My S4 keeps locking up (Black screen of death) - AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshootin

It seems to have a mind of it's own. It will just randomly go to a black screen and the only way to get it back is to pull the battery, but sometimes I need to plug it in wait for it to vibrate, then go into recovery wipe cache to get it to reboot.
I have re-flashed to stock ROM with ODIN and not installed any apps and it still happens, but is Random. Also rebooting the phone it sometimes will go to the black screen. I have pulled the MicroSD card out too, just incase.
I'm thinking defective phone ... Of course I am frustrated right now and might be over looking something. Anyone have any thoughts? If not I guess I will have to call AT&T to get another phone
Thanks,
Rob

UPDATE**
Through a little bit of testing it seems like this happens every time I install and configure Swiftkey. If I try to reboot the phone goes to the black screen and freezes. I can get the phone up by wiping the cache, remove swiftkey and I can restart over and over without any problems. Going to leave it alone without Swiftkey installed and see if that makes a difference.
Weird ....

When you mention the black screen, does it just say Samsung with an unlocked 'lock' below it?
Trying to figure out what my phone is doing right now, nothing from recovery seems to be helping...

Related

[Q] Screen problem..anyone have an idea what is going on?

Ok, I have been waiting for this phone for a while now (Sero plan, had to wait to Oct 1st)
Finally get it and it is acting up, not a good first impression.
Phone seems to "freeze". The screen just becomes unresponsive. Nothing is reflected as being done but I think the phone is still operating because when I took out the battery and restarted the phone, my txt draft was different from when the screen locked up (I was randomly pressing buttons on the keyboard after the screen locked)
The screen does not black out, it just freezes randomly. I can't press any buttons to do anything, I can only power off the screen and power it back on in which case it comes back to the frozen screen. My only option is to then take out the battery. Anyone have this occur to them? I don't like the idea of having to go to a store for a replacement 2 days after I received the phone..
jordan1122 said:
Ok, I have been waiting for this phone for a while now (Sero plan, had to wait to Oct 1st)
Finally get it and it is acting up, not a good first impression.
Phone seems to "freeze". The screen just becomes unresponsive. Nothing is reflected as being done but I think the phone is still operating because when I took out the battery and restarted the phone, my txt draft was different from when the screen locked up (I was randomly pressing buttons on the keyboard after the screen locked)
The screen does not black out, it just freezes randomly. I can't press any buttons to do anything, I can only power off the screen and power it back on in which case it comes back to the frozen screen. My only option is to then take out the battery. Anyone have this occur to them? I don't like the idea of having to go to a store for a replacement 2 days after I received the phone..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry I don't have a solution to your problem, but...
I'd do a factory reset before you take it back, back everything up, do the reset, and then restore it. A factory reset can work wonders for some odd problems.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=8448259#post8448259
Easiest way to restore is to use Clockwork Recovery on a rooted phone. 1 option to back everything up, wipe all the caches in Clockwork, factory reset the phone, restore the backup in Clockwork. Shouldn't take more than 15 mins. See the developers forum on instructions on how to root and install Clockwork.
I agree your first step should be a backup/reset. If that doesn't fix the problem then swap it with a new one. I had serious freezing issues with my first Epic and eventually had to return it for a new one. Second one has run perfectly since.
zetterwing said:
I agree your first step should be a backup/reset. If that doesn't fix the problem then swap it with a new one. I had serious freezing issues with my first Epic and eventually had to return it for a new one. Second one has run perfectly since.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. Freezing is a hardware defect. Backup. Wipe. Check it out.
i've noticed this freeze always occurs on my phone when my it's idle. It seems to only occur when I leave the GPS on and it appears to be searching causing it to freeze.

[Q] Black Screen...

Hello all. First let me state that I rather not make a thread to ask help on a problem that seems to have happened to a few owners, but my knowledge as to how I could resolve the issue is severely lacking..
At some point today my phone was ringing but the screen would not show. I thought about taking the battery out and turning it back on but there would be no HTC, Bootanimation, anything. It was Just a black-lit screen which responds due to tactile feedback and the four touchkeys light up as usual. At first there was an odd sound that would play after a few minutes so I decided to charge it but again there was nothing. Even tried to access bootloader with -Vol and Power still no screen.
I asked a friend of mine to call my phone to see if it would ring but they said it instantly goes to voicemail as if my phone was off. Note that I WAS SURE IT WAS ON.
Adb seems to work with it as it seems whatever I need to do I have to do it through there.
G2 rooted with gfree method
CM7.1 RC1
Clockwork Recovery
Again i am sorry if I bothered those with posting something others would think is "too common of a problem" as I have no experience in fixing this issue. Plus I would like to try any option available as I would not like to try and have my phone replaced (because of the risk of discovering root and obtaining a G2 with stock gingerbread which is currently not rootable)
Please help..
It sounds like you're suffering from some sort of hardware failure. You need to send your phone in for repair/replacement.
The Unnamed Time Lord said:
Hello all. First let me state that I rather not make a thread to ask help on a problem that seems to have happened to a few owners, but my knowledge as to how I could resolve the issue is severely lacking..
At some point today my phone was ringing but the screen would not show. I thought about taking the battery out and turning it back on but there would be no HTC, Bootanimation, anything. It was Just a black-lit screen which responds due to tactile feedback and the four touchkeys light up as usual. At first there was an odd sound that would play after a few minutes so I decided to charge it but again there was nothing. Even tried to access bootloader with -Vol and Power still no screen.
I asked a friend of mine to call my phone to see if it would ring but they said it instantly goes to voicemail as if my phone was off. Note that I WAS SURE IT WAS ON.
Adb seems to work with it as it seems whatever I need to do I have to do it through there.
G2 rooted with gfree method
CM7.1 RC1
Clockwork Recovery
Again i am sorry if I bothered those with posting something others would think is "too common of a problem" as I have no experience in fixing this issue. Plus I would like to try any option available as I would not like to try and have my phone replaced (because of the risk of discovering root and obtaining a G2 with stock gingerbread which is currently not rootable)
Please help..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A. They don't care if its rooted.
B. You can root stock Gingerbread.
Same issue here...
I'm facing the same issue, when i try to unlock the phone (power button or trackpad) the screen lights but stays black, and the buttons are also backlit. I have to lock again with power button and unlock again to get to the actual screen.
It first happened a few days ago, and since i didn't reboot/restart in weeks i tried to reboot but the same issue comes back.
then i shut it down, pulled the battery and then back, and restarted: the phone goes directly to that black backlit screen, i tried several times and tried recovery with no luck, so i thought my phone was messed up although i did have some haptic feedback, well in fact the phone was actually booting, but just not showing anything else than the backlit screen; i waited a minute or so to the booting completes (still shows nothing), then i lock/unlock the screen again and there it is, asking for the pin code.
I tried to go to the recovery again to try to wipe dalvik-cache, i know for sure it goes to recovery, but with a totally black screen, not even backlit this time; the trackpad is too sensitive in the recovery to just blindly navigate in the menu, so it is not useable at all.
Then i had the idea to go to Rom Manager, i reflashed the rom from my sd-card, and enabling wipe dalvik-cache, which worked (all through a black screen). After a few minutes i "felt" it rebooting (vibrating) but still back to that black backlit screen, and i locked/unlocked it again and back it was asking pin code...
I also tried to roll back recovery to 3.0.2.4, since i remember i updated it a few weeks ago, but still the same issue.
I don't know what else to do without accessing the recovery, i wanted to try another kernel, or remove the trackpad wake... is there a way to do it via a script? I guess it's what Rom manager does...
Next step will be a total wipe, but i need to make some room on my sdcard for backup purposes first...
If anyone has an idea to sort this out, i'm highly interested...
I'll try to get a logcat, maybe could give a hint
Edit: Virtuous sense 2.0.0 (used it with no issue since it came out, could it be a hw issue?)
Edit2 : attached logcat
Is the pin screen differant than the usual one ie white number keys? If it is that's the sim lock screen you need to call the carrier to get the code or find out the default. Or just get a new sim lol
nah it's the 4 digit pin code, i didn't lose it btw, it's still working and i can use the phone, but i have a black backlit screen whenever i want to wake the phone, and thus when i receive a phone call, i don't know who it is and i blindly press/swipe the screen to answer, because if i want to use the same trick of locking /unlocking, it doesnt work as the lock button is also used to reject a call...
Maybe rip and reinstall the phone app?
asim0 said:
I'm facing the same issue, when i try to unlock the phone (power button or trackpad) the screen lights but stays black, and the buttons are also backlit. I have to lock again with power button and unlock again to get to the actual screen.
It first happened a few days ago, and since i didn't reboot/restart in weeks i tried to reboot but the same issue comes back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same exact problem as this EXCEPT, it's intermittent. Sometimes when I wake the phone I get an all black but backlight screen, and other times it's fine. I'm on CM7.1.
But a superwipe and reflash will probably fix it. Also don't restore system data on TB
I know i still can use wipe data + cache + dalvik through rom manager, and i always used to superwipe before switching roms, but how can i do that now when the recovery is all blacked out?
can anyone guide me to a script or something i could do while the phone is active, to tell him to reboot to recovery and flash that superwipe?
anyway i'll try the regular wipe and keep the thread updated
---------- Post added at 02:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:35 PM ----------
SuperDave81 said:
EXCEPT, it's intermittent.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On my side if i leave the phone locked more than 30 seconds, it happens 100% of the time; also I noticed that now the backlight blinks 2 or 3 times (1 second blinking) when locked, first a few minutes after locking, and then randomly, about 3 or 4 times per hour; I guess it's getting worse;
I've read on another thread that it could be video cable getting loose, but since mine is still under guarantee, i won't open it right now just to check, if i can't fix by wiping / superwiping (when i know how to), i'll use that guarantee, which is one month left (lucky me)
EDIT: one other thing that makes me think it's no hardware, when the black screen appears because of a phone call or a message, the ringtone and notification sound are both half as loud as they should be, this is all really strange
after backing up my data, i reflashed the rom via Rom Manager, and I wiped data and cache (which equals to factory reset) this time: the first screen that should show the pin code numpad was already a black (backlit) screen!!
Also, thinking about it, i realised that the "flash rom from sdcard" menu in Rom Manager is in fact "Flash ZIP from sdcard": the zip doesn't have to be a ROM!!
So I tried flashing a new kernel this way, also some framework modifications (extended settings, removed TP wake, etc...) they all install Ok, but still this black screen...
Also I was about to flash SuperWipeG2.zip this way, but if it doesn't fix my problem, I will be stuck with a blacked out recovery, as SuperWipe wipes everything including /system; so if anyone has an idea to tell Rom Manager to flash two zips (Superwipe then Rom) i'll be willing to try, or a script to do that;
Maybe i'll have a look of the scripts in Superwipe and in the rom, and put both zips together... don't know if it's possible?
Maybe I'll try the Superwipe alone if I can get a spare phone, just in case...
Other thing:I used the phone's gps for more than 5 hours with the screen lit, and it never flickered even once; so it's hard to believe it's a screen connection issue...
Just to keep this updated, everything i did, including superwipe didn't change this issue, so i sent it back to the technical support (under guarantee) and I got it back today; the report that came with it says the screen has been replaced; so it was hardware finally...
Hi, i have same problem.. Black screen in recovery and during the boot. When the system boots, screen is OK. Sometimes i have also blackscreen when I want to use HW keyboard. I tried 4ext, reflash older versions of CW but still the same. I can see a screen through Android Screen Monitor and I can cotrol it. But phone is blak, only backlight. Can somebody say, how to solve this issue?
So, for other, if you cant see screen, you can use Android Screen Monitor for Windows and connect phone through USB and see a screen.
G1ForFun said:
A. They don't care if its rooted.
B. You can root stock Gingerbread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WAIT one minute... they don't care? where was I when this meeting took place?
I had this issue as well on a spare G2 I had.
The screen was just black but you could tell it was lit, hardware keys were lit as well.
The phone was actually my brothers and it rooted w/ CM7.
I ended up selling the phone as is on Ebay but after some research it was a failure in the hardware for the screen and I found extensive instructions on how to replace it that I didn't wish to do.
I never attempted to get it replaced and kind of wish I did now if they don't care about the device being rooted.
I purchased my G2 before he had his, and it's never had the issue so not sure what to think of it.
Saintfyre said:
I ended up selling the phone as is on Ebay but after some research it was a failure in the hardware for the screen and I found extensive instructions on how to replace it that I didn't wish to do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think I have similar issue, can you post where you found those instructions?
Thanks in advance!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-dR8CHEGjY&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA Premium App
I used the same tutorial to change the LCD but after I put the new its just the backlight but nothing else... I will give it another go maybe and have a look again at those ribbon cables! I guess...
---------- Post added at 10:59 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:09 AM ----------
I found on ebay: HTC-Desire-Z-T-Mobile-G2-A7272-Slide-Flex-Cable-Ribbon
or I found also with the chassis for a bit more.
Thinking to buy this, it would be great if anyone could confirm that it would help "my condition" ?
THanks in advance!
In terms of cables, yes the flex cables are what you want.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2

[Q]My phone will not boot, I keeps loop booting and won't get past the initial screen

Ok, I went to take a picture and it freaked the **** out. Now I rooted my phone when I got it, I have done nothing else other then Xposed modules and since it start acting up I've literally done nothing else. I only get the screen that says custom and then blah nothing else. I swapped battery (got another battery from samsung directly) and I have no idea wtf to do. Don't recommened ****ing flashing **** or whatever because I have everything stock. This should not happened. I wiped dalvik cache and cache and it was within recovery but my phone can't boot, I removed SD card, sim card and sometimes it'll boot be on for a couple minutes and bam same issue.... WHAT THE FLYING **** CAN I DO? I need this phone ASAP.... I'm this close to just tossing it over the edge and getting a new one.... it's a flying piece of **** and **** samsung!
You might have to start from scratch and determine if it's a hardware issue. Do you know what firmware you're on? Also back everything up because if you start from scratch, we'll that's the what you'll have.
Thanks, I managed to get it on again, made some calls uninstall some apps, but then it ****ing freaked out again. I have the firmware that was on when it was released. I got the first batch of 32gb's S4's haven't changed the firmware since... to prevent this type of ****. UGH! So after a phone call my phone just bleeped again and ****ed up. So I don't understand anything anymore.
rubsnick said:
Thanks, I managed to get it on again, made some calls uninstall some apps, but then it ****ing freaked out again. I have the firmware that was on when it was released. I got the first batch of 32gb's S4's haven't changed the firmware since... to prevent this type of ****. UGH! So after a phone call my phone just bleeped again and ****ed up. So I don't understand anything anymore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you used odin to flash mdl firmware?
I've done nothing in regards to flashing. I have not connected my phone to my computer. I've done nothing at all. other then keep trying to turn it on over and over again.
rubsnick said:
I've done nothing in regards to flashing. I have not connected my phone to my computer. I've done nothing at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well you might have to to see if it's a hardware issue. I would suggest flashing the firmware you're currently on through Odin
How am I supposed to do that if the phone just won't be recognized by anything? it's ****ing dead now. It shows me the Samsung Custom lock and logo and then nothing. I press the power button and nothing, I have to remove the batter and put it back in to see that screen.
Ok now it randomly is charging and now I can turn it on again, no problem, after I forcefully press the power button and some other random things... could I have an issue wiht my power button staying pressed? why would it do that? how can I fix this? I'm willing to open it up. I'm currently doing a backup in titanium backup and so far it seems ok. Recieved a phone call, phone is charging and everything is ok. how do I boot it into safe mode?
http://m.samsung.com/us/support/faq/FAQ00052827/62062/SGH-I337ZWAATT
Thanks, I believe the cause was a stuck power button.

Motorola Droid RAZR/Cyanogen mod problem?

I've had this Motorola Droid RAZR for like two years now and a friend of mine took it and worked on it, adding something called "Cyanogen Mod" and he 'rooted' it I believe? Ever since, phone has worked great. However, today I tapped the home button and the whole screen had a weird visual glitch where the wallpaper was entirely intact but the icons and such were only half appearing, like someone scratched them out with fingernails or something. It would go away and come back so I got frustrated and rebooted my phone. It starts up normally and goes to this screen where you can do different stuff with Cyanogen mod (like changing the rom? or changing boot options) and usually I just continue past that because for 1) I know nothing about it and 2) It always was fine. But when it did the typical boot up, it just skipped back to the first screen you get when you turn the phone on and repeats. It never goes to the second part of the Cyanogen Mod where the words appear and the little thing spins, it simply skips back to the screen you get when you power up and repeats. It keeps doing this and I looked online how to fix it, tried about twelve different things (like restoring different aspects and using different roms or making new roms) and it just didn't work. Eventually it got bugged out where the screen was just black, couldn't get it to do anything but reboot and go back to black. I let it sit until the battery ran dry I believe and now I'm at a brick wall.
Is there a way I can totally just revamp and start fresh? Like remove all of it and reinstall Cyanogen mod/the OS and all that jazz? I don't mind losing everything if I can just keep the phone, I don't pay for a cellphone and I don't want one I just use the droid for texting apps/games/reddit/etc. If anyone could help me save this thing I'd appreciate it.
Hi there,
Please stand by until mods will move this thread to the related forum for Droid RAZR.
For reply or ask other questions you must register an account.
Stand by
Hello? Can Somebody help me out, I've waited a couple days now and no one has said a thing?
You have safestrap installed, correct? If so, what version?
Dr. Mario said:
You have safestrap installed, correct? If so, what version?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How would I know if I had it installed? I remember when I booted up the phone something came on with a picture of a little robot that said "Safestrap Enabled" and then when I had this problem it was saying "Safestrap Disabled". I can't get the phone to turn on right now though, is there a way I can check what version I have another way?
Ah. I see. First. try entering Safestrap menu upon rebooting, instead of allowing it to boot normally, and look at ROM slot and see if custom OS' ROM slot is active. If it's there and is not active try reactivate it. If it won't budge, get microSD card and find XT910 (RAZR - spyder) CM 11. If you don't know what to pick, I will look in a bit.
Dr. Mario said:
Ah. I see. First. try entering Safestrap menu upon rebooting, instead of allowing it to boot normally, and look at ROM slot and see if custom OS' ROM slot is active. If it's there and is not active try reactivate it. If it won't budge, get microSD card and find XT910 (RAZR - spyder) CM 11. If you don't know what to pick, I will look in a bit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just tried booting it up, nothing is working I think the phone is dead. I plug it into the charger and only the notification light on the top left goes on a blueish white and stays on as long as it is plugged into the charger. Nothing will turn on at all and the phone doesn't seem to respond to anything. Is my phone just dead..?
Soft bricked. Try pushing both volume down and up button while plugged into either computer or charger, and hold down power button until it boots. I hope you won't need to buy Motorola factory cable at this point.
Let your device charge for a few hours until it boots up. Then boot it into APfastboot and flash the stock firmware with RSDLite.
ATTACK said:
Let your device charge for a few hours until it boots up. Then boot it into APfastboot and flash the stock firmware with RSDLite.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In English please?
Edit: Just plugged it in like you said and instantly the boot screen came on rather than simply that silly light so I think my phone is improving but I still would like to entirely revamp it or redo it or whatever you wanna call it so that everything is fresh and new and my phone is okay.
Good. I think it could be because the battery died somehow. Good thing the protection mechanism on the bootloader didn't have the wild idea of disabling the phone.

Phone vibrates but wont show screen?

So after i had sucessfuly rooted my galaxy, unlocked the bootloader and installed cm13 2-3 hrs later cm 13, starts to turn off the screen but stays working since i had it connected to pc and i was able to move files back and forth... now since i couldnt get it to stay working i decided to restore using twrp but after slidingto confirm the restore the phone immediately shuttled its self down, so i decided to flash stock rom which it did flash but with screen off while odin was doing its thing.... now when i turn it on i can hear sound but no image and for the screen to work i have to connected it to a power sourse first then turn it on but stays stuck on verizon screen loading!! so i flashed stock rom again but again same thing!! EDIT now afer it went past verizon screen it said set up wizard stopped working.... i have flashed stock rom like 5 times now..
Current status of phone: phone will turn on sometimes with visuals but most of the time you can listen to it booting with no visuals untill it reaches verizon and just hangs there, last time booted some kind of accecibility feature that telling me what the phone was doing at all times, just right after the verizon logo saying " set up wizard stopped working"
- i can access download mode and recovery mode sometimes with screen working and other times without it working so i might just be soft bricked maybe bootloader brick?
Flash stock firmware with Odin and immediately after flashing, wipe data/factory reset in recovery. Then reboot
Nandr0idC0nsumer said:
Flash stock firmware with Odin and immediately after flashing, wipe data/factory reset in recovery. Then reboot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This actually worked and booted the phone thanks man... however i dropped the phone and now when the screen do turns on but after couple of minets of usage like 3 minets the screen shuts off but the phone stays fully working, does this means that replacing the LCD will fix this? or maybe something inside is loose as a result of the drop?
Edit: actually after screen shuts down and i leave alone the phone shuts down completely and restarts when i attempt to push power or home buttons and after it restarts the screen is not visible anymore... so to get the screen to show again i have to remove the battery and wait couple of minets to put back on and sometimes this gets the screen to show but some times it doesn't... if i remove the battery and immediately put it back on this wont work i should mention
sn3pro said:
This actually worked and booted the phone thanks man... however i dropped the phone and now when the screen do turns on but after couple of minets of usage like 3 minets the screen shuts off but the phone stays fully working, does this means that replacing the LCD will fix this? or maybe something inside is loose as a result of the drop?
Edit: actually after screen shuts down and i leave alone the phone shuts down completely and restarts when i attempt to push power or home buttons and after it restarts the screen is not visible anymore... so to get the screen to show again i have to remove the battery and wait couple of minets to put back on and sometimes this gets the screen to show but some times it doesn't... if i remove the battery and immediately put it back on this wont work i should mention
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try opening it up with a heat gun and checking for loose connections.

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