LG G Pad F 8.0 (UK495) Android 6.0: Cannot Access Bootloader or Recovery

Question

I have an older LG G Pad F 8.0 (UK495). The tablet originally came with Android 5.1 but at some point received an official upgrade to 6.0. My ultimate goal is to hopefully root the device & install a custom recovery & ROM. But I am running into two problems in trying to access the bootloader & default recovery.

Enable OEM unlock & USB debugging are both enabled in developer options. ADB recognizes the device connected to my Windows system:

> adb devices
List of devices attached
LGUK49520651306 device

I didn't find any instructions in the official documentation from LG. But according to many tutorials found online it should be possible start the bootloader using a combination of the power & volume keys. The only combination I have found to do anything is holding power + vol down to start the device. Release once the LG logo appears & immediately press power + vol down again. But this only brings up a minimalist menu for resetting the device to factory defaults:

ADB is also unable to bring up the bootloader. Executing adb reboot bootloader restarts the device but in regular user mode. So I am unable to use fastboot to unlock the bootloader & flash partitions.

I can get into what appears to be recovery mode with adb reboot recovery. A black screen with the Android logo laying on its back:

But the usual "no command" text is missing & no button combinations (power + vol up/down) bring up the recovery menu options.

I read on XDA that some manufacturers/distributors make the bootloader & recovery partitions more obscure or just completely remove access.

Some users have been able to use a KingRoot exploit to root this device without unlocking the bootloader. But the exploit only works for devices with Android 5.1 or older. So it's not an option for me. I need to access the bootloader to unlock it as far as I can tell.

Is anyone familiar with this device or have any suggestions that may help me to unlock the bootloader & access recovery mode? This is the first device on which I wasn't even able to bring up the bootloader.

The following is a selection of tutorials & threads from the many that I looked through for help:

• Help Can't access bootloader
• Cannot boot into bootloader/fastboot
• How to put LG UK495 G Pad F 8.0 in recovery mode?
• How to unlock Bootloader in LG UK495 G Pad F 8.0?
• Download and Install TWRP Recovery on LGE LG G Pad F 8.0 2nd Gen LG-UK495 t8lte (this one says "2nd gen" so not sure if it even applies to my device)
• How To ROOT Android 6.0 Marshmallow Android 10

-- Update --

I found some stock firmware images available for my device:

• UK49520c_00_0718
• UK49522a_00_0329

I was able to flash them to the device in upload mode using LG Flash Tool. The ROMs were successfully applied, but did not fix or change access to bootloader or recovery mode.

Answer 1

Hello is the bootloader already unlocked? please check Developer options and look for OEM unlocking.

Google introduced a new security feature in Android from Android 5.0 Lollipop onwards. The new feature named “OEM Unlock” has a meaningful purpose in the device. If you’ve tried rooting your device, unlocking its bootloader, flashing a custom recovery or ROM, you must have seen “OEM Unlock” option to be checked as a requirement for doing any of the aforementioned custom processes. -Reference here

You need to unlock bootloader before rooting or installing custom roms. Please try this tools:

• For Qualcomm
• For MediaTek
• For UNISOC

This tool helps me a lot for rooting my phones. It is more advanced than fastboot. If you are lucky, you could even restore the system in case it was damaged due to how risky rooting is.