[SOLVED] LG Optimus V - Blank Screen

I have yet to find an answer to this while searching for the past day, so I'm going to ask about it here.

My LG Optimus V's (just got it a few days ago as a birthday present) screen seems to be permanently blank... In case someone asks... yes, it is activated.

What Happened:
I rooted the phone using Gingerbreak 1.2, installed rom manager/clockwork recovery mod, then attempted to backup my phone in case something went wrong. However, when I started the backup, I noticed that the screen was completely blank. I was kinda freaking out, so I just took a shower while it did it's thing. When I came back, it was done creating the backup and it showed up in Rom Manager. After toying with some of the things I can do with it rooted (I only rooted it to see how much of a difference it would make without changing the kernel), I decided to recover that backup. When my phone restarted to recover the backup, the screen was blank once again. After waiting for over an hour, I concluded that it must have finished (since my HTC Hero would finish restoring and never reboot until I tell it to) and took out the battery. Afterwards, it would show the LG splash screen... then the blank screen.

What I Did:
I was thinking about the android screencast java application a few hours after my problem first developed. I plugged my phone into my computer, got adb working, and android screencast showed me that my phone was actually getting stuck at the clockwork recovery mod screen. I tried many things... I installed a CM7 rom, flashed 3 different recoveries, flashed an overclocked stock rom, etc. Eventually, I flashed the stock rom (no changes whatsoever) and stock recovery. Now I can hear my phone, but cannot see it. However, I should note that while using CM7 the same thing happened. The only difference being that I could use android screencast to see the screen (the phone was actually working) with CM7. Now with the stock rom, adb is disabled and I cannot see the screen or do... anything.

What I Think I Should Do:
I'm thinking about calling Virgin Mobile and telling them that my screen is defected. If they see the issue they'll probably think that it's a hardware issue (for all I know, it could be) and they'll probably give me a replacement. However, if anyone as had the same problem and fixed it, I would love to know.

I would love you hear your opinion on this and, if possible, a fix. Thanks in advance!

(JIC, if I posed in the wrong section, I'm sorry...)

Thank you very much for the reply!

Yeah, you're right, I'm probably SOL... I still have one option though! Theoretically, I should be able to turn on ADB without being able to see my screen. I know how to access the settings without seeing it, but navigating myself to the "Applications", "Development", "USB Debugging" may be a little hard. I will attempt to do so. I will report my progress in a bit.

However, if you (or somebody else) could provide screenshots of a step-by-step process to turn on USB Debugging in the stock rom (since it's kinda hard to do remember where everything is and screenshots of different phones is kinda different) then I would appreciate it VERY much!

I shall update this in an hour or so.


UPDATE (9/2/11 - 9 PM):
I'm going to take a break for now. Good thing I give everyone my Google Voice number, I doubt anyone will notice a change. I'm going to flash a stock rom onto my HTC Hero so I can figure out where things are on the LG Optimus V (Same screen size) in an hour or so. I'll update my progress in like 2 hours.

UPDATE (9/3/11 - 8:10 AM):
I have been unable to turn on USB Debugging and it seems to be because I don't know where the confirmation after turning it on is located. However, I should note that when I boot into (I think) recovery, "adb devices" states that the device is attached but offline. If there is a way to make it "online" from stock recovery then I would love to know. For now, I will try everything I can.

UPDATE (9/3/11 - 8:22 AM):
Ok. I plugged my phone into the back of my computer and now when I do "adb devices" it detects the device in recovery mode. However, when I try "adb shell" it says "- exec '/system/bin/sh' failed: No such file or directory <2> -". I'll try some more stuff, but does anyone have any idea of what I can do? Android Screencast doesn't work either, so that's not an option.

UPDATE (9/3/11 - 9:42 AM):
Crap... now it's indefinatly booting into recovery... I had something like this happen before, I'll report my status in an hour or so...

UPDATE (9/3/11 - 12:36 PM):
My friend finally got my phone booting out of recovery again! Now all I have to do is get "USB Debugging" on and it SHOULD work!

Awesome, thanks for the replies! I'm going to try your suggestions now. I'll let you know how things work out in a few hours. I would have replied earlier, but to my satisfaction there was a surprise party planned for me, lol. I will defiantly try these out now.

Once again, thank you very much. I honestly did not expect a reply for something that happens to such few people.

bigsupersquid said:

I <think> there's a key combination to power up into the bootloader. if you can find it with searching here and android central.
I haven't been able to track that down today. If you can get into the bootloader, you can fix it. Search for asadullah's fastboot root instructions here if you find a way to get into the blue screen (the bootloader, which fastboot talks to.)
otherwise, I'll be done taking the kids to the (ugh) pool in a few hours and I'll search more.

try pulling your battery for a few minutes and see if the reboot cyle stops that way, at least it might get into recovery or the rom.

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

I'm honestly not sure what my friend did, lol. She was just messing with it while it was, apparently, in recovery and it ended up rebooting and loading the rom. I, honestly, don't want to risk getting stuck in recovery anymore since taking out the battery for an hour didn't do anything... If I'm unable to get adb on using what I know from that video then I'll try booting into the bootloader. Like I said before, I'll report my status in a few hours. I really appreciate your help up to now!

EXTREMELY HAPPY UPDATE!!! (9/4/11 - 1:22 AM)
I was able to turn on ADB! I used what I learned from that video and how turning on ADB works on my HTC Hero to get it working and it's FINALLY ON! Now I can attempt to flash the recovery, kernel, and everything else in order to get it working! Thank you VERY much! I will let you know how everything turn out

Another Wonderful Update! (9/4/11 - 2:03 AM)
I have flashed the recovery.img (the Xionia CWMA one) and can see my screen in recovery! I haven't seen anything on my screen besides the LG splash screen so I'm overwhelmed with joy! I'm flashing a new ROM and the other stuff now!

Final Update! (9/4/11 - 2:09 AM)
2:05 AM - I see the rom's boot screen!
2:06 AM - I see the CM7 Mod boot screen!
2:08 AM - I see the UI on my screen and everything seems to be working! Thank you VERY much!

Quick question though... If I want to install a new ROM, do I need to flash the xionia anykernel one directly afterwards?

Thank you for both the help and the compliment!

I don't like giving up when it's something I know I can do. I figured that if I was able to mount my SD card without being able to see the screen, I should be able to turn on USB Debugging as well. About the Android Screencast... I didn't actually think about it until it until I plugged in my phone while the screen was blank, ran "adb devices", and saw that my device was detected within recovery. I figured that I might as well give it a shot... and it worked.

Alright, that's what I figured. Hopefully someone realizes what's happening with refurbished Optimus V smartphones and ports the newer sprint kernels to the Optimus V. I feel like I got ripped-off though... I bought my phone "new" and got a refurbished one. I can't really do anything though, we're not technically supposed to be rooting our Virgin Mobile phones anyways, lol. I'll be sure to do that everytime now though. For now, I think I'm good with the Bumblebee rom.

Once again, thank you VERY much for your help! I know I would not have been able to fix my phone without your help.

EDIT:
Oh yeah, btw, if the Optimus V ever gets stuck in stock recovery, press the "back" button then "home" button to boot into the rom. Not sure why it works (I was never able to see the screen), but it worked.