Root [Virgin Mobile/Sprint] VM LS720V7 - Updating, Rooting, and Unbricking

[Jeffrey373737]

No i have not i just got it like a week ago

 

[gherkaul]

No i have not i just got it like a week ago

The hard truth is you will have to find an exploit that will root your device. You must have super user privileges (root) to use any of the mod's here.

 

[Jeffrey373737]

Thats what im looking for but idk how to root my device..

 

[daffyducknj]

Thats what im looking for but idk how to root my device..

You have good company to help you out here, grasshopper.

If you don't know something, just ask. As far as this phone, most of the current info for rooting is at the first post of this thread.

OK got to run and make dinner... MMM! Good luck!

 

[Jeffrey373737]

Ive tried towelroot..it says root successful or whatever...then when i download obe of the superusers...it fails downloading binaries...is there a way i could manually do it

 

[gherkaul]

Ive tried towelroot..it says root successful or whatever...then when i download obe of the superusers...it fails downloading binaries...is there a way i could manually do it

It seems you might be rooted. If not the superuser apps would notify you that you need to root when you open and try to use one. Let me ask this; have you tried installing cwm recovery yet? With cwm recovery you can flash/install the binaries that way.

 

[ledbthand]

I used the LS720ZV7_upgrade.zip and fix root. The phone now says V7 but still keeps popping up the "install now" box.

 

[xclusive36]

I used the LS720ZV7_upgrade.zip and fix root. The phone now says V7 but still keeps popping up the "install now" box.

Before you ran the upgrade, what types of modifications did you make to your phone?

Edit:
Wipe your cache and see if that helps

 

[ledbthand]

Hmm, now when I try to get in the menu it says "secure boot error" and the phone boots normal instead of into recovery.

 

[xclusive36]

Hmm, now when I try to get in the menu it says "secure boot error" and the phone boots normal instead of into recovery.

If you rooted, reinstall cwm and then wipe the cache

 

[ledbthand]

If you rooted, reinstall cwm and then wipe the cache

I took the SD card out and it booted into the factory recovery. :hmmmm2:

Now it says sim card invalid...... Did I brick it?

EDIT: Took out the SD card, reinstalled cwm and reseated the sim. Booted into cwm and wiped dalvi and cache. Booted and said optimizing 66 apps. seems to be working ok now.

BTW does this fix the "SD card unexpectedly removed" error?

 

[xclusive36]

I took the SD card out and it booted into the factory recovery. :hmmmm2:

Now it says sim card invalid...... Did I brick it?

EDIT: Took out the SD card, reinstalled cwm and reseated the sim. Booted into cwm and wiped dalvi and cache. Booted and said optimizing 66 apps. seems to be working ok now.

BTW does this fix the "SD card unexpectedly removed" error?

Im glad you got your phone working again. Is the error continuously popping up?

 

[ledbthand]

Hasn't popped up again, but I formatted the card and haven't put the second ext partition back on it yet.


EDIT: Never mind, still popping up. I think my card is probably bad though.

 

[rongvang]

https://towelroot.com[/QUOTE





How long does it take towelroot rooted the phone?

 

[gherkaul]

https://towelroot.com[/QUOTE





How long does it take towelroot rooted the phone?

Provided you have a good internet connection, about 5 seconds.

 

[perunkas1980]

Just to check in, rooted LS720ZV7 with towelroot method. Easy-peasiest root ever had to do.

 

[bkttk2]

Okay, well I thought I had a handle on things. But...I'll digress.

First, a big thanks to Josh for all of his work and patience with repeated and similar questions. I know how hard that can be. Unfortunately.

Second, I bought a new F3.V6, rooted using saferoot, installed CWM and backed everything up. It's giving me the notification to update when I turn on WiFi. Note that I have not yet activated it as my plan is to build it (I plan to kill off some bloatware) the way I want it and then activate it.

Thus, I planned on applying V7 via the file "LS720ZV7_upgrade.zip" I downloaded from the link.

However, the discussion about the radio in the latter part of this thread has me rethinking things, particularly since the radio improvements are not part of the upgrade.zip.

So...Josh, what improvements did you make to the radio in the stock V7 ROM? In your opinion, given that my phone is basically stock anyway, am I better off just flashing to the stock V7 ROM and then toweling it off (ha) to root it? If that's the case, please pardon my ignorance, but which one? I'm not crazy about games and themes, just a few apps and a stable phone, so should I just stay with odexed?

Thanks for your patience...again.

If you have a basic v6 version with no mods or important files then i would suggest using the unbrick method with the v7 file.

This will give you full stock that you can then work with.

 

[xclusive36]

Okay, well I thought I had a handle on things. But...I'll digress.

First, a big thanks to Josh for all of his work and patience with repeated and similar questions. I know how hard that can be. Unfortunately.

Second, I bought a new F3.V6, rooted using saferoot, installed CWM and backed everything up. It's giving me the notification to update when I turn on WiFi. Note that I have not yet activated it as my plan is to build it (I plan to kill off some bloatware) the way I want it and then activate it.

Thus, I planned on applying V7 via the file "LS720ZV7_upgrade.zip" I downloaded from the link.

However, the discussion about the radio in the latter part of this thread has me rethinking things, particularly since the radio improvements are not part of the upgrade.zip.

So...Josh, what improvements did you make to the radio in the stock V7 ROM? In your opinion, given that my phone is basically stock anyway, am I better off just flashing to the stock V7 ROM and then toweling it off (ha) to root it? If that's the case, please pardon my ignorance, but which one? I'm not crazy about games and themes, just a few apps and a stable phone, so should I just stay with odexed?

Thanks for your patience...again.

I haven't made any modifications to the radio, it's the stock v7 radio in the stock v7 rom.

If you haven't made any mods.. debloated yet, I would flash the stock rom. Then debloat. The upgrade is for when you've already made modifications.

If you don't plan to have hacked files for skinning or theming, I would stick with the odex. It's quicker. If you want a fresh phone, follow the unbrick guide with the v7 bin

 

[xclusive36]

Thanks for the fast response and advice.

But if I can bother you further...



That specific post is what led to me become puzzled and to ask my question. So what's the buzz? I can't reconcile those two in my thought process...that's why I'm puzzled.

I don't understand the question

 

[xclusive36]

Well, in July daffyducknj made a reference in post #63 to the "improved radio, even without the upgraded radio.img. Xclusive, did you make any other tweaks to the radio settings other than not actually replacing the img file?" and you replied "no, no mods" at post 65. gdenton61 at post #84 the asked if you were still working on an upgrade to the radio, and in the next post you said "Yes, and no. I'm about finished with stock v7 roms. They just need a little testing to make sure there's nothing unexpected like the keyboard force closing in the deodexed version. It includes the updated modem partition. (radio)

I'm thinking that it may become a huge headache if I try to setup an update directly."

Then we get to August, when at post #123 PDW asked "Any word on the updated radio.img or if that's coming out?"

And then in the next post you replied to PDW noting "I included the updated radio in the stock rom. I decided against posting a radio update by it's self or with the v7 update; At least for now."​

To me as a relative noob that sounds as though you incorporated some manner of an improvement to the radio. But maybe it's just that version 7 as published by LG simply includes an update to the radio, so that's already part of the ROM, which is why it's incorporated as part of the stock V7 ROMs on your site; but when you assembled the .zip upgrade you didn't include the update to the radio?

Hopefully you can see my confusion.

So is your question: did i modify the radio img? No

If its: is it in the update? Yes but it is disabled and doesnt get updated.

If its: is it in the stock v7 rom? Yes. It is in the stock 7 rom. Lg provided it. It is not 'radio.img' it is 'modem.img'

 

[aceso2896]

Right now I honestly have no idea what is going on. I have V6 rooted and have CWMT on my phone and on the pc. I go to use the install.bat and it says everything is installed and the two files show the updated time to reflect this.

I then go to reboot and no matter what LG logo I hit the Up Volume + Power it still goes to the menu asking "Factory Reset press Power or any other key to cancel" that or it'll just shut off and flash the LG logo a few times.

I even tried powering it off and rebooting it with the command and nothing. I'm probably missing something, but no idea what. I've read through every update guide on the forum here and it's not helping =/

EDIT: Never mind, still popping up. I think my card is probably bad though.

Don't feel bad, mine is having that error pop up as is a lot of people I know in real life. Not sure if it's something VM did or what. Usually I just reboot my phone and it works again.

 

[gherkaul]

Right now I honestly have no idea what is going on. I have V6 rooted and have CWMT on my phone and on the pc. I go to use the install.bat and it says everything is installed and the two files show the updated time to reflect this.

I then go to reboot and no matter what LG logo I hit the Up Volume + Power it still goes to the menu asking "Factory Reset press Power or any other key to cancel" that or it'll just shut off and flash the LG logo a few times.

I even tried powering it off and rebooting it with the command and nothing. I'm probably missing something, but no idea what. I've read through every update guide on the forum here and it's not helping =/



Don't feel bad, mine is having that error pop up as is a lot of people I know in real life. Not sure if it's something VM did or what. Usually I just reboot my phone and it works again.

The function for a factory reset (the screen you see trying to enter recovery) is in the bootloader, which is locked as you probably know already. What's happening is usually caused by a corrupt aboot or recovery image. Could have been from a bad downloadl (poor connection, interruptions) or the Compression Program you used to extract them on your PC (WinZip, WinRAR, etc.). Whatever the case try downloading again, using a wifi connection if possible with your phone or your PC. Use 7zip to extract the files and then use the 2nd method in the CWMT OP to copy the images to the proper folder with a Root File Manager. See if that fixes the problem.

 

[xclusive36]

Dummy, its volume down and power. Volume up and power is reset screen

 

[aceso2896]

The function for a factory reset (the screen you see trying to enter recovery) is in the bootloader, which is locked as you probably know already. What's happening is usually caused by a corrupt aboot or recovery image. Could have been from a bad downloadl (poor connection, interruptions) or the Compression Program you used to extract them on your PC (WinZip, WinRAR, etc.). Whatever the case try downloading again, using a wifi connection if possible with your phone or your PC. Use 7zip to extract the files and then use the 2nd method in the CWMT OP to copy the images to the proper folder with a Root File Manager. See if that fixes the problem.

I've tried installing it via USB with the install.bat file and nothing. I've tried manually copying the files and all I get is an error that they are write protected. The one you linked is the one I was following so those were the methods I was following and it's still not working for me.

Dummy, its volume down and power. Volume up and power is reset screen

I tried Volume Down + Power just now as well and it did nothing but go to a black screen with that method.

 

[gherkaul]

I've tried installing it via USB with the install.bat file and nothing. I've tried manually copying the files and all I get is an error that they are write protected. The one you linked is the one I was following so those were the methods I was following and it's still not working for me.

Did you grant your Root File Manager permission with SuperSU and Root File Managers usually have a setting to allow root explore? If it does make sure that is set to root or on as the case may be. If you answered yes to both then for some reason the /dev folder is r/o (it should be r/w after rooting). You will have to mount the folder as r/w manually. There are apps at the Playstore you can use if you're not familiar with the commands or using a terminal.