Galaxy S4 won't charge unless it's plugged into my computer.

[Saswata Mitra]

I just had the same problem yesterday.
I just rebooted the phone and everything started working fine.
Cheers.
Hope I helped.

 

[Kaye-nesser]

My S4 just started doing this on yesterday. I downloaded the latest Samsung update as well as turned off the usb debugging in the developers options. Tech support said to do a master reset of my phone but as I've read, that is not resolving the issue either. Any other suggestions?

 

[Oussama Wd]

Maybe this is a dumb question. But have any of you with this issue done a factory reset? It could be software related?
Are you running any customer ROMS, are you rooted,etc...
You can't expect an answer to an issue like this unless you provide AT LEAST all the info above.
It's very possible you are all running the same app and it had an update and caused this, possibly some kind of power management?
I know I had a crazy issue with my GPS and it was caused by my weather app. So it's VERY possible.

I know this is an old post but I hope I get a reply, i got a used Samsung gt-s7500 from a friend and it was working fine charging everywhere until I did a factory reset, no custom Roms or rooting or any software manipulation done, just a regular factory reset from the settings. Ever since the phone only charges when connected to a PC, I tried many chargers and still nothing works except PC. Other than that the phone functions normally. Btw I'm running gingerbread 2.3.6 if it helps or makes any difference

 

[Oussama Wd]

I tried disabling debugging mode,didn't work for me

 

[Zubair Abbas]

I had exactly the same issue with my HTC 620 G. But before trying to fix it, I noticed that when now I was trying to charge to the phone using my laptop, it was getting charged faster than usually. Now when I debugged it through the developer options and plugged the charger to outlet, what then, nothing happened. It was not charging (As I can't see the icon) but wait a minute, what's that!! It's ******* charging. I noticed that the battery power increased from 14% to 15%, whereas I couldn't see the charging icon.

Now I think maybe it was charging previously as well? Who knows. Whatsoever be the reason, I'm gonna take my phone to the service center. But HTC's aftersale service is pathetic. They take 20-40 days to repair small fixes. But I am not left with any other option.

Zubair Abbas

 

[Serg Cellar]

Seems the odd behaviour doesn't end here. Like many of you, my S4 literally went from charging fine to not at all...that is, until I discovered that the only way to charge was to plug into my PC. To my surprise, searching that exact symptom brought me here to this thread. Here's where the story continues, which I've yet to find anyone else having found the same thing. Using any of my four Samsung chargers (all previously working fine), none of them result in "charging". If I plug into my PC, it charges just fine...slowly, but it charges. IF, I unplug it immediately from the PC and into one of my AC chargers, surprise, it works! Take the phone off the charger for any extended length of time, and try again say in an hour or less, once again it doesn't charge. So something is definitely messing with the phone's USB driver/software...it would seem to be going into sleep mode until the act of plugging into a USB port on a computer "wakes" it up. I'm certainly no phone expert, so hopefully someone out there is able to use this info to figure out a solution...hopefully!!!

 

[Serg Cellar]

Discovered another fact in a fluke test. I have a portable battery for charging my devices. It has two ports, a 1A and a 2.2A. My S4 charges fine on the 1A port, but not on the 2.2A. For the last two years of owning this phone, I've always charged my phone on one of two different 2A Samsung chargers. Strange!

 

[Chris Moore2]

My wife and I have the same phone. Mine still works great, but her phone is exhibiting this fault.
We have identified the problem. One of the pins in the USB connector of the phone got bent and now it is not able to make a proper connection.
I am searching for a way to have the connector repaired or replaced.

 

[Serg Cellar]

I guess that could be the case if say there are two pins for charging...say one pin for 1 amp and two pins are needed for 2 amps. That would explain why mine only charges on the computer or the 1A port of my portable battery. I don't have a microscope to look close enough to see if there's a bent pin, but it's not visible to the naked eye.

As for the port itself, you can buy the USB board as a complete unit and there are YouTube videos on how to replace it...seems to be easy enough, and the cost is around $10. My contract is up, so I may just update my phone and keep this one as a back-up.

 

[Serg Cellar]

Just thought I'd update this thread with a recent 180 that has occurred. The very same charger and cable that I had been using for the last two years has started to work again...meaning, my phone is recognizing that it's been plugged in and will now take a charge. I haven't tested my other chargers yet, as the last few charges have been accomplished with my portable battery...which, the phone has no problem taking a charge from. So strange! I'd like to say the issue has somehow corrected itself, but there's no logical explanation that I can think of as to what caused my phone to stop charging in the first place. Oh well...guess we'll see what happens over the next week.

 

[Serg Cellar]

Well, that didn't last long! The phone stopped charging once again off the original charger. I went back to my portable battery and computer, but here's the kicker...the very cable I was using with my portable battery is not allowing a charge to happen...so I'm using another cable that was plugged into my computer and it works fine on the portable battery. Seriously, WTF!!!

 

[Serg Cellar]

Been over a week since my last post, and I can happily say that my phone is back to charging normally on the very same chargers I have always been using. Though still quite good, I find the battery capacity has dropped a bit...but I'm not complaining, as losing the phone altogether would have been much worse. I still believe it to be a software or driver related issue with the USB port, but it could also be a battery-related glitch. Definitely the strangest experience I've ever had with a device! Let's hope I haven't jinxed myself now!

 

[BJ Newton]

Don't know what happened, but my Note 4 bricked too. Seemed it started an update and locked up. After calling tech support, requested a factory reset. After that it just went to Samsung splash screen and went blank. Took it to Best Buys that has Samsung tech support. Said it was a device issue, see if T-Mobile will help. Since its out of warranty suggested a refurbished phone. Switched to that and after that researched more. After reading this thread, Note 4 started charging from a pic, finally loaded os and restarted. But would not charge from ac charger only plugged into pc. Toggled the debug and is now charging from ac charger. Long answer, but went through a lot to get to I hope the answer to our problem. Anybody need a refurbished HTC?

 

[Vfiler]

wow. same exact problem for me...

• phone says it's charging when plugged into outlets -- home, car, work -- but isn't actually charging
• phone says it's charging and DOES charge through laptop
• phone isn't recognized as a device, or acknowledged whatsoever, by the laptop
• not sure if this is relevant at all but i'm using a USB 3.0 port to charge (+400mA/h over USB 2 from what i understand)

so strange. this is my first samsung phone so i'm going to talk to some friends who may know something about this and report back.

 

[Vfiler]

I recently had the same problem, but i just recently installed an xfinity remote app and an xfinity voice remote app and my problem started two or three days after that, so i just uninstalled those apps and now my phone charges with my cord now as normal. So it had to be the apps that caused my problem

 

[ashadbain]

I'm having the same problem , can someone HELPP MEEE!!!!!!!!!. if you have the solution to this problem contact me with a reply here on this website or at ashadbain@gmail.com . yes i've tried different chargers and i want my phone back to normal by chargin in the wall. the computer takes very long to charge. Can someone help me please!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[andrew678]

I had the same problem. The phone suddenly would not charge unless connected to the computer. And, when I did connect it to the computer it would buzz and beep every 20 seconds. The solution is simple. Let the phone discharge all of its battery life. Run the battery until the phone dies. Then it will reset and everything will be fine.

 

[smeliukas]

Just had this problem with my galaxy S6, and decided to post my solution, which was already mentioned by someone else. My problem had exactly the same symptoms, and started out of nowhere. The S6 wouldn't charge from the wall socket. Sometimes the screen would pop up indicating that the charger was connected, and then it stopped charging immediately. Leaving the phone plugged in for the night gave me a 12% battery increase. Tried different chargers, it was all the same. Then plugged into my laptop and it started charging, which is when I realized it wasn't a problem with the charger or the cable.

The solution... was to replace the micro-usb cable with another, which had a slightly longer plug. This seems to trigger the micro-usb connection to work. As someone mentioned, the connection has different small pins responsible for data transfer, 1A connection, 2A connection, etc... which might indicate that one of the pins got damaged. The longer plug from another cable managed to trigger the pins, and the phone is now charging normally (including fast charging) from the wall socket.

Hope this helps.

 

[BlaBlaBlaAndStuff]

So I just had an interesting experience myself with this. My initial phone charger died when one of the pins that go into the power socket came out. So I changed over to another charger that even I don't have a clue where I picked it up from. Initially this worked, but the longer I used it the less my Samsung Galaxy Active 4 liked to accept a charge from it. Eventually it stopped charging from it altogether.
I went out and bought an entirely new charger. Initially, this worked perfectly. But then gradually, the phone stopped taking a charge from the new one as well. Shortly after this I noticed (as did many others) it would take a charge from the PC. So for a few days I went with this method. Tonight however, I got pretty frustrated, and foolishly tried the suggestion on page two, "Let the phone run the battery completely flat and then try charging it."
After this, it didn't matter whether I plugged it into. Both mobile charger or the PC, the screen would light up for a bit with the Grey battery with a bolt in the middle (no charging green goodness oozing up like usual) then after 20 or so odd seconds, it would turn off the screen, buzz, repeat. Doing this over and over regardless of whether it was the PC or the charger.
This was when I looked at the USB cables as mentioned in a couple of posts here. Two of my cables were of the more snug fitting cables, while the other one (the initial one, which was now bent and admittedly worn down and weathered) was the cable with plenty of wiggleroom in the Micro USB charging slot of the phone.
Since the previous two posts mentioned the snugger cable having the success rate I was trying everywhere with both of those cables to no success. Every computer USB port, every charger, every wall socket. Just a grey non-charging battery with a buzz as the phone restarted itself with the ATTEMPT to charge. I tried using the looser, worse cable with the charger on the phone. Phone didn't even wake up or buzz. Just nothing. BUT LO AND BEHOLD... when I put the worse, loose cable into the PC with the phone. A charge.
I don't even know what to make of this at this point. But if anyone else gets to the same point I did. There you go. Maybe this will help you.

EDIT:
It's been a while and it's gotten much worse. Initially after I discovered it liked the ****tier USB cord more I was that to charge and it would take a few minutes of fiddling to get it in the "sweet spot."
Eventually however it just reached a point where it completely refused to charge. My phone has not been charging all day regardless of what I try. Screen lights up, vibrated once and turns off again. Doesn't even show the grey battery. I talked this over with my friend. Turns out the Sumsung galaxies 3 and 4 are well known for mainboard problems and this is one of them.
If you are reading this because you just discovered the problem, it's time to get that phone replaced asap before it bricks itself.

 

[Danner123]

My S4 is causing me grief also.

If I use the original charger, the phone says "Use the Original charger" and takes over 10 hours to charge.

If I use a new charger, nothing happens. Change outlets than it works great. But it's not consistent. Sometime it works in the same outlets. Other times not.

If I use the original car charger the phone gets too hot and shuts down. That's just great when using navigation.

This all started after having the phone for about 18 months. Garbage. I'll never buy a Galaxy again. This phone was rated top of the line when I bought it??