Note 2 restarted @ language screen & repeated "unfortunately app stopped"

[bugeyed]

A friend gave me his Note 2 to fix & I am at a loss. It starts up at the select language screen & then pops up the "Unfortunately {app} has stopped error. If I hit OK, another app stopped error pops up. It usually cycles thru several apps & never stops. I cleared the cache using recovery & that didn't change anything. I ran Kies & it connects to the phone, but says that the device is supported by Smart Switch. Smart Switch doesn't ever connect to the phone. I have updated the device drivers & I hear the driver chime when I connect the USB cable, but Smart Switch doesn't see the phone. I can't do anything on the phone as it is stuck with the app stop errors, so I am stuck trying to use Kies or Smart Switch to fix it. The owner doesn't want to loose his contacts & has never backed it up. Any idea where to go with this? According to Samsung web site Kies is for Note 2 & Smart Switch is for Note 3. As I stated Kies sees the phone, but defers to Smart Switch & disconnects. Smart Switch will not connect. Help please.
Kev

 

[mustang7757]

Hi, do factory reset in recovery , its a very very old phone not sure smart switch would work , best they upgrade from it only going be issues with it .

 

[B. Diddy]

Re: Note 2 will not connect & gets Unfortunately App Stopped errors

Are you able to boot into Safe Mode? https://thedroidguy.com/galaxy-note-2-safe-mode-how-to-enable-and-disable-it-67317

 

[mustang7757]

[merged duplicates]

 

[bugeyed]

Doesn't seem to want to boot into safe mode. It is stuck with SAMSUNG on the screen. Checked connection with Kies again & it says "the connected device is supported through Smart Switch". Then drops the attempt. As stated Smart Switch doesn't even try to connect. It never detects the device. If an old version of Kies tries to connect long enough, the phone pops up that it can't find any software to recognize the phone. Guess it is just timing out?
Kev

 

[bugeyed]

Got past the error screens long enough to enter some info. Doesn't seem to want to sigh in in to the google account, takes forever signing in. If I skip this step, it asks for the owner name. After entering the name I select one of the boxes for location & hit next & it returns to the owner name entry screen??? Since all I want to do is recover the contacts list, where should I go with this. Basically I need to know the likelihood that the contacts still exists on this phone. It came to me with the language selection screen at boot. What does this tell you about the status of the phone or why it is coming up with this screen? Does it mean that it has been reset? I'm just not sure what event would bring the phone back to this state. If it has been reset & contacts is gone, could the contacts be found on Google account? Can I access this from a functioning phone? Thx, Kev

 

[B. Diddy]

If it's Factory Reset Protection, then you have to enter your friend's Google account and password -- do you know it?

 

[bugeyed]

I tried to add his account to my android phone, but none of his email/pw combos work. I will try again on his phone with some other combinations on his list of possible choices??? Any other ideas?

 

[B. Diddy]

Was this always your friend's phone, or did he get it from someone else as well?

 

[bugeyed]

Always his. Should I be able to access his Google account if I add his account to another working phone? Would the contacts info be available in the Google account?

 

[B. Diddy]

That would depend on if he actually entered them as Google account contacts. The default on those older phones is often the Phone account (or possibly the Samsung account) -- the Phone account doesn't sync anywhere. Ask him to go to contacts.google.com on his computer browser and see if those contacts are listed there.

 

[bugeyed]

Good info. I'm pretty sure they were just phone accounts 'cause he isn't using his Gmail or Google calendar. Soooooo, That leads me to either getting this phone working or giving him the sad news. Guess I need to explore & discover the right combination of account info & passwords from his list of possibilities to get in.
Thanks,
Kev