How to fix a Galaxy Note8 non-working sensors: screen rotation, heartbeat, other sensors not working after an update

Hello and welcome! Today’s troubleshooting article is our response to issues reported by three #GalaxyNote8 users. If you have your own issues after you upgraded Android, this post might help.

Problem #1: How to fix a Galaxy Note8 non-working sensors: screen rotation, heartbeat, other sensors not working after an update

I buy a new note 8 recently i update this and the sensors is crazy, not working. heart good no capture image with heart sensor no screen rotation and more, basically i have a nokia with good system and camera this is very sad because now i thinking maybe i lose 1k of my money for trust on samsung. i use the code *#0*# all values on sensor test is on 0 no work nothing. i don’t know what i can do for solve this. i don’t know if is the phone is damaged or if is tje system update i hope no have the first problem and can solve this in possible update.

Solution: There’s been sporadic reports from some users for months now about the same exact issue you’re experiencing so this must be a hardware issue. A quick Google search and you’ll notice that other users also report their Note8 sensors stopping. Unfortunately, there’s no official word from Samsung whether this problem only affects a certain batch of Note8s, or if a widespread breakdown.

We don’t think there’s anything that a user can do to fix the issue but we’ll continue to suggest that you do the usual stuff. To troubleshoot the problem on your end, follow our suggestions below.

Check for bad third party app

We’re not aware of any particular third party app that stops sensors in a Galaxy Note8 but checking for one is worth it. To see if one of your apps is preventing the sensors from doing their job, we suggest that you restart the phone to safe mode. In this mode, all of your apps will be suspended and only preinstalled ones will be allowed. If one of your added apps is to blame, safe mode should help in this situation. What you want to do is to restart your Note8 to safe mode then check for the problem.

Here are the steps to restart your device 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.
Check for the problem.

Once the phone has been set to safe mode, run the phone and see if sensors are working. If everything looks good, you have an app issue. To identify which of your apps is causing the trouble, you should boot the phone back to safe mode and follow these steps:

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 Note8 is still problematic, repeat steps 1-4.

Reset all settings

Should nothing change even when device is booted to safe mode, the next step is to restart the phone and try to reset all its settings. This will return all user customizations back to stock. If a bug developed and affects phone settings, doing this troubleshooting step may help.

Below are the steps to reset all settings.

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

An important troubleshooting step. By wiping the phone and returning its software to defaults, we’ll know if the issue is due to an operating system bug or not. If you have important data that you can’t afford to lose, be sure that they’re copied somewhere.

Once ready, do the steps below to master reset your phone:

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.

Flash stock firmware

If you attempted to root the device or install an unofficial firmware to it, there may be a firmware coding issue that bricked the device. Make sure to reverse whatever you did and return Android to its previous, known working version.

Warranty option

If all the steps above fail to resolve the problem, you should contact your local Samsung dealer so they can check the hardware and advise you whether they can fix it, or if they need to send a replacement. Avoid tampering with the software and hardware at this point so as not to cancel the device’s warranty.

Problem #2: Galaxy Note8 not getting notifications after an update

Samsung Note8. An update occurred a few weeks ago and since then I do not receive notifications of text messages. I do not hear the sound or get the little blurb icon at the top of my phone. Also, beginning after this same update, I hear my text notification sound but it’s not for a text. It’s telling me an app is overpowering my system so I close whatever app it says. I also get notifications using this sound such as from a retailer who has an app on my phone such as Joann Fabrics to tell me about a sale. Slowly but surely I started turning off notifications. Yet some still happen so I’m uninstalling the apps. Until this update, none of these things have been an issue.

Solution: If you are positive that the problem started after a software update, there may be a problem with the system cache. As your first troubleshooting step, you want to clear the cache partition. Here’s how:

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 cache partition’.
Press Power button to select.
Press the Volume down key until ‘yes’ is highlighted and press the Power button.
When the wipe cache partition is complete, “Reboot system now” is highlighted.
Press the Power key to restart the device.

Once you’ve cleared the system cache, you then want to make sure that you set all notifications for whatever app properly. To do that, go under Settings > Notifications and ensure that you enable notifications for a selected app.

If you are using a personalization app like Zedge, try erasing from the system and see if that will change anything. Some personalization apps can override default notification settings or interfere with Android so this is worth checking. If you are not sure whether or not you have such app, or if you want to check if a third party app is responsible, try restarting the device to safe mode. Check out our suggestions in Problem #1 on how to use safe mode to identify a bad app.

You can also try to delete the data of BadgeProvider app and see what happens. BadgeProvider app is a core Android app that manages incoming notifications of apps. Sometimes, if this app is glitchy, it can cause problems like the one you’re experiencing. To return it to its factory defaults, follow these steps:

Open Settings app.
Tap Apps.
Tap on More settings at the upper right (three-dot icon).
Select Show system apps.
Find and tap your app.
Tap Storage.
Tap Clear Data button.
Restart your Note8 and check for the problem.

Problem #3: How to fix Galaxy Note8 not recognizing SD card issue: SD card not detected after an update

I have a 64GB San Disk micro SD card in my Samsung Note8. I have never had any issues with it until a few weeks ago when it suddenly stopped being recognized by the phone at all. I did not remove the card from the phone or even open the card slot for over a year before this issue started. So I really doubt that the slot is dirty. The memory card is recognized and contains all the files still when I insert it into a PC (I have backed it up) but the PC was “unable to complete” formatting of the card. Any thoughts as to what’s going on here? My phone did recently do a system update.

Solution: Firstly, you want to make sure that you back all contents or anything important up from the SD card to your computer to avoid losing them.

Secondly, we can’t really tell what caused your phone from failing to read the SD card following a software update. Android is a complicated software environment so anything can happen. There may had been some coding changes to how your Note8 reads SD cards. If you want to know whether the issue lies on the phone or on the SD card, you can do a process of elimination. To do that, you want to start with the card itself. Try to reformat it using your phone and see if it works. If you can’t do that, or if the device still won’t recognize it, then you should move to the phone option by returning it to its factory settings. Check out the steps above on how to master reset your phone.