# Any tech savvy geeks out there?



## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

I am having a HUGE issue with my Samsung Galaxy S III. I thought my battery was just shot and so have ordered a new one. However...not sure that is really the problem. I'm having one heck of a time getting it to CHARGE. I have an extended use battery that I've never used so it's basically new (it's big and won't fit into my bodyglove with the built in screen protector so I never use it). I still can't get it to charge right! Once it's plugged in, it may or not stay connected to charge! It "blinks" on and off the charge constantly. Once I get it to say it's charging I carefully set it down and don't touch it again. LOL That is no guarantee it will continue to charge tho! It can just be sitting there charging away and lose connection. :wallbang: It takes me 15 to 20 minutes of sheer mind blowing frustration to GET it to start charging and then....blink...it's not charging any more. HELP ME! Please....ray: Oh, I've traded out the charger about 5 times now and that isn't making any difference


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

I had the exact same problem with my old phone!! :hair: the only charger that would work with my phone is the charger for my kindle fire, go figure.
But I eventually had to get a new phone because the old one was seriously messed up! It would turn on and off a billion times while I was holding it, it'd send crazy texts to random numbers, and call random numbers, wouldn't charger with its own charger, just messed up!


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

You're NOT helping! :lol: I want to know how to fix the stupid thing! :sigh: I'm guessing it will have to be replaced. At least it's not making random calls. But it is also not always ringing when I have an incoming call (seems to know when it's my mama too...or at least she's the only one that leaves a voice mail so I know she has called) It is causing me serious anxiety as is. I moved the charger into my bedroom to a different outlet. So far ray: it says it's charging. Maybe it's just the stupid outlet...but then why would I be able to maneuver the charger where it plugs into my phone and get it to kick into charging? :GAAH: I hate technology


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

I bet it's only a little bit passed expired on the warranty too.... I swear they make them to screw up right after it expires!


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## Goats Rock (Jun 20, 2011)

I am the least tech savvy person imaginable- but, my phone was not charging either. It turns out 
the charger was messed up- maybe the wire was loose? Anyway, I ordered a new charger for my 
Droid X from Amazon and it charges just fine. Hope that helps.


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

I had already ordered a new charger with the new battery. But....seems a little too coincidental that 5 different chargers are messed up at the same time? Maybe. Warranty??? They still honor those??? LOL I've had the contract for 1 year now. The original phone was replaced last May, I think (thru insurance at a cost to me of $100) when my husband managed to soak it with a bottle of water. 

On a good note, it's sitting on my nightstand and is up to 43% charged now!!! So, now I'm wondering if it's the stupid outlet where I usually charge it that is messed up? Not in a hundred year old house with cloth wrapped wiring....no way it could possibly be the outlet. :eyeroll: But if that's the case, why does the lamp work? And why does it make connection with the charger when I wiggle it where it connects at the phone?


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## Wild Hearts Ranch (Dec 26, 2011)

If it happens with every charger, sometimes the charging port on the phone can come loose in which case you need a new phone :-|


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## NubianFan (Jun 3, 2013)

Wiggle it just a little bit, come on and wiggle it just a little bit.... (LOL sorry it was too easy and I just had to)
Seriously though, if the connection inside the phone has come loose, it may be time for a new phone. I would wiggle my way around it as long as I could if I were you the stupid phones aren't cheap.


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

Blah. I was afraid of that. According to my account info....I am eligible for a reconditioned phone (not a new one). Guess I'll be taking a road trip tomorrow to get to the verizon store and see what they can tell me. Sigh...


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

:GAAH: It has been on the charger for oh....14 hours now. And....OMG....it's at 50% charged!!! :wallbang: Ok I'm going with the phone is defective and I need to replace it. :sigh: Will let you all know what the store says and how much it's gonna cost me. Ugh. 

Another question? Do any of you use any of the lost droid apps? My daughter can't keep track of her phone. We had downloaded an app that tracks the phones, but it gets us to the general area and if her phone is on silent (like it usually is) we can't find it. For example....her phone had been lost all weekend. We KNEW it was in the house and the tracker thingy confirmed that. But couldn't find it (she didn't look too hard either, I moved the couch and there it was!).


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## nchen7 (Feb 25, 2013)

ugghhh.....is the battery loose? my blackberry has a loose battery so I had to tighten it with a piece of paper in there. also, does it work if you wiggle it around? have you tried googling to see if this is a manufacturer's defect? if so, it should be under warranty. I know it's not as great getting a refurb phone, but if there's still warranty then that's good in case they refurb'ed it wrong (which usually is not the case). sometimes refurb things are better than the new. oh, last thing, have you tried in different outlets? have you tried USB ports on computers or any gaming console that you may have at home? sometimes it's the thingy that plugs into the wall that doesn't work properly (that happened to me last year with by blackberry).

so you have someone else with the same phone near you? you can try your battery in their phone to see if it's the battery, and try their battery in your phone. if your battery charges in their phone and their battery doesn't charge in yours, then it's the charging jack.

I know that doesn't solve the issue....but some more troubleshooting ideas that MAY help.....


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

No,pretty sure it's not the battery being loose...if that were the case, my phone would turn off at unexpected moments and it doesn't. No one near that has the same phone...darn it. If I sit here and spend 30 min messing with the stupid charging jack it will eventually click into charge....then just sitting there will stop. Frustrating the you know what out of me. I've tried different chargers, different wall outlets (thot I had it figured out until the current one quit too) The nearest store is either Radio Shack or Walmart (neither of which I really want to try and deal with) or 30 miles away at an actual Verizon store. I'm heading for the Verizon store when they open....of course they are in a different time zone so I have to wait an extra hour.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Sounds like fun. Probably best just to go to the Verizon store.


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## Goats Rock (Jun 20, 2011)

Good luck! Sorry, my only contribution was the charger not working. Hopefully you get a good phone that works well!


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## wildegoats0426 (Aug 30, 2013)

My iPhone did this and it would turn on and off by itself and turn itself on loud. I finally just had to replace the phone. My new one will just die at 90% or so


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## nchen7 (Feb 25, 2013)

ok, if it's a loose battery, all you need to do is get a piece of paper, and start doing some folding so the battery is always connected to jack part. 

here are some pictures of my phone. hope this helps some....


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

I was actually getting ready to try this on the charging jack! The store couldn't help me so gave me a tech support number to call. What a nightmare that was! Call on a phone not the one you need help with and enter your number when they ask....they NEVER ask! Finally got to a representative and I'm getting a new phone. If I'd called a couple hours earlier it would be here tomorrow, but I guess since I won't be here tomorrow it's no big deal. It'll be here Wed. 

I'm going to Colo Springs tomorrow! Stopped to help a stranded motorist (No lectures please) it was obvious he was in trouble. He turns out to be a military member trying to get to his new duty station in Co Spgs. His care is out of commission for at least a week. We have NO rental car agencies out here. Go figure. I spent the afternoon trying to help him and will be taking him to Colorado tomorrow. I'll get to go to the commissary and exchange too!! Woohooo! Shopping!! Hubby met the soldier too and he's ok with my driving him to his duty station.


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

And now...since the new phone will be here today...the dumb thing is charging. :wallbang: On the charger that won't charge anything else, no less! :hair: What a pain. Now...I just have to remember how to transfer everything to my new phone when it gets here. And I hate having to put my apps back on each time.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Won't the store just transfer everything for you? They do that for me. Just make sure you have the old phone with you.


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

Yes, they will but the store is 50 miles away. I really don't want to drive over there again if I don't have to. LOL Last time, I ended up with an impromptu trip to Colo Spgs (4 hours away) with a young soldier whose car had broken down.


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Good to hear things are going to work out. When one of the family has a phone thats messing up, I hit craigslist and pick up a used matching phone for cheap. Transfer the info and done . Oh but if you do this dont forget to hit the reset button on the new phone first. My other halves new/used phone came from a mexican guy who had it sent to mexican language. That was ok, was able to change it to english but anytime you type say oo, it auto changes it to a like a line over an o or some other english to spanish translation


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

Yeah, I envy all you that have a good craigslist in your area. We just really don't have much of one out here. It sucks. I love craigslist and if I'm going to a big metropolitan area I browse their list for anything I might need.


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## Darlaj (Dec 10, 2013)

My hubby's phone wouldn't charge unless we wiggles and fussed with it ... Then I got out a real good light and was looking at charge port it looked a little dusty inside so I took a needle and was pokin around in there very carefully and discovered it was packed with pocket lint ... There was a ton way down in there so I picked around at it to loosen it all up and used Vaccume to suck out stuff .... Then repeated process a couple times even used a dry tooth brush .... Well now it charges great ... 
Just a thought . It didn't looked like there was much in there but dust, boy was I wrong!


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

Yeah, thot of that too. LOL Even the guy at the store cleaned it and said it wasn't all that dirty. I was hoping that was all it would take, but it didn't make a difference.


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## nchen7 (Feb 25, 2013)

TDG-Farms said:


> My other halves new/used phone came from a mexican guy who had it sent to mexican language.


you mean Spanish, right?? :laugh: 

glad your phone works! if the original one works, can you send the new one back?


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

tOmatO tomAtO, same thing


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

Alright now children. heheh Well, the phone got here. I'm trying to move everything. My contacts moved with no problem. It moved some of my apps!!! I don't have to reinstall them and set them up again!!! Now...tho...my pics did not move. I've transferred stuff from my device storage to my sd card and getting ready to see if that did the trick. If not...I'll be back BEGGING for help!


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

Ah hah! My pics are back in my gallery!!! Now if I can just figure out what all the rest of that stupid stuff is that is on there... If there is a file...Vault...there are some files in it but I get a message that says it can't open them because there isn't an app. Can I delete that?
There are several that I don't even know what they are and there is nothing in them...can I delete them?


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## Wild Hearts Ranch (Dec 26, 2011)

Your phone stores a lot of files that it uses to work but that you don't need to worry about (and the new phone doesn't either.)


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## just_plain_bob (May 4, 2013)

kinda sorry I didn't see this thread earlier
usually the main problem is lint/dust/junk in the area you plug the charger into 
use a paper clip to go fishing in there
you might be shocked at what you find 
and of course the stores aren't gonna tell you this trick
they sell you a new phone and sell your old phone as a "refurbished"


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## just_plain_bob (May 4, 2013)

Darlaj said:


> My hubby's phone wouldn't charge unless we wiggles and fussed with it ... Then I got out a real good light and was looking at charge port it looked a little dusty inside so I took a needle and was pokin around in there very carefully and discovered it was packed with pocket lint ... There was a ton way down in there so I picked around at it to loosen it all up and used Vaccume to suck out stuff .... Then repeated process a couple times even used a dry tooth brush .... Well now it charges great ...
> Just a thought . It didn't looked like there was much in there but dust, boy was I wrong!


oh yeah 
this ;-)


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

just_plain_bob said:


> kinda sorry I didn't see this thread earlier
> usually the main problem is lint/dust/junk in the area you plug the charger into
> use a paper clip to go fishing in there
> you might be shocked at what you find
> ...


That's ok. I cleaned it. They cleaned it at the store. It was truly the jack was messed up. Didn't cost me a dime to get it replaced. Now charging with no problems

Carmen, Oleo Acres LLC, NW Ks


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## just_plain_bob (May 4, 2013)

kccjer said:


> That's ok. I cleaned it. They cleaned it at the store. It was truly the jack was messed up. Didn't cost me a dime to get it replaced. Now charging with no problems
> 
> Carmen, Oleo Acres LLC, NW Ks


:-D


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

:GAAH::GAAH::wallbang::wallbang: Stupid, blessed phone. Got the "refurbished" one. Got everything loaded on it. Doing great. UNTIL LAST NIGHT! The stupid thing WILL NOT CHARGE! It says it is. It shows that it's charging. But from 95% charged last night at 9:30....it's NOW at 86%??? WTH??? It has been over 9 hours and it is losing charge??? Really? 

I plug it into the charger. It beeps like it is suppose to. It shows the icon that says it's charging. Has the little "lightening" in the battery icon. It SAYS Charging X%. That is all what it is suppose to do. However, the % keeps dropping? I've tried turning it on and off. No change....dropped a couple more percent on charge. I've unplugged and replugged it. Changed chargers. It connects instantly and says it's charging (unlike the original problem where I couldn't get the charger to connect at all)

:wallbang::wallbang:


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Sounds like the refurbished aren't totally fixed. I would definitely be screaming at someone.


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

At this point about the only thing I can suggest is to update it. Maybe its a known problem and there is an update for it...


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

:GAAH: So. Decided to try the one thing I hadn't. Shut it down. Removed the battery, put it back in and restarted the phone. It now says that the battery is charged? :shrug::GAAH::hammer: I guess the good news is the battery is charged? Maybe? I hate technology.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Do you not shut it off when you charge it? I do and I find I don't have to worry about that. DH leaves his phone on all the time and has to take out his battery once a week.

At least you figured out the problem.


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

I don't shut it down. Wish I could. It's my only phone...hubby isn't going to hear his ring. Daughter either so if there is an emergency I won't get the call. It's also my alarm (not that I've been needing one with waking up at 430 every blasted morning lately :eyeroll I wouldn't worry about the emergency part so much but my parents are getting elderly and, if you remember Cass, I have a young friend that sometimes needs me ASAP (although...lately ray: she hasn't) I'll have to remember the "take out the battery once a week"


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## nchen7 (Feb 25, 2013)

so weird. glad it fixed by taking out the battery. that's my go-to move for most technological issues....... take battery out, count to 5, put it back in, and plug into wall. usually fixes everything.


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

Yeah, I was frustrated with the stupid thing as of last night. made no sense to me. Was getting ready to call support AGAIN and thought about taking battery out. Sheesh... What a simple fix.


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

And....NOW....the stupid darned thing WON'T RING! It will only vibrate. I've checked that it is on to ring along with vibrate. Last night I could listen to ringtones...this morning...can't hear anything. I DO NOT LIKE THIS PHONE


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Try to turn it off and on again. That seems to be the universal fix all


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

Yeah. Didn't work. Stupid phone. Stupid technology. LOL After an hour on the support chat with verizon...we narrowed it down...hopefully, maybe, possibly...to an app. I deleted the app cause I don't really NEED it. We'll see what happens.


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## nchen7 (Feb 25, 2013)

Wow....looks like I'm gonna be sticking to my trusty blackberry for a while..... 

Hope ur phone works again. Terribly frustrating to have issues with technology


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