Rooting and Installing Custom Recovery on LG Optimus One P500

Here's how I rooted and installed ClockworkMod Recovery on my LG Optimus One P500 (O1). Apart from the fact that I try to make this guide as accurate as possible, I should not be held responsible shall anything bad happen to your phone as a result of following it. :)

Rooting

One of the most popular apps to root O1 phones is z4root. The most comprehensive guide for this can be found in The LG Optimus One P500 Blog. Several notes about z4root:

• It is known that z4root could not be used to root devices upgraded to the V10e firmware.
• Even though your firmware is older than V10e (e.g. V10c), make sure that the Android version is not newer than 2.2 (e.g. 2.2.1). I've read people facing problems rooting their devices with z4root if the Android version is newer than 2.2. If you can't get z4root to root your device, give SuperOneClick or GingerBreak a go.

BusyBox and Superuser apps are required by many rooted apps for their proper functioning. So, use Root Checker from Android Market to verify the proper installation of these 2 apps.

Installing Custom Recovery

I'm a n00b so I look for the easiest way to get things done, and I found that the easiest way to install a custom recovery is to flash ClockworkMod Recovery using the "official" method below. :) Please be aware that to be able to install custom recovery to your device, it must be rooted.

1. Install ROM Manager from Market and launch it.
2. Tap the first option i.e. the one that says 'Flash ClockworkMod Recovery'. Specify or confirm your phone model if prompted during the process, and follow any on-screen instructions.
3. Once the process is finished, you have the custom recovery installed on your phone.

Once it has been installed, booting into ClockworkMod Recovery can be done by launching ROM Manager and tapping 'Reboot into Recovery'. Once you have booted into recovery, the touchscreen won't work. You can navigate through the options by using the Volume-Up and Volume-Down keys to highlight an option and the 'Menu' key to enter/launch the highlighted option on the O1. Now, it's time to create a backup of your system before you mess with it any further! ;)

AddictiveTips has a complete guide for ClockworkMod Recovery.

My Android Glossary

As the title says, this is my Android glossary. I'll update it as necessary. :)

custom recovery

All Android devices ship with a recovery image that is basically a partition on the device's internal memory and can be booted into. The stock recovery of almost all Android devices provides a few basic options, mainly to factory reset your device. A custom Android recovery basically replaces the stock recovery with one that lets you do all you can do with the stock recovery, plus a plethora of more options for maintenance and recovery tasks to give you a lot more control on your device. In PC terminology recovery can be compared to BIOS with some added features. The general method of installing a custom ROM is by flashing it using a custom recovery. An example of a custom recovery is ClockworkMod Recovery. Also note that flashing a custom recovery requires a rooted device.

firmware

The read-only operating system that stays "firmly" in the ROM without modification access to the users of the device.

flashing

A special procedure to install or modify the firmware on a device's protected flash memory.

flash memory

A non-volatile computer storage chip that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. Non-volatile means the chip keeps the saved data even if the device power is off.

ROM

Random Access Memory, a kind of flash memory. The internal storage of the device containing the operating system instructions that need not be modified at all during normal operation. When it comes to smartphones and tablets, the term ROM is used to refer to the firmware.

root(ing)

Android is based on Linux and comes locked with only standard user access given to its user. This laid basis for many potential abilities remaining dormant. The name root comes from the Linux operating system world, where the most priveleged user on the system (otherwise known as Administrator on Windows) is called root. Rooting essentially means gaining root-level access to your device. In other words, by rooting you get complete control over your device which means you can overcome limitations that the carriers and manufacturers put on your phone. Rooting the phone typically also includes an application called Superuser that supervises which applications are granted root rights.

Sources:

AddictiveTips, Android Police, GSMArena.com, Wikipedia, XDA-Developers forum

Li-ion Battery Care

With the currently widespread use of Li-ion batteries (starting from mobile phones, laptops, and so on), it's interesting when people discuss about how to care for it in order to get the most out of it. Here are 2 of the most interesting articles I've found so far on the subject:

• Getting Great Battery Life
• Apple - Batteries - Notebooks

Recently, I also found a thread started by DarkDvr back in 2010 on the XDA-Developers forum specifically for Android-powered devices. The 1^st post there summarizes his findings regarding Li-ion battery care taken from sources like Wikipedia and BatteryUniversity. Here is my compilation of some interesting points, not just from the 1^st post, but through the entire thread (page 7 as of this writing):

1. A complete, full FIRST charge is recommended for 12 hours.
2. The slower the charge - the longer (long-term) battery will serve you. Trickle-charge (USB) is best.
3. Frequent partial charges about 40 to 90 or so percent are probably the best.
4. Calibrating should be done every 30 or so days/partial-charges: drain it fully (keep turning the phone on after it's "dead" until it doesn't turn on anymore) and then charge it to 100%.
5. Don't worry about charging your phone to 100% everytime. Charging to max voltage every time reduces battery life.

However, at the end of the day,

The thing with Li-ion batteries is that you don't really have to worry too much about them, it'll die regardless. Just keep it cool whenever possible, and don't let it die to 0% (aside from the calibration cycle).

Credits to DarkDvr and others on the forum. ;)

LG Optimus One P500

Finally, my first Android phone! :D It's the LG Optimus One P500, an entry-level Android phone. After some research over the internet, I picked this one because of its quite superior hardware specification in its price bracket. I got mine from Global Teleshop, Balikpapan for Rp1.999.000.

Definitely not perfect, but I think it's generally a nice phone to experience Android. Here are 3 things I have in mind after having it for a few days.

Battery Life

I've been reading that Android phones drain their batteries pretty quickly. Of course it depends on the usage, but thanks to the 1500 mAh battery packed with the Optimus One, I think I can get up to around 24 hours battery life just by occasionally turning off the data communication when not in use and setting the screen brightness to minimum. This is actually good.

Touchscreen Bug

I guess this was something I overlooked when doing a research on the phone. I can say that it's true Optimus One has a touchscreen bug: it lags when I hold my touch on the screen (observable while playing Angry Birds). :P Some say that it's an Android problem, and not specific to this phone only. However, higher end phones should handle this better compared to the Optimus One. Workarounds for this issue involves flashing a custom ROM or just a custom kernel developed by mik_os on the XDA-Developers forum. Once I finish familiarizing myself with this phone, I might try that.

Dust Problem

It's unfortunate that I just knew this problem after I bought the phone. Users of the Optimus One reported having dust getting in the screen of their phones. ideaguy shares his research results regarding this problem on the TechEnclave forum. Guess that I'll just have to see what happens with mine. :-|

ROM, Firmware and Flashing

I've been interested in the Android operating system, and recently been digging more information about it. One thing I just found out is that Android phones are highly customizable you can even overclock the processor! Suddenly, a lot of technical terms are encountered. I like to know the actual meaning of jargons in order to have a good understanding and be able to use them correctly. There are 3 terms I’d like to discuss here: ROM, firmware and flashing. We find these terms regularly when reading about customizing the Android, and I found myself in a hard time since I didn’t have the exact knowledge of what they mean and how they relate to each other. The information below is extracted from an article on AddictiveTips I found after some googling. I simply rewrite it here in a more concise manner as a summary for quick reference.

OK, let’s start. So Android is the operating system. ROM stands for Read-Only Memory, the internal storage of the device containing the operating system instructions that need not be modified at all during normal operation. That’s why it’s read-only. The read-only operating system is also called a firmware as they stay “firmly” in the ROM without modification access to the users of the device. The ROM used in smartphones and tablets etc. is a kind of flash memory. Installing or modifying the firmware on a device’s protected flash memory (the ROM) requires a special procedure called flashing. There you go! :)

As a note, when it comes to smartphones and tablets, the term ROM is used to refer to the firmware. So now you know precisely what it means to flash your phone with a custom ROM, right? :D

All But Flawless

I stumbled upon this video on YouTube which I think is so cool! :D The artist is Bayu Ardianto, but he so-call himself jreng! there (an onomatope for the sound of guitar strum in bahasa Indonesia). He did brilliant covers of Radiohead's Paranoid Android and Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, but my favorite one is his own song: Nyaris Sempurna (English: All But Flawless).

The videos take the form of "VideoSongs", a medium defined with 2 rules:

1. What you see is what you hear (no lip-syncing for instruments or voice)
2. If you hear it, at some point you see it (no hidden sounds)

City of Light

Perth evening skyline as seen from Kings Park, the largest inner city park in the world (with an area of 4.06 km², it is even larger than New York's Central Park which is 3.41 km²). Apart from Paris, Perth is also known as the "City of Light" since the residents lit their house lights and streetlights as American astronaut John Glenn passed overhead on the Friendship 7 in 1962; an act they repeated when Glenn was above them again on the Space Shuttle in 1998.