topic Re: Dead Galaxy s4!! in Android

Dead Galaxy s4!!

Anonymous — Mon, 20 Jan 2014 07:15:21 GMT

I upgraded to the s4 in November (worst decision ever made), I've had loads of problems with it since the software upgrade thing which I had to undo following the instructions on here.

The past couple of days it has switched itself off randomly despite having nearly full battery.

Today I have woken up and it is dead.... Totally dead as a dodo. Won't even charge.

Help????

The staff at my local O2 shop don't know what day it is let alone actually know about phones so I'm dreading having to go in!!!!

Anyone else had this problem?

Re: Dead Galaxy s4!!

Anonymous — Mon, 20 Jan 2014 07:18:04 GMT

Forgot to say, I have checked the battery and it isn't bulging or anything.

Also, unless it upgraded again telling me I should be on whatever version android in November? Can't remember what it was 😞 I think it went to 4.3 then I did that hard reboot thing but not 100% sure.

Re: Dead Galaxy s4!!

Anonymous — Mon, 20 Jan 2014 07:20:47 GMT

Hi

So you updated to 4.3 and did the full reset after, yes?

I would contact Samsung directly as the phone is still under warranty.

Re: Dead Galaxy s4!!

Anonymous — Mon, 20 Jan 2014 08:54:10 GMT

Hi, yes it could have been the 4.3 update.

Is the phone still under warranty despite me doing the full reset?

Re: Dead Galaxy s4!!

Anonymous — Mon, 20 Jan 2014 09:06:38 GMT

o2 have said they will repair it and have it back to me within 4 working days - is this going to be pointless, shall I ignore o2 and go to Samsung?

Re: Dead Galaxy s4!!

MI5 — Mon, 20 Jan 2014 11:19:29 GMT

Your warranty is fine so don't worry about that.
I wouldn't trust O2 to repair a hole in a paper bag so I would directly to Samsung for assistance.

Re: Dead Galaxy s4!!

Anonymous — Mon, 20 Jan 2014 11:55:20 GMT

haha okay thanks MI5, that's settled it for me!!

Do you think I'll be okay just taking it into my nearest Samsung repair centre then? I don't know whether they'll give me a temp phone - they did say it will take up to 72 hours to fix and they can't say for sure if I'll lose everything on there 😞

Re: Dead Galaxy s4!!

MI5 — Mon, 20 Jan 2014 12:04:38 GMT

They will reflash the firmware which in itself won't wipe anything, however, they may be forced to do a factory reset which as you know will wipe everything, so there's a good chance your phone will be empty when it comes back.
Samsung don't lend phones out (I don't think anyway) but even if you went to O2 it would be just a basic call/text phone they lent you - You can buy the same thing from CPW for £15 to see you through the repair period if you don't have a spare of your own.

Re: Dead Galaxy s4!!

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 09:12:00 GMT

Update on this situation:

I phoned Samsung who asked me to take the phone into my nearest repair centre. I did this, phoned them before I went in and they advised it’d probably take 72 hours to repair. Took the phone in to them the next day, chap took one look at it, pressed a couple of buttons – “the board is dead, you’ll have to send it off to Samsung”.

About as much use as a chocolate fireguard!!

So off I went with the knackered phone, took it to the o2 shop the next day to let them sort it out. The girl in the shop pressed a couple of buttons and the s4 sprang to life. She said she’d done a soft reset (holding vol and power button) and showed me how to do it incase phone wouldn’t switch on again.

That was last week.

Early this morning the phone switched itself off (so my alarm didn’t go off!!), managed to switch it back on normally. Within 2 hours it has completely died again, no life, no matter what buttons I press.

The battery was 98% when it died, I’d literally just checked it.

HELP!!

What should I do with this pile of crap now??? O2 mentioned when I was in the shop if they had to send a phone off for repairs it took 14 days and they don’t give a loan phone which I find absolutely disgusting. It’s the kind of service I’d expect from Vodafone!!

Re: Dead Galaxy s4!!

MI5 — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 09:20:13 GMT

Your choice, either trust O2 or Samsung with the repair. Certainly sounds like it has a faulty motherboard. O2 will lend you a phone but you have to pay a £15 deposit for a tatty old basic phone (or buy your own from CPW for about the same price).

Re: Dead Galaxy s4!!

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 09:41:40 GMT

I would send it to samsung myself

Re: Dead Galaxy s4!!

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 14:19:12 GMT

14 days is the outside timescale, often it can be a lot quicker. My friend sent off her phone the other week and had it back in 4 days.

Could it be they didn't have any loan phones in rather than they don't do it at all? Unless it's a franchise (as their proceedures differ) then they do normally have a loan phone.

Re: Dead Galaxy s4!!

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Feb 2014 08:53:11 GMT

Update:

Because I am really stupid, I gave o2 a try and took it to a different o2 shop where I got a loan phone and they sent the phone off for repairs.

I got a text from o2 saying they couldn't repair it until I phoned them to give further info - phoned up, turns out they looked at it and it was working. No faults. I told them it repeatedly is switching off and sometimes not coming back on for days.

Checked the repair update today and it says they've sent it back to the store, "No faults found".

How bloody useless! Does this mean I am stuck with a phone that switches off, shall I continue harassing o2 and taking it into the store everytime it switches off??? Or can I still try Samsung, in which case how do I do that? I already tried taking it to a Samsung repair centre where the chap looked at it, said the motherboard was dead, and handed it back over to me.

😞

Re: Dead Galaxy s4!!

MI5 — Mon, 03 Feb 2014 09:30:45 GMT

I'm confused as why you left the Samsung repair centre after been told the motherboard was dead. Why did you not leave it with them to repair it then?

Anyway, the choice is still yours, either keep harassing O2 (3 failed repair attempts and O2 will replace phone) or go back to Samsung and ask for a repair or replacement under warranty.

Re: Dead Galaxy s4!!

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Feb 2014 09:41:38 GMT

It was quite annoying really because I phoned Samsung who gave me details of my nearest repair centre, I then phoned the repair centre and told the chap exactly what was happening, he said bring it in and they should have it repaired within 72 hours.

So I made the 100 mile round trip, only to get there, hand over the phone, and have it handed straight back. All he did was try to switch it on, and then it obviously wouldn't because it's a pule of rubbish, he just said "The motherboard is dead, you need to send it off to Samsung".

Very poor service really considering they ARE the repair people for Samsung!!!!!!!

I only took it to o2 cause I thought it would mean another phone call to Samsung who weren't very helpful in the first place.

Re: Dead Galaxy s4!!

MI5 — Mon, 03 Feb 2014 09:45:14 GMT

Samsung are usually much better than that - I wouldn't have left without the repair centre taking it in tbh.

Re: Dead Galaxy s4!!

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Feb 2014 09:54:19 GMT

I did think it was odd (and really poor) but having never had a phone repaired before I wasn't 100% sure what to expect!!

I think I'll maybe harass o2 abit longer.

Re: Dead Galaxy s4!!

anticpated — Mon, 03 Feb 2014 23:10:25 GMT

Can you plug the phone in and get some sort if display? Software can't really destroy hardware unless it used incompatible settings like the wrong baseboard kernel or something.

Last week, someone i know with a samsung galaxy s3 phone more or less stopped working. After a bit of trying we decided that flashing a fresh install of 4.3 might resolve some issues. It recovered the telephone, by rewriting the boot partition which was corrupted,

If you can form a connection over usb under download mode. Using ODIN you can possibly fix this yourself, although it's a bit nerving at first. MI5 made a good guide on this. I wouldn't normally advise this although as you seem to be getting passed from pillar to post.

Addendum:

It seems I read this post after it was resolved.

Re: Dead Galaxy s4!!

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Feb 2014 17:26:20 GMT

I picked the phone up from O2 yesterday. They hadn't managed to find the fault which keeps making the stupid thing switch off, they did say however that they had totally wiped and reset the phone which "fixes 99% of all issues".

Just over 24 hours since picking it up...... It has switched off 3 times in a row and is now totally dead

😞

Again.