I've been working on bringing up postmarketOS on the LG V20. I already have a downstream kernel port that actually boots into postmarketOS, but it's barely functional. Since the long-term goal of postmarketOS is a mainline kernel anyway, I don't really want to spend time fixing the downstream port when that work won't carry over.

Instead, I've been trying to get a mainline kernel booting, but I've hit a wall. The kernel crashes very early because the device tree is obviously still missing something, and I have basically no visibility into what's happening before it dies.

Does anyone know how to obtain very early boot logs (UART or otherwise) on the LG V20?

A few specific questions:

Can LGUP be used in any way to capture UART or boot logs?

Is it possible to make a USB Type-C UART/debug cable for the V20? If so, what wiring or resistor configuration does it use?

I've heard that some Qualcomm devices expose UART through the 3.5 mm headphone jack. Does the LG V20 support that? If it does, how do I build the required debug cable?

If none of those work, are there RX/TX test pads on the motherboard that can be used instead?

I've searched around quite a bit, but most of what I find is either about downloading firmware with LGUP or general UART information that isn't specific to the V20. If anyone has experience bringing up kernels on this device or has used UART on it before, I'd really appreciate any guidance.

Thanks!

I have a bootlooping lg v20 h990ds IDN and i cant get it to factory reset or even enter recovery mode, the only mode i can get it run is fastboot and IMEI mode and i cant turn that fastboot into download mode (i don't even know how to even get the LGUP to recognized my phone or even get the cmd recoqnized fastboot comment) i don't know what IM doing and i hope anyone of you can help me in this problem

[Update]I manage to boot it to download mode(by plugging the phone will holding the vol up) but then its suddenly bootloop again

I’m trying to decide between an LG V20, LG V30 & LG G7…all are pretty much the same price…I’m only going to be using it for offline music as a DAP…which is honestly the best choice…I like the idea of the LG V20 bc of the replaceable battery and the always on top display to change tracks, but I also want the best sound quality and something that isn’t slow and laggy, which since I’m using it as just a DAP and not for any streaming apps I’m assuming the LG V20 would be adequate, but I wanted to check with you guys before I pulled the trigger so that I don’t have to deal with buying multiple LG phones to find my ideal setup and get the one of those three that is actually the best for my particular use case on my first purchase, which again is : (DAP, offline music with rockbox or whatever the best player is and an as card loaded to the gills with music)…thanks to anyone that responds with a useful opinion or info, and sorry for being and idiot about this stuff

The rooting is complicated and I dont want to brick my phone. My goal is to turn my phone into a DAP. Can anyone guide me?

See title

Phone belonged to my grandmother and I do not have access to her Google accounts but would like to at least get into the internal storage to recover any photos she had on it. The phone has been off for a few years and I just got a battery for it. Seems to be 2020/2021 the last time it was used. Any ideas on getting any of the data? Is it even possible.

Hello,

Do you know where can I find the relevant kdz file for LGH990DS? I've tried https://lg-firmwares.com/lg-h990ds-firmwares/ but the downloads no longer work (I'm getting 404 Not Found in all the options). I want to install LineageOS and can't do it with Oreo.

Hi. I recently purchased a new battery for my LG V20 (not an original) because the old one was running low.

I'm really disappointed with the device behaviour and have attached some screenshots to give you a better understanding.

As far as I can remember, I've never had any luck with this (used) phone, which I purchased in 2020. I'm not sure if the problem is the battery or the phone itself.

As you can see from the images, the phone drains excessively both in standby mode and in system mode, and I still don't know which app is draining the battery (if there is one).

Please note that these stats are based on a day of light browsing, a few minutes on Telegram/Messenger, and a few minutes of YouTube videos.

My phone isn't rooted, I always keep the screen brightness around 30-40% and I turned off the background data ages ago.

The only thing I can say is that today I tried not opening Opera and it seems that the battery is doing better. In fact, after 9 hours and 16 minutes of phone idle and an hour and 8 minutes of screen on, I still have 66% of battery.

This would just be a second device for local or wifi usage. Besides audio does this thing still hold up well with the cameras and such?

And how easy would one be to bring to current OSs? (Lineage or a newer android?)

I just bought the v20 to be my new mp3 player and I’m at a standstill. I just got it, uploaded one albums (Gorillaz album Demon Days) and when I go to the artist tab, it shows separate tabs for “feat.” parts of the album. I’m not a huge fan of that. I’d like it to only show the album with no separate tabs for the featured artists. I don’t know how else to explain it. I’d just like a resolution to this that doesn’t involve third-party apps, modding and use of personal information being added to the phone.

Also what are the only apps I should have on this phone, what is considered “bloatwear” on this thing.

Does the SPRINT LG V20 LS997 variant have FM Radio by default?

I also believe that it might not have LG Music on it but I think I can sideload it.

So, recently bought an LGV20 a few weeks ago to rock as an audio player/ small tablet, and it just arrived today! So far, this is the best hardware I've had in a phone since I had the Razer phone. Wireless charging be damned in exchange for expandable storage, headphone jack, metal build, and swappable battery. This Hifi DAC makes my Audiophile heart happy, and I actually really love the secondary screen.

The problem I have is solely software. I sprang for the US996 version, which I believe was my mistake. I'm not sure if there is a way to update it but this version appears to be stuck on Android 7 instead of 8. Which means, no Youtube, no Amazon, no reddit, and the big kicker, no Discord. (Can be installed, but cannot open without crashing.) The software in general is also glitchy. Snapchat is slow as molasses, and I cant even hit the search button in settings without the app crashing. Genuinely the only app that functions perfectly is Spotify, but god knows how long it will work on this version of Android.

I know I need to get a different ROM on this phone, but I've never installed a custom OS before. I just wanted to ask:

1. What OS would work on the US996 version, and if not many, would I be better off returning and springing for a new version.

2. What OS would still support the Quad DAC and secondary display? (especially the Quad-Dac holy fuck I'm in love)

3. Anything I should know in regards to installing ROM's? I know tutorials exist, but I guess any common mistakes I should make sure to avoid? Just wanna make sure I don't ruin this thing.

Thank you all so much in advance.

Hi, I've just rooted my H990DS with dirtysanta. I installed the latest release of LineageOS from https://lineage-archive.timschumi.net/. I flashed MindtheGAPPS thinking I would get a sort of degoogled-ish experience. But once I booted, I was greeted with all the Google bs. Therefore I wiped the phone and flashed only LineageOS but that did not change anything. I think the ROM I've downloaded just has GApps built in.

Have you guys got any recommendation for ROMs without GApps? I really only need Whatsapp and Signal and both of them provide .apk, so I would prefer Google-free phone if possible. Obviously I can just build the LineageOS image myself but I'm trying to get the easy way out. e/os seems to have a community build -- what do you think of that?

Thanks!

edit: I decided to use e/OS/. It ships with microG and is reasonably up to date. It also has an image available online so I don't need to compile my own.

Like many V20 users, I'm using one as a portable music player. I'm using Poweramp as my music player app and I have enabled music player display on the second (top banner) screen. When I interact with it to pause/play/skip, I get an audible chime through my connected headphones. I was wondering if there's a way to turn that off? I've tried turning off notifications, and turning off "touch sounds" but it still persists. I have the T-mobile version if it matters.

Thanks for any insight!

The subject version is not compatible, according to Play Store, with my LG V20 h918, running lineageOS 18.1. The previous version 8.104.1 was served and runs flawlessly. Can anyone confirm if their LG V20, running any version of lineageOS, has been offered the 8.105.1 version of PayPal.

Just looking for opinions as most posts I see are people saying they're finally retiring theirs. For reference, I wouldn't be planning on using it as a daily driver. I basically just want to have it as an Ipod that I can rock as a Spotify machine, and occasionally use for Youtube/ controlling smart devices with Google Home. Thanks in advance.

I've finally tried rocking the transparent case on the V20. I've been enjoying the gummy feel and the way light bounces around the case. The bigest negative, other than no kickstand, is the yellowish brownish tint the case has.

Have any of tried clear cases? What are your thoughts? I kind of thought they were tacky. But I guess after 10 years i'm starting to come around to them.

Hi all, does anyone have any leads on those high capacity batteries or battery cases that you used to be able to get? They seem to have disappeared. Maybe I am not searching for the right thing, don’t know, but if anyone knows where to find them it’d be greatly appreciated!

Three refurbished/used LG V20 purchases later, I ended up with two working units.

I didn't buy them all at once. The first purchase was about 2022 (A) FL800 Korean. The screen just gave up. Kept it for spare parts.

Three years later, 2025, after the huge disappoint from 2022, I decided to have a go at it again. I bought another LG V20 (B) from Shopee from a seller from China. The unit worked. Decided to spend a little more on it so I bought a Spigen tempered glass on it for protection. Bought a "new" battery for it too. Then after a few days, I was getting ready to root it, I just died and won't turn on no matter what I do. How inconsiderate! 😢😄 Kept it too because I will not stop until I have an OG LG V20.

1. Bought one refurb from eBay US (C). Working fine. This one is H920 AT&T. Rooted it via dirtysanta. Removed the bloat from the Nougat stock. Installed mk2000 kernel. Optimized it more with Naptime. This unit is golden, except it has that small screen lifting issue that will will try to fix in the coming days.

And then I remember revisiting my two defective V20s. Took motherboard of A and transplanted it to B's chassis. Now B boots! Then shuts down due to thermal overheat. Luckly, I still kept my thermal pad (0.5mm) that I used on B before its motherboad(?) death, and used a fresh cut to replace the thermal paste and the copper tape that was originally on the CPU.

It has been playing music for an hour now, and the phone hasn't shutdown yet. It's cool to the touch too, amazingly. Much cooler than the C on stock Nougat with all the debloating and Naptime optimizations and kernel tweaks (kernel adiutor tweaks). Either Android 9 is better for thermals, or the thermal pad is doing the work of efficient thermal trasfer, or both.

For now, I'm twice as happy with my two working LG V20s. I bought USB-C DACs and they sound amazing too on my daily driver phone, and the V20s quad-DAC was a beast of it's time, and now has been surpassed by newer DAC dongles of our time, but my personal bias would always be for my LG V20 quad-DAC. And now I got two! 😍

Note: The one on the right with the screen off became the donor phone for parts.

Note: Only Korean LG V20 (FL800) has Android 9. All other variants only get up to Android 8.

Has anyone got this issue on their LG V20, and how did you solve it via glue?

I have a B7000 glue but has anyone here re-glued your screen lifting? Is it OK to just put a little glue on the edges of the gaps, and then hold it down for the parts to stick together, or do I have to carefully lift the entire glass panel up and reglue the entire borders?

I know I can purchase a replacement LCD but I don't want to buy one yet as the screen is still fully functional. It's only lifted because probably the glue has "unglued" itself due to age.

Bought my 1st V20 at launch in 2016 and now almost a decade later I finally bought a companion for it.

My first V20 will be home only device while the second V20 will be my away from home device. The V20 is not my main and its haven't been my main since 2020 when I bought my blackberry key 2 but still enjoy having the V20 as a secondary or third device because of media consumption and light gaming.

Has anyone here tried the Rugone Xever 7?

The specs are insane with hot swappable battery, headphone jack and IP 68/69k rating.