What to do if your new Samsung Galaxy Note 9 has a black screen of death?
The Black Screen of Death (BSoD) is the name we often give to an issue wherein the phone’s screen remains blank no matter how many times you tried turning the phone on. It happens to every phone and it may also happen to your new Samsung Galaxy Note 9 because such is the case when Galaxy S9 and Note 8 was released. We actually received hundreds of complaints from our readers back then regarding said problem and we still get similar complaints even now.
We anticipate the occurrence of this issue on the Note 9 so we will give you in advance the solution we’ve always been using to fix it. Bear in mind that there are times when similar symptoms are experienced for a different problem. If it’s a hardware issue, the best thing to do is bring the phone back to the store to have it replaced but we won’t know if that’s really the case unless we troubleshoot. So, if you’re one of the owners of this phone and are currently having similar issues, continue reading as this post may help you one way or another.
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.
How to troubleshoot Galaxy Note 9 with Black Screen of Death (BSoD)
The black screen issue will always leave an impression that your phone has a serious hardware issue when in fact it’s just a minor problem with the firmware. We’ve encountered and addressed this problem countless times in the past and we know a thing or two you could do to make your phone respond again.
First solution: Perform the Forced Reboot
When your phone becomes unresponsive all of the sudden without apparent reason or cause, then this is the first thing you should do. In fact, it could be the only thing you need to do to fix the problem. Odds are the firmware just crashed or some apps may have caused the phone to become unresponsive. Such issues can easily be fixed by a forced reboot. Here’s how you do it…
- Press both the volume down and power keys at the same time and hold them down together for 10 seconds. You may feel your phone vibrating at some point but only release both keys if the screen turns on.
If you’re familiar with battery pull, the forced reboot is the counterpart of it but only phones with non-removable batteries respond to the combination of the volume down and power keys. You have to do it correctly for your device to respond. So, if your Note 9 is still not responding after this, try doing it again and make sure you simultaneously press and hold those buttons or you may try this instead…
- Press and hold the volume down button and don’t release it.
- Now press and hold the Power key while holding down the volume down button.
- Keep both keys held down together for 10 seconds or more.
It’s basically the same as the first procedure only that we’re making sure you press and hold the power key after the volume down button because doing it otherwise won’t give you similar result.
After doing those two procedures and your phone is still not responding, you have to do the next procedure to see if you can still make it power up.
Second solution: Charge and then force restart
Naturally, a drained battery isn’t a problem but when you let your phone run out of battery, some hardware and services may not be properly shut down which may lead to a system crash. In such case, you are facing two minor issues that both result to an unresponsive device. Your Note9 won’t charge as the firmware plays a big role in the charging process and doing the first procedure will still not help because there’s not enough battery to power up your device. So, do this instead…
- Plug the wired charger to a working wall outlet or power source.
- Connect your Note 9 to its charger and regardless whether it responds or not, leave it connected to the charger for 10 minutes.
- Press and hold the volume down button and don’t release it.
- Now press and hold the Power key while holding down the volume down button.
- Keep both keys held down together for 10 seconds or more.
If it’s indeed just because of a drained battery, your phone should already be booting up by now but if not, then it might be an issue with the hardware. It’s time to bring it back to the store and have it replaced. As long as your new phone doesn’t have any signs of physical and/or liquid damage, the store will replace it immediately with a new unit.
I hope that this troubleshooting guide can help you one way or another. If you have other concerns you want to share with us, feel free to contact us or leave a comment below.
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