Samsung Galaxy S5 removed battery and now phone is messed up?

[Android Central Question]

Hi, I just purchased a Samsung Galaxy S5 G900V a few months ago and it was working perfect until I removed the battery. Now the phone will not shut off and just keeps rebooting. It is stuck in a boot loop. The only way to shut the phone off completely is to remove the battery. The phone powers on fine and will load into apps but will boot loop after a few minutes. I hard reset the phone at least 10 times, did Odin with the latest firmware, bought 2 brand new oem batteries. Nothing seems to work? I also tried taking out the battery and draining the remaining charge with the power button, hitting the power button hard etc. My sim card is also not reading anymore and the phone is not showing my imei. The phone was shut off when I removed the battery. I am puzzled how this happened. Can someone please help me. Thanks in advance.

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! It sounds like either the firmware got corrupted, or there's some hardware problem. Where did you buy the phone from? Is there any possibility of returning it for a refund?

If not, then see if you can reinstall the firmware, using either Smart Switch (http://www.sammobile.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29914) or Odin (http://forums.androidcentral.com/am...w-flash-stock-rom-via-odin-new-interface.html).

 

[KaiserSchnit]

Thanks for the response. I tried Odin with the latest firmware update and it did nothing. The phone still boot looped. Is there anything else I can do to get my phone out of the boot loop? How can just removing my battery mess my phone up? I really like this phone and want to make it work normal again. I bought the phone off Ebay in mint condition. There was only a 30 day return for it and it's been a few months so they will not take it back.

 

[B. Diddy]

So you were able to successfully install that firmware via Odin? If the problem persists despite firmware reinstallation, then I would suspect some problem with the hardware. It might have been coincidence that it happened right after removing the battery. Or maybe when you removed the battery, you applied enough pressure that it caused some other part to come loose or get damaged internally.

 

[KaiserSchnit]

Yes, everything installed correctly and it still boot loops. I downloaded the latest version of Odin and the firmware. I removed the battery lightly with barely any pressure. Should I try using Odin again? The factory hard reset does the same thing as Odin with a factory reset and that never worked. I hard reset the phone at least 10 times and it still boot loops. It's sad because I just bought this phone and spent good money on it and now this happens to me. The phone is practically useless with the boot loop.

 

[B. Diddy]

Maybe try installing the previous firmware, in case the most recent one is glitchy.

 

[KaiserSchnit]

I am lost for words now. I downloaded a older version like you said and used Odin. I followed all the directions correctly and it showed my phone was successful with the install. So after it's done installing all the updates etc I noticed my phone just loaded right into how I left it before using Odin? It didn't delete anything on my phone or factory reset it? Last time I used Odin it deleted everything and now it didn't delete a single thing. I really am lost.

 

[B. Diddy]

What Android version is shown in Settings>About Phone​?

 

[KaiserSchnit]

I'm running Android 6.0.1. I am downloading another G900V firmware link today to try. I personally think nothing is going to work at this point. I tried just about everything I can think of and watched a lot of Youtube videos on what to do, nothing seems to work. My phone will not shut off and just restarts when I press power off. When I power the phone back on it goes back into boot loop a min or so after.

 

[Rukbat]

The factory hard reset does the same thing as Odin with a factory reset

Just so you know, it doesn't. The factory reset removes anything you've added, but it doesn't add anything you've removed or fix anything that got corrupted. Re-flashing the firmware with Odin does both and does a reset.

I think I'd have to go along with B. Diddy, that some hardware went bad at the time you removed the battery, and it was just a coincidence.

 

[KaiserSchnit]

What gets me is how can just removing the battery mess my phone up? I did Odin 3 times now with no fix, still boot loops. Last 2 times using Odin it did absolutely nothing to return the phone back to factory settings. What gets me is when I am on a video cam app the phone will not boot loop and will stay on as long as I'm on that app. Browsing the internet or using any other app will cause the phone to boot loop in a few mins? The phone over heats bad and drains the battery a lot faster now since this happened. I would take it to a phone repair store but they will probably charge me more to fix it then I bought the phone for. Not even 3 months since I bought the phone and now it's broke.

 

[Dano1200r]

What gets me is how can just removing the battery mess my phone up? I did Odin 3 times now with no fix, still boot loops. Last 2 times using Odin it did absolutely nothing to return the phone back to factory settings. What gets me is when I am on a video cam app the phone will not boot loop and will stay on as long as I'm on that app. Browsing the internet or using any other app will cause the phone to boot loop in a few mins? The phone over heats bad and drains the battery a lot faster now since this happened. I would take it to a phone repair store but they will probably charge me more to fix it then I bought the phone for. Not even 3 months since I bought the phone and now it's broke.

Should have posted this first. What 2 way video are you running? You may simply be exceeding the phones ram capacity so it keeps shutting down. Go through your apps and see what the culprit is.

 

[KaiserSchnit]

It has nothing to do with the boot loop issue. I've had both apps on 2 different phones without an issue. After I removed the battery the phone got stuck into the boot loop and over heating and draining of the battery. Before I removed the battery the phone was perfectly fine. I can remove the app off the phone or not use it and the phone will still boot loop and over heat.

 

[B. Diddy]

Not even 3 months since I bought the phone and now it's broke.

It's only 3 months old for you, but the phone itself is over 3 years old, so just as with any piece of tech hardware, the chances of failure rise as time goes by. Sorry, I know this is frustrating, but this is one of the pitfalls of buying a used device that's out of warranty.

 

[KaiserSchnit]

What phone do you recommend with around the same specs and price?

 

[B. Diddy]

That depends on what price you mean. The S5 originally retailed for $600 without a contract when it was first released, and there are many excellent phones of flagship quality at that price these days (or even chepaer), like the 1st generation Google Pixel, HTC U11, LG G6, OnePlus 5T, and Moto Z2 Play. Any current phone you get for the same price as your S5 was back in 2014 will be leaps and bounds better in terms of hardware.

Or are you asking about the subsidized monthly price through a contract?

 

[KaiserSchnit]

I was looking for another older flagship. I paid $95 dollars for my Samsung Galaxy S5 in mint condition. I was looking to spend around the same. What could I do with my phone as of right now with the boot loop issue? Do you think it's worth bringing it a phone repair store? Or would that cost me more then I bought the phone for to fix the boot loop issue?

 

[B. Diddy]

I think it would cost you more to repair it.

Check out daily deal sites like DailySteals.com for refurbished phones. Here's the HTC One M8 (which came out around the same time as the S5) for $80: https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...-gsm-4g-lte-android-smartphone&token=u47pzp5b

If you're on Verizon, here's the LG G3 (also released around the same time) for $90: https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...hone-for-verizon-and-page-plus&token=r9K0QEPE.

If you're willing to spend a little more, here's the 2nd gen Moto X (AT&T version) for $139, which is new, not refurbished: https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...8e-b7ff-4a8a-ab73-1bdcba12ecc1&token=Bw3Vwp_d. I believe this was made when Moto was still part of Google, not Lenovo.

It'll probably be hard to find flagships from the last year for under $100.

 

[KaiserSchnit]

Thanks for the responses and help. Those phones really don't appeal to me and I think my Samsung Galaxy S5 has better specs. I'm very disappointed that I spent good money on the phone and it didn't last more then 3 months. I think the person on Ebay who fixes phones etc knew what was wrong with the phone and just temporary fixed it before selling it, scamming me out of money. Just seems a little odd it got messed up a few months into owning it when they have a 30 days return policy. In the future I'm going to buy a brand new phone, no more used ones for me. Lesson learned on buying used devices.