How to fix a Galaxy Note8 that has “moisture detected” error even when it’s not wet

We seem to be getting more reports of Samsung devices persistently showing “Moisture detected” error lately. Obviously, this error only affects units with water resistance protection such as the #GalaxyNote8. Today’s troubleshooting article will answer cases for the Note8 so be sure to check everything below. We hope you’ll get an effective solution from this article.

Problem #1: How to fix a Galaxy Note8 that has “moisture detected” error even when it’s not wet

Hello. I seem to be having trouble with my Note 8 phone. Yesterday the “Moisture has been detected in your USB Port” notification popped up on my phone. My phone was nearing the end of its battery life and I was at work so I could not charge it and it soon ran out of battery. When I got home none of the chargers I have could get my phone to start charging. I have done research on how to fix it and I have done everything I can without having to turn the phone on. I let my phone sit in rice, and I used a tissue to try and collect the moisture from the USB port. My phone has not been near water so I did not understand why the notification popped up. I cannot reset my phone because it is dead. How can I fix this without having to take it to the store? Thank you!

Solution: If your Note8 keeps showing the Moisture detected error, then it won’t allow you to charge via USB cable at all. As a workaround, you can charge your device wirelessly. Once it boots up, you can then try to see if factory reset will fix it. Below are the steps to factory reset your Note8:

Wirelessly charge the phone for at least 1 hour.
Turn off the device. If your phone is already off after charging it, then leave it as it is.
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.

If factory reset won’t help fix your issue, contact Samsung so they can examine the device’s hardware.

Problem #2: What to do if Galaxy Note8 has screen discoloration issue

So my screen, first started with a slight multi-colored dot, kind of resembled looking through glass with a light, but has since developed into to this green mark. I can screenshot my device and it’s there. I can’t see anything on the outside, to the naked eye that would look like a mark from dropping it. I dunno what to do, but the mark did get larger when it did turn green. Suggestions or any similar reported issues?

Solution: Samsung Galaxy devices usually come with reliable screens. In majority of cases that’s similar to yours, the cause is almost always hardware related. If your Note8 was not dropped or exposed to elements at all before this, there’s a chance that the issue may be software-related. To check, try booting the device to Recovery Mode. If screen discoloration is absent when device is on Recovery Mode, then go ahead and wipe the phone with factory reset.

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).
Your device should now be in Recovery Mode.

Remember, Recovery Mode is a separate software environment and does not require Android in order to work. If the cause of the problem is due to an Android OS bug, the screen of your Note8 should look normal (no discoloration). To fix the issue, highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset’ in Recovery Mode and delete your data. This will return all software information back to their defaults, removing the bug.

Repair

If the screen problem persists even when you boot the phone to Recovery Mode, then you want to contact Samsung so they can repair the screen for you.

Problem #3: Galaxy Note8 won’t turn on after it got wet

Hi. I had my Note8 submerged in a pool for about 10 mins at only a foot of depth (plus it was taken in and out of the water throughout the time I was using it). Soon after the screen flickered and turned off, so I put it in a bowl of rice (as this is the usual thing to do for water damaged phones). After an hour or so I tried to turn it on and the screen was tinged with green. Soon after the screen wouldn’t turn on at all despite the fact I could tell the phone was on. Now the current situation is that It has a constant red flashing notification light and occasionally vibrates, but still will not power on. Tried holding power and volume down buttons but nothing, any more ideas would be great! or any info on whether it’s fully KO! Cheers.

Solution: An S8 is a water resistant phone so if it failed to turn on after you submerged it to water, the most likely reason is hardware damage. It’s not recommended to intentionally expose any electronic device to water. At this time, water resistance protection for phones are not reliable and can fail unexpectedly. Samsung recommends against exposing their devices with IP68 rating like your Note8 to high pressure water such as ocean or sea waves. Even swimming in a pool is strongly discouraged as well. If your phone was dropped in a pool, it’s possible that its water protection was compromised. Obviously, there’s no software solution for your problem. Make sure to let a professional open and dry the phone for you so you’ll know if the device can still be salvaged.

Problem #4: Galaxy Note8 keeps getting disconnected while charging, won’t install system update

Dear team, I trust this email finds you well! The problem is: whenever I connect charger it doesn’t show that it is charging but when it let it and restart I found out it has got charged. I have tried to change chargers but still the same problem. And now when I connect the charger get connected and get disconnected itself repeatedly.

I have also tried to look on how to upgrade my android but whenever i click on update i got nothing. I want also to know whether if you do an upgrade of the android, you do not loose all your data. Please I need your help! Thank you for your support! best regards.

Solution: For your first problem (charging issue), it may be due to a bad charging cable or adapter. Try using a known working official Samsung USB cable and adapter and see if that will fix the trouble. If your Note8 continues to connect and disconnect when charging, there may be an issue with its charging cable, or with the motherboard. In any of these situations, you’ll need to send the device to Samsung for repair.

For your secondary question, there’s a number of possible reasons why a device may not update at all and these includes the following:

device is carrier-branded and you’re using it in another network
there’s not enough storage space to allow Android upgrade
your carrier is yet to release the latest update for this device
cache partition is corrupted
device is rooted or running custom firmware
there’s unknown software bug that blocks a system update

If you have a carrier-branded Note8 (such as a Verizon Note8) and you’re using it in a different network (like AT&T), you can’t expect to receive any over-the-air update at all. Each carrier has its own Android firmware version and you can’t install one to an incompatible device.

Sometimes, a corrupted cache partition can also prevent system updates. To ensure that you have a good system cache, make sure 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.

If your phone was originally provided by the same carrier you’re subscribed to right now, you should contact their technical support team to ask for further troubleshooting, or to get first hand information about any pending updates for your device.

Alternatively, you can bring the device to your local Samsung store so they can manually update it (via flashing).