There are plenty of reasons that "device has stopped responding" error appears on your screen without apparent reason. Mostly, this issue happen if the system has been updated and the files and data of the phone that had been using are not anymore compatible to the newly installed firmware. On the other hand, it could be a culprit as well that might preventing the device to function normally. But don't you worry, this is just a minor problem and this could be fixed without bringing your device to the tech.
Step 1: Boot in Safe mode
As what I've mentioned, there is a chance that a culprit might preventing the device from functioning normally and triggered the error message to appears in the screen without apparent reason. In this instance, what we gonna do is to restart your phone in safe mode to eliminate that suspicion and resolve the problem. Once you boot it in this mode all third-party apps will be disabled temporarily and only the pre-installed ones will run in the system. So, while in this mode and the error message is not showing on your phone, then, obviously there's an app caused it and you need to find that one and uninstall it to get rid the issue. Follow these steps to boot in Safe mode:
- Turn the device off completely.
- Press and hold the Power key and the Volume Down key at the same time.
- When the phone starts to boot, release the Power key but continue holding the Volume Down key until the phone finishes restarting.
- Safe mode will be displayed at the lower left corner; you may release release the Volume Down key now.
However, if the issue still happening even in Safe mode, proceed to the next step.
Step 2: Wipe the System Cache Partition
If the error message started to show up after the update there is a possibility that corrupted cache and data are causing the issue. Through wiping the cache partition, you are deleting all old files and data stored in the directory so that newer ones will be created by the device and could smoothly once it will be loaded to the firmware. Here's how:
- Turn off the Galaxy Note 4 completely.
- Press and hold the Volume Up, Home and Power keys together.
- When the Note 4 vibrates, release both the Home and Power keys but continue to press and hold the Volume Up key.
- When the Android System Recovery appears on the screen, release the Volume Up key.
- Using the Volume Down key, highlight the option 'wipe cache partition' and press the Power key to select it.
- When the wiping the cache partition is finished, highlight 'Reboot system now' and press the Power key to select it,
Step 3: Perform Factory reset
However, if the problem persists after performing the previous procedures, then, your last option is to do a reset. In this method, your phone will be back to its original phase wherein all your files and data saved in the internal storage will be lost. In other words, before you have to follow the procedure be sure to create first a backup so that you can restore it easily once the issue is resolved.
- Turn off the device completely.
- Press and hold the Power, Home and Volume Up buttons at the same time.
- When the Note 4 vibrates, release the Power and Home buttons but continue to press and hold the Power key.
- When the Android System Recovery screen appears, release the Volume Up key.
- Using the Volume Down key, highlight 'wipe data/ factory reset' and press the Power key to select it.
- Now, highlight 'Yes-delete all user data' using the Volume Down key and press the Power key to begin the reset.
- When the master reset is complete, highlight 'Reboot system now' and hit the Power key.
- The Note 4 will restart but it will be longer than usual. When it reaches the Home screen, then begin your setup.
