Help - NFC is killing my battery and I can't disable it! Galaxy S5, 5.0.2

[john12971a]

I have a weird problem. NFC is killing my battery, but I can't turn it off. I'm using a Samsung Galaxy S5 running Android 5.0.2. It's a UK model on the EE network, SM-G901F.

As the screenshots demonstrate, the NFC icon in quick settings is 'half green', and when I go to Settings -> NFC the toggle button is in the enable position, but is greyed out. There's seemingly an option to change the Main NFC technology from SIM card to Host-based card emulation, but selecting the latter option doesn't update the setting, as it reverts to Sim card.

I don't know if my SIM card is NFC enabled or not. I've never used NFC before, and was trying to connect to a Sony NFC camera but it didn't work. I have since deleted the Sony apps. So basically my phone is stuck in limbo - I can't disable NFC, but it's chewing up my battery, quite noticeable shortening the phone's life. What can I do to fix this dreadful Android bug? Thanks

 

[B. Diddy]

Moved to the S5 forum.

 

[can3gxw]

I would try installing the Sony app again - the one that turned it on - and then disable the NFC from within that app if that's what turned it on. Or, perhaps reinstalling the app may allow you to turn the NFC back off.

Another option is wiping the device's cache partition. This should clear up any issues. It will NOT affect anything that's installed on your phone.

https://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-10683

 

[john12971a]

Thanks. I have already tried the partition trick.

The Sony playmemories didn't turn NFC on - I did. Or at least I tried to. That's when it went from off to kind-of-on. Perhaps there's a bug where you try to enable NFC on a phone that doesn't have an NFC sim card?

 

[john12971a]

I've just done a full factory reset and the NFC icon is still half green and I can't disable it! Nightmare.

 

[john12971a]

I believe I have found a solution. Anyone else who is unable to disable NFC on their Samsung Galaxy S5 might like to try the following steps (I'm not sure exactly which one worked):

1. Turn off phone
2. Remove SD card and SIM
3. Power on phone. Enable Ultra power saving mode
4. Disable Ultra power saving mode.
5. Enable Flight Mode
6. Check NFC status
7. Disable Flight Mode
8. Replace SIM and memory card

This seems to work for me. Now the NFC icon is grey on the notification panel instead of 'half green' as it was before.

 

[B. Diddy]

Nice work!