LG V30+ ThinQ (H930DS) Android 9 Update Available for Singapore

LG V30+ is one of the most under-rated smartphones. There is so much to love about the model, like how thin and light it feels, the quad-DAC and MQA format that every audiophile loves, and the ultra-wide angle lens that is now available in all the smartphones (except Pixel 4, sigh).

And here’s another wonderful news: the Android 9 is finally available for download and update on V30+, with latest security patch dated 1 Sep 2019. For users who could not get the update over-the-air, you can update manually.

Manual Firmware Update using LG UP

First, download and install the following files on your PC:

• LG UP 1.14 (source: https://www.mylgphones.com/download-lg-up-software). Manually copy the DLL file in the “Patch” folder to C:\Program Files (x86)\LG Electronics\LGUP\model\common
• LG Drivers (source: https://lg-firmwares.com/how-to-flash/ )

Then, download the firmware H930DS30c_00_OPEN_SG_DS_OP_0903.kdz from https://lg-firmwares.com/lg-h930ds-firmwares/#tab=firmwares

Once the above is done, put your LG V30+ into “Download Mode” by pressing the Volume Up button on the phone then connect the USB-C cable to the PC and the phone. A moment later, the phone will show a “Firmware Update” screen.

Next, run LG UP, and it should detect the phone.

Under the “Process” section, choose “Refurbish” if you want to have a fresh install. Choose “Upgrade” to retain your existing data, which I do not recommend, as it is always better to install a fresh copy to prevent any app or data incompatibilities.

Then, select the KDZ firmware path which you have downloaded.

When you are ready, click “Start”.

You can also refer to the above instructions from this site, https://lg-firmwares.com/how-to-flash/ . The issue is that when I followed the instructions, I encountered wrong DLL error. I had to search online for the correct DLL file (which I found on XDA). And when I executed LG UP 1.14 directly, it worked for me, so I did not think UPPERCUT is necessary. I also found that LG UP 1.14 works fine, and did not use 1.16 as availed on LG-Firmwares website.

The firmware upload is quite fast, about 5 minutes. Then the phone goes through 2 restarts to erase data. On the third restart, the LG UP shows “COMPLETE”, but the phone stayed on the startup screen for about 1-2 minutes. After a long wait, it loaded into a colourful wallpaper before restarting again. After that, the welcome wizard finally appeared, and the update to Android 9 is successful.

Here’s a video of the process when the upload was nearing completion. Video is 2x speed, so the 2-minute video lasts 4 minutes in real time.

With the update, the LG V30+ gets a new lease of life 2 years after its launch, keeping the software more relevant for another year.