Setting up LG G Pad 8.3 with LineageOS

Reading at night. Securely. Or how I got a great tablet for 80 Euros from ebay. This article tells you how to install LineageOS on LG G Pad 8.3.

v500 is a great tablet. It is supposed to be outdated now not receiving newest software from LG anymore. The hardware is very good however, so it's worth it installing a Lineage OS on this tablet to make it up to date. I show here, how I got this tablet set up with Lineage OS, overcoming the main problem - the locked bootloader.

Today LG G Pad 8.3 costs just about 230 Euros new on Amazon or about 100 Euros for a used one on eBay - a great deal.

It is supposed to be outdated since it came up in 2013. But.. it has an amazing screen: 1920x1200 resolution with better-than-eyes-need 273 PPI display with IPS LCD technology = amazing colors. The screen is not extremely bright, but great in colors and in low backlight levels range.

2GB RAM is great too, doubts? -Wait, let us remove bloatware!

Quad-core Qualcomm Krait 300 clocked 1.7 GHz brings really smooth performance.

The battery life is OK, given the light weight and relatively small battery.

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Now, the v500 has no SIM slot, but if you have unlocked WiFi hotspot on your phone, you still can connect on the go: link.

Then cameras and other features.. I do not need them. Back.camera makes nice photos. Front cam is there as well.

The speakers are stereo, but not loud, have no bass at all, are backwards oriented, so the stereo effect is lost completely in my opinion. You'll buy some headphones or some Bluetooth audio receiver like a JBL speaker, Sony BT Headphones, headphones like these Bose.. You have saved some cash not buying a fancy tablet for more than a good 5 day alpine vacation costs!

To my taste, an anti-glare screen, a microSD card and a good cover to make it less slippery are nice add-ons.

Now you have great hardware in your hands, but the software is a bit bloated, locked and outdated. Let's change it.

Below are instructions to unlock the bootloader and make the pad great again, you follow solely at your own risk!

First root it. I got it rooted already with KingRoot app.

Unlock the bootloader from adb root shell.

Source: xda-developers

Get v500-20F bootloader image from android file host . com

Allow USB debugging, including USB mode set from charging to MTP mode or "Transfer Files" mode.

Unzip, adb push to all the files unzipped to device

adb push aboot.img /sdcard/
...

Run adb shell, allow root, do

su 
dd if=/sdcard/aboot.img of=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/aboot 
dd if=/sdcard/rpm.img of=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/rpm 
dd if=/sdcard/sbl1.img of=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/sbl1 
dd if=/sdcard/sbl2.img of=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/sbl2 
dd if=/sdcard/sbl3.img of=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/sbl3 
dd if=/sdcard/tz.img of=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/tz

Here is the digital hero letting it happen, credits go to fefifofum

Now you have a good bootloader, recovery follows: get the latest TWRP, adb push it and flash it too:

Code:

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

Download and push LineageOS, su add-on for arm, and if you need them very much the gapps.

Rebooting to boot loader is possible now with adb reboot bootloader or a key combo: hold power and volume down, device reboots, keep holding, LG logo appears, release all buttons, click volume up once: YouTube video

Follow the usual LineageOS installation instructions then.

For me it worked just fine, this article is written on the pad.

Secure your new android next: link.

Enjoy!

Tips: Disable playback control with volume buttons, it gets in the way when grabbing the tablet. Get a case, really, the tab slips a lot and is easy to crash.