Last Updated on November 12, 2024 by Mathew Diekhake

The OnePlus One is a great phone that is somewhat limited by its odd ordering process. Getting a Oneplus One requires an invite or, recently, an open Tuesday, and that has kept the phone from reaching a wide audience. In another recent debacle involving issues in India with Cyanogen and Micromax,

OnePlus ended its alliance with Cyanogen. OnePlus, after the split, stated that they would develop their own OS, Oxygen OS, to replace Cyanogen’s software. In the meantime, if you want to update to Lollipop, your options are limited to custom ROMs.

Cyanogen another world

Here’s how you can install the Cyanogenmod 12, one of the most popular custom ROMs available:

  • As most of you well know, installing or flashing a custom ROM on most devices will void the manufacturer’s warranty. In the OnePlus, instance, it’s strange since it comes pre-loaded with a CyaogenMod ROM option out of the box. With that said, this is a different ROM which does need root.
  • You must have the bootloader unlocked and root permissions granted on the device before installing the following Lollipop-based ROM.
  • Furthermore, you must check the USB Debugging Mode permissions are enabled from the Developer Options menu. You can unlock the Developer Options if they are hidden by tapping on the build number seven times from the About Device menu.
  • You must have a custom recovery installed over the stock OnePlusrecovery. Choose from the official Team Win TWRP recovery or the ClockworkMod recovery. Both are the two most popular custom recoveries in the world.
  • Now that you have the custom recovery, you can take a Nandroid backup from the menu. That will take a complete snapshot of the current ROM and OS and store all the data like a mirror image. You’ll get copies of the phone contacts, p[ictures, music, video files and even saved game progress in your applications.

How to install CM12 on OnePlus One Smartphones

1. Download the CM12 zip file and Google Apps from the links below.

2. Connect your Oneplus One to your computer via USB and copy both files onto your device.

3. Now, boot into recovery mode by holding down the power button and the volume down button

4. In the recovery, make sure you do a backup before continuing with this tutorial, if anything goes wrong.

6. Navigate to wipe and delete cache. Your phone needs to be a clean slate for you to commence.

7. Select ‘choose zip from sd card’ from the Options.

8. Locate the CM12.zip file and select it, and begin with the flashing of the file.

9. Now, find the Gapps file and allow that to flash as well.

10. Once you have flashed both, select Reboot Now

That’s it. Enjoy your brand new Lollipop ROM.