[Q] Stuck in bootloop even after battery change - Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi,
I am new to this forum and do not know much of the technical terms. So here is my problem as best as I could say...
I have a unlocked Samsung S4 purchased last Sept (Philippines/SE Asia version, I think). The phone worked fine until the latest upgrade to Kitkat 3 weeks ago.
A week after the upgrade, the phone started rebooting itself. After checking this forum, it looked like a battery problem. On checking, it did have a swollen battery. At the same time, the S4 stopped working as a phone - meaning I could browse, use apps, but could not make calls.
First changed the battery with an original from Samsung, hoping everything would sort out. Unfortunately, it did not. The phone still kept restarting and the network signal showed as not available. So I went to my provider and got a new SIM card and changed it.
Unfortunately, that has also not solved my problem.
Now, my phone keeps rebooting itself. If I connect it to the charger, then the phone starts successfully. At times, it behaves well, but suddenly/randomly, if I touch an app (any app, no pattern) it will reboot again. Once it starts rebooting, it keeps doing that in the screen which has the samsung music comes - it would turn off again and keep restarting until that screen reaches again. Only if I connect to the charger would it start. Again, there is signal at times and there is no signal most of the times. My area has good network signal, so that should not be the problem.
I tried clearing the cache and clear all data/apps, but still no luck. Also, my battery still has / holds charge - so that is not the problem.
Could somebody please help me!!! Please let me know if you need any other details regarding this.
TIA.
Baseband version: I9505XXUFNBE

1. Sig & log in Sammobile.com
2. Download ur firmware: HERE
3. Unzip it
4. Phone in DOWNLOAD MODE
5. Flash the firmware through ODIN like the pic attached

It has nothing to do with your battery...but yes a swollen battery can be dangerous. Follow the steps told by @Joku1981 and don't upgrade to kitkat. Wait for a stable release from samsung.

Hi,
I have already upgraded to kitkat, so cannot downgrade now.. . I had the request to upgrade to kitkat by the phone (Samsung).
As mentioned by Joku1981, I downloaded the Philippines firmware and did as mentioned. However, the phone was still randomly shutting down on opening some apps (esp Gallery, Playstore, Chrome) and failed to reboot.
I also tried to download the pit file and flash it again as mentioned in http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2265477. Still no lock.
I tried with UK's version of firmware, still same problem.
The phone can be restarted only if connected to the usb cable.
The "No Signal" issue seems to have been solved, but the rebooting randomly seems to be a real pain now.
After my latest flash, while i was in the third screen setting up the phone for language/accessibility --> "wi-fi setup" --> "Accept Samsung t&c's", the phone shut down again...
Is there any counter to identify the number of times the phone is flashed? Would it cause any problem?
Thanks

Also No Service now!
Also noticed that after the last 2 restarts, the network signal shows full strength. However the default lock screen shows "No Service" (see picture). When I try to call when the phoneis in this status, the phone gets stuck in the dial screen and has to be rebooted...

akpreets said:
Also noticed that after the last 2 restarts, the network signal shows full strength. However the default lock screen shows "No Service" (see picture). When I try to call when the phoneis in this status, the phone gets stuck in the dial screen and has to be rebooted...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Though you flashed, do a factory reset one more time to be on the safe side - make sure the phone is 100% charged, and given your case do NOT touch the phone until the reset has completed.
One more thing to try - from experience some batteries are bigger than others and you said your previous one became swollen. This may cause the power pins to become too compressed causing the new battery to lose contact. This manifests on the phone as rebooting at the slightest of movement/flexing, try this:
1. Remove the battery
2. GENTLY pull out slightly the power pins on the phone - don't pull too hard.
3. Put the battery back, put a piece of cardboard or something at the bottom of the battery to make sure there's good contact
Let us know of the results

Nothing seemed to work but only got worse. The phone could not stay on even for a few hours. Finally gave it to the Samsung Service centre yesterday. They sad it might take upto 3 weeks if there was a motherboard change needed.
Fingers crossed...:crying:

Related

MAJOR problem - phone restarting every 10 seconds!

Hi guys,
this is my first time using these forums and I wouldn't have done that if the problem was easily solvable. However, this is a major problem for me and I couldn't find a thread nor a solution to it, so I'll post it here.
I have the i9305 4G version of the S3. I have had it for about a month now, and it worked fine, up until now. The phone suddenly starts to restart itself (not reboot!) for about 10 seconds, then goes back to the dashboard.
The problem seems to be the WiFi. Right after I get the "Connected to ... network" message on the bottom of the screen, the phone vibrates immensely once, then everything freezes for a few seconds, then another 2-3 vibrations, before the Samsung logo comes up with the LED light on. After a few seconds again I'm back in the dashboard until I get the "Connected to ..." message, and so on the process repeats itself.
Turning off WiFi seems to solve the issue, but once I turn it on again the problem reoccurs.
Something else I've noticed is that if I have WiFi turned off and cellular data network (for instance 4G) turned on, the "4G", "H+" etc. logo does not appear, even though I'm connected to cellular data! Don't know if it can be related to my main problem.
I have tried everything I'm aware of. Unplugging the battery, factory reset and back up, hard reset, wipe cache pertition. After the factory reset I can use WiFi again, but only for a few hours until the problem reoccured. I THINK once my battery is fully charged the problem occurs.
Note: I haven't even touched stock ROM, kernel etc. Nothing is flashed. Phone is in the same condition as when it came out of the box. Android version: JB 4.1.1
I would be forever grateful if you could help me out here, I can't have a phone restarting itself and vibrating like crazy every 10-15 seconds.
(Sorry in advance if this was the wrong place for this thread.)
- Payam
UPDATE:
Seems like my issue isn't just related to Wifi. Cellular data network was actually related to my issue, as I first feared. If Wifi is turned off and cellular data turned on, the same thing happens. Seems like the issue occurs every time I try to use the internet either way.
Anyhow, if I let the phone reboot itself without turning on or off anything at all, it will reboot about 5 times until either Wifi or cellular doesn't work anymore even though the status bar tells me that it is turned on!
This seems to be a serious connectivity issue and for the first time I'm suspecting interference with the phone's wireless network hardware. If none of you are able to provider an answer, I guess I have no choice but to hand it in to get it repaired or replaced.
Still noone who has a solution to my problem?
Payam93 said:
Still noone who has a solution to my problem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My solution to your problem would be to just bring it to whoever you bought it from and demand a replacement. That isn't normal behaviour.
you can boot into recovery and do a factory reset and cache wipe
if wiping does not solve your problem, just return your phone.
I don't know if this is related, but, I had this issue once (the cause is not wifi though), and samsung fixed (or replaced) my phone.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
I'd wipe the phone and return it. This is not normal behaviour and should fall under warranty... Wiping might fix but this may happen again if there is an inherent problem with your handset....

[Q] Galaxy S4 died after 4.3 update

heya guys,
I'm on stock FW on my GS4S i9505 and yesterday morning i update to 4.3 OTA.
It was working all day just fine without issues or lag for the matter.
Today morning when i woke up, my phone was plugged into the charger and was turned off.
I turned it on by couple of mins later it would freeze and wont unlock, just black screen with a red light flashing on the top left of the phone.
I had to pull out the battery and put it back everytime i wanted to try and boot it.
I did that 3 times within 10mins and the 4th time it just stopped turning on all together.
Anyone has this issue and maybe can give tips on how to fix this if possible?
Thanks in advance.
re: auto updates
Smokie Smokerson said:
heya guys,
I'm on stock FW on my GS4S i9505 and yesterday morning i update to 4.3 OTA.
It was working all day just fine without issues or lag for the matter.
Today morning when i woke up, my phone was plugged into the charger and was turned off.
I turned it on by couple of mins later it would freeze and wont unlock, just black screen with a red light flashing on the top left of the phone.
I had to pull out the battery and put it back everytime i wanted to try and boot it.
I did that 3 times within 10mins and the 4th time it just stopped turning on all together.
Anyone has this issue and maybe can give tips on how to fix this if possible?
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You will need to go to SamMobile.com and download the official odin flash firmware
for your phone's exact model and flash it using Odin.
That will get the phone into good working condition with the stock 4.2 firmware.
After that you can use the phones built-in updating system again and most likely it
will work just fine. Just be sure that the battery is at least half full before the phone
starts the auto-update process.
Perhaps you installed some app or game from the playstore which did not play nice
with your phone and caused the 4.3 update to get stuck or it could have been the
battery if it did not have enough charge in it.
You should try to get the phone into download mode to see if it can be Odin flashed.
Hold the volume down key at the same time while holding the the power key down
for 20-30 seconds and see if it goes into download mode.
If it does you have nothing to worry about.
NOTE: before trying download mode be sure to remove the battery for 5 seconds
and replace it, making sure the phone is in a power off state before trying to boot
it into download mode.
Misterjunky said:
You will need to go to SamMobile.com and download the official odin flash firmware
for your phone's exact model and flash it using Odin.
That will get the phone into good working condition with the stock 4.2 firmware.
After that you can use the phones built-in updating system again and most likely it
will work just fine. Just be sure that the battery is at least half full before the phone
starts the auto-update process.
Perhaps you installed some app or game from the playstore which did not play nice
with your phone and caused the 4.3 update to get stuck or it could have been the
battery if it did not have enough charge in it.
You should try to get the phone into download mode to see if it can be Odin flashed.
Hold the volume down key at the same time while holding the the power key down
for 20-30 seconds and see if it goes into download mode.
If it does you have nothing to worry about.
NOTE: before trying download mode be sure to remove the battery for 5 seconds
and replace it, making sure the phone is in a power off state before trying to boot
it into download mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply dude.
I'd love to do that, but i dont see how this is possible since the phone doesnt boot up at all anymore.
Any ideas?
Maybe your battery is dead? Because it's known issue on Galaxy S4 phones.
Try another charger.
I tried with my wife's S4 battery and my colleague's S4 battery.
Also tried with 3 different charges that came with the S4, no dice... :/
I had to take it back to the store, it was under warranty still.. they are sending it back to Samsung and will get it back in 2-3 weeks, same phone repaired or a refurb i guess.
After doing more search and with the help of some falks from #Android @ EFNET, we came to the conclusion that its an issue with the EMMC chip just like the first generation of Note 2 and S3.
What's pissing me off is that Samsung fixed the issue on Note 2 with a new patch of phones, so newer phones didnt have the EMMC issue as far as i can tell. SO why the hell would they still use it for the S4 is beyond me.
Just a word of advice, if this happens to anyone, make sure you run a backup as soon as it boots back up the first time.
In my case, it booted 3 times by removing the battery and putting it back and froze 3 times, there was no 4th.
If i tried to backup the phone the first or second time it booted, i could still have my data to be restored on the new repaired phone.
This should be marked as closed unless some other people with the same issue want to discuss it here.

[Q] Singapore Note 4 keeps freezing and restarting

My Note4 was updated to Lollipop about 2 weeks ago and it was running ok until 3 days ago where it keeps on restarting, freezing up, not responsive etc.
The last application that I installed was "FACEBOOK GROUP" but I'm sure this isn't the problem because of the factory reset as explained below.
I have done a factory reset, but I reinstalled all the applications (except Facebook Group), but the problem still persists. It even restarting without it's being touched. Per day, it could restart up to 15 times.
Most of the problem appears when the phone goes into an idle state and won't turn on unless I do a battery pull (like Blackberry).
But sometimes it would respond from the idle state after a 20-30 seconds.
I did find an article that the motion and gestures are causing the unresponsive issue, in which I have followed and disabled all the motion and gestures, this doesn't help. Problem persists.
I have talked to the Samsung Tech support and they told me that I would have to bring it to the service center in Singapore (I live in Jakarta) and they would need to diagnose it. I did mentioned that I want a new phone but they said that they don't have exchange policy. This is really bad because Iphone has an exchange policy, why doesn't Samsung have one too??
Anyone in Singapore maybe have the same issue? or have a knowledge about the exchange policy?
Have you tried uninstalling Facebook Group from your Note 4? It seems to me that the Facebook Group App must be causing some sort of problem with your Note 4.
DarkGuyver said:
Have you tried uninstalling Facebook Group from your Note 4? It seems to me that the Facebook Group App must be causing some sort of problem with your Note 4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After I did a factory reset. I didn't install Facebook Group
UPDATE 1 :
I uninstalled DU Speed Booster, and the problem seems to be better, but still hangs after unplugging from charger.
Does anyone use DU Speed Booster with Lollipop?
bankir said:
UPDATE 1 :
I uninstalled DU Speed Booster, and the problem seems to be better, but still hangs after unplugging from charger.
Does anyone use DU Speed Booster with Lollipop?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, seems like DU Speed Booster may have messed with the system settings of your phone somehow. Are you using the stock firmware that came with your Note 4?
DarkGuyver said:
OK, seems like DU Speed Booster may have messed with the system settings of your phone somehow. Are you using the stock firmware that came with your Note 4?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes sir, it is the stock rom.. and it's not rooted. Still original except that it has been updated to Lollipop.
Uninstalling DU Speed Booster seems to make it a little better, but occasionally it still freezes and restart but it's not as many times as before.
If the system setting has been messed up, then I will do another hard reset tonight and see if that would fix the issue. I'm tired of waiting for the phone to come alive after idle or when it restarts by itself.
UPDATE 2 :
I did a factory reset last night and left it to sleep while it was updating stock applications (I have not installed any of my application).
This morning when I woke up. I couldn't turn on the phone. It was frozen and it has a solid red LED light on the top left. This happens quite frequently before too. So I'm not sure what the issue is. Btw, my note 4 is the first batch. Bought it when it first came out.
I had to take the battery out and started the update again.
Then it got restarted when I tried to swipe my finger to enter the homepage.
Why doesn't Samsung give an exchange policy? their rival Apple does..
Yeah, I think you need to return your device to Samsung for repairs. As for why Samsung doesn't have a exchange policy, because retailer's tend to have a exchange policy where if they can't fix your device they will replace it with another one. Since retailer's give you a 1 year standard retailer's warranty with the purchase of any electronic device. Apple has a exchange policy, because as well as being a device manufacturer they are also a retailer for their own devices.
My Note 4 has been a lot better since I reseated the SD Card. I did that before too.
I'm starting to think that my SD Card was not reseated properly causing the system to hang / freeze.
As of now, I think the culprit is the SD Card.. I will monitor and update again.
I think I posted too quicky.
The problem still persists, so it is not the 'reseating' of the SD Card.
I notice though, the problem with hanging, restarting, MOSTLY occurs when the battery is less than 40%. And sometimes, it won't even start / turn on even after I take out the battery. But when it is succeeded, sometimes, it would come out with the message (shown in the attachment). Every time this comes out, I have to take out the battery and wait 30+ seconds before trying again.
I really don't know what is the problem with the phone and this phone is bought overseas. Local Samsung Store can't fix it because they don't have the base band or software.
Please note that this phone has never been dropped / root. I have taken care of it carefully.
I'm really disappointed.
It does seem like a hardware error either with the internal memory chip or the battery. You could try replacing the battery to see if that would fix the problem, I doubt that would work. But I would prefer to just send it back to Samsung for repairs as they have the equipment to fix the problem.
Alternatively you could install Kies 3 from the Samsung website onto your computer and use that to do a firmware reinstall of your Note 4 and see if that helps. If that doesn't work then you really don't have much of a choice other than sending back to Samsung for repairs.
Similar Problem
My Note 4 has locked up three times after a full charge.. I noticed a solid RED LED after the phone fully charged and attempts to turn it on are unsuccessful, it's frozen. Nothing I do can wake it up short of removing and replacing the battery. The Lollypop update was done over a month ago so I doubt that is the cause. I'm still checking things out but it has occurred to me that if this happens to the S6, what would one do if you can't remove the battery?????

Note 4 Randomly Turned Off Won't Turn On Anymore

Hi everyone, after trying everything I could to fix this phone I don't know what to do anymore so I'm here asking for other options.
So the story is, I was just using my phone as I usually would that day and it just randomly turned off and won't turn back on anymore.
(it randomly turned off before a couple of times but it would always turn back on)
- It won't go into recovery mode or any other of the 'modes' (I tried all the different combinations of pressing the keys).
- It's not a battery issue as I've tried my battery on my brother's phone (he has a Note 4 too) and it worked fine and I tried his battery on mine and it wouldn't work.
- I tried the 'drain' method (removing the battery and holding the power button for a minute or more).
- I tried using multiple cables to charge my phone nothing worked.
I didn't drop my phone, wet it, root it or anything and it was working fine the day it happened until it just powered off by itself. When I plug it in my laptop it would make
a sound indicating I've plugged something in but nothing happens. It was version 5.1.1 model SM-N910F.
TLDR; Is there a way to somehow recover the files in the internal phone memory?
This is happening to me as well, also started in February. I'm suspecting a hardware issue. Tried it ALL but rooting. In the past 30 minutes my phone has booted and rebooted itself till it died. If someone can confirm it is a hardware issue. Maybe it's time to unite and get it fixed for free. ~Tamarnouche
Recovering data from a brain dead phone may not be possible, as it probably need some internal component replacement which may erase the data(Mostly). Have u tried connecting it to pc? Better give it to service immediately. Good Luck.
My phone has done exactly the same thing, happened in February too, initially it did the random freeze then started to reboot itself, went back to stock software and full wipe but no improvement; now it will only boot if I leave the battery out for a prolonged period, otherwise it doesn't respond to the power button at all.
I occasionally see MMC Read Fail on boot but not all the time so presumably the internal memory has a bad contact or is failing.
Can it be replaced?
HXOY said:
My phone has done exactly the same thing, happened in February too, initially it did the random freeze then started to reboot itself, went back to stock software and full wipe but no improvement; now it will only boot if I leave the battery out for a prolonged period, otherwise it doesn't respond to the power button at all.
I occasionally see MMC Read Fail on boot but not all the time so presumably the internal memory has a bad contact or is failing.
Can it be replaced?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same problem with my Note 3. Only if I keep the battery out for a long (over 24 hours) time I can see the boot logo. So if you find a solution to this kindly don't forget to tag me, will really appreciate it.
I was wondering..
I came across this Forum group since I was looking for boot problems with my SM-N910T3
I hope flashing pit will resolve this..
I recently started to have some low level issue and was hoping it was partition/boot related and not hardware.
Randomly phone boot directly into Download mode with error;
ddi: mmc_read failed
Often I have to pull battery and hold down /power / home for 10 sec to boot up again.
Thanks

Galaxy Note 4 keeps freezing after 2mins usage, gets in bootloop

Hello, so i've had this Note 4 for about 2 years, i had no problems with it thus far until recently ( 3 hours ago actually) i was just texting and browsing Instagram and out of no where the screen froze, it became unresponsive and the screen went black and started constantly vibrating so i quickly pulled the battery out and put it back in again, tried to start it again and it got stuck on the Samsung logo, i went for recovery mode and tried to look up latest cashe log and it froze right there too and restarted, pulled battery out and in again, tried to get into Recovery mode for a second time and a dm-verity verification failed error on the lower left corner popped up, i selected "Restart phone" and it got stuck on the Samsung logo again, battery in-out, tried to get into Recovery mode for a third time to do a factory reset but this time it got stuck whilst trying to boot onto recovery, and i had to out-in battery again, tried several times to get into recovery and it didn't work, i just gave up and started searching, then after 14 minutes i decide to give it another try and it normally booted up! i inserted in my PIN and browsed the apps for about 2mins but it froze, again, and the whole cycle kept repeating i let it cool down for 15mins and it boots up normally but freezes again after a few minutes of usage, i noticed that it insanely overheats before freezing (especially right above the SIM card area) and the four CPU cores are showing 2469MHz and on 100% (But that's also the case when the phone just boots up right?), Now i basically can't access recovery mode and i'm stuck with a Freeze-Reboot looped and i'm left with no other option but a full Stock ROM flash, the thing is i can't even get into recovery to do a full wipe before flashing in the ROM, can i just flash in again a TWRP recovery? and is there any way to fix this without having to do a full Stock ROM flash (i Tried the wake lock app it didn't work) and i'm on Android 5.0.1, this has JUST happened today and never before. i'm hoping this isn't a hardware issue.
UPDATE: i have just noticed something rather interesting, the phone immediately freezes and goes nuts with the reboots and failed recovery modes instantly after i connect it to a wifi network, and exactly when it's attempting to "send report", a sending report sign shows up in the notification bar and it immediately screws up the phone until i do another Factory reset, i just did another one without connecting to a wifi network and i've already gone 40mins with it without any issues but perhaps it's just because it's not on heavy usage?
Sounds like you have the eMMC issue.
You can try and reflash with Odin. Get the right version from Sammobile.
Do yu get to download mode in any of the scenarios you describe?
Try WakeLock again and select the level to 4
Having the same issue
I'm having the same issue and don't have any idea how to help, just hoping someone out there knows...:crying:
Cybrid013 said:
I'm having the same issue and don't have any idea how to help, just hoping someone out there knows...:crying:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have the Snapdragon version - it's highly possible to have the emmc problem. Which is a bummer and the phone is like dead.
Unless you can buy another 910C motherboard and swap it.
Sorry.
What is short name for emmc?
jjoeshua said:
What is short name for emmc?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
embedded multimedia controller
Just been having a very similar problem. I posted this elsewhere, but it may be helpful:
"My issue was that I needed to recover data, docs, photos, phone numbers etc. When boot looping the note 4 got very hot . In particular around and to the left of the camera (looking at the rear). Thinking it could possibly be the dreaded eMMC problem which also manifests itself by creating heat, I thought cooling the device might help. I placed the Note on a cooler box freezing block and voilĂ ! No boot loop. I was able to remove all, but necessary apps and do a full copy to my PC. Storage was reduced from around 90% to 50% and memory 80% to 60%. It's now been stable for 12 hours, but the jury is still out. Next will be full reset with he latest available firmware 6.0.1 as mine was still on 5.1.1."
Also now downloaded a eMMC bug check that says my eMMC chip is 'sane'. Guess we'll see

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