Not too long ago I got an LG EVE device. If you are curious it’s an Android device from LG.
It’s amazing how LG have the special ability to take anything, from the poorest tools to the best OS I’ve seen and shred it to pieces…
What do I mean you might ask ? Well first of all the home screen Can be customized to be LG home screen, Or Orange home screen or Android home screen, this sounds nice, but I think all Android devices should have common interface and look and feel especially to the home screen since this is what you guys, as users will learn to know and love.
Second, like Samsung in the GLAXY device, the neglected the DPI definition, if you try to get the X and Y DPI you’ll discover them to be 160 average, the default…. Since the pixels width and height in the API are right (320×480) than most likely they did not update the screen’s size in inches in their FW. I also experienced crashes when the device was connected\disconnected from the USB cable, when I say crash I mean black screen with ARM registers displayed and you can only take off the battery to restart… you know… crash 
Sooooo I went on to flash it with a new FW I got from Orange.
You think that was easy ? nooooop why would it, it was soo easy on HTC, and they do need to compete with them…
First of all the installation instructions are fairly unclear.
Basically what you need to do is:
- Install the USB\MODEM drivers that come as exe file (LGUSBModemDriver_WHQL_ML_Ver_4.9.4_All.exe)
- Restart the PC.
- Start the phone and turn debug mode on.
- Unzip the drivers library, you should have two : android_usb_windows and qualcomm_composite_driver where the second dir will contain most drivers you need for the FW upgrade and misc operations and the first one will contain the ADB drivers to debug and install Android apps on the phone.
- Make sure the device debug mode is on.
- Plug in the device to the USB.
- When you are asked for drivers by XP don’t let if find on it’s own, tell him you’ll find it alone, and when you get a list of all known devices to windows choose ‘have disk’ and browse to where you unzipped the drivers directory, the first 2 drivers I think are serial drivers so they need the second dir, the third driver needs to be the ADB so you’ll have to redirect to the Android drivers dir.
GW620 driver's installation.
- Now comes the tricky part…
- Disconnect the UDB from the device and turn off the USB debug mode on the device, then plug in again.
- You will have several OTHER serial drivers discovered.
- Open the flash tool given by LG than go to ‘tools->NV Backup’
- Press on the connect and than let it find the serial port and start the NV Backup, if the backup fail, try on another PC, I had to move to another PC cause my was malfunctioning from soo many drivers I tried in the past from LG.
- Ok, so basically now you have to take out the battery return it press on ‘1’ and re-plug the device to get it into ‘emergency mode’
- Here I also got stuck, I got every few seconds ‘unknow USB device’ message coming and going, but no ‘emergency mode’.
- The magic, as far as my experience with it goes is to open the device, change the USB debug mode to on, then off again, then unplug the device and extract the battery, put back in and do the ‘1’ key + USB insertion. Than you’ll really find yourself in emergency mode.
- The rest is like their instructions were.
So for conclusions, if I had to wait for Orange or LG to help me flush, the device would never get to the market on time, that’s because of LG great awareness for the programmers out there.
If you are a programmer that needed the FW upgrade I hope the article finds you on time 
(and finds u well… 
)
Hi,
I’m just curious how you get this hw and ORG flashing details… You need to be careful with such infos by making them public before offcial launch, this is not fair
i’m adeveloper that gets access to these FW’s, this is part of my job, to take care of the devices i nthe company. Some companies gets early access because of financial agreements.
I don’t think i exposed any secret information, the only ones who can use it are the same people like me with the same issue, at least this is what i think…
If i’ll ever get a complain i’ll remove it an appologize if needed, though i don’t think i’ll have to.
I am developing for LG phone and i want debugging support,
where can i get the LGUSBModemDriver_WHQL_ML_Ver_4.9.4_All.exe
?
Is there also a driver for mac?
You say “nzip the drivers library, you should have two : android_usb_windows and qualcomm_composite_driver”
Where can i get those?
you have to ask LG for the driver or look for it in lg developer’s site, i will ask our LG contact if the drivers are open to the programmers community and if hey are i’ll publish them in my site, if not, it’s illegal for me to do so.
As far as i know there are no drivers for mac, sad thing sine HTC have their drivers from the android SDK that is available for all platforms.
see my other reply, you can get them only from LG, i wrote the article , basically, for people who were in close contact with LG (though some carrier) and got the drivers from them, again if i can i’ll make them available for the common wealth.
I got the drivers from LG (we’re also in close contact),
i also have one-to-one contact with a person from LG.
I installed all succesfully, i basically only needed ADB working. I have it working, running ddms, there most information shows up… But still not Logging in the log pane,
nada! Not really handy when i try to debug an app.
Do you know more about that? Else i will talk to LG.
Aha you need to enabled debugging by entering 3845#*620# in the dailer and then goto
Modem Tools > QCRIL/Android Log On/Off
And then set that to true to enable debugging!
Off course after you installed the drivers.
Thanks to a LG employee for the help!
Thank you for this info! I’m trying to re-flash my gw620 and could not figure out how to get in to emergency mode! Can’t wait to try this over the weekend!
thanks Tjerk for the info, i never ancountered such a problem, our devices came with logging enabled, it seems that since LG devices are based on qualcom chipset they still have tech. codes and the ability to disable device software parts that should not be, sad if you ask me.
Привет что вы думаете о переводе LG ARENA на ОС Android
1. please post in English so i wont have to use google translate or the services of my Russian colleagues to translate your comments.
2. LG Arena is J2ME device it does not Run android OS as far as i know to load android OS on that device you better talk to LG, not to me
3. The arena is not such a bad device, screen is big enough so it could be nice to have android on it.
I bought a used lg gw620 online and they left their gmail account on, so i was basically screwed over. I was wondering if any of you know how to factory reset the phone if unable to do so in the settings menu
Can you clarify step #4 a bit? I don’t see those folders installed by the EXE file..
sure thing.
When i got my .exe file or .zip file i got the two directories i explained above, in the article, one directory contained the drivers, those drivers are what you need to have the device recognized on your PC for flashing and debugging.
as you know each android device needs adb.exe to properly communicate with the device, it’s your bridge, for soe reason, samsung, LG and SE decided to temper with the adb to adjust it to their device, which causes the need to have several adb’s on your pc, except the one you got in the android sdk.
if you didn’t get the adb not in the directories you have at least, please contact LG to get it, or when inputing
you wont see a thing.
Interesting question, i had the same problem with Google store on a device in my work place.
My best bet would be to sick out general cookies on the device or some file in the file system that can be deleted to restore it.
However since I’m not sure, I’ll have to investigate and come back to you.
found!!!
go to Settings>Applications>Manage Applications>Gmail and wipe the data
You have to do it for every google application unfortunately, for now i did not found a global wiping.
you can google ‘hard resetting EVE’ since this will also help, and i’m not sure how to do it (got to go back to old documents in the office for that).
I’m asking the developpers here (I’m not one): are the FW upgrade you use going in the direction of android 1.6 or 2.0 or are you only talking about low-level stuff?
@codeScriber
I’m trying to get ahold of the drivers. I’ve been provided with LGUSBModemDriver_WHQL_ML_Ver_4.9.6_All.exe however when I enable USB debugging it creates two new devices, that the drivers don’t work for. I’ve tried unziping the file but that fails.
Also where can I get the required LG specific ADB?
Thanks
B
How to hard reset this phone LG GW620/Eve???
I wish I could do that, but the phone won’t even let me go to home screen. Once I turn on the phone it asks for the gmail to get past security. The only access I have on the phone is Emergency Dial
I have the LG Eve GW620R and have had lots of issues. I think the phone is great, even though the sound quality is poor compared to SonyEricsson.
Moving forward…
On the EVE to do a FACTORY RESET or DATA RESET
enter in 3845#*620# in the dialer to get in to LG’s hidden menu. From there, you can do many things.
we’re talking more in the direction of the low level stuff, but basically the same method applies for upgrading from 1.5 to 1.6 or 2.0 since flashing the device is what you need to update android version.
only LG provide them, ifyou got defective ip archive try to get a new one, regarding the adb, try to see if SDK 2.0 contains supported adb already since i’m not sure LG tweaked it.
the hidden menu code isn’t working for mine – -
does it only work when the phone has debug mode enabled?
Hi all,
When you run the LGUSBModemDriver_WHQL_ML_Ver_4.9.4_All.exe or newest version, the files are unziped in your C:\Program Files\LG Electronics\LG USB Modem Driver
http://octopusbox.com/files/drivers/LGUSBModemDriver_WHQL_ML_Ver_4.9.4_All.exe
These are the files for LG Eve USB Modem drivers… I did not see any links here and it took me a good 10 minutes to find this link….Never try to find anything at LG website – it sucks…
you have an lg developer site if i’m not mistaken but you are right.
Most vendors do not post their drivers in their developer or regular web sights, the only way to get the drivers is explicit request and if you do not have a contact this could be a paint in the ass.
Even SE have their drivers in a protected place and not yet released it to the public.
A more disturbing question is why do we need their drivers at all ? why don’t they adjust their devices according to the adb driver that arrives with the SDK like HTC does ?
I’ve recently got a the LG GW620. When I transferred my contacts, instead of transferring them as “John Smith”, it transferred them as “- Smith; John”. I’ve contacted who don’t seem to know what’s caused this and how to rectify the problem, Can you help me codesScriber. I’ve also managed to set up my email account, but my emails aren’t coming through to my handset…why?
Hi Peanut.
It’s basically a developer blog, the post was made to tell about my installation of a new FW experience, it doesn’t mean that i know the device inside out, not from user perspective anyway.
In any case to be more helpful:
1. Transfer your contacts from where ?
2. what is the SDK level you have on the phone, since it’s android device you can have a more advanced version then the one the device arrives with, is it 1.5 or 1.6 ?
3. if the sync is made using a PC software that is unique to LG it wont surprise me but if not, does it happen in other Android devices ?
4. you said you’ve set up a gmail account ? or another mail account ?
Hello. I have the LG-GW620 with Virgin Media. I don’t want to try and upgrade the firmware myself as it’s a bit out of my depth but will there be an official update for it? In my opinion it really needs it!!
I don’t know which FW version you have and what’s the android version on it (1.5 ? 1.6 ?)
Which operator you belong to ? you can contact them and they should be able to upgrade your device, if not them I’m pretty sure that LG UK will be able to direct you to the right place.
there is also an LG developer sight which you can try to consult, the address is:
it’s already ready for opening a ticket, just log in (or register) and post your issue.
Beside those places I’m not sure where you can upgrade the FW.
I did not liked much LG or Samsung devices, Motorola, SE and HTC have the best of android.
“I don’t know which FW version you have and what’s the android version on it (1.5 ? 1.6 ?)”
1.6 isn’t out for GW620 , or if it is , i’d be very happy to know how you upgrade to it
(and i’d not be the only one :p)
Great post BTW , i’ll try it asap , because the “official” upgrade manner doesn’t work at all (i’m stuck with V10c firmware when it says i can have V10e).
To be honest I’m no longer the man responsible for the devices upgrade in my company, but i am getting updates if any updates occur, and i can’t recall upgrade for the Eve.
Lg now have a new device called LG swift, i’ve worked with it a bit, it’s fast and it’s touch is more then reasonable so i can recommend that.
I’ve got an LG Eve from Rogers in Canada, and the official update has come out. I just applied it to my phone, after a little bit of a headache, but I’m still on 1.5 unfortunately. Apparently this update is supposed to fix the phone’s habit of crashing all the time, and also add a hard reset key combination in case it does totally crash. I’ve dug through the settings, and I’ve been googling like a madman, but I have yet to figure out how to actually USE this hardware reset. I’ve been pushing different key combinations on my keyboard, but nothing yet, and there are way too many possible combinations considering that in the pdf detailing the upgrade instructions they gave absolutely no hints towards even how many keys this combination is supposed to use. Anyone know anything about this?
last time i did upgrade any LG device(android is no different) i did it using their FW upgrade software which on the moment i connected to the device, it went into ‘upload mode’ which is the screen is black and the device is identified as some kind of flashing usb device and not an android device.
It’s unfortunate that this device is not easily upgradable like the HTC devices…
it actually wasn’t too bad on the Eve, Unfortunately I couldn’t do it from my native OS since the LG updater doesn’t support linux, but once I booted into Windows 7 and tried again, it didn’t register the device until I turned off usb debugging as well as mass storage mode. As long as both options are turned off (rendering the phone completely unseen by windows) the LG updater picked it up instantly
I have the LG GW620. I ran the Android update last night and now the phone re-boots but a notice comes up saying the application LG Home (processandroid.process.homecube) has stopped unexpectedly. please try again. There is a force quit option however when i use the force quit option the message keeps coming back. Has any one any ideas how to get past this message?? I tried LG support but after 4 minutes the phone went dead. I tried phoning 5 times.
DO THE FOLLOWING TO RESET LG GW620 TO FACTORY SETTINGS.
Hold down the VOLUME DOWN button, MENU button (the one on the keyboard), and CAMERA button for about 5-10 seconds, and a message will come up asking if you want to factory reeset the phone.
Brilliant even T-Mobile tech team did not know this,this has saved my life FANTASTIC
this should work for any LG GW620 provider?
I got my from LMT in Latvia and I believe they dont support any upgrades on any of their provided phones. and if this should work I could get Latvian keyboard configuration?
(btw I am tottaly new at all of this)
I have the LG GW620f in New Zealand and I’m finding it really hard to find any way to upgrade the android platform?
Im still not actually sure if it IS possible but I really really want it on my phone, and if i could get 2.0 then that would be perfect. I’m absolutely happy with the phone but would like to have proper access to the bluetooth file transfer.
If anyone knows how to help, let me know?
Cheers =)
Bex
Bex, the bext way is to search for your operator and LG’s support, the article here is abit old and relates to upgrading the actual device FW not the android version (well yes there is a difference sicne the android OS is built on top of basic services the phone gives)
If that’s not helping i owuld suggest you start readin about: “rooting my android device” (which will make you root user on your device), and installing custom android image on my device (for ppl who knows what they are doing and made a custom FW from android sources).
I’ve really enjoyed reading your articles. You obviously know what you are talking about! Your site is so easy to navigate too, I’ve bookmarked it in my favourites.
Hey thanks,
Still figuring it out, but turns out the file transfer works (kinda) anyway. Meh, I’m just going to buy the Motorola backflip and have some ‘flippin’ fun.
Haha well, when i get some money anyway.
Peace. and thanks. =)
Hi just wondering if anyone would know whats wrong with my phone, as to if i need to reset it or what? and how i would do it in my situation..its a lg gw620f nz model and it wont start up and by that i mean it turns on then starts to load then it stops just before starting up to the main screen and thats all is does, it was fine until i charged it? unsure if thats got something to do with it its running android 1.5 cupcake. Thanks
i’m also unsure, this kind of things used to happen to some of the development devices, it usually means something got defected on the phone and needs re flash or to go back to the manufacture, like in our case.i would suggest connecting the phone to the USB cable and use the android SDK adb logcat command to see what kind of exception ,if nay you get from the android env. if non and the device resets you must be in the broken firmware zone and need a tech or to replace the device.
priceless. thanks bunch dude. without your notes i was never ever able to update the firmware on my lg eve. crappy lg website that doesn’t talk about these steps…
Hi All,
After some searching I found a site where there’s a non official, open source version of the Android OS Froyo 2.2 for the GW620
http://openetna.com/openetna/
Theyve been doing a lot of good work on the OS, but make sure you read the instructions properly before attempting to install.
heres another good site too
http://www.zacpod.com/node/108
Very nice Robert
thanks for the info! i don’t have access to GW620 anymore, i have only droid and google ION…
I can recommand the excllent famouns custom FW canyonMod, tough they are ready made mostly for HTC, but i bet that is because they don’t have GW620 testers…
here’s the site : http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/index.php?title=Main_Page