Sprint Galaxy S4: Kitkat Update Screen Problem

[chrisdemon29]

i registered just for this thread to view the pics!!
i disabled a bunch of useless programs, incl. a bunch of google and samsung apps... started coming back but went to **** again... started in safe mode and deleted cached partition... so far so good.. about 10 hrs in... and i had gps on because of my mapmyride app... had a hiccup with the music app... it would play, but it quit playing audio on a song (that has worked previously), switched song forward and then back and all was good...

chris

 

[Aymanovic]

Yesterday i decided to format my Note 3 and get it back to the factory settings, till now everything is going fine.
I will update you if any strange thing appeared, this if will happen then should be within the coming 2 days

 

[manuBittencourt]

Re: Galaxy S4 Kitkat Update Screen Problem

I think I solved the problem with the black screen after the update:
It is caused by the old(4.3) installation of WatchOn.Actions:
- go to settings>applications> Tab "ALL"
-find "Samsung WatchOn" tap on the app name
-select disable (or something that means disable, I have a Dutch version, so not sure what it exactly says in englisch it is NOT THE STOP button) it will ask you if you want to rol back to the factory version of the app. Select YES
-Now restart your device
- go to settings>applications> Tab "disabled" the last Tab
-find "Samsung WatchOn" tap on the app name
-select "enable"
And WatchOn will be reinstalled with the proper functions supporting the new lockscreen. I have no problem since.

I Also red that some of you are missing apps after the update. Just wait one night with your phone's wifi on(use clock or something)
After this most apps will be reinstalled.
For some reason for your phone to work perfectly, you need to restart your phone 2 times after all of this.
Good luck!

I'm from Brazil, my S4 was bought here (so it's not a Sprint's or any other company's problem besides Samsung itself) and I can't believe I've found something that apparently seems to work! As everybody else I was very, very frustrated and pissed at Samsung for not launching anything else to fix this problem.
Thank you so much! =)

P.S.: I haven't tried WatchOn again, so I wonder if I set my tvs and everything else on it the issue won't return.

 

[Aymanovic]

Re: Galaxy S4 Kitkat Update Screen Problem

I think the problem is related to connection cause when i close the 3G network, everything goes fine with no blue screens or delays !!!!

 

[Aymanovic]

Re: Galaxy S4 Kitkat Update Screen Problem

The problem is related to the mail exchange cause when i removed my email everything worked fine with no problems at all, and then i re-installed it from 2 days and till now everything is working fine.

 

[nasiralisher]

Assalamo alaykum / Hi

I updated my Samsung Galaxy Note 3's firmware from 4.3 to 4.4.2 and started having issue with the screen too. It was very frustrating. I tried many solutions from this thread too but none was successful.

The Solution
Then in an attempt to isolate the problem, I also tried removing security level / microsoft server exchange security password from lock-screen and instead configured to use pattern authentication method only. I have now been using my phone for almost a day without any screen on/off lag issues.


The Samsung WatchOn and changing the personal message solutions didn't work for me at all.

Regards

 

[Bobkaron]

sounds like the cause may be different for different people. The problem was caused for me by the clock being set a large. Going into settings then lock screen then clock and changing from large to small now its unlocking fine. I also noticed now when I press the power button to turn off the display on my phone I get a lock screen sound which I wasn't hearing before. When I didn't hear the sound the phone would have to be left for least a few minutes before I can unlock again in a timely manner. Now with the clock set to small I can lock and unlock instantly and it works like shiould again.

 

[Richo_M]

Hi - I'm having similar issues with my S4. I'm running Android 4.4.2 and have tried all the fixes suggested in this thread without any luck. Some of the fixes have helped for a day or two but then the problems return, ie. unable to wake up phone, screen doesn't turn on with incoming call, very very sluggish, screen will turn on once 100% charge reached and not turn off, etc.

I've tried a couple of factory resets, removed all apps and individually reinstalled, etc. It seems that using a lock screen password is the real cause. Unfortunately, I have work data on my phone and have to use a password (device administrator/security policy is in place).

Does anyone know if there is a bug fix coming for this? Or have any other suggestions? I'm getting pretty sick of this and the annoying thing is the phone is fantastic if there is no lock screen password!!!

Cheers - Richo

 

[Aymanovic]

This is exactly what happens to me after installing the KITKAT software upgrade, and almost weekly now i have to remove my bussiness email that requires a password and re-install it again for things to be good for 4 or 5 days .. when i remove the email things go pretty well

 

[hshendon]

I might have stumbled on another fix for some of us. I had this problem recently for weeks. Sometimes it would need to be rebooted once per day, sometimes it locked like 5 times and I was getting more and more frustrated. It seemed to happen more often when charging the phone. I thought maybe it was related to over heating or something. So, I took off my protective case. Ever since then, NO LOCKUPS. NO REBOOTS.

I am not sure if it was heat or if the case was putting pressure on a bad contact point, but it is definitely the problem for me. THREE DAYS WITHOUT A REBOOT.

One other thing. I had one of those cases that closed over the face and had the window. Maybe it had something to do with that. I will try with a new, more basic case to see if that makes a difference.

Does this work for any one else?

 

[Richo_M]

hshendon -

I've got the S-view cover (flip case with the window) on my phone and do have issues with that working correctly since the KitKat update. I'll try just putting the original case on the phone and see how that goes.

Since you changed your cover, has the phone performance also improved or is it still sluggish but just no reboot required?

Cheers.

 

[SanDiego1990]

My Friend was having the same problem too, and she fixed her problem by taking her SDcard out.
4.4.2 Can cause the sd cards to corrupt and mess with your phone!

 

[Juanus]

Re: Galaxy S4 Kitkat Update Screen Problem

I was also having this same problem and I found a solution today.
The problem is the lock screen widgets (which you cannot use when you have a PIN secure lock anyway)
Go to Settings > My Device > Lock Screen > Lock Screen Widgets
The first choice you should have is Favorite Apps or Camera and it should be greyed out and set to ON.
You have to set that to off.
The only way I was able to do that was to change my screen lock to swipe, then I could go to lock screen widgets and turn favorite apps or camera to off and then set your screen lock with a pin again.
(My situation was even more complicated because to get my corporate email, I have to have a pin lock. So I uninstalled my corporate email. Did all the steps above and then reinstalled my corporate email)
Let me know if this does or does not work for anyone else.

 

[hshendon]

Richo_M,

No sluggishness at all. No lockups. No need to reboot. Not even once. All of this since I removed my case two weeks ago.

I have not tried using an old case, yet, but now that I am home, I will try my old one (Seido Surface with kickstand) starting tomorrow and see if the problem returns.

 

[hshendon]

I might have stumbled on another fix for some of us. I had this problem recently for weeks. Sometimes it would need to be rebooted once per day, sometimes it locked like 5 times and I was getting more and more frustrated. It seemed to happen more often when charging the phone. I thought maybe it was related to over heating or something. So, I took off my protective case. Ever since then, NO LOCKUPS. NO REBOOTS.

I am not sure if it was heat or if the case was putting pressure on a bad contact point, but it is definitely the problem for me. THREE DAYS WITHOUT A REBOOT.

One other thing. I had one of those cases that closed over the face and had the window. Maybe it had something to do with that. I will try with a new, more basic case to see if that makes a difference.

Does this work for any one else?

UPDATE - Right at about 2 weeks with no case. No repeats of screen locks, lockups, or reboots needed. No sluggishness at lock screen at all.

I read the post about turning off lock screen widgets. I checked my phone and mine is still set to "favorite apps". That might be related to the problem, but since the removal of my case, I have had no repeats of the issue even with that option set as it is. I can't even change it right now if I wanted to because my security settings prohibit changing anything on the lock screen or password requirement (I use mobile iron at work for partitioned email security).

 

[Richo_M]

Hi hshendon,

Thanks for the updates and glad to hear you are having some success!

About 3 days I took off my S-view cover (it's Samsung branded, but I did buy it online so not sure how genuine it is...) and removed my SD card. Since then, my phone has been operating PERFECTLY. I also still have the lock screen widgets button (greyed out) showing "favorite apps" but things are working fine.

I'm going to format my SD card and get that setup again and run things for a few days. If it's all good, I'll put the S-view cover back on and see if that causes the problem to reoccur.

I've noticed in other forums that people have had a lot of trouble with the Note 3 and S-view covers after the KitKat update. Not sure if this could be a similar issue just manifested on the S4.

Anyway, I am now feeling a lot less like throwing my phone in the bin and am remembering how good the S4 can be when it works correctly!!! Will provide another update in a few days.

Thanks for all the great tips folks!

 

[vbomb2000]

I removed my sview cover and put back original cover, my s4 is now running much better (as good as pre 4.4.2). Next step, going back to bell store and demanding a full refund for sview... I've been struggling with this crap (lock screen hang, battery life drain) since kitkat was released on s4... I can't believe all my issues were related to sview cover. I called samsung and reported the issue.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[hshendon]

OK. 1 week with my old case on (the non- window case). It is a Surface case with kickstand from Seido. Kind of a two piece, click together kind.

No repeats of the screen locking or reboots at all.

Starting to think it is not related to overheating at all. Perhaps something either with the case magnets or the case was putting pressure in a weird place causing an issue. Who knows.

Anyway, for those of you out there having the same problems and you have a flip screen case with window, you might want to ditch the case to resolve.

Good luck!

 

[Richo_M]

After more than a week without my S-View case, my S4 continues to run perfectly. I've also formatted and re-installed my SD Card and that hasn't changed the performance (all good!).

It's disappointing that I can't use the S-View case because it was a fantastic cover!! Provided good protection and was so handy not to have to open the case to answer calls. I'm now looking for a new case is anyone has any suggestions!

So if you're having issues with sluggish performance after the KitKat update, ditch the S-View case and see if it improves!

Thanks!

 

[Aymanovic]

There was a new update pushed by Samsung , now everything is fixed and working perfectly.