Galaxy Note8 won’t boot past Samsung logo screen and won’t turn off [troubleshooting guide]

Today’s troubleshooting article will show you how to fix a #GalaxyNote8 that got stuck in Samsung logo screen. We know that this is a common issue for devices with hacked bootloader and firmware though it can also be caused by an Android update. If you’re looking for solutions on how to bring your Note8 back to its normal working order, this article might help.

Why your Note8 got stuck in Samsung logo screen

This problem is usually a product of Android corruption or a mistake in flashing or rooting the device. In some cases, users report that their device got stuck in Samsung logo screen after an update. Majority occurred though after flashing or rooting has gone wrong. To fix the issue, make sure to try our suggestions below.

Solution #1: Perform a soft reset

Your first attempt to fix this problem should be to restart your device. If you can’t do that the normal way, you should try to force reboot your device. For older devices with removable battery packs, fixing boot problems usually start with unplugging the battery. This is obviously not possible with your Note8. To simulate a “battery pull” effect on the system, Samsung has to devise a way by using hardware button combinations. This button combination is called soft reset. Here’s how you do it on your Note8:

1. Press and hold the Power + Volume Down buttons for approximately 10 seconds or until the device power cycles. Note: Allow several seconds for the Maintenance Boot Mode screen to appear.
2. From the Maintenance Boot Mode screen, select Normal Boot. Note: Utilize the volume buttons to cycle through the available options and the lower left button (below the volume buttons) to select. Also, allow up to 90 seconds for the reset to complete.

If your Note8’s Power button won’t budge or won’t allow you to turn the device off, you have no other choice but to wait until the phone empties the battery. This may take some time but you really have not much choice in this situation.

Solution #2: Let the battery drain then charge

In some cases of boot up failure, letting the device’s battery drain to 0% and waiting for a few hours before charging again were successful in fixing the problem. This is usually effective if the reason for the boot up problem is due to an operating system bug and not by doing an incorrect step in flashing or rooting. If your Note8 got stuck in Samsung logo screen after a failed flashing or rooting procedure, just ignore this suggestion and proceed to the next one.

Solution #3: Boot to recovery to wipe cache or do master reset

In majority of cases where Galaxy devices fail to boot past the Samsung logo screen, unofficial changes to the bootloader and firmware are made. Some users also simply fail to recognize the fact that they may be using an incorrect firmware version. If your Note8 started experiencing the problem after you attempted flashing or rooting procedure, one of the best things that you can do is to boot it to Recovery Mode and see if wiping the cache partition will help. If not, then you should try a master reset. Below are the steps on how to do each of them:

How to wipe Note8 cache partition

1. Turn off the device.
2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
3. When the green Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
4. Press the Volume down key several times to highlight ‘wipe cache partition’.
5. Press Power button to select.
6. Press the Volume down key until ‘yes’ is highlighted and press the Power button.
7. When the wipe cache partition is complete, “Reboot system now” is highlighted.
8. Press the Power key to restart the device.

How to master reset your Note8

1. Turn off the device.
2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
3. When the green Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
4. Press the Volume down key several times to highlight “wipe data / factory reset.
5. Press Power button to select.
6. Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
7. Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
8. When the master reset is complete, “Reboot system now” is highlighted.
9. Press the Power key to restart the device.

Factory reset will of course wipe your phone clean so all unsaved files are good as gone. To avoid losing personal data in the future, always make it a habit of creating a backup of them before you do anything drastic, like when rooting or flashing your device.

Solution #4: Boot to download mode and flash bootloader or firmware

Depending on what you did exactly prior to experiencing the issue, reflashing the bootloader and/or the firmware may work or not. Reflashing the bootloader is very similar to flashing a firmware so if you’ve been flashing devices for a while, you should know how to do it. For reference though, these are the general steps on how to flash a bootloader. Exact steps may be slightly different for your particular phone model so DO NOT take our provided steps below as accurate:

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.

Solution #5: Contact Samsung support

Flashing and rooting are strongly discouraged by Samsung. That’s not because they don’t want users to innovate and tweak but in order to minimize problems with their devices. Modifying the firmware or rooting a device is very sensitive and any misstep can spell doom on a device. Which is why only experienced users tend to do them. We understand that there’s a lot of average users wanting to do what these experienced Android enthusiasts are doing as well but the thing is, when problems strike, average users are not usually equipped to fix their devices. If you’re one of them and you can’t get any support from third party support sites for solutions, you should seek Samsung help. Remember, there’s no single way to fix all flashing- and rooting-related issues. If you’re lucky, Samsung may take your phone in for repair or replacement.

---