Idiots Guide to Rooting and Custom ROMs, Optimus S Edition

[jnash8132]

thanks ill let you know how i do

 

[azbc82]

Just looking around at how to root the Optimus and needed to post before I could download something...

 

[runcheck]

for anyone else who is having the blank recovery screen problem, just use this recovery file here, it supports the newer screen drivers

 

[truckmasterxanga]

...the tutorial for the rest of us!

First, I do not take credit for any of the information contained here. A great big shout out to Beezy, KsmithinNY, drellisdee and all the others who have spent countless hours sharing their intimate knowledge of the inner workings of our devices. Without them, none of this would be possible.
In fact, most of this post is the result of copy and pasting their respective threads, and I highly recommend you visit the original source for more detailed information (I will try to make sure to link all sources in the text).

I'm writing this because I felt like newbies have a lot to take in the first time, especially if this is their first Android handset. I'm no expert and I'll be the first to admit that I'm still learning this myself. So, if any of you seasoned Android veterans find anything to be incorrect here, please let me know!

Now, on to the good stuff!

So, you want to flash a custom ROM, but don't even know where to start? No problem. This tutorial is for YOU.
Throughout the tutorial I will try to explain in detail what each thing is and why it is necessary, but it is not important for you to understand in order to perform the process. These details will be written in red italics, and don't worry if you don't get it. You won't have to- its just FYI and good to understand.

----------------

Here is the process in a nutshell (I will go into more details in the posts that follow if you find the original threads too daunting):
1)Root your phone. (original thread here) Needed to allow access to critical system areas.

2)Back up any user data you wish to save and/or restore to new rom (App data, such as what Angry Birds level you're on, call logs, etc. are going to be cleared. If you want to keep them, there are plenty of apps to choose from. I recommend Titanium Backup, there is an excellent free edition in the Market).

3)Install custom recovery (original thread here) This is a modified system menu that allows you to "recover" a rom that never actually existed on your phone before. That is, to install a custom rom, this tool is used to trick the system into thinking its recovering to an official release. Aside from ROM flashing, it also allows you to save the entire contents of your phone, user data and all, to an image that can be restored later if you get cold feet and want to turn back. Cool, huh?

4)Put ROM on SD card and reboot the phone into custom recovery to install it.

5)If you backed any data up (user data, etc), you can start restoring it now.

----------------

That's really all there is to it. If you've already visited those threads and still not sure what you're getting into, relax!
In the next couple of posts I will explain in great detail what you need to do!

Will this process work on a 64-bit version of Windows?

 

[Corrielw]

Thank you so much

I'm a fairly intelligent person, but when it comes to rooting, I'm clueless! Thanks for making it easy to understand!

 

[revaew]

for anyone else who is having the blank recovery screen problem, just use this recovery file here, it supports the newer screen drivers

do we get the flash image off of that page or just use the one we already have?

Answered this myself

they both work

 

[dochummer]

When I went to find this file (recovery-RA-GNM-thunderc-s-1.1.0.img.zip) with your link last night, I ended up getting this one recovery-RA-optS-2.2.1-GNM.img and flashing it to the device. It was pretty late last night and I didn't realize I had grabbed a differenct file. Is this a problem? It seems to be working fine, and I was able to create a NAND backup last night. Thanks for all your help!

 

[storm64]

Hello thinking about rooting my lg optimus s but {question?} has anyone tried flashing to a different network? I want to flash to virgin mobile or revol but they say that there is no guarntee that the data will work any suggestions?

 

[Mendez]

Thanks a lot! This really help me ease into the rooting process

 

[lebuawu2002]

thanks for the tutorial I will try it

 

[Sixonefour]

I can't find z4root in the market at all. I'm trying to root my friends Sprint Optimus S. I'm also getting stuck at '$' not changing to the '#' Can anyone help?

 

[xplode196]

I can't find z4root in the market at all. I'm trying to root my friends Sprint Optimus S. I'm also getting stuck at '$' not changing to the '#' Can anyone help?

type in "su" in adb first.

 

[kr00kid]

...the tutorial for the rest of us!

First, I do not take credit for any of the information contained here. A great big shout out to Beezy, KsmithinNY, drellisdee and all the others who have spent countless hours sharing their intimate knowledge of the inner workings of our devices. Without them, none of this would be possible.
In fact, most of this post is the result of copy and pasting their respective threads, and I highly recommend you visit the original source for more detailed information (I will try to make sure to link all sources in the text).

I'm writing this because I felt like newbies have a lot to take in the first time, especially if this is their first Android handset. I'm no expert and I'll be the first to admit that I'm still learning this myself. So, if any of you seasoned Android veterans find anything to be incorrect here, please let me know!

Now, on to the good stuff!

So, you want to flash a custom ROM, but don't even know where to start? No problem. This tutorial is for YOU.
Throughout the tutorial I will try to explain in detail what each thing is and why it is necessary, but it is not important for you to understand in order to perform the process. These details will be written in red italics, and don't worry if you don't get it. You won't have to- its just FYI and good to understand.

----------------

Here is the process in a nutshell (I will go into more details in the posts that follow if you find the original threads too daunting):
1)Root your phone. (original thread here) Needed to allow access to critical system areas.

2)Back up any user data you wish to save and/or restore to new rom (App data, such as what Angry Birds level you're on, call logs, etc. are going to be cleared. If you want to keep them, there are plenty of apps to choose from. I recommend Titanium Backup, there is an excellent free edition in the Market).

3)Install custom recovery (original thread here) This is a modified system menu that allows you to "recover" a rom that never actually existed on your phone before. That is, to install a custom rom, this tool is used to trick the system into thinking its recovering to an official release. Aside from ROM flashing, it also allows you to save the entire contents of your phone, user data and all, to an image that can be restored later if you get cold feet and want to turn back. Cool, huh?

4)Put ROM on SD card and reboot the phone into custom recovery to install it.

5)If you backed any data up (user data, etc), you can start restoring it now.

----------------

That's really all there is to it. If you've already visited those threads and still not sure what you're getting into, relax!
In the next couple of posts I will explain in great detail what you need to do!

when i reboot closing the flash, i lose the recovery and lg's boots. at 1st the command prompts responded that the file was not there so i skipped it. now when i try it i get a responce saying it"s a read-only file. i have extracted the files from the zips but i am stuck now.... advice is welcome

 

[rjcotton]

when i reboot closing the flash, i lose the recovery and lg's boots. at 1st the command prompts responded that the file was not there so i skipped it. now when i try it i get a responce saying it"s a read-only file. i have extracted the files from the zips but i am stuck now.... advice is welcome

ok. I have the LG optimus S. I have put the custom recovery on my phone. I have downloaded this Reborn ROM latest version and I have it on my sd card. Do I also need to flash the kernel and which one do I use to flash it with is it the Xionia Kernerl or another one

 

[jstntp]

ok. I have the LG optimus S. I have put the custom recovery on my phone. I have downloaded this Reborn ROM latest version and I have it on my sd card. Do I also need to flash the kernel and which one do I use to flash it with is it the Xionia Kernerl or another one

Reborn has a custom kernel included with it. Just follow the Rom flashing instructions from the reborn Rom thread.

 

[Dark Penguin]

Unfortunately Oracle has shut down the Sun download pages. Is there anywhere we can still get the Java RTE? Oracle's website says we need to get it from the manufacturer now, LG in this case.

 

[sfhub]

Unfortunately Oracle has shut down the Sun download pages. Is there anywhere we can still get the Java RTE? Oracle's website says we need to get it from the manufacturer now, LG in this case.

You want it for your PC or for your Phone? On the phone, Android is the java environment.

For the PC you can try here:
Java Downloads for All Operating Systems

 

[Dark Penguin]

You want it for your PC or for your Phone? On the phone, Android is the java environment.

For the phone of course.

Now I'm confused; I was following the first instruction in the second post here on page 1, where dishe says we need to install Java if we don't have it already, but by your statement it's impossible to have this kind of phone and not already have the Java RTE.

FTR I am referencing this part of the second post, and the bolding in item 1 is mine.

1) You'll first need to install all of the following (if you haven't already):
1.a) Java Runtime Environment Link
1.b) Google's Android Software Development Kit Link. We recommend you install this on the root of your computer so the path is C:\android, since that will be important to the commands entered later.
1.c) Drivers for the LG phone installed on your computer. Instructions from gbhil to do that can be FOUND HERE.
These are basically the tools needed to connect to your phone as a developer. In other words, if you were to develop your own Android apps, you'd use these tools to test and debug a real world example on your phone. No, you're not going to have to become a developer to flash roms! The reason we do this is because you will need to issue commands directly to the phone, using a nifty little command line tool called Android Debug Bridge (ADB). Think of it like a remote command line to the linux system driving your phone. Pretty useful stuff.

 

[Dark Penguin]

The detailed version...

NOTE: I WILL NOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR BRICKING YOUR PHONE. Proceed at your own risk.

---------------

Section 1: Root your phone.
This is needed because we will be running code that will modify the protected areas of the system. The only way to access those areas is to do it with root access.
For more information on this process, you can find the original thread by KSmithinNY here (http://forum.androidcentral.com/lg-optimus-s/43108-how-root-lg-optimus-s.html). There is also a video walkthrough link from iamlilysdad in that thread as well.
Also interesting to note that there is an easy one-click way to do this called Z4root, which doesn't require any shell commands or tools installed on the desktop (It used to be in the market, but appears to have been recently pulled- original XDA thread containing file can be found here). However, you'll need to use the shell and have all this installed for the next steps, so you might as well install them now and root the old fashioned way to get a feel for it.
Note: For the purposes of this tutorial, I assume you are using a Windows PC. If using a Mac, I recommend mfldmike's excellent tutorial for rooting on his mac (with screenshots), found here.

1) You'll first need to install all of the following (if you haven't already):
1.a) Java Runtime Environment Link
1.b) Google's Android Software Development Kit Link. We recommend you install this on the root of your computer so the path is C:\android, since that will be important to the commands entered later.
1.c) Drivers for the LG phone installed on your computer. Instructions from gbhil to do that can be FOUND HERE.
These are basically the tools needed to connect to your phone as a developer. In other words, if you were to develop your own Android apps, you'd use these tools to test and debug a real world example on your phone. No, you're not going to have to become a developer to flash roms! The reason we do this is because you will need to issue commands directly to the phone, using a nifty little command line tool called Android Debug Bridge (ADB). Think of it like a remote command line to the linux system driving your phone. Pretty useful stuff.

The next set of steps are from the original thread by KSmithinNY, found here.

ET Subtract: I only meant to include an excerpt of the second post, not the entire thing. Cripes, I don't know how I did that.

 

[sfhub]

For the phone of course.

Now I'm confused; I was following the first instruction in the second post here on page 1, where dishe says we need to install Java if we don't have it already, but by your statement it's impossible to have this kind of phone and not already have the Java RTE.

FTR I am referencing this part of the second post, and the bolding in item 1 is mine.

He is talking about installing java on your PC so that the tools that interface between your PC and your phone can function properly.