The following is the transcript of the conversation with me and one of the readers of my blog who contacted me due to a certain issue that occurred to her phone after the Android 5.0.1 Marshmallow update. The problem she had was represented by an error "Unfortunately, Messages has stopped."
I provided her some troubleshooting procedures and she confirmed one of them was able to fix the problem. Read on how the problem was fixed.
Problem: "Hi Harold. I am hoping you'd respond to this message as I badly need your help and there's no one I could turn to online. The reason why I prefer online support is because I have to travel at least 50 miles to get my phone checked and I don't know how many hours I would have to wait.
The problem is that there is this error message that keeps popping up--"Unfortunately, Messages has stopped." It shows up whenever I open texts or try to compose one. This just started and I already rebooted my phone countless times without any results.
My phone is a Samsung Galaxy S5, which has been with me for over a year now. Does it mean I have to upgrade to a new device or is there something I can do to fix it?
Help me please." -- Janice
Reply: Hello Janice. I am sorry you're having a hard time reading or composing a message but it seems to me like it's only a minor app issue. I need to know more about your phone and the problem so I'll be asking you a couple of questions. I hope you can answer them as soon as you can while I'm still online.
Reply: Ok great. I think the new update has something to do with this problem. More often, system caches get corrupted when a new firmware is installed or some of them may not be compatible with Marshmallow. We need to clear these caches so try to follow the steps below. Don't worry, none of your files will be deleted.
Janice: I tried that but the phone turns on to the home screen every time. I can't see anything that says wipe cache partition.
Reply: You might be doing it the wrong way. Try this, press and hold the Volume Up key first and then press and hold the Home key and then the Power key. It should boot in recovery mode when do it like this.
Janice: Oh thanks. I got it to boot in the screen with black background and did try to wipe the cache partition. The phone rebooted back to the home screen after that and when I open the messages app, the error is still there. What do I do next?
Reply: That's great. Now, let's try another procedure. This time, I want you to clear the cache and data of the Messages app itself.
Reply: That's good to hear. I'm glad to be able to help you, Janice. Your gratefulness is enough for me. Have a great day!
Hey guys. This is just one of the cases I've received and I'm currently communicating with my readers who also reported their problems. If you have a concern about your phone, whatever it is, just email me at droidista.com@gmail.com. I will respond. Or, you may use the chat widget at the bottom right corner of the page.
I provided her some troubleshooting procedures and she confirmed one of them was able to fix the problem. Read on how the problem was fixed.
Problem: "Hi Harold. I am hoping you'd respond to this message as I badly need your help and there's no one I could turn to online. The reason why I prefer online support is because I have to travel at least 50 miles to get my phone checked and I don't know how many hours I would have to wait.
The problem is that there is this error message that keeps popping up--"Unfortunately, Messages has stopped." It shows up whenever I open texts or try to compose one. This just started and I already rebooted my phone countless times without any results.
My phone is a Samsung Galaxy S5, which has been with me for over a year now. Does it mean I have to upgrade to a new device or is there something I can do to fix it?
Help me please." -- Janice
Reply: Hello Janice. I am sorry you're having a hard time reading or composing a message but it seems to me like it's only a minor app issue. I need to know more about your phone and the problem so I'll be asking you a couple of questions. I hope you can answer them as soon as you can while I'm still online.
- Did your phone update to a new firmware recently?
- Have you installed third-party messaging apps (ones you can download from the Play Store)?
Reply: Ok great. I think the new update has something to do with this problem. More often, system caches get corrupted when a new firmware is installed or some of them may not be compatible with Marshmallow. We need to clear these caches so try to follow the steps below. Don't worry, none of your files will be deleted.
- 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.
- When the wipe cache partition is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
- Press the Power key to restart the device.
Janice: I tried that but the phone turns on to the home screen every time. I can't see anything that says wipe cache partition.
Reply: You might be doing it the wrong way. Try this, press and hold the Volume Up key first and then press and hold the Home key and then the Power key. It should boot in recovery mode when do it like this.
Janice: Oh thanks. I got it to boot in the screen with black background and did try to wipe the cache partition. The phone rebooted back to the home screen after that and when I open the messages app, the error is still there. What do I do next?
Reply: That's great. Now, let's try another procedure. This time, I want you to clear the cache and data of the Messages app itself.
- Go to Settings.
- Proceed to Applications.
- Select Manage Applications.
- Tap the All tab.
- Choose Messages.
- Tap Clear cache.
- Tap Clear data and then OK.
Reply: That's good to hear. I'm glad to be able to help you, Janice. Your gratefulness is enough for me. Have a great day!
Hey guys. This is just one of the cases I've received and I'm currently communicating with my readers who also reported their problems. If you have a concern about your phone, whatever it is, just email me at droidista.com@gmail.com. I will respond. Or, you may use the chat widget at the bottom right corner of the page.