[Solved] Saving my Bricked Phone w/cab Files

[cordell]

Thats the issue then, VC cab doesnt touch recovery. I was able to get into recovery this morning and once I did I rooted via the recovery. I tried to mount system to flash a new recovery and I got a error. I even tried the update.zip trick, nope. So something in the cab is not allowing it to connect with the V9 recovery.

I have tried the OTA and cab back to V9 with the ##786# in between, same results with updater. Something must be left behind from the VC cab, what IDK. Odd that it offers the OTA when on V( but not updater tool...

Sprint store has ordered me another phone, my 4th now, LOL. Though I should just keep this one. V9 radio will be OK on the CMy mod, thats all I will run from here out. Unless of course we get AOSP

I wonder if I can flash VC (rootable) recovery, then VC cab?????

 

[sfhub]

Thats the issue then, VC cab doesnt touch recovery. I was able to get into recovery this morning and once I did I rooted via the recovery. I tried to mount system to flash a new recovery and I got a error. I even tried the update.zip trick, nope. So something in the cab is not allowing it to connect with the V9 recovery.

Which issue? I don't think the VC cab not touching the recovery partition is related to the stuck at LG logo problem you are currently at.

Which error did you get trying to flash a new recovery?

I don't understand what you mean by "not allowing it to connect with the V9 recovery". It seems you are describing a different problem from what we were previously discussing.

I wonder if I can flash VC (rootable) recovery, then VC cab?????

Where are you finding a VC (rootable) recovery? The only VC recovery I've seen is the one you get after the OTA VC update and that one isn't rootable.

 

[cordell]

Which issue? I don't think the VC cab not touching the recovery partition is related to the stuck at LG logo problem you are currently at.

Which error did you get trying to flash a new recovery?

I don't understand what you mean by "not allowing it to connect with the V9 recovery". It seems you are describing a different problem from what we were previously discussing.


Where are you finding a VC (rootable) recovery? The only VC recovery I've seen is the one you get after the OTA VC update and that one isn't rootable.

When I VC cab last night and was at the brick LG logo, I finally got it into recovery. From here I rooted with rage cage, so I thought if I flash a custom recovery I might end the nightmare. I tried to mount system with either of the 2 "/dev/block/mtdblock5 /system" codes I got a fail, sh something, it was in middle of night, lol. Once it failed I rebooted into android, it will do that every time if done from recovery (while on VC) trouble is getting into recovery. So in android I tried to flash recovery, remember I rooted earlier, well I did not root VC, my superuser I installed via rage cage was not there. I installed market SU and then tried to SU via adb shell, denied. So the reason I say there is a dissconnect is I rooted, but root didnt cross over to rom, and the lack of ability to mount system while in recovery. VC must need some sort of recovery patch that the cab is not deliveing, if I OTA I have zero issues, besides I cant root, lol. My guess is LG Updater IS putting a new recovery patch for VC but it is still rootable, the OTA does the same BUT has been fixed by sprint to not allow the root. I was thinking if I could flash that VC recovery from the LG tool, then VC cab my issue could be resolved. As of right now this is all in the name of testing. I looked online and sprint sent another phone to sprint store for me, pick up today. If in fact I can fix this one I will just keep it, I feel attached to it, lmao!

Fastboot would be nice right about now

 

[cordell]

OMG!!! I rooted the V9 and went into cache with root explorer and seen to files that were nothing but ? marks with alternating black and white triangles around them. I deleted both and tried LG Updater and BAM, it worked!!!

Well the tool stopped and told me the model is not supported, grrrrr! Trying again...

seems those ? files keep coming back! I delete, exit root explorer re-open cache and they are right back, odd.

Edit...so I install zefies recovery and format cache a few times. The question mark files are gone for good. I had to leave so not sure if LG tool will work though.

Edit #2... well the ? mark files are gone from the cache. But the tool still says I have most current while showing me on V9. Somehow someway something is being left behind, i dont know what else it can be. messed up part is if I VC cab it will let me root the recovery (once it opens, takes a long time, many tries) but the rom doesnt root when I do that. Another thing is system will not mount for s41t when in the rooted recovery, cant flash a custom recovery What a PIA, I mean it is solved to a point. The phone will be V9 until another method is discovered. That is not likely to happen as we have a "solution" already. Some forms of brick are not permanent, but they can not be fully recovered. If anybody has a flashable radio they wanna have tested shoot it!

 

[sfhub]

When I VC cab last night and was at the brick LG logo, I finally got it into recovery. From here I rooted with rage cage, so I thought if I flash a custom recovery I might end the nightmare.

When you say you "rooted" with rage cage, does that mean you installed "su" into /system/bin and changed the permissions? If so, I'm confused why you had to try mount commands in the next step, as you mount have had to "remount,rw" to install su in /system/bin

I tried to mount system with either of the 2 "/dev/block/mtdblock5 /system" codes I got a fail, sh something, it was in middle of night, lol.

So you are saying /system was already mounted right? Otherwise you wouldn't have been able to open the adb shell session to do rage. So that means the "remount,rw" failed. If that is the case, then I don't think you were able to copy "su" into /system/bin and change the permissions, so while you may have had temporary root for the adb shell session from rage, you didn't permanently preserve root by installing su and changing the permissions on su.

Once it failed I rebooted into android, it will do that every time if done from recovery (while on VC) trouble is getting into recovery. So in android I tried to flash recovery, remember I rooted earlier, well I did not root VC, my superuser I installed via rage cage was not there.

When you say your "superuser" you installed via rage cage was not there, what do you mean specifically. "su" wasn't in /system/bin or you didn't see the SuperUser icon in the android app list? If you are talking about the app list, when you rooted with rage, did you copy SuperUser.apk into /system/app? If not, it isn't expected to be there, as the VC cab would have overwritten everything in /system.

I installed market SU and then tried to SU via adb shell, denied. So the reason I say there is a dissconnect is I rooted, but root didnt cross over to rom, and the lack of ability to mount system while in recovery.

Honestly reading your steps, some step could have easily been missed. The market SU doesn't really give you root if it wasn't installed correctly before. Market SU is mostly a database that keeps track of which apps can be granted root privileges, but it depends on "su" being installed properly prior.

Could you give the specific "mount" error you were seeing?

VC must need some sort of recovery patch that the cab is not deliveing,

This one I can pretty confidently say is not the case and is probably a misinterpretation of the data. VC works perfectly fine with V9 Recovery. It has worked fine for so many people, it can't be the issue.

if I OTA I have zero issues, besides I cant root, lol.

OTA is really a different process than the LG Software Updater.

The LG Software Updater is a flashing tool, meaning it takes complete images and puts them in place.

The OTA VC update.zip is a patch tool, meaning it takes what you have in place, and patches individual areas. It is a much different process and it is different in more ways than just whether each one touches the recovery partition.

My guess is LG Updater IS putting a new recovery patch for VC but it is still rootable,

This is not possible. I have taken backups of the Recovery partition before and after LG Software Updater installed VC and compared the checksums. They are exactly the same before and after.

the OTA does the same BUT has been fixed by sprint to not allow the root.

Yes, the sprint OTA VC update.zip does patch the recovery partition to make root not possible.

I was thinking if I could flash that VC recovery from the LG tool, then VC cab my issue could be resolved.

There is no VC recovery to flash from the VC cab, which I guess is the reason why I though some of what you was describing was confusing.

As of right now this is all in the name of testing. I looked online and sprint sent another phone to sprint store for me, pick up today. If in fact I can fix this one I will just keep it, I feel attached to it, lmao!

Fastboot would be nice right about now

That's cool. Figure we might as well take advantage as much as we can while you have a phone that can be returned to find out as much as possible.

 

[sfhub]

OMG!!! I rooted the V9 and went into cache with root explorer and seen to files that were nothing but ? marks with alternating black and white triangles around them. I deleted both and tried LG Updater and BAM, it worked!!!

Well the tool stopped and told me the model is not supported, grrrrr! Trying again...

seems those ? files keep coming back! I delete, exit root explorer re-open cache and they are right back, odd.

Sounds like some type of filesystem corruption. Are you sure you did ##786# resets? I could have sworn that would have reformatted the cache partition.

Edit...so I install zefies recovery and format cache a few times. The question mark files are gone for good. I had to leave so not sure if LG tool will work though.

Ok, well that works too to fix /cache, but I would probably run a ##786# reset also.

Edit #2... well the ? mark files are gone from the cache. But the tool still says I have most current while showing me on V9. Somehow someway something is being left behind, i dont know what else it can be. messed up part is if I VC cab it will let me root the recovery (once it opens, takes a long time, many tries) but the rom doesnt root when I do that.

Could you answer the questions I had in the previous post regarding the root procedure you were following. Some of the statements seemed inconsistent. Probably if you added some clarifications it would all become clear.

Another thing is system will not mount for s41t when in the rooted recovery, cant flash a custom recovery

This is one of the inconsistencies I mentioned, if you rooted and installed su, how could it not have mounted? If you didn't install su, then how could you have completed the root procedure.

 

[cordell]

I know its not making sense, LOL. Really though, I have went step by step with everything. When I rage cage, I cd to sd card and it worked while in recovery, VC cab. I did the su to bin, cd to bin and gave permissions. SU wasnt in rom so I installed via market, I wasnt rooted, even though the rage cage was successful. Its like the recovery was still pointing at the old rom image or something. IDK, sprint store called me to come pick up phone so I am rebricking now, V9 works like a charm, even OTA VC works like charm! Just OTA VC has no root I downloaded cab a few times thinking it was corrupt, it really doesnt add up but believe me I am/have not skipped anything in the restoring methods to gain root to VC. Something is jacked up and is not wiping clean somewhere, the reason LG tool wont work. The one time is almost worked when I clicked start updating the tool opened then stopped and told me model not supported, wtf?

 

[sfhub]

Personally I like to examine each step one by one to find an explanation why it is happening, but if you are confident none of this will make any difference then I won't keep asking you questions to clarify.

Good luck with the new phone, it probably won't have these problems.

 

[DCJoe]

Would it be helpful to rename this thread, or maybe consolidate a bunch of these threads? It seems to me that we need maybe 3 threads about the ZVC LG Logo Brick:

1. Actions which lead to the brick
2. How to unbrick (seem to be mostly covered with the KP500 thread, but some other solutions have worked also)
3. How to prevent bricking in the future. This is the one I think is most important at this point. Would include discussion of potential reasons, reinstall procedures, etc.

It just seems to me that things have gotten a bit muddled with potential solutions spread over multiple threads. I know I had mine a few days ago, and everything was running great on CM7, until I installed ThuderRom 1.7 and charged overnight. Brick! I have run through sfhub's prodecures that include the multiple ##786#s. Hope it clears things up. I will likely go back to CM7.

 

[sfhub]

Yeah, I think if someone was motivated and could go through these threads to pick out the useful tidbits and summarize, that would be useful.

Sometimes it is really hard to follow these threads unless you read from start to end.

Usually candidates for that motivated person would come from the pool of people suffering from the problem.

 

[cordell]

OK, so check this one out! New replacement phone just got activated 20 minutes ago, still on V9, I rooted Z4. Now I went to use LG Updater and says I am up to date with V9...WTF is really going on?

They pulled the update@!!!!

http://www.lg.com/us/support/mc-support/mobile-phone-support.jsp

 

[drewwalton19216801]

OK, so check this one out! New replacement phone just got activated 20 minutes ago, still on V9, I rooted Z4. Now I went to use LG Updater and says I am up to date with V9...WTF is really going on?

They pulled the update@!!!!

Mobile Phone Support

You sure about that? Cause when you type LGLS670 in the search box and click search, it returns "update available".

 

[cordell]

You sure about that? Cause when you type LGLS670 in the search box and click search, it returns "update available".

Yeah I entered it wrong :-[ I was sure about it at the time LOL. Why cant my fresh replacement phone do the update then? I just got this thing with V9 on it 40 minutes ago! It tells me its up to date with V9, I havent done **** but root it...

 

[sfhub]

Yeah I entered it wrong :-[ I was sure about it at the time LOL. Why cant my fresh replacement phone do the update then? I just got this thing with V9 on it 40 minutes ago! It tells me its up to date with V9, I havent done **** but root it...

One possibility is the message is a red herring and there is something else wrong.

For example maybe there is a driver problem and instead of saying that, the updater finds it can't read all the info it needs from your phone and it says you are up to date instead because nobody handled the error so it just popped out to the closest error handler. A similar possibility could be the LG Software Updater web site is having problems and instead of handling that error properly, the software just times out and assumes there are no newer versions available.

Perhaps LG Software Updater records some information about your phone and what version it is at when you previously did the update and the logic to figure out if you need to update is broken.

There are many possibilities, but they all need fleshing out to discover what is really happening.

 

[cordell]

One possibility is the message is a red herring and there is something else wrong.

For example maybe there is a driver problem and instead of saying that, the updater finds it can't read all the info it needs from your phone and it says you are up to date instead because nobody handled the error so it just popped out to the closest error handler. A similar possibility could be the LG Software Updater web site is having problems and instead of handling that error properly, the software just times out and assumes there are no newer versions available.

Perhaps LG Software Updater records some information about your phone and what version it is at when you previously did the update and the logic to figure out if you need to update is broken.

There are many possibilities, but they all need fleshing out to discover what is really happening.

I have done the update once, but on a total diff phone than the 2 I have tried in the past 2 days. Switch USB ports, un-reinstall drivers, uninstall/reinstall tool and delete remaining folder. A diff PC maybe? Is the VC radio a major player for CM7? God I am so tired from staring at phone and PC, I dream of Optimus S screens the few hours I did sleep, lol.

 

[sfhub]

OK, so check this one out! New replacement phone just got activated 20 minutes ago, still on V9, I rooted Z4. Now I went to use LG Updater and says I am up to date with V9...WTF is really going on?

They pulled the update@!!!!

Mobile Phone Support

Besides what Drew mentioned about the website indicating update available, the VC cab file is still on the server.

VC cab

 

[sfhub]

I have done the update once, but on a total diff phone than the 2 I have tried in the past 2 days. Switch USB ports, un-reinstall drivers, uninstall/reinstall tool and delete remaining folder. A diff PC maybe? Is the VC radio a major player for CM7? God I am so tired from staring at phone and PC, I dream of Optimus S screens the few hours I did sleep, lol.

Personally I'm glad to work with you to figure out what is wrong, but it seems like you are tired and frustrated right now, so probably don't have the patience to slowly go through each step you were having issues with and see what is wrong.

I don't think CM7 supports the Hands Free provisioning stuff, so it might not be that important that you have a VC radio/baseband, but I'm not running CM7 so couldn't tell you for sure. That's just my observation of where issues on other roms are with V9 vs VC radio/baseband.

 

[zefie]

It doesnt boot to android or recovery. When it goes to emergency mode the red writing doesnt even show up! Total stock V9, working great until I force flashed VC cab over it. The VC booted as the flashing tool boots it for you. Once I powered down is when I get nothing!

Right, it is expecting the program to send the data. This is the stage you are at. The stage right after step 11 of the guide. No idea why its failing you, something is wrong with your computer's connection to the phone. Disable anti-virus and any norton or mcafee bs too.

 

[cordell]

Right, it is expecting the program to send the data. This is the stage you are at. The stage right after step 11 of the guide. No idea why its failing you, something is wrong with your computer's connection to the phone. Disable anti-virus and any norton or mcafee bs too.

I done got a replacement phone today,we had gotten passed that earlier in thread. I know it has taken so many dang turns its hard to follow!

I remember seeing the force flasher attempt to read the phone number and msid #. I bet it stores something on the server, thats why it shows me with V9 in the tool, but wont allow me to update, says I dont need it. I dont have this msl# as they activate in store, I will try to get it and switch to all 00000 like force flasher shows in the log.

Yeah, I am beat, lol. I appreciate all the help here, without the feedback and support I would have gone crazy by now. My wife is a bit upset, I been in the PC chair for a loooong time

 

[sfhub]

I remember seeing the force flasher attempt to read the phone number and msid #. I bet it stores something on the server

I know I suggested that as a theoretical possibility, but it can't be just that by itself, because I have backed out to V9 and used the LG Software Updater to go to VC at least 9 times while writing the instructions to revert and answering questions afterwards. This was all with the same phone. It could be a component of a more involved reason, but not the sole reason.

Also the software updater reads the MEID of your phone as well and your new phone would have a different MEID. They can't assume that your phone has the update just because your phone # is the same as that logic could fail if you got a replacement phone.