Galaxy S7 Active keeps crashing, won’t boot past Android logo screen, other issues

Hello Android community! Today, our new #GalaxyS7 post addresses a common issue on this device — power/boot problems.

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 S7 Active  keeps crashing, won’t power back on

So I’ve only had my Galaxy S7 Active for a few months. One day when I was using Chrome, it started freezing up, and then it crashed. I did the Volume Down, and Power combo, and it came back on. I then removed all apps, hoping it was a third party app problem. It crashed again. So I did it again, and put it in recovery mode, and cleared the cache. It did it again. So I finally just factory reset it. It then worked for 3 days, where it then again crashed, and then refused to come back on, or charge. I’ve tried putting it in safe mode, rebooting, and putting it in recovery mode, and now it just won’t respond to any of it. It won’t charge, and no indicator lights are coming on. What should I do? I’ve only had it for a few months, and still paying on this phone. It has no water damage, as I haven’t been near water with it. Nor have I dropped it. — Jordan

Solution: Hi Jordan. It’s hard to determine with enough certainty the cause of a problem like this if there’s no complete history of the device. There’s a chance though the random crashes and eventual shutdown of your device were some early indications of a failing battery. It’s also possible that the battery’s fine but a component in the motherboard isn’t. For example, together with the battery, another common reason for random shutdowns is a faulty power management IC. Without advanced hardware troubleshooting though, it can be difficult to nail the real reason.

Finding a solution to this case requires doing three types of troubleshooting:

1. troubleshooting charging accessories like USB cable, adapter, external case, and outlet
2. try to restart the phone to alternate modes
3. troubleshooting the screen

Troubleshoot charging accessories

The first focus in your troubleshooting should be centered around accessories in providing power to the device. This means that you have to consider the possibility that the charging cable, adapter or even the outlet may be to blame. If you have another set of charging cable and adapter, make sure to try them on your device. A lot of smartphone users fail to do the obvious in cases like this so be sure that you’re not one of them. If you don’t have another cable or adapter, try using the same set in charging another smartphone to see if charging works.

Another good thing to do is to ensure that the cable is connected properly to the charging port. The charging socket is an exposed part which can accumulate dust or debris, which may prevent good contact between the cable and metallic pins. Try to use a magnifying tool like the one technicians use in shops to see inside the charging port. If you think there’s lint or debris inside, you can use a can of compressed air to blow particles out.

If your phone has a case, be sure to get rid of them to see if something touches the Power button or the soft keys.

Try to restart the phone to alternate modes

Although it’s practically impossible to do something with your phone’s battery at this time as the phone is totally dead, you should at least try. What you want to do is to see if you can power the phone back on when it’s restarted to a different boot mode. Your Android phone can be restarted not just to its regular or normal mode. To aid technicians in fixing some problems, your Samsung Galaxy device can continue to turn back on, provided the issue is software/operating system related, and not bad hardware like a failing battery. There are two other ways to turn your phone on — by booting to either Recovery Mode or Download Mode. Below are the steps on how to do them:

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. 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.

If your phone will power back on when doing any of the hardware button combinations above, there’s a chance that you may be able to fix the issue by doing a factory reset or by flashing the bootloader and/or firmware back to stock. If it’s otherwise, and your device remains dead, hardware malfunction must be to blame. In this case, you should send the phone in so hardware troubleshooting can be performed.

Troubleshoot the screen

If your phone won’t power on but it continues to make sound notifications, show LED light when connected to the charger, or rings when you call your number, that means that it’s not totally dead at all. The problem must be the screen. In this case, you’ll need to have the phone repaired so the screen can be replaced if necessary.

Problem 2: Galaxy S7 keeps restarting, won’t turn on

I had to replace my phone because it kept restarting. Called tech support to activate replacement. After activating, went to do factory reset on old phone I just deactivated and will not turn on. Took it into U.S. Cellular and they can’t get it to turn on either. I need to clear my information from device so I can ship it back. Don’t want to be charged again for another defective device. This is the third one. Please help. — Donna

Solution: Hi Donna. The main reason why the phone kept restarting may be the same one that prevents it from turning back on as well. We suggest that you treat your issue like the one of Jordan’s above and follow our suggestions for him.

Problem 3: Data recovery for water damaged Galaxy S7

Hello. My girlfriend dropped her Samsung Galaxy S7 down the toilet and her phone immediately stopped working because the phone is not waterproof, we both knew that. She has now got a new phone but has lots of memories on the phone she has lost. The battery in the Galaxy has expanded quite abit and i wanted to know if there is any chance of fixing the phone or is it time for her to just throw the phone away? Thank you. — Ellie_neal3

Solution: Hi Ellie_neal3. The Galaxy S7 is technically not waterproof but it’s definitely water-resistant. It can withstand certain water pressure at certain depth but yes, it’s not completely immune to water penetration. If moisture has managed to enter the system and damaged the battery, replacing it may fix the problem. As long as water has not damaged other critical components and the phone can turn back on after replacing the defective battery, your device should work as normal. However, if battery replacement won’t turn the phone back on at all, that means that there’s other hardware failures. Since the access to the memory requires a functioning phone, together with a good touchscreen, your data will be good as gone. Data recovery when the phone won’t turn on is just not possible.

Problem 4: Galaxy S7 won’t boot past Android logo screen, update issues

I bought a new Galaxy S7. I left it on charge overnight and i decided to update software to 7.0. Some other apps such as Facebook, Google etc. etc. were downloading in the background and the phone suddenly crashed. Now the phone sits on the boot up black menu of Samsung Galaxy S7 powered by Android and it just won’t go any further. I tried using the safe mode reboot but it doesn’t not seem to allow it. It only asks if i want to download and use a custom OS which i have not chosen. Is there any fix to this issue? — Neil

Solution: Hi Neil. We suggest that you try master reset via Recovery Mode first. If that won’t fix the problem, try to reflash the bootloader. Flashing a bootloader is basically modifying core system files. Make sure that you do it properly to avoid damaging the software permanently.

Below are the general steps on how to do it. Exact steps may be slightly different for your particular phone model so try to consult other guides on how to do it properly.

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.

 

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