S5 SM-G900F : Black screen/Boot loop; Help? - Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

tl;dr at the bottom
Alright so I'm out of ideas on how to fix this phone, couple of days ago my mom came to me complaining that her S5 was giving her trouble. When she handed me the phone, it was in a bootloop of showing the Samsung Galaxy S5 screen, playing the theme and vibrating afterwards then rebooting. I took out the battery and tried to power it on, it ended up successfully booting into android. So from here, I figured there must have been some malware on the device, I downloaded Malwarebytes from the Google Play Store and ran a scan on the device. However in the middle of scanning, the device turned off it's screen and rebooted. (Malwarebytes found 2 malware on the device at that point) So now I'm convinced it's most likely malware and eventually removed all the detected malware on the device. I gave it back to my mom thinking it was fixed.
Moments later she came back saying that it's still giving issues, my first thought "wdf, it was working wasn't it?". I looked at the phone again, and tried to wake up the device using the power button. The 2 soft keys at the bottom lit up however the screen was still black. At this point, the phone was still working fine, the only issue was the screen wouldn't wake up. So I decided to do a battery pull once again to reboot it and it results in the bootloop once again. I did some googling and found various solutions to this, one of them involved wiping the cache from recovery, so it tried it. Booted into recovery and wiped the partition cache (i think that was it), after it wiped and was about to reboot, I noticed a brief "error icon" just before it rebooted. After this point I could not boot into recovery at all (it would just show a black screen and I would assume that the phone turned off) and it was still in a bootloop. It was only after trying to turn on the phone after trying to boot into recovery that the idea of the phone wasn't off and the screen was just black entered my mind. (Because usually if the phone is off, you can turn it on by holding the power button, the phone would not turn on until after a battery pull)
So at this point, it was late at night and I was tired. I left the battery out and just went to bed. The next day I tried to turn it on again and to my surprise it booted up fine but I was skeptical. I had a theory that the device would work fine as long as the screen remained on, so I set the screen timeout to 10 minutes and kept it on for probably 30 minutes while I continued to google. Since it stayed working during that period of time, I thought perhaps locking the device triggers the issue. I turned of "Power Button instantly locks device" and proceeded to turn off the screen using the power button. When I tried to turn it on, it was back to the same problem (black screen, device is working fine, soft keys lit up). I did a battery pull once again in an attempt to reboot and now it was back to problem #2 (boot loop, can't enter recovery). At this point in time, I considered doing a factory reset but since I couldn't enter recovery, I'd most likely have to re-flash the stock firmware.
Since I didn't have much experience flashing android devices (I personally only flashed 2 or 3 devices ever, all of them were successful but I still didn't really trust myself), I had it sent to a local cellphone company and had them try to fix it. Eventually I got the device back, but they were unable to fix the problem (they tried to flash a stock and custom rom). Now I'm back to square 1, the phone is still in a bootloop, no sound, no vibration this time, I don't have much experience with phones since I've only owned 2 in my life. The phone seems to be soft bricked pretty good, I've still got 1 more trick to try (full stock firmware flash) before I call it quits, any ideas?
tl;dr
- device is stuck in a bootloop (issue 1)
- i was able to enter recovery mode once, now it's not accessible
- download mode is accessible
- the device has been able to boot successfully a couple times, but then it has another issue.
- device's screen would not wake up after turning off, softkeys still worked, everything else still worked. (issue 2)
- the device was sent to a local phone repair company to fix (unsuccessful)
- currently device is stuck on issue 1
additional notes
- device has not been dropped or wet
- device has been owned for more than a year without problems
- this problem was recent (3 days)
- no sd card
- dark screen was turned off
theories
- screen could be malfunctioning or defective somehow, but then if it can show the bootscreen and download mode screen fine it seems unlikely also since it's been working fine for over a year
- it's a software issue of some sort, but has already been flashed by local phone repair to no success, then again I'm assuming they just did a basic recovery flash and called it quits

Related

[Q] Intermittent blank screen problem

I am having a very frustrating intermittent blank screen problem with my Galaxy S4 (GT-i9505). In its current state it has stock lollipop from Sammobile (I9505XXUHOB7_I9505BTUHOB4_I9505XXUHOB7_HOME.tar) flashed onto it. No root.
Randomly after locking my screen, or after a screen timeout, the screen won't turn back when trying to unlock it with the side or home button. The phone and capacitive touch still works completely in the background and I can answer calls and hear notifications coming through, but no display. The display turns back on after a while, but troubleshooting has become difficult as this problem is extremely irregular.
It started when I had stock Kitkat installed from Sammobile. I have rooted my phone previously but the Rom upgrade to latest KitKat took it back to stock. The screen would go blank and after a couple minutes it would turn on when I unlocked it and it would be ok for a couple days. But then the blank screen problem would come back, and its length has seemed to get longer aswell. This includes no display when the phone boots up.
Things I have done so far to try fix it (during the periods when the phone display magically resumes):
- wipe cache and factory reset (no luck)
- reflash stock kitkat Rom, wipe cache and system data (Phone was fine for about a week but intermittent blank screen problem came back)
- Take battery out and drain residual capacitance by pressing buttons while battery out (sometimes worked but extremely irregularly and eventually stopped fixing the problem)
- Put phone on charge and try unlock or turn phone on (sometimes worked in the beginning if I left phone on charge for a while but this method doesn't work anymore)
- Flash lollipop Rom (I9505XXUHOB7_I9505BTUHOB4_I9505XXUHOB7_HOME.tar) via odin, wipe cache and data before and after flashing (phone worked for about a week but intermittent problem eventually came back)
- Reflash same Rom as above AND .pit file (CSB_signed_Fusion3_EUR_0325_V2.pit) via Odin to re-partition tables in case of corrupt partition (Phone was fine for a day but when I woke up in the morning the phone screen wouldn't turn on so this didn't seem to solve the problem)
As it stands, my phone's display pretty much stays on for a day with perfect function, and then randomly the display won't resume after locking it, and stays this way for about another day.
What I would like to know is if I am COMPLETELY starting fresh when I flash with odin, re-partition with a .pit file, and wipe the cache and system data in stock recovery after the odin re-flash. Or is it possible that in an unrooted phone with stock recovery, I am missing something that might remain corrupt and is causing this intermittent problem. Maybe dalvik cache? Or does this get wiped with the odin reflash?
To me it seems like some low level system file is building up and eventually getting corrupt. I am not 100% sure but I doubt it is a screen hardware problem since the display problem only happens when turn the display off and on with the side lock button (it never turns off unless I tell it to turn off or after a screen timeout and it never turns off if I knock it or bump it)
I would really appreciate your help. There is a lot to read here but I wanted to thoroughly explain my situation. Taking it in for repairs is my absolute last resort.
Thanks!

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

Help with troubleshooting - bootloop, calls restarting phone, wifi won't turn on

I've been having some problems with my Galaxy S5 recently after ~2 years and some change of owning it. I'm stock rooted on the original ANCG KitKat version.
The problem: If I power off my phone, it will cause it to go into a bootloop, not going past the first screen (Samsung Galaxy S5, powered by android). I haven't found a reliable way to fix it from the loop, but I usually just remove the battery, wait, and try again until somehow it just works and boots up. This is extremely problematic because sometimes my battery runs out and after charging I'll have to go through this game of chance again until my phone works.
The next problem also adds to this frustration as well. When I attempt to pick up a call, my phone will sometimes just not work and restart itself. This leads to lots of confusion and I can't call them back for some time because the phone is stuck in a bootloop.
In the few times that I do get my phone to actually boot up, everything works fine except sometimes my Wifi just doesn't work. It gets stuck on "turning on" where the notification drawer quick setting icon is dim green and never gets to the turned on full green state, eventually just turning itself off (no green color).
I haven't done a factory reset or any real troubleshooting yet, as I'm a bit worried I won't even be able to boot up the phone and I don't have the time yet to spend a full day fixing it. Any help would be appreciated, thanks!
The calling problem may be caused by the google dialer app not being set as the the default phone app but as for the other issues i have no idea a factory reset is a good start though
unfortunately I had the same problem but I have marshmallow but the factory reset helped with the not booting up and see a big difference with the battery

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

S10+ suddenly reboots and apps often crashes

Hi! I have an S10+ Snapdragon, I bought it a year ago, the firsts weeks the phone worked perfectly, but as time passed, the phone started to reboot suddenly, no matter what I was doing, sometimes playing music, watching videos, or chatting in whatsapp or telegram. Then, I don't know why, the phone got bricked, got stuck in the boot animation and it only started in recovery mode, I made a factory reset from recovery mode, and the phone started only in safe mode. I took it to the technician and he flashed it with Odin and the phone worked again, but still with the sudden reboots.
Few months later, the phone got bricked again, it got stuck in download mode, with the message "hash of data does not match digest in descriptor" in the top left corner, another technician said me it was necessary to change the "motherboard" of the phone, he changed it and the phone worked again and still with the sudden reboots.
Sometimes the phone reboots completely, sometimes it reboots from the end of the boot animation and sometimes it seems that the systemUI restarts because the screen gets black and I have to unlock the phone with my pin again but the apps processes still running normally. Once, the phone rebooted and it got stuck in the lock screen, I wrote my PIN and the phone got back to the lock screen again, and so on... I have to reset it from the recovery mode and it worked again.
Nowadays, the phone stills rebooting suddenly and any app stops working anytime. I've noticed that when it reboots, the middle left side of the phone heats.
Someone knows what can be? Thx in advance for reading and for any help

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