a replacement battery).

i tried switching it back on but it won’t power up. i removed the battery and tried all the troubleshooting steps on the troubleshooting guide but nothing helped. should l visit a tech or it could be a software related issue? l also tried charging it but it doesn’t seem to be charging. — Joelmangwende

Solution: Hi Joelmangwende. Try booting the phone to alternate boot modes first and see how it goes (refer to the steps below). If the phone remains dead, use another battery. Finally, if that won’t help either, yes, go ahead and send it in.

Here are the steps on how boot your Note 4 to different modes:

Boot in Recovery mode:

  1. Charge the phone for at least 30 minutes.
  2. Press and then hold the Home and Volume UP keys, then press and hold the Power key.
  3. When the Samsung Galaxy logo 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. You can either wipe the cache partition or do a factory reset when in this mode.

Boot in Download Mode:

  1. Charge the phone for at least 30 minutes.
  2. Press and then hold the Home and Volume DOWN keys, then press and hold the Power key.
  3. When the Samsung Galaxy logo shows on the screen, release the Power key but continue holding the Home and Volume DOWN keys.
  4. Wait until the Download screen appears.
  5. 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.
  6. Use Google to look for a guide on how to do it.

Boot in safe mode:

  1. Charge the phone for at least 30 minutes.
  2. Press and hold the Power button.
  3. Once the Samsung Galaxy logo appears, release the Power key and immediately press and hold the Volume Down button.
  4. Continue holding the button until the phone finishes rebooting.
  5. Once you see the text “Safe mode” at the bottom left corner of the screen, release the Volume Down button.
  6. The only difference of safe mode from normal mode is that the former prevents third party apps from running. If you can boot the phone in safe mode but not in normal mode, uninstall all apps until the issue (that prevents you from booting normally) is eliminated.

 


If you are one of the users who encounters a problem with your device, let us know. We offer solutions for Android-related problems for free so if you have an issue with your Android device, simply fill in the short questionnaire in this link and we will try to publish our answers in the next posts. We cannot guarantee a quick response so if your issue is time sensitive, please find another way to resolve your problem. 

If you find this post helpful, please help us by spreading the word to your friends. TheDroidGuy has social network presence as well so you may want to interact with our community in our Facebook and Google+ pages.


Posts You Might Like

Leave a Comment