I need to recover from bootloop without losing data - G2 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I was trying to get some data off of a T-Mobile LG G2. Unfortunately, the phone tried to fight with me, so I decided to root it to get around the bull**** because electronics that fight with me always get taught a lesson. The phone has been rebooted several times since then, but on one particular reboot, the phone decided to strike back at me and not actually boot up, and it has never booted up since. I get stuck on the LG logo with the smoothly transitioning green/blue LED. And this is where I'm stuck, but I won't let a phone defeat me. It would be nice if I could get the phone working, but I don't care about the phone itself that much because the phone has already been replaced. I only need some of the data from it. (It was not backed up because it is my mom's old phone, not mine, and my mom is an idiot.) I can think of several ways to proceed.
1. Try to fix it with recovery mode. Unfortunately, the built in recovery mode only offers a factory reset, so I would have to install TWRP with download mode first. Except from my research it seems like I can only flash the main OS with download mode, overriding the data in the process, and I'd have to use a Windows machine to do it.
2. Somehow get access to ADB and use that to do anything that has to be done. USB debugging is enabled, but as far as I can tell, ADB only runs when Android is fully booted. Which obviously doesn't happen anymore.
3. Boot into fastboot mode and do stuff from there to get it back up. It seems like in order to make it do that, the phone has to be unable to pass execution to whatever boot mode I try to boot it into (whether that's Android, download mode, or LG's ****ty excuse for "recovery" mode). If that's right, it means that the phone is not broken enough and I need to somehow break it more.
What should I proceed with, and how should I go about it? If none of these are good ideas, what should I do instead?

Related

Help with screwed up clockwork recovery

In an effort to get back to stock I took things a step too far and now have a phone that won't power on. I had successfully rooted the phone and installed Rom Manager and flashed the clockwork recovery and immediately created a nandroid backup. Sometime later my phone started acting funny... usb connected/disconnected events when it was not plugged in, crashes, etc. I felt confident that this was a hardware issue (started after my daughter chewed on it when I wasn't looking). Anyway, I followed the instructions here in the dev forum (True Stock 2.1 firmware for vibrant) for the vibrant to get back to stock ( I apparently can't post the link because I'm new...) . So that I'd be able to try and get it replaced. I kept noticing that no matter how hard I tried clockwork was still installed... then I did the bad thing. I should have known better, but I made the rookie mistake and deleted the clockwork folder from the internal flash. I don't know what possessed me to do it, but I did. Since then the phone doesn't seem to boot. I can get it into download mode to flash images from odin (battery out, battery in, volume up + volume down, connect usb and download comes on). And after a successful download it seems to restart ok. But if it crashes (which it is now prone to do) or is powered off it won't boot after that. Worse I can't get to the stock recovery either.
I'm hoping that someone who has a nice rooted stock phone with clockwork installed can just help me get a copy of that folder back and everything will be fine... if not I may just have to see if playing dumb with tmobile will get the phone replaced as is...
Thanks in advance for any help.
Are you talking about stuff in /sdcard? If so, that won't effect the boot. You could delete everything in there and not change anything. Some apps might not work as you will have deleted their data, but if you're flashing a stock ROM with Odin, that's fine.
Enable debug mode in the settings and use "adb reboot recovery" at a command prompt. That should get you to the stock recovery. Try a factory reset from there, that might help. If not, delete anything in /sdcard that's not supposed to be there and swap with TMobile as it sounds a hardware issue at that point. Don't forget to keep your external SD card if you've replaced it.
Is USB debugging on?
When you get the phone up, can you connect to it via ADB and then adb reboot recovery or adb reboot download?
Thanks for the suggestions. I did get the sdk installed and used adb to reboot into normal recovery, so it's not completely boned. Since I could use adb for resets I went ahead and followed the rooting process again and reflashed clockwork. The phone still won't boot on it's own. I'm starting to think whatever was going south with the hardware has continued to get worse. I'm going to use odin to get back to "true stock" again and try to use adb to reboot into recovery and do a factory reset suggested above and see if that helps.
Thanks again.
I went back to stock with odin, ran the factory reset, and still can't power up normally or into recovery. I can get into download though, load with odin, come up normally after the reset. I'm going to try giving it back to Tmobile in it's refusing to power up state and see if I can get them to swap it. It's as stock as I can make it so the problem should not be mine.
Thanks again for the help.
FWIW - i just installed Rom manager this morning, the premium version, and today experienced 5 force closures, one on google maps
before this i've had maybe one FC some 2-3 weeks ago - and like you i did a clockworkrecovery backup or nandroid backup

[Q] Did I turn my G2 into a non-recoverable brick?

Good evening everyone,
I will start off by saying that I really didn't do things by the book this time around. I have run out of ideas even as to what to Google to find similar cases to mine.
I wanted to flash Cyanogenmod onto my G2. Since I already had CWM installed, I loaded the ROM and Gapps. After wiping the phone, I went to flash from the zip. The flash failed. I tried again, and it happened again. I wiped the cache and dalvik again, and tried again. Still no flash.
At this point I go for the reboot only to realize that my phone is now stuck in a bootloop that is contantly landing me back into recovery.
I believe I really screwed up from here as I read about a way to exit the cwm bootloop by flashing a new "exitrecovery.zip" file. Since ADP wouldn't push the file for some reason, I used that function where the phone waits the file to be pushed and flashes it. That succeeded.
The phone switched off (after hanging on CWM for a bit) and now won't do anything at all. No boot logo, nothing. Can't get into CWM anymore either.
The computer brings up a bunch off drives which it wants me to format when I plug the phone in. Only one of them has a folder called "image" on it.
The display switches on, but won't do anything there.
Holding power+up reboots it after a few seconds and so does power=down.
I am thinking of just seeing if I can get it assessed by my carrier, hoping they'll have the tools to just reflash it... somehow. Else, is there a way to potentially fix this?
Back to stock
Put the phone in download mode (vol up while plugging in USB) and use the LG Flash Tool to return to stock. Instructions are posted in General section.
Rule number 1.
ALWAYS MAKE A BACKUP.
bodom_hc said:
Rule number 1.
ALWAYS MAKE A BACKUP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a backup I made with CWM.
If that helps, please point me into the right direction to restore it. I fail to see how I can do that without even being able to start cwm up.
missiveusa said:
Put the phone in download mode (vol up while plugging in USB) and use the LG Flash Tool to return to stock. Instructions are posted in General section.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will try this, but the screen never shows anything at all

Stuck in BootLoop and Factory Wiping doesn't actually wipe anything

Nexus 7 (2012)
4.4.4 Stock
KTU84P
HW Version - ER3
Bootloader Version - 4.23
Locked Bootloader
Not Rooted
I have a Nexus 7 sitting in front of me that was dropped off by my aunt in hopes that I could repair it for her. It doesn't look too promising, but I thought I'd consult the mighty fine people here on XDA before I give her the bad news. Here's what she says happened. Yesterday, while preforming day to day activities on it (browsing internet, Skyping, Facebook, etc), the device completely froze. After holding down the Power Button and forcing it to shutdown, she booted it back up. Everything seemed to functioned properly for about 30s - 1min when, at that time, the device turned off and rebooted on its own. After booting back up, it started to repeat this cycle. Basically getting stuck in a bootloop. I personally have never witnessed a bootloop like this before, where the device successfully boots up completely into the OS before turning off and repeating. I'm more used to dealing with ones where it might go as far as the manufacturer logo and then repeats. So anway, as I stated, I only have a 30s - 1min window where I can make changes in order to troubleshoot. The first thing I figured I should do was to go into "About Device", turn Developer Mode on and get USB Debugging enabled. I was able to do this and used "adb devices" to confirm its connection to my computer before it looped again. After its next bootloop I headed back into settings because I wanted to take note of the Android version she was running. As I was navigating there, I noticed that the Developer Options were no longer active. Basically as if I hadn't enabled them yet. This made me start thinking that changes being made on the device weren't sticking. I decided to make a few visual changes to the home screen and see if they were still there after the next bootloop. I uninstalled an app, rearranged icon placement, and changed the wallpaper. Once it shutdown and booted back up again, everything was back to the way it was before the changes had been made. The app I had uninstalled was still there, the wallpaper reverted back, and the icons were back in their original location. At this point I decided to see if I could reboot into Safe Mode. Unfortunately, this doesn't work. I am able to get the reboot to Safe Mode confirmation box and tap "Ok" but it remains in Normal mode when it boots back up. I eventually tried to boot into recovery and preform a Factory Reset. I was able to get into recovery and reset the Nexus. Or so I thought. Instead of seeing a Device Setup screen after it wiped, like I assumed I would, it booted up and still had all the data on it. There were no errors during the wipe and it was confirmed with "Data wipe complete." afterwards.
I am absolutely lost. I've never dealt with such an unusual issue before. Especially with it not even reacting to a complete data wipe. So, just to recap . . . I only have 30s - 1min available to interact with the OS before it reboots itself, any changes made during that time don't stick, Device is successful booting into Stock Recovery, and I can successfully get a Fastboot connection when booting to the Bootloader.
Luckily she has come to terms that this might not get fixed and has decided to go a head an order a newer 2013 model. I'd still like to try any solutions that you all might have. Just in case there is a slight glimmer of hope.
Oh, and one last thing I should mention. I tried to see if I could get the bootloader unlocked but it didn't work. This is the first Nexus I've ever had in my possesion, so I'm not really familiar with the tools available for it. I found WugFresh's Root Toolkit and attempted to Unlock with it. The process seemed to go as it should and I didn't receive any errors on the tablet or in the software. However, in the end, it didn't make any changes to the bootloader.
same problem
I have the same problem as you.
Did you find a solution?
Can anybody help us?
Thanks.
I have a similar problem, but I think mine is related to the bootloader.
I'm stuck on 3.34 and that's where it fails ever time I try Wug's Nexus Tool Kit.
Have you tried Nexus Tool Kit yet?
eawooten said:
I have a similar problem, but I think mine is related to the bootloader.
I'm stuck on 3.34 and that's where it fails ever time I try Wug's Nexus Tool Kit.
Have you tried Nexus Tool Kit yet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have tried factory reset from recovery, no errors while wiping but when device restarts nothing has happened: I only have a 30s-1min of old system with all my data and apps or directly bootloop.
Also I have tried flash factory images with Nexus Tool Kit and directly from bootloader. No errors while flashing, apparently has flashed new image system. When device restarts nothing has happened: bootloop or my old system with data and apps for 30s before restart.
Myself and a few others are having the same problem... please keep us updated if you find anything out.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2588911

HELP! Stuck in Boot Logo w/ no Recovery Mode

Ok so before I started writing this I had only one problem now I'm worried my problem has gone from bad to worse.
I updated my 6T to 10.3.2 from the latest Beta after the process it prompted for a restart, upon restarting it got stuck in the boot animation. I tried going into Recovery and Download mode unsuccessfully so I went through the forums a bit and saw that someone who had the same problem successfully entered Recovery mode by pressing VOLUME UP+DOWN+POWER buttons simultaneously, I tried to do the same and my phone turned off and now it doesn't turn on! :crying:
Has anyone experienced this or know how to fix this? Any help will be much appreciated. Tia!
theDUD3 said:
Recovery mode by pressing VOLUME UP+DOWN+POWER buttons simultaneously, I tried to do the same and my phone turned off and now it doesn't turn on!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
These should be clarified:
Volume Up + Power while turning on will boot to fastboot.
Volume Down + Power while turn on will boot to recovery.
Holding Volume Up + Power should force the phone to turn off.
Volume Up + Volume Down should put your phone in Download mode for the MSM Tool.
Turn the phone off, let it sit. Then try turn it back on. Any response?
try to shutdown phone ...hold vol+ and power button for like 15 sec and restart your phone if this didnt work then u can try MSM tool
Thanks guys, got it working using MSM Tool!
regarding oneplus 6 got stuck on logo screen and recovery mode not working
was just going through some random stuff on my phone and suddenly my device automatically restarted and not it is stuck on logo screen. i and when i tried to open recovery mode, nope its is just not working either. i even tried the fastboot menu to open recovery settings but still no progress help me here...its urgent going though lockdown in country so no service either cant communicate with the fam also. HELP...!!!!
frankynehemimah said:
was just going through some random stuff on my phone and suddenly my device automatically restarted and not it is stuck on logo screen. i and when i tried to open recovery mode, nope its is just not working either. i even tried the fastboot menu to open recovery settings but still no progress help me here...its urgent going though lockdown in country so no service either cant communicate with the fam also. HELP...!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are likely going to lose your data. Know that going in if its not already backed up.
If you have the fastboot menu you can use the fastboot roms.
Or my least favorite option or what I would try last, MSM Tool (Tmobile 6Ts use a different tool).
IMPORTANT if you want to try and recover and data off your phone first, go to fastboot, and try and "boot" the TWRP img (not the installed one, one from your PC using the fastboot command). If that works you might be able to recover data. If that does worm, try dirty flashing the last ROM you were running and see if it boots.
No worries!
frankynehemimah said:
was just going through some random stuff on my phone and suddenly my device automatically restarted and not it is stuck on logo screen. i and when i tried to open recovery mode, nope its is just not working either. i even tried the fastboot menu to open recovery settings but still no progress help me here...its urgent going though lockdown in country so no service either cant communicate with the fam also. HELP...!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello, I am sorry to hear of you having this issue, I just went through 3 1/2 days (off and on) of recovering my T-Mobile OnePlus 6t which I found a way to get my unlock code within 2 weeks of having it, so I rooted it and put a custom kernel on it, stuck on 9.0 never let me update as I was not familiar with A/B partitioning, yet! The answers I saw to your questions were spot on, I just had a little to add to it and I'm sure I am not alone. Real quick let me list what has gone wrong on the rare occasion it hit the fan with the 6t...
- When I would accidentally and rarely let my battery die it seemed like it took forever to get it to reboot, I mean it sat on my desk of DOA devices for 2 weeks!
- It often seems like the buttons do not always respond properly and never have when I needed them to. Been through this before, I've bricked and unbricked and flashed and re-flashed and wiped all weekend and I like Android 10 and all but seems everything is different for every build, and everything seems to have to go in the right order with the exact right file or you wind up in a jam, period..
- That said, the previous person that answered your question has likely encountered similar, I've heard of right down to the buttons not physically working, but I have been a Smart Device Master III Technician for over 5 years, i know my buttons were not broken.
- Most likely culprit that I just handled and worked, i did have to use the MSM tool, several times - and re-unlock the BL, several times I would not even get the chance to get to fastboot, just a screen saying Build and Hardware not a match"" in yellow letters and it just bootlooped. No fastboot is no good, but when you said the tool would show some signs of working but then not, I have 2 solutions that I needed on diffrent occcasions.
1 - As mentioned fully try other USB cables, and ports, if you pull the usb-c out of the port and hold <power + vol up + vol down> eventually it will do something, very picky, sometimes gotta move your fingers to different spots on the buttons and also after 15-20sec let go of power and hit and hold it again... after a few seconds before it vibrates stick the cable in connected to your PC and the screen will be black (obv) but the msm tool will pick up on it. I know about the cables because I take good care of my phones and cables and charging ports, however on my final fix today it showed in msm tool it was connected but waiting for device.... Fed up i put the phone down and moved the usb cable a little bit and it picked up on it and did its thing! That part was just the cable, getting into qualcomm mode or w.e. is a bit tricky sometimes.
- Also someone said set it down for a while and come back to it.. THAT WORKS!! Let it fully charge and often just plugging in charger turns it on, bootloop soft brick or however have you, very simiilar to an Apple device and their DFU (don't f up mode cause screen is black..)
I hope that helps you get in touch with your family and friends.. Whatever you do, don't give up bc if you have not got it yet, you will! One other note, there are a few different msm tools available and they look the same some same size, but the one that supposed to work on my phone didn't and one that they say only a fool would attempt to try actually saved me, so if all else fails, use a different msm tool/usb cable and you will get it! I don't think I can post links yet I am on here very rarely, but plan on more! I have received so much help from XDA throughout the years on thousands of phones with just software issues alone, aas well as guides to my own phones. I would be honored to give back as I also have some extensive knowledge on many devices but I am a noob in comparison to many! Stay safe, good luck and please update and let us/ me know how it worked out for you. If i can help further I will, I have every firmware file for the OP6t, recovery, tools, software, this is not new to me but I feel your frustration!

Recovery from bootloop (and other issues)

Ok, so... this is gonna be quite long to tell, but I need to explain the situation as carefully as possible because the problem I have seems to be very specific and potentially solutionless.
So, a week ago my Samung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite (SM-P610, CSC: ITV, which is the Italian Country Code and it's for unbranded devices, since my model is Wi-Fi only), suddenly started to restart itself and it's been stuck for days in a bootloop (i.e. it's stuck on the logo and if I hard restart it with Volume Down + Power, it gets stuck there again). Yesterday I found out that it's most likely a software problem, so re-installing the Android version should fix everything up... right? Well, I did just that but the device is still stuck on the bootloop.
Here I want to be more detailed: firstly, I'm 100% positive that the problem I have is NOT due to a virus, as I've never done ANYTHING that could potentially lead me to taking a virus (such as downloading apps outisde Google Play, visiting risky sites etc.); secondly, I followed a procedure that was supposed to repair my device without losing data. That's because I've stupidly never made a backup and I can't afford to make a factory reset. The procedure I followed consisted in finding the Android update I needed with Frija, and then downloading everything in the tablet with Odin. Also, I'm 100% positive that I made NO mistakes during the installation procedure. The only step that I did differently is HOW I installed the update: I did it with Download Mode, not with fastboot, because when I go into Recovery Mode and reboot the device into bootloader, the PC doesn't recognize my Tab, even if the PC does recognize that it's connected, as it makes the typical sound of when you plug something in a USB port (I have the USB drivers installed in my PC, I think it doesn't work because I never unlocked bootloader). What I get when I reboot into bootloader is "entering fastboot..." stuck screen and the PC and Odin aren't able to recognize it.
My questions are therefore these:
Is there a way to make a backup of the data of my device if I can't boot it (maybe via Download Mode)?
Is there a way to make fastboot work if I can't boot my device?
Is there some other way to repair my tablet that I can try?
Thank you for any help, this is my last hope to find a solution for my problem.
neo4458232 said:
When your device is stuck on an Android boot loop issue then you can fix it by simply doing a soft reset. Turn off your device and the problem will be resolved.
Here are the steps to follow:
First, switch off your device and take out your battery from the phone.
If your battery is non-removable then turn off the phone for 3 to 5 minutes and again turn it on.
This method works effectively to fix the error of the boot loop issue. But if a soft reset does not work for you to fix Android phones stuck in the boot loop issue then you should follow the next method.
Method 3: Reboot System in Recovery Mode​Rebooting a phone in the Recovery Mode is known for fixing several errors and issues on your Android phone. So, if you are unable to start your phone in normal mode or your Android is stuck in a reboot loop, then restart your phone in Recovery Mode.
Method 4: Remove and Reinsert SD Card​You may also try to remove the SD card to fix the boot loop in Android. According to several user reports, this trick worked for them. So, you should try this.
First, turn off your phone > remove the SD card > turn on your phone normally, and check if your phone is out from the boot loop or not.
If it is still stuck in the boot loop, then go for the other solution.
Method 5: Reboot the Phone in Safe Mode​This problem may also occur due to problematic 3rd party apps. If you have recently installed an app on your phone and then you started facing this issue, then remove it from your device.
Or, if you are not sure which app is responsible, then try rebooting your phone in safe mode. Doing this will disable all the third-party apps on your Android phone and then you can easily find out if this is the reason behind this issue or not.
To do this, you need to follow these steps:
Start rebooting your phone.
When the device logo appears on the screen, long-press the volume-down button at the same time.
Now, your phone will automatically switch to Safe mode.
If your phone is no more getting into the boot loop, then it means one of the third-party apps installed on the device was causing this issue.
Now, find out the problematic app and uninstall it to fix the Android boot loop without losing data.
Method 6: Use Custom Recovery Mode​When you find your Android is stuck on the startup screen due to the boot loop issue, then you must try to restart the phone in the Custom Recovery mode. Here is the guide to do so:
To enter into the Custom Recovery mode press the Power + Volume down buttons simultaneously.
Select the “Advanced” option in the Custom Recovery menu.
Next, choose “Wipe Dalvik Cache”. Choose “Yes” when prompted for confirmation.
Move to the “Mounts and Storage” option and choose “format/cache”. It will clear the cache files completely.
Restart your device.
Method 7: Fix Android Bootloop Error Via CWM Recovery [For Rooted Phone]​Maybe you are not aware of this method but it’s a useful way to fix the boot loop issue on Android after the update. Remember that this method is only for rooted phones. Here CWM means ClockworkMod and if your phone is stuck on the Android boot loop then it must be downloaded and installed on phone. Read me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for replying but I already tried every method listed here.
At this point it sounds like you need to bring it in to a local repair shop & see if they have a fix.
The solution is to wait on the turned on screen until the battery dies completely. Then put it to charge and after a bit using the reset combo (pwr+volume down) once the circular battery charging indicator with the green border comes. (It's a matter of luck, this keeps happening to my tablet and even the official samsung store can't fix it even though they took money to do the same)

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