If the device is unable to turn on after the update but the LED above the screen is flashing there is a chance that the system is crashing. More often than not, this problem is caused by corrupted files and data or there's an app preventing the device from booting up. On the other hand, this symptom can be triggered as well if the device was dropped to a hard surface or has a history of liquid damage. So, in this post, we will have to determine all possibilities that might trigger the issue until we can formulate a solution and fix it if possible.
Here's the step by step troubleshooting that you should do on your Samsung Galaxy S4
Step 1: Perform Battery-pull procedure
If you didn't tried restarting your phone, then this is the right time that you should do it. Some users called this as "Soft reset", meaning, you have to remove the battery of the device to refresh its memory and close all apps running in the background. Once the battery is removed, press and hold the Power key for 10 seconds to release all stored electricity in the hardware components. After you do so, turn on your phone and see it it will, if not, jump over to the next step.
Step 2: Be sure that the battery is fully charge
In this method, we need to be sure its not an empty battery is causing the problem by connecting it to the charger and see if it is responding. If it is, leave the device until the battery is full and perform again the first procedure while it is connected to the charger. But if your phone still unable to power on, proceed to the next method.
Step 3: Attempt to boot your phone in Safe mode
Since, the system has been updated its not far that some of the apps were having issues due to the newly installed firmware and might preventing the firmware from booting up. So, through this mode, all third-party apps won't be loaded temporarily and only the pre-installed will be running in the system. If the device turn on while in this mode, then a rogue app is causing it. Find that one and uninstall each app you have downloaded starting from the recent one you have installed until the problem is resolved.
- Turn off your device.
- Press and hold the Power button.
- Once the Samsung Galaxy S4 logo appears on the screen, release the Power button.
- As soon as you release the Power button, press and hold the Volume Down key.
- Continue holding the Volume Down key until the phone has completed the reboot process.
- If you can read 'Safe Mode' at the bottom left corner of the screen, release the Volume Down key. Otherwise, repeat the until you can boot the phone in Safe mode.
However, if booting in Safe mode still unsuccessful, proceed to the next procedure.
Step 4: Wipe the System Cache Partition via Recovery mode
In this instance, we have to boot your phone in recovery mode to verify if all hardware components are all fine. So, even if the device does have a serious firmware problem your phone will still boot up once you perform this method. If your S4 successfully turned on in this mode, you can proceed to the next method by wiping the system cache partition so that newer files will be created. Here's how:
- Press and hold the Volume Up, Home and Power buttons.
- Release the Power button when the phone vibrates but continue holding on to the Volume Up and Home buttons.
- When the Android System recovery screen appears, release both Home and Volume Up buttons.
- Using the Volume Down key, highlight 'Wipe cache partition.'
- Press the Power button to select the option.
- The phone will automatically restart once cache data are wiped out.
Step 5: Reset your Samsung Galaxy S4
However, if the device boots up in recovery mode but refused to restart after wiping the cache partition, then the device might experiencing a serious-software issue. In this case, the best thing that you should do is to reset your phone. Remember, once you follow the steps and reset your phone all your saved files and data will be deleted. But the good thing is, there is a big chance that the issue will be fixed once you do the reset.
- Turn the phone off completely.
- Press and hold the Volume Up, Home and Power buttons.
- Release the Power button when the phone vibrates but continue holding on to the Home and Volume Up buttons.
- When the Android System recovery appears, release both the Home and Volume Up buttons.
- Using the Volume Down key, highlight 'Wipe data/ factory reset.'
- Press the Power button to select it.
- Using the Volume Down button again, highlight 'delete all user data.'
- Press the Power key to select it.
- Once the reset is complete, choose 'Reboot system now.'
- Press the Power button to restart the phone.
But if the device still unable to turn on after the reset, bring it to the nearest accredited shop in your area and let the tech check it for you.
