Fix Samsung Galaxy Note 4 that won’t charge & won’t turn on after Android 5 Lollipop update

If you are a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 owner, the recent update may have brought some excitement to you as it bumps the firmware version of your phone to Android 5 Lollipop with its new features, performance upgrades and user interface. However, there were some who complained that immediately after the update, their Note 4 started to act up; some said the device won’t charge properly while there are others who said it won’t charge at all. And worse, there were owners who reported their beloved phone won’t turn on no matter what.

I included real problems that Note 4 owners encountered after the update in this post. Try go through each one of them especially if you’re currently bugged by an issue or two with your device. The troubleshooting procedures I cited here are ones that we technicians would do before we actually open the phone and closely inspect hardware components.

Just remember, troubleshooting is to know what the problem is and not necessarily a solution. However, it is necessary for you to decide if you want to get your device checked by a professional or not. For firmware- or app-related issues, they’re usually easy to fix but for hardware issues, you really need a help from a technician for them.

1. Note 4 shows “the connected charger will take longer to charge your phone” error
2. Galaxy Note 4 won’t charge at all after lollipop update
3. Galaxy Note 4 won’t turn on and won’t charge after lollipop update

NOTE 4 SHOWS “THE CONNECTED CHARGER WILL TAKE LONGER TO CHARGE YOUR PHONE” ERROR

Problem: I’m having a problem charging my Note 4. I just completed the update and now my phone won’t charge even though I’m using the cord that came with the phone. This was working the day before the update and the day after I updated I get this message, “the connected charger will take longer to charge your phone…” I tried turning it off to charge it but the message even appears when the phone is turned off and charging. I noticed that another user had a similar issue. My phone is in near perfect condition and I know it can be a coincidence but it worked just hours before the update and after the update I’m getting this message loop. Any ideas? Thanks so much for your time. — Julia

Troubleshooting: Hi Julia! While this problem isn’t common, we received a few emails from other Note 4 owners. In fact, there’s another one I included at the end of this section that is similar to your issue. The thing about this problem is that it’s probably just some corrupt caches that’s causing this problem. It’s neither an issue with your phone nor with the charger as you said, the device has been fully working or was charging properly prior to the update.

If you’re wondering what has firmware got to do with charging, well, it pretty much controls everything. We are tempted to believe that the charging process includes only the charger, the USB cable and the battery. Nope. The electric current goes from the charger, to the cable, to the logic board, then to other chips that the firmware has control over, then to the battery. The fact is, it’s the firmware that “allows” charging. That explains why a phone with a corrupted firmware won’t charge at all. Moreover, the firmware is responsible in displaying all other charging signs on the screen and lighting up the LED indicator.

The most recent update may have corrupted some of the caches or data in your phone that’s why it’s giving you that error message when it’s plugged in. I would, however, assume you are using the original charger and USB cable because if not, then the issue is with the charger. Please note that the original Note 4 charger is using Adaptive Fast Charging technology while other generic power adapters don’t.

To address your issue, wipe the cache partition first to see if that fixes the problem. If not, then you really have to master reset it.

Wipe Cache Partition

1. Turn off the Galaxy Note 4 completely.
2. Press and hold the Volume Up and the Home keys together, then press and hold the Power key.
3. When the Note 4 vibrates, release both the Home and Power keys but continue holding the Volume Up key.
4. When the Android System Recovery shows on the screen, release the Vol Up key.
5. Using the Volume Down key, highlight the option ‘wipe cache partition’ and press the Power key to select it.
6. When the wiping of the cache partition is finished, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and hit the power key.

If this procedure didn’t fix the problem, backup all the data in your phone and follow these steps.

Master Reset

1. Turn off the Galaxy Note 4 completely.
2. Press and hold the Volume Up and the Home keys together, then press and hold the Power key.
3. When the Note 4 vibrates, release both the Home and Power keys but continue holding the Volume Up key.
4. When the Android System Recovery shows on the screen, release the Vol Up key.
5. Using the Volume Down key, highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset’ and press the Power key to select it.
6. Now highlight ‘Yes — delete all user data’ using the Vol Down key and press the Power key to begin the reset.
7. When the master reset is complete, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and hit the Power key.
8. The Note 4 will restart but it will be longer than usual. When it reaches the Home screen, then begin your setup.

Related Problem: Hello guys. I need your help because I just updated my Note 4 and I was told by the system that my charger will now take longer to charge it. I swear, this problem never happened prior to the update so I’m thinking may be I got a bad update or something. My cousin also has a Note 4 and she recently update hers but it didn’t have a problem like this. Can you figure out a way to fix this or get rid of this message?

GALAXY NOTE 4 WON’T CHARGE AT ALL AFTER LOLLIPOP UPDATE

Problem: I need your help guys as soon as possible because my phone is about to die. I still have 11% battery left. I just tried plugging it in but it won’t charge at all. I had an update last night that I installed and everything went smooth. In fact, I didn’t encounter any errors and my phone is now running lollipop with different interface and all. It’s performance is the same as before, still fast, but I’m very disappointed that it won’t charge now. A day before the update, I was able to fully charge it that there was 87% battery left when I updated it. After the update, I was able to use the phone the entire day until there was just 14% battery left. I left it plugged in for 30 minutes as I had to run some errands, when I got back, the battery was showing12% and it didn’t charge. Tried unplugging and replugging to no avail. How can it be fixed? Help me guys, please! — Janice

Troubleshooting: Hello Janice. The best we can do about this problem is to troubleshoot to know what the problem really is. Please note that it could be the firmware that caused this but it could also be a hardware problem. Our troubleshooting will revolve around knowing which is which.

1. Plug the phone to your computer. Using the original USB cable, connect your phone to your computer to see if it can charge or, at least, gets detected. If it charges (even slowly) fine, then your charger is the problem. However, if it doesn’t charge but gets detected and recognized, at least, we know the port in your phone as well as the USB cable is fine.
2. Try a different charger. At this point, we don’t know yet if it’s the firmware that causes the issue or the charger, so if it’s possible to try a different one (preferably a Note 4 charger as well or any generic charger with 2A power rating), do so just to find out if the phone is capable of charging provided there’s enough current that flows through the cable. If the phone won’t charge with a different charger or if it’s not possible to try one, then proceed to the next step.
3. Boot the phone in safe mode. You said there’s only 11% battery left, so booting in safe mode is the safest thing to do. If it were a firmware issue, a master reset might be able to fix it, however, low battery charge is what hinders you from doing it. Remember, if master reset is interrupted, there’s a big possibility your phone will be bricked and that’s more serious than not charging issue. Once in safe mode, try to plug the phone to see if it charges, if not, then it’s time you brought the phone to a tech and have it thoroughly checked.

GALAXY NOTE 4 WON’T TURN ON AND WON’T CHARGE AFTER LOLLIPOP UPDATE

Problem: There was an update yesterday for my Galaxy Note 4. I think the version of my phone is now Android 5 or lollipop. The thing is, my phone won’t turn on anymore. After the update, it rebooted and was able to reach the Home screen then a few minutes more and it shut down and since then, it won’t turn on. Thinking it was just a battery issue, I plugged it in to charge but it didn’t charge as well. No light, no charging sign on the display…nothing! What can I do to bring my phone back to life? Help me please. — Pete

Troubleshooting: Hi Pete! Maybe the battery’s just drained and it’s really a charging issue. Please try the troubleshooting I provided above first. If you got your phone to charge but it still won’t turn on, then follow these steps:

1. Soft reset. This procedure is as simple as rebooting the device but there’s a twist; it drains stored electricity inside the components to refresh the phone’s memory. To do it just remove the back panel and then the battery. Press and hold the Power key for a minute and then place the battery back in and secure it with the back cover. Now, attempt to turn the phone on.
2. Try booting in different modes. Assuming there’s enough power left in the battery or you got it to charge, then try to boot it in safe mode and then in recovery mode. You really don’t have to do anything if it successfully booted up in any of those modes. The purpose is to find out if the hardware is ok because if it is, then it must not have problems booting up in either of those modes especially in recovery.
3. Send the phone in for repair. Now, if it didn’t charge and didn’t turn on, there must be something really wrong about it. You need help from a professional or from someone who can diagnose and troubleshoot it physically. Do the same thing if the phone charges but still won’t turn on.

Having problems with your phone that won’t turn on?

We can help you troubleshoot. We already published troubleshooting guides for the following devices:

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• http://stephaniefulke.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: color 0.3s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Samsung Galaxy S4
• http://stephaniefulke.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: color 0.3s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Samsung Galaxy S5,  http://stephaniefulke.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: color 0.3s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Android Lollipop edition
• http://stephaniefulke.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: color 0.3s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Samsung Galaxy S6
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• http://stephaniefulke.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: color 0.3s; vertical-align: baseline;">Samsung Galaxy Note 2
• http://stephaniefulke.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: color 0.3s; vertical-align: baseline;">Samsung Galaxy Note 3
• http://stephaniefulke.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: color 0.3s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Samsung Galaxy Note 4  http://stephaniefulke.blogspot.com /2016/03/fix-samsung-galaxy-note-4-that-wont.html" target="_blank">Android Lollipop edition
• http://stephaniefulke.blogspot.com /2016/03/how-to-fix-samsung-galaxy-note-5-that.html" style="border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; color: #27c4ff; font-size: 17.6px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s initial initial; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Samsung Galaxy Note 5