The black screen of death issue seems to be bugging a lot of Samsung Galaxy S9 owners after updating their devices to the new Android 9.0 Pie update. It may seem like a very serious hardware problem because your phone won’t respond to whatever you do when it happens but most of the time, it’s actually just a minor firmware issue that you can fix on your own without having to go to a shop.
In this post, I will walk you through in troubleshooting your Galaxy S9 that got stuck on the black screen after a firmware update. We will try to consider every possibility and rule them out one after another. So, if you’re one of the owners of this device and are currently being bugged by a similar problem, continue reading as this article may be able to help you one way or another.
Before we proceed, if you’re looking for a solution to a problem with your phone, try to browse through our Galaxy S9 Help Guides page to see if we support your device. If your phone is in the list of our supported devices, then go to the troubleshooting page and look for similar problems. Feel free to use our solutions and workarounds.
Troubleshooting Galaxy S9 that got stuck on Black Screen of Death
The black screen of death issue is often due to a firmware crash. There are times when an update would cause it and there are also instances that it occurs on its own. But regardless whether this problem started after an update or not, there’s always something you can do about it. With that being said, here are the most effective solutions for this problem…
First solution: Perform the Forced Restart on your Galaxy S9
This must be the first thing you have to do, in fact, it could be the only thing you need to do to make your phone work perfectly again. It’s a very simple procedure but very effective in addressing problems like this. It’s a simulated battery pull procedure that will refresh your phone’s memory as well as reload all its applications and services. Here’s how you do it on your Galaxy S9…
- Press and hold the Volume Down button and don’t release it yet.
- While holding down the volume button, press and hold the power key as well.
- Keep both keys held down together for 15 seconds or until the Galaxy S9 logo shows on the screen.
The moment the Galaxy S9 logo shows, it’s a sign that the problem is fixed. After all, what we’re trying to accomplish here is make your phone respond again and you’ve done that. However, if your phone is still not responding after this, do the procedure a few more times and if your phone is still stuck on the black screen of death, then move on to the next procedure.
ALSO READ: What to do with your Samsung Galaxy S9 with Black Screen of Death?
Second solution: Connect phone to charger and force restart it
At this point, it is very much possible that the battery got drained completely. While it’s initially not an issue as most of the time the phone would just respond when connected to its charger, there are times when it would lead to a firmware crash just before the phone shuts down due to insufficient power. It’s because some hardware components and services may not be properly shut off. As a result you will be dealing with a couple of very minor issues that both result to an unresponsive device or a black screen of death. But don’t worry, you can still make your phone respond by doing the following:
- Plug the original charger to a working wall outlet.
- Using the original USB cable, connect your S9 to its charger.
- Regardless whether the charging symbol shows or not, leave the phone connected to the charger for 10 minutes or so.
- After such time and while your Galaxy S9 is still connected to its charger, press and hold the volume down button and don’t release it yet.
- While holding down the volume button, press and hold the power key as well.
- Keep both keys held down together for 15 seconds or more.
If your phone boots up after this, then the problem is fixed but there’s not guarantee that it won’t happen again in the future. Should the black screen of death keep happening again, just perform these procedures but it would be better if you reset the phone.
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Before the reset, make sure to create a backup of your important files and data as they will be deleted after it. Also, remove both your Google and Samsung accounts so that you won’t be locked out of your device after the reset. Once everything is in order, follow these steps to reset your phone:
- Turn off the device.
- Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
- When the Galaxy S9 logo shows, release all keys.
- Your device will boot into the recovery mode and once you see a black screen with blue and yellow texts on it, you’re good to proceed to the next step.
- Press the Volume down key several times to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset’.
- Press Power button to select.
- Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes’ is highlighted.
- Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
- When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
- Press the Power key to restart the device.
On the other hand, if your phone is still stuck on the black screen of death even after doing the second procedure, then it’s possible that it’s a hardware problem. There’s only so much you can do about it so you have to bring it to the shop or Samsung Experience stores near you so that a technician can check your phone up for you.
I hope that we’ve been able to help you fix your Galaxy S9 that got stuck on the black screen of death. We would appreciate it if you helped us spread the word so please share this post if you found it helpful. Thank you so much for reading!
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