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Help Turn Off Safe Mode in LG Optimus V

NetSpeedZ

Android Enthusiast
Apr 3, 2012
441
31
Southwest
www.romwarez.com
I have an LG Optimus V that I can't get out of Safe Mode. I've tried removing battery, delete cache, etc in recovery mode, reset to factory defaults - None of these things work. If I could get a gingerbreak installed and a file manager application installed on it, I probably could flash to another custom recovery, however, in safe mode that is not an option.

Phone is not rooted. Purchased from eBay so know nothing of why this phone is stuck in Safe Mode.

Any assistance wold be appreciated.
 
It has been in safe mode since I received the phone and I can only assume that the phone is not rooted because there is no 'SuperUser' app in the app drawer.

The phone boots - at least with a little 'push'. When powering on the phone, the LG logo displays and will not disappear until one of the bottom four buttons is pushed. The phone will then continue to boot, however, as soon as it hits the home screen, 'Safe Mode' is displayed in the bottom left. When going into an application or app drawer, the 'back' button fails to work. If one of the two side buttons is pressed and held, the home screen can be displayed and can be navigated, however, only if the button is pressed and held.

Very strange. Its almost like someone flashed the wrong Virgin Mobile stock ROM on the phone. My feeling is if the phone can be taken out of 'Safe Mode', it could be reflashed with all the right stuff.


Are you sure it isn't rooted? Has it been in safe mode since you purchased it? Or did you do something that started this?

My first guess is that someone messed up the Optimus and instead of trying to fix it (or it is unfixable) they tossed it onto eBay.
 
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The current recovery on the phone is stock and unable to flash any type of zip other than the update.zip file from the Virgin Mobile website. I'm also unable to flash any other recovery due to being unable to install any flash recovery android app, i.e., FlashGUI.

I tried the four button boot fix. It did boot without the 'Safe Mode' in the bottom left corner, however, when installing and running Gingerbreak to root the phone (which I was able to install from a inserted sd card after installing file manager), the Gingerbreak dialog window remains open never rebooting the device.

If this phone boots without Safe Mode enabled, I would think it can be rooted somehow to get another recovery on the phone and flash with a custom ROM on it.

Here was another member who was stuck in safe mode. He installed a recovery and then a custom ROM. http://androidforums.com/optimus-v-all-things-root/422684-phone-keeps-booting-safe-mode.html
 
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Don't believe its a button that is stuck as once the phone boots up, none of the buttons work as they should. Meaning, the home button is pressed and nothing happens. The back button is pressed and it acts like the home button, i.e., recent applications are displayed. Never run across this problem before. Very strange.

Wonder if you've got a stuck button which is causing the problem on reboot and safe mode. Generally a stuck menu button would cause safe mode on reboot.
 
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I have an LG Optimus V that I can't get out of Safe Mode. I've tried removing battery, delete cache, etc in recovery mode, reset to factory defaults - None of these things work. If I could get a gingerbreak installed and a file manager application installed on it, I probably could flash to another custom recovery, however, in safe mode that is not an option.

Phone is not rooted. Purchased from eBay so know nothing of why this phone is stuck in Safe Mode.

Any assistance wold be appreciated.

I just fixed mines. Cut the phone off, and take the battery out and put it back in. First Hold down the Home and Menu keys then hold down the power key. Once the phone comes back on release the power key, but continue to hold down the Home and Menu keys.
 
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I just fixed mines. Cut the phone off, and take the battery out and put it back in. First Hold down the Home and Menu keys then hold down the power key. Once the phone comes back on release the power key, but continue to hold down the Home and Menu keys.
I've just tried this several times to try getting out of safe mode, but it is not working. Although this did not say how long to keep pressing the Home and Menu keys after the phone comes back on and releasing the power key. I kept pressing for several minutes after the home screen loaded, but it stayed in safe mode.

Anyone have any more ideas? This is preventing me from using most applications. And I have no idea how it got into safe mode to begin with. Just took the phone out of my pocket, unlocked the screen and it was in safe mode.
 
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Did not work either. Still powered on in safe mode.

I think I have read a dozen different stories of what buttons to hold down when powering on. Everyone seems to have a different method. Although holding all four buttons and the power button was tedious; I thought you were joking. Nonetheless, it doesn't work for me either.
 
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How I got my LG Optimus LG-P509 OUT of Safe Mode

First let me say that I got it into safe mode while driving by dropping it into a partial (thank God) glass of diet soda up to just above the bottom of the screen. Twice! (Don't ask!)

If the glass had been full and gotten into the screen area, it probably would be toast.

The first thing I did after pulling it out of the liquid was to pull out the battery. No fancy "shut down" - I just yanked the cover and took it out!

Then I held the phone vertical and started smacking the bottom edge of the phone against my thigh to force the liquid down and out the bottom as much as I could.

When I saw that the wet spots appearing on my pant leg were getting almost too small to see, I then pulled out the SD card and the SIM card.

Luckily there was no moisture on or under either of them, and no evidence it got into anything but the area of the 4 bottom buttons (switches).

I then put it all back together and powered it up.

It SEEMED pretty good, but it was still coming up in safe mode despite multiple hard resets (pulling the battery & waiting 15 seconds) while driving.

So then I just left it apart until I got home. And worried...

When I got home, I looked over a lot of discussions online about how to fix this.

It was stuck in safe mode, and when I hit the menu button, it was like holding the volume up button, and some of the other buttons didn't give the result expected.

When I looked at the application menu, only system apps showed, not any of the apps I had downloaded. But any downloaded apps for which I had icons on the home screen were working. I could not add icons expect for system apps.

But try doing much without using your menu button!!

None of the online tips fixed mine, but many did offer information that would prove helpful later. One example is how to get your phone INTO safe mode:

You shut it down, pull the battery, wait 15 seconds, put the battery back in, hold the power button until it starts the boot-up sequence (you see the LG logo), let go of the power button, then press and hold the menu button and keep holding it down until the phone comes up to the home screen.

If nothing else, this told me that key combinations were "secret" codes.

Being an experienced electronics technician, I was confident enough to take actually my phone apart. (It's out of warranty.)

I did that and wiped off any moisture I saw, and then blew it out with canned air, making sure to hold the can upright and clear the nozzle a bit first, both precautions being done to be sure no liquid came out of the can and got into the phone.

Then I tore it down further and CAREFULLY cut tiny slits in the bottom switches' protective plastic seals to allow me to blow out the bottom four switches, too.

Then I put it back together and tried it again, but it was still in safe mode.

So I lived with it for a day or so, trying off and on to reset it. Then I stumbled onto a combination that worked for me.

With the phone on, I found that if I hold the volume up button and quickly press and hold the menu button, then quickly release the volume up button, then menu would come up! (Did I say "quickly"??)

It takes practice, but that kind of sequence (possibly with different buttons, depending on which of yours got wet) will help you.

Then I realized (hoped, anyway) that I knew how to get it out of safe mode.

I did a normal shut down, pulled out the battery for 15 seconds, then put the battery back in.

Then I held the power button until the LG logo came on, then let go of the power button and held the volume up button down until the home screen came up all the way, and as it did, I could see it was out of safe mode!

My buttons still don't all do what they're supposed to, but I can get done what I want to, and hopefully soon any crud that's still in there will soon either dry out or get pulverized and stop interfering with normal operation.

Hope this helps you!
 
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Yeah, finally did that last night. Now the phone won't even boot at all, it just gets stuck at the LG screen. It doesn't charge and I cannot connect with my PC. And it was never rooted. It's just fried for no apparent reason. They are sending me a replacement since I am still in warranty.

For others whose phones do this, press the various keys / buttons one at a time.

That got mine past the logo to continue boot-up into the home screen.

I essentially have a stuck or shorted (high-resistance short) menu key.
 
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