Permanent Screen Damage Thread

Search This thread

Jonous

Senior Member
Jan 12, 2008
581
62
I think I'll add my experience, just to add something to common knowledge.

Yesterday I flashed paranoid android (root was obtained via towel root and recovery installed through autorec. No problem there, backed up my rooted stock rom). My attempts:

1) flashed pa 4.6 beta 5 20141023 (obtained through pa website), followed by pa mini modular gapps. Booted all right, but no signal, so I restored my backup. Stock rom still booting all right.....

Same journey as you, installed latest PA beta, lost IMEI, no call service so restored a backup of CloudyG3 2.0. That was last night. I don't recall seeing a black line untill 10min ago when i played a game for 5-10m and then got back to desktop. Maybe it was there before, though i tend to notice such things. Anyway running the fix app, let's see what it does. Amazes me it doesn't bother me so much, but had it been a new phone like many of you, i think it would very much. Be strong, hang in there :D
 

drivenby

Senior Member
Mar 8, 2012
1,217
392
I don't mean to spread misinformation but I've seen a LOT of people saying they were using PA and then they got the black lines.

Again this is purely anecdotal, I know that someone is keeping a survey but could you share with us the latest results?

Sent from my VS980 4G using XDA Free mobile app
 

AvErNaN

Senior Member
Oct 26, 2012
51
9
Okay, very strange thing happened today.
I decided to flash PA again, last version (beta6). I was quite careful in letting the phone rest and cool down between operations, but I had the same problem with LG logo going crazy. Just this time the phone stuck and refused to boot system, so I entered recovery and flash again. This time the phone booted normally, but when I got to the desktop I discovered that now I only have 2 black lines, instead of the 3/4 I had before.
This puzzled me quite a bit.
 

Al3xxxinho

Senior Member
Jun 19, 2008
355
84
Craiova
What if the lines are triggered after a firmware flash. Something like a "knox flag" on samsung devices ;)

Hardware problems do not disappear over night.

Sent from my LG-D802 using Tapatalk 2
 

Azurael

Senior Member
Jan 3, 2008
892
219
Bath
I don't think it was heat related for me. I've been running Slim with various kernels for months and crazy thermal limits... But yesterday, I clean installed the 4.4-based CM port to mess around with that, and at one point when rebooting it, the point when it was supposed to switch from the LG bootloader screen to the ROM one, it instead showed a crazy rapidly fading ghost inversion of the LG logo with grey screen corners. I've seen the same thing on my Nexus 4s on a few occasions - it always scares the hell out of me and the backlight goes crazy flickery for 1/2 hour or so afterwards. I rebooted it as quickly as the power button woula allow at that point but in the G2, the result was two black lines on the right hand side although one of them has come back to life overnight.

I guess it's probably not related to my changing ROMs... But it seems LG have issues with occasionally driving the panel out of range when bringing up the graphics drivers and this has somehow caused permanent damage. At least that's my best guess having watched it happen. Anyway, restoring to stock now. I hope the barstewards repair my G2 because I really don't want a G3.

I seem to recall the Nexus 4 actually having a related screen death issue. What about the LGOG and Nexus 5? Is it a Qualcomm bug or an LG one? We should probably get some cross-device dialogue going on here...
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: siggey

iamterence

Senior Member
Feb 10, 2010
2,735
1,166
Baltimore, Maryland
I don't think it was heat related for me. I've been running Slim with various kernels for months and crazy thermal limits... But yesterday, I clean installed the 4.4-based CM port to mess around with that, and at one point when rebooting it, the point when it was supposed to switch from the LG bootloader screen to the ROM one, it instead showed a crazy rapidly fading ghost inversion of the LG logo with grey screen corners. I've seen the same thing on my Nexus 4s on a few occasions - it always scares the hell out of me and the backlight goes crazy flickery for 1/2 hour or so. On the G2, I had two black lines on the right hand side although one of them has come back to life overnight.

I guess it's probably not related to my changing ROMs... But it seems LG have issues with occasionally driving the panel out of range when bringing up the graphics drivers and this has somehow caused permanent damage. At least that's my best guess having watched it happen. Anyway, restoring to stock now. I hope the barstewards repair my G2 because I really don't want a G3.

I seem to recall the Nexus 4 actually having a related screen death issue. What about the LGOG and Nexus 5? Is it a Qualcomm bug or an LG one? We should probably get some cross-device dialogue going on here...
I have an LGOG (Sprint, if it matters), and I have never experienced any kind of screen issues of any sort, nor do I recall any being reported. On Nexus 4-based ROMs (Labeled "gee"), colors are a bit washed out compared to stock LG-sourced ROMs, and sometimes display goes completely on the fritz if you flash an incompatible source-based kernel, but a reflash of the correct kernel fixes that.
 

Azurael

Senior Member
Jan 3, 2008
892
219
Bath
Erm, okay. Not so permanent in my case. Now I've been using the phone for a couple of hours, it's fixed itself! I think the very quick reboot when I saw the odd screen artifact may have been key? I'll keep this thread updated if it comes back.

Edit: It was quite gradual. First, I noticed the black line had started to become grey against a white background, then it gradually came back to life. The colour in that line was out to start with, but now it's blended back into the rest of the screen perfectly over a period of 1/2 hour or so.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: siggey

willywacken

Senior Member
Apr 17, 2013
85
17
I would like to add my problem too. By flashing pa from 4th November, I obviously damaged my screen. But the symptoms don't match anything I found. Roughly 15% of the screen are black on the right side. Additionaly, the screen is washed out when showing a lot of dark colors. AND additionally, i have a few vertical black lines.
Using a pixel repair APP, the washing disappears, some of the lines too.but the big black area always stays. Screenshots don't show any of these problems. I tried several tools and Roms now, also a panel switcher APP (which would not work)... Any ideas?
:(

Sent from my LG-D802 using Tapatalk
 

MBurns2

Senior Member
Aug 30, 2011
1,289
277
Bologna
i know that it could occur even on stock roms and the cause is unknown, but why the majority of people has this problem after flash PA ?
Maybe PA implements something that other roms haven't ?
Note that i'm only asking and i'm not criticizing anyone.
 

jonnier

New member
Dec 18, 2010
1
0
PA for the G2 is currently beta only, not a recommended install unless you're willing to test and risk an issue. I also believe that in its beta state you have to flash the correct rom for your panel type. I may be wrong but from reading the thread in g2 original development this is what I surmise. If you don't understand what beta means or are too impatient to wait, maybe flashing roms isn't for you.
 

MBurns2

Senior Member
Aug 30, 2011
1,289
277
Bologna
PA for the G2 is currently beta only, not a recommended install unless you're willing to test and risk an issue. I also believe that in its beta state you have to flash the correct rom for your panel type. I may be wrong but from reading the thread in g2 original development this is what I surmise. If you don't understand what beta means or are too impatient to wait, maybe flashing roms isn't for you.
The last part is really fun because i read a lot before flashing something.
in every case in Pa thread on first page no one speaks about panel.
I have jdi, one month ago i flashed PA without any problem but maybe i was lucky.
 

ErnestoD

Senior Member
Apr 10, 2010
1,410
342
Montevideo
Are U shure that it also occurs on stock roms?. I ask becouse I have my G2 and Im looking this thread daily to see how it goes and Im really worried about this issue. I never hear of anyone with these black lines on stock rom. My G2 is only rooted, I didnt even flash recovery or rom and I dont want to do it. This is my 4th Lg and I learned to not touch them, I had several problems with other LG devices before. Lg is not samsung, damm, how I miss Odin, is the best and easier thing to flash .

i know that it could occur even on stock roms and the cause is unknown, but why the majority of people has this problem after flash PA ?
Maybe PA implements something that other roms haven't ?
Note that i'm only asking and i'm not criticizing anyone.
 

MBurns2

Senior Member
Aug 30, 2011
1,289
277
Bologna
Are U shure that it also occurs on stock roms?. I ask becouse I have my G2 and Im looking this thread daily to see how it goes and Im really worried about this issue. I never hear of anyone with these black lines on stock rom. My G2 is only rooted, I didnt even flash recovery or rom and I dont want to do it. This is my 4th Lg and I learned to not touch them, I had several problems with other LG devices before. Lg is not samsung, damm, how I miss Odin, is the best and easier thing to flash .
read the first post, unfortunately some people had this problem even on stock.
i come from Samsung and modding lg g2 isn't difficult, the problem is not the modding process, there aren't any explanation why it occurs. So you must be lucky.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ErnestoD

Jonous

Senior Member
Jan 12, 2008
581
62
Same journey as you, installed latest PA beta, lost IMEI, no call service so restored a backup of CloudyG3 2.0. That was last night. I don't recall seeing a black line untill 10min ago when i played a game for 5-10m and then got back to desktop. Maybe it was there before, though i tend to notice such things. Anyway running the fix app, let's see what it does. Amazes me it doesn't bother me so much, but had it been a new phone like many of you, i think it would very much. Be strong, hang in there :D
Aaaand now it's gone. Just realised. Until this morning it was there. Now that i checked it's gone! There is hope guys!
 

RenderBroken

Recognized Developer
Sep 14, 2013
4,297
20,085
36
/home/renderbroken/android
so that app really works.. this problem is out of logic

I had a friend that had this issue and use the Dead Pixel app to fix it. He said it did seem to come back eventually.

I think the issue is random. But I also believe that the issue happens when you flash a rom. To explain further, I believe that it happens because of different voltages being used. I do not have any data to back this up but it is a gut feeling. It is still random but I believe that flashing certain roms raises the possibility for the issue to occur. Maybe it is the device tree that PA is using for the G2. I dont know.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MBurns2

MBurns2

Senior Member
Aug 30, 2011
1,289
277
Bologna
I had a friend that had this issue and use the Dead Pixel app to fix it. He said it did seem to come back eventually.

I think the issue is random. But I also believe that the issue happens when you flash a rom. To explain further, I believe that it happens because of different voltages being used. I do not have any data to back this up but it is a gut feeling. It is still random but I believe that flashing certain roms raises the possibility for the issue to occur. Maybe it is the device tree that PA is using for the G2. I dont know.
So if it is only an overheating problem we have the solution: you have to flash only when the phone is cool (my phone is cool even after 1 hour on 3g navigation..).
But if the problem is the voltage we cannot doing nothing.
it would be beautiful to find the cause..
"Maybe it is the device tree that PA is using for the G2."= this point is interesting, sorry but i don't know anything about the device tree. Other roms use something different ?
 
Last edited:

RenderBroken

Recognized Developer
Sep 14, 2013
4,297
20,085
36
/home/renderbroken/android
So if it is only an overheating problem we have the solution: you have to flash only when the phone is cool (my phone is cool even after 1 hour on 3g navigation..).
But if the problem is the voltage we cannot doing nothing.
it would be beautiful to find the cause..
"Maybe it is the device tree that PA is using for the G2."= this point is interesting, sorry but i don't know anything about the device tree. Other roms use something different ?

The device tree is why you cannot flash my AOSP kernel on a CM rom. They use a different device tree. I believe that PA that We have uses a different DT from CM and AOSP. Just a guess. The device tree controls many things, one of them being voltages for sensors or subsystems.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MBurns2

Top Liked Posts

  • There are no posts matching your filters.
  • 37
    Hi there.

    Following @Tijmen's advice, this thread is for those who have damaged screens (specifically the black lines). There are reports that a reboot triggers this issue. @autoprime had his G2 (never flashed recovery, kernel or ROM) get the black lines after rebooting into Stock Recovery when he was only using ADB with the phone hot.

    My device:

    Model: LG G2 D805
    Current ROM: CloudyStock 2.3 (flashed after the screen panel replacement through RMA)
    Panel: $ su -c 'cat /proc/cmdline' -> mdss_dsi_g2_lgd_cmd -> LGD Panel
    Damage: Permanent Vertical Black Lines on the right side (borrowed screenshot; even in recovery)

    External Links: Reddit 01, Reddit 02

    From #lg-g2@irc.freenode.net (irrelevant lines have been removed):

    <gitanO0|vs980> hey all, long time since i've been on here
    <gitanO0|vs980> anyone experience top to bottm vertical black lines on the right side of their screen after flashing rom?
    <gitanO0|vs980> persists through boot and seen in recovery
    <gitanO0|vs980> i've seen some other folks have this issue after flashing rom but not seen any solutions
    <gitanO0|vs980> right after the flash of the rom, the lg boot screen came on and went all inverted and fading... I booted back to recovery and flashed nandroid and now have these perma lines on the right 1/8" or so of screen
    <@autoprime> wat rom? PA?
    <gitanO0|vs980> no carbon
    <gitanO0|vs980> one of the devs made some 24a bootstack changes for some of the repos
    <@autoprime> if it persists thru recovery it might be perm damage
    <gitanO0|vs980> yeah, that's what I figurered
    <gitanO0|vs980> might have to go the send it back route. any good "back to stock, unrooted" guides out there?
    <gitanO0|vs980> autoprime, is there anything I can test or look at to verify if it's permanent?
    <@autoprime> if its in recovery its most liekly perm
    <@autoprime> if it was rom only then its fixable
    <gitanO0|vs980> right

    IMPORTANT - MUST READ IRC TEXT BELOW IN RED!:

    <@autoprime> wah... i has lines on mah g2
    <@autoprime> RMA
    < Compass_Linux> no worries. the'll be present in the
    < Compass_Linux> G3 if LG does it right. ;)
    < chachin> lol
    < Compass_Linux> i wouldn't cheer to soon when this is fixed though. some regressions come with a vengeance.
    < Compass_Linux> s/to/too
    <@NookieBot> Compass_Linux meant: "i wouldn't cheer too soon when this is fixed though. some regressions come with a vengeance."
    <@autoprime> i wasnt even flashing custom rom
    <@autoprime> so its not the roms lol
    <@autoprime> wasnt using twrp either
    <@autoprime> was messing with adb and stock partitions
    <@autoprime> reboot into stock recovery... stock recovery has lines.
    < Compass_Linux> autoprime: you serious? :|
    <@autoprime> Compass_Linux yup :/
    <@autoprime> suxxxxxx
    * Compass_Linux needs a hammer for his G2. And quick!
    <@autoprime> i think its heat. mine was getting really hot in adb
    < Compass_Linux> autoprime: can i add your txt to the OP?
    < Compass_Linux> damn LG...
    <@autoprime> ok
    <@autoprime> 100% stock
    <@autoprime> :/
    <@autoprime> so based on how mine went down.. its not related to rom/kernel flashing :/
    < Compass_Linux> cr*p
    < Compass_Linux> i'll update the OP.
    <+savoca> autoprime: your g2 just got lines one morning?
    <+savoca> autoprime: apperently its a possible defect as well.
    <+savoca> however pa's kgsl sh*t bumps the probability by like 200%
    <@autoprime> today.. lines on right side
    <+Khaytsus> autoprime: So your device has lines now? geez
    <@autoprime> Khaytsus indeed
    <+Khaytsus> Has anyone positively identified this happening on a device that's always been stock?
    < Compass_Linux> Khaytsus: yes, just happened to autoprime right now.
    <@autoprime> my g2 was 2nd batch
    <+Khaytsus> Has anyone positively identified this happening on a device that's _always_ been stock?
    <@autoprime> :/
    <+Khaytsus> autoprime: Yours hasn't always been stock, right?
    <@autoprime> of course it has :|
    <+Khaytsus> really??
    <@autoprime> this is public record
    <@autoprime> :X
    <+Khaytsus> My point being nobody really knows what the failure cause is yet.
    <+Khaytsus> But nobody has had it happen on a device that's _always_ been stock that I'm aware of.
    <@autoprime> Khaytsus i wanna say heat. but idk
    <@autoprime> mine has been getting hot the past few days
    <@autoprime> never had issue before
    <@autoprime> then was using adb and got hot again.. rebooted into stock recovery.. lines

    How I saw it happen:

    After twrp flashed the files mentioned above, the phone rebooted to a black screen with a vertical non uniform white band in the middle, which rapidly expanded sideways until the screen suddenly went entirely black (that's the moment the screen was damaged), vibrated and turned off. When turned on, permanent vertical black lines on the right side of the screen in recovery, in ParanoidAndroid etc. Flashed a stock D805 ROM, problem persists.

    What has been confirmed about the origin(s) of this issue:

    @dr87 was kind to clarify this issue here, here, here and here.
    @houstonn has some information here and here.
    This issue in numbers of LG G2's affected is very low. What is increasing until now are the number of different ROMs affected.

    *** Unconfirmed Information (updated 28/07/2014) ***:

    It was previously thought that Custom ROMs/Kernel were the cause of this problem, and that Stock ROMs/Kernels were safe to use. This is no longer the case due to @autoprime's experience. I removed the safe and unsafe ROMs list because of this and the Black Lines Survey. The possible reason (and I'm speculating here) Custom ROMs are more prone to this is that modifications done to them or their Kernels accentuated the problem that the phone already has but haven't yet appeared (not all devices due to the still small number of complaints). With the information we have now, it indicates that a hardware failure related to heat is to blame, and using a Custom ROM/Kernel can make the failure appear more quickly than if you keep completely at Stock. In @autoprime's case the simple use of ADB then reboot into Stock Recovery with the phone hot triggered the black lines. And since people are asking what is safe to flash and whatnot, there is unfortunately no answer as of yet.
    My device is back from RMA (Return Merchandise Authorization). The panel has been replaced, and after flashing (recovery and ROM) no black lines.
    @dr87 has a very interesting post here. He has also built a custom twrp with thermal control. If you use this and it corrupts your /cache partition, do this.
    @chillstep1998 has a post about an app that can somehow remove (in his case all of them) the black lines. I'm not sure how it works but if you do chose to use it (if you have no warranty for example), remember that your results will likely vary from others experience.


    Which Panel do I have? LGD or JDI?:

    Here. Thanks go to @autoprime.

    When was my G2 manufactured?:

    Here. Thanks go to @jdk2. Once you input the URL, check the generated page source code (you might not have to do it; I did) and read this.
    Here is another (and better) way to check the same information. Thanks go to @razrzxcvbnm.
    I'll leave both methods just in case one or the other "disappears".

    Hints:

    @RusherDude has an interesting theory. If the conditions he mentions match yours, please confirm and elaborate the best you can in the thread. Thanks!

    In the meantime (considering no permanent way to avoid the black lines):
    • You're crazy about Custom ROMs as I am and still have some months warranty for your device. I had my screen panel replaced under warranty and it's working fine for now. If I get the black lines again I can take it for repair, as long as I'm under warranty. Once my warranty expires, I'm on my own;
    • You're crazy about Custom ROMs as I am and no warranty for your device. You fall into two situations basically. Repair the screen now for around USD$80 (parts only), or live with this situation and flash to your hearts content. Repairing the screen hopefully fixes the problem permanently.
    Black Lines Survey:

    User @NicoC72 created a Black Lines Survey, Graph and Spreadsheet. Thanks!

    Contact:

    You can find me and lots of nice people in the #lg-g2 IRC Channel at irc.freenode.net (go to Freenode for instructions on how to connect)
    To see if I'm away, use /whois Compass_Linux.

    Compass.
    25
    Doing some more research on this I believe the way we are booting 4.4 on the 4.2 boot loader could be causing a huge issue (as houstonn mentioned before we are using the old bootstack and having to trick the aboot into booting the new kernel - which we believe is very important)

    I think a possible cause may be coming from the way we boot up https://github.com/dr87/SimpleKernel/commit/1c04dda1c03021d3bba43632e61a79460ef96a59 which was authored back in the days when we first got 4.4 kernel booting.

    Now I am not an expert on the bootloader but if we are blanking out the follow commands "qcom,mdss_dsi_lgit_video,qcom,mdss_dsi_lgit_cmd ,qcom,mdss_dsi_jdi_video,qcom,mdss_dsi_jdi_cmd"

    Is the aboot actually pulling the correct info? I know that if you look at the actual info DTS panel info that the aboot is looking for it contains some sensitive information like clock rates. Different variants use different clock rates (D802 uses 919 while sprint uses 893, etc) and I am not sure if they are actually being detected correctly if we are inputting blank lines for the aboot to read. Jackpotclavin may know more about that.

    Secondly, we are forcing the panel command line instead of having it auto detect like it did back in 4.2 which can cause problems.

    The issue with this has already been seen not too long ago when it was found out that there was not only "mdss_dsi_g2_lgd_cmd" but a mdss_dsi_g2_jdi_cmd.

    I found there is possibly another G2 screen the aboot can auto detect, the B1 revision of lgd variant. Everyone who currently has that B1 screen revision is being forced to lgd by the command line.

    Now if we could possibly work around the fake aboot commands to get the correct command line / aboot info detected by itself it would be a very good thing. I think this could be done without the new aboot as it was automatically being done on our old kernel just a matter of figuring it out.
    22
    Just a few things I have researched in the past on these breakouts (even back to 4.2)

    Can happen on stock - but rare. I don't doubt there are some panel issues in these phones but if we only blame manufacturing we will see a lot more ruined screens in custom kernels

    I can say the following for sure as I have seen specific outbreaks caused by the following. I also had a bad experience myself but didn't have permanent damage due to it.

    KGSL commits can cause this

    MDSS commits can cause this

    In my own experience the above is confirmed, anything else would be guessing,

    Playing with these commits make the issue much more likely, especially if they aren't properly merged

    I've seen this happen on a stock kernel and I do believe there are some issues with screens naturally but its also apparent that certain kernel changes cause the issue to happen much more frequently to users who wouldn't have had this issue otherwise. I'm pretty sure the best approach right now is to not pull in mdss or kgsl commits into the kernel. I personally almost ruined my screen twice with 2 different KGSL commits.
    15
    I'm not a display expert, but this sounds pretty familiar to us...

    "A TAB fault is caused by a connection failure from the TAB that connects the transparent electrode layers to the video driver board of a panel.

    If the display is subjected to physical shock, or a simple failure of the adhesive holding the TAB against the glass this could cause one or more TAB connections to fail inside the display. TAB faults require replacement of the display module itself. If these connections were to fail, the effect would be that entire rows or columns of pixels would fail to activate. This causes horizontal or vertical black lines to appear on the display while the rest of the display would appear normal. The horizontal failure runs from edge-to-edge; the vertical failure runs from top-to-bottom."


    We can also see in this screenshot the physical connecter lines up with the exact area of the lines
    41pJlFTEOnL._SY300_.jpg


    The right screen is flipped around, so the connecters are on the right side when facing us - exactly where the lines appear (resting near the hot CPU)
    13
    I have plenty of facts. this rebuilt means nothing. If its going to happen it will happen. reguardless of a rebuilt or not. I also read where some people did the download and it still got the black lines. One persons change on a program means nothing if it still happens.

    You are under the impression ( and I guess some other people) I built this TWRP as a black line fix. I did not, its simply a TWRP with hotplugging, double tap wake with working / persistent screen brightness.

    It is not going to magically fix the black line issue we have been having but I don't like our current recovery sitting with 4 cores on at 2.2ghz. It's not needed and makes the cpu very hot quick. Its completely pointless to have the CPU running like this in recovery. Heat is never good for chips, period. Also you shouldn't use the word "hacked" when you are referring to people modifying an open source build.