Galaxy S8 Plus got stuck in boot loop, Android won’t boot up, and freezes when installing updates

Today’s troubleshooting article tries to address some #GalaxyS8 issues particularly the following:

• stuck-in-boot-loop issue
• Android-not-booting-up issue
• freezing issue when updating

While each one may appear separate from each other, solutions for each are generally the same. To know what they are, make sure to finish reading the entire article.

Problem 1: Galaxy S8 Plus got stuck in boot loop, Android won’t boot up

I just recently purchased Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus 2 weeks ago. Last night it went into auto update. when I got up this morning I cannot keep my phone turned on. I Could not get it to switch from the Samsung galaxy 8+ screen until I held down the power off and volume down button for 10 seconds. Now the phone will turn on, go to my home screen, and at the bottom it says auto update, date and time but then within 10 seconds powers off and start the sequence all over again. I’ve tried turning my phone on in safe mode and it continues to go to the home screen but then automatically powers off within 10 seconds and the process starts all over again. Help! Thanks. — Djriegert

Solution: Hi Djriegert. We’ve known of some issues wherein a Samsung device enters into unending boot cycle or boot loop after incomplete or even complete update installation. In many cases, this is due to the fact that the newly installed firmware is problematic but in some cases, it’s also because the Recovery software or bootloader is messed up. The thing is, there’s no direct way to know what exactly is going on. If you are positive that the only different thing you did was to install an update, then one of our suggestions below should help you fix it.

Clear the cache partition

This should be the first thing that you need to do. At times, updates can result to a corrupted system cache, which can impact the performance of your device. Sometimes, a device may not even boot up at all. To see if you have a cache problem, be sure to clear the cache partition by doing the steps below:

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 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 to highlight “wipe cache partition.”
5. Press the Power key to select.
6. Press the Volume down key to highlight “yes” and press the Power key to select.
7. When the wipe cache partition is complete, “Reboot system now” is highlighted.
8. Press the Power key to restart the device.

Perform  a master reset

Should nothing change after wiping your device’s cache partition, the next logical step would be to boot back to Recovery Mode and wipe your phone from there. Factory reset via Recovery is basically the same as factory reset via Settings so you’ll lose your unsaved data if you did not back them up before you installed an update (that’s why it’s important to create backups before installing updates).

To factory reset your S8 Plus:

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 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.

Reflash stock Bootloader

Although most issues that occur after an update are fixed by either a cache partition wipe or master reset, there are some few cases wherein access to Recovery is not even possible. This means that you won’t be able to perform the two mentioned solutions options at all. In this case, the only recourse for you may be to reflash the bootloader back to stock. This should take care of any bootloader-related issue.

Flashing a bootloader is essentially similar to flashing the firmware so you have to be very careful in doing it. We provide the general steps on how to flash a Samsung device below but the exact steps may be slightly different for your particular phone model. Be sure to consult other guides on how to flash the bootloader on your phone to prevent more serious software troubles.

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.

Keep in mind that flashing your device may permanently cause a software issue. Do it at your own risk.

Also, should flashing the bootloader won’t help, make sure to also try to flash the firmware of your device.

Problem 2:  Galaxy S8 freezes when installing an update

Hi. I got Samsung Galaxy S8 mobile last august. i stay in India. last month when i went to Prague reaching the airport i turned on phone and it got hanged showing the logo. i have tried all the ways available in internet to turn on the mobile but didn’t work. after some time, phone got switched off automatically and i kept it in charging; it worked fine again. Then i observed my phone is hanging whenever i update the software. This happened for 6 times. is there any solution for my phone or do i need to take new phone? — Deepthi

Solution: Hi Deepthi. There’s a number of possible reasons why your S8 keeps freezing during an update. These possible causes includes the following:

• device doesn’t have enough available storage space
• update is incompatible with your device (often occurs if user mistakenly updates a custom ROM)
• you’ve installed a bad third party app that prevents the system from updating
• system cache is corrupted

To see if any of these items is causing the problem, we suggest that you wipe your device by performing a master reset. This will clear the cache partition, make more than enough room for the storage device to receive the installer package, deletes all third party apps, or hopefully eliminate an unknown software bug that prevents updates from being installed. To master reset your device, follow the steps above on how to perform a master reset.

 

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