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Galaxy S5 Fixes

How to fix Samsung Galaxy S5 “Unfortunately, the process android.process.acore has stopped” error

One of our readers asked me what the sign is when the Android system crashes. I said there are a lot of signs the phone will show when the system crashes but there’s one error message that when it pops up, it automatically means Android stopped working–“Unfortunately, the process android.process.acore has stopped.”

Galaxy-S5-android-process-stopped

This error message is very annoying because it keeps popping up every 5 seconds or so and you really cannot do anything with your phone as it is associated with freezes, lags and reboots. There are also instances where other apps and services crash as soon as Android system becomes functional after crashing. One error that often comes out after you dismissed the error I mentioned above is “Unfortunately, Settings has stopped.”

I will show you one email message from our reader that exactly describes this problem:

Hi, just wanted to add that I got back to the screen that displays the 2 messages to me and they are “Unfortunately, the process android.process.acore has stopped” and “Unfortunately Nfc Service has stopped” and they will not leave the screen, they just pop up one after another right after I close them. The only way to get out of this screen is to pull out my battery. — Nicole

As you can see, she mentioned two error messages she encountered with her Galaxy S5. But that’s actually not the worst situation. I encountered an issue before wherein the moment the phone reaches the Home screen error messages keep popping up one after another as if apps were queued to crash. It makes sense, though, because the platform the apps are running on is unstable and if Android stops, all that depends on it stop as well.

While this error message seems to appear like any other errors, it’s actually more serious than anything else. We already tackled a lot of error messages so if you are currently bugged by a different error, try to go through the list of errors I included below.

  1. “Unfortunately, Contacts has stopped.”
  2. “Unfortunately, Touchwiz Home has stopped.”
  3. “Unfortunately, Internet has stopped.”
  4. “Unfortunately, Facebook has stopped.”

Now, let’s go back to our troubleshooting.

This problem may be caused by unfinished or interrupted update, corrupt firmware, incorrect rooting method, corrupt data, conflicts in Settings, and the list goes on and on. So, the resolution depends on how observant the user is. Knowing what caused it is the key to its resolution.

If this problem happened to you after you updated your phone and the process was successful, then wiping the cache partition may fix it.

  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.

In case the error showed up after you installed some apps or changed some settings, then all you got to do is reset app preferences. It fixes the problem most of the time.

  1. From the Home screen, tap the Menu key.
  2. Touch Settings.
  3. Tap Applications, then Application manager.
  4. In the All tab, touch the More options icon or hold the Recent apps key.
  5. Touch Reset app preferences.
  6. Tap Reset apps to continue.
  7. Now, reboot your phone

However, if all else fails, the ultimate solution to this problem is full hard reset. I’m not sure if you can still backup your data. If you can, then do it, otherwise, just follow these steps below and you’ll be fine. But take note all your data will be deleted…

  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.

Here are more emails from our readers who are also experiencing this problem:

I am using Samsung Galaxy S5. I have been using this phone 9 months now. unfortunately on 7/04/2015 the phone started to misbehave. whenever I make a call or if someone is calling me the screen displays “unfortunately, the process.com.android.phone has stopped.” The call stops there I can’t make or receive a call am only relying on SMS and whatsapp calls. All the other applications are OK & intact. so how to fix that problem?

Here’s another one…

I just did the 5.0 lollipop update about a week ago and I’m so unhappy with it. First issue, Anything I do on the phone, an error message pops up that says-acore has stopped????. Second, the phone lags really bad which it never did before. Third, before the update, when I would search the web (chrome), I could just click on the chrome app and it would show all of my resent searches, it will not now. And finally, Some apps say connection lost when I have 4g. Thank you. — Sheena

And another…

Hi there, I have just seen your forum whilst looking for help with my phone and thought you may be able to help. I updated my Samsung Galaxy S5 this morning to the Lollipop 5.0, and now I am constantly getting a notification saying ‘Unfortunately, the process com.android.phone has stopped’ every time I touch my phone. Every time this notification pops up it turns off the internet or anything else making it impossible to use my phone.

I am desperate to sort it out ASAP as I do need my phone to make calls and contact people throughout the day as part of my work. Kindest Regards, Kelly.

Connect with us

We are always open to your problems, questions and suggestions, so feel free to send them at [email protected] 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.

 

Fix Samsung Galaxy S5 “Unfortunately, Facebook has stopped” error & other Facebook problems

While Facebook for Android app is one of the most popular apps in the Play Store and has its own support group, it’s not free of problems. In fact, we received a lot of emails from our readers reporting/complaining about the issues they encountered and one of them is the error message “Unfortunately, Facebook has stopped.”

Galaxy-S5-Facebook-Problems

I will walk you through in dealing with that error message and how to get rid of it. Then I will tackle on other Facebook-related problems with your Galaxy S5. There’ve been reports that FB issues were more rampant after the Android 5 Lollipop update. Many experienced having the app crashed on its own, while others have issues viewing stories on their timeline. So, read on, as this post maybe helpful enough for you.

If, however, you have other issues with your Galaxy S5, visit our Galaxy S5 Troubleshooting page to find related issues. Try the solutions we provided and if they didn’t work for you, then email us at [email protected] and we will help you find appropriate solutions for your problem. This is a free service we offer so you won’t be charged. However, we ask you to provide all necessary information about the problem and your phone. Include the model as well as the version of Android it’s running on.

  1. “Unfortunately, Facebook has stopped” error shows when opening the app
  2. Facebook app just closes/crashes shortly after opening it
  3. Facebook app says “connection lost”

“Unfortunately, Facebook has stopped” error shows when opening the app

Problem: Hello, I own a Samsung Galaxy S5, which I bought a few weeks before the S6 was released, and I recently received an update for its operating system, I believe. While everything works, there’s one app that ceased to function normally–Facebook. Every time I open it, it says, “Unfortunately, Facebook has stopped.” I often use this app to interact with my friends but since the update, I wasn’t able to use it for said reason. While I might be savvy in using my phone, I really am not the techy type, so I don’t know how to deal this problem in the first place. That’s why I need your help. Can you guide me how to troubleshoot this problem?

Troubleshooting: Facebook for Android is a third-party app and I mean your phone can function normally without it. If you cannot use your phone because of the error message that keeps popping up, then uninstall the app. Harsh as it may sound (especially for Facebook support), it’s actually one effective step to know if it’s really the Facebook app that crashes on its own or if there’s another app that triggers it. After you uninstalled it and there’s still error that pops up (not necessarily the same because FB has already been uninstalled), then it’s clear now that the app was just one of the apps that crash and it didn’t actually cause the problem. Here’s how you uninstall an app on an S5:

  1. From any Home screen, tap Apps.
  2. Tap Settings.
  3. Scroll to ‘APPLICATIONS,’ then tap Application manager.
  4. Swipe right to the ALL screen.
  5. Scroll to and tap Facebook.
  6. Tap Clear cache button.
  7. Tap Clear data button, then OK.
  8. Tap Uninstall, then OK.

However, if you gotten rid of the error message after you uninstalled it, then it was primarily a Facebook problem. Other technicians may suggest you update the app but I tell you, clearing the cache and the data, then uninstalling it is more effective than that. After which, just download a fresh copy of the app from the Play Store, after all, it’s free and won’t take a couple of minutes to download.

By doing so, you could get rid of the possible corrupt cache and/or data, uninstalled the obsolete version and downloaded the most recent one. If the app still won’t work after that, then you really don’t have much of a choice but to either perform factory reset and install the app again or get used to not having Facebook on your phone. It’s all up to you.

Facebook app just closes/crashes shortly after opening it

Problem: There was an update for Facebook that I allowed and it went smooth and easy. I rebooted my phone a couple of times as I uninstalled a few apps. When the phone was ready, I tried to open Facebook and it did open only to close after a few seconds. I tried accessing the recent apps screen and I can see Facebook being one of the most recent apps used. It means it opened successfully. So, I tried opening it one more time and nothing. Tried and tried until I got tired and convinced myself there’s a problem. Now, I don’t know what problem really is, so I really need your advice on this. Is this a problem with the phone or the app? Help me. — Jacqueline

Troubleshooting: If this problem happened immediately after you updated the Facebook app, then it is clear the new update isn’t compatible or has conflicts with your system. Now, try to see if there is an available firmware update for your phone. If there is none, then you will have to troubleshoot the app. If you contacted Facebook support, all the blame would be on your phone and the same is true if you contacted Samsung for it. So, it’s better you deal with this problem without their help.

I suggest you follow the same troubleshooting procedure I cited in the previous problem: clear the cache and data of the Facebook app, then uninstall it. After that, download the app from the Play Store to make sure you have the most recent version of the app and install it. If the same thing happens, then the issue couldn’t be resolved with basic troubleshooting. It needs intervention from either Facebook or Samsung; either the former will release a patch to fix its app or the latter will roll out an update for its device.

Facebook app says “connection lost”

Problem: First of all, thank you for all the help you could provide. I have a problem with my Galaxy S5, when I open Facebook it says it can’t connect and that I should retry but I am connected to my Wi-Fi network at home. This issue, however, happens intermittently and it’s very annoying. I don’t know how to fix this because sometimes it occurs but then it starts working again and then it occurs again. I can’t figure out what’s wrong with it. Can you guys help me with it, please?

Related Problem: Facebook is way off on my phone. The pictures come in slowly, and if I choose to comment, I get a white page with a turning circle on it for over a minute. I also get gray boxes and no pictures after the first few on the feed. Everything moves VERY slowly.

As for the losing connection, it happens all the time. I never can finish my turn on Trivia Crack because I lose connection. It says, “There is a problem with your internet connection.” Then the screen freezes. It happens on FB too. I also have difficulty watching videos. They won’t work many of the times. I have spoken several times with both Cox Cable and AT&T, and nobody seems to know what connection I’m talking about. We have WiFi, and that connection looks strong.

When I saw your email address, I was so happy! I am soooo frustrated. I cleared google out, and updated my phone. There are no open windows that I know about. I clear them constantly. My phone is a Galaxy s5, and I’ve had it for a year. If you need anymore info, just let me know. Thank you way in advance. — Judi

Troubleshooting: Both of these problems are caused by an intermittent internet connectivity. As what the first issue said, the problem occurs but then it gets fixed. Primarily, it’s necessary to check whether your network equipment, i.e. your router or modem, are working fine because if they’re not, then you should call your internet service provider and get them fixed or replaced to have a more stable internet connection.

Now, if you’re sure it’s not your equipment or network that has issues, then it must be a feature that’s on your phone and I can’t think of anything that results to this problem but the Smart Network Switch feature. It might be a great feature but there have been a lot of reports that it actually interferes with the phone’s capability to connect to the internet normally. It seemed like the phone has become very sensitive that a slight change in the signal strength will immediately result to auto network switch and during the transition, connectivity is lost. So, disable this feature to see if it makes a difference:

  1. Tap Apps
  2. Tap Settings.
  3. Tap Wi-Fi.
  4. Untick the checkbox next to Smart network switch.

This is more of a connection problem than just Facebook. So, after you’ve disabled the smart network switch and the problem persists, backup your data and perform full hard reset.

  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.

Connect with us

We are always open to your problems, questions and suggestions, so feel free to send them at [email protected] 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 everyday 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.

Fix Samsung Galaxy S5 “SD card blank…unsupported filesystem” error & other SD card related issues

I will look into a problem involving a Samsung Galaxy S5 (#Samsung #GalaxyS5) that pops up an error message saying “SD card blank or have some unsupported filesystem.” Obviously, this is a microSD card issue but the word “blank” could mean a couple of things; either corrupted (unreadable) or damaged.

Galaxy-S5-Damaged-SD-Card

Just because the error says it’s “blank” doesn’t mean it’s blank or doesn’t contain any file. Remember that blank SD card can still be read and opened by the phone without any errors. This here is obviously an error and when it pops up, it automatically means something is wrong.

There were also those who think the card is simply undetectable. Well, that’s not the case either because if that’s the case, the phone won’t return an error simply because it hasn’t detected anything that’s plugged into its microSD card slot.

Therefore, the error means the phone has detected a microSD card is mounted but it can no longer read it or can’t recognize the filesystem used to format it. That’s what we are going to address in this post with reference to a few problems sent by our readers.

Now, before we go any further, if you have other concerns with your phone, visit our troubleshooting page intended for the Samsung Galaxy S5 as we’ve listed hundreds of solutions to problems we already addressed in the past. Find problems related to yours and try the solutions we provided. If they won’t work for you, then contact us using our Android Issues Questionnaire. Make sure to add more details of the problem in the description field so we can accurately assess your problem.

SD card blank…unsupported filesystem

Problem: When I insert memory card it shows notification “checking for errors” after that it shows notification “sd card blank or have some unsupported filesystem” when I format the card it shows “sd card unsupported try new one” I tried different card but it shows same error.

Solution: Both of the SD cards have a format that couldn’t be read by the phone. You should format them using FAT32 file system and the easiest way to do that is by using a computer. All you need is a card reader that you can plug into your computer. Once plugged in, find the drive, right-click on it and choose Format. In the file system drop-down, choose FAT32.

You may try this procedure with one of your cards and see if the phone can detect or read it. If not, try the other one and if it bears the same result, then it’s the phone that has an issue, probably the firmware. Try to see if there’s an available update, if there’s none, find someone who knows how to re-flash the firmware.

The phone can detect that there’s a card mounted on it but the problem is it couldn’t read it. Therefore, it’s not a hardware issue but firmware.

SD card can’t be detected by Galaxy S5

Problem: Hi! I have been trying to move some apps to my sd card so that I have more space on my actual phone and my phone keeps telling me that I do not have an sd card in there. Meanwhile I have a 16GB Samsung SD card in there. Why is it saying that if there is one in there?

Troubleshooting: If the phone merely says that there’s no SD card mounted instead of returning an error or a prompt telling you it’s blank, then the answer to your question is simple: it couldn’t detect it. Possible reasons include improper mounting, there’s corrosion on the connectors, and damaged SD card.

To address this problem, try to physically remove the card from the phone and wipe its connectors with dry cloth and then mount it back on, this time though, make sure it’s properly mounted. If the phone still couldn’t detect it, then try my suggestion in the previous problem; let the computer read it as it will tell you there and then if it’s damaged or just needs reformatting.

If you’re prompted by your computer that you need to reformat the card, then do it but please note that all your data and files will be lost. If it says it couldn’t be reformatted, then it’s damaged. Time to buy a new card.

Related problem: It is not acknowledging my sd card at all… It only says mount sd card but it is mounted correctly.

Pictures aren’t saved or viewable in Galaxy S5

Problem: I have installed and formatted an SD card but when I take pictures I cannot view them. They show up as little mountain icons. At first they showed up but now even the first couple pictures are not viewable.

Troubleshooting: First of all, make sure your microSD card can be read by your phone. Just try to open it using My Files app; if you can browse through, then it’s fine, otherwise, try reformatting it using FAT32 file system.

Second, make sure you set your camera to directly save snapped photos and recorded videos into the microSD card. I have a feeling that the device’s internal storage is almost full that there’s no room for new pictures and that the camera app is still set to save them there. Basically, those were the only two possibilities that I can see.

Cannot mount the SD card on Galaxy S5

Problem: I have tried adding a micro sd card. I have placed 2 different brand new cards in the slot, but when I try to move an app to the card, it says I don’t have a card. I have tapped the “mount sd card” and it tells me the card is safe to remove. What can I do to make it recognize the card?

Troubleshooting: First of all, make sure the card is not damaged. You may let your computer read it and try saving files to it just to make sure it’s writable and readable. If you’ve done that, try to mount the card to your phone and if the same error pops up, try to reformat it using FAT32 file system; it might just be a formatting issue.

You may also verify if other phones can read it or if your phone can read other cards. This will give you an idea what the problem really is. It’s just a common sense; if your phone can read other cards, then your microSD card might be the issue here and since you already formatted it to FAT32 to no avail, then it’s either damaged or not compatible with your phone at all.

Photos saved in SD card gone

Problem: After months of use one day my SD card gets an error. I didn’t touch the card prior, during, or after. I selected “cancel” so as not to lose my photos. When I got to T-Mobile a day later, all my SD card photos were gone. My phone also randomly restarts several times a day.

Troubleshooting: The SD card is probably damaged and the phone just couldn’t read it. I hope T-Mo’s techs didn’t reformat the card because if they did, there’s no hope for those photos to be recovered. Of course, you can try to un-mount the card and then remove it from your phone. Let the phone be without the card for a few minutes and then mount it back. Turn the phone on and see if it can detect it, if not, try letting your computer read it but make sure you don’t reformat it once the machine prompts you that it needs reformatting.

You may attempt to recover your photos by using this tool or any other tool available online.

Related problem: The device is running out of storage,with most of the storage being taken up by application. I got an SD card but when I move an application to the SD card it goes through the process of moving it, but deletes it instead.

Recover photos from internal storage after reset

Question: I did a Verizon system update this morning at 10:30 am. At 5pm, I realized all my photos that I had transferred from my iPhone in mid June were gone.2 years worth of photos. These were on internal memory. Is there any way to recover? Thx in advance.

Answer: The factory reset will delete all data and files saved in the phone’s internal storage, so the answer to the question is no, although there were some experts and security firms who claimed to have recovered data from the phone’s internal storage even after the reset using a special kind of tool that’s not available in the market for average users.

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.

How to Fix Samsung Galaxy S5 that Shuts Down / Turns Off Automatically

“Hi droid guy! My Samsung Galaxy S5 shuts down on its own and it happens randomly. It started after I downloaded lollipop update. How can I fix it?”

That’s just one of the typical emails we received from our readers after the Android 5 Lollipop update was rolled out. Many of those who encountered this problem and contacted us were Verizon customers but when we tried to dig deeper, the problem is not exclusive to one variant.

galaxy-s5-black-screen

In the U.S., some S5 owners from the Sprint, AT&T and T-Mobile were also having this problem. For units that started shutting down after the update, it is apparent the firmware is to blame but that doesn’t mean you had a bad update. More often, caches and data get corrupted during and after a major update but it’s not limited to just the firmware.

MUST VISIT: Samsung Galaxy S5 Troubleshooting Page

There is also a possibility that a third-party gone rogue is causing the problem or it could be a hardware issue that’s just starting to manifest.

I will guide you on how to troubleshoot your Galaxy S5 that shuts down or turns off automatically. So, read on and see if your issue is the same as one of the problems I addressed in this post. If not, then feel free to contact us at [email protected] and rest assured we’ll look into it.

  1. Galaxy S5 shuts down randomly after lollipop update
  2. Galaxy S5 turns off while using an app
  3. Galaxy S5 turns off while charging
  4. Galaxy S5 shuts down while playing music
  5. Galaxy S5 heats up then shuts down
  6. Galaxy S5 started shutting down after soaked in water
  7. Galaxy S5 shuts down, turns on & vibrates 

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Galaxy S5 shuts down randomly after lollipop update

Problem: Hi! I actually downloaded the lollipop update for my Galaxy S5 about a couple of weeks ago but after that the phone started to turn off randomly. There are times when the screen just turns off without apparent reason while most of the times the phone would lag, then freeze and then shut down. I didn’t try to troubleshoot it thinking it might just go away somehow. It didn’t, so I’m asking if you could help me fix this problem as I really need this phone for my job. Thank you! — Jasmen

Related Problem: Hello guys. How can I fix my phone that constantly reboots? It’s a Galaxy S5 and the problem started after I upgraded it to the latest update. It didn’t have a single problem prior to the update so it seems lollipop has messed up my phone big time. Help! — Trillo

Troubleshooting: Hello Jasmen and Trillo. Based on both your descriptions, it seems like the cause of the problem are some corrupt caches or data. It was a major update so some dependencies may have been changed and some files used by Kitkat may not already be compatible with Lollipop.

The first thing I want you to try is wiping the cache partition and observe if the phone still randomly shuts down after that. If so, it’s time you backed up all your data and proceed with full hard reset.

Galaxy S5 turns off while using an app

Problem: Hi guys! Before anything else, I just want to say thank you for all your effort in helping us. Your website is one of the most helpful ones I found so far. I’ve actually spent a couple of hours now reading through your Galaxy S5 troubleshooting page but I haven’t found something related to my problem.

I update my Sprint Galaxy S5 4 days ago to lollipop. I think there were 2 updates and I downloaded both of them. As far as installation is concerned, everything went smoothly. However, yesterday, there were some errors that kept popping up saying an app has stopped or something like that. There’s no other option but to touch OK and I do that every time. But when I open the app, the phone screen turns off and I think the whole device shuts down because it won’t respond after that and I have to press the power button and it will restart. So now, I can’t use the app I’ve been using before the update. Do you know how to fix this? Thank you! — Jade

Troubleshooting: Hello Jade. It could have been better if you mentioned what app is causing this problem. But anyway, since you specifically mentioned that it’s an app that’s triggering the auto shut down with your Galaxy S5, then try the most basic of troubleshooting rogue apps–clearing the cache and data.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If the app is a game, all your progress will be lost and everything will be reset back to original settings. You may have to login with your account again.

If clearing the cache and data couldn’t fix the problem and if the app is a third-party, uninstall it and download a fresh copy from the Play Store. Issues like this can often be fixed by reinstallation, however, if the problem persists after that, then the app needs to be updated to work well with lollipop. You have to contact the developer and report the issue.

Galaxy S5 turns off while charging

Problem: Good morning. I have a very weird problem with my Galaxy S5. Every time I plug it in to charge, it turns off all by itself. I really don’t know when it started but I did notice it just after the lollipop update. Not really a tech person so I’m hoping you could tell me how I could fix this or what I need to do to address this problem. Thank you! — Rob

Troubleshooting: Hey Rob! Yeah, the problem seems weird and to be honest, I never encountered this issue before. But let’s consider what you said that it started after the lollipop update. If it’s really the case then it’s more of a firmware issue than anything else. If it were my phone, I would immediately do the master reset to give it a fresh start with its new firmware and clear whatever it is that might be causing some conflicts.

If, however, the hard reset won’t work, I suggest you let the tech take a look at it. Perhaps the firmware needs to be reinstalled or there could be an issue with the charging port.

Galaxy S5 shuts down while playing music

Problem: Hello Harold. Your team is really doing great providing this free support for us noobs. I’m new to Android and Galaxy S5 is my first so I kind of trying to learn whatever it is the phone can offer. I have a problem, though. Every time I try to play a music file (regardless what it is), the phone will immediately turn off and won’t come back on until I press the power key. What’s the problem with it and how can I fix it? — Irish

Troubleshooting: Hey Irish! Tech is our passion and helping others makes us feel good, so here we are. Well, about your problem, I assuming that you’re using the stock Music app or the music player that comes native with the device. I encountered this problem before but it was caused by a faulty MP3 file. I was able to fix the problem by the deleting the music track. In your case, however, it seems it’s even related to tracks you’re playing but with the app itself.

For this kind of problem, clearing the cache and data of the Music app should come first since it’s most likely an app-specific problem. If that won’t fix the issue, then I suggest you do the factory reset.

Galaxy S5 heats up then shuts down

Problem: After I installed the latest lollipop upgrade, my phone keeps heating up. The heat isn’t normal but it’s not actually hot. When it heats up, the device will shut down on its own after a few minutes and it’s disrupting everything I’m doing with my phone. Do you know how to fix it? — Rodora

Troubleshooting: If the phone heats up and shuts down on its own, it means that the phone is overheating. Android will shut down the device automatically to prevent further damage to the hardware or components. I don’t really know how extensive user you are but if the phone overheats with average use, just reset it as there could be some rogue apps running in the background and causing the overheating. I also suggest you check the condition of the battery to see if there are lumps or bulges because if so, you need to buy a new battery.

Galaxy S5 started shutting down after soaked in water

Problem: We were at the pool party last week and my phone fell into the pool. In a matter of seconds I was able to get it out of the water but it was already turned off. I assume water got into it despite being waterproof. Now, the phone randomly shuts down on its own even though I totally dried it up before turning it back on. Can this be fixed? — Lisa

Troubleshooting: First of all, Lisa, the Galaxy S5 is just “water-resistant” and not “water-proof.” Meaning, liquid can still find its way into the phone and that seems to be the case with your device. The fact that it was turned off after it fell into the pool is evident water has gotten into it. It’s really difficult to tell if the problem can still be fixed permanently so I suggest you let a technician check on it.

Galaxy S5 shuts down, turns on & vibrates

Problem: My Galaxy S5 was dropped waist high and it fell on a cemented pavement. When I picked it up it was still on but after a few seconds, it turned off. I removed the battery for a minute then placed it back in and the phone turned itself on without me pressing the power key. After a few seconds the phone turned back off again and it’s vibrating every now and then. Is my phone damaged now? — Rose

Troubleshooting: Yeah, it could have been damaged by the drop but the symptoms you cited are actually signs that the power key is stuck…or maybe damaged. Try pressing it multiple times to see if the problem can be fixed, if not, then have it repaired. The power key may need replacement.

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Troubleshooting Procedures

The following are the troubleshooting procedures used in this post. One of these guides may fix your problem so feel free to try one after the other. Just bear in mind that both factory reset and master reset will delete all data saved in the phone’s internal storage.

Clearing App Cache & Data

  1. From any Home screen, tap Apps.
  2. Tap Settings.
  3. Scroll to ‘APPLICATIONS,’ then tap Application manager.
  4. Swipe right to the ALL screen.
  5. Tap the desired application
  6. Tap Clear cache.
  7. Tap Clear data, then OK.

How to Boot Galaxy S5 in Safe Mode

  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.

How Wipe Galaxy S5’s Cache Partition

  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.

How to Master Reset Galaxy S5

  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.

Connect with us

We are always open to your problems, questions and suggestions, so feel free to send them at [email protected] 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.

Samsung Galaxy S5 Problems After Lollipop Update & Ways To Fix Them [Part 48]

Samsung-Galaxy-S5-Lollipop-Update-Problems

As the roll out of Android 5 Lollipop update for the Samsung Galaxy S5 continues, so as our support. This is the 48th installment of our Samsung Galaxy S5 Troubleshooting series and I addressed newly discovered problems after the most recent update. In this post alone, I’ve dealt with a couple of microSD card issues that occurred after the most recent firmware upgrade. Learn how to fix them by reading the issues I cited below.

To our readers, we offer free Android support. Feel free to send us your problems through email or by posting on our social media network pages. You may email us at [email protected] or post on our Facebook wall or Google+ page. Make sure to include all necessary details like your phone model, Android version it runs, nature of the problem, behavior of the device, and when it started. Vague questions or emails lacking information may not be addressed. We are serious in providing this free service, so we ask you to do your part and make it easier for us to assess your concerns. We don’t mind how long your email is as long as it contains all information we need to accurately assess your concerns.

MicroSD Card Data Deleted After Lollipop Update

Problem: Hi, I was googling to find a way to fix my Samsung S5 problem and I landed on your page: Samsung Galaxy S5 Problems After Android 5.0 Lollipop Update and How To Fix Them [Part 30]. That being said, that’s where I got your email from. I have a little issue for which, i hope, you will be able to fix: I have a Samsung S5, SM-G900W8, for which I received a notification for a new system update. i tried to install it, no success because my phone memory was full. I said to myself, hell with it, lets transfer all pictures and videos on my micro SD card of 64GB to free 3GB worth of space and that’s what I did. After my phone being updated, I was amazed by the new look of the OS. later that night, I come home only to find out that all data on my SD Card has been erased, except the folders.

Please help me out to find a way to recover my pictures and videos! — NSK

Troubleshooting: First of all, I will assume that you have successfully transferred all data you wanted to transfer before update. More often, problems like this are brought about by major updates, albeit, not so common. There are two possibilities here: first, it could be that the microSD card has been totally corrupted during the update process or second, the new firmware has a bug or a glitch that may hinder the phone from reading external storage devices properly. I understand your main concern is your videos and photos, so let’s take the safest route in troubleshooting this issue. Before anything else, DO NOT reformat your microSD card even if you’re prompted by your phone; that’s one way to make sure you can’t recover your data. This is what I advise you to do:

  1. Reboot the phone. I understand if you already did this a hundred times but if you haven’t done it yet, please do.
  2. Let your computer read your microSD card. After the reboot and the phone still couldn’t read from it, unmount it, insert it to a card reader and let your laptop read it. If you are immediately prompted to reformat the card, then there’s a very slim chance you could recover your data. On the other hand, if the computer can read from the card, then use that opportunity to backup everything you don’t want to lose.
  3. Use FAT32 format in reformatting microSD card. Only do this if you have successfully made a backup of all your data.

Once you have successfully reformatted your microSD card and the phone still couldn’t read it, it’s possible the card has been damaged and only computers can read from it. There is, however, a chance that it’s a firmware glitch especially if the phone cannot read from microSD cards. If it were the case, then you have to perform full hard reset on your phone. 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, 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.

Galaxy S5 VPN, Real Racing 3 Issues After Lollipop

Problem: Hi, I have just upgraded my Galaxy S5 couple of days ago (Model No: SM-G900H) and in the last couple of days, have found the following issues:

  1. When trying to enter into Settings -> VPN, the phone asks for the passcode over and over again (tried with pattern as well as pin). Thing to note is that it is able to detect a wrong passcode but when the correct one is entered, it just simply re-asks for it. How do you think this could be fixed?
  2. While playing Real Racing 3, sometimes my phone is not able to detect me tilting my phone to make a left / right turn in the game. Now, the game has not been updated since the lollipop upgrade so I am guessing it might be an issue with the phone failing to recognize the change in direction (It sorts itself out after a few seconds). If the issue is game related, clearing game data is also not an option as I would end up losing my progress. Do you think some kind of re-calibration might help? Can you provide steps for this?

Plz let me know if you need any more info regarding the phone or it’s setup.

Regards, Sumit.

Troubleshooting: I once experienced similar issues with VPN and the only thing I did was wipe the cache partition and it worked like a charm. Although, I don’t know exactly how bad the problem is in your phone, I still advise you to wipe off the cache partition to rule out the possibility that it’s just a corrupt cache issue.

  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.

If wiping the cache partition didn’t work, then you need to delete and re-setup your VPN.

Now about the issue with Real Racing 3, more often, recalibration works. However, if the problem started immediately after the update, then wiping the cache partition may still be the most viable troubleshooting procedure to follow. I understand you don’t want to lose all your progress, so I advise to use Real Racing 3’s cloud backup feature. Clearing the data will delete all your progress as well as additional downloaded data. However, if you backed up your account in the cloud, you will still be able to retain your progress by logging into your account, although, you will have to re-download all additional data.

Lastly, if all these procedures failed, try to reset the phone to bring it back to its factory defaults. That way, the issue with the gyroscope.

Galaxy S5 4G and Phone Call Issues After Lollipop

Problem: Hi guys, been reading your blogs, cant seem to find my problem, so I got my s5 around 6 months back, never had issues on kitkat, got the lollipop 5, then updated to 5.1 I think 2 weeks back. The problem is that my 4g never works, I have to keep putting the phone on flight mode then turn off flight mode then 4g works, (or just turn on/off data).

The 4G symbol is not shown then as soon as I disable then enable flight mode, 3g/4g starts working.

Problem 2 is that whenever I’m on the phone, the line keeps getting cut off, happens to all numbers and in all areas (London). Most of the time the person on the other line cannot hear me or the line just cuts off. Hope you can help as I’m having a nightmare! Thanks, Amit.

Troubleshooting: Hi Amit. If the 4G issue gets resolved after you turn on and off the Airplane mode, then wiping the cache partition will permanently fix the problem. Once old cache files are cleared, the phone will create newer ones to be used by default services including the service that handles mobile data connectivity. Don’t worry, wiping the cache partition will not delete any of your data, that’s the best thing about the procedure.

  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.

About your second problem, I think it’s related to the capability of the phone to detect mobile data signal normally. Fix the first problem and you will fix the second.

Galaxy S5 Can’t Connect To Mobile Data After Lollipop

Problem: Hi, my Galaxy S5 cannot connect to data after the most recent update! It connects to Wi-Fi and can make and receive calls but not data! I’ve factory reset the phone, cleared the cache, I even went to Samsung experience store in best buy and had them re-flash the software and change the SIM but nothing helped. Hopefully you have done ideas!

Thanks, Toni.

Troubleshooting: Hi Toni, none of the things you mentioned maybe able to fix the problem especially if it concerns the APN settings. The APN is the most important set of data you need to enter into your phone so that it can connect to the mobile data network of your service provider. If the problem started immediately after the lollipop update, it could be that the APN may have been messed up or deleted. Call your service provider and ask for it. Don’t worry, it’s free. You may also ask the representative to walk you through setting it up in your phone.

Galaxy S5 Has Issues Staying Connected To WiFi After Lollipop

Problem: After updating my S5 I have had issues staying connected to my home WiFi. I will click on the network to connect and type in my password it will connect briefly and then automatically disconnects. It also doesn’t seem to remember this WiFi network. I have reviewed your forum and unable to locate something to help. I have tried to uncheck the smart connector but this does not resolve the issue.   I have also tried the phone in safe mode. When I do this the WiFi does connect and stay so then I uninstalled any recently downloaded apps. I then take the phone out of safe mode and the WiFi no longer works.

My service is with Sprint if that makes any difference. Also of note, when at location with WiFi with no password it connects and stays connected. Thanks for any help you may be able to provide. — Daniel

Troubleshooting: Hi Daniel. The first thing I want you to do is turn off mobile data completely and then observe if the phone still disconnects from your WiFi network. If it stayed connected, then it still automatically switches between networks. Wiping the cache partition will fix the problem. However, after you disabled the mobile data and the phone still disconnects from your WiFi network, then there’s a chance that the issue with your network itself considering you said the phone stays connected with other networks that have no passwords.

Try deleting your WiFi network in your phone, then reboot the device and then let it detect it one more time and try to connect. If the problem remained, reboot your network device, or use a channel that has low interference (via router settings), or use a different encryption method. If the problem still wasn’t fixed, perform full hard reset but don’t forget to backup all your data first.

  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.

Galaxy S5 Battery Drain Issue Caused By Zedge App

Description: We’ve already tackled a lot of emails about the fast battery draining issue with Samsung Galaxy S5 after the Android 5 lollipop update. One of our readers shared about his experience saying the problem was narrowed down to one popular app known as Zedge.

I, myself, personally use Zedge to manage my wallpapers and ringtones and it saddens me to know this. So, I tried uninstalling it from my phone and yes, there is an improvement in the battery life. I already tried contacting the developer and hopefully they can do something about it the soonest time possible.

Try to read the actual email sent by Alex below:

Solution: Been reading about the battery drain issue on drippler. I took your advice on wiping the cache and getting rid of frivolous apps. I’ve narrowed the issue down to one app. Zedge. I nixed zedge and issue stopped. I reinstalled zedge and the issue came back. Uninstaller it again and the battery drain issue has stopped. Thought I’d give that tidbit to you guys to post as I know a lot of people use zedge. — Alex

Unable To Turn On WiFi On Galaxy S5 After Lollipop

Problem: Hello, since updating my S5 with the latest update I have been receiving error messages regarding contacts has stopped working or firefox. The battery has also been draining faster and running hotter then usual. However the latest issue is the most frustrating I am unable to simply turn my wifi capability to on. It is actually automatically swith in to off every time I try to slide to on. I have preformed a reset and power down. The only thing I haven’t done is a factory reset. Please let me know if you are able to assist me in resolving this issue. Thank you, John.

Troubleshooting: Hey John. I am sorry to hear you’re currently experiencing a lot of issues after the lollipop update. I understand that the most annoying issue you have right now is regarding the capability of your phone to turn the WiFi on. More often, this problem is caused by corrupt data or cache or some third-party apps have gone rogue affecting the core functions of your phone. Taking the safest route in troubleshooting this issue, I suggest you boot your phone in safe mode first. Here’s how:

  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.

Once in safe mode, try turning the WiFi on and if it stayed on then just boot back in normal mode and the problem must have been fixed already. Otherwise, the next safe way to troubleshoot it is to wipe the cache partition so that the phone will be forced to create new caches for core functions and apps.

  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.

Lastly, if all these procedures failed, backup your data and perform full master reset to bring the phone back to its default settings and reformat the data partition. Don’t worry, the lollipop update will not be uninstalled.

  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.

Galaxy S5 Bluetooth Won’t Stay Synced With Car After Lollipop

Problem: I have recently updated my Samsung s5 as of yesterday afternoon. On my morning commute to work the phone just fine with my radio’s Bluetooth system. After the update on my ride home my phone will no longer stay synced with Bluetooth. I have to turn the vehicle off and resync my phone and then will only work for a few moments, drop the call, say no Bluetooth is available and stop working.

Please advise me on how to fix this as I am in outside sales and need to use my phone constantly while out driving. Thanks! — Chip

Troubleshooting: Bluetooth syncing problem with Galaxy S5 after the lollipop update is one of most common problems. There are a few procedures you can try to fix the problem and the first is deleting all Bluetooth pairing sessions in your phone and re-pair it with your car. If the problem persists, then refer to your car’s manual to reset Bluetooth or delete paired devices and then follow the typical pairing procedure. If the problem remained, you really have to perform factory reset on your phone but don’t forget to backup all your data.

  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.

Multiple Galaxy S5 Issues After Lollipop Update

Problems: Hi. Since the update, like so many others, my battery is draining faster and throughout the day, I get a notice saying Unfortunately, Contacts has Stopped… also my camera gets stuck when taking a picture, takes several seconds to show the picture taken and my pictures aren’t as clear as they used to be. I consistently lose my wifi and my phone switches from 4G to 3G to 1x throughout the day. Also facebook crashes regularly. I loved this phone until this update… everything about my phone is slower now. I am going to try to clear the cache per your earlier advice to others, but I am so very disappointed. — Gwen

Troubleshooting: Hi Gwen! That’s a lot of issues to deal with. If it were my phone, I would immediately perform master reset because it would be a waste of time troubleshooting problems I didn’t know what the cause is. Of course, it is obvious the recent lollipop update may have messed it up for you but then the root cause couldn’t be determined easily. So, I suggest you boot the phone in safe mode, backup all your data and perform hard reset. If the procedure couldn’t fix the issue, bring the phone to your service provider or to Samsung service center and have lollipop firmware re-flashed.

Booting in Safe Mode

  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.

Master Reset

  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.

Cannot Move Files To MicroSD Card On Galaxy S5

Problem: Hi. I have a strange and incredibly frustrating problem. I bought a brand new SD Card from Best Buy for my S5. I properly installed it (It is listed on the “storage” screen, which means it is recognized by the phone).

I have been able to transfer applications onto the card, no problem

Now, the issue: nothing else will transfer: not pictures, not music, not documents. NOTHING.

I have viewed multiple “how to videos”, tutorials, etc and all have the same instructions. I have followed them perfectly.

When I do the final step of hitting the “move” button after selecting the items to move, and where to move them on the SD card, it simply returns to the “my files” screen. I look on the SD card, and nothing has been moved.

I have done this multiple times. Thinking it was a corrupted disk, I returned it and bought another. The same thing happened.

There is not an “error” notice. There is not any notification that the file has not been transferred (and nothing stating it has been transferred). It’s perplexing! HELP! — C. Drummond

Troubleshooting: If apps can be moved to the microSD card, then there’s with the storage device. Pictures and videos can be transferred to it either through the Gallery app or by using the stock file manager. Please try the other if one failed. Another option is to connect the phone to a computer and use the computer’s file manager to drag and drop files to the microSD card.

Also, while using the stock file manager, try to “Copy” the file to the microSD card instead of “moving” it. If copying is successful, then you can delete the original files from your phone’s internal storage. I think there’s no problem with either your phone or the microSD card but please do email us back if the problem persists and provide as much details as possible especially the method you use in “moving” files.

Engage with us

Feel free to send us your questions, suggestions and problems you’ve encountered while using your Android phone. We support every Android that is available in the market today. And don’t worry, we won’t charge you a single penny for your emails. Email us via [email protected] any time. We read every email but can’t guarantee a response. Lastly, if we were able to help you, please help us spread the word by sharing our posts with your friends or visit our Troubleshooting Page. Thanks.

How to fix Samsung Galaxy S5 that’s not receiving texts & other SMS problems

We have received a lot of text messaging related issues from our readers and so we find it necessary to publish this post. The most common among those issues involves Samsung Galaxy S5 that can’t receive texts regardless whether there’s an attached image or not.

Samsung-Galaxy-S5-unable-to-receive-texts

It’s disappointing to see a Samsung Galaxy S5 that’s unable to receive text messages considering the fact that basic phones very seldom have this kind of problem. The phone is capable of transferring gigabytes of data in seconds but it can’t sent and/or receive 1KB worth of data sent over a cellular network.

This problem may be caused by a misconfiguration in the phone’s settings specifically in the Messages app, a hardware issue especially if the phone can’t get good signal, or a network and/or coverage problem. If you have this problem, you should troubleshoot the phone first and perhaps, seek assistance from your provider or a technician should the problem persists after troubleshooting.

If you have other problems, however, make sure you visit our Samsung Galaxy S5 Troubleshooting page as it contains hundreds of solutions to problems we already addressed in the past. Find a problem related or the same as yours and try the solutions, if they won’t work for you, then contact us as we are always willing to help. Just fill up this form here and hit submit. Please provide as much information as possible so we can provide accurate solutions.

Basic Troubleshooting

The very purpose of troubleshooting is to find out what the problem is and what causes it. It doesn’t guarantee a fix but information you could use to formulate a solution or better explain the issue to a technician. While we want to fix your problem, we don’t want to use desperate procedures that could potentially damage your phone. That said, here are the basic troubleshooting steps you can follow…

Step 1: Verify if your phone gets good signal 

You can do so by checking the signal bars in the status bar. If it indicates it’s not getting good coverage, try to reboot it and see if that could help. If not, then call your service provider and inquire if there’s currently an outage in your area especially if the phone was getting good signal hours before the problem happened. Unless the phone got wet or was dropped and got damaged, there’s no reason it couldn’t get service.

If the phone is getting good signal, then proceed to the next step.

Step 2: Try sending a text message or making a phone call 

If you can send a text message, then it’s a service or account issue. A phone that can send a text message should be able to receive one also.

In case your Galaxy S5 can’t send a text message, try making a phone call. This will also verify if your account is in good standing.

If you can send a text message and make a phone call but the phone gets good signal, then call your service provider as it is more likely an account-related issue.

Step 3: Increase the number of text message limit

Now, if your phone can send a text message but can’t receive one, then follow these steps…

  1. From the Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
  2. Find and tap Messages.
  3. Touch the Menu icon on the upper-right corner (3 dots).
  4. Tap Settings from the options.
  5. Tap Delete old messages.
  6. Now tap text message limit.
  7. Increase the number of messages to be received.
  8. Touch OK.

Alternatively, you can delete old threads and messages to make room for new ones.

Step 4: Hard Reset your phone (optional) 

After doing the previous steps and the problem remained and if your provider asked you to bring the phone in for checkup and/or repair, then it’s time you reset the phone back to its factory defaults and clear all your personal information. A hard reset is necessary and it might just fix the problem…

  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.

Fixing other Galaxy S5 SMS problems

The following are some of the text messaging problems we’ve received from our readers. They can happen to you as they’re common so read on to learn how to deal with them just in case.

Unable to send text message

Question: Cannot send texts to text only numbers like “454545” – always fail, straight out of the box, so version, installed apps, etc. have no bearing on the issue. AT&T troubleshooting cannot identify issue.

Answer: First of all, check the Message Center number. If you don’t know the correct numbers or if the field is empty, call your service provider and ask for it. However, if the Message Center number is correct, try to open the Messages app > Menu icon > then choose Settings > change the Input mode to GSM Alphabet.

Can’t receive MMS messages

Question: Not receiving multi media/group messages. I will get one or two reply messages but mostly I get download balloons and nothing to download. Very annoying. Software is up to date.

Answer: Just make sure mobile data is enabled. Go to Settings > More networks > Mobile networks > tap Mobile data > OK. If it’s already enabled, check the APN settings, or you may call your service provider to inquire about the correct APN for your device as well as the status of you account.

Galaxy S5 keeps updating, can’t receive MMS after

Question: Phone Samsung galaxy 5s keeps updating itself. I don’t want it to, it just did it again and now I cannot send out a text message with a photo attached. The box goes gray and then I retry and it again and again. HELP.

Answer: If your phone isn’t rooted, there’s not much we can do about updates. They will come, you’ll be notified and it’s up to you if you install them or not but please note you will be bugged by the notification day in and day out. The best thing to do is let the phone update itself and make sure mobile data is on after that. Mobile data is necessary in sending and receiving MMS. If the mobile data is enabled but the problem persists, then call your provider and ask for the correct APN for your phone so that the next time it will happen, you will know how to enter the correct APN. This is where you can find the APN: go to Settings > More networks > Mobile networks > touch Access Point Names > touch the + sign > enter the APN.

Stop text messages from being forwarded to email

Question: My text messages also are appearing in my work email.

Answer: There’s a setting in your phone that will stop all this but it’s hidden. What’s happening is that your text messages are being synced with Exchange and I understand why a lot of people don’t want this. So, here’s how you disable it:

  1. From the Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
  2. Find and tap Settings.
  3. Touch Account settings, then choose your Exchange account.
  4. Scroll down to find More settings, then tap on it.
  5. Scroll down to find Sync text message and untick the checkbox next to it.

That’s pretty much it!

Messages stopped working

Question: After an update, my phone has gone crazy. When I open Messages I am greeted by an error saying it stopped working and then all other apps follow suit. I can’t use my phone with all this. Can you help me, please.

Answer: It’s actually more of a firmware issue than anything else. The best thing to do is wipe the cache partition first and if that won’t work, then proceed to hard reset. Please note that all your data will be erased and your phone reset to factory defaults.

Wipe Cache Partition

  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.

Hard Reset

  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.

Having problems with your phone that’s not receiving texts? 

We can help you troubleshoot. We already published troubleshooting guides for the following devices:

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.

 

Fix Samsung Galaxy S5 “Unfortunately, the process com.android.phone has stopped” error

“Unfortunately, the process com.android.phone has stopped.” This is the actual message you can get if the Phone app in your Samsung Galaxy S5 crashes or stops working for some reason. If you’re in a call and this error pops up, the call gets dropped automatically and the person on the other line may still think the call is connected because the counter continues.

Samsung-Galaxy-S5-Phone-Stopped

This problem may occur out of the blue but sometimes it can also be triggered by a text message, regardless if it’s an SMS or MMS, that comes in during a call. Moreover, there were also reports suggesting the recent lollipop update may also cause this problem, although it obviously a firmware issue than just an app problem. Nevertheless, it needs to be addressed, so read on as I will guide you on how to troubleshoot this problem.

Here’s one example that proves the error occurs when the dialer app is accessed or used either by dialing someone or answering incoming calls…

“Hi guys! I just updated my Galaxy S5 to lollipop and while I successfully downloaded and installed the update, there’s one problem I encountered, so far. Every time I open the phone app to call someone or if somebody is calling me, the error message “Unfortunately, the process com.android.phone has stopped” will pop up. Hitting OK will get rid of the error but it shows again if the phone app is used. Please help me how to get rid of this error because it’s very disappointing. My phone is barely a year with me and this problem keeps happening over and over. Thanks for your time.” — Selena

Now, here’s an example of this error occurring after the lollipop update without apparent reason…

“Hi there, I have just seen your forum whilst looking for help with my phone and thought you may be able to help. I updated my Samsung Galaxy S5 this morning to the Lollipop 5.0, and now I am constantly getting a notification saying ‘Unfortunately, the process com.android.phone has stopped’ every time I touch my phone. Every time this notification pops up it turns off the internet or anything else making it impossible to use my phone.”

Before we dig in to this problem deeper, if you have other problems, visit the troubleshooting page we setup for Samsung Galaxy S5. It contains hundreds of problems we already addressed before. Find a problem that’s the same as yours and try the solutions we provided. If they won’t work for you, feel free to contact us as we are always willing to help you.

Error pops up when Phone app is used

Apparently, the error is triggered by the phone app and nothing else. While we can’t pinpoint what the cause is, more often, this problem occurs when the phone app has to load so much information while loading. Call logs and hundreds of contacts are the most common information this app will load when opened.

That said, it is logical to troubleshoot this app before going after other possible culprits. To address this problem, all you have to do is clear the cache and data of the phone app or the dialer…

  1. From any Home screen, tap Apps.
  2. Tap Settings.
  3. Scroll to ‘APPLICATIONS,’ then tap Application manager.
  4. Swipe right to the ALL screen.
  5. Scroll to and tap Dialer.
  6. Tap Clear cache.
  7. Tap Clear data, then OK.

Once you’re done with it, reboot your phone and open the Phone app and if possible, try to make a call just to find out if the error will still pop up. If so, isolate the problem by booting the phone in safe mode. This will tell you immediately if it’s a firmware issue or caused by one of your apps.

  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.

In safe mode, open the phone app. If the error still pops up and you haven’t updated your phone recently, then it’s time you did the master reset but don’t forget to backup all your important data and files as they will be deleted.

Master Reset

  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.

Error pops up while in call and message comes in

When in a call, all other processes in your phone continue to run in the background. So, basically, you can still receive your emails and text messages. The other variation of the error “Unfortunately, the process com.android.phone has stopped” is that it occurs when a text message comes in while in a call. This time, it’s not just the Dialer app that may be triggering the issue but also the Contacts and Messages app. The best thing to do for this situation is to clear the cache and data of the Dialer first and if the problem persists, do the same for the Contacts and Messages.

If you are currently using third-party messaging apps, try to uninstall them and see if the error still pops up when a message comes in while in a call. If so, it’s time to also perform the master reset.

Error started popping up after lollipop update

Is it the only error message that started popping up after the recent firmware update? If the answer is yes, then try clearing the cache and data of the dialer app first. If that won’t work, then wipe the cache partition because it’s possible that it’s just some caches that were corrupted during the update.

  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.

After wiping the cache partition and the problem is still happening, backup your data and reset your phone.

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.

 

How to fix Samsung Galaxy S5 that can’t receive text messages after the lollipop update

The Android 5 Lollipop update for the Samsung Galaxy S5 was one of the most anticipated updates this year and many have been waiting for its roll out, so much so that it created a buzz on the internet until it was made available for download. And then, likes turned to disappointments when users discovered it was full of bugs and other issues.

Samsung-Galaxy-S5-can't-receive-text-messages

Text messaging problems are among those issues and while many have found a workaround, there are still a lot of users out there who are helpless. Here’s one of our readers who encountered this problem. According to her, the Galaxy S5 just stopped receiving text messages after an update. She has the AT&T variant of the phone and we will try to look into the issue to see if we can help.

Here’s the actual message from Olivia…

Problem: I have NEVER had an issue with not receiving text messages (that I know of)… The only reason I found out about this issue is because my husband and I text all day long, and all the sudden I was noticing I was not getting any response from him randomly. He called and asked why I was asking him why he wasn’t responding, when he clearly was texting me?

While we were on the phone, I took a snap shot of my message thread from him, and he did the same and text it to me, needless to say I never got it, so he emailed it to me. We are annoyed that this started happening and not even sure why it is happening? Please help! His phone is a Galaxy S5 Active. Mine is Galaxy S5 (AT&T). Both newer phones, and need to find a solution to this issue, if it is a weird app on my phone, I will delete it. Please help. Thank you.

My phone just said 3 days ago it was doing a software update, I do not know if this has something to do with it? The only APPS I have installed on phone:

  • Bible
  • TiKL
  • Fuel Rewards
  • Gas Buddy
  • MP3 Music Download
  • Brightest Flashlight
  • Waz
  • Google Maps
  • Ricoh Print & Scan
  • Shazam
  • Trivia Crack
  • Weather Underground
  • Tango

I hope this helps, all the other apps on my phone came on the phone, or somehow were added when the updates have been done. — Olivia

Before we go any further to troubleshoot this issue, visit our Galaxy S5 Troubleshooting page if you have different problems with your phone. We already addressed hundreds of problems before so all you need to do is find issues related or the same as yours and try the solutions we provided. If they didn’t work for you, then feel free to contact us by filling up this form. Make sure to include all important details of the problem because the more information you provide, the easier for us to help you and the more accurate our solutions are.

Troubleshooting

The purpose of this troubleshooting is to know or have an idea what’s causing the problem. We will use the technical deduction method in troubleshooting this problem and everything will be based on how our reader described her problem.

Now, let’s begin with this…”I have NEVER had an issue with not receiving text messages (that I know of)… The only reason I found out about this issue is because my husband and I text all day long, and all the sudden I was noticing I was not getting any response from him randomly. He called and asked why I was asking him why he wasn’t responding, when he clearly was texting me?”

One of the reasons why the phone can’t send/receive messages abruptly is when there’s no credit left on the account of the owner, at least, that’s how it works in the U.S. However, she can still send text messages, which are of course, received by her husband, so it’s not credit-related.

So far, there were very few S5 owners who reported having messaging issues caused by other apps. The fact is it doesn’t matter how many messaging apps you installed on your phone, the messages will still be received. So, it’s not app related.

Before going even further in our troubleshooting, there’s one setting in the messaging app that needs to be checked because it concerns about the number of text messages the phone is allowed to receive per conversation. It is imperative to be checked in this case because Olivia said she and her husband exchange text messages everyday so there must already be thousands of messages sent and received in a week.

  1. From the Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
  2. Find and tap Messages.
  3. Touch the Menu icon on the upper-right corner (3 dots).
  4. Tap Settings from the options.
  5. Tap Delete old messages.
  6. Now tap text message limit.
  7. Increase the number of messages to be received.
  8. Touch OK.

If it was set to a lower number or if Delete old messages wasn’t enabled, then that could be the problem and at this point, it may have already been fixed. However, if the it remained after following the procedure above, then it’s time to go deep in our troubleshooting.

Let’s consider this… “My phone just said 3 days ago it was doing a software update, I do not know if this has something to do with it?”

The update may have messed up some caches or data. Since the problem affects the Messages app, it’s just right to clear its cache and data but before you actually do that, try rebooting the phone first if you haven’t done it yet.

  1. From any Home screen, tap Apps.
  2. Tap Settings.
  3. Scroll to ‘APPLICATIONS,’ then tap Application manager.
  4. Swipe right to the ALL screen.
  5. Scroll to and tap Messages.
  6. Tap Clear cache.
  7. Tap Clear data, then OK.

If the problem remained after this, try to boot the phone in safe mode. This time, let’s rule out the possibility that a third-party app has something to do with it.

  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.

You can still send and receive text messages in safe mode but if it’s still the same as when the phone is in normal mode, then it has something to do with the new update. At this point, the most logical thing to do is hard reset but make sure to backup all important data in your phone as they may be deleted, then 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, 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.

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.

 

How to fix Samsung Galaxy S5 that won’t charge properly and other problems

This post will address one of the messages we received from our readers. The main concern is that the phone won’t charge properly and the battery seems not to be able to hold the charge for long. The phone in questions is a Samsung Galaxy S5 running Android 5 Lollipop firmware.

Galaxy-S5-wont-charge-properly

Our reader, name not provided, has gone as far as replacing the battery in her device to no avail. The new battery, like the old one cannot hold the charge for long, according to her. So, battery issues have already been ruled out.

We will now focus in determining why the phone is having a hard time charging its battery and why the device drains the power quicker than before. Other issues she mentioned is the “touch light,” which, I assume, is the back light of the screen, randomly turns on and off.

For you to be able to understand the problem better, here’s the actual email message from our reader…

“When charging the device seems to surge, I don’t know how else to explain it. When connected to a computer to charge, I get a pop up every 30 seconds or so like I would when first connecting the device. When connected to a powerstrip at home my touch light will randomly turn itself on going through the 3 brightness levels then off then on again.

I have replaced the battery (when on battery power only the device will randomly open the all running programs I typically access from the bottom left two intersecting boxes).

Neither battery seems to keep a charge for long which is part of what lead me to thinking it was more of a battery issue than anything else. One of the charging cables I’m using is factory, the other is not. Does not change the behavior.

I am interested to hear your thoughts, my local provider can’t offer a better solution than to replace it…. I’ve had this one less than a year. Thanks for your help.”

If you have other concerns or problems with your phone, visit our Samsung Galaxy S5 Troubleshooting page as we’ve listed hundreds of problems we already addressed before. Find issues related to yours and try the solutions we provided. If they didn’t work for you, then feel free to contact us by filling up this form accurately.

Troubleshooting

Let’s try to troubleshoot each problem our reader cited…

“When charging the device seems to surge, I don’t know how else to explain it. When connected to a computer to charge, I get a pop up every 30 seconds or so like I would when first connecting the device.”

The term “surge” is unclear but I guess she meant that the phone couldn’t charge normally or properly like it did before. If it was charging properly, then there won’t be an issue if the device is connected to a computer. It will charge, albeit slowly, and won’t disconnect and/or reconnect from time to time.

I believe that our reader meant that the computer was prompting her that a device was connected when she said “get a pop up every 30 seconds or so like I would when first connecting the device.” Basing on that statement, we can confirm the charging process is interrupted every 30 seconds or so.

At this point, the possibility that it is a charger issue has already been ruled out since she already tried connecting the phone to a computer with the results. As to the possibility of a cable problem, it’s also been ruled out when she said in the later part of her message that “One of the charging cables I’m using is factory, the other is not. Does not change the behavior.”

Therefore, it is now safe to assume that the problem is with the device. There’s a possibility that it’s just the USB or utility port that has a problem; it may be loose or something. But it’s also possible that the phone suffered liquid damage.

According to our reader, when the phone is “connected to a powerstrip at home my touch light will randomly turn itself on going through the 3 brightness levels then off then on again.” This behavior is very common if there are some remnants of liquid left inside the phone touching some components. Also, the charging IC is among the first components that will be greatly affected if liquid finds its way into the phone.

But the bottom line is that it’s a hardware issue and while we want to help our readers fix their problems without going to a tech, this case needs proper and immediate attention. So, I suggest you take what your provider is offering you and enjoy the replacement unit or you can ask their tech to take a look at it if it can be fixed without much of a hassle on your part.

About the batteries draining quickly, I believe it’s still related to the charging problem. If you can have the phone fixed to charge properly, this problem will also be fixed for sure.

Connect with us

We are always open to your problems, questions and suggestions, so feel free to send them at [email protected] 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.

How to fix Sprint Galaxy S5 white screen with HTML codes problem

This post will address an issue that’s plaguing Galaxy S5 owners especially those who are under Sprint. We did receive several emails from our readers who reported they keep getting a while screen that contains this: <HTML><HEAD><TITLE>Success</TITLE></HEAD><BODY>Success</BODY></HTML>.

Galaxy-S5-HTML-problem

Some said the white screen pops up every 45 seconds or so while others reported it takes about 3 minutes for the screen to show up on their devices. It’s not really clear what caused it and as of this moment we’re still in the dark as far as this issue is concerned. But just so it’s clear, it’s not exclusive to Galaxy S5. Some iOS device owners also complained about this problem. It also concerns some Android users owning other phones with different brands and models.

But let me remind you, this post is intended for Sprint subscribers that use Galaxy S5. If you are connected with a different carrier, then the troubleshooting procedures I cited here won’t work for you. Rest assured, though, that we will dig more information about this problem to address your concerns.

However, if you have a different issue, visit our Samsung Galaxy S5 Troubleshooting page as we listed hundreds of problems we addressed in the past. Try the solutions we provided and if they didn’t work for you, feel free to contact us by filling up this form.

Troubleshooting

Now, let’s go back to the main problem. It’s imperative that you address this issue because you won’t be able to get good internet connection if it remained unsolved. In this case, you have two options and they’re actually related because both use the carrier-specific service called Connections Optimizer.

Please note that the Connections Optimizer is present only in Sprint devices. It is supposed to help make your device connected all the time but it is actually more of a “manager” than an “optimizer.”

First option: Turn off Connections Optimizer

While it comes as a pre-installed service on your device, Sprint actually gives you an option to disable it should you not want it to manage your connections and that’s the first thing you should try to fix this problem.

  1. From the Home screen, slide your finger from the top of the screen down to pull the Notification bar.
  2. Touch the Settings icon (cogwheel).
  3. Scroll to the Network Connections section and touch More networks.
  4. Now tap Mobile networks.
  5. Touch Connections optimizer.
  6. Untick the checkbox next to Connections optimizer to turn it off.

With the feature turned off, you can now manage which network your phone connects regardless of the signal strength. In case the problem remained after disabling this feature, then proceed to the next option.

Second option: Disable Connections Optimizer

There is a difference between “turning off” and “disabling” Connections optimizer in this post. When you turn it off via Settings, you are just preventing the service to manage your connections but it still runs in the background and somehow, affects some of the processes. That’s the reason why the problem may not be fixed by simply turning it off. So, you need to disable it entirely to prevent it from running.

  1. From any Home screen, tap Apps.
  2. Tap Settings.
  3. Scroll to ‘APPLICATIONS,’ then tap Application manager.
  4. Swipe right to the ALL screen.
  5. Scroll to and tap Connections optimizer.
  6. Tap Clear cache.
  7. Tap Clear data, then OK.
  8. Now tap Disable to prevent it from running.

Please note that the service will remain disabled until you enable it back. So far, these are the only options that have a potential to fix this problem. We will try to research more on this issue. If these procedures didn’t work for you, stay tuned for more updates once we’ve gather enough information.

Connect with us

We are always open to your problems, questions and suggestions, so feel free to send them at [email protected] 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.

Fix Samsung Galaxy S4 “Unfortunately, Gallery has stopped” error after lollipop update

One of the most common errors Galaxy S4 owners encountered after the most recent Android 5 Lollipop update is “Unfortunately, Gallery has stopped.” Apparently, it relates to the Gallery app and it may seem like it’s the root cause of the problem, more often than not, it’s just the effect. Some apps that use the service may have crashed affecting the Gallery and hindering it from opening and since it’s already an inconsistency in the system, Android will prompt an error message telling the user that the app crashed.

Galaxy-S4-Gallery-has-stopped

In this post, I will guide you through troubleshooting four different situations that lead to the same error message. These problems are proof the Gallery is one of the busiest apps in your phone and if one of the apps that uses it has a problem, it can easily be affected.

If you have other issues, however, I suggest you visit our Samsung Galaxy S4 Troubleshooting page as we’ve addressed hundreds of problems already. Try to find issues related to yours and try the solutions we provided. If they didn’t work for you, then email us at [email protected] and we will gladly help you fix issues with your phone. Just give us enough information about your phone and the problems so we can accurately assess what the issues are and provide you with appropriate solutions.

Now, here are the four problems I addressed in this post…

  1. “Unfortunately, Gallery has stopped” error shows when Camera launches
  2. “Unfortunately, Gallery has stopped” pops up while viewing pictures
  3. “Unfortunately, Gallery has stopped” shows after taking pictures
  4. “Unfortunately, Gallery has stopped” shows when internet is off

“Unfortunately, Gallery has stopped” error shows when Camera launches

Problem: Hello droid guys. There’s currently a problem with my Samsung Galaxy S4. It’s a 2-year old phone but it was doing fine until the recent update that caused this problem. There’s an error that keeps popping up every time I open the Camera app. It says, “Unfortunately, Gallery has stopped.” Why would this app stop working when I’m using the camera? I really can’t understand why it’s happening so if you know how to fix it, please let know the solution as it’s bugging me every single time I open the camera. I can’t take pictures with this error on. Thanks. — Roel

Troubleshooting: Camera and Gallery works hand-in-hand. When you snap pictures, the latter will manage it, i.e. place them in the directory specified by the user, crop thumbnails, etc. Apparently, the Camera triggers the error so you go after that first in your troubleshooting. Try clearing both the cache and the data of the Camera and see if that fixes the problem.

  1. From any Home screen, tap the Menu key.
  2. Tap Settings.
  3. Tap the More tab.
  4. Tap Application manager.
  5. Swipe left or right to go to the All tab.
  6. Scroll to and tap Camera.
  7. Tap Clear cache.
  8. Tap Clear data, then OK.

The procedure rules out the possibility that it’s just a glitch in the app that’s causing the problem. If, however, the problem remained after that, then go for the Gallery app this time. Don’t worry, the app doesn’t actually store your pictures and videos, it just manages them. So, nothing will be deleted if you cleared its cache and data. Just follow the steps above but instead of choose Camera, choose Gallery.

Now, if clearing the cache and data of both apps didn’t fix the issue, then there could be another app that’s causing the conflict, or worse, it could be a problem with the Camera sensor itself. Boot your phone in safe mode and see if the camera works fine and if the error message won’t pop up. If the problem persists even in safe mode, then try to rule out the possibility of a firmware issue by performing master reset. That’s the last resort and if the problem remained after that, you need to have the phone checked by a technician.

How to boot Galaxy S4 in Safe Mode

  1. Turn the device off completely.
  2. Press and hold the Power button.
  3. Once the Samsung Galaxy S4 logo appears on the screen, release the Power button.
  4. As soon as you release the Power button, press and hold the Volume Down key.
  5. Continue holding the Volume Down key until the phone has completed the reboot process.
  6. If you can read ‘Safe Mode‘ at the bottom left corner of the screen, release the Volume Down key. Otherwise, repeat the process until you can boot the phone to Safe Mode.

How to Master Reset Galaxy S4

  1. Switch your phone off.
  2. Hold down the Power, Volume Up and Home buttons at the same time for about 10 seconds. Release them when the Android logo appears on the screen. This will bring up the unlock/reset menu.
  3. To navigate through this menu, use the volume up/down buttons to scroll up and down and the power button to confirm selections.
  4. Scroll down and select Wipe Data/Factory Reset.
  5. Scroll down and select Yes – Delete All User Data.
  6. When prompted, scroll to and select Reboot System Now. The phone will then reboot to its factory settings.

“Unfortunately, Gallery has stopped” pops up while viewing pictures

Problem: This problem started recently with my Samsung Galaxy S4. Now, every time I try to view a picture, I get an error message saying, “Unfortunately, Gallery has stopped.” I remembered the first time it happened; the phone froze for a few seconds when I opened one of the pictures, when it became responsive again, I tried opening another picture and this error popped up. That’s what I remember, so far, so it doesn’t really make sense to me why it’s happening. Do you have any idea how to fix this problem? Thank you.

Troubleshooting: Based on your description, there’s no apparent reason why Gallery would crash, so it must be just a glitch in the app or its cache or data may have been corrupted. The best way to address this is to clear the cache and data.

  1. From any Home screen, tap the Menu key.
  2. Tap Settings.
  3. Tap the More tab.
  4. Tap Application manager.
  5. Swipe left or right to go to the All tab.
  6. Scroll to and tap Gallery.
  7. Tap Clear cache.
  8. Tap Clear data, then OK.

If you have a lot of pictures, however, try to make a backup and delete them from your phone and then try to take a picture using the camera and try viewing it. If the error still pops up, I’m afraid you really have to perform master reset.

“Unfortunately, Gallery has stopped” shows after taking pictures

Problem: Hi! I noticed yesterday that many of my photos were gone and then today they came back only to be lost again after a few hours. The funny thing is when I take a picture using the camera, the picture shows it was taken but a few seconds later an error would pop and say “Unfortunately, Gallery has stopped.” It’s actually the first time I encountered this problem and I’m thinking maybe it’s the reason why many of my photos were lost. Can you help me fix this error, please?

Troubleshooting: I think the photos that were missing are the ones that were saved in your microSD card, which is starting to malfunction. That explains why those photos reappeared but got lost again. The error message is actually just the effect of the malfunctioning microSD card. Your camera may have been set to directly save pictures to the microSD card and since it’s not working the way it should, the Gallery, which manages the photos, would crash because the directory it’s trying to access to save the photos to is unreadable.

So, basically, this is a microSD card-related problem. Troubleshoot or fix it and the error message will go away. I suggest you physically unmount it from your phone and let your computer read from it. If the computer can read the card, try to backup every important file you have especially the photos, and then, reformat it using the FAT32 format. Once finished, mount it back on your phone and see if it can read from it again. If not, then it’s time you bought a new microSD card to replace the defective one.

And just a warning, once the microSD card starts to malfunction, it’s on the verge of being damaged. Don’t save your important data in it as you might regret it when it finally becomes unusable.

“Unfortunately, Gallery has stopped” shows when internet is off

Problem: Good day! There’s this error message that keeps coming out on my Galaxy S4, “Unfortunately, Gallery has stopped.” I understand that the Gallery app crashed when it does this but what I want to know is why. I can’t remember any significant event that could lead to this problem. And by the way, it happens every time I’m out of Wi-Fi range. So, it got me thinking, what has Gallery got to do with the Internet that it crashes when the connection is lost? Can you shed light on this problem? Thanks.

Troubleshooting: The Gallery app is like the right hand of the Camera app. Whatever picture or video the camera takes, the Gallery will manage it. If you think its job stops there, you’re wrong. It always manages pictures from your online account like Facebook, Instagram, Google+, etc. So, if you have synced your online accounts with your phone so it can automatically upload photos to or download from, then that explains why the Gallery online crashes when you don’t have an active internet connection. But the thing is, it’s not supposed to do that; it’s not supposed to sync if there’s no internet. So, to address this problem, just reset the Gallery settings by clearing its cache and data. That should do it.

  1. From any Home screen, tap the Menu key.
  2. Tap Settings.
  3. Tap the More tab.
  4. Tap Application manager.
  5. Swipe left or right to go to the All tab.
  6. Scroll to and tap Gallery.
  7. Tap Clear cache.
  8. Tap Clear data, then OK.

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Samsung Galaxy S5 Problems After Lollipop Update & How To Fix Them [Part 64]

Samsung-Galaxy-S5-Problems-22

Welcome to the 64th part of our popular Galaxy S5 Troubleshooting series. There are several problems I addressed in this post and most of them started to happen immediately after the lollipop update. So, if you just updated your phone to the latest firmware and you have issues, try to see if there’s a problem that’s related to yours.

We provide free Android support to our readers, so you can contact us anytime about your phone problems. When you email us, please include all necessary details like the model of your phone, the version of Android it’s running, what its general behavior is, and what the problem is all about. Send them to [email protected] or you may also post on our Facebook wall and/or Google+ page.

These are the problems I addressed in this post:

  1. Galaxy S5 Shows “Your Android Requires Upgrade” Error
  2. Galaxy S5 Battery Draining Instead of Charging
  3. Galaxy S5 Reboots With Its Screen Glitching
  4. Galaxy S5 Shows “No Internet Connection” Error
  5. Galaxy S5 Keeps Reconnecting To Known Wi-Fi Networks
  6. Galaxy S5 Home Button Opens Up Google Search
  7. Galaxy S5 Has Issues With MicroSD Card
  8. Is It Possible To Download Files To MicroSD Card
  9. Copy MP4 Files From Phone To Computer
  10. Galaxy S5 Screen Becomes Unresponsive
  11. Strange File/Folder Keeps Appearing on Galaxy S5
  12. Galaxy S5 Wi-Fi Won’t Turn On
  13. Error Message 505 When Installing App on Galaxy S5
  14. Galaxy S5 Problems/Issues That Require Master Reset

Galaxy S5 Shows “Your Android Requires Upgrade” Error

Problem: Hi! So my name is Leslie and I just recently got my Samsung galaxy s5 about 3 months ago. I purchased it brand new and everything seemed to be doing fine until recently where I click on an app and it will direct me to download another app on play store or direct me to a Google page stating that my system needs an update before it fails completely. I don’t trust it quite yet and would really appreciate any help! I’ve sent a screen shot of the message when it redirects me. Thanks! — Leslie

Related Problem: There was this app I installed on my Galaxy S5 that will bring me to a screen that says my phone needs to be upgraded. When I tap the Update Now button, it asks me to download yet another app but not an update. And I also noticed that when this error pops up, the phone becomes real slow that I have to wait a few seconds before the phone responds to my commands. Can you help me, please? — Kathy

Galaxy-S5-Requires-Upgrade-Error

Troubleshooting: Hi Leslie. Thank you for providing a screenshot. Actually, we’ve been receiving emails from our readers before that had the same issues like yours. And this I say to all people who have encountered this issue; there’s no problem with your phone! All you gotta do is uninstall (and I mean immediately) the app that is responsible for this as it is obviously a junk!

Based on the screenshot sent by Leslie (the one you can see above), the page shows up in a browser and not the Play Store. Check out the section I marked red; it shows the URL of the website that renders the page. That’s one sign it isn’t legit. The other thing is the spelling. Check out the words “recommands” and “comsume.” So, don’t be fooled by this thing if ever you’ll encounter something like it.

Galaxy S5 Battery Draining Instead of Charging

Problem: I’ve owned my Galaxy S5 for about a year now & all of a sudden yesterday the charger started to actually DRAINING the power from y phone instead of giving it a charge?! I’m still using the original charger that was provided when I bought the phone, so it’s not a diff wattage power cord. Also, my phone is going to the home screen all on it’s own ALLOT lately. Any suggestions? I sooooo need a working phone being a single Mother of three boys, one of whom has had 5 open-heart surgeries in less than 4yrs. I NEED a phone. It’s Not I WANT a phone. There ARE differences between wants & needs which I know all to personally. I’d GREATLY appreciate ANY help you can offer. Thank You For Your Consideration & Time. Sincerely, Erica.

Related Problem: Hi guys. My Galaxy S5 phone is acting really weird lately. When I plug it to charge, the battery decreases even though it’s showing the charging icon. Consequently, it can’t finish charging and drains its battery completely. When that happens, I let it charge and it does. I guess, it can’t charge if the phone is on. So now, whenever, I charge it, I will have to turn the phone off. The problem is, I get emails and text messages all the time and they’re all work related, so I really have to get them shortly after they’re being sent by their respective senders. Do you know how to fix this problem? — Jane

Troubleshooting: Hello Erica and Jane. There are several factors why the phone drains it’s battery faster than the charger could charge. But the first most common reason is that there are a lot of apps and services that run in the background. To rule out this possibility first, try to boot your phone in safe mode and observe if the phone can charge normally while in that state.

Boot Galaxy S5 in Safe Mode

  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 the phone still drains its battery while plugged in, then there’s a possibility that it’s a battery problem. However, to make sure that it’s not just any firmware issue, I suggest you do the master reset first. I know all the hassles of backing up all your data but it’s necessary.

Galaxy S5 Reboots With It’s Screen Glitching

Problem: Hi, my name is Faranah and I was wondering if you could help me with my Samsung Galaxy S5. It’s about 5 months old and this morning it started giving me problems. Last night I fell asleep watching a TV show on it and it died in the middle of the night. When I woke up I put it in the charger and that’s when the problems started. The phone repeatedly started up then went black and started up again and this went on for about 15 minutes. I tried taking out the battery multiple times but the same thing happened. I did not drop my phone or expose it to any water. About 10 minutes ago the charging icon appeared and it started glitching with all different colors and patterns and now the charger icon is appearing and disappearing over and over again. I tried plugging it on a wall outlet and charging it with the computer. I don’t know if this is happening because I left it on overnight with a video playing or what. My parents will not be happy when I tell them so please help. Thank you for reading this. — Faranah

Related Problem: Hello! My phone is a Galaxy S5, which I bought about 7 months ago. As of late, I noticed its performance became poor but the slow downs were actually sporadic and I haven’t seen any pattern. Last night, I put it on charge then I slept. When I woke up in the morning, the phone was off so I turned it on. It did and it showed 100% battery. After a few minutes, the phone turned off and I turned it back on again. The same thing happened and now it’s a cycle and I can’t use my phone if it’s doing like this. What happened to it and how can I fix it? — Henry

Troubleshooting: The random reboots, if it started without apparent reason, may have been caused by a third-party app. I’ve seen issues like this before after installation of some apps. So, if you’ve installed an app prior to this issue, you may disable or uninstall the app to see if it makes a difference. If you don’t want to do that, you can boot your phone in safe mode to temporarily all downloaded apps. In case the problem remained even in safe mode, then you need to wipe the cache partition. At this point, we are looking at a possible firmware or hardware issue because if it were just an app problem, the safe mode remedy will work.

In Faranah’s case, it looks like it’s really a hardware issue as the screen glitches, which is one of the signs that the phone suffered either physical or liquid damage. But taking her word that the phone hasn’t been exposed in liquid or suffered physical damage, it is necessary to do full hard reset. This is to rule out the possibility of a firmware issue. Also, if there is an available firmware update, it should be downloaded and installed, although there is no guarantee to that.

In Henry’s case, wiping the cache partition will work.

Galaxy S5 Shows “No Internet Connection” Error

Problem: Hi! I went on a trip somewhere on Friday and I was using my friends mobile Hotspot for wifi. Now that I’m back home, my wifi is on but when I go to use a app that uses wifi (instagram or other social media) my phone says “No Internet connection” and I can’t seem to do anything about it. Do you guys have any solutions?

Related Problem: I don’t understand why my phone, which is a Galaxy S5, keeps saying it doesn’t have an internet connection when I’m within range of my home Wi-Fi network. Earlier in the day, I connected to Starbucks’ network and everything was fine. I could browse the internet, I even downloaded an app. Now, when I open Instagram, it says no connection. When I open the Play Store, it says the same thing. What can I do to fix this problem?

Troubleshooting: First of all, make sure that the your phone is connected to the Wi-Fi network you want it to get internet connection from. There are always times when the phone cannot automatically reconnect to the network it used to connect to. If it refuses to connect or even if it has connected successfully but there’s no active internet connectivity, then reboot your phone first because more likely it’s just a glitch.

After the reboot and the phone still refuses to connect or if internet connectivity hasn’t been established yet, then “Forget” the Wi-Fi network on your phone and let the phone detect and reconnect to it. It is also necessary to reboot your network equipment in case the problem persists. The thing is, the device can connect to other networks just fine, if it were a hardware problem, it cannot connect to any network at all. Lastly, if mobile data is turned on, try turning it off and try to connect to Wi-Fi network. The phone automatically switches between networks and this is often the cause why internet connectivity fails.

Galaxy S5 Keeps Reconnecting To Known Wi-Fi Networks

Problem: In the past, both my S5 and previous smartphones would automatically reconnect to my home network and other networks I had previously connected to. Most of the time I have to turn my Wi-Fi off & back on for it to connect. I just checked the list of Wi-Fi connections while at home. Even though my Wi-Fi was active, it said it was out of range. I turned Wi-Fi off & back on, and then the Wi-Fi appeared and connected.

I’ve also had to re-enter my home Wi-Fi security password numerous times, but not always. A Verizon store rep told me it was my provider, but I’m suspicious these two issues are related.

I’ve also noticed that even though the Wi-Fi is connected, it continues to scan! Why?

Thanks for your assistance on this. My stepson also has a S5 and his phone lost Wi-Fi signal without any warning, resulting in 6GB in data usage in 6 days! It’s more than just a nuisance! — Steve

Troubleshooting: Hi Steve. After the lollipop update, there were actually a lot of owners who encountered this problem. It seems like the Galaxy S5 has become very sensitive in detecting signals. There is a feature in your phone called Smart Network Switch. It enables the phone to switch between Wi-Fi and mobile data networks. The thing is, internet connectivity is lost during the switch and that the phone keeps doing it more often than you expect. Not only it loses connectivity, it also drains the battery quicker. So, to fix this problem, you need to turn off the Smart Network Switch feature:

  1. From the Home screen, tap Apps icon.
  2. Tap Settings.
  3. Tap WiFi.
  4. Make sure the checkbox next to Smart Network Switch is ticked.

Galaxy S5 Home Button Opens Up Google Search

Problem: Perhaps you have already covered this problem and I missed it. Recently, my phone developed an annoying problem. When I press the home screen button, sometimes it brings up Google search, and sometimes it takes me to my home screen. It doesn’t seem to matter if I press it quickly, or normally. Long-pressing also brings up the search function.

This gets extremely frustrating when, sometimes, repeatedly pressing the home button continually brings up search, and nothing short of using the back button to exit an app, can get me back to the home screen. This makes multi-taking much more difficult. Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks, Robert.

Troubleshooting: Hey, Robert! You’re right, we’ve already covered this specific issue. Actually, it can be considered a glitch and there are various ways to address this. You can disable Google Search service via application manager to prevent it from popping up or you can simply soft reset the device.

How To Soft Reset Galaxy S5

  1. While the phone is on, remove the back panel and pull the battery out.
  2. For a minute or two, press and hold the Power key.
  3. Place the battery back in and turn the phone.
  4. The problem should be resolved by now.

Galaxy S5 Has Issues With MicroSD Card

Problem: Have just got the S5 and lollipop came right after. problems w first 64g sd card were probably due to bad card so got another. Seems to work better but do have problems copying files to card from laptop at times where a bunch will get put in a ‘lost dir’ folder and have to clean that up, but most files copy okay.

Problem now is using the sd for camera pics doesn’t work and have to use main memory. sd card is fat32 formatted by the phone so left it at that instead of exfat. had to switch storing pics back to main 16g. Have any solutions? — Rich

Troubleshooting: Hey Rich! I understand your phone has issues with your new microSD card but your statement “doesn’t work” is vague. We really can’t provide an accurate solution to this problem simply because we don’t know what the real problem is.

If you have issues transferring photos from your phone’s memory to the microSD card, then use your computer to move them. Or, you may set the camera to automatically save photos in the microSD card moving forward.

Is It Possible To Download Files To MicroSD Card

Question: Hi droid guy, so glad to have some one with your knowledge to help us out. I have the Galaxy S5 and have not yet upgraded to lollipop as I have read of the various problems people have. Will wait for it to be tried and tested for a while. In the mean time my question is with kitkat came the whole sd card issue. My phone is not rooted and I will not root it. Is there anyway to save downloaded videos-music clips directly on to my sd card. It sucks that I have to first download on my internal memory and then transfer to micro sd. I have a 128 gb micro sd card but since I cant directly download to it I am stuck having to download 1 file at a time and transfer as my internal memory is limited and filled with apps I cant move to sd. It is very frustrating as I would love to keep 10 files for downloading and not have to worry about space running out. Is there any resolve to this? does lollipop give us a solution? Please help. Thanks. — Kanchi

Answer: Hi Kanchi! I understand your question pretty well but it all depends what app you use to download videos or music files. For an un-rooted Galaxy S5, there are only a few apps that can directly save files to the microSD card; camera, voice recorder and web browser. However, there are third-party apps that can also do this. If you’re using an app to download those files from the web, then try to see under its settings if there’s an option to directly write on the SD card, otherwise, use the web browser to do the job for you..

Copy MP4 Files From Phone To Computer

Problem: Hi guys, my S5 is nearly a year old now and I have just tried to down load all of my pictures and video taken using the camera. It will down load all of the JPEG files but non of the mp4 files.

When I search for the files through the computer I can’t even find them even though it tells me where they are.

Path:/storage/extSdCard/DCIM/Camera/. No sign of these files but they are on my phone.

Any ideas on how to get these copied to my computer? I tried emailing but the files are large and need to be trimmed to be sent and when received the quality is terrible. Thanks for your help! — Gary

Troubleshooting: The path tells us that these files are saved in the microSD card. Honestly, I don’t know why this is happening to your phone but the easiest way to work around this issue is to physically un-mount your microSD card and let the computer read from it directly.

Galaxy S5 Screen Becomes Unresponsive

Problem: Hi, I have been reading your column with great interest and I think you have been doing a wonderful job. However, I have not seen my specific problem addressed.

My phone did an automatic system upgrade and since then, I notice that whenever I talk on the phone and I am sweating and the screen gets sweat on it it goes “crazy”. For example, it opens apps that I haven’t even touched e.g. “Voice Search”, it goes to text messages, contacts, S Health etc all on its own. Also too the widgets become “reduced”, if that makes sense. During that time the screen is unresponsive and no button works. Sometimes if I try to power it off or restart it it would, other times when I press the power button and I press “power off” or “restart” nothing happens and I just have to leave the phone alone. Also during this “crazy” behaviour if the phone is ringing I can’t answer it as the screen is unresponsive. This is driving me nuts! Please help! Thanks, Simone.

Troubleshooting: Hi Simone! If this issue started after updating the phone to lollipop, then it’s probably just some corrupt caches and data that’s causing all this. Wiping the cache partition is more likely to fix it. However, if the phone suffered liquid or physical damage, then you need to send it in for repair.

Wipe Cache Partition

  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.

Strange File/Folder Keeps Appearing on Galaxy S5

Problem: Hi, ‘m having an issue with my S5. A weird folder keeps popping up in my photo gallery. It says, “app_cache”, and is an image of red lips puckered like the mouth is kissing with a white background. It looks like a painting, or drawing, not a photo. I delete it, it comes back. I’ve gone into My Files and found it there under a folder or file called, “kbatterydoctor”, or “kbattery” something. I don’t remember what it says after battery and of course, now it’s not there when I looked for it to describe it in this email. Anyway, I have deleted it and it still comes back. I performed a factory reset and it’s still happening. Do you know what this is and do you have any suggestions on how to remove it from my phone and keep it from appearing again? Thanks, Valerie.

Troubleshooting: Hello Valerie! Try to go to Settings, then application manager. Swipe left or right to display contents of the ALL tab and find an app that has a name similar to the file you found or “kbattery.” If you can find one, try to force stop it first, then clear its cache and data before uninstalling it. If there’s no app like that, then there must be an app with probably less “spammy” name that’s responsible. Honestly, I don’t know what app it is but it’s up to you to find that one.

I understand you already reset the phone and I assume after that, you just “restored” all your apps and not install them one-by-one that’s why the problem remained. I suggest you reset the phone again but this time, remove the microSD card before doing so. Then, re-install all your apps one after another but while doing so, be mindful if the file returns or not. After installing all your apps and the problem didn’t show up, place your microSD card back to your phone and see if the problem returned. If so, then you need to reformat the SD card.

Galaxy S5 Wi-Fi Won’t Turn On

Problem: Hi, I just updated my Sprint Galaxy S5 to lollipop and its working great. But 2 days ago when I tried to use my internet the Wi-Fi won’t respond or won’t turn on at all. I rebooted the device several times and assuming that the issue will be fixed but its not helping. When I tap Wi-Fi icon the color will changed to green but after a few seconds it turns off. I already searched for any solution in the internet but I can’t find one. Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks! – Par

Troubleshooting: Hey Par. I encountered a lot of issues like this before and the most effective way to fix it is to boot the phone in safe mode, turn on Wi-Fi while in that state, and then reboot the phone in normal mode. After that, you can turn the Wi-Fi on and off any time. The problem is actually caused by a third-party app. If you can find the culprit, disabled or uninstall it and the problem will also be fixed.

Error Message 505 When Installing App on Galaxy S5

Problem: Hi I have Galaxy S5 under by Sprint; I noticed the issue a week after I updated my device software to lollipop. The issue is very annoying because when I install certain app the message will show up “Error 505”. I tried everything to install the app but it won’t. I also rebooted and perform soft reset but it’s not helping. Please help! – Marius

Troubleshooting: The Error 505 is always related to Google Play Store. There are two ways to address this problem; the first is to clear the cache and data of the app and if that won’t work, then delete your account and just set it up again. That should do it.

Galaxy S5 Problems/Issues That Require Master Reset

The following problems cannot be fixed by any troubleshooting procedures except master reset. So, backup all your data especially ones that are saved in the phone’s internal memory before you follow the steps below.

Problem 1: Samsung Galaxy S5, about a year old, now with Lollipop. TouchWiz home crashes a few times a day, including usually right after reboot.

Additionally, on reboot, the lock screen with finger print lock, which is enabled, does NOT come up immediately.

I can make phone calls (from recent calls), browse facebook, even opened airDroid to change settings.

The phone eventually pulls up thr lock screen, and sometimes I only get 10-15 seconds of free use, but a few other times, it has seemed like minutes.

Then, some time later, it raises thr reminder to be sure the back cover is firmly in place, well after all of thay, and eventually unlocking.

Such a shocking security vulnerability, am just shocked I’m not seeing other reports.

Problem 2: Hello, I sure hope you can help me. I love my phone, and it has always been able to set reminders whenever I have requested them. By using either voice commands for writing it out, I could always tell my phone to set a reminder for such and such date and time and event. A few weeks ago, I tried giving this command and it came back promptly with the message “That’s not available on this device.”

This came out of the blue, as I’ve had my phone for almost 2 years and have always been able to set reminders of any kind. I tried to think of everything to figure out why this is happening and maybe I installed an update that I didn’t know about? But none the less, I cannot fix it and have no idea why it continues to happen. Please help because I very much depend on it. Thank you, Maureen.

Problem 3: Hi, I’m not sure when my issue started but I just noticed it after I updated my phone’s software to lollipop. When I tried to tap my S Voice it won’t launch and it’s greyed out. I rebooted the device several times but the app still not working. And by the way, I’m with Sprint for a year now and my phone is Samsung Galaxy S5. Please help! – Megan

Master Reset Galaxy S5

  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.

Engage with us

We are always open to your problems, questions and suggestions, so feel free to send them at [email protected] 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 everyday 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.

Samsung Galaxy S5 Problems After Lollipop Update & How to Fix Them [Part 63]

Galaxy-S5-Lollipop-Problems-57

Hello guys! Welcome to yet another part of our popular Galaxy S5 Troubleshooting series. We are still receiving hundreds of emails (literally) from S5 owners asking for our help. So, Samsung may still have to roll out updates to patches issues after the Android 5 lollipop update.

There are ten problems I cited in this post and if you’ve been bugged by an issue or two, skim through this page to see if your concerns are among the ones I addressed. If not, feel free to send us email at [email protected] or post on our Facebook wall and/or Google+ page.

We are serious in providing our readers this free Android support so please, do your part and provide us will all necessary details like the model of your phone, how it behaves before and after the problem, and what you’ve done so far to address the issue.

These are the problems I addressed in this post:

  1. Verizon Galaxy S5 LED Notifications Won’t Work After Android 5
  2. Galaxy S5 Stuck On Logo After Lollipop Update
  3. Galaxy S5 Drains Battery So Quickly After the Update
  4. Galaxy S5 Keeps Freezing After Lollipop Update
  5. System UI Stopped After Galaxy S5 Lollipop Update
  6. Music App Stopped on Galaxy S5 After the Update
  7. Galaxy S5 Can’t Send/Receive MMS After the Update
  8. Insert SIM Card Error After Lollipop Update
  9. Galaxy S5 Keeps Saying It’s Connected to Wi-Fi
  10. Galaxy S5 Shows I have -1 Text Message

Verizon Galaxy S5 LED Notifications Won’t Work After Android 5

Problem: Hello! I just hung up with Verizon yet AGAIN with NO solution to my problem except that “Samsung is aware of the glitch and they are working on a Software Update”.

This is my issue…I upgraded to the above referenced software and ever since then I no longer receive LED notifications. Verizon recommended I download LIGHT FLOW so I paid for and downloaded it. It doesn’t work. I then loaded Light Manager, it didn’t work. And finally Flash Notification 2 and Light Manager. NONE worked.

I know my LED light works because it flashes when I turn the phone on and off. But for some reason it doesn’t work for ANYTHING else. I REALLY need the notification lights since I can’t have my ringer on at work. The LED’s show me when I have messages to tend to.

Any advice you have would be great! Thanks so much! — Kim

Troubleshooting: Hi Kim! There were actually a lot of Verizon subscribers who were complaining about this certain issue. And yes, it seems like the recent Android 5 lollipop update is the culprit as all of them said the problem started immediately after the installation of the new firmware. The most useful workaround has always been Light Flow and I’m surprised to know it didn’t work for you.

For now, please uninstall all apps you installed that manipulate the LED indicator. Once you’re done uninstalling them, boot your phone in safe mode and observe closely if light notifications work in that state. If not, there’s no other option left for you to do but factory reset. If it were just a glitch, then a reset may just fix the problem.

Boot Galaxy S5 in Safe Mode

  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.

Master Reset Galaxy S5

  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.

Galaxy S5 Stuck On Logo After Lollipop Update

Problem: Hi guys! I just receive the notification yesterday to download the lollipop firmware to my phone. I did and the download went smooth as it should and then the installation but when the time the phone rebooted, it hasn’t finished it. Instead it was stuck on the Samsung logo then the screen went black. So I tried pulling the battery out and start the phone up again, still stuck. I don’t know how to fix this problem. Help me, please. — Joshua

Troubleshooting: Hi Joshua. If the download and installation went through, then I’m almost certain the reason why the phone got stuck on the logo during boot up is because some cache have been corrupted. Clear these caches and the phone should work. Just follow these steps and you’ll be fine:

Wipe Cache Partition

  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.

Galaxy S5 Drains Battery So Quickly After the Update

Problem: Dear Sirs, I live in Brazil and I used to have a iPhone 5. Due to problems related to battery fast draining I decided to change into a Galaxy 5S.

In the beginning, the change was very hard, but I got used to the smartphone and I started enjoying the new toy, mainly it’s customization capability.

A month or two ago I was invited to install the Lollipop update and since then my toy became a nightmare. The worse of all is that the battery is now lasting less than my former iPhone.

Bottom line: next Saturday I will be at an Apple branch in order to buy my new iPhone 6.

I cannot understand how a company like Samsung delivers to his customers an unfinished product! Best regards, Paulo.

Troubleshooting: Hey Paulo! A lot of things could happen during and after the installation of the new firmware and I understand why you decided to switch back to iPhone. That’s your decision and no one can force you to continue using a phone that’s giving you a hard time.

There were actually a lot of users who were complaining from quick battery drain after the lollipop update and many of them said factory reset can fix the problem. I suggest you try that just to see if the problem gets fixed. If not, well, at least you tried.

Galaxy S5 Keeps Freezing After Lollipop Update

Problem: Hi, I’m with AT&T for a year now and I have Galaxy S5. The issue of my device started after I updated my phone’s software from Kitkat to lollipop. For almost a week now my device is not working properly, all of my apps and games are lagging and all I can do on my device is call and send texts messages. How can I fix it? – Lou

Troubleshooting: Hi Lou. Well, at least, we know you can still send text messages and make/receive calls. That’s actually a sign that the freezing and all those performance-related issues aren’t hardware-related. I’m sure the phone will work properly if in safe mode but to fix this problem, try wiping the cache partition first. If that won’t work, then proceed with master reset.

System UI Stopped After Galaxy S5 Lollipop Update

Problem 1: Hi guys! Immediately after installing the new lollipop update, I got an error on my Galaxy S5 saying, “Unfortunately, System UI has stopped.” Called my provider and the rep just didn’t know how to fix this problem and I was transferred to Samsung rep. They want me to send in my phone for repair without even attempting to fix it. That’s why I’m contacting you guys hoping you know something that could fix this problem. Thanks. — Jocelyn

Problem 2: Hey, last week I updated my AT&T GS5, for a few days my phone is working great and I don’t have any issues on my device. But for 2 days now my phone showing a message “System UI has stopped“. When I rebooted the device the message won’t show up but after an hour the message will occur again. I don’t know how to fix this issue and if you can help me that would be great. Thanks! – March

Troubleshooting: This is actually more of an Android related (Google side) issue. If the error said something about Touchwiz, then we have Samsung to blame for that and Jocelyn, that might be the reason why the Samsung rep wanted you to send the phone in so they could check it.

I encountered this problem before and while System UI is a native Android service, there are third-party apps that can trigger this problem as well. So, to rule out such possibility, boot the phone in safe mode first. Once you’ve done that, observe to see if the error still pops up. If not anymore, then our suspicion that a third-party app is causing all this is confirmed. Then you will have to search the app that’s causing the problem. It won’t be easy to find that app so you will have to go through them and disable one after the other until the culprit is found. If you have hundreds of apps on your phone, then proceed with factory reset.

In case the problem still happens in safe mode, I still suggest you do the master reset and if the problem persists, then send the phone in so Samsung tech can take a look at it. Reflashing of the firmware may be necessary to fix it.

Music App Stopped on Galaxy S5 After the Update

Problem 1: Hi guys! About 4 days ago, I received that notification that says lollipop is ready for my phone. I waited a couple of days before downloading it and everything actually went through and I was happy, although, it was short-lived. The performance became really poor after the update. While I can still use my phone the way I want it (calls, texts, facebook,etc.), there’s this error message that keeps popping up: “Unfortunately, Music has stopped.” This error pops up regardless whether I open the Music app or not. If I launch the app, the error pops up instantaneously, otherwise, it pops up randomly. Do you guys know how to fix it?

Problem 2: Hello, I have an issue in which, my stock music app crashed most of the time. When I tried to tap the app the message will show up saying “Unfortunately music has stopped”. This issue started when I updated my AT&T Galaxy S5 system to lollipop. In fact, this is not a huge problem to me because I use Spotify and Google music if I want to listen my favorite songs. However, it’s just surprising that a stock app crashed most of the time. Is anyone experiencing issue like this? – Pat

Troubleshooting: Hey guys. The first thing I want you to do in a bid to address this problem is to clear the cache and data of the Music app. I haven’t heard about a glitch related to the music app after the lollipop update but since this is happening to you, let’s just stick with app-specific troubleshooting.

Clear Cache & Data of Music App

  1. From any Home screen, tap Apps.
  2. Tap Settings.
  3. Scroll to ‘APPLICATIONS,’ then tap Application manager.
  4. Swipe right to the DOWNLOADED screen.
  5. Scroll to and tap Download manager.
  6. Tap Clear cache button.
  7. Tap Clear data button, then OK.
  8. Reboot the phone.

If this procedure can’t fix the problem, factory reset the phone. Backup your data before doing so because they will be deleted.

Galaxy S5 Can’t Send/Receive MMS After the Update

Problem: Good morning droid guy! I purchased a Galaxy S5 off eBay several months ago. I got it to work with Straight Talk and everything was working fine until the lollipop update. After the installation of the recent firmware, I could no longer send picture messages. My friend emailed me saying she sent at least 5 MMS yesterday but I didn’t receive one. I really don’t know what the problem is, I just want it to be fixed. Help me, thanks. — Michelle

Troubleshooting: Hi Michelle! The problem is with the APN settings in your phone. As you said, you bought the phone from eBay and got Straight Talk as your provider. It’s safe to assume that you’re a BYOP (Bring Your Own Phone) customer. That said, the update may have messed up or deleted the APN in your device and I heard that ST changed its APN recently. So, call tech support, ask for the correct APN and let the rep walk you through setting it up in your device.

Insert SIM Card Error After Lollipop Update

Problem: Hi droid guys, I have a little issue with my phone and I’m an AT&T customer for two years now. The issue started after I do update on my software and after an hour my phone cannot anymore recognize a SIM card. However, I reboot my phone several times but the message shows on the phone screen “Insert SIM Card”. I thought my Sim card was damaged so I purchased again another simcard but the notification still showing on the phone screen “Insert Sim Card”. I contacted the tech support of AT&T and rep told that she cannot fix my phone. I hope you can help with my problem. Thanks! — Mike

Troubleshooting: Hi Mike! If the problem happened after the lollipop update, then it’s almost certain it’s just a firmware problem. The only thing you can do is factory reset the phone and if the error shows up after that, you gotta send your phone in for repair. More often, with this kind of problem, we often re-flash or reinstall the firmware. You can have a local tech take care of the issue for you or let your provider do it.

Galaxy S5 Keeps Saying It’s Connected to Wi-Fi

Problem: I updated my phone yesterday to lollipop. After that, the phone keeps saying it’s connected to my Wi-Fi network and the same thing happens when I’m at work. I need to be connected to the internet all the time because of the nature of my job. So, when I leave home, the phone will be connected to mobile data until I arrive at work, then the phone will connect to Wi-Fi. But after the update, it will say it’s connected to the same Wi-Fi over and over again and the problem is, I don’t have a connection. I don’t understand this. Help me fix this, please. — Carolina

Troubleshooting: Hello Carolina! There’s this feature in the Galaxy S5 wherein the phone automatically reconnects to a network with more stable signal. Turn off that feature and the problem will be fixed. Here’s how:

  1. From the Home screen, tap Apps icon.
  2. Tap Settings.
  3. Tap WiFi.
  4. Make sure the checkbox next to Smart Network Switch is ticked.

Galaxy S5 Shows I have -1 Text Message

Problem: Hi! I have a weird problem. My Galaxy S5 is showing I have -1 unread SMS message! How did that happen? How can the phone display -1 message when there’s no unread message after all!? It’s not really a problem but it’s very annoying to see that read notification all the time. How can I get rid of it? — Butch

Troubleshooting: Hey Butch! It’s just a glitch and you can easily get rid of it by clearing the cache and data of the service that handles notifications that show on icons or badges. Here’s how:

  1. From Home screen, tap the Menu Button.
  2. Tap More Tab.
  3. Scroll down and tap Application Manager.
  4. Tap BadgeProvider.
  5. Now, tap Clear Cache, and Clear Data, then OK
  6. Reboot your device.

That’s it!

Engage with us

We are always open to your problems, questions and suggestions, so feel free to send them at [email protected] 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 everyday 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.

 

Verizon Galaxy S5 Problems After Lollipop Update & Ways To Fix Them [Part 3]

Samsung-Galaxy-S5-Tutorials

Hello guys! This is the 3rd part of our Galaxy S5 Troubleshooting series for Verizon subscribers who contacted us about their problems. There’s about a dozen of problems I addressed in this post so if you emailed us before or currently bugged by a problem or two, try to skim through it to see if your concerns are among the ones I cited.

We are always willing to help our readers deal with issues with their phones. So, feel free to send your questions/problems to [email protected]. You may also post on our Facebook wall, Google+ page or Twitter. Our team reads every email we receive, conduct research, contact people we know who might be able to help answer some questions and write solutions and/or troubleshooting guides to help you. So, please do your part and include every possible information relating to the problem you have with your phone.

The following are the problems I addressed. Click on a link to jump to a specific issue:

  1. Verizon Galaxy S5 Can’t Make/Receive Calls
  2. Verizon Galaxy S5 Can’t Read MP3 Files
  3. Verizon Galaxy S5 Shows Odd Boxes on Keypad
  4. Galaxy S5 Froze & Stuck on Verizon Logo During Boot Up
  5. Cooling Down Icon Popped Up on Verizon Galaxy S5
  6. Verizon Galaxy S5 Lollipop & Email Problems
  7. Verizon Galaxy S5 WiFi Won’t Turn Back On
  8. Calendar Information Lost After Lollipop Update
  9. Verizon Galaxy S5 Can’t Connect To WiFi After Update
  10. Multiple Issues With Verizon Galaxy S5 After Update
  11. GPS Inaccurate After Lollipop Update

Verizon Galaxy S5 Can’t Make/Receive Calls

Problem: My wife’s S5 started to have many dropped calls over the past three months. Now she can not receive nor send calls. All incoming calls go directly to voice mail box. All other functions seem to work including instant messaging and Words With Friends. We took the phone to a Verizon store and they performed a soft restart and replaced sims card. Problem not fixed. Called Verizon technical department and after 3 hours on phone and bringing phone to factory settings no solution. Verizon is apparently looking into cell phone tower problems to see if this was the cause. Funny, my S5 working fine from same towers. Verizon said a solution will be available after 72 hours. Still waiting….6 hours to go. Brother-in-law had same problem with his S5 in the Boston area…same issue…same cell tower excuse. He had to up-grade his phone to resolve situation. I think Verizon or Samsung should replace phone because it is still under a year old. Any other possible solutions? Thanks, Matt.

Suggestion: Hi Matt. Frankly and honestly speaking, there’s nothing we can do on our end that could fix this problem as it is obviously a network problem (not necessarily a tower issue in your area). When I was working as a tech support for one of the wireless companies in the U.S., I often got calls from customers who have the same problem as your wife. More often, the phone number (just the number and not the account) is disabled but since it’s still registered in the system, all incoming calls will be routed to the voicemail. We had a tool that can fix this problem in one click, so I’m thinking the issue might be a bit complicated. If not, why the tech department needs 72 hours (imagine 3 days without service) in order to give feedback on the problem?

So, for now, let’s wait what Verizon tech support will say about it and what they can do to restore your wife’s service. Again, this is beyond our control.

Verizon Galaxy S5 Can’t Read MP3 Files

Problem: I’ve been having this problem for a while (Galaxy s5 Verizon non rooted). When I get music from YouTube to mp3 or any other source for the matter the stock music player will display an error message saying the file isn’t supported. I check the file and its .mp3. I tried at least 6 other music apps and they read the songs just fine. I love the lollipop music player so I don’t want to change it. Please help me. — Ryan

Troubleshooting: You never mentioned if the stock music app can play non-converted .mp3 files. If it does, then the issue isn’t with the phone or the app but in the conversion of media files to .mp3 format. You also didn’t mention what method or app you’re using to convert YouTube (or whatever your sources are) videos to MP3, so I really can’t provide a specific fix to this problem.

You said, however, that other music players can read those converted files just fine. So, it’s clear that the stock music app can’t decode the files you converted to MP3. I suggest that your try to convert those MP3 files into MP3 files. Yes, you read that right, MP3 to MP3. But this time, try to use the app MP3 Media Converter.

Verizon Galaxy S5 Shows Odd Boxes on Keypad

Problem: Hi, my name is Celina and I’ve recently started having an issue with my Galaxy. When I go to unlock my screen I see odd little white boxes and letters beside the numbers on my keypad which I use to unlock my phone. I would like to know if I could fix this on my own or if I’d have to go get my phone checked for a virus or something of that nature. This recently started happening and if my lock my phone and go to unlock it again more boxes appear and some even are put over the numbers so I can’t see which numbers to press on the keypad to unlock my phone. I’d appreciate it if you could help me. Thank you. — Celina

Troubleshooting: Hi Celina! This is the first time we’ve heard of this issue so it’s not common considering we already addressed almost 1 thousand S5 problems reported by our readers. I was actually hoping you would take a screenshot and attach it to your email for us to have a clear picture of the problem.

There is a possibility an app is causing this. Please boot your phone in safe mode and then try to see if those odd boxes still show up. If not, then you need to find the app that’s causing the problem and uninstall it. Otherwise, it’s a firmware issue and master reset is just the most logical procedure. You may also email us back and provide a screenshot so we can dig into this problem deeper.

UPDATE: I asked a friend of mine who happened to have experienced this problem. He said it’s probably a bug with lollipop. There’s no permanent fix to this problem but just to temporarily address it, wiping the cache partition may work as well as master reset but the problem will definitely come back. After a few days. He himself already did the reset twice and the problem returned. Unless Samsung rolls out an update to fix the bug, this problem will keep coming back. Another workaround is to use Swiftkey as alternative to the stock keyboard.

Refer to the procedures below to wipe cache partition and perform master reset:

Wipe Cache Partition

  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.

Master Reset

  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.

Galaxy S5 Frozen & Stuck on Verizon Logo During Boot Up

Problem: Hi Samsung Team, my Galaxy S5 this morning froze while I was listing to Pandora, when I tried to back out of the app the reaction time was extremely slow. Once the Pandora app closed, all of the additional aps on my home screen disappeared and only displayed my wall paper. The phone froze and turned black, mimicking like it was turned off. My attempt to restart the phone by holding down the power key, resulted in the phone freezing on the Verizon Wireless logo. I took out he battery, and put it back in hoping that would fix the issue, however now the phone just won’t turn on.

Can you please help with this issue? Or at least explain what’s going on? Lastly, I’ve never had problems with this phone until the latest upgrade requirement was installed. Thank you, Curtis.

Troubleshooting: Hi Curtis! First of all, we are not associated with Samsung nor with Verizon but we are always willing to help our readers especially those who emailed us. Now, about your problem, since you specifically mentioned the problem occurred while you were using Pandora, the first thing I want you to do is boot your phone in Safe Mode. Please refer to this guide:

  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.

In safe mode, try to observe your phone’s performance to know if it still freezes. If so, then the problem isn’t with Pandora or any of your apps but with your phone’s firmware. Backup your data and perform full hard reset.

If, however, the phone couldn’t boot in safe mode, try to go into recovery mode and wipe cache partition, then boot into safe mode again. In case the phone performs normally in safe mode, boot in normal mode and find the app that’s causing the problem and uninstall it. Of course, begin your troubleshooting with Pandora.

Cooling Down Icon Popped Up on Verizon Galaxy S5

Problem: Hey there. I have a Verizon Galaxy S5. It recently had an update, so I downloaded it and installed it. About an hour after installing the update, the “cooling down” icon popped up. I did a little research and learned that most people have, recently, had this issue among others happen with the recent Lollipop update. I investigated this thinking I had updated the system to Lollipop, but I hadn’t according to the system software version. It had just reupdated or something to KitKat 4.4.4, which is weird because it already had it. I’ve had the cooling down icon for about 4 hours now and have been having sporadic network connecting and reconnecting notifications. My S5 has downloaded and prompted me to install Lollipop, but I’m refusing to do so until they come up with a stable fix. Any suggestions as to why it did this or how to get the cooling down icon to go away? Thanks. — RZ

Troubleshooting: Hello RZ! Let’s get things straight, you downloaded and tried to install lollipop but it didn’t push through. Then the cooling down icon popped up despite the fact the phone wasn’t overheating nor hot at all, right? So, apparently, the failed update process caused the problem and it seems like some data or cache were corrupted by it. That said, there are two things you can do:

  • Wipe the cache partition — this will take care of the problem in case only caches were corrupted. This must be the first thing you should do as it may save you from all the hassle of backing up your data.
  • Factory reset — if wiping the cache partition didn’t work, then this is the last resort. However, you will have to make a backup of files or data you don’t want to lose especially ones that were saved in your phone’s internal memory.

If all else fails, send the phone in for repair. I am sure that reflashing the firmware will fix the problem.

Verizon Galaxy S5 Lollipop & Email Problems

Problem: Droid Guy, I’ve had quite a struggle with the new lollipop system. Before getting into it, my phone had zero problems, great battery, ran fast, overall was a great phone. I’d go to bed after 16 hours of moderate to heavy use and it’d be at 50%.

Post Lollipop: It installed on my phone, and the phone became very slow and would overheat and DRAIN the battery while just sitting still. I noticed in particular it would be group texts through the standard Message+ App. I wouldn’t even have to look at them and the phone would drain a solid 10% in 10 minutes (or worse). The overall draining got better as apps updated, but the group message problem still persisted. I’d heard a factory reset would solve several problems and that lollipop should actually have better battery life, so about a month in to the new update, I went for it. Battery Percentage after a 16 hours of use would be around 15% before factory reset.

Post Factory Update: EMAIL PROBLEMS! A brand new problem arose, and this made it worse than before, by a lot. The phone would be consistently warm, and would drain 12% an hour. I noticed it was “Exchange Services” in combination with the Android System draining all the battery. So, reluctantly, I removed my corporate email from my phone, which has contacts, calendar, and email (this had been installed since I’d had the phone with no problems, ever). This fixed the battery drain, but I’d like to be able to have it on my phone. While email installed, phone died after 9 hours. Without, will be around 30% after 16, so still not great, but manageable. The couple other minor problems are receiving pop-up notifications on my wi-fi at work, which did not happen before, but now does post reset. I’ve heard both of these problems before on various forums, but no clear solution.

One more thing I thought of with the email. I noticed in the battery life monitor screen that the phone lists itself as “awake” even when the screen is off while email is installed. When its not installed, the phone will sleep correctly.

Please help! Thanks. — Brian

Troubleshooting: Hey Brian! If what I say next won’t help fix the problem, then I think the firmware needs to be reflashed so that these problems will be solved.

Exchange Services will only run in the background if user sets up a corporate email using the stock email app, which you did. I gotta tell you that it will jump to the top of the power hogs list if it continued syncing without an active internet connection (regardless whether it’s through WiFi or mobile data network). Unlike other background services, Exchange Services will keep trying to pull down data from the servers and the more it does that, the faster it drains the battery not to mention keeping your phone “awake” most of the time. In other words, it’s just the effect of what the real problem is after the factory reset.

The real problem here is represented by the notification that keeps popping up when you’re within range of your company’s WiFi network. You said that the phone never notified you of the availability of a WiFi network when you’re at work before because then, it automatically switches from mobile data (I am assuming that when you’re not at work, you’re using mobile data to have an internet connection). Now, it still does that but the recent lollipop update seems to have messed it all up for you. It made the phone super sensitive as to the strength of signals it receives that is why it frequently switches back and forth (from mobile data to WiFi and vice versa), which may result to interrupted, slow or no internet connectivity at all.

That said, the solution to this problem can be found in the Settings of your phone. Just follow the steps below:

  1. From the Home screen, tap Apps icon.
  2. Tap Settings.
  3. Tap WiFi.
  4. Make sure the checkbox next to Smart Network Switch is NOT ticked.

I hope this helps!

Verizon Galaxy S5 WiFi Won’t Turn Back On

Problem: My wife has a Verizon Samsung galaxy s5 and today it just disconnected from her WiFi at work. Not only that, but it turned the WiFi off and now will NOT let us turn it back on. I have the same phone and I turned my WiFi off then back on and it worked fine. Her Co worker had the same exact thing happen to him today as well. Won’t connect to our home network, nothing. When you push the switch to on, it just goes straight back to off. Trying you before just going into a Verizon store. — Andy

Related Problem: I have a Verizon S5 since last year and I don’t have an issue in my device. However, the issue started just this week when I updated my phone’s software to lollipop. There’s an instance that the device will automatically restart. It all started just this week and the device will restart several times in a day and I can’t fix it. Help! — Jig

Troubleshooting: Hi Andy! If the WiFi on your wife’s phone was functioning fine earlier in the day and just turned itself off and not allowing her or you to turn it back on, then it must be a glitch. But the thing is, we don’t know if it’s related to hardware or firmware, so we’ll have to rule out the firmware side first.

The first thing I want you to do with the phone is soft reset:

  1. Make sure the phone is on.
  2. Remove the back plate and pull the battery out.
  3. While the battery is out, press and hold the Power key for a minute.
  4. Place the battery back in and turn the phone on.
  5. Try to see if you can now turn the WiFi back on.

Just in case the soft reset didn’t fix the problem, try this procedure:

  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.
  8. Try to turn on the WiFi.
  9. If it does turn on while in safe mode, keep it on and reboot in normal mode.
  10. Once the phone has booted up normally, check if WiFi is on and try toggling it on and off to see if the problem is fixed.

If the problem remained after the safe mode procedure, then proceed with the wiping of the cache partition. Based on experience, this procedure often fixes issues like this, so it’s worth a try:

  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.

If all else fails, perform full hard reset. I’m sure that will fix the problem but you (or your wife) will have to go through the hassle of backing up every important file or data saved in your phone internal storage.

Calendar Information Lost After Lollipop Update

Problem: I just finished updating my Galaxy S5 on Verizon Wireless with the lollipop update when I open the calendar app that comes with the phone all my information was gone! everything else seems to have updated smoothly can I retrieve my calendar information somehow? Any help is appreciated thank you! — Dana

Troubleshooting: Hi Dana! I am sorry if all your calendar information were lost after the update but this problem is common. If you managed to sync your S Planner with any online calendar services like Google Calendar, then re-syncing it will retrieve all saved data. Otherwise, there’s no way you can recover those as S Planner may have been reset and all its data erased during the update.

Verizon Galaxy S5 Can’t Connect To WiFi After Update

Problem: Hello, my wife has a Samsung Galaxy S5. She said it updated a few weeks ago so i’m assuming it is Lollipop. the problem has starting occurring in the last 3 days. She used to have a good connection on our wifi at home but now it takes literally minutes just to get on. The wifi signal is all the way up o her phone and her ipad connects just fine to the wifi. If she switches to 4g it’s fine but of course that costs money. She has good connection in public wifi but at home she doesn’t. Her ipad connects to wifi, my dad’s tablet connects when he comes over too just fine so i’m assuming it’s not the router however i did reset the router and she did reboot her phone and still the same. We haven’t added anything new. Our internet is working just fine and no computer problems. Only thing running through router is computer, blu ray player, and wireless printer and no problems with any of those either. I just read about “forgetting network” and will have her try that. We want to avoid factory reset if possible. She did clear her internet cache.   I also read some stuff about settings in the router that i want to try. I just wanted to know if anyone knew about this problem because apparently a lot of people are having it and a direct fix would be much faster and less frustrating than searching around for a fix. If you know of anything PLEASE email me back on how to fix this because i’m getting hassled everyday about this! Thank you. Sincerely, Keith.

Related Problem: Hi, recently I updated my Galaxy S5’s OS from KitKat to lollipop. Yesterday morning the issue occurs when I tried to connect my device to my home Wi-Fi. I tried several times but my phone won’t connect to the network, and I don’t know what caused the issue. I already removed the battery and placed it back to the device and tried connecting it again to no avail. I’m not a tech-savvy person and I don’t know how to fix this problem. If you can help me fix it that would be great! Thanks! – Steve

Troubleshooting: Hi Keith! Yes, forgetting the network and letting the phone detect and reconnect to it often fixes the problem. Help your wife do that. If, however, that won’t work, proceed with the wiping of the cache partition by booting into recovery mode. Based on your description, it’s not your network that has issues, it’s the phone. But since you said it can connect to other WiFi networks without a problem, then it’s your only network it’s having problems with. Those two procedures will fix the problem.

Multiple Issues With Verizon Galaxy S5 After Update

Problems: Ever since the Lollipop update I have had 3 main issue that has made me want to give up my S5.

1) The numbers and letters on my dialer/lock screen now blurs out white where I can’t see the numbers or letters. I have to restart the phone once a day in order for the lock screen to show correctly.

2) When answering a call on my phone and another call comes in and I click over to answer, once I’m finished with the second call and try to click back over to my original call there is no longer a swap key to click back over.

3) My battery life is horrible.

4) Just noticed something else while sending this email. When I try to select a portion of this email to copy and paste it, the cursor are way at the top but when I hit enter it moves in the section I’m trying to highlight.

(I have already did a manufacturer reset and it did not correct any of these issues)

Thank you, Elenor.

Troubleshooting: Hi Elenor! This is the best example of what they call “bad update.” It means that the update pushed through but some data were corrupted during the process that is why even factory reset can’t fix these issues. We appreciate you contacting us about all these problems but I’m sorry to say there’s nothing much we can do about it. The best thing to do is send the phone in for repair; re-flashing the firmware may fix these problems.

GPS Inaccurate After Lollipop Update

Problem: Hi guys, I have issue with my Galaxy S5 (Verizon) after I updated its software to lollipop. I noticed this certain issue the other day in which, my GPS is inaccurate about my location. I rebooted my phone twice but my GPS still inaccurate. I asked some of my friends about the issue but even them they don’t have an idea how to fix it. Is anyone experiencing issue like this? Please Help! – Andre

Troubleshooting: Hello Andre! This issue is rampant especially after a major firmware update. More often, it occurs because the GPS positioning was not properly set in your device. To set the exact location of the device you can go to Settings > Location > Mode and select High Accuracy.

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