Root I think hubby inadvertently bricked his phone (not by factory reset)

[PoisonIvy]

I think I have an accidental brick on my hands. Hubby & I both have OVs, both are rooted, with the standard gingerbreak method (cm7, backside IHO). He hasn't used his phone in somewhere around a month or more. Tonight, he put it on the charger, booted up, and installed a new app (he also updated some existing apps before installing this new one). Now, all of a sudden, his phone is completely locking up at boot. It gets to the "Always backup before flashing" part of bootup, then frozen. Removed battery, tried again (and again, and again, ad nauseum), same thing. I *can* get into clockwork recovery, but am unsure of what steps can be taken to get this thing working again. I have no idea of what the state of his phone was in terms of free space before this happened, and neither does he. Can the phone be saved without wiping? Any ideas guys?

Thanks in advance

 

[AndyOpie150]

Go to the All Things Root Guide sticky. Download a fresh ROM and Gapps (the MiRaGe is the best for our phones with Bean_Whiz coming in second). The MiRaGe requires the 20110828 Gapps. The Bean_Whiz has a link in the post.
Then go here: http://androidforums.com/optimus-v-...all-flash_image-flash-recovery-rom-theme.html

 

[PoisonIvy]

Thanks again for all your help in this forum! I wasn't sure about what to do since this brick was so random and not because of anything like a factory reset. My phone that you helped me with last weekend is still running smooth as glass.

I can get into clockwork recovery, couldn't I just do a restore from there? Do I need to backup anything from the SD card onto a PC?

 

[badblue1]

If you made a backup (nandroid) ,you can restore your backup, you will have to wipe and format just like you were flashing a rom.

You would be better off doing as Andy suggested, download the MiRaGe Rom and gapps and flash that, Backside rom has no dev support, the MiRaGe Rom is still under the watchful eye of mrg666 (dev) ,it is the most stable rom for our phone right now. Follow Andy's guide http://androidforums.com/optimus-v-all-things-root/697813-how-install-flash_image-flash-recovery-rom-theme.html if you follow this guide to the letter you will have no problems, if your not sure of something, don't be afraid to ask.

If you have a bigger sdcard Bean_Whiz is a really nice rom as well, it's a slimmed down jellybean rom that Andy has modified with the Touchwiz launcher and theme, but it takes up alot of internal memory ,but with a bigger sdcard you can run links2sd to free up room on the internal memory by moving most things to your sdcard.

Always backup before you flash.

Good luck.

 

[PoisonIvy]

Yeah I was planning on doing the link2sd partition after I got done anyway, he has a 16gb SD card. My main question is, what do you think caused this?

Also, what kind of rom is MiRaGe? Is it like GB, ICS or JB?

And on the aforementioned guide, at what point should I begin? This phone is already rooted.

I have to admit, this will be my 1st go at doing a new rom after our initial go from stock to doing gingerbreak, cm7 and all that. Eeek, I'm nervous!

 

[PoisonIvy]

Oh, another question: when I first rooted, I put all the files I needed in a folder on the sd card called "downloads", should I connect the sd to a pc and delete these now? (flashimageGUI.apk, gapps-gb-20110282-signed.zip, gingerbreak-v1.20.apk, vm670nh_recovery.img, backside-iho-vm760) or do I leave them alone or???

 

[badblue1]

Yeah I was planning on doing the link2sd partition after I got done anyway, he has a 16gb SD card. My main question is, what do you think caused this?

Also, what kind of rom is MiRaGe? Is it like GB, ICS or JB?

And on the aforementioned guide, at what point should I begin? This phone is already rooted.

I have to admit, this will be my 1st go at doing a new rom after our initial go from stock to doing gingerbreak, cm7 and all that. Eeek, I'm nervous!

I don't know exactly what caused the problem, but i ran the backside rom for quite some time and it started locking up on me, screen freezing, browser redirects and so on, sometimes when you update apps you can run into problems. Usually before i update an app, i read the comments by users and if there is alot of negative feedback, i won't update that app until the dev gets the bugs out.

MiRaGe Rom is gingerbread 2.3.7, basically alot like backside rom with less customization features and more towards performance.

As for where to start Andy's guide, i say the beginning to the end, then read it again, seriously. I know that is alot of reading but for me well worth the time, i myself have read it multiple times, just makes it easier to understand everything. If you have any questions don't be afraid to ask.

Don't be nervous, that is the very best guide that you could follow, you should have no problems, just take your time.

Now, i'll give you alot more to read if you want to run links2sd, Andy also has a great guide for that here
http://androidforums.com/optimus-v-all-things-root/695963-link2sd-tutorial-new-updated-version.html
If you don't have alot of apps, you could wait and add links2sd later on. I'm running MiRaGe, i have about 30apps and still have 134 mb's left on internal storage, so i don't use links2sd, still plenty of room.

But if your going to run Bean_Whiz you will need to run links2sd because the rom takes alot of internal memory.

I highly recommend Bean_Whiz, i ran it for awhile on the stock 2GB sdcard with about 10 apps and was constantly running out of ram, the more ram (phone memory) the better the phone runs.

Oh, i don't have a bigger sdcard because i have no computer to transfer files and data, but i really want to get a bigger sdcard to run jellybean roms.

Again, don't be nervous, take your time and have fun with it. Believe me if i can do it anyone can, i'm just an old truck driver.

Good luck.

 

[PoisonIvy]

Thanks for your help! I took a deeeeeep breath, downloaded bean_whiz & it's gapp, put them on his sd card via pc, and proceeded. I'm currently in the process of waiting for the first bootup. It seems to be going well!!!

 

[badblue1]

Oh, another question: when I first rooted, I put all the files I needed in a folder on the sd card called "downloads", should I connect the sd to a pc and delete these now? (flashimageGUI.apk, gapps-gb-20110282-signed.zip, gingerbreak-v1.20.apk, vm670nh_recovery.img, backside-iho-vm760) or do I leave them alone or???

You should have a root file manager, i use Root Browser,
copy and paste the gapps, the recovery image, the flash image to the root of your sdcard, not in any folders
The gapps are the same ones used for MiRaGe as well as the recovery .img, they can't be in a folder,you will learn all of this in Andy's guide.

 

[PoisonIvy]

Ok, I've got it. Bean_Whiz is up & running! But has rebooted itself twice since the initial bootup, after I got his google login info added.

 

[badblue1]

Thanks for your help! I took a deeeeeep breath, downloaded bean_whiz & it's gapp, put them on his sd card via pc, and proceeded. I'm currently in the process of waiting for the first bootup. It seems to be going well!!!

Sorry, i'm such a slow typer (big fingers) your way ahead of me, i hope you read the Bean_Whiz thread on how to properly flash the rom and the pre -flash requirements ,hope you didn't forget to flash the Virgin fix before the gapps? Then how to set the rom up after flashing.

 

[PoisonIvy]

well shoot...I did not realize there was more to read. Should I start over?

 

[badblue1]

well shoot...I did not realize there was more to read. Should I start over?

Well, we've all made the mistakes, and i bricked my phone twice so new members won't have to.

You have to read at least the first page of Bean_Whiz to set it up properly or your going to have problems.

I was impatient too, but please do a little reading first, before you have an expensive paperweight.

 

[PoisonIvy]

Where is this virgin fix? I can't seem to find it

 

[PoisonIvy]

Nevermind, found it

 

[AndyOpie150]

Please, read all info in my first post of my Bean_Whiz thread.
Follow the procedure for proper pre-instalation wipe and format found here: [ROM][MOD][THEME] Bean_Whiz-CM10 Updated 12/03/2013 - Page 3 - Android Forums at AndroidCentral.com

You will need the ClockworkMod recovery 5.2.0.7-th7. The link is in the first post.

If your unsure of anything, don't hesitate to ask.

 

[PoisonIvy]

Firstly, thank you guys for all your help. I really do appreciate it. And please forgive my endless questions & ignorance... But I am almost to tears with frustration. If I can't get into the phone, how am I supposed to flash this recovery?

 

[PoisonIvy]

Ok, I had to go take a breather out on the front porch. I'm better now. I figured out how to flash this new recovery, by putting in on the sd card via pc, then using the old recovery to flash the new one. Phew! Ok, I'm ready to proceed again.

 

[PoisonIvy]

Started over after flashing new recovery. Now that I'm in the new rom, the phone is rebooting on it's own before I have the chance to do anything, like apply the touchwiz 5.0 theme. It's rebooted on it's own half a dozen times in the last few minutes.

 

[PoisonIvy]

I officially give up. The phone will not stop rebooting on it's own to let me proceed any further than getting the touch wiz theme set.

I could kill hubby for allowing this to happen. He told me that he had his phone set to auto update all apps (mistake #1), so when he plugged it up to a charger last night, after it had been dead and unused for a month or more, he was awash in updates, and tells me he was getting "low on space" warnings. (HELLO!) Then he somehow thought that downloading a new app on top of that was a good idea. (mistake #2) After downloading this new app is when the phone crashed. *facepalm*

Anyway, I can't get anywhere with this. It's just rebooting and rebooting...

 

[AndyOpie150]

Slow down. Take a few breaths. Relax.
It's all OK.
First. Download an md5 sum checker. The one I use is here: MD5 Checker - Free download and software reviews - CNET Download.com
Download a fresh ROM and the Gapps that are in the first post of my thread. Then use the md5 sum checker to verify that it is a good download (if not try to download again).

Follow the pre-installation wipe and format I linked you to.

Then after boot up of ROM go here: http://androidforums.com/optimus-v-all-things-root/695963-link2sd-tutorial-new-updated-version.html

Follow the rest of the info in the link I left you in my last post.

Once you have Link2SD setup properly, then you can update the apps. After you update an app, make sure it is linked (sometimes Link2SD pushes an app to the FAT32 partition of the SD card instead of linking it to the ext.4 partition).

Just slow down. Take your time. Double check things before you commit.

Note: Widget apps and apps that control system functions should not be linked, but left on the phones internal storage. Some apps just have to be on the internal storage. You won't know until it messes up when linked (I have one that is that way). If a linked app is messing up, just move it back to the internal storage.

If you still have problems with the Jellybean ROM, try a Gingerbread ROM (the MiRaGe is the best Gingerbread ROM).

I'll be checking this thread every hour until I have to go to bed in case you still need help to straighten out your husbands phone. Don't sweat it. Relax.

 

[PoisonIvy]

That md5 put some kinda jacked up ads on my computer

 

[AndyOpie150]

That md5 put some kinda jacked up ads on my computer

First time that's ever happened. Don't know what to say on that one other than delete and try a different one.

 

[PoisonIvy]

I tried starting over, again, and this time it started vibrating continually while I was going through the setup wizard, then rebooted again.

 

[PoisonIvy]

Still randomly rebooting. I don't know what I'm doing wrong here.