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Root Need help, not sure which subforum

G

GrouchoM

Android Enthusiast
My 2.5 year old Galaxy 4S (I545VRUEMK2) has recently started locking up dead. Often right after it has had little use (charging, sitting on a counter, pulled from a pocket, etc.), it refuses to turn on without the battery being pulled. The buttons occasionally light and the phone occasionally vibrates but it won't power up. I replaced the old (somewhat swollen) battery but that didn't help. I just cleaned my dalvik cache but I doubt that'll help. Unfortunately, once it is re-powered on, I have no info on what processes were running prior to the crash. I am rooted (at least 2 years ago), running stock 4.3 with very few alterations from Xposed. I use MyBackupPro for my dowloaded apps...no Nandroid.

Any advice ?
 
I hope there's another way. Reloading my 280+ apps is going to suck even with MyBackupPro. Also, If I'm going to go without root, I'd probably just get a new phone.
 
You could also use Titanium Backup to save apps and data. Save the backup on a pc or SD card. Once you factory reset, you can re-root then restore from the backup.
 
That swollen battery might have been more of a problem than just having to replace it. You described the swelling as 'somewhat' but tolerances inside a phone are pretty tight so even a minor bulge could put enough pressure on the motherboard to damage some components or break solder joints.
Hopefully not but in any case from what you've described your S4 is ailing and even though it is a big pain, a Factory Reset does appear to be one of your only options at this point. You might want to try rebooting into Safe Mode first to see if it runs in a more stable way but I doubt that will make a difference.
 
I wonder about the swelled battery's potential damage, too. What might booting into Safe Mode verify?
 
Safe Mode might (emphasis on the word 'might') indicate it's a software problem as opposed to hardware. If your phone would run normally running its Android install in a 'clean' state that would be a place to start diagnosing what's going on. But again, Safe Mode was only a tentative suggestion, more of a long shot. It really does sound like you should take a few deep breathes and see if a Factory Reset will bring your phone back to normal.
 
I just found out that the frozen screen is the phone starting to reset. It takes a few minutes to transition to restarting. When the phone is done restarting, the phone doesn't reset is time active; it thinks it's been active for a few days despite reseting.
 
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