Phone keeps turning off?

[mikesaa309]

Hi all,

I have a Galaxy S4 running android 4.3. Recently it's been randomly shutting off. I ride a motorcycle and most of the time when I get home the phone is off. If I try to turn it on it just goes into a reboot loop and the only way to stop it is to plug it into the charger. At first I thought maybe that the power button gets pressed somehow in my bike jacket pocket and hard shuts it down. But it keeps doing it.

Also I was using it whilst sitting in my house and it just randomly shut off. I'm not too sure whether it does it at a certain percentage or not or whether it only does it when a lot of memory is being used, which I doubt as I'm obviously not using it when it's in my pocket.

Another thing, and I don't know whether it's related or not, but when it shut off the other day whilst I was using it I thought If I took the battery out and back in would it let me boot it up without the need for a charger. But no it didn't work. I plugged it in and then when it came on the language had changed to Slovakian.

Looking on other posts about this some say it's a bad battery. I have AVG anitvirus so I doubt it's a virus although maybe one that isn't yet recognized by AVG? I would like to try and sort out the issue without factory resetting my phone. I have loads of apps and would take ages to back it all up and also the phone is rooted and that's a pain in the backside to do as well as install all my root only apps.

Hoping it's just the battery that I can replace but just double checking if anyone else has another solution?

 

[ShaggyKids]

When my Note 2 automatically upgraded from 4.1.2 to 4.3 I had similar problems. What finally worked the kinks out was to do a factory reset so that what was downloaded was 4.3 and then reinstall all apps from scratch. It made a huge difference in my Note 2.

Deb from my Note 3

 

[B. Diddy]

I agree, Samsung's recent system updates have been problematic, so it might have to do with the 4.3 update, unless you've had 4.3 for a while without difficulties until now.

One quick and dirty way to test the battery is to remove it, lay it flat on a table, and try to spin it. If it spins freely, then there's a bulge in the middle, which means it's going bad.

You could also try a system cache partition wipe, which might clear out a bad bit of data in the system cache. You won't lose any personal data: Reset: Samsung Galaxy S 4 | T-Mobile Support

 

[danhartman26]

I agree, Samsung's recent system updates have been problematic, so it might have to do with the 4.3 update, unless you've had 4.3 for a while without difficulties until now.

One quick and dirty way to test the battery is to remove it, lay it flat on a table, and try to spin it. If it spins freely, then there's a bulge in the middle, which means it's going bad.

You could also try a system cache partition wipe, which might clear out a bad bit of data in the system cache. You won't lose any personal data: Reset: Samsung Galaxy S 4 | T-Mobile Support

Thanks bdiddy. My VZW S4 started rebooting itself a few days ago. I knew I saw a forum relating to this issue, and just got around to finding it this morning.

I was a bit leary of following your tip, but as stated, it did not wipe any personal data. Now I will wait and see if the random reboots have stopped.

Posted via Android Central App on my VZW LG GPad 8.3 LTE

 

[Ho Po]

I have a Samsung Galaxy Nexus, 4.2.1 android version, and suddently, since 2 weeks, my phone is shutting down for no reason. Wheater is being used or not. I have tried everything I believe - hard reset, wipe cache partition, etc., for 3 or 4 times, and keeps doing it. I believe it's hardware, or some app that I can't discover that is doing this.

Any ideas?

Thanks

 

[Rukbat]

If the phone shuts down for no reason, but runs when it's plugged in, think about how deeply you discharge it before recharging it. If you regularly drop it much below 30%, you're shortening the battery's life and, even if it's still flat (doesn't spin on a table) it can be going bad.

To keep the battery lasting longest, recharge when it's down to 40%-60%. (I know - we all want to get all the charge out of the battery for the longest time between charges, but that gives the shortest time between battery replacements. It's just how lithium technology works. If you absolutely need more than 60% of the charge to keep going all day, use a phone with a replaceable battery and carry a spare, or carry one of those huge external batteries.)

 

[B. Diddy]

Also try booting into Safe Mode, which temporarily prevents all 3rd party apps from starting up on bootup. This can help you figure out if some app you installed is causing instability. If the phone keeps shutting down in Safe Mode, and you've already tried a new battery, then something is wrong with the firmware or the hardware. But if the shutdowns don't occur, then you could start opening up apps one by one, waiting some time between each app, to see if it becomes unstable.

To get out of Safe Mode, power down, remove the battery for 10 seconds, put it back in, and power on normally.

 

[old-doozer]

Had this problem with my Samsung Pocket Neo ST5310. Turned out to be the same issue we saw with old Nokias, that of a slightly loose battery briefly disconnecting from the contact pins. The solution was simple, gently bend the contact pins outwards very slightly and, if necessary, also insert a thin piece of cardboard (or an old sim) at the opposite end of the battery compartment to prevent any movement. Much simpler than a hard reset.

 

[Shaun Johnson4]

So what your saying is if I keep recharging my phone at 15 % Im degrading the battery?

 

[Laura Knotek]

So what your saying is if I keep dcharging my phone at 15 % Im degrading the battery?

Yes that is correct. Lithium ion batteries last longer if frequent deep discharges are avoided.

 

[BlackDemon XXL]

I have been having a problem sorta like this too. My phone keept on shutting off unexpectedly and when I tried to turn it on, it shut off. This may not be EXACTLY what is happening to you but, it might just be that the battery keeps on coming out of place. If this is the case, you might want to take the battery to be looked at. If the problem continues, you may have to consider getting a new phone or, (this is what I did) transfer all your applications, media, and photos to another device. Then you can do factory reset on your phone and then transfer everything back to your phone from the other device. Tell me if this works

 

[Skeeter53]

When watching a movie my LG tribute 5 turns off