Galaxy Note 4 reboots on its own when battery level is low, won't download MMS, other issues

Hello Note 4 fans! We welcome you to another #GalaxyNote4 post that answers 10 more issues about the 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 getting weak signal in certain areas

I’m in Tahiti, French Polynesia and my service provider is called Vini. The phone in question will not work in my office or most or the area around my home, or will work with poor communication and drop out. The same SIM card put in an old Samsung Galaxy II and a Windows phone Lumia 1520, provide good communications, both incoming and outgoing in the same area. I have done a factory reset with no improvement. Is this normal for this phone, is there something else I can do to improve communications??? It is my favorite phone, but nearly useless until I’m in town, so I have to use my Windows phone which I like a lot too. If it weren’t for lack of apps, I would love it. — Richard

Solution: Hi Richard. There’s not much an end user can do when faced with a problem like yours. At times, this issue is caused by a software bug so removing a problematic app or doing a factory reset. At other times, the issue is caused by an outdated modem firmware so installing the latest Android updates may help too. Since you’ve figured out that this is not due to poor service in your area, the most likely cause of your problem may be something in the motherboard, which unfortunately, is almost impossible to identify. If the issue won’t go away at all after doing all software solutions like factory reset and installing updates, you should consider replacing your phone for good.

Problem 2: Korean Galaxy Note 4 not working properly in Canada, calls keep getting forwarded to voicemail, SMS keeps getting delayed

Hello. Phone was bought new in South Korea. It remained in box until 2015 and I brought it to Canada when I moved. For several months it worked fine. After a visit to the local Samsung store, I’ve been told it won’t update because the phone was made for the South Korean region. If I’m getting 3G, it seems to be a little better but LTE my calls to me go directly to voicemail and I miss a lot of incoming text messages. Often they show up hours later. Anyway to trick the phone about region and be able to update it here in Canada Thanks in advance. — Bob

Solution: Hi Bob. Although Samsung devices may be running Android, most of them are catered to the needs of carriers they’re supposed to work on. A device meant to operate in a particular Korean carrier is configured to that carrier’s network so it may encounter compatibility issues when used with another carrier. These issues usually spring from the fact that the software is coded slightly differently. For example, a Verizon phone may not be able to provide its full functions when used in an AT&T network because some of its core apps and software configuration are simply incompatible with T-Mobile network settings. The problem is, you can’t install a T-Mobile software in a Verizon phone. The same is true in your case. Your Korean Note 4 version may not work properly or not at all when used outside the network it was originally designed to work on.

If your current carrier can’t identify the cause of your problem, or can’t fix a known compatibility issue, you’re out of luck.

Problem 3: Galaxy Note 4 stuck in boot loop after flashing

Hello Droid Guy. My name is Emmanuel. I recently updated my phone to the PJ2 ROM. Ever since i did, my phone boot loops on Android page (the first boot page) even with 100% battery level. I odined official ROMs several times but the problem persists. I recently discovered that if my phone is on charge (using the official charger), the phone boots ok. Is there a way around this so i can use the phone without having to always be on charge? — Aguzelik2012

Solution: Hi Aguzelik2012. We assume you’re aware of the risks you’re taking when modifying the official software of your phone so you must have already tried contacting the developer of the ROM you’ve used, or asked helped from the community that used it. It may be incompatible, or there’s a certain thing that you must configure to make it work on your current device build. We are not familiar with this ROM, nor has tried using it. Talking to the people who’s behind the creation of this ROM is the only effective way to fix your problem.

Sometimes, boot loop problems can be fixed by flashing the bootloader first, then the firmware. Try that first and see how it goes. Flashing the bootloader has slightly different steps compared to flashing the firmware. If you haven’t tried doing it before, here are the sample steps. Keep in mind that the exact steps may vary on your device. The following steps are for demonstration purposes only:

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.
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.
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.
Proceed with the rest of the flashing procedure using the Odin program.
In Odin, click on the BL tab and make sure to use the bootloader file you’ve identified earlier.
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.
Restart the phone once the procedure is finished.

Problem 4: Galaxy Note 4 keeps rebooting after flashing

The issue is that i change my Galaxy Note 4 ROM to a custom ROM and i did not backup EFS file for network. Then i lost netwok saying not registered on the network but IMEI is still ok. The phone is international version but there are some instructions on the internet on how to fix that but some app need the phone to be in the stock firmware which i have downloaded like 5 types from Sammobile. But all of them when i install them using Odin boot ok. but after boot, when starting to configure the phone normally like selecting language, its stuck completey and you cannot do any thing till you restart again. It does the same thing again. Even if you succeed on finishing the setup, when you use it, its still stuck again until you restart. now i think i am out of option. Can you please help me with new opinions if any. — Stephen

Solution: Hi Stephen. The safest way to bring your phone to its previous working state is by flashing its original stock firmware. We know you’re familiar with the steps on how to do this (we’re assuming you took note of the Android version your phone was running before changing it to non-official ROM).

You can also see our suggestions for Aguzelik2012 above.

Problem 5: Galaxy Note 4 not turning on

Hello. My name is Festus. Please i need your help to fix my phones, one is HUAWEI Y511-U30 and the other one is Samsung Galaxy Note 4. The HUAWEI was faulty after it was dropped inside water, which do everything to dry it for at least 2 weeks, thereafter i turn it on, it came up with vibrating and on sound but the screen was black, i couldn’t see anything. Since then i abandoned it for over 6 month now. This morning i just tried to turn it on after i have charge the battery for some hours, and it’s not just coming up again, no sign of power in it at all. That is for the 1st one.

The second one, the Galaxy Note 4, whenever i insert the battery without putting it on, it will display the phone name and logo and if i try to turn it on, it won’t, and not boosting. Kindlly help me out. Thanks. — Festugreat

Solution: Hi Festugreat. Firstly, the HUAWEI Y511 does not have water resistance protection, so it must have permanent damage on its hardware right now. You need to have its hardware checked so you’ll know if a repair can fix it or not.

For your Note 4 issue, we recommend that you try to start it to other modes first so you’ll know if there’s something that you can do about it software-wise. If the phone stays dead or unresponsive, that’s your cue to have it checked by a professional or Samsung service center. Here are the steps on how to boot the phone to alternate modes:

Boot in Recovery mode:

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.
Using the Volume Down key, navigate through the options and highlight ‘wipe cache partition.’
You can either wipe the cache partition or do a factory reset when in this mode.

Boot in Download Mode:

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.

Boot in safe mode:

Charge the phone for at least 30 minutes.
Press and hold the Power button.
Once the Samsung Galaxy logo appears, release the Power key and immediately press and hold the Volume Down button.
Continue holding the button until the phone finishes rebooting.
Once you see the text “Safe mode” at the bottom left corner of the screen, release the Volume Down button.
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.

Problem 6: Galaxy Note 4 reboots on its own when battery level is low

I have a Samsung Note 4 and i updated it to Lollipop 5.1.1.after a few days i observed that the phone shuts down when it reaches around 20% to 30 % of its battery. I can’t turn on the phone after this and would need to charge it again. I also accidentally dropped the phone down once from a low level. Could this be a reason why its shuts down? Is the battery broken? As i can see the battery, there no sign of external damage such as swollen battery. I got this phone 8 months ago. i purchased it because of its battery life span. i hope you can me fix the problem. — M

Solution: Hi M. Try to recalibrate the battery first. This will help train the operating system again on how to detect the true battery levels. Here’s how it’s done:

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

If recalibrating the battery won’t work, try factory reset, followed by installing all Android and app updates. Sometimes, all sorts of problems can happen due to incompatibility issues with apps so making sure that you only install good apps is very important. Better still, try to observe the phone after a factory reset without installing any app or update. Doing so will let you know if the problem is software-related or not. If the issue remains, it’s most probably bad hardware or battery so you want to address those. For a bad battery issue, you can simply replace it. However, if you think it’s more serious than bad battery, you’ll want to have the phone repaired.

Problem 7: How to address Galaxy Note 4 battery drain issue

Dear The Droid Guy Team. My Samsung Galaxy Note 4 battery is draining extremely fast! I read your 3-part solutions, but I must be doing something wrong because nothing works. I’ve never had the Lollipop app on my phone and I have very few apps running. This just recently started. I troubleshooted thru Samsung, installed a new battery, deleted all unnecessary apps, continually ‘close all’ running apps, my phone’s never been damaged or abused, etc. This is very devastating to me because I’m a cancer patient, struggling financially, and simply cannot afford a newer version phone. It was suggested to me yesterday that fast battery drainage is intentional so that users are forced to buy the latest upgrade, however I find that hard to believe (I’ve never been cynical). I’ve reached out to everyone everywhere that I can think of. Your website says that you read all requests, so I’m crossing my fingers and hoping you’ll reply to me. Please help! I’ll be so grateful! Really really grateful! — Constance

Solution: Hi Constance. Most of the time, battery drain issue is really not an issue but rather a product of improper usage and smartphone power management habits. Assuming of course that there’s no device or battery issue, you should be able to address battery drain issue by simply changing your usage habits and tweaking some relevant settings.

Firstly, you want to make sure that you check what’s eating up battery power. You can do so easily by checking battery usage under Settings>Battery. If there are items that standout in the list, you should consider uninstalling them or forcing them to hibernate most of the time. If, for example, Facebook app seems to be taking a huge chunk of battery usage, that can be an indication that you’re using it way too much day in and day out. It can also mean that it always run in the background, communicating to remote servers to download updates. The same can be true for other apps.

Usually, the items that should be on top of battery usage list should be Android OS or screen. Since there’s nothing that you can do about Android OS, you should focus instead on the item that you can control like the screen. Try to lower screen brightness to the lowest comfortable level to conserve power everyday.

Secondly, you want to keep the number of apps installed to the minimum. Keep in mind that the more apps you install, the longer the operating system has to work everytime to keep everything in order. In very simplistic explanation, Android becomes more efficient the lesser the apps there are in the system.

Also, not all apps are built with conserving battery power in mind. Some may be power efficient while others may be poorly coded. In other words, the more apps you have, the higher the chance of an app possibly draining the battery.

Keep as few apps as possible. Stick to official apps and avoid those built by unknown developers. This is just a general guidance since we don’t know how many and what type of apps you have. We also don’t know whether they are working fine or not.

There are a lot of tips and tricks that you can do to improve your battery life so we encourage you to do some research. Discussing the entire gamut of battery saving tips is beyond the scope of this article so try using Google to help you.

Problem 8: Galaxy Note 4 fingerprint lock not working after an update

After an update overnight, the phone asked for password entry but after showing the keyboard for a short period of time, it disappears and you cannot get it back again. The screen shows ‘Backup password’ but touching this doesn’t bring up the keyboard. After a while this disappears as well as so that nothing is shown on the screen (except the wallpaper) other than ‘Emergency call”at the bottom. The finger scanner doesn’t nor does the back up or menu bottoms on the left and right bottom of the phone. I can get in by restarting and entering the backup password when the keyboard first appears, and the phone works fine. When it times out and goes back to needing a password or finger scan entry, the scanner doesn’t work (no red fingerprint or other indication that it is working) and pressing ‘backup password’ doesn’t bring up the keyboard. Restarting again is the only way of getting one chance of entering the password. I have tried a soft reset but no difference. — Lynne

Solution: Hi Lynne. Hi Lynne. Try wiping the cache partition first. Please follow the steps below:

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 Vol 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.

Once you’ve cleared the cache partition, make sure that you delete the old registered fingerprint so you can replace it with a new one. Make sure that you also update the backup password. If the problem won’t go away after that, do a factory reset.

Create a backup of your important files such as photos, videos, contacts etc. You can use Smart Switch for this task.
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 Vol 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 Vol 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 9: Galaxy Note 4 battery randomly reboots even when battery at 87%

Good morning. I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 phone and while the battery has 87% my phone will shut off. It’ll act like its cutting back on but never come on. I have to charge it in order for it to come back on and some times the battery will show 0% and then it will automatically go to 67%. Can you help me out? I’ve done a factory reset and did the spin test on the battery. I guess it could still be the battery? — Stephanie

Solution: Hi Stephanie. If factory reset did not fix the issue, the most likely cause is bad battery. We suggest that you try battery recalibration first (steps provided above) and see how it works after that. If the problem remains, get a new battery.

Problem 10: Galaxy Note 4 won’t download MMS

I am unable to receive pictures downloaded in text messaging. I brought my phone with me from T-Mobile to Consumer Cellular at the beginning of the year. T-Mobile did an update on my phone and now I cannot download pictures when they are sent to me in text messaging. I call Consumer Cellular and they helped me change back my APN settings. I have done a soft restart, turn my phone off and back on and cleared cache in Storage. Mobile data is on also. This problem did not exist before the update and I have run out of ideas. Can you help? — Denise

Solution: Hi Denise. If you’re positive that the issue started after a T-Mobile update, there may be or may be not that you can do about it. If said update was applied permanently, which means that core settings had been modified for good, there may be nothing that you can do about it. To see if that’s the case, try using a different messaging app first. If that won’t fix the problem, consider doing a factory reset. If a factory reset won’t resolve the issue either, that means the update was permanent. That means that there’s nothing that you can do about it at all unless you can flash the original stock firmware before the update.

Galaxy Note 4 reboots on its own when battery level is low, won’t download MMS, other issues