Getting CyanogenMod on the LG G2 – It’s slightly hard

So, I got my LG G2 Verizon in the mail the other day. After spending 1 hour on the stock firmware, listening to the amazing ringtones, I was ready to mod the phone. And mod it I did. It wasn’t painful, but it did take some thinking.

Alright, first thing I did was root the phone, using the LG One Click Root tool, available here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/lg-g3/general/guide-root-lg-firmwares-kitkat-lollipop-t3056951

I was able to successfully root my G2 on Lollipop. Except, I needed drivers. I was easily able to fetch them from LG’s site, so, rooted I was.

Next, I was instructed in 99% of guides to download “AUTOREC”. But, it wasn’t available in the Play Store (in the US, at least)! The first app that popped up was the TWRP Manager app. I thought that was the “AUTOREC” app, but it wasn’t.

After attempting to install TWRP through that method, I eventually got the dreaded DemiGod crash handler/flickering screen issue. It wasn’t a defective unit problem, but it was interesting.

Anywhom, I eventually downloaded the AUTOREC app from those shady .apk sites. No links, just Google “autorec lollipop apk”.

So, with the app slowly downloaded, installing TWRP is pretty simple. Launch the AUTOREC app, and wait around 20-30 seconds, while it does some checks. Once you get some pop up saying “backup done”, click the “Install TWRP button”. Wait another 20ish seconds, and once a pop up that says something like “TWRP installed”, it’s installed!

1. Fully power off your phone.
2. Turn on your phone by holding down the power/volume down buttons.
3. When you see the LG logo, keep holding down on the volume down button, but release your finger from the power button, only to press/hold it again.
4. Once you get to the “Factory Reset” menu, use the volume down key to move down, and power to select “Yes” twice.
5. In a few moments, you should have TWRP loaded!

Alright, cool cool. Installing CM on the other hand is a bit tricky, and you can do it in one of two ways.

I usually give phones a full wipe before I do any flashing. That basically means going into TWRP -> Wipe -> Advanced Wipe, and checking all the tickboxes to wipe every partition. Since there’s no SD card here, you can do flashing in one of two ways.

Method 1: USB OTG

If you have a micro USB to USB adapter (if you got a Note 7/Galaxy S7, there’s one in the box), and have a flash drive, you can put your Google Apps/ROM .zips on there, and have TWRP flash them from the flash drive.

Now, since CyanogenMod’s mirror went offline, and there’s no LineageOS for my G2 Verizon, you can’t download the ROM. I have a full 110 GB mirror on my NAS, but I’m not opening that up to the public. So, find your own mirror.

I’d also recommend getting GApps from opengapps.org. They’re seriously the best.

*if you are planning to flash LineageOS to your phone, and want SuperUser, be sure to download the flashable zip for Superuser. Make sure you download the 14.1 ARM variant for the G2.*

And the phone flashes everything perfectly. Hurray!

Method 2: ADB push

If you don’t have a micro USB to USB adapter, and still wish to wipe all partitions, you can use ADB’s push function, to…well…push the .zips to your G2.

Installing ADB is platform dependent. Consult the internet on how to install ADB for your platform.

(aka Google it!)

After ADB is installed, plug in your phone into your computer. Next, in the directory of where your ZIPs are stored (on your local machine), you’ll want to use this command to push the .zip files.

adb push filename_of_zip.zip /sdcard

It may take a little while, but do this twice (or 3x) to push GApps, or any other .zip files.

After that, go into the install menu, and you should see the .zip files.

Pro tip: When selecting the .zips to flash, tap on CyanogenMod/LineageOS’ zip first, then Google Apps, then the SU binary if you want it installed.

But, you may notice that the volume is pretty quiet on the G2. So, let’s do another simple fix. This should work for most ROMs out there, even.

1. Download Root Browser from the Play Store. Stay FAR AWAY from ES File Explorer (if you keep it, expect ads to pop up on your phone during normal use!)
2. Make sure you…um…have root! For LineageOS, be sure to flash the SU binary. Once that’s done, in settings, go to About phone, then tap a bunch of times in “Build number” until you see “You have enabled development options!”.
3. Back out, and head to…developer options!
4. Somewhere down the list, where it says “Root Access”, tap on it, and tap “Apps only”. Accept the warning that states “your phone’s security may be comprised”, or whatever it says. You can always come back here, and disable root access after you’re done. For other ROMs, you may end up having SuperSU handling root requests, or no root at all. Contact your ROM author if you have any questions on obtaining root.
5. In Root Browser, head to the /etc folder. Accept a SuperSU/Root Guard/etc notice. Tap on the file “mixer_paths.xml”. Edit it with RB Text Editor.
6. You’ll want to scroll down until you see the comment: <!– These are the actual sound device specific mixer settings –>. It’s about 40% down the file.
7. Scroll down a little more until you see: <path name=”speaker”>
8. On the line that says “<ctl name=”RX7 Digital Volume”, change the value to “72”. In the end, that line should look like this: “<ctl name=”RX7 Digital Volume” value=”72″ />. 72 is a nice mix of a loud volume, without too much distortion at 100% volume. You can experiment with changing this value, and seeing what you like the best.
9. Save the file (floppy disk icon on the top right), and reboot your phone.
10. Enjoy louder sounds!

So far, I’m enjoying CM 13 on my VS980. I’m waiting on LineageOS 14.1, because I hate crDroid…sorry…horusROM (tried it on a G3, crashed twice), and the modifications it brings to the table. And I’m not compiling my own ROM. And, out of self-motivation, instead of going “oh Lineage isn’t out for the VS980, boo hoo not compiling my own rom”, I’m compiling Lineage for the vs980. Just like that.

The G2 is a nice phone, except for the microSIM SIM size, and that I need to stick an adapter in there permanently if I want to hotswap SIMs. Otherwise, I like it!

So, there you go. Installing CyanogenMod on a G2 Verizon, and getting increased sound volume out of it.

Oh, did I mention? This voids your warranty. If you thought this doesn’t void your warranty…now you know!