Unique Booting Issue - Help (NOT A BOOT LOOP) - Galaxy S III Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

NOT a Boot Loop.. To be clear.
So today at Pax prime, i'm surfing reddit waiting to play EVOLVE (TOTALLY awesome) when a friend comes over to say hey. I put phone in pocket, conversation ends, I pull phone out, and its off.
I try to turn back on and nothing. I take battery out, put it back in and it instantly vibrates and does nothing else.. I try said approach about 800 times and nothing. I find that when i put battery in, its like as soon as the contacts touch it replicates the power button. So i try to boot into recovery by sliding battery in and quickly positioning my fingers on + and Home buttons, and in the upper left it says Recovery boothing.
Then nothing else happens.. I try downloading. This results in the downloading warning and what not, then gives me the option to + into downloading mode or the - to cancel. Then the screen shuts off. . Curious, I try this again, and before I finish reading the whole warning and all yellow text, it turns off again.. SO i'm like.. hmm battery. Charge for 6 hours and wait in insane lines. . . Go back to phone. Try downloading again... and same behavior.. This time instead of reading I hit + and it gets into DL mode then turns off... I repeat but faster and then faster and faster again, and it just turns off. I timed it and my phone will only stay actively on for 5 seconds exactly from the point of contact on the power source and the vibration as if the phone was turned on.
I cannot connect to computer to ODIN or do anything else to it to get it to behave for more than these precious 5 seconds...
NO idea whats going on. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I'm running the Latest (stable?) build of SlimKat 4.4.4 build 7 with CWM recovery

Just bumping because cannot use phone. No backup. ALL bad.
Additionally, is there a way to hard reset your phone with out it turning on?? If that existed, that would make my day.. Like a reset button that I can just put a paperclip in.

Hundreds of similar posts, not unique at all, your power button is shorted out.

boomboomer said:
Hundreds of similar posts, not unique at all, your power button is shorted out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey I really appreciate the reply. I have yet to find any other threads with similar issues but its definitely possible that I was not using the right search criteria.
Today I was driving to work and tried turning it on and it was like nothing was ever wrong... Its worked fine since then as well. So can a power button shorting out cause this behavior? Or is in the process of becoming completely shorted out?

Related

Anyone had Issues with the Display not Turning On?

I found a couple posts about this but people seemed to just return or RMA it. Thought maybe my experience might help others and was curious if anyone else has this problem.
A few times I have picked up the Prime and hit the power button and the display would not come on. If I plugged it in I would see the green light on the power button come on and go off when unplugged. It appeared to still be attached to the WIFI. If I held the button down it would buzz, but nothing else.
I found out that if I held the button down, waited for it to buzz then continued to hold it down for another 30 secs or so (seems like it takes forever) the Prime would then reboot and I would get the Eee Pad boot screen.
I have been storing my Prime in the box to keep it clear of kids and cats until I get a case. My wife ended up picking up this cheap case from Walmart which used rubber bands around the corners, and this triggered the problem by holding down the volume up button. I have not been able to reliably reproduce it, but it seems like holding down the volume button (or combo of power and volume button) puts the device in some diagnostic mode or something that shuts off the screen.
The natural tendency to release the power button immediately after the buzz while trying to reset made the device seem like it was broken. Luckily I figured out how to start it back up so I did not return it or RMA; however I wonder how many others experienced this problem.
This appears to be a software problem and not a hardware issue. I have not had this happen since I started being cautious about the volume buttons, but have not tried to reproduce on the last firmware update.
I have had no other issues with the Prime. It runs great, WIFI works for me and I could care less about the GPS issue. However, this display thing has scared me a handful of times until I figure out how to reset it.
Anyone else have this kind of issue? I was going to wait for ICS and then see if I could reproduce it before calling ASUS, but it has not been crippling especially once I figured out that when all else failed just hold down the power button until the screen came back on.
I've had this problem as well, three or four times so far. Actually, it happened to me on the first full day I had mine, and was really freaking me out. I've been using the pinhole reboot button to get it working, but it sounds like you were more patient with the power button than I was.
I can't replicate it either, exactly, but I've noticed that it's only happened after extended periods (6+ hours) of inactivity without charging. I also looked at my battery usage last night, and saw that my device constantly is awake; maybe somethint's happening when it tries to sleep?
Anyway, I feel the same way you do - I'm waiting for it to happen on 4.0(.3?) before I really worry.
I've had this happen twice. held down the power button to reboot. I can't reproduce it either, but I don't have any problem with the device sleeping. I'm at 50 hours of uptime now (15 on current charge) and have not run into it. Mildly glad to see its not just me though.
TF201 | XDA Premium
Only once tonight. Scared me until I saw the boot screen. Interesting since it has been rock solid until this. No other problems just didn't turn on. Glad to be back working.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
never had that issue...have used it quite a lot in many different situations
This morning it didn't wake up. I got it to turn on by holding get down the power and volume down button. Hopefully it doesn't happen again.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
happened to me tonight freaked me out for a while - had to use the reset pin hole
I've had the same exact problem andthe funny thing is I also have a case from Walmart with the rubber bands. Is yours the case logic? Since reading this post, I've removed the upper left band. I wish my case would ship already!
guys if you're familiar with transformer 1 and hacking\custom ROM tegra devices power + vol up = apx mode kind of download mode blank screen, nothing wrong with the device just working like it should. now just a blank screen with sound when u plug in could be defective screen has happened to me
Awesome to know this is expected behavior.
I didn't have the original transformer, and googling has just led me to people who can/can't get into the mode, so I'll ask here: what exactly is apx mode? I get what it's for, sort of, but what is it?
also happened to me while it was in a case. maybe the power button was pressed too long or something...
this happened to me yesterday, except the screen is still off....tried everything mentioned and it wouldnt turn back on, its fully charged...i get no buuz sound or anything...
LOL, I was just searching for a thread like this.
Mine has been working flawless for the last 4 days. This morning, would not turn on. I tried every combo and button push I could think of.
No LED charging lights, nada.
I finally reverted to the paper clip in the reset hole. Booted right up.
Don't know what the issue is.
reset button wont even work for me...
Yes It happend to me yesterday twice... i think if we leave it for an extended period without out charge , the screen is getting locked somehow... both the times i have held the power button till the buzz.. then it rebooted....
Same behavior here, was fully charged in the Morning, and plugged in, when i got home Both LED's (Dock and Tab) were green but the Screen won't turn on, pressing the Power button for 10sec rebooted the device, maybe some kind of power saving feature... hopefully it will be fixed with ICS
Okay, rockstatus90's problem seems different, but the rest of us, pceasar explained that we're likely entering APX mode, right? It's designed behavior? Now I just want to know what APX mode is, and if there's an easier way to exit than rebooting.
Happened twice for me so far.
chinly43 said:
Okay, rockstatus90's problem seems different, but the rest of us, pceasar explained that we're likely entering APX mode, right? It's designed behavior? Now I just want to know what APX mode is, and if there's an easier way to exit than rebooting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes this is normal. Although most other Android devices seemed to give some sort of on screen message.
It is mentioned here as a process of rooting the original TF:
http://eeepadhacks.net/transformer-hacks/how-to-root-your-eeepad-transformer/
Basically, this is a mode that outputs to your PC and is supposed to blank your screen. You are supposed to reboot afterwards, so there is no other way out.
I have not had the problem since being sensitive about pushing volume+ and power at the same time.
rockstatus90 said:
reset button wont even work for me...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately it looks like return or rma is your solution. I would try to call Asus and see if they can troubleshoot it. Best case they can reset it for; worse case its dead.
Really wish you could pull the battery. Thats the sure fire reboot.

[Q] Is it bricked?

Hey guys, I'm desperate for help. I am running Slimbean 4.3 on my Vibrant, and last night while I was just browsing Reddit in an app, my phone shuts off immediately with no warning, no shut down sequence, and plenty of battery charge left. Now it just sticks on the Vibrant boot screen, restarting every 20 seconds or so if I try to turn it on, or if I plug it in it just stays at the spinning circle. I am unable to enter recovery mode through all the button combinations I have tried. The best result I have had is taking the battery out, holding up/down volume, then inserting the battery. This gets me to the "downloading, do not turn of target!!!" screen, but I cant get past that screen. The only computer I have access to is a mac, so I have't been able to try anything using ODIN. Does anyone have any tips or advice, I really can't afford to buy another phone right now with Christmas coming up. Thanks a lot guys.
veiledaiel said:
Hey guys, I'm desperate for help. I am running Slimbean 4.3 on my Vibrant, and last night while I was just browsing Reddit in an app, my phone shuts off immediately with no warning, no shut down sequence, and plenty of battery charge left. Now it just sticks on the Vibrant boot screen, restarting every 20 seconds or so if I try to turn it on, or if I plug it in it just stays at the spinning circle. I am unable to enter recovery mode through all the button combinations I have tried. The best result I have had is taking the battery out, holding up/down volume, then inserting the battery. This gets me to the "downloading, do not turn of target!!!" screen, but I cant get past that screen. The only computer I have access to is a mac, so I have't been able to try anything using ODIN. Does anyone have any tips or advice, I really can't afford to buy another phone right now with Christmas coming up. Thanks a lot guys.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Usually it send the phone to download mode when you have a USB or charger cable plugged in. Make sure you have that port clear then try it. Mac's can run Hemidall (I think that's how you spell it) which is like an odin equivalent. I don't have much experience with that but someone else here might. Try researching that as well. That should put you on the right track

[Q] Samsung Galaxy S3 shuts off randomly. Won't turn on consistently?

My Samsung Galaxy SIII smart phone has only recently been having issues. My phone will turn on, will be charged and function as normal - ie, no performance issues at all when the phone is actually on. But sometimes, my phone will randomly shut off with no prompt or message. Sometimes it will attempt to turn back on itself, other times I need to press or even hold the power button to turn it on.
The real problem is when it boots, it SOMETIMES (3/5 times average) will begin to boot, then the screen goes black again - ie, the Samsung logo will show up upon vibrating, then shut off or reboot and try again (this can sometimes happen singularly or in tandem). Other times, it will boot as normal, sometimes working normally, other times just randomly doing the abrupt shut down, and the cycle starts over.
I've tried taking the battery out, rebooting it, booting to safe mode, removing battery + keeping it out for ~10 minutes to discharge, etc. My phone isn't up to date, as my phone is rooted. However, I haven't modified my phone or done anything to it in a long time, and this has only has begun happening recently. My current firmware is rooted stock Android 4.2. Are there any other solutions besides formatting my phone? I cannot send it in/get it replaced by my provider as my warranty has expired. Thank you. :angel:
Go to the Play Store and download emmc brickbug check.
Get that diagnosed.
If it's good i suggest you do a full wipe and update it to the latest samsung 4.3 update.
Ultimate GS3 sudden death thread.
Well you better get up to date, best to start with a factory reset and the latest stock rom first.
I guess you're running an unstable leaked 4.2.2 firmware,so I would suggest you to install stable 4.3 firmware.
Maybe your power button got stuck..
To find out, push your power button and keep hold it even the "samsung galaxy s III GT-I9300" appear.
Do you experience the same thing or not.
TheoDores said:
Maybe your power button got stuck..
To find out, push your power button and keep hold it even the "samsung galaxy s III GT-I9300" appear.
Do you experience the same thing or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I found a fix for my S3 which was doing EXACTLY what many of you are describing. I will get to the fix and it will sound ridiculous, but it worked for me and for the other people responding to the posted fix. ***** Hint: my problem was the power button and the fix was free and easy though may require you to be pissed at your phone as I was at the time.
Before getting to what fixed my phone. It seems like every one with a Samsung phone Sh*tting out in this manner should go through the well-conceived sequence I post below in the link. That guy though through the problem and made a great help list even though I found myself with a phone that was a mess even after all of those steps. My phone just vibrated when I tried to start it or maybe it began to show a graphic screen of the boot process before it went to black again and just vibrated. I am stuck with 4 more months of verizon contract so I was desperate and unahppy to say the least. I tried at least 50 time to boot my phone yesterday and went to a verizon store they were no help as expected especially when they saw a boot screen image that they did not recognize... I was one of those rooting creeps that they are not obligated to help...
first link:
http://thedroidguy.com/2014/03/fix-galaxy-s3-wont-turn-troubleshooting-guide/
A stuck or malfunctioning power button can cause... getting random reboots, lack of starting, lack of posting, getting stuck at various screens in the boot process and then going to a black screen which may just accompany a vibrating phone or a seemingly dead phone. Our problem is the power button being "stuck" underneath/inside of the janky, crappy little clip on power button that you are actually pushing in on your phone.
see this youtube video. In other words the thing you push is only pushing something else inside. I took my power button out (it clips in) cleaned out the cavity by blowing and with a toothpick and I was fixed!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ-U-Q_NdOo
I was pissed at my phone so where the guy in the above youtube video says something like tapping his nail (finger nail) into the power button or whatever I was pretty aggressive and crammed my thumbnail down the sides of the power button until the janky little piece of crap actually popped out revealing itself as a clip kind of a thing. I then blew the hell out of the hole with all of the breath I could muster and took a toothpick and depressed the actual power button several times and "cleaned out" and cleared out any hair or gunk (really did not see any) that might have been in the socket. I put my power button back in (just clips in by itself if you put it in the socket the right way and push down) and I have had NO PROBLEMS since. Start with the first link I posted but be wary of the clearing Cache part unless you no what you are doing ahead of time. I had just done a factory reset and total wipe with TWRP before installing a new ROM so I did not have anything to lose. You might... I don't know enough about what resides in "cache" to advise you. Then if you are still in trouble listen to the second post which is a video. I actually crammed my thumbnail down into the power button cavity on both the top and bottom (the long axis) of the button aggressively enough that the visible button popped out. Then I did my blowing and cleaning, etc... crammed the visible button back int - which clips into place and I have been stoked since. Hope it works for you if not, sorry!
*As a side note, I sort of assumed that the problem with my phone (and I bet yours) has something to do with power: either getting to the right place in the phone from the battery or the power chord OR the f*ing power button on our cheap, janky plastic yet expensive Samsung phones might be a problem because before the weird random reboots and not booting began the power off dialog (like when you hold the power button down long enough and you get the "reboot" "power down" "airplane mode" menu kept coming up while I was surfing watching youtube or even talking. I figured it was time to install another ROM, did so twice and still had the same issues. I reflashed recoveries back and forth from TWRP to the other one several times too. Nothing worked until I cleaned out the power button. Go figure.
I was pissed at my phone so where the guy in the above youtube video says something like tapping his nail (finger nail) into the power button or whatever I was pretty aggressive and crammed my thumbnail down the sides of the power button until the janky little piece of crap actually popped out revealing itself as a clip kind of a thing. I then blew the hell out of the hole with all of the breath I could muster and took a toothpick and depressed the actual power button several times and "cleaned out" and cleared out any hair or gunk (really did not see any) that might have been in the socket. I put my power button back in (just clips in by itself if you put it in the socket the right way and push down) and I have had NO PROBLEMS since
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried a similar approach and it looks like it actually worked. I just took the plastic cover of and removed he 10 little screws and played around with the plastic thingy that depresses the power button. I don't know what exactly fixed it but is seems to work.
So you might not have to remove your power button but instead just play around with it first and see if you can't get it to function properly again.
Thank you so much brjoon1021!
Galaxy SIII I9300 shuts of randomly but only when not used
I have a problem with my S3 since about a week now. First it was a standard S3 with stock ROM and not rooted. The phone would turn itself of 3 - 5 times during daytime and also at night when charging.
What I tried:
- Clearing battery connections
- Cleaning power button
But finally I think it's not a hardware problem. Loose contacts, battery connections or a power button problem would probably cause more shut downs when I was using it. But in my case it's the opposite: it always shuts down when I am *not* using it.
So I rooted the phone and flashed a custom ROM on it: [ROM] [4.4.4] [CyanogenMod] [GCC 4.8] [Excellent] [31/12/14] ArchiDroid V3.0.2
That was succesfull, but after that I still had the same problem.
When do I have this problem: as stated: always when I am *not* using the phone. It's lying on my desk or next to my bed, charging and no program is running.
When I don't have the problem: when some program is running on the foreground, at night during charging if I keep the clock on the foreground (daydreaming), when I have waze running (in my car) etc.
I have the impression the device only shuts itself down when in deep sleep mode.
I also tested if it was a case of Deep Sleep of Death, but when the phone is shut down, I can not text to it, the LED does not light up.
I can boot the phone by pressing the power button once for about 8 seconds, so that seems a normal boot and not a reboot.
Any suggestions on what I could test? Or how I can find out what the problem is?
Thanks!
Dion64 said:
I have a problem with my S3 since about a week now. First it was a standard S3 with stock ROM and not rooted. The phone would turn itself of 3 - 5 times during daytime and also at night when charging.
What I tried:
- Clearing battery connections
- Cleaning power button
But finally I think it's not a hardware problem. Loose contacts, battery connections or a power button problem would probably cause more shut downs when I was using it. But in my case it's the opposite: it always shuts down when I am *not* using it.
So I rooted the phone and flashed a custom ROM on it: [ROM] [4.4.4] [CyanogenMod] [GCC 4.8] [Excellent] [31/12/14] ArchiDroid V3.0.2
That was succesfull, but after that I still had the same problem.
When do I have this problem: as stated: always when I am *not* using the phone. It's lying on my desk or next to my bed, charging and no program is running.
When I don't have the problem: when some program is running on the foreground, at night during charging if I keep the clock on the foreground (daydreaming), when I have waze running (in my car) etc.
I have the impression the device only shuts itself down when in deep sleep mode.
I also tested if it was a case of Deep Sleep of Death, but when the phone is shut down, I can not text to it, the LED does not light up.
I can boot the phone by pressing the power button once for about 8 seconds, so that seems a normal boot and not a reboot.
Any suggestions on what I could test? Or how I can find out what the problem is?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi
I have the exact same problem!
I tried factory reset, wipe cache, I have bought new battery ... nothing helped so far...
S3
pagep said:
Hi
I have the exact same problem!
I tried factory reset, wipe cache, I have bought new battery ... nothing helped so far...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Turn off sync. See if that helps it fixed mine.
zern said:
Turn off sync. See if that helps it fixed mine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well it started to get worse every day, so we tried factory reset once more and after that, the phone just died. (only colored rubbish is shown on the screen) ...
Never ever buying Samsung again. Piece of crap ...
Anyway we had chance to buy LG G2 on the sale. I know it's quite old, but the price was perfect and it's many times better than S3. :good:
Dion64 said:
I have a problem with my S3 since about a week now. First it was a standard S3 with stock ROM and not rooted. The phone would turn itself of 3 - 5 times during daytime and also at night when charging.
What I tried:
- Clearing battery connections
- Cleaning power button
But finally I think it's not a hardware problem. Loose contacts, battery connections or a power button problem would probably cause more shut downs when I was using it. But in my case it's the opposite: it always shuts down when I am *not* using it.
So I rooted the phone and flashed a custom ROM on it: [ROM] [4.4.4] [CyanogenMod] [GCC 4.8] [Excellent] [31/12/14] ArchiDroid V3.0.2
That was succesfull, but after that I still had the same problem.
When do I have this problem: as stated: always when I am *not* using the phone. It's lying on my desk or next to my bed, charging and no program is running.
When I don't have the problem: when some program is running on the foreground, at night during charging if I keep the clock on the foreground (daydreaming), when I have waze running (in my car) etc.
I have the impression the device only shuts itself down when in deep sleep mode.
I also tested if it was a case of Deep Sleep of Death, but when the phone is shut down, I can not text to it, the LED does not light up.
I can boot the phone by pressing the power button once for about 8 seconds, so that seems a normal boot and not a reboot.
Any suggestions on what I could test? Or how I can find out what the problem is?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my is also the same problem..if u have found solution for it please tell me .

[Q] Phone not rooted, but still stuck on fastboot mode

Hi,
Last week, I spilled a bit of beer on my Huawei Ascend G700. The phone started to turn the volume down at random moments when there were no buttons touched. I figured it was best to turn it off, pull out the battery, and let the phone dry.
It's been a few days now, but when I try to start the phone now, the only thing that happens is that only "=> FASTBOOT mode..." is showed in the bottom left corner. Nothing else, and it stays there until I pull the battery out.
I have tried disassembling the phone and clean it as far as I could, but it made no difference.
If I push the volume up button together with the power button it starts the recovery mode, but I can't do anything from there. And I can't connect to phone to my computer. (It isn't recognized).
I have found similar problems online, but with the difference that I have not rooted this phone. Is there a way to get the phone back working? I would like to keep the original firmware, if possible. For I can't think of a reason why it would be helpful to still try to root the phone.
So, the only thing that happened before my phone freaked out is that I have spilled a bit of beer on it (only a few drops, phone was in a case). Never rooted the phone. Phone was only a month old. I think it is running on android 4.2, but I'm not sure.
I think the volume down button is still making contact somehow as the beer has not dried off. Or maybe the button is being pressed somehow. I say this because when You power on an Android phone with power down key, it usually boots into fast boot. Try cleaning again.
Mirhawk said:
I think the volume down button is still making contact somehow as the beer has not dried off. Or maybe the button is being pressed somehow. I say this because when You power on an Android phone with power down key, it usually boots into fast boot. Try cleaning again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried. I disconnected the connection cable from the volume button, but it doesn't make any difference.

Galaxy s4 will not turn on.

I have a rooted verizon galaxy s4. Today I pressed the power button to put my device to sleep. I noticed it shut off the device. I rebooted my phone and all seemed fine. I took my battery out and put it back in, it automatically tried to boot. After about 3 or four seconds the screen goes black. I need help and can provide more info if needed. Sorry if this is no the right play to post this but I am new to the forums. Thank you for any response. Have a blessed day
XDA Visitor said:
I have a rooted verizon galaxy s4. Today I pressed the power button to put my device to sleep. I noticed it shut off the device. I rebooted my phone and all seemed fine. I took my battery out and put it back in, it automatically tried to boot. After about 3 or four seconds the screen goes black. I need help and can provide more info if needed. Sorry if this is no the right play to post this but I am new to the forums. Thank you for any response. Have a blessed day
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks like we have the same issue. Just for posterity, what rom were you running, if lollipop, did you try and install the xposed for lollipop? I can't get into download mode, can you? If you can, you should be able to correct this with Odin, search for it in the S4 thread. Either way please report back so we can try and figure out why this happened.
Same symptom I had. If power comes on by itself upon battery insertion and phone shuts down after a few seconds it is caused by a stuck power switch. To fix it repeatedly whack the switch on the corner of a table. You will know it's fixed when the phone doesn't turn on by itself when the battery is inserted. This is a common problem with S4's but was difficult to search for and find the answer.
mjrBud said:
Same symptom I had. If power comes on by itself upon battery insertion and phone shuts down after a few seconds it is caused by a stuck power switch. To fix it repeatedly whack the switch on the corner of a table. You will know it's fixed when the phone doesn't turn on by itself when the battery is inserted. This is a common problem with S4's but was difficult to search for and find the answer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same issue. Put the battery in and it vibrate once and then shows custom padlock and then shut off. Found the same thing on you tube. The smack trick. However, I did not use a table but a book or something semi hard. Smack the phone several times on the power button side and it will work.
Galaxy S3/S4/S5 & Notes: Phone Wont Power up / Just Vibrates / Screen Fl...: http://youtu.be/Gd3TibIKNug
* Note this is not a perm fix. This is a band aid. You will continue to have the issue. But this might allow you to return to stock if needed for warranty claim.
This might be an issue with a faulty power button. I had that issue with one of my s4s. the internal switch wore out and the phone would start to boot and then turn off and reboot. and this would continue until i jiggled the power switch.
Just a thought.

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