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Hacking my LCD TV

Update 2011-02-18: The other wiki site seems to have been shut down by LG. But there is a similar project OpenLGTV which contains the same information on this page.

Update 2009-12-06: Meanwhile there's a cleaner wiki-page available here which contains much more details, screenshots and warnings of course. Go there for the most up-to-date information on how to activate your USB port on your LG TV, what sound and video formats are supported and how to sort out some playback problems with movies.

As I've already mentioned I have purchased a new LCD TV some time ago. Its an LG 37-LF 2510. I've been quite satisfied with it and it's quality but when I read in the manual that the USB connector on the backside is only for updates and not for connecting storage devices my interest was awakened by this fact. I looked in the internet for updates to get the latest firmware on my TV and found this forum thread.

In this thread I read about the possibility to unlock DivX/XVid support on my USB connector by setting the right property in the service-menu. Of course I was sold by this immediately.

Just for reference I'm documenting the whole process here, how I enabled DivX on my TV.

  1. entered the Expert menu to check for the version of my firmware (enter the menu, just select! the Options entry and press FAV seven times)
  2. as I got FW 3.24.00 I had to downgrade to 3.15 first before the service menu would be available
  3. downloaded firmware 3.15 for LG LH series (mirror), put the contained folder LG_DTV on a USB stick and plugged it into the TV
  4. entered the Expert menu again, selected the entry for version 3.15 and started the downgrade by pressing OK
  5. after the successful downgrade, I entered the service menu by pressing the two OK buttons on the remote and the TV for 5 seconds at the same time, the PIN for the following lock is 0000
  6. now in the service menu go to Option 3 and set JPEG/MP3 to 1 and DivX/XVid to HD
  7. leave the menu, voi'la

Now the USB port on the backside allowed me to play back DivX and XVid movies :) One backdraw was that the menus looked a bit shaby to me now so I again upgraded my firmware to 3.37 (3.67 is the current version. Beware, service menu code is changed to 0413). Upgrades don't reset the DivX settings (for now) so this was safe as I could downgrade at any time again via the Expert menu if it would be necessary.

If you're trying this on your own, be sure to check the thread above for further information and the correct and most up-to-date firmware versions. According to the instructions in this forum thread the firmware and procedure also works for following models (and their respective xx10 versions, as I've got): 32LF2500 37LF2500 42LF2500
19LH2000 22LH2000 26LH2000 32LH2000 37LH2000 42LH2000
32LH3000 37LH3000 42LH3000 47LH3000
32LH4000 37LH4000 42LH4000 47LH4000
32LH5000 37LH5000 42LH5000 47LH5000
32LH7000 37LH7000 42LH7000 47LH7000
19LU4000 22LU4000 26LU4000
19LU5000 22LU5000 26LU5000

Posted by Kosi2801 on |

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Comments

Will this allow me to plug in my iphone any play videos.

Posted by: chris | March 23, 2010 10:02 PM

I'm sorry, I don't know. Depends on what filesystem the IPhone provides to the USB host. So far Fat/Fat32 and NTFS have been compatible with my TV, an Ext3 filesystem was not accessible through my LG.

Posted by: Kosi2801 | March 28, 2010 11:34 AM

Thank you very much! Works perfect!

Posted by: Adrian | May 6, 2010 9:44 AM

Thankyou! This guide helped me to hack my LG 37LF2510 perfectly! This tutorial is much appreciated. I upgraded to 3.55 after the hack, it's excellent.

Posted by: Jimbob | May 24, 2010 6:18 PM

when i get in the usb, a can not to select fw 3.15, a do not understand why, help!?!

Posted by: Airforceone | October 10, 2010 11:04 PM

@Airforceone did you check if the USB has a FAT filesystem and if the new firmware is in a folder LG_DTV under root?

Posted by: Kosi2801 | October 10, 2010 11:15 PM

ok, thanks, a am fix that, and now i have other problem, i must have something with ir ( i have nokia n73) and i was install same program on my mobile phone and i do not understand step when i must hold "2", a holding 2 and nothing was not happen

Posted by: Airforceone | October 11, 2010 1:15 AM

@Airforceone If you're talking about holding the "OK" buttons both on the TV set and the remote control at the same time, I'd suggest that you do that with the original remote control which came with the TV to be on the safe side.

Posted by: Kosi2801 | October 11, 2010 9:49 AM

thanks very much, usb on my TV works great :)

Posted by: Airforceone | October 11, 2010 12:00 PM

I have a lg 47ls4500 tv with a usb port that only allows pictures and music. I have firmware on it of 3.20xx. It does not recognize the firmware 3.15 so that I can access my tool menu for the tv. I have tried various ways including hooking up my external hard drive to the tv, but it still only recognized music or pictures. Is there any way possible that I can access my tools section so that I can change my settings to watch movies on my usb? I am a newbie and need step by step directions if there is a way. Please help.

Posted by: liz lassetter | September 27, 2013 12:06 AM

@liz: Please be aware that this hack is only applicable to LH/LF/LU LCD displays. The model ID (LS) you mentioned is not the correct one for this particular hack. There may or may not be a workaround for your particular model but I'm not aware of any.

Posted by: Kosi2801 | October 14, 2013 10:55 PM

Hi there!
HELP!
I also own an LCD tv, LG 37-LF 2510.
My firmware is version 3.55.00.
I am pressing the two OK buttons on the remote and the TV for many seconds at the same time and nothing happens....
I can t enter the service menu.

Any ideas how to continue so as to finally use my isb port????

Posted by: Terina H | October 21, 2014 12:49 AM

@Terina H: with version 3.55.0 it is not possible to enter the service menu by pressing the OK buttons. That's why I had to downgrade to 3.15 where this is possible. See step 2 of my list. There are ways to access the service menu on later versions of the firmware but those require other remote controls as this does not work with the original remote. See http://openlgtv.org.ru/wiki/index.php/Access_hidden_service_menus_/_modes for further information on those alternate access variants if you're interested. If that's not possible for you the only way to enter the service menu would be to perform a downgrade to 3.15 as I did.

Posted by: Kosi2801 | October 21, 2014 8:16 PM