RS988 Varient - No Recovery Mode, No Hard-Reset Access? - LG G5 Questions & Answers

I've got an RS988 running on Verizon with no problems, but I've never seen an Android phone before where you simply can't get access to a hard-reset style recovery screen.
None of the standard button pressing sequences will land you on a recovery menu, and when I force recovery through ADB, I end up with the red-exclamation droid.
The only thing I have been able able to do is access this very odd IMEI display when I do a hard button sequence from power off.
Is this a normal thing?
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PaulieWallie said:
Any luck? Are you able to root and/or unlock the bootloader. If so, and it works fully on Verizon I'll buy one.
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The standard stuff like "fastboot OEM unlock" or "fastboot flashing unlock" don't work because LG removed or disabled the standard bootloader, if I understand correctly.

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raynan said:
The standard stuff like "fastboot OEM unlock" or "fastboot flashing unlock" don't work because LG removed or disabled the standard bootloader, if I understand correctly.
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So you can access fastboot? Did you request an unlock bin?
https://developer.lge.com/resource/mobile/RetrieveBootloader.dev?categoryTypeCode=ANRS
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joshw0000 said:
So you can access fastboot? Did you request an unlock bin?
https://developer.lge.com/resource/mobile/RetrieveBootloader.dev?categoryTypeCode=ANRS
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No. I'm saying that it seems like LG made their own bootloader that you can get to, but fastboot commands don't work.

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raynan said:
No. I'm saying that it seems like LG made their own bootloader that you can get to, but fastboot commands don't work.
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On some of the older LG's you had to make some changes to get into Fastboot. I can find the info if you need it but it requires root.
So if you adb reboot bootloader, where does it go?
I saw you were having issues with recovery. I think you'll need to do a button combo while on the red Android screen. I think you hold up and press down or vise versa. That should enable the rockers to wipe cache or do a reset.
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joshw0000 said:
On some of the older LG's you had to make some changes to get into Fastboot. I can find the info if you need it but it requires root.
So if you adb reboot bootloader, where does it go?
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I'm playing around again now. I'll grab some images/screenshots. You really can't do much, if anything, with it so feel free to try yourself.

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raynan said:
I'm playing around again now. I'll grab some images/screenshots. You really can't do much, if anything, with it so feel free to try yourself.
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I wish I could. I don't have one and probably won't get one if I can't root it.
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joshw0000 said:
I wish I could. I don't have one and probably won't get one if I can't root it.
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If it's that important, the H850 European model can be unlocked through LG's tool.

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raynan said:
If it's that important, the H850 European model can be unlocked through LG's tool.
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I don't think it's fully compatible with Verizon.
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Try booting to recovery and/or fastboot and run "adb devices" and/or "fastboot devices". That would at least tell you which mode you're in. You may just need to update your drivers if neither one recognizes your phone.
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Holding Vol-Down to Power, Letting go of power once boot Android appears for a second while continuing to hold vol down, and then repress and hold power doesn't work?
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Rauch said:
Holding Vol-Down to Power, Letting go of power once boot Android appears for a second while continuing to hold vol down, and then repress and hold power doesn't work?
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This takes you to their factory reset option like it did with the G4. Until you install something like TWRP, that's the only thing it does.

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raynan said:
This takes you to their factory reset option like it did with the G4. Until you install something like TWRP, that's the only thing it does.
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On my RS988 this does nothing. An adb reboot bootloader on RS988 simply restarts the phone. An adb reboot recovery sends you to red dead Android man. At which point there are no more options as far as I see it.
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In the past people used to alter or delete their laf partition which would open up the "real" fastboot so that they could flash their devices. I think jcase mentioned one time though that users should not mess with that partition in this phone (perhaps due to dm-verity and stuff?)
Edit: If I recall correctly, some would replace their laf partition with twrp so the normal button combination to enter the bootloader would send then to twrp. Drawback was that then there was no way to access bootloader settings.

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PaulieWallie said:
On my RS988 this does nothing. An adb reboot bootloader on RS988 simply restarts the phone. An adb reboot recovery sends you to red dead Android man. At which point there are no more options as far as I see it.
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That is stock recovery, it just requires a button combo to get past the dead Android splash screen.
For example, the Nexus 9:
https://youtu.be/yoJ_vRTRX7g
Some devices will be [hold] vol up + [press] vol down or [hold] vol down + [press] vol up. Just play with different button combos and you'll eventually see the stock recovery.
The fact that LG went with this the traditional stock recovery over the one they've used for the past several years is actually promising.
Once you get to recovery, try "adb devices". If it's not seeing your phone make sure you have adb enabled and check your drivers on your computer. They'll probably have to be updated.
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joshw0000 said:
That is stock recovery, it just requires a button combo to get past the dead Android splash screen.
For example, the Nexus 9:
https://youtu.be/yoJ_vRTRX7g
Some devices will be [hold] vol up + [press] vol down or [hold] vol down + [press] vol up. Just play with different button combos and you'll eventually see the stock recovery.
The fact that LG went with this the traditional stock recovery over the one they've used for the past several years is actually promising.
Once you get to recovery, try "adb devices". If it's not seeing your phone make sure you have adb enabled and check your drivers on your computer. They'll probably have to be updated.
Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk
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I am trying this now, can't seem to get out of the red dead android screen with any button combination. I've tried Hold Up + Press Down, Hold Down + Press Up, Hold Power + Press Up, Hold Power + Press Down, Hold Up & Down at the same time. Any other combos worth a go?

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PaulieWallie said:
I am trying this now, can't seem to get out of the red dead android screen with any button combination. I've tried Hold Up + Press Down, Hold Down + Press Up, Hold Power + Press Up, Hold Power + Press Down, Hold Up & Down at the same time. Any other combos worth a go?
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You can try all of those combos with 2 holds (both vols or one vol + power). On a old Droid I faintly remember having to press one of the key sequences multiple times (like vol up and press vol down 2 or 3 times).
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---------- Post added at 08:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:11 PM ----------
PaulieWallie said:
I am trying this now, can't seem to get out of the red dead android screen with any button combination. I've tried Hold Up + Press Down, Hold Down + Press Up, Hold Power + Press Up, Hold Power + Press Down, Hold Up & Down at the same time. Any other combos worth a go?
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Also try double clicking any 2 buttons momentarily (but simultaneously). Vol Up + Power, Vol Down + Power, or Vol Up + Vol Down. Maybe click them multiple times in a row in case it's more than one click that triggers it.
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Not getting anything other than if I hold down, and repeatedly press power, it restarts the phone immediately. A little stumped over here.
Edit: It actually does the same thing if I hold up and repeatedly press power. Or just repeatedly press power.

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PaulieWallie said:
Not getting anything other than if I hold down, and repeatedly press power, it restarts the phone immediately. A little stumped over here.
Edit: It actually does the same thing if I hold up and repeatedly press power. Or just repeatedly press power.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm running out of ideas. [emoji53]
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