I got Lollipop and here's how to do it

[Birk Binnard]

How to update to Android to Ver. 5 without wiping your phone of all data, setting, and apps

This procedure explains how to get the new version of Android, called Lollipop or Android 5, on to your phone without losing your current data, settings, or applications. This process is called sideloading, and it is completely different from the process called flashing.

Flashing uses a different format of the Lollipop file and it performs a Factory Reset of your phone. This reset deletes all of your personal data, settings, and apps - it resets the phone to it's original "out of the box" factory condition. Sideloading does NOT do this; it merely replaces your current version of Android with the new one.

1. Download and install the ADB tool (Android Debug Bridge) and the fastboot.exe file from this link:

[TOOL]Minimal ADB and Fastboot [11-6-14] | Android Development and Hacking | XDA Forums

Normally you have to install the entire Android SDK (Software Development Kit) library to get these files, but the above link will install only the files needed to sideloaad the new version of Android WITHOUT WIPING ALL DATA AND PROGRAMS FROM YOUR PHONE.

Remember the complete name of the folder in which you install ADB and fastboot; you will need this folder in Step 6.

After you complete this step verify your system has the correct Android USB driver installed. Do this by opening Device Manager and expand Other Devices. You should NOT see your phone with a yellow exclamation mark; if you do you need to install the latest Google USB driver for your version of Windows.

2. Turn on USB Debugging in phone by going to Settings > Developer Options > USB debugging.

3. Connect the phone to your PC through USB and make sure it’s connected.

4. Use the desktop shortcut installed in Step 1 to open a Command Prompt window and run the command ‘adb devices’. If your phone is connected you’ll see the serial # of the device followed by Device – Something like : ‘022c732d8a4cca82 device’

5. Download the zip file from Google from the link below to your PC for your particular Nexus device. The zip file you download will have a very long, complicated name. Rename the downloaded file to something easy to type – I changed it to Lollipop.zip.

http://android.clients.google.com/p...ed-hammerhead-LRX21O-from-KTU84P.c1a33561.zip

6. Move the zip file into the folder you created in Step 1.

7. In the Command window you opened in Step 4 enter the command ‘adb reboot bootloader’ and your phone will reboot into the bootloader.

8.Press the Volume buttons on your device until you see ‘Recovery Mode’ and use the Power button to select it.

9. Next your device will boot to a screen with a small Android logo with an exclamation mark and an open belly. "No Command" will display below the logo.

10. Press Volume Up and Power at the same time to get into stock recovery.

11. Using the volume buttons, scroll to ‘apply update from ADB’ (usually 2nd option from the top of the list) and then press the Power button to choose it.

12. On your PC in the command prompt window, type ‘adb sideload Lollipop.zip’. This will start the process of sending Lollipop to your phone (you'll see a message giving you the current % completed); after it reaches 100% the phone will start updating itself.

If you get the message "Device not found" on you rPC when you issue the sideload command you will have to install the basic USB driver. The following steps do this:

12.1. Open Device Manager, and find the Nexus 5 entry.
12.2. Right-click, and select "Update Driver Software"
12.3. Here, choose the second option - "Browse my computer for driver software"
12.4. Next, click on "Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer"
12.5. You will see many categories - pick "Android device"
12.6. Next, you should see a list of 2-3 drivers available.
12.7. Choose "ADB Driver", NOT "ADB Composite Driver". This is important, because the default driver for the device is the ADB Composite Driver, which did not work for me.
12.8. Once you choose "ADB Driver", go back to the command prompt and type adb devices
12.9. You should see the device now.

Note that if you need to do these 9 steps your phone will wait for you - there is no need to reboot the phone and start over.

13. There will be several messages on the phone during the update - be patient. The message 'Installing update...' is NOT the last message. Wait for the message 'Install from ADB complete."

14. Press the Down volume button to reach the 'wipe cache partition" command (usually the last one in the list) and push the power button to select it. You'll see messages about wiping/formatting the cache - be patient, do not interrupt this process. (I did that once when installing KitKat and it prevented my phone from seeing any wireless network.) When the process is complete you will see the message 'Cache wipe complete" and the command 'reboot system now' will be highlighted.

15. Push the power button to reboot into Lollipop. The first boot takes a long time - after the spinning balls you'll see a message 'Android is updating..." and a count-up for every app you have on your phone. Be patient (again) - you don't want to interrupt this process. Subsequent reboots will happen at normal speed.

=======================

I adapted the above steps from several sources I found online as well as from my own experience with sideloading KitKat. There are a lot of steps but they do work (I just did them) and they are pretty straightforward. I included some extra info about what to expect for folks who have not done this before.

 

[gevo12321]

I followed everything, but once i got to the sideload screen and tried to sideload, i got an error in adb saying device not found. anyone have this problem before?

 

[planoman]

when you opened a command prompt did you check to see if it recognized the device by typing devices? it should tell you if it recognizes your device. If not, do you have the drivers installed, ie. have you connected the device to the computer before this attempt?

 

[planoman]

I followed everything, but once i got to the sideload screen and tried to sideload, i got an error in adb saying device not found. anyone have this problem before?

This video is pretty good. I used it when I started side loading a while back.

How to Manually Update the Google Nexus 7 to Android 4.2.2 - YouTube

 

[planoman]

Just letting everyone know that after updating my Nexus 5 to Lollipop and I wiped the cache partition, it took a few minutes. I thought it had hung up so make sure to let it finish. Give it a few minutes to be sure.

 

[Nexuslover27]

I followed everything, but once i got to the sideload screen and tried to sideload, i got an error in adb saying device not found. anyone have this problem before?

I had the same problem, and had to use a bit of trickery to get it to recognize the Nexus 5 at that stage. Here's how I did it (I'm on Windows):

1. Open Device Manager, and find the Nexus 5 entry.
2. Right-click, and select "Update Driver Software"
3. Here, choose the second option - "Browse my computer for driver software"
4. Next, click on "Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer"
5. You will see many categories - pick "Android device"
6. Next, you should see a list of 2-3 drivers available.
7. Choose "ADB Driver", NOT "ADB Composite Driver". This is important, because the default driver for the device is the ADB Composite Driver, which did not work for me.
8. Once you choose "ADB Driver", go back to the command prompt and type adb devices
9. You should see the device now.
10. Happy sideloading!

 

[yfan]

I updated my Nexus 5 tonight using this method and it works flawlessly. I used the OTA files that AC posted. Thanks so much!

I have to say I'm really impressed with Lollipop. Battery life is significantly better (seemingly on both WiFi and LTE), the new animations are both pleasing to the eye and fast. I am loving, loving, loving my Nexus 5 as much as I did the day I got it.

 

[Birk Binnard]

gevo:

I had exactly the same problem but fixed it by Googling 'windows android usb driver' and downloading/installing it from one of the links listed. I didn't save the link becuase I wanted to keep my description as short as possible.

 

[Steel City1]

Holy Schnikes!!! I did it!!!

Lol. Noob here (if you can't tell!)

Just wanted to say thanks for the excellent post. I've debated over the years about rooting a phone or sideloading, etc but never had the guts to do it. So tonight I grew a set and plunged in. Took some time and some trial and error but everything worked out in the end. Figured I share my thoughts and issues I ran into for any other novice that wants to try this...

First, I ran into a lot of trouble and was getting the same

error in adb saying device not found.

It was odd because I was having multiple instances of my phone show up in device manager and figured out that I had to make sure that MTP and PTP transfer were both unchecked under Settings > Storage > Menu (Three dots in upper right.) > USB Connection. That brought me down to the one instance of the N5 appearing in Device Manager under Android Device.

I then had to do what Nexuslover27 recommended by changing the driver to straight ADB Driver. (Thanks Nexuslover27!!)

However, this is where I ran into a problem. I realized that I was updating the driver prior to starting the process. Everything looked correct but I still kept getting the error saying device not found. I finally realized after reopening the device manager while I was attempting Step 12, that my N5 was no longer under Android Device but now under Portable Device and was not a recognized device and had the yellow exclamation point. Wasn't sure what to do so I backed out of everything and uninstalled the N5 and completely deleted the drivers through the device manager. After rebooting the PC and reinstalling the drivers, I still had the same problem.

At this point I thought what if I try updating the driver again after I started the process and see what happens. Well, it solved the issue! Basically, even though the N5 communicated when I ran the commands all the way up to step 11, something caused it to show as a different device in Device Manager at that point and that is when I had to install the drivers on the new device.

From then on it was golden. Still not sure if there was something I did (or wasn't doing) that caused the problem in the first place but it all worked out in the end.

I can't thank you guys enough for the input in this thread - Birk, planoman, Nexuslover27! Hope my thoughts might help someone else if they're stuck!

Edit - Sorry tried posting the link for the Google USB Drivers that I used, but since I'm a new member, won't let me include links yet.

 

[Birk Binnard]

Steelcity:

Glad to see the process worked for you. I believe you have correctly identified the problem and solution for the "Device not found" issue.

As you noted, at the time Step 11 happens the PC does not see an Android device (which is what it does see when you first plug in the USB cable), but rather some other kind of plain/simple USB device, This change results from the "adb reboot bootloader" command in Step 7 causing the phone to reboot (out of Android) get under control of the simple bootloader software. A bootloader is the tiny piece of code that loads at power-on time whose sole purpose is to load the system's real operating system.

So it makes sense that at this time the PC would see only a plain USB device, and not something as specific as an Android device. As I noted in an earlier post, when I got this problem I had to find and install a different USB driver - it was called the "Naked USB" driver which I presume means it supports a plain USB device.

Device Manager is your friend in this situation - if you see the yellow exclamation point you know you have a missing/incorrect driver. The phone will wait while you find and install the correct driver. Once this is done simply proceed with the sideload process.

The only real question I have about this is why Windows itself can't find the driver. It shouldn't be necessary to locate and install it manually.

 

[chezm]

Adb was having trouble finding my device on my PC but with my work Mac it had no issues seeing my nexus 5. Even with the proper drivers on PC it was still having issues, I've had incidents where one of my USB worked with it while others didn't. The best recommendation is to try multiple usb ports if available, if not it may be your USB acting up.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[jlinz20]

I had the same problem, and had to use a bit of trickery to get it to recognize the Nexus 5 at that stage. Here's how I did it (I'm on Windows):

1. Open Device Manager, and find the Nexus 5 entry.
2. Right-click, and select "Update Driver Software"
3. Here, choose the second option - "Browse my computer for driver software"
4. Next, click on "Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer"
5. You will see many categories - pick "Android device"
6. Next, you should see a list of 2-3 drivers available.
7. Choose "ADB Driver", NOT "ADB Composite Driver". This is important, because the default driver for the device is the ADB Composite Driver, which did not work for me.
8. Once you choose "ADB Driver", go back to the command prompt and type adb devices
9. You should see the device now.
10. Happy sideloading!

I can confirm this will fix the issue. Worked for both my Nexus 5 and 10

Posted via Android Central App

 

[chezm]

Mine i installed the factory image twice, and i keep getting after it hits 100% from adb "E: footer is wrong", "E:signature verification failed"...i thought the file got corrupted but downloaded twice. Can i use the hammerhead...e08.tar file the way it is, such as "adb sideload hammerhead...08.tar"(using full name of downloaded file)?

as i figured, md5 doesnt match...ok very odd. Im using Factory Images "hammerhead" for Nexus 5 (GSM/LTE) 5.0 (LRX21O) Link 761667f1ddaf4e38d4792136df4ab927

.....update...
I dont get this...i have downloaded the factory image from googles site on my work PC and MAC same md5 on both but dont match whats listed. wtf.

 

[illiniah]

I wish I had read this last night, I spent an hour trying to get past this step, I had 3 choices and eventually ADB Driver worked!

 

[Birk Binnard]

Chezm:

My guess is that since you got through the adb sideload (that is what you meant by '100%', yes?) the error messages you got indicate the phone found something wrong with the file you loaded. Numerous people have done this successfully, so there must be something unusual you have done somewhere in the process.

It's impossible to tell what that might be without knowing each step of what you did, but in general the file you upload to the phone must be a ZIP file. Other formats (like TAR) won't work properly. The ZIP file I used and that worked A-OK is 502,777,516 bytes in size.

I did read in one posting that the Lollipop "factory image" file, which is a TGZ archive file, does contain the proper ZIP file needed for sideload to work. Note that flashing a factory image file to your phone will wipe it clean of all your data and programs. Sideloading the ZIP file does not do this. The instructions I posted at the top of this thread are for sideloading, not flashing. These are absolutely NOT the same thing.

Here is the link to the Google site for all Nexus factory image files: https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images

I don't know why Google does not provide a link to the ZIP file needed by sideload.

 

[Irpack]

All was going fine for me until step 10. "Press Volume Up and Power at the same time to get into stock recovery."

Per step 9, I saw the android log with "no command" under it . When i quickly pressed volume up and power together to try and boot into stock recovery, nothing happened. When I held volume up and power simultaneously until something did happen, I got a normal reboot, not a reboot into stock recovery. Have tried twice now, same results, normal reboot.

Everything has been flawless up to this point but I'm hanging on step 10 and only am rebooting normally, not into stock recovery. Not sure what could be happening. Thoughts?

 

[Irpack]

All was going fine for me until step 10. "Press Volume Up and Power at the same time to get into stock recovery."

Per step 9, I saw the android log with "no command" under it . When i quickly pressed volume up and power together to try and boot into stock recovery, nothing happened. When I held volume up and power simultaneously until something did happen, I got a normal reboot, not a reboot into stock recovery. Have tried twice now, same results, normal reboot.

Everything has been flawless up to this point but I'm hanging on step 10 and only am rebooting normally, not into stock recovery. Not sure what could be happening. Thoughts?

Operator error. From the other instructions, "Next hold down the power button and press the volume up button, and you will be in recovery mode."

Subtle but important. Back in business.

 

[chezm]

Chezm:

My guess is that since you got through the adb sideload (that is what you meant by '100%', yes?) the error messages you got indicate the phone found something wrong with the file you loaded. Numerous people have done this successfully, so there must be something unusual you have done somewhere in the process.

It's impossible to tell what that might be without knowing each step of what you did, but in general the file you upload to the phone must be a ZIP file. Other formats (like TAR) won't work properly. The ZIP file I used and that worked A-OK is 502,777,516 bytes in size.

I did read in one posting that the Lollipop "factory image" file, which is a TGZ archive file, does contain the proper ZIP file needed for sideload to work. Note that flashing a factory image file to your phone will wipe it clean of all your data and programs. Sideloading the ZIP file does not do this. The instructions I posted at the top of this thread are for sideloading, not flashing. These are absolutely NOT the same thing.

Here is the link to the Google site for all Nexus factory image files: https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images

I don't know why Google does not provide a link to the ZIP file needed by sideload.

Thanks for the feedback. FINALLY, on my surface pro 2 running windows 8.1 using IE it downloaded and the MD5 matches! Woot... run sideboard... same error LOL! This is hilarious at this point, I bought the phone used so I'm starting to wonder if its a specific issue to the phone. I can wait for OTA no problem but now its a curiosity thing more than anything. I will give a few more goes, if no success I give up... too bad. Still fun learning how android works.

 

[Irpack]

Sighhh..... Another issue, I feel like an *****. I've downloaded the .zip file from the link (twice now), renamed it to lollipop.zip, and moved it to my adb program folder per instructions. Every time I try to execute "adb sideload lollipop.zip" I get a "cannot read lollipop.zip" error message. The zip folder is in the adb program folder where I'm trying to execute the sideload command. Don't know what is wrong. I didn't read anything about extracting the zip file - should I be doing that before sideloading? Any thoughts appreciated.

 

[chezm]

@Birk

Your tip about the requiring of a.zip helped dude thanks so much!!

How messed up is this. I downloaded the files on a Windows 7 Professional using Chrome and Mac OSx using Safari. Both of those download attempts (factory image and a.zip OTA) both had incorrect MD5 (mismatch). Using my SP2 with IE11, downloading both files were fine... however my SP2 wouldn't see Nexus using adb. I followed every single step online as well as above, I see no "Android" driver option... picked the logical media transfers but none work... however the MAC OSx reads with default driver. So I installed the OTA on my SP2, transferred to the Mac... and finally, no more footer/signature errors!! Thanks so much, this is my first time not using an issued OTA on Android, what a frustrating but good experience in learning.