Galaxy S7 edge won’t boot to Recovery Mode, keeps restarting on its own

This post tackles two common problems for the #GalaxyS7 — failure to boot up normally and random reboot issue. With the Galaxy S7 device now approaching its mid-life crisis, which is approximately about 2 years from date of release, we understand that many users will encounter boot- or power-related issues with it. We hope this troubleshooting material will help those looking for answers to their issues.

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 edge won’t boot to Recovery Mode

Hello. I have had my Samsung S7 edge cellphone for 1 year now. Today it happened that my phone turned off suddenly. I’m really worried because i knew very well that it was at least 70% charged. Tried to turn on but it won’t. I even tried to charge it but won’t give any signal. At first I tried the soft reset (Power button and Volume Down) it gave a signal, started to charge, the Samsung logo appeared and i thought that everything was ok, but the logo remained without any further reaction. I even tried the Hard Reset (Power Button+Volume Up+Home Button) but nothing happens. The only thing that i can see is the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge logo. It has been more than 1 hour in these condition. I tried even Power Button+Volume Down+Home Button and a page writing: Warning! and indicate to Download a Custom OS. It gave me 2 options: 1. to download Custom OS, which i tried but it remained blocked in this position and 2.to restart the phone, i even tried these one and again only the logo will appear. I have no idea what to do anymore because it won’t display anything the Hard/Factory Reset. If you please can give me any idea that what kind of problem it may have. Thank you. — Klaudia

Solution: Hi Klaudia. In order to boot your phone to Recovery Mode successfully (so you can do a master/factory reset), you need to make sure that the phone is turned OFF first. This is important. Pressing Power, Volume Up, and Home buttons while the phone is ON won’t do anything! If you can’t turn the phone off normally via the Power button, let the battery drain first so the device turns off by itself. Once it’s off, charge the phone for at least 30 minutes to one hour before attempting to boot it back to Recovery Mode.

If the phone still refuses to start to Recovery, that can be an indication of a corrupted bootloader. Try reflashing the bootloader to see if that will work. Otherwise, contact Samsung to have the phone repaired or replaced.

To reflash a bootloader, below are the general steps on how to do it. Exact steps may be slightly different for your particular phone model so be sure to consult other guides.

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 2: Galaxy S7 keeps restarting on its own

Hi. I have a Samsung S7 Edge phone, lil more than 2 years old. i bought it in HK and use it in India. Until a couple of months ago i’d had no problems. Then suddenly the phone began to restart on its own, and sometimes it would hang with a lil garbage on the screen and then restart. And at other times it would be worse, it would not respond to anything at all until the battery drained out and then only allow restart.

I’ve taken it to a service centre but they say there is no issue they can find. They disconnected the battery, connected another (test battery) and it restarted. Today once again it has gone unresponsive and i can only wait till the battery drains out totally. What’s the reason for it? is there someone who can access the log and find out what is causing this crash? Is it Battery? In this day and age, why are there no answers to such simple tech issues. — Allan Mascarenhas

Solution: Hi Allan. An issue like this is never simple, however you view it. First of all, there’s no easy way to check the entire software log to see where the possible process or service failure or malfunction occurs. Unless you have Samsung’s factory level diagnostic tools, no service center or third party technician who can do what you’re suggesting. Secondly, the symptoms you mention are generic and can be caused by a number of possible issues and not just by bad software. We don’t know the history of your device including the state of its software so there’s no way for us to know what the real reason is for this problem. Assuming that the technicians who initially examined the device already covered the usual hardware malfunction points like the battery, power management IC, and the circuitry in general, the cause of the problem might be software or app.

To check, you can try two things — observing the phone to safe mode and factory reset.

Restart your phone to safe mode

Observing the phone to safe mode can help if the main reason is a bad third party app. While in safe mode, third party apps and services will be blocked. To notice the difference, you must let the phone run in safe mode for at least 24 hours. If it works normally without the mentioned symptoms, you should uninstall third party apps until the issue is gone.

To boot to safe mode, follow these steps:

1. Turn your Galaxy S7 off.
2. Press and hold the Power button.
3. Once the ‘Samsung Galaxy S7’ 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.

Return all software settings to their defaults

Another good way to determine whether or not the cause of your problem is software-related is by doing a factory reset. It’s really a must do in this situation so if there’s no change when your device is in safe mode, factory reset is the next logical troubleshooting step. It’s a drastic troubleshooting step and requires some effort. Be sure to create a backup of your files before doing it.

1. Turn off your Samsung Galaxy S7.
2. Press and then hold the Home and Volume UP keys, then press and hold the Power key.
3. When the Samsung Galaxy S7 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 data / factory reset.’
6. Once highlighted, you may press the Power key to select it.
7. Now highlight the option Yes — delete all user data using the Volume Down key and press the Power button to select it.
8. Wait until your phone is finished doing the Master Reset. Once completed, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and press the Power key.
9. The phone will now reboot longer than usual.

Just like in safe mode, make sure to let the phone run for 24 hours without any apps after a factory reset. This way, you can notice if there’s any difference in performance, and whether or not the issue persists when all software are running their known, working state.

Be wary of apps

If your phone works fine after a factory reset (when there are no third party apps) but reverts to its problematic state after restoring apps, that’s a hint that one of the contents is affecting the battery and/or the general performance of the device. Be sure to filter your apps and install only known, working ones. Remember, even in today’s day and age, not all apps are built with the same expertise and resources. Inexperienced developers are more likely to commit coding issues that may result to problems or conflicts. Other apps may look legit but can simply be front for malicious or less legit operations, such as stealing personal information, spreading malware, etc. If you’ll encounter problems repeatedly due to inefficient apps, you only have yourself to blame. To do more research on how to screen apps more effectively.

 

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