As many more of us Android users have been receiving our,Lollipop updates, especially outside of the Nexus family of hardware, it’s time for a root guide for those of you folks with LG devices that have gotten (or shipped with) Google’s sweetest OS yet, Android 5.0 Lollipop. You’ll need to know a few things before we start, though, so here they are: 1) us folks at Android Headlines aren’t forcing you to do this, it’s your choice to follow our guide, 2) this is meant for LG devices running Lollipop, not Samsung or HTC, and 3) we’ll be using a Windows machine for this, so if you have a Mac, you might be out of luck on this one. If you’re okay with all that, then let’s get started.
First, you’ll need to download a few things. Courtesy of Unjustified Dev on XDA, we’ve got some files to download before getting started. You’ll need to download the LG device drivers for your computer to communicate with your device, so get either the Verizon drivers (yes there are separate drivers just because the device is from Verizon, sadly) or the normal LG generic drivers. Also be sure to download the LG_root.zip file which contains some highly necessary files, as well as Chainfire’s SuperSU version 2.46 app from his website here. From there, you’ll need to grab your original USB cable from the phone, the device itself, and your Windows computer obviously.
Once you have everything downloaded, head to your device and go into the Settings app, go to About Device, tap Build Number until you get the message ‘You are now a developer!’, then go back one menu layer, and go to Developer Settings. In Developer Settings, enable USB Debugging, and connect it to your computer. Move all those downloaded files into a folder, in your downloads folder or on your desktop, just remember where the folder is. Now, extract the LG_Root folder to inside that folder, and, inside the LG_Root folder, press Shift and right-click, and select ‘Open Command Window here’.
In the command prompt, type:
adb.exe devices
and your device should show up (or a device should). From there, type:
adb.exe push busybox /data/local/tmp && adb.exe push lg_root.sh /data/loca/tmp && adb.exe push UPDATE-SuperSU-v2.46.zip /data.local.tmp
then hit enter to have ADB move those three files to your device. The process for getting into Download Mode may vary from device to device, but unplug and power off your device. Press and hold the volume-up button then plug your device back in, and wait for the device drivers to install. If the drivers don’t install, unplug the device, and manually install them from the downloaded files from before.
Once the phone is recognized, and the screen shows ‘Firmware Update’, look to you computer and double-click on the porst.bat file in LG_Root. Look for COM followed by a number, and remember that number, then feel free to close this command window, but leave the other one open for now. You’ll type:
Send_Command.exe \\.\COM6 (but be sure to make COM6 be whichever COM port your device is plugged into, not necessarily COM6)
then, still in Download Mode, you’ll want to type:
sh /data/local/tmp/lg_root.sh dummy 1 /data/local/tmp/UPDATE-SuperSU-v2.46.zip /data/local/tmp/busybox
then press enter and let the process complete. From there, you’ll need to reboot your device, either by pulling the battery if you have a removable back and battery, or pressing and holding power and volume-up for about 30 seconds until it shuts down. Then, power on your device.
Once it’s booted up, check your app drawer for a SuperSU app (and be sure to accept any updates in the Play Store, just in case it’s outdated by now), then go ahead and download a root checking app, and if you have to grant root access to the app, then congratulations, you’ve rooted your Lollipop-clad LG device!
If this worked, what’s the next step in the rooting conquest of your device? What root app does Lollipop need to unanimously support, or allow for support of, to make Lollipop even better than it currently is? Was this guide helpful, and if not how could it be fixed or improved for a better explanation or level of clarity? Excited to have root on Google’s sweetest OS yet? Let us know down below.