Galaxy S7 keeps rebooting by itself, won’t load operating system normally, other issues

As expected, more and more #GalaxyS7 users are now sending us distress signals. We’re not saying that S7 devices have suddenly become problematic. No. What we mean is that at this time, it’s expected that many S7 and S7 edge devices are now beyond their prime of one year, and thus a lot of power- and boot-related problems are starting to show up. As usual, this post aims to address some of these issues. We hope you’ll find it useful.

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 freezing issue, screen turns black on its own, battery drains fast

Hi. Love(d) my Galaxy S7, but suddenly for no apparent reason it would freeze, (battery levels from 95% to 45%) and then go to a black screen (think it turns itself off) after about 30 seconds. I try hard boots, soft boots … everything I can think of and still nothing at all. The first time it happened, I was about to take it to the store, but plugged it in just to try once more, and it started charging, with the picture of the big battery showing. Since then, I realize that if I leave it for awhile and let the battery drain to zero (which makes no sense since it looks like it is powered off) I can then recharge and turn it on no problem. If I try to recharge before the battery it drained, it shows nothing. To did a factory reset after the first time, still it happened again.  It has now happened 5 times! I am only lucky I have an older Nexus phone that I can swap the sim card into so I am not without my phone while it drains the battery. Any ideas??? — MaryAnn

Solution: Hi MaryAnn. If factory reset, which is the most drastic troubleshooting that you can do in this case, did not change anything at all, there are only two possible reasons for the problem.

One is the possibility of a bad third party app you keep reinstalling after a factory reset. Poorly coded apps don’t usually provide obvious hints that they’re affecting other apps or services. To check if this is the case, we suggest that you restart the phone to safe mode and observe the phone for at least 24 hours, or until the battery goes down from 100% to 0%. Safe mode will prevent third party apps and services from running so it’s a good way to test our theory out.

If the problem won’t occur while the device is in safe mode, you can bet our suspicion is on target. Here are the steps on how to restart your phone to safe mode:

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.

If the issue continues while the phone is on safe mode, then it means bad hardware is to blame. It can be a malfunctioning battery, an error with the power management IC, or other unknown hardware fault. To fix the issue, contact Samsung and let them repair or replace it.

Problem 2: Galaxy S7 keeps rebooting by itself, won’t load operating system normally

I have a Galaxy S7 and all it wants to do is reboot itself over and over again and I’ve done everything in the troubleshooting, that’s posted on line to help fix the issue. Well, my phone will not respond to anything. I’ve done the manufacturer reset, I’ve cleared the cache. it just keeps turning itself off, and then rebooting and then when the Samsung logo pulls up and you hear the music from T-Mobile then it makes a low buzzing sound. It would do this but it would only take maybe an hour or to stop rebooting and everything will be back to normal. now it takes until the phone dies. But now it will die and then I will charge it all the way and turn it back on and then it’s goes back to doing what it was doing before was rebooting itself over and over again. And turn it in and get a new phone cuz it feels like it’s just shot? — Kelly

Solution: Hi Kelly. There are numerous factors that can come at play for an issue like this including a bad third party, poor app/firmware coding, or malfunctioning hardware. We don’t know the full history of your device so we can’t tell you what may be happening at this time. However, if you haven’t tried wiping it off by doing a factory reset yet, we suggest that you do it now. Here are the steps to do that:

1. Create a backup of important files using Smart Switch.
2. Turn off your Samsung Galaxy S7.
3. Press and then hold the Home and Volume UP keys, then press and hold the Power key.
4. When the Samsung Galaxy S7 shows on the screen, release the Power key but continue holding the Home and Volume Up keys.
5. When the Android logo shows, you may release both keys and leave the phone be for about 30 to 60 seconds.
6. Using the Volume Down key, navigate through the options and highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset.’
7. Once highlighted, you may press the Power key to select it.
8. Now highlight the option Yes — delete all user data using the Volume Down key and press the Power button to select it.
9. Wait until your phone is finished doing the Master Reset. Once completed, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and press the Power key.
10. The phone will now reboot longer than usual.

Keep in mind that factory reset can only do so much. In essence, it’s a software solution and can only fix issues caused by software-related problems. If nothing change after you’ve factory reset the device, or if you can’t finish the entire master reset procedure at all to begin with, you can assume that there’s a hardware malfunction somewhere. In a lot of similar situations, broken power management IC is to blame. This means that you’ll need a trained technician to take a look at the device to fix it. For this reason, you’ll want to contact Samsung for support.

Problem 3: Galaxy S7 edge won’t turn on unless plugged in to charger

My S7 Edge turned off and wont turn back on till full battery drains out. Then I need to plugin the charger & it will show charging. After this I can start the mobile but within minutes it will again make a cracking noise or freeze the screen and switch off. I have tried all the methods, safe mode, recovery mode, master reset but nothing is working. Earlier it use to restart & would work for few hours or a day and then same. It is out of warranty. — Asif Sayed

Solution: Hi Asif. Try to see if reflashing the bootloader will make a difference. Bootloader runs a different code (non-Android) that prepares the system before Android is loaded. Usually, if a bootloader becomes corrupted, it can make the phone get stuck in a bootloop, just like what’s happening with your device right now. Just like other solutions you’ve already tried, it only affects the software aspect of your phone. If it won’t work, or if you won’t be able to complete the flashing procedure at all, that means that the issue is being caused by a bad hardware. For this, you want to have the phone repaired or replaced.

For reference, below are the steps on how to flash a bootloader of a Samsung device, like your Galaxy S7 edge. Exact steps for your particular phone model may be slightly different from the steps below so be sure to do some research. Our guide is for demonstration purposes only.

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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