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Root Optimus V: All Things Root Guide (updated 03/11/13)

AndyOpie150

AndyOpie150

<strong> <a href="http://androidforums.com/optimus
*** Important Note ***

We need your help to populate and keep this guide organized with the best and most relevant information. Please contact me (by PM) or your favorite Guide, or drop a note in the private chat section if you have any good information to contribute, update, or correct in the root guide. Alternatively, hit the
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Thanks for your help!

Again, If you have any questions or need assistance with any guides or recovery,ROM,kernel installation procedures: PM me or leave a post in this thread.

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Optimus V: All Things Root Guide

Click the "Show" button below for a root warning / disclaimer:
Quick note / disclaimer: as always, you are ultimately responsible for any root-related activities on your phone.

You should understand not only the benefits of rooting, but also any possible consequences (voided warranty, boot-loops, bricking, etc.) that might occur as a result of your root-related actions.

AndroidForums.com / Phandroid.com, its owner, and staff are not liable for any root actions you might undertake as a result of information used from this site.

Reading, researching, understanding, and carefully following the published steps and instructions can go a long way towards helping to make your rooting efforts a successful one.
In addition to the disclaimer above, MacFett has pointed out that it is important to determine which OS you are running (2.2.1 or 2.2.2) and type screen you have as flashing the wrong recovery or ROM could soft brick your device. Read this first: [Guide] How to determine which screen your phone has If you have a 2.2.1 with the Novatek screen you can flash anything. If you have 2.2.2 with the Hitachi screen you will soft brick your phone if you flash a recovery or ROM just for the 2.2.1.


WARNING! Once you have rooted your phone you cannot use the "factory reset" option in the privacy setting on the phone. IT WILL BRICK THE PHONE. You can only use the "wipe data/factory reset" option in a custom recovery.



General Information


Guides

Root Exploits
  • EManU3LXXX Optimus V Root.zip This will work with the ZV9 update as well as all other older firmware versions and uses the Gordita exploit. You will need to use the full SDK to get it to work properly.
  • Gingerebreak.apk This will not work with the ZV9 update. This is for all other older firmware versions.

flash_image and Recovery's

ROMs

Gapp's (Google application's)

Themes

Overclocking / Underclocking / Undervolting

Kernels
It's worth mentioning here that kernels for the newer Hitachi screens will also work for the older Novatek screens. However, the kernels designed for the older screens will not necesarrily work with the newer Hitachi screens. Further info (about this and a lot of other stuff) can be found here The pica07remix kernel works for both screen versions.


Radios / Basebands

Tweaks

Tools & Utilities

DIRECT DOWNLOADS
 
This seems to be the only recent place recently discussing root of the optimus v. I am unable to root my device in any way. I had it rooted using the superoneclick method, it worked great for a few days, then I attempted to change a font and when it rebooted, got stuck on the VM boot screen. I ended up (what I believe to be) re installing ROM from LG. I then reset to factory settings and erased everything, starting fresh. The phone works perfect, but I cant root. When I attempt to install Gingerbreak apk, I click on the icon in my file manager and instead of the install button coming up, I get words and coding, tried this many different ways with the same result. :confused: And when I use the Superoneclick method (which worked perfect before) it freezes during shell root, using all different combinations of settings and rebooting after every attempt. I've been working on this non stop for the last two days, and got nowhere. Any help would be greatly appreciated!! By the way model vm670 running droid 2.2.2 kernel v 2.6.32.9. Thanks for reading! ANY insight would be great!!
 
Go to settings > about phone >baseband version, is it zv4 or zv5 , if it's one of those gingerbreak will work, make sure under applications > development > usb debugging is turned on. This could take up to 10 tries before it will work, or the first , let it run 10 minutes or so if it doesn't work pull the battery, put it back in and try again.

If your baseband is zv9 go here to root http://androidforums.com/optimus-v-all-things-root/531810-rooting.html

Right now the best Rom for our phone is the MiRaGe Rom and the best recovery is zengarden.

If you want to flash a custom recovery and rom go here : http://androidforums.com/optimus-v-all-things-root/697813-how-install-flash_image-flash-recovery-rom-theme.html this is the best guide, just follow the directions to the letter.

I SHOULD HAVE TOLD YOU FIRST!!!> " ALWAYS MAKE A BACKUP BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING."

Don't be afraid to ask questions, but everything you need to know is right above you ^^^&#8230;post back, let us know how it's going.
 
I finally got it!! I figured out what I was doing wrong. On the Xda site, I was downloading gingerbreak from the first list of downloads which are zip files, when I extracted them to my sd card they came out .c files. I kept scrolling down and noticed gingerbreak attachments with the .apk downloaded to the root of my sd card, accessed it through my file manager, and viola!! it ran as an app. Just checked root status and, it worked!! I posted this outcome so anyone with the same problem can learn from my dumb mistake!! Thanks for the quick reply badblue1!! And thanks a lot for the tutorial AndieOpie150!!
 
Glad you got it figured out.

I don't know if you're running a custom recovery and rom, but the MiRaGe Rom is amazing, my phone runs so smooth and fast its great.
 
I am trying to figure out how to install zengarden, the instructions are very vague for a noob like myself :).

First format the system, data, boot and cache partitions or run the Wipe/Format Options > Prepare for New Install, then push the zip to the data partition.
 Code:
adb shell mount /data/ adb push "pathing to zip/name of zip" /data/
After that is done go to Advance Option > Deugging > Quick Fixes and select Install without sdcard. Recovery then will reboot and install the zip file.

He looses me at the very first line, format the system? Maybe once I figure it out I'll make a step by step for noobs.
 
Marco? Polo!

Your so hot your burning up.
Look in the Guides section. "How to install a flash_image; flash a recovery, ROM, and theme".
 
Here's an update, I've been using mirage and zengarden on my optimus v for a few months. Other than my phone randomly turning itself off every once in a while, I've been having one problem with the new setup. I can't download anything from play store, I get error 498. Tried wiping dalvic cache, cache fixer, deleted most apps, deleted data from all apps, uninstalled updates for Google play store and market. Still can't download apps.
 
Are there any devs working on a Kit Kat ROM for this phone? I really need to update my mom's phone, and her Optimus V is still kicking it, and she won't get rid of it anytime soon.
 
I haven't heard of any just yet. I have been checking it out though, and it is optimized for phones with only 512MB of RAM so it should work great on the V, once we can get a hold of the source code from the Cyanogen Mode team.

For now: Go here: [ROM][MOD][THEME] Bean_Whiz-CM10 Updated 10/14/2013 - Android Forums at AndroidCentral.com
Follow the directions to the letter (including making the partition on the SD card with a ClockworkMod recovery).
I think your Mom will like it. It is the best JellyBean ROM out there (SlimRom with a few added tweaks and the Galaxy S4 theme) for our V.
 
vandorb12 said:
Are there any devs working on a Kit Kat ROM for this phone? I really need to update my mom's phone, and her Optimus V is still kicking it, and she won't get rid of it anytime soon.
Click to expand...

Welcome to the forums vandorb12, sorry as far as i know, i only heard rumors of someone experimenting with kitkat :( Right now the most stable and reliable rom for our phone is the MiRaGe Rom 2.3.7,i think it's your best bet, just flash it and forget about it, it's that good!

All the info you could ever need for our phone is posted right above ^you,although if you want the mirage rom, it's posted on android central and you will have to register to get links ,Mirage rom:https://github.com/inferiorhumanorgans/android_device_lge_thunderc_common/wiki/Binary
You should use the bob zhome's recovery :
VM670NH_recovery
Once you are rooted, or if you already are follow this guide :
http://androidforums.com/optimus-v-all-things-root/697813-how-install-flash_image-flash-recovery-rom-theme.html
This is absolutely the best guide to follow, if you follow the guide to the letter, you should have no problems installing a custom recovery, and flashing a rom. Read the guide over a few times to familiarize yourself with it and make sure you understand each step. Don't be afraid to ask questions, there's a bunch of us that have done this a few times and we made the mistakes so new members don't have to. :)

Good luck.

EDIT : Got ninjad by Andy ... yes Bean_Whiz, also a very good rom, i would be running it, but a bigger sdcard is needed and i don't have a computer to transfer data and files.
 
hey all of you ninjas out there, I'm trying to root my phone and not currently getting service (wifi only right now), and I've been trying to use gingerbreak but something always goes wrong when I use the app. If theirs anything you have to do beside run the app and someone could tell me what I would be very thankful. thnx in advance
 
I'm assuming you downladed version 1.2 from the second post in the XDA thread, not the first.
I'm assuming you downloaded the .apk from the browser on your phone, not your computer.

Once the .apk is downloaded (I'm assuming you uninstalled all security programs from your phone), then you need to make sure you have the unknown sources box checked in: Settings>menu>applications.
Now go the development section and make sure you have the ADB debugging box checked (might say USB debugging).

Go to your Downloads folder on the SD card and move the .apk out of it to the Root of the SD card ( /sdcard). The root of the sd card is the same level that all the folders are in.

Tap or long press on it (depends on the file manager) until you see the install option. Install the Gingerbreak.apk. After it installs select "done" and exit out of file manager.

Make sure you have a full battery.

Go to app drawer and select the app.
Note: It might take as many as ten tries for the exploit to gain root, but it will work. After ten minutes and no auto reboot of phone, pull battery and try again.

Once the phone auto reboots, you rooted.
Download a terminal emulator from the PlayStore (first one in their list). Type in:
Code: 
su
exit

After you typed in su and hit the enter key you should get a Superuser request to allow or decline. Select allow. You should see # right after the su.
Hit the menu key and select to toggle soft keys and then type in exit and close out the terminal.
You have officially verified you have root installed properly. Now go to the PlayStore and upgrade the Superuser app.
You will need to downlad jrummy16's Busybox installer. When done let me know and I'll walk you thru the rest.
 
Thanks again! After hours of searching, found what I needed here to get Gapps on my phone without a working sdcard (reader?). System has been screwed up for several months now. Only way to get anything flashed is with fastboot/adb and I'm a serious/curious noob. Wish I knew how to properly use fastboot and adb lol. Finally found ZenGarden-touch-recovery and flashed MiRaGe with adb, but couldn't get Gapps to flash afterwards. Used Qtadb tool and just moved all the apks right to the system folder on my phone! Awesome tool! Now to continue with the sdcard and wifi problems. Thanks everyone!
 
Hmm.
I guess we are lacking a fastboot tutorial.

Download the Full SDK.

Plug phone into computer.

Go to the SDK/platform-tools folder (this is where the adb.exe is)and open a command prompt there. Then type in:
Code: 
su
reboot bootloader
Phone should now boot into fastboot screen if you have a ZV4 Optimus V.
If you have a ZV5 or ZV9 Optimus V then the bootloader is locked.

If you have a ZV4 you can now erase and flash each individual partition (recovery, system, cache, boot, and userdata) by opening up a command propmt in the SDK/tools folder (this is where the fastboot.exe is).

To much to go into from here. Google "fastboot commands" for more info.
 
Thanks AndyOpie. My biggest challenge was/is finding. Img files to flash. Not sure if you can flash zip or ISO files but I was having trouble with those. Could only get. Img files to work. Remember, no SD cards working. That's why ZenGarden was such a great help.
 
That's why I save my backups to my computer.
Makes it easier to flash just a perticular partition.
 
I know this thread is old, but does anyone know why my 4 keys the bottom of my Optimus S will not turn off? They stay illuminated all the time. I am running the Bean_Whiz-CM10.v2.2.4-ext Rom on it.

Thanks

Edit: I just realized, if I turn off the screen by pushing the power button, they stay on. If I let the screen time out and turn off, the lights turn off also.
 
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