[T-Mobile LG G5 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Other ] deskjet390:
This is sad to see happening.........killing the dev community one locked up device at a time.

It's just crazy to see so many forums for devices that can't even be rooted anymore. I posted awhile back about the importance of unlocking this phone not just for the people who spent their hard earned money on a device they were positive would be unlocked, but for the mere sake of keeping the magic of the thing we had such a passion and fascination with.... a community called XDA developers where we could share that passion and be so thankful we are Android power users with choices, instead, of being the victims of greedy OEM's and settling for having all of our choices made for us. The feeling of accidently buying a locked down device was literally one of the worst experiences of my life, I felt soooo angry about the countless selfish minds that were involved in locking down a device that literally would not exist if it had not been for the open community that shaped the modern smartphone into what it is today.

We know the risks involved, we pay hundreds and hundreds of dollars for our smartphones , we can make choices for ourselves. I hate what is happening to American Android users, and how we are being targeted and singled out on a globa scale and deliberately being stripped of freedoms that human beings across imaginary lines have. International variants are unlockable on more than just this device.

Why is this happenning?! .....and how did we let this become the new normal and acceptable?

The G5 is literally one of the coolest phones to ever be made, but it's never going to live up to its full potential without the support of the dev community.

*End of rant/ beginning of an actual relevant inquiry

I have access to a pre-production lg g5. It was sent to a rural carrier that has a LRA partnership with Verizon. From my experience, the Verizon variant of a device is locked while the LRA variant (the exact same device functioning on the same network) is surprisingly unlocked. What I'm left with oftentimes is an unlocked variant of a device that has little to no development because the Verizon variant is locked up and practically nobody is on a LRA carrier, and even if they are on a LRA variant, they are convinced that their devices are identical to Verizon so they give up after reading the Verizon forums.

I would have not very long with the device... 3 hrs unsupervised tops with a laptop that can be used for anything and I always have a USB type c cable and otg drive on me because my daily driver is a Nexus 6p. What could I possibly check for or do to help spread the unlocking if in fact the device is unlocked? I'm sure a version of twrp compiled already will work if the flashing commands are not disabled (high possibility because it is a pre production device free from all bloatware and Verizon labeling not to mention I think the devices are left unlocked to allow for carrier specific bloatware to be installed and tested out by a LRA carrier.

I want a plan of attack before asking to borrow the device. I don't have a problem with installing twrp....I guess I could boot from twrp without installing it if fastboot is enabled. I don't have a problem with installing SuperSU either because my wireless device manger does not even do anything with the phone that it would pose a problem for and he already knows I'm a flashaholic. What I'm not is a guy with much LG experience (I don't even think anyone is experienced with this new breed of LG partioning and layout)

Let me know.