Heat problems with S4 following 5.0.1 update

[slartster]

I recieved a notification today that an update was ready for my phone. I backed everything up and proceeded with it. On completion I discovered that this was an update to Lollipop and immediately did a factory reset of the device. Once that was complete I proceeded with setting up the device from scratch again, restoring my backup in the process. I stopped about 5 minutes in when I realised that the phone was so hot it actually scorched the case the device is in. I turned the phone off for a few minutes and started it back up and installed a cpu temperature monitor to see that the CPU is hitting 60c with next to nothing running. I have exhausted all ideas, including doing a cleardown of cache, removing the msd card, switching sim, a different battery, another factory reset, disabling bits of the hardware and many other things. At the peak it was discharging battery quicker than it was charging. Nothing seems to help. Has anyone got any ideas? I'm probably going to go into the store tomorrow but suspect they'll go through the same process I already have.

[drey_p]

Hi there

There are a few things you can try. Do another factory reset, but this time do not install any backups or apps.  See how the device behaves.  Also, keep an eye on what is using up the battery.  If I remember rightly, there is a battery monitor in settings > about device. 

Do remember that the entire process of installing and configuring the device is very processor intensive and will have the processor running almost the entire time. 

[slartster]

Hi, 

I am now at the point where all I have running is the OS and the cpu monitor. The battery monitor on the phone and built in task manager show nothing running over a couple of percent cpu. The CPU temperature after 5 minutes of the device being on is hitting 56c. Something is clearly amiss. The device was absolutely fine before installing the update. I'm at a loss and cannot think of anything else other than the software itself being the issue. I seem to recall 5.0.1 being a bit bug ridden when I installed it on my Nexus and the 5.0.2 update coming out pretty sharpish to fix among other issues, battery draining and heat issues. 

Whilst the CPU may well be running flat out, I wouldn't expect it to get so hot it cannot be picked up and causes burn damage to something in contact with it (my gel case).

May pop in tomorrow as planned. 

[drey_p]

With that sort of temperature, I would expect to see a process eating through your battery.  What process is using up the most battery and how much is it using?

It could be the update or perhaps a faulty battery.  There were issues with S4 batteries a while back with a number of them being faulty. Could you do me a favour and just check that battery please.  Take it out and have a good look at it - if it is swollen, it usually indicates it is faulty.

You may wish to consider taking it to a Samsung Repair Centre and having them check things over as usually they have technical bods on site. 

[slartster]

No process is using more than 2% of the CPU yet the processor set a record of 72c before dropping to 55c and staying around there. That was in safe mode with nothing running. So I'm assuming that whatever is going on the phone is borked.

[slartster]

Apologies for the additional reply. I used the hardware menu to clear the cache and then do a full factory reset and then removed the battery and memory card. Waited a couple of minutes. Replaced battery and turned on the phone. It goes to the new setup menu and immediately gets too hot to comfortably hold in my hand. Doesn't improve at all as I go through the setup. Again, to reiterate, until the update earlier the phone was functioning perfectly and other than a faulty battery last year I've never had a major problem with it.

Quite annoyed, to be honest and will likely, as I previously said, go back to Sony or HTC when I upgrade in October. Couldn't even sell this in its current state.

[drey_p]

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@slartster wrote:

No process is using more than 2% of the CPU 

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I'm not talking about CPU usage - I am referring to battery usage.  Try downloading a third party battery monitoring app such as GSam and letting that run for about 30 minutes or so - that will tell you which app or service is using the most battery life and may shed some light on what is happening.

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@slartster wrote:

then removed the battery and memory card.

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When you removed the battery, did you check for any signs of swelling or bulging?

[slartster]

The only 2 things utilising Battery are the Screen and Android System. Android System is hammering it and as it stands on a full charge it is reporting 2 hours remaining. This is on a clean install before anything else is running.

[drey_p]

I'm gonna do some digging for you and see why I can find.

In the meantime, if you have a Samsung repair centre near you, pop in to it and see if they can give you any advice.

[slartster]

Cheers for that. I'm heading in at lunchtime. We have a Vodafone store and Samsung Store adjacent to each other so will pop into both failing finding a solution before then.