Galaxy S8 Plus showing “moisture detected” error after an update and keeps restarting on its own

While we’ve already addressed some instances of moisture detected errors in the past, there seems to be a continually growing number of devices still affected by this case again following the most recent Android update. If you’re one of them, be sure to check this article for solutions.

Problem #1: Galaxy S8 Plus showing “moisture detected” error after an update and keeps restarting on its own

My name is Robin. I have a Galaxy s8 plus. I’ve had for barely over a year with no issues. After the latest update my phone kept saying that the charger was wet or my charging port was wet and wouldn’t let me charge my phone until I restarted the phone. This morning I woke up to my phone black screened then it would cycle to the Samsung galaxy s8+ that comes with start up and cycle back to the black screen and repeat that cycle every 3 seconds all day. I have tried everything to reset the phone with no change in it. When going back to at&t they informed me I would have to replace the phone bc the upgrades are trying mother boards?! I don’t see why I am responsible for an update Samsung launched that fried my $800 phone. If like a replacement please.

Solution: Some Galaxy S8, S8 Plus, and Note8 users have reported that their devices suddenly showed moisture detected error after installing the latest Android updates. This situation can happen due to one of the following:

  • charging port is wet or has presence of moisture
  • bad third party app interferes with Android
  • there’s a coding issue (operating system bug)
  • phone has damaged charging port or motherboard

So far, there’s no concrete evidence that shows the issue occurs on many or all of Galaxy S8, S8 Plus, and Note8 devices so your issue is most probably one of the isolated cases. Below are the things that you should try.

Dry the phone

Normally, Moisture detected error is an indication that the charging port may be wet or has presence of liquid or moisture. To ensure that that’s not happening on your phone, be sure to dry your phone, especially the charging port. We don’t know exactly how sensitive Samsung’s liquid sensor in the USB charging port is but you want to keep the area as dry as possible. You can do that by leaving the phone in a room temperature for at least 24 hours, preferably in a spot where there’s indirect heat source. Leaving your phone near the back of powered on TV or computer tower for at least 24 hours should help water evaporate naturally. Do not put the phone near an oven, fireplace, or under the sun as that can damage its hardware.

Boot to Safe Mode

To check if there’s a bad third party app causing the error to show, you can boot the phone to safe mode. In this mode, third party apps will be blocked so only apps that came with the operating system can be used. If the phone restarts to safe mode but not in regular mode, you’ll know that one of your apps is to blame.

Here are the steps to restart your S8 to safe mode:

  1. Make sure that that your phone is OFF. Not doing so will prevent your from booting to safe mode successfully.
  2. Press and hold the Power key past the model name screen.
  3. When “SAMSUNG” appears on the screen, release the Power key.
  4. Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.
  5. Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
  6. Safe mode will display in the bottom left corner of the screen.
  7. Release the Volume down key when you see Safe Mode.
  8. If your S8 loads to safe mode and won’t restart on its own, that means you have a bad app issue.

To identify which of your third party apps is causing the trouble, you should boot the phone back to safe mode and follow these steps:

  1. Boot to safe mode.
  2. Check for the problem.
  3. Once you’ve confirmed that a third party app is to blame, you can start uninstalling apps individually. We suggest that you begin with the most recent ones you added.
  4. After you uninstall an app, restart the phone to normal mode and check for the problem.
  5. If your S8 is still problematic, repeat steps 1-4.

Boot to Recovery Mode and perform a factory reset

The purpose of this troubleshooting step is to know whether or not there’s a software issue brought about by new Android updates causing the trouble. By doing a factory reset, you are effectively reverting all software information on your phone to its known, working state. In many cases, factory reset is a good way to fix operating system level bugs and app glitches. Make sure that you try it. Here’s how:

  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 green 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.

Unfortunately for you, there’s no way you’ll be able to back your data up since the phone refuses to boot up normally. By resetting your phone, you will also erase all your photos, videos, and other information.

Flash stock firmware

This one is reserved for advanced Android users only. Flashing or installing stock Samsung firmware, devices that are stuck in boot loop situations are usually fixed relatively easily. We don’t know if this will work on your case but if you want to try it, you should be aware that there are risks involved.

Flashing is basically installing Android operating system to the device manually. That means you’ll have to follow a set of instructions to replace the current firmware or operating system. It requires a computer and a special tool called Odin to do. You also need to have the correct firmware version for your phone model. Doing a mistake in the flashing process can potentially brick your phone for good so you want to be very careful. Make sure that you do research before you do it.

Get Samsung replacement offer

If nothing works out after you factory reset your device, it means that the problem is most probably due to something beyond your ability to fix. It can be a coding issue deep within Android, or an unknown hardware malfunction. The best thing that you can do right now is take Samsung offer of a paid replacement.

Problem #2: What to do with your Galaxy S8 with a cracked screen that won’t turn on

Galaxy S8. Worked fine then just shut off. Will try to power on. Led lights up in corner and the jingle starts to play but stops. Then it proceeds to turn itself on and off but never actually turning on. Nothing ever displays on the screen. The screen has had a hairline Crack for a long time and it’s never affected it. And I can’t see that causing it to not power on. When this happened it was still under warranty. I sent it to samsung and they responded the day they got it saying it was the screen. But, I don’t believe they even tried. I’ve been using a galaxy s5 active for 3 years with a completely shattered screen and never had and issue with it.

Solution: Your phone is not dead but the screen most probably is. If your phone is totally broken, it won’t be showing LED lights or making sounds when you try to restart it. Have the screen replaced and see what happens. As long as there’s no other hardware trouble aside from a broken screen assembly, your S8 should work normally again after the screen is replaced. We suggest that you let Samsung do the screen replacement. It’s a little expensive compared to independent shops but at least you have the guarantee that the repair is done by experts who know the product.

 


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