Hacking Android Can anyone help root this tablet/phone?

[GAPMan]

I am trying to root an old tablet so that I can install a Custom OS like Lineage on it. The tablet in question is a LG G Pad™ 7.0 LTE and the OS is Android 5.0.2 (Lollipop) but I have hard time rooting this device and I really want to put in a Custom Rom in it. Can anyone help me? I was able to get ADB but just cannot root or format it to install the rom.

 

[zfreeman]

Kingaroot: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/at-t-lg-g-pad-7-0-lte-lollipop-root-help.3216914/post-65333069

Custom ROMs need a custom recovery like TWRP. You'll be able to install TWRP after rooting.

 

[KleinesSinchen]

I am trying to root an old tablet so that I can install a Custom OS like Lineage on it. The tablet in question is a LG G Pad™ 7.0 LTE and the OS is Android 5.0.2 (Lollipop) but I have hard time rooting this device and I really want to put in a Custom Rom in it. Can anyone help me? I was able to get ADB but just cannot root or format it to install the rom.

Did you try some fastboot commands like
fastboot oem unlock
fastboot oem unlock-go
fastboot flashing unlock
.
.
.
to unlock the bootloader? I've learned this is the first step to gain full access to a device. Depending on the manufacturer you might need a special code for unlocking. Don't forget to tick "Allow OEM unlocking" in developer options. Otherwise unlocking won't work.

Some notes from my sparse experience on those topics:

• Backup any data from the device before entering those commands! Unlocking the bootloader throws away the user profile (factory reset)
• Magisk patched boot images can be flashed afterwards fastboot flash boot patched.img
• Windows users may have a hard time installing the fastboot drivers (fastboot PC program doesn't detect phone in fastboot mode). You'll find plenty of information and guides online. I've never encountered such a problem on Linux
• Searching for "Your device Magisk" or "Your device root" or "Your device TWRP" or "Your device LineageOS" often brings up pages that look like blog entries written exactly for your device. They are automatically created. Regard them with some suspicion.

Kingaroot: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/at-t-lg-g-pad-7-0-lte-lollipop-root-help.3216914/post-65333069

Custom ROMs need a custom recovery like TWRP. You'll be able to install TWRP after rooting.

First time I rooted a phone was with such a one-click-tool. It worked for the old device on Android 4.4 – but installed a lot of shady bloat itself.

 

[zfreeman]

That may be, but if we're installing a custom ROM, then it's only briefly.

 

[KleinesSinchen]

That may be, but if we're installing a custom ROM, then it's only briefly.

I've no idea how the bootloader reacts when installing TWRP through temporary root access with an exploit app. Does it even boot into TWRP (potentially not staring unsigned software) when replacing the content of the boot partition?


Anyway, it turned out LG is not very modding friendly, only allows unlocking certain devices and will stop providing bootloader unlock codes very soon.
https://www.xda-developers.com/lg-bootloader-unlocking-shut-down-december-31/
===============

However, LineageOS does exist in a slightly newer version than the stock ROM for the LG G Pad 7.0 LTE
https://lineageosroms.com/v410/

 

[GAPMan]

I've no idea how the bootloader reacts when installing TWRP through temporary root access with an exploit app. Does it even boot into TWRP (potentially not staring unsigned software) when replacing the content of the boot partition?


Anyway, it turned out LG is not very modding friendly, only allows unlocking certain devices and will stop providing bootloader unlock codes very soon.
https://www.xda-developers.com/lg-bootloader-unlocking-shut-down-december-31/
===============

However, LineageOS does exist in a slightly newer version than the stock ROM for the LG G Pad 7.0 LTE
https://lineageosroms.com/v410/

Is that so? No wonder I could not root my device even with Kingaroot. My device is not inherently mod friendly.

 

[KleinesSinchen]

Is that so? No wonder I could not root my device even with Kingaroot. My device is not inherently mod friendly.

That is not a question of mod friendly or not. Kingroot and Kingoroot (why the similar names??) rely on exploits to gain (temporary) root privileges. Then they use those privileges to modify the system and install a "su" command, a root management app (and some more stuff nobody needs). If those one-click-tools don't find any know security holes, they can't exploit the system (and as far as I know the tools have not been updated in a few years).
A device on Android 5 might be exploitable. The PC applications going through ADB can try a bit more than the Android apps on the phone/tablet.
======

In any case – no matter if you want to open the bootloader at the moment – you should verify if the bootloader can be unlocked (ignore the very short list of compatible devices on the LG page – some G Pad 7.0 LTE must be unlockable since LineageOS and TWRP exist) and retrieve the code (file) from LG as soon as possible. When they end bootloader code distribution at the end of this year, there might be no way to ever do that (there is a complicated method for certain models and of course we don't know if some possibility is found in the future).

This is for all readers with an LG phone: No matter if you want to unlock now, get the code file before they close the page. It might be helpful later.

This will probably be soon a dead link:
https://developer.lge.com/resource/mobile/RetrieveBootloader.dev

 

[GAPMan]

This does help somewhat but I do not have an LG account. I got this tablet as a gift of sorts and I did not sign this up with LG tablet.

Edit: I finally rooted my phone with a program called Dr.Fone from Wondershare(?). I installed the TWRP and SuperSu but I think I bricked my phone and I am trying to fix it. So close yet so far.

 

[master801]

Check out LineageOS' guide on how to install their ROM. https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/v410/install

It'll give you an idea of how to root and flash a custom ROM.

They recommend TowelRoot, but I personally recommend DP Tools. https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/tool-win-dp-tools-manage-your-lg-device.3084644/

Also, I'm pretty sure you're supposed to downgrade to Android 4 (KitKat) before flashing TWRP, because the bootloader is locked on Android 5 (Lollipop). Supposedly LG left a giant bootloader bug in KitKat.

 

[GAPMan]

It seems as though that I am close and yet so far. I was able to restore my tablet with a different rom but still have a hard installing Lineage.

I successfully installed Lineage on the tablet. Thanks for the help.