Just got my LG G2 from Verizon, need guidance.

[bokkers]

First post, have zero experience rooting / flashing custom ROMs and have only used a stock HTC Evo / Sprint for the past couple years.

I'm also feeling a little awkward asking these questions as I'm sure they've been answered countless times... but would really appreciate quick guidance. In short, I prefer you to say "do this" over directing me to reading discussions that could lose me due to lack of understanding/experience.

My main goal for now is to be able to tether. Would also love to learn how to flash custom ROMs and, just in case, recover the G2 to its original settings.

Questions:
1. Out of the box, I've just upgraded the firmware after VZW handed me the phone. So where do I start? Should I backup using something like nandroid then root using ...?
2. Since a lot of G2 owners here have already been through this, are there any pitfalls to avoid / lessons learned?
3. Any best practices for installing custom ROMs?

Apologies in advance if this type of discussion has bored you many times before (oh no, another lazy newbie thread! ). But thanks for any guidance!

 

[HD_Renegade]

First post, have zero experience rooting / flashing custom ROMs and have only used a stock HTC Evo / Sprint for the past couple years.

I'm also feeling a little awkward asking these questions as I'm sure they've been answered countless times... but would really appreciate quick guidance. In short, I prefer you to say "do this" over directing me to reading discussions that could lose me due to lack of understanding/experience.

My main goal for now is to be able to tether. Would also love to learn how to flash custom ROMs and, just in case, recover the G2 to its original settings.

Questions:
1. Out of the box, I've just upgraded the firmware after VZW handed me the phone. So where do I start? Should I backup using something like nandroid then root using ...?
2. Since a lot of G2 owners here have already been through this, are there any pitfalls to avoid / lessons learned?
3. Any best practices for installing custom ROMs?

Apologies in advance if this type of discussion has bored you many times before (oh no, another lazy newbie thread! ). But thanks for any guidance!

[ROM][9/21] - Verizon Stock Rooted ROM - VS98011A - xda-developers


Mobile Hotspot modded to skip provisioning check (VZW) - xda-developers

 

[xr6]

just so you know, Verizon now has a flag in the settings menu that tell if your device is rooted or not, so if you do root and have warranty issue and they notice the flag, they will not honor the warranty. So I would suggest you make sure your phone is 100 percent.

 

[mehrvarz]

Mobile hotspot works without extra charge on the data share plan.

 

[HD_Renegade]

just so you know, Verizon now has a flag in the settings menu that tell if your device is rooted or not, so if you do root and have warranty issue and they notice the flag, they will not honor the warranty. So I would suggest you make sure your phone is 100 percent.

or if you carry the insurance on your phone and you are rooted, the just make sure you SMASH the screen so they can not see you are rooted.

 

[ilhe1s]

or if you carry the insurance on your phone and you are rooted, the just make sure you SMASH the screen so they can not see you are rooted.

CLASSIC!

 

[HD_Renegade]

CLASSIC!

Just to be honest here, I paid full retail for my phone and I feel it is mine to do what I like with it. I do not try to over clock, and I do not run any custom roms either. I just want full control over my phone and it is why I choose to Root it. I should not be penalized with a warranty issue. I carry insurance on my cell phone and I have done so for many years, and I have never once put in a warranty claim on any of my phones.

 

[jimmyt]

Just installed AOKP.. Working well except for GPS.. But I'll take it for all that AOKP brings

Posted via Android Central App

 

[ilhe1s]

Just to be honest here, I paid full retail for my phone and I feel it is mine to do what I like with it. I do not try to over clock, and I do not run any custom roms either. I just want full control over my phone and it is why I choose to Root it. I should not be penalized with a warranty issue. I carry insurance on my cell phone and I have done so for many years, and I have never once put in a warranty claim on any of my phones.

I couldn't agree with you more!

 

[bokkers]

Thanks, all, still doing babysteps here... I was able to root my G2 but not without hiccups.

First, I tried following the instructions here because the video made it look easy but then hit a snag-- when launching the root.bat file inside the ioroot package, adb would just hang and not list the device (after daemon started, nothing).

So I went to the original thread in xda and realized I wasn't seeing my phone using the adb devices command. The video in that discussion was more helpful than the original one I watched and it identified the problem with the phone not being listed as driver related.

Anyway, long story short, I almost gave up but found this discussion that led me to an earlier version of drivers (inside LG VZW_United_WHQL_v2.11.1.exe as opposed to LGUnitedMobileDriver_S50MAN310AP22_ML_WHQL_Ver_3.10.1.exe which was referenced by the Unlockr site). After installing this and running adb devices, I was able to see the device so it was just a matter of following the instructions on xda.

Some steps that may not be obvious from those discussions but I think was needed):

1. When you connect your G2 initially it asks whether you want to connect for charging, media, internet (ethernet or modem)... choose internet/ethernet.
2. When you've listed your device on adb, it'll popup an RSA window on your phone with your computer's key, just click ok/accept.
3. When the root.bat you're running is pushing the final file from your computer to your phone, in my case, it hanged and a window popped up on the phone with a Google message asking whether you should let Google ... forgot the warning / something about identifying misbehaved apps? -- anyway, I declined and the push went through and I was able to root.

In hindsight, the steps could probably be summarized as follows:

1. install drivers to make your computer see your phone
2. download a rooting package (like ioroot10.zip) open a DOS/window command window, enter the directory where you've unzipped the package, type "adb devices" on the command prompt and if you don't see your phone listed, then find a way to get step 1 working first. I imagine this is where a lot of newbie folk like me could get tripped up...
3. finally if you're seeing your phone listed by "adb devices" in that command window on your computer then, in the case of the ioroot10 package in the discussion above, just run root.bat by clicking on it inside the install directory then follow the instructions (i.e. "click any key to continue") until your device is rooted.

 

[bokkers]

Thanks for the mobile hotspot tip, HD_Renegade! Am now able to tether.

Mobile Hotspot modded to skip provisioning check (VZW)

What worked for me were the steps mentioned by Kaiken in Page 3 of that thread:

adb remount
adb shell
cd /system/app/
mv HotspotProvision.apk HotspotProvision.bak
mv HotspotProvision.odex HotspotProvision.bakodex
exit
adb push HotspotProvision.apk /system/app/
adb shell chmod 644 /system/app/HotspotProvision.apk
adb reboot

 

[bokkers]

Ok, this is gonna sound a bit silly but after staying past 3AM to get tethering to work, I woke up a few hours later and showed it to the wife who then takes out her iPhone 5c (we both got our phones the same time last week) and she easily enabled mobile hotspot on her phone! Sure, I did get the nyanyanyanya bit, and felt like a shmuckle for going through all the trouble but now the silly question--

If I wanted to just tether with the Verizon LG G2 on a Share Everything plan, would the feature have been allowed by default?

I didn't check the feature on my G2 before rooting and replacing the Mobile Hotspot provisioning apk... so am just curious. Knowing this beforehand would probably have delayed my learning how to root as I needed to use my G2 on the road with a computer, but I still would've gotten around to it and have no regrets except this morning wifey has this smug grin, grr.

 

[mike770]

Ok, this is gonna sound a bit silly but after staying past 3AM to get tethering to work, I woke up a few hours later and showed it to the wife who then takes out her iPhone 5c (we both got our phones the same time last week) and she easily enabled mobile hotspot on her phone! Sure, I did get the nyanyanyanya bit, and felt like a shmuckle for going through all the trouble but now the silly question--

If I wanted to just tether with the Verizon LG G2 on a Share Everything plan, would the feature have been allowed by default?

I didn't check the feature on my G2 before rooting and replacing the Mobile Hotspot provisioning apk... so am just curious. Knowing this beforehand would probably have delayed my learning how to root as I needed to use my G2 on the road with a computer, but I still would've gotten around to it and have no regrets except this morning wifey has this smug grin, grr.

Tethering is enabled by default on the Share Everything plan.

 

[bokkers]

Tethering is enabled by default on the Share Everything plan.

Ah, thank you.

 

[rjrobins]

The tethering root is there for unlimited users only. It's a $30 additional cost to tether on Verizon if you have unlimited so that hack is well worth the choice to root. What ROM did you end up choosing?

 

[bokkers]

What ROM did you end up choosing?

After reading the various ROMs threads on xda/elsewhere, I liked AICP and Vanir but the former still has issues with GPS and the latter has issues with the gsapps (camera?) not bundled... anyway, just a few hours ago, decided to go with CleanROM, flashed and got stuck on the LG boot screen Sounds like it's similar to this problem as I had taken the OTA... so I had to do a factory reset (power off, power+volume down routine) to boot into TWRP, then reverted back to my backed up VZW rom.

So it looks like I'll try another ROM, probably Malladus, which I've already downloaded. Overall a good learning experience, but if I get too impatient tomorrow, will find the smallest ROM to flash and just savor a small victory, lol.

Edited:
Got Malladus to work! Thanks everyone.

 

[bokkers]

Some additional learnings today--- was running Malladus and about to nap this afternoon when I thought to backup using TWRP. Rebooted, then I think pressed Restore Defaults in TWRP which caused phone to hang ("updated partitions") and after rebooting, couldn't find the sdcard during backup. As it turned out it was a simple fix, removed the .twrps file and did a factory reset and was able to backup Malladus. Restored the VZW rom, installed Titanium Backup to debloat, then backed that up using TWRP as well. Am finally getting the hang of this

Tonight I tried AICP as there was a new release and it's great so far... although missing the knock off, which I really don't mind.

 

[rayden8]

After reading the various ROMs threads on xda/elsewhere, I liked AICP and Vanir but the former still has issues with GPS and the latter has issues with the gsapps (camera?) not bundled... anyway, just a few hours ago, decided to go with CleanROM, flashed and got stuck on the LG boot screen Sounds like it's similar to this problem as I had taken the OTA... so I had to do a factory reset (power off, power+volume down routine) to boot into TWRP, then reverted back to my backed up VZW rom.

So it looks like I'll try another ROM, probably Malladus, which I've already downloaded. Overall a good learning experience, but if I get too impatient tomorrow, will find the smallest ROM to flash and just savor a small victory, lol.

Edited:
Got Malladus to work! Thanks everyone.

Thank you for these updates. I'm a beginner, and this helps.

I just got my G2, and I just did my first root ever for a phone, and I'm going to explore potential ROMs, probably in a month. However, I'm having a hard time finding answers to basic questions.

1. My understanding is you want to root, then install a custom recover(I'm leaning toward TWRP). However, do you need to wipe to phone clean when you install twrp? Do you need to wipe a phone to install new ROMs later as well?
2. When you install a recovery, do you automatically lose the stock LG ROM? I'm hoping I can get everything stable and lay the groundwork with a root and recovery system, but still keep using the stock LG interface with all my apps/settings/data setup until I'm ready to do ROMs in the future. I'm worried about having to keep redoing all my apps/data/settings/contacts, etc.

I realize they may be obvious to some, but any advice is appreciated. This forum has been a great resource.

 

[NewAge]

Thank you for these updates. I'm a beginner, and this helps.

I just got my G2, and I just did my first root ever for a phone, and I'm going to explore potential ROMs, probably in a month. However, I'm having a hard time finding answers to basic questions.

1. My understanding is you want to root, then install a custom recover(I'm leaning toward TWRP). However, do you need to wipe to phone clean when you install twrp? Do you need to wipe a phone to install new ROMs later as well?
2. When you install a recovery, do you automatically lose the stock LG ROM? I'm hoping I can get everything stable and lay the groundwork with a root and recovery system, but still keep using the stock LG interface with all my apps/settings/data setup until I'm ready to do ROMs in the future. I'm worried about having to keep redoing all my apps/data/settings/contacts, etc.

I realize they may be obvious to some, but any advice is appreciated. This forum has been a great resource.

1.) No, you don't need to wipe when installing a recovery. There is a recovery partition. The partition contains the recovery and thats it. When you fastboot flash recovery recovery.img it doesn't touch anything else (or flashify, gooManager etc.). The second part of your question should be another by itself. If the ROM you are flashing is compiled from a different base, or has enough "differences" from the ROM you have installed YES you need to wipe data/factory reset. Then flash ROM, then gapps if necessary, then root.zip, or root binaries.
- Flash a ROM and if you bootloop, boot back into recovery and wipe cache/dalvik cache then reboot. If still bootloop wipe data/factory reset then go through ROM flash procedure, gapps etc. Don't be afraid of factory reset from recovery. It won't touch the contents of /sdcard so all your downloads, pics, music is still there. Unless you tell it to in advanced wipe. Don't go in there.

2.) Already answered in first. There is already a recovery installed on your device. The stock LG recovery. You loose that recovery, not the ROM. Your contacts should be synced with Google, your apps and app data should be backed up with Titanium Backup. When restoring from a factory reset when flashing new ROM cancel Playstore download and download TiBu only. Restore apps and data (not system) and restore settings with launcher.

Edit: After installing TWRP, change TWRP settings to "rm -rf" if your wipes are taking forever.

 

[rayden8]

1.) No, you don't need to wipe when installing a recovery. There is a recovery partition. The partition contains the recovery and thats it. When you fastboot flash recovery recovery.img it doesn't touch anything else (or flashify, gooManager etc.). The second part of your question should be another by itself. If the ROM you are flashing is compiled from a different base, or has enough "differences" from the ROM you have installed YES you need to wipe data/factory reset. Then flash ROM, then gapps if necessary, then root.zip, or root binaries.
- Flash a ROM and if you bootloop, boot back into recovery and wipe cache/dalvik cache then reboot. If still bootloop wipe data/factory reset then go through ROM flash procedure, gapps etc. Don't be afraid of factory reset from recovery. It won't touch the contents of /sdcard so all your downloads, pics, music is still there. Unless you tell it to in advanced wipe. Don't go in there.

2.) Already answered in first. There is already a recovery installed on your device. The stock LG recovery. You loose that recovery, not the ROM. Your contacts should be synced with Google, your apps and app data should be backed up with Titanium Backup. When restoring from a factory reset when flashing new ROM cancel Playstore download and download TiBu only. Restore apps and data (not system) and restore settings with launcher.

Edit: After installing TWRP, change TWRP settings to "rm -rf" if your wipes are taking forever.

THANK YOU! Just installed TWRP recovery, backed up and rebooted right into my stock system without losing anything. I definitely have a ton to learn, and some of these things aren't very obvious to me, but I am starting to see how some of these processes work, and I'm exited to experiment with some ROMs in the near future. I'll likely refer back to your post again, and I appreciate you sharing.