I am coming from the Samsung line, Note 4 to be exact. I know I will be purchasing the v20, as it is the spiritual successor to the Note 4, to me.
I have been browsing the forums here and doing some reading, I see that the v20 is in it's infancy with root/developers breaking into nougat.
I try to find some answers, and I am unable to fully relinquish all my questions.
From what I understand the American models have unlocked bootloaders via Dirty Santa method, and two korean models if I am correct.
My questions are, which model should I buy? I want to have the model that has the MOST developer support. As I have the Exynos Korean model of my Note 4, and the development/custom roms and the like for my model are pretty non-existent, and it sucks.
From what I've read so far, if you want root, unlocked bootloader and the like, to steer clear of Dual Sim v20's. If this is true, what is the reason?
I was looking on the LG site and saw they are offering the US996 (unlocked) with a 200gb SD card.
(http://www.lg.com/us/cell-phones/lg-US996-Unlocked-v20-titan)
Does 'unlocked' mean that it is SIM unlocked or Bootloader unlocked?
If it's just SIM unlocked, is there ANY model that has Bootloader unlocked from the factory? (and will it have the support of developers, with custom roms and the like?)
Or is the US996 my best bet at unlocked and most widely supported v20.
Lastly, I see there will be a Turkey model release, international sim.
Should I wait around for these other v20's to pop up before purchasing? (I am in no rush to upgrade from note 4, but excited for new v20.)
Thank you everyone for your time in reading this.
I hope this thread helps all newcomers who want to hop on the v20 train.
TL;DR - What is the best model phone to purchase, that will have most DEV support?
The US996 model can be bootloader-unlocked directly from LG.
RichBordoni said:
The US996 model can be bootloader-unlocked directly from LG.
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Right, I saw that! It says it voids manufacturers warranty though. So what if I purchased another variant and unlocked bootloader and sent it in if I messed it up. Would it be a possible gamble of them fixing it vs them knowing my phone is bootloader unlocked because I officially unlocked it via website?
Or should I just purchase based 3rd party warranty, (such as square trade) and not worry about it?
I just saw a post about a new prime phone from Amazon, and I was curious if there has been any luck rooting these AMZN based devices?
I really like the G6, but having access to the US unlocked GSM device AND the quad DAC would be perfect for me.
But I gotta have root. So any threads on other devices, or any insider information on whether these Amazon devices have unlocked bootloader's?
https://www.engadget.com/2017/10/26/amazon-lg-g6-prime-discount/
I'm waiting for the unlocked US998, but I would be okay with a quad DAC G6, too. As I don't mind waiting 6 mo the for the V30's to drop in price.
I am also wondering the same thing. Has the LG G6+ been rooted?
You are never going to see an official bootloader unlock for the Amazon devices, because their marketing model is "discount phone with ads." Bootloader unlock would allow you to circumvent the ads by rooting and/or flashing a different ROM, so Amazon would not offer the phone this way without an agreement from LG not to unlock these phones. Other devices Amazon sells this way are pretty tightly locked down, and their communities have not had a lot of success breaking into them.
Bottom line is, it's not coming any time soon, if at all, so don't buy the device assuming that you'll someday be able to root it.
Anybody tried flashing a different stock ROM to the phone using Uppercut yet? I'm wondering if you could just flash the international firmware to the phone if the phone would accept it since it's recognized in LG UP with no issues and shows up as the international version too. Since it's a signed firmware I've gotta believe that if you can't ever unlock the bootloader that you could at least flash a stock LG international firmware file to it.
bmurphr1 said:
Anybody tried flashing a different stock ROM to the phone using Uppercut yet? I'm wondering if you could just flash the international firmware to the phone if the phone would accept it since it's recognized in LG UP with no issues and shows up as the international version too. Since it's a signed firmware I've gotta believe that if you can't ever unlock the bootloader that you could at least flash a stock LG international firmware file to it.
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Anyone who has one try this yet?
yomuppet said:
Anyone who has one try this yet?
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Not gonna happen unfortunately...not unless someone gains root access to the device and then uses something like FlashFire to hot-flash a custom ROM onto the device. That would be our best hope. That being said I'm still using my LG G6 since Amazon removed ads from all Prime devices free of charge (except for Kindles and such) and my phone is better than ever now. I plan on getting at least a year of use out of it and then upgrade to something with a Snapdragon 845 CPU inside it.
Alright guys...im trying to root my H870 AT&T G6 thinq and Idk what I'm doing wrong. I downloaded the files I need and tried getting it into fastboot mode and it just reboots and turns on. I tried adb reboot recovery and of course with no recovery yet it goes to no command. Does anyone have a better way then using adb? I attempted to use kingoroot but I don't read Chinese so I have no idea what it was saying lol
As has been said elsewhere, the European H870 and US 997 are the only ones that are rootable.
There is not and will not be a root for any of the other variants. There is some chat about it on the forums but realistically there will not be any other rooting method other than the official LG route.
I am planning to buy an LG G6+ US997U(Model no LGUS997U.AAMZBK) and import it to India for the simple fact that US997U models are bootloader unlockable.
The problem arises that the LTE bands being used in India are not mentioned in the FCC filing for US997 models.
As I understand the modem in SD821 supports all LTE bands and there are region specific software blocks to block other bands.
My question is whether after unlocking and rooting, I can remove those blocks so the phone works fine with the LTE bands in India.
Please Help.
you know only the H870 and US997 can be unlocked no other models like the h870d or ds or a u version
..but DS is quite different. (two sim) 997 and 997U are differ just in mem size and quad dac. So the boot is almost the same.
Indiant said:
..but DS is quite different. (two sim) 997 and 997U are differ just in mem size and quad dac. So the boot is almost the same.
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Yes I read in an Amazon review that there is official support for bootloader unlock for US997U.
Question now is whether I can unlock all the LTE bands available with the SD821 and whether I can flash the H870 or US997 recovery and roms(Lineage, AquariOS) on US997U?
@J0SH1X @rc420head Can you guys help answer this please?
gammaboy said:
Yes I read in an Amazon review that there is official support for bootloader unlock for US997U.
Question now is whether I can unlock all the LTE bands available with the SD821 and whether I can flash the H870 or US997 recovery and roms(Lineage, AquariOS) on US997U?
@[email protected] Can you guys help answer this please?
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Not sure about the U h870 and us997 have twrp and custom roms
rc420head said:
Not sure about the U h870 and us997 have twrp and custom roms
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Absolute nothing. No custom rom, no recovery, no root. ...and I think no system updates too for u, because it is an Amazon branded phone.
So... Is the G6+ (US997U) supported by LG Developer's bootloader unlock, or not? That's the real issue... not the fact that it's "just the memory size" because LG distinguishes support based on the IMEI/MEID. Consider the fact that all of the US99x phones are the same model number for the "unlocked" and the "US Cellular" versions... but LG will not send you an unlock code if you attempt to use a device ID from a device that is provisioned to the US Cellular carrier. The hardware is literally identical.
Also consider that the V30+ is in the same boat. The US998 can be unlocked on the LG dev site (with a little trickery - you have to change the website code in Chrome for it to work)... but the US998U can NOT. We're not really sure why.
Presently... the LG Dev Supported Devices List does NOT list the US997U (G6+)... so I want to ask anyone here that says it can be unlocked how they did it. It's hard to find info on xda, since the "plus" version doesn't seem to have it's own portal.
Thanks, all!
I tried to unlock my US997U on the portal (selecting US997 from the dropdown) and my unlock was brutally denied.
Extremely lame that simply having more memory means I can't unlock my phone!
is there any update on this? can LGUS997U be unlocked? I too was denied on the LG developer website
vvsarana said:
is there any update on this? can LGUS997U be unlocked? I too was denied on the LG developer website
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YEAH SUPER LAME!. the website denied mine too. SOOO LAME. because fastboot gave me the CODE... SO LAME.
Unfortunately, your device( United States, (AMAZON(USA)), LGUS997U.AMZ )does not support unlocking the bootloader.
Hello! I plan getting an LG V20, yet i can't seem to determine which of the variants have the most support (As in custom roms, kernels, recoveries, unbrick, etc...).
My previous device, the V10 T-Mobile version had an unlocked bootloader but couldn't be flashed with a custom rom or downgraded due to LG enabling the QFuse or Anti-Rollback.
I am hoping to get myself a V20 variant that has the most support and also free from anti-rollbacks like my previous V10.
Get and ATT. But it should be less than android 8.0 oreo or oreo 20g software version. Preferably on Android 7.0
TMobile one android 7.0 is also good. But I prefer h910 ATT
princedede said:
Get and ATT. But it should be less than android 8.0 oreo or oreo 20g software version. Preferably on Android 7.0
TMobile one android 7.0 is also good. But I prefer h910 ATT
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Thanks for the suggestion. Could you elaborate as to why i need to get a device that is less than android 8.0?
Back on my T-Mobile V10, the last official android version (MM) came with all the lock down that made it impossible to falsh the device.
Is it so with the V20s running Oreo?
Thanks for starting this thread, I was wondering too, especially regarding the T-Mobile and Verizon version as there seems to be plenty of them out there for a lesser price. I personally have an unlocked US996, but was thinking about picking up a ATT h910. The V20 is an amazing phone, what I'd consider one of the last "great phones" that had it all-hardware wise: removable battery, expandable memory, IR blaster, 3.5mm headphone jack, and an FM player.... in addition the Quad DAC and content creation features made it even sweeter (manual mode for the camera, very competent microphone). Though we all complained about LG's horrible software updates, in my book this phone is a beast and a legend, speaking hardware wise, they don't make 'em like this anymore...sadly so too..
ssnova said:
Thanks for starting this thread, I was wondering too, especially regarding the T-Mobile and Verizon version as there seems to be plenty of them out there for a lesser price. I personally have an unlocked US996, but was thinking about picking up a ATT h910. The V20 is an amazing phone, what I'd consider one of the last "great phones" that had it all-hardware wise: removable battery, expandable memory, IR blaster, 3.5mm headphone jack, and an FM player.... in addition the Quad DAC and content creation features made it even sweeter (manual mode for the camera, very competent microphone). Though we all complained about LG's horrible software updates, in my book this phone is a beast and a legend, speaking hardware wise, they don't make 'em like this anymore...sadly so too..
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The V20 seems like a great device...judging from my previous V10. It is the reason why i am choosing to get the V20 over the Xiaomi Note 7 or Xiaomi 7.
But i still need a bit of clarification as to what makes some V20 variants better than others and why i am required to get a variant with Nougat instead of Oreo.
I just wanna get a variant that isn't locked down like my V10 was. Any suggestions or explanations on the matter is very welcome.
mickeyasamoah said:
The V20 seems like a great device...judging from my previous V10. It is the reason why i am choosing to get the V20 over the Xiaomi Note 7 or Xiaomi 7.
But i still need a bit of clarification as to what makes some V20 variants better than others and why i am required to get a variant with Nougat instead of Oreo.
I just wanna get a variant that isn't locked down like my V10 was. Any suggestions or explanations on the matter is very welcome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand, and I'm on a similar boat, as my US996 is stock and I'd like to pick up another one to run LOS/community developed and I was wondering if there was a more preferable V20 variant over the other. Hopefully someone more acquainted with the subject matter can chime in.
mickeyasamoah said:
Thanks for the suggestion. Could you elaborate as to why i need to get a device that is less than android 8.0?
Back on my T-Mobile V10, the last official android version (MM) came with all the lock down that made it impossible to falsh the device.
Is it so with the V20s running Oreo?
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Click to collapse
Yes it is. That's why it's better to have a V20 with Android 7. For ATT H910, android 8.0 on version g is still rootable. 8.0 version H, I can't say. So basically just get the one with Android 7.0 installed
---------- Post added at 11:56 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:54 AM ----------
ssnova said:
I understand, and I'm on a similar boat, as my US996 is stock and I'd like to pick up another one to run LOS/community developed and I was wondering if there was a more preferable V20 variant over the other. Hopefully someone more acquainted with the subject matter can chime in.
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Click to collapse
T-mobile, ATT V20 is okay. U can get any. But let it be on Android 7.0
ssnova said:
I understand, and I'm on a similar boat, as my US996 is stock and I'd like to pick up another one to run LOS/community developed and I was wondering if there was a more preferable V20 variant over the other. Hopefully someone more acquainted with the subject matter can chime in.
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Click to collapse
Wow! Isn't the US996 supposed to be the Non-Branded version of the V20 which allows bootloader unlocks from the LG website?
princedede said:
Yes it is. That's why it's better to have a V20 with Android 7. For ATT H910, android 8.0 on version g is still rootable. 8.0 version H, I can't say. So basically just get the one with Android 7.0 installed
---------- Post added at 11:56 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:54 AM ----------
T-mobile, ATT V20 is okay. U can get any. But let it be on Android 7.0
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Thanks for the clarification. But what of the US996 version which is supposed to be the version unlockable from the LG website? Does it also have to be on android 7.0 too or does it not matter what version it might be on?
mickeyasamoah said:
Thanks for the clarification. But what of the US996 version which is supposed to be the version unlockable from the LG website? Does it also have to be on android 7.0 too or does it not matter what version it might be on?
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Due to the official LG support, the version should not matter for the unlocked US996. The tricky part may be actually finding the correct phone as there are two other US996 variants that are not unlockable from the LG website. The unlocked one has "USA" written to the right of the barcode on the sticker behind the battery, as seen in a couple of photos in this thread. The other two US996 models have "UCL" and "BPT" written instead.
Of course, all of them can be rooted and have custom ROMs, but it's a lot easier to get there on the US996 USA.
Generally, I'd say the US996 USA alongside the H910 and H918 have the most custom ROM support around here. Not sure if it matters to you, but do note that all the US996 models have the FM radio disabled. And generally, getting a V20 already on Oreo is not a huge problem (except for the LS997 model where it's unrootable due to anti-rollback) since you can still downgrade to Nougat to do the TWRP installation/rooting procedure.
C D said:
Due to the official LG support, the version should not matter for the unlocked US996. The tricky part may be actually finding the correct phone as there are two other US996 variants that are not unlockable from the LG website. The unlocked one has "USA" written to the right of the barcode on the sticker behind the battery, as seen in a couple of photos in this thread. The other two US996 models have "UCL" and "BPT" written instead.
Of course, all of them can be rooted and have custom ROMs, but it's a lot easier to get there on the US996 USA.
Generally, I'd say the US996 USA alongside the H910 and H918 have the most custom ROM support around here. Not sure if it matters to you, but do note that all the US996 models have the FM radio disabled. And generally, getting a V20 already on Oreo is not a huge problem (except for the LS997 model where it's unrootable due to anti-rollback) since you can still downgrade to Nougat to do the TWRP installation/rooting procedure.
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Thanks, this answers a lot. I was kind of confused because the other day I came across a thread about "cross flashing" V20's, from what I gather, you could flash a.. say H910 to US996, didn't delve too deep into it, but had me scratching my head, sounded like it almost didn't matter what version of V20 you got, you could do almost anything with it.
To the OP, yes the US996 is an unlocked US variant, but I'm gonna keep it stock for now.
C D said:
Due to the official LG support, the version should not matter for the unlocked US996. The tricky part may be actually finding the correct phone as there are two other US996 variants that are not unlockable from the LG website. The unlocked one has "USA" written to the right of the barcode on the sticker behind the battery, as seen in a couple of photos in this thread. The other two US996 models have "UCL" and "BPT" written instead.
Of course, all of them can be rooted and have custom ROMs, but it's a lot easier to get there on the US996 USA.
Generally, I'd say the US996 USA alongside the H910 and H918 have the most custom ROM support around here. Not sure if it matters to you, but do note that all the US996 models have the FM radio disabled. And generally, getting a V20 already on Oreo is not a huge problem (except for the LS997 model where it's unrootable due to anti-rollback) since you can still downgrade to Nougat to do the TWRP installation/rooting procedure.
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Click to collapse
Oh my word! Thank you so very much for this detailed explanation, This indeed answers 90% of my questions.
Since anti-rollback wasn't enabled on all the variants except that LS997 variant, getting a v20 on Oreo doesn't mean the end of modding for the device, as i can always downgrade to an Nougat and root the device. Right?
Oh...and if i read you correctly, All V20 models except for the US996 model have FM Radio functionality enabled.
I can't wait to get myself a V20 now as all my previous LG devices were T-Mobile branded and did not have FM Radio support.
It's great to know that FM radio works on even the T-Mobile variant of the V20.
Thanks again for the detailed clarification.
ssnova said:
Thanks, this answers a lot. I was kind of confused because the other day I came across a thread about "cross flashing" V20's, from what I gather, you could flash a.. say H910 to US996, didn't delve too deep into it, but had me scratching my head, sounded like it almost didn't matter what version of V20 you got, you could do almost anything with it.
To the OP, yes the US996 is an unlocked US variant, but I'm gonna keep it stock for now.
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Rodger that!
With @C D's detailed explanation, I might get the T-Mobile Variant of the V20 as the bootloader on T-Mobile variants of all my previous LG devices were really easy to unlock with the following fastboot command without any unlock code or unlock.bin file.
Code:
fastboot oem unlock
I just hope the bootloader unlock process is as straight forward on the V20 too.
mickeyasamoah said:
Oh my word! Thank you so very much for this detailed explanation, This indeed answers 90% of my questions.
Since anti-rollback wasn't enabled on all the variants except that LS997 variant, getting a v20 on Oreo doesn't mean the end of modding for the device, as i can always downgrade to an Nougat and root the device. Right?
Oh...and if i read you correctly, All V20 models except for the US996 model have FM Radio functionality enabled.
I can't wait to get myself a V20 now as all my previous LG devices were T-Mobile branded and did not have FM Radio support.
It's great to know that FM radio works on even the T-Mobile variant of the V20.
Thanks again for the detailed clarification.
Click to expand...
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You're correct about downgrading. In fact, if you look at whatever rooting guide you end up following, it will most likely involve downgrading to Nougat.
A few more bits of info:
- The T-Mobile H918 actually does have anti-rollback, too, but can still be rooted using a different procedure. You can still downgrade to a certain version number.
- Another model with the FM radio disabled is the Verizon VS995, but someone on here cross-flashed it with H910 firmware to get FM radio working and only had to flash the VS995 modem files to get it going. Same thing has been done to US996 models, but apparently, the front and back cameras get flipped as a side effect.
mickeyasamoah said:
Rodger that!
With @C D's detailed explanation, I might get the T-Mobile Variant of the V20 as the bootloader on T-Mobile variants of all my previous LG devices were really easy to unlock with the following fastboot command without any unlock code or unlock.bin file.
Code:
fastboot oem unlock
I just hope the bootloader unlock process is as straight forward on the V20 too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only for the US996 USA, sadly. Most of the procedures for the other variants are quite unusual with plenty of steps, so read up carefully before you dive in. I have done it for two older LS997s while I also bought a used US996 USA and H918 that already came rooted.
Also, if you are going for the T-Mobile H918, absolutely make sure it is carrier SIM unlocked. As far as I'm aware, a locked H918 can only be unlocked if you are a current T-Mobile USA customer or via a paid service which can cost more than $80 USD (almost the price of a used V20). It's nothing like the simple unlock PIN codes you may have seen for other carriers.
C D said:
You're correct about downgrading. In fact, if you look at whatever rooting guide you end up following, it will most likely involve downgrading to Nougat.
A few more bits of info:
- The T-Mobile H918 actually does have anti-rollback, too, but can still be rooted using a different procedure. You can still downgrade to a certain version number.
- Another model with the FM radio disabled is the Verizon VS995, but someone on here cross-flashed it with H910 firmware to get FM radio working and only had to flash the VS995 modem files to get it going. Same thing has been done to US996 models, but apparently, the front and back cameras get flipped as a side effect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow....If the T-Mobile variant does come with anti-rollback, then i guess i would have to refrain from it even tho it might be downgradeable to some extent. Anti-rollbacks are always up to no good. Downgrade too much and u risk blowing a Qfuse or something.
Moving forward....How is the AT&T variant? Does it have any anti-rollbacks? I would rather have a variant that has no anti-rollback even if it's rooting or unlocking guide might be much complicated as compared to the H918.
C D said:
Only for the US996 USA, sadly. Most of the procedures for the other variants are quite unusual with plenty of steps, so read up carefully before you dive in. I have done it for two older LS997s while I also bought a used US996 USA and H918 that already came rooted.
Also, if you are going for the T-Mobile H918, absolutely make sure it is carrier SIM unlocked. As far as I'm aware, a locked H918 can only be unlocked if you are a current T-Mobile USA customer or via a paid service which can cost more than $80 USD (almost the price of a used V20). It's nothing like the simple unlock PIN codes you may have seen for other carriers.
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The anti-rollback on the H918 has really thrown me off. Else, the T-Mobile variants of all the LG devices i owned in the past were SIM unlocked. So that wouldn't have been an issue.
mickeyasamoah said:
Wow....If the T-Mobile variant does come with anti-rollback, then i guess i would have to refrain from it even tho it might be downgradeable to some extent. Anti-rollbacks are always up to no good. Downgrade too much and u risk blowing a Qfuse or something.
Moving forward....How is the AT&T variant? Does it have any anti-rollbacks? I would rather have a variant that has no anti-rollback even if it's rooting or unlocking guide might be much complicated as compared to the H918.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only the H918 and LS997 have anti-rollback, so you'd be safe with the H910. However, both the LS997 and H910 (by now you probably realize how ridiculous LG has been with all these variations) have no official firmware (.kdz) files, so I'm not sure how difficult it would be to restore the phone in the unlikely scenario that you somehow lose TWRP recovery.
Look at the rooting guides specific to both H910 and H918 to see what you're up against and what pitfalls may lie ahead before you decide.
C D said:
Only the H918 and LS997 have anti-rollback, so you'd be safe with the H910. However, both the LS997 and H910 (by now you probably realize how ridiculous LG has been with all these variations) have no official firmware (.kdz) files, so I'm not sure how difficult it would be to restore the phone in the unlikely scenario that you somehow lose TWRP recovery.
Look at the rooting guides specific to both H910 and H918 to see what you're up against and what pitfalls may lie ahead before you decide.
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Oh My! These are some of the things LG does that made me say to myself in the past..."This would be my last LG device." But somehow, i keep finding myself crawling to LG.
Like you said, i have to read as to determine which variant's shortcomings is less damaging.
Before i go digging into V20 threads, is it possible the H910 has a tot even tho it doesn't have a kdz?
mickeyasamoah said:
Oh My! These are some of the things LG does that made me say to myself in the past..."This would be my last LG device." But somehow, i keep finding myself crawling to LG.
Like you said, i have to read as to determine which variant's shortcomings is less damaging.
Before i go digging into V20 threads, is it possible the H910 has a tot even tho it doesn't have a kdz?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have never seen any firmware files at all available for the H910, and other V20 variants have KDZs only, no TOT files.
C D said:
I have never seen any firmware files at all available for the H910, and other V20 variants have KDZs only, no TOT files.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow....LG really makes sure each variant lacks something. H918 has easy bootloader unlock but a dreadful anti-rollback, H910 has no rollback but has no firmware files.
I was just reading and i noticed that the anti-rollback on the H918 was introduced in the firmware version 10K.
Does this mean that an H918 with firmware version 10K and below would be fine? If yes, would a rooted H918 with 10K be able to flash custom Oreo ROMs?