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May 24, 2012
Rooting an LG Optimus P970 V20e

UPDATE: I've written a new blog post on updating the P970 to Android 4.0.4 (Ice Cream Sandwich, and rooting.

I recently got an LG Optimus P970 on a RedBull Mobile contract, and wanted to root it. It wasn't as easy as I was hoping, but I finally got it right, so thought I'd document my steps here.

DISCLAIMER: I wont take responsibility for anything that happens to your phone as a result of following any of these instructions, I know very little about Android phones and rooting them so will not be able to help you with any questions. Make sure you've backed up all of your data properly! Make sure your P970 is a "V20e" ("Applications" -> "Settings" -> "About phone", "Software version" should be right at the bottom and the last 4 characters and letters should say "V20e"). This was done on Windows, I'm not sure how to do it on other operating systems. You may also need to manually enter your cellphone provider's network/3G (APN) settings.

When I got my phone it was running Android 2.2(.2 - I think), but I upgraded to Android 2.3.4 before rooting it (instructions below) - in doing so all of the "RedBull Mobile" applications were removed, and I'm not sure how to get the back... don't do any of the below unless you're okay with losing them.

So, here's what I did:

  1. Updated Android to 2.3.4:

    1. Go to the official LG "P970" page, click on the "Support" tab, then click on "PC Sync, Drivers & Software Update" (bottom right hand corner)
    2. Download and install the USB drivers (click on "WINDOWS USB Driver" to download)
    3. Download and install "Software Update"
    4. Run the "LGMobile Support Tool" ("Software Update") and follow instructions

  2. Download "rooting" files:

    1. A supposedly pre-rooted V20e rom: "PATCHED_LGP970-V20e-SEA-MAR-05-2012-by-Snegovik.7z" (my mirror) and extract it somewhere (use 7-zip if you don't have a program to extract it)
    2. "SmartFlashTool_External.rar" (my mirror) - extract it somewhere
    3. "Superuser.zip" (my mirror) - DO NOT extract this!

  3. Installing the new ROM + rooting:

    1. Copy the "Superuser.zip" file to your phone's memory card (using USB) while it's still on and running
    2. Turn your phone off (hold down the power button)
    3. Unplug the USB cable from your phone (if it's still plugged in)
    4. Hold down the "Volume Up" button on your phone, then plug in the USB cable (connected to your PC) - it should show a "Software Update" screen
    5. Run "B_SmartFlashTool_Extern.exe" (in the folder you extracted "SmartFlashTool_External.rar" to)
    6. Click on the "ROM copy D/L" tab
    7. For "CP bin" select the "[PATCHED]V20E_SEA.bin" file from the folder you extracted "PATCHED_LGP970-V20e-SEA-MAR-05-2012-by-Snegovik.7z" to
    8. For "AP bin" select the "V20E_SEA.fls" file from the folder you extracted "PATCHED_LGP970-V20e-SEA-MAR-05-2012-by-Snegovik.7z" to
    9. It should look similar to this [image]
    10. Click on "Start" (NOT "Initialization")
    11. You should see something like this: [image] - NOTE: this will take a little while, and say "completed" several times, once it's done it will play sound file of a voice in some foreign language
    12. Your phone should boot in to "ClockworkMod Recovery"
    13. Choose "Wipe data/factroy reset" - you'll need to scroll through the "No"s until you see the "Yes" option (tap it), then "+++++Go Back+++++"
    14. Choose "install zip from sdcard"
    15. Choose "choose zip from sdcard"
    16. Select the "Superuser.zip" you copied across, and scroll through all the "No"s until you see the "Yes" option (tap it), then "+++++Go Back+++++"
    17. Choose "Reboot system now"

  4. Once Rooted: (checking + removing apps)

    1. Your phone should startup normally and ask you to set it up
    2. Install and use "Root Cheker" on your phone, to confirm it's been rooted
    3. Install "Root Browser Lite" and use it to navigate to "/system/app" and remove the ".apk" and ".odex" of any programs you want to remove - USE CAUTION (here's a list of Safe Apps to Remove - the "Facebook for LG" and "Twitter for LG" apps are in "SNS.apk")

Instructions mostly taken, but re-written, from SnegovikRZN's xda-developers post - you should be able to find ROMs for other LG P970 versions on that forum, probably from him.

UPDATE: I've written a new blog post on updating the P970 to Android 4.0.4 (Ice Cream Sandwich, and rooting.