Black Screen with most ROMS

[ndaman]

I think my Optimus V may have some sort of different hardware than the usual, I installed clockworkmod recovery, but the screen was black when I booted into it (I could still connect to it via adb, so I assume it was working except for the screen), so I tried xionia's recovery, which worked wonderfully, however, none of the ROMs I installed worked (they all had the same black screen issue, granted "all" so far was just bumblebee and IHO). I read a little bit about xionia's recovery and found that version 013 of the kernel fixed a screen issue in newer phones, are there any other kernels that have this fix? What ROMs can I use with this kernel? (Right now I'm using a rooted/cleaned stock ROM with xionia 013 kernel). Thanks for the help!

 

[koopakid08]

What did you use to root?


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- Sent from my LG Optimus V using Tapatalk

 

[riggerman]

And how did you install the cwm recovery?

 

[ndaman]

Sorry for the lack of detail, I gained root using gingerbreak (I began following the instructions in the sticky on this thread). Everything said it was working, but the screen was blank when I booted into recovery mode.

So reading further down the sticky, I decided I should try the manual install with thunderrc and whatnot, so I did all that manually (I'm pretty familiar with linux, so adb shell doesn't bother me at all), and it appeared to have flashed correctly, but the screen was blank again when I booted into it again (leading me to assume it was a problem with the cwm, which was 3.2.0.1, by the way).

Next, reading bumblbee's thread I decided to try and manually install xionia recovery, using adb shell. Following that worked perfectly and I am still using that recovery right now. There could have been problems with my previous installations, but my personal belief is that they were working fine, with the exception of the screen fix xionia's 013 kernel had.

After installing IHO, the screen was blank but I heard their bootsplash audio, so I'm assuming that worked as well, except for the screen. So has nobody else experienced this blank screen issue? Does anyone know what ROMs I can use with xionia 013 (I tried romidus, and I got the fancy green android bootsplash, but it froze, which made me guess that it wouldn't work with xionia 013, but maybe I just needed to try a little harder). Thanks for the help!

 

[watskyhotsky]

people keep suggesting rooting with gingerbreak, but it seems to me like everyone who actually ends up using it, still comes here with their problems. hmm, might not be as "safe" as everyone wants to believe

there will never be a better root method than the original method that was stickied here a few months ago

 

[ndaman]

Could this all be a problem with how I rooted the phone? If so, it may be wise to edit the sticky on this forum, but I'm just curious what that could be doing to cause my problems, root is working, and xionia recovery works. I can flash roms, and they appear to work (IHO played the sound for its bootsplash, but the screen was black), but no screen. I have successfully flashed a rooted, dedoxed, etc. stock virgin rom with the xionia 013 kernel, but I have a feeling there must be something better out there. If my using the gingerbreak hack was, indeed, the source of this black screen problem I'm having, will re-rooting my phone with your suggested method change anything?

(based on the changelog for xionia recovery, Xionia CWMA v1.2518.6 to be precise, I am under the impression that my problems are related to the kernel used, not the style of rooting the phone, although I'm basing that entirely off of my own experience in the past two days, and I'm sure you know better than I)

 

[AndyOpie150]

The problem is that they need to be told that the Gingerbreak.apk doesn't install the proper flash_image (something they have to do with a PC or terminal emulator),and that is necessary to flash the recovery.
It doesn't install Busybox(they can find the installer in the market)
Without these there going to continue to have problems.
It is also suggested to update the SuperUser app from the market as well.
This information as well as the download site for the proper flash_image and the commands needed to install it, needs to get out onto all the sticky's pretaining to rooting with the Gingerbreak.apk.

This was the only way I got every thing to work on my "V",and it's jamm up with the Experimental Green Machine ROM

 

[riggerman]

Are you flashing the xionia 13 kernel every time you flash a rom? If so that may be the problem with the 2.3 roms. Every rom has a kernel built into it, there is no need to flash a separate kernel. In most cases the best kernel for each rom is the one it comes with, no need to change it. Also, don't forget that with 2.3 roms (aosp, IHO, Backside) you will also have to flash the gapps zip.

 

[Eollie]

people keep suggesting rooting with gingerbreak, but it seems to me like everyone who actually ends up using it, still comes here with their problems. hmm, might not be as "safe" as everyone wants to believe

there will never be a better root method than the original method that was stickied here a few months ago

I think a ton of the problems revolve around how the app is rooting the device. The droiddream malware caused google to push a patch out that updated Froyo to 2.2.2 and patched the exploit used to root devices.

 

[bigsupersquid]

zefie's later xionia kernels have drivers for the 2nd wave of sprint touchscreens, which show black with the older lg drivers. xionia recovery probably uses one of the xionia kernels and thus has the correct display drivers.
sounds to me like that hardware is finally leaking into v's, maybe by factory refurb's?
you can use the xionia kernels with gingerbread roms and some froyo roms.
the xionia kernel could also be hacked into other recoveries.
drew's xionia redux kernel in the s section probably has the updated drivers as well.
other s kernels with VD baseband drivers might work for you too.

 

[ndaman]

Thanks a lot bigsupersquid, is there anything special I would need to do to use Drew's kernel on my V? (you were spot on by the way, my V was a replacement for a broken phone sent in "like new" condition, so I'm assuming it's a refurb)

 

[koopakid08]

people keep suggesting rooting with gingerbreak, but it seems to me like everyone who actually ends up using it, still comes here with their problems. hmm, might not be as "safe" as everyone wants to believe

there will never be a better root method than the original method that was stickied here a few months ago

The problem is the new phones come with android 2.2.2 and apparently it doesn't work with the old method. I haven't tried rooting one of these because all of mine were on 2.2.1. Also with the old way you would grt noobs that would just go with the root button in super one click. I haven't had any experience with 2.2.2 and i would be happy if someone proved me wrong and we could bring back the old method.


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- Sent from my LG Optimus V using Tapatalk

 

[Whyzor]

The problem is the new phones come with android 2.2.2 and apparently it doesn't work with the old method. I haven't tried rooting one of these because all of mine were on 2.2.1. Also with the old way you would grt noobs that would just go with the root button in super one click. I haven't had any experience with 2.2.2 and i would be happy if someone proved me wrong and we could bring back the old method.


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- Sent from my LG Optimus V using Tapatalk

Gingerbreak works with old 2.2.1 and from a couple of people, 2.2.2 as well. It may take more than one try though. If it takes more than 10 minutes, reboot and try again. I haven't heard anyone messing up their phones with Gingerbreak, maybe from other methods & confusions yes, but not from the rooting part though.

 

[koopakid08]

Gingerbreak works with old 2.2.1 and from a couple of people, 2.2.2 as well. It may take more than one try though. If it takes more than 10 minutes, reboot and try again. I haven't heard anyone messing up their phones with Gingerbreak, maybe from other methods & confusions yes, but not from the rooting part though.

I was talking about the old shell root adb push su and busybox method but really if you can't do that right you really shouldn't be rooting...

IMO we need to find a way to lock the noobs out of these one click methods because half the time they don't know what they're doing and screw up a "noob proof" method but that's another thread


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- Sent from my LG Optimus V using Tapatalk

 

[AndyOpie150]

ndaman, if your still having problems with the black screen in recovery check in your /system/bin and see if you even have a flash_image. Do you have BusyBox installed?

 

[bigsupersquid]

Thanks a lot bigsupersquid, is there anything special I would need to do to use Drew's kernel on my V? (you were spot on by the way, my V was a replacement for a broken phone sent in "like new" condition, so I'm assuming it's a refurb)

kernels for the optimus s should work unmodified on the v.
you'll have to use an app or change the thunder_keypad.kl file to switch the home and menu keys or just learn to use them reversed.
just because I think we're both right about this being a kernel issue, I'll patch a xionia kernel into a cwm recovery for you to test out later today.

 

[ndaman]

AndyOpie: After the blank screen issue with cwm recovery, I flashed it manually from adb (cat-ing flash_image and everything) and I'm pretty sure it worked, since I did the same thing to install Xionia recovery which is now working.

bigsupersquid: thanks for the patch, I'd be happy to test it, is there much difference between a xionia recovery and a cwm recovery? I know a lot of people say that Xionia's doesn't wipe as thoroughly as cwm, but some have also said just the opposite.

 

[bigsupersquid]

I like cwm better but it's just personal preference.
they both work, I just want to test the kernel driver theory.
testing patched recovery now, if it works on my phone without issues I'll post it in a few minutes (edit: well, maybe not just minutes, I forgot my optimus is currently acting as a router to allow my desktop and laptop PC's to transfer files to each other via their wifi and I don't wanna interrupt them until the many GB's are transferred.)
ok, you can flash_image this to recovery: xionia_kernel_clockwork-3.0.2.4.img, or there is a less intrusive method to test it without actually burning it to NAND;
if you have fastboot on your PC you can boot the recovery image without flashing it.

fastboot boot xionia_kernel_clockwork-3.0.2.4.img

that hacked recovery has the home and menu keys swapped, I couldn't find my old v-port xionia kernel from zefie and his dropbox has been down a while.

to check if the kernel drivers work, xda developers forum has a post of xionia kernels for the v, flash v14_anykernel (you want the anykernel version, the other has a ramdisk included and will bork roms other than stock) in your xionia recovery after flashing IHO... if the kernel drivers are the issue, you'll be able to see the screen after reboot.
at the bottom of the OP in the xionia kernel port thread, is a link to a flashable home/menu key swap if you need it. I believe mmarz is the one to thank for that flashable zip.

I'm pretty sure from looking at the source that Drew's xionia redux also includes the VD baseband drivers, if you want to use that one since it's a lot fresher build.

 

[ndaman]

Quick update, I just did as you recommended, I flashed IHO with Drew's xionia redux and mmarz's key re-map and it's working great so far! Thanks a million for the great advice!

 

[bigsupersquid]

Quick update, I just did as you recommended, I flashed IHO with Drew's xionia redux and mmarz's key re-map and it's working great so far! Thanks a million for the great advice!

glad it worked.
if virgin is now handing out phones with the newer screen hardware from the optimus s, there are going to be a lot of problems coming up with custom roms until people figure this out.

fortunately, zefie was pretty good at programming and adapting software for the v (he only had a s, too! he da man.)
His xionia recovery and xionia kernels seem to be lifesavers for some situations. I recall reading that the xionia kernels work with lg-based froyo roms too, so that'll help a little to allow giving people a choice.
maybe the devs compiling kernels for the v will chuck those VD drivers in,like zefie did, to cover this new issue.