Tons of problems with my Note 3

[AC Question]

Hello!

I have a Note 3 from AT&T with Kit Kat 4.4.2 and I'm having too many annoying problems. I've sent my phone in to Samsung twice and they've sent it back claiming to not be able to find any problem, but have replaced the main board anyways (at least I think that's what they replaced).

I'm convinced it's a software problem, as I've noticed the problems more and more with each upgrade of the Android OS.

Problems:

1) Phone reboots randomly every once in a while. It could just be sitting there not even being used, then all of a sudden I see the screen come on and it reboots.

2) I get pop ups often saying some app has stopped...apps that I haven't evened open or even use!

3) When watching a video (not only on videos, but most commonly) I'll get a red dotted line running through my screen

4) Facebook (mostly, but sometimes other apps do it) will lock up and not let me scroll or do anything within the app. I can press the home button usually to get back.

5) The KK launcher sucks!...but it's a little less problematic as the native Touch Wiz. KK launcher loses icons on one of my home pages and the brightness shortcut in the notifications menu is often times missing.

6) Apps that I'm actually using will just stop working. I was trying to use the maps app, having looked up directions in the voice search and then clicking on the directions link to where I wanted to go...it tried to open the maps and then just quit.

I'm beyond frustrated and I've given up on Samsung completely...I'll never buy one of their stupid phones again!

I guess what I want to know is if anyone has faced this problem and have resolved them...or if rooting fixes it. The hardware is awesome...but I think their firmware and software engineers have all been farmed out to the lowest bidder and their quality has really gone waaaay down in the past few years.

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! It might not be the phone--it could be something you installed. Have you tried completely uninstalling KK Launcher and just sticking with TouchWiz?

Try booting into Safe Mode, which temporarily disables all 3rd party apps. If the problems stop, then something you installed is the culprit. The tricky thing can be to figure out which one. If the problems persist, then something is wrong with the hardware or firmware.

You could also try booting into Recovery Mode and wiping the system cache partition, which won't erase any personal data. Steps for both procedures are here: Reset: Samsung Galaxy Note 3 | T-Mobile Support

 

[JSamuel714]

Thanks for the suggestion.

I actually installed the KK launcher because the touchwiz launcher causes so many problems... unless it's just coincidence.

I did run it in safe mode and apps were still closing and the phone reboot.

Does this sound like something that rooting could fix?

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Rooting itself won't do anything--it just gives you more permissions to manipulate the system. But if you don't know what you're doing, you could do serious damage to the system.

Have you tried installing Google Now Launcher instead of KK Launcher?

 

[JSamuel714]

Well, I sent it in for a 3rd time and the idiots at Samsung said they would replace all the components, essentially giving me a new phone, but when I got it back again it was doing all the same nonsense.

I'm really disappointed in Samsung inability to service their own phones properly.

Anyhow, it was the last guy at Samsung that suggested I go through my carrier. So I finally called AT&T and they heard my story, tried to see if they could fix the problem remotely...then suggested I go to the device support center locally. I finally got a swap out on my demonic phone and haven't had a single problem so far. That's the last time I ever go through Samsung for warranty support. I didn't realize AT&T was able to do what they did for me. I'm happy, once again!

 

[Rukbat]

Hello!

I have a Note 3 from AT&T with Kit Kat 4.4.2 and I'm having too many annoying problems. I've sent my phone in to Samsung twice and they've sent it back claiming to not be able to find any problem, but have replaced the main board anyways (at least I think that's what they replaced).

I'm convinced it's a software problem, as I've noticed the problems more and more with each upgrade of the Android OS.

Problems:

1) Phone reboots randomly every once in a while. It could just be sitting there not even being used, then all of a sudden I see the screen come on and it reboots.

Could be something as simple as a dendritic short in the battery. Short the battery, the phone reboots, but the short burns itself out almost immediately. Look at the battery graph right after it reboots. If it suddenly went to 0, that's probably it.

2) I get pop ups often saying some app has stopped...apps that I haven't evened open or even use!

Android runs the apps it needs (in the background). Apps can stop for a number of reasons. It's almost impossible to find out why any program does anything wrong unless you can reproduce the problem on demand. (We once had a database problem in a database I wrote. It took about 6 months before someone - a customer, actually - figured out how to cause the problem any time we wanted to. After that it took about 5 minutes to fix. [It was a typo among about 10 million lines of source code.])

3) When watching a video (not only on videos, but most commonly) I'll get a red dotted line running through my screen

Bad screen, loose connector, bad crimp on a wire in a connector, intermittent IC on the motherboard - again, an intermittent problem (one you can't cause every time you try) is very difficult to fix.

4) Facebook (mostly, but sometimes other apps do it) will lock up and not let me scroll or do anything within the app. I can press the home button usually to get back.

That one I'd blame on the app. My wife has certain problems with hers, I have different problems with mine - both running on Note 3s on 4.4.2. (Adding Time Warner into the picture adds even more problems using a phone on FB.)

5) The KK launcher sucks!...but it's a little less problematic as the native Touch Wiz. KK launcher loses icons on one of my home pages and the brightness shortcut in the notifications menu is often times missing.

Yep - IMO they both suck, which is why the first thing I do on any new phone or ROM is install Nova Launcher. Then again, my wife LOVES TouchWiz and can't stand Nova. That's what makes horse races - opinions.

6) Apps that I'm actually using will just stop working. I was trying to use the maps app, having looked up directions in the voice search and then clicking on the directions link to where I wanted to go...it tried to open the maps and then just quit.

Again, a problem that's difficult to fix, but that, and apps you're not running yourself just stopping, could be due to faulty RAM on the motherboard.

I'll never buy one of their stupid phones again!

I won't either, but not because the Note 3 doesn't work. Mine and my wife's work fine. (My first one blew something on the motherboard, but AT&T gave me a replacement phone with no questions after a reflash didn't fix it.) I just don't like locked bootloaders. It's my computer (it's a computer that can make and take phone calls), and I want to run it my way, just the way I run my laptops and desktops. I'd never buy a Windows computer that I couldn't run Linux on, and I'll never buy another Samsung unless they stop playing the stupid Knox game (which a) doesn't actually work and b) is one of the worst ways of accomplishing what they're trying to accomplish. Something like Safestrap - not exactly the same, but something like it - would be a better way.)

I guess what I want to know is if anyone has faced this problem and have resolved them...or if rooting fixes it. The hardware is awesome...but I think their firmware and software engineers have all been farmed out to the lowest bidder and their quality has really gone waaaay down in the past few years.

I think the problem is that some mean spirit has it in for you and is making sure that your phone doesn't work. The Note 3 is great hardware (considering that it's a year old) and pretty great firmware. Other than the locked bootloader, my only complaints about it are about some Android things, which Samsung can't change without no longer being an Android phone. (And that no one's come out with a pure Linux ROM, which isn't Samsung's or Google's fault.)

BTW, my first move is always to the AT&T DSC. Competent people, very nice, and I've never had a problem with them. (And I don't go to them for the simple stuff - the answers to simple problems are all over the web, if you don't already know them. When I bring them a phone, it has them scratching their heads.) Samsung? Their "Experience" people in the Best Buy stores are pretty good for people who don't have to have a lot of technical knowledge, but I wouldn't send a phone to Samsung for repair. (And I've been repairing cellphones almost since there were cellphones.)