(Credit: PCMag)
Samsung pushed its October 2024 update to its lineup and things did not go as planned. According to various reports, the latest update is causing issues with older Samsung models, including the Galaxy Note 10 and Galaxy S10.
Per Android Authority, several Reddit threads have popped up over the last day from users who installed the update and immediately began experiencing boot loops, where the phone perpetually reboots itself forever. The Reddit threads confirm that most Galaxy S10 and Note 10 models, along with the Galaxy M51 and A90, are affected. At least one Galaxy S21 owner claims to have experienced the problem after the update as well.
The issue appears to be pretty widespread. One Reddit user said they worked in a cell phone store and had many people show up in the first hour of opening asking for help after their S10 devices started bootlooping.
It seems the only fix at this time is a full factory reset conducted from the phone's recovery menu. For the Galaxy S10 and Note 10, users can long-hold the power button until the phone shuts off. From there, press volume down, the Bixby button, and the power button to access the recovery menu, where factory reset should be an option.
Some users have reported limited success flashing firmware using Samsung's Odin to avoid losing data to a factory reset, although that seems to be very hit-and-miss.
Samsung has since pulled the bad update and issued a functional one, so people concerned about updating should be OK moving forward. Back up your data just in case, though. It's not clear what caused the issue, but several users have pointed to an update to the Samsung SmartThings Framework app as a potential cause.
It's a problem that may be familiar to some Galaxy S10 owners. Samsung also released an update that broke the phone back in 2019 where users were asked to enter a PIN even though they never made one. Entering any PIN would cause the phone to reboot and ask for the PIN again. Similarly, the only fix was a factory reset.