Idiots Guide to Rooting and Custom ROMs, Optimus S Edition

[G1Prawl]

Thank you i did by myself, f'n awsome!!!!

 

[pmpmstrb]

alright im trying to flash my phone and i get this a dolor sing instead of a # sing... wtf

Try it again, but before you start make sure you have opened Superuser on your phone. Worked right away for me.

 

[G1Prawl]

yeah i got it... i didnt know because it wasnt in the instructions...

 

[gilbequick]

I just can't get the #. I've tried at least 50 times. I'll put it down for a couple of weeks and give it another go, same deal, damn $. I've tried running SuperUser while doing it and still no dice. Even tried numerous times adb shell after the first reset of the phone.

What else could it be?

 

[SuperECS]

Alright. I know for a fact that I am a visual learner. I sort of get how to do all of this, but is there a video somewhere that SHOWS me how to do this?

 

[bob13bob]

is this right?

C:\android\platform-tools>adb shell
$ su
su
# mount -o remount,rw -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock5 /system
mount -o remount,rw -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock5 /system
# cat /sdcard/flash_image > /system/bin/flash_image
cat /sdcard/flash_image > /system/bin/flash_image
# chmod 755 /system/bin/flash_image
chmod 755 /system/bin/flash_image
# mv /system/etc/install-recovery.sh /system/etc/install-recovery.sh.bak
mv /system/etc/install-recovery.sh /system/etc/install-recovery.sh.bak
failed on '/system/etc/install-recovery.sh' - No such file or directory
# mount -o remount,ro -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock5 /system
mount -o remount,ro -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock5 /system
# flash_image recovery /sdcard/recovery-RA-GNM-thunderc-s-1.1.0.img
flash_image recovery /sdcard/recovery-RA-GNM-thunderc-s-1.1.0.img
error opening /sdcard/recovery-RA-GNM-thunderc-s-1.1.0.img: No such file or dire
ctory
# reboot recovery
reboot recovery

C:\android\platform-tools>

my phone reboots and stops on black screen.
need to remove/replace battery > power on > works

found my mistake
for some reason i had a different version "recovery-RA-GNM-thunderg-1.1.0.img" instead of the proper one. i rdled it and i'm in custom recovery now.

 

[Kodman]

Great post. One question though.
I'm new to the whole rooting with android thing and I've done all the steps so far and I'm in cmd I change directory to the tools folder, then when I put in the adb command nothing happens. Says it can't recognize the command as internal or external. Any ideas what could be my problem?

Thanks

I wasn't seeing where it said adb moved, found it now and installing through sdk tool.

 

[Juampizz]

hey, help please, i did everything that is in this post, i get the # with no problems, and i finish the process well.. but nothing happens on my phone.. i still not get access to root path, what explorer do i need? what do i need to do else? helpme out please, (sorry for poor english)

 

[Juampizz]

hey helpme !!

 

[sfhub]

hey, help please, i did everything that is in this post, i get the # with no problems, and i finish the process well.. but nothing happens on my phone.. i still not get access to root path, what explorer do i need? what do i need to do else? helpme out please, (sorry for poor english)

What are you trying to accomplish. "#" means you have root.

Personally I do all my access through ADB shell, but possibly you want to try a file manager like Astro.

 

[completetech]

when i enter
cat /sdcard/flash_image > /system/bin/flash_image

i get invalid length. what type of error does that mean? and what should I do then?

 

[sfhub]

when i enter
cat /sdcard/flash_image > /system/bin/flash_image

i get invalid length. what type of error does that mean? and what should I do then?

Type

/system/bin/ls -l /sdcard/flash_image
/system/bin/ls -l /system/bin/flash_image

What is the output of those commands?

 

[completetech]

attachment is a capture of the commands u suggested.

 

[sfhub]

attachment is a capture of the commands u suggested.

Sorry, I meant type them is as two separate commands. Each command should have its own output.

I wanted to see the file size, permissions, and ownership of your source file and possibly any destination file remnants that might be lying around.

Since you cut and pasted both lines as one command, I can only see the destination location has a zero length file but I can't see the source file.

 

[completetech]

sorry....


i didnt even realize that.. in such a hurry i guess to try and figure it out i wasnt even paying attention...


this should look better

 

[sfhub]

sorry....


i didnt even realize that.. in such a hurry i guess to try and figure it out i wasnt even paying attention...


this should look better

Well according to the source code for "cat" that error is being spit out if there is any error reading the source file.

invalid length for cat : di4g.com

So basically you need to figure out why the source file can't be read properly.

You could also try putting flash_image in the same directory as adb.exe and doing (at the PC command prompt)

adb push flash_image /data/local/tmp/

Then you can substitute /data/local/tmp/flash_image in the instructions for /system/bin/flash_image

Off the top of my head, the only thing I can think of to explain the error is if you have the sdcard corruption problem. You could try taking the sdcard out and running "chkdsk /f" on your PC.

 

[completetech]

worked great doing it that way..

thanks for all the help and for being so quick too.... i love it... for sure my new place to hang out for android stuff

 

[tcol41]

Section 3: Custom Recovery
The original thread for this can be found here.

1) You need two files, flash_image.zip and recovery-RA-GNM-thunderc-s-1.1.0.img.zip, both of which can be found towards the bottom of the original thread. Copy them to the root of your SD card.

2)Plug in the phone like we did in Section 1, and open up the ADB shell (like we did before- enter the cmd, navigate to where your SDK is installed, and type adb shell).
Check your display to see if Superuser is asking you to grant permission to have root access to the commands coming in. Make sure you click to allow it if it asks. You should be greeted with a # prompt (If not, the prompt is not being granted root access and something is wrong).

3)Enter the following commands:
mount -o remount,rw -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock5 /system
cat /sdcard/flash_image > /system/bin/flash_image
chmod 755 /system/bin/flash_image
mv /system/etc/install-recovery.sh /system/etc/install-recovery.sh.bak
mount -o remount,ro -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock5 /system
flash_image recovery /sdcard/recovery-RA-GNM-thunderc-s-1.1.0.img
reboot recovery

That's it! You've replaced LG's default recovery menu with a custom one. This custom one will allow you to backup/restore nand and flash custom roms made by the users. Great. Now what? Well, lets a pick a ROM and load it up in the next section!

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

Section 4: Copying ROM file and using Custom Recovery

The most popular rom for our device so far is the ThundeROM, which can be found here.

4)Pick a ROM you would like to flash, for example ThundeROM, and copy the entire zip file to your storage card root (do NOT unzip it!).

5) Reboot phone into recovery by powering off, then press and hold vol_down + home + power and release keys at LG splash.
You should be greeted by something that looks like this:

6)Navigate the options on the custom recovery using the vol up and down keys, and menu button to select. It is recommended that you first select Backup/Restore and do a full Nandroid backup, so that if all else fails you can restore your phone to this point later.

7) Scroll down to WIPE and wipe each of the following clean:
-Data
-Cache
-Dalvik

7)After that, scroll down to Flash zip from SD card, and select the correct file using the menu key for enter again.

8) Reboot

Congratulations. You have successfully flashed a ROM.
You can now open up the market and download Titanium Backup again (or whatever you used for your user data backup), then use that to restore your other apps and user data.

If you have any questions about the process or get stuck, I'll help with whatever I can, but please keep in mind that the original threads are a much better source of information than I am. The purpose of this thread is simply to have everything you need in one place, so a newbie can read it linearly. I would recommend that appropriate questions go in their respective threads. Still, if I wasn't clear about any of the steps, let me know and I'll do what I can to make it more understandable.

Enjoy your phone!

I have looked all over the forums and can't find what I'm looking for. I installed thunderrom on my phone, but I want to know how to go back to stock rom because I just read today in the forums that the vc update isn't compatible with the rom. My 3g isn't working it says 1x. Can you please help me? Thanks so much

 

[sfhub]

This thread tells you how to go back to stock (assuming you still have the ability to root):
http://forum.androidcentral.com/lg-...45403-how-unroot-your-phone-return-stock.html

If you are somehow stuck on VC and can't root, you can follow the directions in my signature to revert to V9 first, then follow the thread above.

 

[tcol41]

This thread tells you how to go back to stock (assuming you still have the ability to root):
http://forum.androidcentral.com/lg-...45403-how-unroot-your-phone-return-stock.html

If you are somehow stuck on VC and can't root, you can follow the directions in my signature to revert to V9 first, then follow the thread above.

I'm not sure what to do. Let me explain better. I updated to vc using the lg updater, then I rooted my phone, then I did a custom recovery, the problem began when I put thunderrom on my phone because I can't connect to the 3g network only 1x also when I go into settings>apps>sdcard its showing that I don't have anything on the card, but when I hook up to usb everything that I put on my card before I put thunderrom on my phone is showing that it's all still there. I did do the nand restore and backed up everything on titanium, but I cant go to the market because I don't have 3g only 1x. When I tried the un-rooting process the adb shell fired up and the # sign too, but right in the beginning it says the adb is not found. Can you please help me. Thanks so very much!