How to fix a Galaxy Note5 that restarts randomly after Android Oreo update

Hello Android fans! Our troubleshooting article for today will answer some questions sent by some #GalaxyNote5 owners. These questions were reported a few days ago and will focus on two things — what you can do if your Note5 got wet, and how to fix random restart issue after an update. If you have any of these issues, be sure to check our suggestions below.

Problem #1: Galaxy Note5 screen is unresponsive after water exposure

The issue i have with my Galaxy Note 5 is i accidentally left my phone outside over night during a party. Got drunk left phone outside and passed out woke up the next morning and realized i left it out. The good think was it was not raining and it was protected over head from water. However i suspect it was dew from condensation heat temp difference and possibly moisture some how got in the phone. I checked the phone and it was still on no battery loss over night. But i noticed i could no longer control the screen it would not respond to my touches. I dont have my stylus so i have not checked that yet. But its really annoying how something as easy as this could stop a 800+ dollar phone from working its total BS. Right now i replaced the phone with a temp phone and i have had the phone submerged in a bag of rice for 5 days now and still not working. I’m running out of options i really want my phone working again. Please help!

Solution: The Galaxy Note5 is not water resistant. If you leave it exposed to elements, it can potentially succumb to irreversible damage. Even a tiny amount of moisture in the circuit may short some components and break them for good. Drying the device is like first aid and may not work at all in your case. Leaving it in a bag of rice is a bit overrated and can take a long time to work. There are also other things that you need to do before leaving the device in a bag of rice such as opening the phone up, wiping the components with clean soft cloth, and disconnecting the battery. Leaving the battery connected to a wet motherboard can fry components and this is probably what has happened to your phone. To see if the device can still be fixed, we suggest that you let a professional dry it first. Once that’s done, he or she can then examine if there are fried components in the logic board. If there are, a replacement may be tried for them (if there are available spare parts). If not, you’ll most likely end up with an expensive and impractical motherboard replacement.

Problem #2: What to do if your Galaxy Note5 was soaked in water for hours

My mobile drowned in a river yesterday for like 3 hours till we took it out. it seems working and I made a call with it, then I opened the camera and it hanged and the camera did not open. I turn it off immediately and knew water entered the phone. During the way, it was kept turning on by itself for many times. When I went home, I put it inside a bowel of rice. The camera rear became fuggy now. My question is should I keep trying drying it myself or I should take it to the service? I am asking because I don’t want then to open it if it can dry by itself, since when they open it it won’t be water resistent anymore.

Solution: Drying a water-soaked Note5 may sound futile at this stage. We think it’s probably too late now to rescue the phone but you can definitely give it a try. Samsung won’t accept your device for repair anyhow so you might as well open it yourself and see if the hardware is still in good condition. As mentioned above, drying should only come next after you’ve opened the device and disconnected the battery. If you’re lucky and the damage is limited to a single replaceable component, your phone may work normally again after repair. We still highly recommend that you let a professional dry the phone and do the repair for you though.

Problem #3: How to fix a Galaxy Note5 that restarts randomly after Android Oreo update

Hello. my phone recently updated to Android Oreo. It is a Galaxy Note5. My issues is that my phone now randomly restarts. It will restart after maybe around 3 minutes of using it or less. I can use apps just as normal, but after a (very) short time of doing much of anything, it will restart. I don’t think this is quite a boot loop. So far I have tried rebooting, wiping the cache, and just waiting. I really don’t want to factory reset my phone, as I was about to back it up but didn’t get the chance before the update. I have way too much important files and such on it to lose. I also feel I should add that since I don’t have the proper tools to remove my battery, a soft reset does not seem to be much of an option. Are there any other options for me to try? Thank you in advance for your time, I truly appreciate it!!

Solution: Before we proceed with the troubleshooting, we would like to remind you to always make it a habit of regularly creating a backup of files you can’t afford to lose. Electronic storage devices (SD cards, flash drives, hard disk drives) can fail anytime, not to mention devices like your phone these storage devices are attached to. With your current situation, there’s a chance that you may need to do a factory reset so you’ll most likely lose whatever unsaved files in your Note5. There’s no magic software trick that you can do if basic software solutions we recommend below won’t help.

Force reboot your Note5

Sometimes, this simple procedure can fix bugs that developed after the system has run for a long time. By manually forcing your Note5 to reboot, you’re basically simulating a battery pull, which, in older mobiles with removable battery packs, was an effective way to refresh the system. If you haven’t tried this one yet, here are the steps that you can do:

Press and hold the Power + Volume Down buttons for approximately 10 seconds or until the device power cycles. Allow several seconds for the Maintenance Boot Mode screen to appear.
From the Maintenance Boot Mode screen, select Normal Boot. You can use the volume buttons to cycle through the available options and the lower left button (below the volume buttons) to select. Wait for up to 90 seconds for the reset to complete.

Boot to safe mode

This is a necessary troubleshooting in this case. Safe mode is an independent software environment used by technicians to see if a third party app interferes with Android. You’ll be using safe mode in exactly this manner. Safe mode works by blocking third party apps and only allowing preinstalled ones to run. Third party apps refer to apps you added after setting up the device for the first time. So, any app that you installed can be considered third party, even if they come from your carrier, Google, or Samsung.

To restart your Note5 to safe mode:

Turn the device off.
Press and hold the Power key past the model name screen.
When “SAMSUNG” appears on the screen, release the Power key.
Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.
Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
Safe mode will display in the bottom left corner of the screen.
Release the Volume down key when you see Safe Mode.
If your phone reboots to safe mode fine, observe it while it’s on safe mode for a few hours.

If your Note5 works normally and won’t reboot on its own, that means one of your apps is causing the problem. Keep in mind that Safe mode won’t tell you which of your third party apps is problematic. You have to figure it out yourself using the method of elimination. Here’s what you can do to do that:

Boot to safe mode.
Check for the problem.
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.
After you uninstall an app, restart the phone to normal mode and check for the problem.
If your Note5 is still problematic, repeat steps 1-4.

Install app updates

Making sure that all the apps you’ve installed are up-to-date is another necessary troubleshooting step in this situation. Be sure to check Google Play Store app for updates.

Open Play Store app.
Tap More settings at the upper left (three-line icon).
At the very top where you see the photo for the selected Google account, tap on the profile photo of the account you want to use.
Once you’ve selected the profile you want, select My apps & games and update your apps.

If you have apps taken outside the Play Store, make sure that they are compatible with Android Oreo in Galaxy Note5. Talk to their developers if you’re not sure.

Reset all settings

Sometimes, resetting all software settings help in fixing operating system bugs. Make sure not to skip this. To reset all settings, follow the steps below:

From the Home screen, swipe up on an empty spot to open the Apps tray.
Tap General Management > Reset settings.
Tap Reset settings.
If you have set up a PIN, enter it.
Tap Reset settings. Once complete a confirmation window will appear.

Factory reset

Based in our years of experience fixing all kinds of Android troubles, you’ll most probably have to do this to resolve your issue. To factory reset your Note5:

Create a backup of your data.
Turn off the device.
Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
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).
Press the Volume down key several times to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset’.
Press Power button to select.
Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
Press the Power key to restart the device.