G Vista unlock bootloader/custom recovery

[bobdamnit]

This is a guide for unlocking the G Vista bootloader


You must have rooted your device prior to performing this.

Open ADB and obtain a root shell:

adb shell
su

First, backup your laf partition:

dd if=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/laf of=/sdcard/laf.img

Next, we need to zero the laf partition:

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/laf

You can now boot into Fastboot mode. So lets do that. Remove the battery from your phone and put it back in. Hold volume up and plug your phone into your computer while holding volume up. Continue to hold volume up until you see the phone boot to a black screen with the phrase "Fastboot processing commands" somewhere near the bottom of the text.

Now run the command to unlock the bootloader:

fastboot oem unlock

Verify that its unlocked by removing the battery and booting back into Fastboot mode. Issue the next command to verify that the bootloader is actually unlocked:

fastboot getvar all

Look for the following on your device: 'Unlocked: yes'.

At this time, you can now install a custom recovery. The only one we have is PhilZ Touch, however I do not know who built it. Its not perfect. It cannot see the external SD card at all, so nandroids are useless. I will however post it here for posterity.

Issue the following while booted in Fastboot:

fastboot flash recovery vs880_cwm_recovery.img

To enter recovery, perform the following steps:

-Pull the battery
-Remove the USB cable
-Insert battery
-Hold volume down and power
-When LG logo displays, release power
-Immediately press power again
-In factory reset menu, select Factory Reset with volume/power keys

It should boot into CWM. Alternatively if releasing power and re pressing power doesn't bring up the boot menu, just hold power instead.

Your now unlocked, fastboot enabled, and have a custom recovery.

There are some caveats! CWM will not mount your external SD card. So, this means:

- Do not save anything you want to flash to the external SD card!
- DO NOT EVER WIPE THE INTERNAL STORAGE!

Consider that your one and only warning. It will be very hard to recover from wiping the internal storage because you will not have anything to flash on the device, nor any operating system. Which means you will have NO way to copy over something to flash to get back to a usable state. Be prepared to use the "Return to stock" guide I wrote lol.

Recovery builders: I'm requesting someone to help us fix this issue! If you can help and are willing, I'm open to doing what I can to help! Please PM me!

 

[DBlake]

This doesn't work if you have upgraded to Lollipop. LG disabled the bootloader unlock command in that build. Speaking of which, can someone please post the ABOOT.IMG and BOOT.IMG from build 11B?