HELP! G2 stuck in Safe Mode after repair shop replaced my screen

[thehyperone]

A local repair shop replaced the screen on my beloved G2. The screen peeled up the next day so I took it back under the 30 day warranty. The shop called and told me it is stuck in a boot loop. They said they can only get it to boot in Safe Mode (first I've heard of it). The shop is insisting they couldn't have messed up the software but the Android version now shows 4.2.2 and it was 4.1.whatever when I dropped it off. From the AT&T logo, it quickly shows the pattern screen and reboots. I was finally able to put my pattern in fast enough to arrive at the LG home screen (not my default). I disabled the pattern lock while I had the chance. It shows Safe Mode on the bottom left side and most of my apps are missing. I haven't rebooted again or done anything else yet.

What can I do to fix? Another forum said to uninstall the Xposed G2 app that came on mine and that fixed their device. I have no experience with flashing ROMs or doing recoveries on Android but I can follow instructions. Should I try another straight reboot? Should I uninstall the XPosed app and try to reboot? Should I factory reset? Some things seemed to indicate that could brick the thing at this point. I've never used ADB or done anything to hook it up to my MacBook. I'm afraid to do anything because I don't want to mess it up worse. Please help!!

Obviously, the repair shop isn't interesting in helping or I wouldn't be posting here.

 

[Rukbat]

1) The change in version could have been coincidental. The update could have come in while they had the phone and they accepted it. (They shouldn't have - that's your decision. The least they could have done was called you [if you had an alternate number] and asked you if you wanted them to accept the 4.2.2 update for you.)

2) If it works in safe mode but not in normal mode, some apps are clashing somehow. (Safe Mode runs normally, but doesn't load any downloaded apps.) But restarting should bring it back to normal mode. (Where it might bootloop again, because of the problem with 2 apps and the new version of Android not working nicely together.) If that's the case, manually load an app at a time (in Safe Mode) until you run into a problem. Restart in safe mode and do it again, skipping that app. If there are no more problems, uninstall that app (back it up first, to save the time of downloading it again), restart in normal mode and you should have no problems. If you need that app, do the same procedure, but start at the other end of the apps and another app will cause the problem. You'll have to live without one of them, or hope the developer of at least one of them changed it enough that the new version of that one can work with the other one.

3) If the phone won't come out of Safe Mode at all, bring it back. It has to if it's working right. (Safe Mode doesn't survive a restart unless something isn't working right.) It was booting into normal mode when you brought it to them. Therefore they did something to cause a problem. If they refuse to accept responsibility, ask to speak to the owner and ask the maximum legal fee he's willing to pay when you sue him, just so your attorney will know how much of a suit the attorney will have to bring to collect his fee. Be serious. If he looks as if he's going to attack you, make yourself not notice. Just stand there, waiting for an answer. The law's on your side. He broke your phone, he owns it and is liable for any monetary loss you suffer, up to the worth of his corporation. (You can't collect more than the company can be sold for, unless it's not incorporated or limited liability [LLC].) That includes lost time, lost wages, attorney's fees and anything else your attorney can reasonably tack on in your jurisdiction. (You'd be surprised what constitutes a monetary loss in cases like this.)

I ran honest repair shops for many years [I had one customer who traveled 90 minutes to get to one of my stores, passing dozens of other stores, because she knew that I'd never cheat her out of a single penny, and do the cheapest repair that would fix the problem] - and my greatest satisfaction was driving the dishonest ones out of business and out of town. Cellphone repair shops are a thin hair above used car salesmen in the eyes of the public - we don't need more dishonest ones.

"The shop is insisting they couldn't have messed up the software" tells me that they just don't want to spend any more unpaid time on the job, whether they broke the phone or not. They certainly could have messed up the software and the hardware. (Oh, no, I forgot, the people at that shop are that small group of superhumans who are incapable of making mistakes, aren't they? Arrogant fatherless children.) "Let's see if we did something wrong" would have been a better response, even though they know they did.