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I have a Samsung Galaxy S5 from Verizon, bought a little over one year ago. As soon as the one year warranty was over the device started acting up. Right now it is in an unreliable working state.

Symptoms:

  • The device freezes almost constantly at a rate of at least once an hour (4 times in the past 3 hours).
  • There is not one app in particular to cause the freeze, that I can trace to. It seems that any time I do something which requires it to work a little, like loading a web page, brings the device to a freeze.
  • Sometimes it just restarts.
  • Sometimes it says "Start Up Failed" when booting up.

What I've done:

  • Removed the SD card completely.
  • Reset the device to factory defaults multiple times (about once per week). After this, it works good for a few days then goes back into freezing mode.
  • Uninstalled most of the apps, especially the once I don't really use daily.
  • Disabled all the pre-installed Verizon apps (the once that I could).
  • Disabled auto updates.
  • Took the device to the local Verizon shop and they didn't do anything to help, besides trying to get me to buy something else.

Any idea of what else I could do to fix this issue?

EDIT

The device got to a point where it became impossible to perform any operations. If it wasn't constantly restarting, it would restart at the very first operation. Any attempt to do anything on the device sent it into restart.

I was able to talk to a few technicians from Samsung and they determined that the problem sits with the hardware, perhaps the motherboard. Therefore I ended up sending the device to Samsung for repair.

enter image description here

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  • Which android version are you using? Have you considered installing custom roms or reflashing the stock firmware?
    – benjamin
    Commented May 4, 2016 at 6:35
  • @benjaminS No modifications have been done to the OS/device at all. It runs exactly what it came with from Verizon, Android 5.0. I thought about flashing it, but haven't made that decision yet.
    – slybloty
    Commented May 4, 2016 at 14:09
  • What temperature you have observed on the device. Is your Battery and charger of good condition? If they are good try re-flashing and updating the stock.
    – Iftekhar
    Commented May 8, 2016 at 18:30

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
1

As a method of starting to debug this, Linux keeps a log for the kernel. I'm not sure if /proc/last_kmsg is there or not, but you want the kernel log.

I'd start by replacing the stock recovery with TWRP. Whether or not you want to Flash to a different rom. TWRP has a file browser. It should let you save the kernel's log either way. You want to pay attention to two files:

  • /var/log/boot.msg (useful in the state after the failed boot)
  • /var/log/syslog (useful in the state after the crash, and the state after the boot)

You'll want to thoroughly examine these files and paste the contents up here. It's possible the problem is hardware though. I'd flash CM13 (because it's all around better), and see if that fixes it. If problems persist on a fresh CM13, you know you've got a hardware issue.

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0

I would advise, as your next step, to attempt reformatting the phone with the stock images. This will erase the device completely.

Follow this guide. The procedure provides all the files you need, and walks you through the steps needed to perform to reinstall the factory images.

You may also be interested in installing TWRP recovery, as I 2nd Even Carroll's suggestion of installing CyanogenMod13 as a last ditch effort to stop this.

Should the problem persist, after reinstalling the factory images and from installing CM13 (an alternative) I would be hard pressed to think the storage on your device is malfunctioning and needs service.

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-2

I found a few solutions online, maybe you can glean some information from them as they seem to all relate to the model you are having issues with:

http://thedroidguy.com/2015/05/how-to-fix-freezing-lag-slow-performance-problems-on-samsung-galaxy-s5-part-1-107191

http://thedroidguy.com/2015/10/how-to-troubleshoot-a-samsung-galaxy-s5-that-constantly-freezes-and-lags-other-performance-issues-1050209

Hope that helps. They also have a form you can fill in to state your specific problem, perhaps they can assist if none of the other solutions work.

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3
  • While this link may answer the question, it is better to include the essential parts of the answer here and provide the link for reference. Link-only answers can become invalid if the linked page changes
    – AADAndroidEnthusiasts
    Commented May 11, 2016 at 5:27
  • The steps depicted in the links are the same as the ones I've taken to troubleshoot the problem.
    – slybloty
    Commented May 11, 2016 at 13:34
  • Thank you AADTechnical. You have a valid point there. Moving forward I will adhere to that. As a new member, I'm still learning the ropes.
    – Elces
    Commented May 11, 2016 at 18:46

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