Close

What are you looking for?

cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Samsung A52 5G stuck in reboot loop

(Topic created on: 04-12-2022 10:14 PM)
17843 Views
Goldcrest
Apprentice
Options

Hi,

This may be a long post. I'm completely stuck. Since Saturday morning (4th December), my Samsung Galaxy A52 5G (which I've had for about six months) has been stuck in what seems to be a reboot loop. It was working fine first thing in the morning but suddenly the screen froze up and I couldn't press anything and it turned off. After about 30 seconds it rebooted itself and I signed in again. It stayed on and usable for about 30 seconds and then the same thing happened again. This happens every time I sign in to my phone. Strangely, it will only reboot itself after I've put my password in. It doesn't reboot when it's just left on the lock screen. After doing some reading, I've tried all the suggested solutions for a reboot loop issue (holding the power off key and down key, rebooting it in safe mode, etc.) but nothing works.

I contacted the Samsung bot chat thing, which didn't help, so it transferred me to an "actual" person (which was still a bot), and they both basically asked the same questions. The second bot said I should then try a master reset (which I assume is a factory reset), which I really want to avoid doing because I don't want to wipe all my data. And that's the other issue. Because my Google storage is completely full, the photos stored on my phone haven't been backing up since June, so there's hundreds of photos and videos that I would lose because I have no storage space to back them up. The bot told me to download Samsung Smart Switch on my phone and computer, which I have done on my computer, but obviously couldn't on my phone due to the rebooting issue. I connected my phone to my laptop with a USB cable like it said but since I can't log into my phone without it rebooting pretty much instantly, I can't proceed any further than the "connect your device to get started" page. If I were to carry out a factory reset (I'll come back to this in a minute), I'd need more Google storage in order to back up all my photos (and files as well I guess). So I think I'm going to purchase more Google storage (the £1.59 per month one that gives you 100 GB of storage) so that my photos can be backed up. However, I don't know if my phone automatically backs up photos when there is enough storage available, or whether I have to turn some setting on to allow it to do that, which I wouldn't be able to do fast enough before my phone reboots. I'm going to purchase more storage anyway and hope that it automatically backs up my photos (if not, I'll try and find some way to do it), but that then leads onto another issue.

I can't get into sodding recovery mode. I read that to get into recovery mode on the A52 5G, you have to turn off your phone, and then hold down the power off key and volume up key until the recovery mode screen shows up. Well the problem is, whenever my phone turns off (either by itself or if I do it) it won't stay switched off, it will automatically reboot itself no matter what. So I can't get into recovery mode to even try any of the options on there. So even if I did decide to resort to a factory reset, I wouldn't be able to do it because it isn't possible for me to get into recovery mode!

Thank you for reading this far if you have done. Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm rubbish with tech as it is, but not even my tech-savvy brother can figure anything out. Thankfully I have an old backup phone (that was dropped down the toilet a while back but is still somewhat functional, if very dodgy) so I can use that for some things but obviously it's got none of my data on it. And I only bought my A52 5G six months ago so I don't want to have to buy another phone already!

Thanks.

0 Likes
13 REPLIES 13
Badger42
Helping Hand
Options

It maybe that you have to send it off to Samsung if you can't get pass the loop. For the recovery mode menus, it needs to also be connected to a power source e.g. a USB cable to the PC from the device, whilst you try the buttons to get it in to the recovery mode. It may have been an app update that has caused the issue and if you can clear the cache partition it can sometimes help. 

This video maybe also be useful for the boot loop issue, it is for the A53 not A52 but I guess the principles are the same https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIcu-MNWbvg  

I hope you manage to get it sorted.

0 Likes
Goldcrest
Apprentice
Options

Thank you for your quick response. Just addressing the video first, that was one of the first videos I watched when I first had the issue; I followed the steps up until massaging your phone, which I just thought was dubious. Then he got into the "smack method" and putting it in the freezer and I sort of drew the line at that point. Either way, the first few steps I tried didn't solve the issue.

I will try getting into recovery mode whilst it is plugged into my laptop and see if that works, and I'll update from there. I'm not sure if my apps update by themselves, and if they do, I never get any notifications telling me they are updating.

So, I'll try that and purchase my extra Google storage and see what happens.

Thanks.

0 Likes
Badger42
Helping Hand
Options
I guess the photos/videos are on the phone and you have no way of getting them transferred to a micro SD card? I should have put a disclaimer on the link saying it was in no way a recommendation just a point of interest that may help. I hope you manage to get it sorted soon.
0 Likes
vmei
First Poster
Options

I have the same issue after installing an update this morning!

0 Likes
Goldcrest
Apprentice
Options

I tried it with the USB plugged in and it booted up into recovery mode! But I tried the 'reboot system now' option and that didn't work (still turns itself off and reboots) and I also tried 'wipe cache partition', and tried the reboot again but that didn't work either. I'm getting frustrated. After some more Googling I've read about an app you download on your computer called Dr.Fone which it says is good for fixing bootloop issues. I don't hold out much hope but is it worth downloading it and trying it? Or should I try updating my phone (via computer if that's possible) as I hadn't updated it in a long time (when it was working, I'd get a screen pop up maybe once a day telling me to install the latest update but I always closed it because I'm very wary about installing updates ever since my mum once updated her Nexus 7 and it became completely unusable)? There must be some other solution other than a factory reset 😭.

0 Likes
Badger42
Helping Hand
Options
I would be careful about trying Dr Fone unless you are 100 percent sure it is safe and virus free. I always make sure my device is keep up-to-date with software updates and patches and have, touch wood never had too much of an issue. If you can update it whilst it's connected to the PC I would, but not sure if that is possible if you are still having the boot issue. It maybe you have to bite the bullet and do a factory reset and ensure it is kept up-to-date.
0 Likes
Goldcrest
Apprentice
Options

Another update - got no further with backing up my photos/data. I purchased the 100GB Google storage plan so I now have the extra storage. I managed to really quickly get to the 'backup photos' option on Google photos on my phone before it rebooted (I constantly have it plugged into my laptop via USB as well) and it said it started the backup, but the problem is I don't know whether it's still backing them up whilst I'm not logged in (i.e. when it's not booted up, which obviously causes it to reboot itself). If I'm quick enough I can get to the stage where I can look how many photos are left to back up (2,841 - yes, I know). I checked this two or three times and it said the same number each time, which to me means it's not doing it 😭. My brother said to completely leave it alone (i.e. don't log into it) for as long as possible (he said something about leaving it for at least two hours but I don't know what that's about?) and see if it completes the backup. But I left it going all night (about eight hours) and it had made no progress by the morning and my laptop had turned off overnight (even though it was on charge). I'm still going ahead with leaving it be and seeing if it backs them up but I don't think it's going to work. And then I don't know what the heck I'm going to do. At this point I'm willing to do a factory reset but NOT until I've backed all my photos up, and apparently that's not happening. I'm considering looking for some sort of expert to look at it/repair it but I know they will want to do a factory reset or wipe the data or something and I'm not doing that until I am SURE that my photos are backed up (which they definitely aren't, as they aren't on Google photos). I HATE technology.

0 Likes
Anonymous User
Not applicable
Options
Try draining the battery and leave it without any power for a little bit then plug it back in to charge. This has worked for myself from the last update,I lost alot off stuff but fotos were fine. Infact the last 2 updates have done something to my fone with losing stuff from it but it's better than a factory reset . Please try n let us know . Ty
0 Likes
MickyMoose
Student
Options
Goldcrest, Did you get sorted ? I've got the exact same problem as well ! Stuck in reboot loop until battery dies 😡
0 Likes