I was really surprised to learn that LG don't have a bootloader unlocking service like even HTC have done and given that the LG never managed to unlock the bootloader, I'm quite surprised that there wasn't more of a community outcry. What is up with that? Have LG ever spoken of supporting the development community? Is it unlikely that we'll see it happen within the flagship lifetime of our device?
NB: This is discussion topic, it's really not a question/answer topic.
sabret00the said:
I was really surprised to learn that LG don't have a bootloader unlocking service like even HTC have done and given that the LG never managed to unlock the bootloader, I'm quite surprised that there wasn't more of a community outcry. What is up with that? Have LG ever spoken of supporting the development community? Is it unlikely that we'll see it happen within the flagship lifetime of our device?
NB: This is discussion topic, it's really not a question/answer topic.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
whoa is this 100% correct? if that's the case I will strongly reconsider getting the G3 and will probably go for either M8 or Z2...
Well, coming from an LG Nexus 5, I can tell you that the development community is booming over there. But that's to be expected with a Nexus device. I'm planning on switching from the Nexus 5 to the G3 (ordered yesterday) in an effort to no longer sacrifice hardware in order to get the vanilla Android experience. These days I'd rather give up some of the software advantages in AOSP ROMs in order to get significantly better hardware.
Unfortunately, it's a sacrifice one way or another. And if you buy a phone such as the G3 you must do so expecting that the development for it will take significantly longer and will likely have less options. However, in my opinion the interface/features offered in the latest stock LG interfaces are quite improved and look/feel much better than the interfaces provided by other manufacturers. I don't think I'll have any issue using the stock interface with the LG for many months after coming from the previous 4 generations of Nexus devices.
The vanilla Android experience has gotten quite boring in my opinion and I welcome the features that will be available on LG's stock ROM.
cez10 said:
whoa is this 100% correct? if that's the case I will strongly reconsider getting the G3 and will probably go for either M8 or Z2...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sadly yes, it's something I should've looked into in the six months of waiting for this phone. But it's sadly the case. Even on the G2, they couldn't unlock the bootloader and instead had to bypass it.
sn0warmy said:
Well, coming from an LG Nexus 5, I can tell you that the development community is booming over there. But that's to be expected with a Nexus device. I'm planning on switching from the Nexus 5 to the G3 (ordered yesterday) in an effort to no longer sacrifice hardware in order to get the vanilla Android experience. These days I'd rather give up some of the software advantages in AOSP ROMs in order to get significantly better hardware.
Unfortunately, it's a sacrifice one way or another. And if you buy a phone such as the G3 you must do so expecting that the development for it will take significantly longer and will likely have less options. However, in my opinion the interface/features offered in the latest stock LG interfaces are quite improved and look/feel much better than the interfaces provided by other manufacturers. I don't think I'll have any issue using the stock interface with the LG for many months after coming from the previous 4 generations of Nexus devices.
The vanilla Android experience has gotten quite boring in my opinion and I welcome the features that will be available on LG's stock ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have the patience, I'd recommend waiting a little while to see if they announce a GPe of the G3. That could provide you with the best of both worlds.
Development will improve for sure - the phone has only been out less than a week (D855) with most people still not having received their devices yet and is not even released in the US. It seems the Korean models have shipped with an unlocked bootloader (from what I have heard) and as for the D855 no one has yet confirmed it a) it is locked and b) if it can be unlocked.
I have certainly not looked into it yet myself, although if it is locked, unlocking via any "hacking" method, is beyond my knowledge, someone smarter than me will have to tell us how to do that.
Give it time, development is always slow in the first month of a new device (unless its a nexus), and tends ot only pick up after release in the USA.
sabret00the said:
If you have the patience, I'd recommend waiting a little while to see if they announce a GPe of the G3. That could provide you with the best of both worlds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Eh, if they release a GP edition G3 it will still pay to have this one because any AOSP ROMs for the GP edition will be quickly ported over to the non-GP edition anyway. I plan on keeping this phone but will also still be happy if they come out with a GP edition as well so we can get some AOSP source code up and running for this device.
And I'm not worried about the bootloader being locked. Someone ALWAYS finds a way to unlock it rather quickly these days.
Personally, my goal with this phone is to root it to get my DPI settings where I want them and get rid of any bloat that may cause the phone to slow down. If I can manage to accomplish those two things, I'll be happy (and it's already doable). My days of rooting, flashing ROMs, bricking, unbricking, and flashing more ROMs are over. At this point I just want a solid phone that works flawlessly.
Lennyuk said:
Development will improve for sure - the phone has only been out less than a week (D855) with most people still not having received their devices yet and is not even released in the US. It seems the Korean models have shipped with an unlocked bootloader (from what I have heard) and as for the D855 no one has yet confirmed it a) it is locked and b) if it can be unlocked.
I have certainly not looked into it yet myself, although if it is locked, unlocking via any "hacking" method, is beyond my knowledge, someone smarter than me will have to tell us how to do that.
Give it time, development is always slow in the first month of a new device (unless its a nexus), and tends ot only pick up after release in the USA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not so much talking about from the community side, I have faith the community will find an unlock or bypass method. I'm more so talking about from LG's point of view. They don't seem to be supportive hence no official channel to unlock the G2 bootloader despite the G3 launching globally this week.
sabret00the said:
I'm not so much talking about from the community side, I have faith the community will find an unlock or bypass method. I'm more so talking about from LG's point of view. They don't seem to be supportive hence no official channel to unlock the G2 bootloader despite the G3 launching globally this week.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Remember it took years to get HTC to provide an unlock tool (and the company nearly going bankrupt!), Moto and Sony were the same - moto becoming better when Google acquired them and Sony nearly gave up making android devices completely before they decided to become more dev friendly.
Basically companies only provide unlock methods as a last resort, when they feel its the only way to improve their sales. LG haven't needed this yet.
There are still plenty of devices where you cannot officially unlock the bootloader, its not just an LG thing.
Lennyuk said:
Remember it took years to get HTC to provide an unlock tool (and the company nearly going bankrupt!), Moto and Sony were the same - moto becoming better when Google acquired them and Sony nearly gave up making android devices completely before they decided to become more dev friendly.
Basically companies only provide unlock methods as a last resort, when they feel its the only way to improve their sales. LG haven't needed this yet.
There are still plenty of devices where you cannot officially unlock the bootloader, its not just an LG thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I totally hear you, but with the success Sony have enjoyed, you'd hope manufacturers would get involved early on.
Lennyuk said:
and as for the D855 no one has yet confirmed it a) it is locked and b) if it can be unlocked.
I have certainly not looked into it yet myself, although if it is locked, unlocking via any "hacking" method, is beyond my knowledge, someone smarter than me will have to tell us how to do that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is this something that is easy to check?
Dubhar said:
Is this something that is easy to check?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't even access the bootloader. Despite turning USB debugging on, I can't get ADB to recognise the phone. I started a thread to check if others have a similar problem.
It's a flagship, I'm not worried about development support. Look at the g2, it got cm support. Plus the LG software looks decent, not too basic like HTC or too intrusive like Samsungs touchwiz
sabret00the said:
I can't even access the bootloader. Despite turning USB debugging on, I can't get ADB to recognise the phone. I started a thread to check if others have a similar problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I rooted D855 yesterday using ioroot and as a part of the process "adb devices" did show the phone with USB debugging on.
I had to install lg unified driver so windows 8 had a right driver for it.
Heisenberg420 said:
It's a flagship, I'm not worried about development support. Look at the g2, it got cm support. Plus the LG software looks decent, not too basic like HTC or too intrusive like Samsungs touchwiz
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This thread is about development support from LG. Please read threads before commenting. The G2 you mentioned was given as an example of the lack of support previously provided by LG.
jodvova said:
I rooted D855 yesterday using ioroot and as a part of the process "adb devices" did show the phone with USB debugging on.
I had to install lg unified driver so windows 8 had a right driver for it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps I need to update my drivers then. Though that's nearly unheard of as I'm on Linux.
If i can atleast root the phone to remove the bloatware, I'll be happy for a little while.
sabret00the said:
This thread is about development support from LG. Please read threads before commenting. The G2 you mentioned was given as an example of the lack of support previously provided by LG.
Perhaps I need to update my drivers then. Though that's nearly unheard of as I'm on Linux.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hm, i've not check on Linux yet, but it is recognised on windows with the right USB drivers installed. Maybe its lacking some udev rule to properly recognise the device?
The LGD855 boots into recovery with adb reboot recovery, but not the bootloader using adb reboot-bootloader its just reboots. I goes into download mode with power+volume up, that about all ive tried.
Slash8915 said:
If i can atleast root the phone to remove the bloatware, I'll be happy for a little while.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
towelroot worked.
on Win 7 by flashing sphinxrom for d855 and s,k,l :
when i was installing the lg driver, it installed the AndroidNet Sooner Single ADB Interface
i had to change it Android ADB Interface
what the hell the device just came out give it some time
daddioj said:
what the hell the device just came out give it some time
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What the hell can't you read & understand what OP has said or trying to say? (sorry no offence intended). He isn't talking about the support of the development community to this device(G3), which by the way will certainly pick up from what it is now, but he is talking about LG's support to the development community(being more developer friendly as Sony & HTC).
And even if we talk about how much active Android development this device(& it's variants) will see, then let me tell you that the development activity of this device will(probably) never be as much as you see with other flagship devices like HTC One(M7 & m8), that is because a) HTC is more developer friendly by letting you to unlock the bootloader & thus making easy for developers to port(make) ROMs, recoveries & what not, where as with LG & G2 it is entirely different case(ask any developer involved in G2 development, how difficult it is or was to make a recovery or a ROM for G2 and for common flahers the risk factor of flashing those recoveries & ROMs that much more because all the solutions based on a bypassing solution with many permutations & combinations rather than a fully unlockable bootloader just as with HTC devices and b) they are more popular devices among people(as much successful the G2 was it wasn't sold as many as S4s & S5s or M7s & M8s).
We all hope that LG will follow HTC & Sony in being developer frienly. No doubt they are making beautiful devices like G2 & now G3. But sadly, as one of other member pointed out above, it is at the stage of extinction that a manufacturer tend to be more friendly with developer community.
st_7 said:
What the hell can't you read & understand what OP has said or trying to say? (sorry no offence intended). He isn't talking about the support of the development community to this device(G3), which by the way will certainly pick up from what it is now, but he is talking about LG's support to the development community(being more developer friendly as Sony & HTC).
And even if we talk about how much active Android development this device(& it's variants) will see, then let me tell you that the development activity of this device will(probably) never be as much as you see with other flagship devices like HTC One(M7 & m8), that is because a) HTC is more developer friendly by letting you to unlock the bootloader & thus making easy for developers to port(make) ROMs, recoveries & what not, where as with LG & G2 it is entirely different case(ask any developer involved in G2 development, how difficult it is or was to make a recovery or a ROM for G2 and for common flahers the risk factor of flashing those recoveries & ROMs that much more because all the solutions based on a bypassing solution with many permutations & combinations rather than a fully unlockable bootloader just as with HTC devices and b) they are more popular devices among people(as much successful the G2 was it wasn't sold as many as S4s & S5s or M7s & M8s).
We all hope that LG will follow HTC & Sony in being developer frienly. No doubt they are making beautiful devices like G2 & now G3. But sadly, as one of other member pointed out above, it is at the stage of extinction that a manufacturer tend to be more friendly with developer community.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i am Guilty of not reading the whole Thread
Eversince I read of this daydream VR app for nougat. Now I am obsessing on upgrading my phone to nougat. I just got off the live chat from ZTE website and I was told there are none yet.
When I googled i have seen these websites saying you can update this phone now. One is a nougat launcher apk. And one is 2 rom packages to be installed via SD card.
Anyone know if this is legit? I am guessing not since ZTE officially told me there are still no updates yet.
Both of these I found online needs no rooting but I am very skeptical. I love this phone so much I don't want to mess with it.
ZTE people can you just please update my phone already to nougat?!!!
There are no updates available for this device yet unfortunately. Any root, ROM or unlock bootloader method you see anywhere other than here or Android Forums is clickbait 99.9% of the time. ZTE has informed a few members over on Android Forums that Nougat is planned for release for the ZMAX Pro but it is up to MetroPCS as to when and if the update will roll out. Same goes for the bootloader or enabling fastboot. ZTE states that is up to the carrier. One forum poster stated they contacted Metro and they stated the bootloader would not be unlocked unless the sales of the phone start to decrease. Doesn't sound very logikal to me but regardless, this is all hearsay from the other forum. Do not trust anything unless you can confirm it on XDA or AF.
elogikal said:
There are no updates available for this device yet unfortunately. Any root, ROM or unlock bootloader method you see anywhere other than here or Android Forums is clickbait 99.9% of the time. ZTE has informed a few members over on Android Forums that Nougat is planned for release for the ZMAX Pro but it is up to MetroPCS as to when and if the update will roll out. Same goes for the bootloader or enabling fastboot. ZTE states that is up to the carrier. One forum poster stated they contacted Metro and they stated the bootloader would not be unlocked unless the sales of the phone start to decrease. Doesn't sound very logikal to me but regardless, this is all hearsay from the other forum. Do not trust anything unless you can confirm it on XDA or AF.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HI. You got the phone too huh. Hope you are loving the VR as am I. I haven't played my VR for awhile. I noticed it made everything blurry on my eyes in the REAL REAL world :laugh:. So I guess you need moderation to play VR or it will affect your eyes in the long run. I did try several N launchers on playstore. I honestly don't see anything drastically different from the stock launcher. So I deleted it. I am back on stock launcher. I also am really puzzled why people don't like the stock launcher.
I am on zte website and they are saying they will update the phone to android n eventually but it will be a long wait I guess.
Both phones (Moto G5 Plus and G5s plus) have same hardware except for camera and display. Afaik, camera is the only hurdle on the software side that is preventing a direct interchangeability of firmwares between the phones.
So, is it possible, with little modification, to have G5s Plus firmwares (and custom ROMs too) work on G5 Plus and vice versa?
If my assumption is wrong, what other bottlenecks are there? Can they be overcome to achieve interchangeability?
If we somehow figure it out, we'd have a huge merged community with great support and more custom ROMs. It'd also ease the software development for both devices.
Immediate benefit would be getting the Oreo on one device from the firmware of the other, depending on which gets the update first (And thereby, future updates too)
Also, if anyone is willing and has a phone with unlocked bootloader, please try flashing G5s Plus 7.1.1 firmware on G5 Plus using fastboot (may be skip unnecessarily partitions, but then again, I have no idea how to go about it).
https://firmware.center/firmware/Motorola/Moto G5s Plus/Stock/
I am also really curious about this. I don't have one, so I can't test this out, but will probably buy one in the next month or so. If this would work, it can dramatically improve both groups.
I was going to try, but i don't jave any replacement device right now and i don't wanna mess up.. hope someone can help us
M1810 said:
I was going to try, but i don't jave any replacement device right now and i don't wanna mess up.. hope someone can help us
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly my situation. If I had a backup phone, I'd have already tried.
yourSAS said:
Exactly my situation. If I had a backup phone, I'd have already tried.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
M1810 said:
I was going to try, but i don't jave any replacement device right now and i don't wanna mess up.. hope someone can help us
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just a heads up, there are very popular steps of getting out of a hard brick scenario with this phone fairly easily. The following link is one example:
http://www.aryk.tech/2017/09/moto-g5-plus-unbrick-solutions.html
That being said, I can't blame you guys for not wanting to test it under your situations. Hopefully this can be figured out quickly, so that we can make some progress with the Moto G5 plus.
Hi everyone,
I was wondering if any of you know ZTE was going to provide any software update on their stock rom. From what I read, it does seems to be very unclear considering what's happening with the US government. So far, I haven't rooted my phone yet since my old LG G3 started to have wireless connectivity issues after I flashed a few roms on it and I continued to have those issues after I put the stock LG rom, so I'm a little bit scared to try again. Still, I'm wondering if any of you guys knows if there's a good rom out there that can work fine and that has the lasted security patch. If not, I'll probably think about switching phone, since I don't really like the idea to use a phone that's unsupported.
Thanks
There won't be any more Nougat updates as it's up to the ROM (Nougat B10 for my global model) where it bridges to Oreo and now Oreo even if it's released or leaked won't get updates.
Just my opinion but can't see how it could go any other way.
I guess for longevity, all you can look at is if any custom ROMs are long term and bug free. I think all custom ROMs for Axon 7 have at least one proper bug which affects calls or camera. One reason I stay stock.
RobboW said:
There won't be any more Nougat updates as it's up to the ROM (Nougat B10 for my global model) where it bridges to Oreo and now Oreo even if it's released or leaked won't get updates.
Just my opinion but can't see how it could go any other way.
I guess for longevity, all you can look at is if any custom ROMs are long term and bug free. I think all custom ROMs for Axon 7 have at least one proper bug which affects calls or camera. One reason I stay stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the answer.
At least I'm not the only one to feel that this is what's going to happen. I love the Axon 7, but if it doesn't get updated, I should probably go for the Samsung Galaxy A8 since my carrier has a pretty good deal on it (15$ CAD over 24 months). The Nokia 7 doesn't seems like a really good phone as well with updates directly from Google. I think I'll have to shop a little bit.
The #8 post(replay from zteusa [email protected]) says all
https://forum.xda-developers.com/axon-7/help/news-2017g-android-oreo-t3755822
vas said:
The #8 post(replay from zteusa [email protected]) says all
https://forum.xda-developers.com/axon-7/help/news-2017g-android-oreo-t3755822
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's even worst than I thought
vas said:
The #8 post(replay from zteusa [email protected]) says all
https://forum.xda-developers.com/axon-7/help/news-2017g-android-oreo-t3755822
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what does it "say"?
Oreo is around, ZTE says the word "no update" and it gets out
If Verizon users are still intrested, just take a look here:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/xp...devonly-exploits-temp-root-to-backup-t3795510
This guy J4NN is a genius!
Maybe for a bounty he will do it for your device. ?
Inerent said:
If Verizon users are still intrested, just take a look here:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/xp...devonly-exploits-temp-root-to-backup-t3795510
This guy J4NN is a genius!
Maybe for a bounty he will do it for your device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got a PM about Temp root for Verizon Google Pixel 2 XL, I guess it was due to this post of you, @Inerent.
It seems that instead of exchanging PMs, it would be better to post it here, to clarify the situation.
Hopefully this is ok with @trabadura, who contacted me.
trabadura said:
j4nn said:
trabadura said:
Hi j4nn, i see your post in xda for temp root Sony XZ1c with Snapdragon 835 and I figured you could help us for temp root Verizon Google Pixel 2 Xl for Unlock Bootloader?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, I am not sure about that - I do not have that phone and cannot get/borrow it for testing either.
Do you know if it is possible to downgrade it's firmware?
Can you point me to earliest fw for download that it can be downgraded to?
What exactly the problem is - bootloader is not possible to unlock because Verizon (is it a mobile network operator?) disabled bootloader unlock possibility while on general not Verizon variant google allows it?
Is it also sim locked to Verizon operator only?
And how do you know that getting temp root would help you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, аs far as I know, it can not downgrade firmware with locked bootloader. With unlocked bootloader no problem.
The problem is in mobile operator. They lock option "OEM Unlock" (stay grayed out) in developer option. In general not Verizon variant no problem option is active and no problem to unlock bootloader. No sim locked only bootloader. Тhere is a lot of writing about the topic I can give a few links in the forum.
Links:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/pixel-2-xl/how-to/temp-root-bounty-verizon-users-t3710652
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am sorry, but in my opinion, you are out of luck.
At least if google/verizon delivers FOTA updates and most users accept them instead of staying at the version they bought the phone with.
You could get temp root only with some completely new not fixed kernel vulnerability which would not get patched for longer period of time and that's not happening very often.
If someone starts working on an exploit while most users upgrade in short time closing the bug being worked on, it does not make sense to put an effort into it.
To consider porting my work for other targets, you need to make sure you can run kernel which is still vulnerable to CVE-2017-7533 (race between inotify and rename) and few other CVEs that are needed to overcome android oreo mitigations. Google has patched the mentioned CVE which is the primary one with 2017-12-05 security patch level.
How many users do you think stay on older patch level than that? And would continue staying on it?
I am afraid nobody would help you no matter how much you promise with the bounty.
And so you know, working on it, only because of the bounty mostly is not worth it - at least in my case if I compare the lost time and what is promised in xperia xz1 bounty thread I would be better working any low paid job. That means if I did not want to get it done for myself, I would not work on it!
And even though Google Pixel 2 XL bounty is lot higher, the difficulty (due to no downgrade possibility) is extremely high and gets higher with each update.
I am afraid you need to get used to the fact that there never be a root for it, I am sorry.
You all should have probably bought the open (not Verizon locked) variant instead or be satisfied with the product as bought (I guess it must have been a great deal, right?).
Or at least educate all users here not to allow any upgrade at all since beginning (if that's even possible to disable the updates).
j4nn said:
I got a PM about Temp root for Verizon Google Pixel 2 XL, I guess it was due to this post of you, @Inerent.
It seems that instead of exchanging PMs, it would be better to post it here, to clarify the situation.
Hopefully this is ok with @trabadura, who contacted me.
I am sorry, but in my opinion, you are out of luck.
At least if google/verizon delivers FOTA updates and most users accept them instead of staying at the version they bought the phone with.
You could get temp root only with some completely new not fixed kernel vulnerability which would not get patched for longer period of time and that's not happening very often.
If someone starts working on an exploit while most users upgrade in short time closing the bug being worked on, it does not make sense to put an effort into it.
To consider porting my work for other targets, you need to make sure you can run kernel which is still vulnerable to CVE-2017-7533 (race between inotify and rename) and few other CVEs that are needed to overcome android oreo mitigations. Google has patched the mentioned CVE which is the primary one with 2017-12-05 security patch level.
How many users do you think stay on older patch level than that? And would continue staying on it?
I am afraid nobody would help you no matter how much you promise with the bounty.
And so you know, working on it, only because of the bounty mostly is not worth it - at least in my case if I compare the lost time and what is promised in xperia xz1 bounty thread I would be better working any low paid job. That means if I did not want to get it done for myself, I would not work on it!
And even though Google Pixel 2 XL bounty is lot higher, the difficulty (due to no downgrade possibility) is extremely high and gets higher with each update.
I am afraid you need to get used to the fact that there never be a root for it, I am sorry.
You all should have probably bought the open (not Verizon locked) variant instead or be satisfied with the product as bought (I guess it must have been a great deal, right?).
Or at least educate all users here not to allow any upgrade at all since beginning (if that's even possible to disable the updates).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are completely right. And that is the difference between Android and iPhone communities. Every Android user prefer to stay aside of this problem, naively thinking that they would not be affected. In Oreo Google has already put all the Root CAs into the System storage. So Nobody knows what kind of data the phone uploads every day to 3rd party servers. Verizon is just an example there are many companies who do the same. iPhone community is great because everybody know that some day under certain circumstances they can lost their JB. I hope one day some mid-range iOS developer will buy Android phone and start developing a great root tools. Sure it will be quite easy because all the source code is available.
I appreciate your work. Thank you and good luck.
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.