Note 4 rebooting, restarting, freezing, not restarting properly, Wake Lock

[Eli-Sprint]

Hi Samsung!  Please, if a Samsung representative is reading this - please do something to help. Please speak to a higher up technical programmer, software engineer and hardware engineer. Please get to work on this to find out how to correct this problem.  This problem is going on for years with several of your phones.  The problem?  The phone lags, freezes and reboots. Or does not reboot. The phone turns off as if the battery has died when the battery has 20-30% left.  Several times mine turned off when my battery had 49% left!

It may pop up with a message with the green Android man saying do not turn device off while we download...  I will lay out the general problem. But if you do a search on this forum AND on Google - for the words Samsung Rebooting or Note 4 rebooting - you will find hundreds or thousands of people complaining about this exact same problem. Yet Samsung has not done anything to correct it. Many people are saying that this problem is engineered into the phone by Samsung in order to get the users to upgrade. 

I'm on my second Note 4.  7 months ago my Note 4 just started freezing and rebooting. Rebooting in a loop. Sometimes the phone acts dead and does not restart.  We have to do all kinds of tricks to get it to start up.

Most people blame this on the software updates.  I had the phone replaced by Sprint.  It worked great. This time I refused to do any software updates. 7 months went by and again last week one morning out of the blue, it started freezing and rebooting. Same exact problem. This time I did not do any software updating so the updates was not the problem. When the problem started this time I had not done anything to the phone. I had not loaded any new apps. I called Samsung and the representative doesn't know anything about it.  I told her to search the Community forums.  She asked me to do the standard checks again.

No - removing the SD card does not fix it.

No - clearing the Cache does not fix it.

No - factory resetting does not fix it.

No - going to Best Buy to have them reflash the software does not fix it.

No - new batteries do not fix it.

No - keeping the phone plugged in does not fix it.

No - the problem happens while running in Safe Mode also.

I tried many other ideas as well. No help.

This is the last chance. I am hoping to replace the phone again. If this happens again then I will be out and I will no longer buy Samsung. I feel this is a serious problem that Samsung is not interested in correcting. Please read all the forums. I am not the only person saying that.  Most people with this complaint are saying they will not buy Samsung again.  When my Note 4 works I very much like the phone. I'M VERY HAPPY WITH IT. But I need a reliable phone that does not reboot when I'm on a  call or doing something. Often I pick up the phone to make a call to find out that it is trying to reboot itself again and is stuck in a reboot loop.  I will have to consider LG, or Pixel or Nexus or even Iphone (ugh). I just started getting information about a new phone competing with the S8 - Essentials PH-1. I'm not looking to switch. I want to remain with Samsung with my Note 4.  Does Samsung want me to stay with them?  I'm not convinced.

This phone is a $700+ phone.  I've only had the first one for 7 months and the replacement for 7 months.  I'm not willing to pay this kind of money for an another phone.  Totally unreliable for a very expensive price.

This problem is not limited to the Note 4. I've spent a few hours reading these forums looking for help. Note 5 users, Note 7 users have the same complaints. Though the Note 4 seems to have the bulk. I just saw a post on Samsung's Community Forum with someone having the exact same complaint on the brand new Galaxy S8!

I personally think that this is not a software problem because when the problem started again last week, I had not made any software changes to my phone including - I had not downloaded any apps. I had not done any software updates since I got the phone. The refurb phone replacement that I received was already on Android 6.0.1. I left it where it was and did not update it.  When I woke up one morning and turned on my phone, the phone froze and rebooted. It then rebooted itself countless times that day. I went to the Sprint store and the man says he knows the problem. But he is obligated to go through a series of testing even though he knows it will not fix it.  I believe that there is a hardware component or circuitry in the phone that failed. Maybe it was overheated or burned something out. There's an app called WAKE LOCK. I found out about this app from a forum on a Google search for Note 4 rebooting. Look for it in the APP Store and look at the comments to see how many Samsung users are using this.  I loaded this app on to the phone and set it for level 4 - Partial Wake Lock.  As long as that is running, it does about an 80% good job of keeping the phone from rebooting. It does it by not allowing the CPU to rest and fall in to sleep mode.  But when I change batteries and try to reboot - either it will just not restart. Or it will get into a rebooting loop. Or it will sit on the opening SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 4 startup screen for a VERY long time. Once I get it to start up and the WAKE LOCK app starts it stays on for a longer time before rebooting. But it may turn off (without rebooting) even when the battery has plenty of power left.

SAMSUNG PLEASE - PLEASE FIND AND SPEAK TO THE RIGHT TECHINICANS IN THE COMPANY. PLEASE FIND OUT HOW TO CORRECT THIS PROBLEM. PLEASE SUPPORT YOUR CUSTOMERS AND KEEP THEM HAPPY. OTHERWISE IN THIS AUTOMATED SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD, WORD WILL GET OUT ABOUT THESE PROBLEMS AND CREATE ANOTHER PUBLIC IMAGE PROBLEM FOR SAMSUNG. MY FRIENDS KNOW HOW FRUSTRATED I AM AND HOW MUCH TROUBLE I HAVE GONE THROUGH TO GET THIS FIXED - UNSUCCESSFULLY.

PLEASE!  Let me know. Thank you.

[userhuUDJEI4KI]

Google pretty much guarantees their new Pixel 2 will last at least 3 years!

[ADNixon]

My iPhone4 is going on 7 or 8 years and still as reliable as ever. Although it is no longer supported by Apple, there is no reason why these phones should not last a long, long time. Obsolescence and customer demands go hand in hand. When a marginally improved phone comes on the market, people clamour to get one. that's a big part of the problem. The most likely reason Samsung wants to get rid of the Note 4 is because it is such a great and fast phone. packed with features. As consumers, we should not be satisfied with a mediocre 3 year life expectancy for an expensive device. That is my rant for the day.

[userYoAblrFyp5]

Update 07.Juni.2018

I had the same problems explained here in this post. I own two Galaxy Note 4 and had the very same problems. 

NOTHING will solve the problem on your Note 4. You can use Wake Lock, your phone will work well, but if you have to restart it it may not come until you put it in freezer for 10 minutes, which is stupid of course.

I tried all solutions exposed on this thread and NOTHING solved it. I even installed the ROM Resurrection Remix (Oreo version and others) and i had the same problems.

I can assure you that it is not a Software problem. It is a Hardware Problem caused probably by an Update by Samsung. I believe it is the Mobo.

Idk if Samsung did this Update on purpose or not, but they breake the phone down. The fact that they dont care about us shows the very bad after sales service they have. We payed over 700 bucks for a phone that didnt even last 4 years!  

IMO Samsung expect us to buy a new phone every X years. Today it is our Galaxy Note 4, but in 5 years will be the same with the Galaxy Note 9 and so on...

Personally i will never ever buy a smartphone from Samsung anymore. 

In other words:

Bye bye Samsung------->Hello Xiaomi Redmi Note 5   🙂  (at least this one is not expensive)

[Tassadar]

Just a hint and further confirmation: I do assure everyone here in this thread, with 100% certainty, that this is a pure software issue. If you manage to downgrade your phone to Lollipop 5.1.1 CPD4 release, it will WORK WITHOUT ANY REBOOTING ISSUES or instabilities, only make a hard reset before and after just to make sure no residual files are remaining from 6.0.1. That's it! I did it, and I hope i can do it for you guys.

Just an idea: if it happens that you're travelling down to Egypt (Cairo), send me a message here and I will be very pleased to meet you and fix it in few minutes.

Good luck!

[shadango]

---

@Tassadar wrote:
Just a hint and further confirmation: I do assure everyone here in this thread, with 100% certainty, that this is a pure software issue. If you manage to downgrade your phone to Lollipop 5.1.1 CPD4 release, it will WORK WITHOUT ANY REBOOTING ISSUES or instabilities, only make a hard reset before and after just to make sure no residual files are remaining from 6.0.1. That's it! I did it, and I hope i can do it for you guys.

Just an idea: if it happens that you're travelling down to Egypt (Cairo), send me a message here and I will be very pleased to meet you and fix it in few minutes.

Good luck!

---

Tassadar,

Any chance you could lay out the exact process for doing the rollback?

My phone is a T Mobile unlocked phone....will I be ABLE to roll back?

I have alreayd moved on to a new phone (Moto G5 Plus) but would like to have this one as a backup and not have to throw it out.   

[Tassadar]

Dear Shadango

I'm not quite sure if your variant will be downgraded or not (mine n910c). But give a try.
If your phone is rooted, things will be easier. Get Titanium backup to back up all your programs, backup contacts either through the contacts native program or titanium.

Would be nice if you have TWRP is installed to create a nandroid backup in case you'd like to get back to the same state of your Marshmallow!

Once all possible backups are done,
1. make a hard reset
2. Put your phone in Download mode using its keys combination (volume down + home + power)
3. Download Odin your computer
4. Donwload your variant 5.1.1 stock OS
5. Flash it using the default settings (just in case, you can see lots of videos on youtube for note4 flashing using Odin)

If everything runs fine, your new 5.1.1 lollipop should boot properly after it shows you Success flashing message

6. Install TWRP again
7. Re-root your phone
8. Install Titanium Backup again
9. Restore your backed-up stuff

[userHCyzn8CyKD]

I've had my note 4 for 3 years never had a problem with until now it shuts off its hard to get to come back and when it does they android guy pop's up saying download failed or system reboot failed my phone has service I just don't want to do with it 

---

@userEqu1VTkVDj wrote:

Update.

Upon collecting my repaired Note4 (the Samsung Premium Support Center put in a new motherboard for 285 Euro), I turned it on, and the screen went black with odd colored stripes on random locations. Carefull inspection showed that the screen had been broken. So, the Samsung Premium Support Center put in a new motherboard, but broke the screen in the process. They won't make me pay for replacing the screen, but I have to wait for another couple of days. They did give me a replacement phone this time though. 

I asked the technicians of two Samsung Premium Support Centers about this issue. Both technicians confirmed (off the record though) that there were "quite some" Note4's with this issue, and yes, more Note4's than any other device. 

I'll get 3 months of warranty on this reparation. I'll have a Note4 with a brand new motherboard and a brand new screen. Anyone interested in buying my Note4? You'll get it for only 400 euro! I'll never buy Samsung again!

---

[shadango]

Not much else for you to do IMHO.....abandon Samsung.

I have a Note 4 sitting in a box, unusable after only 2 years.......

What is so amazing here is that there can be so many of us complaining about the same thing yet Samsung IGNORES us and says "too bad, so sad, it's on you"........and that they continue to send me emails touting their products.

I just got an email ad the other day asking if I wanted to see the new galaxy.....LOL

I will never buy another samsung ANYTHING again.    

I was just in the market for a dishwasher and the salesmean offered me a good deal on a samsung.....I said absolutely not.

[shadango]

Here is a thought...if every one in this thread and all the OTHER similar threads visited Samsung's FB pages and posted their experiences, maybe Samsung would listen.

They have a mobile page, an electronics page and a general page......and if you look thru them, others are having issues there too.

[userV6Dhlg56FI]

Thought this common problem might have something to do with the Fast Charging option so I turned it off. Nope it's still fast charging and heating up the battery. But WOW after reading this post and all the following comments, I've now realised that I will never buy another samsung product ever again. Same problems here, on my third note 4 now. what a waist of my hard earned money. Adios SAMSUNG !!!