Re: S4 won't charge after 4.3 update
goodguy5000hd
Newbie

My GS4 started behaving badly after 4.3 update in mid-late December.

It will charge fine on dock or whatever charger (all worked flawlessly before for 6-8 months that I've owned it). However, unbeknownst to user, it will stop charging the battery (after 100% probably) and slowly drain to 0! The icon in upper right still shows "100%" for the battery! The only way I find out is when I pull it from the charger, the screen goes black (because the battery is dead dead dead).

Very frustrating!

When I plug it back in, and system restarts, it (correctly) shows battery at 0% and begins (for real) charging. This happens intermittently and THERE IS NO WAY OF KNOWING IF THE PHONE IS CHARGING since while docked, it will always show 100% (after fully charged). The only way of knowing is disconnecting power and seeing if phone battery is dead! I effectively have to constantly disconnect/reconnect the charger to see if the phone is at 100% or 0%!! Unusable!!

This started happening at 4.3 update. Verizon, please look beyond your automated flow-charts and canned responses. This is a real problem and needs fixing via firmware update!!

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Re: S4 won't charge after 4.3 update
KellyArens
Contributor - Level 3

My phone was too having all the charging issues after that initial update in November.  But on December 18th  another update came through and all my charging problems went away. You probably need to call Verizon 800 number and see if they can help you.  I have always had good luck with them. 

Re: S4 won't charge after 4.3 update
goodguy5000hd
Newbie

Thanks for the reply.

I cannot think of a bigger waste of time than calling-in to a large company's 800 support. After sitting on hold for 30 minutes, the (removed) will likely ask if my phone is on and plugged in and whatever else is in their brainless flow-charts. Even Apple's "genius bar" is not worth the time (unless they replace the device like they should do in the first 3 minutes).

This behavior started around the last update 4.3... I've told the GS4 to check for new firmware, but says it's up to date.

There are many threads regarding Google 4.3/4.4 updates causing battery problems of one type or another, so it's probably a Google issue. There's a app called better battery statistics (or something) that can no longer get all the statistical data from the battery because Google completely changed battery management in the recent Android updates. More evidence that it's Android, not Verizon.

I couldn't find one, but is there a path for down-grading the GS4 version to 4.2? The Verizon GS4 "support" page is more about instructing grandma how to take a photo, not how to get real tech-support for the phone.

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Message was edited by: Admin Moderator

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Re: S4 won't charge after 4.3 update
KellyArens
Contributor - Level 3

Well if your phone won't work at all, then it needs to be replaced.  The only way to do that is to call. If the update caused the problem it shouldn't be a problem.  Happened with my Droid X once.  Update totally bricked it.  I called and they sent me a phone 2 day Fed Ex. no charge.

Re: S4 won't charge after 4.3 update
B33
Legend

Good suggestion..

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Re: S4 won't charge after 4.3 update
Klue
Master - Level 1

Sorry to say there is no path to revert back to a previous version of Android.  If your phone has 4.3 on it, it is there until it is upgraded to a  new version. My phone still has 4.2.2 and it will stay like that until the problems of 4.3 get resolved. There are a number of things you can try to fix the problems that come up after an update like, Rebooting the phone, taking out the battery for a couple of minutes, removing the sim care for a couple of minutes, changing the battery, operate the phone in safe mode to eliminate the possibility of corrupted apps on your phone and then there is the factory reset.  Some of these things might help but, by reading the posts of this S4 section on this forum, most don't.

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Re: S4 won't charge after 4.3 update
vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

We definitely want to make sure this gets resolved for you, goodguy5000hd. Is the charging dock you're using from Samsung? Do you have the same trouble plugging directly into the original wall charger that came with your S4? The update that changed the S4 to 4.3 actually began to go out to customers at the end of October, and there's been another update to help with the charging trouble reported in December. Please go to Settings>About Phone and share the baseband and build number versions listed in your phone so we can see which of the recent updates you have. I'll be looking forward to your reply.

Thank you
JenniferH_VZW

Please follow us on Twitter @vzwsupport

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Re: S4 won't charge after 4.3 update
vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

Hello J_Paynter. I'm very sorry to hear about your phone not powering back up. I see that you have attempted a few different trouble shooting methods. It is possible that either the battery or the phone is not functioning. Have you tried removing the battery from your phone, and just plugging the phone to your charger? Are there any lights or indicators that turn on? If you like, use this link, http://bit.ly/3SdsA and stop by your closest direct VZW store, and we can help test out your phone. This way we can test if it powers on with a replacement battery, and to help determine which is the direct cause of the issue.

If you have any additional questions, please do not hesitate to reach back out to us. Thank you J_Paynter. Take care, and have a great day.

NicandroN_ VZW

Follow us on twitter @VZWSupport

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Re: S4 won't charge after 4.3 update
goodguy5000hd
Newbie

Hello JenniferH_VZW,

Thanks for the reply. Shortly after writing my message here, the phone started behaving properly. I've been trying to switch docks and power cords to recreate the problem but so far haven't been able to. AFAIK, I have the latest firmware (instructed phone to find updates, and it said there were none).

If the phone simply didn't charge, that would be OK, but the problem I was having during the last few weeks of December was that the docked phone icons showed that it was docked/charging and yet wasn't and the battery would naturally drain.

I'll write here again if/when I'm able to recreate the problem.

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Re: S4 won't charge after 4.3 update
colonel_locke
Enthusiast - Level 3

I'm having a similar issue... the phone will charge via the wall adapter or a high-power outlet on my USB hub (which doesn't provide any data connectivity to transfer files,) but doesn't charge via the regular USB hub ports (which do provide data connectivity.)

It's quite a conundrum, particularly when you add in the "charge to 100% then slowly discharge without updating the charge level" glitch.

Message was edited by: Dennis ED:  I've started another thread on this, but hadn't had any response from Verizon.  Was hoping by hoping posting here I find some other folks with the same problem.   

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Message was edited by: Admin Moderator

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