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Root [Virgin Mobile/Sprint] [Recovery][VM]CWM 6.0.4.8 Touch for the LG Optimus F3

Superorb, thank you for the directions to the other posts... but, my phone is stuck in CWMT 6.0.4.8, and, I can't retrieve files of any kind unless I have them on my laptop, and do a sideload... (the phone won't leave CWMT, whether I hit reboot, and it then asks for root - which I removed with SuperSU...) is there anyone out there willing to help a fellow Androidite who made the mistake of bringing root to a read/only Boost Mobile LG F3? My fiancee is upset... I'm running short on sleep... damn it, I should've never taken the root out, and stayed with v7... then, add FOTAKILL... but this is all news that happens to anyone foolish enough to bring root to a read-only Boost Mobile LG F3... I was so STUPID :banghead:
What about the unbrick method? That's the only thing that would work for me.
 
Superorb, thank you for the directions to the other posts... but, my phone is stuck in CWMT 6.0.4.8, and, I can't retrieve files of any kind unless I have them on my laptop, and do a sideload... (the phone won't leave CWMT, whether I hit reboot, and it then asks for root - which I removed with SuperSU...) is there anyone out there willing to help a fellow Androidite who made the mistake of bringing root to a read/only Boost Mobile LG F3? My fiancee is upset... I'm running short on sleep... damn it, I should've never taken the root out, and stayed with v7... then, add FOTAKILL... but this is all news that happens to anyone foolish enough to bring root to a read-only Boost Mobile LG F3... I was so STUPID :banghead:

Instead of doing a sideload, (I can't get that to work in cwmt also), Remove your external sd card and attach it to your computer. Copy a stock rom onto it and then put it back into your phone. Try installing it in cwmt after wiping data, and cache.
 
Well, it looks like I'll have to find a larger-sized SD converter, put the micro SD card into it, and plug it into the laptop... find a ROM at LiteStep, place that into the card - and follow your directions... gosh, if this works, my better half will be much happier with me... if you only knew. LW
 
Instead of doing a sideload, (I can't get that to work in cwmt also), Remove your external sd card and attach it to your computer. Copy a stock rom onto it and then put it back into your phone. Try installing it in cwmt after wiping data, and cache.

I can get it to work in CWMT:

  1. Unplug phone from computer
  2. Reboot phone into recovery
  3. wait about 15 seconds
  4. plug the phone into computer
  5. wait another 15 seconds
  6. then select the adb sideload option from the install zip menu
  7. your computer should now be installing the drivers or ready to do a side load.
I just tested the above with my phone to test the latest beta for AS7.
 
My only worry is the phone had root removed by SuperSU - is there anyone out there who may have a .zip to install root back into the phone (whichever root will cover the F3 for v7 and v8)? I'm going to Radio Shack as we write this, to pick up the SD card converter so that I can try to accomplish what I was instructed with for getting a .zip file installed (ROM).. . I'm so close, but yet so far - I'll be back from the Radio Shack shortly, and, I intend to wipe the card clean before I do anything - this card has taken care of two phones, and, I want to start fresh. Love you guys - LW
 
I've been at this for hours on end, starting late last night through now. I have deleted files off of the sd card; yet, they keep coming back. Formatting the sd card doesn't work; I'm in the middle of it right now, and I'll be damned if I haven't taken the files needed in .zip, and placed them on the card. The old files keep coming back. I am really at an all-time low. Right now, it says "this folder is empty". If I remove the card after placing the needed .zip files, then, the phone reads "no files found". If anyone would care to share what the hell I'm doing wrong (besides bringing root to a read-only Boost Mobile LG F3), please do. They're shutting down the forums tonight at 10pm EST. I know that you all have lives, and things to do. Please help me get this phone back working again. I'm sorry to be such a PITA, but, I followed directions here, once again (though gherkaul did remark that my phone had been acting strangely) - and I am STUCK. LW
 
I can get it to work in CWMT:

  1. Unplug phone from computer
  2. Reboot phone into recovery
  3. wait about 15 seconds
  4. plug the phone into computer
  5. wait another 15 seconds
  6. then select the adb sideload option from the install zip menu
  7. your computer should now be installing the drivers or ready to do a side load.
I just tested the above with my phone to test the latest beta for AS7.
Sandix, after going through the hell I have dealt with, I decided to give your directions a try. I have current LG PC Suite installed, and, in Windows 8.1, after following your directions - nothing comes up, at all. I appreciate your assistance, nonetheless - LW
 
Uninstall LG Suite.

Plug your phone in and remove it (uninstall) from the device manager in Windows.

Then:

  1. Unplug the phone after the uninstall finishes. (And leave it unplugged.)
  2. Download these drivers instead (RUN AS ADMINISTRATOR WHEN YOU INSTALL!!!!)
  3. After the driver install has finished, plug the phone in (Make sure that on the phone the PC Connection settings is set to "MTP" not "Charge Only" so all drivers get installed.
  4. Wait for the drivers to finish installing (Device manager: Look for your phone and make sure there is no yellow triangle)
  5. Unplug your phone and power off, then use the button combo to get into CWM Touch.
  6. Wait 15 seconds, then plug the phone in to the computer.
  7. Let drivers reinstall
  8. Verify drivers finished installing using device manager
  9. Go to install zip on phone and select "Install via Sideload" (Or similar I am writing this off the top of my head.)
  10. On the computer: browse to the zip file you wish to install
  11. right click in the white area (to bring up the generic Right-Click menu)
  12. Select "Open Command Prompt Window Here"
  13. type in "adb sideload <name of zip file here>" and it should begin to load.

Still not working?



  1. Do you have adb installed? (https://urgero.org) Download Android Command Center 6 and select "Install ADB plugin"
  2. Can you run the following from the same directory: "adb shell"
  3. If it says "Program adb not found" then you do not have adb.exe in the same directory, or installed under C:\Windows
  4. is adb returning "No devices connected" or "Waiting for device"? make sure the drivers actually installed (no yellow triangles in Device Manager)
  5. Still not working? Repeat the above steps (13 steps) but rebooting between each step.
  6. Disable Windows 8(& 8.1) driver signature checking (Tut here)


That is all I can do at this point.


Hope this helps!
 
Sandix, my F3 is stuck in CWMT 6.0.4.8; it will only boot to that. I will also install the adb into this laptop (everything is preset to administrator privileges), as per your instructions. However, without root - is CWMT able to allow what you specified re USB media connection, vs. charge only? I will follow your directions to the letter, and thank you for reaching out to help - LW
 
Sandix, my F3 is stuck in CWMT 6.0.4.8; it will only boot to that. I will also install the adb into this laptop (everything is preset to administrator privileges), as per your instructions. However, without root - is CWMT able to allow what you specified re USB media connection, vs. charge only? I will follow your directions to the letter, and thank you for reaching out to help - LW
When trying to install the adb driver, it stopped the process with the words "client-something-or-another"... I have everything on the bottom taskbar of Windows 8.2 in the 'Classic Shell'... I cannot believe that the last updates that came through this past week (16 total) created another Winblows monster... I wish I had a Mac, or, the knowledge to run a Linux-based OS in this computer... though, it would p*** my fiancee off... LW
 
Uninstall LG Suite.

Plug your phone in and remove it (uninstall) from the device manager in Windows.

Then:

  1. Unplug the phone after the uninstall finishes. (And leave it unplugged.)
  2. Download these drivers instead (RUN AS ADMINISTRATOR WHEN YOU INSTALL!!!!)
  3. After the driver install has finished, plug the phone in (Make sure that on the phone the PC Connection settings is set to "MTP" not "Charge Only" so all drivers get installed.
  4. Wait for the drivers to finish installing (Device manager: Look for your phone and make sure there is no yellow triangle)
  5. Unplug your phone and power off, then use the button combo to get into CWM Touch.
  6. Wait 15 seconds, then plug the phone in to the computer.
  7. Let drivers reinstall
  8. Verify drivers finished installing using device manager
  9. Go to install zip on phone and select "Install via Sideload" (Or similar I am writing this off the top of my head.)
  10. On the computer: browse to the zip file you wish to install
  11. right click in the white area (to bring up the generic Right-Click menu)
  12. Select "Open Command Prompt Window Here"
  13. type in "adb sideload <name of zip file here>" and it should begin to load.

Still not working?



  1. Do you have adb installed? (https://urgero.org) Download Android Command Center 6 and select "Install ADB plugin"
  2. Can you run the following from the same directory: "adb shell"
  3. If it says "Program adb not found" then you do not have adb.exe in the same directory, or installed under C:\Windows
  4. is adb returning "No devices connected" or "Waiting for device"? make sure the drivers actually installed (no yellow triangles in Device Manager)
  5. Still not working? Repeat the above steps (13 steps) but rebooting between each step.
  6. Disable Windows 8(& 8.1) driver signature checking (Tut here)


That is all I can do at this point.


Hope this helps!
Sandix, I'm running into a "client/host" conflict when I try to enable the adb portion of the GUI... and, I'm not sure how to run it. If you have a few moments, PM me a walk-through so that I can get this phone working, so that I can take to T-Mobile, and trade to a better phone... thanks for all of your help. LW
 
This is a CWM Recovery for the Virgin Mobile LG Optimus F3. The recovery should work with all firmware versions (ymmv). I tried to make this newbie friendly for those who are not tech savvy but if you do have any questions I will try to answer them. Everything works that needs to and it has been tested extensively with no problems. But I still have to tell you
cant seem to find the donwload can you link please?
 
Well it seems the switch to XenForo messed up all my OP's. There is no edit button so I have no way to fix the link. Sorry for the inconvenience. Unfortunately it's out of my control at the moment.
 
Ok, the OP is fixed now that the edit button is working. The format change to XenForo was brutal to all of my threads. Sorry for any problems downloading over the past couple days. Thanks for your patience.
 
After using this to create a backup , i selected the Reboot option and was presented with a very confusing yes or no question? i hit the back button on my phone in attempts to .... go back a menu, but to my surprise my phone was rebooted to factory default. why did this happen and how do i prevent it.


When i recover my backup. it doesn't actually recover anything. it is still the same factory default ROM with a root checker i downloaded. Its not resetting every time , just the first time, and now it wont recover the backup. Can anyone help me? i lost all my contacts and i am trying to boot my backup so i can sync the contacts with gmail
 
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Hi, my phone is Virgin Mobile LG Optimus F3 LS720V6, Android version 4.1.2

I had the same problem as Tolkien. My original goal was to back up my phone, before I install some things on my phone. So I followed the instructions here to get CMV 6.0.4.8 on my phone. Then I booted into CMV to see if it worked. It did, I didn't make a back up yet. I was checking out the recovery rom. Then I just wanted to get out of it and get to my android os to make sure I still have all my programs, etc.

It displayed the same message as Tolkien said. And I was confused, and I didn't know what it meant.

"Rom may flash stock recovery on THIS CAN NOT BE UNDONE."

No
Yes -Disable recovery flash


I clicked "No", and for some reason the first time, it reverted to factory defaults without my permission. (Even deleted some of the apk apps I saved in folders) Why would it do this? I just wanted to exit safely without it doing anything!

I didn't have much stuff installed on my phone to begin with. Anyways, since, then I rerooted my phone. And figured that this was just a one time factory default on the first install on this. Or is this a threat every time you go into the recovery program?

Anyways, I rerooted the phone. Now, I went to back up my phone per options. To see if this program works. I got this error:

"Error while making a backup image of /data!"

I figured this was because, there wasn't enough space on the phone. That's why I got this error. It was running out of space. I'll probably have to buy micro sd card, to test it. To make sure it can keep back ups, as I'm installing new apps.

But anyways, my main concerns are this:

Why did it default to factory settings, when all I was trying to do was get out of it? It only does it once? If not, how do I prevent it from doing this? What does this really mean? Should I have pressed yes? Is this a normal function when you flash something, your phone goes back to factory defaults. I'm kind of new to using phones. So just asking.

2nd, not sure if this will work when I test the actual back up before installing new apps, and if it decides to revert to factory defaults, and then I go to recover back up, and it doesn't work. Per what Tolkien was saying.


3rd, what if I want to uninstall this rom, how do I do that? Just in case, I choose to go with another one. Just in case, because I still want to use this app, but I want to make sure it works correctly.
 
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Hi, my phone is Virgin Mobile LG Optimus F3 LS720V6, Android version 4.1.2

I had the same problem as Tolkien. My original goal was to back up my phone, before I install some things on my phone. So I followed the instructions here to get CMV 6.0.4.8 on my phone. Then I booted into CMV to see if it worked. It did, I didn't make a back up yet. I was checking out the recovery rom. Then I just wanted to get out of it and get to my android os to make sure I still have all my programs, etc.

It displayed the same message as Tolkien said. And I was confused, and I didn't know what it meant.

"Rom may flash stock recovery on THIS CAN NOT BE UNDONE."

No
Yes -Disable recovery flash


I clicked "No", and for some reason the first time, it reverted to factory defaults without my permission. (Even deleted some of the apk apps I saved in folders) Why would it do this? I just wanted to exit safely without it doing anything!

I didn't have much stuff installed on my phone to begin with. Anyways, since, then I rerooted my phone. And figured that this was just a one time factory default on the first install on this. Or is this a threat every time you go into the recovery program?

Anyways, I rerooted the phone. Now, I went to back up my phone per options. To see if this program works. I got this error:

"Error while making a backup image of /data!"

I figured this was because, there wasn't enough space on the phone. That's why I got this error. It was running out of space. I'll probably have to buy micro sd card, to test it. To make sure it can keep back ups, as I'm installing new apps.

But anyways, my main concerns are this:

Why did it default to factory settings, when all I was trying to do was get out of it? It only does it once? If not, how do I prevent it from doing this? What does this really mean? Should I have pressed yes? Is this a normal function when you flash something, your phone goes back to factory defaults. I'm kind of new to using phones. So just asking.

2nd, not sure if this will work when I test the actual back up before installing new apps, and if it decides to revert to factory defaults, and then I go to recover back up, and it doesn't work. Per what Tolkien was saying.


3rd, what if I want to uninstall this rom, how do I do that? Just in case, I choose to go with another one. Just in case, because I still want to use this app, but I want to make sure it works correctly.

Sometimes the phone has a Kernel Panic. When it does, it wipes the /data partition. When you reboot into your phone, it's the same as performing a Factory Reset. (Which wipes the /data partition)

For the Yes, or no question, choose 'no'. You should go back into the recovery and wipe any backups you've already made. Make an 'advanced backup' and just backup your system partition to test. You shouldn't have any issues. For a complete backup, you should have a minimum of 2 gigs free. I'd recommend at least 3 gigs free. You'll need an external sd card to make that happen. You'll never get that much space on the internal memory. The maximum size you can get is 32 gigs.

To answer your question about uninstalling a rom, To remove android, you only need to wipe the system partition. I wouldn't recommend doing so unless you know what you're doing. Usually when you install another rom, it will wipe the system partition for you during the install. All you need to do is follow the directions given to you in the rom forum thread in the first post. Usually all you need to do is wipe the 'cache' and 'dalvik cache' and then install the rom.
 
Sometimes the phone has a Kernel Panic. When it does, it wipes the /data partition. When you reboot into your phone, it's the same as performing a Factory Reset. (Which wipes the /data partition)

For the Yes, or no question, choose 'no'. You should go back into the recovery and wipe any backups you've already made. Make an 'advanced backup' and just backup your system partition to test. You shouldn't have any issues. For a complete backup, you should have a minimum of 2 gigs free. I'd recommend at least 3 gigs free. You'll need an external sd card to make that happen. You'll never get that much space on the internal memory. The maximum size you can get is 32 gigs.

To answer your question about uninstalling a rom, To remove android, you only need to wipe the system partition. I wouldn't recommend doing so unless you know what you're doing. Usually when you install another rom, it will wipe the system partition for you during the install. All you need to do is follow the directions given to you in the rom forum thread in the first post. Usually all you need to do is wipe the 'cache' and 'dalvik cache' and then install the rom.


So another words, if this phone has a kernel panic. It would be advised to back up the /data partition before using the program? Which is why I installed the application in the first place. It's a paradox. I guess it could do that with anything you flash, although?

Anyways, I select no for now on, like you said to that question. Now I went into recovery, I didn't have any back ups made. But the problem is you say go to "advanced backup"

When I go to back up and restore I see these options:

Backup to /sdcard
restore from /sdcard
delete from /sdcard
advanced restore from /sdcard
backup to /external_sd
restore from /external_sd
delete from /external_sd
advanced restore from /external

I don't see advanced back up. And when I choose backup to /sd card. It just automatically starts backing everything up with no further options.

If I go into advanced, I do see some options, but it doesn't look like it's related to backing up:

reboot recovery
reboot to bootloader
power off
wipe dalvik cache
report error
key test
show log
++++++Go Back++++++

What's going on, am I missing an important feature?


And let's say I do this back up, it backs up the system partition. But kernel panic wipes the data partition. I guess system partition will stay intact, but I will still lose stuff?

Thanks for your help so far.
 
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