Today is the official release date for the latest Samsung Galaxy flagship phone, the #GalaxyS7 and S7 Edge. We know that this is big day for those waiting to get their hands on the new amazing platform from Samsung.
In the meantime, we welcome you to another post that answers some questions from our #GalaxyS5 users! Below are 6 problems that we’ve decided to publish today.
PROBLEM #1: VIRGIN MOBILE GALAXY S5 CANNOT DO VOICE CALLS AND LTE SESSIONS AT THE SAME TIME
My concerns are with the multitasking capabilities of my Samsung Galaxy S5.
When I had my dual core, Samsung Galaxy S3, I could utilize both voice capabilities and 4G LTE wireless browsing on this device, simultaneously. In December, 2015, due to various hardware issues with my Samsung Galaxy S3, my carrier (Virgin Mobile) decided to replace my device. However, because Virgin Mobile no longer carried the Samsung Galaxy S3, they upgraded me to the quad core, Samsung Galaxy S5.
Ever since I received the Galaxy S5, I’ve been unable to utilize both voice capabilities and 4G LTE wireless browsing on this device, simultaneously. I’ve reached out to Virgin Mobile on multiple occasions, and they’ve tried to “refresh my device on their end”. Additionally, I’ve tried on several occasions resetting my device via ##72786#, even going as far as doing a hard factory reset, with no avail.
What am I doing wrong? Can you please offer a solution…Something that my carrier is clearly incapable of doing? Their ONLY response, to date, is there’s tower issues in the area. Since December? I find this hard to believe. Please advise. — Moses
Solution: Hi Moses. This is not a tower issue. The problem lies on the hardware limitation of your Galaxy S5. Some CDMA phones from Sprint (which is the mother company of Virgin Mobile) and Virgin Mobile itself are unable to handle voice and data at the same time. Your older Galaxy S3 was equipped with two radios — one for voice calls and another for LTE connection. The Galaxy S5 does not have this set up and uses only one radio concurrently to allow either voice or data to come through. This is the reason why doing a factory reset did not change anything. This is not a software glitch or limitation at all!
Kindly call your wireless carrier again and ask for another replacement phone or upgrade if you badly need to multitask.
PROBLEM #2: GOOGLE CALENDAR APP ON GALAXY S5 SETS DATE OF EVENT TO PREVIOUS DAY
I recently received a Galaxy S5 as a replacement. There’s an issue with the stock/default calendar from Google. When you attempt to add a task the date jumps to the day before the date you want. If you select 3/9/16 it will be entered as 3/8/16.
I called Samsung, T-Mobile about the issue and no one had a solution. This morning Samsung recommended that I see one of their techs at Best Buy which I did, the tech found out the phone is fine. It’s the stock calendar that’s not working properly. When you add a task after four days that’s when issue happens. The Samsung tech was able to recreate the issue using various devices.
Because this is a stock/default app the tech was unable to contact Google using an email address from the Play Store. Someone at Samsung needs to contact Google to make them aware of the issue. I should be able to use my device to its fullest capabilities. — Robert
Solution: Hi Robert. Have you considered checking if your phone is set to use Daylight Savings Time (DST), which can sometimes create a conflict calendar apps?
Google Calendar app uses Coordinated Universal Time, also known as UTC, to prevent potential problems with DST. When a user creates a task or event in their calendar, the time is automatically converted to UTC, although he or she will continue to see the local time.
If you have a computer, try to access Google calendar app that way and double check if the app is synced and set to the correct time zone. Here’s how it’s done:
- On your computer, open Google Calendar.
- Click the event you want to edit > Edit event.
- Next to the time of the event, click Time zone.
- Pick the time zone for the event.
- Click Done.
If you continue to experience the same problem after checking all Calendar app settings, we recommend that you reach out to Google Calendar community via
help forum.
PROBLEM #3: GALAXY S5 WON’T TURN ON AFTER AN ATTEMPT TO WIPE THE CACHE PARTITION
Hey DroidGuy! Lately I have been experiencing very poor battery life. So, naturally I came here to find a fix. While performing the clear cache partition steps that you provided, my phone decided not to boot into recovery mode at all! Once I powered it down it stayed that way. Nothing at all happened. No vibration, no LED indicator when I put it on the charger. Nothing. I took the battery out and hit the power key, like you said. Then replaced the battery. And still nothing. Please tell me what I did to this thing?
Oh it has been running pretty slow all day before I finally decided to clear the cache. Also, the battery charges very slow and sometimes the percentage decreases even while charging.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks. — Shoshana
Solution: Hi Shoshana. One of the worst issues that can happen on a smartphone is the one you are experiencing right now. We can see that it no longer responds to hardware button combinations so it can boot in recovery mode. That it apparently showed slow performance symptoms before it died makes us think that there you may be dealing with a hardware problem here. There’s no way for us to know that for sure but based on experience, a software-related booting problem can usually be resolved relatively easily because the phone will still respond in a way. That means that a user would still be able to boot the phone in other ways like restarting it on recovery or download mode. With your case right now, this is either a battery failure, or some other components are simply not working.
The first thing that you want to try is to see if you can power the phone back on with a new battery. If the problem remains, be sure to bring the phone to your local repair shop or Samsung so it can be checked for hardware errors.
PROBLEMS #4: GALAXY S5 SCREEN IS FLICKERING
My phone is a year and a half old and the bottom half of the screen is flickering. It started out only flickering different brightness levels but now it is flickering green but only when it’s on the lowest brightness level setting. I tried resetting it to factory settings and the same thing happened as soon as it turned on again after being reset. When I go to check my software the only thing it says is Android 5.0. Whenever I check for updates it says that none are available. I’m no longer under contract with AT&T, I bought my phone and ended my contract with them to allow me to travel Europe so I don’t think I can get any technical support from them anymore.
Also, the battery life is all of a sudden terrible. I used to be able to go a whole day without charging my phone and now I have to charge it 2, 3 times a day (possibly because I have to keep the brightness up higher than I usually do in order to avoid the green screen) but I’ not sure if there’s a similar underlying cause. — Anna
Solution: Hi Anna. The display assembly is composed of three major components — the digitizer, the LCD, and the flex cable. We think that the LCD may have been damaged for some reason. Screen problems are usually the result of dropping the phone, or if the device is exposed to liquid or water. We recommend that you have the phone checked by your local repair shop so proper hardware diagnostics can be done. We don’t think the problem is software in nature because you said that nothing changed after doing a factory reset.
For the battery drain issue, the most likely reason for that may be the high brightness level of the screen. Leaving the screen brightness high all the time can significantly suck battery power.
PROBLEM #5: WET GALAXY S5 KEEPS REBOOTING
I was out for a walk one evening and it started raining. Phone got little wet, had case and all. Wiped it well took everything out and it worked great. Three days later after charging the phone I took the phone out and the battery shut off by itself. when I tried to restart only the Samsung sign showed and not the whole turning on displays.
Once again I took everything out, tried to restart it and it didn’t work. Then I held the power key, home button, and the volume key at the same time. Either it came back on right after that alright. press the power key again after taking out the battery and it worked.
Yesterday after talking to my friend the phone turned off by itself again. I did the same thing — took the battery out and after several tries it came back on. After about half an hour it happened again and I did the same thing — tried to take the battery out and then work again.
Should I do a factory reset? One of my virus detector app told me I had a malware with one of the apps and that I took that app out, but I do care about before the phone was wet.
Anyway please suggest what I should do you guys rock. — Ansarul
Solution: Hi Ansarul. Random reboot issue can either be caused by software glitch, malware, or hardware failure. Doing a factory reset in this case won’t hurt. In fact, we recommend that you do that to also know if the problem is hardware in nature. For easy reference, here are the steps how to do that:
- Power down the Galaxy S5.
- Press and hold the Volume up button, the Home button, and the Power button together until you see the Android on screen.
- Use Volume down to highlight the wipe data/factory reset option and press the Power button to select it.
- Use Volume down again to highlight Yes – delete all user data and press Power to select it.
- Use the Power button to select Reboot system now.
- When the S5 restarts it should be completely wiped and ready to set up again.
- Now, make sure to observe the phone for 24 hours before you install any apps again. This will help you determine if one of your apps is to blame.
If nothing positive comes out after a factory reset, you can assume that the phone may had been exposed to water after it got wet. We know that an S5 is water-resistant but this protection only works when all the ports are properly sealed before water exposure. Kindly bring the phone to a nearby Samsung or repair shop so they can check it.
PROBLEM #6: GALAXY S5 WON’T INSTALL ANDROID UPDATE
I need a software update and it tells me I need one so i download update. Then it turns off the phone and restarts to install update and all of sudden it stops and says unable to install. I’ve done this several times.
If it is some kind of app that is not allowing me to do this, then please let me know and I will uninstall.
I do have Clean Master and CM security and on cm security it allows me not to scan or mess with certain apps and I have several checked so it will leave them alone. But maybe one of those apps won’t let it install but it used to let me update all the time.
And I can’t remember what app I got when it no longer let me update please please please help me I need update six updates ago. — Angela
Solution: Hi Angela. Before attempting to download the update again, make sure that you do the following:
- ensure that the phone’s internal storage device has plenty of memory space left
- wipe the cache partition
- perform a factory reset
If you don’t know how to delete the phone’s cache partition, kindly do these steps below. This troubleshooting step is usually recommended if you have updated a device to another operating system version or if the phone is having some weird glitches. Here’s how it’s done:
- Turn the phone off.
- Press and hold the following buttons together: Power, Volume Up and Home.
- Release the buttons once the Android system recovery menu appears.
- Use the Volume buttons to navigate to Wipe Cache Partition option.
- Press the Power button to confirm selection.
- Select Reboot System Now option after deleting the cache. Wait for the phone to reboot.
If wiping the cache partition won’t make any difference, do a factory reset and attempt the update installation again. Make sure that you don’t install any app before the installation.
Having problems with your phone that won’t turn on?
We can help you troubleshoot. We already published troubleshooting guides for the following devices:
- http://googledoodlenewstoday.blogspot.com /2016/03/how-to-fix-samsung-galaxy-s2-that-wont.html" style="border: 0px; color: #27c4ff; font-size: 17.6px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.3s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Samsung Galaxy S2
- http://googledoodlenewstoday.blogspot.com /2016/03/how-to-fix-galaxy-s3-that-wont-turn-on.html" style="border: 0px; color: #27c4ff; font-size: 17.6px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.3s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Samsung Galaxy S3
- http://googledoodlenewstoday.blogspot.com /2016/03/how-to-fix-samsung-galaxy-s4-that-wont.html" style="border: 0px; color: #27c4ff; font-size: 17.6px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.3s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Samsung Galaxy S4
- http://googledoodlenewstoday.blogspot.com /2016/03/how-to-fix-samsung-galaxy-s5-that-wont.html" style="border: 0px; color: #27c4ff; font-size: 17.6px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.3s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Samsung Galaxy S5, http://googledoodlenewstoday.blogspot.com /2016/03/samsung-galaxy-s5-wont-turn-on-or-boot.html" style="border: 0px; color: #27c4ff; font-size: 17.6px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.3s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Android Lollipop edition
- http://googledoodlenewstoday.blogspot.com /2016/03/how-to-fix-samsung-galaxy-s6-that-keeps.html" style="border: 0px; color: #27c4ff; font-size: 17.6px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.3s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Samsung Galaxy S6
- http://googledoodlenewstoday.blogspot.com /2016/03/how-to-fix-samsung-galaxy-s6-edge-that.html" style="border: 0px; color: #27c4ff; font-size: 17.6px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.3s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge
- http://googledoodlenewstoday.blogspot.com /2016/03/how-to-fix-samsung-galaxy-s6-edge-plus.html" style="border: 0px; color: #27c4ff; font-size: 17.6px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.3s; vertical-align: baseline;">Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+
- http://googledoodlenewstoday.blogspot.com /2016/03/how-to-troubleshoot-samsung-galaxy-s7.html" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Samsung Galaxy S7
- http://googledoodlenewstoday.blogspot.com /2016/03/how-to-fix-samsung-galaxy-s7-edge-that.html" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge
- http://googledoodlenewstoday.blogspot.com /2016/03/how-to-fix-samsung-galaxy-note-2-that.html" style="border: 0px; color: #27c4ff; font-size: 17.6px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.3s; vertical-align: baseline;">Samsung Galaxy Note 2
- http://googledoodlenewstoday.blogspot.com /2016/03/how-to-troubleshoot-fix-galaxy-note-3.html" style="border: 0px; color: #ee0077; font-size: 17.6px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.3s; vertical-align: baseline;">Samsung Galaxy Note 3
- http://googledoodlenewstoday.blogspot.com /2016/03/how-to-fix-samsung-galaxy-note-4-that.html" style="border: 0px; color: #27c4ff; font-size: 17.6px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.3s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Samsung Galaxy Note 4 http://googledoodlenewstoday.blogspot.com /2016/03/fix-samsung-galaxy-note-4-that-wont.html" target="_blank">Android Lollipop edition
- http://googledoodlenewstoday.blogspot.com /2016/03/how-to-fix-samsung-galaxy-note-5-that.html" style="border: 0px; color: #27c4ff; font-size: 17.6px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.3s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Samsung Galaxy Note 5