How to fix a Galaxy Note8 that has bad sensors after installing an update

Hello Android fans! Today’s troubleshooting article answers a possible emerging issue for the #GalaxyNote8 — sensors not working after an update. We’re still at the early stages of our investigation for this issue but so far, it seems that the problem only affects Note8 devices in a certain region. Continue reading on if you encounter the same trouble as well.

Problem #1: How to fix a Galaxy Note8 that has bad sensors after installing an update

My Galaxy Note 8 CSC: XTC (Philippines) made in Vietnam start error on Iris scanner and all sensor is not work anymore because software update that samsung issue. have been tried all your suggestion on this sites but none of those works. I went to samsung service center, they said it must be the motherboard issues and need to be replaced. but it so nonsense since on the previous software its working perfectly.  the motherboard replacement cost arround $400 which is so expensive. my device is currently out of warranty and its to bad.

Solution: We’ve been getting more and more Note8 users sharing the same experience as yours so this must be a coding issue. We’ve already contacted Samsung about the issue but they haven’t answered our query yet. We think they’re still trying to gather as much information as we are at this time so there’s no official solution for this problem. Based on our own initial investigation, majority of cases are units in Asia and the Middle East. This may be a carrier-specific issue, just like in some Samsung Galaxy issues in the past. There’s also a chance that this problem may only be affecting a particular batch of Galaxy devices.

Factory reset

At this time, there’s no effective way to fix this bug yet so we are left with trying all possible solutions.

In many cases, factory reset is useless but if you haven’t tried it yet, we suggest that you do it right away. Here are the steps to do that:

  1. Create a backup of your data.
  2. Turn off the device. This is important. You won’t be able to reach Recovery Mode if the device is not powered off.
  3. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
  4. 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).
  5. Press the Volume down key several times to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset’.
  6. Press Power button to select.
  7. Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
  8. Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
  9. When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
  10. Press the Power key to restart the device.

Reflash the stock firmware

We have not received any feedback from Note8 users who may have successfully fixed the issue thru flashing but we’ll continue to recommend it in this case, especially since Samsung is taking a convenient route by suggesting a motherboard replacement. By flashing your phone’s firmware back to its known working version, we hope that you’ll be able to fix the problem.

Flashing is basically a procedure that allows an Android user to manually install Android to his or her phone. This procedure is not recommended by Samsung due to risks involved. Flashing your device incorrectly can damage its software for good so you want to be careful when doing it. Flashing guides for phone models can vary slightly so be sure to do research before doing it. Before using a particular flashing guide for your phone model, be sure to check if a lot of people has tried it and if they encountered errors when following it. If many of them have problems with the guide, that’s probably because it’s fake or erroneous.

Also, make sure to use the correct firmware version for your device. Not doing so is the easiest way to brick your Note8. A good flashing guide should tell you the required tools and files to use.

Problem #2: Galaxy Note8 Photo app keeps popping up after an update, won’t transfer files to computer

Recently, there was an update for my phone and I had to wait a few weeks to get to Wi-Fi to download it. Usually that isn’t an issue, but after my phone updated, I started to notice a number of odd things. My photo app kept popping up a window to say it had stopped working, even when I hadn’t accessed it. That soon resolved into just when I clicked onto a picture or opened my gallery but I didn’t notice any problems until I tried to share a picture through my Facebook app and it completely doesn’t recognize pictures from anywhere. Today, I decided to try and put them onto my computer and now my MTP application says that it has stopped and I can’t even transfer files from my phone to my computer anymore.

Solution: If you’re positive that the issue started right after installing an update, these are the possible solutions that you can do.

Wipe the cache partition

Updates can sometimes corrupt the system cache resulting to all sorts of issues. To ensure that your Note8 has fresh system cache, try clearing the cache partition with these steps:

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

Install app updates

The next good thing to do in this case is to ensure that all of your apps are updated. Installing a system update does not necessarily mean apps are updated too. Sometimes, incompatibility issues can surface after Android is updated to a more recent version. To lessen the chances of that from happening, make sure that apps are compatible with your operating system as well. To check for app updates via Play Store:

  1. Open Play Store app.
  2. Tap More settings at the upper left (three-line icon).
  3. Select My apps & games and update your apps.

If you have apps installed outside of the Play Store, make sure that they are compatible with Android Oreo. If you are not sure, contact their developers.

Check for possible bad third party app

One of your installed apps may be behind this trouble. To check, you want to restart your Note8 to safe mode. When on safe mode, your phone will not allow third party apps to run. So, if your device works properly on safe mode but not in normal mode, that’s a clear sign that one of the third party apps is causing the problem.

To boot your Note8 to safe mode:

  1. Turn the device off.
  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. Observe the phone for a few hours and see if the problems remain.

To identify which of your 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 Note8 is still problematic, repeat steps 1-4.

Use Smart Switch

In case there’s a problem with your computer’s drivers, you can also try to use Samsung Smart Switch to transfer your files. It is an official application built by Samsung and it works seamlessly with both Windows and Macs. Visit this page for steps on how to install Smart Switch to your computer.

Factory reset

Finally, don’t hesitate to factory reset your phone should all our solutions fail. Refer to the steps above on how to factory reset your Note8.


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