I will provide an answer covering all the steps that I had to go through in order to get that LG G3 working again.
Being stuck in fastboot mode
When that phone was given to me, the person owning it before had tried to flash some custom rom. After failing miserably the phone was stuck in fastboot mode.
Trying to get the phone out of the fastboot mode, I tried the following guides:
Fixing the phone with the fastboot did not work for me.
Since I had nothing to use I decided to try the "Qualcomm unbrick" method
Qualcomm Unbrick:
- There are 3 useful posts on how to get into the Qualcomm mode and how to unbrick the device: i) the reddit post ii) the open-freax post iii) the xda post
- Start by following the reddit post
- The tools to use: i) Qualcomm drivers: the drivers in the reddit link are legit ii) willcracker's tools: There are different versions of willcracker's tools (aka the
BoardDiag tool). I used version 2.99a.
Edit: Here another post providing photos for getting into Qualcomm mode
Troubleshooting
If you follow carefully the reddit post (and if you are a bit lucky), you might get through this process without a problem. However I had 2 issues
- "device not found in dload trying flash programmer" -- I got this message when running the initial step of
BoardDiag. Turns out, this problem occurs if you release the shorting of the pins a bit too early:
here l33tlinuxh4x0rsays:
- once you have extracted the firmware and set up the program with the correct port you need to Check "AP" and "EMMC" then press start.
Be sure not to select any partitions or change any other options than
the firmware directory and comport. It should come back as PASS. If it
throws an error about not being in dload mode you need to restart the
shorting process. Hold the short for a bit longer this time.
- FAIL on the EMMC test -- If you manage to get through the AP Chech test, and receive FAIL for the EMMC the solution is provided in the open-freax post:
If you’re lucky enough (again) both of the tests will be OK. If, like
me, you have nothing but a huge FAIL on the EMMC test, in the options
list switch « Read/Write » to « Erase », unplug/plug your G3 (always
with your metal wire to have 9008 mode, that’s pain in the a*s but
it’s mandatory) and click START again. Internal memory will be
entirely erased. Do a « read/Write » again, this time it should be a
PASS
For the remaining of the steps regarding the BoardDiag tool I suggest you follow open-freax post.
Installing back the stock ROM
I was unlucky with the ROM and managed to install one with malware on it. So you might want to invest some time to find the correct rom for your device.
There are two methods (or maybe more) for flashing rom to you LG G3.
- TOT + dll method: for this method follow this post from the section 2015 (updated with pictures) TOT Method, also this post is useful
- KDZ: for this method follow this post again, starting from How to flash ROM KDZ Method
To find proper roms you might try the following pages:
Other method for the Qualcomm unbrick
There is also another method for unbricking Qualcomm devices, but I did not have to use that one.
references: http://www.leakite.com/2016/06/revised-how-to-unbrick-qualcomm-android.html http://www.droidsavvy.com/unbrick-qualcomm-mobiles/