This looks really cool, but after I first learned about Automatic Content Recognition and all the ridiculous anti-privacy things these smart TVs do, I adopted a policy: A TV is a big dumb monitor, that's it, and it never ever gets internet access. So, for better or for worse, all of my TV needs go through an Apple TV, and I block Apple's 17.0.0.0/8 for that client just in case it wants to get a little too chatty about my habits with Apple. YouTube is AFAIK the only thing on there that's able to spy on me, mitigated to some extent I hope with pi hole, and 90% of the time I'm in plex or an IPTV client.

I'm still using an ancient netcast based LG TV, which it's also possible to root with a few different methods. AFAIK there's no public information on how to do it, maybe I'll see about making it public too.

I guess this would make it possible to ransomware LG tv's by simply visiting a website.

It would be nice if there were proper open source distros for TVs. Hopefully the GPL lawsuit against Vizio will get source code and install info, so that distros can run on them, perhaps with Kodi as the UI. It also hopes to set the precedent that anyone can sue over GPL violations, not just the copyright holder, which could help increase the available TVs that can have an open source distros, through further lawsuits by other folks.

https://sfconservancy.org/copyleft-compliance/vizio.html

Just used this to root my 65" LG OLED. Works great!

Looks like you can't change the root password (error writing /etc/shadow), but as the documentation says, you can load your authorized_keys and the password login is no longer allowed.

I was sort of hoping that the cpu would still be reachable from the (wired) network while in standby, but it does not seem to be.

Happy to have helped test this release. Bought a 43" just to mess with all of this on. Has been a fantastic experience. Devs are great and it has been fun seeing what all I can run.

Awesome project. You can already install third-party applications in LG webOS TVs after enabling the "Developer Mode" application, but you have to keep renewing your session every 50 hours or else your apps get deleted. Pretty annoying. Now we can circumvent that.

I'm wondering if we could use WireGuard on these TVs now. That would be sweet... Guessing the userland golang client would be trivial...

I have a 2017 LG 43" TV and I'm a bit disappointed.

Last year I think the back-light started breaking down - I see big square sections where the colors are less bright and purplish. The display seems to have a grid of 4x2 of these individual regions.

And the remote buttons are getting harder to press too (it's not the battery). I had remotes which worked for 12 years, this one is barely 5 years old.

Aw, darn; I was hoping for a generic wiki of TVs and how to root them and (in my dream world) alternative firmware options. Not that rooting webOS isn't cool, just not what I expected based on the domain.

Can any website gain root access to your television simply by visiting/drive by download?

What are the advantages of rooting a WebOS tv? I tried googling, but didn't find anything concrete.

This is great, and makes me regret switching to Rokus. When I had an AndroidTV and could root, so much capability was unlocked, I really miss it.

I also loved WebOS since it's mobile days, will definitely consider getting an LG WebOS TV as my next.

This is very cool. What I hate the most about my LG is the ad bar that shows up on the left side of the screen as well as automatic installation of new apps. Will this jail break kill it?

Something I sometimes wondered but never really researched: are there any custom Roms like LineageOS etc. but for AndroidTVs?

Could I change functionality of buttons on remote with this? For example Amazon, Netflix or “Movies” with different app?

Wow. This is amazing. I guess I have to buy LG tv's from now on.

I only have a problem with the ads or so called "Trending" section. I do not have a subscription for Amazon Prime, Disney+ or whatever. Can I use this exploit to block the "Trending" section? I just want to see the apps that I have installed when I press home and nothing else.

I saw a retro station icon on the home brew channel. Can you connect a 8bitdo/PlayStation/Xbox controller to the tv?

It should be RootMyLG.TV

I can here for general TV rooting advice hoping I could sort out my rubbish Samsung. Anyone know anything about that?

I just got my hand on an early 2021 WebOS tv, very excited to try this tomorrow! I think it's a tragedy we can't even fully own tvs anymore without dirty tricks.

Does this remove LG’s annoying remote pointer thing? I use appleTV but I would do this just to get rid of that stupid thing.

Is it possible to root and install locally via a local network or USB key so I don't have to connect my TV to the internet?

I now have another reason to buy a LG OLed. Upgradable and customizable smarts. Not mention WebOS

Interesting that they are using Enyo still. Had some fun using that back in the day.

While owning no TV since 1996 this makes me smile :-)

I wish this worked for Vizio Smartcast.

Unfortunately no longer works on latest webOS releases.