My phone worked fine before update. Now it updates on average every hour. Yes- there's lots of customization, (different launcher (authored by Google, not samsung), TrustGo security, etc) but it wasn't rooted. * What can I do without a factory reset (I'd rather not reload all my apps one by one and wait a few hours in between to figure out which app is "causing" the reboot)? * Will Verizon issue a followup patch to this update to fix this issue? * Is anybody else having these issues? * Does Verizon care since the phone is 2 years old and they want you to upgrade? (like my Thunderbolt where an update caused so much lag that it could take up to 4 minutes to initiate a phone call) * Should I just dump Verizon and get a Nexus device where the carrier isn't involved in pushing updates?

There has been a new update released for the S4. Go into your Settings Menu and select Software Update. This is to fix the power cycling and VPN connection issues. One step closer to Lollipop!

All comments

Verizon_Support

Ray_Sir, we want to help you get that device back to the way it use to be! Have you downloaded 3rd party applications to your device? Some application softwar can affect the performance of your device. Try running your device in safe mode http://vz.to/1wtVgDm and keep us posted.

LasinaH_VZW

Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport

j_layyyne

Extremely annoying update, and to blame a third party app is ignoring a poorly built "update."

Samsung has a fix that is built into our awesome s4's

Clear the cache by:

1. Remove battery out of phone and put back in

2. Power up phone and hold the: Up volume, home button and the power button, once the system boots in recovery let go of the buttons.

3. Use volume keys to select clear system cache (use power button as select)

Should be better if not fixed; you won't lose any data, but is recommend backing up just incase

jshal1

I have the same problem. I really hate this. I'm moving on to an iphone since I can't trust the android platform anymore. Thanks for not testing before putting updates in production. That really illustrates all the wonderful extra services and attention I pay for when I switched to Verizon.... Should have stayed with sprint (40% cheaper).

The updates are coming from Google, Motorola, Samsung etc, not Verizon and apps are not tested by Verizon. Verizon provides the Network you operate on and they test only for networks issues. Not every update will work with every app that someone installed.

I've had this new update on my S4 phone for 3 days now and there has not been one problem encountered.

People buying these phones need to understand more about phones, updates and apps before they purchase.

jshal1

To be perfectly clear this a business smartphone that is supposed to be stable and reliable. I can easily root, reinstall the previous os version, restore etc.... These activities take a lot of time. I don't want to have to restore my phone because of a poorly tested update sent without clear communications that it's untested and WILL LIKELY create problems on your phone if you've installed any 3rd party apps... I can't even believe I have to spell this out!!! It's completely unacceptable. My phone goes back tomorrow. Going to iPhone... They have problems too but at least they take accountability!!!!

eddieb1

This is happening to me too! Very frustrating I should've known better than to update before checking if others were having issues. Of course the day after updating I left for an international trip and am stuck with a phone that barely holds a battery, charges very slow, freezes and reboots regularly, especially when on calls. Please come up with a quick fix Verizon/Samsung/Google that doesnt involve a hard reset

You are 100 percent correct. The biggest reason I never have problems with updates is that except for a couple of well known apps my phone is stock. I prefer it that way. Every update I have ever installed has made all my phones better off.

eddieb1

Just cleared the cache, hopefully it helps. There is an easier way to do this though than going into recovery.

Settings > More > Storage > Cached Data

Hit "Cached Data" once and it will ask you if you want to clear it. It will take everything out that it can (but wont go down to 0 - mine was left with 12kb)

jrh4054

You VZW people don't get it! The problems described on this forum are so widespread and somewhat consistent for this to be a hardware problem. It's the NG6 update itself causing the problems. This happens in some magnitude with every Galaxy update. Why can't VZW and Samsung get this right before the updates are pushed?

There have been three or four updates on my S4 since I've had it for 18 months and not one problem, so Samsung and Verizon do get it right. I get the same updates everyone else does so the problem is the updates don't always mesh very well with all the apps that people put on their phones.

RebelGTP

Fact: The VRUFNG6 update is flawed and to blame for these issues.

Fact: I was getting reboot issues IMMEDIATELY AFTER updating toVRUFNG6.

Fact: I downgraded to VRUFNC5 as soon as possible.

Fact: The cries of the people with the reboot issues are falling on deaf ears. These representatives are not listening!

eddieb1

Rebel GTP - How did you downgrade? Is the phone rooted?

@Verizon - one of your posters says that it's a 3rd party app... This is a smartphone, not a feature phone - without 3rd party apps, it's an overpriced phone without a real need for a data plan. Then one of your reps wants to make sure that only "approved" 3rd party apps are loaded. Approved by who? Verizon? (who gave us the oh so useful VZNavigator and VZtunes and VZPizzaDelivery and anything else they can try load our phone with and make money off of) Google? (who made a purposeful decision to open the platform so that you can load anything on your own phone.) Amazon (from their store) HumbleBundle? Developers? (who sideload apps on the open platform without rooting)

I finally did do the factory reset - and annoying as that was (still putting in passwords for lesser used apps) it fixed the reboot problem

HOWEVER

A fully charged battery being drained in 3 hours during light usage seems excessive (especially when I used to be able to go a good 12 to 16 hours). Why is the wifi constantly searching for a signal if it already has a good solid signal that it's connected to?

Verizon, you've failed. And blaming the apps people download is one step short of blaming the users themselves. (which would be fine if the problems didn't suddenly occur IMMEDIATELY after downloading the update). And saying it's "an issue that affects only a few people" is not helpful... look at how many other NG6 threads are out there, look at how many views this thread alone has, look at how many angry replies this thread has. Keep this up and you might edge out AT&T for their lack of customer service.

How did you flash your phone to the old firmware update? Did you have to unlock the bootloader? That would void your warranty.

I currently have a device which is a replacement (4th one!) from Verizon and I got lucky as this does not have the G6 update but it is constantly trying to make me update the phone.

JGG2

Another fail by VZ. Went through the same thing with, as I recall, 4.3. WiFi connectivity issues. Screen freezes. Battery drain etc. Interestingly, the update prior to NG6 was working fine so it is clearly possible for VZ to provide a stable update. Inadequate or non-existent testing prior to this release. Quite remarkable for a company with the resources to execute proper testing. As I said per a prior failed update by VZ, I would be fired if I released such sloppy code.

Further, this update provided ZERO benefit to me and most likely the majority of users. It simply degraded the performance of my phone and updated un-removable crapware.

Solution = will be getting a Nexus 6 straight from Google and switching to another carrier. Timely updates straight from Google and no more crapware, faulty updates, etc. from VZ and Samsung. Will I be sacrificing network performance? Most likely but am so tired of these issues it will be worth it.

I too am having the reboot problem. I avoided the upgrade messages for a week too. The update cycle with this phone is just scary. Every time you roll the dice on if your phone is going to be functional afterwards. I wonder if rooting it and flashing an alternate rom is a better option. I've really wanted to not go that route but I see little alternative.

More then 90% of time it not the download but one or more apps you have on that phone. Check your apps one at a time FIRST. And it's your phone but I would not recommend rooting for many reasons .

So... what you are saying is - assuming 1 reboot per hour, but sometimes as long as 4 hours a part and 30 apps downloaded - one should spend 120 HOURS (5 straight days!!!) testing out your phone to find the one app that may or may not be causing an issue? Honestly, does this sound like a reasonable request when it's put this way? AND THEN what if it's actually a configuration issue, once you log in or set a setting from "download every 15 minutes" to "push notification" or something like that, or just change a picture, or break a certain threshold on cache size...

Upgrades are tested before being released for any OS but the device company and Verizon can't know what apps you may have on that device, before pushing out that upgrade. Apps can be very useful or cause the wrong interaction in you device. You could also try a safe mode restart running your phone with basic files loading and see how your phone works at that point. It may sound or be unreasonable from someone's viewpoint to do this but it's your phone so it's your call.

I've been slowly removing software from my phone. Nothing has made a difference yet though.

I think what is really lacking, and Verizon COULD control this is an effective way to downgrade our phones back to the previous firmware. These phones are basically computers, they do a lot of things and many people rely on them for all sorts of tasks. Verizon isn't the cheapest carrier out there. We pay a premium because we want the fastest most reliable there is, because of the importance of the tasks we do with our phones. Having updates come out like this in a seemingly slap dash manner, with no recourse to correct issues other then basically a complete reinstall and MAYBE it'll work, is unacceptable.

So, I've wiped my phone and re-installed everything I needed - the rebooting went away HOWEVER - the battery drain became horrible (getting about 3 hours per full charge) - so bad that if I was connected to a computer it was still draining, just not as fast. After reading other posts, I decided to uninstall Skype (you know, that little known program that Verizon can't be faulted for knowing about since it only has about 5 million users) -- Skype is something I need for work - as important for communications as exchange services.

The powerdrain did go away, but now I'm Skypeless - so the arguments that Verizon can't test EVERYTHING, just the biggest programs is now falling on deaf ears - if it can't test with something as popular as Skype, then I doubt they tested with anything that doesn't have a red logo. (I'm talking directly to you GalaxyClass)

I understand your feelings as I also own phones that cause me problems. However I stand by what I said about upgrades as not being the main source of problems, there are times but rare when they are bad in some areas. With that said let's try again to solve your problem. You have wiped your phone, are you saying you did a complete FDR on you device and your main problem now is battery and Skype only?

I reverted my phone back to NC5 yesterday. So far it's been about 24 hours with no reboots. This can be done WITHOUT rooting your phone. However you have to poke around the web to figure it out as Verizon and Samsung would rather everyone reset and reload and pray that the issues are corrected.

I for one do not plan on updating this phone ever again without thoroughly researching if the update works properly or not. Really the phone works great on NC5, I'm starting to think that with these types of phones, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" may be the best course of action.

stef7

Apparently, AFTER performing an FDR, many people have phones still rebooting. The FDR is probably not doing as complete a wipe as needed, and stray bits are causing poorly written aspects of the update to function improperly.

Why then would an install using the Software Repair Tool work for these people?

Makes you think.

Your right on that stef7 , Many wipes are sometimes needed to clear the resident stray data bits. The SRT won't work as long as there is bad code in those system config files. Good point...

Kbear56

My phone has been rebooting and freezing multiple times a day for the past two weeks. I just factory reset it today. And it still is rebooting. I am not a programmer, I am just your average user.

I reached my wits end and factory reset it. I was on the phone with my insurance and it shutdown and rebooted. I had no problems before the NG6 update. Ever since the update my phones been a mess (and its not 3rd party updates, water damages, etc.) It was absolutely fine before this rollout.

FYI - those looking to factory reset it, it doesn't always work. I am trying to run repair assistant now (and am having problems using it)- I read that running repair assistant can work.

Please send out an update for the update.

frankydp1234

Same issue, across multiple S4s. Rebooted 60 seconds after update was installed. Hasn't stopped since. Wife requested replacement via warranty. Same issue with only factory apps installed.

Phil_Sy

There was another (long) thread on this which has been locked by the administrator. What I have learned from it is that NG6 has a bug that causes random and frequent reboots. It also causes screen freezes. It does not seem to effect everyone. I suspect there are several hardware versions of the phone that account for the inconsistency, but I have no facts about that. Verizon has not always communicated accurately and forthrightly with its customers on this problem. Somewhere in that other thread, there is someone who heard from Verizon that the problem is related to disabled apps. If you disabled any apps, re-enable them and it should cure the problem.

Don't bother with a factory data reset (FDR) or using the software repair assistant. This meets with mixed results and is a fairly drastic step. Several hours are required to deal with the phone to get it set the way you had it after you run one of these procedures, neither of which seems to be providing a reliable fix.

In the end, I believe that Knox is the problem app. Since re-enabling all my factory installed apps, I have disabled WatchOn, Samsung Link, and NFL Mobile, and am not having the problem. If you have disabled Knox, re-enable it, and that should cure the problem.

None of this is guaranteed, but I believe it is the thing to do. Good luck.

Here's the most interesting thing about this update. I sent my phone into Samsung since it was under warranty and guess what firmware was installed on the phone when I got it back? VRUFNC5, the earlier version of the software prior to the horrible VRUFNG6 update!!

Does that not seem to be the most obvious admission by Samsung stating that they do know there is an issue with this firmware?

Back on 10-31-14, I spoke with a rep from Verizon that both Samsung and Verizon were both cooperating to see where this issue lies with this firmware update. Both companies are aware that they have a problem.

Do you know what else they had to fix on my phone you guys? My motherboard! I spoke with Samsung multiple times throughout my repair process and they stated they needed to replace the motherboard on the phone.

Does that not seem like there's an underlying hardware issue? Riddle me that Verizon....

Phil_Sy

In the last few minutes, I received a couple of updates to this thread in my email that I do not see here. I'm not sure why that has happened. People are asking about that other thread with some 40K views. It seems there was discussion about things that are not permitted by the service agreement...that is, doing things to your phone that you aren't supposed to do. I'm not going to mention those things because I'm sure they are monitoring for the key words. If you have any imagination at all, you'll know what I mean. I believe people were doing those things out of frustration and desperation. It helped to confirm the problem as I stated it.

Hearing that firmware updates and motherboard changes provided successful fixes seems to lend support to my earlier statement that multiple hardware configurations must have been released and only some phones are affected as a result. Again, this is purely speculation.

kjcht

I would suggest that everyone do a Google search for "verizon wireless executive leadership". (I'd post the info here but it would get me banned as per terms of service.) Contact all the VPs of Customer Service and ask them the status of the Samsung Galaxy S4 NG6 Reboot issue. This has been the only approach that has yielded any kind of information so far.

The motherboard was an issue however, Samsung still loaded the old version of firmware. So it quite possibly is a hardware issue coupled with a firmware issue.

kjcht

Hi JGG2,

Yes it communism in it's true form.

I can completely understand and relate. We tried our to help Verizon understand that we were here trying to help them. But alas, for whatever reason, Verizon is not able to comprehend that. I am exploring other options myself and will soon be joining your ranks. I think Nexus is a good choice.

I will continue to spread the word of Verizon's incompetence!

Cheers!

ljer

I'm now about 40 hours without a reboot, enabling all apps did it.

Such a relief after weeks of reboots; FDR, clearing system cache, and repair assistant didn't work and I was just going to wait until my contract was up to get a new phone.

greencat1

Looks like different solutions for different folks. I tried clearing system cache and enabling all apps but that did not help.

Last night I use repair assistant (Kies) and that did work. It is similar to a factory reset but it is able to backup and restore very easily. If nothing else works then I would try Kies before doing a factory reset.

skyman2112

What about battery life after NG6. Any tips for that one ???

drsbryanoverlin

How do you downgrade?

Ann154

drsbryanoverlin wrote:

How do you downgrade?

You need to look elsewhere for the answer to your question. The ToS here doesn't let such discussions continue.

PrTBrownT

I did what someone else suggested....re-enabled EVERYTHING I disabled

(apps). My phone hasnt rebooted yet. Its been almost a week and I was

rebooting every hour prior for a month. I have since re-disabled all those

apps and everything seems to be normal again. I'll keep you all posted.

Take a look on youtube.

brojo63

Unfortunately, its going to take a news story, high visibility on social media, or worse case, somebody losing a life because of a dropped 911 call. Anyway you look at this, Verizon is aware of the problem and their lack of concern will ultimately lead to some sort of lawsuit.

techPam

My phone was restarting/freezing constantly until I tried the suggestion here: NG6 update has been hell on earth

Hope it helps!

GodFear17

So ive been watching thus thread a while. Just had to chime in and say ever since the update my phone reboots randomly even in middle of calls.

I have not done a factory data reset and will not do it. Sorry. If that is the fix i am switching providers. Only extra "app" i have is face book and facebook messenger. I have removed both and it does same thing without them.

I have cleared the cache no change

I have ran the phone in safe mode and it does in fact reboot randomly still.

I had zero issues with the phone until the moment the update was applied. I have tried other batteries etc. Nothing cures it. As a IT guy i have to say this "bug" is absolutely ridiculous and all i see from VZ is the normal cs type stuff. Which is just wasting customers time.

Im currently thinking a class action suit might be in order as i have lost days and down time and it has cost me money. Hang ups in the middle of conversations with clients etc. I know there has to be others.

All i want is a fix and and some accountability is that so hard of a thing?

At this point if we cant get a fix or some kind of real support steps need yo be taken to compensate people for their losses.

Some on here have solved the re-booting issue of this phone by enabling all the disabled and turned off apps in the app drawer, including "knox".

GodFear17

I found that yesterday and did it. So far no rebooting for a day. Thank you for the input its hard to believe samsung or VZ couldnt get a tech to figure that out and make a post about it. Its like they have zero accountability. I mean the community had to just figure it out. Epic fail verizon/samsung.

There has been a new update released for the S4. Go into your Settings Menu and select Software Update. This is to fix the power cycling and VPN connection issues. One step closer to Lollipop!

Nostalgic-Link

You know what's really BS about this update? I had this rebooting issue for weeks; I contacted Verizon, who put me in touch with Samsung, who wanted me to pay to repair the phone, since my warranty ran up 2 months ago... I went back to Verizon and they told me they can't do anything, so I had to file a claim through Asurion, not knowing that this rebooting issue was due to the NG6 update, and I paid the $99 deductible to get a new S4... that S4 had the same problem... returned it... Asurion sent me a 3rd S4... having the same problems... now it's too late for me to get a refund for that deductible I shouldn't have had to have paid. WHAT A SCAM!