Samsung Captivate Troubleshooting

Your Samsung Captivate wont turn on.

If you have not used your Captivate in a while, or if it has been a long time since you charged it, you may need to plug the device in to charge the battery. First locate your AC adapter, then plug it into a known working outlet. Next, plug the charging cable into the charging slot on the phone. This charges the phone. You'll want to wait for at least five to ten minutes before trying to turn it on.

If you've ever rooted or have done any other kinds of modifications, they sometimes become corrupted awhile after they have been installed. To fix this problem, you will need to enter recovery mode.

• Android System Recovery Mode
  1. With the phone turned off, press the Power key and Volume Up/Down keys at the same time until the phone switches on.
  2. Once the AT&T logo appears,. release the Power key while continuing to press the Volume UP/Down keys.
  3. Continue to press the Volume Up/Down keys for at least 8 seconds, until Recovery mode is launched and the Android System Recovery screen is displayed.
  4. Release the Volume Up/Down keys.

• The following options will be available:
  1. Reboot system now. This option turns on your phone.
  2. Reinstall packages. This option allows you to apply updates to your phone.
  3. Delete all user data. This option deletes all data from the phone.
  4. Delete cache data. This option allows you to delete all cache data such as log files.

Use the Volume Up/Down keys to scroll up or down, then use the Power Key to make a selection. For this step you will want to select "Delete cache data."

Follow the steps outlined in the ROM's Cache Corrupted section, but instead choose Delete all user data at the Android System Recovery Mode Screen.

If you have dropped your phone, or if it has received water damage, the screen might be broken. Another indicator of the need for a new screen is visible cracking. It is possible that only the glass panel above the LCD screen is cracked, in which case you do not need to replace the LCD. Try to look past the first glass panel to see if the actual LCD is cracked or broken. You must replace the display assembly to fix this problem.

If you have dropped your phone, or if it has received water damage, the motherboard inside the phone might be broken. Please see Samsung Captivate Motherboard Replacement to fix this problem.

Your phone appears to be working, but when you plug in headphones, no sound comes out.

It is possible that the media volume has been turned all the way down. Use the Volume Up/Down keys to change the volume.

If you have turned up the volume, but still no sound come out, you may have faulty headphones. You'll need to get a different pair and plug them into the phone to see if the new headphones work. If you don't have a second set of headphones available, you can plug your headphones into a different device like a computer or stereo to see if they are indeed working.

If none of the above steps have fixed the problem, you may need to replace it. See Samsung Captivate 3.5mm Headphone Jack Replacement for more information.

Your Captivate's speaker is not producing any sound, or the sound it does emit sounds distorted or blown out.

Sometimes the max volume setting supplies too much power to the tiny speaker, and the resulting sound is distorted because the speaker cannot handle that much power. Try turning down the volume. Use the Volume Up/Down keys to accomplish this.

In many situations, the speaker has been blown out; too much power was supplied to the speaker and the damage caused was permanent. You can tell that this is the case if the sound is distorted even when listening to audio through the speaker at reasonable volumes. Please see Samsung Captivate Speaker Replacement for information on how to resolve this problem.

Your phone's camera does not capture images.

Sometimes, and this issue seems to be more prevalent in the Samsung Captivate, the software that initializes the camera fails to load or is not working properly. This usually happens when you go to start the camera and the app loads but no image appears. Also, you will not hear the little noises that happen when the camera starts up and focuses. Try restarting the phone by holding the Power Button down until the power off menu appears. Select "Turn off my phone." This will allow all the software in the phone to be restarted and loaded up correctly.

If restarting the phone did not fix the problem, then the actual camera assembly might be malfunctioning. These assemblies are very small and almost impossible to repair; you're much better off buying a new camera assembly and replacing the defective one. A good indicator that it is indeed the camera assembly malfunctioning is to listen carefully to the camera when you start up the camera app. If it keeps making noises like the shutter opening and closing, or if it is continually trying to focus, then there is a good chance it needs to be replaced. See Samsung Captivate Camera Assembly Replacement.

You can't make it through the day without having to charge.

The screen uses the most power. You can affect how much power goes to the screen by changing the brightness setting. To do this, open the settings menu by pressing the Menu key, then selecting Settings. Then choose Display. There will be a Brightness option. Click on that and use the slider to turn down the brightness.

Some widgets are constantly updating information (weather, facebook, etc.) and as a result use battery power. You can delete these power-hogging widgets from the home screen by long pressing on the widget, then dragging it to the trash can at the bottom of the screen.

After about a year, the 1500mAh battery in the Captivate will start to lose charging capacity. This means it will accept less charge, thus reducing the battery life. If you have tried the above fixes and still have problems with the battery running out, try ordering a new battery. They can be found online for around $15.00. Please see Samsung Captivate Battery Replacement for information on how to do this simple swap.

Your Captivate is not connecting to the mobile broadband network.

Every part in a phone will eventually wear out, and the antenna cable connecting the internal antenna array to the logic board is no exception. See Samsung Captivate Antenna Cable Replacement.