Note 5 sound notifications and ringtones not working properly after Nougat update, other issues

Hello #GalaxyNote5 fans! Welcome to our first Note 5 post for the week. This article addresses 9 more Note 5 issues sent our way since the past week. Be sure to check our other Note 5 posts in the coming days.

If you are looking for solutions to your own #Android issue, you can contact us by using the link provided at the bottom of this page.

When describing your issue, please be as detailed as possible so we can easily pinpoint a relevant solution. If you can, kindly include the exact error messages you are getting to give us an idea where to start. If you have already tried some troubleshooting steps before emailing us, make sure to mention them so we can skip them in our answers.

Below are specific topics we’re bringing for you today:

Problem 1: How to hide content of incoming SMS in Galaxy Note 5 lock screen

On the home screen, all incoming text messages are shown. I’d like to stop this. I’ve looked on the internet for a solution however what is shown doesn’t apply to my phone. Perhaps due to the updates since. I’ve searched in settings from the main screen in text messages as well as in settings, apps and notifications. I am able to turn off text notifications and it stops the messages from showing on the home screen however, my phone will not buzz for any incoming text. Thank you. I don’t know how to tell what version I have. Sorry. — Lanaparks88

Solution: Hi Lanaparks88. If you want to receive sound notifications for incoming SMS but prefer not to show the messages in the lock screen, here are the things that you need to do:

1. Open Settings app.
2. Tap Notifications.
3. Make sure that the messaging app you’re using is allowed to receive notifications. Simply set the slider to the right to allow notifications.
4. Tap ADVANCED (at the top right corner).
5. Tap the messaging app you’re using.
6. In On lock screen section, make sure that Hide content option is selected.

Problem 2: Galaxy Note 5 keeps losing cellular signal

I have just got a brand new Note 5. I inserted a 3G SIM card and it had signal. Then after 5 minutes the internet signal just disappeared. And i cannot ring or do anything. Tried Lyca as well as Vodafone SIM cards and having same issue. It works for 5 minutes then data signal goes, comes back briefly and then disappears totally. Tried resetting but same issue comes up. Once a SIM card has been inserted when reset it won’t work at all then unless a different network SIM card is inserted. — Ffiorik

Solution: Hi Ffiorik. There are two types of network technology phones are using nowadays — CDMA and GSM. Phones of both varieties can have a SIM card slot although there’s a big difference. CDMA phones have a SIM card slot to allow them to use 4G LTE while GSM phones use the SIM card slot to do almost all its cellular network functions. If you have a CDMA Note 5 but your carrier is using GSM technology, an incompatibility issue can occur. The issue can happen for the reverse — if you have a GSM phone and your network is CDMA. Make sure that you know what device you’re using by checking the documentation that came with it. Take note of the model number, do some online research whether it’s CDMA or GSM device, then contact your carrier for direct assistance on how to set it up.

If your carrier can’t help you either, have the phone replaced.

Problem 3: Galaxy S7 alarm clock not working, videos won’t play after an update

My alarm clock doesn’t work, and videos won’t play (Facebook and Youtube). It’s never 1 or the other, always both same time. The clock shows the notification but no sound. The videos just show error.

This started after nougat update. If i restart the phone, it all works but will soon stop working again. I tried the new clock widget, no difference. I called Samsung’s smart tutor, and all he did was turn off all the apps. I had to give permissions to all again, and the clock and videos stopped working again. —  Michael

Solution: Hi Michael. A third party app may be causing this problem so your first task is to observe how videos and alarm clock work while your phone runs in safe mode. Safe mode blocks third party apps so it’s a good way to check if our suspicion is correct. Here are the steps on how to restart your S7 to safe mode:

1. Turn your Galaxy S7 off.
2. Press and hold the Power button.
3. Once the ‘Samsung Galaxy S7’ logo appears, release the Power key and immediately press and hold the Volume Down button.
4. Continue holding the button until the phone finishes rebooting.
5. Once you see the text “Safe mode” at the bottom left corner of the screen, release the Volume Down button.
6. Observe the phone for a few hours and try to replicate the problem. If the issue won’t occur, that’s proof that a third party app is causing the problem. To fix it, you must uninstall apps until the issue is gone.

Wipe the cache partition

If the problem continues even in safe mode, your next move would be to refresh the system cache. Here’s how that’s done:

1. Turn off your Samsung Galaxy S7.
2. Press and then hold the Home and Volume UP keys, then press and hold the Power key.
3. When the Samsung Galaxy S7 shows on the screen, release the Power key but continue holding the Home and Volume Up keys.
4. When the Android logo shows, you may release both keys and leave the phone be for about 30 to 60 seconds.
5. Using the Volume Down key, navigate through the options and highlight ‘wipe cache partition.’
6. Once highlighted, you may press the Power key to select it.
7. Now highlight the option ‘Yes’ using the Volume Down key and press the Power button to select it.
8. Wait until your phone is finished doing the Master Reset. Once completed, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and press the Power key.
9. The phone will now reboot longer than usual.

Revert all software settings back to their defaults with factory reset

If both solutions above won’t work, consider wiping the phone to make it clean slate again. Here’s how to do that:

1. Create a backup of your important files such as photos, videos, contacts etc. You can use Smart Switch for this task.
2. Turn off your Samsung Galaxy S7.
3. Press and then hold the Home and Volume UP keys, then press and hold the Power key.
4. When the Samsung Galaxy S7 shows on the screen, release the Power key but continue holding the Home and Volume Up keys.
5. When the Android logo shows, you may release both keys and leave the phone be for about 30 to 60 seconds.
6. Using the Volume Down key, navigate through the options and highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset.’
7. Once highlighted, you may press the Power key to select it.
8. Now highlight the option ‘Yes — delete all user data’ using the Volume Down key and press the Power button to select it.
9. Wait until your phone is finished doing the Master Reset. Once completed, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and press the Power key.
10. The phone will now reboot longer than usual.

Problem 4: Galaxy Note 5 screen becomes unresponsive when SIM card is inserted

I have a Galaxy Note 5 which works wonderfully in every single way except for when there is a SIM card in it. The touchscreen becomes unresponsive except for in certain spots when a SIM card is in it. I have replaced the SIM card 3 times and it might work for a day or two but it always goes back to being unresponsive after a while. I have reset it to factory settings, used samsung smart switch to initialize, updated the OS to nougat (this problem existed before i updated to nougat), and a multitude of other software resets. Do you think this is a weird hardware malfunction (phone is not under warranty). — Generalmike99

Solution: Hi Generalmike99. We haven’t heard of any hardware issue similar or close to what you’re experiencing but we know for a fact that it’s not a software issue either so this may be an isolate case. If you need to use a SIM card all the time, we suggest that you contact Samsung so they can take a look at the problem. This may lead to a replacement so make sure to back up your files and wipe your phone clean before sending it to them.

Problem 5: Galaxy Note 5 screen is unresponsive, can’t create back up

Recently, my Note 5’s screen became unresponsive. It appears normal, but it will not read my finger. It appears to be a glitch, as it has randomly started working perfectly for short periods of time, but reverts backs to being unresponsive. It was time for my upgrade anyway, and was told by my carrier that I would not need the old phone’s screen to work to use “Smart Switch” to transfer files. Wrong. You have to “allow” transfer of files on the old phone. How can I get around this? The new phone is a Galaxy S8 plus. The old phone doesn’t have an accessible SD card, and I did not store my phone to Google so cannot recover files that way. — Maggie

Solution: Hi Maggie. You’re right. You need to give permission to Smart Switch app to access your phone’s data by tapping on the “okay” button on a prompt. If you can’t do that, there’s no way you’ll be able to back your files up. Unfortunately, this is also true even when you use other back up software; you still need to give express permission to let another software access your files. If your files are worth a couple of hundred dollars, you can have the screen assembly replaced first. This is the only solution for this issue.

Problem 6: Galaxy Note 5 screen stays black, won’t respond

On Friday night, I watched a movie on my Samsung Galaxy Note 5 using an streaming app called Kodi with an add-on called Exodus. Afterwards, I was looking at different streaming providers and, sometimes you have to get an “authorization/permission/whatever” from an external website. They are something like https://xxx.xx/pair, can’t remember the actual website.

Anyway, a pop-up came up that said something like “my Samsung Galaxy Note 5 model had been infected with some virus and if I didn’t click on the box provided, my browser would be locked in 24 hours”. Well, I figured it was some scam, so I didn’t click on it, closed that tab, and all the others in my Chrome history. Well, the phone was fine over the weekend and into the early morning today. About mid-morning, I was going to make a call and my phone is basically fried. I know it’s on. The “recent” and “back” lights show, but do nothing. I can hear it change volume, receive a call or message, but can’t do a thing to get the phone to respond. It’s like my screen is unusable. I can barely see a discolored Samsung Galaxy Note 5 when I reboot it, but then everything just goes away. Coincidence or virus? Do you have a clue? — Pat

Solution: Hi Pat. We can’t really say for sure whether your phone has been attacked by malware. It has most likely just stopped responding so the first thing that you want to try is soft reset. Here’s how to do that:

1. Press and hold the Power (located on the right edge) and Volume down buttons (located on the left edge) for 12 seconds.
2. Use the Volume down button to scroll to the Power Down option.
3. Press the Home key to select. The device should now power down completely

If the problem persists, or if the screen remains black, try booting to Recovery mode so you can try either a cache partition wipe or factory reset. Here’s how:

1. Charge the phone for at least 30 minutes.
2. Press and then hold the Home and Volume UP keys, then press and hold the Power key.
3. When the Samsung Galaxy S7 shows on the screen, release the Power key but continue holding the Home and Volume Up keys.
4. When the Android logo shows, you may release both keys and leave the phone be for about 30 to 60 seconds.
5. Using the Volume Down key, navigate through the options and highlight ‘wipe cache partition.’
6. You can either wipe the cache partition or do a factory reset when in this mode.

If the phone is still frozen and won’t respond to a hardware button combination, have it repaired or replaced.

Problem 7: Water damaged Galaxy Note 5 keeps rebooting on its own

I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and my dog recently peed on it and I read your article about the guy who dropped it on wet pavement but for his it constantly showed and on mine it would switch back and forth between charging and the battery with a yellow triangle with an exclamation point. I sent mine to my cousin who works with phones and he said he cleaned the battery connecters but my phone is still switching from charging to the sign please help. — Kat.nash05

Solution: Hi Kat.nash05. Well, there’s really nothing much that we can say about this issue. Liquid, water, or moisture don’t work with electronics. If you’re lucky, a good technician may still be able to save the phone by replacing some components. Otherwise, you really are looking at an expensive paperweight at this time. Still, we recommend that you let a professional check the hardware.

Problem 8: Verizon Galaxy Note 5 shows error when dialing a code

Hello. I’m Yinka from Nigeria. I recently bought an unlocked Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 5. I’ve not noticed any other issues but my main problem is that when I try to dial a code (*737#), it’s a code for my Nigerian network. It keeps showing “*73 call forwarding will be deactivated.” when I click turn off it will just attempt to dial *73 and nothing ever happens. How do I deactivate all these * [star] codes that came with my unlocked Verizon? — Drjonade

Solution: Hi Drjonade. Your Note 5 may be network unlocked, meaning some of its software has been modified to allow it to use non-Verizon network, but its main software and pre-installed apps are still technically that of Verizon. Because each network has their own way to communicate with their own system, we think that Verizon’s programming is not compatible with your carrier’s system. That may be the reason why you keep getting that message when dialing a certain code.

As a possible workaround, consider using a different Phone app. There are many free apps in the Play Store that can allow you to call so try using one of them to see if that will circumvent the restriction set by Verizon’s phone app.

If that won’t fix the problem, we’re afraid there’s nothing more that you can do.

Problem 9: Galaxy Note 5 sound notifications and ringtones not working properly after Nougat update

Since the Nougat update, all sound is intermittent. No ringtones, no notification sounds, no alarms, no sound of any kind. Rebooting the phone will restore the sound temporarily. I usually have to reboot several times a day.  I have called Verizon tech support twice and visited a local store with no help.  This same problem has been reported by several others. No fix has been found to date. Factory reset does not work. — Bettywright234

Solution: Hi Bettywright234. If you’ve already tried factory reset, then the problem is either caused by a bad third party app, or by poor, inefficient firmware coding.

To see if it’s a third party app, wipe the phone clean one more time with factory reset and observe how notifications and ringtones work when there are no third party apps installed. If the problem stays after a factory reset and there are no apps installed, that’s proof that it’s an operating system issue. You must report the problem to the firmware developer — Verizon.

 

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