My Samsung Galaxy S5 (G900V) Freezes During Set Up after Verizon OTA Update

[AC Question]

My phone was working fine until I accepted the latest over this air Marshmallow software update from Verizon. Now it only gets part way through the setup wizard before freezing and rebooting. The point at which the freeze occurs varies, seemingly randomly. It can get as far as where you can enter your name or freeze on the first screen.

Things I have already tried:

1) Factory resetting the phone
2) Clearing the cache
3) Safe booting
4) Reflashing the latest ROM with ODIN
5) Replacing the battery with a brand new OEM one.
6) Banging the power switch.
8) Held down the power switch for 10, 20, and 30 seconds.
9) Removed the battery for extended periods between reboot attempts.
10) Refreshing the ROM at at Samsung experience counter in a BestBuy Store, which is the most recent change I have made. On their recommendation, I did another factory reset and cache clearing just in case.

The result is the same as described in the first paragraph.

Information that may be useful:

1) This phone is out of warrantyand I am the second owner via an eBay auction. It is not reported lost or stolen.
2) The phone has no personal information left on it.
3) When I do a recovery rebooting the phone, after showing the powered by Android screen, very rapidly flashes "Installing Software Update ..." with an upright Android robot above it in an upright position followed by "No Command." with the robot on its back. These are immediately replaced by the standard Android rocovery options where the top of the screen says:

Android Recovery
MMB29M.G900VVRU2DPJ2
Verizon/kltevzw/kltevzw
6.0.1/MMB29M/G900VVRU2DPJ2
user/release-keys
Use volume up/down and power

Reboot system now
Boot to bootloader
Apply update from ADB
Apply update from SD card
Wipe data/factory reset
Wipe cache partition
Mount / system
View recovery logs
Power off

At the bottom of the screen it says:

Supported API: 3

# MANUAL MODE #
-- Appling Multi-CSC...
Applied the CSC-code : VZW
Successfully applied multi-CSC
Mounted /system

 

[AC Question]

Lack of Samsung S5 (G900V) Software Repair Options

I originally explained my Samsung S5's boot loop symptoms in a previous question:

http://forums.androidcentral.com/ask-question/762750-my-samsung-galaxy-s5-g900v-freezes-during-set-up-after-verizon-ota-update.html?mn_qa=1#post5647994

Over 100 people have read it without any response. I paid $125 for this out-of-warranty Galaxy S5 on eBay and it worked fine until Verizon pushed the latest Marshmallow on an OTA update. Beyond the usual reset, update/replace strategies listed online, what viable alternatives exist? This reminds me of reinstalling the operating system on a PC to fix a problem without really understanding what was wrong in the first place -- an all too common practice that was OK if it actually worked. In my case, it did not. I am willing to pay a knowledgeable person to fix this problem. Am I simply better off getting another used phone and not accepting any updates that could permanently boot loop it? This is a fairly common occurrence, based on what I have read. New smart phones are simply not worth the money, in my opinion, and could easily become useless due to software issues once they're out of warranty, just like the one I'm experiencing now.

BTW, Samsung is too busy dealing with exploding phones and washing machines to deal with this, even if you offer to pay them. Yes, in two separate phone calls Samsung support reps confirmed that, "due to challenging business conditions," they effectively no longer accept their own out-of-warranty phones for repair until further notice; neither will Verizon, for that matter -- even if you offer to pay them. Local shops I have contacted know how to fix physical damage, but don't really know more than the reset, update/reflash strategies that I've already tried.

Effectively, I've found no knowledgeable Android support, even though I'm willing to pay for it.

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! I merged your threads. Please consider registering on this forum so that you can continue your discussion in the same thread you created. Otherwise, you'll have a difficult time interacting with anyone who does happen to respond.

Have you already tried Verizon's Software Repair Assistant, or are you unable to boot far enough to get it to work?

 

[wmudge]

I forgot to mention that I also tried the Verizon software assistant for my S5 (G900V). That whole update/repair process runs without any apparent errors. The phone shows a lengthy progress bar and reaches 100% without anything seemingly abnormal -- just as it did during an ODIN update. All seems just fine until I start up the phone and find that the original boot loop persists, along with the same randomness about exactly where the setup wizard will freeze. Factory resetting and cache clearing makes no difference at all in how far I get, except that the red Verizon screen will appear for quite some time after a factory reset. The freezing still ranges from as early as the very first setup wizard screen to as far as typing your last name in the personalization screen. It will either sit there for a long time or reboot within seconds. It seems random. As I mentioned before, I strongly suspect a software issue is behind this boot looping because the phone was performing normally for an extended period before Verizon's OTA Marshmallow update and immediately afterwards this problem started. In fact, I was never able to use the phone in any way after the update.

 

[B. Diddy]

Thanks for registering! Unfortunately, I probably won't be of much more help after too long. The only other thing I can think to do right now would be try booting without the SD card, in case the card is corrupt.

 

[wmudge]

I have decided to solve my Samsung S5 problem with an iPhone. My experience here and elsewhere is that there is effectively no knowledgeable support for out-of-warranty Samsung phones if an OTA update boot loops a previously useful, unrooted Galaxy S5 like mine. Whatever my fix ultimately involves, it's clearly more than standard, rote procedures like factory resets, cache-clearing, or ROM-flashing, etc. No one I have spoken with has any suggestions that I had not already tried nor any explanations.

I hate to say it but the substantially higher cost of an iPhone now seems well worth it to dodge many of the headaches from the Android / Samsung world. To be fair, iOS has its flaws but not nearly so many. I did not think so before I got an S5 but now I'm utterly convinced. I can see that if you're a hobbyist and enjoying tinkering that you may enjoy a hit-or-miss, "house of cards" software environment like the Android platform. If you just need a reliable smart phone then it's something to avoid.

 

[helloburk4]

I agree with you. With the last update (Jan 2017), my Galaxy S5 is back to the old shenanigans from the last update that I hated . It freezes on a black screen and i have to take the stupid case off, take the back off, and remove the battery. It is outrageous that I should have to expose the battery several times a day but this happened with the last update 6 months ago. I have an iphone through work and I never have these problems. I paid as much for my washing machine as I did for my phone but GE isn't making me replace my washing machine every 2 years...why does Samsung expect this?! Let me also complain about the asinine idea to remove the brightness feature before logging in. For those of us who check emails in the middle of the night, you now have to put your passcode in the phone to turn the brightness down. What a moronic change. I'm tired of the constant aggravation that the Samsung brings. I'll just get an iphone and be done with it.