Root NOOB - Wanting to Debloat & Upgrade from 2.2.1

[mattstoc]

Ok, I am a complete NOOB with rooting and flashing. Here is the basic problem: My wife's phone is loaded with Metro PC bloatware and the android operating system is not as functional (read Old) as I would like.

I believe upgrading the operating system would be a way to resolve both issues mentioned above.

If I understand the concept of Rooting, that is merely providing me complete access to my phone. Analogous to an administrator account on a windows machine.

Then I back up the phone (in case I mess something up)

Then I flash the a new ROM to the phone to upgrade the operating system.

So with the above in mind, I have the following questions:
1) Is there general agreement that a newer version flashed to the Optimus will help with the bloat and the general android operating of the Optimus M?

2) How do you root the 2.2.1 (the instruction I see referenced most in this forum are for 2.2.2)?

3) What is the best ROM to flash (where can you view advantages and disadvantages)? The primary goal for the wife is web, maps, music, phone, and texting (no particular order).

Guidance, advice, and gentle mocking are all appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[AndroidMoo]

WARNING: The "flashing the ROM" section will erase all data on your phone. If you have a google account with sync on, all contacts will be backed up to the cloud. If you need to backup applications, get Titaium Backup, which will backup your apps to the SD card. Delete all apps installed to the SD card (not the Titanium backup data!) If anything fails, make sure nothing was corrupted while downloading.

Rooting the phone

First you wanna look here to root your phone. It's very easy, just make sure you have an SD card, enable usb debugging, get the app on your phone, install it, and touch root.(Don't install it to your SD card!) To get it on your phone, I suggest, to avoid any hassle, download it straight to your phone.

Downloading the tools

To the upgrade part. If you want to upgrade to 2.3.7, you're going to need to flash a Cyanogenmod ROM, which is optimized for performance and is more customizable. I have tried BACKside, but that is too buggy, so I suggest PlayfulGod's port. Download it to your phone's SD card. For SMS (Sending pictures, video and audio in a text message) to work, you will need to download this SMS fix to your phone's SD card. Also, download Google Apps to your SD card. Then you need a custom recovery. I suggest the Cannibal Open Touch recovery, which is probably the best one for the LG Optimus M. Download the standard img to your phone's SD card ,rename it to recovery.img, then install this application. Open it, then touch "install recovery". Wait. When it is done, get thequickboot application.

Preforming a Nandroid Backup

Open Quickboot. Select the option to reboot to recovery. Then you will see some buttons on the bottom with some text in the middle.(Don't be alerted by the bad boot message.) Press the down and up buttons to get to Nandroid. Press the button that looks like 2 windows to enter Nandroid. Press Backup or Advanced Backup, whichever is fine. Don't be alerted by the no sd-ext error, it's not working on this custom recovery. When you are done, continue on to Flashing the ROM.

Flashing the ROM

Press the back button. Select Pre-flash Wipe. Select yes. When it is done, go to ZIP flashing. Select the custom ROM you downloaded.(It will contain the words cyanogenmod, 7.1.0, and LGMS690, probably.) Select yes without backup, as you already backed up your phone in the last section. Wait a while. Go back to the main screen. Then select Boot android. You have now successfully flashed a custom ROM! (Continue on to the next section)

Fixing MMS and flashing Google Apps.

Press and hold the power button. Press reboot, then select recovery. Go to ZIP flashing, then flash the MMS fix.(it will contain metroff in the name) After flashing that, select Boot Android. When you are done booting into android, press and hold the power button. Press reboot then select recovery again. Go to ZIP flashing again, but this time, flash Google apps.(It will contain gapps in the name.) then boot android again and follow the instructions to connect your Google account.

Congratulations!
You have successfully rooted your phone and flashed Cyanogenmod!

Note:
If you want to flash another custom ROM, like MIUI or BACKside, replace the custom ROM listed with the one you want. Read the custom ROM post in case it does not need the MMS fix. MIUI is an iOS-like ROM. Backside is Cyanogenmod with some more features you probably won't need.

 

[Spec2nirvash]

I used this forum to root my Optimus. The video tutorial is pretty easy to follow here.

http://androidforums.com/optimus-m-all-things-root/475664-root-kit-optimus-m-2-2-2-dummy-proof-3-click.html

You might want to look into which method to use, I think it might be different between phones that have 2.2.1 and those upgraded to 2.2.2 Definitely root it, Optimus M is a great phone without all of the junk and bloatware on it.

Now, as for the ROM to use: The OP of the link above (mikekelso421) has a great de-bloated Froyo ROM that works excellent, gives you double your battery life back and ZERO freezeups/reboots. The other option using CM7 ROMS: I currently have backSIDE installed, and found it to be less buggy than Reppards, BobZhome's or PlayfulGod's cuts of CM7.

But every phone is different; once you start flashing ROMs it's trial and error. Eventually you will find which ROM works best for your phone. K3lsoMod 2.2.2 ROM will give you solid performance, CM7 2.3.x ROM will give you a lot more to play with in terms of customization (CPU overclocking, themes, etc)

Good luck, happy rooting, hope that helps!

 

[AndroidMoo]

I used this forum to root my Optimus. The video tutorial is pretty easy to follow here.

http://androidforums.com/optimus-m-all-things-root/475664-root-kit-optimus-m-2-2-2-dummy-proof-3-click.html

You might want to look into which method to use, I think it might be different between phones that have 2.2.1 and those upgraded to 2.2.2 Definitely root it, Optimus M is a great phone without all of the junk and bloatware on it.

Now, as for the ROM to use: The OP of the link above (mikekelso421) has a great de-bloated Froyo ROM that works excellent, gives you double your battery life back and ZERO freezeups/reboots. The other option using CM7 ROMS: I currently have backSIDE installed, and found it to be less buggy than Reppards, BobZhome's or PlayfulGod's cuts of CM7.

But every phone is different; once you start flashing ROMs it's trial and error. Eventually you will find which ROM works best for your phone. K3lsoMod 2.2.2 ROM will give you solid performance, CM7 2.3.x ROM will give you a lot more to play with in terms of customization (CPU overclocking, themes, etc)

Good luck, happy rooting, hope that helps!

Right, the root method is different for 2.2, 2.2.1, and 2.2.2.
To root 2.2 use z4root, to root 2.2.1 use gingerbreak, and for 2.2.2 use the 3-click. I found backside buggy because sometimes half the screen would become static while the other half wouldn't and it would freeze up sometimes even after doing fix permissions. That didn't happen in playful god's port.