[LeslieAnn]

[HL]This is informational only, if you need help, post in the appropriate thread or make a new one.[/HL]

Table Of Contents ------- Post #1
The basics (If you read nothing else, read this section!!!) ------- Begins on post #2
Warranty Void
Rom Manager (Just say no!)
A tale of two Optimus V's (Old vs New and what it means)
Don't hit the factory reset in the Privacy Menu
I hit the factory reset in the Privacy Menu, now what
Good practices
How to fix 99% of your problems
Help, my screen is black!
Backup, Backup, Backup!

Root ------ Begins on post #3

Recoveries
Installing
Recoveries

VM9 Radio Update

Kernels

Installing your rom
Wiping
md5
Installing your rom


Roms
Froyo
GB CM
ICS
About older OV roms

Mods/projects/tweaks/info

Link to old reference guide

[LeslieAnn]

The basics (If you read nothing else, read this section!!!)
Warranty Void
Everything here will void your warranty, anything you do here is risky. Understand what you are doing before you start, or be prepared for a paperweight (brick). If you do, please don't expect or ask Virgin or LG to pay for your mistake. If you do make a mistake, search for an answer before posting a new thread. Also, be patient. No one is here 24/7, so it could take a while before you get an answer, and we may not actually have one if you do certain things.

Rom Manager
Simply put, don't use it!
This causes more problems than you can imagine. There is no need for it, do things the right way, it's safer.
On top of that, the roms listed in Rom Manager were not placed there by their creators. They are safe, but Rom Manger is not and could cause you serious problems. If you have it installed, remove it now before it's too late.
If you must know more, is a good thread about it. - By AndieOpie.

A tale of two Optimus V (Old vs New and what it means)
The Optimus V comes in two flavors, if you go into settings, about phone you can see what version of Android you have. If you see 2.2.1 then you have an old Optimus V, if you have 2.2.2, you have a new one.
Old phones come with a Novatech screen (better screen) and older radio, newer phones come with the same screen as the Optimus S and a newer radio (better radio). Old Optimus V models can use any kernel, rom or recovery for the Optimus V. Newer models cannot, so be careful. If you do flash one that is incompatible, don't panic, and read the section in this post titled "Help, my screen is black".

Don't hit the factory reset in the Privacy Menu
Inside your phone is a factory reset. This will instantly make your rooted phone a brick. If you need to clear out yoru personal data, boot into recovery and do the factory reset/wipe there. See below if you have done this.

I hit the factory reset in the Privacy Menu, now what
This is not an easy one to fix. Read any threads you find to completion, as many start down this road and only make things worse. or this or this.

Good Practices
Never install a rom and recovery in the same step. If you install a rom, and it fails, you can still fix it with recovery. If you install a recovery and it fails, you can fix it from inside the rom. Each acts as a fail safe. If one of them is down, don't mess with the other until you get the broken one fixed. Do this and you will never brick your Optimus V.

How to fix 99% of your problems
This thread tells all. - By LeslieAnn

Help, my screen is black!
There are two reasons for this.
If you installed Bobzhome or IHO recovery, and pressed a button on front, it can go black. Press it again, and it will return. On these recoveries, the camera button selects the item, the front ones are not used.
The second reason is you have a newer screen and installed an incompatible recovery or rom. See this thread. - By Bigsupersquid

Backup, Backup, Backup!
As soon you root, and put on a recovery, make a Nandroid Backup. This is a backup made inside recovery. After that, any time you change your recovery, do a Nandroid backup before and after. Why before and after? Well once you change recoveries, your backup may no longer work. When you change roms, you only need to do one before. There is a complete backup guide here. - By LeslieAnn

[LeslieAnn]

Root
Here is the newest and recommended method. - By Whyzor

Recoveries
Installing
Don't use any fancy apps or you risk making your phone a brick. This is the safest, easiest method there is.
Guide to flashing recoveries through Terminal Emulator (very easy)- By LeslieAnn

VZ9 Radio
May improve call quality and reception. We are still learning about it.
Thread is here.

Recoveries
There are several available, but I'm not going to document all of them as there is no point in documenting things you won't use or need. Some recoveries only work with older OV's such as CWMA, the one Rom Manager, uses, and it is NOT compatible with newer phones. Xionia works with all phones, and even supports the older scripting. However, it has always had a bit of trouble with formatting, leading to issues when you install roms.

Today, the only recovery you should be installing is It works on all screens and newer roms. It will not let you install the older roms, which is handy for keeping newer phones from having issues, why am I saying this, read in the rom section to find out. Please remember, the camera button selects items, not the front keys like other recoveries use.


Kernels
While we used to have quite a few kernels to pick from, and they are still a few floating around, the best kernel is the one that came with the rom you are using. Today, that pretty much means the modded Picasticks in Harmonia 1x or the IHO kernel found in IHO roms, most or all of which use the Bobzhome kernel. The other kernels either don't work with all phones, or are old and/or bloated for use on the Optimus V.

Installing roms
Wiping is extremely important, especially newer phones, which have trouble installing roms.
For a completely fresh install, you should do a factory reset/wipe (IN RECOVERY), as well as go into mounts and wipe system and boot, and then in advanced wipe Dalvik.
If you are installing over another rom, unless specified, skip the factory reset to retain your data, but wipe the rest listed above.

A good article on wiping is found here. - By LeslieAnn

MD5
Md5 is a system meant to verify that yoru download is a perfect digital copy.
Usb (and Bluetooth) does not actually contain error correction, it has to be programmed in, and many do not do it. You would be amazed at how many errors happen while passing through a usb cable, hub, or usb to flash adapter.

Doing an MD5 check is a very simple process, but some people skip this step, including myself, but if you have anything odd happen, you should start here. Be sure you check the md5 of the file on your sdcard, NOT on your computer. A complete tutorial on this is located here. - By LeslieAnn.

Installing your rom
Simply copy the rom sip file to your sdcard, do NOT unzip the file, do your wipe, and select install zip file. It should be self explanatory from there.

Roms
Froyo is what your phone came with. It's still the most common Android operating system. It's relatively lightweight, fast, and typically has the best battery life on the Optimus V. It doesn't handle games as well as Gingerbread though. This used to be the dominant rom on the Optimus V, but it has since been replaced by Gingerbread for those who root and rom their phone. It's still preferred by many who value battery life so don't knock it too much.

Currently, the main Froyo rom is Harmonia 1 by LeslieAnn, which is a 2.2.1/2.2.2 hybrid (combines parts of each). Harmonia is pretty much the default Froyo rom, but Redbaron2005 has recently started experimenting with Froyo as well. Other than these two roms, there hasn't been any roms developed or supported in months, and for newer phones you have to go back almost a year.

Complete details of each can be found here:
Harmonia 1 - By LeslieAnn
StockOV Overdrive 2.2.1-2.2.2 - By Redbaron2005

Gingerbread, the only form of it we have these days is IHO (Inferior Human Organs), which is Cyanogenmod based. This is the most common current rom we have. It's fast, and runs very well in a wide range of conditions. Other versions of Gingerbread exist, but they all have serious issues. While Gingerbread is quickly replacing Froyo as the most common form of Android, odds of seeing an Optimus V from Virgin with it included are becoming lesser and lesser each day and even if released, odds are you will have to purchase a new phone to get it and it will not run as well.

As mentioned, there are several IHO Gingerbread Cyanogenmod roms, each catering to different niche. Some are like a factory stock rom, others built for customization, and still others are built for speed.
Details of each rom and download locations can be found
Support for IHO roms can be found here, except for Harmonia 2, which is here.

Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) is the latest Android system and is still in very early testing. It's not meant for regular use. Only a few phones come with it, and you will never buy a new Optimus V with it. The only ICS rom is Quattrimus by TDM, who finally made it work. All others are derivatives of it, but expect more in the future as it becomes more stable.


About older OV roms
Many of the download links are broken, the developers are gone, they don't usually work with newer phones, they lead to trouble and by the time you install and update all of the included apps, you lose half your storage space. There is no support, less compatibility, less security, and we will spend more time helping you get it, than you will spend actually running it. LET THEM DIE. There is really no reason for you to run a 1 year old rom when the roms we have now are better in every way.

Mods/projects/tweaks/info

Build IHO
Building ICS
Making RLE files
Community build server
Signing zips
Changing SD cards
Safe Mode
Return to stock
VOIP
APK's, their purpose and safe or not to remove

Original reference guide
Old reference guide - By Mmarz
Contains older info and quite a lot of tips and tweaks not used as often anymore.

[kcls]

Very good. Much better then the last on. Hope this gets stickied.

[notown]

Thanks , LeslieAnn . Thats awesome and thanks for all the help

[anthonycr]

Sticky this!!!! And unsticky everything else!!!! Awesome job LeslieAnn, this guide should save the lives of many Optimus Vs.

[Discovered]

Great idea. This will help many.

Sent from my LG-VM670 using Tapatalk

[monkeysez]

This needs to be a sticky. Also, something all new people should read.

[Paul627g]

Very good. Much better then the last on. Hope this gets stickied.

Sticky this!!!! And unsticky everything else!!!! Awesome job LeslieAnn, this guide should save the lives of many Optimus Vs.

This needs to be a sticky. Also, something all new people should read.

Thread stickied.

LeslieAnn, nice job.

[itsrayray]

Try this to see the recovery menu while in black screen.

Install this:

Next

Now go to

Droid@Screen will let you see the phone's recovery screen on the computer. He can then install the correct files he needs. He will need a ROM on his SD card to flash and then he will need to install the correct recovery using ADB. .

Leslie maybe you throw this is here in case someone throws a wrong recovery for newer screens. It helped tremendously for me when my friend did it. It's simple to do and quick.

Sent from your mom's phone.

[EpicSilver]

Thank You Leslie.. this was a very useful sticky. I was stuck in recovery because i factory reset from privacy. i used one of the links and got out of the recovery i was stuck in

[shortys513]

Thank you for this comprehensive and grammatically correct guide. What a rare treat on the internet these days.

I have a question...

Am I able to upgrade to GingerBread using GingerBreak with my 5 day old Optimus V on Froyo? Or do I have to upgrade to GingerBread, then use GingerBreak?

Thanks.

[EpicSilver]

Thank you for this comprehensive and grammatically correct guide. What a rare treat on the internet these days.

I have a question...

Am I able to upgrade to GingerBread using GingerBreak with my 5 day old Optimus V on Froyo? Or do I have to upgrade to GingerBread, then use GingerBreak?

Thanks.

I used Gingerbreak 1.2 i believe when i was on froyo and it worked fine. From there i updated to cm7 which is gingerbread

[bjzapp]

when I pull up my recovery screen, there is no option listed for backups/ recovery..??
lists as follows:
reboot system
apply SD card update.zip
wipe data/factory reset
wipe cache partition

what step or what version recovery menu do I have ?? ...shows <3> at the top

[kidkelko]

bjzapp it sounds like you have not flashed a custom recovery yet. if you flash CLockWorkMod or xionia or some compatible recovery there will be several more options, depending on the recovery and version.

[rebel69ization]

how do i get 3g working? i cannot change cdma network pref and my phone is in 1x

[Timand1]

I used Xionia recovery to flash harmonia 2 when i got stuck in bootloop (back when I had CWM useless on OV)
I am About to follow in her directions after all she did give a through review great job by the way and you have been thanked alot for the advice

[flapjack.fiasco]

The link in the OP for the Github for IHO ROMs is broken. I guess it changed recently, right?

Sent from my LG-VM670 using Tapatalk

[drezliok]

Can someone point me in the right direction. I am looking for a easy to follow guide to setting up ADB. It's been about a year since I did it last set it up.

[droidmyme]

LeslieAnn thank you for streamlining all this data into a single source. Really, awesome, awesome job, and my gratitude to you.

[LeslieAnn]

When it was written, things were different.
The guide needs some minor updating and I actually would like to get a more up to date root guide. One that preferably covers older, newer and updated phones.

[Sebasterd]

interesting

[agianne]

Thanks for putting this together. I followed the info here (and in the other posts the guide links to) and was able to root my phone, add a recovery and flash the Harmonia 1.7 ROM with no problems what so ever.

I'm a noob and was concerned that I'd hose it up and brick my phone, but I did a ton of reading in this forum and over at XDA before I even thought about getting started and that definitely helped. Without this "step-by-step" guide, I don't think I could have pulled this off so painlessly.

Thanks again.

[LeslieAnn]

Thanks for putting this together. I followed the info here (and in the other posts the guide links to) and was able to root my phone, add a recovery and flash the Harmonia 1.7 ROM with no problems what so ever.

I'm a noob and was concerned that I'd hose it up and brick my phone, but I did a ton of reading in this forum and over at XDA before I even thought about getting started and that definitely helped. Without this "step-by-step" guide, I don't think I could have pulled this off so painlessly.

Thanks again.

If only so many others followed your example.

[uznik]

LeslieAnn
I rooted & installed link2sd 8 months ago. I partitioned my 16g sd card (4g for apps).
Will this partition cause any problems if I use Harmonia 2.06 rom ?
Will I need Link2SD with Gingerbread rom ?
Do I use terminal emulator for backup, wipe, & to install Harmonia 2 rom ?

Thanks