Beyond noob needs root/ROM help with mac

[sushifor5]

Hi all,

I've been reading and reading and reading since getting my LG optimus V a week ago. The battery drain issue is annoying and I see that my app desire will soon go beyond the capacity of the phone.

Does this mean I should root? I am incredibly non-techy...it's a wonder I can even use my mac for basic things, LOL!!! I've read many posts and articles on rooting and ROMS and really don't understand 90% of what I'm reading. I'm not a risk taker and am afraid of ruining the phone.

Is there a really noob user-friendly guide (with hand-holding baby steps...I don't even understand what "terminal" is or how to do commands, etc...) on how to root this phone on a mac?

Which ROM would I want if I just want to improve internal storage capacity, battery life and get rid of verizon bloat? (still don't really understand what ROM/recovery, etc are) I will never want to do anything really "tech" fancy with the phone and I don't play games. I like swype keyboard and don't want to lost any functionality of the phone...I don't know if that is an issue or not...

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Cheers!

 

[Ticojpunk]

I'm a Mac user too. I just rooted less than a week ago, and I'm currently running the Bumblebee 2.4 ROM. It's awesome. More stable, tons more user storage, overclocked by default. It's really another world. I was like you, real nervous about it. After doing it I'm really confident about the whole thing.

One really important thread to read is this one.. http://forums.androidcentral.com/op...-how-simplified-root-recovery-custom-rom.html

That'll tell you pretty much all you need to know. And Gingerbreak is a godsend. Read on.

Fortunately, if you use Gingerbreak to root, you don't need to the do the rooting on the Mac.

All you're ever going to use the Mac for is downloading the files you need. Then you're going to plug the Optimus V into your Mac's USB (no drivers needed), then turn on USB Storage from the Optimus screen. Then it'll pop up on your desktop as (most likely) NO NAME.

Here's what I did and I've had no problems. Others might recommend alternate ideas, but I'll share what i did.

1.) I downloaded Gingerbreak (link is on the Simpler Root thread) from my MacBook Pro.

2.) I plugged in my OV and transferred Gingerbreak to the root directory of the SD Card. After it's transferred, feel free to unmount the SD Card by dragging NO NAME to the trash bin. Then disconnect USB storage on the OV screen.

3.) Use a file manager (downloaded from the Market) like ES File Explorer, to find, and run the Gingerbreak apk. Follow the prompts on your OV screen, and let it run, it will do everything that needs to be done to root. It might take about 10 minutes (mine did). If it seems to be "stuck" or not doing anything, it is, don't worry about, just let it do it's thing.

4.) Once it finishes, I believes it reboots. Once rebooted, get on the market and download Root Checker. This will tell you if you are successfully rooted.

5.) At this point you'll want to flash a custom recovery and backup your newly rooted, but stock, phone. I downloaded ROM Manager. Run it and choose Flash ClockworkMod Recovery (should be version 3.2.0.1). It'll do this pretty quickly. So, what's a custom recovery?!
*I didn't realize what it was at first. A custom recovery is like a backup program, but one that runs at a low level sort of like DOS does on old Windows computers. It lets you backup your phone, restore from backups you made, amongst other things.

6.) Now boot into recovery. Shut off your phone, then hold down power, volume down, and home at the same time, till you see LG on the screen. Let go. ClockworkMod Recovery should start. Orange text. Go to backup and restore, using your volume keys to navigate, select an item pressing the camera button. Use the back button to go back if you select the wrong thing. Make a backup. you'll see the little droid dude and the picture of a box on screen, and it'll backup your current ROM (which will be stock, exactly like you had it, but rooted.

I'll stop there. because if you want to install a custom ROM, and you should, you should do some more reading. But honestly, rooting was really easy.

If you really want extra storage, a custom ROM like Bumblebee is your best route there, and happens to come along with tons of extra pluses. Good luck!