How to tell if my phone is being tapped/hacked? - Security Discussion

Hi,
First of all, I am sorry if this is a long post; I just want to tell everything that has happened for clarity.
A month back, my phone (Xperia Z1) fell on the bathroom floor and the screen got badly damaged. I took it to the Sony authorized service center and they told me that since my warranty period is over, I should pay for the replacements. Since the authentic parts were not cheap, I took it to another place in the city where they do cheap electronic repairs with second quality hardware. Sure enough, one guy told me that he can fix the phone and i have to change the display and touch. And he quoted me a price which was a third of what the Sony guys said. I asked him to do it. He asked me to come and collect the phone later on the day, but since I am very paranoid about all the security issues (all kinds of shady things happen in this place), I told him I'll just stay there till he's done. After he installed the parts, He turned the screen on and it said, "android is loading.." with the android logo. Like when we update or install ROMs. I wasn't sure why a system update or anything software related was needed to change the display. I asked him this and he told me that since this was a phone with non removable battery, when we remove and put it back, this will happen. I was actually thinking that he might be putting some cheap board from some other used phone and will finally give me a formatted phone saying he coudnt retrieve the data. I was paranoid for some time but when he switched it on, all my data were there. All well and good.
Last week, unfortunately, i dropped my phone again and the back glass panel cracked. This time i thought I'll order the part online and assemble it myself. So, i started watching YouTube videos on how to dissassemble and reassemble Xperia Z1. And then I noticed, in all the videos, they removed all the parts and put it back together, and when they started the phone, Sony logo appeared. Normal Loading screen. No "Android is Loading" part. This is when i started getting paranoid. Did he install some spyware on my phone? Is there any way to find out? I coudn't find anything suspicious in the installed or system apps list. My bootloader is not still locked. If it indeed is being tracked, Is there any way to remove it? I've done factory reset a couple times after that, that doesn't fix it, does it? Should i do a clean firmware reinstall. Please Guide me. Could he be tracing my phone for a month? I have had a lot of personal stuff on my phone and i would not like those to be compromised. Or, am i being too paranoid and it does actually happen when you change hardware?
Please please help..Sorry for the long post.. Hope you understand

First of all, don't be panicked. Phones such as Xperia Z1 can't be tapped as the board are company manufactured. You may find cheap and duplicate boards but that's a rare chance. And as of the "Android is Loading" part its not an issue. So don't be scared and if you still feel that you are being tapped/tracked check for apps installed and check incoming and outgoing connections when connected to internet using any HTTP traffic app from play store. A store owner cannot track or listen to your calls.

Related

[Q] Frustrating One S sensors locked?

Greetings all. I'm not convinced my problem is specifically related to the One S, and I certainly haven't got anywhere near rooting yet, but you Guys are expert at nosing round in the bowels of this phone & the OS, and I'm getting totally flummoxed as to where I've gone wrong.
I've owned this phone since June and it was originally locked to O2, was unlocked and used on Giffgaff, an O2 offshoot - probably irrelevant. One of the apps I particularly wanted to use was Google Sky Map, duly installed and run successfully for a day or so. Other apps installed, as one does, but when I came back to Sky Map, the app was frozen, as were seemingly all compass function apps.
Various uninstalls & reinstalls later, a system reset and a factory reset and this function still was inactive. Returned to HTC for fixing. No better - all worked OK for a short while then stopped. Returned again and this time internals were swapped ,but now the microphone wouldn't work. Third return and an unlocked sim-free handset was returned.
As soon as I loaded my profile from Google, initially it worked, but later most of the sensors again seemed to fail. I've tried the full factory reboot then logged in with a totally new Gmail account, but no change. Phone Tester app shows only readings from proximity and light sensors - no gyroscope,compass, mag. field or accelerometer. Accelerometer did show one set of readings this morning, but nothing since. Lookout AV has always been installed. Incidentally, almost exactly the same profile worked perfectly well on my previous phone, a Wildfire S.
Should I shoot myself or the phone? I admit I'm not any sort of phone expert, but I don't think I'm that dense as to so consistently screw this thing up.
Any ideas people please, in (moderately) simple terminology?
Ok maybe you could shoot google, maybe its a fault by them.
If I helped in anyway please hit thanks
Thank you for the oh-so-helpful response.
Just in case one of the myriad readers of this thread should have just a quiver of interest ................. I believe I've found the answer.
It's always been difficult to pinpoint the problem, and certainly HTC haven't twigged what's happening, as before I sent the phone back to them I TOOK THE FLIP CASE OFF!
That's why it would work for a short while after return, until I replaced the case. I can only guess there's something like Carbon Black in the plastic back shell, and that's what's been interfering with the sensors.
It may also be relevant to the big Home Button problem, with the screen flipping between Home & Helicopter views. Has anyone investigated whether there could be sufficient signal degradation to trigger this problem caused by the use of a case?
Sweetness and light to all.
I spoke to an HTC rep, and he said they would not give an unbranded handset back. If that's the case, I want my phone unbranded. I'll take it to them and hopefully get an unbranded one.
Well good for your HTC rep. They can't go giving out unbranded sets like that. What is the World coming to?
Notwithstanding - the previous clutter of O2 apps was pleasantly noticeable by its absence as was the O2 splash screen.
What a lucky little customer I am and it's only taken 4 months to sort out.

[Q] Nexus 5 came back from LG Repair with different software

Hello ALl,
I am not a developer and do very little tinkering with my android phones. That being said, I recently shattered my Nexus 5's sreen and sent it into LG to get repaired. They sent it back as "not repairable: Epoxy Crack." I turned it on as it was still fully functional (minus the screen) when I sent it off. The phone booted up with a letterboxed version of the Nexus 4 boot screen and after going through an initial set up, I went to settings to find that the phone now says:
Android version - KeyLimePie
Baseband version - M8974A-1.0.25.0.15
Kernel version - 3.4.0-gaf7416a-00002-g97abe44 / [email protected] #1 / Thu Apr17 10:56:17 KST 2014
Build number - aosp_hammerhead-userdebug KeyLimePie / FAC140417_KRT01B PDK853385 test-keys
Also, under runtime, I can chose between Dalvik, ART, and ART Debug mode. Lastly, there are a few diagnostics apps installed on the phone.
I am not sure if any of this is helpful to any developers out there, but if it is, please let me know and I can try to pull an image of the phone for you to use.
I suspect it is some old Android image that they flash onto every phone to do repairs, but since they did not reset the phone to stock, I am happy to try and get the software to any of you if you want it.
mrfochs said:
Hello ALl,
I am not a developer and do very little tinkering with my android phones. That being said, I recently shattered my Nexus 5's sreen and sent it into LG to get repaired. They sent it back as "not repairable: Epoxy Crack." I turned it on as it was still fully functional (minus the screen) when I sent it off. The phone booted up with a letterboxed version of the Nexus 4 boot screen and after going through an initial set up, I went to settings to find that the phone now says:
Android version - KeyLimePie
Baseband version - M8974A-1.0.25.0.15
Kernel version - 3.4.0-gaf7416a-00002-g97abe44 / [email protected] #1 / Thu Apr17 10:56:17 KST 2014
Build number - aosp_hammerhead-userdebug KeyLimePie / FAC140417_KRT01B PDK853385 test-keys
Also, under runtime, I can chose between Dalvik, ART, and ART Debug mode. Lastly, there are a few diagnostics apps installed on the phone.
I am not sure if any of this is helpful to any developers out there, but if it is, please let me know and I can try to pull an image of the phone for you to use.
I suspect it is some old Android image that they flash onto every phone to do repairs, but since they did not reset the phone to stock, I am happy to try and get the software to any of you if you want it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
na, its an old pre kitkat prerelease, and has been known about for a long time. whats odd is thats what they flashed, instead of anything more recent. unless thats what their technician have, odd they didnt go with the factory img.
simms22 said:
na, its an old pre kitkat prerelease, and has been known about for a long time. whats odd is thats what they flashed, instead of anything more recent. unless thats what their technician have, odd they didnt go with the factory img.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is even more odd as I have done a factory reset before sending it in so as to ensure that my account data and info was off the phone in the case that they were to send me a new phone instead of swapping out the components of the original. It was fun looking through the random debugging and testing apps they left on the phone. Thank fully my fiancee reads and speaks Korean and she could tell me what the on screen buttons said.
Anyway, thanks. I have decided since LG won't repair the screen, I will. I ordered the screen, digitizer, and front bezel from ETradeSupply and will try to save the phone myself once the part arrives. If all goes well with the replacement, I will flash hopefully back to factory original and then upgrade to 4.4 again.
In the meantime, it looks like a few more days with the Moto G (purchased as a back up phone while sorting out the screen on the Nexus 5).
Interesting to see that the Test Version's Kernel date is 17th April 2014...
LG has two kind of firmware for their devices: FACTORY and USER. Factory image is used to test the phones hardware like bluetooth, wifi, screen etc... and enables some more options for LG testers to make it sure the phone works perfectly. The user image for nexus 5 is the same what google offers for us.
@mrfochs try to do a backup if possible. Kernel, system and radio that is what we need. Also please check the bootloader version if it somethig new then make a backup. You will have problems using LG flashtool in the future, but it can be solved easily. If you ever have to use lg flashtool to return to stock just contact me and we make your phone compatible again with LG flashtool.
While that build is technically old, like @vin4yak said, that kernel date is what's really throwing me off.
I'm on stock right now and KTU84P kernel reads it was created on March 17th, 2014
You should try and extract those troubleshooting apk's and share them with the community.
bitdomo said:
LG has two kind of firmware for their devices: FACTORY and USER. Factory image is used to test the phones hardware like bluetooth, wifi, screen etc... and enables some more options for LG testers to make it sure the phone works perfectly. The user image for nexus 5 is the same what google offers for us.
@mrfochs try to do a backup if possible. Kernel, system and radio that is what we need. Also please check the bootloader version if it somethig new then make a backup. You will have problems using LG flashtool in the future, but it can be solved easily. If you ever have to use lg flashtool to return to stock just contact me and we make your phone compatible again with LG flashtool.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am happy to try and make a backup, however I haven't the slightest clue how to go about doing it (like I said in original post I=newb).
mrfochs said:
I am happy to try and make a backup, however I haven't the slightest clue how to go about doing it (like I said in original post I=newb).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unlock bootloader, flash twrp recovery make a backup where you select system and boot then you upload the backup somewhere.
mrfochs said:
Anyway, thanks. I have decided since LG won't repair the screen, I will. I ordered the screen, digitizer, and front bezel from ETradeSupply and will try to save the phone myself once the part arrives. If all goes well with the replacement, I will flash hopefully back to factory original and then upgrade to 4.4 again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is so strange. I have the EXACT same situation happening to me. I got my phone back from LG as unrepairable due to "epoxy crack" and now it has this testing Key Lime Pie version that is impossible to update from.
Please let me know if you're able to successfully do the repair yourself or flash back to factory original. From this thread, it seems it's not easy to.
Which part did you order from ETrade Supply?
http://www.etradesupply.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=nexus+5
There's zero reason for this to be happening except extreme incompetence on LG's service tech's part. I would get in contact with them and demand some free service because of this. It's bad enough they can't repair the phone, but it's 100x worse that they send the phone back to you in even worse condition.
No excuse for this. I would be looking for compensation, personally.
Sadly I've heard other worrying things about LG's "repair" service. They don't even seem to realize there's a final clip that needs to be engaged on the back of the phone or else NFC and Qi don't work. That's basic stuff and gives me no confidence in their tech's abilities.
LG Flashtool affects Sideloads?
bitdomo said:
LG has two kind of firmware for their devices: FACTORY and USER. Factory image is used to test the phones hardware like bluetooth, wifi, screen etc... and enables some more options for LG testers to make it sure the phone works perfectly. The user image for nexus 5 is the same what google offers for us.
@mrfochs try to do a backup if possible. Kernel, system and radio that is what we need. Also please check the bootloader version if it somethig new then make a backup. You will have problems using LG flashtool in the future, but it can be solved easily. If you ever have to use lg flashtool to return to stock just contact me and we make your phone compatible again with LG flashtool.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have given up trying to get the app files off this phone as the current version of Android that is installed on here keeps crashing popping up "Google Play Services failed to load" or a handful of other popups indicating apps that have failed to launch. I set up the drivers on my computer to sideload 4.4.4 through ADB, but I keep getting "File Signature Verification Failed." Is this a result of trying to sideload the OTA while ADB is seeing a different firmware as a result of the LG Flash tool you mentioned?
I contacted LG to ask them how to get the factory software on the phone and they want me to ship the phone back to them in Fort Worth as their paperwork "doesn't indicate that anything was done to the phone." I would prefer to find a way to install stock back to the phone without having to mail my phone again (especially since I just replaced the screen).
mrfochs said:
I have given up trying to get the app files off this phone as the current version of Android that is installed on here keeps crashing popping up "Google Play Services failed to load" or a handful of other popups indicating apps that have failed to launch. I set up the drivers on my computer to sideload 4.4.4 through ADB, but I keep getting "File Signature Verification Failed." Is this a result of trying to sideload the OTA while ADB is seeing a different firmware as a result of the LG Flash tool you mentioned?
I contacted LG to ask them how to get the factory software on the phone and they want me to ship the phone back to them in Fort Worth as their paperwork "doesn't indicate that anything was done to the phone." I would prefer to find a way to install stock back to the phone without having to mail my phone again (especially since I just replaced the screen).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It'll fail if you're using stock recovery?
mrfochs said:
I have given up trying to get the app files off this phone as the current version of Android that is installed on here keeps crashing popping up "Google Play Services failed to load" or a handful of other popups indicating apps that have failed to launch. I set up the drivers on my computer to sideload 4.4.4 through ADB, but I keep getting "File Signature Verification Failed." Is this a result of trying to sideload the OTA while ADB is seeing a different firmware as a result of the LG Flash tool you mentioned?
I contacted LG to ask them how to get the factory software on the phone and they want me to ship the phone back to them in Fort Worth as their paperwork "doesn't indicate that anything was done to the phone." I would prefer to find a way to install stock back to the phone without having to mail my phone again (especially since I just replaced the screen).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Contact me on hangouts: [email protected]
Then I will make it work to flash google's rom. Only thing you have to do is let me connect to your PC through team viewer and connect your phone in fastboot mode to your PC.
Let me provide and update and go on a rant here for a bit. For anyone who cares to listen.
It took me 1 chat, 1 failed supervisor call back, and 3 consequent phone calls ultimately escalating to a supervisor to get LG to understand they made a mistake and send me a shipping label so they can get the factory test OS removed.
Here is a copy/paste from my first uncanny chat with an LG representative:
Mariangie: Unfortunately the OS they tested is the way they use to repair the phone and since it was not responding on that mode (service mode) that's when the phone is deemed unrepairable
Mariangie: and regretfully no it cant be put back into normal (customer) OS
lifeinpictures: that makes no sense
Mariangie: My sincere apologies
lifeinpictures: controls work just fine
lifeinpictures: it worked fine before I sent it
lifeinpictures: and controls and touch work just fine now
lifeinpictures: you cannot tell me that you guys purposely send items back with a testing operating system, meant for techs and not users
lifeinpictures: at the least, I should be able to get my product in the same state I sent it in
lifeinpictures: not WORSE
Mariangie: I truly apologize again for the inconvenience this may caused, I personally understand your position. I will certainly forward your comments and dissatisfaction about this matter.
lifeinpictures: I don't need you to forward anything, I need you to fix it.
lifeinpictures: you broke it
lifeinpictures: therefore you should fix it
Mariangie: I wish i have other options available, unfortunately the phone cant be put back into normal OS. It seems to have a physical damage that result in internal part not working
Mariangie: techs try to putting the phone into service OS but it is not working
Mariangie: making it not possible to have it repair
Mariangie: and no way to put back on normal mode
lifeinpictures: Mariange, I really doubt you know enough about the testing hammerhead OS to know what you're talking about
Mariangie: My sincere apologies
raul takahashi: an OS is not reliant on physical, operating parts
lifeinpictures: I understand, you feel upset about this
lifeinpictures: I truly apologize again for the inconvenience this represent
lifeinpictures: And again I wish i could have other options to supply you with
lifeinpictures: I'm afraid no other options to provide you with
Mariangie: Sorry Mr. LifeinPictures.
lifeinpictures: this is pretty much against the law Mariange
lifeinpictures: this is like giving you my car to repair a cracked window
lifeinpictures: and you give it back to me with a broken engine, which wasn't broken before
Mariangie: My sincere apologies, Again I wish i could have other options to supply you with, I'm afraid no other options to provide you with.
It took me all evening, but I finally reached a supervisor to resolve (interestingly, it's the exact same supervisor I had escalated to just 2 weeks ago. read below if interested. He immediately accepted the mistake, and finally offered a ship label to get the phone shipped back and fixed.
I have lost complete faith in LG as a company and will do everything I can to avoid them.
Previous history, copied and pasted from Google forum thread about cracked screen:
To quickly recap my history and experience with Nexus 5.
1. Buy Nexus 5.
2. Drop it on carpet from coffee table 2 feet tall, screen completely shattered. 4 months after purchase. (Owned 12 phones in my life, all handled way more abuse)
3. Pay LG $140 to repair.
4. LG sends me refurbished unit, not my original one repaired. I'm ok with this.
5. Buy heavy duty case because apparently this thing is fragile.
6. Lunch in an outside restaurant patio. Sunny day. Table is warm to the touch, but nothing anyone notices or cares about as they eat. I put my phone face down, glass on table. Pick up phone to leave, there is a crack from side to side of the phone. Just great. Can't even handle everyday situations, less severe than a hot car (for example).
7. Crack very soon start expanding to the rest of the phone. Now entire screen cracked.
8. Send to LG for repair, again.*
9. Phone comes back as unrepairable due to "epoxy crack". (B.S. this was less severe than my 1st one and phone is fully functional, electronically and mechanically. Research proves many recent attempts by other Nexus 5 owners sending cracked phones for repair have been denied)
10. Phone comes back worse than it was when sent, with testing factory OS instead of user OS. Unable to update from.
*=Customer service: 4 days go by since LG has possession of my phone. I call to ask for status, rep says "wait until we call your or email you". Next day, I get a UPS notice that phone is being shipped back. I call to find out why, speak to 3 reps, none can tell me anything other than "it's not repairable". 4th call reaches supervisor, who tells me it's due to "damaged electronics". It's a lie, but I give up.
(My theory on these newfound lack of willingness to replace screens:
LG / Google is aware they skimped on glass quality to keep the price low. They made a (decent) business decision to first do "whatever it takes" to keep customers happy and loyal. This includes fixing screens "outside of warranty" (since they know it's impossible for customers to prove a cracked screen is manufacturer fault) for a very reasonable cost of $140 which is close to cost (parts + labor) or potentially at a loss. This keeps the majority of owners at bay. Now, Nexus 6 is on the horizon and the loss or lack of revenue from these Nexus 5 screen repairs has surpassed expectation so they have advised their repair stations to deny them. They've done their part with an acceptable level of damage control and soon everyone will get a Nexus 6, move on, and forget the Nexus 5 was a debacle.)​
lifeinpictures said:
This is so strange. I have the EXACT same situation happening to me. I got my phone back from LG as unrepairable due to "epoxy crack" and now it has this testing Key Lime Pie version that is impossible to update from.
Please let me know if you're able to successfully do the repair yourself or flash back to factory original. From this thread, it seems it's not easy to.
Which part did you order from ETrade Supply?
http://www.etradesupply.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=nexus+5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lifeinpictures said:
Let me provide and update and go on a rant here for a bit. For anyone who cares to listen.
It took me 1 chat, 1 failed supervisor call back, and 3 consequent phone calls ultimately escalating to a supervisor to get LG to understand they made a mistake and send me a shipping label so they can get the factory test OS removed.
Here is a copy/paste from my first uncanny chat with an LG representative:
Mariangie: Unfortunately the OS they tested is the way they use to repair the phone and since it was not responding on that mode (service mode) that's when the phone is deemed unrepairable
Mariangie: and regretfully no it cant be put back into normal (customer) OS
lifeinpictures: that makes no sense
Mariangie: My sincere apologies
lifeinpictures: controls work just fine
lifeinpictures: it worked fine before I sent it
lifeinpictures: and controls and touch work just fine now
lifeinpictures: you cannot tell me that you guys purposely send items back with a testing operating system, meant for techs and not users
lifeinpictures: at the least, I should be able to get my product in the same state I sent it in
lifeinpictures: not WORSE
Mariangie: I truly apologize again for the inconvenience this may caused, I personally understand your position. I will certainly forward your comments and dissatisfaction about this matter.
lifeinpictures: I don't need you to forward anything, I need you to fix it.
lifeinpictures: you broke it
lifeinpictures: therefore you should fix it
Mariangie: I wish i have other options available, unfortunately the phone cant be put back into normal OS. It seems to have a physical damage that result in internal part not working
Mariangie: techs try to putting the phone into service OS but it is not working
Mariangie: making it not possible to have it repair
Mariangie: and no way to put back on normal mode
lifeinpictures: Mariange, I really doubt you know enough about the testing hammerhead OS to know what you're talking about
Mariangie: My sincere apologies
raul takahashi: an OS is not reliant on physical, operating parts
lifeinpictures: I understand, you feel upset about this
lifeinpictures: I truly apologize again for the inconvenience this represent
lifeinpictures: And again I wish i could have other options to supply you with
lifeinpictures: I'm afraid no other options to provide you with
Mariangie: Sorry Mr. LifeinPictures.
lifeinpictures: this is pretty much against the law Mariange
lifeinpictures: this is like giving you my car to repair a cracked window
lifeinpictures: and you give it back to me with a broken engine, which wasn't broken before
Mariangie: My sincere apologies, Again I wish i could have other options to supply you with, I'm afraid no other options to provide you with.
It took me all evening, but I finally reached a supervisor to resolve (interestingly, it's the exact same supervisor I had escalated to just 2 weeks ago. read below if interested. He immediately accepted the mistake, and finally offered a ship label to get the phone shipped back and fixed.
I have lost complete faith in LG as a company and will do everything I can to avoid them.
Previous history, copied and pasted from Google forum thread about cracked screen:
To quickly recap my history and experience with Nexus 5.
1. Buy Nexus 5.
2. Drop it on carpet from coffee table 2 feet tall, screen completely shattered. 4 months after purchase. (Owned 12 phones in my life, all handled way more abuse)
3. Pay LG $140 to repair.
4. LG sends me refurbished unit, not my original one repaired. I'm ok with this.
5. Buy heavy duty case because apparently this thing is fragile.
6. Lunch in an outside restaurant patio. Sunny day. Table is warm to the touch, but nothing anyone notices or cares about as they eat. I put my phone face down, glass on table. Pick up phone to leave, there is a crack from side to side of the phone. Just great. Can't even handle everyday situations, less severe than a hot car (for example).
7. Crack very soon start expanding to the rest of the phone. Now entire screen cracked.
8. Send to LG for repair, again.*
9. Phone comes back as unrepairable due to "epoxy crack". (B.S. this was less severe than my 1st one and phone is fully functional, electronically and mechanically. Research proves many recent attempts by other Nexus 5 owners sending cracked phones for repair have been denied)
10. Phone comes back worse than it was when sent, with testing factory OS instead of user OS. Unable to update from.
*=Customer service: 4 days go by since LG has possession of my phone. I call to ask for status, rep says "wait until we call your or email you". Next day, I get a UPS notice that phone is being shipped back. I call to find out why, speak to 3 reps, none can tell me anything other than "it's not repairable". 4th call reaches supervisor, who tells me it's due to "damaged electronics". It's a lie, but I give up.
(My theory on these newfound lack of willingness to replace screens:
LG / Google is aware they skimped on glass quality to keep the price low. They made a (decent) business decision to first do "whatever it takes" to keep customers happy and loyal. This includes fixing screens "outside of warranty" (since they know it's impossible for customers to prove a cracked screen is manufacturer fault) for a very reasonable cost of $140 which is close to cost (parts + labor) or potentially at a loss. This keeps the majority of owners at bay. Now, Nexus 6 is on the horizon and the loss or lack of revenue from these Nexus 5 screen repairs has surpassed expectation so they have advised their repair stations to deny them. They've done their part with an acceptable level of damage control and soon everyone will get a Nexus 6, move on, and forget the Nexus 5 was a debacle.)​
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good on you for standing up to their B.S. as there's just no excuse for that to happen. We can't argue with their reasoning for not repairing (it's up to them to decide if they want to attempt a repair for $140, after all) but they can't be so lazy/incompetent as to not reload the proper software on there. It would take them what, a couple minutes? Similar to how they're not engaging people's NFC/Qi charger on the back of the phone which should be obvious to techs who's job it is to work with these devices.
Don't forget you can always bring your phone into an independent repair shop, they won't refuse your money though I doubt their attention to detail will be much better than your average LG tech.
remove lg version?
I have the same problem. Is it possible to root this phone and remove the LG flash version and put KitKat on there?
naparama said:
I have the same problem. Is it possible to root this phone and remove the LG flash version and put KitKat on there?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you the one who contacted me on email?
yes
bitdomo said:
Are you the one who contacted me on email?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes, that was me, thanks.
loop after flash
naparama said:
yes, that was me, thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hi, I flashed the stock android after unlocking bootloader, but now it is stuck in a boot loop. I also I noticed that when it flashed, after finishing, it said boot.sig recovery.sig system.sig werent found. when I tried to boot in the safe mode, the little green android man was on his back with a red exclamation point. any thoughts?

Just had to share this experience....

Well I have been a owner of a LG Nexus 5 for the past (almost) 2 years now, in fact I am coming to the end of my contract very soon and will be able to either goto another company or get a new phone.
Anyways, sometime ago I experienced a problem with my microphone and external speakers not working, or at at least some of the time... After a bit of research online I found out my problem was related to a connection inside the phone that connected the bottom assembly to the main board at the top of the phone. It required me to remove the back panel and a few screws to remove the plastic cover, but the poster suggested putting some tape on top of that connection to hold it down more firmly to the socket it connected too. So I did this. I put some black tap (electrical tape cut to fit.) on top and then assembled the phone again. Viola, It worked!
Well, a short time after I decided that I wanted to update my phone from stock kitkat (4.4.4). Always been curious about custom ROMs and gave Cyanogenmod a try. Not only that I got bold and tried the nightly releases of the new marshmellow update. After some time I started experiencing things not working, like the camera, and a lot of freezing, hang ups and random reboots (not so much the reboots as the constant freezing). Often I couldn't get anything on the screen or the phone to respond from a locked state and when I did, often the phone would lag so much, that doing anything would take a long time and proved to be impossible.
I started thinking it was the nightly releases as the source of my problem and just kind of shrugged it off and figured "they will eventually fix the problem". I kept this thinking for quite some time. But it occurred too me one day that something else was causing the issue I was facing for the simple fact that the lag started showing up in the recovery mode (also custom) and a lot of times would continue to show up after I rebooted my phone. Hence, would rule out any 'software' issues I was facing.
I began to think that my problem was hardware. Maybe it was just time for a new phone. But still months away from the end of my contract, this meant I would have to pay off the 'problematic' phone first before getting a new one. I really didn't like that idea. So while looking into this problem, in a last ditch effort, I opened my phone again. Dunno why but I also decided to get rid of the tap on the connection I tried to fix before... I popped off the connection there and had a look at it. It didn't seem damaged in any way nor did the socket. Strange as it was I put that connect back in the socket and put the cover plate back on making sure not to torque the screws and assembled everything back up....
Now the mic and ext speakers work just fine and the phone is working like I just opened the box and took it out for the first time. And I have not once seen any problems... I understand what's happening here... still just wanted to share that for it was definitely weird or what?
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0pUNVcVRCJ7MThMc0NHLUNkSEU
Sorry about the link, only way I can upload an image.
Just so there is no confusion... an image of the effected area, inside the phone. The arrow points to the connector and more importantly the area of the connector that seems damaged. If I press lightly where the arrow is pointing on this image, the assemable at the bottom (speaker/mic) will work, indicating a loose connection. Although after visual inspection, I cannot see any damage to connector or the socket. I suppose the only way to really "fix" the issue is to order a new part. As stated previously, already tried tape on the socket to help hold it down, but that seem to cause just as many issues with the phone performance. Any other suggestions?
When ordering a replacement part, you need to be careful because there was another XDA member replaced the same part with a cheap 3rd party solution and the phone would not charge until he replaced it with an oem part.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/google-nexus-5/help/to-buy-usb-charging-port-flex-cable-t3314357
Does anyone else have issues with there ext. speaker and mic not working?
An update on the phone;
back to square one. My ext speaker and mic will not work. And that socket has something to do with the LCD connection on the screen as it will black out if just the right area on the back of the phone is pressed. Only way to revive the phone is to long-press the power button for a reboot. Then will come up fine but speaker and mic still do not work.
audit13 said:
When ordering a replacement part, you need to be careful because there was another XDA member replaced the same part with a cheap 3rd party solution and the phone would not charge until he replaced it with an oem part.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/google-nexus-5/help/to-buy-usb-charging-port-flex-cable-t3314357
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, that sounds pretty low level tactics of LG... just shameful really, but not hard to believe these days...
Quite honestly, I am just going to replace the phone. Think I got a pretty good run out of it and think its pretty well time for an upgrade. Anyway, for the reason I got the phone, it wont matter the speaker and mic don't work. Just going to use it for development and it will be a good test device.
Oh an this post is related to this thread so I thought I would link it for it may help someone else facing similar problems....
https://forum.cyanogenmod.org/topic/125227-nightly-cm13-releases-make-my-nexus-5-very-slow/
I'm not sure that LG had anything to do with the low-quality replacement parts.
If I were you, look for a n5 with a smashed screen that is suitable for parts.
audit13 said:
I'm not sure that LG had anything to do with the low-quality replacement parts.
If I were you, look for a n5 with a smashed screen that is suitable for parts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good idea, except the iphone is the most popular phone around here ... find it pretty hard to find one, been looking. But thanks.
I have seen quite a few busted n5 phones in Toronto. I have managed to get working phones with a smashed screen for as little as $30 which is rare for Toronto. Average I pay is $40 to $50. For this price, I either use the phone for parts in several phones or I get third part screen from Aliexpress for around $40 CAD.
I just want to update this as well...
I am fairly certain (now thinking about causes) its not really a design flaw, but more so because I frequently sat on my phone when it was in my back pocket...
audit13 said:
When ordering a replacement part, you need to be careful because there was another XDA member replaced the same part with a cheap 3rd party solution and the phone would not charge until he replaced it with an oem part.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/google-nexus-5/help/to-buy-usb-charging-port-flex-cable-t3314357
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It was not me but I had that same experience. Replaced with a cheap oem and it didn't charge after that.
I found out why. The charger usb socket was not connected to anything ! Unbelievable! It lacked the black plastic backing for that part of the cable to connect to.

Can't access recovery mode / faulty touchscreen?

Hi Everyone. I've read a lot of posts here and elsewhere on this issue, but have been unable to solve it, and Sony phone support suggested I post a question. So here goes...
I have a Z3 (D6653) on Android 6.0.1. A month out of contract with my telcom (Telstra), I started having trouble pulling down the notification drawer. Originally it was just slow, then only possible from the home screen and within a day altogether impossible.
I reset the device to factory, but this didn't help.
I used the native diagnostic tool to test the touchscreen and it showed a narrow, very uniform unresponsive band at the top of the screen. About 2-3mm. The uniformity of the band, which suggested to me (right or wrong) that it may be a software issue, not a hardware issue.
So I tried to flash a custom ROM, but although I was able to unlock the bootloader, I was unable to access recovery mode. (I've flashed custom ROMs before, but it's not something I've ever found trouble-free.) After about 8 hours trying all the usual methods, and all the unusual ones, I gave up and started looking at recovery apps.
But recovery apps all require root, so I decided to pursue that course. But without recovery, I couldn't root the device the normal way, so I decided to try Kingroot. After a few false starts, it eventually said it had successfully rooted the device, and Root Checker said it had too. But I was still unable to install a custom recovery with an app. Which left me with nowhere to go.
And now Root Checker is saying the device is NOT properly rooted, Kingroot basically spins, and I haven't been able to unroot with SU or anything else I've tried (not many attempts).
And now at least one app (Pokemon Go) won't work because it thinks the device is rooted.
So I'm now using a floating app to pull down the notification drawer, and I've got all the apps that most often give me notifications sitting directly on my home screen, rather than in folders. I know none of this is the end of the world, but it interrupts my workflow and, thus, my overall productivity. Also plays havoc with my OCD!
Sony support said it's no longer covered by warranty because I rooted it, and although they can probably fix it, it'll take up to a month, and will cost somewhere between $50-$250. I could buy a replacement phone for not much more!
Any ideas on where to go from here? Should I just get a local mobile repair shop to replace the touchscreen? Or is my suspicion right and it's more likely to be the OS? And if the OS, how do I get to recovery?
Thanks heaps, in advance.
Cheers
Glenn
divinewrite said:
I used the native diagnostic tool to test the touchscreen and it showed a narrow, very uniform unresponsive band at the top of the screen. About 2-3mm. The uniformity of the band, which suggested to me (right or wrong) that it may be a software issue, not a hardware issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just about guarantee you that it's a hardware problem, this has happened to me twice on 2 different display panels, through some research this problem happens only on sony phones.
Normally cracking the screen will trigger this problem (Even the smallest of cracks will) but in some cases it will do it on it's own. I think (correct me if I am wrong) sony purposely made this happen possibly to make money on the unfortunate ones who have cracked the screen and caused the digitiser to become slightly unresponsive or not work at all (Thus needed repair and most will go to sony to do so).
I ended up blowing up the phone (Not kidding, I put it in a old microwave and the battery exploded) because it was a pain to run AOSP/CM roms on there and it was gonna cost me quite a bit to fix again so I said fk it and happily destroyed it with a couple of mates (I don't suggest doing this I was just sharing my experience/feelings with this problem {and more}).
I'd suggest selling it (If possible) and getting a new phone, even a phone with the same specs will be better due to sony being... well... sony.
I'm quite happy with my new Moto G4 Plus that runs considerably better than my old Z3 (And the battery lasts longer too ).

How could this person be locating my devices?

I'm sure I'll get some haters, who think I am simply nuts but this is a REAL problem that I've got to solve.
For the last 6 years I've had a mysterious stalker and hacker, who renders most of my and my family's devices nonfunctional and breaks into my accounts and generally makes my life much harder. It has recently come to light that it isn't a hacker SINGULAR but at least 3 guys, hellbent on destroying me: my daughter's father, her uncle, who is a military hacker and their friend, who managed to ingratiate himself with me, until my daughter's father confessed, when I confronted him with evidence against him and his brother, saying he didn't mean for it to get this out of hand. Well, thanks for the heads up but it's a little late, because it IS this out of hand and the wheels of justice grind slowly.
Meanwhile, I am still hacked, even worse now, because his brother got out of the military and moved back to town and has a lot more time and access now. Calls and texts are being intercepted so frequently, that I now use Google Voice/Hangouts to communicate, knowing that nothing I say is ever private but at least people get my messages and I get their calls that way.
I'm looking for a job and I need a device that he won't be able to spy on, so I went to Best Buy and purchased a phone card and moderately priced android phone and took it home to resume my job hunt. I planned never to call any of my usual contacts with the phone but just use it for work stuff. Within hours, it was acting buggy and when I restarted it, it did not go to the regular black screen that says "your device is encrypted for security" but showed my regular background and said "please enter your password when starting android". On my note 8 and 9, that would often happen and when I went to security options, secure startup would be disabled. I checked and secure startup was still supposedly enabled. In ADB "adb shell getprop ro.crypto.state" returned "unencrypted".
I returned the phone and purchased a Google Pixel, hoping their physical security device MIGHT be more effective than Knox at protecting me from this guy. I purchased a brand new sim card and spent another 50 bucks on a phone card, from a different company.
Since my daughter's father has moved within a half-mile of me (despite having no contact with her and very little with me) 4 times now, I speculated that he was, perhaps, using a directional yagi antenna to scan my area for new device beacons and then (skip forward a few steps) find out what apps are installed on those devices, to determine if they are mine. With that in mind, I never even turned the Pixel on at my house.
That night, I took the phone to a random emergency room with secure wifi, to which I know the password and proceeded to set it up. I made a new google account, as usual and installed a bunch of random apps, such as black dating apps (since I am white, I figured that, if my theory was right, it might throw them off my scent) and games I would never play and apps for banks of which I am not a member. By the first time I restarted the phone, still at the emergency room, it had the exact same problem. It purported to be encrypted but (adb later verified) it was not. Apparently, the cheap phone faired slightly better than the pixel, in this department, because the first one was reencrypted upon reset, while the Pixel was not. I never activated or inserted a sim card in the pixel and while I had my regular phone and tablet along with me, they were powered off, in the car.
I was pretty sure, after the first phone was compromised, that I was onto something with my beacon frame theory but it would not explain what happened at the emergency room, unless there is a tracking device in my car, which IS likely, because I continually find my car torn up in all sorts of ways. They even broke off the panel on the driver's door with lock and window switches and the lid of my center console and I continually find the carpet pulled away from the trim. Then again, they also put something caustic in the wiper fluid tank, which destroyed both tank and windshield, so it could also have all been done simply out of malice.
Having no better ideas, I ran a bug detector over my car and found that there IS a radio signal being emitted from somewhere around the gearshift or cd player. I took apart the area around the gearshift and found nothing. In that department, the only remaining possibility is that they've actually put something inside of the cd player itself, the screen of which quit working a while back. I have the ribbon cable to fix it, so maybe I'll get lucky when I crack it open in a bit. The signal DOES appear strongest at the CD player but it could be anything, even catalytic converters can emit radio signals.
Assuming my bug theory is wrong, does anyone have any other idea of how these guys could have discovered and hacked those phones? I've got to find a way to evade these people or I'll never have anything like a normal life, until they're finally in jail.
Wow!
I have not heard of such hacks, even when it comes to national security.
What is the motive of these three people ?
I have no clue but with there skill in not sure an iphone would fare much better

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