Root OnePlus One and Install TWRP Recovery on It

While buying a new smartphone, do you feel that it has been overpriced? Just see the price tags with which all high-end devices like the Galaxy S5, HTC One M8, LG G3, etc. come with. The big players in the smartphone industry try their best to rip whopping amount of money from our pockets in the name of innovative features and good specifications. Excessive price is probably one of the reasons why many people do not run after big names and go for a less known brand that offers good features at the rationalized price.

The much-hyped OnePlus One has been successful in attracting so much attention of smartphone lovers because of its lavish hardware specs and humble price tag. It’s its flagship features combined with a Nexus-like price that the folks at OnePlus call it the “2014 Flagship Killer”. Hardware wise One Plus One sports—

• 5.5-inch 1080p Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) display
• 2.5GHZ Snapdragon 801 CPU
• 3GB RAM
• Adreno 330, 578MHz GPU
• 13MP rear and 5MP front camera
• 16GB/64GB on board storage
• 3100 mAh LiPo battery
• GSM, WCDMA and LTE connectivity

On the software side, OnePlus One comes with the well-known CyanogenMod 11S ROM that is based on Android 4.4 KitKat. Now, some of you might wonder if a phone that has CM11 installed on it out of the box, requires being rooted separately. OnePlus One comes with unlocked bootloader and so, it can be easily rooted. In the present tutorial, we would see how we can root OnePlus One and install TWRP Recovery on it to take full control of your device.

Disclaimer

The rooting procedure for the OnePlus One given below has been tested working, yet we do not endorse any responsibility for any kind of mishap it might lead to. Proceed at your own responsibility.

Preparations

• Download and set up ADB and Fastboot on your computer. For more help on setting it up, read this tutorial.
• Enable USB Debugging on your One Plus One. See here to know how to do it.
• Download the latest official TWRP recovery image file: openrecovery-twrp-2.7.0.0-bacon.img
• Also download SuperSU flashable zip file: UPDATE-SuperSU-vx.xx.zip

Root OnePlus One and Install TWRP Recovery

1. Rename openrecovery-twrp-2.7.0.0-bacon.img file to twrp.img and copy it to the platform-tools folder in the Android SDK directory on your computer. Please note that the location of the TWRP image should be the same as the ADB and Fastboot files.
2. Copy UPDATE-SuperSU-vx.xx.zip to your OnePlus One.
3. Now connect your phone to the computer using the USB cable provided with it.
4. Navigate to the platform-tools folder and launch a cmd window from within the folder. To do so, move the mouse pointer at an empty space, press Shift key on your keyboard and then do a right-click on the mouse. Select Open command window here from the list of options.
5. When the command prompt is launched, type this command and hit Enter key:

   adb reboot bootloader

6. Your OnePlus One will boot into the bootloader mode.
7. If you want to only root your phone without installing TWRP recovery, type the following command:

   fastboot boot twrp.img

8. In case you want to install TWR recovery on your phone, use this command:

   fastboot flash recovery twrp.img

9. When TWRP is flash on your OnePlus One, issue this command:

   fastboot reboot

10. When your phone boots up, use the following command to reboot into TWRP recovery mode:

    adb reboot recovery

11. After getting into TWRP menu, tap the Install button and select UPDATE-SuperSU-vx.xx.zip file.
12. Confirm installation by sliding the confirmation slider and wait till SuperSU is flashed to your phone.
13. Finally, select Reboot> System options to boot your device.

When your OnePlus One boots up, it will have TWRP recovery and root access. Before you use any root app, open SuperSU settings and uncheck “Respect CM’s root Policy” option. You are now ready to play with root apps, custom mods and ROMs. Enjoy!