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Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus turned off and won’t turn on after updating to Android 9.0 Pie

When a high-end device like the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus turns off by itself and won’t turn back on, the problem could either be with the firmware or the hardware and it could be a minor or very serious one. Some of our readers contacted us about this problem that reportedly started after the Android 9.0 Pie update. Could it be that the Pie update is bad?

As the owner, the least you can do is troubleshoot your phone and see if you can make it work like before again. But here’s the thing, as long as the phone doesn’t have physical or liquid damage, you can almost expect that it’s just a minor issue. So, if you’re one of the owners of this phone and are currently facing similar problem, continue reading as this article may be able to help you one way or another.

Before going further, if you found this post because you were trying to find a solution to your problem, then try to visit our troubleshooting page as we’ve already addressed most of the commonly reported issues with the phone. We’ve already provided solutions to some of the problems reported by our readers so try to find issues that are similar with yours and use the solutions we suggested. If they don’t work for you and if you need further assistance, fill up our Android issues questionnaire and hit submit.

Here are the things you can do if your Galaxy S9 Plus turned off after updating to Android Pie and won’t turn back on…

  1. Perform the Forced Reboot procedure.
  2. Connect phone to the charger and force restart it.
  3. Try starting it up in recovery mode.
  4. Bring phone to shop so tech can check it for you.

After a major firmware update, the cache and other system files may become corrupt or no longer compatible with the new firmware. It may result to a system crash and leave your phone unresponsive. While it may seem like a serious hardware problem, in reality it’s not. It’s actually just a very minor firmware issue that you can fix in a matter of seconds. With that said, the first thing you must do is the Forced Reboot procedure:

  • Press and hold the volume down button and power key for 10 seconds or more.

Your phone may boot up after doing this but if not, then try this instead:

  1. Press and hold the volume down button and don’t let it go yet.
  2. Now, press and hold the power key while holding down the volume down button.
  3. Keep both keys held down together for 10 seconds or more.

It’s actually the same as the first procedure only that we’re making sure you’re doing it correctly. If the phone is still not responding after this, then try doing this:

  1. Plug the charger to a working wall outlet.
  2. Connect your phone to the charger using the original USB cable.
  3. Regardless whether your Galaxy S9 Plus shows the charging symbol or not, leave it connected to the charger for at least 10 minutes.
  4. Now, perform the forced reboot again by pressing and holding the volume down and power keys at the same time for 10 seconds.

Most of the time, if the problem is due to a firmware crash, these procedures will fix it. However, if the phone is still not turning on after doing these, then you must try running your phone in recovery mode and perform a master reset if you can successfully make it to boot up.

It’s possible that it’s just a firmware issue and even if it’s serious, the phone would still be able to boot up in recovery mode as it’s the fail-safe for almost all Android devices. Here’s how to run the phone in recovery mode and perform the master reset:

  1. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
  2. When the green Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
  3. Press the Volume down key several times to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset’.
  4. Press Power button to select.
  5. Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
  6. Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
  7. When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
  8. Press the Power key to restart the device.

If your phone is still not responding after this, then it’s time to bring it to the shop as it’s probably a hardware problem that occurred after the update.

Connect with us

We are always open to your problems, questions and suggestions, so feel free to contact us by filling up this form. This is a free service we offer and we won’t charge you a penny for it. But please note that we receive hundreds of emails every day and it’s impossible for us to respond to every single one of them. But rest assured we read every message we receive. For those whom we’ve helped, please spread the word by sharing our posts to your friends or by simply liking our Facebook and Google+ page or follow us on Twitter.

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Galaxy S8 moisture detected error, won’t charge due to moisture detected error, other issues

We’re just starting to publish #GalaxyS8 issues and solutions so welcome to one of the first few posts for this device. We will be publishing more of the same articles in the coming days so keep out for them.

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

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

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

Problem 1: How to fix Galaxy S8 moisture detected error, won’t charge due to moisture detected error

My new Samsung S8 immediately for no reason told me to shut it off due to moisture in USB…so I did for a few hours….then it was doing nothing when I went to turn it on so I did what most would with an older phone sat it in rice for a day…then I turned it on and it would come on with a brand new fast charger and showed a battery with an wall outlet picture under it so I check my cords an outlets.. on some other chargers it buzzed and buzzed repeatedly…..eventually after messing with it check water damage and such it came in and acted as if it was downloading something so I let it try …hole bother day goes by nothing happens…i’ve watched Youtube videos read forums and searched everywhere I’m stuck what do I do??? — Meganborecky03

Solution: Hi Meganborecky03. You have come to the right place.  If your phone keeps showing moisture detected error, we have a few fixes for your to try below. This error message usually shows up if the system detects moisture or water in the USB charging port. It doesn’t mean that the phone is damaged. It only indicates that the device blocks charging via USB charging port to prevent shorting other components.

Moisture Detected Fix #1

With that said, usually this error occurs when you are charging your phone while the phone is off.  As simple as this may sound, but simply turn on your phone first (or reboot your phone) and then plug in the charger.  It’s simple as that.  The moisture detected error typically show up when you try to charge the phone while the phone is off.

Moisture Detected Fix #2

If your phone is out of battery and you cannot turn on the phone first prior to charging, then try holding the power button and volume down at the same time, and while holding both buttons, plug in the charger, you should see phone load up with the last bit of juice.

Moisture Detected Fix #3

And if you’re still getting the error, the last thing you can do is to take advantage of the wireless charging function.  You would likely have to pick up a new wireless charger if you don’t already have one.

Moisture Detected Fix #4

Here’s a low tech solution, take a Q-Tip and clean around the charging USB port to make sure it’s completely dry and dust free.  Also try using a blow dryer at low heat to blow around and dry out the area.  You might think this is so obvious and simple, but it has worked for several of our readers!

Moisture Detected Fix #5

By the way, you may continue to get this error over and over, even if your phone have not come near any water in days.  What we’ve found is that you can try this:

  1. go to apps settings
  2. go to system apps
  3. USB Settings
  4. Storage
  5. clear data
  6. reboot phone

comment below if this helps!

Problem 2: Galaxy S8 charger won’t go all the way in to the charging port

Hi. I recently had an upgrade to the Samsung S8 and twice now the charger jack plug has stopped going in to my phone to allow it to charge. i only ever use the charger that was supplied and it worked fine for 2 weeks, then stopped. i had a complete replacement and the same thing has happened this morning. I can get the jack plug to go in, so it slow charges but that is it. There is no debris or anything in the charger jack plug or the phone so im at a loss Please help i am a nurse and need my phone and find it unacceptable to have this problem happen again. Thanks. — Cheryl

Solution: Hi Cheryl. Your problem is hardware related so you don’t want to do anything to damage the charging port. There may be a bent pin in the port that causes this problem. We know it’s hard to really see the inside of the port without the aid of some form of magnification so we suggest that you let a professional take a look at it. If the device is covered by a replacement warranty, we suggest that you demand for a new phone instead of going through repair.

Problem 3: Galaxy S8 won’t send SMS to random contacts

I sent 6 text messages yesterday morning (Wed 5am) to my close family and friends. I text them regularly. and all failed and I cannot resend them either because they fail. However I can send messages to my husband (I text him all the time) and random friends. I even deleted their contact info and re-entered them in hopes that would help but it didnt. I have also turned my phone off for an hour in hopes that would help–it didn’t. — Storm

Solution: Hi Storm. The first move that you want to do here is to ensure that this is not app-related by wiping the cache and data of the messaging app. Here’s how to do that:

  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, look for 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.
  6. Try wiping the cache first and observe how messaging works. If the problem stays, do the Clear Data option.

Tapping on Clear Data button deletes all your conversation threads so if you want to keep a copy of some, make sure to back them up ahead of time.

Another good thing to do in this case is to try using another messaging app. Doing so will help you identify if the problem is due to a bug in the current app or not. There are many free messaging apps that you can use like Google Hangouts or Facebook Messenger so just take your pick.

If the problem remains regardless of the messaging app, contact your carrier. The problem may lie on their end. Even if not, they’re still obligated to help you fix the problem though.

Problem 4: Galaxy S8 screen becomes totally black when Maximum Power Saving Mode is enabled

Yesterday, i turned my phone onto Maximum Power Saving mode through a notification. Now when phone turns on, i see boot screen, but screen is black after loading. If i press the Bixby button, a special Android notification pops up at bottom that can’t use Bixby in Maximum Power Saving Mode. I rebooted and charged it, no help. I can load it into recovery mode and it shows the screen fine. i tried wiping the cache, but no help. If i try loading into Safe Mode, i have same issue as normal, it’s a black screen, but says ‘Safe Mode’ at the bottom left. But i can’t see anything so i can’t uninstall anything. I tried ringing the phone and trying to answer it by swinging across, but that doesn’t work. Thanks for your time. — Vinnie

Solution: Hi Vinnie. Is it possible that you may have simply set screen brightness to the lowest setting? We don’t know if we understand your concern correctly as we haven’t heard or experienced this problem ourselves. We tried replicating your case in our own S8 and everything works fine, even if screen brightness is at its lowest. We suggest that you do a factory reset via Recovery mode and see how it goes from there. Otherwise, just stay away from Maximum Power Saving mode at this time until we can find more information about this problem. We’re going to update this post once we have an effective solution.

Problem 5: Galaxy S8 stops charging after charging port got wet, moisture detected error showing up

Hi. I saw Samsung’s commercial opening the Galaxy S8 from the box under water in a shark cage and then recording the sharks. So i put my phone in the water at the beach yesterday for 10 seconds. It’s still working but the charging port says moisture detected and it will not charge. It’s been 24 hours. Is the phone water proof or not? I bought a wireless charging port. — Heather

Solution: Hi Heather. We’ve seen the commercial too and we say it’s a bit extreme given the fact that the phone is not technically water proof. It’s only water-resistant in up to 5 feet (1.5 meters) of water for up to 30 minutes and even so, we won’t tell you to intentionally dunk your $700 phone in water. That’s because water-resistance protection is simply not water proof protection. Period. If you want to see the difference between water resistance and water proof protection, do some little Google search.

Now, for your main problem (well It’s not really a problem), you don’t have to worry at all. Try the steps we mentioned above to fix moisture detected error for Galaxy S8.

Problem 6: Galaxy S8 icon notifications for SMS won’t show, first call attempt always goes to voicemail

I have a new Galaxy S8 and I’m not receiving text notifications at all when the screen is unlocked or when it is locked. I do not care about notification sounds; I’m not getting the icon notifications, which I care about. I double-checked my notification settings, and messages has notifications set to allow. I double-check blocked application notifications under “advanced,” and notifications for messages are also set to “allowed.” I’m not sure if you can help me solve another riddle, but for the past 3 months or so, every time I have called my partner, the phone call goes to voicemail the first time, even when he’s not on the phone, and then the second time goes through. This is causing me to lose my mind! No one else mentioned to him that this happen when they call him. I live in Kansas and he lives in Iowa. He has an iPhone 6, and I’ve had 3 phones over the past 3 months, all of which this happens with. When I’m in Iowa, the problem usually goes away (but not always). Thanks for your help! — Cydney

Solution: Hi Cydney. To ensure that you’ll get an icon notification for SMS, you have to enable Allow notifications option under Advanced settings of the Messenger app. Here’s how to do that:

  1. Open Settings app.
  2. Tap Notifications.
  3. Move slider to the right for the messaging app you’re using.
  4. Tap ADVANCED button at the top right.
  5. Tap the messaging app you’re using.
  6. Move the slider to the right for Allow notifications option.

If these steps won’t fix the issue, try wiping the cache partition by doing the following:

  1. Turn off the device.
  2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
  3. When the Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
  4. Press the Volume down key to highlight “wipe cache partition.”
  5. Press the Power key to select.
  6. Press the Volume down key to highlight “yes” and press the Power key to select.
  7. When the wipe cache partition is complete, “Reboot system now” is highlighted.
  8. Press the Power key to restart the device.

Should the issue remain, you can also try a full factory reset. Here’s how:

  1. Back up data on the internal memory. If you have signed into a Google account on the device, you have activated Anti-theft and will need your Google credentials to finish the Master reset.
  2. Turn off the device.
  3. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
  4. When the Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
  5. Press the Volume down key several times to highlight “wipe data / factory reset.
  6. Press Power button to select.
  7. Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
  8. Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
  9. When the master reset is complete, “Reboot system now” is highlighted.
  10. Press the Power key to restart the device.

Your second concern regarding initial call attempts going directly to voicemail may be network-related, or something caused by a bug in the software so you want to talk to your carrier about it. If factory reset won’t fix it as well, coordinate with your network’s technical team to solve it.

Problem 7: Galaxy S8 drains battery fast and won’t charge fully

Took pictures in salt water. A little while later the phone started glitching and the battery drained. Let it dry out for a few days and tried charging the phone, but it would not charge past 10%. Replaced the battery but would not charge past 45%. Wiped the cache partition and rebooted, afterwards the phone showed 96%. Now when the phone charges it won’t show past 18%-45% but it’ll last all day. Sometimes when I have the phone plugged in the battery still drains. When that happens it’ll restart and then it shows a charge of somewhere in the 90% range.

Tried wiping the cache partition again but nothing changes. Not sure if i have a defective battery or if it could be anything else. Any info with this issue would help. Thank you. — Eddie

Solution: Hi Eddie. Try recalibrating the battery first and see how it goes from there. If you haven’t tried doing this procedure, 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 will change after a battery calibration, do a factory reset. If that won’t help either, there must be a physical damage to the phone that needs fixing. Send it in for repair or replacement.

Problem 8: Galaxy S8 won’t turn off

My daughter forgot her password after she put her fingerprint in her Galaxy S8 now the phone doesn’t recognize the print & wants the password. I have tried to hard reset this phone but it won’t let me turn it off. Any suggestions on how I can get this problem fixed so this phone isn’t a paperweight????? — Xxkimberlyxx08

Solution: Hi xxkimberlyxx08. The most effective way to restart an unresponsive or frozen S8 is by simulating a “battery pull,”  also known as soft reset. Here’s how:

  1. Press and hold the Power and Volume Down buttons for at least 10 seconds.
  2. Once the phone starts to vibrate, let go of the buttons.

Hopefully your phone will restart normally and you would be able to turn it off afterwards. If that won’t work though, simply wait until the drains the battery.

Problem 9: Can’t turn off camera shutter sound when taking photos in Galaxy S8

Wanted to turn off camera “click.” Have done so by muting system sounds. But…I don’t know what other sounds I’m turning off by doing so. Can you give me a list? I’m having trouble finding out through googling. Thanks. — Mitch

Solution: Hi Mitch. If you are in the United States, you’re out of luck since it’s illegal to take a picture using a digital camera or smartphone without the shutter sounding off. Yes, that’s right. Samsung is obviously abiding by said law but some phones can still take pictures without making a sound by simply pressing Volume Down button on the side of the phone until the phone goes into vibrate mode. If you haven’t tried that yet, go ahead and see for yourself.

If the first workaround won’t work, try using third party camera apps.

 

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.

What to do if your Samsung Galaxy Note 9 turned off and won’t turn on after an update

We’ve been asked many times on what to do if the phone just stopped responding and won’t turn on and we already published several articles that tackled this very issue. However, recently, some owners of the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 contacted us because their devices reportedly stopped responding after the recent firmware update. Could this problem be caused by the new version of Android?

Read on to learn more about this problem and what you should do if this happens to you. In this article, I will walk you through in troubleshooting your Galaxy Note 9 that became unresponsive or won’t turn on. Let’s consider every possibility and rule them out one by one until we can determine what the problem is and solve it.

Before anything else, if you have other issues with your device, try to browse through our troubleshooting page as we’ve already addressed several issues with this device. Odds are that we’ve already published a post that tackles similar problems. Try finding issues that have similar symptoms with what you currently have and feel free to use the solutions we’ve suggested. If they don’t work for you or if you still need our help, then fill up our questionnaire and hit submit to contact us.

Here are two of the emails we received from our readers who asked for help…

Note 9 user complained about phone that won’t turn on after an update

Hi Droid Guy, I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 9 and there has been an update recently. After the update, I was still able to use my phone for a day then it turned off and would no longer turn back on. It won’t even respond even if I connected it to its charger both wireless and wired. I badly need your help since it’s the only phone I have right now and I have a lot of contacts, pictures and files in it. What should I do? — Karen

Note 9 owner left phone charging overnight only to wake up with an unresponsive device

Hello. My name is Clarence and I need your help… badly. I left my Note 9 connected to its charger last night as it only has 5% battery left when I slept. This morning I thought the battery was full already but when I press the power key, the phone won’t turn on. It doesn’t have the charging symbol so I thought it has finished charging but it won’t respond to the charger. Should I already bring it to the shop?

Troubleshooting Galaxy Note 9 that won’t turn on

As long as  your phone doesn’t have any signs of either physical and liquid damage, you can make it respond again just by doing the troubleshooting steps below. Here’s what you need to do if your Note 9 no longer turns on either due to an update or if there’s no apparent reason at all…

Step 1: Perform the Forced Restart procedure

There is always a possibility that the reason why your Galaxy Note 9 no longer turns on or responds is because its firmware crashed. A System crash occurs from time to time but you can easily encounter it after a firmware update. It’s because some files and system cache may become corrupt when a new version of the firmware is installed.

In this case, the best thing to do is a forced restart. It’s a simulated battery pull procedure and would make your phone respond. Most of the issues like this can be fixed this method. Here’s how it’s done:

  • Press and hold the Volume Down and Power keys at the same time for 10 seconds or more.

If the phone boots up after this, then the problem is apparently fixed and it was just due to a system crash. However, if it still not responding, then you should do this method…

  1. Press and hold the volume down button and don’t release it.
  2. Press and hold the power key while holding down the volume down button.
  3. Keep both keys held down together for 10 seconds or more.

It’s basically the same as the previous procedure only that this time we’re making sure the volume down button is pressed and held before the power key because doing it otherwise won’t give you similar result.

Step 2: Connect your phone to charger and try doing the Forced Restart

Sometimes a mere battery draining issue can lead to another problem like a system crash. If you let the phone run out of battery, some services and hardware components aren’t shut down properly which may lead to some inconsistencies in the system which will result to a firmware crash. If this happens, your phone won’t respond even if you connect it to the charger. What you’re going to do is give your phone a stable power source and address the system crash issue while your phone is connected to that source. Here’s what you need to do…

  1. Connect your Galaxy Note 9 to its charger (it’s best to use the wired on in this case).
  2. Regardless whether the phone shows the charging symbol or not, leave it connected to the charger for 10 minutes or so.
  3. Press and hold the volume down button and don’t release it.
  4. Press and hold the power key while holding down the volume down button.
  5. Keep both keys held down together for 10 seconds or more.

If the problem was just due to a drained battery that resulted to a system crash, then it should already be booting up by now. However, if the phone is still not responding after this, then we could say that the problem could already be with the hardware. As far as troubleshooting is concerned, you’ve done what  your part so it’s now time for the tech to check it up for you. There’s only so much you can do about a phone that won’t turn on or boot up.

Connect with us

We are always open to your problems, questions and suggestions, so feel free to contact us by filling up this form. This is a free service we offer and we won’t charge you a penny for it. But please note that we receive hundreds of emails every day and it’s impossible for us to respond to every single one of them. But rest assured we read every message we receive. For those whom we’ve helped, please spread the word by sharing our posts to your friends or by simply liking our Facebook and Google+ page or follow us on Twitter.

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What to do if your Garmin Forerunner 645 Music that won’t turn on

Smartphones and wearable devices like your Garmin Forerunner 645 Music rely on their batteries all the time and while having a drained battery isn’t really a problem since most of the time they respond immediately when connected to their chargers. The problem sometimes is that your device won’t turn on or respond even if it’s connected to the charger.

In this post, I will guide you in troubleshooting your Forerunner 645 Music that won’t turn on. So, if you’re one of the owners of this device and are currently having similar issues, continue reading as this article may be able to help you one way or another.

For those who are looking for a solution to a different problem, visit our Forerunner 645 Music troubleshooting page for we have already addressed or solved some of the most common issues. There could already be articles we published that could help you with your concern. Take time browsing through that page and find issues that are similar with yours. If you still need help after that, fill up our questionnaire and hit submit.

Now, here are the things you need to do if your Forerunner 645 Music no longer powers on…

Force restart your Garmin Forerunner 645 Music. Before anything else, perform the forced restart first as it’s often the most effective solution to this kind of problem.

  1. Hold LIGHT for 15 seconds.
  2. The device turns off.
  3. Hold LIGHT for one second to turn on the device.

If the device actually turns on after this, then that would be the end of the problem. However, there’s no guarantee it won’t happen again but if it does, at least you already know what to do. It would also be best to factory reset your device if this kind of problem keeps on happening.

Charge and do the force restart. It is always possible that the problem is caused by a drained battery which may have also resulted to a system crash. So, connect your device to a power source even if it won’t respond. Then perform the same procedure as above to force restart it while charging.

These procedures are enough to fix a problem like this. However, if the issue continues after this, then it’s time you call support or bring device to a service center.

Connect with us

We are always open to your problems, questions and suggestions, so feel free to contact us by filling up this form. This is a free service we offer and we won’t charge you a penny for it. But please note that we receive hundreds of emails every day and it’s impossible for us to respond to every single one of them. But rest assured we read every message we receive. For those whom we’ve helped, please spread the word by sharing our posts to your friends or by simply liking our Facebook and Google+ page or follow us on Twitter.

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How to fix Garmin Fenix 5 Plus that won’t turn on

As long as there’s enough battery, your Garmin Fenix 5 Plus should turn on without any problems at all. However, there seems to be some users who have reported that their smartwatch no longer powers on. Power issues are among the most common problems any user may encounter every now and then.

In this post, I will walk you through in troubleshooting your Fenix 5 Plus that would no longer power on. I will share with you the most practical and effective troubleshooting procedures you can use in fixing this problem. So, if you’re one of the owners with this kind of problem, continue reading as this article may be able to help you.

Before we move on, if you are looking for a solution to a different problem, make sure to visit our Fenix 5 Plus troubleshooting page as we’ve already fixed some of the most common issues with this device. Find issues that are similar with yours and feel free to use our solutions. If you still need help after that, then fill up our questionnaire and hit submit to contact us.

Here’s what you need to do if your Fenix 5 Plus no longer turns on…

  1. Perform the soft reset as it might be just a minor glitch.
  2. Try charging your smartwatch as it might be just due to a drained battery.
  3. Call support or bring the watch to the shop.

More often than not, performing the soft reset will fix your Fenix 5 Plus that won’t turn on as it’s often just a firmware glitch or crash. So it must be the first thing you need to do or just follow these steps:

  1. Connect the device to a computer via charging clip.
  2. Press and hold POWER/LIGHT button for 25 seconds or until device powers off.
  3. Press POWER/LIGHT to power unit back on.
  4. Charge battery to 100%.

If this fails, you have to call Garmin support or bring the phone to the shop so that a technician can check it up for you.

I hope that we’ve been able to help you fix the problem with your device. We would appreciate it if you helped us spread the word so please share this post if you found it helpful. Thank you so much for reading!

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What to do with your Garmin Vivosmart 4 that won’t turn on

Drained battery is one of the reasons why an electronic devices dependent on its battery won’t turn on. Some owners of the health tracker Garmin Vivosmart 4 took to online to ask for help from users who might have been able to encounter the issues wherein the device won’t turn on or respond even if it’s connected to the charger.

Health trackers, while they’ve proven themselves to be useful, run with their own operating system for firmware although most of them don’t have sophisticated system like smartphones do. Nevertheless, the hardware and the firmware must work together to make those devices work perfectly and if they don’t, then that could be the reason why your Vivosmart 4 no longer responds.

In this post, I will guide you on how to make your Garmin Vivosmart 4 that won’t turn on respond again. So, if you’re one of the owners of this health tracker, continue reading as this article may be able to help you.

For those who are looking for a solution to a different problem, drop in on our Garmin Vivosmart 4 troubleshooting page for we have already addressed some of the most common issues with this phone. Browse through the page to find issues that are similar with yours and use the solutions we suggested. If they don’t work for you or if you still need our help, contact us anytime through our questionnaire.

Now, going back to our troubleshooting, here’s what you should do if your Garmin Vivosmart 4 won’t turn on…

Charge the Vivosmart 4 for at least an hour

Based on reports for other owners, the most common reason why the Vivosmart 4 won’t turn on is because the battery has been completely drained or if you took it off for extended period of time. As a result, the tracker won’t turn on by when you wear it. Fortunately, the Vivosmart 4’s system isn’t that complicated to understand. It’s rather simple to make it respond again. Just properly connect it to its charger and then plug it into a computer. After a few minutes and the tracker doesn’t respond, just leave it connected to the computer for an hour or two.

Most of the time, this is the most effective solution to this kind of problem. However, if it continues to be unresponsive even after letting it charge for hours, then the problem could be with the hardware. It’s time you brought it to the shop or call Garmin support so you’ll be assisted. It might be a hardware issue and there’s only so much you can do about it.

Connect with us

We are always open to your problems, questions and suggestions, so feel free to contact us by filling up this form. This is a free service we offer and we won’t charge you a penny for it. But please note that we receive hundreds of emails every day and it’s impossible for us to respond to every single one of them. But rest assured we read every message we receive. For those whom we’ve helped, please spread the word by sharing our posts to your friends or by simply liking our Facebook and Google+ page or follow us on Twitter.

How to fix Samsung Galaxy Watch that won’t turn on

First off, if possible, do not let your Samsung Galaxy Watch drain its battery completely as that’s the most common cause that the device would no longer turn on or respond even if it’s connected to the charger. I’ve read a lot of complaints from online forums about this problem and only a few knew what to do when this actually happens. Many would resort to opening the device but it takes more than just removing the screws in front and back to open up this device. Others would also resort to listing their “defective” smartwatch up on eBay, which apparently won’t help.

In this post, I will share with you the most effective solutions you could try to fix this problem and bring your Galaxy Watch back to life. For the record, these solutions are basic procedures you may have done already and they don’t include opening the device or removing any of the screws that keep it in one piece. If you’re one of the owners of this device and are currently being bugged by a similar problem, continue reading as this post may be able to help you one way or another.

For those who are looking for a solution to a different problem, drop in on our Galaxy Watch troubleshooting page for we have already addressed some of the most common issues with this phone. Browse through the page to find issues that are similar with yours and use the solutions we suggested. If they don’t work for you or if you still need our help, contact us anytime through our questionnaire.

Going back to our troubleshooting, here are the things you can do if your Galaxy Watch no longer turns on or responds…

  1. Place it on its charging dock and leave it for an hour or two.
  2. Connect the device to another power source.
  3. Clip it on the cradle but don’t connect the charger.
  4. Bring it to the service center.

Unless there are visible signs of physical damage or if the device was submerged in water for a very long time, then the problem could be minor or due to a drained battery. I am sure you’ve already tried charging it and it didn’t respond. However, if the battery was drained completely, it may take several minutes to respond. Some users even reported leaving their Galaxy Watch on the charging dock overnight only to find out in the morning when they woke up that the device was still insufficiently charged. It is supposed to be fully-charged in an hour or two but remember that it takes both the hardware and firmware to charge the Watch normally but with the battery completely drained, only the hardware will be left to replenish the battery and that would take some time to complete. But the thing is, this very simple procedure can fix this problem, it just takes time… well, all procedures do.

Assuming you’ve already left the device on its charging dock for several hours and you’re still not seeing improvements or signs of life, then try connecting the charger to a different power source. It may also help to connect the device to a computer and see if that makes it respond. There were cases wherein the screen turned on shortly after the device was connected to a laptop and the battery was still sufficiently charge. Just because your Watch doesn’t respond does not mean it has an empty battery. It could be just because of a firmware issue, a minor one.

Now, the next solution is the most popular among these procedures and it’s actually the most effective as many reported they’ve fixed their Galaxy Watch that won’t turn on just by doing this. All you need to do is clip your Watch to its cradle, don’t connect it to its charger and just let it sit for several hours or a day or two. You would only connect it when the screen turns on but until then, you just have to wait.

If none of these procedures work for you, then bring the device to the service center or sell it on eBay as “defective” and many would actually buy it if they knew that the only problem is that it won’t turn on. Don’t expect it to be sold for half its original price as no one would pay that much for a defective device.

I hope that this troubleshooting guide can help you fix the problem with your Samsung Galaxy Watch. Do let us know in the comment section what works for you or what you did to fix the problem with your device.

How to fix Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus that won’t turn on (easy steps)

After years of providing free support to our readers, we’ve already encountered thousands of issues and we’ve already known several effective solutions to almost every problem sent by our readers including a fix for a Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus that won’t turn on. This issue, while it may seem like a very complicated one, may actually be just a result of a rather minor problem in the firmware. Majority of the owners who encountered this problem said they were able to fix it without any help from a tech.

In this post, I will share with you a solution that worked to a lot of our readers who have phones that died without apparent reason. And our subject will be the Galaxy S8+ since we received several complaints from our readers about it. If you’re one of the owners of this phone and are currently bugged by a similar problem, continue reading as this post may be able to help you.

Before we proceed with our troubleshooting, if you are looking for a solution to a different issue, then visit our troubleshooting page for we have already addressed some of the most common problems with this phone. Browse through the page to find the solution that works best for you. If you still need our help after that, then contact us through our Android issues questionnaire.

Solution for the Galaxy S8 Plus that won’t turn on

I am confident that the following solution will fix the problem but bear in mind that it only works for issues that occurred without apparent reason. If you’re the owner and you know right from the start the problem started after your phone suffered a drop or got submerged in water for a long time, then our solution may not work since the problem has already something to do with the hardware. However, if this issue started out of the blue and you don’t know exactly what happened to it, then you should try this…

  • Press and hold the Volume Down button and the Power key simultaneously for 10 seconds.

Assuming that there’s enough battery and the hardware is totally fine, your device should boot up normally. This procedure is what we call Forced Restart which refreshes your device’s memory and forces it to boot up, as the name suggests. If this doesn’t work however, then you should try this…

  1. Press and hold the Volume Down button and don’t let go of it.
  2. Press and hold the Power key while holding down the Volume Down.
  3. Keep both keys held for 10 seconds or until the screen turns on.

It’s basically the same as the procedure above but we’re just making sure you’re doing it right. Pressing and holding down the Power key first and then the Volume Down has a different effect as when you do it in reverse; you have to it the latter first before you trigger the phone to power up. But if this doesn’t work either, this is what you’re going to do next…

  1. Plug the charger to a working wall outlet.
  2. Connect your phone to it using the original cable.
  3. Regardless whether the phone shows the charging signs or not, let it charge for at least 10 minutes.
  4. Now do the Forced Restart procedure once again but this time while the phone is charging.

One of these procedures should work and bring your phone back to life provided there’s enough battery and there’s no damage to hardware components. If by any chance your phone stays unresponsive after doing all this, then you have to try troubleshooting it. Continue reading so you’ll be guided how to troubleshoot your S8+ that won’t turn on.

RELATED POSTS:

Troubleshooting Galaxy S8 Plus that won’t turn on

There are a few things you can do about this problem but I hope you’ll take time troubleshooting your phone. If you are not comfortable doing the procedures below, then you should bring the phone to the service center immediately so that the tech can take check it for you. For those who are willing to do some troubleshooting, here’s what you should do:

Make sure there’s no physical / liquid damage

It’s imperative that you check your phone for both physical and liquid damage first because if the problem is due to one of those things, it’s futile to troubleshoot your device knowing the issue is with the hardware.

For physical damage, just look for scratches, dents and cracks on the outside. A force that can render the phone useless should leave a mark. If the phone is still flawless, then move on to the next step.

For liquid damage, check the USB or charger port first. Look into it to see if there’s a trace of liquid. You may use a cotton swab to clean around the area or insert a small piece of tissue paper into it to absorb the moisture.

Then, remove the SIM card tray and look into the SIM slot and look for the Liquid Damage Indicator; it’s a small sticker that would tell you if the phone has liquid damage or not. If the LDI is still white, then there’s no liquid damage but everything would be totally different if the LDI turned red or purple.

For cases of physical and/or liquid damage, you should bring the phone to the service center for the technician to evaluate how serious the problem is.

Try running the phone in Safe mode

After making sure there’s no physical or liquid damage in your phone, the next thing you should do is try to boot it up in Safe mode. By doing so, you’re temporarily disabling all third-party apps that may have a hand in this problem. Follow these steps and see what happens:

  1. Press and hold the Power key past the model name screen.
  2. When “SAMSUNG” appears on the screen, release the Power key.
  3. Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.
  4. Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
  5. Safe mode will display in the bottom left corner of the screen.
  6. Release the Volume down key when you see Safe Mode.

Assuming the phone boots up in this mode, then the problem is already fixed since we’ve already powered up the device. Try to reboot it in normal mode without doing anything in safe mode first. If it would still result to a black screen, boot back in safe mode and hunt down the apps that cause the problem and uninstall them one by one.

  1. From the Home screen, swipe up on an empty spot to open the Apps tray.
  2. Tap Settings > Apps.
  3. Tap the desired application in the default list or tap 3 dots icon > Show system apps to display preinstalled apps.
  4. Tap the desired application.
  5. Tap Uninstall.
  6. Tap Uninstall again to confirm.

However, if the phone still refused to boot up in safe mode, then try the next method.

Attempt to boot the phone up in Recovery mode

The Android system recovery mode is the fail-safe of almost all Android devices. Even if your phone has some serious firmware issues for as long as the integrity of the hardware is intact, it should boot up in this environment. If you can make your phone to run in this mode successfully, there are a couple of things you can do that have great impact on the firmware. So try to go through the methods below and see what works:

How to run S8+ in Recovery mode and wipe cache partition

  1. Turn off the device.
  2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
  3. When the Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
  4. Press the Volume down key several times to highlight “wipe cache partition.”
  5. Press the Power key to select.
  6. Press the Volume down key to highlight “yes” and press the Power key to select.
  7. When the wipe cache partition is complete, “Reboot system now” is highlighted.
  8. Press the Power key to restart the device.

Run phone in Recovery mode and do the Master reset

This is your last resort but as long as the firmware hasn’t been modified in any way, you should be able to fix this problem by doing the reset. But the thing is you would lose all your files and personal data especially those that you saved in your phone’s internal storage. So it’s up to you if you proceed with this method but here’s how you do it:

  1. Turn off the device.
  2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
  3. When the green Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
  4. Press the Volume down key several times to highlight “wipe data / factory reset.
  5. Press Power button to select.
  6. Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
  7. Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
  8. When the master reset is complete, “Reboot system now” is highlighted.
  9. Press the Power key to restart the device.

I hope that you’d be able to fix the problem with your phone using these methods. If the problem persists after doing all these, then you have to bring it to the tech to have it checked.

Posts you may also like to read:

Galaxy S6 flashing green LED light and won’t boot up, other similar power issues

s6

Months after its release, it’s clear that the new Samsung #GalaxyS6 series, just like other Android phones, is also as prone to power-related failures. Power problems on this phones seems to be on the rise and we continue to receive high numbers of requests for assistance related to this issue. Below are some of the issues shared by some members of our community:

  1. Galaxy S6 Edge getting Plus Power Sharing app pop ups
  2. Galaxy S6 keeps connecting and disconnecting when charging using a fast charger
  3. Galaxy S6 flashing green LED light and won’t boot up
  4. Galaxy S6 screen unlock does not work
  5. Galaxy S6 fails to power on and won’t boot in any other modes
  6. Galaxy S6 overheating issue

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

 

Problem #1: Galaxy S6 Edge getting Plus Power Sharing app pop ups

Hello DroidGuy. I bought a Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ about 1.5 months ago, and everything was working great until last week. A pop-up kept reappearing saying a Power Sharing related issue had occurred. After that it also made some weird noises, also related to Power Sharing.

I didn’t think much of it and just kept using the phone on a regular basis. But then, like 2, 3 days ago, it stopped charging. It only charges when it’s completely shut down, but at a really slow rate, like 15% per hour.

I used your troubleshooting guide and followed every single step, like the soft reset, and even the hard reset, but it still won’t work. I’m using the original fast-charging cable which came with the mobile phone.

I have absolutely no clue how to fix it.

If you have any clue how to fix it, please respond as quickly as possible,

Thank you in advance. — Devon

Solution: Hi Devon. If we are not mistaken, you are getting this pop up message: “Power Sharing: You must download the app in order to control the amount of power shared. If you connect your device to another device with the Samsung Power Sharing Cable EP-SG900 without the app, the entire battery amount will be transferred to the other device. Connect to Samsung Apps and download the application.” if you do, there are two things that you can do about it–perform a factory reset or uninstall the Power Sharing app.

Samsung appears to have become aggressive in promoting this app on their newest flagship phones as many members of Android community using Galaxy Note 5 and the Galaxy S6 series have been reporting this same situation to us this past few months. If you happen to have the app in your phone, or if you unintentionally downloaded it before, consider removing it. Here’s how:

  • From any Home screen, tap the Menu key.
  • Tap Settings.
  • Tap the More tab.
  • Tap Application manager.
  • Swipe left or right to go to the All tab.
  • Scroll to and tap Power Sharing.
  • Tap Uninstall.

Depending on your carrier’s Android firmware, Power Sharing app may or may not be part of the pre-installed apps. If you are unable to uninstall it, try doing a factory reset. This will restore the default settings of the app and eliminate possible firmware fault that may be causing the issue. Just do the steps below:

  • Turn off the device.
  • Press and hold the following three buttons at the same time: Volume Up key, Home key, and Power key.
  • When the phone vibrates, release the Power key but continue to press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key.
  • When the Android System Recovery screen appears, release the Volume Up and Home keys.
  • Press the Volume down key several times key to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset.’
  • Press Power button to select.
  • Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
  • Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
  • When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
  • Press the Power key to restart the device.

Problem #2: Galaxy S6 keeps connecting and disconnecting when charging using a fast charger

My phone keeps beeping when I plug in the fast charging cable/power block.  I am assuming that this means the device keeps becoming unconnected and reconnecting over and over, which results to very slow charging. This charging reconnecting issue does not occur with any other charger that I own, only the fast charger. 

I have on several sites on how to properly fast charge, and it does not change anything. 

How do I setup my phone so that it works with this charger? — Tim

Solution: Hi Tim. There are no phone settings that you can change to make your fast charger work normally with your phone, but you can do the basic software troubleshooting like booting the phone in safe mode while charging or doing a factory reset. These troubleshooting processes can help you verify if the reason for the issue described here is firmware- or app-related. If the phone’s operating system or apps are fine, then the issue might be the charger itself.

To know if you got a bad fast charger, try using another Samsung fast charger for this phone.

In case you don’t know how to boot the phone in safe mode, here are the steps:

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

Problem #3: Galaxy S6 flashing green LED light and won’t boot up

Hi, I went to bed about 12 o’clock last night and put my phone on charge, I woke up half way through the night and took my phone off charge. at this point it was on and showing my notifications, then I woke up at 9 o’clock this morning and my screen is unresponsive, the green light is flashing on the top of my screen to show notifications but that’s all. I’ve tried the re-boot etc and tried the charger but the green light keeps flashing, when usually when the charger is plugged in it goes to a steady red light. if you could help with some advice that would be brilliant. Thank you — Jonathan

Solution: Hi Jonathan. If your S6 no longer boots normally, or if it’s stuck to a black screen, try to restart it in other boot modes. A Samsung device can   also boot in safe mode, recovery mode, or download mode aside from the normal mode. Below are the steps on how to do them individually.

Boot an S6 in safe mode

This is usually performed if a user suspects that a third party application is causing trouble. In your case, booting in safe mode can be a way to eventually get you back to the normal booting process. Steps are provided above.

Boot an S6 in recovery mode

This special runtime environment comes handy in cases like yours. In recovery mode, you can delete the cache partition, apply software updates, and perform a factory reset. These are the steps to boot in this mode:

  • Turn off the device.
  • Press and hold the following three buttons at the same time: Volume Up key, Home key, and Power key.
  • When the phone vibrates, release the Power key but continue to press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key
  • When the Android System Recovery screen appears, release the Volume Up and Home keys.

Boot an S6 in download or Odin mode

Odin mode is supposed to be an internal troubleshooting method for Samsung technicians but since it was leaked, many Android users adopted it in order to modify ROMs, install custom ROMs, etc. if you haven’t tried booting your S6 in this mode before, this is how it’s done:

  • Turn off the phone.
  • Press and hold Volume Down, Home, and Power buttons at the same time.
  • Once you receive the Warning prompt, press the Volume Up button to proceed.
  • Once you see the Downloading screen, plug in your phone via the USB cable to your PC.

If you can’t boot your phone to any of these three, the issue may not be on the software level. Make sure to bring it to a Samsung repair center or shop, or simply ask for a replacement unit.

Problem #4: Galaxy S6 screen unlock does not work

Since this morning phone doesn’t seem to want to respond to being unlocked. I tried doing the clear cache from the root menu. It seems to work better in safe mode, but it cycles between lock screen and unlock screen but then won’t actually unlock.

I suspect maybe something I updated that could have caused this but i have no clue what or why. 

I just installed the new system update this morning hoping that would fix it but it did not. HELP please this phone is too expensive to be having such a weird random issue. —  A Jones

Solution: Hi A Jones. Since the phone does not revert to its normal functions when in safe mode, the issue may not be on one of your apps but on a firmware level. Doing a factory reset should help in this case. Most firmware-related issues are usually fixed by a factory reset so you stand a good chance of fixing the problem with this solution.

Problem #5: Galaxy S6 fails to power on and won’t boot in any other modes

Hey Droidguy! I use the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, 32GB. Its been around 2 months with this phone. Yesterday night I put the phone for charge at approx. 12:30 PM and I was working on my laptop. Then at around 1:15-1:25, I saw that the phone was switched off. I tried to turn it on but it didn’t turn on. Then I tried to boot recovery mode, and all other steps you mentioned in your articles but still I can’t turn the phone on. Please suggest me what to do!

Yours sincerely. — Goheen

Solution: Hi Goheen. If you tried booting the phone in different modes (just like what we suggest for Jonathan above) but was not successful,  the issue must be the battery or other hardware faults. We doubt if there’s still anything that you can do on your end at this point. We recommend that you bring it to Samsung or a local repair shop.

Problem #6: Galaxy S6 overheating issue

My S6 Edge just said it was overheating. I don’t know how. I’ve been at work all day and it was in my pocket; i wasn’t using it. But the battery life was at 10 % then it immediately dropped to 2 % and said device is overheating apps have been closed. so i left it off for about 30 minutes. now it will not charge or turn on. Please help me. — Ashley

Solution: Hi Ashley. To know what the exact failure is at this time is impossible unless we can check the phone. We think the battery may have failed. It’s not uncommon for Android devices to show signs of overheating when there’s a battery fault. Have the phone and battery checked.

 

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.

What to do if your Galaxy S6 fails to boot (also applies toS6 Edge, Edge Plus)

Electronics sometimes fail to power on properly for a number of reason but most issues happen to older devices or those gadgets that have already seen several seasons in its lifetime. It is therefore hardly comforting to know that some of our readers have encountered boot problems on their new #Samsung #GalaxyS6 (#GalaxyS6Edge and #GalaxyS6EdgePlus) devices.

Image credit: Samsung
Image credit: Samsung

For those looking for solutions for their Galaxy S6 power or boot problems, this post may help. Below are the topics discussed in this article:

  1. Samsung Galaxy S6 won’t turn on
  2. Galaxy S6 does not respond and showing a blue light
  3. Galaxy S6 keeps on rebooting and overheating
  4. Galaxy S6 Edge won’t boot
  5. Galaxy S6 vibrates when using fast charger

If you have #Android issues, you can shared them to us by using the link provided below.

 

Problem #1: Samsung Galaxy S6 won’t turn on

When my Galaxy S6 died I tried to plug it into the charger but then the battery symbol did not appear. That had me worried from the get go. Then I go online to try to figure out what happened. I tried the power button and volume down button at the same time and that did not work. And I tried every trouble shooting method out there. I did plug it in when I was trying those methods but still nothing happened. But the first time I plugged it in, the charging cord was really hot. But I don’t know I that has anything to do with it. I just really need help with this problem. Thanks — Nate

Solution: Hi Nate. The Samsung Galaxy S6’s battery is non-removable so we cannot, obviously, check if it’s the reason behind the boot failure. We assume that you have already tried booting the phone in both recovery and download modes so your next best logical step here is to either request for a replacement or repair.

Problem #2: Galaxy S6 does not respond and showing a blue light

My screen is black and unresponsive. The device simply blinks a blue light but nothing more. I have tried numerous key combinations to try and reboot the device, but no luck. The button commands I have tried are:

  • Power and down volume
  • Power and up volume
  • Up and Down Volume and Power
  • Up/Down Volume with home button

Please advise. — Rich

Solution: Hi Rich. We can see that you haven’t tried booting the phone in recovery and download mode. Below are the steps on how to do each of them.

Boot a Galaxy S6 in recovery mode

The main purpose of giving an Android device an ability to boot in recovery mode is to allow factory reset using hardware buttons as well as easy deletion of the system cache.

Recovery mode is a special bootable partition in your phone designed to be one of your tools in troubleshooting. Whether you are trying to wipe the cache partition or do a factory reset because of slow performance or boot issues, recovery mode comes handy. Here are the steps to do it:

  • Turn off the Galaxy S6.
  • Press and hold the following buttons at the same time: Power, Volume Up, Home.
  • Continue holding the buttons until the recovery screen is shown.
  • Once you see the Recovery Booting… screen, release the three buttons.

We recommend that you try deleting the cache partition first. If nothing happens after doing so, make sure to do a factory reset.

Boot a Galaxy S6 in download mode

If you attempted to root your phone or install any custom ROM prior to experiencing the problem, consider booting it in download mode to see if you can make it to work. Also known as ODIN mode, this mode is a useful when you want to install a new firmware manually. This mode is also useful for technicians if you want them to flash a new custom operating system. Here are the steps:

  • Turn off the Galaxy S6.
  • Press and hold the following buttons at the same time: Power, Volume Down, Home.
  • Continue holding the buttons until the special download screen is shown.
  • Release the three buttons once the download mode screen appears.

For instructions how to flash your desired firmware, simply use Google to search for more resources online.

 

Related reading How to unroot Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge to stock firmware

 

Problem #3: Galaxy S6 keeps on rebooting and overheating

Hello. I am emailing you on behalf of my brother because he does not have a working device.

His phone was recently purchased (2 weeks ago) and is having trouble with power. It will only stay on for 60 seconds then it turns off again. There is no water damage or outer damage to the phone.

It was at first saying the phone was overheated. He let it cool down and now he is getting a message saying the battery temperature is low. Why is this happening and what can he do to fix it? — Erin

Solution: Hi Erin. We think that your brother’s battery is to blame here. Two of the common manifestations of a battery malfunction are random reboots and overheating. Since we cannot simply replace the battery on this phone, we suggest that you ask for a replacement or have it repaired somewhere. If this phone is still covered by a warranty, make sure to call or go to Samsung so they can check it first hand. Keep in mind that having it checked by third party technicians may void the manufacturer warranty. If this phone was provided by a carrier, you can also request for a repair or replacement from them.

Problem #4: Galaxy S6 Edge won’t boot

Hi, my name is Kashif Saeed, and i’ve an S6 Edge G925F (International) 64GB model. It’s a First Day edition. got it on first day of release. After using for months, ain’t get any kinda problem till now. Yesterday while i was driving in a car with my friend, i connected my phone via car’s Bluetooth and listening to the music. i got 2 missed calls that time but my hands were busy so i couldn’t answer the phone at that moment.

Well right after that, my phone just restarted and i found it got warmed. Since then it’s keep restarting and freezing! sometimes it boots till main screen or sometimes it restarts immediately right after S6 Edge shows up or sometimes at Samsung’s logo (With stuck sound like aaaarrrrrr, like it gets stuck in-between starting sound).

i’ve tried to get into a recovery mode, no luck– still stuck at Galaxy screen. i tried to boot into Safe mode, no luck so far. it just keep restarting and restarting freezing!!

i tried to update the firmware via ODIN 3 times because only the download mode is working but now my device is locked so ODIN aint working anymore =P=( i tried to initiate firmware via KIES and Smart Switch as well !! NO LUCK !! =( Help me please !!  — Kashif

Solution: Hi Kashif. If your phone fails to boot in all four modes (normal, safe, recovery, and download), there’s virtually nothing that we can provide you at  in terms of advice either. The next best thing for you to do, just like others above, is to resort to either repair or replacement.

If you are amenable to voiding the warranty by opening and fixing the phone yourself, try looking for online resource in order to do the job. iFixit website has recently posted some great guides to fix an issue like this. They also let you buy the necessary tools.

Problem #5: Galaxy S6 vibrates when using fast charger

Hi. I have recently read your guide on troubleshooting charging issues with the Samsung Galaxy S6 but i have a slightly different problem. When i connect my device to its original charger it begins vibrating and producing the noise it makes when connected over and over again as if being plugged in and out several times. This also occurs when i use my power bank with 2A output. I have now resorted to using an older charger from a Samsung Galaxy S2 which charges normally but a lot slower than the S6 charger did. Any suggestions, please help. Yours sincerely S6 user. — Aleksandar

Solution: Hi Aleksandar. It appears that there’s no hardware issue involved here as your S6 charges fine using a standard charger. That puts the charger port and battery out of the question, which is good. This means that you may have a firmware glitch that triggers the vibrate function everytime you use the original S6 charger and higher amperage charging devices.

The charging process is governed by your phone’s firmware so it’s best to troubleshoot it to confirm out suspicion. Below are the things that you can try.

Boot the phone in safe mode

The first thing to do is boot the phone in safe mode. This mode prevents third party apps from running. If you installed rogue or problem third party apps, booting in safe mode will most likely turn up something. Here are the steps:

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

If the problem fails to occur in safe mode, start uninstalling third party apps until it will be eliminated.

Delete the system cache

If booting in safe mode does not make any difference, try booting the phone in recovery mode to wipe the cache partition. Also known as system cache, this special repository of system files must always be in good working order to avoid slow performance and other unrelated problems from occurring. To delete the cache partition, just follow these steps:

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

Perform a factory reset

If the two procedures fail, your last resort is do factory reset. Not exactly something that you want to look forward to doing but this can be an effective solution to do before you send the phone for repair or replacement. Here are the steps:

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

 

 

Engage with us

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

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

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

How to fix Samsung Galaxy S7 that won’t turn on after an update, other power issues [Troubleshooting Guide]

Many #Samsung Galaxy S7 (#GalaxyS7) owners have been anticipating the roll out of the Android 7 #Nougat update but such anticipation could easily turn into frustration if the update brought along problems instead of promised improvements and fixes. Such is the case of some of our readers who contacted up because after updating their phones, they were greeted with power related issues.

Read on so that you will learn how the issues I tackled in this post were triggered and how to prevent them from coming back in the future. Go through the list of the problems below and click on the link to jump to a specific issue or section.

Before we jump right into our troubleshooting, if you have other concerns, make sure you visit our troubleshooting page for we have already addressed hundreds of problems with this device. Find issues that are similar with yours and use the solutions or troubleshooting methods we suggested. If they don’t work for you or if you need further assistance, fill up our Android issues questionnaire to contact us.

Samsung Galaxy S7 won’t turn on and charge after an update

Problem: Taken new S7 galaxy yesterday a notification came for system update so done complete downloading. when i woke up early morning my hand set was not working ,no indicator while charging, no sound. performed reset but not working. (vol down+power )button.

Troubleshooting: Obviously, the issue started when the new update was installed to your Samsung Galaxy S7. The best thing that you can do now is to learn first if the device is still responding, you will need to run a diagnostic procedure to do that. In your statement, you’re trying to force reboot your device by pressing the Power key and Volume down key, but to make sure that you did it right, you need to perform it again by following the step-by-step procedure we recommend below.

Force Reboot your Device

We recommend to perform this procedure again since we don’t have an idea how you did it but we will give the steps how to do it. To give you an idea of the purpose of this procedure, it basically perform a simulated battery pull, just like pulling out a battery from devices that has removable battery since we all know that Samsung Galaxy S7 has built-in.

  • Press and hold the Power key and Volume down key for about 7-10 seconds, your device will try wake up and boot up normally.
  • Let it finish the reboot

Boot to Safe and Recovery mode

If force reboot didn’t work or doesn’t do anything, then boot your device to safe mode. It is possible that this issue is caused by a third-party apps, there are this kind of apps that can damaged or corrupted some files especially incompatible apps because it will force the device to launch it and create a file on their own.

The Safe mode is not a solution but to determine if your device will run smoothly without third-party apps running, it will temporarily disabled all third-party apps and run only the pre-installed. Here’s how to do it:

  1. Turn your Galaxy S7 off.
  2. Press and hold the Power button.
  3. Once the ‘Samsung Galaxy S7’ logo appears, release the Power key and immediately press and hold the Volume Down button.
  4. Continue holding the button until the phone finishes rebooting.
  5. Once you see the text “Safe mode” at the bottom left corner of the screen, release the Volume Down button.

If your device won’t boot to Safe mode or it did boot but won’t boot back to normal mode, the next thing that you should do is to boot in Recovery mode, this mode is a diagnostic mode as well the same with Safe mode, but there are choices that you can choose from downloading an update to master reset your device. Do this procedure first to see if the device will respond before choosing an option. Here’s how to do 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.

Now, if your device was able to run in this mode then we recommend to choose the ‘wipe cache partition option to clear the old temporary files. If you are seeing the options, follow this next steps:

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

If all procedures fails or didn’t resolve the issue, I think it’s time for you bring the device to the nearest local Samsung service center and have the professionals handle the issue. It could be a serious issue or hardware-related problem, as early as now it can be taken care of to avoid bricking the device.

Galaxy S7 froze shortly after the Nougat update and won’t reboot

Problem: Hi. My phone is a Galaxy S7. I bought it brand new and it worked perfectly ever since. Recently, however, there was an update that I downloaded that seemed to have caused the problem. It seems to have been frozen and won’t respond anymore. My friend told me to reboot it but it still won’t. I don’t have much knowledge when it comes to troubleshooting devices so I’m hoping you guys can help me.

Troubleshooting: It seems like the Nougat update messed up your phone but as to what extent, we really don’t know. So, we need to troubleshoot your device for us to know what the problem really is that way we would know how to fix it. That said, here’s what you should do…

Step 1: Attempt to force restart your device

It’s possible that the system crashed after the firmware got updated; it happens a lot. More often, a simple reboot may not work because the device just won’t respond to matter what. So, here’s what you have to do: press and hold the Volume Down button and the Power key for 15 seconds.

If there’s enough battery left to power up the hardware and if it was indeed caused by a system crash, your device should reboot normally after doing the forced reboot procedure.

Step 2: Try charging your phone

There’s a possibility that battery got drained that’s why your device simply just won’t respond nor reboot. So, plug the charger to a wall outlet and then plug the charging cable into your phone. Aside from making sure there’s enough battery, we’re also trying to find out if the phone is still capable of charging because if not, then we can say it’s a hardware problem, in which case, you need a technician.

But assuming the phone charged when you plugged it in, allow it to charge for 5 minutes and then attempt to turn it on normally. If it won’t respond, then do the forced reboot procedure but this time while the device is plugged in.

Step 3: Attempt to boot it up in safe mode

There are always apps that may become incompatible with new firmware unless the developers would roll out updates for them. So, it’s possible that one or some of the third-party apps in your phone is  causing this problem. Therefore, booting up in safe mode would be very helpful because if successful, all you need to do is find the app that’s causing the problem and uninstall it. Follow the steps on how to boot in safe mode in the first problem.

Step 4: Attempt to boot your phone in recovery mode

We’re just trying to find out, at this point, if the phone is still capable of powering up all its hardware components because if so, then you can rest assured it’s not a hardware related problem. Also, if the phone can actually boot up in recovery mode, try wiping the cache partition and if that won’t work, do the master reset. If all of these methods failed, then seek assistance from a technician.

Samsung Galaxy S7 won’t turn on after an update

Problem: Hi! I just had this phone (Samsung Galaxy S7) for 2 weeks now, a few days ago the screen started to keep flashing and sometimes it stays black for several minutes and then go back to the last app I was on. It started when I downloaded the new update by the time I received a notification that a new version is available. It came out of nowhere, and now, it stays black and won’t respond even I long press the power button. Is it somehow the update brick my device? Is there a fix for this issue? Thank lots!

Solution: Just like the issue above, the cause might be the new update or it could be a third party app. There are other possibilities to consider as well, sometimes the device will give up because of excessive use, like playing games for hours without resting. That can be considered as one of the factor the device turns black and unresponsive. We recommend to run a few diagnostic tests for your device to narrow down the issue.

You can start by performing a force reboot to your device, just press and hold the Power key and Volume down for about 7-10 seconds and let it reboot. It will do a simulated battery pull since this device has built-in battery. If it won’t do anything, then boot your device to Safe mode or Recovery mode. You can refer for the steps above, the purpose was explained as well.

If ever you were able to boot up in Recovery mode, we will recommend performing the master reset right away. It could be that there are several files was corrupted or damage during the update, by doing a master reset, it will restore your device back to defaults and you can install the new update again as well as install those important apps that you are using.

You can try and plug in your device to a PC and see if it recognizes your device. If so, then start making backups of important files, then proceed performing the reset. Here’s how:

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

If all this procedure didn’t work, bring your device to the nearest service center, it could be a serious problem that only the professionals can handle. Bring the necessary papers as well, like the warranty if still active.

Connect with us

We are always open to your problems, questions and suggestions, so feel free to contact us by filling up this form. We support every Android device available and we are serious in what we do. This is a free service we offer and we won’t charge you a penny for it. But please note that we receive hundreds of emails every day and it’s impossible for us to respond to every single one of them. But rest assured we read every message we receive. For those whom we’ve helped, please spread the word by sharing our posts to your friends or by simply liking our Facebook and Google+ page or follow us on Twitter.

Galaxy S7 edge camera photos are not being saved to SD card, other issues

Hello S7 users! Here’s another post that addresses some #GalaxyS7 issues reported to us from the past few days.For those readers who are new to our site, don’t forget to also visit our main Galaxy S7 troubleshooting page is this article won’t give a solution to your own issue.

For now, here are the specific topics we cover for you today:

  1. Galaxy S7 Google Maps app unresponsive | Galaxy S7 is stuck and won’t restart
  2. Galaxy S7 edge email won’t work after installing Android Nougat
  3. Galaxy S7 edge camera photos are not being saved to SD card
  4. Galaxy S7 fast charging feature not working
  5. Galaxy S7 keeps overheating and turning itself off and on randomly
  6. Galaxy S7 received SMS have incorrect time
  7. Galaxy S7 edge won’t power back on
  8. Galaxy S7 battery problem after accidental fall

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

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

Problem #1: Galaxy S7 Google Maps app unresponsive | Galaxy S7 is stuck and won’t restart

I updated my phone on Monday, and I keep having problems with Google Maps not being responsive or loading my map. I use Google Maps at least 2 hours a day, so I decided to try to restart my phone to see if that would fix the problem. Well the phone restarted, and I unlocked the phone, but it is now stuck on the unlock screen (shows a pad lock with a rotating blue/green circle going around the pad lock).  I have tried to hard restart the phone, but it seems like the buttons aren’t even working. I have been stuck on this screen for over 2 hours now with no change  I’m not sure where to go from here. — Samantha

Solution: Hi Samantha. If your phone has become stuck or unresponsive, try to simulate a “battery pull.” In older Samsung phone models, pulling out the battery is usually the most effective way to boot back on an unresponsive phone. Since your S7 has a non-removable battery pack design, you can only simulate a battery pull by doing a hardware button  combination. This process is also called soft reset. Here’s how to it’s done:

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

Note: The device powers down completely. It is recommended that the device be powered up in Safe Mode.

Also, make sure that there’s at least 5% battery left before doing a soft reset. This ensures that there’s enough energy left to power the battery circuit.

If you’ll be able to power the phone back on normally after a soft reset but the Google Maps continue, consider wiping the app’s cache and data. Here’s how it’s done:

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

Problem #2: Galaxy S7 edge email won’t work after installing Android Nougat

Since doing Verizon’s Nougat upgrade to my S7 edge, I can no longer connect to my work email (an IMAP account). I have deleted and recreated the account and verified all the settings are correct with our IT. They can see me hit the firewall. Then I receive a security error. For incoming server, we are using SSL Accept all certificates. We have a home grown certificate, rather than one from a traditional supplier.  Could the OS be having an issue with the certificate? — Will

Solution: Hi Will. The error appears to be a security warning coming from the phone itself so yes, we think it’s an OS-related problem. If the only change you’ve made so far is to install an update on your phone and there are no modifications on your work email side, there may be some compatibility issues with your work email and Android. If you’re using the stock Samsung email app, try using another email app like Google’s Gmail or Microsoft’s Outlook and see if it works. You can also confirm our suspicion by using another phone, preferably one that runs on older Android version, so you can add your email and see if it works. If it does work on an older Android version, you have to work with your IT department to update the security certificate to allow you to access your work email on your phone again.

Problem #3: Galaxy S7 edge camera photos are not being saved to SD card

Hello, I have an S7 Edge with a 128GB micro SD card. The card seems to be working fine as I can create albums on it and transfer photos to it just fine; however, the issue I have is that photos are not being saved to it by default, despite having directed photos to my SD card in my camera’s settings. These are NOT burst shots, just regular photos and videos. They are all going to my DCIM folder on my regular camera memory. — Andrea

Solution: Hi Andrea. To select the SD card as the default storage for an S7 camera app, you must do the following:

  1. Open the “Camera” app.
  2. Select the settings gear icon located at the upper-left corner of the screen.
  3. Scroll down and tap “Storage location“.
  4. Select “Phone” or “SD card” as desired.

If you’ve already done the steps above but the camera app continues to behave erratically by saving to the internal storage device, try to reset the camera app settings to default.

If resetting the camera app settings won’t help, make sure to clear its cache and data. Refer to the steps above on how to do this procedure.

Finally, if the problem won’t go away, there may be a software problem that causes this bug. Make sure that you factory reset the device. Here’s how:

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

Factory reset will erase all data in the phone’s internal storage so make sure to create a backup of all your files.

Problem #4: Galaxy S7 fast charging feature not working

I had my phone for a year and this is the first time I’ve had a problem. About two weeks ago my phone stopped fast charging sometimes. It would fast charge when I’d use a new cord but only for a day or two. I’ve tried using a different wall piece along with new outlets in different houses. Nothing has worked. Everytime it will fast charge for a day or so it would then revert back to cable charging.

Also some cords that i used previously will work again after awhile. I want to know if you know of any solution before i have to take it to the store. — Kaelen

Solution: Hi Kaelen. Most of fast charging issues are due to a bad charging port, which means that the only way to fix them is by doing either repair or replacement. To check if that’s the case in your phone, first you want to do an ocular inspection of the port. Try to use a form of magnification so you’ll see the inside of the port more clearly. You’re looking for possible damage that may be preventing the charger from making good contact when it’s connected. Sometimes, a bent pin or lint can cause this problem so what you want to do is to check if something looks out of place.

If everything appears to be in order in the charging port, you can then try to do some basic software troubleshooting such as cache partition wipe and master reset. Below are the steps to do them:

How to wipe the cache partition of Galaxy S7

  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.

How to master reset a Galaxy S7

  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.
  10. Observe the phone while charging for a few days without installing any app or update.

Remember, if both cache partition wipe and factory reset won’t change anything, send the phone in for repair or replacement.

Problem #5: Galaxy S7 keeps overheating and turning itself off and on randomly

Hello. I have a Samsung Galaxy S7 and my phone keeps getting hot and turning itself off. This happens quite often and when it doesn’t it doesn’t keep a charge. I have charged it with the phone in the off and on modes till it reaches 100% and then within a few hours it will be at 15% even if i did not use it at all that day. The phone is having to be charged everyday at least 3x a day which is not convenient for me being a teacher and a mother.

Along with all these, the screen is separating from the phone in both right and left top corners. Again this phone is not even a three year old and it has been in a lifeproof case the entire time. Please help me solve what is going on with my phone. I love the phone just get tired of having to charge it and holding a hot phone is never pleasant. Thank you. — Stephanie

Solution: Hi Stephanie. The symptoms you mention here are consistent with an on-going hardware malfunction. The battery may not be working properly or that the charging port may have been damaged. It’s also not normal for a screen to split vertically or in half so it’s also possible that your phone has a general hardware failure. Overheating is definitely an indication of a problem and if it keeps happening without a clear pattern, you can assume that bad hardware is to blame. That your phone shuts down once it becomes hot is usually an indication of a damaged component. Samsung phones are designed to shut down automatically once the internal temperature reaches a certain limit to prevent further damage. Whatever the true cause is, you need to let a professional check the phone’s hardware.

We doubt any software solution can fix all the problems you mention here but you can definitely try them if you want. You can start by wiping the cache partition. If that won’t change anything, you can then try the factory reset solution. Again, there’s no amount of software troubleshooting that can fix a hardware issue. If wiping the cache partition and performing a factory reset won’t change the situation, have the phone checked by a service center.

Problem #6: Galaxy S7 received SMS have incorrect time

Hi there, I’m having a (relatively) new problem with my text messages. I looked at your website in hopes that someone else has had the same problem and I could fix it on my own, but I didn’t see anything in the troubleshooting sections.

Anyway, when I receive a text message, my phone records the incoming time as a few minutes ahead of the actual time. So, when I respond to a text immediately, my message goes ahead of the message that I received. Hopefully that makes sense? And, if so, do you know how I can fix it? Thank you!! Sincerely. — Eileen

Solution: Hi Eileen. This issue is usually caused by incorrect system time in either the sending or receiving platform. Make sure that your phone’s system time and date are correct. If they are already, the issue must be coming from the sender of the messages.

Problem #7: Galaxy S7 edge won’t power back on

Hi. I obviously have an issue with my Samsung Galaxy S7 edge. It was fine last night running perfectly. I charged it before I went to bed so it wasn’t on charge during the night. but when I woke up it just wouldn’t turn on. This is my usual routine cause I don’t like the lights flashing on the phone while I’m trying to sleep lol.

I’ve tried everything on this website to try and turn it on. I’ve even tried different chargers to see if that was the issue but to no avail. So now I’m completely dumbfounded as to what to do. I

I’ve had the phone for nearly a year and have never had an issue with it until today. Things I’ve tried:

  • 10sec/15sec/1min/2min ( tried all these times with every different action )
  • Holding the power button holding the power button and home button
  • Holding the power button and volume down button
  • Holding the power button and volume up button.
  • Holding all buttons
  • Holding just the home button

 I’m at a loss as to what to do and all I really care about are the pictures of my child on the phone. If you need anymore information please feel free to email me. Thanking you in advance. — Amber

Solution:  Hi Amber. We’re pretty sure we’ve mentioned this in one of the articles you’ve read but if your phone remains unresponsive after attempting to power it back on to three alternate boot modes, that means there’s nothing else that you can try. You should have the phone physically checked by a professional so the hardware can be examined.

Try not to send the phone to Samsung as they tend to erase the internal storage during repairs. If you’re lucky and the issue is only due to bad battery, you may be able to power it back on without losing your data after a battery replacement via your local service center. Be sure to tell the attending technician not to wipe the internal memory of the phone during repair. Battery replacement is a simple repair procedure and it doesn’t involve the internal memory. However, if the problem is something else and the phone needs a new logic board, there will be no way for you to recover your files.

Problem #8: Galaxy S7 battery problem after accidental fall

I fell off a roof with my phone in my tool belt. Didn’t land directly on it but some sand got into the charge port. I cleaned all that out after work, phone stayed on the whole time. Ended up dying, went to charge it and the charge symbol comes up but usually it shows a percent after and instead it goes back to black screen for a few seconds. then the charge symbol comes back, phone only turns on sometimes but says 0 percent most of the time. then other times it turns on and says 90 percent. Sometimes a green light flashes on my screen close to charge port. Not where the lights usually flash. Could the battery be lose or bent? I just bought it and love it. I have the regular S7 too. If it’s not too much to fix, I’d fix it before getting something else. — Matt

Solution: Hi Matt. If the problem was not there before the accident, the phone is most likely damaged after that fall. To know which part is broken requires doing some hardware diagnostics so if you can’t do that, let a trained professional check the phone for you. The green light flashes on the screen can also be a sign of malfunctioning screen so make sure to mention it as well to a technician.

The only battery-specific troubleshooting step that you can do is battery recalibration and factory reset. Below are the steps on how recalibrate the battery:

  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 a battery calibration, you can try a factory reset. Again, these are solutions meant to fix software issues so if the problem continues, go ahead with repair.

 

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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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How to fix Samsung Galaxy S7 with unresponsive buttons, black screen and won’t turn on (easy steps)

Unresponsive buttons and black screen are two of the most common signs of a firmware crash or the Black Screen of Death issue that may occur from time to time. However, aside from that, it could also be a sign of a more serious hardware problem like when your phone suffered physical or liquid damage. The firmware crash can easily be fixed and you actually don’t need a technician to bring the phone back to life, the latter however, is more serious and may require you to visit the service center to have the problem fixed depending on the weight of the problem.

In this post, I will walk you through in fixing this problem provided that it only occurred due to firmware or other software issues. As the owner, you should be the first one to know what happened to your phone why it’s acting like this but then again. We have readers who have the Samsung Galaxy S7 and have encountered this issue. Some of them reported that the problem started after a firmware update. Regardless whether it’s a minor system update or a big one, we can always assume it’s a firmware-related issue and such can be fixed easily. I hope that the problem with your phone is similar to it. Read on as this post may help you.

Now, before anything else, if you have other issues with your phone, make sure you drop by our Galaxy S7 troubleshooting page for we have already provided solutions to hundreds of problems reported by our readers. Odds are that we may have already provided a solution to the problem you currently have so try to find issues that are similar with yours on that page and feel free to use the solutions we suggested. If they don’t work or if you need further assistance, fill up our Android issues questionnaire and hit submit to contact us.

Solution to unresponsive Galaxy S7 buttons and black screen

We have already addressed this kind of problem several times in the past but since we still have a lot of our readers complaining about similar issues, then we need to publish similar posts. But the thing is, some problems may manifest same signs and symptoms but they might have been caused by different factors that’s why it’s still necessary to address them from time to time. With that said, before we actually jump into our solution, here’s the problem sent by one of our readers where our solution in this post will be based on…

Problem: My S7 updated this morning. Ever since, my background is black I have lost the top of my screen with battery life, etc. I have no ability to change the volume or use my home or menu keys, It is no longer locked with my fingerprint (even though security screen says it is), all of my apps are updated and seem to be working.

Solution: First, we will try to address the problem based on how our reader described it. Basically, the phone is turned on and she can actually use her apps. The problem is that the hardware and touch buttons don’t work and the background or the wallpaper turned to black with missing notification or status bar. The update however, was successful so we can assume her phone is now running the latest version of Android for Galaxy S7 units.

With all that being said, could it be a case of a bad update? Maybe. But it could also be just a result of some corrupt system caches. This is the first thing that we have to assume here after all the phone was working fine prior to the update because if not, the update shouldn’t have pushed through. And with this in mind, here’s the best thing to do about it:

  1. Turn off the device.
  2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key, then press and hold the Power key.
  3. When the device logo screen displays, release only the Power key.
  4. When the Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
  5. Press the Volume down key several times key to highlight ‘wipe cache partition’.
  6. Press the Power key to select.
  7. Press the Volume down key to highlight ‘yes’ and press the Power key to select.
  8. When the wipe cache partition is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
  9. Press the Power key to restart the device.

After wiping the cache partition and the phone already booted up, try to see if everything is back to normal. If there’s still some issues, then a factory reset will take care of them. I am certain of this because if it’s a serious firmware issue like when there are some files missing, then your phone should not boot up successfully and you will have to bring the phone to the service center so that the technician can flash the firmware manually. So, try your best to make a backup of your important files and data and follow these steps to reset your phone:

  1. Back up data on the internal memory. If you have signed into a Google account on the device, you have activated Anti-theft and will need your Google credentials to finish the Master reset.
  2. From any Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
  3. Tap Settings.
  4. Tap Cloud and accounts.
  5. Tap Backup and reset.
  6. If desired, tap Back up my data to move the slider to ON or OFF.
  7. If desired, tap Restore to move the slider to ON or OFF.
  8. Tap the back key twice to return to the Settings menu, then tap General Management.
  9. Tap Reset.
  10. Tap Factory data reset.
  11. Tap Reset device.
  12. If you have screen lock turned on, enter your PIN or password.
  13. Tap Continue.
  14. Tap Delete all.

I hope this solution works for you.

Now, let’s go to the black screen of death (BSoD) that may also occur after an update. The most common signs of BSoD are black screen, unresponsive buttons, LED notification light flashes and the phone may seem turned on as it sounds off when messages and calls are received. This problem is a clear sign that the system crashed shortly after the firmware update and to bring your phone back to life, you have to do this:

  • Press and hold the Volume Down button and the Power key simultaneously for 10 seconds.

Provided that there’s enough battery and the hardware is not damaged in any way, your phone will boot up normally after doing such very simple procedure. If not, then try this…

  1. Press and hold the Volume Down button and don’t let go of it.
  2. Now, press and hold the Power key while holding down the Vol Down button.
  3. Keep both keys held down together for 10 seconds.

If the problem is as simple as a system crash, the phone should be booting up right now but if it’s more than that, then you would really have to troubleshoot your device. I prepared a troubleshooting guide for you below. So, continue reading to try and fix this problem on your own.

RELATED POSTS:

Troubleshooting Galaxy S7 with unresponsive keys and black screen

Problems that occur after a firmware update are usually due to some issues in the system but in this troubleshooting guide, I will walk you through on how to check your phone for possible physical and/or liquid damage.

Checking for possible physical and / or liquid damage

For possible physical damage to your S7, all you need to look for are scratches, dents and cracks because an impact that could render your phone useless will surely leave a mark. If the phone is still flawless on the outside, then all components inside should still be in their proper places unless of course you can hear rattling when you shake the phone.

As to liquid damage, you have to check the USB / charger port because it often harbors liquid or water. You may clean the area using a cotton swab or you can insert a small piece of tissue paper to absorb the moist if any.

You also have to check the Liquid Damage Indicator (LDI) which can be found in the SIM slot. Of course, you have to remove the SIM card try and look into the slot. If the LDI is still white, then there’s no liquid damage but if it turned red or purple, then it’s positive that water found its way into your phone.

If there’s a sign of either physical or liquid damage, the best thing to do is bring the phone to the service center so the technician can take care of the problem for you. But if your phone doesn’t show any signs of physical and/or liquid damage, then feel free to continue troubleshooting it.

Charge your Galaxy S7 and see how it responds

We simply want to know how your S7 responds when it’s connected to its charger that’s why we have to make you do this. So, plug the charger to a working wall outlet and connect your phone to it using the original USB cable.

  • If the phone shows the usual charging symbol on the screen, it means that it’s responding well to the charger. Allow it to charge for 10 minutes and try to turn it on. If it doesn’t respond to that, press and hold the Volume Down button and the Power keys together for 10 seconds while it’s still connected to the charger.
  • If the S7 doesn’t respond to its charger, leave it connected to its charger for ten minutes and then do the Forced Restart procedure to see if it would turn on.
  • However, if the phone overheats while it’s connected to its charger, immediately disconnect it and bring it to the service center as it’s clear there’s something wrong with the hardware. It’s risky to troubleshoot a phone when it overheats while charging.

If the phone continues to be unresponsive though, move on to the next step.

Try to run your Galaxy S7 in Safe mode

We need to know if your phone is still capable of running in its barebones without any interference from third-party apps because it’s possible that one or some of them is causing this problem. Follow these steps to boot your device in this mode:

  1. Press and hold the Power key.
  2. If Samsung Galaxy logo appears, release the Power key and simply hold the Volume Down key.
  3. Continue holding the Volume Down key until the device finishes rebooting.
  4. If you can see “Safe Mode” in the bottom left corner of the screen then, you may release the Volume Down key.

Assuming the phone actually turns on and boots in this mode, then the next thing you should do is find the app that causes the problem and uninstall it. Try to uninstall apps you recently installed…

  1. From any Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
  2. Tap Settings.
  3. Tap Applications.
  4. Tap the desired application in the default list or tap Menu icon > Show system apps to display pre-installed apps.
  5. Tap Uninstall.
  6. Tap Uninstall again to confirm.

If it still refuses to boot up in this mode however, then try the next step.

Try to boot your device in Recovery mode

The Android system recovery or commonly referred to as the Recovery mode basically serves as the fail-safe for almost all Android devices. So even if your Galaxy S7 has some serious firmware issues, it should still be able to boot up into this mode provided its hardware components are all working fine without a hitch. This is your last resort so if the phone failed to boot into this environment, then you would really have to bring it to the service center. But assuming the phone boots up successfully, you can then proceed with the master reset. Take note that a reset will erase all your personal files and data including your contacts, apps, pictures, videos, etc. I understand you haven’t make a backup but this is all you need to do to bring your phone back to life, then it’s worth the compromise. Here’s how you boot your phone up in recovery mode and do the Master Reset…

  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.

I hope that you’d be able to fix the problem with your phone using this troubleshooting guide. If you still have other concerns, feel free to contact us any time.

Posts you may also like to read:

Fix Samsung Galaxy S6 that’s not charging, won’t turn on & other power problems

“Hi guys. My Samsung Galaxy S6 (#Samsung #GalaxyS6) turned itself off all of the sudden. Since then, it won’t turn on and when plugged in, it’s not charging either. What is the problem with my phone? Thanks.”

Galaxy-S6-wireless-charging-problems

That’s just one of the power-related problems we received from our readers. It seems that more and more owners are experiencing this kind of issue with their phone. Below is the list of the problems I addressed in this post. Try to see if your concern is in it.

  1. Galaxy S6 isn’t charging and won’t turn on
  2. Fast charging only works occasionally, normal charging is very slow
  3. Galaxy S6 battery drains quickly even if WiFi & Bluetooth are disabled
  4. Galaxy S6 not charging prompt shows up followed with power sharing notice
  5. Galaxy S6 won’t turn on due to liquid damage

For those who have other issues, you can contact us directly by filling up this questionnaire. We are always willing to help you as long as you provide us with all necessary information about your problem. You may also visit our troubleshooting page and find issues related to yours and use the solutions we provided.

Galaxy S6 isn’t charging and won’t turn on

Problem: Hi droid guy. My new Galaxy S6 just turned off yesterday without any apparent reason at all. I though it just ran out of battery so I tried to plug it in but it wasn’t charging either. Whatever I do it won’t respond. It won’t turn on. I paid so much for this phone so I am really worried now. Can you guys help me please? What should I do?

Troubleshooting: If the phone didn’t suffer from either liquid or physical damage, it could be that the system crashed leaving it unresponsive. In this case, it won’t respond even if you plug in the charger and won’t turn on even if you pressed the Power key a hundred times. There’s one procedure you should do–Forced Reboot.

Unlike the Galaxy S5 and older Galaxy devices, the S6 doesn’t have a removable battery. So, you cannot perform the “battery pull” procedure. However, you can emulate such process by pressing and holding the Volume Down and Power keys together for 10 to 15 seconds. The device should reboot after that provided that there’s enough battery to power its hardware.

Assuming the battery was all drained out, the screen would still flicker. It’s a sign that the simulated battery disconnected has been done. This time, the phone should already respond when charged.

However, after doing all these and the phone still wouldn’t respond, it’s time you sent it in for repair; it might be a hardware problem.

Fast charging only works occasionally, normal charging is very slow

Problem: I have had my phone for a couple of months now and I’m having issues with both charging and battery life. Fast charging only works occasionally (yes, I am using the original Samsung charger). Normal charging works very slowly (if at all). For example, my phone died once yesterday and again right before bed. I plugged it in overnight and when I woke up it was at 30%. I’ve been using it for about an hour now and it’s already down to 10%. I’m very frustrated because this phone is almost brand new and it wasn’t cheap! Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Troubleshooting: The fast charging feature with the Galaxy S6 doesn’t have the On/Off switch, so it should be enabled if requirements are met. One of the things that prevent the S6 from fast-charging is when it heats up during the process. This is to prevent further damage to the device and during time, it would charge normally.

In your case, I think it will be wise to fix the normal charging issue first before attempting to fix the fast charging problem.

As you said, normal charging is very slow. I advice you to boot your phone in safe mode and observe if it charges at normal pace or if fast charging works. If so, then there could be a lot of third-party apps that run in the background when the phone is in normal mode. One way to address this issue is to disable some apps especially games or those that use so much resources on your phone.

However, if the problem still persists even in safe mode, then you have no other choice but to backup your data including your files, pictures, videos, music, etc. and perform a master reset. This will fix the charging problems.

How to perform the master reset on Galaxy S6

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

Galaxy S6 battery drains quickly even if WiFi & Bluetooth are disabled

Problem: My battery drains a full charge in about 4 hours at work. Some days I charge it at work again and it is down to less than 5% while driving home.  I have charged it full when going to bed, and after 5 hours of non use the battery is only 80%.  I have turned off WiFi and Bluetooth and there is very little difference. Are any of the battery apps worth installing, or how can I make sure apps are not starting in the background and consuming my power. Help me. PLEASE.

Troubleshooting: There are two possibilities: it could be that there are so many things running in the background that use the battery or it’s entirely a battery issue. The starting point of your troubleshooting should be to rule out the first possibility. You can do that by booting your phone in safe mode:

  1. Turn off your Galaxy S6.
  2. Press and hold the Power key.
  3. When ‘Samsung Galaxy S6’ appears, immediately release the Power key and then press and hold the Volume Down button.
  4. Continue holding the Volume Down button until the phone finishes the restart.
  5. When you see Safe Mode on the lower left corner of the screen, release the button.

If the phone drains its battery at a normal pace (or even slower) in safe mode, then all you need to do is reset your phone. Otherwise, it’s time you sought help from a technician.

Galaxy S6 not charging prompt shows up followed with power sharing notice

Problem: Very often 1-2 minutes each time will pop up and vibrate saying that the phone is not charging. Also opens a dialogue box that says that power sharing requires an app and will not work properly otherwise. I have not toggled anything at all that should do this and I have updated just before this started. Very annoying.

Related Problem: There’s a power sharing notice that pops up and now doesn’t allow me to charge phone. How do I upload a pic?

Troubleshooting: I understand how annoying this issue is but here’s how you can fix it or stop those prompts from showing up again:

  1. Boot your phone in safe mode (follow instructions in the previous problem).
  2. Charge your phone up to 100% while in safe mode.
  3. Download the Power sharing app. (Don’t worry, the app comes from Samsung itself.)
  4. Boot your phone in normal mode.
  5. If possible, update the firmware of your phone.

That’s pretty much it!

Galaxy S6 won’t turn on due to liquid damage

Problem: I dropped it down the toilet took it straight out, wiped it, it went off after few seconds and put it in a bag of rice for 3 days will not come on.

Suggestion: Apparently, the water found it’s way into the phone that probably affected some of the components. Liquid damage isn’t covered by warranty but if you open the phone by yourself, you might damage it all the more. So, you really need a technician’s help to figure out what’s wrong with it, or if it can still be fixed.

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