[FIX]Black screen with custom recovery and custom roms

[bigsupersquid]

Ok, now I've walked /edit several edit/ different people through fixing this glitch, and now I'm starting a new thread about it so hopefully I can just point people here instead of doing a full walkthrough each time.

In a nutshell, new and refurbished Optimus V phones are apparently starting to be shipped out with display hardware from the newer Optimus S, which shows a black screen with kernels built from LG Optimus V or older Optimus S source code.

If, when booting your 'new' phone into a custom recovery, your phone only seems to boot to the silver LG logo and then goes black- but doesn't reboot- you may have this problem. If you already installed Xionia CWMA recovery, and it works, but your custom ROM boots into the black screen right after the silver LG logo, you probably are in the same boat.
NEW EDIT:
if your ROM is still working, and you're adb/terminal impaired, but you need to install a recovery, use this app:
flash_image gui

<edit> Now recent releases of IHO-based unofficial Cyanogen-Mod7 ROMs should have a kernel included which will work with either type of screen, so get one if you don't want to mess with flashing a compatible kernel (next paragraph) over a ROM.
<redacted post of modified IHO recoveries, since BobZhome's works great, but it's still in downloads section if you want 'em anyway>
Also, now LeslieAnn has updated Harmonia to 1.7, which contains a new version of the Picasticks OV kernel, which works fine on the newer OVs with no modification needed.
New: Harmonious Bumblebee based on Harmonia, good for new and old phones as well.
If you still get a black screen on boot after flashing a Harmonia variant, you can flash the picasticks remix zip listed below from recovery and that should fix it.

Compatible kernels to flash over old ROMs to get your screen back
NEW Picasticks v7 rebuild for new-screen OVs with Froyo-based ROMS (older Harmonia, Bumblebee, Stock)
kernel thread
Picasticks remix anykernel download (flash in recovery with signature verification OFF)
<deprecated, good luck finding, old mediafire links are all broken.>Fear not! Uber-dev Zefie made a very nice kernel some months back with the display drivers you need included. 2.6.32.33 no less, most (older) kernels for the V are 2.6.32.9 instead. You can use his old Xionia kernel[/URL] (original post <here> be sure to get v13 or v14 AnyKernel version) or:
Drew has built from Zefie's source again more recently with added tweaks: Xionia Redux.




Recoveries you can see
http://www.4shared.com/file/ktgqje61/VM670NH_recovery.htmlNEWEST! Reccomended for IHO roms. Recovery .img from an IHO builder (BobZhome) with IHO kernel. I've tested it personally and it worked well for me.
The Xionia kernel is included by default in the Xionia CWMA recovery (post <here>, direct download link http://www.4shared.com/file/bqcvDCw8/xionia_cwma_125186.html<here>) download flashable zip version here

others:

IHO recovery with kernel from new OV stock recovery
iho-vm670-X-recovery-40143, flashable zip:
iho recovery, .img file:
xionia_kernel_clockwork-3024
All of these hacked recoveries (except the new IHO recovery with the new stock OV kernel,) like the unhacked xionia cwma, have the home and menu keys reversed. The Clockwork recovery is an older version than current, so you don't use the camera key to select; use the home key instead of menu or camera to select. IHO recovery, use the camera key to select.

Reboot loop (LG screen, recovery screen -> formatting -> rebooting)
If you have a reboot loop going, you'll have to install Xionia recovery first to fix it, even if you want to use another recovery afterwards.

You may also need flash_image if you used something like ROM manager (ugh, now I've gotten on the "I-hate-ROM-Manager" train) to end up with the black-screened recovery or ROM, instead of installing the custom recovery the "old-fashioned" way with ADB or Terminal Emulator.

Using your black-screened custom recovery the 'easy' way (one guy did it)
No walkthrough, just the general idea. Sorry. Never could get Android Screencast to work in Linux myself.
Find Android Screencast on Google Code. Follow their instructions to install.
Use it to navigate your recovery with your PC. Put one of these kernel-hacked recoveries on your SD card, and use the blacked-out recovery to install one you can see, then reboot the phone into the new recovery and proceed to install your ROM.

Installing a recovery the old-fashioned way (maybe the only way, for your new screen, if you flashed a ROM and recovery at the same time with ROM manager) :
To manually flash your shiny new custom recovery, put the recovery.img, flash_image, the Xionia a newer AnyKernel zip, the keyswap zip, and your chosen ROM all on the root (base directory) of your SD card. Open Terminal Emulator on the phone itself, if your rom is still working, and type the following code (if you're using adb, you can drop the first two lines and replace with "adb remount" (no quotes when you type it)):

su
mount -o remount,rw /system /system
cat /sdcard/flash_image > /system/bin/flash_image
chmod 755 /system/bin/flash_image
mount -o remount,ro /system /system
flash_image recovery /sdcard/NAME-OF-RECOVERY.img

if you get any errors above, don't type the next command or you'll boot into nothing...
research the errors before trying to reboot.

reboot recovery

NAME-OF-RECOVERY.img should be replaced by the filename of whichever of the recoveries (not the .zip versions) you have chosen to use.

that sequence of commands will install, and reboot you into, the (hopefully) working recovery.

Installing another ROM:
(EXCEPT for EmuZombie's rom, other recent IHO-based ROMs, Harmonia 1.7 (or newer,) or Harmonious Bumblebee; see next section below this for info)
Any time you install an older rom.zip (like plain Bumblebee) you MUST install either a:
the Picasticks remix kernel, no keyswap needed, for Froyo ROMs
or, Xionia AnyKernel and key swap zips, for Froyo or Gingerbread
or, BobZhome's kernel v3 or newer, for Gingerbread ROMs (haven't gathered an anykernel of BobZ kernel yet, sorry)
or you will get the black screen when your phone boots into the new ROM. You do not need to reinstall the kernel or keyswap for mod .zips, like statusbars or whatever, only right after you change or upgrade your ROM.
format boot, cache, dalvik-cache, data, and system in recovery.
install the rom.zip
install the Anykernel.zip of your choice
install the key swap.zip (if using a Xionia kernel)
and reboot.

Compatible ROMS:
now BobZhome has fixed a kernel in the IHO repository, so builds from Sept. 1 should include a compatible kernel as well.
IHO wiki binary release page for compatibility with new screens, no Xionia kernel needed
Harmonia 1.7
Harmonious Bumblebee

<deprecated but still works>
EmuZombie has cooked a pure IHO CM7 with Xionia kernel 'specially for this issue. Yay!
His post is here
With EmuZombie's IHO rom, you don't need to flash the custom kernel or keyswap. He built in Xionia 13 and a swapped thunderkeypad.kl file, so all you have to do is flash his ROM in recovery (the IHO dev reccomends the IHO clockwork variant recovery to avoid issues.)


Original threads about the black screen of DOOM:
one
two
three

Download locations, all collected together:
flash_image
Picasticks remix anykernel download (flash in recovery with signature verification OFF)
Xionia Redux thread

recoveries:
NEWEST! Recovery from an IHO builder with IHO kernel.
new: IHO recovery .img with kernel from new OV stock recovery
xionia_cwma_125186
xionia_cwma_125186 flashable zip
iho-vm670-X-recovery-40143, flashable zip:
iho 40143 recovery with xionia kernel, .img file:
xionia_kernel_clockwork-3024
rom:
EmuZombie's pure IHO with Xionia kernel
IHO wiki binary release page for compatibility with new screens, no Xionia kernel needed
Harmonia 1.7
Harmonious Bumblebee

Thanks to Zefie for his great kernel and Xionia Recovery, mmarz for the key swap zip, mmarz and leslieann for collecting and posting the Xionia kernels, revolutionred for the recovery install instructions, EmuZombie, MrG666, and BobZhome (and of course blarf) for the IHO CM7 with Xionia, blarf for the IHO recovery, Picasticks for his OV kernel source, LeslieAnn, jdcnosse, and whoever else I forgot or missed.
Also thanks to SecularSanity and ndaman for being guinea pigs and bringing this new issue to light.

Good luck!

 

[SecularSanity]

Excellent thread, excellent help earlier, this is a great sticky for this phone ... mad props to supersquid!

 

[vishalj]

Hello, I'm having massive problems with my optimus v. Got a replacement from VM, carried out a ROM recovery.. and the same problem as mentioned here. Screen goes black after the LG logo startup.

I've copied all the files as mentioned on an SD card, I plug the card in the phone.. connect the phone via usb.. and I can ADB into the phone. So far so good. However, when I try the 'su' command I get a "not found" response. Another weird thing is that without the SD card when I do a adb shell I get the # sign.. and with the SD card inserted I get a $ sign. The phone was rooted prior to the recovery process.

I'm going out of my mind.. I spent more than 5 hours yesterday trying to fix this :'( Please help!

 

[bigsupersquid]

you got a custom recovery installed, right?
try adb shell while booted into recovery. that should allow su.
to boot into recovery, unplug the phone and power off by pulling the battery. put the battery back and press and hold home+volume up, then press and hold power as well until the silver lg fades to black.
then wait about 10-20 seconds, plug in the phone to the pc, and try adb shell again. you'll have to add a line after su.

mount /dev/block/mmcblk0p1 /sdcard

if that doesn't work, try pulling the sd card before booting into recovery.
then put it in after booting to recovery, and try the adb commands again, including the added mount line.
it sounds like su is missing from your rom.

 

[vishalj]

Thanks so much - after a lot of tries, it has finally booted into clockwork mod recovery (3.0.2.4) Oddly, su never worked - whether I had the sd card in or not.. I just went ahead with the mount line and then proceeded with the rest. Phew..

Now, sorry to bother you again, what should i do? It gives me options - reboot system now, apply update from sdcard, wipe data/factory reset, wipe cache partition, install zip from sdcard, backup and restore, mounts and storage, advanced and power off? I'm assuming 'install zip from sdcard'?

 

[vishalj]

Oops, looked like I bricked the phone - even adb can't see the device.. phone is stuck at lg logo when booting normally.. when in recovery mode nothing. Oh well, sending it back to VM, thanks for your help, I'm not touching any hacks again lol!

 

[bigsupersquid]

Oops, looked like I bricked the phone - even adb can't see the device.. phone is stuck at lg logo when booting normally.. when in recovery mode nothing. Oh well, sending it back to VM, thanks for your help, I'm not touching any hacks again lol!

these don't totally brick too easily. soft-bricking is common. you can recover it with fastboot if you're motivated, but it sounds like the glitches have made you squeamish.
if you can get into recovery there is a good chance you can fix it.
removing the battery for a couple of minutes gives the phone a chance to settle its internals, and if you want to keep trying I might be able to help you through the process of reflashing.

 

[vishalj]

these don't totally brick too easily. soft-bricking is common. you can recover it with fastboot if you're motivated, but it sounds like the glitches have made you squeamish.
if you can get into recovery there is a good chance you can fix it.
removing the battery for a couple of minutes gives the phone a chance to settle its internals, and if you want to keep trying I might be able to help you through the process of reflashing.

Would love to try, I just figured that if I can't access it at all, it was completely dead.

I took the battery out for more than an hour, booted in recovery mode.. still can't access it via adb. The scenario is that I still have my older optimus v (the one I purchased when it first came out) The mic stopped working, so VM sent me this replacement.. unfortunately it had 2.2.3 on it, which meant the hotspot feature didn't work.. so I tried to copy the ROM from the old phone on to the new one, obviously I messed up somewhere.

 

[bigsupersquid]

if you can boot into recovery you won't need adb anymore.
choose a rom and put it on the card (google apps too if you want a gingerbread rom, but Harmonia 1.5 or Bumblebee are safe bets too)
in recovery, format boot, cache, dalvik-cache, data, and system.
install zip, choose the rom.zip
if you picked a gingerbread rom, install zip, choose google apps.zip
install zip, choose the xionia anykernel.zip
install zip, choose the keyswitch.zip
reboot.
I bet you're using windows if adb died. try opening device manager, show hidden devices, and uninstall all LG and Android drivers, reboot the pc, and reinstall the LG optimus drivers. that may fix your adb issue.
and, I forgot to mention, custom recoveries default to su, you don't need to type it.

 

[rtrebino]

hey big squid after i put in the name of my recovery mod
xionia_cwma_12518.6.img
it says error -1

 

[bigsupersquid]

could you be more specific? I'm guessing that was on the "flash_image recovery /sdcard/xionia_cwma_125186.img" line?
did it have any other output before the error?
/edit/ extra info, probably too late:
that error -1 probably means wrong filename.

 

[EmuZombie]

Just giving this a free bump. A few posts last night appeared regarding this issue.

 

[jasd7]

ok im kinda a noob at hacking the android, im at the recovery menu but im not sure how to format boot, cache and that stuff can i have more specific details

 

[isssacbourne]

hey big squid, its issac from my thread about my bricked phone. figured id just talk to you about it on here. but yeah like i said in my thread, i have no idea how to use adb. and in your thread it says to just copy the files onto the sd card and theres no way i can do that since my phones bricked nd i cant access recovery. so if you can show me how to adb push files to my sd root (or whatever it is i have to do) that would really be appreciated. thanks a lot man.

 

[bigsupersquid]

ok im kinda a noob at hacking the android, im at the recovery menu but im not sure how to format boot, cache and that stuff can i have more specific details

the menu options you need:

advanced
wipe dalvik-cache
yes

press the back key to the main menu

mounts and storage
format system
yes
format data
yes
format cache
yes


that will format everything.
press the back key to the main menu again.
the rom and kernel you use install zip from sdcard. in that order, rom then kernel (unless you're using EmuZombie's IHO-Purity-X, then you just need to flash the rom and not the kernel or keyswap.

 

[bigsupersquid]

hey big squid, its issac from my thread about my bricked phone. figured id just talk to you about it on here. but yeah like i said in my thread, i have no idea how to use adb. and in your thread it says to just copy the files onto the sd card and theres no way i can do that since my phones bricked nd i cant access recovery. so if you can show me how to adb push files to my sd root (or whatever it is i have to do) that would really be appreciated. thanks a lot man.

copy these files to c:\android\platform-tools:

flash_image
xionia_kernel_clockwork-3.0.2.4.img
VMU670-CM7.1-RC1-IHO-PURE-XIONIA-09042011.zip

next, from what you said in the other thread

cd c:\android\platform-tools
adb shell mount /dev/block/mmcblk0p1 /sdcard
adb push flash_image /sdcard/
adb push xionia_kernel_clockwork-3.0.2.4.img /sdcard/
adb push VMU670-CM7.1-RC1-IHO-PURE-XIONIA-09042011.zip /sdcard/

it'll take a little while to push the ROM, don't worry, it's just slow because it's a relatively big file. Be patient.
when it finishes that:

adb shell
mount -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock5 /system
cat /sdcard/flash_image > /system/bin/flash_image
chmod 755 /system/bin/flash_image
./system/bin/flash_image recovery /sdcard/xionia_kernel_clockwork-3.0.2.4.img
exit
adb reboot recovery

that should get you into the modded Clockwork recovery. I <think> (I forget) Xionia recovery uses the older scripting or I'd say use that instead...
Since the Xionia kernel has the home and menu keys backwards, you select with the home key.
In recovery (and only ever in recovery) select wipe data/factory reset.
select yes.
press back button
select advanced
format dalvik-cache
yes
back button
mounts and storage
format cache
yes
back button
select install zip from sdcard
select the VMU670-CM7.1-RC1-IHO-PURE-XIONIA-09042011.zip
select yes.
select reboot.

that should get you going again. This is the easiest way I can put it... thank EmuZombie for providing a ROM build to simplify this.

edit:
a good reference regarding flashing and ADB and such is here:
http://forum.androidcentral.com/optimus-v-rooting-roms-hacks/79336-reference-guide-optimus-v-rooting-roming-modding-hacking-read-get-started.html

 

[isssacbourne]

hey bigsquid, thanks so much man, i was really gettin worried that i would go have to buy a new one, but i've made some great progress thanks to your work, really thanks a lot.

everything worked good, and when i was in recovery i did everything you said and also installed the exact rom you specified. the only thing is though, when i hit reboot system, it went straight back to cwm recovery. i downloaded some of the kernels you had listed in this thread and tried flashing those, didn't make a difference.

i've had an optimus v in the past, and im not sure why, but it seems like clockworkmod never seems to work too well with the v. when i had my other one a while ago, i had the same problem when i tried flashing cwm and every time i had tried to install a rom, they never worked. i ended up flashing another recovery called thundrc or something.

i understand though that these new optimus v's have different drivers/screen and such and that causes problems with the existing software we have, so thats my dilemma. will i have to stick with this hacked version of cwm? and what else should i try to get a rom installed and working?

thanks a lot man, your a lifesaver.
-issac

 

[bigsupersquid]

install the Xionia CWMA recovery from the OP and it should break the reboot loop.

since cwma is working you can mount usb storage in recovery and not need to push with adb.
once it's on your card, in recovery go to
mounts and storage > mount /sdcard
then open an adb shell and

flash_image recovery /sdcard/xionia_cwma_125186.img

I just don't remember whether it uses amend (old) or edify (current) scripting language for installing roms and flashable zips. I'll check this morning. /edit/ yes, it supports the newer scripting, so you can use it on newer roms and not just, um, deprecated roms that aren't actively supported anymore.
if you want a specific recovery, like IHO or current ClockworkMod or thunderc let me know and I'll patch it and add to the OP to give people some choices. xionia cwma is the best next to clockwork I think.
Recoveries have their own kernel and it's a PITA to change it. you can't just flash a kernel into a recovery (well, you can with fastboot, but you have to split the recovery.img first.)

 

[isssacbourne]

did what you said, put that new recovery on root of my sd card and then
opened adb and attempted to flash it.


C:\Documents and Settings\Owner>cd c:\android\platform-tools

C:\android\platform-tools>adb shell
~ # flash_image recovery /sdcard/xionia_cwma_125186.img
flash_image recovery /sdcard/xionia_cwma_125186.img
failed with error: -1
error opening /sdcard/xionia_cwma_125186.img~ #

 

[bigsupersquid]

did what you said, put that new recovery on root of my sd card and then
opened adb and attempted to flash it.


C:\Documents and Settings\Owner>cd c:\android\platform-tools

C:\android\platform-tools>adb shell
~ # flash_image recovery /sdcard/xionia_cwma_125186.img
flash_image recovery /sdcard/xionia_cwma_125186.img
failed with error: -1
error opening /sdcard/xionia_cwma_125186.img~ #

since you have Clockwork recovery on there you can flash this:
xionia_cwma_125816 zip
then go to advanced and reboot recovery.
hopefully the signature works, if clockwork complains about it, turn off signature verification.

under advanced in xionia recovery is a fix factory bootloop option.