Samsung Keyboard Has Stopped How To Fix

Thread Starter

Hi All,
I have the international variant of the Samsung Galaxy S3 - GT-I9300. I've just done an upgrade to Android 4.3 and find that I am not consistently get the following message:
.
unfortunately, samsung keyboard has stopped.
.
I only have the samsung keyboard installed and this message, appears every 10 to 15 seconds I think - irrespective of whether I'm using an application that requires the keyboard. Its as if the process for the keyboard apps starts and then either gets killed or crashes and then restarts and the cycle repeats itself. Needless to say if I try to access an application that requires the keyboard i.e SMS - the keyboard will not come up.
Not sure if I have anyother issues after the upgrade to 4.3 - but this one is pretty annoying - I can't browse the internet, check my emails or do sms. Can't even search my contacts as all of these require the samsung keyboard - which for some reason is not starting or crashing after the upgrade. It was working fine before, so I'm not so sure its a hardware issue.
I've also cleared the cache and data for the samsung keyboard app and nothing seems to fix it. Was wondering if anyone has faced this issue and whether it was resolved without an factory reset?
Appreciate any help?
Thanks

Download the Forums for Android™ app!

Download

Hi Naqi
Sorry to hear of your issues - Because you have the international version of the S3 you have a lot more possibilities to play around with.
Just a few questions...
What 4.3 rom did you install?
Is it specific to your country?
How was it installed? Was it OTA? Kies? or Odin?
Is your phone rooted? Was it a stock rom or custom rom?

I'll try and help where I can - what you may need to do is reflash the rom via odin (with an md5 checksum first) to make sure it's all kosher.

Feel free to ask any questions about any of the above if you aren't familiar with anything.

Linz
Thread Starter

Thanks for the response.
I did the update via OTA.
The details I have after the update on the phone are:
Baseband Version = I9300XXUGNA8
Kernel Version = 3.0.31-2454463
Build Number = JSS15J.I9300XXUGNB6
I've not rooter the phone - ever. So what I have is the stock rom that came with the phone - which over the last year or so I've updated through updates via OTA only.
I've installed another keyboard from the market place and that appears to have fixed the issue for now. That said, still not sure why the default keyboard should have an issue like that - its not happened before during the other updates.
Anywya I've also noticed now that S Memo that comes with the S3, appears to not work either. I can start the app, but when I try to make a new note or edit an existing one - it crashes pretty much like the keyboard.
4.3 so far has had a pretty bad track record. One thing people are noticing is apps failing to operate correctly, and generally it means doing a back-up and reset, which is usually always recommended after an update, regardless of whether it's a stock or custom rom.
Thread Starter

Hi Just wanted to give this update in case it helps anyone else.
So I have now gotten myself an S5, but before doing so I had to sell my S3. So before selling it I finally did a factory reset - after doing this the issue with the samsung keyboard was still there - i.e it would continually give a message that is the subject of this thread. So what I then did was (since I couldn't sell the phone in the condition it was in) was to download Kies3 and do a firmware recovery. Basically downloading the firmware and applying it again. Once this was done, the issue was fixed....The keyboard no longer crashed, and all applications like messaging that were dependent on it worked.
So in short - doing a firmware recovery via kies3 fixed the issue reported in this thread.
Thanks.

mydian and nawrokrz like this.
Working Solution on S3 :
I faced same issue after OTA upgrade for my S3 from JB 4.1.2 to 4.3. Samsung keyboard stopped working with errors every time rebooted or called by app that required keyboard also overall phones performance had gone slow. Doing a Hard reset to my S3 & wiping out cache partition resolved this issue. I suggest always go for Hard reset by pressing Vol-up + Home + Power buttons simultaneously and then choose wipe cache partition. Soft reset from Settings doesn't necessarily resolve all sort of problems. I did the same and my S3 is working flawless and smooth.
Hi all, i seem to be having the same issues with my s3. did an upgrade from 4.1 to 4.3 now the keyboard won't work. I did a reset and its still not working. I can't even input my wifi password. the phone is basically useless right now. I hope I'm not fried yet... I urgently need help...please
As i mentioned earlier, go only for Hard reset by pressing Vol-up + Home + Power buttons simultaneously and then choose wipe cache partition. Soft reset from Settings doesn't necessarily resolve all sort of problems. I did the same and my S3 is working flawless and smooth.
Thanks Gadget Guru. I did that it still did not work. Dunno if there are any other suggestions?
will it work if I change the rom to a custom rom?
Log a case with Samsung support and seek their help to fix it. Avoid Custom ROM as there are some phone features that may no longer work. You can download Samsung image 4.1.2 which came factory loaded for your model (country specific) from sites. U can google for it. 4.1.2 I believe is the most stable Android version so far and refer instructions to flash it via Odin. As well you can give a try re-applying firmware via Samsung Kies using recovery option.
Hope this helps!
Bebblez DO NOT DOWNGRADE to anything lower than 4.3 it will BRICK YOUR PHONE
Uh yeah don't follow @Gadget Guru's advice. You can't downgrade from 4.3. IT WILL BRICK YOUR PHONE.
Ok! I would recommend you to report to Samsung support and get their help to fix it.