I'm planning to buy a used G3 for my parents.
I plan to root and install custom recoveries and roms for them but I read of some people having their phone locked by the kill switch after downgrading from stock LP to KK.
I currently own a G3 but I never had any issues with kill switch when I flashed. Did I just get lucky, or am I missing something about the kill switch needing to be activated beforehand (on stock) to cause issues later down the line during the downgrading process?
What do I have to watch for when buying a used phone?
Also is there a particular version the phone should be on, or can all versions of stock (LP, MM etc) can be downgraded?
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I am thinking of switching from an HTC one M8 to a LG G3, but I would like to know if there are any chances of getting an unrootable device due to newer software on the device or whatever. I had a newer SG S4 and I don't want to end up in a similar situation that requires safestrap or similar less than ideal solutions. I would like to be able to use a custom recovery and flash roms/kernels at will though said recovery.
You'll be fine. Just remember to ROOT before you update.
It is possible. The new Sprint update (ZV6), for example, appears to break all current root methods. But you can always use the LG Flashtool to flash an earlier, rootable ROM, root, then upgrade with a pre-rooted ROM found here on XDA.
My wife has a T-Mobile Galaxy S4 M-919 that we have been using on AT&T for quite a while now. It has some bugs and I want to reinstall it for her to get a clean start.
I'm experienced with firmware, recoveries, etc. I thought we would try to debloat the phone while we were at it. She, however, does NOT want to have anything to do with rooting her phone and she actually likes TouchWIz, but she'd like to debloat the carrier apps/annoying boot graphics if possible.
I know it is possible to flash roms for the i9505 onto this phone, but I've never really dealt with KNOX, for one thing. Is it possible to flash the generic global firmware (or something similar) onto this phone without "messing it up" in her eyes (via Heimdall or Odin or something)? Even if I can root it (or worse) and put it back to "stock" after that would probably work. It is over a year old and out of any warranty as far as I know. Thanks guys.
There is no way. You have 2 options
1) manually disable the apps on application manager
2) root, remove whatever you want, then unroot
I've had a phone upgrade available to me for a while now and have had a very positive experience with the G3. I want to get a G4, but I'm not getting the impression that the VS986 has been all that easy to get things unlocked on. Before I throw down money on it, I'd like to get some more information about the status of some things that I haven't found a lot of clear information on in this forum:
1) Is their a way to root the most current OTA for it (i.e. the version of Android that would be on it if I walked into a Verizon store right now and bought one)?
2) If rooting is a thing, has anyone got Xposed working on it? With that, are there any must have modules for the G4 (similar to G3 TweaksBox)?
3) This one looks the least promising based on what I've seen here but is probably the most important: has anyone got custom recovery (preferably TWRP) working on the VS986? Don't want to mess around with it too much without having backups.
4) Are there any good ROMs for it? I've just been using a debloated version of the G3's stock ROM for quite a while now and wouldn't mind using something similar (although stepping out and trying an AOSP ROM would be cool, too)
Thanks in advanced.
1) + 2) is a yes (root is available, and xposed via flashfire)
3) + 4) a no go right now (at least for the Verizon version)
Ya, verizon bootloader has stayed locked. But if you keep an image on your internal drive, you should be ok to reflash. We are also waiting on a 13B KDZ incase things get bad and you don't have a good image on phone, but hopefully it won't be too much longer.
Edit: I really love the G4, especially after the 13B update. Fixed my touchscreen issues and feels snappier with a few other improvements. The one one one thing I wish it had was a fingerprint scanner. WTB V10's fingerprint scanner...
WrittenImprov said:
I've had a phone upgrade available to me for a while now and have had a very positive experience with the G3. I want to get a G4, but I'm not getting the impression that the VS986 has been all that easy to get things unlocked on. Before I throw down money on it, I'd like to get some more information about the status of some things that I haven't found a lot of clear information on in this forum:
1) Is their a way to root the most current OTA for it (i.e. the version of Android that would be on it if I walked into a Verizon store right now and bought one)?
2) If rooting is a thing, has anyone got Xposed working on it? With that, are there any must have modules for the G4 (similar to G3 TweaksBox)?
3) This one looks the least promising based on what I've seen here but is probably the most important: has anyone got custom recovery (preferably TWRP) working on the VS986? Don't want to mess around with it too much without having backups.
4) Are there any good ROMs for it? I've just been using a debloated version of the G3's stock ROM for quite a while now and wouldn't mind using something similar (although stepping out and trying an AOSP ROM would be cool, too)
Thanks in advanced.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The bootloader is still locked.
If I buy this phone, and plan to root it, can I root it reliably. I have only rooted a device with the Android Debug Bridge. Are all of the root methods reliable, and will they work 100% after a few attempts. And can I restore it to older versions in order to root at any point in time? So, to sum it up, will the root always work? And will is their a chance of a unrootable device?
Depends of which model number your g3 is. I am pretty new to rooting but i didn't have any trouble rooting my g3. D855 is my g3
Go for the D855 Model.
Great ROM support,easy rooting,great performance for now.
While in recent days rooting might add a few extra steps, you should be fine, especially with the D855 variant.
Some root methods don't work now, there are other new ones. You can upgrade and downgrade, but there are some minor limitations as I can remember.
Should be good with a D855 really.
I am screwing around with my VS985 G3 but I have random / phantom screen touches and the top 20% of the screen doesn't register touches properly anymore. I just tried doing a factory reset thinking it might be software problem but it still seems to have the same issues (23C) when hard reset. Soooo, I am considering moving up to the G4, but the main thing I don't want to lose is the unlimited hotspot data since I still have the old unlimited plan and use it frequently as a hotspot for devices in the house. So I needed root to install the hotspot mod and want to make sure I can root any G4 I wind up purchasing.
What are the requirements for a rootable G4? Are there firmware versions that are not downgradable via kdz/tot method? Should I ask before purchase for a device that is on firmware XX or lower to ensure downgrade capability?
From what I understand the G4 is the end of the line for unlocked bootloader devices, correct? I don't have any other internet options at my location so the unlimited data through VZW is critical to me at this point thus I can't live w/out the root access on my device.
Any recommendations or help is appreciated!
Cheers,
-Scott
I was hoping someone could just advise about firmware level that allows downgrade? I am reading up on the G4 but not sure yet what version of firmware or > prevents downgrades. My preference would be to buy a phone I can downgrade to 13B and run a custom ROM. Now looking more closely at the "android development" forum for G4 I see there really aren't any custom ROMS for G4. Is this because G4 is a locked bootloader?
In the meantime I determined my G3 screen really does have a problem so ordered a replacement, so I'll try that since I was able to downgrade that to 10B and so should be able to keep that running with custom ROM's until I decide what I want to do to upgrade. I do see that hotspot mod is actually available on G4 with 13B root. I'm just concerned about buying a G4 which won't allow downgrade so hoping to get an answer about that.
The verizon G4 has a locked bootloader so no custom ROMs here, but you can certainly root. I just recently downgraded from the latest firmware to 13b rooted and as far as I know there is no firmware version that blocks downgrading via LGUP. However, If hardware problems is what your trying to avoid than stay far far away from the G4. It has a long history of hardware faults and I personally have lost 2 G4s due to hardware failure.
Thanks Justa. So it looks like I'm just better off sticking with the G3. So far the hardware has been fine, just hoping replacing the screen does the trick.
So I guess everything after the G3 has a locked boot loader?