[LG Optimus L9 P760, P765, P768, P769] CygnusBlack:
*** Simplified Guide for: Unlocking Bootloader + Rooting/BusyBox/Custom Recovery + Radio/LG Inverted Logo/Inverted Screen/Wonky Touch Screen

Patch + CyanogenMod 11 Firmware ***

*ONLY FOR*: Metro PCS LG Optimus L9 P769 ( MS769 )

Guide updated: Saturday, October 18th, 2014

THIS GUIDE IS SPLIT INTO TWO POSTS, THE FIRST HALF OF THE GUIDE IS THIS POST, POST #1, THE SECOND HALF OF THE GUIDE IS POST #2

=== INTRODUCTION

First off let me just say that I did not find these vulnerabilities or write these exploits. The tutorial that I have written here for this device is a very simplified, decomplicated version of several complicated guides for the LG P769 Device all combined into one, easy to read, simple guide. This guide explains the mechanics behind every step so you will know exactly what is going on and why we're able to do this.

I wrote this guide in a deliberately redundant manner so that the reader will be able to easily accomplish unlocking the bootloader for this device. Although this guide may seem to be very long it is in fact written that way so that you can follow every step very easily.

You should understand first that within the LG Optimus L9 series of phones there are multiple submodels, those being the P760, P765, P769 and the MS769. The MS769 is the Metro PCS version that was manufactured by LG to be sold by and used on the Metro PCS Network, however, the MS769 is the EXACT SAME THING as the P769 which was manufactured by LG to be sold by and used on the T-Mobile Network. So it stands to reason that if you have a T-Mobile P769 this guide will also help you unlock your bootloader as long as it was manufactured before T-Mobile requested LG to encrypt the bootloader. Based on all of my research any MS769 or P769 manufactured on or before August, 2013 does NOT have an encrypted bootloader and CAN be unlocked. You may become very frustrated while doing this, but DO NOT GIVE UP because this guide will get the job done.

This guide will get your Bootloader unlocked, SIM Card Slot unlocked and get CyanogenMod 11 KitKat 4.4.4 installed. The greatest thing about having an unlocked bootloader is the fact that you will always have the option to get the LATEST Android OS including the new Lollipop 5.0 when it comes out because new releases will always be portable to this device! Read more about all of this below.

There are also links to now inexpensive but high end and premium protection cases and extended batteries so you can get your device pimped and protected.

=== THE PITCH

Now some Q&A and the reasoning behind this:

Why unlock the bootloader?

Why install CyanogenMod ROM/Firmware?

Why have prepaid wireless service with a crappy company like Metro PCS/T-Mobile?

Why this phone?

--- WHY THIS PHONE?

Why this phone?: This phone is CHEAP. I paid $75 bucks for this phone brand new off eBay with free shipping! then I ordered a hard Poly Carbon triple protection case with an additional layer of Corning Gorilla Glass version 2 + A Privacy Screen Protector for $10 bucks.

The hardware specifications for this phone are ****ing awesome for the price. The hardware is almost all open source. The processor is a Texas Instruments OMAP dual core with no backdoors in it and it can be overclocked to greater than 1.3GHz. Heck, Texas Instruments even published the CAD files and source code for this processor!

You can even order an extended battery for $15 bucks off of Amazon which will give your phone over 7 days of continuous use without charging <--- AWESOME! Link to a ZeroLemon 5450 mAh Extended Battery: [ http://www.amazon.com/ZeroLemon®-T-Mobile-MetroPCS-Extended-Protector/dp/B00MATB7XS/ ]

There are even other threads and how-to-do guides for waterproofing your triple protection cases and phone by adding gaskets and sealant around the edges!

To sum it up, by getting this device and investing a little time and about $25 bucks or more you end up with a bad ass smart phone that will be ahead of even the newest stock devices out there, on multiple levels, for years to come. You will also have ultimate freedom and control of it as well as the ability to put it on any Network Carrier.. so not only will it be internationally unlocked, you will have in your hands an epic device for under $100 bucks.

--- BASIC PHONE SPECIFICATIONS FOR MS769

Processor: 1 GHz Clock Dual Core TI OMAP 4430 [ http://www.ti.com/product/omap4430 ] <--- This bad boy can be overclocked to 1.3 GHz stable in CyanogenMod! It can also be overvolted and overwatted!

Memory: 1GB of LPDDR3 Memory at 400 MHz

Internal Memory Storage: Anywhere from 1.8GB to 4GB depending on the model

Expandable Memory Storage: Up to 32GB with an External Micro SDHC Card

Screen: 4.7" QHD with Corning Gorilla Glass version 2

Radio: GSM 850/900/1800/1900, UMTS I/II/IV/V* <--- This means you can use this device on AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Verizon and U.S. Cellular which includes all of the subsidy providers such as: SimpleMobile(AT&T/T-Mobile), MetroPCS(T-Mobile), Boost(Sprint), Verizon, etc..

^^^ ONLY AFTER THE BOOTLOADER IS UNLOCKED AND YOU HAVE INSTALLED CYANOGENMOD AND SOME PROVIDERS OFFER FREQUENCIES OF LOWER TIERS SUCH AS THE UNLIMITED 3G NO CONTRACT AT&T ^^^

^^^ ALL YOU WOULD DO IS THEN UNLOCK THE DEVICE SIM SLOT BY GETTING YOUR DEVICE SIM CARD LOCK CODE AND THEN INSERT ANY CARRIER SIM CARD INTO THE SIM CARD SLOT AND YOU WOULD HAVE SERVICE THROUGH THAT PROVIDER ( SEE THE GUIDE FOR GETTING SIM CARD LOCK CODE ) ^^^

--- WHY HAVE PREPAID WIRELESS SERVICE WITH A CRAPPY COMPANY LIKE METRO PCS/T-MOBILE?

Why have prepaid wireless service with a crappy company like Metro PCS/T-Mobile?: With this device you only need to pay for 1 month of service or maybe they have a daily package? Then you can unlock the bootloader, install other Operating Systems/Firmware and put this phone on any GSM/LTE/EDGE/2g/3g/4g network that operates on the radio frequencies that this cell phone supports.

In other words you're paying like $100 bucks for a sweet middle tier phone that you can then put on almost any network... This includes AT&T, T-Mobile, Boost Mobile, SimpleMobile, Metro PCS and lot more unlisted providers in any country in the world. What's even better is that you don't even need to provide these service providers with any personal information because you're paying in full to be on their network.. That means you never have to be subjected to any of their terms of service or any of their policies when you give them a made up name and pay cash for their service.. and trust me you wouldn't like their policies. I say **** contract services.

--- WHY INSTALL CYANOGENMOD ROM/FIRMWARE?

Why install CyanogenMod ROM/Firmware?: You don't have to, but CyanogenMod ROMs/Firmware is the best publicly available Android Firmware in the entire planet. The security of CyanogenMod is top ****ing notch. After you get this installed you can harden your device to be so ****ing secure it rivals a Boeing Black Phone ( A Neo900 will be better though once it comes out ). With the right hardening, the only thing anyone would be able to do remotely is **** with your radio by sending encrypted packets to your radio.. and it would only work

if there's a mechanism in the hardware code to accept such requests, but again, with the right hardening they will be automatically rejected. And it's not just the remote security provided by CyanogenMod Firmware either, you get absolute freedom and full control over almost every aspect of your phone's hardware, software. You can rip games, music, pictures, videos, movies absolutely anything for free. You can then exploit the service providers in most cases and get truly unlimted 4g LTE network speed without throttling. This means you can use your device as an all in one system on the go! You can use it for unlimited high speed internet with low ping and you can wirelessly tether to your laptop/computer effortlessly. With the right software and additional configurations you will get an excellent ping of <=64 ms. All I have to say is..

FREE AND OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE FOR LIFE!!!!!

BE SURE TO LOOK FOR MY CYANOGENMOD SECURITY HARDENING TUTORIAL!

--- WHY UNLOCK THE BOOTLOADER?

Why unlock the bootloader?: Because you need to unlock the bootloader on this device in order to do all of the above. This device is especially difficult to unlock but as long as you have a device version that is unlockable and all of the requirements this guide will get the job done.

=== CREDITS AND THANKS

You can thank me for writing this. I'm sure most of you couldn't be bothered with the complicated mess of the other guides.

I would also like to thank Lelus, CMahendra and several others for your exploits. Without your work none of this would be possible for this Android device. Above all else I would love to thank the CyanogenMod Team for CyanogenMod! THE BEST ****ING FIRMWARE IN EXISTENCE!

=== USEFUL INFORMATION FOR THE MS769

--- HOW TO BOOT INTO S/W UPGRADE MODE

Remove battery, plug in USB Cable, Hold UP on the volume rocker + Power button for exactly 1 second then insert the battery.

--- HOW TO DO A HARD RESET ON STOCK ROM

With battery inserted, Hold DOWN on the volume rocker + HOME button and then power up the device with the POWER button.

--- HOW TO ACCESS THE LG HIDDEN MENU ON STOCK ROM

On the Dial Pad, press: 3845#*769# OR 3845*#769# to access the LG Hidden Menu.

=== PREREQUISITES

The methods here are very important and you must follow each step accordingly.

Firstly, if your LG MS769 from Metro PCS was manufactured after July, 2013 ( AND POSSIBLY UP TO August, 2013 ) you will *NOT* be able to

unlock the bootloader ( as far as I know, and as of the date of me writing this ),

because Metro PCS/T-Mobile and other providers requested LG to encrypt the bootloader for this device after they found out folks were hacking the bootloader and loading other Firmware and Operating Systems. So you will have to have a version which was manufactured before

July, 2013. You can find out what device you have by looking at the sticker on the housing of your device underneath the battery. Just

remove the back cover, then remove the battery and you will see the sticker with your device information.

If you have one of the unlockable versions continue reading.

Secondly, you absolutely have to be running either Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 or 3, Microsoft Windows Vista or Microsoft Windows 7, have a password on the built in Administrator account that you KNOW and have DOTNET 3.5 installed and updated VCRedist Packages which are:

* VCREDIST 2005 x86

* VCREDIST 2005 x64 <-- Only if your OS is 64 bit

* VCREDIST 2008 x86

* VCREDIST 2008 x64 <-- Only if your OS is 64 bit

* VCREDIST 2010 x86

* VCREDIST 2010 x64 <-- Only if your OS is 64 bit

* VCREDIST 2012 x86

* VCREDIST 2012 x64 <-- Only if your OS is 64 bit

* VCREDIST 2013 x86

* VCREDIST 2013 x64 <-- Only if your OS is 64 bit

You will need both x86 and x64 versions if your Operating System is 64 bit. If your Operating System is 32 bit with a x86 Processor you will not need the x64 versions of the VCREDIST packages.

^^^ ALL OF THESE FILES ARE INCLUDED IN THE ZIP PACKAGE BELOW ^^^

You *cannot* use Microsoft Windows 8 to complete this tutorial because it just won't work ( I couldn't get it to anyway ), there are too many compatibility issues with the software in this guide to get it done. Sorry Linux users! Linux doesn't work either so don't even try it with WINE. This also will not work in a virtual machine. If you have an extra laptop/PC laying around I'd suggest you go and download Microsoft Windows Vista or Microsoft Windows 7. You can get these for free now off TechNet if you still have a TechNet account, or maybe an installation disc if you have one, or you could just download it for free from TPB. I can't post links to TPB here in this forum, but just go check around, actually it's not illegal to download if you don't crack the OS, you're just evaluating it so that you can complete this guide and then reinstall your regular OS.

Also be sure to enable the: *View Files with known File Extensions* option within the *Folder* options in your Microsoft Windows Control Panel Options, and also enable the *View Hidden Files and Folders* Option.

=== MORE PREREQUISITES

* Activated Metro PCS LG Optimus L9 MS769 with Battery <-- Must be activated with an active mobile data connection to unlock bootloader later.

* Metro PCS Sim Card

* External SD Card <-- YOU ABSOLUTELY NEED ONE OF THESE AT LEAST 2GB IN SIZE

* USB Adapter Cable for MS769

Within this guide you will see a link to a .zip file which is hosted on Mega ( formerly MegaUpload ). This .zip file is around 2GB in size.

The .zip file is a package and this package has everything that you will need to complete this guide.

Start now by downloading this package at this link: [ https://mega.co.nz/#!9xBgQQgS!kR14urR1Gd3w_cu8mHbwIQ8urFfiA5bIpgaGgZ-2PPg ]

Now unzip the .zip package that you just downloaded.

This package is very organized.

Within this package that you just unzipped there will be directories named:

* LG L9 - P769\Device SDCard Packages

* LG L9 - P769\Lelus' Tools

* LG L9 - P769\LG Device Firmware Packs

* LG L9 - P769\LG Device USB Drivers

* LG L9 - P769\LG Firmware Utilities

* LG L9 - P769\SHTTPS

* LG L9 - P769\Microsoft Windows Additions

* Guide.txt

Before this first step you need to find out what version of Android that your device is running, on your device, go to Settings->About Phone->Software Information and take note of what version of Android is installed on your device, whether it be JellyBean or Ice Cream

Sandwich. Now go ahead and do a full System Reset from Settings->Backup and Restore->System Reset. Your device needs to be reset to factory settings and all apps removed before we begin.

Let's get started!

Go to post #2