[X 2014 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] bken:
The "black screen of death" is an error that's been occurring in X1095 devices after the 5.1 update. Google "moto x 5.1 black screen" and you'll see numerous complaints of the same:

http://xdaforums.com/moto-x-2014/help/help-t3176829

https://forums.motorola.com/posts/c3be8d6f29

https://forums.motorola.com/posts/fe6a7fc56e

https://forums.motorola.com/posts/bbac67c0ef

I encountered this problem while on vacation so I stand to lose all of my vacation photos if I do a factory reset. I would sooner send my phone to a forensics lab and have them de-solder the memory and destructively recover my files, than perform a factory reset.

BUT I would much rather create a fix that everyone can benefit from, if possible. :)

The symptoms are:

- Phone at lock screen is an unresponsive black screen

- Active display works, but trying to open any apps through notifications brings me to the black screen.

- Camera opens by shaking, but can't interact with the screen. Volume button doesn't take picture. I CAN take pictures by using the camera timer on my Moto 360 watch.

- Voice commands work, Google Now opens normally, but can't interact with it. It invariably brings me to the "Unlock your phone to continue/say cancel to stop" but there's nowhere for me to apply my pattern lock. I am able to tap the blue word "cancel."

- Status bar and software buttons (back, home, recent apps) do not appear in any screens. The only way to determine battery level is through ambient display.

- I CAN launch Navigation through my Moto 360 watch without the "unlock your phone" dialog. Navigation functions normally except rotation is stuck in portrait, and I cannot interact with it except via the watch.

- I CAN send SMS etc through my Moto 360 watch. All of android wear seems to be functioning normally, except after wiping my phone's cache partition through stock recovery I no longer see notifications via watch.

- Phone is continually warm, can barely maintain charge even when plugged in.

- Holding the power button brings up the "Power off" popup which is clickable. Restarting in Safe Mode results in the same but with the words Safe Mode strewn across the lower left.

The culprit appears to be that com.android.systemui is broken, perhaps amongst other things. I believe this because:

- Apps all work fine

- No status bar or nav buttons display

Path #1:

Since the Pure Edition supports ADB Sideload with stock recovery and locked bootloader, my ideal solution would be to create an "OTA" zip package someone could sideload. It would basically spoof an update to replace com.android.systemui and clear all its (presumably corrupt) data. Is this possible? I've spent a lot of time researching, but I can't for the life of me figure out how ota zips are actually formulated. Is it like adb push where I can sideload the .apk I want from the stock ROM, or does it require something more elaborate such as building a version of the OS? This would be perfect because anyone with the Pure Edition could un-brick their phone, at least long enough to recover their files.

Path #2:

Since my Moto 360 seems to have access to my phone, I could conceivably connect it to my computer through adb and create a rescue app that uses the watch to retrieve my files off my phone. This would sadly only work for people who have smartwatches.

Path #3:

Wait for the next official OTA update and hope and pray that it fixes the issue when I sideload it. I have the luxury of setting my phone aside and being patient, but that doesn't work for most people. There is also the chance that the OTA does nothing.

Any advice how to get started on the sideload front? I'm willing to do the leg work, I just need help going the right direction.