[!IMPORTANT] RootMyTV is unlikely to work on your TV. Find out why.

RootMyTV is a user-friendly exploit for rooting/jailbreaking LG webOS smart TVs.

It bootstraps the installation of the webOS Homebrew Channel, and allows it to run with elevated privileges. The Homebrew Channel is a community-developed open source app, that makes it easier to develop and install 3rd party software. Find out more about it here.

If you want the full details of how the exploit works, skip ahead to our writeup.

Is my TV vulnerable? (short answer: no) <a id="vulnerable"></a>

The vulnerabilities used by RootMyTV (both v1 and v2) have been patched by LG. RootMyTV is unlikely to work on firmware released since mid-2022.

[!IMPORTANT] If you get a "Denied method call "download" for category "/"" error, your TV is patched. If your TV reboots but Homebrew Channel is not installed, it is likely patched. Firmware downgrades are no longer possible without already having root access.

The following table lists the first webOS version for each year's models that is known to <u>not</u> support RootMyTV: | TV model year | Base webOS version | RootMyTV patched since webOS version | | ------------- | ------------------ | ------------------------------------ | | 2016 | 3.0 | 3.4.2 | | 2017 | 3.5 | 3.9.2 | | 2018 | 4.0 | 4.4.2 | | 2019 | 4.5 | 4.9.7 | | 2020 | 5 | 5.4.0 | | 2021 | 6 | 6.3.0 |

If your webOS version is equal to or greater than the version in the "patched since" column for your TV's model year, your TV is not vulnerable to RootMyTV. While these versions and newer are definitely patched, older versions may or may not work. RootMyTV never worked on webOS versions prior to 3.4.0 or any TVs that came with webOS 1, 2, 7 (22), or 8 (23).

<details> <summary>More information about webOS version numbers</summary><br>

Depending on the year a TV was released, it uses a certain range of webOS version numbers.

The versions before 2016 and after 2019 are easy to understand, since the first digit is used only for a single year (e.g., every 6.x.y version is for a 2021 TV).

However, LG did something unusual in 2017 and 2019 by not using a new first digit. TVs from 2017 and 2019 started from webOS versions 3.5 and 4.5, respectively. For example, TVs released in 2016 will have webOS versions equal to or greater than 3.0.0 and less than 3.5.0; TVs released in 2017 will use 3.5.0 up to (but not including) 4.0.0; and so on.

<i>Note that when trying to determine when a given webOS version was released, you should only compare it with version numbers from the same model year.</i> For example, it is safe to assume version 3.4.1 was released after 3.3.0. But version 3.4.2 could have been (and in fact was) released after version 4.0.0.

With webOS 7 in 2022, LG started using the marketing name "webOS 22"; the same applies to webOS 8 ("webOS 23"). <br>

</details> <br>

[!NOTE] This versioning refers to the "webOS TV Version" field in the settings menu, not the "Software Version" field.

If you want to protect your TV against remote exploitation, please see the relevant section of our writeup and/or apply the latest firmware update for your TV.

Usage Instructions

Step Zero (disclaimer): Be aware of the risks. Rooting your TV is (unfortunately) not supported by LG, and although we've done our best to minimise the risk of damage, we cannot make any guarantees. This may void your warranty.

1. (Pre-webOS 4.0) Make sure "Settings → Network → LG Connect Apps" feature is enabled.
2. Developer Mode app must be uninstalled before rooting. Having this application installed will interfere with RootMyTV v2 exploit, and its full functionality is replaced by Homebrew Channel built-in SSH server.
3. Open the TV's web browser app and navigate to https://rootmy.tv
4. "Slide to root" using a Magic Remote or press button "5" on your remote.
5. Accept the security prompt.
6. The exploit will proceed automatically. The TV will reboot itself once during this process, and optionally a second time to finalize the installation of the Homebrew Channel. On-screen notifications will indicate the exploit's progress. On webOS 6.x Home Screen needs to be opened for notifications/prompts to show up.

Your TV should now have Homebrew Channel app installed.

By default system updates and remote root access are disabled on install. If you want to change these settings go to Homebrew Channel → Settings. Options there are applied after a reboot.

For exploiting broken TVs, check out the information here.

Why rooting

• Unlimited "Developer Mode" access

  • While LG allows willing Homebrew developers/users to install unofficial applications onto their TVs, official method requires manual renewal of "developer mode session", which expires after 50 hours of inactivity.
  • Some of the amazing homebrew that has been built/ported onto webOS would likely never be accepted onto LG's official Content Store.

• Lower level user/application access

  • This allows willing developers to research webOS system internals, which will result in creation of amazing projects, like PicCap (high performance video capture used for DIY immersive ambient lighting setups), or access to some interesting features like customization of system UI, remote adjustment of certain TV configuration options, and others.

FAQ

Is it safe?

While we cannot take any responsibility for Your actions, we have not encountered any bricks due to rooting. If you only use trusted software from official Homebrew Channel repository, then you should be safe.

Will this void my warranty?

This is not a legal advice. At least in the EU, rooting and other software modifications are generally deemed to be legal and should not be a basis for voiding your warranty.

How do I get rid of this?

Factory reset should remove all root-related configuration files.

We don't have a convenient tool for root removal without factory reset, though a knowledgable person may be able to remove our customizations manually.

Are system updates possible?

While updates are technically possible, if LG patches the exploit, you might end up "locked out" and unable to re-root your TV if you somehow lose access. We also can't predict how future updates will affect our techniques used to elevate and operate the Homebrew Channel app.

Will this break Netflix/YouTube/AmazonVideo?

No. This does not break or limit access to subscription services or other DRMed content.

However, staying on very old firmware version (which may be required for keeping root access persistent) may limit Your access to LG Content Store application installs, updates, or (rarely) launches. Workarounds for this are in the works.

How do I update from RootMyTV v1? (released 2021/05)

If you are not going to update your TV Software Version to the one that is already patched (most 4.x+ released after 2021/06) there is no need to update. New chain does not bring any new features - the most sensible thing you can do is to update your Homebrew Channel app.

If you are already rooted on downgraded/pre-2021-06 firmware version and want to upgrade further, doing an official software update will remove existing root files and homebrew applications. Running RootMyTV v2 then will reenable root access again. You will need to reinstall removed applications yourself.

If you know what you are doing and want to persist installed applications, you need to remove /media/cryptofs/apps/usr/palm/services/com.palmdts.devmode.service/start-devmode.sh file right before an update (without rebooting inbetween), and then run RootMyTV v2 right on first boot after software update.

I quickly turned my TV on and off and it's really angry about Failsafe Mode

If "Failsafe Mode" got tripped on your TV and it's showing angry notifications, go to Homebrew Channel → Settings, switch "Failsafe Mode" off and press "Reboot".

"Failsafe Mode" is a mode where none of our system customizations are enabled and only an emergency remote access server gets started up.

This mode gets enabled automatically when the TV crashes, gets its power removed or is shut down during early system startup. In order to reduce chances of that happening we recommend enabling "Quick Start+" setting in webOS System Settings General tab. This will make the TV only go to "sleep mode" (which doesn't take much more power) instead of doing a full shutdown, and will not need to restart our services on every suspend. This will also make TV startup much faster.

I want to run some commands as root during boot!

Our startup script runs all executable files in /var/lib/webosbrew/init.d on boot (via run-parts - filenames may only contain a-zA-Z0-9-_ letters!) - create your own scripts there.

Create any customizations there and do not modify ex