Hello guys! Welcome to the last #GalaxyS7 post for this week. Our post for today discusses 7 S7 issues submitted to us by some members of our community. We hope our suggestions will be helpful not only for users mentioned below, but also others who may be experiencing the same or similar problems.

For now, here are the specific topics we cover for you:

1. Galaxy S7 audio disappears when playing music, video, or games
2. Galaxy S7 stuck in Ultra Power Saving Mode
3. Galaxy S7 totally unresponsive due to hardware damage
4. Galaxy S7 fast charge not working
5. Galaxy S7 screen showing horizontal purple line
6. Galaxy S7 edge back glass shattered
7. Galaxy S7 locked out due to Factory Reset Protection

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, or you can install our free app from Google Play Store.

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.

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Problem #1: Galaxy S7 audio disappears when playing music, video, or games

Hello! I bought S7 one month ago but it has some issues with the sound. More specifically, when I am listening to music, watching videos, playing games etc. SOMETIMES the sound from speaker cuts out, and then it comes back. After factory reset the problem alleviated for a couple of days only. I have no issues with hands free only with the speaker but only temporary.

Also yesterday the device restarted once from its own. My question is: is there a possibility that it may be a firmware issue? If it was a hardware problem shouldn’t be the issue permanent? The restart I mentioned above, does it mean motherboard defect or not? It’s not a major problem but it’s really frustrating especially if you bought such an expensive device. I’m a little bit disappointed in fact, because I can’t enjoy my new mobile phone. Thank you in advance! — Nick

Solution: Hi Nick. If the audio issue did occur some time after you did a factory reset, it’s possible that a third party app may be to blame. Try to restart your phone to safe mode and observe the phone for a few hours. Safe mode blocks third party apps and services. If the problem won’t occur while safe mode is enabled, you can bet one of the third party apps is problematic. To restart your phone in safe mode, follow these steps:

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

NOTE: Safe mode is not a solution in itself so if you think the problem is due to a third party app, you must do further troubleshooting by uninstalling apps one by one and observing the phone after every uninstall.

Now, as to the question if it can be a firmware issue, that is a possibility. We don’t think it’s a hardware issue though as it should happen consistently if it is. We say you focus your troubleshooting efforts in checking for possible software issues by doing another round of factory reset and narrow down possible causes. We think there’s something you add in the system after a factory reset that triggers this audio issue. It can be an app or an update.

Problem #2: Galaxy S7 stuck in Ultra Power Saving Mode

I turned my phone on Ultra Power Saving Mode and then accidentally selected Touchwiz Easy Home as my app launcher when prompted as UPSM started. All of a sudden i found myself in in Easy Mody + UPSM, only having access to about 7 very basic settings and 6 apps, none of which allow me to really do anything in terms of getting out of either of these modes.

I have talked with people at Sprint, Samsung and Bestbuy and nobody has seen this or can figure out how to disable it and get me back to normal. We’ve tried all sorts of hard and soft restarts, downloading other launchers from the internet (but then i am unable to actually access that downloaded launcher), and anything else people can think of. Please help! — Jake

Solution: Hi Jake. The only effective solution we know for this bug is master reset. If you haven’t tried it yet, here’s how to do it:

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

Problem #3: Galaxy S7 totally unresponsive due to hardware damage

I have a Galaxy S7 that has physical and possibly liquid damage. I am unable to get any response from it no matter what I try. I would really like to get the old pictures and data off of it before I have to send it in for the insurance claim. Is there any way to retrieve that information? I have tried to plug it in to my computer and still have not gotten any response out of it. I took it in to our cell phone repair place here locally and they said since it shows no response when connected to a computer then there is nothing they can do to help. Do you have any solutions for this problem? I would be forever grateful if you could solve this issue for me. — Jamie

Solution: Hi Jamie. The only thing that you can do in this case is to try booting the phone to other modes. If your phone remains unresponsive, you’re out of luck. Below are the steps on how to boot your S7 to different 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 S7 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 S7 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 S7’ 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 #4: Galaxy S7 fast charge not working

This happened a couple months ago. It started off with a finicky fast charging issue. Sometimes it’ll fast charge, other times it won’t fast charge at all. This is using the OEM charger and USB cord. One day I noticed I was low on battery so I went to charge it. After an hour I came back and found my phone dead and not taking a charge. I let it sit off while charging for a couple hours before finally hitting 5%. I downloaded Ampere to check if the charger might be faulty. The OEM charger was barely hitting 110mah. I tried a different Samsung charger and it was doing the same exact thing. In the end I ended up using an Apple charger which finally hit 900mah. Kind of confused as to what could be happening. — Steve

Solution: Hi Steve. In most fast charging issues, the usual culprit is a bad charging port. This is especially rampant in cases where charging is intermittent or not working at all. In some cases, a fast charging problem can be caused by a incompatible or bad USB charging cable and/or charger. If using at least two OEM charging cables and chargers won’t improve the situation, the problem is most probably due to a malfunctioning charging port.

There were few cases wherein the issue lies on the  firmware so make sure to try factory reset before eventually sending the phone in for repair or replacement. Factory reset will return all software settings to their defaults so if an unknown glitch is causing it, factory reset will most likely fix the problem.

Problem #5: Galaxy S7 screen showing horizontal purple line

Hi guys. I have a relatively new Samsung Galaxy S7 edge mobile. Around a week ago I noticed this purple horizontal line on the screen. It’s very thin but annoying and I’m worried it will get worse. I performed factory reset as well but it was a waste of time. Now, reading other people’s similar experiences one of them suggested to apply a firm pressure on the top of the screen just under the LED. It’s gone. But if I do that screen pressure again that stupid purple line will occur again. It just appeared suddenly. I’ve never dropped it or anything alike. I’m thinking about to sell it and to buy a new one but again I’m concerned this might happen again.

Do you think there is a permanent fix to this problem or Samsung has this problem? Many many people have this issue. Could you please advise me how to get rid of that purple horizontal line from top to bottom permanently? Many thanks guys, I do appreciate it Best regards. — Nick

Solution: Hi Nick. An issue like this is almost always due to a bad screen, which means it’s a hardware issue. If you want to fix a hardware issue permanently, the defective component must be replaced, or the entire phone replaced. There is no amount of software tweaks that you can do to fix a hardware malfunction. If the device is still covered by a warranty, consider sending it in for repair  or replacement.

Problem #6: Galaxy S7 edge back glass shattered

Hi. My new S7 Edge is less than 16 days new. I put the phone in my front pocket, took it out and noticed blood running down my hand. The back glass has shattered and cut my hand. No help from Verizon or even worse Samsung wanting me send the phone to them for 2 weeks and pay $200.00 for repair. Device is “Damaged” and warranty is “Void” both Verizon and Samsuck. So in my opinion, the Galaxy S7 Edge has a design flaw, built to break and dangerous. Anyone else have back glass breaking issues? I think a re-call is definitely in order and a re-call should be started on this useless and expensive phone. I suppose I am stuck with it and will have to order cheap aftermarket parts and replace the back glass myself…after my hand heals up. — John

Solution: Hi John. Sorry to hear about your hand but an issue like this is best discussed with the vendor or manufacturer. This is our first time to hear the back glass  of Galaxy S7 breaking up so we don’t think this is a common issue. In general, product recall requires  a certain number of the same or similar cases in order to be implemented, just like what happens to the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 fiasco. We don’t know exactly how many cases it took for Samsung to declare their Note 7 as unsafe in order to be recalled but we know there were several of them. If you think the Galaxy S7 design is flawed and pose danger to a user, kindly refer your questions to Samsung directly. Checking with Google shows some anecdotal cases of S7 phone’s back glass to have cracked but again, we don’t know the circumstances for these cases. We had our own Galaxy S7 since it was released last year but so far, we can’t see any sign that the back glass is cracking any time soon. Again, we strongly advise that you communicate with Samsung about the issue if you think their product is poorly designed or unsafe.

Problem #7: Galaxy S7 locked out due to Factory Reset Protection

My Samsung S7 was remote erased with android device manager by someone that I do not know. I don’t know how he had accessed my account or how he had used my Gmail account to remotely erase the data on my phone. Now my phone is FRP (Factory Reset Protection) locked, and I can not access my phone even when I sign in the account that I used for my phone. I bought my phone in a service provider store, it is not second hand. Please send me your answer regarding this issue. Your response is very much appreciated. — Jehiel

Solution: Hi Jehiel. The only instance someone can remotely wipe an Android phone via Android Device Manager is when that person has access to a Google account (not necessarily a Gmail account as other emails can be used as a Google account too) registered on the phone. So, this means that the registered Google account in your S7 has been compromised. Since there’s no way for an FRP-locked device to be unlocked other than by entering the correct Google account credentials, you must ensure that you have full access to such account first. Remember, if you can’t enter the correct Google account username and password, there will be no way to unlock your phone even if you are the legitimate owner.

 

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