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Android Marshmallow

Galaxy S6 only charges via computer and won’t charge via regular charger, other problems

S6 side sync

There’s no doubt the #GalaxyS6 is a great phone but just like any other “greats” out there, some of its users may sometimes find it frustrating. So below are the expressed frustrations of some of our community members regarding their Galaxy S6 device.

If you are new to our site, don’t hesitate to visit other similar posts.

  1. Galaxy S6 only charges via computer and won’t charge via regular charger
  2. Galaxy S6 overheating and other hardware issues
  3. Galaxy S6 keeps getting harassing call and voice mail from one number
  4. What to expect of Android Marshmallow on Galaxy S6
  5. How to create a backup of Galaxy S6 files
  6. Galaxy S6 lag, freezing, email issues

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, or you can install our free app from Google Play Store.

 

Problem #1: Galaxy S6 only charges via computer and won’t charge via regular charger

I’m begging for some help here. PLEASE!  My cell phone will charge on a laptop or car charger only. It will not charge on a wall charger. I’ve changed out cords, I’ve changed out the charger box, I’ve changed and swapped everything. I even went and bought a brand new Samsung charger and yes it was a Samsung brand. I’ve also had other Galaxy S6 users test my chargers and they all work for them. Just not for my phone.

I’ve seen this problem posted on your page from another Galaxy S6 Edge user. He had the same problem and when you gave feedback, he did not reply any further. I can’t seem to find a fix for this problem anywhere. My phone is under warranty, the Samsung warranty for one year. When I called them they had me set it back to factory reset and that seemed to work for about a week. Now it’s back to the same problem all over again and I am at a loss.

For me to send it in to Samsung for repair, they are quoting me $250 for this issue even though it’s under warranty. I feel it’s something that could be fixed here on my end and I’m really hoping you can help. I did read on your website where it states to check older apps and I have deleted all unnecessary apps from my phone and only use the ones that are most important. I have less than 20 pictures on this phone since deleting everything back to factory. I am at a loss. Please if you have any kind of fix for this issue let me know. I don’t know what else to do.

Thank you again so much for any and all assistance in this matter.

God bless.  — Jennifer

Solution: Hi Jennifer. It’s interesting to know that the issue was temporarily fixed after a factory reset. That the problem eventually came back days after the last factory reset is an indication that a third party application may be causing the trouble. Keep in mind that when we say third party apps, it refers to any software you install after the initial setup. They may be apps from Samsung or Google but as long as they are not part of pre-installed apps, they are still considered “third party”. What you can do to rectify the problem is by booting your phone in safe mode before you charge it. This will ensure that only the pre-installed apps are running during the charging period. To do that, just follow these steps:

  • Press and hold the Volume Down and Power keys for 20 to 30 seconds.
  • Once you see the Samsung logo, release the Power key immediately but continue pressing the Volume Down key.
  • Your phone should continue booting up and you will be prompted to unlock your phone as usual.
  • You will know if the phone successfully booted in safe mode if the text “Safe mode” is displayed at the lower-left corner of the screen.

Problem #2: Galaxy S6 overheating and other hardware issues

My phone has got so hot that it burned & left a scar on my arm w/an imprint of the side & Edge of the phone. Then the following day I picked it up & it scalded my fingers. It was so hot and I couldn’t hold onto it and dropped it causing it to crack! They state I must pay $200 to replace it when it’s not my fault and continues to heat up so hot that it’s getting heat fracture’s causing it to crack even more!

PLEASE HELP ME…I DON’T WANT TO HAVE TO CALL AN ATTORNEY TO HELP ME SO WHAT CAN I DO TO GET THIS DEALT WITH & GET A REPLACEMENT SENT TO ME? I’LL BE AWAITING YOUR RESPONSE AS SOON AS YOU CAN RESPOND AT YOUR EARLIEST CONVENIENCE, GOD BLESS! — Billie

Solution: Hi Billie. If the phone’s screen or body had been cracked, your best bet at this time is to get it replaced. As much as we would like to help you, fixing the cracked part requires physical diagnostic and fix. Obviously, we cannot do that for you. Please call Samsung or any relevant party (wireless carrier or retailer) and ask for a replacement unit. Don’t forget to mention that the phone overheated. That should give them an idea that the device may have some internal hardware issues to begin with.

Problem #3: Galaxy S6 keeps getting harassing call and voice mail from one number

I keep getting phone calls from a fax number. I have stopped the calls to the phone. What is happening now is the number realizing I am not answering is generating voice mails. So, since last Wednesday until today I have gotten almost 250 voice mails. All it does is beep.

I have sent numerous faxes to that number which is in Chicago. No response. My carrier says “something” to change my number which is not an option. They will provide me with a program that will stop the mails at a nominal charge of $4.99 a month. I refuse to pay that to stop me from being harassed. They tell me that it would be a violation of the privacy act to find out who is using this fax. So much for that. The voice mails are coming in even as I type. They start at 9 AM and stop at about 6 PM. — Leo

Solution: Hi Leo. The best party that can help you with this problem is your service provider. If their only “solution” to this problem is to charge you further, why don’t you pay a visit to your local enforcement agency so they can throw in their 2 cents? There’s nothing that we can give or tell you to do to stop the voice mails from coming in. You either have to find a way with your carrier to stop the problem without incurring cost, or you can resort to legal action. Because the voice mails are persistent, the case can rightfully fall under harassment category in almost any country. You are therefore entitled to defend yourself from the hassle via legal means.

Problem #4: What to expect of Android Marshmallow on Galaxy S6

I have had a Verizon Galaxy S6 as my only phone for as long as they have been out. I am on my second one and the first one had a charging issue.

The first time Android rolled out the Lollipop update, my phone went from being awesome, to being worthless. Lagging, ridiculous battery drain to name a few major issues. Then, thank goodness, they finally rolled out an update to Lollipop. Well, unfortunately, while it helped the battery drain and sluggish somewhat, it  still lagged terribly in performance. Thank goodness the phone wouldn’t charge one day and I had it replaced under warranty. Every morning, for the last year and a half, I have cancelled the Lollipop update. But now with Marshmallow coming out I have no idea what I should do. Any advise? FYI…I’m a fairly technology savvy guy. Thanks a ton. Learned quite a lot from you guys. — Russ

Solution: Hi Russ. Just like you, the general performance of the new Android Marshmallow remains a mystery to us until now. We honestly don’t have any idea how this OS will fare on Samsung devices and in Galaxy S6 in particular. Our job here is to point out problems as we receive requests for assistance from our community. We haven’t even updated our devices in our lab to Marshmallow at this time so there’s no way for us to give a fair assessment to this product. As much as possible, we stick to official firmware version so we can’t tell if the unofficial Marshmallow versions out there are okay.

We know that Android Marshmallow is heavily tested on current flagship phones like the Galaxy S6 and Note 5 so there’s a higher chance that a lot of minor glitches and bugs must have been addressed at this time.

A few good rules of thumb to follow following a major OS update though include wiping the cache partition, doing a factory reset, and making sure that all installed apps are fully compatible. The last one is usually the most common reason for problems following an update. Some app developers may not roll out updates for their product. That can cause all sorts of trouble as the new operating system may encounter conflicts with apps that are not optimized to work with it. If unsure whether an app is updated to work with Marshmallow or not, contact the developer or simply uninstall it.

In the meantime, keep watching for more articles from us about Marshmallow as more and more Samsung devices are starting to get the update.

Problem #5: How to create a backup of Galaxy S6 files

No ringing sound on incoming calls, no sound on boot up, no sound when releasing the volume sound control button, except with ear phones. When calling, my voice mail can hear with or without head phones, but when I press speaker there is no sound. Incoming calls vibrate but no sound. Can hear ringing with head phones on. Have checked all settings and all are correctly set.

Just had screen and digitizer replaced. Can hear ringing with head phones on. Just typing this to you has lead me to believe there is a problem with the speaker. What do you think?

I don’t know how to back up my phone and don’t know if when I do back up if it saves all my app information. Not sure how to get backed up info back if I try a hard reset. Not really technologically savvy. — Christopher

Solution: Hi Christopher. The repair process must have disconnected the speaker that now results to this problem. You need to check all the circuits are connected, especially the speaker assembly.

For your question as regards to making a backup of your data, the best way to go is by official means. Simply download and install Smart Switch on your S6 and computer and you are good to go. For a detailed description on how to use this product, please use Google.

Problem #6: Galaxy S6 running slow, freezing, email won’t sync

I don’t know what happened but somehow my stock email app dropped my accounts and greyed out. At one point it wouldn’t even let me sign in, though I was certain of my password. I could have also deleted an app that worked along side the stock email app, maybe?

Now I’ve got my accounts logged in (first I created a new email and logged that in, it worked. Then I just changed my password to my old email and it allowed me to sign in.), but the icon is still greyed out and I cannot sync my contacts.

All of a sudden my phone is overheating, running slower, etc. And it’s always been so good to me. I can’t say I’m overwhelming it as I am a minimalist type and I don’t have any games or excessive apps.

Is there any tips you have/app suggestions that would help my phone get over this fit?

Thanks, in advance! — Sarah

Solution: Hi Sarah. There may be a firmware glitch or malware causing the troubles you mention here. The issues above are some of the common symptoms if a device is either having a problem with the cache and/or operating system, or if it’s infected with a malware. Consider wiping the cache partition first to see if it will make any difference.

For minor firmware-related issues brought by apps and firmware updates, wiping the cache partition often does the trick. It’s because this procedure will literally delete all cached files in the cache partition, which will force the system to create new ones during the next boot up.

This procedure is also very helpful in fixing issues like random reboots, boot loop, stuck during boot up and random freezes after updates. Here’s how you wipe the cache partition on your S6

  • Turn off the device.
  • Press and hold the following three buttons at the same time: Volume Up key, Home key, and Power key.
  • When the phone vibrates, release the Power key but continue to press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key.
  • When the Android System Recovery screen appears, release the Volume Up and Home keys.
  • Press the Volume Down key to highlight ‘wipe cache partition.’
  • Press the Power key to select.
  • When the wipe cache partition is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
  • Press the Power key to restart the device.

If wiping the cache partition won’t help, don’t hesitate to perform a factory reset. It’s by far the most effective solution to problems like the ones on your phone right now. Don’t forget to create a backup of your files first before proceeding to these steps:

  • Turn off your Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge.
  • Press and hold the Volume Up, Home and Power keys together.
  • When the device powers on and displays ‘Power on logo’, release all keys and the Android icon will appear on the screen.
  • Wait until the Android Recovery Screen appears after about 30 seconds.
  • Using the Volume Down key, highlight the option, ‘wipe data/factory reset’ and press the Power key to select it.
  • Press the Volume Down button again until the option ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted and then press the Power key to select it.
  • After the reset is complete, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and hit the Power key to restart the phone.

 

 

Engage with us

If you are one of the users who encounters a problem with your device, let us know. We offer solutions for Android-related problems for free so if you have an issue with your Android device, simply fill in the short questionnaire in this link and we will try to publish our answers in the next posts. We cannot guarantee a quick response so if your issue is time sensitive, please find another way to resolve your problem. 

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.

If you find this post helpful, please help us by spreading the word to your friends. TheDroidGuy has social network presence as well so you may want to interact with our community in our Facebook and Google+ pages.

Galaxy S6 randomly restarting on its own, plus more issues

S6 Edge restart

Welcome to another #GalaxyS6 series post! The issues discussed below are gathered from email sent to us by some members of the TheDroidGuy community. If you are new to out site, don’t forget to visit other Galaxy S6 posts we published before.

  1. Galaxy S6 Edge cannot enable some apps
  2. Galaxy S6 Edge freezing, random restarts, apps not working issues
  3. Galaxy S6 screen not working
  4. Verizon Galaxy S6 won’t send text message when used on AT&T network
  5. Galaxy S6 randomly restarting on its own
  6. Galaxy S6 texting problem after Marshmallow update
  7. Galaxy S6 getting Google Play Store and internet pop ups

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, or you can install our free app from Google Play Store.

 

Problem #1: Galaxy S6 Edge cannot enable some apps

Hello and thank you for a great and useful website! I have a weird issue in my Galaxy S6 Edge. I’ve had my phone only for a couple of months.

Certain applications needs to be allowed access / enabled to function properly.

I have for example the application Texpand that needs enabled to be able to work. So I go to ACCESSIBILITY –> down to SERVICES –> and then I tap on Texpand. I click on the button in the right corner to enable it and a window pops up asking to either enable it or cancel. So far so good.

But when I click the “enable” button nothing happens. It’s totally unresponsive. The “cancel” button works fine but there’s nothing I can do about the “enable” button.

So, now I have a bunch of applications that I can’t use, because I can’t enable them. I make you a list of these applications just in case it’s important:

  • SafeInCloud Auto-fill
  • Native Clipboard
  • MacroDroid
  • Greenify
  • Texpand
  • TalkBack
  • Switch Access

I would be very grateful if you would have a solution to this strange problem. I have no clue why it started happening. Thank you! 🙂

I don’t have Facebook (yes, we are a few existing ones still on earth) so I can’t like your page to get priority. — Mika

Solution: Hi Mika. Enabling apps is supposed to be straightforward. There must be a glitch or changed system setting that prevents said apps above to fail to initialize. To fix it, make sure that you try to clear their cache and data first. Here’s how to do it:

  • Go to Settings.
  • Proceed to Applications.
  • Select Manage Applications.
  • Tap the All tab.
  • Choose the name of the app by tapping it.
  • From there, you will see the Clear Cache and Clear Data buttons.

Tapping the Clear data button is the virtual equivalent of installing an app. Clear Cache clears out the temporary files of an app that are possibly causing its erratic behavior. It is very safe to do since it retains your app settings. If this procedure won’t change anything though, we recommend that you do a factory reset. This will ensure that all app and operating system settings are restored to default. If you changed some settings before that resulted to this problem now, or if a firmware glitch is behind the trouble, performing a factory reset should be an effective solution. Simply follow these steps:

  • Turn off your Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge.
  • Press and hold the Volume Up, Home and Power keys together.
  • When the device powers on and displays ‘Power on logo’, release all keys and the Android icon will appear on the screen.
  • Wait until the Android Recovery Screen appears after about 30 seconds.
  • Using the Volume Down key, highlight the option, ‘wipe data/factory reset’ and press the Power key to select it.
  • Press the Volume Down button again until the option ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted and then press the Power key to select it.
  • After the reset is complete, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and hit the Power key to restart the phone.

Factory reset will wipe the phone’s internal storage. Be sure to create a backup of your personal data like photos, videos, contacts, etc., before proceeding.

Problem #2: Galaxy S6 Edge freezing, random restarts, apps not working issues

Good day. I have Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge and has a lot of problems:

  1. Unfortunately application has stopped. Like Google Play, YouTube, Facebook Messenger, mostly all the installed apps even settings keyboard.

whatever you open is always closed..

  1. Freeze
  2. Restarting randomly
  3. Shutdown randomly

Is a brand new phone just bought it from ebay from USA. From the beginning i received just turn on after a few minute was restarting. We do all the possible solutions like hard reset and re-flash. But still the same problem. Any other options to fix it. It so difficult to send back to the seller. I live in the island. Please give me some opinion or advice in order to fix the problem. — Allan

Solution: Hi Allan. Do these problems show themselves right after setting up the phone for the first time? If yes, then you most probably have gotten a bad phone in the first place. The best option in this case is to ask for replacement. However, if the problems started appearing after some time and after installing your current apps, then the reason for all them may be due to a bad app. Boot the phone in safe mode for 24 hours and observe how the phone behaves. While safe mode is on, all third party apps will be prevented from running. If one of them is the culprit, the issue should fail to occur. If that happens, start uninstalling apps until the issue is gone. Here are the steps on how to boot your S6 in safe mode:

  • Press and hold the Volume Down and Power keys for 20 to 30 seconds.
  • Once you see the Samsung logo, release the Power key immediately but continue pressing the Volume Down key.
  • Your phone should continue booting up and you will be prompted to unlock your phone as usual.
  • You will know if the phone successfully booted in safe mode if the text “Safe mode” is displayed at the lower-left corner of the screen.

Should the problems return even when safe mode is on, make sure that you do a factory reset.

Problem #3: Galaxy S6 screen not working

About a week and a half ago, i carried out a major software update, and all was good. That night we had a massive lightning storm, and my phone was charging for a while before i removed it from the charger. i noticed later when it was back on charge that the screen was flashing — like lightning flashes. Since then, it has flashed when the power is almost full, almost empty and when near the plug point it was charging on that night. it does not flash as badly when charging at another station.

I have cleared the cache etc, but today the screen has gone totally blank, i can hear it starting up, and can hear messages coming through, but restarting does not help power up the screen.

Please let me know if you have any thoughts. I have a screen repair left under warranty, but don’t want to spend a fortune on repairs. Thank you for your time. — Chantal

Solution: Hi Chantal. If the phone makes a tone or vibrates when you restart it but the screen remains black, that’s a clear sign that the screen has totally failed at this time. Such issue cannot be resolved by doing software changes or software solutions. Be sure to have the phone checked for a possible repair.

Problem #4: Verizon Galaxy S6 won’t send text message when used on AT&T network

Hello. I recently went to AT&T and got a prepaid plan for my phone. However, my phone is a Verizon phone. But we went ahead and tried to set up service. At first it wasn’t wanting to work. But luckily another employee mentioned the APN settings. We changed them and my phone was good to go. When I got to work later that day I was texting my girlfriend when all of the sudden my phone said it could not send messages. I tried different contacts, and different messaging apps to no avail. I cleared my message data in setting thinking that would help. Restarted the phone, and just fought with it for over an hour, I still had mobile data to send emails and use my browser. I was about to head to the AT&T store to see if they could help, when my messenger started working again, out of the blue. Any idea what my issue could be? — Austin

Solution: Hi Austin. We’ve heard of many issues about Verizon phones having all sorts of problems when a user switch over to a different carrier. That said, your issue is just one of the many problems already being discussed in our site and in other third party forums. But just like you, we really don’t have a definitive answer as to why many Verizon phones tend to have problems sending text messages when on other networks. We do know that Verizon’s firmware is coded to make it difficult for users to tamper with. Your case may be due to a firmware glitch, or may be a network problem in your area. If the issue returns in the future, make sure to work with AT&T technical support team, and not with their sales people to find a fix.

If you want to browser similar issues, take a look at these previous posts.

Problem #5: Galaxy S6 randomly restarting on its own

Hello. I’m messaging you today due to a problem I’ve encountered on my phone for the past week or so. My phone originally started shutting down randomly and the only way it would turn back on is if I connected it to a charger. After a month or so of having to do that time to time my phone completely shut down even with a full battery. It would turn on but only for 5 seconds before shutting down once again.

I’m not a technical genius since I’m only 16 but I’ve researched enough on the internet to see if there was a solution to my problem. Sadly I haven’t found one yet and I am hoping you will have an answer for me. So, thank you for your time in reading this I hope I was detailed enough for you to get a general idea of what the problem is. Best regards. — Hailey

Solution: Hi Hailey. A cause for a random restart issue like the one you are experiencing right now can range from a corrupted system file, faulty battery,  to a defective hardware. Your first task is to find out which of the known potential causes is the real culprit. Below are possible causes that may be at play on your phone right now.

Bad battery. Back in the day when when Samsung phones still have a removable battery pack, checking if the battery is not working is a no-brainer. For an S6 user, this otherwise simple task can be challenging as it involves opening the back panel of the phone and possibly voiding the warranty in the process. Because you can’t easily check the true status of the battery at this time, make sure that you reserve this step as a last resort as you need the help of a professional to take it out properly. We do want to mention it as the most likely reason first as majority of the problems like yours are caused by a bad battery issue.

Problematic third party app. If you have lots of apps installed, consider booting the phone in safe mode (steps provided above) to see if one of them is to blame. If your phone works normally on safe mode (no random restart) you can then start uninstalling apps until you have eliminated the problem is resolved.

Operating system glitch. Sometimes, Android operating system encounters conflicts with other apps causing a glitch, which in turn, can affect other apps or the basic functions of the phone. If the issue happened after an update, make sure that you wipe the phone’s cache partition and do a factory reset.

Overheating. Smartphones are designed to prevent further damage when some critical components have reached a certain heat threshold by turning itself off automatically. If you’ve noticed that your phone becomes uncomfortably hot before shutting down on its own, your device must be overheating. If it happens regularly, make sure to perform basic software troubleshooting and solutions (like wiping the cache, doing a factory reset) first before having it checked by a professional for potential hardware trouble.

Other hardware malfunction. There are thousands of components inside your phone and any of them can fail. If software solutions don’t seem to do anything, you can assume that there’s a hardware failure behind your problem. Call Samsung or your wireless carrier so you can have the phone checked physically. Better still, simply ask for a replacement unit.

Problem #6: Galaxy S6 texting problem after Marshmallow update

Hello. My name is Chance. I have having a problem when sending a text to someone. It horribly lags when I type in the persons contact name. Normally, when I type a letter or a few letters that define the contact it responds very quickly and shows related contacts, but unfortunately there is a lag to get there. I have typed the full name to see and it takes about 10 or more seconds until the contact drop down enables right below where I need to select the person to send a text message.

I don’t understand what the deal is but I know Andriod 6.0 has bugs still. I need a fix. Everything is functional except the the section where I am typing a contact name. When I type for example the letter A it will give me a list of my contacts related to that.

Thank you for you kind consideration regarding this matter. I trust you get my concern.

Thank you so much. — Chance

Solution: Hi Chance. If this problem happened right after updating to Android Marshmallow, the best solutions you can take include deleting the app’s cache and data, wiping the cache partition, and performing a factory reset. We are still in the process of collecting other Marshmallow-related issues so we can’t say for sure if this problem is isolated, or if other users have it too. We will update this post once we have more information about the problem.

 

Problem #7: Galaxy S6 getting Google Play Store and internet pop ups

When i wake my phone up after using it for awhile i get pop-ups from various Google Play games and internet pages. The longer I’m away from my phone the worse it is. For example first thing in the morning i check my phone and i get half a dozen pop ups or more. i literally sit and wait for the pop-ups to stop so i can check my phone for calls or messages. I’ve blocked pop-ups and notifications from every application on my phone. I’ve virus checked it and swept my cache every few days and nothing helps. I’ve trolled the internet looking for solutions and tried everything and NOTHING helps…. please please help me solve this problem the phone works perfectly for me other than those annoying pop-ups.

Thanks. — Elle

Solution: Hi Elle. Your phone may be infected with an adware, or worse, malware. Whatever the case, the best thing that you can do right now is to do a factory reset. This will ensure that you restore all the normal functions of your phone to their default settings.
Now, after the factory reset, be sure not to install the same set of apps. The thing is, the adware or malware that has infected your phone right were most probably done by one of your apps. If you’re not careful with what app you install, no antivirus can help you. Some newer forms of malware are undetectable by most free, or even, paid mobile antivirus apps. If you don’t want to infect your again, stick to official apps as much as possible. Many mobile viruses are transmitted by gaming or shopping apps. Free apps are good but their developers may not necessarily want to give them for free. They will always, one way or another, find a way to monetize their products and one of such ways is to steal information or infect devices with adware so they can get paid. If you have many free games and apps, it’s time that you review, and possibly, uninstall them. And don’t forget, always keep an eye on what you install.

 

Engage with us

If you are one of the users who encounters a problem with your device, let us know. We offer solutions for Android-related problems for free so if you have an issue with your Android device, simply fill in the short questionnaire in this link and we will try to publish our answers in the next posts. We cannot guarantee a quick response so if your issue is time sensitive, please find another way to resolve your problem. 

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.

If you find this post helpful, please help us by spreading the word to your friends. TheDroidGuy has social network presence as well so you may want to interact with our community in our Facebook and Google+ pages.

How to troubleshoot Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge screen flickering issue & other display problems

While many Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge owners were complaining about power and system related issues after the Marshmallow update, there are some that encountered screen related problems especially screen flickering issues.

Galaxy-S7-Edge-screen-issues

The problems I addressed below are just some of those that were reported by our readers. It seems like it’s a widespread problem and the fix may need to come from Samsung especially for screen-related issues that occurred immediately after the Marshmallow update.

Read on to learn more about these problems and how to troubleshoot them. If you have other concerns, try to find similar issues from our S7 Edge troubleshooting page as we’ve already addressed a lot of problems with this phone since its release you may also contact us if you need more help. Just fill up our Android issues questionnaire and we’ll include your issue on our future posts.

Q: “This morning I got a notice on my phone that an android update was available. I installed it. And now my screen is constantly flickering and jumping around.. Also if I turn up the brightness too high, the entire screen goes white/yellow and I can see nothing. Any ideas?? I have an unlocked phone running an AT&T SIM card.”

A: Screen flickering issues can actually range from a minor app and firmware issue to a more complicated hardware problem. In your case, it seems like it’s all the new firmware that is to blame but you still have to rule out the possibility that your apps have something to do with it. So, the first thing you have to do is boot your S7 Edge in safe mode to temporarily disable all downloaded apps and third-party services. Then, observe your phone’s screen to see if the problem still occurs. Here’s how you boot your device in safe mode:

  1. Press and hold the Power key.
  2. As soon as you can see the ‘Samsung Galaxy S7 EDGE’ on the screen, release the Power key and immediately hold the Volume Down key.
  3. Continue holding the Volume Down button until the device finishes rebooting.
  4. You may release it when you can see ‘Safe mode’ in the bottom left corner of the screen.

Should the problem occur in safe mode, then it could be an issue with the new firmware or possibly a hardware problem. The next thing you have to do is try to delete the cache of the previous system.

System caches aren’t automatically deleted when new firmware is installed. In this case, the new system may continue using them and that’s when complications occur. The problem might be caused by incompatible or corrupt caches. Due to this, you need to delete the caches, here’s how:

  1. Turn off your Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge.
  2. Press and then hold the Home and Volume UP keys, then press and hold the Power key.
  3. When the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge 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 wiping the cache partition. Once completed, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and press the Power key.
  9. The phone will now reboot longer than usual.

At this point, if the problem remained, it could mean that it’s a serious firmware or hardware issue. I am not sure if you still can backup your data and files because you really need to reset the phone to bring it back to its default settings while leaving the new firmware installed on your phone.

The master reset can fix a lot of problems with the firmware and the hardware so it’s necessary you do this before you visit a technician to have the phone checked. For us advanced users, we often resort to the re-flashing of the firmware but we really don’t want to suggest that to average users as they may end up messing up their devices all the more. So, if the procedure below fails, send the phone in for checkup and/or repair:

  1. Backup your data.
  2. Remove your Google account.
  3. Disengage screen lock.
  4. Turn off your Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge.
  5. Press and then hold the Home and Volume UP keys, then press and hold the Power key.

NOTE: It doesn’t matter how long you press and hold the Home and Volume Up keys, it won’t affect the phone but by the time you press and hold the Power key, that’s when the phone starts to respond.

  1. When the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge shows on the screen, release the Power key but continue holding the Home and Volume Up keys.
  2. When the Android logo shows, you may release both keys and leave the phone be for about 30 to 60 seconds.

NOTE: The “Installing system update” message may show on the screen for several seconds before displaying the Android system recovery menu. This is just the first phase of the entire process.

  1. Using the Volume Down key, navigate through the options and highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset.’
  2. Once highlighted, you may press the Power key to select it.
  3. Now highlight the option ‘Yes — delete all user data’ using the Volume Down key and press the Power button to select it.
  4. Wait until your phone is finished doing the Master Reset. Once completed, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and press the Power key.
  5. The phone will now reboot longer than usual.

Q: “I am currently in Germany, I got an update notification on my phone for the operating system. I installed and now the entire screen flickers, has green and pink stripes and the battery gets very hot when i try to do anything. I have rebooted and no change, start in safe mode – no change. I have done a factory reset – no change. I am at a loss and can’t find any help online any where. I have the SMG935FD – dual sim international version. I have not installed any new applications in the last month and all was fine until this morning.” — Peter

A: Hey Pete! Your problem is the same as the one I addressed above but in your case, you’ve already done the basic troubleshooting procedures to rule out possibilities. I think this issue can be fixed by re-installing the firmware but you have to do it manually using a computer and the flashing tool Odin.

Apparently, it’s a firmware issue and unless Samsung addresses it (by rolling out another update that doesn’t have this kind of issue), the only viable option is to downgrade your phone to Lollipop. It’s a very inconvenient thing to do not to mention risky but if it’s the only option left to make your phone work again, I think it’s worth all the troubles. The problem is not everyone knows how to manually flash a firmware to a phone. So, you really need a technician’s help for this.

I feel sorry that many S6 Edge+ owners are experiencing this issue. We sincerely hope Samsung will fix it as soon as possible.

Q: “The screen will turn on but it won’t be bright and the screen flickers plus if I click on a app the phone will turn black. When I push the power button a white stripe will appear on the bottom of the screen and when I put a bright light on the top sensors the display will turn on but then the screen eventually  turn black.”

A: If this problem occurred after the Marshmallow update, then it’s no different from the first two issues I addressed above. You have to do the standard troubleshooting procedure before sending the phone in for checkup and/or repair.

However, if it occurred even with the update, then there’s a chance it’s a hardware problem especially if the phone got in contact with liquid or got dropped recently. You need a technician to check it for you.

Q: “I was on my phone whilst on charge when it suddenly (hard to describe) went black screen then started sketching out only light on the top of the screen then after a while light shows down the screen but it’s all misty. Practically like if I had dropped it and ruined the entire pixel hardware, I’ve only had it a month, no scratches on the screen and I’ve never dropped it, I’m hoping the heat hasn’t completely fried the display.”

A: I was actually thinking the same thing. The phone may have overheated and there’s a possibility something got fried inside. But I suggest you follow the standard troubleshooting procedures above and if the problem remained after that, you really have to let a technician take a look at it.

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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.

Galaxy S7 not recognizing SD card after Android update, screen flickering green, other issues

System updates can sometimes be a double-edge sword so we want to tackle one problem that happened after installing Android Marshmallow on a #GalaxyS7. Of course, we also bring you 5 other S7 issues that were reported during the past few days to us. We hope that the solutions we provide here can help our ever-growing Android community.

s7

Here are the specific topics we’re discussing for you today:

  1. SD card gets corrupted after moving files from Galaxy S7 to SD card
  2. Galaxy S7 not recognizing SD card after Android update
  3. Galaxy S7 battery drain issue after Marshmallow update | Galaxy S7 slow performance after Android update
  4. Galaxy S7 has multiple problems since unboxing
  5. Galaxy S7 screen flickering green at the bottom part
  6. POP3 Protocol Usage on Galaxy S7 Edge

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, or you can install our free app from Google Play Store.

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.

Problem #1: SD card gets corrupted after moving files from Galaxy S7 to SD card

Hi TDG. I’m having trouble with my Galaxy S7 and the external SD card. I purchased a 64gb card to free up the internal storage in terms of photos, music and video files. I formatted the card to the phone and transferred all the files mentioned above from the internal storage to the SD card. I then unmounted the card, placed it inside a USB adapter-stick-thingy, put it in my PC and transferred a load of files from my PC to my phone (music, video and photo files). I then put the card back in my phone and all was well but then I noticed when I went into the Gallery, all the files on the card were showing grey thumbnails. When I went into the Samsung ‘My Files’ folder, it said there were no files, but it showed the card had 2GB worth of data on it. I removed the card and put it back in the PC and the files were all present but whenever I put it back in the phone it tells me the card is corrupt and needs to be formatted. Am I right in thinking it’s the process of putting the card into the PC that is causing the issue? Can files only be added to the SD card from an external source if the card is mounted to the phone (via a cable)? Many thanks for your time. — James

Solution: Hi James. We move files from our phones to PCs like how you did it all the time so we can say it’s a safe thing to do. There may be an unknown software glitch during the transfer that caused the SD card to get corrupted. Wherever that glitch lies we will never know. It may be due an operating system problem on your computer, a firmware issue on your USB stick, or something on your phone. To make the SD card usable again, simply reformat it. If you want to get to the bottom of the problem, you can try to do trial and method by using different combinations of devices involved. For example, if you want to see if the problem lies on the PC you were using, try replicating the process with the help of a different PC. If the same problem occurs after using a second PC, that’s a sign that the first PC was not the source of the glitch. You can then narrow down the sources to just the USB stick and your Galaxy S7.

Can files only be added to the SD card from an external source if the card is mounted to the phone (via a cable)? You don’t necessarily need to have a wired setup to transfer files to the SD card. Your phone can be wirelessly connected to a computer in order for it to receive files. Bluetooth, Wi-Fi Direct, connection to a cloud service and local Wi-Fi (LAN) connection are just some of the common ways to wirelessly link your phone to another device to get files from. The important thing is that your Galaxy S7 receives the files. Once files get through to the phone, you should be able to save them to the SD card without problems.

Problem #2: Galaxy S7 not recognizing SD card after Android update

Good afternoon. I am having a problem after the latest update to the 6.0.1. The phone does not recognize the SD card. This morning i installed an update and after that the SD card stop working or the phone stop recognizing it. At first all the apps on the SD card appeared not available and in grey. And now after a few reboots and take the card out, it’s always “Encrypting SD card…” as a notification and it doesn’t pass from this. When I click on it the SD card does not appear and anything in the card appear. But when I connect the phone to the PC I can see the SD card and everything on it. From the phone, I don’t even have the option to see what’s on the SD card, not pictures no apps. All the apps I had transferred to the SD does not appear and it says they are not installed. Please help. Best regards. — Telma

Solution: Hi Telma. Below are the troubleshooting steps that you can try to resolve this problem.

Create a backup of the important files in the SD card

The first thing that you want to do here is to ensure that you copy all the contents of your SD card to the PC. We assume that you regularly make backup copies of your important files but if you haven’t it’s all the more important that you should start doing it starting now. SD card problems can occur without warning so you want to see to it that all your important stuff are well covered all the time.

Wipe the cache partition

Once you’ve created a backup, the next step is to wipe the cache partition of your phone. This process will make sure that your phone uses an updated system cache. Sometimes, system updates and app installations can corrupt the system cache so wiping the cache partition will force the device to build a new one. Here’s how it’s done:

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

Wipe the phone with factory reset

Should the problem remain after refreshing the system cache, you can also opt to revert all software settings back to default via factory reset. This will not only address possible software glitch that’s causing the problem, but should also help you check if the cause lies on the updated operating system itself. Sometimes, system updates can be problematic so restoring everything back to their default state is a good way to confirm it. If your phone continues to show the same problem even though you’ve already wiped it with factory reset (but has not installed any app yet), that narrows down the problem to either a bad operating system, incompatible apps, or a hardware malfunction. Try to observe the phone for at least 24 hours after the factory reset to notice any change in behavior. Make sure that you don’t install any app during this time.

To do a factory reset, follow these steps:

  • Turn off your Samsung Galaxy S7.
  • Press and then hold the Home and Volume UP keys, then press and hold the Power key.
  • When the Samsung Galaxy S7 shows on the screen, release the Power key but continue holding the Home and Volume Up keys.
  • When the Android logo shows, you may release both keys and leave the phone be for about 30 to 60 seconds.
  • Using the Volume Down key, navigate through the options and highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset.’
  • Once highlighted, you may press the Power key to select it.
  • Now highlight the option ‘Yes — delete all user data’ using the Volume Down key and press the Power button to select it.
  • Wait until your phone is finished doing the Master Reset. Once completed, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and press the Power key.
  • The phone will now reboot longer than usual.

Update apps

If the phone detects the SD card fine after a factory reset, starts experiencing the same problem again after you install back your apps, you should consider the possibility that one of your third party apps may be to blame. In this case, you want to do another round of factory reset, then narrow down the possible causes by doing a trial and error method until you’ll have pinpointed the cause. This can be done by installing apps one by one and making sure that you observe how the phone behaves after every installation.

Of course, you also want to only install compatible apps. Keep in mind that not all apps may be designed to work with the latest Android operating system. Before you install an app, make sure that you do some research about it to see if it’s prepared to be installed on a device that runs Android Marshmallow. You can do that by checking the an app’s installation page in Google Play Store. Make sure that you visit the latest reviews from other users to see if they’re having problems with their own devices. If other Galaxy S7 users report issues with it, there’s a chance that that app may become problematic in your phone too. Mainstream or official apps are usually updated and should work with the latest Android version but it may help to check their installation pages in Play Store too.

If you get apps from other sources outside the Play Store, see to it that it’s safe and compatible too.

Have the phone replaced

If the problem persists despite having done all the steps above, the problem may be hardware in nature. If the phone is still within repair or replacement warranty, make sure to have it repaired or replaced.

Problem #3: Galaxy S7 battery drain issue after Marshmallow update | Galaxy S7 slow performance after Android update

Good day. I am hoping that you would be able to provide a solution. After a software update (I think it was August update) with the Galaxy S7, the phone battery would randomly start draining very rapidly while the phone is not even in use. The device would get hot (battery draining) and very slow (CPU usage?) until a point when it does not respond forcing a restart. This started happening to my phone (S7) as well as with 2 of my co-workers (S7 & S7 Edge). I have identified that it only happens when phone is on Wi-Fi at the workplace (It does not happen at home with Wi-Fi also turned on). No other co-workers with other phones have this issue. One of my co-workers with the S7 rolled back his software to previous issue to resolve the issue. From this it can be seen that it is not the hardware, not the workplace Wi-Fi and not just my device. So it must be an issue with the software rolled out by Samsung. I have reported this to our local Samsung, but unsurprisingly they denied problems with the firmware. Do you have any ideas what may be the problem and have a solution? Best regards. — Martin

Solution: Hi Martin. There’s no specific set of solutions for many Android problems especially those that occur after an update. The best that you can do is to hope that the cause is not due to poor coding, which results to the bug you’re experiencing. Please refer to our suggestions for Telma above.

Problem #4: Galaxy S7 has multiple problems since unboxing

Is Samsung S7 Edge taking serious their customers? Since I got the S7, it keeps switching off, I can’t create new albums on the phone, the SD card goes bananas, phone gets frozen every time I try to wireless charge, and it gets impossible to restart even in safe mode. The phone gets so hot when it gets stuck between reboot and does not go anywhere. Is this how Samsung wants customers? I don’t understand, plan the product, test the product, and then sell the product. all my friends they changing from Samsung to iPhone because of the issues, and I will too, getting tired of the companies playing around when I pay money for something. Samsung is letting android users down. because android is not only Samsung, but most people say, no more android, I think android should make sure that Samsung takes this serious, if not remove android from their side. — Paulo8200

Solution: Hi Paulo8200. If your phone has been this problematic since day one, why stick with it? There are many other reasons why you may be experiencing these problems aside from an inherently flawed product but that shouldn’t have prevented you from seeking for a replacement Galaxy S7. We do own a Galaxy S7 ourselves and we can confirm firsthand that they’re working great since day one. Since your experience is the exact opposite, the only reasonable way for you to get the most out of your money is to either have the phone replaced, or get full refund. We do support some Android devices like Samsung’s Galaxy S and Note series but we won’t hold you back if you want to switch to an iOS device. The best course of action for you though is to simply demand for a replacement.

Problem #5: Galaxy S7 screen flickering green at the bottom part

Hey. I was letting my daughter use my phone in Kids mode, she hands it over to me five minutes later and I have thick green bar on the bottom of the screen. It was also flickering. So I take it from her, and tried to exit out of the program. The screen wasn’t registering anything, so I pressed the power button just once, I didn’t hold it down to shut it off. But now the screen is completely black and is still flickering the green bar at the bottom of the screen. I’ve already tried to do the soft reset a few times with no luck. I also tried plugging it into the charger to see if that might help, but to no avail. I noticed my phone is becoming increasingly hot as I have tried some of these things too. I have that blue light blinking on the front once in a while but I can’t get it to get off the black screen. — Kayla

Solution: Hi Kayla. We think your phone’s screen may have been damaged. To check, simply boot the phone in Recovery mode. Since recovery mode is a separate software environment from normal mode (that runs the operating system), it should help you tell if the issue is due to a glitch at the OS level or not. If the screen continues to flicker green at the bottom part, that’s a telltale sign of a malfunctioning screen. In this case, you must send the phone to Samsung or to a repair shop to have it fixed. To boot in recovery mode, follow these steps:

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

Problem #6: POP3 Protocol Usage on Galaxy S7 Edge

I’ve always had a BlackBerry. Making the switch to Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. On my BB, I only got the new (corporate and personal) emails, regardless of number. When I delete them from my phone, they never come back — but they’re still on the mail server and I can download them to my PC. That’s when the delete from the server. With the Edge, seems I have to pick a number of emails to get. We go through waves of busy times, so estimating how many emails to load is awkward. As is getting too many and having to re-delete them all over again. It’s a painful onerous, time-consuming process.  I don’t want to sync the phone with the computer. The computer contains all emails for the past 6 years (billing/accounting), plus recent projects not ready for archiving. I don’t want or need anything but new incoming so I can respond quickly. Any suggestions on how to get just the new (any and all) emails downloaded? I’d appreciate any and all suggestions to configure this. Even switching to a different email app. Thanks so much. — Molly

Solution: Solution: Hi Molly. Email behaviors depend on a number of things such as how the app is supposed to work, how your email server is configured to work with a particular app and device, and what email protocol is supported in a device. In Samsung environment (and in most Android devices), the feature that you want may be accomplished by using POP3 protocol.
When using POP3, only one device can download an email. In general, once a device that uses POP3 method has downloaded the email, that email is also then deleted from the server, freeing it to receive more incoming emails. This means that once you’ve also deleted your email from your phone, it’s gone forever because there’s no copy of it in your email server provider’s computers. In recent years, POP has been modified to mimic the behavior the IMAP protocol wherein email service providers can still keep a copy of emails even when they are deleted from a device that uses POP3. make sure to talk to your email service provider about the kind of POP3 protocol they’re using to avoid losing important files. If they don’t support a modified POP3 protocol, you may have to end up using IMAP method.

If your email service provider supports POP3 protocol, you can reconfigure your email account on your Galaxy S7 using it. Kindly check this post on how to setup your email in a Galaxy S7. For a more specific way to reconfigure your email account using POP3, you can also contact your email service provider so they can provide you details such as accurate email server settings, port numbers, and other configuration information.

 

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Galaxy S6 text messages are showing in Outlook email inbox, other app issues

S6 outlook

Hello TheDroidGuy community! Welcome to another post about #GalaxyS6 app problems and solutions. We want to share today six app problems coming from some S6 users.

  1. Galaxy Samsung S6 native messaging app
  2. SwiftKey app issue in Galaxy S6
  3. LinkedIn app in Galaxy S6 creates duplicate contacts
  4. Galaxy S6 text messages are showing in Outlook email inbox
  5. Galaxy S6 freezes and Touchwiz app not working properly
  6. Kid Mode app on Galaxy S6 not working after Marshmallow update

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.

 

Problem #1: Galaxy Samsung S6 native messaging app

Hi there. I recently got the Galaxy S6 and am new to the texting app Samsung uses. Under all of my texts is the time the text was sent or received, which is nice, but it also displays what kind of message it was. “text message” or “multimedia message” appears as well as the time. I was wondering if there was a way to hide or remove the kind of message from appearing under each text message. I am not finding a simple solution and am wondering if this is something I cannot control or if I will need to download a different messaging app if I would like to do this. Thank you in advance. I’m sorry if this message is a little long, just wanted to be thorough I suppose. Haha. — Victor

Solution: Hi Victor. The native Samsung texting app is designed to display the kind of message you are receiving. The app is coded this way and unfortunately, there’s no way to redesign it.

Problem #2: SwiftKey app issue in Galaxy S6

I installed the SwiftKey app on all my previous Android phones. When I put my phone into ultra power-saving mode everything goes grayscale and the keyboard goes to the  basic Samsung keyboard. (which is expected) But when I bring my phone back off of ultra power saving mode it does not go back to what I had set my default keyboard to be, which is SwiftKey. Every time and take my phone out of ultra power saving mode I have to go back into language and input settings to  change my keyboard default back to SwiftKey. I’ve tried deactivating all the other keyboards that are on there, and that doesn’t make a difference. Any ideas? — Jackie

Solution: Hi Jackie. Looks like the issue is on operating system being unable to automatically switch back to default settings. To fix that, try these three potential solutions:

Delete SwiftKey’s cache and data

Although it’s highly likely that the issue is with the operating system, we don’t think wiping the app’s cache and data won’t hurt. These are the steps:

  • Go to Settings.
  • Proceed to Applications.
  • Select Manage Applications.
  • Tap the All tab.
  • Look for Swiftkey app and tap it.
  • From there, you will see the Clear Cache and Clear Data buttons.

Wipe the cache partition

Another type of cache you need deleting is the phone system cache. An outdated or corrupted system cache can lead to issues. It’s also a recommended maintenance procedure that must be done regularly. Deleting the existing cache may fix your problem. Here’s how:

  • Turn off the device.
  • Press and hold the following three buttons at the same time: Volume Up key, Home key, and Power key.
  • When the phone vibrates, release the Power key but continue to press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key.
  • When the Android System Recovery screen appears, release the Volume Up and Home keys.
  • Press the Volume Down key to highlight ‘wipe cache partition.’
  • Press the Power key to select.
  • When the wipe cache partition is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
  • Press the Power key to restart the device.

Perform a factory reset

This procedure is the last resort. If the first two won’t change anything, doing a factory reset is your last chance. Make sure to create a backup of your personal data before proceeding.

  • Turn off your Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge.
  • Press and hold the Volume Up, Home and Power keys together.
  • When the device powers on and displays ‘Power on logo’, release all keys and the Android icon will appear on the screen.
  • Wait until the Android Recovery Screen appears after about 30 seconds.
  • Using the Volume Down key, highlight the option, ‘wipe data/factory reset’ and press the Power key to select it.
  • Press the Volume Down button again until the option ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted and then press the Power key to select it.
  • After the reset is complete, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and hit the Power key to restart the phone.

Problem #3: LinkedIn app in Galaxy S6 creates duplicate contacts

LinkedIn duplicated my contacts to hundreds per person and crashed my contact. I have disabled the automatic syncing and try to delete the duplicated contacts manually (which was up to thousands!) and the contacts keep crashing halfway.

I decided to uninstall LinkedIn app and stop all syncing.

Now I can’t even access my contact because everytime I tried to go in, it will be updating contacts for the longest time and then crashed.

My storage becomes 87% filled when it was just 59% a few days ago and I did not install any other apps. Please help!! Thank you. — Lina

Solution: Hi Lina. There must be an unknown bug that triggers the Contacts app to sync and crash eventually. Deleting this app’s cache and data (steps provided above) should help you fix this issue. Keep in mind that tapping the Clear Data button will virtually uninstall Contacts app, wiping all your contacts in the process. Make sure that you have a master copy of all your contacts saved somewhere else before doing this procedure.

Problem #4: Galaxy S6 text messages are showing in Outlook email inbox

My Samsung Edge is new, so I am still trying to get things set up. I have two problems:

1) I want to share a contact, but following your tutorial, I open Contacts, select the one I want to share, go to More, and where I would expect “Share contact”, all I get is the choice between “Delete” and “Mark as default” (in between, there is even an empty line). What do I need to do to get that option back?

2) More tricky: I have 3 mail accounts that I want to get displayed on the phone, one my company’s MS Outlook, which I have working now, and the other two are Hotmail accounts. I have set each of them up and they have all at one point been working, but I can’t get all 3 (or even 2) to work at the same time so that I can switch between the mail accounts.

3) Is there a way to stop getting the texts I receive on the phone to show up in my company mail?

Your help would be greatly appreciated! — Jessy

Solution: Hi Jessy. To answer the number one question, you must first tap on the contact before tapping on more so that the Share namecard option will show up. Once you do that, there will be a list of sharing methods available for you like the following:

  • Add to OneNote: Save the information to your OneNote account.
  • Android Beam: Send the information using NFC and Android Beam.
  • Bluetooth to send the information via Bluetooth. See Bluetooth for information on pairing and sending via Bluetooth.
  • Contacts: Share files up to 1 GB using Contacts.
  • Drive to save the information to your Google Drive account.
  • Email to send the information as an email attachment. See Compose and Send Email.
  • Gmail to send the information as a Gmail attachment. See Create and Send a Gmail Message.
  • Messages to send the information in a text message. See Send a Multimedia Message (MMS).
  • OneDrive: Save the information to your OneDrive account.
  • Quick connect: Send the information to a nearby device.
  • Wi-Fi Direct to send the information to another device via Wi-Fi Direct. See Wi-Fi Direct.

If these options won’t show up, you are either using a different Contacts app, or there’s a firmware bug causing it. Make sure you wipe the Contact app’s cache and data and/or do a factory reset (steps provided above). Don’t forget to backup your contacts first before doing any of these.

We don’t get what you mean by the second concern. If not all accounts are syncing properly, make sure both account and master sync are enabled. The account sync option should be found under the email account settings menu. To turn on your phone’s master sync, just follow these steps:

  • Go to the Home screen.
  • Pull down the notification bar.
  • Tap on Edit at the top of the screen.
  • Look for Sync and tap it.

Finally, in order to prevent your text messages from showing in your email’s inbox, you have to go deep inside your Outlook’s settings. Just follow these steps:

  • Open your email app.
  • Tap the Settings button from the menu (by pressing the soft button in the bottom left part).
  • Select Account Settings.
  • Select your company email account.
  • Scroll down to the bottom and look for More Settings.
  • Scroll down and tap Sync text message option. Make sure that you leave the box unchecked.

Problem #5: Galaxy S6 freezes and Touchwiz app not working properly

I have a Samsung Galaxy S6 from Sprint. I only use it on Wi-Fi and it has given me no issues till 2 days ago. My Touchwiz  app has been acting up. I haven’t installed anything new recently. Not only has Touchwiz been giving me issues, my phone now constantly freezes up. I have uninstalled many apps as well as did a factory reset. And I’m still having the same issue. Prior to doing a factory reset i installed a different Touchwiz home app, still had same issue. Please help me as i do not know what else to do. A friend said try a hard reset but he wasn’t sure if that would fix anything. And i don’t want to waste time on something that might give me the same result.  — Matthew
Solution: Hi Matthew. Have you tried narrowing down the possible causes by doing a factory reset and observing the phone for a day without all your third party apps? If you haven’t, we suggest that you do it. It’s possible that the launcher app (Touchwiz) you are using right now is to blame. Doing a factory reset will obviously not fix the problem if you simply re-install the cause of the problem. Doing another round of factory reset and observing the phone for some time should tell if there’s a difference.

Problem #6: Kid Mode app on Galaxy S6 not working after Marshmallow update

Updated my S6 to Marshmallow  and now Kid mode is not working. I’ve deleted the icon for the old version of Zoodles my kids love and now the new icon shows up under apps. However,  if i click on it it brings me to the Play Store page with the options to open or update. Won’t open and after downloading update, i get the error code 505. Won’t install. I’ve tried to install a flash player after adding Firefox. Wiped cache partition. A bunch of things and no luck. I really want the old version and tried downloading from a couple sites and it refuses to install. Please help! Two very unhappy kids. Thanks! — Nadine

Solution: Hi Nadine. The Play Store error 505 is usually indicative of a compatibility issue. Either the app is not yet optimized to work with Android Marshmallow, or the current firmware on your phone is not official. We recommend that you contact the developer of the app to ask them for more information about this issue. You can do so by checking their contact information in their app’s installation page in Google Play Store website.

 

Engage with us

If you are one of the users who encounters a problem with your device, let us know. We offer solutions for Android-related problems for free so if you have an issue with your Android device, simply fill in the short questionnaire in this link and we will try to publish our answers in the next posts. We cannot guarantee a quick response so if your issue is time sensitive, please find another way to resolve your problem. 

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.

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Android Marshmallow problems and solutions

Android Marshmallow

Just like any other Android versions, we anticipate problems with the #Android #Marshmallow (#AndroidMarshmallow) operating system on a wide range of devices. Below are some of the reported troubles with Google’s latest Android Marshmallow firmware:

  1. Galaxy Note 5 slow to or won’t send SMS
  2. Unable to access Galaxy Note 5 Message Center
  3. Galaxy Note 5 keeps forgetting apps selected as default
  4. Galaxy Note 4 unable to update to Android Lollipop or Marshmallow
  5. No update to Android Marshmallow yet for Galaxy Note 4
  6. Back and Recent Apps buttons on Galaxy S6 not working
  7. Micromax Canvas A1 app issues after updating to Android Marshmallow
  8. Nexus 6P (Marshmallow) not connecting to Wi-Fi automatically
  9. HTC M8 has missing apps after updating to Android Marshmallow
  10. Galaxy S3 bootloop and random reboot issues after updating to Android Marshmallow

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.

 

Problem #1: Galaxy Note 5 slow to or won’t send SMS

I LOVED my Note 5 but I had to return it and downgrade to a Note 4 ? . When I was on a call I couldn’t use the internet. If I sent a text message it would take forever to send or it just “failed” to send. I could not use any other applications that required mobile data while in a call. Please let me know what needs to be done so I can upgrade again. Thank you! — Zulma

Solution: Hi Zulma. An issue like yours can be caused by a bug on the operating system (in your case Android 6 Marshmallow) running on your device. Make sure that you wipe the cache and data of the messaging app you’re using first. These are the steps to perform it:

  • Go to Settings.
  • Proceed to Applications.
  • Select Manage Applications.
  • Tap the All tab.
  • Look for the name of the messaging app and tap it.
  • From there, you will see the Clear Cache and Clear Data buttons.

Problem #2: Unable to access Galaxy Note 5 Message Center

Recently purchased Note 5 (Verizon) Unlocked from USA and started using it in India. Everything works fine except outgoing text message. I am able to receive text messages though. When I contacted the mobile operator they are asking me to update Message Center Number, but I’m not able to see any option to update that. Is there a way to update the Message Center Number or any other solution to fix this problem? It’s really annoying when I’m not able to send text message. Thanks! — Rajesh

Solution: Hi Rajesh. The general method of accessing the Message Center option for a Samsung device can usually be done by going to Open Messages app>Settings>More Settings>Text Messages. If you are unable to go to the message center option this way, make sure to call your wireless provider so they can assist you with it.

Problem #3: Galaxy Note 5 keeps forgetting apps selected as default

So just like my Note 3, every time I’m doing something and i push the Home screen, it always asked which screen to go to. Shows up kids, easy Touchwiz, and the normal touch wiz. Every time. I have to select the one everytime and a pop up states if you want to change the default go to app and etc… but the default doesn’t save. I have cleared the cache and data practically starting phone over and it does the same. Please help. — Drew

Solution: Hi Drew. This issue is caused by any third party software that regularly deletes the phone’s system cache. Apps in the same category as Battery Doctor, Clean Master, DU Speed Booster & Antivirus, etc, often wipes the system cache in order to supposedly make a device faster. Keep in mind that wiping the system cache also deletes your customization and selected default apps. We recommend that you stop using battery power enhancers or the likes of the mentioned apps above. While wiping the cache is a good maintenance practice, doing it once every few months would suffice. Your phone does not need a wipe every other day as what these apps usually does.

Problem #4: Galaxy Note 4 unable to update to Android Lollipop or Marshmallow

Hi thanks for the help. I’ve gotten an unlocked Samsung Galaxy Note 4 originally on AT&T but now my SIM is ‘3’. I currently have Android KitKat and want to upgrade to Lollipop or even Marshmallow but EVERYTIME I try to do so it comes up with this message “software update interrupted. Try again in 24 hours”. 

Please help. I’ve tried connecting it to Kies using the USB attached to a computer but even then it doesn’t have any ‘available updates’.

What are my other options? Thank you! — Joannes

Solution: Hi Joanne. Over-the-air (OTA) updates depend on a schedule set by your wireless carrier. If the phone is unable to, or initially detect an update but fails to download it completely, the issue may be server-related. Make sure that you talk to your carrier about the issue so they can advise you properly.

As far as we know, there’s no known Android Marshmallow update for Galaxy Note 4s yet. It may take several months at best for it to become available to your device. Again, make sure that you ask assistance from your provider on how to best update your Note 4.

Problem #5: No update to Android Marshmallow yet for Galaxy Note 4

Phone  (Note 4) won’t update to Marshmallow for some strange  reason. — Christopher

Solution: Hi Christopher. As mentioned above, there is known official update by any carrier yet for Note 4 devices. Kindly call your carrier when it will be made available for your device.

Problem #6: Back and Recent Apps buttons on Galaxy S6 not working

For some reason, my back button on my S6 doesn’t function properly. It performs the same action as the recent apps button. That is, both the recent apps button and back button bring up recent apps.

I tried downloading “All in one gestures” app to see if the app would override the error and restore the functioning of my back button but this does not seem to work either. — Niv

Solution: Hi Niv. Both the Back and Recent App buttons are soft keys so the issue might be software-related rather than hardware one. Make sure that you do a factory reset to see if the operating system has been corrupted. For reference on how to do a factory reset, just follow these steps:

  • Turn off your Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge.
  • Press and hold the Volume Up, Home and Power keys together.
  • When the device powers on and displays ‘Power on logo’, release all keys and the Android icon will appear on the screen.
  • Wait until the Android Recovery Screen appears after about 30 seconds.
  • Using the Volume Down key, highlight the option, ‘wipe data/factory reset’ and press the Power key to select it.
  • Press the Volume Down button again until the option ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted and then press the Power key to select it.
  • After the reset is complete, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and hit the Power key to restart the phone.

Problem #7: Micromax Canvas A1 app issues after updating to Android Marshmallow

Hey urgent help needed. I just updated my Micromax canvas A1 (Android One) to Android Marshmallow. Almost half of the apps are not starting, they stop when opened… The apps which starts, gets back to its default settings when closed and reopened..! My contacts aren’t visible, no call logs either….

Please help..! I can’t afford to reset my phone too. — Harsh

Solution: Hi Harsh. If app issues started appearing after doing a software update, the first thing that you can try is to delete your device’s cache partition. Although any major Android update is designed to automatically replace the system cache, this doesn’t happen all the time. Manually clearing the cache partition often times resolves most app-related problems after an update. Here’s how to wipe your phone’s cache partition:

  • Switch off phone
  • Press Power button and Volume Up button simultaneously.
  • Select Recovery mode [VOLUME_UP to select. VOLUME_DOWN is OK].
  • Wait for Micromax logo and then a Dead Android with Test “No Command”.
  • Now hold Power button then tap Volume up button (in that order only) and leave it.
  • Congratulation! You are now in the stock recovery!
  • Select Wipe cache partition option.

You can also go wipe the phone clean in recovery mode if needed. Simply select wipe data/factory reset option. If you want to perform a factory reset, make sure that you save your personal data first (photos, videos, contacts, etc).

Problem #8: Nexus 6P (Marshmallow) not connecting to Wi-Fi automatically

Hi. I was wondering if, by any chance, you guys could help me with an issue. Google couldn’t help me and I didn’t know where else to turn.

I have a Nexus 6P with Google Project Fi. At work I get free internet (Wi-Fi) throughout the apartment complex. The coverage is pretty good except inside our maintenance shop, so we put a Linksys router inside to connect devices when we are inside the shop. My phone connects to the router just fine, but then when I leave the router’s range and come back, my phone will not connect automatically. I check it and all it does is “connecting… Getting IP address… Saved” and that’s it. And I can “forget” it and reenter the password and try again but it will do the same…The ONLY way that it will connect is if I turn the phone off and then back on. Then it will connect automatically, but I hate to be resetting the phone over and over.

The router supports 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz, so I went and turned off 5Ghz to see if that helped, but it didn’t. As far as other Wi-Fi connections, like the one outside the shop, it works fine and connects every time, as well as when I visit other family members, it connects and reconnects fine.

Also, at the same time, other co-workers phones and laptops that have this Linksys router, they connect and reconnect fine, so it seems like the issue is only between my phone and this router in particular. Any ideas? I would greatly appreciate any help.

Router Linksys Model EA6900 V1.1

Phone Nexus 6P Android 6.0. Thanks! — Sadoc

Solution: Hi Sadoc. Try to wipe the phone’s system cache first to see a difference. We’ve seen other Samsung devices with similar problems in the past and the issue was effectively resolved by wiping the cache partition. This is also especially helpful if you recently updated to Android 6.0 (Marshmallow). Here’s how to do it:

  • Power Down the Nexus 6P.
  • Boot the Nexus 6P into Fastboot Mode.
  • Boot the Nexus 6P into Recovery Mode.
  • Press the Volume Down Button to Control the Highlighter.
  • Highlight the ‘Wipe Cache Partition’ Option in Recovery Mode.
  • Then Press the Power Button to Select This Option.
  • Make Sure the ‘Yes’ Option is Highlighted.
  • Then Press the Power Button to Select This Option and Confirm the Wipe.
  • Wait Until the Nexus 6P Wipes the Entire Cache Partition.
  • Make Sure the ‘Reboot System Now’ Option is Highlighted.
  • Then Press the Power Button to Reboot the Nexus 6P.

If wiping the system cache won’t help, consider doing a factory reset to see the difference. These are the steps:

  • Open the Settings App on the Nexus 6P.
  • Then Scroll Down and Tap on the ‘Backup & Reset’ Option.
  • From Here, Tap on the ‘Reset Phone’ Button At the Bottom.
  • Tap on the ‘Erase Everything’ Button.
  • And Then Wait for the Nexus 6P to Reboot and Perform the Factory Reset.

Problem #9: HTC M8 has missing apps after updating to Android Marshmallow

I just updated my M8 GPe phone to 6.0 Marshmallow, and now my email and text messaging apps don’t exist. Even in settings, apps, all… They are not listed. How can I restore the original text and email apps? Or would I be better off to try out custom apps for this ? — Kirk

Solution: Hi Kirk. Something must have gone wrong during the update which affected the missing apps. Just like others above, make sure that you wipe your phone’s cache partition and do a factory reset. These are recommended software solutions for any issues arising after a major update.

Problem #10: Galaxy S3 bootloop and random reboot issues after updating to Android Marshmallow

I’ve recently flashed Lollipop 5.1 on my Sprint S3 and it ran great for a few weeks. I then flashed Marshmallow 6.0 and the stock gaaps package. It worked fine for a few days then started going nuts. It won’t stay on. It goes to reboot screen and just randomly shuts off. I’ve wiped cache, dalvik, and factory reset and still i run into this problem and this hasnt been the first S3 that I’ve experienced this with.

I’ve searched and have no answer. Please help any help would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance. — Ivan

Solution: Hi Ivan. The Samsung Galaxy S3 was designed to work optimally with older Android versions (Jelly Bean and KitKat) but not the recent Marshmallow. We haven’t tested how an S3 works with Marshmallow ourselves so we can only speculate. There may be some hardware limitations on this phone that developers has not anticipated at this time. The fact that you must be using an unofficial Marshmallow update can also cause potential issues. You have to ask assistance from the developer that released the firmware so they can iron things out.

 

 

Engage with us

If you are one of the users who encounters a problem with your device, let us know. We offer solutions for Android-related problems for free so if you have an issue with your Android device, simply fill in the short questionnaire in this link and we will try to publish our answers in the next posts. We cannot guarantee a quick response so if your issue is time sensitive, please find another way to resolve your problem. 

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.

If you find this post helpful, please help us by spreading the word to your friends. TheDroidGuy has social network presence as well so you may want to interact with our community in our Facebook and Google+ pages.

Galaxy Note 5 draining battery fast after an update, stuck in boot loop after using some themes, other issues

Hello everyone! Welcome to another #GalaxyNote5 post for this week! Like the Galaxy S7, we seem to be receiving more and more Note 5 issues of late so we’ve decided to publish more posts about this amazing device. If you can’t find anything useful in this material, don’t forget to also visit our main Galaxy Note 5 troubleshooting page.

Below are the specific topics we cover for you today:

  1. Galaxy Note 5 keeps vibrating on its own | Galaxy Note 5 Back button not working properly
  2. Galaxy Note 5 freezing issue after using some themes
  3. Galaxy Note 5 keeps freezing | Galaxy Note 5 battery level is erratic
  4. Galaxy Note 5 draining battery fast after an update | Galaxy Note 5 stops fast charging after installing Marshamallow
  5. Galaxy Note 5 microphone and speaker not working properly

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, or you can install our free app from Google Play Store.

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.

Problem #1: Galaxy Note 5 keeps vibrating on its own | Galaxy Note 5 Back button not working properly

My issue has been ongoing for 2 days. I am not sure if it is an app or system issue. Presently my phone will just start vibrating, like the touch screen vibration, and whatever I am using, text, internet or any other app will back out like I’m hitting the back arrow. I am unable to text answer calls or shut off my phone when this happens because as soon as I bring up anything it immediately exits. I had installed a weather app the day before this started occurring however I have uninstalled it and it is still happening. I have done a soft reset, ran a diagnostic antivirus scan with ProTool Antivirus app and it came back as safe.

Solution: Hi Elizabeth. The first thing that you want to do is to wipe the phone’s cache partition, which holds the system cache. The cache partition holds temporary data that are used by the system to load apps quickly. Sometimes, installation of system update or apps can corrupt the system cache so youi want to ensure that it’s updated all the time. Here’s how to do it:

  • Turn off your Samsung Galaxy Note 5 completely.
  • Press and hold the Volume Up and the Home buttons first, and then press and hold the Power key.
  • Keep the three buttons pressed and when ‘Samsung Galaxy Note5’ shows, release the Power key but continue holding the other two.
  • Once the Android logo shows, release both the Volume Up and Home buttons.
  • The notice ‘Installing system update’ will show on the screen for 30 to 60 seconds before the Android system recovery screen is shown with its options.
  • Use the Volume Down key to highlight the option ‘wipe cache partition’ and press the Power key to select it.
  • When the process is complete, use the Volume Down key to highlight the option ‘Reboot system now’ and hit the Power key to restart the phone.
  • The reboot may take a little longer to complete but don’t worry and wait for the device to become active.

Some of the issues that are usually addressed by a cache partition wipe process includes battery drain issue, overheating, erratic app behaviors, and more. If nothing changes though after you do it, proceed to the next step, observing the phone in safe mode.

Safe mode is similar to safe mode or diagnostic mode in Windows. In Android environment, safe mode prevents third party apps from running so if you suspect that one of the installed app is to blame, doing this is highly recommended. Safe mode won’t pinpoint the exact app though so you must do an extra effort in tracking it down afterwards. Now remember, if the phone works normally and the issues won’t occur while safe mode is enabled, that’s a clear indicator that one of the third party apps is to blame. To restart your Note 5 to safe mode, follow these steps:

  • Turn off the phone completely.
  • Press and hold the Power key.
  • Once ‘Samsung Galaxy Note5’ shows, release the Power key and immediately press and hold the Volume Down button.
  • The phone will restart but keep the Volume Down button pressed.
  • Once the phone has finished restarting, ‘Safe mode’ will be displayed in the lower-left corner of the screen.
  • You may now release the Volume Down button.

Another good thing to do in this case is to see if the Back, Home, and Recent apps button are malfunctioning. To do that, you want to access the phone’s

service menu by doing the following:

  • Open the Phone app.
  • Dial “*#0*#” (without the quotes).
  • Tap Sub key box.
  • To know if any of the three buttons is working, simply tap each one. The screen should turn to different color depending on the button you press. If the screen remains black or won’t change color after tapping Recent apps, Home, or Back button, hardware issue must be to blame. If everything works out though, continue to the next troubleshooting, factory reset.

Factory reset

Finally, if nothing appears to work after doing all the procedures above, you must wipe the phone by doing a factory reset. Here’s how to do it:

  • Turn off your Samsung Galaxy Note 5 completely.
  • Press and hold the Volume Up and the Home buttons first, and then press and hold the Power key.
  • Keep the three buttons pressed and when ‘Samsung Galaxy Note5’ shows, release the Power key but continue holding the other two.
  • Once the Android logo shows, release both the Volume Up and Home buttons.
  • The notice ‘Installing system update’ will show on the screen for 30 to 60 seconds before the Android system recovery screen is shown with its options.
  • Use the Volume Down key to highlight the option ‘Yes — delete all user data’ and press the Power key to select it.
  • When the process is complete, use the Volume Down key to highlight the option ‘Reboot system now’ and hit the Power key to restart the phone.
  • The reboot may take a little longer to complete but don’t worry and wait for the device to become active.

All the steps above are meant to allow you to do applicable software solutions but if nothing works still, you must consider repair or replacement.

Problem #2: Galaxy Note 5 stuck in boot loop after using some themes

I have a Note 5 US Cellular version. It was working fine, but I was applying some of the themes located in the main settings screen. I started getting an error every 1 second saying that contacts stopped working. It was absolutely annoying, so I went with factory reset and decided to just start over. Unfortunately, I forgot that you had deleted the Nandroid backup I had previously made. After factory reset in TWRP, the phone will not boot back up. I can get to the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 screen, and when trying different ROMs, I can get passed the Aroma installer but still not passed the custom boot animation. I have flashed many ROMs in the past and I’ve screwed up several times as well, but usually installing stock firmware either through Odin or a custom recovery, I’m usually able to solve these issues. I am stumped with this device. — Jason

Solution: Hi Jason. You’re right, the effective only solution to fix flashing-related problems are factory reset and reinstallation of stock firmware. If both these procedures don’t work anymore, there may be something deeper that causes the bootloader not to work properly. The only alternate potential solution that we can think of is to use Samsung Smart Switch app to repair the software. If this tool won’t help either, consider having the phone replaced.

Problem #3: Galaxy Note 5 keeps freezing | Galaxy Note 5 battery level is erratic

Hello! I have a Note 5 that keeps freezing. It also turns itself off and keeps rebooting, usually doing this several times before it even it stays on. When I take pictures using the flash, it will sometimes turn off. The battery drains and will “jump” from charge percentage (examples: 85% to 43% then back up to 90% then again down drastically to like 20%). Do you think I have a virus? My virus protection is saying everything is okay.

I’m not really certain as to which Android version it is either because I can’t get the phone to stay on long enough to look. It is whatever was factory because I have not upgraded the software since I got the phone. — Michelle

Solution: Hi Michelle. At this point, everything is possible so let’s try to do a few troubleshooting steps to narrow down possible causes.

The first step that you must do is battery calibration. This will help retrain the operating system to detect the actual battery level. We are hoping, of course, that the battery is still okay and not defective. Battery calibration is highly recommended especially if you notice a problem with it after installing a system update or new firmware. There are apps that can help you calibrate the battery more easily but most of them require root. If you don’t want to root your phone, try the more traditional way to do it. Here are the steps:

  • Use the phone by playing games or doing tasks to hasten power discharge, until the phone turns itself off.
  • Turn the phone on again and let it turn itself off.
  • Charge the phone without turning it back on.
  • Wait until the battery says it fully charged to 100%
  • Unplug the charger and turn the phone on.
  • If the phone says it’s not 100% anymore, turn it off, plug the charger back in and wait until 100% charge is reached.
  • Unplug the charger the turn the phone on again.
  • Use the phone until you drain the battery down to 0.
  • Repeat the cycle once.
  • Observe the phone for at least 2 days to see if the issue remains.

Should the problem stay, you must do a quick factory reset. This will help you check if your problem is on the software level or not. This is also the only thing that you can do at this point before you submit the phone for repair or replacement. Here’s how to factory reset your Note 5:

  1. From the Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
  2. Find and tap the Settings icon.
  3. Under the ‘Personal’ section, find and tap Backup and reset.
  4. Tap Factory data reset.
  5. Touch Reset device to proceed with the reset.
  6. Depending on the security lock you used, enter the PIN or password.
  7. Tap Continue.
  8. Touch Delete all to confirm your action.

Problem #4: Galaxy Note 5 draining battery fast after an update | Galaxy Note 5 stops fast charging after installing Marshamallow

Hello. I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and I am experiencing charging issues. I am hoping you can help. It all started about 2 weeks ago (actually it started after updating to 6.0.1) when the phone was just draining battery so fast and it suddenly shut down. Before the update I was using the battery at least 1 day long and sometimes 1.5 but then it needed 4 times of charging a day. Then I thought the battery died but before that nothing like this happened). And it is not charging over 82%. Also, it takes a lot of time to charge.(It says fast charging but it takes more than 3 hours). Normally maximum in 2 hours and the battery get fully charged. but now even after 4 hours it is not getting over 82%.

I never plugged the phone out before it fully charged but now it become impossible to that when it is not getting over 82%. This is really being annoying. What should I do? Thanks in advance for any help/advice you can give! — Feza

Solution: Hi Feza. Firstly, we are assuming that your phone is not rooted and it’s not running custom firmware. If you are using non-official Samsung firmware, find a solution somewhere else, preferably from the community that uses and developed the said software.

If your phone was never rooted before, the usual dose of software troubleshooting may help. The first thing that you want to do is to wipe the cache partition to give the phone an updated system cache. If you haven’t done this before, follow these steps:

  • Turn off your Samsung Galaxy Note 5 completely.
  • Press and hold the Volume Up and the Home buttons first, and then press and hold the Power key.
  • Keep the three buttons pressed and when ‘Samsung Galaxy Note5’ shows, release the Power key but continue holding the other two.
  • Once the Android logo shows, release both the Volume Up and Home buttons.
  • The notice ‘Installing system update’ will show on the screen for 30 to 60 seconds before the Android system recovery screen is shown with its options.
  • Use the Volume Down key to highlight the option ‘wipe cache partition’ and press the Power key to select it.
  • When the process is complete, use the Volume Down key to highlight the option ‘Reboot system now’ and hit the Power key to restart the phone.
  • The reboot may take a little longer to complete but don’t worry and wait for the device to become active.

Once you’ve ensured that the phone has now a new system cache, the next good thing to do is to calibrate the battery again. Refer to the steps provided above on how to do it.

Because your issues do not appear to have obvious causes, it’s also good if you can check if one of your apps is to blame. This is done by booting a phone to safe mode. Here’s how:

  • Turn off the phone completely.
  • Press and hold the Power key.
  • Once ‘Samsung Galaxy Note5’ shows, release the Power key and immediately press and hold the Volume Down button.
  • The phone will restart but keep the Volume Down button pressed.
  • Once the phone has finished restarting, ‘Safe mode’ will be displayed in the lower-left corner of the screen.
  • You may now release the Volume Down button.

Safe mode is not a solution in itself but if the issues are not present when it’s on, you can bet one of your apps is problematic. In this case, you want to invest more time in narrowing down the causes by removing apps individually and observing the phone again after each uninstallation. This manual process can consume a lot of your time so try to remove apps that you’ve added recently. You can also pick apps from dubious developers first to save you time.

If you want to reverse the process, you can do that by doing a factory reset, then observing the phone after installing an app. This means that you must do a factory reset first and observe the phone for some time as well, just like what you want to do after booting in safe mode.

Remember, if nothing changes whether the phone is in safe mode or after a factory reset, that may mean that the battery may not be working properly. It may be damaged and needs replacing, or there may be another unknown hardware issue behind the trouble. Whatever it is, you must contact Samsung or any relevant party for repair or replacement.

Problem #5: Galaxy Note 5 microphone and speaker not working properly

Well, I think there is a problem with my microphones. It recently happened. My phone was not in water or any sort. Whenever I record something and play what I recorded, I can’t hear a thing I said. Sometimes I hear myself. But it is at a very low volume, very very soft. When I scream at the phone whilst recording, I still have a very soft voice. When I call someone or receive a call I can hear the person very clearly. But the person can’t hear me that well. Now recently, when someone calls me I can’t hear a thing and he can’t too. This phone has become useless. I’m using a Galaxy Note 5 by the way. Please help. — Kganya

Solution: Hi Kganya. It does appear to us that you have a malfunctioning microphone and speaker. That means there’s little to nothing that you can do on your level to fix it. Some of the usual causes of a broken hardware includes water/liquid exposure, heat or cold exposure, or shock from accidental drop. If any of these things happened to your phone, stop whatever you’re doing and consider having the phone replaced.

If you want to find out if the issue lies on the software, these are things that you can try:

  • Wipe the cache partition.
  • Observe the phone in safe mode.
  • Install system and app updates.
  • Restore all software settings via factory reset.
  • Flash stock firmware (use Google to find guides on how to do it).

Remember, if nothing changes after you do all these software hacks, consider having the phone replaced.

 

Engage with us

If you are one of the users who encounters a problem with your device, let us know. We offer solutions for Android-related problems for free so if you have an issue with your Android device, simply fill in the short questionnaire in this link and we will try to publish our answers in the next posts. We cannot guarantee a quick response so if your issue is time sensitive, please find another way to resolve your problem. 

If you find this post helpful, please help us by spreading the word to your friends. TheDroidGuy has social network presence as well so you may want to interact with our community in our Facebook and Google+ pages.

Galaxy S5 overheating after it got hardware damaged, won’t turn back on, other issues

Here’s another list of #GalaxyS5 issues we’ve collected over the past few days. If you sent us a request for assistance but are yet to see the issue published in this blog, keep watching for upcoming posts in this next few days.

For now, these are the specific topics that we cover in this material today:

  1. Galaxy S5 screen keeps flickering
  2. Galaxy S5 with Tracfone account can’t make outbound calls
  3. Galaxy S5 lags a lot after installing Android Marshmallow
  4. Galaxy S5 can’t send SMS
  5. Galaxy S5 charges but won’t turn back on
  6. Galaxy S5 freezes when typing | Galaxy S5 freezes randomly
  7. Cannot install update to Galaxy S5 when used in another network
  8. Galaxy S5 overheating after it got hardware damaged

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, or you can install our free app from Google Play Store.

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.

Problem #1: Galaxy S5 screen keeps flickering

After receiving my second hand S5, after few months the lower part of the screen about one forth started to flicker in a much brighter light than the rest of the phone screen. I thought nothing of it at the time. However, what happened today was when the lower part started to flicker it was in a normal light and it’s as if the rest of the screen light had gotten darker( I mean i could have still read whatever was there). I decided to turn off my phone because I just guessed that it needed sometime (that maybe i’m just using it too much). Anyways, after about 15 to 30 mins i turned it back on. The light still flickered at the bottom, so decided to hit the screen. I did  and shortly after everything seemed fine (normal again). Unfortunately a few seconds after that the top part (the other 3 quarters) started to flash with a red light and the lower part(1 quarter ) flashed with a yellow light. Now the lights are flashing fast and i hurts my eyes to look at my phone. Please help me. — Krystaphel

Solution: Hi Krystaphel. Anytime a screen starts to behave abnormally, it’s almost always due to hardware malfunction. We don’t know the full history of your phone to say for certain if that’s the case but the description you provide here is consistent with a failing screen. To check if that’s the case, do a factory reset and see if that will change anything. If the screen behaves exactly after a factory reset, that’s a sign of a bad hardware. In this case, you need to send the phone in so the hardware can be repaired or replaced.

To factory reset your phone, kindly follow these steps:

  • Turn off your Samsung Galaxy S5.
  • Press and hold the Volume Up, Home and Power keys together.
  • When the device powers on and displays ‘Power on logo’, release all keys and the Android icon will appear on the screen.
  • Wait until the Android Recovery Screen appears after about 30 seconds.
  • Using the Volume Down key, highlight the option, ‘wipe data/factory reset’ and press the Power key to select it.
  • Press the Volume Down button again until the option ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted and then press the Power key to select it.
  • After the reset is complete, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and hit the Power key to restart the phone.

NOTE: Factory reset will delete all user data such as photos, videos, contacts, etc. Make sure that you back them up before proceeding.

Problem #2: Galaxy S5 with Tracfone account can’t make outbound calls

I have an unlocked Samsung Galaxy S5 from ATT GSM for use with a Tracfone account. I have installed the SIM provided by Tracfone and transferred my service and I can make outbound calls but I haven’t tested inbound yet. My account at Tracfone shows that my that the minutes, data and sms have all transfered to the new sim. I can get data via wifi, but there is no switch to turn mobile data on. I have looked in settings, notifications, quick notifications and every where else I can think of, but the switch doesn’t exist and the service is turned off. I have done a factory reset with no result. Do I need to go through that APN stuff with Tracfone? Bless you if you can help, thanks if you cant. — Gordon

Solution: Hi Gordon. In an ideal world, your phone is supposed to reconfigure all APN settings once you insert an active SIM card but if that didn’t happen, yes, you should work with Tracfone to fix the issue. There may be a provisioning issue that needs to be addressed on Tracfone’s end so make sure that you work with them to make their services work on your phone. There’s nothing a third party like us can do in this situation so the responsibility of making sure everything is working falls on your carrier’s shoulders.

Problem #3: Galaxy S5 lags a lot after installing Android Marshmallow

Hi. My name is James. I own an S5 and have had it for around 2 years now. It’s a great phone and I love it but when Samsung did updates a while ago it drastically slowed down the operating system. I currently have the 6.0.1 updated and I think I have come all the way from 4.0.1. Is there a way to speed the phone up? It seems to have a lot of lag. If you are texting it’s always letters behind. If you want to load a app like the camera or the internet it takes a while to load. It just has a lot of lag all the way around. Does any of this have anything to do with memory? I have a SD card in the system. Please let me know if you could help.        — Jamesbielamowicz

Solution: Hi Jamesbielamowicz. Although Samsung released a Marshmallow update for the Galaxy S5, there will be a noticeable slow down in terms of performance as this device was optimized for Android KitKat. The Galaxy S5’s hardware may run Marshmallow but at a much slower pace. This is the reason why a lot of S5 users who switched to Marshmallow are having problems. We have our own Galaxy S5 updated to Marshmallow ourselves and we can say that it’s become slower in its general performance compared to when it was running Lollipop. Marshmallow is best suited for newer and faster Samsung flagship devices like the S6 and S7 so yes, memory and processing power of the S5 can play a role when it comes to providing a smooth Marshmallow experience.

There are, of course, other reasons why an Android device can slow down after installing an update so we suggest that you do the basic stuff like wiping the cache partition, installing app and system updates, and factory reset to see a difference.

For reference, below are the steps on how to wipe the cache partition and factory reset in Galaxy S5.

How to wipe the cache partition in an S5

  • Turn off the device.
  • Press and hold the following three buttons at the same time: Volume Up key, Home key, and Power key.
  • When the phone vibrates, release the Power key but continue to press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key.
  • When the Android System Recovery screen appears, release the Volume Up and Home keys.
  • Press the Volume Down key to highlight ‘wipe cache partition.’
  • Press the Power key to select.
  • When the wipe cache partition is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
  • Press the Power key to restart the device.

How to factory reset Galaxy S5

  • Turn off your Samsung Galaxy S5.
  • Press and hold the Volume Up, Home and Power keys together.
  • When the device powers on and displays ‘Power on logo’, release all keys and the Android icon will appear on the screen.
  • Wait until the Android Recovery Screen appears after about 30 seconds.
  • Using the Volume Down key, highlight the option, ‘wipe data/factory reset’ and press the Power key to select it.
  • Press the Volume Down button again until the option ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted and then press the Power key to select it.
  • After the reset is complete, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and hit the Power key to restart the phone.

Problem #4: Galaxy S5 can’t send SMS

Your Samsung Galaxy S5 Problems  columns have been very informative. I’ve looked for my issue, but haven’t seen it.

My Galaxy S5 updated to Lollipop 3 or 4 days ago. Since then, none of my text messages I’m trying to send will go. The only information I get is that my attempt to send has failed. Tonight I called my daughter and had her send me a text message, which I did receive. But the reply I tried to send once again failed. Attempts to resend failed.

I’ve gone into settings and checked the different options. I don’t believe anything changed there. I’ve restarted phone and also did a full power off and let it be before turning back on.

Any help you can provide will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for all your help. — Bonnie

Solution: Hi Bonnie. Make sure that you check the Message Center number. Something must have changed it. An incorrect Message Center number is one of the common reasons why a device can send outbound SMS. To check, follow these steps:

  • Press Messages.
  • Press the menu icon.
  • Press Settings.
  • Press Text messages.
  • Press Message center.
  • Key in the Message Center number and press OK.

A Message Center number is specific to a carrier. Make sure to get the correct number from your carrier before changing it.

If the phone has already the correct message center number configured, the next thing that you want to do is to delete the messaging app’s cache and data. Here’s how:

  • Open the Settings menu either through your notification shade (drop-down) or through the Settings app in your app drawer.
  • Navigate down to “Apps”. This may be renamed to something like Applications or Application Manager in OEM skinned versions of Android 6.0.
  • Once in there, click on an application.
  • You’ll now see a list of stuff that gives you information about the app, including Storage, Permissions, Memory Use, and more. These are all clickable items. You’ll want to click on Storage.
  • You should now clearly see the Clear Data and Clear Cache buttons for the application.

If both these procedures fail to fix the problem, make sure to let your carrier know about it so they can help find a solution.

Problem #5: Galaxy S5 charges but won’t turn back on

Hi. My Samsung S5 battery drained down to 1% while on charge and in use so we turned the device off. Now it won’t turn back on or even show that the charger is plugged in. it is just totally dead now but gets hot if the charger is plugged in.

I took it to a phone repair shop and they put in a new battery and put it on charge. It shows on the screen that it’s on charge with a new battery in but it just stays at 0% and still won’t turn on even though we know it’s a fully charged battery (by checking in another phone). They say it’s the motherboard and that its unfixable. Is this right or could i get a new motherboard? Nobody has opened it up to look inside. Thanks in advance. — Kirstie

Solution: Hi Kirstie. It must be a motherboard problem, like what the service center found out. A power IC or integrated circuit may no longer be working causing the phone to simply heat up while charging, while not really completing the whole cycle of powering the entire system. A motherboard issue is an expensive repair procedure but does not give a 100% guarantee of working so we highly suggest that you get a phone replacement instead. We don’t want you to spend hundreds of dollars for a repair and parts replacement only to end up having a non-working device.

Problem #6: Galaxy S5 freezes when typing | Galaxy S5 freezes randomly

Hello. I came across your article while searching for problems with my phone. My phone tends for freeze up/lag a lot in the last month.

It lags when:

-My phone is locked and I hit the power or home button. The screen quickly flashes on and off, and will stay dark until a minute or two later when it finally releases itself and then I can use the phone again.

-When I’m texting. The screen freezes and can’t type anything. After a few moments the screen goes black. I hit the power/home button and everything works again.

-I’ll be randomly using the phone, and then the phone freezes and like the previous post, have to wait until the freeze/lags releases the phone before I can use it again.

Note:

– The freezing/lagging happens randomly. It can happen after 6 hours of usage, or after 5 minutes after powering up my phone.

Is there a way to isolate the problem and figure out what is causing this? Thanks! — Andrew

Solution: Hi Andrew. Your situation can be caused by a number of things, including a possible hardware malfunction so you must be a series of software troubleshooting to narrow down the causes.

The first thing that you must do is to check if the system cache is corrupted or outdated. You can do that by wiping the cache partition (steps provided above).

If the cache is okay, or that the problem continues after clearing the cache partition, you also need to verify if a third party app is causing the trouble. To do that, you must boot the phone to safe mode and observe the phone for at least 24 hours. Here are the steps on how to restart your S5 to safe mode:

  • Press and hold the Volume Down and Power keys for 20 to 30 seconds.
  • Once you see the Samsung logo, release the Power key immediately but continue pressing the Volume Down key.
  • Your phone should continue booting up and you will be prompted to unlock your phone as usual.
  • You will know if the phone successfully booted in safe mode if the text “Safe mode” is displayed at the lower-left corner of the screen.

Instability problems can sometimes be caused by other apps simply because they are incompatible with the current operating system version. Make sure that you only install compatible apps. Try to uninstall those that you are unsure of. Old or outdated apps built years before may no longer run properly with new Android updates so go over your list of apps and try uninstall old ones. You will usually know if an app is problematic by checking reviews posted by other users. Try to visit the installation page of your apps in Google Play Store and see if a developer has indicated that such app is not compatible with the OS running on your device. Of course, you can also check the reviews to see what others are saying about it. Keep in mind that there’s no way to know what is causing a problem like yours so you must invest time and effort in getting down to the bottom of the issue.

Factory reset is a drastic but effective solution for everything that’s firmware or operating system related. However, it may not work if the problem is due to an app that you missed to check, or if the issue is hardware in nature. If you do a factory reset, make sure that you observe how the phone works for a day without installing anything. This will allow you to determine if the problem returns while the slate is clean. If it does, then that’s an indication of a hardware issue.

It can be a battery problem too so before sending the phone to Samsung for repair or replacement, make sure that you try a new battery first.

Problem #7: Cannot install update to Galaxy S5 when used in another network

Hi. My mom gave me her Samsung S5. She was with Telus and I’m with Fido so she paid to have it unlocked. The phone worked perfectly fine with Telus. When I put the Fido SIM card in and reset the phone to factory settings, it won’t update. It says it’s already up-to-date. it turns off on me and turns back on saying SIM card not detected. When I turn it off and back on sometimes I get the Fido service bar back, but not very often recently does that work. When the Fido service is connected to phone and detecting SIM card, it only texts; it won’t make calls and it says it’s out of service area. It won’t call voicemail box either says, Ontario. I’m in Alberta Canada. Any help would be great.

I’m wondering if I put a Telus sim card in and update the phone through that service would it work. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. — Dylan

Solution: Hi Dylan. First of all, OTA (over-the-air) update won’t work if you use an unlocked phone (like your Telus S5) in another network (like Fido). Carriers only release updates to devices actively registered on their network and using their provided software. Since the software in your phone is still a Telus one, Fido won’t release an update for it because their current software version is incompatible with what’s on your phone. If you want to check for updates, try inserting a Telus SIM card on it and see if you can install updates that way.

Secondly, even if your phone has been unlocked, it doesn’t’ always mean that all features will work with another network. Make sure that you check with Fido why some functionalities you mention here are not working. It’s possible that the software running on the device, which is from Telus, does not work when the phone is connected to another network.

Problem #8: Galaxy S5 overheating after it got hardware damaged

Hey Thedroidguy!

I have a Samsung S5. I placed it in my back pocket and somehow it got hardware damage. The SD card slot had been bent and the damage is visible in the back cover. The damage is visible in the top right part of the SD card slot (middle of the phone) though there is no damage to the front of the phone or the screen.

When this happened, the phone started heating up alot. I didn’t think it was much of an issue though while it was heated up the phone didn’t turn on. So I thought it was just dead. I noticed that most of the heat comes from the middle part of the phone right under where the bent part is.

I have removed the SD card using screwdrivers to pry it out (though the SD card slot didn’t take any further damage). I have tried to remove the battery and reinsert it, try a different charger, also try a different battery. I tried to charge it for 20 minutes but that only caused it to heat up.

Also, I have done the hold the power button for a minute to discharge the RAM but that didn’t work. I have taken out the SD card and the SIM card.

I hope you guys can help me. Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. Sincerely. — Arthur

Solution: Hi Arthur. Hardware damage, whether due to accidental drop, water exposure, or heat, can cause serious problems. Oftentimes, damage to the motherboard and other parts are permanent so you can’t hope for some software magic tricks to fix it. If the overheating issue started right after you removed your phone from your pocket, it’s possible that other components in the motherboard may also be damaged at this time. The best course of action that you can take is to have the phone checked by Samsung or an independent service center so the extent of the damage can be assessed. Our blog does not provide hardware troubleshooting and solutions so if you are intent on checking the hardware yourself, try to look for other websites that can give you what you need.

 

Engage with us

If you are one of the users who encounters a problem with your device, let us know. We offer solutions for Android-related problems for free so if you have an issue with your Android device, simply fill in the short questionnaire in this link and we will try to publish our answers in the next posts. We cannot guarantee a quick response so if your issue is time sensitive, please find another way to resolve your problem. 

If you find this post helpful, please help us by spreading the word to your friends. TheDroidGuy has social network presence as well so you may want to interact with our community in our Facebook and Google+ pages.

Galaxy S7 edge can’t install system update, not detecting SD card, other issues

Welcome to our #GalaxyS7 post for today. If you’re looking for solutions to your S7 issues, this article may help. We discuss 8 more S7 issues in this post so if you won’t find a fix for your own issue, don’t forget to visit our main Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge troubleshooting pages.

Below are the specific topics we’re discussing for you:

  1. Galaxy S7 “Camera Failed” error, camera won’t work
  2. Galaxy S7 with cracked screen won’t turn on
  3. Galaxy S7 front camera photos looks not natural | Galaxy S7 front and back cameras are blurry
  4. Galaxy S7 edge not detecting SD card
  5. Galaxy S7 not making sound and text notifications after system update
  6. Galaxy S7 edge screen turns black with small X at the bottom
  7. Galaxy S7 fast charging feature not working
  8. Galaxy S7 edge can’t install system update

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, or you can install our free app from Google Play Store.

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.

Problem #1: Galaxy S7 “Camera Failed” error, camera won’t work

My Samsung Galaxy S7 says “Camera Failed” whenever I try to use it. For about the past week, it would do it 4 or 5 times in a row but then it would work. Now it will not work at all. It pops up the Viewing camera modes screen and then the warming box Camera Failed pops up. I have tried clearing the cache and followed the first 4 steps you suggest on this site. I use the camera nearly everyday in my first grade classroom. I use it to post pictures on Class Dojo and for a game called Plickers within my classroom. Do I need to bring it in to a store to be looked at? I do not know how to tell what version it is for below. I have model number SM-G930V, Kernel version 3:18:31, hardware version REVo.6, Knox version 2.7.1, Build NumberNRD90M.G930VVRU4BQA2, baseband version G930VVRU4BQA2. Let me know what else you need. — Hollyjohnson2008

Solution: Hi Hollyjohnson2008. The first thing that you must do in this case is to delete the camera app’s cache and data. This will ensure that you eliminate possible app-level bug causing the problem. Here’s how to do it:

  1. Open the Settings menu either through your notification shade (drop-down) or through the Settings app in your app drawer.
  2. Navigate down to “Apps”. This may be renamed to something like Applications or Application Manager in OEM skinned versions of Android 6.0.
  3. Once in there, click on an application.
  4. You’ll now see a list of stuff that gives you information about the app, including Storage, Permissions, Memory Use, and more. These are all clickable items. You’ll want to click on Storage.
  5. You should now clearly see the Clear Data and Clear Cache buttons for the application.

If wiping the camera app’s cache and data won’t work, you must then do a factory reset to deal with a possible software problem. Factory reset will erase everything in your phone’s internal storage device so make sure that you back your important files up first.

To factory reset your Galaxy S7, follow these steps:

  1. From the Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
  2. Find and tap Settings and then touch Backup and reset.
  3. Tap Factory data reset and touch Reset device.
  4. If you have screen lock feature turned on, enter your password or PIN.
  5. Touch Continue.
  6. Tap Delete all to confirm your action.

If factory reset won’t work either, send the phone in so the camera assembly can be examined. If possible, let Samsung handle the check up to avoid voiding the warranty.

Problem #2: Galaxy S7 with cracked screen won’t turn on

Hi Droidguy! I have a problem with my phone that has been going on for a while and recently it just decided to not ever turn on or charge. It all started from when a relative of mine cracked the screen and the phone begun to bootloop. It has been at least 2 months now and it has suddenly shutdown on me. I have tried to turn it on by pressing and holding the volume/power/and home button but it still won’t work. Would it be because I haven’t updated it for a while? Or could it be the cracked screen? Please Help! — Sarinakicks

Solution: Hi Sarinakicks. If the issue is isolated to the screen assembly only, the phone should still be able to turn back on although the screen should remain black. Some of the indicators that will tell you the phone still turns on includes the following:

  • phone sounds off or rings when notifications, messages, or calls come in
  • phone vibrates when you try to press the power button to turn it on
  • recent apps, Home, and Back buttons light up when you press them

If any of these things happen on your phone, that means that the phone is not dead and the problem may only be limited to a bad screen.

If nothing of in the above happens and the phone is totally unresponsive, you should try to boot it to other modes such as safe mode, recovery mode, and Download mode. For reference, here are exact steps on how to do each of them as well as their follow through steps that you can perform:
Boot in Recovery mode:

  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.

Boot in Download Mode:

  1. Charge the phone for at least 30 minutes.
  2. Press and then hold the Home and Volume DOWN 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 DOWN keys.
  4. Wait until the Download screen appears.
  5. If you can boot the phone in download mode but not in other modes, that means that your only way out may be to flash a stock or custom firmware.
  6. Use Google to look for a guide on how to do it.

Boot in safe mode:

  1. Charge the phone for at least 30 minutes.
  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. The only difference of safe mode from normal mode is that the former prevents third party apps from running. If you can boot the phone in safe mode but not in normal mode, uninstall all apps until the issue (that prevents you from booting normally) is eliminated.
  7. If you’ve already tried them as well, that means that it’s not a screen problem and the phone itself does not boot up at all. In any of these case, make sure that you contact Samsung first so they can help you arrange a repair or replacement.

If the phone is no longer under warranty and the issue appears to be a malfunctioning screen, you bring the phone to an independent third party service center.

Problem #3: Galaxy S7 front camera photos looks not natural | Galaxy S7 front and back cameras are blurry

Issue is the S7 camera. It’s worse than my S5. I turned off all the settings and put it to 0. Not using filters but it feels like my face is NOT NATURAL. It feels like a doll or something. I don’t know how to describe. and it’s even worse at night. both front and back camera. just hopeless and super blurry. Is this issue hardware issue or software issue? Please advise as my home country, Fiji, won’t give me refund for this phone. i got it got 2100FJD.

Also, Snapchat photos are even more worse. Don’t know why. At least on camera app its less worse but on Snapchat it looks like a cartoonized picture. So annoying it’s totally unnatural. — Zeebran

Solution: Hi Zeebran. Pictures taken by the Galaxy S7 front camera do look unnatural. You can try to reduce the effects you don’t like by sliding the slider of, say, skin tone effect, to 0. If you still don’t like the look of the pictures taken by the front camera, try using other camera apps from the Play Store. The Galaxy S7 tends to process the photos taken so that selfie shots appear more good looking. The processing of pictures is done by software so using an app that shows a true look can remedy the situation. Try as many apps as possible to get the desired output the you want.

Photos taken at night or low light conditions can appear blurry even if you’re using other imaging devices like DSLRs. To minimize blur when photographing night or low light scenes, try to make the camera as steady as possible. If you have a tripod for your phone, try to use when taking nighttime photos and see if that improves the situation. We are also using a Galaxy s7 and S7 edge and both devices gives us very good photos in low light conditions even without a tripod. If your issue won’t be resolved by using other apps, consider having the phone replaced. You may have received a bad phone so replacing it should fix the problem.

Problem #4: Galaxy S7 edge not detecting SD card

Hi. Thank you in advance for your time and help. After a system update on my new Samsung S7 edge, my phone completely stopped detecting my SD card which was used before and worked. It’s by the way full of my travelling pictures which have not been backed up due to some system issue. Card is not recognized by my PC and other phones. I have contacted Samsung support to check Samsung cloud and so on. No problem solution. Same with Google. I have contacted Google support. Both supports recommended to contact you guys. I have tried whatever I could. Nothing works. Looks like I have lost all my important documents and a lot of my memories saved on pictures which somehow disappeared from both of my clouds after system updated done on my Samsung.

On your forum I have read that many people have same problem and you helped them. However your solutions given do not work on my S7. If you could advise me any solution I would really appreciate. — Kate

Solution: Hi Kate. If other devices like a PC or another smartphone can no longer read or access the contents of your SD card, it may be too late to do something about it. Any storage device — rotating hard drive, solid state drive, USB flash drive, or SD card —  can fail any time. The reason why a storage device fails can vary although the most common includes physical damage and file corruption. In some rare cases, lucky users may still be able to recover some contents from a physically damaged storage device with the help of advanced techniques. However, such techniques requires expertise, advanced tools, and specialized software so there’s usually nothing a user can do on their end. Needless to say, data recovery is expensive but if you think it’s worth spending several hundred dollars to save important files, you can try to ask help from professionals in this field.

Based on the circumstances you mention above, we think it’s pointless to attempt any recovery at this time. If you want to try your luck though, Google may be able to give you suggestions for data recovery services in your area.

To prevent losing valuable data in the future, always create back up on a regular basis.

Problem #5: Galaxy S7 not making sound and text notifications after system update

I worked in telecommunications for 16 years and have Samsung Galaxy phones exclusively since the S2 came out. After my phone ran the most recent software update about a month ago, it no longer makes any noise alert or visual alert when I have a text message. Games and other apps still do. I’ve done PRL and profile updates. I’ve changed the actual alert sound. Turned the device on and off after changing the settings, everything I can think of and it’s driving me crazy! Any suggestions?? — Joselynsue7

Solution: Hi Joselynsue7. The first thing that you want to do is to wipe the cache partition to ensure that the system cache is updated. Sometimes, app and system updates can corrupt the system cache so deleting the old is necessary. Here’s how to wipe the cache partition:

  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.

Now that the phone has a new system cache, try to observe the phone for a few hours by using it the usual way.

If nothing changes after wiping the cache partition, your next step would be to ensure that all your apps are updated and compatible. Go over your list of apps and make sure that all of them are compatible with the new operating system. You also want to update them to minimize bugs. If you are not sure if an app is compatible, contact its developer.

Finally, if nothing changes after wiping the cache partition and installing app updates, you must do a master reset. Here’s how:

  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 data / factory reset.’
  6. Once highlighted, you may press the Power key to select it.
  7. Now highlight the option ‘Yes — delete all user data’ 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.

NOTE: Factory reset will wipe all data in your phone’s internal storage device. Be sure to back irreplaceable files before you proceed.

Problem #6: Galaxy S7 edge screen turns black with small X at the bottom

Have a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge which suddenly randomly turns screen black with one small white X at the bottom left corner. This lasts for about 5 seconds the screen returns to normal but it will also have turned Auto screen rotation back on even if had it off. Running Android 7 with all latest updates and security patches installed. Tried safe mode and still it happens. —         Kfchidakwa

Solution: Hi Kfchidakwa. We’ve documented a similar problem before but that was due to Samsung VR-related issue. If you installed any Samsung VR or Oculus app installed, try to uninstall or Force Close them to fix the problem. If that won’t fix it, try a factory reset.

Problem #7: Galaxy S7 fast charging feature not working

My phone won’t fast charge with my fast charger. I’m using my original charger that came with the phone and it won’t fast charge. At first sometimes it says that it is fast charging but some seconds later it will say “charging will take longer because not using original charger.” This is really annoying because it takes hours to charge completely. When fast charging it may take a hour or less to charge when on about 20%. I left my phone last night with 10% battery charging with the message of not using the original charger and next day after I woke up (like 8 hours later) it was barely on 77%. — Adrian

Solution: Hi Adrian. Almost all fast charging issues are due to charging port problems so you want to do a closer inspection of the said port to see if there’s a visible physical damage. Sometimes, a bent pin inside can cause erratic charging behavior. If possible, try to examine the charging port with the help of some form of magnification to see if something’s amiss.

If everything looks normal and there’s no visible lint or dirt that may cause poor contact with the charger, try to do a factory reset to see if the problem is caused by a software glitch. Factory reset will revert all software settings to their defaults thus it’s a good way to determine if a software glitch is causing a problem or not. Be sure not to install anything right after a factory reset so you can compare how the phone works without apps and updates installed.

If fast charging continues to fail during the observation period, have the phone repaired or replaced.

Problem #8: Galaxy S7 edge can’t install system update

I’m using Samsung Galaxy S7 edge. My phone currently running Android 6.0.1 marshmallow. But it shows some security and performance improvement updates from the several months. Update is about 539MB. Everytime i download these updates….my phone restarted to install these updates. But don’t know why update installation failed at 28% and dead Android logo appeared. Please give me some suggestions to this issue. Thanks. — Romeo

Solution: Hi Romeo. There are a number of reasons why a phone fails to install an update. Below are usual causes:

  • not enough available storage space
  • the phone is running unofficial firmware
  • System cache is corrupted
  • there’s an unknown software glitch blocking installation of new system update

To fix the issue, the first thing that you want to do is to clear the cache partition to refresh the system cache.

Once you’ve cleared the cache partition, check the remaining storage space. Make sure that you have at least 1GB of available internal storage space before attempting the installation.

If there’s more than enough space and wiping the cache partition won’t change anything, do a master reset (steps provided above).

If the problem persists after a factory reset, there may be a problem with the update file itself. Be sure to let your carrier know of the problem so they can take a look at it.

If you happen to root your device and installed a custom ROM, make sure that revert the software back to stock first. There may be a setting in the current ROM that prevents installation of an OTA update.

Sometimes, a carrier will not allow a rooted or customized device to install an official update so return everything to stock first before you install any Android update.

 

Engage with us

If you are one of the users who encounters a problem with your device, let us know. We offer solutions for Android-related problems for free so if you have an issue with your Android device, simply fill in the short questionnaire in this link and we will try to publish our answers in the next posts. We cannot guarantee a quick response so if your issue is time sensitive, please find another way to resolve your problem. 

If you find this post helpful, please help us by spreading the word to your friends. TheDroidGuy has social network presence as well so you may want to interact with our community in our Facebook and Google+ pages.

Fixing common Samsung Galaxy S5 problems after the Marshmallow update

  • Learn how to fix a problem involving the #Samsung #GalaxyS5 Settings service that keeps crashing after the #Marshmallow update.
  • What to do if the Wi-Fi button on your phone is greyed out after a firmware update.
  • S5 can no longer connect to car Bluetooth after updating the firmware.
  • Device became so slow after upgrading the OS and the camera won’t take still shots. 

 

Samsung-Galaxy-S5-marshmallow-update-problems

It was good news when Samsung first announced that the Galaxy S5 would be getting a bite of Google’s Marshmallow update. In fact, many owners got excited about it but such excitement would soon turn out to be disappointment as the update brought more problems instead of fixing pre-existing ones.

In this post, I will tackle the most commonly reported problems Galaxy S5 owners encountered shortly after the roll out of the Marshmallow update. Continue reading to know more about these problems and how to deal with them in case you’ll encounter one in the future.

If you have other issues though, visit our S5 troubleshooting page as we already addressed hundreds of issues before. Find ones that are similar to yours and use the solutions we suggested. If they don’t work or if you need further assistance, you can always contact us by filling up this questionnaire. It’s a free service but please provide us with relevant information about the problem so we can help you better.

Q: “Hi, I’m unable to view the quick settings menu by swiping down on top of my home screen after updating my OS to Android Marshmallow. I undertook the update last night and have been facing this issue since then. Neither am I able to select certain options in Settings like Toolbox, because when I do so Settings crash and I get a pop-up saying Unfortunately Settings has stopped. Please help. Thanks.”

A: Apparently, the new system may have caused this but I think it’s just some corrupt system caches. With that, I want you to try to wipe the cache partition first before anything else. Follow these steps:

  1. Turn off the device.
  2. Press and hold the following three buttons at the same time: Volume Up key, Home key, Power key
  3. When the phone vibrates, let go of the Power key but continue to press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key.
  4. When the Android System Recovery screen appears, release the Volume Up and Home keys.
  5. Press the Volume Down key to highlight ‘wipe cache partition.’
  6. Press the Power key to select.
  7. When the wipe cache partition is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
  8. Press the Power key to restart the device.

If the Settings service still crashes after wiping the cache partition, try booting up your phone in safe mode and see if you can go to Settings while it’s in that state (i.e. third-party apps disabled).

  1. Turn the device off.
  2. Press and hold the Power key.
  3. When ‘Samsung Galaxy S5′ 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.

If so, then one or some of your downloaded apps may be incompatible with Marshmallow. The best way to address this is to check if there are available updates for your apps and install them, and then, boot up your phone normally. Assuming the Settings service still crashes after booting in safe mode and updating your apps, your last resort would be to perform the master reset. Of course, before doing that, make sure you backed up your data and files:

  1. Turn off the device.
  2. Press and hold the following three buttons at the same time: Volume Up key, Home key, and Power key.
  3. When the phone vibrates, release the Power key but continue to press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key.
  4. When the Android System Recovery screen appears, release the Volume Up and Home keys.
  5. Press the Volume down key several times key 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.

Q: “After an auto update installed for lollipop my WiFi is greyed out, my Bluetooth doesn’t recognize my accessories and the phone reboots it’s self randomly. I’ve done a factory reset and attempted to do a wipe but 4 hours had passed and it just stayed on the reboot screen. It’s as if my phone has been possessed. Please help me.”

A: Thanks for indicating you’ve already done the factory reset. So, for this, wipe the cache partition by following the first procedure I included in the first problem. I think that’s all you need for this problem.

Q: “Since Marshmallow update, Bluetooth doesn’t work in my Lexus, phone randomly and frequently reboots, apps crash and keyboard input lags. I am hating Marshmallow.  When are they fixing it?”

A: Frankly, no one knows if Samsung will address this kind of problem. Yours is just one of those Bluetooth issues that occurred after the marshmallow update and it’s apparently a compatibility issue only that Samsung won’t acknowledge it and will probably blame it on the Bluetooth version in your car. But since you’re experiencing other issues, I think it’s time you did the reset and see if that makes a difference.

Q: “I know this sounds stupid but I’ve had a terrible time using the camera on my phone. Right now its in video mode i cant get it to stop recording i just want to take a picture i need to send it to a company. How can i get this to let me take pictures, i do not understand all these modes or the other things on the camera. I’m ready to give up having a camera phone. Thanks.”

A: There must be a “Camera” icon when you open the camera app, tap on that and you’ll be able to take still shots. If, by any chance, the camera app’s settings were all messed up, all you need to do is reset it and for that, clear the data. Don’t worry, your pictures and videos won’t be deleted.

  1. Go to Settings.
  2. Proceed to Applications.
  3. Select Manage Applications.
  4. Tap the All tab.
  5. Choose Camera.
  6. Tap Clear cache.
  7. Tap Clear data and then OK.

Q: “My Galaxy S5 just updated to marshmallow recently and it became very, very slow. I don’t understand why a huge update like this ruined my phone for me. Can you help, please?”

A: There are times when an update corrupts the caches and data in your phone or cause some compatibility issues. In times like this, all you need to do is backup your data and perform the master reset to delete possible corrupt files. Try that and you can regain your phone’s performance back.

Connect with us

We are always open to your problems, questions and suggestions, so feel free to contact us by filling up this form. We support every Android device available and we are serious in what we do. 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.

Galaxy Note 4 keeps getting pop-up saying phone is infected with virus, other issues

Every once in a while we come across #GalaxyNote4 users reporting that their device constantly showing ad pop-ups and virus threats. In this article, we give you some simple steps on how to deal with this pop-ups problem as well as 6 other totally different issues.

note-4

Below are the specific topics that we cover in this material today:

  1. Galaxy Note 4 turns off when battery level reaches 25-40%
  2. AT&T Galaxy Note 4 has no “More settings” under Call section
  3. Galaxy Note 4 screen becomes black with white “x” on the side
  4. Galaxy Note 4 with Marshmallow mobile data connection slows when wi-fi is on
  5. Galaxy Note 4 stops working when battery is at 40%
  6. Galaxy Note 4 internet connection keeps dropping when switching from LTE to Wifi and vice versa
  7. Galaxy Note 4 keeps getting pop-up saying phone is infected with virus

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, or you can install our free app from Google Play Store.

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.

Problem #1: Galaxy Note 4 turns off when battery level reaches 25-40%

My phone always turns off when there’s approximately 25-40% battery left, and it always occur when I’m dealing with an image/video (Instagram, camera, YouTube etc.). The phone refuses to even start until I plug the charger in, then it shows that I have at least 20% battery left. The phone won’t start until I’ve charged it up to at least 40% (41% seems more stable as it could easily die again after putting in my PIN-code). The phone is almost a year old and it became more stable when I updated to Android 6.0.1 but it’s been getting worse again. My friend had the same issues even with battery replacement so he bought another phone, so that’s why I haven’t tried that yet. I’ve had it sent in to Samsung but all they did (as usual) was to factory reset and just charge it to 100% and said it was OK. I really like my Note 4 but this is getting out of hand, not being able to use it aggressively more than 3-4 hours a day. 🙁 — Andreas

Solution: Hi Andreas. Before you consider getting a replacement phone, try to calibrate the battery first.  This is a simple procedure that most often help in power-related issues, but also tend to be overlooked.  To do that, follow the steps below:

  • Use the phone by playing games or doing tasks to hasten power discharge, until the phone turns itself off.
  • Turn the phone on again and let it turn itself off.
  • Charge the phone without turning it back on.
  • Wait until the battery says it fully charged to 100%
  • Unplug the charger and turn the phone on.
  • If the phone says it’s not 100% anymore, turn it off, plug the charger back in and wait until 100% charge is reached.
  • Unplug the charger the turn the phone on again.
  • Use the phone until you drain the battery down to 0.
  • Repeat the cycle once.

Problem #2: AT&T Galaxy Note 4 has no “More settings” under Call section

I recently bought two Samsung Galaxy Note 4 phones and have set them up on Consumer Cellular. They are AT&T branded phones operating on Consumer Cellular. Mine has Android 5.1.1 and my wife’s has 4.4.4. Both have the same problem: Going into “more settings” under “Call” produces the error message “Failed to read data network or SIM card error.” More settings do appear, but call waiting is greyed out and unavailable. I’ve done some Google searching and found other people experiencing the same problem on AT&T branded Note 4 phones with either KitKat or Lollipop. I tried the dial sequence to turn it on, but it doesn’t work. I was wondering if you heard of this problem and have a resolution for it. The phones work properly in other respects, at least as far I’ve tested them. I’m not yet an expert on the Note 4 or Android operating system. This thread describes the problem I’m having: https://forums.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-note-4/530945-note-4-owners-do-you-have-error.html. — Computeranswerman

Solution: Hi Computeranswerman. The advanced settings under Call section does open in T-Mobile and Verizon Note 4s so this problem must be unique to AT&T Note 4 models. We are not 100% if the same is true for AT&T Note 4s running Marshmallow so you can try to update your phones to it to see. If the same limitation happens on Marshmallow, you really have to let AT&T know about it so their developer team can look into it. The settings you’re missing are available also in International version of Note 4 so it must only be limited to AT&T firmware.

Problem #3: Galaxy Note 4 screen becomes black with white “x” on the side

I have a Note 4 and I bought the new 2016 Samsung Gear VR (all blue headset) and the late 2014 Samsung Gear VR consumer Edition (white body, blue face). Let me start, the effect and outcome is the same for both. When I plug my Note 4 into either headset, my screen goes black with a little white X in bottom left corner. I have tried everything I can to fix this by trying all fix posts on every site I could find. Soft and hard resets, uninstalling Oculus with the big Oculus in my file and the other Oculus attached files to Oculus. taking out and putting battery back in, looking to see if there were any new updates, looking at center detector for a while after I closed the phone, calling Samsung and Oculus for help, lock and unlocking screen. all NOTHING. Please help. It’s been such a long 3 weeks without a fix. — Lance

Solution: Hi Lance. This issue can sometimes appear at random, especially if you’ve installed Samsung’s Gear VR app and/or Oculus own app. We’ve already documented a lot of similar issues in our previous posts across multiple Samsung devices so we’re positive that this is not model-specific. The thing is, there seems to be no clear pattern on the exact cause. Thus, there’s also no standard solution for it. A user must do trial-and-error  method to arrive at a solution. Below is a list of known effective solutions we’ve come across so far:

  • Removal of Samsun Gear VR app.
  • Removal of Oculus app.
  • Booting in safe mode.
  • Performing a master reset (factory reset via Recovery mode).
  • Cleaning the headset port and making sure that the contacts are not dirty.
  • Wiggling the headset jack until the screen goes back to normal.

As we said, these are the known solutions we’ve gathered across the web. We are actually unable to replicate the issue on our own Galaxy S6 and Note 4 so there’s nothing we can give to you firsthand. We’ll update this post in the future if we can find a true fix.

Problem #4: Galaxy Note 4 with Marshmallow mobile data connection slows when wi-fi is on

Not sure when exactly this happened but it’s been 2 weeks after Marshmallow update 6.0.1 and I’ve been having data issues. I’ve done hard resets and cleared system and app cache but slow data still persists. I’ve also taken it to a T-Mobile store to have them look it and they didn’t do much. I have an unlimited plan with T-Mobile. One thing I found out is that my data slows down after I connect to wifi. I don’t have smart switch on. To test it out, I’ve turned off my wifi on the phone and I see the data is really slow. And to fix it I switch the network mode WCDMA/GSM (auto connect) to GSM only but switch it right back. After it loads my phone starts receiving 4G but once I connect to my wifi it reverts to the same slow data. — Ramiro

Solution: Hi Ramiro. This can be an unknown operating system glitch. To test, do another round of factory reset and replicate the problem again without installing any apps. This will help you narrow down the causes. If the same problem remains after a factory reset (without any apps installed), that leaves you with three possible causes:

  • the firmware may be poorly coded, thus a conflict such as this occurs,
  • phone’s baseband version is problematic or may need to be updated (baseband is a firmware used by your phone’s modem and is independent from Android OS),
  • there’s an unknown hardware error (probably on the networking respects of the phone)

There’s nothing much that you can do about them so the best course of action would be to

  1.  either seek a phone replacement, or
  2. try to manually flash  a firmware via Odin (you may have to update the baseband separately).

If the phone is still covered by a replacement warranty, we highly suggest that you go for replacement. We won’t push that you do the second option but if you’re willing to take the risks involved, then go for it. Manually flashing a firmware can effectively transform your phone into an expensive paperweight but it may be worth it if you have no other choice. Keep in mind that these 2 solutions are only applicable if the issue remains after doing a factory reset and without apps installed.

If the opposite happens, that is, the issue won’t happen after a factory reset, that’s a different story altogether. That’s a hint that a third party app may be involved. Make sure that you install your apps one at a time, and that you observe if the issue returns after each installation. This will be the only way for you to identify the culprit.

Problem #5: Galaxy Note 4 stops working when battery is at 40%

My Note 4 has been dying at 40+ battery lately and when it does I’ll go to charge it and it will say it has around 30% plugged in, but I still cant use it till it’s up to 100% or it dies randomly.

Also when it will get to 0% I try plugging it in and it will register its plugged in but then the vibration when it registers seems too much and kills it while it’s still on the charger. it will repeatedly die every 5 seconds while on the charger resulting in no charge for long periods of time. There has only been one time before that it has stayed on the charger for 2 days and finally got a full battery again but this time it doesn’t seem to be the case.

Also when I try to turn my phone on after it randomly shuts off it will give me the repeat start up over and over till I take out the battery and try to turn it back on again but it doesn’t always work. — Amanda

Solution: Hi Amanda. The issues you raise here can be caused by software issue or a bad hardware. To determine which of these general causes is the culprit, you must do the following:

Wipe the cache partition. If issues started after you installed an app or system update, the most likely problem lies on the system cache. To fix it, simply refresh the cache partition so the system will be forced to build a fresh cache. Here’s how:

  • Turn off the Galaxy Note 4 completely.
  • Press and hold the Volume Up and the Home keys together, then press and hold the Power key.
  • When the Note 4 vibrates, release both the Home and Power keys but continue holding the Volume Up key.
  • When the Android System Recovery shows on the screen, release the Volume Up key.
  • Using the Volume Down key, highlight the option ‘wipe cache partition’ and press the Power key to select it.
  • When the wiping of the cache partition is finished, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and hit the power key.

Calibrate the battery. Battery calibration is another good step to try in your case. Refer to the steps above.

Restart the phone in safe mode. Booting the phone in safe mode and observing the phone is meant to check the possibility that a third party app may be responsible. While safe mode is on, third party apps and services will be prevented from running. So, if the issue won’t occur in this mode, you just have found out that one of your files is problematic. To boot in safe mode, follow these steps:

  • Turn off the phone completely.
  • Press and hold the Power key and the Volume Down key.
  • When the phone starts to boot, release the Power key but continue holding the Vol Down key until the phone finished restarting.
  • Safe mode will be display at the lower left corner; you may release the Volume Down key now.

Factory reset. If there’s no change in terms of behavior even while the phone is in safe mode, the next logical step that you can take is factory reset. Not only will it potentially eliminate operating system-level glitch that may be causing the problem, but factory reset will also restore all software settings back to default. This means that the operating system will be brought back to its known, working state while at the same time apps will be deleted. By doing this, you are virtually converting the software environment of your device to a point that we know should work. Thus, it’s the ultimate troubleshooting step that should help you check if the issue is software or hardware in nature. If the same problems occur after a factory reset (and without apps re-installed), that’s the strongest proof you can have that says hardware is to blame. To perform a factory reset, follow these steps:

  • Create a backup of your important files and contacts.
  • Turn off the Galaxy Note 4 completely.
  • Press and hold the Volume Up and the Home keys together, then press and hold the Power key.
  • When the Note 4 vibrates, release both the Home and Power keys but continue holding the Volume Up key.
  • When the Android System Recovery shows on the screen, release the Vol Up key.
  • Using the Volume Down key, highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset’ and press the Power key to select it.
  • Now highlight ‘Yes — delete all user data’ using the Vol Down key and press the Power key to begin the reset.
  • When the master reset is complete, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and hit the Power key.
  • The Note 4 will restart but it will be longer than usual. When it reaches the Home screen, then begin your setup.

Replace the battery. There’s a chance that your Note 4’s battery may have simply reaches its end of life. If all software troubleshooting steps have been exhausted, don’t forget to try another battery.

Get a phone replacement. Finally, if all else fails, contact the relevant party so the phone can be repaired or replaced.

Problem #6: Galaxy Note 4 internet connection keeps dropping when switching from LTE to Wifi and vice versa

Hi. I’ve heard that you help users to determine and fix their tech problem. First i would like to thank you for that.

Secondly, I’ve been using my Samsung Note 4 since 27 October. I’ve noticed a really serious problem (at least for me). The problem is that the wifi and LTE connections sometimes crushed. They can go off without my permission, specifically when i go out of my home (where i have a wifi ) or when leave the wifi area. Usually i make the wifi and LTE on .. so that my phone directly connect to LTE in case there’s no wifi.

Sometimes the crush happens when my phone try to change the connection from wifi to LTE.

Other times, I’m outside my home working in my LTE network and the connection suddenly shut itself off ( it’s exactly like i shut the connection icons off). The network of my provider is quite good. Usually when that happens i check my friends phones to find out that it still working. I really hope that you help me with that. It spoiled my joy of this great phone 🙁

Finally i would like to thank you again for your time .. and i hope you got the problem ..

And pardon my English .. it’s not my main language 😀

Lots of love from Saudi Arabia. — Abdulaziz

Solution: Hi Abdulaziz. Like other Android issues, especially the ones mentioned in this post, your issue may be caused by software or hardware. This means that you must try all general software troubleshooting first (wiping the cache partition, booting in safe mode, factory reset) in order to determine if you need to replace the phone or not.

If you enable Smart Switch, try to turn it off and observe the phone. Sometimes, this feature can malfunction so disabling it for good may help.

Also, make sure that your phone’s software (operating system) is updated to minimize problems that may spring from a bad baseband version. Baseband is a firmware used by your phone’s modem and is separate from the operating system.

Keep in mind that our blog does not provide hardware troubleshooting so we can’t help you in isolating hardware causes. If all software troubleshooting won’t help you at all, the best thing that you can do still is phone replacement.

Problem #7: Galaxy Note 4 keeps getting pop-up saying phone is infected with virus

Hello. I just bought my first Android phone. It is a Galaxy Note 4. Sometimes I will get an alert saying my phone could be infected with a virus. I think this usually happens when I’m on Facebook and click a certain link about a certain story. I do not click on any of the links suggesting how to remove it because I am assuming the links  probably have malware. I am thinking of returning this phone because I never had an issue like this with an iPhone. Currently the lookout app is enabled and says everything is OK. But having moved away from PCs to Macs because I hated all of the virus threats. I am tempted to go back to an iPhone for the same reason. I really don’t want to have to deal with any virus threats. What are your thoughts and suggestions? I would appreciate an answer ASAP as I only have a few days left to return this phone lol 🙂

Thank you in advance! — Evans

Solution: Hi Evans. Whether you’re a PC, Mac, iOS, or Android user, the basic principle in dealing with malware infection is the same — prevention. This is the best way to deal with malware. If you are careful in what apps you install, websites you visit, and files you download, you are significantly trimming down the chance of a malware infection. There are only a handful of high profile Android viruses that are currently detected and most of them have already been filtered out of Google Play Store environment so we think that your phone may actually been infected with adware. Adwares are usually installed discreetly by other apps, forcing the phone to show annoying ads and pop-ups. If your phone has been showing you all kinds of ads and pop-ups lately, you can be certain that one of your third party apps is to blame. To fix this issue, do the following:

Factory reset the phone. This is the first step in making your phone clean from viruses and malware again. Refer to the steps above on how to do it.

Install only official and mainstream apps. Once you’ve cleaned the phone, you then want to install safe apps. If you tend to install apps without checking whether or not their developers can be trusted, think again. The general rule in this case is, if you’re unsure, don’t install it. Try to stick to official apps only. For example, if you can’t stay away from online shopping apps, make sure that you only install official ones like that from eBay, Amazon, etc. Make sure to check the reviews of users in the Google Play Store installation page of each app so you’ll know if there are many known problems about it, or if it’s suspicious. Do the same for all games and other types of apps. The less popular the app is, the greater the chance a developer will resort to less legal means to monetize their products.

Never install apps outside of Google Play Store. Some apps can be installed from other sources. While there are many good sources for third party apps out there, it’s also a fact that malicious hackers make their apps available for download from the same sources. Only install an app from a third party source if you are positive that it’s safe. Otherwise, it’s good to treat everything outside Google Play Store as possible sources of digital threats. To ensure that your phone will warn you if it detects that it’s trying to install from outside sources, do the following steps:

  • Open the Settings app.
  • Go to Lock screen and security.
  • Scroll down to Unknown sources.
  • Make sure that Unknown sources toggle is OFF.

 

Engage with us

If you are one of the users who encounters a problem with your device, let us know. We offer solutions for Android-related problems for free so if you have an issue with your Android device, simply fill in the short questionnaire in this link and we will try to publish our answers in the next posts. We cannot guarantee a quick response so if your issue is time sensitive, please find another way to resolve your problem. 

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Galaxy Note 4 keeps freezing and randomly rebooting on its own, not charging properly, other issues

For those looking and waiting for #GalaxyNote4 solutions, here’s another post that might help you. This post brings you 6 other issues that we’ve collected so far. If you don’t find the issues or solutions useful, don’t forget to visit our main Galaxy Note 4 troubleshooting page.

Below are the specific topics we’re discussing for you:

  1. Galaxy Note 4 stopped booting up after installing Marshmallow update
  2. Galaxy Note 4 red charging light stays on even when battery is taken out | Galaxy Note 4 keeps freezing and randomly rebooting on its own
  3. Galaxy Note 4 keeps rebooting on its own
  4. Galaxy Note 4 charging erratically | Galaxy Note 4 not charging properly
  5. Galaxy Note 4 slow performance issue | Galaxy Note 4 works very slow
  6. Galaxy Note 4 won’t restart

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, or you can install our free app from Google Play Store.

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.

Problem #1: Galaxy Note 4 stopped booting up after installing Marshmallow update

It all began after a Marshmallow update in November 2016. The phone was quick, snappy, and with 4 large Krait 2.7GHz cores and plenty of RAM and an Adreno 420, it arguably should have the hardware to run anything an S7 can run. Yet, barely received Marshmallow before Nexus 6’s were already on 7.1.1.

Meanwhile, Samsung had pulled everyone to attempt a Note 7 salvage and then a Note 7 recall, a push to get its VR Gear ready and out from Christmas. Meanwhile they have side issues like smart appliance problems and to save face they devote the only energies left to trying to at least get ONE phone (S7) on Nougat (still not happened as of Jan 10th 2017).

At the same time a minor update or two gets pushed to Note 4s, none updating to anything beyond 6.0.1 and more importantly not fixing the “crash machine” that turned a perfectly working Note 4 into after Marshmallow. We are talking clear cache, full factory resets, new batteries, new SIM cards, pulling SD cards, nothing but pulling battery and praying it will restart. THEN suddenly I read a blog and a girl points out if you run a music player in the background, it will never crash. Guess what? Absolutely right! Run Pandora (need to leave volume on at least 1 or it will pause, closing background running, so leave it on low volume and you could open up 100 apps and runs 10 videos and it would FLY like nothing was ever wrong? Unfortunately you can’t take a call without killing the player and that spells the ends and crash city all over again. Finally, two days from our Pixel XL delivery, the Note 4 now is total blackout, no response to changing, new batteries. Zero signs of life. An attempt to plug into my Mac recognized nothing. I’m about to get out the PC we have (Yoga 2 Pro i7) and see if it can see anything, but there are no signs of life and initial attempts to drain battery from RAM yielded nothing. But it seems our only hope? Can you even FLASH a phone when it shows no response to power or does not recognize by a laptop?

After that, background music player workout I feel it’s 100% software somehow, even if it lay in power management code. I think Samsung has to know it nearly bricked all Note 4s and is spread so thin it won’t admit these phones need patches STAT! Thoughts? I just want to get mine to power on so I can even get my trade in credit! Heck, the phone specs are so good I shouldn’t even NEED a new phone? Am I right on any of this? — Kevin

Solution: Hi Kevin. First of all, if the main concern here is on how to power back your Note 4 on, you must try all the usual dose of software troubleshooting steps for this issue. These steps include:

  1. using a different charger,
  2. using a new battery, and
  3. restarting the phone to different boot modes

If you’ve already tried another charger and battery before contacting us, then the only remaining step you need to do is to see if you can boot the phone to other modes. Keep in mind that booting to safe mode is not a solution in itself, but rather a way to possibly do something about the issue. For example, if your phone only boots to Odin or download mode at this time, there’s a chance that you may be able to solve the issue by flashing a stock firmware. Below are the steps on how to boot your phone to different modes:

Boot in Recovery mode:

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

Boot in Download Mode:

  • Charge the phone for at least 30 minutes.
  • Press and then hold the Home and Volume DOWN keys, then press and hold the Power key.
  • When the Samsung Galaxy S7 shows on the screen, release the Power key but continue holding the Home and Volume DOWN keys.
  • Wait until the Download screen appears.
  • If you can boot the phone in download mode but not in other modes, that means that your only way out may be to flash a stock or custom firmware.
  • Use Google to look for a guide on how to do it.

Boot in safe mode:

  • Charge the phone for at least 30 minutes.
  • Press and hold the Power button.
  • Once the ‘Samsung Galaxy S7’ logo appears, release the Power key and immediately press and hold the Volume Down button.
  • Continue holding the button until the phone finishes rebooting.
  • Once you see the text “Safe mode” at the bottom left corner of the screen, release the Volume Down button.
  • The only difference of safe mode from normal mode is that the former prevents third party apps from running. If you can boot the phone in safe mode but not in normal mode, uninstall all apps until the issue (that prevents you from booting normally) is eliminated.

In most cases, if you’ll be unable to power a device back on to any of these modes, it usually means that there’s a hardware malfunction involved. In this case, we suggest that you bring the phone to a Samsung service center for repair or replacement.

Secondly, if you think Samsung updates is the sole cause of this disaster, you should contact them directly. We are not Samsung so there’s little to nothing that we can do in terms of resolution. The only way we can be of help is to publish your situation so other users will become aware of this issue. For our part, we really can’t say that it’s Samsung’s fault, especially if the update is coursed through your carrier’s update system. System updates, in general, can be a package of incremental patches from all parties involved (Samsung, your carrier, Google) so there’s no way we can say that’s it’s a purely a Samsung issue.

Problem #2: Galaxy Note 4 red charging light stays on even when battery is taken out | Galaxy Note 4 keeps freezing and randomly rebooting on its own

Hello, I have been having troubles with my Note 4 over the last several days. The persisting problem is that the phone regularly turns off while charging. Even when I remove the charger and the battery, the red charging light still stays on.

There are several other problems such as the phone tends to freeze and shut off at least a couple times daily. It takes numerous tries to restart the phone (taking out the battery and putting it back in), and I also get the “Downloading… Do not turn off target” error message at least once a day. I have also tried the soft reset numerous times but the problems still persist. What do you think might be the best solution to these problems? Note: The phone is currently up to date with the software, there is an 8GB free of storage. After clearing the cache, the same problems persisted and do not have an SD card.  Thank you. —  Anthony

Solution: Hi Anthony. It’s not normal for a phone’s red LED light to stay on even when the battery and/or charger has been disconnected. The LED itself needs a battery source to work in the first place. Either you:

1.) mistakenly identified a dead red LED light as lit,

2.) or that there’s a hardware issue that causes the phone to continue supplying the LED light with power even if the power source has been disconnected.

The second situation is obviously not normal so for this to happen alone, that’s already proof of hardware malfunction. In this case, you should have the phone checked by Samsung so the hardware issue can be correctly diagnosed.

For the freezing and random reboot issues, the cause may be one and the same with the one that causes the LED light to turn on even when the battery is not inserted.

In some cases, bad software may also be to blame so before you consider having the phone repaired, you can try some software hacks first.

Update all apps

The first thing that you want to do is to ensure that all your apps are updated. You want to do this in order to minimize bugs from apps. In order to update all apps at once, simply do the following:

  • Open Google Play Store app.
  • Tap the Menu button.
  • Tap My apps and games.
  • Tap UPDATE ALL.

If you are fond of installing apps from third party sources (outside of Google Play Store), make sure that they are also fully updated and secure. Third party apps from other sources may or may not be compatible with the current Android version on your phone so it’s primary duty to ensure that they are.

Observe the phone in safe mode

In some cases, third party apps can be problematic and can lead to all sorts of problems. If you have plenty of apps installed, it’s possible that one of them may be causing the problem. To check, simply boot the phone to safe mode. While safe mode is on, third party apps and services are prevented from running. Make sure that you observe how the phone behaves for at least 24 hours so you’ll notice the difference. If you’ll notice that the freezing and random reboot issues won’t occur, that’s an indication that one of your apps is to blame. The steps on how to boot your Note 4 to safe mode is provided above.

Keep in mind that safe mode won’t tell you the name of the offending app. You must do trial and error in identifying it.

Wipe the phone clean with factory reset

Factory reset will restore all software settings back to their known, working state, effectively deleting whatever glitch that may have developed after unboxing. Because it reverts the software to its initial clean version, it’s a good way to get rid of any app- and operating system-level bugs. It’s also the ultimate software solution that you can try on your end. Like in safe mode, we recommend that you observe the phone for 24 hours without installing anything to see any difference. If the problem lies on the software, factory reset should fix it. If the problem returns after a factory reset (and without installing apps yet), the cause must only be hardware in nature. In this case, you must have the phone repaired or replaced.

Here are the steps on how to factory reset your Note 4:

  • Turn off the Galaxy Note 4 completely.
  • Press and hold the Volume Up and the Home keys together, then press and hold the Power key.
  • When the Note 4 vibrates, release both the Home and Power keys but continue holding the Volume Up key.
  • When the Android System Recovery shows on the screen, release the Volume Up key.
  • Using the Volume Down key, highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset’ and press the Power key to select it.
  • Now highlight ‘Yes — delete all user data’ using the Volume Down key and press the Power key to begin the reset.
  • When the master reset is complete, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and hit the Power key.
  • The Note 4 will restart but it will be longer than usual. When it reaches the Home screen, then begin your setup.

Problem #3: Galaxy Note 4 keeps rebooting on its own

My device has been operating just as usually until one day, when I was on the internet, it powered off on its own while it still has plenty of battery. Later, it powered on on its own, but before I could touch the screen, it turned off again. This continued for hours. I tried removing the battery and waited for a few minutes before placing it back. However, once the battery is placed, the process starts again and again. I left it there for around half a day. When i went to check on it, the screen was on and it stopped power off-ing. I thought it was okay, but the next few days, i noticed that whenever I press the sound button, it powers off, then on again. Each time it powers off and on, the screen will show a setting about my SD card. Some settings will also be reset, example, the percentage showing beside the battery will disappear. The sound also automatically turns to the loudest. I only had this phone for about one and a half year. I would appreciate a solution. Thank you. — Eco

Solution: Hi Eco. Like what we tell Anthony above, this issue can be caused by a bad hardware or by a software glitch. So, if you haven’t tried any software troubleshooting at this point, we suggest that you do them first. Start by wiping the cache partition. Sometimes, system updates or app installations can corrupt the system cache. In order to tell the phone to build a new cache, you must first wipe the cache partition, where the system cache is stored. Here’s how to do that:

  • Turn off the Galaxy Note 4 completely.
  • Press and hold the Volume Up and the Home keys together, then press and hold the Power key.
  • When the Note 4 vibrates, release both the Home and Power keys but continue holding the Volume Up key.
  • When the Android System Recovery shows on the screen, release the Volume Up key.
  • Using the Volume Down key, highlight the option ‘wipe cache partition’ and press the Power key to select it.
  • When the wiping of the cache partition is finished, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and hit the power key.

If wiping the cache partition won’t make any difference, follow the rest of the software troubleshooting we provide to Anthony above.

Should the issue remains after a factory reset, the next best thing to try is to get another battery, preferably an original Samsung one. There’s a chance that the battery may have simply lost significant capacity to hold a charge, causing the phone to randomly lose power.

If that won’t work either, some other motherboard issue may be to blame. Have the phone repaired or replaced.

Problem #4: Galaxy Note 4 charging erratically | Galaxy Note 4 not charging properly

Samsung Note 4 phone was having problems not charging. Bought a new cord, it worked again, for a few weeks and went back to what it was doing, not charging. I then proceeded to buy a new battery, new fast charge and cord, this has worked for a few weeks and it’s back to the same problem again. It’s starting to get frustrating. What is the actual problem and why does it keep doing this?

I have tried many things, example, old battery with new fast charge and cord, nothing. New battery with the old fast charge and new cord, again, nothing. It won’t charge. If I finally get it, it charges for a few seconds or take hours to charge. This is unfair as the phone is only a year old. I had a HTC that lasted 3 years until the screen was completely cracked and was out dated. So I upgraded and have been having this problem with the charge for months now. I’ve never had a problem like this before with any other phone. I need this phone for work. — Ashkatt13

Solution: Hi Ashkatt13. The issue here is not about unfairness but most probably about how you take care of your phone. There’s high likelihood that the problem is phone-related. Most of the time, charging issues start to appear if a user is not careful when plugging or unplugging a charging cable to the charging port. The charging port can get damaged if one of the pins inside gets damaged if one is not careful with the charging cable. Moving the cable from side to side while it’s inserted to the port is one of the most common cause of charging problems. Try checking the inside of the port using a magnifying tool to see the condition of the pins. Sometimes, dust or dirt can find their way into the port as well so you also want to clean the charging port if you can. The best thing to do though is to let a professional do the checking and cleaning for you, especially if you suspect that one of the pins may had been bent.

Problem #5: Galaxy Note 4 slow performance issue | Galaxy Note 4 works very slow

My phone was running slowly and in general acting like it didn’t have enough RAM. It would also restart frequently, often when multiple apps were running at the same time. To fix this, I had planned to do a data wipe/factory reset and reinstall the custom ROM I had, which up until two weeks ago was working fine. The process did not go smoothly. All data was wiped from the phone, including the OS. The phone will boot into download or recovery mode, but every OS I have tried to install would not take. It has bootlooped, bricked, or had kernel panic every time. All the important data is backed up, but at this point it isn’t even a phone. I have the most recent Team Win custom recovery loaded on the phone, but the backup I thought I had is no longer there. What can I do to make sure a new OS installs correctly? At this point it is effectively a car frame without an engine or transmission. — Justin

Solution: Hi Justin. As long as you follow a developer’s exact instructions on how to flash a custom ROM, there shouldn’t be any problem. The usual cause of boot loop after flashing is mainly due to incorrect firmware usage. Keep in mind that that not every firmware is compatible with every phone model. Make sure that you’re using the correct one every time you flash. Do some research about the software first to see if other users have reported problems with it in the past.

We assume that you are aware of the risks of flashing custom software so you must accept whatever happens to your phone since you’ve decided to stay away from official software in the first place. The general rule if you encounter problems after flashing is to contact the developer of the software. Asking us, third party technicians, for solutions after flashing won’t help at all. There are thousands of custom software out there (that’s how interesting Android community is) so that makes it very challenging for even seasoned Android troubleshooters to really know the cause of a particular problem brought about by a certain software. The best that you can do is to contact the developer of the software, or engage other Android users who may have tried the said software before.

The only suggestion we can give you is to bring everything back to stock. Unroot the phone and install the original stock firmware  (probably Lollipop) and see how the phone performs. If the issue persists after unrooting and flashing, the problem shouldn’t be software. Consider having the phone replaced if you can’t bear the slow performance issue.

Problem #6: Galaxy Note 4 won’t restart

My Note 4 “will not restart.” The problem is simple — when I hold the power button and press restart, the phone will power off normally and the moment the screen goes black, the phone will freeze. I will either have to remove the battery or hold down the power and volume down button for the phone to turn on again. This is not a problem until you have to perform a software update, it renders the phone useless as the device wouldn’t restart when the phone requires itself to. The same happens if the phone is off and it’s plugged in for charging. The screen goes blank when I try to turn it on. I’ve already tried a factory reset, Kies (initialized it), Odin (flashed a new firmware), etc., but nothing has worked. Any help will be appreciated Regards. — Ahmed

Solution: Hi Ahmed. There’s no more software hack that we can think for this issue. If flashing a new firmware and factory reset did not fix the issue, there may be an unknown glitch that causes the phone to behave this way. Consider getting a replacement phone should the problem remain.

 

Engage with us

If you are one of the users who encounters a problem with your device, let us know. We offer solutions for Android-related problems for free so if you have an issue with your Android device, simply fill in the short questionnaire in this link and we will try to publish our answers in the next posts. We cannot guarantee a quick response so if your issue is time sensitive, please find another way to resolve your problem. 

If you find this post helpful, please help us by spreading the word to your friends. TheDroidGuy has social network presence as well so you may want to interact with our community in our Facebook and Google+ pages.

Galaxy S5 turns on but won’t boot past start screen, apps won’t load, other issues

Here is another post for more #GalaxyS5 issues taken from mails of some members of our community. This article addresses 7 more S5 problems but if you want to look for more problems and solutions for the S5 in our site, please follow this link.

Below are the topics covered in this post:

  1. Galaxy S5 screen flickering when it’s about to sleep
  2. Galaxy S5 turns on but won’t boot past start screen
  3. Galaxy S5 keeps crashing, apps won’t load
  4. Galaxy S5 slow performance issue, apps are slow to load
  5. Galaxy S5 won’t turn back on after watching a movie
  6. Galaxy S5 won’t charge, won’t power back on
  7. Galaxy S5 losing storage space fast after installing Android Marshmallow

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, or you can install our free app from Google Play Store.

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.

Problem #1: Galaxy S5 screen flickering when it’s about to sleep

Hi, I have just recently encountered a few problems with my phones screen. It started about a week ago and it is really beginning to worry me. Really hope you could help me out on this. Listed the problems below.

When locking the phone, the bottom of the screen will have a few bars of horizontal green lines flickering. When the phone is about to sleep due to inactivity, the whole screen will have bars of horizontal green lines flickering. Sometimes on the screen, there will be an obvious difference between the top half and bottom half of the screen. The top half will be brighter and the bottom half is slightly darker and there will be an obvious line diving the two. Really worried about this and would appreciate your advice on this. Thank you! — Samantha

Solution: Hi Samantha. There’s no known software glitch that can cause the problem you describe here so it must only be a bad screen. If you dropped the phone before or exposed it to water, this might be the result of any of them. If you want to confirm that it’s not a software problem, consider wiping the phone clean by doing a factory reset. If nothing changes immediately after performing the reset, that’s proof enough that bad screen is to blame. To fix it, you must have the screen replaced.

For reference, here are the steps on how to do a factory reset:

  1. Turn off your Samsung Galaxy S5.
  2. Press and hold the Volume Up, Home and Power keys together.
  3. When the device powers on and displays ‘Power on logo’, release all keys and the Android icon will appear on the screen.
  4. Wait until the Android Recovery Screen appears after about 30 seconds.
  5. Using the Volume Down key, highlight the option, ‘wipe data/factory reset’ and press the Power key to select it.
  6. Press the Volume Down button again until the option ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted and then press the Power key to select it.
  7. After the reset is complete, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and hit the Power key to restart the phone.

NOTE: Factory reset will erase everything stored in the phone’s internal storage device. Make sure that you create a backup of your files before doing it.

Problem #2: Galaxy S5 turns on but won’t boot past start screen

My husband’s Samsung Galaxy S5 froze while he was on Facebook and then turned off. It would not turn back on. The battery itself is good but it can’t be charged either while it is in his phone. I charged it with my phone. I still could not turn it on but I was able to start it up with power, home and volume up button. I cleared the cache partition and do a factory reset. Then I tried to reboot the system and nothing is happening. Only a short vibrate every couple of seconds (reminded me of a heartbeat :)).

I even tried to start it in safe mode but with the same results.

Also, my husband said that Facebook did an update about an hour or so before it died. Could the update have corrupted the phones software? Thank you for your advice upfront. — Mpbair

Solution: Hi Mpbair. We don’t think an update for Facebook app can cause this kind of problem. There must be another reason why the phone no longer boots up normally. If you can boot it to Odin or Download mode, we recommend that you try to flash its bootloader first to see a difference. For this procedure, you need to have a computer so you can install Odin app to it. Odin is a special software tool needed to install updates or an operating system to a Samsung device. If you haven’t heard of Odin or flashing before, make sure that you do some reading about them before attempting to modify your phone’s software. XDA Forums is a good place to start.

Flashing is a risky procedure and can cause temporary or permanent damage to your phone’s software environment.

We don’t usually recommend modifying official software but since there’s nothing much that you can do in this case, we will say go ahead.

Once you’re confident that you can do the flashing procedure, start downloading the necessary or compatible Odin version for your phone in your computer. You also need to have the latest Samsung drivers for mobile phones installed so try to look that up as well.

Then, when the tool is ready, head over to Sammobile site and look for the correct firmware for your phone. Here’s the rest of things that you then need to do:

  1. Look for the correct firmware for your phone model and download it. Make sure that select the right one. It should be the same exact firmware that ran previously on your device. We assume that you list down the firmware version somewhere. If you did not take note of it before, there’s a chance that you may pick the wrong one. As you may know now, using an incorrect firmware can cause complications so good luck with that.
  2. Let’s now say that you have identified the correct firmware. You then want to download it to your computer. The firmware file should have a bunch of files in it like AP_, BL_, CSC_, etc.
  3. Look for the file that starts with a label BL; this should be the corresponding bootloader file for this firmware. Once you’ve identified the bootloader file, copy it to your computer’s desktop or to any other folder that you can easily access.
  4. Proceed with the rest of the flashing procedure using the Odin program.
  5. In Odin, click on the BL tab and make sure to use the bootloader file you’ve identified earlier.
  6. Now, make sure that the “Device Added” status and its “ID:COM box” has turned blue before hitting the START button. This will initiate the flashing of your phone’s bootloader.
  7. Restart the phone once the procedure is finished.

If flashing the bootloader won’t work, consider flashing the firmware you have instead as that may fix the problem as well. The steps should be similar to the ones above so, again, do some research before you commit to doing it.

Problem #3: Galaxy S5 keeps crashing, apps won’t load

Hi. I’m hoping you can help me. I have had a lot of problems with my phone lately. I am on my second one as the first one died. The battery performance was just so bad I could no longer use it.

The second one has also had issues. I have had to do a factory reset on several occasions. It has turned itself off when I have been using an application and then when it turned back on I had messages saying google.com.apps etc etc and the phone would not work.

After the latest factory reset it now says package installer has stopped working. It won’t run a lot of the apps on my phone e.g. camera as well as some that I have installed myself. I have tried further factory resets but this one seemingly won’t go away. Is there anything I can do to sort this out?

Thanks in anticipation. — Paul

Solution: Hi Paul. If several factory reset instances did not improve the situation at all, there must be a hardware issue behind the trouble. Factory reset forces the phone to return all software settings to their defaults, effectively removing any glitch or bugs that may had been introduced in the course of usage since unboxing or the last factory reset. If your phone behaves exactly the same after a factory reset, that means that the procedure does not address the problem at all.

Although we’re quite confident that there’s a hardware problem causing your trouble,  you can do one more software troubleshooting to see if it will make a difference. The procedure is called flashing and requires a computer to do it. Providing the exact steps is beyond the scope of this article so you must do some research to get a good guide somewhere. A good flashing guide should give you all the steps you need to do as well as links where to download Odin software and firmware from. A popular repository of Samsung firmware is a site called Sammobile. Make sure that you get the correct firmware for your specific phone model. Using an incorrect firmware version can cause complications.

Remember, if flashing stock firmware won’t solve your problem, send the phone in.

Problem #4: Galaxy S5 slow performance issue, apps are slow to load

Hi. I own a Galaxy S5 which I have had for about two and a half years. In the last month or so it has started acting up. The first issue was that the battery was draining really quickly so I bought a new battery… but the problem continued. So I bought a portable power pack so that I could charge it on the go.

But since then other problems have developed… mostly the biggest problem is that it seems to temporarily freeze when I’m trying to do anything. For example, If I’m typing a text, I’ll type a letter and nothing seems to happen. So I’ll type it again and then suddenly both letters appear. Also I have this lag when I’m trying to close and open screens… It’s driving me crazy!

I went through and closed all apps as it was suggested to me that this might be slowing my phone down. I also tried turning off wifi, location and bluetooth, although it worked fine with all these things open prior to recently. Anyway this didn’t fix the problem. I also tried shutting down and restarting.

I would be very appreciative of any help you could suggest.

Thank You. — Sue

Solution: Hi Sue. Older phones tend to get slower as they age. That’s a fact.  As you use your phone day in and day out, the storage device gets cluttered, which can then lead to noticeable delay when doing even mundane tasks. If you are absolutely sure that your phone was never physically damaged (accidentally dropped or exposed to moisture or heat), you may be able to remedy the situation by wiping the cache partition and doing a factory reset.

Wiping the cache partition is helpful in dealing with general performance issues. If you’ve noticed that apps tend to load slower or keep crashing at random, doing this procedure may easily fix the issue. Here’s how it’s done:

  1. Turn off the device.
  2. Press and hold the following three buttons at the same time: Volume Up key, Home key, and Power key.
  3. When the phone vibrates, release the Power key but continue to press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key.
  4. When the Android System Recovery screen appears, release the Volume Up and Home keys.
  5. Press the Volume Down key to highlight ‘wipe cache partition.’
  6. Press the Power key to select.
  7. When the wipe cache partition is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
  8. Press the Power key to restart the device.

The steps on how to do a factory reset is provided above. Make sure that you back your files up before proceeding.

If these two procedures won’t make a difference, you can assume that the general system slowdown is due to aging hardware. Unfortunately, there’s not much that you can do about it. If you want to save yourself from trouble, consider a phone replacement.

Problem #5: Galaxy S5 won’t turn back on after watching a movie

I have the Galaxy S5 and a couple months ago, my phone completely died while watching a movie. It was fine because I already had another phone I could use, but I recently realized that I needed to get some pictures from my last vacation off of my phone. It won’t turn on whatsoever and since it died, I haven’t seen the screen turn back on. However, when I plug it in, I can feel it heating up. I have tried all of the methods shown on here other than completely disassembling the phone. That includes holding down the power button with the battery out and holding down the volume up button, home button, and power button. I haven’t seen the screen light up the entire time I’ve been trying to fix the phone and the notification light has also not come on. Is my phone dead forever? Will I ever be able to get my photos off?

Also, I have seen people fixing their phones by hitting them on tables. Do you know if that works? Thank you and I hope you can get back to me soon! — Steph

Solution: Hi Steph. The answer to your question whether or not the phone is permanently bricked depends on where the problem lies. If the cause of the issue is a bad battery for example, a simple battery replacement should fix it. However, if the real reason why it won’t turn back on at all is located somewhere in the logic board, like a damaged power IC, a repair may or may not fix it. A damaged logic board part can be replaced by a good technician but that’s only possible if it can be identified first. Most of the time, identifying the malfunctioning component can be tricky so there’s a good chance that even a highly trained specialist may not be able to do it. Because there’s no way to access files in the phone’s storage device unless the system turns back on, the main issue that you want to address first is on how to power the phone back on. If you can’t do that, those files are gone forever.

Unnecessary shock is one of the surest ways to kill an electronic device. If you want to ensure that your S5 is dead, go ahead and do it. So, no. Hitting your phone on a table goes against the logic of taking care of an electronic device.

Problem #6: Galaxy S5 won’t charge, won’t power back on

Hi. So my phone has power drain problems and charging problems as a result (i am on the 3rd battery so it’s not that). So to get past the charging problem i turn it off over night so it will charge completely for the next day. But yesterday when i turned it off to charge it I plugged in the charging cable but the charging mode never activated. And then i tried turning it on but it wouldn’t. I then removed and put the battery back in which, didn’t help. I then tried holding power+volume up+home but this also did nothing. i decided to leave it plugged in to charge and woke up with it charging finally.

But today it has done the same thing when I’ve turned it off and I tried plugging it into my laptop which didn’t detect my phone. Do you have any possible fixes or ideas about what’s causing it?

I also haven’t dropped it, spilt anything on it, over heated it or anything harmful to it. Thank you. — Cindy

Solution: Hi Cindy. Try doing a closer inspection of the charging port to see if there’s a damaged pin or lint inside that may prevent good contact with the charger. If possible, try using a form of magnification and bright lighting to clearly do this ocular inspection.

If everything appears in place, try using another USB cable and Samsung charger. There may be an issue with the current charger or cable you’re using.

If using another charger and cable won’t fix the problem either, using another S5 battery may. If you have another S5, try to see if you can turn the phone on using a different battery. If you don’t have another S5, a friend may have one so try that too. If either of these two is not possible, bring the phone to a service center so they can try an S5 battery on it. If possible, go to a Samsung service center so if the problem won’t be fixed by using a new battery, you can just have the device repaired.

Problem #7: Galaxy S5 losing storage space fast after installing Android Marshmallow

Hi. My Samsung Galaxy S5 (recently updated to 6.0.1) is experiencing a weird problem and I was hoping you might be able to help. It was getting stuck on the loading screen (with the pulsating word SAMSUNG) and was very hot right after installing 6.0.01. So, I took the battery out and left it out over night to cool off and try again in the morning. It restarted fine in the morning, but then I got a number of errors about running out of disk space. I tried deleting apps, moving stuff to the SD card, removing the SD card, but still ran out of memory. Apps started crashing, and then the phone rebooted. It got stuck on the loading screen like before, and started getting hot, so I turned it off and charged it. When I booted it back up again, I saw the memory was completely full and I wasn’t able to remove anything without the applications crashing. So I did a factory reset and then booted it back up, hoping my problems were solved. I checked the storage usage and saw I had about 8 GB free. When I check back a few minutes later, it was down to 7 GB, and it continued to drop at about 0.01 GB every few seconds I checked. Eventually it hit 0 free and everything crashed again. I factory reset it again, without my SD card in it, and watched it without doing anything except doing the basic setup and it still continued to drop in space. Any suggestions?         — Robert

Solution: Hi Robert. We assume that you received the Marshmallow update via OTA (over-the-air) since you did not indicate anything that might suggest otherwise. In that case, you should let your carrier know about the problem so they can advise you if other users have reported the same situation. It’s actually our first time to encounter this type of update issue so there’s a chance that the problem may be caused by inefficient or poor coding. Letting your carrier know about the problem may not give you immediate solution but it should prompt them to let their developer team to look into the issue.

If you updated your phone manually via Odin, we suggest that you flash the previous firmware and avoid installing the current firmware again.

 

Engage with us

If you are one of the users who encounters a problem with your device, let us know. We offer solutions for Android-related problems for free so if you have an issue with your Android device, simply fill in the short questionnaire in this link and we will try to publish our answers in the next posts. We cannot guarantee a quick response so if your issue is time sensitive, please find another way to resolve your problem. 

If you find this post helpful, please help us by spreading the word to your friends. TheDroidGuy has social network presence as well so you may want to interact with our community in our Facebook and Google+ pages.

Galaxy S6 black screen issue, overheating, won’t send SMS, other issues

Released about 2 years ago, the #GalaxyS6 has proven to be a solid hit among Samsung fans. Right now, there are still millions of S6 line devices in circulation around the world so we are anticipating more issues to be reported to this website in the coming months. For now, we address 10 more issues that were submitted for the past few days. We hope that the solutions here will help not just the users mentioned in this article but those who experience similar troubles as well.

Below are the topics that we cover for today:

  1. Water damaged Galaxy S6 edge screen won’t turn back on
  2. Galaxy S6 black screen issue, overheating, won’t send SMS
  3. Galaxy S6 stuck in Samsung logo screen
  4. Galaxy S6 edge screen showing green horizontal line
  5. Galaxy S6 edge won’t detect SIM card after updating to Marshmallow
  6. Galaxy S6 microphone won’t work when phone is on speaker
  7. Galaxy S6 edge won’t install system update
  8. Galaxy S6 factory reset on its own, cannot change notification sound
  9. Galaxy S6 stuck in Sprint logo screen
  10. Galaxy S6 edge plus fast charging not working

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, or you can install our free app from Google Play Store.

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.

Problem #1: Water damaged Galaxy S6 edge screen won’t turn back on

Hi. I have a Galaxy S6 edge. I have recently dropped it in water but proceeded to get it out fairly quick. I dried the phone real good and the case it was in. At that time I could not slide my screen. I could see it but not do anything with it. I put it into rice overnight and all seemed fine. I was able to slide the screen, use apps, and all was good. I actually used the phone for two more days after. Then after using it all day, it decided to go out after work. The screen went black however I could still hear volume sounds, and I could still feel vibrations turning volume down. I plugged it up to see if it would charge and the charge screen did not come up. But I did get notification lights. This is about all it does, green light that stays on or red light that stays on. Once you touch a button it won’t do anything and the lights go off.

I’m going to upgrade the phone but for now I have a go phone. I’m just wanting to find out if I can get the stuff off of the black one. Pictures, Music, anything. Please let me now if this is somehow possible without costing me an arm and a leg to do it. — Juliewilliams2011

Solution: Hi Juliewilliams2011. Serious problems in Some cases of water damaged phones don’t usually surface after some time, when corrosion sets in, or when moisture inside has shorted some components. This may be the case why you were able to still use the device days after it got wet.  You should have used the time to immediately send the device to a service center so it can opened, dismantled, cleaned, and dried. Together, these things constitute the “first aid” procedure to prevent permanent damage to the hardware. Because the battery has been integrated to the logic board, there’s a need to dismantle it from the board. Leaving the battery connected to a wet logic board is one of the surest way to kill a hardware (charging a wet phone is another one). Having left the battery on and charging the device a few times after the incident must have damaged the phone irreversibly at this time. It’s now safe to assume that one of the damages must be the screen.

Unfortunately, there’s no way you’ll be able to recover anything from your phone is the touchscreen is gone. The phone’s touchscreen is the only way for you to send a command to the operating system to allow a second device like a computer to unlock itself and allow access to the internal storage device. Without the touchscreen, the phone is basically locked out, inaccessible. That said, if you think the contents you want to recover are worth over a few hundred dollars, we say you go ahead with a screen replacement.

Problem #2: Galaxy S6 black screen issue, overheating, won’t send SMS

Last night, my phone’s screen kept blacking out and even though the phone was charging, the screen would not show anything. Came back to it an hour later and it was working as normal again. But the phone kept repeating the same behavior a few times. Then when I let it charge over night, the phone was really hot and the battery charge did not actually go up. I was not able to send any text messages, the clock did not change, and the battery percentage did not change until the phone ran out of battery.         — Walter

Solution: Hi Walter. Like you, we have no idea what may have happened on your device, especially that you don’t provide any relevant history as to why it’s acting this way right now. Try doing a factory reset and start from there. Resetting your phone is the only way to find out if the issue is software- or hardware-related. Factory reset basically reverts all software settings to their defaults, effectively removing bugs that may have developed over time. After the reset, be sure to observe how the phone works for 24 hours without installing any app or update. If the problems remain, you have a hardware problem at hand. In that case, you want to send the phone in so it can be repaired or replaced.

Below are the steps on how to factory reset your S6:

  1. Create a backup of your important files (if possible at this time).
  2. Turn off your Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge.
  3. Press and hold the Volume Up, Home and Power keys together.
  4. When the device powers on and displays ‘Power on logo’, release all keys and the Android icon will appear on the screen.
  5. Wait until the Android Recovery Screen appears after about 30 seconds.
  6. Using the Volume Down key, highlight the option, ‘wipe data/factory reset’ and press the Power key to select it.
  7. Press the Volume Down button again until the option ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted and then press the Power key to select it.
  8. After the reset is complete, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and hit the Power key to restart the phone.

Problem #3: Galaxy S6 stuck in Samsung logo screen

My Samsung Galaxy S6 (SM-G920FD) hanged after the firmware update. I’ve tried everything but even the keys do not respond until the last percentage of the battery. I’ve tried to charge it but only the lightning bolt appears. And after 15 I tried to turn back on but nothing happens. I also try all those troubleshooting guides. Yes, It turned on but it stock on logo, (The Samsung s6 Powered by Android). I really want this to fix since it’s my auntie’s gift. I hope you’ll find the solution. — Orland

Solution: Hi Orland. The best thing that you can do in this situation is to try if you can boot the phone normally after wiping the cache partition or doing a factory reset. Both of these procedures can be done by booting the phone to recovery mode. If you won’t be able to restart the phone to recovery mode, you can the other two alternate modes namely Odin and safe mode. Below are the exact steps on how to do these procedures using hardware button combinations. We also include the follow up troubleshooting that you can do for each one.

Boot in Recovery mode:

  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.

Boot in Download Mode:

  1. Charge the phone for at least 30 minutes.
  2. Press and then hold the Home and Volume DOWN 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 DOWN keys.
  4. Wait until the Download screen appears.
  5. If you can boot the phone in download mode but not in other modes, that means that your only way out may be to flash a stock or custom firmware.
  6. Use Google to look for a guide on how to do it.

Boot in safe mode:

  1. Charge the phone for at least 30 minutes.
  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. The only difference of safe mode from normal mode is that the former prevents third party apps from running. If you can boot the phone in safe mode but not in normal mode, uninstall all apps until the issue (that prevents you from booting normally) is eliminated.

Remember, if the phone remains unresponsive or won’t boot to any of the alternate boot modes at all, send it in for repair or replacement.

Problem #4: Galaxy S6 edge screen showing green horizontal line

After having my Samsung Galaxy S6 edge for about a year, a horizontal green light/line is appearing. It was periodically, now it seems to be there permanently. Sometimes when pressing the top of screen (just beneath Samsung logo) it’ll disappear or cause multiple green lines. Does not appear on any pictures I’ve taken though. Not certain of android version. There was a recent software upgrade and afterwards it still appeared. Do you know of any DIY fix to correct this issue. Please advise. Thanks you. — Santonjalane

Solution: Hi Santonjalane. Try to boot the phone to any of the alternate boot modes above (Recovery Mode, Odin Mode, or Safe Mode) and see if you screen continues to show the green line. If it does, that’s a hardware problem, meaning that the LCD may have been damaged. This can’t be fixed by a software tweak obviously so you need to have the phone repaired. The screen assembly is composed of three major components — LCD, digitizer, and flex cable. We think that the LCD is damaged so you can either have this particular component only replaced, or the entire screen assembly. Either way, we won’t recommend that you do the repair yourself unless you are confident of your electronics knowledge and have the tools to do it. Screen repairs can lead to more problems if not done properly; we don’t want you to permanently brick the device.

We don’t provide guides how to do hardware repair so if you think you can do the repair yourself, try to look for a guide online. iFixit is a good site to begin hunting for good S6 screen replacement guides.

Problem #5: Galaxy S6 edge won’t detect SIM card after updating to Marshmallow

Since I updated my S6 edge to Marshmallow, it doesn’t pick up my SIM card. When I try to turn on mobile data, it says insert SIM card even though it’s already inserted. when I call or text it says no SIM card, insert SIM card. The SIM card works in other mobile phones though. When I updated at first there was an error of com.android.phone so I factory reset my phone and that error was fixed. But since the reset the SIM card problems remains. — Hamza

Solution: Hi Hamza. How did you update your device? Did you download the update by air (OTA), or by manual flashing? If it’s via OTA, contact your carrier and let them know about the problem. Hopefully they’re already aware of it and will soon release a patch for it.

If you tried to update your device via manual flashing, consider flashing the stock firmware to fix the issue. We can’t provide ROM-specific fix if this is a problem caused by poor firmware coding. If you really want to get to the bottom of the problem and want to continue using the custom firmware, contact the developer for a fix.

Problem #6: Galaxy S6 microphone won’t work when phone is on speaker

My phone works fine until I press the speakerphone. I can hear the other person but they cannot hear me. People hear me just fine when I don’t have it on speaker. I don’t know how to “reset” that. The microphone works, the speaker works… unless I put on speakerphone and then they can’t hear me. I took it to the Verizon store and they witnessed it, but didn’t do anything about it. Told me to call Assurion. Help. Thank you. — Jody

Solution: Hi Jody. Must be a software glitch. Have you tried doing a factory reset yet? If not, here’s how to do it:

  1. Create a backup of your important files.
  2. From the Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
  3. Find and tap the Settings icon.
  4. Under the ‘Personal’ section, find and tap Backup and reset.
  5. Tap Factory data reset.
  6. Touch Reset device to proceed with the reset.
  7. Depending on the security lock you used, enter the PIN or password.
  8. Tap Continue.
  9. Touch Delete all to confirm your action.

If the problem remains after a factory reset, consider getting a phone replacement.

Problem #7: Galaxy S6 edge won’t install system update

Sir i recently purchased a used cell, Samsung Galaxy S6 edge. When i want to update it gives a warning message that your device is modified in an unauthorized way. When i searched about it i came to know that when the device’s status is costumed it will happen but here my device’s status is still official and it’s not updating stil using version 5.0.2. kindly help me out. — Zahid

Solution: Hi Zahid. If you’re trying to download the update by air, that is by receiving the files from your carrier, the reason is probably because the phone does not come from them in the first place. Keep in mind that firmware updates from a carrier are only compatible with their own devices. For example, an AT&T update can only be installed on an AT&T phone and not on a T-Mobile’s.

If you happen to have a phone from the same carrier but an OTA update keeps giving you the warning message, it’s possible that the phone may be rooted although it’s still running the official or stock firmware. To check if your phone is rooted or not, head over to Google Play Store and install  Root Checker app.

Problem #8: Galaxy S6 factory reset on its own, cannot change notification sound

Yesterday my phone did a full factory reset on its own. I’ve been able to recover most items however I cannot seem to separate the sounds between notifications and email. I set the notification sound first, then went to email notification and set a different sound. Both email and notification play the notification sound. I tried changing sounds, but each time the email would play the notification sound. — Joe

Solution: Hi Joe. First of all, we say that something’s not working right on your phone. Factory resetting on its own is not good and suggests that the system may be compromised, or that there’s an unknown software glitch causing it. Secondly, you should be able to use different sound for both email and standard notification. That this is not happening is a clear indication of a problem. To know if both issues are related or caused by the same thing is impossible provided we have no previous knowledge or history of your device. As far as we know, these issues have not been reported in Galaxy S6 running official firmware. If you happen to modify the firmware or installed unofficial software on your device, consider reverting to official software.

For the notification sound issue, you can use other third party apps like Zedge for a remedy. Zedge can be installed for free from the Play Store.

Problem #9: Galaxy S6 stuck in Sprint logo screen

Not sure if it’s because I disabled some apps. I thought they were safe to disable when I did the latest system update on my S6, it froze while restarting. The Sprint splash screen comes on with sound and animation, then it freezes. None of the buttons work and the phone gets hot.

I tried clearing data/factory reboot, didn’t fix it. I tried clearing cache, didn’t fix it. I tried removing micro and SIM cards, didn’t fix it. I tried draining power with the power button, didn’t fix it. I tried going to download screen and restarting, didn’t fix it. I’ve done everything I’ve read about/watched except downloading new firmware with Odin. Should I do that? One video warned not to. Please help if you can! Thanks. —  Teri

Solution: Hi Teri. If the hardware buttons are not working, there’s really very little to nothing that you can do in terms of software troubleshooting here. Not even flashing via Odin mode. Refer to the steps we provide for Orland above and see if you can do certain button combinations to boot the phone back. Your best bet is to hope that you can boot it to recovery mode so you can wipe the cache partition or do a master reset. Safe mode is much better and may work if the problem is being caused by a third party app. If your phone restarts to safe mode fine, you should uninstall third party apps until the problem is fixed.

Manual flashing can only be done after booting the device to download mode so you should try that as a last resort. Flashing is a risky procedure and should only be done by advanced Android users. If this is your first to hear about it, or you’re not familiar on how to do it, make sure to do some research on how to do it first. Flashing is phone model specific so be sure to use the guide on how to do it for your own device. We suggest that you try to flash the bootloader first to see if that will work. If nothing will change after flashing the bootloader, that’s the time that you flash the stock firmware.

As a reference, here are the steps on how to flash the bootloader. Remember, these are general steps only and there may be a more specific set of steps on how to do this on your device.

  1. Look for the correct firmware for your phone model and download it. Make sure that select the right one. It should be the same exact firmware that ran previously on your device. We assume that you list down the firmware version somewhere. If you did not take note of it before, there’s a chance that you may pick the wrong one. As you may know now, using an incorrect firmware can cause complications so good luck with that.
  2. Let’s now say that you have identified the correct firmware. You then want to download it to your computer. The firmware file should have a bunch of files in it like AP_, BL_, CSC_, etc.
  3. Look for the file that starts with a label BL; this should be the corresponding bootloader file for this firmware. Once you’ve identified the bootloader file, copy it to your computer’s desktop or to any other folder that you can easily access.
  4. Proceed with the rest of the flashing procedure using the Odin program.
  5. In Odin, click on the BL tab and make sure to use the bootloader file you’ve identified earlier.
  6. Now, make sure that the “Device Added” status and its “ID:COM box” has turned blue before hitting the START button. This will initiate the flashing of your phone’s bootloader.

 

If your phone won’t start to any of the three hardware button combinations, you should consider sending the phone in to Samsung for repair or replacement.

Problem #10: Galaxy S6 edge plus fast charging not working

Hi. I have issues with my Galaxy S6 edge plus. Fast charging stopped working after the last update by Samsung. I have changed USB cables and adapters and checked if it’s on from the phone settings but still not working. I even replaced the USB port and after that update, my phone is not recognized by my laptop. I want to downgrade from Android 6 to 5. Please help me to fix these issues. Thanks. — Mido

Solution: Hi Mido. There’s only so much that you can do about this issue. Fast charging feature both have a software and hardware components. If changing the charging port did not fix the problem, try flashing the software back to its original version, that is, Android Lollipop or Marshmallow (depending on what firmware version it shipped with) when you unboxed it. If that won’t work still, there may be an unknown hardware issue that causes the phone to glitch. Knowing where the point of failure lies is very difficult, if not impossible, for us. We don’t think Samsung technicians can do it for you either as it involves a lot of time to run a series of diagnostics. The best thing that you can do in this case is to see if you can get a replacement.

 

Engage with us

If you are one of the users who encounters a problem with your device, let us know. We offer solutions for Android-related problems for free so if you have an issue with your Android device, simply fill in the short questionnaire in this link and we will try to publish our answers in the next posts. We cannot guarantee a quick response so if your issue is time sensitive, please find another way to resolve your problem. 

If you find this post helpful, please help us by spreading the word to your friends. TheDroidGuy has social network presence as well so you may want to interact with our community in our Facebook and Google+ pages.