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How to fix a Galaxy Note 4 that keeps on rebooting randomly, other issues

Note 4 random reboot

Today, we give you five more issues taken from emails sent by some members of our community. This article though allocates a big chunk of troubleshooting instructions on how to address a common, yet, misunderstood issue — random reboot. We hope that the solutions provided in this post today will help the users who sent us their emails as well as those looking for ways to fix their own #GalaxyNote4 woes. If you want to look for previously published articles about Galaxy Note 4, please visit this page.

  1. Galaxy Note 4 camera won’t record video to new SD card
  2. How to fix a Galaxy Note 4 that keeps on rebooting randomly
  3. Galaxy Note 4 stuck in Download mode
  4. Galaxy Note 4 keeps dropping cellular network connection
  5. Galaxy Note 4 file recovery after screen was replaced

If you are looking for solutions to your own #Android issue, you can contact us by using the link provided at the bottom of this page, or you can install our free app from Google Play Store.

 

Problem #1: Galaxy Note 4 camera won’t record video to new SD card

I may have just figured out my problem. I’ll tell you what it is and what I think and can you please comment with your thoughts.

I have a new Galaxy Note 4. I installed a 128GB SD card. I used to have a Galaxy S3 with a 64GB SD card. I took the old 64GB card and copied it to a PC. I then copied all of the old data to the new 128GB SD card. I then installed the 128GB card in to my new Note 4. Everything was ok.  I took pictures and they were saved in the SD card. But then I took a video and it did not save the video properly. When I went to play it, it shows me a strange opening picture and said File not found. I tested taking videos when saving to the device memory and they worked ok. So I replaced my 128GB SD with a new 16GB SD card. Videos worked ok.

I put the 128 back in. I looked at the files in the DCIM -> CAMERA folder and saw that the video I took was named temp_video. Why wasn’t it saving my videos properly?

Finally I came up with a possible cause. That CAMERA folder has over 3400 files in it for a total of over 25GB of data. So I renamed the folder to CAMERA-2016-03-16 and created a new CAMERA folder. I took some pictures and a video and I think it worked. Was the problem too many files and/or too much data in the folder? What do you think? What are your thoughts? — Eli

Solution: Hi Eli. We tried to replicate your situation in our lab Note 4 and everything works fine so your issue may be a rare bug. Also, we are not aware of any limitation to the number of files or amount of data a Note 4 camera folder can hold. That was probably just a glitch specific to your device. You can however try to replicate the situation again by filling in the current camera folder you’re using with approximately the same amount of data to confirm our hunch. If the issue occurs again, kindly contact us so we can update this post and educate Android community about the issue.

Problem #2: How to fix a Galaxy Note 4 that keeps on rebooting randomly

The Note 4 started behaving weird about two months ago. It would reboot multiple times without reaching the home screen, only reached the Samsung logo. I have noticed that that issue appears only when the phone is in good use, multiple apps opened, chats etc. I was thinking that it is the battery, because the phone is about a year old and I ordered new original Samsung one. After replacing the battery the issue persisted. I was really pissed off because Note 4 is power house and always worked very well. With time things got worse, rebooting became spontaneous and was really getting on my nerves, because I could not take photos, chat and use maps.

I have restored factory settings with a hope that it may help but unfortunately it did not. My data was backed up and I had 64GB memory card so I did not lose much. I have brought today my phone to repair shop with a hope that for 140 Euro they will solve this puzzle. I’m really losing hope with Samsung and Android. — Pavel

Solution: Hi Pavel. Random reboot issue is one of the common problems we encounter everyday. The causes for the issue are varied and requires a user to check many things to narrow down the real reason. Below are the specific things that you can do:

Know if the phone is overheating. Android phones are designed to shut down automatically once its core system reaches a certain heat threshold. This mechanism is meant to prevent damaging internal components and the phone in general. Overheating per se is not an issue but may also be a symptom of a hardware malfunction. For example, if a processor or battery is damaged, it can produce abnormal heat level that may manifest in overheating. Running simultaneous apps and services at the same time can also lead to overheating, especially if the phone is left in that state for a long time. If you notice that the phone gets uncomfortably hot before, then you can assume that overheating may be the cause for the random reboot issue.

Know if the issue happens after installing an app. Not all apps are created equal. In fact, majority of Android apps are poorly coded, or in the least, not totally optimized to work with the firmware of each Android device. If you recently installed an app prior to noticing the problem, try to remove or uninstall it and observe the phone.

Alternatively, you can also boot your phone in safe mode and observe the phone for at least 24 hours. Restarting your Note 4 in safe mode will prevent third party apps and processes from loading. If the issue fails to occur while safe mode is enabled, that’s a confirmation that one of your apps is to blame. Here are the steps to boot your phone in safe mode:

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

Install a free antivirus app and scan your device. We’re not aware of a specific malware that’s designed to shut down an Android device at this time but hackers are creative. We can never be sure if one has already been created and is released in the wild. Be sure to scan your device using a reputable free antivirus app like the AVG Antivirus. Remember, there are many “free” antivirus out there but most of them may give your device more harm than good. Stick to known brands to avoid infecting your device with things you are trying to get rid of.

Install the latest Android update. We always recommend that you install the latest available Android update to patch potential weaknesses of older versions. You can try to perform a factory reset first to restore all operating system and app settings to defaults before an update. For easy reference, here are the steps on how to factory reset your Note 4:

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

If none of the things mentioned above won’t help, you can assume that your phone has a defective hardware.

Problem #3: Galaxy Note 4 stuck in Download mode

I tried doing a factory reset to the phone and it caused the “Downloading… do not turn off target” error with nothing on the upper left hand corner as seen in your examples. I tried doing all the different combinations of boot modes but recovery mode (volume up+home+power) caused it to restart and displayed the note 4 intro for a millisecond to go back to the same “downloading..” error screen. I tried Download mode (volume down+home+power) and that just showed an error message that “downloading a software… something..something..”

I am planning to go back to the store and get it fixed because they surely know the problem although I would still like to diagnose the problem and fix it myself. — Pavan

Solution: Hi Pavan. Have you tried restarting the phone after removing the battery? If you haven’t, make sure to try it first. Should nothing change after that, we doubt if there’s still anything that you can do on your end.

If you can’t get the phone to boot in any other mode right now using any hardware button combinations, your best option is to have it replaced. There’s just no other way to go past the boot sequence, which is where the phone is stuck right now.

Problem #4: Galaxy Note 4 keeps dropping cellular network connection

Hello TDG. I have a couple of problems with my Note 4. The first and oldest problem is that I can’t connect to my network. I’m almost everywhere out of service area (where service should be). If I get a connection it’s just for a couple of seconds (maximum is 2 minutes). The SIM Card does work with other devices and other SIM Cards don’t work with mine.

The latest problems are power problems. If my battery is about 30% it drains (mostly) very fast. And at the same time it seems like the next issue is also related to these 30%: my Note starts restarting and restarting over and over again.

First it freezes for one or two seconds than the screen turns of (it looks a bit like those very old TVs) and then it’s in a rebooting loop.

I tried some of your troubleshooting, tested some “”#0626*#”” (something like that) codes in the dialer, to have service again.

I tried some factory resets and soon I will try a new battery. — Chase

Solution: Hi Chase. Looks like the first issue has something to do with your phone. Make sure that the SIM card fits snugly to the slot when you insert it. Putting some paper on top of the SIM card so the back cover of the phone will press it down may help. There are cases wherein the SIM card slot malfunction. Make sure to have the slot checked by repair shop to ensure that it’s not the problem.

The second problem may also be due to defective hardware or battery. It won’t hurt though if you can try the standard software solutions we provided above (like booting in safe mode, wiping the cache partition, or doing a factory reset). If nothing changes, we’d recommend that you simply have the phone replaced instead of having to go through a repair process.

Problem #5: Galaxy Note 4 file recovery after screen was replaced

Good morning. Could you kindly advise, I have a Samsung S4 Mini and some guy dropped it and it cracked so because I needed it fixed immediately the guy replaced the screen but I am assuming he replaced the screen with a fake or not so proper screen it worked for only three days but then it just went blank dark. The phone when I charge it it goes on but the screen is dead I think the LCD is messed up.

My question is if I perhaps take it to someone to fix it will my pictures and other stuff still be on the phone or not?

Please also note that I have not used this phone for 2 years so it has been messed up for 2 years. Kind regards. — Faith

Solution: Hi Faith. If the guy only replaced the screen and left the software untouched, your files should still be in the phone’s internal storage device at this time. If you can have the screen replaced and power the phone back on, you should still be able to recover your data without any problems.

 

Engage with us

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

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

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

Galaxy Note 4 “Could not do normal boot, mmc_read failed” error, dm-verity screen, other issues

Are you looking for a solution to your #GalaxyNote4 issue? Keep reading, this post might help you. As usual, we discuss reported issues in this article so if you don’t find anything useful in this material, you can either check our previous posts or keep watching out for more articles in the coming days.

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

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

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

Problem 1: Galaxy Note 4 won’t turn back on

Hi there. I found your article on troubleshooting with Note 4. Samsung has been useless. My phone is only a year and old. About a month ago my phone started to shut off at 30%. Not booting up for a few mins. The other day it tried to boot up in safe mode. the next day wouldn’t turn on at all. Samsung is like press the volume button and this and that. Nothing worked. That was all they did for me. Won’t let me send my phone in because it’s over a year old. It’s so disgusting they charge $1000 Canadian for a phone you can’t even get 2 years out of it. Have you ever heard of this problem? The guy from my phone provider said stop letting my phone go below 50% . Now I have drained my battery to 1%. I think the computer is fried in it? Can that be fixed? Thanks. — Ange

Solution: Hi Ange. If your phone won’t power back on, there’s not much that you can do about it actually. That’s because software troubleshooting can only be done if a device is on. It it’s doesn’t turn on at all, the most that you can do is try different hardware button combinations and hope that you can turn the phone to one of the alternate modes. If it boots to, say, Recovery mode, you may be able to wipe its cache partition or perform a factory reset to fix any software glitch.

Again, we want to emphasize that you can only address some forms of software problems such as minor bugs in the system. If the main cause of the problem is a bad battery or a malfunctioning hardware, there’s no amount of software tweaks that you can do to fix it. There’s no software “magic” that you can perform to solve a broken hardware, which is usually the cause of an issue like yours.

For reference, here are the complete steps on how to restart the device to alternate boot modes and the respective follow up steps that you want to do (if the phone manages to boot up):

Boot in Recovery mode:

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

Boot in Download Mode:

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

Boot in safe mode:

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

Remember, if your phone fails to turn on to any of the boot modes above, that means there’s a hardware issue behind. If you want to get to the bottom of the problem, you must have a professional check the hardware. Otherwise, you’re going to need a new phone.

Problem 2: Galaxy Note 4 “Could not do normal boot, mmc_read failed” error

Hi, I have the same problem as the case: Problem #4: Galaxy Note 4 “Could not do normal boot, mmc_read failed” error. Sorry, but I am not an operating system wiz, so could make no sense from your reply. Is a flash memory failure hardware failure, throw away the phone? What do you mean “consider flashing a custom ROM” Flash means to me nothing. My provider is my son, who bought this monster in an electronics shop. My telephone service company surely won’t help. It seems the Android Operating System is unreliable and not thought through. I hate to throw an expensive phone in the garbage! Thanks for help. — Robert

Solution: Hi Robert. We apologize for not being as detailed in our answer in this post.

We usually assess how we use terms in our posts based on our own assessment of the person sending us a letter. In that previous post, we understood that the sender of the letter was a bit advanced because he already tried flashing even before contacting us.

For your own benefit, here are some of the clarifications. A storage device of your Samsung phone is also known as MMC or MultiMediaCard so the “could not do normal boot, mmc_read failed” error must have something to do with this chip. It’s either physically damaged and unusable for some reason, or has become corrupted after a failed update or flashing procedure. In simple terms, flashing is the Android equivalent of installation of a program in Windows machines. In this regard, when we say there’s flash memory failure, it can either be a hardware failure, which you an end user like you can’t fix, or the MMC has simply been corrupted and thus, a reflashing of either an official or custom/unofficial ROM/firmware can fix. To know which is which, you must attempt to flash a firmware to it.

Flashing is basically a modification of core system files so it can be a risky procedure (and thus sometimes results to an issue you’re experiencing). It’s not recommended for newbie and average Android users because it involves doing complicated tasks though a good guide can also help. If you are interested to know if you can do it, we recommend that you read blogs that write about the topic or ask assistance from forums that cater to it. A good site to begin searching is XDA Developers Forum. You can also use Google to search for terms that might help you understand the topic deeply.

We don’t provide guides on how to flash specific devices so you want to invest time in finding a good one for your device. Keep in mind that flashing instructions vary by phone model so make sure to use one that’s for your device.

Problem 3: Galaxy Note 4 randomly shuts down, won’t install update, won’t unlock

I am experiencing issues with my Galaxy Note 4 (SM-N910P, Sprint, operating in Boost Mobile). Initially, the phone either froze (for a while) or restarted randomly. It happened even in Safe Mode. I did soft and then hard factory reset (several times). However, nothing has been solved. So I installed a Wake Lock. That solved the freezing and the randomly turning off. However, the phone still does not restart after commanding to do it or being requested by the firmware to complete the update. To make it turn on, I need to remove the battery (it does not work to press and hold down volume key, home key, and power key). After many tries, the phone turn on, but the firmware fails to update. Other times the phone says “could not do normal boot” “ddi: mmc_read failed”, etc. Battery shows to be charged. Sometimes also, the phone does not pop up the keyboard, so I cannot type the password. — Ronald

Solution: Hi Ronald. All the symptoms you describe here (freezing, random restart, won’t update, won’t restart properly, and the MMC-related error), when taken together, can mean a hardware malfunction. We suspect your case is similar to Robert’s above so if you’ve already tried all the software troubleshooting like factory reset or flashing, you should consider sending it in or a replacement.

Problem 4: Galaxy Note 4 showing dm-verity screen, keeps crashing

Hello, after updating my Note 4, the phone worked well. It was one day that began not responding to the home button, screen froze and crashed. But that was after a few good days after the update. Now I got it to a service, they say they cannot rewrite any software on it because it stops, and says memory full. I also tried to reboot it at home, but wasn’t performing the whole activity, because it was crashing, showing the Android robot with an alert sign, and saying something about dm-verity. My phone is dead now. What shall I do? I have to mention I am from Romania but bought the phone from Germany. Worked very well for two years now. I am looking forward to hearing from you soon! Thank you for your attention! Yours sincerely. — Alina

Solution: Hi Alina. As mentioned above, if you can’t fix the issue with software solutions such as factory reset and flashing, you have to have it repaired or replaced.

Problem 5: Galaxy Note 4 battery percentages erratic, won’t turn on

Hi Droid Guy! Please help me on my Samsung note 4! The note 4 i was using Doesn’t Even Turn On. AT ALL. I tried Everything i can do on many different Sites. I tried To do a soft reset hard reset everything but it doesn’t Open up i also tried to connect it to a computer but still nothing, Sometimes it opens Randomly but when it opens its battery crappy, sometimes it jumps to different Percentages, like when i use it, 100% After 15 mins it jumps to 13% or something. Then It Shuts Off Again And Poof! nothing Again! Please help i have no phone to use 🙁 — John Luis

Solution: Hi John Luis. Looks like your device can make use of a new battery. If you can manage to turn it back on with a new battery but the battery percentages continue to act like crazy, make sure to recalibrate it. Here’s how:

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

On the other hand, if the phone remains dead even with new battery installed, there must be a hardware issue causing it.  In that case, you want to let a professional check it.

Problem 6: Galaxy Note 4 “unfortunately your phone has stopped working” error

Hello. When someone calls me my phone comes up with the message that unfortunately your phone has stopped working. The phone continues to ring but I am unable to answer, turn the phone off, or restart it because the message covers over these options preventing me from being able to select them. The only was I can fix it is if I reset my phone by pushing the on/off button and the down volume button simultaneously. But it is just a  short term fix. It doesn’t happen every call I get. Maybe half the calls I can’t take because of this error. — Lynda

Solution: Hi Lynda. The first thing that you should try is to refresh the phone app. Here’s how:

  1. Open the Settings menu either through your notification shade (drop-down) or through the Settings app in your app drawer.
  2. Navigate down to “Apps”. This may be renamed to something like Applications or Application Manager in OEM skinned versions of Android 6 or 7.
  3. Once in there, click on an application.
  4. You’ll now see a list of stuff that gives you information about the app, including Storage, Permissions, Memory Use, and more. These are all clickable items. You’ll want to click on Storage.
  5. You should now clearly see the Clear Cache and Clear Data buttons for the application. Try doing the Clear Cache first, then observe how voice calling works. If nothing will change do the Clear Data option.

Should clearing the cache and data of the app in question won’t fix the problem, try to wipe the cache partition. This will ensure that the system will start using a good system cache again. Sometimes, updates of new Android version or app can corrupt the system cache leading to all sorts of problems. To refresh the system cache, you need to delete the current one first. Here’s how to do that:

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

Finally, if both procedures won’t fix the problem at all, consider wiping the phone with factory reset. Make sure that you back all your important data up before doing it:

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

Problem 7: Grey battery icon showing when Galaxy Note 4 power is low

Hi I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 I bought from ebay for $550 AU. it’s been working for nearly 3 years now with very little problems, but lately it stopped charging and when I turn the phone off and plug the charger in it doesn’t charge or let me turn it on  but the error code is that a battery icon appears and then the battery icon drops in brightness (dims down) and then disappears after 1.2 seconds. I even replaced the battery with a new one, and still the same problem, and I’m sure it’s not the female micro-usb connector inside the phone because it at least returns a error code as a grey battery icon then drops down its brightness then dissipates 0% screen brightness. It happens every time I plug the micro-usb connecter into the phone while it’s switched off.

I’ve tried all the things I read on the net (gently whacking the phone against a soft to hard surface, holding the power button dwn for 1 minute to clear RAM/EEPROM, removing the battery while doing this. i even tried it with the battery in and watched helpful videos that were only helpful and didn’t solve the problem on Youtube.

There seems to be very little information about error codes for this phone, as I’m still searching the web for answers and I thought Samsung would have a website at the very least that discusses error codes.

Thanks if you know what the error code is, all the google searches i’ve done so far contain keywords such as ‘yellow battery icon, etc’ but it isn’t relevant enough as their talking about the S6 and S7s.

It’s such a good phone compared to very cheap smart-phones, and I don’t want to rid it since the problem isn’t severe enough to. Thanks, and kind regard. — Stephen

Solution: Hi Stephen. If using a different, verified Samsung charger won’t help in this case, the most likely cause is a bad charging port. A grey battery icon usually shows in some Samsung devices when the system detects low battery level. There’s no official explanation from Samsung though why this is so when most of the time, the usual green battery icon is a common sight even when battery is low.

The next logical troubleshooting step in this case, assuming that no software solution can fix the problem (which should tell you that it’s not a software problem by the way), is to replace the charging port. If the charging port is okay, then other motherboard components like power IC are the next in line to be checked. We suggest that you let a professional do the checks.

Problem 8: Cannot install an app in Galaxy Note 4, video calling not working

I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 4. It’s a refurbished phone off of ebay that has been working fine for me. I did notice that with some apps, it says my phone is not compatible. An example would be Valkyrie Crusade. I’ve had that on other galaxies with no problems but not with my current phone. I’ve worked with the C.S.R through the game and had no luck.

My other concern is that I’m supposed to have a video calling function and for some reason, my phone does not have it. When looking at the device guide that’s currently out, I’m supposed to have it. My mom who has a Galaxy S3 and has it on hers with no issues. I’ve checked for a system update and it says: “Your Samsung is up to date. No update is necessary at this time.” I’m stumped on what else to do with my phone. Factory Reset doesn’t do any good and removing my battery, restarting my phone have no change as well. — Julia

Solution: Hi Julia. If you’re getting a message that an app is not compatible with your device, that’s because the developer of the said app must have tested and validated that their app can only work on select devices. If you know of someone with the same phone as yours to have installed and used the app in question, contact the developer of said app for support. You can visit the download page of the app in Google Play Store and get the contact information of the developer.

For your video calling question, we recommend that you contact your carrier for it. Video calling is sometimes a value-added service, meaning a subscriber must pay additional amount to have it.

Problem 9: How to recover missing locked Galaxy Note 4 SMS

I have had a messy child custody case going on for years. For this reason I lock all important texts between me and my ex that may be needed later for court proceedings. I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 I have had for almost 3 years. All of the sudden a few months ago, locked texts I had back from 2015 and 2016 appear blank. The message is there with the date but the entire box is blank and when I click on it will only say view slideshow or save attachment (which is weird because these were texts, not pics or files) and then say nothing is there or a slideshow with nothing will play. If I hit message details, it will show the date, time and contact info for both people but says 0kb at the bottom where it shows message size. These were EXTREMELY important for court and I feel like an idiot for not saving them otherwise into a computer since mine has been busted for a long time and only had my phone and tablets. Am I just screwed or is there any kind of setting or something that got messed up? I am betting it probably has been overwritten with data or worse from little bits of stuff I have found online about recovering texts but nowhere can I find this specific situation mentioned or addressed. I know it is an old phone model and it is a long shot someone will read this but I wanted to at least try. Thank you. — Elisabeth

Solution: Hi Elisabeth. Unfortunately for you, there’s no setting or software tweak that you can do undo whatever happened to your locked messages. We are assuming of course that you’re using the native Samsung messaging app. If you happen to use a third party messaging app (something not from Samsung), try to contact the developer and see if you can get help.

Also, if you think those missing texts are very important for a legal battle, you may want to invest a few hundred dollars to have them recovered by specialized companies that do data recovery. We have no idea if there’s a special software out there that can recover locked SMS from a Samsung devices so we can’t say for sure if this option is viable.

 

Engage with us

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

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

Galaxy Note 4 turns off by itself when battery is low, not reading SD card, other issues

Hello Note 4 users. We bring you another post that addresses some Note 4 issues we’ve received recently. If you already sent us your own inquiry but do not see it published here, please keep watching for more upcoming Note 4 articles in the coming days.

Below are the specific topics we are discussing for you today:

  1. Galaxy Note 4 unresponsive and won’t turn back on
  2. Galaxy Note 4 mmc_read_failed error, randomly rebooting
  3. Galaxy Note 4 turns on but screen remains black
  4. Galaxy Note 4 Bluetooth and Hotspot not working
  5. Galaxy Note 4 turns off by itself when battery is low
  6. Galaxy Note 4 shuts off when battery level reaches 30-15%
  7. Galaxy Note 4 not reading SD card
  8. Galaxy Note 4 won’t start in normal, recovery mode, only boots to download mode

If you are looking for solutions to your own #Android issue, you can contact us by using the link provided at the bottom of this page, or you can install our free app from Google Play Store.

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

Problem #1: Galaxy Note 4 unresponsive and won’t turn back on

Hello! My Note 4 kept restarting a couple of weeks ago, and eventually turned off and never cut back on. It will not charge or respond at all. I have recently purchased a new phone (S8+) and after activation I realized that I do not have all of my contacts. Apparently only a few contacts were backed up to Google. Is there any way I can retrieve my contacts from my Note 4? I have tried a new battery, which did not work. I also went to Geek Squad and they told me it sounded like a mainframe problem and nothing could be done. Hoping there is some resolution!        — Ebony

Solution: Hi Ebony. The only troubleshooting that you can try on your end for this type of issue is to see if you can restart your Note 4 to different boot modes. If the phone remains unresponsive after trying all the three boot modes, a thorough hardware diagnostics must be run to determine whether it’s a general hardware issue, or a component failure like a bad charging port, which can relatively be replaced easily. If the Geek squad’s assumption is correct, there’s virtually nothing that you can do about it. The Nand chip that keeps your data is integrated to the motherboard so if a bad motherboard itself is the cause of the problem, there’s no way you can recover anything. That means that your phone is as good as dead.

For reference, below are the steps on how to boot your Note 4 to different modes:

Boot in Recovery mode:

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

Boot in Download Mode:

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

Boot in safe mode:

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

Problem #2: Galaxy Note 4 mmc_read_failed error, randomly rebooting

Hi. My Note 4 had an error, mmc_read_failed, and i sent it to repair. They replaced a component, (think it was something like vga card, not sure thou) but the phone, despite not showing that error again, remains with problems. Unless i have it in the battery saving mode, it turns off and then keeps trying to reboot – it turns on, shows the first screen where it says “Samsung Galaxy Note 4” (even before the samsung logo, before asking for the pin) and then switches off again, and keeps this cycle, and only stops when i plug it to the charger. I don’t know what this problem is – maybe it is something battery related? Should i buy a new battery? Or is it something more severe? I got all the latest software updates, and did several factory resets, and soft reset fix and similar. Thank you for your attention. — Gonalo

Solution: Hi Gonalo. mmc_read_failed error is usually accompanied by other information about the phone but in general, it signifies an on-going component or motherboard failure. Since the phone has been repaired but still continues to act erratically, the only hope you have of fixing the problem is returning it back to the shop who did the repair, or by replacing it. At this point, the symptoms you’re reporting can be caused by different factors including a faulty battery so we can’t say for certain what they may be. In general, if you’ve already exhausted software troubleshooting for this issue including a factory reset, you should really start looking at hardware. We’re sorry but there’s nothing much that we can do to help in this one. Hardware troubleshooting requires that we check the device physically and we can’t obviously do that. If you think it’s worth another couple of hundred dollars to be repaired, we say you send it to another shop.

Problem #3: Galaxy Note 4 turns on but screen remains black

Good morning. I dropped my Galaxy Note 4 on the ground (I know, genius!), and while it shows signs of life–blue light, vibration when turned off and on–the screen is black. I have tried several methods for resetting it, including removing the battery and holding the power button for 1, 2, or 3 minutes; holding the power, volume, and/or home buttons in different combinations; and even gently smacking it. Still, nothing has changed. When I call this broken phone from another phone, it goes straight to voicemail. — Shane

Solution: Hi Shane. If your Note 4 was working normally before you dropped it accidentally, then you can assume that it may have a hardware malfunction at this time. Unnecessary shock from a drop can lead to all sorts of physical damage so it’s safe to say that bad hardware is to blame here. The screen assembly may be broken or came loose from the motherboard causing the black screen. Because you can’t obviously fix a hardware problem with software solutions, your only options right now are either to have it repaired or replaced.

Problem #4: Galaxy Note 4 Bluetooth and Hotspot not working

When I hit the button for Bluetooth it will not come on, it automatically shuts itself off. Same issues with my mobile hotspot. When I turn my hotspot on it doesn’t turn on it just shuts itself off. I have a Samsung Note 4 originally under T-Mobile but we now have Metro PCS. Both hotspot and Bluetooth worked fine under the new carrier. I have tried deleting any apps that I’ve downloaded, I’ve tried removing the battery and I’ve tried restarting the phone. I’m not even sure why it just stopped working as it was working fine the other day and then one day just stopped working any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. — Andrea

Solution: Hi Andrea. There may be a software-related bug causing this problem so the first troubleshooting step that you want to perform is to wipe the cache partition. Here’s how it’s done:

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

Cache partition wipe addresses possible system cache issue but if nothing changes and both services (Hotspot and Bluetooth) remain as non-working, consider doing a factory reset to revert everything back to their defaults. Here’s how it’s done:

  1. Create a backup of your important files such as photos, videos, contacts etc. You can use Smart Switch for this task.
  2. Turn off the Galaxy Note 4 completely.
  3. Press and hold the Volume Up and the Home keys together, then press and hold the Power key.
  4. When the Note 4 vibrates, release both the Home and Power keys but continue holding the Volume Up key.
  5. When the Android System Recovery shows on the screen, release the Vol Up key.
  6. Using the Volume Down key, highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset’ and press the Power key to select it.
  7. Now highlight ‘Yes — delete all user data’ using the Vol Down key and press the Power key to begin the reset.
  8. When the master reset is complete, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and hit the Power key.
  9. The Note 4 will restart but it will be longer than usual. When it reaches the Home screen, then begin your setup.

Problem #5: Galaxy Note 4 turns off by itself when battery is low

I own a Note 4 N910G variant. The issue I have is that whenever my battery reaches about 40%, the phone simply shuts off and to turn it back on, I need to plug in my charger. My phone is rooted and I’m currently running a custom ROM. However, the issue with the battery was also occurring even when I had my stock ROM even with no root. I bought the phone back in 2014, so I would like to know what could be the issue. — Jerry

Solution: Hi Jerry. If the phone is now over 2 years old, it’s very likely that the battery has already lost significant capacity to hold a charge, causing the phone to shut down  randomly. It may also just be software failing to read the true levels of battery level so there are three things that you want to try:

  1. recalibrate the battery
  2. factory reset the phone
  3. replace the battery

To recalibrate the battery, follow these steps:

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

If the phone continues to behave erratically after battery recalibration, you should wipe it with factory reset (steps provided above). If that won’t fix the problem either, consider getting a new Note 4 battery.

Problem #6: Galaxy Note 4 shuts off when battery level reaches 30-15%

Hello. I have a problem with my Note 4. At first the phone dies at 30-15%. now the phone screen freezes and goes black. Only the small indicating light is blue sometimes on and off and I have to take out the battery and try to turn it on again. sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn’t so I backed up my data and tried to factory reset it but it still is the same problem sometimes. when i’m talking on the phone it just hangs up and the screen goes black. not sure if it turns off or freezes that time. Any help? thank you. — Moe

Solution: Hi Moe. Your issue may be similar to Jerry above. If you’ve already tried factory reset before contacting us, now is the time to get a new battery replacement. If the issue lies on the battery, this should fix the issue easily. However, if the problem is caused by something in the motherboard, a repair or phone replacement may be your only effective solution. There’s no direct test that you can do to identify which component may not be working correctly but if factory reset won’t change anything, you can assume that bad hardware is causing the trouble.

Problem #7: Galaxy Note 4 not reading SD card

Good morning. I saw your site while trying to trouble shoot my problem and figured I would give you guys a shot. I have had my Note 4 for almost 2 years now and the first day I had got the phone, I had inserted a fresh SD card, brand new. One morning I awoke to find that my phone all of a sudden wasn’t reading the SD card. Is there anyway to fix the problem without a computer? And if I need a new SD card, is there anyway to salvage what’s on the old one without corrupting the new one? I hope you guys can help, thank you so much. —  Rich

Solution: Hi Rich. SD card troubleshooting is common sense troubleshooting only. It doesn’t need advanced software tricks to know if a problem lies on the card itself or on the phone.

The first thing that you want to do here is to insert your SD card to another phone. Make sure that you turn the phone completely off before removing the card. This is one of the most common reasons for SD card corruption (another is interrupting the device while it’s trying to read from or save something to the card). If a second device also fails to read the SD card, that’s a clear indication that the SD card has been corrupted. To use the SD card again, you should reformat it using the device you will be using it with.

It’s very rare to encounter a bug that causes a phone to not read an SD card but if the  second phone will read your SD card fine, that means that the problem must be on your Note 4. You should do device troubleshooting like the cache partition and factory reset to fix it.

A corrupted SD card means a portion or the entire memory module is damaged or became unreadable. In either case, there’s often no way an average user can check which of the two is true. If you think recovering the files from that SD card is worth hundreds of dollars, you can try to use the services of some companies that offer advanced file recovery techniques. Keep in mind though that file recovery is a tricky business and does not guarantee a positive result. If you want to risks a lot of money to recover your files, search for a reputable file recovery company in your area via Google.

Problem #8: Galaxy Note 4 won’t start in normal, recovery mode, only boots to download mode

A few weeks ago my phone started slowing down. It takes a while for the lockscreen to show when you wake it up from standby. Interface seems very unresponsive sometimes. I’ve rebooted several times but this didn’t seem to help. Before this I’ve never had any problems, other than just before this the phone started giving error reports. At the start of this week my phone started rebooting periodically. It happens even when I put it on my desk without touching it. With or without charger connected. Battery time has always been great. A few days later it doesn’t turn on anymore. Removing the battery and holding the power button for one minute seems to work sometimes, but often it doesn’t turn on. I’ve tried restoring to factory settings using the settings menu. But every time I click it it just shuts down without restoring. Pressing volume up, home and power doesn’t get me into recovery booting. It goes to a screen with DOWNLOADING-DO-NOT-TURN-OFF-TARGET. I’ve taken out the SIM and the SD card and uninstalled Whatsapp. But this didn’t help. I don’t know my android version.         — Chris

Solution: Hi Chris. If your Note 4 no longer boots to normal or recovery mode, the only available troubleshooting step for you may be to reflash a stock firmware to it.

Flashing requires a computer to do so make sure you have one. We don’t provide a guide on how to flash a device in our blog but you can find one online by searching for it. Flashing is basically modifying core system files so you should be careful when doing it. Be sure to use the right firmware for your phone model. If you aren’t confident in doing it, let someone who has done it before do it for you. We also recommend that you do some research to familiarize yourself with the steps ahead of time so you have an idea how to do the actual process.

Flashing is a risky step that’s why it’s not recommended by Samsung for its end users. Do it at your own risk.

 

Engage with us

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

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

Can’t transfer files between Note 4 and Galaxy S7 via Smart Switch, other issues

Hello everyone! Welcome to another #GalaxyNote4 post. As usual, we’re bringing you another article that discusses a number of Note 4 issues and their respective solutions. We hope you’ll find this helpful.

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

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

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

Problem 1: Galaxy Note 4 not turning on

Hello, my name is Thalia from Puerto Rico. So I have been experiencing problems with my Note 4 and it all started after the phone was updated. It started to turn off on its own and sometimes it wouldn’t turn on unless I was in a rather cold place. I thought it was the battery but before it stopped turning on, the camera became useless. I couldn’t use the frontal camera at all; it would immediately close the camera or send an error notification.

My friend has a Note 4 as well and I used it to check the battery and it charges normally but when I try to charge on my NOTE 4 it won’t even vibrate. My sister accidently left it in the freezer for a few seconds but it might have damaged it more. Do you think there is a way to fix it? — Thalia

Solution: Hi Thalia. Well, first of all, leaving a smartphone in a freezer is never a good idea. Temperature extremes (hot or cold) is harmful for the battery and electronic components. Whoever suggested that to you or to your sister clearly did not know what he or she was saying.

Secondly, if your Note 4 won’t turn on at all, even after using a second known working battery, there’s nothing much that you can do at all. The most that you can try is to see if you can restart the phone to alternate modes. If the phone remains unresponsive or stays dead, let a professional check the hardware. Better still, just replace it.

Here are the steps on how to boot your Note 4 to alternate modes:

Boot in Recovery mode:

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

Boot in Download Mode:

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

Boot in safe mode:

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

Problem 2: Galaxy Note 4 won’t power back on

I’ve been having problems with my phone that is acting up. I looked for info online and found your post. I’ve tried all your steps in the procedure and nothing has done the magic. Let me explain to you the whole story on my darling phone.

So it was a gift from my ex-boyfriend who bought it off of his sister, (who doesn’t like me that much). She supposedly had the phone only for a few months then “grew tired of it” and wanted a new one. So she sold it, and in my mind, came out with the better end.

My first day trying it out I noticed that after a while of using it and putting on all the features I use (not much since I don’t like to fill up the storage and make it slower) it started shutting off. Every time I tried turning it back on, it wouldn’t even start completely and turn back off again. I decided to charge it and apparently it was low on battery, or so I thought. Like two days later the same happened and I couldn’t believe it was out of charge already since I hadn’t used it that long, but it looked like it was also it.

So that’s when I decided to buy a new battery. It worked for like 2 or 3 months when the phone started freezing up and locking a bit. Not long after it started the same shutting off thing and every time it would start turning on, it would shut off again and again. Until one day if just didn’t turn back on. That has been my journey up till now with my darling phone, which I just bought a new battery and hoped that would be it, but still not doing so much as a flicker.

Hope someone can tell me a way to make it feel better without making my wallet hurt. Thanks in advance and hope to hear from you soon. — Valdez

Solution: Hi Valdez. Please see our suggestions for Thalia above. Keep in mind that although it’s rare for a Samsung battery (we assume you bought an original one) to malfunction just months after initially using it, it can still happen. If you know someone with a working Note 4, try using their phone’s battery to see if it’s a battery problem or a device issue.

 Problem 3: Galaxy Note 4 drains battery fast

Hi. it has been almost one and half years i have had purchased my Galaxy Note 4 from an authorized dealer. Last month, my battery suddenly decreased by 30% while it was switched off. From then, even if i do day to day work i feel that the battery drains so quickly. and the worst thing is even if i switch it off during night time, the battery has been drastically decreased.

i took the device where i purchased and they said there is no issue with the device and asked me to replace the battery as they had no stock of Note 4 batteries available at the moment.

so i purchased a battery from a shop which is not an original battery and it worked well until yesterday.  the same battery draining issue occurred again. and when i try to replace the battery they said that the issue is with the motherboard and there is a shortage in motherboard.

What am i to do? What’s the exact issue according to your experience?

i wonder why the battery drain by 30% to 50% even the phone is turned off during the night. Thank you. — Kasun

Solution: Hi Kasun. You should not limit the possible reasons for a battery drain issue to two things only — bad battery and motherboard problem. In a lot of cases, battery drain can also be due to a huge number of apps, malware, incompatible apps, or improper usage habits. To see if your particular battery issue is due to apps or improper usage, do a factory reset and observe the phone. Expectedly, your phone will have lower battery consumption after a factory reset when there are no apps installed. If the problem continues even when there are no apps in the phone, that’s indicative of a device or battery issue.

Keep in mind that the more apps you install, the higher the chance of the battery draining fast. Not all apps are created equal so there’s always a possibility that you may have installed a poorly coded one. Try to install apps that puts apps to sleep like Greenify and see if that will slow down battery drain.

Problem 4: Galaxy Note 4 stuck in boot loop

Hi. I own a Samsung Note 4 Edge (SM-915G). One fine day when my phone was out of charge, I had to put it on charge and tried switching it on. It did switch on all well but minutes later it shut down and then the endless cycle of boot loop started. I tried going to recovery boot however never got lucky enough to see that screen. Eventually I thought reinstalling the OS using Kies might help me. It all went through fine till the phone restarted and went to the erasing screen and then I saw the “No Command” with the green guy flat on his back. I tried this couple of times but all in vain. The phone does charge and show me the charging status. Hope it’s not a hardware failure. If yes which part could it be. If it is ROM which I cannot replace i guess can I boot from SD.

Also if it is not H/W failure what can I do? Any advice will be highly appreciated. Thanks. — Sandeep

Solution: Hi Sandeep. Try to see if flashing the bootloader might help. If that won’t fix it either, there may be an unknown hardware problem that results to this problem. In that case, you’ll want to have the phone replaced.

Below are the steps on how to flash a bootloader. Exact steps may vary depending on your phone model so be sure to find a good guide.

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

Problem 5: Galaxy Note 4 calendar app not working as expected

Calendar notifications are erratic. Sometimes I get the notification and other times I don’t. For example, I had a hospital appointment today and I had set 2 notifications (4 days previously) for one day before and 1 hour before, but neither went off. I checked the phone and both the appointment and the notifications were set correctly, in fact I was watching the phone as the 1 hour one passed just to be sure I wasn’t missing it. I have tried short test notifications and they always seem to work but I just can’t rely on my phone for actual appointments. This has only recently started happening in the last month or so. I have tried a soft reset a couple of times with no improvement. I have tried entering the appointments in the calendar via the widget and in the Google Calendar but no difference. Any help would be much appreciated. — Peter C.

Solution: Hi Peter C. If your test calendar notifications work as expected the actual ones don’t, we really don’t have an explanation for you. The only suggestion we have for you is to wipe the cache and data of the calendar app. If the same app fails again, you must try another app.

To wipe an app’s cache and data, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Settings menu either through your notification shade (drop-down) or through the Settings app in your app drawer.
  2. Navigate down to “Apps”. This may be renamed to something like Applications or Application Manager in OEM skinned versions of Android 6 or 7.
  3. Once in there, click on an application.
  4. You’ll now see a list of stuff that gives you information about the app, including Storage, Permissions, Memory Use, and more. These are all clickable items. You’ll want to click on Storage.
  5. You should now clearly see the Clear Cache and Clear Data buttons for the application.

Problem 6: Galaxy Note 4 stuck in boot loop after updating apps

Phone updated 5 apps earlier this evening- soon after, phone began rebooting by  itself. Tried a restart, but the phone continuously reboots, never getting past the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 page, before it vibrates and reboots. I am unable to get into safe mode. Holding the down volume key does not work, the phone continues to reboot. If I hold the home button and the down volume, it tries to download the custom OS, I waited 3 hours- nothing. If I hold the up volume and home while rebooting, I get to the recovery screen, but still no options to get to safe mode. Any help appreciated. PS I have no clue which version I am running. — LEO BLAIS

Solution: Hi LEO BLAIS. To fix the problem, try wiping the cache partition first.

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

If that won’t fix the problem, do a factory reset to via Recovery mode. Here’s how:

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

Problem 7: Galaxy Note 4 keeps on rebooting on its own

I hope you well. My Galaxy Note 4 switches on and off maybe 10 times in less than 30 Seconds. I went to see a technician at the mall and he said it’s a software problem. I also know my battery was messed up so I went to get a new one. That’s when they told me it’s a software problem. I would like to know how do I fix this because they are charging me too much money for fixing it. I would perform hard reset but it doesn’t want to turn on. It’s just on and off in a split second. I look forward to your feedback and thank you for taking some of your time to read my email. — Siphelelekibi

Solution: Hi Siphelelekibi. Kindly refer to our suggestion for Sandeep above.

Problem 8: Galaxy Note 4 won’t install an update

I have a Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 4. Last update was for update N910VVRU2BOK3 back in 7/2016. It failed with error code 555. When I check for system updates via my phone it says my phone is up to date. Yet the last successful update was done in 8/2015. I have cleared app caches, did a system cache partition clear and the note 4 still says no updates – system is up to date. How can I get the latest system update to download and what version should that be? — Fsuseminole43

Solution: Hi Fsuseminole43. One of the common reasons why devices do not receive over-the-air updates, that is updates pushed by carriers via their network, is incompatibility. For example, if your phone was built for a particular carrier like Verizon and you’re using it in another network like AT&T’s, you can’t expect to receive an update at all. That’s because AT&T won’t push updates to your device simply because their firmware version is incompatible with yours. If you want to update your phone, you must re-register it with Verizon first.

If you were to update this phone on this same network before, there may be another reason why it no longer works at this time. Do a factory reset and see if that will allow you to update. Otherwise, you have to other choice but to manually install the latest Android version by flashing it. Use Google to find for a guide on how to do that.

Problem 9: Can’t transfer files between Note 4 and Galaxy S7 via Smart Switch

Hey Droid guy. I just got a Galaxy S7 edge and am trying to use the cable they provide to do the Samsung Smart Switch. My wife got same phone same time but had a Note 4. She transferred all her apps, Facebook, games, etc. I didn’t see an easy way to switch my USB to transfer so I went into developer mode and it says it’s switched but still nothing happens when I open app on both phones and have wire plugged to both. — Steelcurtaindan

Solution: Hi Steelcurtaindan. You can move files via Smart Switch either in wired or wireless modes. If you’re attempting to connect both devices via USB cable, the following must be met:

  • Both devices must have Smart Switch app installed.
  • The USB setting on the old device must be set to transfer media files (MTP). You can access this option by pulling down the notification bar and selecting your USB transfer options. This will not be available if your phone is not connected to a compatible device via USB cable.
  • The USB connector must be connected to the new device, not the old one. This should be the setup and not the other way around.

If you can’t make file transfer via USB cable, try the wireless option.

Alternatively, you can also try to move your information first to a computer with Smart Switch installed to it, before copying those information to any of your phones. You can follow this link for more information.

Problem 10: Galaxy Note 4 won’t display contact names during calls or when receiving SMS

We rebooted back to factory reset on my Samsung Note 4 and were able to put the contacts back in; however, it doesn’t let me know who is calling or texting. it just gives me the phone #. I have added a couple of apps that identify phone numbers but they still don’t show especially when a text comes in. It is an American phone but I am currently in India so my carrier here is Idea. I added the Idea app in too. — Diane

Solution: Hi Diane. This problem happens if your phone is confused what contact name to display because there are duplicate or multiple contacts of the same name. Create a backup of your contacts and wipe the data of the Contacts app (refer to the steps above). Once you’ve cleared the Contacts app’s data, create a single contact in the app and ask that contact to call or text you. If his or her name is displayed properly, add the rest of your contacts in the app as well. Again, make sure that you don’t create duplicate contact names.

 

Engage with us

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

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

Galaxy Note 4 freezes when texting, accessing files from SD card, other issues

Welcome to our #GalaxyNote4 post for today. As usual, the issues being discussed here are taken from letters we receive from some members of our community. If you sent us your own issue before but couldn’t find it published yet, please continue watching out for more Note 4 issues in the coming days.

Below are the specific topics we discuss in this post:

  1. Galaxy Note 4 freezing and won’t turn back on
  2. Galaxy Note 4 keeps showing notification for system update
  3. Galaxy Note 4 freezes when texting
  4. Galaxy Note 4 popups and sound notifications show when battery level is low
  5. Galaxy Note 4 bottom screen not working when on portrait mode
  6. Galaxy Note 4 freezes when accessing files from SD card
  7. Galaxy Note 4 won’t install system update
  8. Galaxy Note 4 SD card got corrupted

If you are looking for solutions to your own #Android issue, you can contact us by using the link provided at the bottom of this page, or you can install our free app from Google Play Store.

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

Problem #1: Galaxy Note 4 freezing and won’t turn back on

Hello Team. I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 4. I am using it for the past 2 years. A few days back the device froze in the middle of work and then turn off just like it’s crashed. I tried to turned it on but there was no response from device. I also tried to take out the battery, Micro SD & Sim card from device and pressed the power button and hold it for few minutes then put back the battery and tried to turn it on. Still there is no response from device. I tried this some more time with more interval but it is not turning on. Could you please help me on this. Thank you. — Praveer

Solution: Hi Praveer. The first thing that you need to do is to check whether your Note 4 still charges fine. Get another known, working Samsung charger and charge the phone using it. If your Note 4 will show the lightning bolt charging icon, vibrates, and eventually turns back on, there’s a chance that the problem may be caused by a bad charger only.

If using a different charger won’t change anything though, you should then try to see if you’ll be able to restart the phone to alternate modes. Only then can you perform follow up software troubleshooting. Here are the steps:

Boot in Recovery mode:

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

Boot in Download Mode:

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

Boot in safe mode:

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

Remember, if your phone stays dead and won’t respond to any of the hardware button combinations above, you have a hardware issue at hand. Consider getting a different battery to see if it has simply reached its end of life. If that won’t fix the problem either, send the phone for repair or replacement.

Problem #2: Galaxy Note 4 keeps showing notification for system update

Have new N910T Galaxy Note 4. I have a notification that there is a system update to do – the update is 127.53MB and says it is “Version:N910TUVU2EQC1/N910TTMB82EQC1/N910TUVU2EQC1 – Size:127.53MB” I run the “Install now” – file downloads and appears to install OK; however the notification keeps re-appearing. I cannot delete notification either. The phone is currently running Android 6.0.1 Baseband N910TUVS2EQ81 So I guess issue is why does the patch not install – or how do I get rid of the notification if it has installed? — Geoffn

Solution: Hi Geoffn. There may be a system cache bug causing the problem so the first thing that you want to do here is to refresh it. Here’s how:

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

If wiping the cache partition won’t solve the problem, do a factory reset.

  1. Create a backup of your important files such as photos, videos, contacts etc. You can use Smart Switch for this task.
  2. Turn off the Galaxy Note 4 completely.
  3. Press and hold the Volume Up and the Home keys together, then press and hold the Power key.
  4. When the Note 4 vibrates, release both the Home and Power keys but continue holding the Volume Up key.
  5. When the Android System Recovery shows on the screen, release the Vol Up key.
  6. Using the Volume Down key, highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset’ and press the Power key to select it.
  7. Now highlight ‘Yes — delete all user data’ using the Vol Down key and press the Power key to begin the reset.
  8. When the master reset is complete, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and hit the Power key.
  9. The Note 4 will restart but it will be longer than usual. When it reaches the Home screen, then begin your setup.

Problem #3: Galaxy Note 4 freezes when texting

Where do I begin. I have tried to wipe the cache partition, which worked the first couple times, but recently when I went to do that again when I get to the part where I can select “Wipe Cache Partition” instead of getting that screen I get a screen with an image of the phone and a red caution sign in the middle of it. It freezes there and I have to press and hold all buttons on my phone for it to go away and then I can turn it back on. Recently I am having an issue with my phone when texting. I will be mid text and it will freeze and I wait a little bit and it just restarts. It can do this up to 3 or 4 times a day. I have no idea why it started, but I need my phone to last until August when I am up for a new one. — Katie

Solution: Hi Katie. The texting problem you have may be caused by an app bug. To fix the problem you want to clear the cache and data of your messaging app. Here’s how to do it:

  1. Open the Settings menu either through your notification shade (drop-down) or through the Settings app in your app drawer.
  2. Navigate down to “Apps”. This may be renamed to something like Applications or Application Manager in OEM skinned versions of Android 6 or 7.
  3. Once in there, click on an application.
  4. You’ll now see a list of stuff that gives you information about the app, including Storage, Permissions, Memory Use, and more. These are all clickable items. You’ll want to click on Storage.
  5. You should now clearly see the Clear Data and Clear Cache buttons for the application.

Problem #4: Galaxy Note 4 popups and sound notifications show when battery level is low

Strange charging bug on Samsung Galaxy Note 4. When i charge this phone and the charge is below ~15%, every three seconds or so a warning sound, notification and popup appears warning that the battery is low and the screen is turned on. After putting away the notification and turning off the screen, the same thing happens after the abovementioned three (or may four) seconds. The notification sound volume is tied to the phone call-volume. This happens with all chargers and cables (i have tested different ones) and only when the phone is turned on. This problem has been persisting through different os-versions starting with cm-13 – the phone now runs Lineage-14.1 (with android 7.1.1). There are not many user-installed “apps” (~20) and specifically none that in any way target the battery. — Holem

Solution: Hi Holem. We don’t know much about your phone’s history and current state of its software so there’s very little that we can do to help you identify the cause. You must do all the hard lifting in this one, especially that the phone is not even running official software. Try to backtrack what you’ve done differently prior to noticing the problem. This may help you remember what caused such odd behavior to occur. Sometimes, installing a new app or update can result to problems so uninstalling the most recent apps you’ve installed may fix the problem.

Doing the basic software troubleshooting in this case may also be indispensable so make sure to wipe the cache partition and do a factory reset if nothing works.

In case the issue is battery software related, you also want to do a recalibration by doing the following:

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

Problem #5: Galaxy Note 4 bottom screen not working when on portrait mode

Good morning. The problem is with the screen when vertical, the very bottom does not work. If in text message, I have to use left button to make font bigger. This allows the keyboard to come up. Or, I have to turn the phone horizontal. Here I can bring up the keyboard, turn vertical, or type message. But, while vertical when I type message, I can not press send without again turning the phone vertical. This is an intermittent problem. I have done the soft restart, changed keyboards, made room on my internal memory. Cleared apps. Have not found any fixes for this on line. I have the Samsung Galaxy Note 4. — Brian

Solution: Hi Brian. If your phone was never dropped, accidentally impacted, or exposed to water or elements before, then we assume that there may be an app or software problem causing this trouble.

To fix the issue, the first thing that you want to do is to check if the issue occurs while the phone is in safe mode. Safe mode blocks third party apps and services so if the screen works normally, that’s proof that one of the apps is causing the problem. If you don’t know how to restart the phone to safe mode, check the steps above.

We haven’t heard of a problem like this being caused by a corrupted system cache but anything can happen in Android so we also suggest that you try the cache partition wipe before or after booting your phone to safe mode.

If the problem started after you installed an update, make sure that you also update ALL of your apps. Having an incompatible app/s in the system can lead to all sorts of issues so it’s your job that everything in the system are working in harmony. If you are fond of installing apps without bothering to check their compatibility with the operating system, or whether they can be trusted, now is the time to review all of them.

Should nothing change, do a factory reset and observe how the screen works when there are no third party apps installed. Be sure not to re-install apps right after a factory reset so you’ll notice the difference. If the screen remains erratic after a factory reset, there’s either a firmware coding issue or an unknown hardware problem causing it. Both of these things are beyond your ability to fix so you want to consider sending the phone in. if your Note 4 is part of your subscription plan, you must contact your carrier. Otherwise, let Samsung know and see if there’s anything that they can do to help.

Problem #6: Galaxy Note 4 freezes when accessing files from SD card

Hello. I have an Samsung Galaxy Note 4. I am using a 32GB micro-SD card for photo/video/music storage. Music is accessed just fine but when I try and access images or video; either through the default camera app, gallery, video editor, or app like twitter, the images become inaccessible and many times the device will freeze and need to be reset using power+volume down buttons.

Occasionally I can access my full inventory of images and use them through an app only to find when I return to my phone later after going to sleep the phone is frozen. Any advice is appreciated, those cat videos won’t post themselves! — Bob

Solution: Hi Bob. Have you already tried reformatting the SD card? If several apps are having trouble accessing files stored in the card, then it’s high time for a card overhaul. Make sure to create a backup of your files first before reformatting the card.

We believe there’s no other effective solution than a card reformat in this case but if the issue returns after you do it, try using another SD card so you’ll see if the current one is not working properly.

Problem #7: Galaxy Note 4 won’t install system update

Hello. I have a Galaxy Note 4 that I have had for almost 3 years and have had no problems, until now. Recently it started turning off. When I try to turn it back on, it starts to power up, showing the logo, then off. if I continue to do this sometimes it starts up; other times it will not come back on for up to 4-5 hours. Then it starts up again on it’s own.

I tried to replace the battery but it did exactly the same thing so it’s not the battery. I thought it might need an Android version upgrade . The phone tells me I am running the current version. I tried using Kies (3.0) and it tells me I am running the current version. I have done a Factory Reset and it still tells me I am running the current version. I spoke to a T-Mobile Rep (in store) who looked up in their system and told me that I should be able to update my phone to 6.0 but I can’t.

By the way (side note)… I ran a Kies Backup before I did the reset and although I put everything back, I had to reset all my screens – I thought it was supposed to restore it like it was… I don’t know if it is going to start turning off anymore, as I just reset it, but I wanted to ask IF I can actually upgrade my phone past 4.4.4 ? Thank You! — Contactushere

Solution: Hi Contactushere. In general, you should still be able to update your Note 4. How to do it is really the issue that you should be asking.

Update your Note 4 by air (OTA update)

There are a few ways to update an Android device. The first one, considered to be the most user-friendly way, is by downloading the update by air. This method is called over-the-air update because the files are transmitted by your carrier over the air and all you have to do is to allow your device to receive them. OTA update cannot be applied to all devices in a carrier’s network though. Only devices built for the same network can receive update notifications. For example, if you are in AT&T network but your phone was originally built for T-Mobile, you cannot expect to receive AT&T updates at all. Each carrier modifies vanilla Android from Google so they can add or remove features that will work on their network. Installing an AT&T firmware in a T-Mobile device can brick the said phone. If your Note 4 was not provided by your current carrier, you cannot receive an OTA update.

Install updates via Samsung Smart Switch

Sometimes, Samsung release Android updates to some units even if they’re on a different network by using their official program. If you have a computer, you can install Samsung Smart Switch to it so you can check if you’ll be able to update your Note 4 with it. Smart Switch is mainly designed to help Samsung users create a backup of their files easily but it can also be used to install Android updates. This program should prompt you if there’s an available update for the device the moment you connect your phone to your computer. If there’s no prompt to update, then you’re out of luck.

Update manually with flashing

If the two methods above are out of the question, then your only hope is by doing the more not-so-friendly method called flashing. This entails using a computer and doing core system file modifications in your phone. Flashing is inherently risky as it can potentially make your device an expensive paperweight. Make sure that you know exactly what you’re doing before changing anything on your phone. You should do some research on how to flash a firmware on your phone model. Again, your phone model. The exact steps in flashing can vary depending on what type of device you have. Use Google to look for a good guide on how to flash a firmware on your device.

Problem #8: Galaxy Note 4 SD card got corrupted

Greetings. Earlier this morning after stopping my alarm, I left my Samsung Galaxy Note 4 in my room for a few minutes and returned to see it restarting. The available memory is super low and so it has been doing this on occasion (restarting apropos of nothing seemingly). Once I enter my password to make it accessible again, I see my app icons have disappeared for the apps I have installed on my SD card (SanDisk Ultra 32GB). The pictures stored on the SD are also not available. The card itself does not appear in the list of storage areas; however “ghost” icons appear indicating the apps being located on the SD card. There are also .com listings for these missing apps at the bottom of the internal storage app list. I allowed my phone to sit fora few hours hoping things would eventually refresh. I also did a soft reset. I’m afraid to unmount the SD w/o the phone acknowledging it, but would like to check in on a PC to see if my pictures are there at least. The pictures are all backed up elsewhere, but much of my app data can’t be recovered. How might I resolve this? — Rudell

Solution: Hi Rudell. An issue like this usually happens if an SD card gets corrupted so the immediate solution may be to reformat the card at this time. SD card corruption can happen anytime although the most common cause can be attributed to user misuse. To minimize bugs in your SD card, treat it as if it’s the phone itself and avoid interrupting the device when it’s trying to save something on it. Some apps can be moved to the SD card so make sure that you let the system finish loading the app before interrupting or using it.

There a long list of other best-practices and tips that you can do to lessen the chances of your SD card bugging out but listing them all here is beyond the scope of this post. Do some little online research and be sure to follow them all the time.

 

Engage with us

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

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

Galaxy Note 4 fast charging stopped working after an update, won’t detect SIM cards, other issues

Hello Android community! Welcome to another episode of our #GalaxyNote4 troubleshooting series. We hope you’ll find this post useful.

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

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

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

Problem 1: Galaxy Note 4 drains battery fast, shuts down when battery reaches 45%

My device switches off when it goes below 45% and also it drains very fast to 45%…so it always needs a charger plugged to it. But once when i was talking over the phone to my surprise my phone survived till 35% battery. Normally it switches off below 45% and worst case it once died even at 65%. i use games, Facebook, Wikipedia etc. I performed a soft reset … No result…. I went to a prominent mobile dealer who checked the battery and told it was fine … and it’s the hardware which is the problem. I don’t know the real reason. And most of the people using Note 4 all over the world seem to have this problem. Please help us. We already spent 45K and can’t afford to spend more. — Karthikeyan

Solution: Hi Karthikeyan. First off, let us be clear with one thing. Lithium-based batteries like the one in your Note 4 can’t run forever. By forever we mean a few years. A two-year old Lithium-ion battery is already old in today’s electronic age. If your Note 4 and battery has been around (around 2 years), it may be high time to start considering a new battery. Lithium batteries loses capacity as time goes by. It loses charge and capacity even when it’s not used! The more you use it, the faster it degrades. That’s why too years is considered a ripe old age for a battery like yours. Unfortunately, there’s no way to reverse a battery’s aging process. Your situation right now is a classic symptom of a malfunctioning battery so the most effective way to address it is by simply replacing it. Try to use an original Samsung battery as much as possible. If a new battery won’t fix the problem at all, you should consider replacing the phone itself if the usual software troubleshooting like battery calibration and factory reset won’t help.

To calibrate the battery, follow these steps:

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

To factory reset your Note 4:

  1. Create a backup of your important files such as photos, videos, contacts etc. You can use Smart Switch for this task.
  2. Turn off the Galaxy Note 4 completely.
  3. Press and hold the Volume Up and the Home keys together, then press and hold the Power key.
  4. When the Note 4 vibrates, release both the Home and Power keys but continue holding the Volume Up key.
  5. When the Android System Recovery shows on the screen, release the Vol Up key.
  6. Using the Volume Down key, highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset’ and press the Power key to select it.
  7. Now highlight ‘Yes — delete all user data’ using the Vol Down key and press the Power key to begin the reset.
  8. When the master reset is complete, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and hit the Power key.
  9. The Note 4 will restart but it will be longer than usual. When it reaches the Home screen, then begin your setup.

Any of the two procedures above should address any software-related issue. If your phone continues to lose power prematurely even after using a new battery, it’s time to get a new phone.

You may ask why not send the phone for repair instead. Well, the main reason for that is there’s very little chance that a technician can really repair the phone. In most instances, motherboard replacement will be suggested if you’ll insists on repair. That means that you’ll most likely spend a few hundred dollars on an unguaranteed repair. If money is not an issue and you’re willing to take a risk, then go ahead. But then again, if money is not an issue, why not simply upgrade, right?

Problem 2: Galaxy Note 4 stuck in Samsung logo screen

In the last 2 weeks ATT has pushed 3 software updates. After each time I have had to delete programs, clear all caches, delete files, etc to even be able to read download new email. I try to save as much as possible to the SD card. Yesterday, shortly after the software update was pushed, I was deleting unnecessary photos, and the phone shut down and attempted to reboot. It will not make it past the Samsung screen. I have done a factory reset without the SIM and SD cards, with the same results. What would you suggest, at this point? I do not know what OS it is currently on, with all these updates. — Stacy

Solution: Hi Stacy. If a factory reset did not fix the issue, you should try flashing the bootloader. Although there’s no guarantee that it’ll work, it’s the last step that you can try before you consider sending the phone in. Below are the sample steps on how to flash a bootloader. Exact steps may be slightly different for your particular phone so be sure to do some research ahead of time. The following steps are only for demonstration purposes only:

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

Problem 3: Galaxy Note 4 stuck in boot loop

Hi. I am using a Galaxy Note 4. It was working perfectly last night when I went to bed but when I woke up this morning it was on boot loop. I tried all the recommended tricks in order to get it to restart but when I press and hold the UP VOLUME+MENU BUTTON+POWER BUTTON it directly goes to “DOWNLOADING DO NOT TURN OFF TARGET” It has been juggling between the two, it does not show the option where I can reset settings. Please assist. Regards. — Aubrey

Solution: Hi Aubrey. Please see our suggestion for Stacy above. If you think you can manage to flash the bootloader and the firmware (in this order), make sure to do them. If the issue remains after flashing, there must be a much deeper reason for it. You should have the phone repaired or replaced.

Problem 4: Galaxy Note 4 loses power fast, turns off when battery is at 35%

Note 4 battery drains fast. Many times it will be at 35% and then shuts down. I have done the soft reset, didn’t help. I constantly turn off apps running in the background. I have a SD card that is 19GB of 32GB full. I just purchased a new Samsung battery from Amazon and it shows to be charged to 100% then I unplug it and it shuts down in a matter of seconds. Any advice is appreciated. I love my phone. Please help. — Mjdecker

Solution: Hi Mjdecker. Sometimes, Android can get confused how it detects battery level. To ensure that the operating system reads battery level properly, there may be a need to recalibrate the battery. Please see our suggestion for Karthikeyan above.

Battery recalibration and factory reset should fix the problem. If the issue returns after doing both though, you should let a professional take a look at the phone. Better yet, you should have the phone replaced.

Problem 5: Galaxy Note 4 keeps booting back by itself

Thank you for your help. We have a Galaxy Note 4 and reviewed the solutions on your site. Our situation is similar to those where the phone turns on to the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 screen, then goes black and comes back on at the same place in a cycle. We tried the volume-power-home button and a small blue “recovery ” came up in the upper left hand corner but nothing has happened to change the cycle. The phone won’t shut off and just runs the battery out. We removed the SIM card and the battery but don’t know what else to do to get the phone to go beyond this point. Could it be that we need a new battery? We have not damaged the current one but the phone is now 4 years old. Any help you can give us would be most appreciated. — Lewbosutton

Solution: Hi Lewbosutton. If your phone appears to reboot by itself and if you can’t factory reset it via Recovery mode, the only thing that you may be able to do at your level may be try flashing the bootloader and/or the firmware. Check our suggestions for other users above.

Problem 6: Galaxy Note 4 won’t stay on unless connected to charger, keeps rebooting by itself

Hi. My Samsung Galaxy Note 4 keeps cutting off. At first I thought it was the battery because it would be charging and when it’s fully charged I remove the charger. A few minutes later, it would cut off with about 90% battery power. I would put it back to charge and when it’s fully charged again, I remove the charger, and same thing, only this time it would be at 0%. So I bought a brand new battery thinking that would fix the issue, but it got worse. The phone would not come on and stay on unless the charger is connected. It is always rebooting when I try to turn it on.

Also, i did a factory reset, thinking it was some type of glitch, but that did not help. When I try to install an app the phone keeps restarting. There is now an error message stating that google play services needs to be updated in order for google drive to work but I’m unable to install any app as per what I mentioned before. HELP! Any assistance/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! — Natalie

Solution: Hi Natalie. As what we keep saying above, if factory reset did not fix the problem, there must be an unknown hardware issue behind it. In most cases, it’s a battery issue but since you’re now using a new one, this must be something deep in the motherboard. For example, a malfunctioning power management IC can also lead to boot loop problem. Unfortunately, anything motherboard-related means motherboard replacement so a phone replacement is a much better choice for you. A  good working Note 4 motherboard found in eBay or other online commerce sites are sold for almost a $100. If you take into consideration the technician’s fee, a repair of this kind will cost you over $200, which by the way is not always guaranteed to work.

Problem 7: Where to download stock ROM for Galaxy Note 4

Is there anywhere that you know of where I can download a ‘stock’ ROM for the Samsung Note 4? The phone misbehaved and increasing desperation has made things worse. First the screen went black – although I could see the logo at startup. Tried some troubleshooting but made things worse, phone wouldn’t connect to a PC and the screen was still blank. Tried a custom Android 5 ROM. Screen working, keys stopped working (lights and vibration, otherwise unresponsive). Oh dear, tried Android 7. Buttons working, screen working, setup wizard stopped loop error. Troubleshooting that didn’t work. So I think a nice 4.x stock ROM would be the best option. But I can’t find one anywhere! It’s reaching the stage where buying a replacement phone makes more sense than waste more hours trying to revive this one 🙂 — Steve

Solution: Hi Steve. If you’re looking for good quality stock ROMs, we suggest that you visit SamMobile. Make sure that you enter the correct model number for your device.

Problem 8: Galaxy Note 4 won’t detect SIM cards after flashing

Hi Bro. I have the problem that my Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is getting unknown SIM error. SIM is not detected in both Sim1 & Sim2. The whole thing is, firstly its firmware is down by installing another phone software input by someone. And then I go to the recovery mode and enter to ‘recover cache log (where I found many data running)” and then firmware is automatically install and get back the home. At that time touch and every app (even when the camera mode is on) not moved as well (impeded). Also, both SIMs are not detected when I insert it (no SIM detected). I re-install the phone firmware according to it model number. However it is nothing good that touch impeded & SIM not detected. Please can help me, how can i fix it? — Aung Thu

Solution: Hi Aung Thu. This is the main reason why Samsung does not recommend end users to mess with the operating system of their phones. Changing a ROM is basically a modification of critical core system files and if such modification is not done properly, you may end up with a problem you’re having right now. Flashing requires sophisticated software and Android knowledge so only advanced users try it. If you tried to flash your phone software, you must be aware of the risks. That said, you should be responsible in looking for a solution yourself.

In a lot of cases, solutions to flashing- or rooting-related problems are very specific and can only be fixed within the context of the ROM a user is using. We don’t know what happened to your phone’s software exactly so there’s not much that we can do to help. Try to visit websites that support flashing or rooting and reach out to other users who may have encountered the same issue. They may be able to tell you what a specific error means and how to fix it without resorting to flashing a stock ROM.

In general, if the only different thing you did before the issue started was to flash a different ROM, then reverting to the previous working ROM  should do the trick. Try to flash the known working ROM your phone was running before you installed the problematic one. We don’t provide flashing guides so make sure to look for a good one online.

Problem 9: Samsung TV screen showing pixelation when Galaxy Note 4 is connected via Screen Mirroring

Hi, I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 with a 5.0 update, which I use a lot to screen mirror to my Samsung smart TV. Recently, while mirroring, it constantly glitched on the TV screen but not on the phone: the audio works normally but pixelated glitching occurs. Pretty sure it’s got something to do with my phone cause my dad has a Note 5 and that works perfectly. Once, can’t remember what I did exactly, but I found a new player already installed on my phone which stopped the glitching but I can’t seem to find what I was messing with before that fixed it. Also, Chromecast works perfectly. Thanks for any help I’m advance!! — Jmarterosyan

Solution: Hi Jmarterosyan. As much as we would like to help you, this issue is beyond us simply because we don’t even know if you’re right to say that it’s a phone issue. You’re dealing with at least 2 systems here, your TV and phone, and any of them can be at fault. Try to do a factory reset and see if that will help. If nothing will change, try to contact Samsung and see if they’ve heard of this problem.

Problem 10: Galaxy Note 4 screen stays black, won’t turn on

I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 that I bought new in 2013 (I think). After having it only a couple of months, I went to pick it up from my nightstand one morning when it slipped out of my hand and fell to the floor. I would say it fell no more than 2 feet and it landed screen side up. There are no visible cracks on the screen at all but the screen is just black. I didn’t get it fixed at that time. I simply purchased a used iPhone because I could do that a heck of a lot cheaper than what I was quoted to get the Galaxy repaired. I was quoted a cost of almost $300 to get the Galaxy fixed. I felt like I was basically being ripped off but I live in a very rural area and there is only once place to get it fixed. Is it just a screen issue or did it likely break something on the inside of the phone? If it just needs a new screen, is that something that is expensive to replace? Would it be too difficult to replace myself? — Donna

Solution: Hi Donna. To know if it’s just a screen issue, you should plug the phone in (charge it) and see if it can show signs that it’s working. If it vibrates, makes sounds like when receiving a notification, or when the charging LED is lit, a screen replacement may bring it back. If it doesn’t show any of the mentioned signs above, there may be a motherboard damage somewhere.

If you think it’s just a screen issue, you should be able to replace the screen yourself by following a good guide. Our blog does not provide DIY (do-it-yourself) guides but iFixit website should be a good place to start looking.

Keep in mind that hardware repair like screen replacement requires some level of basic electronic knowledge and tools so make sure to study everything. If you think you can replace the damaged component, you also need to purchase the exact same component somewhere, most probably online.

Problem 11: Galaxy Note 4 fast charging stopped working after an update

My Samsung Note 4 recently quit fast charging. I have 3 fast chargers, all purchased from Samsung. NONE of the three will fast charge my phone as of this past Monday. Battery drain is no far too fast and the biggest draw on the battery is no longer the screen, it is Bluetooth. It was last updated about 5 weeks ago on May 31, 2017 to N910VVRS2CQE1. Do you have any idea what could have happened or how I can get this fixed?

By the way, below on the “Android Version” I am not sure which one it is running, I just filled in one so I could submit this form. Thanks. —  Scooter

Solution: Hi Scooter. In majority of cases wherein fast charging stopped working, the most common reason is a malfunctioning charging port. If your phone was well taken care of and the only different thing done to it was an update installation, then reverting to the older Android version may fix the issue. Since you can’t just switch to an older Android version, you’ll have to do it manually via flashing. Kindly use Google and find a flashing guide for your phone. Be sure to use the previous firmware version when flashing.

 

Engage with us

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

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

Galaxy Note 4 “Unfortunately Settings has stopped” error showing after an update, other issues

Hello Note 4 users! Welcome to another article that addresses more Note 4 issues. As usual, all issues mentioned here are taken from messages sent by some members of our community. If you have your own issue you want to share to us, don’t hesitate to do that so we can help you too.

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

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

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

Problem 1: Galaxy Note 4 keeps showing emmc failed message

Good day My name is Nadeem. I got your email off this blog. i am currently having issues with my Note 4. It started showing me the write emmc failed message and i couldn’t reload the firmware to it. i have sent it away for repairs with no luck but now it does not seem to power up at all. I have inserted my other Note 4 battery in as well with no luck. however when i connect to my pc i can hear the USB connect sound from my PC but nothing picks up or any activity on the phone. Could you help please? Thanks. — Nadeem

Solution: Hi Nadeem. “Emmc failed” error is a sign that the system is unable to read properly off the storage device. This is either due to a software glitch or a hardware failure. In a lot of cases though, it all boils down to bad hardware. Unfortunately, most cases of emmc failed issue requires repair; you can’t fix it with a software tweak. This is especially true in your case since the phone no longer boots up normally at this point.  That said, let a professional check the hardware first and see what happens from there. Depending on the motherboard damage, your device may or may not be repaired.

Problem 2: Galaxy Note 4 keeps downloading update but won’t install it

I bought a used Note 4. It seems to work great but it keeps downloading update. When i install it says it was successful but then proceeds to download them again and ask me to install them again. I am only on wifi as i have not had the phone switched over yet. Could that be the problem [no sim] or does it sound like bigger issue?

 I need help before i switch over to a phone that will not work. — Chad

Solution: Hi Chad. There may be a software glitch causing this problem so we recommend that you try a factory reset and proceed from there. Factory reset will restore all software settings back to their defaults. Also, make sure to unroot the device or flash back stock firmware if it’s running custom firmware.

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

  1. Create a backup of your important files such as photos, videos, contacts etc. You can use Smart Switch for this task.
  2. Turn off the Galaxy Note 4 completely.
  3. Press and hold the Volume Up and the Home keys together, then press and hold the Power key.
  4. When the Note 4 vibrates, release both the Home and Power keys but continue holding the Volume Up key.
  5. When the Android System Recovery shows on the screen, release the Vol Up key.
  6. Using the Volume Down key, highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset’ and press the Power key to select it.
  7. Now highlight ‘Yes — delete all user data’ using the Vol Down key and press the Power key to begin the reset.
  8. When the master reset is complete, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and hit the Power key.
  9. The Note 4 will restart but it will be longer than usual. When it reaches the Home screen, then begin your setup.

Problem 3: Galaxy Note 4 “Unfortunately Settings has stopped”  error keeps showing after an update

Yesterday, May 24, 2017, I noticed that my Note 4 was receiving an update that was labeled Samsung Internet. After this update completed I noticed if I went into settings under Applications and tapped on Internet it would set there a few seconds and I get the message “Unfortunately Settings has stopped.” It was working the day before as I went into this to clear out internet cache files. Everything else seems to be working fine. I rebooted the phone, even pulled the battery and no changes. This is very frustrating! — Steve

Solution: Hi Steve. We don’t know what happened exactly to your phone but updates change core system files and something may have gone wrong. The thing is, there’s no test that you can do to see where the problem lies. You must try to isolate possible factors in order to arrive a fix. To do that, there’s a series of software troubleshooting that you must perform.

Wipe the cache partition

The first one is the cache partition wipe. The aim of this step is to see whether the system cache has been corrupted following an update. Sometimes, a corrupted system cache can lead to all sorts of problems. To fix it, you need to delete the old system cache so the phone will be forced to create a new one. Here’s how to do that:

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

Install app updates and make sure apps are compatible

The next step that you want to do if a cache partition wipe won’t work is to ensure that all apps are in tip-top shape. Go over your list of apps and make sure that you install updates for all of them. If you tend to install apps without checking where they come from, now is to the time to be aware. Incompatible apps can sometimes cause crashing problems, or make other apps behave erratically. Since there’s no direct way to know whether an app is causing a problem or not, this is a trial-and-error step at best.

If you think an app may be causing the problem though, consider booting your phone  to safe mode. Here’s how it’s done:

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

Booting Galaxy Note 4 in safe mode will temporarily disable all third-party or download apps leaving pre-installed ones and core services running. This procedure can help you determine which of your apps is causing a problem.

Return the phone to clean slate with factory reset

If the problem remains after doing cache partition wipe and safe mode observation, there’s no better way to fix it than by doing a factory reset. Refer to the steps above to see how to do it.

Problem 4: Galaxy Note 4 mobile data is slow | How to download TDG Smartphone Troubleshooting app

I unlocked my T-Mobile Note 4 phone, carrier was MetroPCS — due to year long issues with service. The phone was set between T-Mobile & Metro settings 50/50.

Data would not download. Even at 50/50 the data would drop constantly. Got lost a billion times and Google directions would drop GPS constantly or downloads from contacts were slooow.

SO….I had my phone unlocked, ported number, left original memory card in. AND …. THE DROID GUY APP IS GONE!? Can’t find on Google, did you drop your app for the Web? It was a Lifesaver!  I got my phone from a previous friend, it was on my phone then, so I couldn’t ask where she got it. I assumed it came from Samsung, when I Google your app I only get blog stuff. Did you remove your app from Play Store? And I lost thru an update? Or do you still have it? Thank you. — Ellen

Solution: Hi Ellen. The best thing that you can do about your mobile data issue is to ask support from your current carrier. Although there’s a chance that a device issue is causing it, majority of the time, it has something to do with network-related problem. The advantage of asking support from your carrier for this issue is the fact that they can also help you troubleshoot the device in case the problem is not from their end. If you haven’t done that at this time, make sure that you do it.

As far as device troubleshooting is concerned, you are limited to doing a factory reset only. We don’t think it’s a configuration issue because mobile data is actually working, albeit slow. If you’ve already tried a factory reset before calling us, then the best thing that you can do is to seek support from your network.

Our support app is up-and-running. It’s been renamed TDG Smartphone Troubleshooting. Please follow this link to download it from Google Play Store.

Problem 5: Galaxy Note 4 not detecting SD card

Today, my 8GB micro SD card in my Samsung Note 4 stopped working. It’s an older card, but it happened so suddenly. I was browsing and preparing my photos to back up onto my PC. I moved all the photos from the phone storage to my hard drive first, then it stopped seeing the SD card in my phone through the file explorer. I tried removing and replacing it, but my phone started saying it was an unrecognized format and wanted to reformat the whole thing. I reset then factory reset my phone without the card inserted. I’ve tried a desk top memory card reader. The drivers installed, the device will light up, but the PC doesn’t act like there’s a card inserted. I’m at a loss. I feel like I know it’s gone for good, but was hoping you had an idea of something I may be overlooking. — Boxer

Solution: Hi Boxer. If your computer also fails to detect the SD card at this time, you may be right, the contents or the card itself may be gone for good.

Try inserting the card to another smartphone to see for the last time if our suspicion is true. If that phone won’t detect that card either, you must accept the fact that your SD card has failed.

Problem 6: Galaxy Note 4 won’t boot normally, stuck in installing system update screen

My Note 4 will go into a reboot loop for hours, sometimes even after removing the battery. After a while the Android fella pops up saying unable to reboot or installing system update.

I have wiped the phone and my service provider won’t replace it since my warranty stopped last year. I was told the software is too advance for the firmware. Is there anything else you can suggest I try? — Jaimeeantonik

Solution: Hi Jaimeeantonik. The first thing that you can try is to flash the bootloader. The bootloader is the first series of codes that runs when you start up the phone. It’s independent of the operating system but like any software in your phone, it can also get corrupted, leading to an issue just like the one you’re experiencing. To flash it, you need to follow a certain guide. Flashing guides are phone model specific so there’s no one-size-fits-all one for you. We can give an example of steps how to flash the bootloader but we are not sure if they are exact ones for your device. You must find a good guide for your phone model using Google.

Below are the sample steps on how to flash the bootloader:

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

If flashing the bootloader won’t fix the issue, you can also try to flash the firmware itself. The steps should be slightly different than the ones provided above so, again, make sure that you find a good one first.

Problem 7: Galaxy Note 4 purchased from eBay has bad speaker

My sound system is not working. I have a new one bought from eBay, a Samsung Galaxy Note 4. I had to do a factory reset on it and now my volume does NOT work. There’s no music sounds, no notification sounds, no sounds. Please help me. I don’t want to spend another 200 some dollars to get another phone that doesn’t work. I don’t know the Android version of it. And I’m currently with MetroPCS. — Cristine

Solution: Hi Cristine. If factory reset did not help at all, there must be something wrong with the hardware. Try to check if the speaker is working by accessing the phone’s service menu first. Here’s how:

  1. Open the dialer or Phone app.
  2. Dial “*#0*#” (without quotes).
  3. Tap the box that says Speaker. The phone is supposed to make a sound after tapping this box. If nothing comes out of the speaker, that’s proof that you have a bad hardware.
  4. To go back to normal mode, simply hit the Back button.

You can’t fix a hardware problem like this so you either have to return the phone and get a refund, or have it tested and repaired.

Problem 8: Galaxy Note 4 apps keep crashing after an update

After an update last week my phone keeps restarting and I keep getting error messages that apps have stopped working. I see where a factory reset may help this but I don’t really understand how to do it. I’ve connected my phone to my laptop but nothing pops up saying a device has been connected. I need step by step. It has a SD card. — Hoodsybil

Solution: Hi Hoodsybil. We suggest that you do a cache partition wipe first (refer to the steps above). If that won’t work, here are the steps on how to factory reset your phone:

  1. Create a backup of your important files such as photos, videos, contacts etc. You can use Smart Switch for this task.
  2. Turn off the Galaxy Note 4 completely.
  3. Press and hold the Volume Up and the Home keys together, then press and hold the Power key.
  4. When the Note 4 vibrates, release both the Home and Power keys but continue holding the Volume Up key.
  5. When the Android System Recovery shows on the screen, release the Vol Up key.
  6. Using the Volume Down key, highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset’ and press the Power key to select it.
  7. Now highlight ‘Yes — delete all user data’ using the Vol Down key and press the Power key to begin the reset.
  8. When the master reset is complete, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and hit the Power key.
  9. The Note 4 will restart but it will be longer than usual. When it reaches the Home screen, then begin your setup.

Problem 9: Galaxy Note 4 stuck in boot loop

My phone suddenly is stuck in some sort of loop. It came up on a boot menu screen and I wasn’t sure what to do. So I selected the top option that was reboot system. It then goes to the Galaxy Note 4 black start up screen and freezes there, goes black and back to the galaxy start up screen. I’ve removed the battery, bought a new battery and it’s still doing the same. Any help appreciated. — Lorra32

Solution: Hi Lorra32. You did not give us enough information to help us identify the cause of the problem for you. An issue like this does not happen out-of-the-blue. You must have done something different to cause it.

If you tried to install something, or change some settings without knowing where they’ll lead, that may be the cause of the problem. We suggest that you check our suggestion for Jaimeeantonik above and see if you can fix the issue by flashing the bootloader or firmware.

If flashing won’t solve the problem, consider sending the phone in for repair or replacement.

Problem 10: Galaxy Note 4 microphone not working

No audio is being picked up on video camera and voice recorder apps. Already played music, mp3s and Youtube videos to test audibility. Those work just fine. Volume is up all the way for: Ringtone, Media, Notifications, and System. Was in the middle of clearing out space on my phone and afraid I may have deleted some key ingredient to receiving up &/or putting out audio. My recorded videos and voice recorder are the only apps that have this problem. — Cbowers613

Solution: Hi Cbowers613. We don’t think you’re testing the right functionality here as the speaker is not the problem. Playing music and videos will only allow you to check whether or not the speaker is working. If your recorded videos lack audio, the most likely problem is the phone’s microphone, not the speaker.

To check if the microphone is working, try calling someone. If you can hear them but they can’t hear you, the microphone is most probably fried.

If this problem started after deleting some system files, do a factory reset.

 

Engage with us

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

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

How to fix a Galaxy Note 4 that won’t stay on when not connected to a charger, other issues

Welcome to another #GalaxyNote4 post for the day! We hope that you’ll find this material a good source of useful tips about Note 4. We’ll be writing more of the same in the coming weeks so for those who are yet to see their issues published, keep watching.

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

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

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

Problem 1: Galaxy Note 4 won’t install updates

Hi. I have just attempted to install latest software update from Samsung but install will not complete 100%. I am getting a screen appear giving me various options Reboot system now, Reboot to bootloader, Apply update from adb, Apply update from sd card, Wipe data/factory reset, Wipe cache partition, Mount/system View recovery logs, Power off. I have already tried wipe cache partition and reboot options and reboot but nothing changes. I am anxious as I do not want to lose personal files. Any ideas Thanks p.s: The phone is a Note 4. — Martin

Solution: Hi Martin. Can you select “Power off” and restart the phone to normal mode? If you can, simply turn the phone off and ignore the update notification once you restart the device.

If you can’t select Power off for some reason, you have no other choice but to do wipe data/factory reset. An issue like this is usually fixed with a factory reset so this is the only option for you right now.

Problem 2: Galaxy Note 4 stopped charging after it was accidentally dropped

Hi. My Galaxy Note 4 phone was just charging no problem at all in the afternoon. This evening, my daughter dropped on the ground and the back battery cover fell and realize tonight the charging no longer work. I tried turning off, pull out and plug again it did not work. I also tried using a portable charger, it was charging for one split second and it’s not charging again. Please kindly assist me with this issue. Many thanks. — Chengkaryan

Solution: Hi Chengkaryan. A charging problem like this is most likely caused by bad hardware, like a possible malfunctioning charging port, so there’s no amount of software tweak that you can do on your end to fix it. Try to use another charger and USB cable to see if that will fix it. If nothing will change and if the phone can still power on, you should try to do a factory reset. This will allow you to eliminate possible software bug that may be causing the problem. Here’s how to do it:

  1. Create a backup of your important files such as photos, videos, contacts etc. You can use Smart Switch for this task.
  2. Turn off the Galaxy Note 4 completely.
  3. Press and hold the Volume Up and the Home keys together, then press and hold the Power key.
  4. When the Note 4 vibrates, release both the Home and Power keys but continue holding the Volume Up key.
  5. When the Android System Recovery shows on the screen, release the Vol Up key.
  6. Using the Volume Down key, highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset’ and press the Power key to select it.
  7. Now highlight ‘Yes — delete all user data’ using the Vol Down key and press the Power key to begin the reset.
  8. When the master reset is complete, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and hit the Power key.
  9. The Note 4 will restart but it will be longer than usual. When it reaches the Home screen, then begin your setup.

Now, as we said earlier, the main reason for this problem is bad hardware so if factory reset won’t fix your problem at all, you need to send the phone in so it can be repaired or replaced.

Problem 3: Galaxy Note 4 keeps shutting down on its own, won’t power back on

My Note 4, at first experienced random quits and shut offs. I followed some trouble shooting advice of removing the SD card to see if that would alleviate the problem but it still shut off. Usually I had to take out the battery before attempting to restart but now the phone wont power up at all. Do I need a new phone? I’m trying to hold out for the Note 8 in August. Please help. I can’t determine the OS because the phone will not power up. — Klee4.1.kl

Solution: Hi Klee4.1.kl. The first thing that you want to do right now is to check if you’ll still be able to turn the phone back on to other modes. If you can, there’s a chance that you can still fix the problem with a software solution. Below are the steps on how to turn the phone back on to other modes and the respective follow-up troubleshooting that you can do afterwards.

Boot in Recovery mode:

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

Boot in Download Mode:

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

Boot in safe mode:

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

If your phone remains dead or won’t boot to any of the boot modes above, the only other step that you can do is to get a new battery. One of the usual reasons for random reboot or complete failure to boot issues is bad battery. If you’re lucky and the issue lies on the battery only, getting a new one should be an easy fix.

If the problem stays even with a new battery though, send it in for repair or replacement.

Problem 4: Galaxy Note 4 can’t share via SMS

Everytime I try to share anything through a text, I get a pop up to choose existing contact or new contact. I choose existing and it freezes. I can’t choose a person or close it or anything. I have to wait for it so pop up with “Contacts isn’t responding, Do you want to close it?” If I hit wait, it stays frozen. If I choose close, it closes and goes back to home screen. So I can share anything through texts! HELP!!!! — Mlfarque

Solution: Hi Mlfarque. To fix the problem, clear the cache and data of both the Contacts app and Messaging app. Here’s how:

  1. Open the Settings menu either through your notification shade (drop-down) or through the Settings app in your app drawer.
  2. Navigate down to “Apps”. This may be renamed to something like Applications or Application Manager in OEM skinned versions of Android 6 or 7.
  3. Once in there, click on an application.
  4. You’ll now see a list of stuff that gives you information about the app, including Storage, Permissions, Memory Use, and more. These are all clickable items. You’ll want to click on Storage.
  5. You should now clearly see the Clear Data and Clear Cache buttons for the application.

Note: Hitting the Clear Data button will erase your messages and contacts so make sure to back them up using Smart Switch before proceeding.

Now, if the problem remains after wiping the cache and data of both apps, you must

contact your carrier so they can help you with it.

Problem 5: Galaxy Note 4 keeps turning off after an update

Over the past 3 weeks, possibly after an upgrade, my cell phone turns off intermittently. I have received messages

  1. “Normal Boot MMC Read Failed Error”), and
  2. the “Downloading” do not turn off target “error.

I have replaced the battery with a new original Samsung battery and have already done a hard reset. The problem comes back after a few hours and it us frustrating. Is there anything else I can do? Regards. — Mike

Solution: Hi Mike. Try observing the phone while it’s on safe mode and see what happens. It’s possible that the problem is due to an incompatible or buggy app. If it’s not an app problem, you will most likely end up with a replacement phone because there’s no other way to know what is causing the issue.

If you want to try flashing, we recommend that you do the bootloader first before the firmware. Below are the general steps on how to flash a bootloader. The exact steps may vary on your phone model so try to do some research before doing the actual procedure. The steps below are meant to give you an idea on how flashing is done:

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

Problem 6: Galaxy Note 4 “could not do normal boot …” error

My sister’s phone has been acting up the last couple of days. Lag, turning off by itself. Then today it did up upgrade on her phone. And now there is an error message. Could not do normal boot. ddi mc_ read failed Product name current binary samsung offical system status custom recactivation lock off knox warranty void. Qualcomm secureboot enable CSB AP swev st t1 a1 a1 p1 secure download enabled udc start. And I removed the battery and it won’t do anything. The screen is frozen.         — Rose

Solution: Hi Rose. Please refer to our suggestion for Klee4.1.kl above. Remember, if the phone becomes totally dead, your only option would either be repair or replacement.

Problem 7: Galaxy Note 4 screen won’t turn on when pressing Power or Home button, screen discoloration

Samsung Galaxy Note 4. Problems started a week ago.

  1. Phone screen will not turn on when pressing home button or power button. Took out battery to restart but two full tries for screen to stay on and phone work fine for about 12 hours. This happens every day so I have to take battery out everyday. Phone screen will turn on if I receive a call which seems to wake up screen and works properly for awhile.
  2. Also, started noticing when screen is about to go black due to inactivity, it flicks green and sometimes gray.
  3. Restarted phone, and the Samsung logo was yellow instead of white then it went dead. Had to take battery again to restart.

Phone has all current updates and hasn’t been dropped recently. The unresponsive screen also happen on safe mode. Any ideas to save this phone? It has only been 18 months. Thanks. — Patricia

Solution: Hi Patricia. We witnessed this issue happening on devices with malfunctioning or old battery. At 18 months, your phone’s battery can be considered ripe so if you can, try to get a new battery so you can compare how the device works with it.

You can, of course, do the basic software troubleshooting like the cache partition wipe and factory reset to eliminate possible software causes. If nothing will change after changing the battery and factory reset, you can assume that there’s a more serious hardware problem involved. In that case, consider repair or replacement.

Problem 8: Galaxy Note 4 stuck in boot loop after an update

After an update yesterday, my Samsung Galaxy Note 4 went into a repeating boot cycle. I couldn’t even start it in safe mode. After deciding to perform a factory reset I could finally get it to turn on. But now I’m having huge issues with the internal storage where from a restart it tells me I’ve used 7GB out of 16GB, but within 5 minutes it has gone up to nearly 9GB and i wasn’t even using the phone! Within an hour or so it fills right up to the 16GB causing everything to shut down, forcing me to restart the device. When it starts back up it has gone back down to 7GB and begins building back up again. I have screenshots of this happening over a 5 minute period and also a screenshot of the device details. If any more info is needed feel free to ask and thank you so much for your time. — Ross

Solution: Hi Ross. We think we’ve heard of this issue before on a different device but we couldn’t find the right article. We thought then that it was an isolated case but since you’re now experiencing it as well, this may not be isolated but rather a firmware coding issue. Since a factory reset won’t help in this case, the best option that you can do now is to attempt a manual installation of the previous stock firmware via flashing. We know it’s not an ideal solution but it’s an effective one if you wish to continue to use your phone. If you haven’t heard about flashing, try to do some Google search about it and make sure to use a good guide if you decide to flash your phone.

Once you’ve flashed the older firmware, probably Android Marshmallow, contact your carrier and let them know about the issue. We assume that you only update via OTA (over-the-air) but if not, you should talk to the developer of the firmware you’re using or get help from other users who may also be using the same firmware.

Problem 9: How to fix a Galaxy Note 4 that won’t stay on when not connected to a charger

Hello, I had a very big problem with my device that keeps restarting whenever I won’t charge it. It shows green flickers and restarts automatically, this problem frustrates me very much. I bought this phone like 3 years ago and this problem occur one year ago. I tried all of the suggestions in the internet, I “factory reset,” I “clear caches” all of my apps and I even upgrade my phone to “Marshmallow 6.0.1.” The previous version of my phone is like 5.0 plus and once I upgrade to “Marshmallow 6.0.1,” the problem is getting worse. But one thing that prevents my phone from restarting is by charging it. Uggghh, should I charge my phone every time when I use it???

The subscriber said that the technician CHANGE THE MOTHERBOARD??? Really, this is problem of my phone that keeps restarting automatically? I don’t want to cost money!!! And my question is, IS THERE ANY SUGGESTIONS TO FIX MY PROBLEM WITHOUT COSTING MONEY? Suggestions I’ve tried: * Factory reset * Clear caches * Software update. — Nathanael

Solution: Hi Nathanael. Sometimes, random reboot issue, like the one happening on your phone, can be caused by an overheating CPU. Try to slow down the CPU of the device by setting it to Power Saving Mode. Here’s how:

  1. Touch Apps
  2. Tap Settings.
  3. Tap Power saving.
  4. Tap the Power saving mode slider to enable it.

If enabling Power saving mode won’t work, replace the battery. This should help fix the problem. If the issue remains though, it’s probably the time to consider getting a new phone.

Problem 10: Galaxy Note 4 has no signal reception after motherboard replacement

I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 LTE. Originally Unlocked. While my phone was under warranty (but now expired) I sent it to Samsung for repair under warranty: The phone USB port was very difficult to engage. They did not fix it stating it was ok; they returned phone without any repair. Recently, inside the USB port the metal contact became loose from its seating place (left side of usb I think it is for DATA). I could not insert USB charger anymore. I got from local phone shop a USB PORT Flexi circuit board Ref: SM 9005, REV 1.1, LTE, also it has the Antenna & Mic on it. But did not work. the phone was heating up when on charge and NO signal. I replaced my old USB port but there is NO reception. the rest of the phone functions properly. When I am outside I get very little reception on & off, but no signal indoors, states emergency calls.

Also, when outside near a transmitter I get full signal. I purchased another USB PORT Flexi circuit board Ref: SM 9005, REV 1.2, SI 1414, LTE, This still has no reception indoors when outside I get very little reception on & off. But the phone is charging properly. My phone is working 100% with my computer, kies 3 and others software, no problems. I replaced a new antenna wire but still no reception. I have tried other SIM cards still NO signal indoors. did factory reset many times. PLEASE CAN YOU ADVICE ME WHAT COULD BE THE PROBLEM. — B.miah

Solution: Hi B.miah. We can only give you an accurate answer if we can physically check the phone ourselves. We also don’t know if the circuit board you’re using is actually working properly. It’s common knowledge that there are a lot of online merchants that sell defective motherboards to unsuspecting buyers. The problem is, there’s no way to know if a purchased unit is working or not. The only time that you’ll know if it’s problematic is when there are problems that show after a repair. If the rest of your phone’s functionalities are working except the signal reception, the most likely problem must lie on the device’s modem. Sometimes, installing an update can fix network problems after repair so make sure that you do that too. If that won’t work, you should consider letting a professional check the device for you.

 

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Galaxy Note 4 reboots on its own when battery level is low, won’t download MMS, other issues

Hello Note 4 fans! We welcome you to another #GalaxyNote4 post that answers 10 more issues about the Note 4.

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

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

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

Problem 1: Galaxy Note 4 getting weak signal in certain areas

I’m in Tahiti, French Polynesia and my service provider is called Vini. The phone in question will not work in my office or most or the area around my home, or will work with poor communication and drop out. The same SIM card put in an old Samsung Galaxy II and a Windows phone Lumia 1520, provide good communications, both incoming and outgoing in the same area. I have done a factory reset with no improvement. Is this normal for this phone, is there something else I can do to improve communications??? It is my favorite phone, but nearly useless until I’m in town, so I have to use my Windows phone which I like a lot too. If it weren’t for lack of apps, I would love it. — Richard

Solution: Hi Richard. There’s not much an end user can do when faced with a problem like yours. At times, this issue is caused by a software bug so removing a problematic app or doing a factory reset. At other times, the issue is caused by an outdated modem firmware so installing the latest Android updates may help too. Since you’ve figured out that this is not due to poor service in your area, the most likely cause of your problem may be something in the motherboard, which unfortunately, is almost impossible to identify. If the issue won’t go away at all after doing all software solutions like factory reset and installing updates, you should consider replacing your phone for good.

Problem 2: Korean Galaxy Note 4 not working properly in Canada, calls keep getting forwarded to voicemail, SMS keeps getting delayed

Hello. Phone was bought new in South Korea. It remained in box until 2015 and I brought it to Canada when I moved. For several months it worked fine. After a visit to the local Samsung store, I’ve been told it won’t update because the phone was made for the South Korean region. If I’m getting 3G, it seems to be a little better but LTE my calls to me go directly to voicemail and I miss a lot of incoming text messages. Often they show up hours later. Anyway to trick the phone about region and be able to update it here in Canada Thanks in advance. — Bob

Solution: Hi Bob. Although Samsung devices may be running Android, most of them are catered to the needs of carriers they’re supposed to work on. A device meant to operate in a particular Korean carrier is configured to that carrier’s network so it may encounter compatibility issues when used with another carrier. These issues usually spring from the fact that the software is coded slightly differently. For example, a Verizon phone may not be able to provide its full functions when used in an AT&T network because some of its core apps and software configuration are simply incompatible with T-Mobile network settings. The problem is, you can’t install a T-Mobile software in a Verizon phone. The same is true in your case. Your Korean Note 4 version may not work properly or not at all when used outside the network it was originally designed to work on.

If your current carrier can’t identify the cause of your problem, or can’t fix a known compatibility issue,  you’re out of luck.

Problem 3: Galaxy Note 4 stuck in boot loop after flashing

Hello Droid Guy. My name is Emmanuel. I recently updated my phone to the PJ2 ROM. Ever since i did, my phone boot loops on Android page (the first boot page) even with 100% battery level. I odined official ROMs several times but the problem persists. I recently discovered that if my phone is on charge (using the official charger), the phone boots ok. Is there a way around this so i can use the phone without having to always be on charge? — Aguzelik2012

Solution: Hi Aguzelik2012. We assume you’re aware of the risks you’re taking when modifying the official software of your phone so you must have already tried contacting the developer of the ROM you’ve used, or asked helped from the community that used it. It may be incompatible, or there’s a certain thing that you must configure to make it work on your current device build. We are not familiar with this ROM, nor has tried using it. Talking to the people who’s behind the creation of this ROM is the only effective way to fix your problem.

Sometimes, boot loop problems can be fixed by flashing the bootloader first, then the firmware. Try that first and see how it goes. Flashing the bootloader has slightly different steps compared to flashing the firmware. If you haven’t tried doing it before, here are the sample steps. Keep in mind that the exact steps may vary on your device. The following steps are for demonstration purposes only:

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

Problem 4: Galaxy Note 4 keeps rebooting after flashing

The issue is that i change my Galaxy Note 4 ROM to a custom ROM and i did not backup EFS file for network. Then i lost netwok saying not registered on the network but IMEI is still ok. The phone is international version but there are some instructions on the internet on how to fix that but some app need the phone to be in the stock firmware which i have downloaded like 5 types from Sammobile. But all of them when i install them using Odin boot ok. but after boot, when starting to configure the phone normally like selecting language, its stuck completey and you cannot do any thing till you restart again. It does the same thing again. Even if you succeed on finishing the setup, when you use it, its still stuck again until you restart. now i think i am out of option. Can you please help me with new opinions if any. — Stephen

Solution: Hi Stephen. The safest way to bring your phone to its previous working state is by flashing its original stock firmware. We know you’re familiar with the steps on how to do this (we’re assuming you took note of the Android version your phone was running before changing it to non-official ROM).

You can also see our suggestions for Aguzelik2012 above.

Problem 5: Galaxy Note 4 not turning on

Hello. My name is Festus. Please i need your help to fix my phones, one is HUAWEI Y511-U30 and the other one is Samsung Galaxy Note 4. The HUAWEI was faulty after it was dropped inside water, which do everything to dry it for at least 2 weeks, thereafter i turn it on, it came up with vibrating and on sound but the screen was black, i couldn’t see anything. Since then i abandoned it for over 6 month now. This morning i just tried to turn it on after i have charge the battery for some hours, and it’s not just coming up again, no sign of power in it at all. That is for the 1st one.

The second one, the Galaxy Note 4, whenever i insert the battery without putting it on, it will display the phone name and logo and if i try to turn it on, it won’t, and not boosting. Kindlly help me out. Thanks. — Festugreat

Solution: Hi Festugreat. Firstly, the HUAWEI Y511 does not have water resistance protection, so it must have permanent damage on its hardware right now. You need to have its hardware checked so you’ll know if a repair can fix it or not.

For your Note 4 issue, we recommend that you try to start it to other modes first so you’ll know if there’s something that you can do about it software-wise. If the phone stays dead or unresponsive, that’s your cue to have it checked by a professional or Samsung service center.  Here are the steps on how to boot the phone to alternate modes:

Boot in Recovery mode:

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

Boot in Download Mode:

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

Boot in safe mode:

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

Problem 6: Galaxy Note 4 reboots on its own when battery level is low

I have a Samsung Note 4 and i updated it to Lollipop 5.1.1.after a few days i observed that the phone shuts down when it reaches around 20% to 30 % of its battery. I can’t turn on the phone after this and would need to charge it again. I also accidentally dropped the phone down once from a low level. Could this be a reason why its shuts down? Is the battery broken? As i can see the battery, there no sign of external damage such as swollen battery. I got this phone 8 months ago. i purchased it because of its battery life span. i hope you can me fix the problem. — M

Solution: Hi M. Try to recalibrate the battery first. This will help train the operating system again on how to detect the true battery levels. Here’s how it’s done:

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

If recalibrating the battery won’t work, try factory reset, followed by installing all Android and app updates. Sometimes, all sorts of problems can happen due to incompatibility issues with apps so making sure that you only install good apps is very important. Better still, try to observe the phone after a factory reset without installing any app or update. Doing so will let you know if the problem is software-related or not. If the issue remains, it’s most probably bad hardware or battery so you want to address those. For a bad battery issue, you can simply replace it. However, if you think it’s more serious than bad battery, you’ll want to have the phone repaired.

Problem 7: How to address Galaxy Note 4 battery drain issue

Dear The Droid Guy Team. My Samsung Galaxy Note 4 battery is draining extremely fast! I read your 3-part solutions, but I must be doing something wrong because nothing works. I’ve never had the Lollipop app on my phone and I have very few apps running. This just recently started. I troubleshooted thru Samsung, installed a new battery, deleted all unnecessary apps, continually ‘close all’ running apps, my phone’s never been damaged or abused, etc. This is very devastating to me because I’m a cancer patient, struggling financially, and simply cannot afford a newer version phone. It was suggested to me yesterday that fast battery drainage is intentional so that users are forced to buy the latest upgrade, however I find that hard to believe (I’ve never been cynical). I’ve reached out to everyone everywhere that I can think of. Your website says that you read all requests, so I’m crossing my fingers and hoping you’ll reply to me. Please help! I’ll be so grateful! Really really grateful!  — Constance

Solution: Hi Constance. Most of the time, battery drain issue is really not an issue but rather a product of improper usage and smartphone power management habits. Assuming of course that there’s no device or battery issue, you should be able to address battery drain issue by simply changing your usage habits and tweaking some relevant settings.

Firstly, you want to make sure that you check what’s eating up battery power. You can do so easily by checking battery usage under Settings>Battery. If there are items that standout in the list, you should consider uninstalling them or forcing them to hibernate most of the time. If, for example, Facebook app seems to be taking a huge chunk of battery usage, that can be an indication that you’re using it way too much day in and day out. It can also mean that it always run in the background, communicating to remote servers to download updates. The same can be true for other apps.

Usually, the items that should be on top of battery usage list should be Android OS or screen. Since there’s nothing that you can do about Android OS, you should focus instead on the item that you can control like the screen. Try to lower screen brightness to the lowest comfortable level to conserve power everyday.

Secondly, you want to keep the number of apps installed to the minimum. Keep in mind that the more apps you install, the longer the operating system has to work everytime to keep everything in order. In very simplistic explanation, Android becomes more efficient the lesser the apps there are in the system.

Also, not all apps are built with conserving battery power in mind. Some may be power efficient while others may be poorly coded. In other words, the more apps you have, the higher the chance of an app possibly draining the battery.

Keep as few apps as possible. Stick to official apps and avoid those built by unknown developers. This is just a general guidance since we don’t know how many and what type of apps you have. We also don’t know whether they are working fine or not.

There are a lot of tips and tricks that you can do to improve your battery life so we encourage you to do some research. Discussing the entire gamut of battery saving tips is beyond the scope of this article so try using Google to help you.

Problem 8: Galaxy Note 4 fingerprint lock not working after an update

After an update overnight, the phone asked for password entry but after showing the keyboard for a short period of time, it disappears and you cannot get it back again. The screen shows ‘Backup password’ but touching this doesn’t bring up the keyboard. After a while this disappears as well as so that nothing is shown on the screen (except the wallpaper) other than ‘Emergency call”at the bottom. The finger scanner doesn’t nor does the back up or menu bottoms on the left and right bottom of the phone. I can get in by restarting and entering the backup password when the keyboard first appears, and the phone works fine. When it times out and goes back to needing a password or finger scan entry, the scanner doesn’t work (no red fingerprint or other indication that it is working) and pressing ‘backup password’ doesn’t bring up the keyboard. Restarting again is the only way of getting one chance of entering the password. I have tried a soft reset but no difference. — Lynne

Solution: Hi Lynne. Hi Lynne. Try wiping the cache partition first. Please follow the steps below:

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

Once you’ve cleared the cache partition, make sure that you delete the old registered fingerprint so you can replace it with a new one. Make sure that you also update the backup password. If the problem won’t go away after that, do a factory reset.

  1. Create a backup of your important files such as photos, videos, contacts etc. You can use Smart Switch for this task.
  2. Turn off the Galaxy Note 4 completely.
  3. Press and hold the Volume Up and the Home keys together, then press and hold the Power key.
  4. When the Note 4 vibrates, release both the Home and Power keys but continue holding the Volume Up key.
  5. When the Android System Recovery shows on the screen, release the Vol Up key.
  6. Using the Volume Down key, highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset’ and press the Power key to select it.
  7. Now highlight ‘Yes — delete all user data’ using the Vol Down key and press the Power key to begin the reset.
  8. When the master reset is complete, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and hit the Power key.
  9. The Note 4 will restart but it will be longer than usual. When it reaches the Home screen, then begin your setup.

Problem 9: Galaxy Note 4 battery randomly reboots even when battery at 87%

Good morning. I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 phone and while the battery has 87% my phone will shut off. It’ll act like its cutting back on but never come on. I have to charge it in order for it to come back on and some times the battery will show 0% and then it will automatically go to 67%. Can you help me out? I’ve done a factory reset and did the spin test on the battery. I guess it could still be the battery? — Stephanie

Solution: Hi Stephanie. If factory reset did not fix the issue, the most likely cause is bad battery. We suggest that you try battery recalibration first (steps provided above) and see how it works after that. If the problem remains, get a new battery.

Problem 10: Galaxy Note 4 won’t download MMS

I am unable to receive pictures downloaded in text messaging. I brought my phone with me from T-Mobile to Consumer Cellular at the beginning of the year. T-Mobile did an update on my phone and now I cannot download pictures when they are sent to me in text messaging. I call Consumer Cellular and they helped me change back my APN settings. I have done a soft restart, turn my phone off and back on and cleared cache in Storage. Mobile data is on also. This problem did not exist before the update and I have run out of ideas. Can you help? — Denise

Solution: Hi Denise. If you’re positive that the issue started after a T-Mobile update, there may be or may be not that you can do about it. If said update was applied permanently, which means that core settings had been modified for good, there may be nothing that you can do about it. To see if that’s the case, try using a different messaging app first. If that won’t fix the problem, consider doing a factory reset. If a factory reset won’t resolve the issue either, that means the update was permanent. That means that there’s nothing that you can do about it at all unless you can flash the original stock firmware before the update.

 

Engage with us

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

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

Galaxy Note 4 won’t charge, charging symbol comes up but then disappears again, other issues

Hello and welcome to another #GalaxyNote4 post. As usual, we’re here to discuss solutions to problems reported by some members of our community. Keep watching for more similar posts in the coming days.

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

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

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

Problem 1: Galaxy Note 4 lags when typing SMS

Texting issue. I am experiencing MAJOR lag time between typing and having letters appear. It is like the phone is freezing while I type. It is especially present when someone is in the process of texting me. For instance, if I am receiving texts I have to wait minutes before I can text back…the app freezes and many times asks me to shut it because it is “not responding.” I do not want to do anything that will erase the texts I have as I often need to refer back to many for business…please let me know if you can help. I have tried changing the battery, deleting old texts to try and free up space, and clearing the main cached data. Nothing is working. I do not want to get a new phone until the new note gets released. Everything else works fine. Also I have no idea which Android version I have so I just selected a random answer below. — Bea

Solution: Hi Bea. We don’t know for sure if by “clearing the main cached data” you’re referring to the steps below:

  1. Open the Settings menu either through your notification shade (drop-down) or through the Settings app in your app drawer.
  2. Navigate down to “Apps”. This may be renamed to something like Applications or Application Manager in OEM skinned versions of Android 6 or 7.
  3. Once in there, click on an application.
  4. You’ll now see a list of stuff that gives you information about the app, including Storage, Permissions, Memory Use, and more. These are all clickable items. You’ll want to click on Storage.
  5. You should now clearly see the Clear Data button for the application. Tap Clear Data.

If you’ve already tried the steps above before contacting us, your next move would be to check if the problem is being caused by another app. You can do that by booting your phone to safe mode. Safe mode blocks third party apps and services so if texting works fine, that’s proof that our suspicion is correct. If you haven’t tried restarting to safe mode before, here’s how:

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

If both procedures won’t fix the issue at all, try using a different messaging app.

Problem 2: Galaxy Note 4 slow performance issue when typing text message or using an app

I am having a weird lagging issue. It presents itself in two ways.

1) when I am texting the system will freeze up. It will still recognize what I have typed during the freeze. At the end it will display everything but it does it looking “some something something like something like this.”

2) when I am playing a game or using an app like Slack or Google the inputs will freeze, similar to the texting issue. You can hear the music and watch the characters, bit touch inputs aren’t being displayed it is like that system is currently shut off. The amount of time varies. And I can’t recreate it so I don’t know why it is happening or if there is something in the back ground running. I wish I had more, but to ally and appreciate any help, so annoying. — Tim

Solution: Hi Tim. Your texting issue may be similar to Bea’s above so make sure to do our suggested procedures above. If the problem won’t go away at all, make sure to do a factory reset and observe the phone right after. Be sure not to re-install anything during this period. Slow performance problem like what you’re experiencing can be due to software glitch or hardware malfunction. If the phone continues to lag even without apps installed after a factory reset, you can assume bad hardware is the culprit. In this case, we strongly suggest that you get a new phone instead of having it repaired.

Problem 3: Galaxy Note 4 won’t charge, charging symbol comes up but then disappears again

Okay, so whenever I plug my Note 4 in, the charging symbol will flash momentarily, then it will disappear. It will then vibrate and flash the charging symbol again and then quit, and it repeatedly this cycle every two or so seconds. Now here’s where I’m quite confused (and frustrated). I tried the soft reset and it worked! The phone was charging and it turned on and worked without a problem. I decided that I needed to insert my SIM card (not sure how it got out). When I pulled the battery out and inserted the SIM card, the device went back to square one only this time, soft reset doesn’t work. Please, any assistance would be greatly appreciated. — Jacob

Solution: Hi Jacob. Firstly, we assume that your phone was never physically impacted or exposed to water before. Any of these two can cause serious hardware problems which can sometimes manifest in the form of the problem you’re describing here. If your phone was physically damaged before, stop wasting your time and effort asking for solutions online as they can’t help you at all. You should focus instead on having the phone repaired or replaced.

Secondly, the most that you can do in terms of software solution is try a factory reset. Doing so will revert everything back to their defaults, eliminating whatever bug  that may have developed after some time. To factory reset your Note 4, try the following:

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

Remember, if the problem persists bad hardware must be to blame. It can be a charging port issue, or something in the motherboard.

Problem 4: Galaxy Note 4 keeps freezing and rebooting on its own

My N910T was running great up until a couple of weeks ago and all of a sudden it started to freeze up and restart. I tried to do a factory reset, tried to clear the cache. I also Odin flashed ROM again and pit file after wiping and doing a factory reset still doing the same thing. Down loaded wake lock from play store it works normal again but would like to fix it permanently. Can I Odin flash back to 5.11 from 6.01? That’s the only other thing I can think of. Not sure if it’s possible. Any help would be great.

Oh I forgot I have held the power button in for ten seconds without the battery several times too with no luck. — Tommy

Solution: Hi Tommy. If your phone worked normally again after installing an app that prevents or minimizes wake lock, that should tell you one thing — an app or apps must be causing the problem. If a factory reset did not fix the issue, that’s probably because you simply re-installed the same set of apps afterwards.  Make sure to go over your list of apps and gradually eliminate possible causes by uninstalling and testing.

Reverting to an older firmware version would not help at all, especially if you’ll continue to re-install the cause of the problem in the first place.

Problem 5: Galaxy Note 4 lags when opening apps

I have a Note 4. After a software update on May 31st the phone has been giving me lots of troubles. It lags when trying to perform any tasks like opening apps etc. It will eventually shut off after a few minutes & I can’t turn it back on without taking the battery out. Even then it sometimes gives me a screen that says “downloading, do not remove target.” If I keep taking the battery out eventually I can get it back on but just momentarily. — Lorrie

Solution: Hi Lorrie. Try to clear the system cache first and see how it goes. Here’s how:

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

Should nothing change, that’s the time that you want to consider doing a factory reset.

Sometimes, factory reset won’t have the effect that you’ll expect because you’re not actually addressing the real issue. For an issue like yours, there’s a fair chance that one of your apps is problematic so you want to make sure that you observe how your phone works without any apps at all. That should give you a benchmark regarding your phone’s performance.

Problem 6: Galaxy Note 4 won’t charge

Hi. So when I plug my charger in it beeps on and off as if I’m plugging in and unplugging the charger lead. I tried the lead to my PC which worked fine for almost a day. Then it flashed up the device had malfunctioned and no longer charges. At wits end I tried other leads / chargers to no avail. Cleaned out the port got a load of crap out of it, then plugged it into my laptop as a last ditch effort and it charged fine. But that too is now charging intermittently. Is my phone on its way out? It is only a year old. — Graham

Solution: Hi Graham. The fact that it won’t charge using a known working charger is not a good sign. If the usual set of software solutions like cache partition wipe and factory reset won’t help solve the problem, you should send it in.

Problem 7: Galaxy Note 4 won’t power back on

Dear Droid Guy. Today I checked my phone after work, the battery was 43% and I put it back in my Pocket. Everything was normal. After a couple of minutes I checked it again and it didn’t turn on. The screen was completely black and it didn’t vibrate or do anything. When I was home I tried to remove the battery and turn it on again. nothing happened. Even when I plugged it in it even didn’t vibrate or lighten up to Show that it charges. I also tried to press the power button without the battery and reinsert it afterwards. Nothing happened. I had the same problem half a year ago.. luckily the phone still had guarantee then and they replaced it with a totally new one. They said the problem came from water in the phone but the new one never touched any water. I hope you can give me an advice for saving my phone.. Thanks a lot for your time! — Lenaf2

Solution: Hi Lenaf2. There are only two things that you can do right now:

  • check if your phone still boots to alternate modes, and
  • get a new battery.

If both won’t make the phone turn back on, you’ll need to have it repaired or replaced.

For reference, below are the steps on how to start your Note 4 to alternate boot modes:

Boot in Recovery mode:

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

Boot in Download Mode:

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

Boot in safe mode:

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

Problem 8: Galaxy Note 4 can’t make a call after a factory reset

Hi – hoping you can help me! Just today I have tried to set up a completely unused and unlocked Samsung Galaxy Note 4. (The history, just in case relevant, is that I had a Samsung Galaxy S3 for many years, but managed to smash it yesterday. Fortunately I had a new, boxed, Samsung Galaxy Note 4, which I’d actually obtained a few years ago as a replacement, but then I ended up happy with my S3 and it did very well, so I never actually changed, and there it sat in its box).

Anyway, having broken my S3 I thought I would get out the Note 4 and use it instead. There were no problems setting up as such. However, when I tried to transfer things from my S3 I was only able to transfer my contacts and texts before the Note 4 claimed it had no space left. Needless to say I have several apps on the S3, having had it for a few years, plus photos and a few videos – plus my contacts, texts etc. All this fitted perfectly fine on my S3. But I’d barely transferred any of it before the Note 4 claimed it couldn’t fit any more on. I did check the storage usage and it really said that out of the 16 GB, essentially all of it was used. However, when I looked at the detailed breakdown of e.g. the app sizes (all of which were pre-installed, I hadn’t yet put any new ones on), they were not very big at all.

After looking at various websites to help (most of which weren’t helpful since the assumption in all of them was that people had being storing things on their phone and should try and clear the worst of it – but of course I’d not had time to store anything yet!), I decided to do a fatory reboot. So, I did that… Whereupon.. it did *help* with the storage issue (still a bit weird… there was still a bit more than 8GB inexplicably used, maybe just due to the operating system(?), but at least that gave me more than 7GB). So I was encouraged. And started putting my contacts back on etc. *However*… now I find that I can no longer make texts or calls. (I should mention that before I did the factory reset, I didn’t test any texts but I *did* make a couple of calls, so I know it did work with the same sim card, before that).

Now, when I make a call, it cuts me off immediately, without evening ringing. And a text gets a little ‘T-mobile’ icon come up on the text, and then it fails. (I am with EE, incidentally). Does this mean the phone is somehow now locked to T-Mobile? By virtue of the factory reset? Is that why it will no longer work? (Perhaps I should mention that I did not take out my SIM card when I did the factory reset, and maybe I should have? 🙁

On the other hand, I have put it back in my old S3 and it still works fine. The S3 still does actually work, it’s just all smashed up – so I was able to test that the SIM still works with it, and it does).

Another much smaller issue, but I’ll mention it anyway, as just more info on things I’ve noticed since the factory reset, is that now when I turn the Note 4 phone on, I no longer get the Samsung logo, but just an ‘Android’ icon come up instead. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much. — Claire

Solution: Hi Claire. Factory reset, as the name suggests, will bring all software settings back to their defaults. This means that whatever changes or modifications that were implemented temporarily in the system before will be removed as everything will be returned to their original state. We don’t know much about your system but if this is the only different thing that you did, factory reset must be the reason for the network issue you’re having. We suggest that you contact your current carrier so they can walk you through in changing the network settings. Doing so will not guarantee that your Note 4 will work again but this is actually the only thing that you can try at this time.

As we’ve said, we don’t know much about your system so we can’t say for certain is also the reason why your second issue is happening. Normally, you should get the Samsung logo first before the carrier’s splash screen appears. If that’s not happening anymore, that factory reset you did must have changed some things in the system.

Problem 9: Galaxy Note 4 keeps losing mobile data connection

Hi. I’ve been looking for a fix for my problem but couldn’t find one so i decided to ask you guys for help.

okay so i bought a Galaxy Note 4 two years ago with closed eyes and just because of big screen and the S Pen feature and didn’t think of researching about it and had 2 years of enjoy with it. But several months ago, the 4G network finally got working in my country and i was so hyped to use it! After getting my SIM card changed into a Usim card, i noticed that i can’t regularly change network mode to LTE (there are only wcdma, gsm , and auto connect gsm/wcdma options). After lots of searching, i’ve found the 4636 secret menu (which i couldn’t reach through the calling screen because nothing happened when i typed the full code into the dialing screen.

So i’ve downloaded this app named shortcut master lite to enter that secret menu . And YES i have rooted my device long long ago). Now i am able to change the network mode into LTE with the 4636 secret menu. Then i started using 4G internet connection and it was wonderfully better than 3G.

But later that day, i noticed that no one can call me and i can’t call anyone too! I’ve searched a lot in the Google and found out that my ROM (it’s the factory-installed 4.4.2 ROM and i did not install any custom ROMs or upgrades on this phone) doesn’t support voice over LTE (simply voLTE)! Okay, keeping all these problems on a side , another problem has popped out recently!

In some random periods of time in a day, my phone networks get weird! Some times LTE gives no signal, sometimes WCDMA has signal to call or SMS but the internet connection (H/H+) won’t show up, and sometimes both happen at the same time! This things are really really annoying me as hell! Please help me out if you have any idea about these 3 problems.

Notice: some says it may get fixed by unrooting and updating my android rom but i really need Root access and don’t want to lose it . But if it’s the last way , well , i will have to unRoot my phone 🙁

And another question that i had: can i actually use apps like shortcut master (which needs Root access) on 5.0+ versions of Androids without rooting? Or can i even root them? Any help from you will be hardly appreciated . — Mohammad

Solution: Hi Mohammad. The best support team that can help with your difficulty in maintaining mobile data and other network-related functions is your carrier’s technical support team. The most that you can do as regards device troubleshooting is factory reset and probably flashing to a different stock ROM. Other than these two, we can’t help you isolate what’s causing these network issues.

For your question regarding the possibility of using Shortcut Master with Android Lollipop, we recommend that you contact the app’s developer. We’re not familiar with this product and we haven’t used it ourselves. Talk to its developer to get first hand information.

Problem 10: Galaxy Note 4 wifi won’t turn on

Hi, I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and for a while (maybe 2 months or more) I have had an issue where the wifi is very slow to turn on. I have mostly just avoided turning it off at all, however yesterday my battery died and once I got it on charge and turned the phone on the wifi would just not turn on at all. It has been 16 hours now and it just refuses to turn on. What I mean is, I pull down the slide down menu and click on the wifi button to switch on, it greys out and then just stays that way.

I have also tried turning it on using the toggle button in the settings menu but it does the same thing-greys out and never switches on. While it is greyed out I also cant toggle it back to the off setting. I have tried many fixes online- turning phone off and taking battery out for 2 minutes, taking battery out while phone is still on, toggling airplane mode off and on, lightly tapping the back of phone in case of loose wiring, turning power saving mode off, turning wifi power saving mode off, clearing RAM, deleting unused apps. Nothing works. The only thing i have not tried is factory reset as I can not back up my data unless I can connect to wifi, so I do not want to do this. I do not have access to a computer as I am travelling and only have my phone and a Samsung tablet. Please help! — Rachelle

Solution: Hi Rachelle. Have you tried checking if a third party app is responsible for this glitch? If your answer is no, boot the phone to safe mode (steps provided above) and see.

If wifi remains problematic after that, we’re afraid you have no other choice but a factory reset.

Bad wifi rarely happens but sometimes, a hardware issue like a damaged networking chip can also cause wifi to fail. If factory reset won’t fix the issue either, get a new phone.

 

Engage with us

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

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

Galaxy Note 4 shuts off by itself, keeps showing mmc_read failed error, other OS update issues

Welcome to our today’s #GalaxyNote4 post. We choose to discuss Android update issues in this article so hopefully our solutions will help those suffering from similar problems mentioned here.

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

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

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

Problem 1: Galaxy Note 4 won’t install update

My phone is new, and I have checked to see if its KNOX counter is 0x0, it is. It also says that it is ORIGINAL. It is unlocked. I have tried to update the Firmware using Smart Switch and it shows nothing. I would like to update to the latest Firmware if possible. I do not know how to do this. Soft reset did not change anything. Thank you. — Rick Dillow

Solution: Hi Rick. There are three ways to update an Android device — via your carrier’s network, by using Samsung Smart Switch, and via Odin (flashing).  If this phone was built for a different carrier and not the one you’re on right now, you can’t expect to install an update by air. Since you’ve also tried Smart Switch as well, the only remaining option for you is by manually installing the update via flashing.

Flashing is basically tampering with core system files so you want to be very careful when doing it. Be sure that you know what you’re doing before attempting anything. A lot of novice users end up with a bricked phone after attempting to flash their devices simply because they did not follow the guide properly, or they used a different firmware version. Keep in mind that flashing problems can be difficult to fix because symptoms can be generic and errors don’t usually point to a specific thing. This is the main reason why flashing is only recommended for advanced Android users who know how to troubleshoot their devices if something goes wrong. There are a number of significant risks when flashing so be ready to accept the fact that you may potentially brick the phone for good. Even technicians may not be able to figure out the cause of your problem so getting help may be difficult. Sometimes, even a USB port fault in a computer can send wrong inputs to the phone messing up the flashing procedure.

Our blog does not provide flashing guides as they can vary by phone models. If you want to go this route, we suggest that you visit other sites like XDA-Developers Forum and ask some users for a guide on how to flash your particular phone model. Try to read some literature and visit other forums to know what’s the best way to flash the latest firmware to your phone.

Problem 2: Galaxy Note 4 sluggish, black screen issue

Ever since the last update, the phone has been sluggish, sometimes it will not scroll through an article like this one. Sometimes it goes totally blank and I had to wait several minutes for it to recover. Just now I removed the battery to get it to reboot when the screen went black. When it came on I tried to put in my pattern to open it and it just froze. I took it to an AT&T store and we removed a bunch of apps that I didn’t need, trying to improve the memory. Still will not work. I am a Realtor and really need my phone. Please help! — Steve Randolph

Solution: Hi Steve. The best thing that you can do right now is to check if the symptoms you’re experiencing are due to hardware malfunction, or if they can be fixed by some software solutions. Usually, we will recommend that start your troubleshooting with a cache partition wipe but since we don’t know the full history of your device, you can simply start with a factory reset.

Factory reset will return all software and pre-installed app settings to their known working defaults so it’s the most direct way to see if the problem is fixable in your end. To factory reset your phone, follow these steps:

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

Now that your phone has been reset, you don’t want to re-install your apps right away. Instead, you want to check if the problem is still present by doing the things you were having problems with. If the phone remains sluggish or slow, even when there no third party apps installed, that’s a sign that the problem is hardware related. To fix the problem, you need to send the phone in for repair or replacement.

However, if the phone works normally initially after a factory reset but then becomes problematic again after you’ve installed your apps, there’s a chance one of the apps is to blame. Uninstall apps until you’ve removed the cause of the problem.

Problem 3: AT&T Galaxy Note 4 can’t install Android update in another network

Good day. I’m having difficulty updating my Samsung note 4’s software to the latest version, Marshmallow 6.1. The reason is that in my present country AT&T network is not available. I’m using Glomobile network. This made it impossible to update to the latest software. I downloaded many upgrading apps which did not help. Please I need your urgent help so that I can update my phone to the latest software. My phone number is +************** (phone number redacted). Your quick response and timely solution would be appreciated. Thanks. Akinwumi Akintayo. Ghana, West Africa. — AKINWUMI AKINTAYO

Solution: Hi AKINWUMI. As mentioned above, you won’t be able to update a phone if it’s not built to work in a particular network in the first place. Every carrier modifies Google developed vanilla Android to add their own services and apps so installing a firmware version of another carrier to another one can cause incompatibility problems.

If you really need to update your phone, you’ll want to do it manually via flashing.

Problem 4: Galaxy Note 4 shuts off by itself, keeps showing  mmc_read failed error

Ever since my phone updated, it stalls or shuts off and won’t come on until i take out my battery. I did a hard reset and it didn’t work and kept battery out for 10 minutes. Still didn’t work. Sometimes, when rebooting, it comes up with the Android logo and says something mmc reboot fail. — Christina Chvatal

Solution: Hi Christina. If we are not mistaken, this what your screen shows right now:

Could not do normal boot.

ddl: mmc_read failed

ODIN MODE (HIGH SPEED)

PRODUCT NAME: SM-N910V

CURRENT BINARY: Samsung Official

REACTIVATON LOCK: OFF

QUALCOMM SECUREBOOT: ENABLE (CSB)

AP SWREV: S1, T2, R1, A2, P1

SECURE DOWNLOAD: ENABLE

UDC START

Unfortunately, this screen is usually an indication that there’s an on-going problem related to the internal storage device (eMMC), also known as the flash memory. Since eMMCs are packaged with a motherboard and won’t work when detached from the original board, technicians will usually recommend a motherboard replacement instead of an eMMC replacement. Sadly, getting a motherboard and paying a technician for his/her professional fee is prohibitively expensive, it might be more practical for you to simply replace the entire phone.

In some cases, flashing a new ROM helps in fixing the error so if haven’t tried that, make sure that you do. As what we mention above though, make sure that you do it right to prevent aggravating the situation. If you know someone with more experience in flashing a device, let him or her do it for you. This won’t guarantee that your device will work but it’s worth trying anyway.

Problem 5: Galaxy Note 4 won’t charge, totally unresponsive after an update

Telephone doesn’t charge. Don’t turn on. Is completely dead. I just change the battery for a new one. Before this happen, telephone was asking for a software update. And then went off and never turn on back again. Thanks for your attention. — Paulocl75

Solution: Hi Paulocl75. Try to restart the phone to Recovery Mode and see if you can wipe the cache partition or factory reset it.

If that won’t change anything, try to see if you can flash the bootloader (if you can manage to turn it on) via Odin Mode. Below are the sample steps on how to flash a bootloader. The exact steps may be slightly different in your phone model so be sure to look for other sources or guides on how to do it properly. The provided steps are for demonstration purposes only:

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

Remember, if the phone remains completely dead, or if flashing the bootloader won’t work, send the phone in for repair.

 

Engage with us

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

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

Galaxy Note 4 has poor signal reception, can’t read SD card, can’t send and receive MMS, other issues

Welcome to the last #GalaxyNote4 post for the week. Like the rest of the posts before, this article answers more Note 4 issues. We hope that you’ll find this post helpful.

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

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

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

Problem 1: Galaxy Note 4 battery drain issue

My Samsung Galaxy Note 4 battery drains fast. I have checked all possible causes as you listed in the droid guy solutions provided without success. This includes force stopping running apps etc and uninstalling most of my applications. The problem still persists even when I charge my battery full around 7pm and then switch off the phone completely the whole night leaving the battery in the device. When I turn it on in the morning at 7am the battery is at 35-40% This is an original Note 4 battery I bought from a Samsung shop to replace the original battery. The original battery I bought with the phone, when I started experiencing thus fast battery drain I assumed my battery needed replacement since my phone is about 3 years old now. I have done 2-3 firmware updates since I bought this phone and I believe the problem started on my last firmware update. Please help. —        Mpofunj

Solution: Hi Mpofunj. Try recalibrating the battery first and see if it helps. Doing this step will help retrain the operating system in detecting battery levels. Here’s how it’s done:

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

If nothing changes after recalibrating the battery, do a factory reset. This will ensure that you eliminate possible software glitch.

  1. Create a backup of your important files such as photos, videos, contacts etc. You can use Smart Switch for this task.
  2. Turn off the Galaxy Note 4 completely.
  3. Press and hold the Volume Up and the Home keys together, then press and hold the Power key.
  4. When the Note 4 vibrates, release both the Home and Power keys but continue holding the Volume Up key.
  5. When the Android System Recovery shows on the screen, release the Vol Up key.
  6. Using the Volume Down key, highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset’ and press the Power key to select it.
  7. Now highlight ‘Yes — delete all user data’ using the Vol Down key and press the Power key to begin the reset.
  8. When the master reset is complete, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and hit the Power key.
  9. The Note 4 will restart but it will be longer than usual. When it reaches the Home screen, then begin your setup.

Should the issue remain after a factory reset consider getting a new battery or better still, a new phone.

Problem 2: Galaxy Note 4 has poor signal reception

Samsung Galaxy Note 4. My phone was working perfectly before but one day there was no signal and the SIM slot was changed. It worked fine but after some days, there was no signal again. Sometimes it has signal when the other phones has a LOT of signals on the area but my phone will only have 1-2 bars of signal. My wifi also has really hard time connecting unlike my other phones.

Another issue that frustrates me is that my phone never turns off the display. When i press the button for locking the screen, it will lock for 1 second then the screen will open up again. It never turns off unless i power off. I’ve reset everything. Hard and soft reset and even cleaned cache. But it doesn’t work. Please help me. 🙁 i really have good memories with this phone. Thanks in advance :)) — Daniel

Solution: Hi Daniel. Android troubleshooting is simple, you don’t have to make things complicated at all. If you’ve already exhausted all software troubleshooting like wiping the cache partition, factory reset, or unroot (if phone was rooted), reflashed stock firmware (if the phone is running custom firmware), then hardware issue must be to blame. If you’ve been using this Note 4 for over 2 years now, it may be near it’s end of life. We’re not saying that your Note 4 is only good for a few years but life expectancy of electronics depends on a number of factors. We know of some Note 4s that are still working great at this time. Our own Note 4 is working fine even though it’s been working day in and day out since September of 2014. There are a lot of things that can affect how long an electronic device like a smartphone can last so there’s really no telling when a device starts to malfunction due to wear and tear. The point is, if your phone is now having problems and the usual set of software solutions do not make any difference at all, it’s time to consider repair or replacement.

Problem 3: Galaxy Note 4 front / selfie camera is blurry

Hi! I have a Samsung Note 4 GLOBE TELECOM-PH Kernel Version 3.4. Unfortunately, I dropped my phone in the water before and went to a repair shop to repair it and I noticed my selfie front camera has water inside too. Now, it has been a month since I got it, my selfie front camera has no more water inside. But my problem is the sefie front camera of it. When I open my camera before taking a picture it would be crisp and clear. But when I take a picture and when I got to see eat it would be blurry. It’s not like that before, It became like that after repairing my phone. I have even pictures I took before and after the reparation. — Cathleen

Solution: Hi Cathleen. Try resetting camera settings by doing the following:

  1. Open the native Samsung camera app.
  2. Tap the More options icon(the one that looks like a gear icon).
  3. Scroll down to the bottom and tap Reset settings.

If resetting the camera app settings won’t help, try a factory reset. If this reset won’t work either, make sure to return the phone to shop that fixed it initially.

Problem 4: Galaxy Note 4 can’t read SD card

I have a Samsung 128 GB micro SD card that I am using in my Android phone. It is running Android 6.0.1. Configuration version I15.MOT.XT1565.0. For some reason the micro SD card worked before, but I was trying to add music to it and now it isn’t working. My computer wont detect the card when I put it in the SD slot, my phone does see it as there, and my son’s S7 says it needs to be formatted. but when we try to format it we get command ’10 volume partition disk:179,0 public’ failed with ‘null’. Is there a way to recover and reformat the SD card so it can be used again? Or is it trash? — Gloverb

Solution: Hi Gloverb. Well, if your phone still detects it, we can’t see any reason why you can’t reformat it, unless you’re also getting an error with that. Recovery of data from the SD card can be a different topic though. If your computer or phone can detect the SD card but can’t read the contents at all, there’s no way you’ll be able to recover anything from it.

If your phone or any other device can’t reformat the SD card at all, just replace it.

Problem 5: Galaxy Note 4 can’t send and receive MMS

I have a Samsung Note 4. Don’t laugh, it works (up until this morning) great and I love it. LOL With Mobile Data ON I sent a text message this AM with several emojis. Didn’t notice until hours later that it FAILED (in red letters). Sent another text with 3 pictures and it tried for a couple hours to send it then it too FAILED (in red letters). Then I received some texts from a friend with pictures but got the Error message below. I also got one saying that my text (with picture) would be sent when the network was available. Called Consumer Cellular and tech checked my service and all was in order. then he walked me through several steps to set up a new APN. Still didn’t work. Took out the battery and SIM card. Replaced and still didn’t work. I can make calls, send text only texts, access the internet via mobile data with wi fi turned off, play solitaire complete with advertising, etc. Just can’t download pictures from a text. I just tried sending a test text (say that 10 times real fast) and it went through so I guess the battery trick helped there. I just returned from a 9-day trip and it worked perfectly, sending pictures and receiving them. I don’t save pictures on my phone and delete most of what people send me so shouldn’t be an overload of data. — Bizzzzyme

Solution: Hi Bizzzzyme. If your phone can make calls and all APN settings are correct, the cause of the problem may be on the app you’re using. Try wiping the cache and data of the messaging app and see how it works. Here are the steps:

  1. Open the Settings menu either through your notification shade (drop-down) or through the Settings app in your app drawer.
  2. Navigate down to “Apps”. This may be renamed to something like Applications or Application Manager in OEM skinned versions of Android 6 or 7.
  3. Once in there, find the messaging app and tap it.
  4. You’ll now see a list of stuff that gives you information about the app, including Storage, Permissions, Memory Use, and more. These are all clickable items. You’ll want to click on Storage.
  5. You should now clearly see the Clear Cache and Clear Data buttons for the application. Tap Clear Cache button first and observe how MMS works.
  6. If nothing works, repeat the steps above and tap Clear Data button.

You can also try to use a different messaging app and see if MMS works fine.

Problem 6: Galaxy Note 4 won’t charge

My phone started running really hot and the battery draining super fast, and quit charging. I ran the clean up and shut down everything and it would still do it. Error hardly change after being in the charger all say long would shit down at anything below 30% freeze up, exit me out of whatever I was doing, and them all of a sudden just start running back to normal. Now it’s doing it again and I can’t get it to charge at all. when i finally got it to charge enough to come on it was downloading something with an android on the screen saying it was in custom mode and not to turn off the target device. Help I really need my phone working. I even tried the wireless charger and it won’t work either. The charger will pick up the acceptor, but the phone won’t pick up the charge. — Ashley

Solution: Hi Ashley. The only thing that you can try now is factory reset. If that won’t fix the charging issue, you can either try a new battery or send the phone in.

Refer to the steps above on how to factory reset your phone.

Problem 7: Galaxy Note 4 can’t play Youtube, does not support Google Play Services app

My device (Samsung Note 4 SM N 9108V) does not support Google Play service. I bought it in China. It didn’t have Play services when i bought it. I downloaded and installed, but still it frequently pops a message the “Unfortunately google play services has stopped working.” When i try to open applications like Youtube, they wont open. It gives me a message that Youtube won’t run without Google Play services which are not supported by my device. I have tried almost everything that i could on the internet but still not working. — Bornwell

Solution: Hi Bornwell. Google Play Services app is one of the core apps required in order to play other Google apps such as Youtube. We understand China bans Google and its services so the firmware running in your phone must be configured to block Google apps like Google Play Services. We’re not familiar with your system and we can’t be certain if that’s the case. If you’ve already tried to manually install Google Play Services app before and it keeps on crashing, we don’t think there’s any other workaround for it.

Problem 8: Galaxy Note 4 charges very slow

Hi! This past few days my Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is charging very slowly. Like yesterday, I charged it for 3hrs and its battery just went from 2% to 59%. I tried consulting some phone technicians and they said that maybe the charging pin is broken. They told me that the problem is easy but they don’t want to repair my phone because opening the Galaxy Note 4 is dangerous. Hope you can help me 🙁 — James

Solution: Hi James. In a lot of cases like this, the main reason is always a bad charging port. Try doing a factory reset and observe how charging works afterwards. If there’s no change and charging remains very slow, consider trying a different battery. Sometimes, a bad battery can also manifest in slow charging issue. If that won’t fix it either, go ahead with repair.

Problem 9: Galaxy Note 4 won’t turn back on

First off. I had to uninstall updates from Google Services since it kept causing stuff to pop up. Some said “Google services has stopped” and another message but i forgot what that one said. First i cleared the cache but then that caused the popups to appear more. Finally i stopped it by uninstalling the updates. My phone was going completely fine now. Until one day while i went on my Instagram. My screen froze. I took my battery out and put it back in since that was the only way for me to restart it. My phone turned on but it stayed on the logo screen. It wouldn’t fully turn on. I told my mom and she told me to restart it. But i didn’t want to since i didn’t have any of my drawings backed up anywhere. So i went on my phone and there was a download and restart thing. I didn’t want to restart so i clicked that download thing. I had no idea what it was for. It didn’t do anything so i took battery out. Bad idea i know now. So I can’t restart my phone anymore. Its stuck on that download Android thing. I gave my ma my phone to fix it. She tried to download something into it but it didn’t work. It kept saying error or it didn’t realize it was my phone. I don’t know. So I tried other things like take battery out, hold buttons. I literally tried all the things i can do. Nothing worked. I know it’s my fault. I didn’t know it would do this to my phone. It does still charge up. I don’t know if that means my phone is still fine and can be fixed but in another way that i can’t do. Can you please help? I want to draw. Or at least get my pictures and drawings back. If you can’t do that, it’s fine. I just want my phone on. My family literally doesn’t have no money to get it fixed or to buy a new one. If you can’t contact me here, message me on my Instagram dm. @nekoalexis. — Alexis

Solution: Hi Alexis. There’s very little to nothing that you can do when it comes to an issue like this. Most of the time, the cause of an issue like this is something that an average user can’t fix because it involves a hardware malfunction. The only software troubleshooting that you can try is to check if your phone can restart to alternate boot modes (Recovery mode, Download mode, Safe mode). Each of these modes require doing a combination of hardware buttons. If your phone remains dead or unresponsive after you try all of them, you’re out of luck. You either have to have the phone repaired or replaced.

For reference, here are the steps on how to start your device to alternate boot modes:

Boot in Recovery mode:

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

Boot in Download Mode:

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

Boot in safe mode:

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

Problem 10: How to recover files from Galaxy Note 4

Hello! I am trying to just get some realistic idea of how lost some photos are. Long story short, my mother passed away. I have her Samsung Galaxy Note 4 phone but somehow, all pictures were recently wiped! Everything else she had is still there (texts, contacts, even the wallpaper that is not showing up in any photo files) but the gallery of camera photos are gone. The worst part is, my daughter has taken a few photos with the phone, not realizing this happened. She took about 6 photos and several screenshots. My question is, once new pics are taken are ALL old photos automatically rewritten or may some of them still be recovered with only a few overwritten permanently? I hope there is hope to recover these, I am of course willing to pay for a program if it will actually work. I truly appreciate any honest help you can give me! — Audrey

Solution: Hi Audrey. File recovery is a tricky business and even experts in this field cannot give you a 100% guarantee that they can recover everything. Ideally, if you want to recover deleted files from a particular storage device, you want to ensure that you don’t use the device. This is to minimize losing bits and pieces of information that may help in recovering some important data. This means that you’re supposed to turn the device off until you’re ready to let forensics guys do the  recovery. That this was not observed means that some sectors that kept recoverable information may be occupied by new files right now. If you want to know how much information can be recovered, you should let a professional do it for you. Again, we’re positive you’ll not be able to recover everything.

File recovery requires specialized software and can be expensive. If money is not an issue, do some online research and look for reputable companies that offer file recovery services in your area. Sometimes, the process involves mailing your device to their shop so make sure to remove any personal information from your device before sending it.

 

Engage with us

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

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

Galaxy Note 4 not receiving group messages, can’t download MMS, other messaging issues

Welcome to a new #GalaxyNote4 troubleshooting page. We want to help those Note 4 users that are experiencing some messaging or SMS/MMS-related problems so we cover 5 issues in this post.

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

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

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

Problem 1: Galaxy Note 4 can’t receive MMS properly, MMS video gets separated from audio

My husband uses Chomp app for his messaging. Our daughter sent a video to each of us and his phone separated the video part from the audio part, like 2 different pieces and video is just a picture.  He has a Verizon unlocked phone Note 4 and uses Straight Talk. I have a Note 5 and am still with Sprint. — Louise Bates

Solution: Hi Louise. There are two possible reasons why this issue occurs. One is a problem with the app he’s using, and the other is incompatibility at the operating system level.

To check, you want  to see if the problem lies on the messaging app itself. If he hasn’t tried it yet, ask him to use another messaging app or the native Samsung Messages app that came with the phone. To do this, he has to change the default messaging app under Settings. Here’s how:

  1. Open Settings app.
  2. Tap Apps.
  3. Tap More options at the upper right hand side (three-dotted line icon).
  4. Tap Default apps.
  5. Tap Messaging app.
  6. Select a different messaging app.

Once a different messaging app has been selected, send an MMS to his number again and see what happens. If the problem is fixed and MMS comes in its normal form (video not separated from audio), then the Chomp app may be problematic.

If the issue remains though, the cause may lie deep in the operating system, which means that it has something to do with the Verizon software being not fully compatible with that of Sprint’s. Talk to your carrier and see if there’s something that they can do to fix it.

Problem 2: Galaxy Note 4 not receiving group messages

I have a Samsung Note 4. Someone is sending a group text out and I can only see the people who replies to the message, not the sender’s message. Is there something I can do to see the senders message? — Honora2helen

Solution: Hi Honora2helen. Carriers convert group messages (regular SMS sent to multiple contacts) to MMS so make sure that your device is configured to receive MMS. Your phone must have the correct settings (this is usually achieved automatically if you are in a GSM network) in order to receive MMS so make sure that you contact your carrier about it. You also need to ensure that you have a working mobile data service since MMS won’t work without it. Again, if you aren’t sure if your device is able to receive MMS due to mobile data service, contact your carrier.

We think though that the main reason why you’re only receiving the original sender’s message is because the group you are in is composed of both iOS and non-iOS devices. If the original sender is using an iOS device like an iPhone, Android users like in the group will only receive responses in text message form, not in group message form. Members who use iOS device and has their iMessage service enabled receive the original sender’s message in group message form.

As a workaround (and if you can make everyone to agree), you can all try using a third party app that works in both iOS and Android devices. Examples of such apps include:

  • Facebook Messenger
  • WhatsApp
  • Line
  • Viber
  • WeChat
  • Snapchat
  • Google Hangouts

All of these items are readily available for free in both Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

Problem 3: Galaxy Note 4 cannot forward receive email to PC

I use Samsung Galaxy Note 4. I cannot forward a received email to my computer wirelessly or with a USB connection like transferring pictures. This is what happens. Because I have a long message it indicates that it is essentially full. When the message is actually forwarded, it ends up back in the same place where all other received texts are received. Why do they not go into my computer? Is it the message warning of being filled which precludes me in the first place? Since my phone has formatted capabilities, it leaves me confused why it doesn’t forward the text. I used the email used here as a response. I also have a gmail mail but don’t think it would matter in either case. I think this can be rectified by using a USB connection tell me how to do it that way if need be. — Blacklamb10

Solution: Hi Blacklamb10. Your problem description is difficult to decipher but if you’re having trouble sending an email to your computer, why not simply log in to the same account in said computer? You don’t need to forward your email to your computer unless you want to create a local copy of that received email in your computer in the first place. But even then, logging in to your email in your computer and saving a copy of that particular email is more realistic and practical rather than torture yourself looking for a non-existent solution of forwarding it via USB connection. If this is not your intention though, or if it appears that we don’t understand your situation, feel free to let us know by describing your issue in a more clear manner. As it stands, your problem description is confusing and frankly, we can’t really say for sure if we understand it at all.

Problem 4: Galaxy Note 4 can’t send money through M-Pesa

Until last week i could send and receive money through m-pesa but for the last 4 days i can’t send money through the same . I can’t buy airtime through m-pesa too. At first i thought it was my SIM card that had a problem but i used the same SIM card in another handset; it worked perfectly well. I could send and receive money through m-pesa. — Roymog_2

Solution: Hi Roymog_2. If the service works fine when using your account in another phone, there may be a problem with the local app in your Note 4. Make sure that you wipe the phone’s cache partition first to refresh the system cache. Here’s how:

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

Once you’ve wiped the cache partition, make sure that you also install the latest Android and app updates. Some apps may not work properly with older Android versions so be sure to keep the latest available firmware version installed.

Afterwards, you can then proceed in wiping the cache and data of the problematic app. To do that, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Settings menu either through your notification shade (drop-down) or through the Settings app in your app drawer.
  2. Navigate down to “Apps”. This may be renamed to something like Applications or Application Manager in OEM skinned versions of Android 6 or 7.
  3. Once in there, click on an application.
  4. You’ll now see a list of stuff that gives you information about the app, including Storage, Permissions, Memory Use, and more.
  5. These are all clickable items. You’ll want to click on Storage.
  6. You should now clearly see the Clear Cache and Clear Data buttons for the application. Try to wipe the app’s cache first, then check if it starts working normal again. If nothing changes, do the Clear Data option.

Problem 5: Galaxy Note 4 can’t download MMS

I recently switched from AT&T to Consumer Cellular. I kept my old phone, Samsung Galaxy Note 4. Everything works fine on the new SIM card except I cannot download MMS attachments. After spending a whole day going back and forth between Consumer Cellular and AT&T, they tell me the “Data” is locked. Consumer Cellular said I must get my unlock code from AT & T, AT & T said they can’t help me. Consumer Cellular said I have two choices, 1. Cancel the line and start over, therefore losing my phone number, all of my apps, pictures, contacts, etc. or 2. Buy a new phone from them and start over on their network.

First of all at AT&T all I can communicate with is robotic answers to my problem, I can’t talk to a human, CC while spending 2 hours on the problem came to the above conclusion. Can you help me in any way? — Kybred1946

Solution: Hi Kybred1946. There’s one important point that you failed to mention here and that is whether or not AT&T has unlocked the phone. Unlocking in this case means that your phone’s network setup will be modified in order for the device to work in another network. It does not mean a full software modification by removing AT&T software and replacing with an entirely something new. Since AT&T is using GSM technology, unlocking its device only means a minor software modification by entering a specific code. If you or AT&T never did unlock the device properly due to the following:

  • unsettled balance,
  • phone being blacklisted,
  • failure in following the unlock procedures properly,

your Note 4 may not be able to work properly in another network. Before you talk to Consumer Cellular, be sure to settle everything with AT&T first. Only then can you ask them to unlock your device for you.

Once that’s taken care of, make sure that your mobile data service with Consumer Cellular works. MMS won’t work when there’s no mobile data service enabled.

 

Engage with us

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

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Galaxy Note 4 calls goes straight to voicemail, can’t receive SMS, other issues

Hello Android fans! Welcome to yet another Note 4 post that addresses some issues about this device. If you are new to our site, be sure to also visit our main Galaxy Note 4 troubleshooting page by following this link.

For now, here are the specific topics we’re covering for you:

  1. Galaxy Note 4 calls goes straight to voicemail, can’t receive SMS
  2. Galaxy Note 4 microphone and speaker stops working
  3. Galaxy Note 4 turns off by itself when using apps such as camera, or when battery is at 60%
  4. Galaxy Note 4 shutting down on its own when using the internet, won’t stay on unless connected to charger
  5. Galaxy Note 4 screen not working after dropping it in water
  6. Galaxy Note 4 battery replacement
  7. Unable to move apps from Galaxy Note 4 to SD card
  8. Galaxy Note 4 won’t turn back on after downloading the update
  9. Galaxy Note 4 losing battery power fast

If you are looking for solutions to your own #Android issue, you can contact us by using the link provided at the bottom of this page, or you can install our free app from Google Play Store.

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

Problem #1: Galaxy Note 4 calls goes straight to voicemail, can’t receive SMS

Dear Sir/Madam. I have been told that my phone goes straight to voicemail every time someone calls me. I can’t receive calls or texts, but i can do both just fine. My phone doesn’t ring at all. It isn’t on airplane mode. i have taken out the battery and everything but still the same. I have been to settings to check but everything seems fine. What else can I try? Thank you in advance. —  Hilda

Solution: Hi Hilda. You’ve provided us nothing that can help us identify the cause of your problem so we say you try factory reset first and see what happens from there. Factory reset will revert all software settings back to their defaults so if a software glitch is the cause, it should be able to fix it. Also, if you rooted your phone or flashed a non-official Samsung software, make sure to bring everything back to stock before attempting a factory reset.

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

  1. Create a backup of your important files such as photos, videos, contacts etc. You can use Smart Switch for this task.
  2. Turn off the Galaxy Note 4 completely.
  3. Press and hold the Volume Up and the Home keys together, then press and hold the Power key.
  4. When the Note 4 vibrates, release both the Home and Power keys but continue holding the Volume Up key.
  5. When the Android System Recovery shows on the screen, release the Volume Up key.
  6. Using the Volume Down key, highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset’ and press the Power key to select it.
  7. Now highlight ‘Yes — delete all user data’ using the Volume Down key and press the Power key to begin the reset.
  8. When the master reset is complete, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and hit the Power key.
  9. The Note 4 will restart but it will be longer than usual. When it reaches the Home screen, then begin your setup.

If the issue continues after a full factory reset, contact your carrier so they can help you directly.

Problem #2: Galaxy Note 4 microphone and speaker stops working

I have Note 4 Verizon 4G LTE model. Microphone and speaker of the phone doesn’t work only during cellular phone call. I need to restart phone then the problem goes off for 2-3 hours then after, i can’t make or receive call. I turned off the mobile and pressed Volume Up + Menu + Power buttons and tried “wipe cache” first. It worked fine until 8-9hrs then show problem again. Then i did “wipe data/ factory reset” following same process. Problem goes away for sometime then again problem occurs. I can make call through Viber or other apps like Line. Only problem is I can’t make cellular phone call through SIM everytime i need to restart the cell phone to make a call or receive.        — Nirajanshakya746

Solution: Hi Nirajanshakya746. If the problem returns even after a factory reset, it’s possible that one of the apps or updates you installed may be causing it. Boot the phone to safe mode and observe how calling and speaker work to see if that’s the case. Safe mode blocks third party apps and services so you should observe the phone for at least 48 hours to see the difference. During the observation, make sure to replicate the problem by doing some calls. If the problem won’t occur at that time, that’s a confirmation of our hunch.

Below are the steps on how to boot your phone to safe mode:

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

Safe mode is not a solution by itself. Rather, think of it as your tool to check whether or not one of the third party apps installed is problematic. If you think one of the apps is causing the trouble, you have to uninstall them one by one until the issue is eliminated. Be sure to observe how the phone and calling works after every uninstallation.

Problem #3: Galaxy Note 4 turns off by itself when using apps such as camera, or when battery is at 60%

Hi. I recently purchased a Samsung Galaxy Note 4. Initially, it was working perfectly, but over time, when using certain apps (especially the Camera), the phone goes off. It doesn’t turn on unless charged. I also noticed that the phone dies as soon as it reaches 60%. I am very reluctant to buy a new battery, because I think the issue is more than just the battery. — Jay

Solution: Hi Jay. An issue like this can sometimes involve not just the battery so putting off getting a new battery is a good choice. You need to do some basic software troubleshooting first if you want to get to the bottom of the problem.

That said, the first possible solution that we would like you to do is battery recalibration. This will ensure that the operating system detects the true level of remaining battery power afterwards. Here’s how to do that:

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

Once you’ve recalibrated the battery, make sure to also wipe the cache partition right away. This will force the phone to delete the current system cache and replace it with a new one. Updates and app installation can sometimes corrupt the system cache so it’s a good way to minimize bugs due to corrupted system cache. Here’s how to do it:

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

Another good way to deal with this problem is by doing a factory reset. You can either do the first two suggestions above or just do the factory reset right away. This is the surest way to see if the problem is software-related or not. If nothing changes after doing it, you can then try a new battery. Lithium-ion batteries like the one in your phone has a limited lifespan and will eventually deteriorate after some time. If you’ve been using your Note 4 for over a year now, it’s probably high time to replace the battery at this time.

Should battery replacement won’t fix the problem, considering the phone in for repair or replacement.

Problem #4: Galaxy Note 4 shutting down on its own when using the internet, won’t stay on unless connected to charger

  1. What is the main problem with my phone shutting often 5-10 minutes even at 90% battery life once i started browsing?
  2. Why is it that when the charger is connected after shut down many times the battery life will immediately go up to 40-50% but once i turned it back on, it shuts down again?
  3. Why is it that whenever it shuts down, it started turning on and off by itself and if the charger is not connected to it in 5mins. time the phone starts to get hot? — Courtney

Solution: Hi Courtney. Your Note 4’s battery may be dying at this time so we suggest that you do the things we provide for Jay above. You can also physically check the battery for any sign of damage. You can take it out and check if there’s any apparent bulging at the sides. Bulging in a battery is a tell-tale sign of battery malfunction so that may be the reason why the phone keeps rebooting on its own.

Problem #5: Galaxy Note 4 screen not working after dropping it in water

Hi Droidguy. So one day i dropped my phone into the water. So i quickly took it out. The screen didn’t turn off but the menu button and the back button is some sort of glitching. Then i took it and put it in front of a fan. after that, the screen was flickering. so i turn it off and tried to turn it on. then, the screen went blank. but i was able to turn it on and the touch screen is working. i knew the touch screen was working because a was able to feel the vibration when i typed in my password. so can you help me? — Annas

Solution: Hi Annas. Unlike the Galaxy S7 and S8, the Note 4 does not enjoy water resistant protection so dropping it into water is not only a mistake but can spell a disaster for it. If your phone’s screen was working normally prior to the dropping incident, stop looking for solutions on your end. Simply turn the phone off, remove the battery, and take it to a service center. Drying it at this time will not matter much, especially that water damage is already apparent. If you’re lucky, a technician may still be able to dry the phone properly after dismantling it and save it for good. Unless you have the expertise to fix Samsung hardware and the tools to do it, there’s nothing that you can do at this time.

Problem #6: Galaxy Note 4 battery replacement

Hello. My name is JJ and I have a question regarding battery numbers. I’ve been looking for a replacement battery for my Samsung Galaxy Note 4 EB-BN910BBZ battery and was wondering if I have to get a replacement that matches the battery number above. The reason I ask is I’m having trouble finding that particular battery number and was wonder if any battery for the Note 4 would do. Thanks in advance for your help. — Jj

Solution: Hi Jj. As long as you specify a Galaxy Note 4 battery when buying it, the number above won’t matter. We suggest though that you get one from Samsung. If you can no longer get a Samsung original at this time, make sure that you get one from a reputable third party retailer.

Problem #7: Unable to move apps from Galaxy Note 4 to SD card

I got a SanDisk Ultra 128GB micro SDXC 1 for my Galaxy Note 4 for extra storage space. I can’t even update apps due to limited space. I formatted and mounted it, the phone said “Your SD card is ready to use.” It came up as “SD Card For transferring photos and media.” It is listed in storage as “SD card, 5.25GB used of 110GB.” The problem is that when I go to transfer apps, there is no button there at all next to the word “Storage.” With my other SD cards there’s a button that says, “transfer to SD card.” The card seems to work in my laptop. I deleted the files on the card and reformatted. This didn’t help. After reformatting the 2 files that were there before were back: 1. Android 2. LOST.DIR Any ideas?

 I’ve read online that people use a 128GB in their Note 4’s with no problems. Thank you. — Sandi

Solution: Hi Sandi. Not all apps can be moved to a secondary storage device or SD card. If you can’t find an option to move an app to SD card under Application Manager, your particular SD card has nothing to do with it. An SD can’t tell your phone’s operating system to have an option to move an app to SD card or not. Any of the following may be happening right now:

  1. the app you are trying to move to SD card is not designed to work in secondary storage
  2. the current Android version does not allow moving apps to SD card

Make sure the Android version on your phone is either Marshmallow or Nougat so you’ll have an option to move apps to SD card. 

If the phone is already running any of these Android versions right now, then the app you’re moving is simply not designed to work off an SD card.

Problem #8: Galaxy Note 4 won’t turn back on after downloading the update

Hello. Today I tried doing a factory reset on my Note 4. After it went through all of the updates it shut down and wouldn’t come back on. I removed the battery and put it back in and turned the phone back on. Once it powered up it said recovery boot and the Android guy popped up and said installing software update. Eventually it went in to Android recovery where I tried the wipe cache partition, the wipe data/factory reset option and then tried to reboot. Needless to say the same thing happened again and I haven’t gotten any further. I appreciate any help in advance. — Robert

Solution: Hi Robert. We’ve only seen this situation happen if a user tries to install an OTA update to a rooted device, or a phone running a non-official Samsung firmware. If your phone has been running official firmware and was never rooted, then your only way out right now is to force an update via Odin. If you haven’t done is before, do some research on how to flash stock firmware to your phone model and you should be good. Just make sure to use the correct firmware for your phone and to follow the steps on the guide correctly.

Alternatively, you can also try to flash the bootloader on your device first and see if that will fix the trouble. Below are the general steps on how to do this procedure. The exact steps may vary for your device so be sure to do some research ahead of time before doing our suggestion.

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

Problem #9: Galaxy Note 4 losing battery power fast

I am at my wit’s end with my Note 4, which is only 17 months old. I am going through a minimum 3 full battery charges during an 8 hour work day. The phone dies anywhere between 15% – 30%, but used to die when it reached 0%. I am continuing to use the original battery that came with the phone AND have purchased a brand new battery. I have also purchased a Samsung external battery charger and have to carry it with me everywhere I go to keep one of the dead batteries charging. The new battery lasts from approximately 8 a.m. – 11:30 a.m., then I insert the fully charged original battery. With the original battery, the charge goes from 100% to 49% in ONE HOUR. Furthermore, when I plug in the original factory charger, I get a banner on the screen that reads something like, “for faster charging, use the Samsung charge cable that came with the phone.” By the time I get home around 5 p.m., the only way to keep my phone powered on without having to continuously switch batteries every 3 hours is to plug the phone in and leave it on the charger until I have to leave the house.

I don’t remember exactly when this started, but it seems like it was after a March update. (There was another update in April, and the only change I can detect after it installed is the battery dies even faster than after the March update.) There is no way this can be normal and I need advice!         — Ray

Solution: Hi Ray. The first thing that you want to do in this case is to make sure that you recalibrate the battery, especially the most recent one. If that won’t fix the problem, you can do the other basic stuff such as cache partition wipe and factory reset. Any of these procedures should fix whatever software issue is causing this trouble.

A good tip that you may want to do to save battery power, should you need to extend usage time, is to use Power Saving Mode or Ultra Power Saving mode. They may not be the permanent fix you want but they can come handy should you need to  squeeze some extra time off your battery. Power saving mode will lower screen brightness, turn off haptic feedback, and throttle down the phone’s processing power in exchange for longer usage. If you use your Note 4 mostly for texting or calling, using Power saving mode or Ultra Power Saving mode can significantly lengthen battery performance.

To turn Power Saving Mode, follow these steps:

  1. Open Settings app.
  2. Scroll to and tap Power saving.
  3. Tap Power saving mode.
  4. Tap Power saving mode slider to turn it on.

 

Engage with us

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

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