CyanogenMod 12 on OnePlus One – India

I started off trying to get official Lollipop (alpha) working on my OPO. Unfortunately, the preview was closed by the time I got to know about it and didn’t want to download this on non-trusted mirrors. So, I decided to install CM 12 on my OPO. Though many install guides exist, writing this in bullet style while installing it in parallel.

Before you begin the process, ensure that you have atleast 50-60% battery and know how to boot into fastboot and recovery modes.

Apart from being aware of known bugs and the changelog, the other important thing you should be aware is that since these are nightly builds, to update the OS, you’ll have to download and manually install the full zip file (about 250MB+). Workaround at the end of the post.

• Download the necessary files. Copy into a handy folder or remember the exact path especially of TWRP and SuperSU files
  • Minimal (Android Debug Bridge) ADB and Fastboot for Windows (If you don’t want to install the full SDK)
  • Team Win Recovery Project (TWRP) for custom recovery image (recoveryfile.img); ClockWorkMod (CWM) works as well – I used TWRP
  • SuperSU to root(supersufile.zip)
  • CM12 for OPO (bacon)
  • GAPPS – Check the comparison and download one of your choice
• Backup necessary stuff
  • App data to Google servers
  • Images and important files to your computer or onto Drive
  • Whatsapp of any other messaging software
  • SMS messages and Call log if you so desire
• Installing necessary programs in windows
  • Install minimal ADB and Fastboot and let the installer create a shortcut for easy access
• Know the boot modes on OPO
  • Fastboot mode: volume up + power (You’ll see an icon with fastboot written)
  • Recovery mode: volume down + power
• Unlock boot loader
  • Turn the phone off
  • Boot into fastboot mode
  • Plug the phone into your PC and type the following command check if the phone is properly connected. If connected, the phone serial number should be returned
    • Command prompt > fastboot devices
  • Reset and unlock -Note:  Entire data will be wiped and the phone will be reset to factory settings
    • Command prompt > fastboot oem unlock
    • Command prompt > fastboot reboot
  • Once the phone reboots, directly enable Developer options and disable CM recovery protection in the phone settings
    • Settings > About phone > Tap on Build number 7 times
    • Settings > Developer options > Enable USB debugging
    • Settings > Developer options > Uncheck/disable the ‘Update recovery with system updates’ option
• Install custom recovery
  • Turn off the phone off
  • Boot into fastboot mode and install custom recovery and reboot
    • Command prompt > fastboot flash recovery recoveryfile.img
    • Command prompt > fastboot reboot
• Rooting with SuperSU binary to root with stock ROM
  • Boot into recovery mode and you should be at TWRP home page
  • Copy SuperSU binary onto the phone
    • Command prompt > adb push supersufile.zip /sdcard/
      • Alternately, you should be able to browse your phone folders using windows explorer. Copy the necessary files into /sdcard/
  • Install SuperSU
    • On phone browse to superfile.zip  location, select it and swipe to confirm the installation
  • You are done
  • Reboot into recovery mode to install custom ROM
• Installing CM12 and GAPPS
  • Copy CM12 and GAPPS files either via adb push or using windows explorer
  • On phone, TWRP home page, press wipe > advanced wipe > select dalvik cache, cache, data and system and swipe to confirm wipe
  • Press back and go to install > Select ROM and GAPPS files and swipe to flash
• Reboot to a fresh install of CM 12

The above process shouldn’t take you more than 10-15 minutes maximum.

To install nightly updates in small incremental chunks rather than download and install the full  nightly, install Cyandelta from Play store and give root permissions to it.

Credits for the above instructions go to all the AOSP, CM and OnePlus fans who have put up detailed steps in their blogs and product forums.