Root [Guide] How to quickly root & tweak LG Ally

[technofox]

I know there are a lot of other guides out there, but this one gets down to getting the most out of the LG Ally. It will be updated as I find more useful information and tweaks. Major thanks goes to all of the developers, hackers, et al that has made this happen.

*** Major Warning & Disclaimer ***
This guide could seriously mess up your LG Ally phone and is guaranteed to void your warranty and likely violate your Terms of Service (ToS) with your provider (e.g. Verizon, et al). If you are confident that you can handle rooting your phone and/or installng custom roms, then feel free to continue, but be forewarned that I take no responsibility whatsoever as to the consequences of this guide. This guide is for informational purposes only!!!
***************************

Quick note: this guide is more geared towards the broadest possible audience, so if it seems like a "For Dummies" kind of guide, then that is because I had written it that way. It is intended for both techies and non-techies alike.

Step:
1. Once you have your phone activated and have it connected to your computer with the provided USB cable, you will need to go to the Android Market and search for and install ApkInstaller - this will allow to install applications that Verizon intentionally blocks you from installing via the Market.

2. Once that is installed, go to Setting -> Applications -> Development and put a check mark in the box for USB debugging.

3. Assuming that you still have the USB cable connected to your computer and your Ally, there should be a three arrow (trident like icon) on the notification bar (same bar your clock is on). Tap and hold, and drag down the notification bar and it will display a bunch of notifications from various apps on your phone. Tap the USB connected and it will display the USB Mass Storage app; tap the Turn on USB storage button to have your phone use your microSD like a USB drive.

4. Assuming your are using Windows operating system, it should create a removable drive in "My Computer". Go to and double click on "My Computer". In "My Computer" you should see a removable drive with the disk space equivalent to that of the microSD card you have in your Ally. Take note of that drive letter and download the following Apps:

z4root - this did not work my Ally and I assume it is due to Froyo 2.2.2

gingerbreak - download the latest version (this one worked for me)

Save one (or both recommended in case one doesn't work) to the root directory of your microSD card (e.g. J:\gingerbreak.apk).

5. Go back your Ally and drag down the notification bar again to access the USB storage app and disable USB storage.

6. Go to your app drawer and open apkInstaller - it should already be on your root directory of your microSD card - and look for z4root or gingerbreak, and then tap one of the aforementioned apps to install them.

Note: Both gingerbreak and z4root are pretty much self explanatory, but if you need help there are useful guides on this forum or you can Google it.

7. Once one of the above apps is installed open it up and Permanently root your phone.

8. Assuming the app successfully rooted your phone, it should reboot and then you should be able to install and enjoy many of the apps for root. To check and see if you were successful, just open the Android Market and install Root Checker as this will verify whether you have root or have more work to do

One Problem: Verizon blocks Wi-Fi Tether

Note: Indeed you could just download it to your microSD card and install it through apkInstaller, but this guide is meant for those who want turn their Honda Civic (LG Ally) into a street racer with tints and rims.

9. Now go back to the Android Market to download and install Rom Manager by ClockworkMod. Once installed open the app.

10. In Rom Manager scroll down to Flash Alternate Recovery (DO NOT USE THE Flash ClockworkMod Recovery, unless you know what the you are doing!!!).

11. Once the recovery is successfully installed, you will need to follow one of the many guides here (or Google is your friend) and follow the backup instructions. It is imperative that you do this, because I will have no sympathy for you, if you did not follow the directions and create a backup of your rooted stock rom.

Please Note: If you have any important data on your microSD card, please back this up immediately on to your computer, dropbox, etc, because the next few steps will blow away any data stored on the microSD card.

12. Open Rom Manager and select Partition SD Card, and select the desired size of your ext# (# = the ext number, e.g. ext2 in my case) and the size of your swap file. It may request that you install ClockworkMod Recovery, you can do so now, but make sure to re-install the alternate recovery the next time your phone reboots. This will prepare your phone for some major tweaks in the coming steps.

12. Assuming that you have done the above, you can follow any of the guides for installing custom roms, etc.

Note: from here on I will assume that you have successfully installed Velocity 1.1 custom rom on your Ally and that you have partitioned your microSD card with either Rom Manager or some partitioning program.

13. Now that you have Velocitiy installed its time for some massive tweaking and installing apps. You should already noticed that your Ally has been tricked out and more responsive than ever. Go to Android Market and install the following apps:

Link2SD - this will allow you to move some of the apps that would normally require to be installed directly on your phone's memory to the microSD card; hence this is why you needed to partition your microSD card earlier.

ES Task Manager - this is useful for ending those pesky programs that eat away your phone's memory and battery by running in the background.

Startup Cleaner 2.0 - block apps from starting up automatically (be careful which ones you chose, because you may mess something up).

Lookout Mobile Security - this is a great app, because it will scan apps for viruses and allows you remotely sound an alarm and track your phone if someone steals it (or if you missed placed it).

SystemApp Remover - great way for removing apps that even Velocity's rom image won't allow. Please be careful using this app, because you might really brick your phone if you remove the wrong apps.

14. Use Link2SD and follow its instructions on how to move apps (like Facebook) from your phone's memory to your microSD card.

15. Enjoy!

Please feel free to make suggestions or comments about this guide, because I intend it to be dynamic and for the broadest audience (including those who are not so computer savvy).

Thanks

 

[cr5315]

1) Select install from unknown sources in the Applications part of settings.

2)That step is fine

3)That step is fine

4)That step is fine

5)That step is fine

6) Don't need apkInstaller if you checked unknown sources.

7) -_- No. One click roots are NOT good for the Ally. Use the root guide by Trident. If you use a one click it could bork the phone (from what I've heard (Never done it, I used Trident's guide))

http://androidforums.com/ally-all-t...-3-2011-3-40-pm-est-now-easier-than-ever.html

(2.2.2 just adds crapware. You don't need it.)

8) That step is fine

9) You don't need to. The official root guide install the Amon Ra (Alternate) recovery for you.

10) See above

11) Yes. Backup. Very good thing to do.

12) You only need to do this if you want to use link2sd

12) Roms are good too. I recommend Velocity 1.1.

13) Hmmm

Link2sd: I use that and it really does help the phone

ES Task Manager: NO NONONONONONONO. DO NOT use task managers on Android. It messes with the system and you don't want that. The Android system takes care of what apps to close when it needs more memory.

Startup Cleaner 2.0: Eh, you don't really need this. So what the phone is a little slow when it first boots, IT'S AN ALLY. It's gonna do that. My HTC EVO 4G does that.

Lookout Mobile Security: You really don't need this either. Unless you're in China.

SystemApp Remover: Do you really want to mess with things in a folder called /system/? Velocity is pretty de-bloated and if you want less, go look up VelocityLite. It's Velocity 1.1 with nothing but what is needed to run Android.

 

[dautley]

Okay, whats not good about one click roots like SOC or Gingerbreak? what does these do or not do that makes rooting using the guide the only good way to do it? I know one click methods won't instill fastboot if its not already on the phone, but if people are going to say oneclick methods are bad for Ally then an explanation of the process they use, the one the guide uses, and why its so much better would be helpful.

And what exactly makes the guide the OFFICIAL method to root the LG Ally?

 

[lomar24]

Lawl at cr5315 and his complaints. The first line in the Note says it's for the "broadest audience." There is nothing wrong with using SOC or Gingerbreak, boohoo you lose the bootloader. I'm going to guess 0.1% of all rooted users use it. Next you try to claim task killers are bad? Come on now, if I don't kill FB or swiftkey I lose 15% battery/hour. It won't kill them because I have tweaked my memory so it stays high enough to run them.

Anyways great guide for the general root user! +1

 

[jmar]

Lawl at cr5315 and his complaints. The first line in the Note says it's for the "broadest audience." There is nothing wrong with using SOC or Gingerbreak, boohoo you lose the bootloader. I'm going to guess 0.1% of all rooted users use it. Next you try to claim task killers are bad? Come on now, if I don't kill FB or swiftkey I lose 15% battery/hour. It won't kill them because I have tweaked my memory so it stays high enough to run them.

Anyways great guide for the general root user! +1

I'm with dautley on a couple things here...first of all...if you know your phone has fastboot then a one click method for rooting is fine. Also...one click methods do not load or delete fastboot. Either you have it or you don't (trident's guide can help you get it). Both of my allys have fastboot but one would not root using trident's guide (the other did) so I used gingerbreak for that one...no harm no foul...but I did all my research first before to ensure fastboot was present. The reason fastboot is important is if you pseudo brick you can use fastboot via adb to push recovery or whatever else is necessary to get your phone back to a functioning device. I know this because I have soft pricked a couple times and fastboot+adb saved my phones.

Task killers aren't the greatest thing unless you have, again, done you RESEARCH. If you use one without regard for Android's built in task management you can hurt your device. Again, research before you start killing apps like some Android assassin.

What else: if you don't like what was posted by dautley then move along. Use what works for you.

My 3 cents

Thanks to all the devs...mods...guides...and level headed people in this community.

JMAR

 

[technofox]

1) Select install from unknown sources in the Applications part of settings.

2)That step is fine

3)That step is fine

4)That step is fine

5)That step is fine

6) Don't need apkInstaller if you checked unknown sources.

7) -_- No. One click roots are NOT good for the Ally. Use the root guide by Trident. If you use a one click it could bork the phone (from what I've heard (Never done it, I used Trident's guide))

http://androidforums.com/ally-all-t...-3-2011-3-40-pm-est-now-easier-than-ever.html

(2.2.2 just adds crapware. You don't need it.)

8) That step is fine

9) You don't need to. The official root guide install the Amon Ra (Alternate) recovery for you.

10) See above

11) Yes. Backup. Very good thing to do.

12) You only need to do this if you want to use link2sd

12) Roms are good too. I recommend Velocity 1.1.

13) Hmmm

Link2sd: I use that and it really does help the phone

ES Task Manager: NO NONONONONONONO. DO NOT use task managers on Android. It messes with the system and you don't want that. The Android system takes care of what apps to close when it needs more memory.

Startup Cleaner 2.0: Eh, you don't really need this. So what the phone is a little slow when it first boots, IT'S AN ALLY. It's gonna do that. My HTC EVO 4G does that.

Lookout Mobile Security: You really don't need this either. Unless you're in China.

SystemApp Remover: Do you really want to mess with things in a folder called /system/? Velocity is pretty de-bloated and if you want less, go look up VelocityLite. It's Velocity 1.1 with nothing but what is needed to run Android.

I thank you for your input, but the one click root apps tend to do a good job and are easy to use for the average Joe, as others have pointed out.

As for Lookout Mobile, I happen to be a security professional (not necessarily a hacker per se) and having researched the growing threat of malware on smart phones it would be prudent to have the ability to check for malware on your smart phone. Also don't forget that Lookout Mobile also allows you to remotely sound off an alarm on your phone in case you misplaced it or you can track where your phone has gone in case someone jacked it. Overall, in my opinion, its well worth having.

I also agree with lomar24's assessment of needing a task manager for closing apps like Facebook, because I too happen to have the same problem with Facebook eating up precious system resources, when I don't need it to be open. Another reason is for apps with poor programming that leads to memory leaks that eat up your battery and memory. So I will still recommend it; however jmartino5920 is right, you still need to do your homework on to what you can and should not close with a task manager (e.g. Facebook - yes, phone app - no). Thank you both for your support and pointing out some caveats of the guide.

- Technofox

 

[dautley]

I just want to clear up one thing, you WILL NOT lose the bootloader (fastboot) if it is already on your phone and you a one click root method. About the only to lose fastboot if you already have it is to take a full update from LG via LGMU. Even the updates Verizon pushes out OTA, will not overwrite fastboot.

Don't get me wrong here, I really like Tridents guide because you

1. Get Fastboot if you don't already have it
2. Get GNM Amon RA Recovery
3. Get ADB installed on your computer if you don't already have it
4. With ADB and fastboot you can almost always restore a ROM or Nandroid if things get corrupted for some reason.

Con's are

1. You already have fastboot, and ADB and don't want to do the guide again.
2. You just don't want to fool with the guide.
3. You can use Gingerbreak without a computer so you can still root your Ally if you don't have one or us a OS not compatible with ADB drivers.

Both have pros and cons and the important thing is that we as a Ally users have a choice, and we should all be able to find correct information for all methods here.

 

[dots]

I was asked to comment on this by some fellow IRC users so here it goes.

-Note: most the instances i will be using are based on irc experiences/helping users-

1. I don't see the need for Lookout. I guess its personal opinion. But i don't just download any random app that first pops up in my search. But read the discription/reviews and such then make my decision. I also don't sideload any pirated apks. I've had experiences with people in Ally IRC that uninstall lookout and have freed up more memory and such that felt there ally wasn't as laggy/unresponsive as with it installed. So i'm not saying its good or bad to have it installed. Cause it can be both and personal opinion.

- link2sd can also be known as apps2ext as we know needs the ext partion on the sdcard. With froyo's built in apps2sd it only moves the app to the .android_secure folder on the sdcard and only allows if the dev allows it to be on the sdcard whereas apps2ext will move the app+data no matter what.
-- A solution for those that wanna move all there apps to sdcard the froyo way? move2sd enabler
You can do this via adb too but i'll let you all google that.

-Task killers are another subject of personal opinion so i'll just leave this here
FAQ: Why You Shouldn’t Be Using a Task Killer with Android

- Now to touch on the my final though: Rooting the ally.

- Going to be straightforward here. I do not care how you root your ally if you have fastboot access. If you come to IRC and have fastboot and wanna root and suggest a one click method, i'll tell you go ahead. If you come with the above but without fastboot i'll suggest the guide and the reasoning for having fastboot but in the end it's the users choice and i won't force them to use the guide. Dautley's post above mine is a great reason on why it's useful to use the guide. You never know if you will need adb/fastboot access. Example: Your ally is boot looping, you try booting into recovery, and bam no recovery just a fastboot screen. a simple "fastboot flash recovery recovery.img" or "fastboot boot recovery.img" to reflash recovery. Or if you just wanted to wipe data/cache a simple "fasboot -w" would do that. Now i know "but what if the user doesnt know how to use fastboot" hopefully i'll have this answered by tommorow night .

Anyways these are the "main" points that stuck out to me the most. I'd be willing to offer my opinion on anything else and hopefully offered some insight and suggestions.