Hey guys, welcome to the 49th part of our Samsung Galaxy Note 3 problems troubleshooting series. There are a dozen problems I addressed in this post so take time to browse through it to see if your problem is included here. Judging from the number of emails in our inbox, I’m sure we will still be publishing more support articles in the following weeks and months.
If you’ve been following this series, you know we already addressed more than 500 problems. You can find them through our Galaxy Note 3 Troubleshooting page. So, if you have an issue with your phone, visit the page and try our solutions or troubleshooting guides. If they don’t work, email us at mailbag@thedroidguy.com and provide as much details as possible so that we can easily and accurately assess your concerns. We also use our Facebook wall and Google+ page to help our readers so feel free to post your concerns there.
Click on a link to jump to a problem:
Solution to No Text Message Notifications
Keeps Rebooting, Power Key Won’t Respond
Shows Google Play Service has Stopped
Keyboard Stopped Responding After Update
Contacts are Being Updated Error
Can’t Find Songs from the SD Card
S Voice Stopped Working Error
Is It Possible to Uninstall System Update?
Won’t Auto Connect to Mobile Data / WiFi
Google Play Store Crashed After an Update
Won’t Turn On, Keeps Vibrating Every Few Seconds
Apps Greyed Out on Galaxy Note 3
Solution to No Text Message Notifications
Description: One of our readers shared how she fixed an issue with her Galaxy Note 3. According to her, the troubleshooting procedures we provided didn’t work for her. She wanted to share how she fixed the problem in case other users may experience it. Here’s her actual email:
Solution: Hello, I wanted to let you know what finally worked for me for the issue of not receiving text message notifications (sound or status bar) when using the native message app on my Note 3.
I tried your suggestions of clearing cache partition and also started it in safe mode. Neither of those things worked. I also unmounted the SD card in case it was corrupted, as someone suggested on a Droid forum. That didn’t work either.
This was only a problem when using the Samsung native message app. I was using Handcent with no problems.
I finally went into application manager and went to ALL, clicked on MESSAGES, and cleared that cache. Now I’m getting the notification sound and icon in the status bar. I don’t know why, but apparently clearing the cache partition didn’t clear the individual app cache (?); I’m not a techy so I don’t know if that makes sense or not.
Anyway, I wanted to let you know in case you still get questions on that issue.
Thank you for your website! It’s so helpful. — Charlene
Thanks, Charlene.
Galaxy Note 3 Keeps Rebooting, Power Key Won’t Respond
Problem: My Note 3 keeps rebooting and is very unstable. It started doing this a few months ago. I read your fix on safe mode start and removing recent apps.
I can’t shut down my phone unless I pull the battery.
How do I start it in safe mode.
I have done a factory reset and removed a few apps. Thanks, Clark.
Troubleshooting: Hey Clark. Based on your description, the problem may be caused by a stuck Power key. But I wonder, does the phone respond normally to Power key press when it’s turned off? I am interested to know the behavior of the phone when you press the Power key while it is on or off.
Just in case it is a stuck power key, try to press it many times to see if you can fix it. If not, you’ll probably need help from a technician. By the way, to boot the phone in safe mode, follow these steps:
Turn the device off.
Press and hold the Power
When ‘GALAXY Note 3′ appears on the screen, release the Power Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.
Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
‘Safe mode’ will display in the bottom left corner of the screen. Release the Volume down key when you see ‘Safe Mode.’
Galaxy Note 2 Shows Google Play Service has Stopped
Problem: Hi Droid Guy, for over a month now I keep getting an error message stating “Unfortunately, google Play Service stopped working” on my Galaxy Note 3. Should I uninstall the app from device settings then reinstall it (updates)? Can you please help? Thanks, Brian.
Troubleshooting: Hey Brian. If your phone is running the stock firmware, there’s no way you can uninstall Google Play Store from your device. But I’m wondering, what happened to your phone a month ago why it’s showing this error message. Google Play Store is a stock app not to mention very important. So, if it crashes, there must be a serious issue with the firmware. Try uninstalling the updates, then clear its cache and data. If none of these procedures work, then proceed with master reset (via recovery mode).
However, if you flashed a custom ROM to your phone and then this problem started, odds are some of the parts of the ROM are corrupt or you just need to re-flash it.
Galaxy Note 3 Keyboard Stopped Responding After Update
Problem: Hi, I have a note 3 and just the other day I upgraded my software on my phone via odin. Since I put my phone on after the software installation, my keyboard is not responding at all and I can’t type anything and just a few seconds after each other, I receive the message “Unfortunately, Samsung keyboard has stopped.” Please help me fix this problem. Kind Regards, Dylan.
Troubleshooting: Hey Dylan. It’s probably just a glitch in the firmware or a corrupt cache. I think wiping the cache partition will fix this issue. The procedure will delete all caches in the partition forcing the phone to create new caches for the current system.
Turn off the device.
Press and hold the following three buttons at the same time: Volume Up key, Home key, and Power
When ‘GALAXY Note 3′ appears on the screen, let go of the Power key but continue to press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home
When the Android System Recovery screen appears, release the Volume Up and Home
Press the Volume Down key to highlight ‘wipe cache partition.’
Press the Power key to select and wipe the cache.
With ‘reboot system now’ highlighted, press the Power key to restart the device.
Galaxy Note 3 Contacts are Being Updated Error
Problem: Dear Sir, I recently purchase Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and all of a sudden my all contacts have been just missing and I got the message – Contact list is being updated and it does not show any contact or my phone book details.
Please inform me the solution. I have already removed Camera and Whattsapp data to free some inbuild memory. Thanks & Regards, S. K. Sharma.
Troubleshooting: We can consider this issue a glitch, although, there were cases the this problem occurred due to issues with Google servers. The first thing I want you to do is boot the phone in safe mode:
Turn the device off.
Press and hold the Power
When ‘GALAXY Note 3′ appears on the screen, release the Power Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.
Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
‘Safe mode’ will display in the bottom left corner of the screen. Release the Volume down key when you see ‘Safe Mode.’
Once the phone is already in safe mode, follow these steps:
Sync your contacts with your Google account to backup your contacts.
To make sure you have a hard backup, export contacts to your microSD card.
Go to the Application Manager and tap Contacts.
Tap both the Clear Cache and Clear Data buttons.
Galaxy Note 3 Can’t Find Songs from the SD Card
Problem: I bought a memory card to download more music and I can’t find the songs on my memory card. Why is that? When I go to my music file, the music will not play, it says it’s not supported. Please help.
Related Problem: My microSD card is new and I placed all my music in it then mounted it on my phone, a Galaxy Note 3. When I open the Music app, there’s no songs listed, not even one. So, I’m thinking may be the SD card isn’t compatible with my device or is it? Not a really a tech person so I’m a bit disappointed having this issue. If you could just help me with it, I would very much grateful for all the hard work you guys are doing. — Maricar
Troubleshooting: The first problem in this section apparently says about the music files being incompatible or unreadable by the Android system. I’m not sure in what format the music files were saved but it’s clear they couldn’t be played unless they are converted to Android-readable format like .mp3, .wav, etc. There are countless free music converters online so take time to convert those music tracks. I suggest you use the universal music format–MP3.
Now, the second problem is more of a microSD card issue than file format problem. I understand the card is new and I think it hasn’t been formatted in a format readable to Android. To fix this issue follow this simple tutorial I outlined for you:
Unmount the microSD card from the phone.
Insert it into a card reader, then to your laptop or computer.
Now, reformat the microSD card using FAT32 format.
Mount the microSD card to your phone back and it should be working by now.
Galaxy Note 3 S Voice Stopped Working Error
Problem: Unfortunately, S voice has stopped working. Is the message I get when I double tap the home button. How can I fix. Thank you.
Related Problem: Hi. I need your help. My phone is a Galaxy Note 3 and many times a day the error messages “Unfortunately, S Voice has stopped working” will pop up freezing my phone. When I close the pop up window, there are times that my phone remains frozen and I need to remove the battery and restart it. It will work for several hours then the pop up error will show again and the cycle repeats several times a day. I really don’t know what’s wrong with let alone how to fix it. I need your help. Thanks. — Che
Troubleshooting: More often when pre-installed apps or features crash, it is just a glitch. So, if it’s the first time you encountered this problem, don’t forget reboot your phone.
There were reports from other owners who also experienced this problem suggesting some apps may cause the error. That’s the next thing you need to rule out. You can do so by booting the Note 3 in safe mode:
Turn the device off.
Press and hold the Power
When ‘GALAXY Note 3′ appears on the screen, release the Power Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.
Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
‘Safe mode’ will display in the bottom left corner of the screen. Release the Volume down key when you see ‘Safe Mode.’
Once in safe mode, it’s either the problem will persist or disappear. If the error message doesn’t pop up, then it means one of the third-party apps was causing the problem. Find that app and uninstall it. Begin troubleshooting apps that also use voice recognition or those that are connected to S Voice.
If the problem persists after uninstalling suspected apps, then it’s time you backed up all your data and perform factory reset. However, if you’re running a custom ROM on your device, it would be wise that you re-flash the ROM especially if S Voice was working fine after you first flashed the custom firmware.
Is It Possible to Uninstall System Update on Note 3?
Question: Hi, I recently had a system update installed on my note 3 and quite frankly its f***ed up pretty much everything on my phone. My swipe isn’t working properly, my texts and calls are being dropped or not sending at all. What I’m getting at here is, is it possible to uninstall a system update? Thank you. Sincerely,
David.
Answer: No, it’s not possible to uninstall firmware updates, however, it is possible to re-install the previous firmware version. You just have to download the correct Android version and then download Odin. Once the firmware and Odin is ready, boot your phone in download mode, connect your phone to your computer, run Odin and flash or install the firmware.
I’m not sure if you are interested in troubleshooting your phone but if you do, hard reset may be able to fix the issue. The process is quicker than re-flashing the previous version but its your call if you want to do it or not. In case you want to try it, I suggest you take the more effective way through recovery mode.
Turn off the device.
Press and hold the following three buttons at the same time: Volume Up key, Home key, and Power
When ‘GALAXY Note 3′ appears on the screen, let go of the Power key but continue to press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home
When the Android System Recovery screen appears, release the Volume Up and Home
Press the Volume Down key to highlight ‘wipe cache partition.’
Press the Power key to select and wipe the cache.
With ‘reboot system now’ highlighted, press the Power key to restart the device.
Galaxy Note 3 Won’t Auto Connect to Mobile Data / WiFi
Problem: Hello guys, thanks for being so helpful. First and foremost, I want to let you know I’m not, in any way, a tech person. I’m scared of messing up settings on my phone, however, I’m afraid that’s what happened when I tried changing some settings for my WiFi. The problem is, the phone doesn’t automatically connect to mobile data or WiFi. This feature is very important to me because I only connect to mobile data when I’m in the office. At home, I have WiFi and prior to this problem, the phone automatically connect to my network. Now, I will have to manually connect to it, which is very inconvenient for me.
I don’t know if I have provided you all the details but that’s my problem. What I want is to make my phone connect automatically to mobile data and WiFi. Can you help me with this, please? — Janice
Troubleshooting: Hi Janice. Don’t worry, you can fix this problem with your eyes closed. In fact, it’s not a problem at all. There’s just one setting that you need to enable. Follow the steps below and you’ll be fine:
From the Home screen, tap the Menu key.
Tap Settings then touch the Connections tab.
Tap WiFi, then tap the Menu key again.
Touch Advanced.
Tick the option Auto Connect.
I hope this helps, Janice.
Google Play Store Crashed After an Update on Note 3
Problem: Hi droid guys. There’s a serious problem with my Galaxy Note 3. Every time I open the Google Play Store app, I am greeted by the error message “Unfortunately, Google Play has stopped working.” There are a few times that I can open the app successfully but when I try to download an app, either the download won’t push through or the error pops up again. This error started after an update. I’m not sure what kind of update but there was one. So far, there are no other error messages and all apps but the Play Store work. Do you know how to fix this? — Jade
Troubleshooting: Hi Jade. If there was an update prior to this problem and that all other apps are working fine, then I believe it wasn’t for the firmware but for some of the apps including the Play Store. When troubleshooting this kind of problem, always take the safest route. That said, try clearing the cache and data of the Google Play Store first.
From the Home screen, tap the Apps
Choose Settings, and tap General
Scroll down to Device manager section and tap Application manager.
Scroll to the right to display contents of ALL
Scroll down to find the Google Play Store and tap on it.
Now tap the Clear Cache button, then the Clear Data button and tap OK.
After doing this procedure and the problem persists, then uninstall the updates. Just follow the same steps but instead of tapping the Clear Cache and Clear Data buttons, tap Uninstall Updates. Only updates of the Play Store will be uninstalled and it should work after that.
Galaxy Note 3 Won’t Turn On, Keeps Vibrating Every Few Seconds
Problem: Hi droid guys, I’m so happy I found your site. I have a problem with my Galaxy Note 3 that I can’t figure out and it started out of the blue without apparent reason. When I hit the power button to turn it on, it won’t respond but what I’m really worried about is it vibrates every few seconds. The phone hasn’t been dropped or got wet. It’s still 4 months old so I’m really upset that this problem happened to me when all I did was take care of the device.
This morning I called my provider and the rep didn’t know what to do about it. He tried a lot of troubleshooting steps like pressing the power button, home button and volume key but nothing happened. Honestly, I’m really frustrated that no one seems to know what the problem is. So, if you guys know how to go about it, please help me. Thanks in advance. — Monica
Troubleshooting: Hi Monica. Based on your description, I think the problem is with a stuck Power button. Don’t ask me how it got stuck because I don’t know but there’s also a chance that the Power switch is already damaged.
The best thing you can do is try to get the button from being stuck by pressing it many times. If you have a case, remove it as it may have also contributed to the problem. There’s no requirement as to how many times you have to press the power key as long as you can fix it. If, however, the problem persists, then it’s time you sent it in for repair. It’s probably a damaged Power switch issue.
Apps Greyed Out on Galaxy Note 3
Problem: I have a 32GB microSD card that I mounted on my Note 3. I moved many of the downloaded apps into the card to free up some space in the phone’s internal memory. Just recently, I noticed that from time to time the icons of the apps stored in the SD card are greyed out, but then they will be back to normal on their own. Today, however, the icons remained greyed out. I already rebooted the phone a million times but the problem remained. I really don’t know what caused this or how to fix this. Please help me. — Gil
Troubleshooting: Hey Gil, it’s your microSD card that has a problem. The phone cannot detect it or read from it anymore that’s why apps that were moved there became unavailable and their icons greyed out. Let me explain briefly why it happens. When apps are “moved to SD card” majority of the files are saved into the external storage leaving a few files in the phone’s storage. That is why, these apps cannot run but are still visible, although they’re greyed out.
Try unmounting the SD card and mount it back to see if the phone can still read from it. If not, then there’s a possibility you will lose all your data in it. Try using a laptop or computer to read from it and if the card can still be read by the computer, use the opportunity to backup your data. If, however, the computer will prompt you immediately to reformat the card, then it is probably corrupted or worse, damaged.
If you want to reformat the card, use the FAT32 format. After that, mount it on your phone and see if it can detect it. If so, then you’ll have to reinstall your apps. Otherwise, it’s time you bought a new card.
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