There are 3 variants of LG K20 for 3 different carriers. Among the 3 only AT&T variant has got an official Oreo Update as of now. K20 Plus (MetroPCS / T-Mobile) & K20 V (Verizon) are still on Nougat.
As K20 Plus is rootable we can get a feel of Oreo with Lineage OS 15.1 custom ROM which is based on Android Oreo 8.1.0. Even though it’s not a stable ROM for daily usage you can give it a try.
Follow the below step by step tutorial with screenshots to get Android Oreo on your K20 Plus –
LG K20 Plus Lineage OS 15.1 Android Oreo 8.1.0 Installation Guide
NOTE: Backup your internal storage before moving further as we’re going to wipe it.
The whole process can be divided into 6 Steps for ease of understanding –
Step 1: Unlocking the LG K20 Plus Bootloader
Follow this post to unlock LG K20 Plus Bootloader. After unlocking the bootloader proceed to Step 2.
Step 2: Downloading & Installing the necessary files required for flashing Lineage OS custom ROM
1. LG K20 Plus USB Driver to be installed on the computer
2. Minimal ADB & Fastboot to be installed on the computer
3. LG K20 Plus 64-bit TWRP Custom recovery image file (.img)
4. No-verity-opt-encrypt-6.0.zip file
5. LG K20 Plus Lineage OS 15.1 custom ROM zip file
6. Google Apps Package Installer zip file
Visit opengapps.org and install download Google apps package by choosing “Platform” as “ARM64”, Android as “8.1” &
“Variant” as per your requirement. I’ve downloaded the micro package.
Step 3: Connecting LG K20 Plus to PC in ADB mode
Before moving further, install LG Mobile Driver and Minimal ADB and Fastboot on your computer.
Once you’ve successfully installed Minimal ADB & Fastboot, we’ve to copy the TWRP recovery image file to minimal ADB and fastboot folder as per the screenshots below
Copy the downloaded recovery image file as shown above
I’ve installed Minimal ADB & Fastboot in C: Drive on my computer. So I’ve to browse for the folder where it’s installed.
Open the “Program Files (x86)” folder as shown above.
Look for Minimal ADB and Fastboot folder and double-click to open it.
Paste the copied file over here with a right-click or Ctrl V
Give administrator permission to paste the file by clicking on “Continue” as shown above.
We’ve pasted the “recovery” file in the Minimal ADB and Fastboot folder.
Now we’re ready to flash TWRP using Minimal ADB and Fastboot
Before connecting your phone to PC, enable “USB Debugging” in “Developer Options”
To learn how to enable Developer options please visit this post – LG K20 Plus how to Enable Developer Options
To Enable USB Debugging Go to “Settings” < “General” tab < “Developer Options” and click on it open.
Look for “USB Debugging” in “Developer Options” and enable it.
Now connect your K20 Plus to PC via Micro USB data cable
Wait for the LG ADB driver to install.
Once the driver installation is finished, you’ll be prompted to “Allow USB Debugging” from the connected computer.
Tap “OK” to allow USB Debugging.
If you don’t get this pop-up now you may get it later while writing command in minimal ADB and fastboot. So, keep a watch on your phone screen.
Step 4: Flashing Custom Recovery using Minimal ADB & Fastboot Tool
Now run “Minimal ADB and Fastboot” tool on your computer
In the command prompt window type ADB devices and hit enter on your computer keyboard
It should show your connected phone under the “List of devices attached”.
You can see my phone model LGMP260 is shown as the connected device.
Now type ADB reboot bootloader and hit enter to boot your phone into fastboot mode
You K20 Plus must be now in fastboot mode
Type fastboot flash recovery recovery.img and hit enter to flash the copied TWRP recovery file
After flashing the recovery file, turn off the phone by removing the battery. Reinsert the battery but keep the phone off.
We’ve to boot into TWRP custom recovery using volume down and power button.
Step 5: Booting into TWRP and flashing Lineage OS Custom ROM
To boot into custom recovery –
While you LG K20 Plus is off,
Press the Volume Down & Power Key. As soon as the phone vibrates, release the power key and hold it again until you’re
at the “Factory data reset” screen.
In the whole process don’t release the volume down key.
This is the stock LG K20 Plus recovery mode. In this mode touchscreen doesn’t work we’ve to move up down using the volume keys and select with power key.
Press the volume down button to move from “No(Exit)” to “Yes” and confirm your selection with Power Key
Again Move down to “Yes” using Volume Down and confirm with Power Button.
This will take us to the TWRP screen.
We’ve in TWRP and it’s asking for a password to decrypt data.
Tap “Cancel” and swipe the slider towards the right to keep system partition read-only.
To make the system partition writable we’ve to flash no-verity-opt-encrypt.zip file
Before flashing the zip files we’ve to format data stored on the internal storage.
If you’ve not copied your internal storage data do it now by connecting your phone to PC.
Tap “Wipe” and select “Format Data” to wipe the internal storage
Type yes and select the “tick” mark to initiate the process.
After the process is complete, go back to the TWRP home screen.
At this point, we’re going to transfer the flashable zip files from our PC to the computer.
Connect your K20 Plus to computer and copy the downloaded zip files i.e Lineage OS 15.1.zip, no-verity-opt-encrypt.zip & Open_gapps_arm64.zip
Once the files are copied to the Phone.
Hit, “Install” and open the “sdcard” folder. This is the internal storage folder. A micro SD card external storage folder is named “sdcard1”
The first file to install is “no-verity-opt-encrypt-6.0.zip”. Tap on it to install
Move the slider towards the right to start the installation process
Now go back and install “lineage-15.1-20190625-UNOFFICIAL-lv517.zip” file in the same manner.
Move the slider towards the right to initiate the custom ROM installation.
After the installation is done, go back and flash the last zip file i.e “open_gapps-arm64-8.1-micro-20191029.zip”
After the installation is done, tap “Wipe cache/Dalvik”.
Swipe the slider to wipe cache.
Now tap “Reboot” to boot your phone into Lineage OS
Select “Do not Install” to move further.
We’re on the Welcome screen of the Lineage OS setup wizard.
Step 6: Booting into Lineage OS Android Oreo 8.1.0
Select the on-screen prompts to move further.
Tap “NEXT” to proceed further as shown above.
Move further without setting the screen lock. We can change it later.
We’re on the home screen of the Lineage OS.
There are 2 Launchers to choose from, Pixel & Trebuchet Launcher. I’ve chosen the Trebuchet launcher.
Let’s go to Settings and check out the Firmware version.
The model is shown as TP260 with Android Version 8.1.0
We’ve successfully flash Android Oreo on our LG K20 Plus.
For any query, please leave a comment below
how will we recieve security updates from google etc?
It says remove the battery. My battery is built in
Thanks… Fantastic tutorial!