Black Screen, Phone On, But No Backlight

Search This thread

Kev_McCall

Member
Oct 12, 2009
27
0
Ok so before I begin, I've read everything online and cannot figure this out. I've searched the forums for hours and still no luck.

I have the HTC One M7 with T-Mobile

I've had it since December with no issues at all, and still in mint condition. Never dropped.

I have it rooted, with boot unlocked

ViperOne ROM Installed, stock kernel.


Ok so Tuesday night I was going to bed (phone still on and working) and plugged my phone in to the charger to charge for the night as I usually do every night. Wake up in the morning and hit the power button to unlock the phone and to my surprise the display doesn't come on. As I said I've never dropped this phone in the entire 9 months I've had it, nor has it ever gotten wet.

This is NOT the first time this has happened either. I've had the phone display flicker on/off and after a couple times it will just stay on. It's also went off and I've fixed it by holding a light to the sensor in the top left and it came on. This time I'm not having any luck.

Please help! It's rooted, with custom ROM, and boot unlocked, therefore I cannot send it in for repair as warranty is voided. I've tried restoring it back to stock the best I can via mirror Android to PC program, but it's very difficult. I've restored it once before, I just don't get why it's not working again with me holding the light to the sensor. Any help and/or suggestions would be greatly aprreciated!! Thank you!
 

zelendel

Senior Member
Aug 11, 2008
23,360
20,607
OnePlus 6T
OnePlus 9
Ok so before I begin, I've read everything online and cannot figure this out. I've searched the forums for hours and still no luck.

I have the HTC One M7 with T-Mobile

I've had it since December with no issues at all, and still in mint condition. Never dropped.

I have it rooted, with boot unlocked

ViperOne ROM Installed, stock kernel.


Ok so Tuesday night I was going to bed (phone still on and working) and plugged my phone in to the charger to charge for the night as I usually do every night. Wake up in the morning and hit the power button to unlock the phone and to my surprise the display doesn't come on. As I said I've never dropped this phone in the entire 9 months I've had it, nor has it ever gotten wet.

This is NOT the first time this has happened either. I've had the phone display flicker on/off and after a couple times it will just stay on. It's also went off and I've fixed it by holding a light to the sensor in the top left and it came on. This time I'm not having any luck.

Please help! It's rooted, with custom ROM, and boot unlocked, therefore I cannot send it in for repair as warranty is voided. I've tried restoring it back to stock the best I can via mirror Android to PC program, but it's very difficult. I've restored it once before, I just don't get why it's not working again with me holding the light to the sensor. Any help and/or suggestions would be greatly aprreciated!! Thank you!


Well issues like this are common with custom roms. You would need to pull a log cat or DSM message and send it to the developers.
 

majmoz

Senior Member
Oct 18, 2010
1,439
417
Sonoita
Ok so before I begin, I've read everything online and cannot figure this out. I've searched the forums for hours and still no luck.

I have the HTC One M7 with T-Mobile

I've had it since December with no issues at all, and still in mint condition. Never dropped.

I have it rooted, with boot unlocked

ViperOne ROM Installed, stock kernel.
If you are not S-OFF, then you will have to relock your bootloader with this command: fastboot oem lock
Then run this RUU 5.14.531.11 That will put you back at stock and if you want to put a custom rom or root you can try it again.
 

Kev_McCall

Member
Oct 12, 2009
27
0
If you are not S-OFF, then you will have to relock your bootloader with this command: fastboot oem lock
Then run this RUU 5.14.531.11 That will put you back at stock and if you want to put a custom rom or root you can try it again.

Thanks man! I've tried other RUU's with no luck. So just to be certain, in order to flash an RUU, you need S-Off wit Bootloader locked? Is it not possible to flash RUU with S-On? Going to do this now. I'll let you know. I'll keep you guys updated. Feeling good about this. :)
 

majmoz

Senior Member
Oct 18, 2010
1,439
417
Sonoita
Thanks man! I've tried other RUU's with no luck. So just to be certain, in order to flash an RUU, you need S-Off wit Bootloader locked? No, if you S-OFF you can leave it unlocked.
Is it not possible to flash RUU with S-On? No, if S-ON you can only flash it if your bootloader is locked and the same OS version or higher.
Going to do this now. I'll let you know. I'll keep you guys updated. Feeling good about this. :)
See comments above.
 

Kev_McCall

Member
Oct 12, 2009
27
0


Ok so I succesfully Installed the RUU and back to stock rom, but upon rebooting, my screen did not turn back on. I've read of dozens of other users who have experienced this same thing. I guess the next step would be to fully return it to stock, turning S-On, removing tampered, unrooting, etc, and just returning it for another phone. @majmoz
 

majmoz

Senior Member
Oct 18, 2010
1,439
417
Sonoita
Ok so I succesfully Installed the RUU and back to stock rom, but upon rebooting, my screen did not turn back on. I've read of dozens of other users who have experienced this same thing. I guess the next step would be to fully return it to stock, turning S-On, removing tampered, unrooting, etc, and just returning it for another phone. @majmoz
If you successfully ran the RUU, then you are stock with a relocked bootloader. The downside is you have to be S-OFF to remove the tampered and to change the "relocked" to "locked".

If you are S-OFF, then you would have to put TWRP 2.6.3.3 or 2.7.1.2 and install this Bootloader Reset Tool. Then flash a stock recovery. You are now completely back to stock.
 
Last edited:

Kev_McCall

Member
Oct 12, 2009
27
0
If you successfully ran the RUU, then you are stock with a relocked bootloader. The downside is you have to be S-OFF to remove the tampered and to change the "relocked" to "locked".

If you are S-OFF, then you would have to put TWRP 2.6.3.3 or 2.7.1.2 and install this Bootloader Reset Tool. Then flash a stock recovery. You are now completely back to stock.

Yea. I turned S-Off before I even ran the RUU. So there's one thing I'm confused about. If I'm trying to return to complete stock state, why would I install Twrp or CWM if those don't come with it? Is there any other way to do this? As I have no back-light and it's been very hard to do all that I've done so far. Screen hasn't come on, so I'm working blind here. Lucky for me I remember where most of the buttons are at and with the help of ADB, I've gotten this far. @majmoz
 

majmoz

Senior Member
Oct 18, 2010
1,439
417
Sonoita
Yea. I turned S-Off before I even ran the RUU. So there's one thing I'm confused about. If I'm trying to return to complete stock state, why would I install Twrp or CWM if those don't come with it? Is there any other way to do this? As I have no back-light and it's been very hard to do all that I've done so far. Screen hasn't come on, so I'm working blind here. Lucky for me I remember where most of the buttons are at and with the help of ADB, I've gotten this far. @majmoz

Yes, look at nkk71 guide in my signature he has the steps in post 3 or 4. I'm away from the house so I can't post the link.
 

Kev_McCall

Member
Oct 12, 2009
27
0
Yes, look at nkk71 guide in my signature he has the steps in post 3 or 4. I'm away from the house so I can't post the link.

@majmoz

Hey bro thank you so much for the help so far, I really appreciate it. I just have one last problem. I've already talked with HTC and they're going to be sending me a replacement and I have to send my phone back in within 10 days but they said they would be checking for root.

So question 1. When you restore phone to stock ROM via RUU it unroots the phone correct?

Second problem. Now that I've restored the stock rom, usb debugging isn't enabled and I can re-enable it due to not being able to see the screen. So because USB Debugging is not enabled ADB is no longer recognizing it when I run "adb devices"

Because of this I can't turn bootloader, tampered, and lock stats back on. I'm really nervous sending my phone back in like this. I hate to keep bothering you, but you seem to know your stuff a lot more than I, and I'd hate to start a new thread. Thanks again bro.
 

majmoz

Senior Member
Oct 18, 2010
1,439
417
Sonoita
@majmoz

So question 1. When you restore phone to stock ROM via RUU it unroots the phone correct?

Second problem. Now that I've restored the stock rom, usb debugging isn't enabled and I can re-enable it due to not being able to see the screen. So because USB Debugging is not enabled ADB is no longer recognizing it when I run "adb devices"

Because of this I can't turn bootloader, tampered, and lock stats back on. I'm really nervous sending my phone back in like this. I hate to keep bothering you, but you seem to know your stuff a lot more than I, and I'd hate to start a new thread. Thanks again bro.

1. RUU unroots the phone.
2. Yes, you need USB Debugging enabled and a custom recovery (nkk71 uses CWM).
I have been racking my brain all night. This is a long shot, but if HTC is sending you a replacement before you have to ship yours back then here is an idea. With the replacement phone side by side; memic the commands to open Settings on both phones doing the replacement phone first, then the old phone. The location of the items should be in the same place on both screens. It may take a couple of tries but you seem adapt at reading blank screens. ;) I'm still researching a way to turn it on remotely, but this is the only solution I could come up with presently.

When you get USB Debugging enabled, use nkk71's guide to install CWM on your phone. Then complete the manual steps to remove "Tampered" and to "Locked" the phone. Reboot the phone into bootloader per the instructions. Now we need to put the stock recovery back on the phone. You can get the stock recovery out of the last OTA. Download it to your PC, then open the zip file. Within the zip is the firmware.zip, open it and you will see recovery.img file this is the stock recovery. Just extract it and flash it like you did the custom recovery earlier. Going back to nkk71's guide, complete the fastboot command to return to S-ON. Now you are completely stock with no hint of root.
 

Kev_McCall

Member
Oct 12, 2009
27
0
@majmoz

I'm beast! lol Ok so quick update to my problem. So I got the bright idea to use the Power+Volume Down to take screenshots of my display as I blindly tapped and used that as a guide and moved forward to unlocking developer options, then enabling USB debugging. ;) I can now see my device in ADB once again. Should be pretty cake from here. Thank you so much bro! And also, HTC has agreed to send me a new phone, but I must first send mine in. They would have sent me one first and then I send mine in later, but they wanted to place a $600 credit hold on my card. **** THAT. The rep told me they would be checking for other damages as well as if it rooted.
 

majmoz

Senior Member
Oct 18, 2010
1,439
417
Sonoita
@majmoz

I'm beast! lol Ok so quick update to my problem. So I got the bright idea to use the Power+Volume Down to take screenshots of my display as I blindly tapped and used that as a guide and moved forward to unlocking developer options, then enabling USB debugging. ;) I can now see my device in ADB once again. Should be pretty cake from here. Thank you so much bro! And also, HTC has agreed to send me a new phone, but I must first send mine in. They would have sent me one first and then I send mine in later, but they wanted to place a $600 credit hold on my card. **** THAT. The rep told me they would be checking for other damages as well as if it rooted.
You are a genius!!! I will have to remember that if this type of situation arises again. :cool:
 

Kev_McCall

Member
Oct 12, 2009
27
0
@majmoz

Ok so I've been reading those sites and I know I'm so close to being back to 100% stock, but now I'm stuck. I'm confused as to what order to things.

I restore stock recovery, then lock bootloader, turn S-ON,and remove tampered and return to Locked status?

Here are my fastboot getvar details. Just trying to get this done as soon as possible as I'm also in the process of moving and wont have net here much longer. So as soon as I get this done I can send my phone back in and get the replacement. :) Really hate being without a phone.
 

majmoz

Senior Member
Oct 18, 2010
1,439
417
Sonoita
@majmoz

Ok so I've been reading those sites and I know I'm so close to being back to 100% stock, but now I'm stuck. I'm confused as to what order to things.

I restore stock recovery, then lock bootloader, turn S-ON,and remove tampered and return to Locked status?

Here are my fastboot getvar details. Just trying to get this done as soon as possible as I'm also in the process of moving and wont have net here much longer. So as soon as I get this done I can send my phone back in and get the replacement. :) Really hate being without a phone.

Here I put them in your new post.
 

Kev_McCall

Member
Oct 12, 2009
27
0
Alright cool thanks! I really shouldn't have created a new thread, but I wasn't sure if you would be on for much longer. Reading it now. :)
 

clsA

Senior Member
Aug 28, 2010
9,912
3,535
Central Florida
Probably not, you're right. But when other people don't respond to my initial thread it's kind of hard. I'm still stuck And just trying to get this finished up. Would you care to help? It's not much.

we all have other lives besides XDA .. you have to be patient

I have a few min where are you now in the recovery process ?