Welcome to the 45th part in our series of troubleshooting articles dedicated to the Samsung Galaxy S4. We will be dealing with 15 issues that have been recently sent to us by our readers regarding this particular model. For those who don’t know yet, we have this service where we provide solutions and troubleshooting guides to our readers who are having problems with their mobile devices. We have already answered more than a hundred questions regarding this device alone and it looks like we will be answering hundreds more.
If you own a Galaxy S4 or any other Android device for that matter then feel free to email us regarding the issues you are facing with your device at mailbag@thedroidguy.com. This is a free service we are offering with no strings attached. We do however ask that when you send us an email try to be as detailed as possible so that an accurate assessment can be made and the correct solution can be given to you.
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S4 Will Not Boot Up
Problem: Hello. I have a problem with my Samsung galaxy s4. When I turn the power button on the device will show the galaxy s4 logo on the screen for 1-2 seconds and then the phone will switch off and it won’t start and boot up. I have tried various options such as changing my charger and battery however the problem still occurs. Is there anything you recommend to fix my phone and get it to switch on? I look forward from hearing from you. Thanks.
Solution: A phone that does not complete the boot process despite changing the battery could possibly be caused by a glitch in the software. Your approach of replacing the battery and charger helps eliminate any hardware related issues that concerns the power of your device. Now, it is time to check the software side of things. Follow the troubleshooting steps below to help resolve this issue.
Do a reset and clear your phone RAM.
Take out the battery
Take out the microSD (if your phone has one installed)
Press and hold the power button for around 3 minutes
Reinsert the battery (leave the microSD out at this time)
Turn on phone
By pressing and holding the power button you clear out any data that may be stored in the RAM of your phone. There is a possibility that the data may be corrupt which causes this issue. If your phone starts normally then reinsert the microSD.
Enter Android recovery then wipe the cache partition
Wiping the cache partition of your phone helps resolve several issues including the one you are facing right now. This is a recommended step to perform as this does not delete your personal data.
Turn off the device.
Press and hold the following three buttons at the same time: Volume Up key, Home key, Power key
When the phone vibrates, let go of the Power key but continue to press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key.
When the Android System Recovery screen appears, release the Volume Up and Home keys.
Press the Volume Down key to highlight ‘wipe cache partition.’
Press the Power key to select. The phone will automatically restart after the cache is wiped.
One final troubleshooting step that you can perform is to do an emergency firmware recovery using the latest Kies software installed in your computer. Take note that this will delete any data that is stored in your phone.
Launch Kies.
Go to Tools and choose Firmware Upgrade and Initialization.
Enter the name of your phone.
Input the model name of your Galaxy S4 (in CAPS). It is found at the back of its casing.
Select OK.
Kies will now verify if your device is supported along with a warning message saying that all data from your device will be deleted during the process.
Click OK if you agree with it.
After the previous item, Kies will download and initialize the firmware update. Wait until it finishes.
Just hit Continue with every warning message until you reach the emergency recovery process.
Don’t forget to put a check on the confirmation message saying, “I have read all of the above information” once you have performed all the required information in the window.
Configure your desired information saving option, connect to Kies and switch your phone to Recovery Mode.
Hit the Start Upgrade button and wait until the process finishes. Do not interrupt the process.
After you see a confirmation message saying that everything is complete, hit the OK button to finish.
S4 Cannot Send File Via Bluetooth
Problem: Hi, I came across your website when I was searching for answers about my Samsung galaxy S4, Model SGH-M919 smart phone. The problem I am having is that I cannot transfer pictures FROM my phone to my laptop or any other Bluetooth device. The phone receives pictures from other devices but does not transfer. At each transfer attempt I get the message “file not sent”. I have tried to send pictures to my laptop, which is a DELL, and to my HTC My Touch Phone. Both have Bluetooth. Both are paired with the Galaxy S4. I get the same message every time “file not sent”. I had the exact same phone earlier, which I had to return due to a malfunction. That phone never gave me this problem and I was able to transfer pictures and videos very easily from my phone to my laptop or to any other Bluetooth device. Is this a hardware problem with this phone? Should I return the phone for another one or can I change some settings to get this function working properly? I would really appreciate your help.
Solution: For this type of issue you should first check if your phone is running on the latest system software update. Software updates come with improvements and bug fixes that may help resolve this issue. After you have verified that your phone is running on the latest software it is time to proceed with the troubleshooting process.
You will need to unpair all Bluetooth devices stored in your phone.
Touch Applications.
Scroll to and touch Settings.
Touch Bluetooth.
Touch the Options icon next to the device you want to unpair.
Touch Unpair.
The pairing has been removed.
Restart your phone
The next step is to pair your phone with one Bluetooth device first (I suggest doing so with your PC)
Make sure the Bluetooth feature of your PC is turned on.
Using your Galaxy S4, press the Menu button.
Proceed to Settings.
Go to Connections.
Navigate your way to the Bluetooth option.
Then, slide the switch to the right of the Bluetooth option to activate it. This will immediately start looking for devices that are Bluetooth enabled. The other devices that it will detect will be listed below the “Available devices” section.
Tap the device that you want to pair with your phone.
Enter a passkey that will be required by the devices.
Locate the file that you wish to send and choose in the Sending options the “Via Bluetooth” command.
If you are still getting the error message then check the Bluetooth settings of your PC.
Go to “Devices and Printers” —> Bluetooth Devices –> Double Click your Phone (This should open the “Blue Tooth Device Control” window).
Scroll down to “Authorization” Options–> Check “Always allow this device to connect for all operations”
Click “Apply”
Close the window.
Go to the Task Bar’s Notification Area (Bottom Right Corner of your Screen) you should usually see Bluetooth Icon.
Right Click on the “Bluetooth” icon in your notification area of Windows Taskbar–> select “Open Setting”–>”Bluetooth Settings” window should pop up–>Make sure on the “Options” tab: All items are checked except “Turn off Bluetooth adapter” this must be unchecked otherwise your Bluetooth adapter will switch off.
Go to “Share” tab–> Check the box “Allow remote device to browse, send and receive pictures, music, and other files”.
Click OK to close this window.
Try sending a file to your PC.
S4 Battery Drain Issue
Problem: Hi, I was viewing your webpage regarding the problems with the galaxy s4. I am having problem with mine, basically I am losing around 1% battery every few minutes. I charged it to 100% last night when I got up this morning it said connect to charger. I have tried everything I can think of such as putting my power save mode on. The brightness is right down I have disabled apps I don’t use. I installed a battery doctor app that says my battery is healthy. I asked today in an EE store and the guy suggested checking the software. I am up to date with my software updates. I am getting really frustrated with this issue now and concerned that constant charging the battery will cause problems with the phone. I searched online seems a few people are having this problem but nobody seems to have a solution to fix this. I am hoping you’ll be able to help as any suggestions would be really helpful. Thank you.
Solution: When your phone drains the power of your battery at a fast rate it could mean that an app or a service is constantly activated or that your battery or microSD is already faulty. The first thing that you should do is to check the battery usage statistics of your phone. You can do this by going to Settings then clicking on Battery. Under Battery check on the statistics for battery use since unplugged. If you find several third party apps that are on top of the list which you don’t really use then you might want to uninstall them. In cases where a service that you don’t need is consuming a lot of your battery power then you might want to consider doing a factory reset on your phone. Make sure to back up your data as this will be deleted in the process.
Turn off the device.
Press and hold the following three buttons at the same time: Volume Up key, Home key, Power key.
When the phone vibrates, release the Power key but continue to press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key.
When the Android System Recovery screen appears, release the Volume Up and Home keys.
Press the Volume down key several times key to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset.’
Press Power button to select.
Press the Volume down key until ‘delete all user data’ is highlighted.
Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
Press the Power key to restart the device.
If after performing a factory reset your phone battery is still draining at a fast rate then you should consider replacing your battery.
You should also try to remove the microSD and see if the battery life of your phone improves.
S4 Not Receiving Text Messages
Problem: (1) Our family has 4 Samsung s4 phones all on same uscellular plan. One daughter texts me often during the day from 1 1/2 hours away. I receive some texts from her and many others are not received by me. As far as we know it is just hers and my texting that is affected it also appears that she receives all my texts I just don’t receive all of hers not just replies all texts I work in a school where reception isn’t great. However I miss texts from her on the weekends from different locations. I miss them from her wherever she is and from wherever she is…it is very bothersome…she is young and I depend on her texts to let me know all is well with her etc.
(2) I have a Samsung galaxy s4 from straight talk and up until a week ago my text messaging was working fine. Now a lot of my friends and family get my text messages but I cannot get there’s. Is there a setting I messed with or something I did to mess this up? My mom said up until my messaging messed up our conversations on her Verizon iPhone 4S were green when we’re talking but now they are blue. Thank you.
Solution: These two issues sent by two of our readers are similar in nature which is why I bundled them together. The first thing that needs to be done in cases like this is to check for any new software updates. A new update comes with improvements and bug fixes that may help resolve this issue.
Before troubleshooting the phone itself it is best to contact your network provider to check the status of your account. Any troubleshooting step that you do on your phone will not work if the issue is account related.
Once you have verified that your account is normal then proceed with the troubleshooting steps below.
With your phone turned on remove the battery and the SIM card. Reinsert the battery (don’t insert the SIM yet) then turn your phone on. Wait for a minute or two then turn off your phone and insert the SIM card. Turn your phone on then check if you are still getting any text messaging issues.
If the problem is still present then you can perform a factory reset on your phone. Just make sure to back up your data first as this will be deleted in the process.
Turn off the device.
Press and hold the following three buttons at the same time: Volume Up key, Home key, Power key.
When the phone vibrates, release the Power key but continue to press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key.
When the Android System Recovery screen appears, release the Volume Up and Home keys.
Press the Volume down key several times key to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset.’
Press Power button to select.
Press the Volume down key until ‘delete all user data’ is highlighted.
Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
Press the Power key to restart the device.
S4 AccuWeather Goes Black
Problem: I have an SGS4 LTE-A (I9506). Since updating to android 4.4.2 (non root), the AccuWeather widget would at times (only some times, but enough to be annoying) go completely black, when I tap on it to get the weekly forecast, and to fix this, I would either have to, delete the widget off the page, or restart my device.
Solution: If the problem is only confined with this particular app then the troubleshooting that we will do will be concentrated in this app alone.
The first thing you need to do is to clear the cache and data of this app. You will need to do a setup of the app once this is accomplished.
From the home screen, tap Apps.
Scroll to and tap Settings.
Tap More.
Tap Application manager.
Swipe left to view the All tab.
Scroll to and tap on your AccuWeather application.
Tap Clear cache.
Tap Clear Data
You’ve now cleared the application cache and data.
If the problem still persists then uninstall the app and install it again. Make sure you get the latest version from the Google Play Store.
S4 No Sound During Calls
Problem: Good Afternoon. Thanks for your help. I have a Samsung Galaxy 4 with the exact same issue as Part 36 Galaxy s4 No Sound During Calls. I am with Verizon and got this phone 3 weeks ago. Within a week it happened, so Verizon did a factory reset, which lasted a week. I brought it back in to Verizon, they gave it a new SIM card and refreshed my Verizon account and number. That lasted 20 minutes, so went back and they sent me a new phone. It lasted a week, so I went in to Verizon today and they are sending me a 3rd phone. I have 4.4.2 version. The factory reset didn’t work. I tried your suggestion about Safe Mode and that lasted a couple of days. Please help me this is driving me crazy. Thank you.
Solution: If the issue goes away after a factory reset or when your phone is in Safe Mode then there must be an app that you installed that is causing this issue. You mentioned that a third phone is on its way. Once you receive this phone try to use the phone with its default apps and observe if the call issue is present. If not then install your favorite apps on at a time. Check the call issue after every app that you install and see if it occurs. If the issue appears after installing a particular app then that app is the culprit.
S4 Not Connecting to Wi-Fi
Problem: Hi guys. I have a Galaxy S4 Active. Great phone, really like it. I’ve had a couple issues with it in the last couple of months. I’m going to give you an overview of events leading up to my current problem. Around August 2014 I started having issues with my battery dying quicker than usual. I’m out of warranty, so there was no use calling to see about a replacement phone. I tried a few different things based off suggestions I’ve found online from chat posts. Taking battery out, cleaning the contacts, fully charging on off, etc. Seemed to help a little, but not a whole lot. September-ish it started only lasting maybe 8 hours before I had to charge it again. I work for an outdoor company where we outfit people to go on canoe trips. Most of my day is me driving customers to and from entry points in the woods, in and out of both 4g, Wi-fi, and even cell service. I don’t use my phone during the drive, except to check time or if there is an emergency. Days like this my phone battery would last all day long plus. I bought a new battery, but that didn’t seem to work either. I called ATT end of September to see their suggestions for bad battery, and after telling them the above paragraphs they said it was probably something more internally on the phone and to do a factory reset. I’ve done the factory reset. This has helped the battery more than the other options. However, my new problem was that I couldn’t get my phone to connect to Wi-fi. The only way to do so was to turn the phone off, turn it on in safe mode, turn it off, then turn it back on. Because of this, and the att tech couldn’t figure out why, they did a warranty replacement on my phone. I’ve gotten the new phone, and set it up last night. When I first turned it on and set everything up, it detected my home wifi( no password) right away and connected on its own. Last night I left my house to go up town, came home, and it did NOT connect to the Wi-fi. It detected in, saved it, but just didn’t connect to it. I called ATT and they said I had the ‘Auto Network Switch’ not checked. So the tech said to keep that one, plus ‘Auto Connect’ both with a check mark. I’ve done that, and it still doesn’t connect to Wi-Fi unless I turn the device off, then turn it back on. My place of work also has an unsecured ( free to public) Wi-fi. It detects and saves it. But doesn’t connect to it. What else can I do? I really don’t want to send this phone back for another warranty replacement. Is there something else that I am missing? I really like this phone, and never had any of these issues over the last year I’ve had it. Thanks for reading and hopefully you will have time to respond to me, and even better with an answer to what my next step is.
Solution: There have been several reported cases of the S4 having a problem connecting to Wi-Fi networks. Samsung has previously acknowledged that the issue is prevalent when the phone tries to connect to a D-Link branded router. It appears that the issue is with the firmware of the router and can be resolved by a firmware update or a reboot of the router.
To cover all bases you should also check if your phone is running on the latest system update. These updates come with improvements and bug fixes that may help resolve this issue.
S4 Network Connection Issues
Problem: I’m using an AT&T Galaxy S4 on Cricket wireless, my husband is also using an AT&T Galaxy S4 on Cricket Wireless. We can both be in the same location and his phone will have a good connection while mine will have one bar and often show no connection for data or voice. My phone cannot connect in any way to a tower when I’m in my office at work yet my husbands S4 works fine. Both phones are updated with Android 4.4.2, however mine has a different build number than his. My build number is KOT49H.i337UCUFNI1. I’ve done a lot of searching online and thought maybe my problem was Lte, so I’ve played with changing how it connects by using *#2263# and trying different choices. All of them seem to give me the same problem with the phone being slow to find the tower and connect if at all even in an open space with a direct line of sight to the tower, eventually it does connect but is very sensitive to staying connected and rarely gives me full bars. Any suggestions will be appreciated, I also have a question about future updates for the phone as Android versions are distributed through the carrier and since I’m using an AT&T phone on Cricket will I get future updates when they are distributed or is there another way to get the updates? I’m hoping maybe an update will fix this problem as I’m seeing this all over the internet as a common problem. Thank you.
Solution: It appears that this may already be a hardware related issue seeing that the S4 of your husband gets good reception while your phone does not get any signal even in the same area. Before bringing your phone to an authorized service center try to perform the following troubleshooting steps below which may help resolve the issue.
Do a soft reset
Press and hold the Power key, tap Power off, and then tap OK to turn your Samsung Galaxy S 4 off.
Remove the battery. After 30 seconds, reinsert the battery.
Press and hold the Power key to turn your Samsung Galaxy S 4 back on.
Test your device to see if the issue is resolved.
You should also check if this issue is account related by trying a different SIM on your phone. Try to insert your husband’s SIM in your phone. If the phone gets a good signal then you should have your SIM replaced.
One final troubleshooting step that you could do is a factory reset. Make sure to back up your data first before proceeding.
Turn off the device.
Press and hold the following three buttons at the same time: Volume Up key, Home key, Power key.
When the phone vibrates, release the Power key but continue to press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key.
When the Android System Recovery screen appears, release the Volume Up and Home keys.
Press the Volume down key several times key to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset.’
Press Power button to select.
Press the Volume down key until ‘delete all user data’ is highlighted.
Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
Press the Power key to restart the device.
As far as updates go since AT&T has acquired Leap Wireless International which operates Cricket you should be able to get future software updates on Cricket.
S4 “your device has been modified. Software updated are not available” Issue
Problem: Hi I have the T-Mobile galaxy s4 SGH-M919 about 4 months ago I had rooted it and put a new rom into it I had put the insane kit kat rom in it and yesterday I changed it back to normal. I wanted to update it because it is in 4.4.2 and it did not let me it said “your device has been modified. Software updated are not available” I had followed the steps and it still didn’t work. Please help.
Solution: Whenever you root your S4 or install a custom ROM you will not be able to get the official updates anymore. Reverting the phone to its unrooted state and bringing back the stock firmware is not enough since you will still be getting the “your device has been modified. Software updated are not available” error message.
There is a guide over at the xda-forum which details the procedure on how to return your phone to its official stock firmware and have support for software updates. I suggest you go to this link. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2336392.
S4 Instagram Video Issue
Problem: Hi! I’m having trouble using the video feature on instagram, every time I try to press the video button it always says something like “check SD card or disconnect phone from computer”. I have my SD card in and my phone is not connected in my computer. I don’t know what to do, can you help? Thanks.
Solution: It appears that the problem is with the Instagram app itself or the microSD card of your phone. Follow the troubleshooting steps below to resolve the issue.
Clear the cache and data of your Instagram app. You will need to setup the app again.
From the home screen, tap Apps.
Scroll to and tap Settings.
Tap More.
Tap Application manager.
Swipe left to view the All tab.
Scroll to and tap on your Instagram application.
Tap Clear cache.
Tap Clear Data
You’ve now cleared the application cache and data.
If the problem is still present then uninstall the app and reinstall it from the Google Play Store.
You should also try replacing your microSD with a new one to eliminate any storage related issues.
S4 Text Messages Wrong Timestamp
Problem: Hi, so recently my phone has decided that when I’m texting someone its sending their texts at a different time then mine, we both live in the same city, and we both use a Samsung galaxy s4, I’d like to figure out how to fix this issue that way I don’t have to scroll up through my msgs to see the whole conversation, it only just started but i tried pulling the battery, i tried resetting the phone, and nothing seemed to work, is there anything you van suggest to help me fix this? Hope your able to help, would be appreciated.
Solution: One of the most common causes of the SMS timestamp issue in the S4 is an incorrect time and date configuration.
Go to Settings.
Select the More tab.
Proceed to Date and Time.
Check Automatic Date and Time to synchronize your clock with your network provider.
The above solution solves most time related message issues. If the issue still occurs then proceed with the next step below.
Clear the messaging app cache
From the home screen, tap Apps.
Scroll to and tap Settings.
Tap More.
Tap Application manager.
Swipe left to view the All tab.
Scroll to and tap on your Messaging application.
Tap Clear cache.
You’ve now cleared the application cache.
S4 Does Not Turn On After Charging
Problem: Hi, I’m hoping you can help me with this. I have a Samsung Galaxy S4 i9505 model. I was charging my phone on a portable charge noticed the phone was getting hot. Stopped the charger but the phone would not turn on. The battery was charged to about 70%. I tried taking out the battery and putting it back in and nothing. I bought two other replacement batteries and still no luck. I charged them both for about an hour then tried turning it on. Tried the safe mode start up too. It doesn’t even show the charging light at the top like it used to. I also noticed the phone no matter which battery was getting hot again. I am using the charger I got with the phone. Not sure what else you need to know but I’d appreciate any help or advice. Thanks.
Solution: Try to do a reset on your phone while clearing out its RAM. A corrupted data in your phone RAM may prevent your phone from booting up.
Turn off phone
Take out the battery
Take out the microSD (if you have one installed)
Press and hold the power button for around 3 minutes
Reinsert the battery (leave the microSD out)
Turn on phone.
If the above procedure does not work then plug in the original wall charger and connect it to your phone. You should then try to access the Android recovery mode and wipe the cache partition.
Turn off the device.
Press and hold the following three buttons at the same time: Volume Up key, Home key, Power key
When the phone vibrates, let go of the Power key but continue to press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key.
When the Android System Recovery screen appears, release the Volume Up and Home keys.
Press the Volume Down key to highlight ‘wipe cache partition.’
Press the Power key to select. The phone will automatically restart after the cache is wiped.
One final troubleshooting step that you can perform is to do an emergency firmware recovery using the latest Kies software installed in your computer. Take note that this will delete any data that is stored in your phone.
Launch Kies.
Go to Tools and choose Firmware Upgrade and Initialization.
Enter the name of your phone.
Input the model name of your Galaxy S4 (in CAPS). It is found at the back of its casing.
Select OK.
Kies will now verify if your device is supported along with a warning message saying that all data from your device will be deleted during the process.
Click OK if you agree with it.
After the previous item, Kies will download and initialize the firmware update. Wait until it finishes.
Just hit Continue with every warning message until you reach the emergency recovery process.
Don’t forget to put a check on the confirmation message saying, “I have read all of the above information” once you have performed all the required information in the window.
Configure your desired information saving option, connect to Kies and switch your phone to Recovery Mode.
Hit the Start Upgrade button and wait until the process finishes. Do not interrupt the process.
After you see a confirmation message saying that everything is complete, hit the OK button to finish.
S4 Screen Flickering Issue
Problem: I have an S4 black edition. I have this flickering issues when playing games like clash of clans the screen just auto rotates and goes back normally. When using apps the screen flickers too much. Can you please solve the problem? Thank you.
Solution: Most owners of the S4 who are experiencing this same issue say that adjusting the screen brightness to a higher level minimizes the screen flickering. You should also try checking for any new software updates available for your device and install them. These updates come with improvements and bug fixes that may help resolve the issue.
S4 No Display After Disassembly
Problem: My husband took his phone apart to remove a piece of plastic that was stuck in the head phone jack. He followed directions from a YouTube video on how to take a galaxy s4 apart and reassemble. When he reassembled reconnected all the sensors and turned the phone back on the screen is just black the phone is on cause there are notifications coming in and the blue light blinks on the upper left hand corner. If you need more info please ask otherwise if you know a solution please help. Also we have tried to hold the volume down, home and power button at the same time but nothing happened.
Solution: Since this problem occurred right after the phone was taken apart then something might have gone wrong during the reassembly process. I suggest retracing the steps done by taking the phone apart again and carefully reassembling it.
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The post Samsung Galaxy S4 Problems, Errors, Glitches and Solutions [Part 45] appeared first on The Droid Guy.