[G2 General] Art Vanderlay:
Over the past couple of months Ive noticed a lot of posts made by people who have bought their phones from ebay or aliExpress among others, then bricked it by using autorec or flashing a kdz. This is a general rundown of what happens next:

The user bought a d802 or d800

They used Autorec or flashed their models kdz firmware

The phone inexplicibly rebooted to a black screen. No recovery, download or fastboot OR

The touch screen becomes unresponsive or erratic

Some of them removed the rear cover and included photos in their posts which shows a different models motherboard.

Here are a couple of examples to let you know what I'm talking about.

http://xdaforums.com/lg-g2/help/issues-refurb-d802-32gb-lg-flashed-t3034823

http://xdaforums.com/lg-g2/help/lgd802-stuck-fastboot-help-stock-t2965101

http://xdaforums.com/lg-g2/general/lg-g2-unbrickable-fix-real-hard-brick-t2904404/page34

When this happens without any user error, it's likely the result of a phone that was poorly refurbished.

Over a year into this phone's lifecycle, refurbished G2's are quite common among retailers, both official and independant, as they are with all brands.

A refurbished phone is a phone that has been returned or refunded and is then resold. Before it gets resold it undergoes a process of testing and cleaning and any damaged parts replaced like a cracked LCD screen or bad battery, or sometimes replacing all the internal hardware.

A reputable company will replace it with all the correct parts and test it thoroughly before releasing it.

A dodgy company will not. This is explained in greater detail in this ebay article.

Some dodgy companies (with sellers on aliexpress being among the common offenders) will go to extremes to disguise any variant as a d802.

This is because the international variant is the most marketable worldwide. Some of the tactics they use are:

D802 body with mainboard of other G2 variant

Build prop edited to report software information as d802

Modified D802 IMEI

Although it might work well for a while, these parts are not made to be cross compatible and these "Frankenphones" are extremely volatile and any flashing activity will almost certainlty result in a brick. System updates will also brick them.

The software including the ROM/kernel/partitions must match the model of the mainboard. It isn't always easy to identify a reburbished phone without removing the mainboard but I'll write up a list of common signs / things to look for.

Here are some precautions that you can take when buying a phone from an unfamiliar vendor or to find out your real model number:

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Before you buy, always look at the description in the bottom. Some of them have refurbished in the title but you need to check the description for others

Remove the rear cover. This is a bit tough but It'll show you if the model number is different or if there are signs of tampering. These are signs of a poorly refurbished phone. There's a good video that explains how to do it here

[*]The only way to be 100% sure of your model is to remove the motherboard and check the number on the unit itself. While the IMEI, stamps and battery cover can all be modified or changed, the marking on the back of the motherboard cannot be so this method is the most reliable method of checking your model.

For a tutorial watch this video from 0.00 - 4.33

https://youtu.be/O12UJMOCx1w

Other tips:

[*]Use common sense when buying a cheap phone online. The vast majority of sellers state that the phone is refurbished. Read the sellers negative feedback, read all the product details and the return policy. Only buy from a reputable vendor.

[*]If your on android 4.4.2, use IOroot25 to root it. This also makes an EFS backup to your IOroot folder. You can also take this opportunity to check the model number on your recovery screen.

[*]As an added safeguard you can dump your important partitions and move them to your PC. This way if you flash the wrong recovery you can easily restore your phone using these images. Dump your boot, aboot, recovery and laf this way using the android terminal. You will need root for this.

su

dd if=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/boot of=/sdcard/boot.img

dd if=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/aboot of=/sdcard/aboot.img

dd if=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/recovery of=/sdcard/recovery.img

dd if=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/laf of=/sdcard/laf.img

Unfortunately if you have already bricked your device I'll include some links to guides and fixes below. Download your files for flashing after confirming your model number.

Thanks to Hyelton, bender_007, Partager.info, george7565, aftabalam8c2, kryptonite for these great guides

If you are stuck in fastboot but have download mode

Stuck in fastboot, no download mode

qhsusb_bulk bulkmode, multiple drives popping up in windows, no download mode

Black screen, no signs of life, pc not detecting anything

Lg g2 "cross dll" or "device model different" or "fota/laf partion changed

Phone detected as Qualcomm QH-USB QDLoader 9008 mode

Again, this isn't bashing the whole industry, just a warning that frankenphones are out there and if you unwittingly bought one you should try to get your money back wherever you can. People have had varying degrees of success in flashing roms or unbricking them even after identifying the motherboard.