Help !! Galaxy S3 Freezing every few minutes. unresponsive.

[lightnshade]

Forgot to mention - as well as freezing up, the S3 seems to have severed links between some of my WhatsApp conversations and my Contacts, so it now doesn't recognise who the sender is - and it's only done it for some contacts, not all, bizarrely. :-\

Hi all,

I've read quite a lot of posts from people over the last few days as I've been having the same problem for a while and it seemed to be getting worse.

Yesterday I removed the SD card as per a number of recommendations and although it helped a little it didn't solve the problem, I was still freezing on average once per hour.

This morning I put the SD card back in to see if it made much difference and it got a little worse (freezing every few mins), so I took it back out again.

GOOD NEWS though - I've tried rolling back Samsung App and Samsung Push to factory default through Apps Manager and ignoring the update requests after that (I was rather cynical and didn't expect much), and so far I've not had the freeze again yet. It's not been long enough to say it's a cure, just a few hours, BUT the one thing I've noticed is that the performance of the S3 has improved dramatically, e.g. switching between apps there is no lag whatsoever and it's far more responsive than it has been in a long time - it's running as quickly as a brand new handset even with chunky apps like WhatsApp, Facebook, Messaging, e-mail etc.

I'll keep tabs on it for the rest of the day and if it's not frozen tonight I'll try re-inserting the SD card too, then post an update...

Here's some info for the cool-*** super-geeks who know this shiz far better than me:
Current firmware - PDA:LLA/PJONE:LK1/CSC:LL2 (O2U) - this is the latest version according to Kies
Unlocked, on o2, stock model, UK (not tried rooting yet).

Keep rockin' y'all...

www.ValveRider.com

 

[wsisback]

After several attempts to solve the issue, only the installation of I9300XXEMB1 worked for me. Now I'm have again a phone freezing free.

 

[aleco touma]

plz ... tell us if it works
the only way it work up for me until now is restoring the system to android 4.0.4
and it's too old

 

[wsisback]

With I9300XXEMB1 instead of I9300XXELLA it's working fine for more than 48 hours now and I'm keeping the 4.1.2

 

[elektradroid]

Isnt it about time Samsung rolled out an updated fix for this? To me it seems its been since the last version update...
Mines been doing it since then.
So far I have done a factory reset and all the other tricks ive found. ...changed a wifi setting and I cant believe its to do with the sd as it froze while I had removed it.
Ive got to try and reinstal the entire version again via kies but its too slow.
I really dont want to have to send it back unless ive tried everything.
Anyone know how long till 5.0? Hopefully a new upgrade should fix it.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Android Central Forums

 

[lightnshade]

Hi all,

The bad news is it was indeed too good to be true. By lunchtime yesterday my S3 was freezing again approx hourly, sometimes without me even doing anything on it.

So I think we can eliminate the following as full solutions (only based on my experience of course):

1) Removing MicroSD card - hasn't made much difference
2) Rolling back Samsung Push to factory default version
3) Rolling back Samsung Apps to factory default version

The main apps I use are:
Facebook
WhatsApp
Messaging (default)
Email (default)
WordsWithFriends
Candy Crush Saga (sad but true)
Maps
Smart Keyboard Trial
Lookout

When checking my cached processes, I generally have around 200-250MB free, up to 600-650MB used. I've no idea if this is normal or whether it's changed over time but I've always used the majority of the apps mentioned above and only had the problem in the last few weeks.

Most of the time if I leave the phone for 15-20 mins it unfreezes or reboots.

I just hope it's a software/firmware issue rather than hardware - I've seen theories both ways and I'd rather not have to get it repaired or replaced. I'm surprised Samsung haven't responded yet if there are so many of us affected...

All suggestions welcomed.

Forgot to mention - as well as freezing up, the S3 seems to have severed links between some of my WhatsApp conversations and my Contacts, so it now doesn't recognise who the sender is - and it's only done it for some contacts, not all, bizarrely. :-\

 

[lightnshade]

Hi wsisback - I'm clearly a noob to Android so hope you can help. I'm on 4.1.2 too, my "Baseband version" is I9300BWELK1, and my Build number is JZO54K.I9300XXELLA which is what it seems you were on previously when you had the problem I'm having. How do I change to I9300XXEMB1, given that Kies says I have the latest firmware and I'm not being asked to update via any OTA prompts? Does the S3 need rooting to do this or can it still be stock?

Cheers!

With I9300XXEMB1 instead of I9300XXELLA it's working fine for more than 48 hours now and I'm keeping the 4.1.2

 

[Rajnish Mittal]

i had the similar problem in S3.
i believe i found the cure........
Delete all the downloaded email apps other than the gmail or the built in email app.
now my phone is working ok

 

[lightnshade]

Hi Rajnish - I'm glad that worked for you but it definitely won't work for everyone as I don't have any other emails apps, and I don't even use the gmail one.

Having said that, unless it's a firmware or hardware issue, there might not be one solution which works for us all...!

i had the similar problem in S3.
i believe i found the cure........
Delete all the downloaded email apps other than the gmail or the built in email app.
now my phone is working ok

 

[iGRAPHiC]

I had the same problem, but it's fixed till now after I installed this app
Don't forget to enable boost automatically.

 

[lightnshade]

Cheers... trying that now!

I had the same problem, but it's fixed till now after I installed this app
Don't forget to enable boost automatically.

 

[Meir Chernetsky]

tricia.dawn.williams, did you update with Kies?

 

[wsisback]

Hi wsisback - I'm clearly a noob to Android so hope you can help. I'm on 4.1.2 too, my "Baseband version" is I9300BWELK1, and my Build number is JZO54K.I9300XXELLA which is what it seems you were on previously when you had the problem I'm having. How do I change to I9300XXEMB1, given that Kies says I have the latest firmware and I'm not being asked to update via any OTA prompts? Does the S3 need rooting to do this or can it still be stock?

Cheers!

Hi lightnshade,
My S3 is completely 4.1.2 stock no custom ROM's. For 4 days that I'm freezing free. Two days ago I made a new update through Kies, I'm now on I9300XXEMC2.
Please share the output of *#1234# and Kies output line "Current firmware version".

 

[lightnshade]

Hi - I think I was on XXELLA or similar (I can't remember exactly) and I've just moved to XEMB5 - it was only 10 minutes ago but fingers crossed it will stay stable. Have you noticed an even bigger improvement since moving to XEMC2, or is it very similar?

I tried Smart RAM Booster but it didn't make much difference. I'll try putting my SD card back in now and see if it holds together...!

Hi lightnshade,
My S3 is completely 4.1.2 stock no custom ROM's. For 4 days that I'm freezing free. Two days ago I made a new update through Kies, I'm now on I9300XXEMC2.
Please share the output of *#1234# and Kies output line "Current firmware version".

 

[Xavier Soria]

Hi, I have a rooted S3 and installed CyanoGen Mod 10.1 and freezing stopped completely. Unfortunately, since CM 10.1 is still on nightly, mobile data didn't work so I tried switching back. Freezing immediately resumed. I concluded it is the firmware definitely. I'm looking for a custom ROM that works now.

 

[Francois Leiber]

Same issue as everyone here, driving me crazy for the last 10 days...
If it definitely is the firmware, what would indeed be interesting to everyone is feedback on switching to similar alternative ROMs: does it still freeze, do you have other issues, what ROM would you recommend?

 

[jaithehulk]

I have installed the EMC2 firmware and the phone is freeze free for 66h. So it looks like a firmware issue.
I hope the phone remains this way

 

[wsisback]

Same issue as everyone here, driving me crazy for the last 10 days...
If it definitely is the firmware, what would indeed be interesting to everyone is feedback on switching to similar alternative ROMs: does it still freeze, do you have other issues, what ROM would you recommend?

Any stock ROM different from I9300XXELLA. Check what is available in your country/operator.

 

[Francois Leiber]

Any stock ROM different from I9300XXELLA. Check what is available in your country/operator.

Well I'm using I9300XXELKB, and no other updates are currently available. But the freezes didn't start after this ROM update, which dates back to January.
I was rather thinking of non-Samsung ROMs.

 

[siany65]

Hi - I know this will be annoying for some but I am not a techie and really don't understand even what ROM is - and my phone is doing exactly the same. If anyone can help me in laymans terms that would be fab! THanks