Result: Device crashes and reboots every time Multi Control connects to a PC
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Description
Every time I connect my Tab S7 to a PC via Multi Control (non-galaxy book) which was supported in the Feb 2026 Microsoft Store update, the tablet immediately crashes and reboots. After capturing ADB logs, I identified the root cause:
When Multi Control connects to a PC, it registers new input devices (keyboard and mouse). `InputManagerService` then calls `startGameToolsService()` to notify Game Tools about the new input hardware. However, this call fails with a `BackgroundServiceStartNotAllowedException` because Game Tools is in the background. Since this exception is unhandled and occurs on the **system process display thread**, it kills the entire system and causes a reboot.
This does not happen when connecting to a phone via Multi Control, because no new input devices are registered on the tablet side in that case.
Error from logcat: ``` FATAL EXCEPTION IN SYSTEM PROCESS: android.display android.app.BackgroundServiceStartNotAllowedException: Not allowed to start service Intent { act=com.samsung.android.game.gametools.GAMEPAD_INTENTSERVICE pkg=com.samsung.android.game.gametools }: app is in background uid null at com.android.server.input.InputManagerService.startGameToolsService(InputManagerService.java:1796) at com.android.server.input.InputManagerService.deliverInputDevicesChanged(InputManagerService.java:1953) ```
Workaround
Disabling Game Tools via ADB stops the crash: `adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.samsung.android.game.gametools`
This confirms the issue is in `InputManagerService` โ the `startGameToolsService()` call at line 1796 has no exception handling.
**Steps to reproduce:** 1. Enable Multi Control on Tab S7 2. Connect to a Windows PC via Multi Control 3. Device crashes and reboots immediately
Expected: Multi Control connects successfully Actual: Device reboots due to unhandled exception in system process
Please escalate this to the firmware team. Happy to provide full logcat logs if needed.
