Samsung S21 FE Major Bluetooth, WiFi, and USB File Transfer Problems

[dbd1114]

I have a Samsung S21 FE 5G which is ~2 years old. Ever since the most recent major android update (seemingly), the bluetooth on it has been absolutely unusable. It started with random disconnections, having to manually connect devices, etc. My phone kept forgetting bluetooth connections and I would have to pair devices each time I turned them on. About 2-3 months ago, bluetooth started randomly shutting off and trying to toggle it on from the drop-down menu at the top, or through settings, didn't work. Usually it would restart on its own after a certain amount of time while I was using the phone. At some point it turned into a daily occurence, and for the past 3 days or so bluetooth will not turn on at all, even after trying to start it through the shell using adb. Whenever I try to toggle bluetooth on from the menu or settings, it will turn light gray and stay that way indefinitely without actually turning on.
Before you reply, please consider that I have already tried these troubleshooting steps and other things:
- Basic restart
- Airplane Mode on & off
- Wifi on & off
- Reset WiFi & Bluetooth Settings (several times)
- Reset all settings
- Cleared cache partition through recovery mode (several times)
- Booted into safe mode (several times) - This worked almost flawlessly for a few weeks up until about 3 days ago
- Shut off & back on
- Samsung Members diagnostics (result is helpfully "bluetooth isn't working") (several times)
- Updated to latest version (issue has persisted through updates)
- Changed every bluetooth-related setting under Developer Settings and used different combinations of settings
- Cleared cache & data, force-stopped Bluetooth Agent and Bluetooth MIDI services through "Apps" under Settings (several times)
Extra note: When I have gone in to Apps under settings and into Bluetooth Agent when experiencing the issue recently, the option to force-stop it has been grayed out, like potentially the service isn't running? Also can't clear the cache or data on the actual bluetooth app/service itself because those options are grayed out.

What is the best course of action here? Could this be a software/firmware issue or a hardware problem? I do not have the time, resources, or patience to do a factory reset at this point, so should I bring it to a service center or just trade it in for a new phone? I want some opinions or similar experiences before I make any decisions. I need my phone available and can't tolerate anything past the absolute minimum amount of downtime. Thanks.

 

[mustang7757]

Welcome to AC!

Have you checked in Bluetooth history what's on there? Are you signed into your Samsung cloud ?

I see you have used adb before did you delete bloat this way?

 

[dbd1114]

Welcome to AC!

Have you checked in Bluetooth history what's on there? Are you signed into your Samsung cloud ?

I see you have used adb before did you delete bloat this way?

Thanks! I just checked bluetooth control/scan history and there is nothing except for Modes and Routines enabling bluetooth, which was a troubleshooting step I tried a little while back.
I am not signed in to Samsung Cloud. By this do you mean the Sync with Samsung account option? If so I'll try that

I haven't deleted any bloat with adb and just started using it today to get the Bluetooth HCI logs. I could certainly try that though if I do more stuff with adb tomorrow.

Thanks for the response and have a great day!

 

[mustang7757]

Thanks! I just checked bluetooth control/scan history and there is nothing except for Modes and Routines enabling bluetooth, which was a troubleshooting step I tried a little while back.
I am not signed in to Samsung Cloud. By this do you mean the Sync with Samsung account option? If so I'll try that

I haven't deleted any bloat with adb and just started using it today to get the Bluetooth HCI logs. I could certainly try that though if I do more stuff with adb tomorrow.

Thanks for the response and have a great day!

Hi
No don't want to try anything adb , double check modes and routine settings because this can cause issues if you have them set for anything and yes signed into your Samsung account will help keep track of Bluetooth devices

 

[dbd1114]

An update on this-
Since my last post, the wi-fi has also stopped working. It is no longer possible to turn it on, and I have tried all of the same fixes for bluetooth to no avail. File transfer over USB-C has also stopped working. I have tried multiple cables, computers, ports, and changed the USB connection settings. The connection settings always default back to USB for file transfer, no matter what I change it to. The device is recognizable and charges, but does not appear under file explorer on the device it's plugged into even when logged in to the phone.
Additionally, after the most recent system update (40), bluetooth seemingly works as normal again and will toggle on and off as expected.

anyone else having these issues? about to try the factory reset, and if that doesn't work then bringing it in for a board replacement.

 

[mustang7757]

Check one more thing

Settings>security & Privacy>Auto blocker on?

 

[Pollux1104]

I have the exact same Bluetooth issue, since September with my S21 FE 5G.

I was thinking about getting it to che the hardware, since I have done everything on the troubleshooting lists.

Please let me know if someone has solved this issue and how.

 

[Pollux1104]

I have a Samsung S21 FE 5G which is ~2 years old. Ever since the most recent major android update (seemingly), the bluetooth on it has been absolutely unusable. It started with random disconnections, having to manually connect devices, etc. My phone kept forgetting bluetooth connections and I would have to pair devices each time I turned them on. About 2-3 months ago, bluetooth started randomly shutting off and trying to toggle it on from the drop-down menu at the top, or through settings, didn't work. Usually it would restart on its own after a certain amount of time while I was using the phone. At some point it turned into a daily occurence, and for the past 3 days or so bluetooth will not turn on at all, even after trying to start it through the shell using adb. Whenever I try to toggle bluetooth on from the menu or settings, it will turn light gray and stay that way indefinitely without actually turning on.
Before you reply, please consider that I have already tried these troubleshooting steps and other things:
- Basic restart
- Airplane Mode on & off
- Wifi on & off
- Reset WiFi & Bluetooth Settings (several times)
- Reset all settings
- Cleared cache partition through recovery mode (several times)
- Booted into safe mode (several times) - This worked almost flawlessly for a few weeks up until about 3 days ago
- Shut off & back on
- Samsung Members diagnostics (result is helpfully "bluetooth isn't working") (several times)
- Updated to latest version (issue has persisted through updates)
- Changed every bluetooth-related setting under Developer Settings and used different combinations of settings
- Cleared cache & data, force-stopped Bluetooth Agent and Bluetooth MIDI services through "Apps" under Settings (several times)
Extra note: When I have gone in to Apps under settings and into Bluetooth Agent when experiencing the issue recently, the option to force-stop it has been grayed out, like potentially the service isn't running? Also can't clear the cache or data on the actual bluetooth app/service itself because those options are grayed out.

What is the best course of action here? Could this be a software/firmware issue or a hardware problem? I do not have the time, resources, or patience to do a factory reset at this point, so should I bring it to a service center or just trade it in for a new phone? I want some opinions or similar experiences before I make any decisions. I need my phone available and can't tolerate anything past the absolute minimum amount of downtime. Thanks.

I've done everything but no solution. It started as a random BT shutoff, then it worked for days and the it didn't for a week or so and in Sept it didn't activated at all. I. December it started on it's own and worked for 5 or 6 hours and then no more.

The phone has no other issues currently.

 

[Pollux1104]

I've done everything but no solution. It started as a random BT shutoff, then it worked for days and the it didn't for a week or so and in Sept it didn't activated at all. I. December it started on it's own and worked for 5 or 6 hours and then no more.

The phone has no other issues currently.

As an update, I turned on the enhanced processing feature, and the Bluetooth has being turning randomly, on some days it will work for hours and stop for several days, just to turn on for a few hours again.

Can someone help me solve this problem?