[GT540 Optimus General] effortless.:
A WARNING: IN THE EVENT OF A BRICKED DEVICE, I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE! YOU DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK. KDZ UPDATER WILL BRICK YOUR PHONE IF NOT USED PROPERLY. SO FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY!!!

So, you want to install custom recovery and custom ROMs? Well, you're in the right place. Follow this guide to it's exact instructions, and you will be fine.

You will need:

A computer running Windows (Sorry Mac & Linux users!)

Your phones USB cable. (If you don't have one, you can see a list of them here on Amazon)

We will need a couple of downloads first, so download these files:

V20C Orange France Fastboot ROM (It doesn't matter that it's Orange France, we are replacing the software anyway, I recommend this one as it fixes some calling issues by flashing a new baseband (or Radio).

KDZ Updater

Also, make sure you have your drivers installed. If you don't, get the .zip from here and install all 3 .exe files that are in the zip.

Now to install the Fastboot ROM!

First of all, extract KDZ Updater to the desktop. Then run the msxml.msi file to install the MSXML Parser that is needed to run KDZ. A window should then pop up that looks like this:

^^Select install now.

But if this comes up:

It is already installed, and you can close the window.

Once that is sorted, open up KDZ_FW_UPD.exe (Windows Vista/7 users, make sure to right click and select RUN AS ADMINISTRATOR!)

Change the type of flash by selecting the 'Type' dropdown box and select 3GQCT (SUPER IMPORTANT!)

And make sure PhoneMode is set to DIAG.

Click the icon and select the KDZ file you downloaded earlier.

Prepare the phone by enabling USB Debugging by going to Settings>Applications>Development>Enable USB Debugging, also go into Settings>SDCard & Phone Storage and make sure 'Mass storage only' is unticked. Then connect the phone to the computer via USB cable and let Windows install any drivers it needs.

Click 'Launch software update' and do not use your computer until the update is complete. The update will take roughly 10-20 mins to complete. Your phone should reboot automatically.

Installing recovery:

You have multiple choices to choose from.

ClockworkMod Recovery 2.5.1.8 (Recommended)

ClockworkMod Recovery 4.x (Recommended but you may run into incompatible .zip files, download the recovery_clockwork_x.x.x.x_swift.zip file)

Amon RA 2.2.1 (Recommended)

Amon RA 1.7.0.1 (Not recommended due to incompatibility with zip files and recovery backups. Also .zips must be signed)

Download the recovery image of your choice (I strongly recommend Clockwork 2.5.1.8)

Next put your phone in Fastboot mode by rebooting then holding Camera+Power, make sure USB Cable is plugged in. Also let Windows search Windows Update for drivers.

Download fastboot.exe from here: http://adf.ly/2M8Hi and extract it to the desktop. Also put the recovery image you downloaded onto the desktop too.

Be sure to have your fastboot drivers installed, if you use Vista/Windows 7 then the driver should be auto-downloaded from Windows Update, if you use XP or the drivers won't install from Windows Update, then look at this.

Open a command prompt and type the following:

cd Desktop
fastboot devices (if you see ? fastboot then your device is recognized)
fastboot flash recovery name_of_recovery.img
fastboot reboot

When fastboot says rebooting, hold down HOME and wait. You should see clockwork pop up. Recovery is now on your phone. You can delete the fastboot, kdz and recovery file from your pc because we won't be needing them again. Unless you need to use fastboot.exe again, but just download the fastboot.zip again if you need it) The other files, we don't need.

(NOTE: If your phone reboots with no boot logos (LG logo and animation), or when you flash recovery and it doesn't come up, follow the steps found here. Thanks to fishears for the post!)

Now, installing custom ROMs. Pick any ROM you'd like from the ROM Development section, if you can, get the recovery version, it is much easier to install. Determine if it is a recovery backup, or update.zip

Recovery backups usually contain some .img files and a nandroid.md5 file. The folder containing these files will need to go in the sdcard\clockworkmod\backup folder. Flash them by going to Backup/Restore>Restore>Then pick the backup folder.

Recovery update.zips contain three (or four) files/folders:

boot.img (file)

install-busybox.sh (file, only appears in SOME ROMs)

system (folder)

META-INF (folder)

DO NOT EXTRACT THESE, just put the .zip file on your sdcard, then go into recovery and go to install .zip from sdcard>choose .zip>pick the .zip you downloaded. (NOTE FOR SWIFTDROID: You MUST put the update-cm-xxxxx.zip file found in the SwiftDroid_x.x.x.x_Recovery.zip on your sdcard for it to install!!!)

If you need any help, PM me or reply to this thread.

Don't forget to say if I helped!

Enjoy!

Want to go 'advanced'? Check out this guide resizing your partitions so you can have more app space!

(Also, if a mod could sticky this thread I would be very thankful. Cheers!)