Re: My Samsung galaxy S3 won't turn on
Hey guys. Seems like this is a pretty common problem. I've experienced much of the same issues you all have had. I have a stock Verizon S3, no custom ROMS, no physical damage.
Background:
Phone recently began to act sluggish. Would randomly shutoff,even on charger or loading an app. When restarting phone, could not get past 4G LTE spalsh screen. Got it to work for a day after reading up on a few tricks, but now does not even turn on.
I'v Tried:
Battery Tricks - I've tested the battery and it is good. Took it out and works fine in my wife's S3. Previously to complete failure, taking the battery out and putting it back in did work, but it would get stuck at the colorful Verizon 4G LTE splash screen. I managed to get past it using Recovery mode, but still had same problems. I've left the battery out for a whole day, put it back in on the charger and still nothing. Even when plugged into the charger, the LED doesn't light up.
Recovery Mode - Prior to complete failure of the battery trick, I did managed to get into recovery mode. I cleared cache, still got stuck at 4G LTE splash screen. Did a factory reset and did manage to get past the splash screen and into the phone. However, during the auto recovery process, it shut off while dl'ing some apps and will not even power on how. When connected to a charger, the LED doesn't even light up. Also tried to plug into my PC and it is not being recognized by it.
Smash Method - This is apparently a real thing. Click
here for reference. Judging by the comments, it helped a lot of people. A possible culprit is the power button. I tried several times giving it a hard smack, but did not work for me. Maybe I'm not giving it a good enough smack, but too afraid to damage phone anymore than it is (think cracked screen!).
Going to Try
3rd Party Online Repair - This is my last ditch effort. I found this guy who offers through eBay to fix the power button or the boot loader. Apparently, a messed up boot loader will also completely brick your phone. I don't know which issue is causing my phone to be a paper weight but I'm going to send it in an give it a try. $25-$30 seems to be a reasonable amount of money to spend prior to me purchasing a brand new phone. Even though I have a credit to upgrade through Verizon, I do not want to lose my grandfathered unlimited data plan. I'll be sure to follow up in this thread with the results. Wish me luck!