LG G4 Stuck on boot, how can I get it out of it?

[gendo667]

Hey! so i own a G4 505 as well and i'm stuck with the same problem more or less. my phone initially just stopped working out of the blue. At first the phone would get at the start screen with the lg logo but now that's not even there. Its completely gone! Plus my phone is not under warranty.
My photos and other documents are on it and i had not put in my sd card thinking that it has ample space but i clearly shouldn't have done that.
Will putting in the freezer do any good?

Couldn't hurt. I'm not sure you can backup to the cloud from a freezer. If you have an SD card I'd try that out first. I haven't heard if any G4's getting water damage from the moisture or anything like that, you should be fine.

 

[Mikey47]

Can you explain why you believe that? I think the odds are in your favor that the replacement will be OK. We only hear about the ones that go bad.

Most of the times it seems they are being replaced either by refurbished ones that have not had motherboard replacement, or a brand new one that has a 505,6,etc. serial number that will most likely encounter the issue. If you've been following this forum you've seen many people saying they've had their boot loop phone replaced with a new one only to encounter the issue with the new phone too.

I would assume their latest ones have the issues resolved, but who knows how many were manufactured with this defect and when the defect was resolved on the production line.

 

[ecclefty21]

Well, I guess I just joined this club today.

Should have known yesterday morning when I had connectivity issues to my network, and had to let my phone sit off for about 20 minutes before it would recognise signal.

Today, she bricked while sitting on a table without being touched.

T Mobile are sending me a "like new" replacement under warranty.

Will be trading that in, the day I get it, to probably move to a Samsung.

I had two Nexus 5s. Both of those got stuck in boot loops because of the faulty power button. And those were both LG builds.

I suspect this is karma paying me back for having two iPods, an 80 gb and 120 gb, work for more than 7 years before they started acting up.

 

[baycer]

My phone was in the boot loop. I left it like that till it ran out of power. Plugged it in and held volume down and power button as someone else had said worked. After about 30 seconds of holding those my phone did go to a menu screen... i used the power down to get to "Wipe Cache" and hit the middle button... it appeared to do nothing. I pulled the battery and again held the volume down and power... once again the menu came up and I scrolled down to select wipe cache again. After a few seconds the little green android guy showed on the screen again, my phone showed the verizon screen for longer than usual, but then it came up! It appears to be working now. Hope the same thing happens for others!

 

[baycer]

Re: LG G4 Stuck on boot, how can I get it out of if?

This worked for me... THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH!

 

[Mikey47]

My phone was in the boot loop. I left it like that till it ran out of power. Plugged it in and held volume down and power button as someone else had said worked. After about 30 seconds of holding those my phone did go to a menu screen... i used the power down to get to "Wipe Cache" and hit the middle button... it appeared to do nothing. I pulled the battery and again held the volume down and power... once again the menu came up and I scrolled down to select wipe cache again. After a few seconds the little green android guy showed on the screen again, my phone showed the verizon screen for longer than usual, but then it came up! It appears to be working now. Hope the same thing happens for others!

It was not the true boot loop issue then. Boot loop is caused by a hardware problem and cannot be fixed by software. Either your phone had a software issue or it is waiting to begin boot looping again.

 

[Brian_d]

My better half's G4 boot loop bricked tonight. The freezer trick worked to back photos to the SD card. It took several tries but this is how I did it:
Take the battery out & fully charge it. Make sure the battery is not still warm from charging. Wrap the phone in in a paper towel so it will stay somewhat dry & put it in the freezer. After a couple of hours, take the phone out, put the (cool) battery in & boot like normal. Go to apps & select LG backup. It took several tries before LG backup started because the, "phone is busy try again later". Choose what files to backup & choose SD card. Once you get LG backup going, quickly put the phone back in the freezer. It took apx. 15 minutes to backup 9 gigs (I cracked the freezer door every 3-4 minutes to check progress); the screen stayed on during the entire backup, but it worked.
Edit: using the freezer method is a great way to wipe your data before sending in or returning your phone.

 

[bhopewhaley]

So I haven't read through all 9 pages of responses, but the boot loop issue is common in a string of LG G4s under a specific set of serial numbers - those which were created before September of 2015. The serial numbers specifically begin with numbers 505-509. My best friend had this issue and despite trying all the suggested methods (including removing her SD card and trying to reboot without it), she had to get a replacement phone. I also originally had a device that fell in the faulty category, but my issues were different: my front facing camera completely fritzed out and my phone stopped charging/began massively over heating when on the charger. I had to get a replacement device as well. The above suggestion (from Brian_d) is VERY intriguing though! I'd be interested to hear if others can make that work as well.

 

[Mooncatt]

The above suggestion (from Brian_d) is VERY intriguing though! I'd be interested to hear if others can make that work as well.

The reason the freezer trick works is because a solder connection fails due to thermal expansion. Keeping the phone cold prevents the expansion and allows the connection to remain closed. This was covered a few times throughout this thread and others I think.

 

[tardus]

The reason the freezer trick works is because a solder connection fails due to thermal expansion. Keeping the phone cold prevents the expansion and allows the connection to remain closed. This was covered a few times throughout this thread and others I think.

Why does LG replace bootlooped phone's flash memory when it is the solder connection that fails? I've never gotten an answer on this. Thanks!

 

[Mikey47]

Why does LG replace bootlooped phone's flash memory when it is the solder connection that fails? I've never gotten an answer on this. Thanks!

Don't know where someone got that they are replacing flash memory, they are actually replacing motherboards for this issue.

 

[tardus]

Don't know where someone got that they are replacing flash memory, they are actually replacing motherboards for this issue.

LG are replacing flash memory also for the bootloop failure. If you didn't know that, you do now.

 

[Mikey47]

Why does LG replace bootlooped phone's flash memory when it is the solder connection that fails? I've never gotten an answer on this. Thanks!

LG are replacing flash memory also for the bootloop failure. If you didn't know that, you do now.

I just looked here: https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/LG+G4+Teardown/42705

The flash memory is on the motherboard (step 7 in the orange) , so I guess it could be the solder connection for the flash memory IC?

It could also explain maybe they are fixing the solder on some and just replacing the whole motherboard on others? Or it could just be that different techs code their fix differently?

 

[tardus]

I just looked here: https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/LG+G4+Teardown/42705

The flash memory is on the motherboard (step 7 in the orange) , so I guess it could be the solder connection for the flash memory IC?

It could also explain maybe they are fixing the solder on some and just replacing the whole motherboard on others? Or it could just be that different techs code their fix differently?

It could just be LG jargon - description of repair "flash memory replaced". I haven't heard of LG replacing the entire motherboard lately.

 

[Mikey47]

It could just be LG jargon - description of repair "flash memory replaced". I haven't heard of LG replacing the entire motherboard lately.

That's what the repair order for both mine and my wife's G4s said (mine in March and her's in April). Who knows, all I care about is that it is fixed.

 

[caffeinated pants]

My phone (with 505 SN) just bit the dust as well.. it's going back to LG for repair. LG told me over the phone that they usually replace the motherboard in bootloop cases - which probably makes sense if you consider the labour cost (at least in a service center located in North America or Europe) of soldering around and actually replacing chips on the motherboard. Anyway, we'll see how it goes.

 

[LLLLIISSAA]

I was finally able to get my bootloop issue fixed, but since it's been back from LG I find the battery drains horribly when using it even while plugged in to the charger. For example, I get in my car and put Pandora on with the phone plugged in to the charger. I did this every day before the bootloop and the charge stayed the same. Now I use it like that for, maybe, 20 minutes and the battery drains at least 50% and the phone overheats. Anyone else have this issue?
Thanks!

 

[belodion]

I was finally able to get my bootloop issue fixed, but since it's been back from LG I find the battery drains horribly when using it even while plugged in to the charger. For example, I get in my car and put Pandora on with the phone plugged in to the charger. I did this every day before the bootloop and the charge stayed the same. Now I use it like that for, maybe, 20 minutes and the battery drains at least 50% and the phone overheats. Anyone else have this issue?
Thanks!

It sounds like there's something wrong somewhere in the charging circuit, or perhaps the battery is bad.
Also, do your battery usage stats indicate anything abnormal after such a drain?

 

[ceeez0]

My G4 LS991 bricked this morning. this thread helped! here is what i did.
1) remove the battery
2) install the battery
3) power +volume down
4) restored my phone to factory settings to erase my personal data.
5) deleted the cache
6) went to sprint only to be told it was a known issue and that since i didn't have TEP i had two choices. #1 pay $200 for a new phone or #2 go through LG to get my phone repaired since it was under warranty still
7) i got home an went on www.sprint.com and chatted with a support member he told me the following

"When not enrolled in Total Equipment Protection (TEP): $75 for wear and tear, light physical damage and mechanical or electrical failures not covered by the manufacturer’s warranty."

My replacement phone arrives in a few days. i'll then have to ship them my old phone.

 

[NateHevens]

I'm officially in this club as well... not that I wanted to be. My carrier is Verizon and my S/N starts with 508.

I'm really pissed off about this. Had to switch to my old Galaxy S4, and I'm not 100% sure when I'll be able to get into the Verizon store I bought the G4 from.

*sigh*