Root and Install TWRP Recovery on T-Mobile LG G4

Now a while back we had covered on how to Root and Install TWRP on the European version of LG’s latest flagship, the G4. For the many European users, this was an easy way to start rooting and flashing but it left the US users out in the dark. Well, now we are glad to bring you the full tutorial to achieve Root access and install TWRP on your T-Mobile LG G4.

Note: Root was achieved on the T-Mobile LG G4 recently using Low Effort Root which is a root for your LG G4, named such because this is a root the developers weren’t too interested in releasing, but because the phone is gaining critical mass popularity they figured waiting any longer would be a disservice to them.

The root ends up being around 2-4GB since we’re flashing whole new system partitions

Preparations

First of all you will need to ensure a few things before we start:

• Confirm you are using T-Mobile G4 model no. H811, on software version 10H.

Note: Any other carrier model will not work with this method. The user is to perform this at their own risk.

• Ensure that you have the necessary LG USB device drivers installed (Download here).
• Check if you have at least 80-85% of battery charge. We don’t want the phone dying in the middle of the process.
• If you have done this process before on other devices then you must be familiar with adb and fastboot. Ensure that you have it installed.

For those who aren’t familiar with adb and fastboot, Please refer to our detailed guide on How to Setup ADB and Fastboot on Windows within Seconds

• Enable USB-Debugging from Developer Options in the Settings menu.
  • If you cannot find Developer Options, then you’ll have to first enable it by going to Settings -> About Phone -> Build Number and tap it 7 times until you see a small notification that you have enabled it.
  • Then return to the Settings menu, you should find Developer Options there. Open it and enable USB Debugging.

• Make sure that you have backed up all your personal data and apps as all data will be erased!
  • For Contacts, Calendar and People details use Google Accounts Sync to backup
  • For Apps and App Data check out our detailed post here.

Disclaimer: The following procedure is highly risky and there are chances that you may brick your phone if not performed correctly, DroidViews cannot be held responsible if that happens. So the user should tread cautiously and at their own risk.

Downloads

h81110h.tar.gz (1.4 GB):  Download Here

Send_Command tools: LG_Root.zip

How to Root

Once you have downloaded all the files, we can begin with the procedure

Step 1 – Extract the tar.gz format on your PC now. You should get a system.rooted.H81110h.img file.

Step 2 – Now, transfer the system.rooted.H81110h.img file to the root of your device’s internal storage. Don’t paste the file inside any other sub-folder of internal storage and do not rename this file.

Step 3 – Extract the Send_command tools file you downloaded on your PC. The Send_Command.exe file and the ports.bat file are of most importance to us.

Step 4 – Now, open a command window in the folder in which you have the Send_Command.exe file (shift+right click).

Step 5 – Reboot your LG G4 into Download mode. Make sure your G4 is disconnected from PC, Power off your G4. Wait for 5-6 seconds after screen goes off, hold the Volume up button and power it up again, connect your G4 to PC using the USB cable.

When screen turns on of your G4, you are in download mode. You would have the text ‘Firmware Update’ written.

Step 6 – Next we need to find the COM port through which your G4 is connected to PC. Just double click the ports.bat file on your PC. You will get COM port nos. Look for port no. with DIAG written. Remember it.

Step 7 – Now switch to the command prompt window you had opened in Step 4 and type the following command.

Send_Command.exe \\.\COM4

“Replace COM4 with the COM port no you found in Step 6”.

Step 8 – Once you get an output that ends with #, type in the following command next:

Id

Wait till you get an output like ‘uid=(0)root gid=(0)root’. If you don’t then press Ctrl+C and repeat Step 7 and 8 till you do.

Step 9 – Once you get the ‘uid=(0)root gid=(0)root’ output, type the following command next:

dd if=/data/media/0/system.rooted.H81110h.img bs=8192 seek=65536 count=548352 of=/dev/block/mmcblk0

Step 10 – Once the command finishes running type ‘LEAVE’ in Command Prompt window to exit the application and that’s it! You have successfully rooted your T-Mobile LG G4

Install TWRP Recovery on T-Mobile LG G4

TWRP Download 

Download the file above and transfer it to the root of your internal storage.

Next, Make sure you have selected the ‘OEM Unlock’ option from Developer Settings. Go ahead and download the Flashify app from the Play Store.

[googleplay url=”https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cgollner.flashify&hl=en”]

Once you open up the app tap on Recovery image and then ‘Choose a file’ option. Select the .img file of recovery that you copied to phone. Choose ‘Normal Android Way’ under the option ‘Pick up file as’. And that’s it you will now have a T-Mobile LG G4 fully rooted and running TWRP custom recovery.

If you had any issues during rooting or flashing do let us know in the comments section below.