Friday, July 12, 2013

Enable tethering on AT&T LG Optimus G E970 for free

Read this: this might also work on AT&T Optimus G Pro E980. Also, there shouldn't be any damage to your phone if you follow these instructions exactly. Of course, I messed up my phone the first time I tried to do this... Proceed at your own risk

I discovered that the tethering functionality on my Optimus G was a pain to enable. After trying pretty much every free app on the Play Store that claimed to do hotspot, I discovered that AT&T must have a LOT of pull with LG. Unlike the popular samsung galaxy devices, you couldn't just download a hotspot toggle and be done with it. Also, FoxFi didn't work either (or at least the trial didn't).

Then I found a tethering app that required root. It worked after rooting my phone, but I couldn't get the WiFi back up afterwards without a restart. So in the end, I decided to get the built in tethering functionality to work. More after the jump.



OK. So for this tutorial you are going to need a rooted AT&T LG Optimus G. Also, you are going to need the USB drivers (which you should have installed to root) as well as ADB (can be found in the Universal Root zip you downloaded to root your phone).

Let's get started.

  1. With your rooted device, download SQLite Installer for Root Use the app to download the latest version of SQLite in the default place. The installer will be asking for root access, that's fine.
  2. This is important. Go into settings and try to turn on hotspot. It will check with AT&T and subsequently fail to enable.
  3. With USB debugging on, plug the phone into your computer and go into the command line and start up adb shell. Once in the phone's shell, type su and then open your phone to give it root access.
  4. Type: cd /data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases
  5. Type the following to open settings.db: sqlite3 settings.db
  6. Type this query EXACTLY: update system set value=0 where name='tether_entitlement_check_state';
  7. Close sqlite by typing (there is a dot in front): .quit
  8. Type 'exit' three times and close the shell
  9. Restart the phone. 
  10. Try to turn on hotspot (or bluetooth tethering or USB tethering if you plug your phone in). You might get a warning about how tethering drains the battery, just ignore it and hit ok.
  11. Success :D
Now you can get internet on your wifi/bluetooth/usb devices wherever you want to go. However, I strongly advise you not to use tethering if your carrier doesn't want you to do so. I'm using a carrier that does, but my phone still wants to report back to AT&T instead. If enough people comment that these instructions are unclear, I'll consider making a video to show you everything step by step.

26 comments:

  1. Thank you sooo much. I spent days trying to get this. You are the greatest person ever in the world, ever!!

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  2. Any idea if this would work for sprint?

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  3. You can try. I'm not sure though

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  4. Worked like a charm! Thanks very much for this. Tip to anyone else - paranoid as I am I copied & pasted the commands so I wouldn't mistype anything.

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  5. is not clear,sir..
    could you make a video,please..

    did you mac or windows user.?
    thanks and stay warm..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. sent me to my email please ASAP.
      cloning21@yahoo.com

      thank you so much....

      Delete
    2. Do you have a rooted Optimus G? If so install the app he mentions in the guide (SQLite Installer for Root) and run it to install SQLite. Then install Terminal Emulator app from play store. Launch the emulator app and type 'su' then hit enter and follow steps 4-11.

      Delete
  6. This was great! Thank you worked like a charm! Did it on my rooted Sprint LG Optimus G (LS970). I didn't have adb on my computer so I just used a terminal emulator. Was able to do it all without using a computer (on an already rooted device).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Is it glitchy at all i have to keep redoing. What method fid you do for root?

      Delete
  7. working like a charm, Thank Buddy.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thank you very much. Instructions are ALMOST perfect. I had to add step 4.5.
    Type su after step 4 and before step 5 to once again get super user access. Once I did this the instructions worked flawlessly. Without your help I would have never gotten this far. Ben Du thank you. If you have a Paypal account I will gladly donate to your cause.

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  9. Also, to make this dummy proof... In step 3 to start up adb shell type 'adb shell' at the command prompt.

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  10. at the last step 6.Type this query EXACTLY: update system set value=0 where name='tether_entitlement_check_state'; my emulator on my phone says not found, any ideas?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. you're going to have to give more details, i can't really tell what might be wrong

      Delete
  11. hi
    i got lg optimus e980
    1.i did root this device through steps below http://www.andromods.com/root-unlock/e980-att-lg-optimus-g-pro-official-kitkat-ota-rooted.html
    2. now i followed the steps given by you
    i goto the directory *cd /data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases
    when i type "sqlite3 settings.db to open it it gives me error "sqlite3 not found.
    when i tried to see contents of the directory by typing ls
    it gives error "opendir failed, permission denied.
    i checked the option "unknown sources in security
    now tell me som solutions...plz

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm unsure what might be wrong, but its likely that you don't have sqlite3 properly installed or you didn't allow root access. (after typing su, make sure that you allow access on the phone, you may have to turn on the screen and unlock your phone)

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    2. thank you brother Ben Du, your help was a charm.
      i was making mistake of not keeping my phone unlocked and wasn't had sqlite3 installed on phone too.... :P
      stay blessed

      Delete
  12. Can someone hel l medata/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases not found

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. its seems, your device is not rooted properly. please consider rooting your device. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2006946 or try any other method to root.
      and try the above mentioned steps again.

      Delete
  13. "SQLite Installer for Root" link is not working. It says "Sorry! This content is not available in your country yet.
    We're working to bring the content you love to more countries as quickly as possible.
    Please check back again soon." I tried it without that step, and it didn't work.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Worked like charm. Thank you very much for sharing.

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  15. Please how do i root my phone and please will i lose any file during rooting

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  16. got the easy way to unlock AT&T LG Optimus G Pro E980 from http://attunlockcode.com/products/AT%26T-LG-Optimus-G-Pro-E980-Unlock-Code.html price is little bit expensive but it works better than others.

    ReplyDelete