Galaxy S4 won't charge

[URNape2]

So this problem is just ridiculous. Can anyone out there post success stories they've had, as I'm at my wits end here. Just about ready to go ahead and replace the USB port and pray that's the problem. Completely absurd that so many people should be having this problem on a "flagship" phone.

 

[Ally Bubba]

i've read so many threads and descriptions...... wanna pull my hair out....
so mine dies from low battery.
now it won't turn on.
red light does not come on
i tried house plug, car plug, computer usb, orriginal plug, aftermarket plug - nothing
it gets super hot when plugged in above the battery
i switched batteries with another s4. my battery was dead and is charging in that phone. my phone does not work with that charged battery. it gets super hot above the battery.
the first time i put that charged battery in and plugged it in to a charger i got the vibration with the battery circle picture. then the battery picture updated and showed almost full. then it went away and could still not turn on. it got hot again above the battery
could not replicate that again. hasn't vibrated when plugged in since. my original battery is now charged and working in my friends phone.... so it doesn't sound like its the battery.....
sounds like something is overheating/burnt out on my phone......
but how did it vibrate once and show the battery sign when i initially changed batteries and plugged it in? have tried everything recommended in these 8 pages plus whatever else i saw in other threads....

 

[Jaytee Mall]

Solution found!!! My Galaxy S4 was dying at my friends place so I used his charger but it wouldn't charge so it was dead when I plugged it into my house charger. It wouldn't turn on just vibrate every few seconds. But when I turned it on it would turn off right away. I plugged it into my computer and just the battery logo came on. The trick is to leave it plugged into your computer for a few minutes so it has enough juice to turn on! Once turned on:
1 Go to settings.. go to more tab.. click about device..
2 Press Build Number 7 to 10 times even though it's not lit up... go back one screen...
3 And you'll see a new option "Developer Option.. select that.
4 Select USB Debugger
Now try charging your phone on a wall charger.. it should work.
You can return to developer options and turn development mode off. It will continue to work. And you can always do it again if it every happens again.

 

[Apet93]

I honestly was about to leave this forum due to frustration about the same occurrence with my phone as well. Thankfully I looked at your comment before exiting because that was the reason why my phone wasn't charging. Thank you so much!!!

 

[Andrew Sayre]

How do you turn off developer mode to do it again? It worked for a little while and I installed an update and now it won't charge again. Any suggestions?

 

[Darren Abbott]

This happened to me and what a pain to resolve... Thank you all for the previous suggestions.. My issues was phone would not charge, vibrated every 2 seconds for 5 or 6 attempts until battery went flat. Computer would see something was connected and phone would buzz when plugged in once (seems to suggest the USB / Cable works). Prior to problem the phone was 1% full /99% empty and I may have used a cable / charger to charge it that was dodgy.

This is what I did..

Tried multiple chargers / leads / laptops & PC USB ports - None seemed work. Left phone to charge through 2Amp supply over night and no luck.

Dried phone on radiator (it had been in pocket whilst out walking in rain, done this many times before though) - No luck in charging

Put in a Galaxy S3 mini battery (from other phone and with the help of a glue gun to secure it). Managed to boot up 1st time and was usable for 30 mins but would not charge the battery! - Did this to get data off via wifi (laptop would not recognize phone !! like it previously did (clue #1)
Used Air duster to clean USB port (no luck)

Put phone in to developer mode and rebooted (no luck)

Delicately and with use of a completely plastic flat screw driver moved the thin USB connector in phones charging port back in to central(ish) position (didn't seem to make any difference). Notice the connector was towards one of the edges but all pins seemed ok.

Ran plastic screw driver back and forth against USB connector in phone ( In frustration)

Plugged in phone to 2AMP battery pack. Battery pack would light up with for 10 seconds before loosing connection to phone. Did this about 10 times.. wiggled the blooming lead in to phone (seemed that the phone would charge if the lead was bent, which seems to suggest a problem in the USB jack within the phone. Finally got the grey battery to displaying showing 0 % full... - Phone went off.. Unplugged the USB lead in to the battery back (Without moving the phone) and back in and the phone began to charge! (this happened twice and on both occasions was careful not to move the phone or lead in to it).. Battery image on phone showed small thin line.. Then appeared to continually charge!... left for 2 hours and phone was 100% full...

It's now 12 hours in to having the phone 100% charge.. seems to recharge from normal wall charger now ok...

I can only guess the following and time will tell.

Damp from rain
Faulty USB port
Software / hardware issue where the phone battery screws up if the battery runs down and the charger I was using some how naffed the battery
Oxidation on the USB port in the phone.

Hope this helps someone!!

 

[Michaelkfl]

Sometimes it is not the phone or the charger. It is the cable! Easy to trouble shoot with a different cable.

 

[romuloramos]

I have the same problem - "Vibration Loop" and phone not recognizing a wall adapter, however it charges fine when plugged into a PC or Laptop USB port.
I called Samsun tech support. A tier 2 level engineer showed me a way to fix this. Steps as follows:

1) Go to SETTINGS / MORE and select "About Phone"
2) Scroll down to find the "Build Number", and even though it appears it is an "information only" field, tap on it seven (7) times. you will see the phone mode indicate "Development Mode".
3) Pres the back arrow to return to Setting Main Menu
4) Select "Developer Options" from the menu.
5) Find "USB Debugger" and select it (click the check box)
6) Now try your phoen on the wall charger., it should work

You can then return to "Developer Options" and turn "Development Mode" OFF, it will continue to work OK, but it the problem returns keep these instructions to correct it.

Good luck, hope this helps all of you experiencing this problem. Maybe the manufactuirer will have a patch for it sometime.

It worked for me!

Thank you BrianmCRI.

 

[Dewwin]

try to use a wireless charger if the phone wont charge by cable.

 

[ddaaxx]

1. Remove the case off the Nexus 4.
2. Hold down the power and volume down buttons.
3. Insert the USB charging cable into the Nexus 4 while continuing to hold down the power and volume down buttons.

that one just worked for me instantly, for the s4, had all the above mentioned problems except that i could boot since the battery had enough charge,
charging normally now from any/all outlets with any/all cords, thanks a lot for that !!

 

[SaifiMalik]

UPDATE:

Fearing that there was something physically wrong with the phone, I decided to take it apart and look for myself. Sure enough, the solder connections for the USB port are in terrible condition. There are 3 traces that look like they somehow shorted out. They look burnt, have a nice layer of corrosion, and the furthest one to the left looks like it got shorted to the ground solder point of the USB outer metal shell.

I'm running TWRP recovery, and CM10.1 so I have to convert it back to stock before I can turn it in for warranty. Problem is, the currently available method to do that requires using Odin..... and the USB connection. If you know of another way to flash the stock recovery and ROM, let me know!

install mobile Odin and download stock Rom for your S4 from sammobile.com. Open the mobile Odin and hit OTA update. Select that zip file you downloaded from sammobile.com and flash it. That's it.

 

[cheryl1964]

It worked thak you so much