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Galaxy Note 4 hardware buttons are unresponsive, other issues

Welcome to another post about #GalaxyNote4 issues and solutions! In this article, we publish 6 more cases reported by some users during the past few days. We hope this will be a good source of solutions for other users as well.

note4

Below are the specific topics discussed in this post:

  1. Galaxy Note 4 can’t do factory reset
  2. Galaxy Note 4 freezing issue | Galaxy Note 4 hardware buttons are unresponsive
  3. Galaxy Note 4 can’t copy files to SD card
  4. Galaxy Note 4 won’t charge battery to 100%
  5. Galaxy Note 4 stuck in Samsung logo screen
  6. Galaxy Note 4 overheating when SIM card is inserted

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, or you can install our free app from Google Play Store.

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.


Problem #1: Galaxy Note 4 can’t do factory reset

Hey, I just wanted to start off by saying thanks for all this helpful information that’s posted. I have 2 Note 4s. both of them were not working, and you helped me get one of them back up and running right away. Now for the second one. I’m not sure what operating system it is. It isn’t the newest one. And it hasn’t been updated for at least 6 months. It started having issues a few days ago.

It was lagging a lot and crashing. About the same time i signed in to a random open wi-fi i found while at a birthday party (I don’t know if this has any correlation or not). Then yesterday i decided to try backing up all my stuff, and giving it a factory reset. This is when the real issues started. the reset went all normal and all, but then when it came time to power the phone back on, it displays the “Samsung Note 4” logo, with the recovery boot icon in the upper left corner. The screen then goes black. Then the 3d looking android logo flashes for an instant. And it just flashes that every 15 or 20 seconds. Please advise. Thanks so much. — Henry

Solution: Hi Henry. If the phone can’t complete the boot up sequence, your only way out may be to manually flash a firmware. A boot-related issue can have a unique cause depending on what you did to the device prior to noticing the issue. Since booting to recovery is no longer working, there’s really nothing much that you can do in this case. Look for a guide via Google on how to do it.

Problem #2: Galaxy Note 4 freezing issue | Galaxy Note 4 hardware buttons are unresponsive

Hello! I have a long-time issue with my Samsung Galaxy Note 4. In April I changed my battery because my phone kept shutting down at about 60% battery. It was obvious then that the issue was the battery. After the change the phone worked flawlessly.

But since a couple of weeks ago, to late August, the screen started freezing with the phone being unresponsive randomly. Last week the problem became more severe, in the sense that it shut down, and since it wouldn’t start up, i plugged it in to charge it. I left it there, not looking at the screen, but after some time I discovered it had the error:

ODIN MODE (HIGH SPEED)

PRODUCT NAME: SM-N910F

CURRENT BINARY: Custom

SYSTEM STATUS: Official

REACTIVATION LOCK: OFF

KNOX WARRANTY VOID: 0x1

(4) QUALCOMM SECUREBOOT: ENABLE

(CSB) AP SWREV: S1, T1, R1, A1, P1

SECURE DOWNLOAD : ENABLE UDC START

MMC: mmc_read fail

ODIN : flash read failure <<The picture of the Android man>> Downloading… Do not turn off target!! (Please note that this is not my actual message, just one I found off the internet, that was very similar to mine).

I never rooted the phone nor have I changed anything to it from an operating system point of view. When I saw the aforementioned error, i waited for a couple of minutes, not knowing what to do, and then I removed the battery, and put it back in. That solved the issue, in way, meaning that that particular screen error message hasn’t happened since. But the phone keeps getting worse and worse. It shuts down randomly (i lock the screen, come back to my phone to find out its shut down. Left it at 60% battery, restarted it at 32%), the screen freezes more often and the buttons are unresponsive. The phone just reverts to the password screen randomly (the one after the PIN input, but without actually restarting). It freezes in games. It automatically shuts down after the first low battery warning (so at 15%). And more along those lines. Do you have any suggestions or solutions? I’d hate to think that it’s just the battery, since it is only 5-6 months old. Thanks in advance! Have a nice day! — Danilov

Solution: Hi Danilov. An issue like this can have two general causes — software glitch or hardware malfunction. Some software issues can be resolved by doing the basic stuff such as wiping the cache partition, uninstall apps or updates, or by performing a factory reset. If you haven’t tried all of them yet, now is the time to do them. In fact, these basic software solutions are the only things that you can do on your end. If the cause of the problem is due to a bad bootloader or hardware-related malfunction, the only solution is either phone repair or replacement.

For reference, below are the exact steps on how to wipe the cache partition, boot in safe mode, or wipe everything via factory reset.

Note 4 wipe the cache partition

  • Turn off the Galaxy Note 4 completely.
  • Press and hold the Volume Up and the Home keys together, then press and hold the Power key.
  • When the Note 4 vibrates, release both the Home and Power keys but continue holding the Volume Up key.
  • When the Android System Recovery shows on the screen, release the Volume Up key.
  • Using the Volume Down key, highlight the option ‘wipe cache partition’ and press the Power key to select it.
  • When the wiping of the cache partition is finished, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and hit the power key.

Note 4 boot to safe mode

  • Turn off the phone completely.
  • Press and hold the Power key and the Volume Down key.
  • When the phone starts to boot, release the Power key but continue holding the Volume Down key until the phone finished restarting.
  • Safe mode will be display at the lower left corner; you may release the Volume Down key now.

Note 4 factory reset

  • Turn off the Galaxy Note 4 completely.
  • Press and hold the Volume Up and the Home keys together, then press and hold the Power key.
  • When the Note 4 vibrates, release both the Home and Power keys but continue holding the Volume Up key.
  • When the Android System Recovery shows on the screen, release the Volume Up key.
  • Using the Volume Down key, highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset’ and press the Power key to select it.
  • Now highlight ‘Yes — delete all user data’ using the Volume Down key and press the Power key to begin the reset.
  • When the master reset is complete, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and hit the Power key.
  • The Note 4 will restart but it will be longer than usual. When it reaches the Home screen, then begin your setup.

Problem #3: Galaxy Note 4 can’t copy files to SD card

Hi. I am having problems transferring any files to my SD card. I have a Samsung Note 4 with the update to 6.0.1 and have a San Disk 32GB SD card that had a few files on it. I wanted a clean start so I went to the SD drive and selected all files and deleted them. I then reformatted my SD card and when I tried to copy my files over to the SD I hit paste and nothing happened and it went back to the my files page. I tried this several times and it did the same thing. I went to the store and bought a Samsung 32GB SD card to replace the old one. I formatted the card and tried to copy files over and again and it did the same thing. I have done a soft reset and still doesn’t work. I would appreciate any help. Thank you. — Craig

Solution: Hi Craig. If you can’t copy your files using your phone, insert the SD card to a card reader and use a laptop to do it instead. If you want to go to the bottom of the issue on the phone though, do a factory reset to reset everything back to their default settings.

Problem #4: Galaxy Note 4 won’t charge battery to 100%

Hi there. I am using a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 since the last few months. 2 months back, the system updated automatically to Marshmallow. Soon after that I got battery issues. So I purchased new battery but it never charged it to 100%. I got another one but same problem. Maximum it charged 67% whether plugged in for whole day and night. I factory reset it. Cleared cached by pressing Home + Power + Volume up buttons. I tried hard to find solution. Whenever I find any, I tried but in vain. Can you tell me what to do please? Every method applied but problem not solved. Battery charged 67% maximum and giving me only few hours timing and the battery low signal. Thanks so many a lot in advance if you find a solution for me. — Irfan

Solution: Hi Irfan. Do another round of factory reset, charge the phone and observe it for a few days. Make sure that you don’t install any app during the observation period. Doing this will give you an idea whether an app is causing the issue, or if it’s due to a poorly coded operating system. Refer to the steps above on how to factory reset your phone.

Also, moving forward make sure that you keep ALL your apps updated after you install every Android update. Not all apps are compatible with the every Android version so ensure that you uninstall everything that can potentially cause a conflict with the operating system.

Problem #5: Galaxy Note 4 stuck in Samsung logo screen

Hi. I’m having some trouble with my Note 4. so i received the Note from a friend and she told me what was the problem. The problem is that she would turn it off, then when she tries to attempt to turn it back on, it will show the Samsung boot screen. Then all black with the blue and white (maybe baby blue, i can’t tell exactly) and sometimes boots a 2nd or 3rd time. Leave it like that and the phone would start getting hot.

So i used Odin and installed a fresh BL, CP, and CSC. Then i left the phone without the battery for about 10 minute’s then i put the battery back on and turned it on. it worked!

But after a while i accidentally turned it off. The same problem was back (i don’t know if this is important but whenever you tried to update the software it would always fail). So i thought why don’t i just install fresh, clean OS and i won’t have to face this problem again.

i installed Android 5.0.1 and it did not work. This time the blue and white notification light was not on. So i installed it again but only the Bootloader. The light was back. Please help me on what to do or give me a link to a legitimate clean OS.

I’ve tried every trick! pull out the battery then press and hold the power button to drain out the remaining power and leave the phone for about 10 minutes. I also try to go in recovery mode (when i try to do this, it goes all black also), install a clean fresh OS, ECT. I’m running out of options! what should i do? It can’t be the hardware because everything was working fine. it can’t be the screen because I’ve personally seen the screen work perfectly fine, plus the Samsung boot logo (the “Samsung Galaxy Note 4  powered by Android” boot). i don’t know what to do! — Victor

Solution: Hi Victor. We don’t compile firmware for devices so we can’t give you a clean OS. We’ve pretty sure you can find other third party sites that may provide what you’re looking for. Just make sure that you install the correct firmware version for the specific model you have.

Also, given the many unofficial modifications done on this device (and we don’t even know if it’s suffering from any hardware malfunction), we doubt if there’s anything more that you can do on your end. The symptoms you describe here are consistent with a flashing procedure gone bad. Since there’s no way to backtrack everything that you and your friend did and identify where the issue may lie, it’s impossible to fix the phone. This is the main reason why Samsung (and all hardware makers) is against unofficial software modification; there are just too many ways to mess up official software. The only thing that MIGHT help is by installing the correct firmware (and bootloader if you changed it as well). If that won’t work either, don’t waste your time resolving the issue at all.

Problem #6: Galaxy Note 4 overheating when SIM card is inserted

My Galaxy Note 4 (SM-910A carrier unlocked) started heating up in my pocket one fine evening and after that everything is going haywire. As soon as I noticed the heat, I rebooted the phone to kill all apps. After rebooting, it did not heat up but started hanging & rebooting. Whatsapp being used the most, phone was also hanging on opening Whatsaspp. Following are the things I have tried but with no permanent results:

  • Deleted Whatsapp media
  • Completely removed Whatsapp
  • Removed several other apps
  • Cleared Cache
  • Factory reset
  • Got OS loaded from Samsung technician
  • Tried 4 different SIM cards from 3 different providers

After all these, I figured that without the SIM, phone works fine. As soon as I insert any SIM card, the phone starts hanging, rebooting, and sometimes going into ODIN mode on reboot. Any thoughts how I can fix this? — Vick

Solution: Hi Vick. If you’ve isolated the trigger of the symptoms, then you may have a bad SIM card slot. It’s definitely not software related since you’ve already tried doing a factory reset. Contact Samsung and let them repair the device, or even replace the phone.

 


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2 Comments

  1. How can I fix the above problem. Phone is just 2 years old with a new battery

  2. Having trouble with my Galaxy Note 4 – Have just purchased a new battery as it used to just shut down when it had around 70%power. Worked well for 2 weeks but 2 days ago it just froze on me and no buttons would work and couldn’t turn it off so took out the battery. Also took out the sim card and put it back in but when I put the battery back in it came on for a while and I tried to send a couple of txt messages and I think they did go but not received by the recipents. Took out the battery again and this time when I put it back in and logged on I tried to go into the app. ANZ gomoney and it just froze again and the screen turned white and nothing happened. Took out the battery again and when put back in it came up with lots of things on the screen to say that it was rebooting. Tried to write down what was on the screen but wasn’t there long enough some of it was
    Supported API:3
    #MANUAL MODE#
    applying Multi CSC
    could not do normal boot
    ddi: read failed
    produce name and that is all I was able to get
    then a big green robot came on the screen telling me – Recovery booting and then it says
    Installing System Updates. I have never asked it update any system updates, so can you please explain what the heck it is doing.

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