The OnePlus One smartphone came out in unusual fashions by only allowing people with invitations issued by existing customers to buy the handset. The alternative is to win one of the contests run by the company. Most people suggest this was because of a lack of production sand doubled as a nice marketing scheme that made the handset seem more premium than it was. Nonetheless, it was right up there with some of the best hardware at the time of release with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 8974-AC system chip.
Furthermore, this is a phone that comes with CyanogenMod 11S UI pre-installed over the top of the Android 4.4 Kitkat that later saw the update to Android 4.4.4 KitKat. However, that doesn’t mean it comes with root access. many developers still have to create guides and ways to unchain the OS in typical fashion. Luckily, many hackers did manage to come up with several guides that all differ from each other. However, it is in our opinion that today we have found the easiest method that beats all others using a new Toolkit made specially for the OnePlus handset.
Details of Note
- The Toolkit is updated to version 1.5 and comes with the ability to lock your device bootloader, unlock the bootloader, install ADB drivers, Flash CM11S and ColorOS, EFS backup & restore, flash 30O OTA, root your OnePlus without installing any custom recovery image and more. However, you should know that during this tutorial we will teach you how to install TWRP better known as TeamWin’s recovery and unlock the bootloader.
- There are some warnings you should note before continuing. The develop of the kit does not speak English for his first language. That doesn’t make him any less intelligent, but it can create some misunderstandings. In addition, the developer is not the owner of a OnePlus phone yet as his is still on order. If any of those two things scare you, it’s best you do not proceed. We have gone over the guide to the best of our knowledge and it all checks out from what we see.
- Our friends have created a full help guide that teaches how to unbrick this handset, if you need to go that far. We will create the steps ourselves and have it up on our site so you can view them. If you need assistance use our search box.
- Having said that, it’s always best if you take a full backup of the OS before starting the steps. The OnePlus mobile lacks an external storage SD card so there’s no option but to back up the data to the internal memory space. make copies of the photo galleries, music files, audio files, contacts of friends and family and anything else you need.
- This just like any other root job will void the manufacturers warranty because it turns the flash counter over. It is the flash counter that the factory workers will pick up on and thus decided not to touch the handset because it is tampered with in ways in which they do not permit. However, there is a way around this. Users can lock the bootloader backup (using the same toolkit and take away the root access. Doing so will return the flash counter back to zero.
- We will use a Windows PC for unchaining the operating system much like we do when installing or flashing firmware files. Anybody Windows machine ranging from Windows XP through to Windows 8 will get the job done. if you have a Mac or open source Unix or Linux machine you will need to find a friend. It’s a great idea to invest in a Redmond computer in future because Android has a long history of catering for their needs.
- Make sure you enable USB debugging mode and fetch the USB cable from the phone charging because we need to establish a connection between units at some stage. Navigate your way to Settings > Develop Options and turn on the mode from there. Likewise, make sure you have the up to date USB drivers already running so there’s no hassles with the two devices talking to each other.
- Head to the Google Play Store and download the Root Checker application. The app will allow you to view if the operation is successful or if you need to start the steps over again. When complete, you can start installing Custom ROMs and tweaking the OS to appear more aesthetically pleasing to your eyes and much more.
- You need to have Android SDK installed. use the download link here to have it running. If you are a novice users and don’t already have previous experience with SDK we advise you look up the tutorial on how to install it properly as it involves a lot of steps that are for advanced users. make sure you have it setup properly and then come back to the guide here.
How To Root, Install TWRP and Unlock The Bootloader For The The OnePlus One using The new Toolkit 1.5
1. Download the root toolkit here from the XDA Developers thread.
– click the file and run the executable program on the desktop.
2. Have the latest version of Java working.
3. Note: Do not proceed without the Android SDK that I dropped in the checklist.
4. Plug one end of the USB cable into the computer system unit
5. Plug the other end into the smartphone
6. Look at the monitor and choose “Enter Fastboot / Recovery Mode.” Proceed to select the “Enter Fastboot” option.
7. Choose “Unlock Bootloader”
8. Wait for the handset to reboot itself.
Now we have successfully unlocked the bootloader it’s time to install the custom recovery.
9. Select the ‘Flash’ key from the toolkit menu.
10. Hit the one that says ‘TWRP’
11. Do not touch any buttons until it finishes flashing.
Now it is time to gain root access by performing the following steps.
12. Choose the ‘Boot’ followed by ‘TWRP Recovery’
13. Select ‘Reboot System’.
14. Wait for it to install SuperSU.
15. Select ‘Reboot System’ again.
16. Select the SuperSU installer from the notification tray.
17. Press the ‘Play’ key followed by the ‘Update’ key.
18. Install the binaries by selecting the ‘Yes’ option.
Verify everything’s working the way we intended by installing the root checker app.
Moreover, you might be interested in checking out the 10 Best Custom ROMs For OnePlus One.