How to do a hard power off on Samsung A5?

[Tom2827]

My mum has an old Samsung A5 phone and she's clicked on something that has messed the phone up real good, looks like some kind of virus that has locked up the phone with a generic "Downloading do not turn off" splash screen.

Can't access anything on the phone, the splash screen has just locked everything down, and holding the power + volume down for a manual reset doesn't work either, the screen just goes black for a few seconds, then immediately lights back up onto the splash screen.

I need a way to manually do a hard reset on the phone, like unplugging a battery would do. Can anyone help me out with some pointers?

[Forzabox7154_SM]

That's download mode used for software flashing on Samsung devices.

[Forzabox7154_SM]

To get out of it, try the power and vol down again or you can use some pc software

[Tom2827]

The power and vol down doesn't work, I'm also pretty ***** certain this splash screen is not a Samsung one, since I've been using Samsung phone for years and never seen it. It's also bright blue and looks very amateur. The only solution I can think of at the moment is just wait for the battery to run out.

[AndrewL]

@Tom2827: Check to see if the Volume button is sticking, as its possible that this is what's causing the phone to boot into Developer Mode. If it isn't, try simply pressing and holding the Power button to restart the device. 

[Forzabox7154_SM]

Does it look like this?

[Tom2827]

Yes that's it, how do I get out of it if the buttons don't work?

[Tom2827]

Volume button doesn't appear to be sticking. Holding in only the power button doesn't do anything. If I try holding in both the power button and the volume down button for about 10 seconds, the screen goes black for 2 seconds, then goes right back to the stuck screen.

[Tom2827]

Hey everyone, the phone is still stuck in that mode after 3 days, even lettering the battery drain didn't help. Every time we plug it into a charger that same screen flashes up again. Even tried plugging it into a PC and using the power + vol down reset method but no luck.

Anyone know if there is a way to just do a hard factory reset or something without having access to the phone?

[hellothere193]

press and hold the Home, Power, and Volume Down buttons at the same time. Step 2: Release these buttons after the device's screen turn black and your Samsung Smartphone should restart normally.