The black screen of death may happen to all mobile devices including tablets like the new Samsung Galaxy Tab S4. The most common symptom of this issue is that the screen turns black–hence the name–but aside from that, the device itself is unresponsive and doesn’t turn on no matter how many times press or hold the power key. It won’t even charge if you connect it to its charger and these symptoms would make owners think their device has some kind of a hardware issue.
It is normal to think that the black screen of death is a hardware problem especially if you knew that it suffered from either physical or liquid damage. However, if there were no signs or apparent reason, this could be just another minor issue involving the firmware and in such case, the problem can easily be fixed. Continue reading below as I will share with you the solution we’ve been using to address problems like this.
Before anything else, if you have other issues with your device, try to browse through our troubleshooting page as we’ve already addressed several issues with this device. Odds are that we’ve already published a post that tackles similar problems. Try finding issues that have similar symptoms with what you currently have and feel free to use the solutions we’ve suggested. If they don’t work for you or if you still need our help, then fill up our questionnaire and hit submit to contact us.
How to troubleshoot Galaxy Tab S4 with black screen of death?
As I said earlier, this kind of problem could be just a minor issue with the firmware because most of the time the black screen of death occurs if the firmware crashes. With that being said, here’s what you should do about it…
Perform the Forced Reboot procedure
It must be the first thing you should do and it could be the only thing you needed to do especially if the problem started without apparent reason. If you’re familiar with the battery pull method to fix older phones that stopped responding, the forced reboot is the counterpart of that procedure only that we do this one on devices with non-removable batteries. To do this, press and hold the Power and Volume down keys for up to 45 seconds. If done correctly, your tablet may turn on and boot up like it normally does that it could be the end of the problem. But if your device still doesn’t respond after the first try, then do it a few more times to make sure you’re doing it right. If it still doesn’t respond after that, then try this instead…
- Press and hold the Volume down button first and don’t release it.
- Now, press and hold the Power key while holding down the Volume down button.
- Keeps both keys held down together for 45 seconds or more.
It’s actually just the same as the first procedure but in this one, we try to press and hold the volume down button before the power key. If you do it like this, it will give you the same result but if you press and hold the power key first, your tablet may continue to be unresponsive. However, after doing this correctly and your device is still not turning on, then it could be because of a drained battery.
Charge your tablet and do the Forced Reboot
Having a depleted battery isn’t really a problem because most of the time your phone would respond when there’s current flowing through its circuits. However, there are times when a drained battery may also cause a firmware crash since some services and hardware components may not be shut down properly. If this is the case with your Galaxy Tab S4, then no matter how many times you perform the forced restart procedure, your device would still not turn on because there’s no battery left to power it up. So, to address this, here’s what you’re doing to do:
- Plug the charger to a working wall outlet.
- Connect your Galaxy Tab S4 to its charger using the manufacturer-supplied cable.
- Regardless whether the tablet shows it’s charging or not, leave it connected to the charger for at least 10 minutes.
- After that, press and hold the Volume down button first and don’t release it.
- Now, press and hold the Power key while holding down the Volume down button.
- Keeps both keys held down together for 45 seconds or more.
If your device boots up after this, then that’s the end of the problem but if not, you should bring it back to the store or shop so that a technician can check it up for you. I hope that this troubleshooting guide can help you one way or another. Thank you for reading!
RELEVANT POSTS:
- What to do if your Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 keeps freezing and lagging?
- What to do if your Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 keeps showing “Moisture Detected” error?
- How to fix Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 that won’t turn on?
- Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 Reset Guide: How to Master Reset, Reset Network Settings, Soft Reset your Tablet
Connect with us
We are always open to your problems, questions and suggestions, so feel free to contact us by filling up this form. This is a free service we offer and we won’t charge you a penny for it. But please note that we receive hundreds of emails every day and it’s impossible for us to respond to every single one of them. But rest assured we read every message we receive. For those whom we’ve helped, please spread the word by sharing our posts to your friends or by simply liking our Facebook and Google+ page or follow us on Twitter.