Sunday, July 31, 2011

LG Optimus V: Another Way to Reset to Factory State

I talked about how to reset your LG Optimus V back to the factory state. Here is another way for you to do the same thing. No matter which method you use, please do NOT forget to get your personal data backed up before you do this. Your precious data is gone forever once the whole procedure is completed.
  1. Back up your data;
  2. Turn off your LG Optimus V;
  3. Press and hold the Down volume button, the Home button, and the Power button;
  4. Release all of them when the LG logo is on the screen.
That resetting your phone to the factory state is also called recovery mode but I think it is better not to call that. Recovery mode doesn't tell you that your LG Optimus V will not have your personal data any more.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

LG Optimus V: Safe Mode to Recover from Not Booting Properly

LG Optimus V has a special mode called safe mode. It is designed for your phone to recover from any malfunctions that get your phone stuck in a boot loop. I believe it follows the same idea of the safe mode in Microsoft Windows. Booting into the safe mode, the operating system will not load any applications at start up. So you could backstep whatever you did before the phone got stuck.

Here is what you need to do to get into safe mode.
  1. Turn off your phone;
  2. Reboot it;
  3. Press and hold the Menu key while the Android Logo is displayed;
  4. The main screen should have "safe mode" shown in the lower left-hand corner.
I seldom using this method. I just took the battery out and put it in. It will reboot and recovery from the malfunction. So far nothing bad happened. To the opposite, there was someone who's phone got stuck in the safe mode. (I read this on the Internet). Ironic, isn't it?

Saturday, July 23, 2011

LG Optimus V: To Root Or Not To Root

To root or not to root, that is a question. To answer that, you need to ask yourself why do you want to root your phone and are you tech savvy enough to get your phone rooted.

Rooting is not just follow the instructions you found on the Internet. It involves risk. First, rooting voids your LG Optimus V warranty. Second, your LG Optimus V could get stuck in recovery mode. You end up with a hundred dollar paper weight. Lots of people rooted their phones for tethering. I believe that tethering violates the service terms of most services providers. Some of them even charge $10 per month if you tether.

There are some rewarding features, too. You will get better hardware and software interactions or may be improve your phone's performance. A friend told that you could even get some features not mentioned in the operation menu. However, I see the best feature you will get is that you can install some special applications, such as OS from different phone maker.

All these boils down to what do you need your phone for. Does it really worth the risk? In the case of LG Optimus V, you really don't need to root it if you just want to set it up as a Wi-Fi hot spot. Please keep in mind that you might break your service contracts and terms.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

LG Optimus V: What is Rooting or Jailbreaking

To answer that we need to know what did you get after you spent hundreds of dollars on your phone. I believe lots of smart phone users use PCs. So I will do side by side comparison and contrast between PCs and your cell phone.

Just like the computer hardware you bought, you get the hardware, the phone, the charger, the earpiece, and other accessories. Similarly you also get the software, the operating system, the applications, and games. The only thing you didn't get is the ultimate access. There are some files, parameters, configurations, and etc. that are read only to you, the owner of them. Sounds ridiculous but it is true. It is like you don't have the administrator's privilege of your PC.

Rooting your Android is the same as jailbreaking your iPhone. You take back the control of your phone and get to change your phone to the way you prefer. You could even install a custom version of the Android.

However, rooting is not a risk free task. You could end up a hundred dollar paper weight if you get stuck. Please don't start rooting your phone till you read my next post.