Database Users

General Noob Root and ROM update Questions

So I am new to the whole Root and ROM Android arena. And I came up with a few questions that hopefully you guys can help me with.
1. I read people saying they lost their ROOT after an update from 4.1 to 4.2 or 4.2.1 to 4.2.2? How did this happen for them?
Do you have to Un-root and flash to stock before updating to a different build (Such as 4.1 to 4.2 or 4.2.1 to 4.2.2)?
2. Right now I am using a custom ROM on Android Version 4.2.2.... if a new Custom ROM with a new android version released (Let's say 4.2.3) can I flash from one Rom to the other with just wiping Cache/Factory wipe and Dalvik Cahce or is there something else I would need to do because of the Android version update?
Sorry those two questions above are very similar but I wanted to ask them both ways.
3. If I were to get bored of the Custom ROM I am currently on. Are there any Best Practices "rules" I should know about when switching from one custom ROM to another?
4. Last if I am on a custom ROM with a nightly build..... is it more common to update to every nightly build that releases? Or is it more common people to only pick and choose choice nightly build versions. And if people do update to every new Nightly build.... can you update too much and destroy your device?
Sorry guys I know these seem like very basic questions..... and Yes I did search the forums. However while I found some very basic answers nothing went into great depth in explanation. All the answers seemed to be very vague.

does anyone have some suggestions on where to find these answers?

1. If you are on stock, rooted, and you update versions of the OS, you are essentially UPDATING the /system partition. That is how you lose 'root' when upgrading. If you modify any system files while rooted, you have to either revert to stock or change those modified files back to the original before running the update.
2. Just run FACTORY RESET in your custom recovery and flash the new custom rom. No need to wipe any caches (/cache is wiped during a factory reset anyway). It doesnt matter what version to what version. Sometimes new versions might require new bootloaders, but you will be bombarded with that information here if that becomes the case.
3. See number 2. Its the same thing. backup your apps with Titanium Backup, do a Factory Reset in custom recovery and flash new rom....done.
4. doesnt matter. you can update as much or as little as you like. some people prefer stability over new shiny, but then others are just crack-flashers....and will literally flash ANYTHING posted to see what happens

Pirateghost said:
1. If you are on stock, rooted, and you update versions of the OS, you are essentially UPDATING the /system partition. That is how you lose 'root' when upgrading. If you modify any system files while rooted, you have to either revert to stock or change those modified files back to the original before running the update.
2. Just run FACTORY RESET in your custom recovery and flash the new custom rom. No need to wipe any caches (/cache is wiped during a factory reset anyway). It doesnt matter what version to what version. Sometimes new versions might require new bootloaders, but you will be bombarded with that information here if that becomes the case.
3. See number 2. Its the same thing. backup your apps with Titanium Backup, do a Factory Reset in custom recovery and flash new rom....done.
4. doesnt matter. you can update as much or as little as you like. some people prefer stability over new shiny, but then others are just crack-flashers....and will literally flash ANYTHING posted to see what happens
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks I really appreciate the response. :good: You'd be surprised how many "Tiny Parts" of answers you get from searching. Very rarely the whole answer you need.
I am glade to hear that Question 2 only requires you to just factory rest. From the misinformation gathered on other forums... I was starting to think you had to flash back to stock before updating to another Custom ROM Build.

@20mmrain
You've probably looked at a number of posts by confused newbs. For better or worse, this site is nothing like a moderated wiki, so you find treasure mixed in with trash.
Rooters fall into four broad classes:
(a) Those that "root & modify" stock ROMs
(b) Those that abandon stock and use custom ROMs and kernels
For each of the above cases, there are diligent and careful users who make full (nandroid) backups... and lazy idiots who do not. It is almost always the lazy idiots you observe coming in here in a panic, independent of whether they are in class (a) or (b).
Beyond that, newbs taking approach (a) seem to perpetually labor under the false impression that their modified versions of a stock ROM should be able to be upgraded by the OTA process - when in fact that there is absolutely no reason to believe that. The OTAs carefully check hundreds of different files before they perform any changes; if even a single one of them has been altered, the OTA aborts without making any changes.
It is *possible* that if none of those hundreds of files are changed that an OTA will succeed on a "nearly stock" ROM. When this happens though, it is quite typical that:
- the "su" binary (part of a root kit) in either /system/bin or /system/xbin gets its' setuid permissions reset by a recursive permission-setting command in the OTA
- the custom recovery can possibly be overwritten by the new stock recovery.
Folks tend to refer to either of the above as "losing root". True in principle, but they are trivially fixed up - if the user actually understands how Android rooting works. (With fastboot, you simply reflash the custom recovery, boot into that and reflash the same root kit originally used).
It's too bad that folks who put together rooting guides seem to neglect putting an emphasis on making backups. They give you both security and freedom.
Bottom line: whatever you choose to do, make nandroid backups. You don't need to keep them all on the tablet - but for convenience reasons, you should have at least one known good ROM as a backup available to be restored.
good luck

Wow that is a really in-depth explanation and that is exactly what was looking for! Since I have been working in the IT world for years I will say with pride that I am an individual who believes in safety first and always back up any important project I am working on! So I am happy to hear I made the right decision there.
I guess a great deal of my questions also stem from working in a windows based world for so long ....that I am still learning Linux/android.
Right now I do keep a nandroid backup on my nexus 7 but only one. How backups do you have? And do you just keep the rest on a thumb drive?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

20mmrain said:
Right now I do keep a nandroid backup on my nexus 7 but only one. How backups do you have? And do you just keep the rest on a thumb drive?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At the moment I have 6 on the tablet - all generated in the last 60 days. Two in the last two days (one a rooted stock/jdq39, another a cm10.1 nightly). Plus recent TiBu market app & data backups. 32 GB model, so I have plenty of room.
That doesn't reflect any particular strategy or goal. I hook it up to a PC every once in a while and at that time either copy off any backups worth saving or delete them. Most of the those I have on the PC will eventually be deleted as well without ever being used. You could use a USB key if you want to. Really you only need to keep one on the tablet - mostly as a convenience in case you wedge your daily driver ROM with some random mod: you can restore a working ROM right from your tablet rather than having to find a USB key or return to your PC to get the tablet booting again.
There is one type of ROM backup that I think is very useful to keep a permanent copy of - a pure stock ROM. The reason for that is that any radio images (tilapia) or bootloader upgrades that are *sometimes* delivered by OTA can be trivially installed by:
- make a backup of the current ROM
- restore a pure stock ROM backup (including the stock recovery! ***)
- take the OTA
- ***soft-boot a custom recovery and make a backup of the NEW stock ROM (including its' recovery!)
- hard-flash the custom recovery to the tablet
- restore the backup from the first step above.
Doing things this way is the safest possible way to install either a bootloader or a radio image. Not only that, but for folks that prefer to mod stock ROMs, it gives them a backup archive of /system to recover arbitrary (stock) files from.
*** soft-booting a recovery is the most convenient way to capture a stock recovery as part of a nandroid backup. I.E.
Code:
fastboot boot recoveryimagefile.img
If you hard-flash a custom recovery before you make a nandroid backup of a stock ROM, you lose the opportunity to get a copy of the stock recovery along with the rest of the stock ROM.
good luck

Nexus 7 2013 Experience from a (somewhat) noob

I'm writing this as a new Nexus 7 2013 owner so that people with a moderate level of tech savvy and are still on the fence about unlocking and flashing their device can check it out from a non expert perspective. I think a lot of times people are afraid after reading tutorials and a bit intimidated by the procedures (and XDA).
I decided to get a nexus device because they are very well supported here on XDA and the general consensus is they are nearly impossible to hard brick barring a hardware issue or the user doing something really really dumb
After unboxing the device I put it on charge while making some final decisions on what direction I wanted to go with the "rebuild". As you will see some of these decisions will have cascading effects...
I settled on cleanrom 2.6 and the elementalx kernel, I also decided I wanted to use CWM (non touch) recovery instead of TWRP because I'm familiar with it and hoped that I would not spend enough time to justify having a gui.( and ... to be honest I am not a fan of TWRPs gui ).
So now that I have made my decisions for better or for worse it is time to proceed. I powered on and configured the device for the first time. Since I wasn't paying attention Google started downloading all my apps from Play. This was not a big deal but folks on a data plan might want to make sure they read the screens and decide not to restore their apps. The option for OTA upgrade was available from jellybean to kitkat, so I went ahead and proceeded with the OTA. In retrospect it was a waste of time because you can download the stock images and reflash them later if you want.
ADB and FASTBOOT were already on my Debian desktop and working properly so I went ahead and unlocked the bootloader, then rebooted and flashed CWM. I them installed supersu from CWM. (I left out the part about using adb to push the files but you get the picture...) So far so good except there was a fatal flaw in my plan. Cleanrom and ElementalX both use aroma installer, which doesn't work on CWM. So as I was doinking around In CWMs advanced options looking for a slim possibility of salvaging the situation I managed to end up in the key test application. The problem here being that since the device doesn't have a back button there was no way to get out of they key test. No worries though I simply connected the USB cable fired up adb and did "adb reboot". A few minutes later I had downloaded and installed TWRP and was ready to pick up where I left off.
Here is a note for folks doing this for the first time, read the instructions and erratta for your new kernel and ROM carefully before you proceed so that you avoid time consuming issues. By reading up a little before I started the project I knew that the ROM and kernel were compatible and work well together. I also knew that I would need to install the ROM first, then the kernel, because I I installed the Kernel first I would have to re-install it after flashing the ROM. No point in doing it twice, right?
SO I fired up TWRP and did a factory reset in preparation for flashing the ROM. So far so good. Cleanrom installed, but AROMA did not ask for my installation options. Fearing something was wrong, I clean flashed (wipe first then flash) the ROM 2 more times with the same result. After the third flash I said wth, as long as the ROM flashed and works I can always change software on my own. So a quick reboot and test drive of the device confirmed the ROM was installed and there appeared to be no glaring issues, so I went back to recovery and flashed the kernel. BTW I did check the md5sums and verified that the files were correct and not corrupted.
I know there is an option to flash more than one update with TWRP but since the install did not occur the way I expected I chose to install the ROM and kernel separately, I'm sure some more experienced members of XDA will agree with this decision and others will say that "it's nexus, go ahead and flash the ROM and kernel at the same time, you can't break it
Anyhow the kernel installation went fine and AROMA prompted me as expected before installing. Note to newbies like me, reading the thread really helps, Knowing exactly how you want to configure your kernel before you install it will save you hassles down the line. Expect the first boot to take a little extra time.
In nutshell, there really is no reason to be afraid of installing a custom kernel on your Nexus device. Sure the possibility is there for you to screw things up, but unless you do something very drastically wrong you wont brick the device, trust me -- If I can do it you can do it. Just think ahead a little and prepare yourself by downloading the files you need and maybe even writing yourself an outline of the steps. I'm sure that I could do this again and again now without referring to notes or tutorials, but having them readily available for guidance and reference was comforting.
I could continue with the saga of getting Debian to recognize the tablet in MTP mode but this post has already gone long and that is a rite of passage...

Verizon Note 4, I have Root and BL Unlock. A few questions within.

So after blowing off the second half of my duties at work today, I managed to allocate enough time to get my SM-N910V rooted.
I have a few basic questions about what I should expect to see happen.
Allegedly, Verizon is rolling out an OTA upgrade to 6.0.1 Marshmallow sometime soon. Now that I have 'custom' boot and root achieved, will my device still receive and adhere to this OTA upgrade?
I have not applied any custom ROMs to the device. All I have done is follow the steps on this forum to unlock the bootloader and permroot.
If yes, cool!
If no, could someone please share with me a uniform resource identifier (lol) that links to a guide for installing CM13 to this device?
I will use my mind to beam eternal luck at anyone who helps me out. Thankyas.

Have you ever used Odin?

If you have twrp just load onto an sd or the phone and make sure to clear cache and wipe.

Bicknasty said:
Have you ever used Odin?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yessir Mr. Nasty,
I followed a guide on this part of the forum that had me use Odin. After using Odin successfully I was able to get TWRP up before normal boot!
vIgGeN7 said:
If you have twrp just load onto an sd or the phone and make sure to clear cache and wipe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just to clarify, you're saying that if I boot into TWRP again and clear the cache/wipe, I'll go back to factory settings and get the OTA?

If you have a microSD card, use TWRP to backup all of your current data to it if you'd like to preserve it and have something to restore if anything goes awry. Download a custom ROM zip and whatever other zips you'd need for that particular ROM, and put them on the card. Use TWRP to format data and wipe everything EXCEPT FOR THE CARD, and then reboot into recovery mode again and open the TWRP install menu.
In that menu, navigate to external_sd (or whichever root level folder it is that contains the strings "ext" and "sd", referring to the microSD card), and select the zip or zips (in the proper order) that you want to flash. Then flash them, wipe cache/dalvik, and reboot.
I wouldn't stay on a stock ROM if I were you. You might avoid getting the OTA, but you're guaranteed to avoid it by running a custom ROM. JasmineROM seems to be the go-to ROM for stability, but hsbadr's CM13 builds are very functional.

Bicknasty said:
-snip-
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for being so specific and clear, and for helping me out. I am new to this, used to working on computers that I can tear apart more easily and change things inside of.
I will keep this in mind and consider switching. I have a lot of free time with a 1GB/1GB

Futtermax said:
So after blowing off the second half of my duties at work today, I managed to allocate enough time to get my SM-N910V rooted.
I have a few basic questions about what I should expect to see happen.
Allegedly, Verizon is rolling out an OTA upgrade to 6.0.1 Marshmallow sometime soon. Now that I have 'custom' boot and root achieved, will my device still receive and adhere to this OTA upgrade?
I have not applied any custom ROMs to the device. All I have done is follow the steps on this forum to unlock the bootloader and permroot.
If yes, cool!
If no, could someone please share with me a uniform resource identifier (lol) that links to a guide for installing CM13 to this device?
I will use my mind to beam eternal luck at anyone who helps me out. Thankyas.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont know what everyone is thinking, but OTA will not work with rooted device. It will failed and in most case you will nee to flash full stock rom to fix it, then your bootloader will locked again. The best bet is to wait until Samsung released the rom and Dev here will modified it the right way so you can flash with TWRP.
Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

Honestly, don't bother with CM13 yet. It's buggy. I was on it for a short while, tried a couple different builds but I got sold on the Note 5 port which is on 5.1.1. If you have any apps that don't allow mock locations, they won't work on any 6.0/Marshmallow ports (i.e. CM13) from my short experience. I could be wrong. I couldn't find a way to allow mock locations on CM13, so I went somewhere else.

JOSHSKORN said:
Honestly, don't bother with CM13 yet. It's buggy. I was on it for a short while, tried a couple different builds but I got sold on the Note 5 port which is on 5.1.1. If you have any apps that don't allow mock locations, they won't work on any 6.0/Marshmallow ports (i.e. CM13) from my short experience. I could be wrong. I couldn't find a way to allow mock locations on CM13, so I went somewhere else.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think CM13 is worth giving a chance.

I'm about 90% sure the MM update will come with a new bootloader (a locked one). I highly advise against trying to accept it if/when it comes. Someone here will tear it apart and make odin flashable images to get us on 6.0.1 TW rom. Until then, flash TWRP and CM13. I've been using it daily and it's one of the better CM roms I've used on any device.
Also look into Dual Boot Patcher so you can crack flash roms without affecting your primary one.
Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

Bicknasty said:
If you have a microSD card, use TWRP to backup all of your current data to it if you'd like to preserve it and have something to restore if anything goes awry. Download a custom ROM zip and whatever other zips you'd need for that particular ROM, and put them on the card. Use TWRP to format data and wipe everything EXCEPT FOR THE CARD, and then reboot into recovery mode again and open the TWRP install menu.
In that menu, navigate to external_sd (or whichever root level folder it is that contains the strings "ext" and "sd", referring to the microSD card), and select the zip or zips (in the proper order) that you want to flash. Then flash them, wipe cache/dalvik, and reboot.
I wouldn't stay on a stock ROM if I were you. You might avoid getting the OTA, but you're guaranteed to avoid it by running a custom ROM. JasmineROM seems to be the go-to ROM for stability, but hsbadr's CM13 builds are very functional.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I might add to that storing a copy of that backup on another device... your desktop computer, perhaps, so that if something really goes bad and wipes your sd card, you still have a backup.
Do not, no matter how much your phone nags you to, take an OTA now that you're rooted. The odds are good that they've closed the exploit used to get root.
If you're looking for stability, Jasmine ROM is the best that I've tried. It's not being supported anymore, but it really doesn't need it. Everything works. I froze, then deleted every single Samsung and Google app that I don't use and it is just smooth.
CM 13? The last I looked, the camera doesn't work well, Bluetooth is problematic, you can't set your sd card as internal storage and a few other niggling issues. I've been doing this since my Droid Incredible and have found that ROMs ported from other devices will have issues until the developers marry the software to the hardware. I'm now waiting for the official Marshmallow to drop and let the developers take a crack at it.

joshw0000 said:
I'm about 90% sure the MM update will come with a new bootloader (a locked one). I highly advise against trying to accept it if/when it comes. Someone here will tear it apart and make odin flashable images to get us on 6.0.1 TW rom. Until then, flash TWRP and CM13. I've been using it daily and it's one of the better CM roms I've used on any device.
Also look into Dual Boot Patcher so you can crack flash roms without affecting your primary one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dual boot patcher has worked pretty reliably for me. Just be sure to thoroughly read the directions to make doubly sure that nothing goes wrong.

douger1957 said:
CM 13? The last I looked, the camera doesn't work well, Bluetooth is problematic, you can't set your sd card as internal storage and a few other niggling issues. I've been doing this since my Droid Incredible and have found that ROMs ported from other devices will have issues until the developers marry the software to the hardware. I'm now waiting for the official Marshmallow to drop and let the developers take a crack at it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bluetooth is flawless. I can't see why anyone would set their sd card as internal (defeats the point of being able to move info between other phones and/or computers). Camera works very well (for CM). I've had very few issues with taking pictures. Recording video doesn't work for me. I've modded every phone I've used (I've owned many that I wouldn't carry due to no root) since the Eris and this is IMO the best CM port ever.
Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

I am using PaulPizz 5.1.1 ROM and it's working almost flawlessly. I'm happier than ever with this phone. I want to wait for the OTA 6.0.1 to hit and the teardown of that to begin before I switch.
I'll look into dual boot.

How to upgrade from 6.0.1 to 7.1.2?

Hello guys,
I'm a complete novice on rooting or flashing cellphones, I'm just a regular user of a Moto X Play XT1563 (bought in Colombia / South America) that wants to upgrade to Nougat 7.1.2.
I want the 7.1.2 just for a regular usage: apps, internet, bluetooth, NFC, camera, GPS, phone calling and of course a good battery performance.
I want to kindly ask for your guidance in all steps required for the backup and upgrade, so if you can please guide me about the whole process I will appreciate it a lot.
Thanks

jramirezdev said:
Hello guys,
I'm a complete novice on rooting or flashing cellphones, I'm just a regular user of a Moto X Play XT1563 (bought in Colombia / South America) that wants to upgrade to Nougat 7.1.2.
I want the 7.1.2 just for a regular usage: apps, internet, bluetooth, NFC, camera, GPS, phone calling and of course a good battery performance.
I want to kindly ask for your guidance in all steps required for the backup and upgrade, so if you can please guide me about the whole process I will appreciate it a lot.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello!
In short, the process for our phone would be...
0. Backup data.
1. Unlock bootloader. This will void your warranty. Unlocking bootloader allows you to use fastboot mode to flash custom images to your phone from a computer.
2. Flash TWRP Recovery. This is done in fastboot mode. Once you have TWRP, you can flash on to or modify the system partition (and other partitions) of your phone on the go.
3. Format the /system partition to get rid of the existing ROM (stock in your case) and then flash whatever ROM you want. This is done using TWRP.
4. There's no fourth step.
Its pretty straightforward, detailed guides to each of the steps are available in this forum. You should use the Index Thread pinned on the General forum to get the links to the required guides at one place. Use the search if you encounter trouble. Then there's the forum to ask.

DragonClawsAreSharp said:
Hello!
In short, the process for our phone would be...
0. Backup data.
1. Unlock bootloader. This will void your warranty. Unlocking bootloader allows you to use fastboot mode to flash custom images to your phone from a computer.
2. Flash TWRP Recovery. This is done in fastboot mode. Once you have TWRP, you can flash on to or modify the system partition (and other partitions) of your phone on the go.
3. Format the /system partition to get rid of the existing ROM (stock in your case) and then flash whatever ROM you want. This is done using TWRP.
4. There's no fourth step.
Its pretty straightforward, detailed guides to each of the steps are available in this forum. You should use the Index Thread pinned on the General forum to get the links to the required guides at one place. Use the search if you encounter trouble. Then there's the forum to ask.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your response,
I bought my cellphone two years ago so It already went out of warranty so no issues with that step, I already found the guide to "Unlock bootloader" but before I start with it I would like to ask if after that the phone will be unuseful? I mean, after unlocking the bootloader can I start the phone and continue using it? It's my only cell phone so I want to be aware if I will stay long time uncommunicated.
My second question is about the new ROM I will flash, I've no idea about what "versions" exists or where I can download them... so is there some kind of "most stable" version using Nougat 7.1.2? or some "ROM Reliable supplier"?
Thanks

jramirezdev said:
Thanks for your response,
I bought my cellphone two years ago so It already went out of warranty so no issues with that step, I already found the guide to "Unlock bootloader" but before I start with it I would like to ask if after that the phone will be unuseful? I mean, after unlocking the bootloader can I start the phone and continue using it? It's my only cell phone so I want to be aware if I will stay long time uncommunicated.
My second question is about the new ROM I will flash, I've no idea about what "versions" exists or where I can download them... so is there some kind of "most stable" version using Nougat 7.1.2? or some "ROM Reliable supplier"?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unlocking bootloader will wipe all your data (it will trigger Factory Reset on your phone). Other than that, your phone will be 100% usable.
Roms are available in Android Development and Original Android Development sections of this forum. Just check the threads that include [ROM] in their title. You have to decide for yourself which rom suits you the best - read its description and what users say in comments.

jramirezdev said:
Thanks for your response,
I bought my cellphone two years ago so It already went out of warranty so no issues with that step, I already found the guide to "Unlock bootloader" but before I start with it I would like to ask if after that the phone will be unuseful? I mean, after unlocking the bootloader can I start the phone and continue using it? It's my only cell phone so I want to be aware if I will stay long time uncommunicated.
My second question is about the new ROM I will flash, I've no idea about what "versions" exists or where I can download them... so is there some kind of "most stable" version using Nougat 7.1.2? or some "ROM Reliable supplier"?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As said, after unlocking bootloader the device will be wiped- You will have to reenter your Google account and reinstall applications etc. Not a big deal.
Custom ROMs sometimes take a few iterations until some bugs here and there are ironed out. Sometimes it happens, in others one may end up switching to a complete fresh ROM. In such instances, you will usually have to make a "clean install" (i.e. a factory reset) and then reenter the Google account and reinstall everything again... It sounds irritating, but nowadays it's pretty much straight forward, and if you don't have hundreds of apps it usually is finalized in 10-15 minutes and is semi automatic.
Updating to a newer version of the same ROM sometimes can be "dirty flashed" (i.e. without wiping all your data) so in a couple of minutes you are set up and ready to go. More convenient, but if something isn't working right and you complain in the thread, certain chances are you will be politely asked to make a clean install first amd some users may flame or grill you alive for dirty flashing and complaining at that :laugh:
Most custom ROMs are usually based on either AOSP or Lineage OS (aka LOS) with some custom modifications. The first post in a ROM thread usually mentions all the rich features (or lack of), how to install (pretty much the same: make a backup in twrp, wipe data/system/cache/dalvik, flash ROM zip file, flash Google gapps zip, flash some additional optional zips such as supersu/magisk/whatever for root etc). Then some download links, faq etc.
It's good practice to read the first post (aka OP), then at least the last page to get a feel of the ROM (e.g. see what others are praising or complaining about this or that), then search for specific stuff that may concern you. For example, some ROMs had this cellular data bug that it got disconnected and required restart. You may decide this os crucial for you and choose another ROM, others may use the device for other things and couldn care less about cellular data bug...
Enjoy, it always feels good tp flash a new ROM, a new version . F!ck LeMoto for delaying the update for so long- You may have been waiting for update to Nougat as early as last year's November or October. Well, on custom ROMs it's here for many months!
On the other hand, they usually say stock ROM is more stable, and in many cases it is also true...
Now you know more or les what you're dealing with: free choice vs. waiting forever.

jaibar said:
As said, after unlocking bootloader the device will be wiped- You will have to reenter your Google account and reinstall applications etc. Not a big deal.
Custom ROMs sometimes take a few iterations until some bugs here and there are ironed out. Sometimes it happens, in others one may end up switching to a complete fresh ROM. In such instances, you will usually have to make a "clean install" (i.e. a factory reset) and then reenter the Google account and reinstall everything again... It sounds irritating, but nowadays it's pretty much straight forward, and if you don't have hundreds of apps it usually is finalized in 10-15 minutes and is semi automatic.
Updating to a newer version of the same ROM sometimes can be "dirty flashed" (i.e. without wiping all your data) so in a couple of minutes you are set up and ready to go. More convenient, but if something isn't working right and you complain in the thread, certain chances are you will be politely asked to make a clean install first amd some users may flame or grill you alive for dirty flashing and complaining at that :laugh:
Most custom ROMs are usually based on either AOSP or Lineage OS (aka LOS) with some custom modifications. The first post in a ROM thread usually mentions all the rich features (or lack of), how to install (pretty much the same: make a backup in twrp, wipe data/system/cache/dalvik, flash ROM zip file, flash Google gapps zip, flash some additional optional zips such as supersu/magisk/whatever for root etc). Then some download links, faq etc.
It's good practice to read the first post (aka OP), then at least the last page to get a feel of the ROM (e.g. see what others are praising or complaining about this or that), then search for specific stuff that may concern you. For example, some ROMs had this cellular data bug that it got disconnected and required restart. You may decide this os crucial for you and choose another ROM, others may use the device for other things and couldn care less about cellular data bug...
Enjoy, it always feels good tp flash a new ROM, a new version . F!ck LeMoto for delaying the update for so long- You may have been waiting for update to Nougat as early as last year's November or October. Well, on custom ROMs it's here for many months!
On the other hand, they usually say stock ROM is more stable, and in many cases it is also true...
Now you know more or les what you're dealing with: free choice vs. waiting forever.
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Thanks for your thoughts,
After reading here and there I finally was able to flash AOSP Extendend v4.4 on my cellphone, it seems to be working fine.
As I said I was not looking something specific I was just annoyed of waiting so long for the official update (it seems it will never happen) and wants to be in touch with Android Nougat, maybe now I will use my piggy bank to save for a Pixel phone
Thanks guys for your guidance

jramirezdev said:
After reading here and there I finally was able to flash AOSP Extendend v4.4 on my cellphone, it seems to be working fine.
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Hi,
How it is working? Did you found any bugs? eg. problem with battery, with mobile data, lte, camera?

Simple way?

Hi everyone,
So couple of year ago I worked at a start-up company that had an Android project. So I'm not new to flashing images (ROM, Recovery, radio...), and I know most basic tools like ADB (and I'm technical person in my daily life). That being said - I remember the pain when the Radio image doesn't fit the firmware, and you have to play around with stuff to make reception work again. or the Recovery image won't fit the ROM etc etc. I'm not sure if any of this probably still happen TODAY, but back then when I got my LG-G2 - I decided not to touch it. I don't need anything besides the basic options (making calls, taking pictures).
I'm still using Stock with 4.4.2 - and the phone is getting lagy each passing day to the point it's time to root it and install a custom rom.
As I mentioned above, I want it to be quick and painless. Sadly, I don't have the time to do insane amount of research right now, mainly because I have a 3 weeks old born at home - and I prefer to use my free time hanging with it that Q&N issues with my phone
So here's what I need your help with:
1. A recommendation for a tool to save all phone settings. Mostly - App settings, and OS settings (even though I probably not going to go for Stock again, but it doesn't hurt to back it up).
2. An instruction how to flash D802 (there' so many options this days...). My Kernel version is 3.4.0.
3. Recommended ROM to use. Here's what I need from a ROM.
a. I probably want to upgrade to more safe rooted Android version (I can't for example handle permissions on 4.4.2).
b. With that, I don't want to install the latest Android only to figure it's running slowly on LG G2, I want the interface to be snappy (the Stock was snappy for a while).
c. I prefer Minimal ROM if possible with Google Apps installed. If I'll need something, I can install it myself.
d. One of the reason I didn't root up until now, was because people mentioned camera quality is meh with non stock roms. If possible, I will like to have a decent Camera quality.
e. I use my phone as a music player often. So good sound quality is important to me (and maybe even build in Parametrized EQ?).
Thank you!

Reading around the forum would have taken just about the same amount of time than writing your post. A post, mind you, that will get you the same as what you can already find with ease.
You managed to write with your kid around. Last time I checked, browsing takes less effort.
Rant out.

Instead of a rant, here's an actual help for people who might find it useful in the future and lack the time to do some proper research (as it took more than the 5 minutes it took me to write the original post). Please note that I won't take any responsibility for possible damages you may do to your system. Please use at your own risk. Also, note that I only tried it on LG G2 802 with Stock Kit Kat (4.2.2) and other version/OS version might not work.
I wasn't clear to me if 'One Click Root' work with Kit Kat bootloader, so I used 'ioroot'. When your done rooting your phone, you will need to flash a TWRP recovery. The easiest way to do it is by using AutoRec. However, the TWRP recovery installed with AutoRec doesn't have Thermal protection, and is dangerous to use according to the forums. So the next thing will be flashing a new TWRP version from the recovery. Blastgater have tweaked TWRP Recovery for LG devices. You can download the latest version here. It's basically a zip file you flash from within your old TWRP.
Regarding ROM, after doing some research - it looks like Lineage will be the best 'all-around' rom to use. Liveage 15/16 were too slow for my liking, so I went with 14.1 (Android 7.1) which was enough for me and snappy to use. However, the tricky part if your plan on using Lineage, is to flash a bootstack as the one coming with Stock won't work. It's just another zip to flash directly from the recovery and can be found here.
So this is just the high-level process, and I highly suggest checking the specific on the links I sent. It also helps if you know how to handle 'adb' and know the basic stuff like what bootloader and recovery are
Good luck.