[Verizon LG G3] hokiealumnus:
*WARNING* - There have been at least two known hard bricks using this method. It has worked successfully for many people, including myself three times. However, with two hard bricks, this isn't something to go into without at least considering the possibility. The standard warning has always been in this thread (second paragraph), but consider yourself doubly warned. Now that we have root and TWRP on 5.0 stock, this method is all but obsolete. We're just waiting on the good devs to bring us superb Lollipop stock ROMs like SkyDragon by [MENTION=1211160]HolyAngel[/MENTION] and Jasmine by [MENTION=5868929]hsbadr[/MENTION]. Once those are out, this method should really only be used if you need "official" software on your phone. Or you can just wait for Verizon to push the actual OTA, which is probably technically safer than any custom flashing methods there are.

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**NOTE** - There are two stellar custom-stock ROMs here in the form of Jasmine v.5.0 and SkyDragon 3.0.0. There is no longer any need to use this method to upgrade to stock LP unless you just really need the software status to say "official". Download link & instructions at the following links:

SkyDragon G3 VS985 Edition Version 3.0.0

JasmineROM v5.0 Release [LP] [Stock] [Rooted] [Unmodified]

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Are you still here after reading that warning and looking at the great custom options? Read post # 148, then, if you really insist on being so daring as to try an obsolete method, I guess proceed on. Best of luck to you.

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For starters, this thread may be deemed unnecessary and/or redundant. If so, please accept my apologies and mods feel free to close the thread. This is an extension of this thread started by [MENTION=4795150]annoyingduck[/MENTION]. It's a start-to-finish way to flash 23A and keep all your apps. Rather than linking threads here, there and everywhere, I've compiled everything and put it all in one place, to try and keep down the number of questions in that thread (which is really supposed to be for devs to assist them in getting the info they need to make the wonderful stock ROMs we've all come to know and love). NONE of this information is original to me. I'm not that smart. All credit goes to the respective posters listed below.

Now, the usual disclaimer - I am not responsible if you brick your device by using any or all methods outlined below. They worked for me. They may or may not work for you. If you go down this path, you do so at your own risk and/or peril. Don't come crying to me in the unlikely event you can't figure it out or kill your phone!

Also, please take note right here right now, as this question will never be answered again by me in this thread. There is currently NO ROOT on 23A. Root will NOT be retained when you upgrade (in fact, it will be lost at the 12B KDZ step). Further, we do NOT know how to root stock Lollipop on Verizon at this point. So to answer your questions:

NO, you will not have root on 23A at all, period, no matter what, until some smart dev is able to come up with a way to root it

.

The good news is that you can downgrade back to 10B (the only root-able version) at any time and get back to rooted goodness and flashing rooted stock-KK or AOSP-Lollipop. I'm hopeful we'll get root eventually for stock Lollipop, but it's too soon for that.

First, you need to download several files. The first several have to do with KDZ'ing back to 10B, followed by 12B (you WILL LOSE DATA going back to 10B...back up everything!).

Things you will need:

Drivers from LG for the G3.

Two files from this download page - the 10B KDZ file (VS98510B_01.kdz) and the 23A update file (LG_VS985_12B-23A.dlpkgfile).

NEW 3/6/15 - The 23B (should be an OFFICIAL LP build) update is available here. Same as before, rename to .up and put it in the Software Update folder. Update from 12B stock.

The 12B KDZ file. (Alternate mirror.)

The LG Flash Tool 2014 (originally from this thread).

Now that you have those, we can move on to the directions. To KDZ back to 10B (followed by 12B after a few interim steps), you need to follow the procedure outlined here by annoyingduck. I'm quoting everything so it's all in one post, but linking back so those who made it get all the credit.

When flashing the 10B KDZ, you must use the "CSE Flash" option, because you're downgrading and getting rid of everything on your phone. You will lose ALL data, so copy your TiBu folder, your photos, files, etc. elsewhere first.

Ok, now that you're back to 10B, it's time to do some work there. You need to root your phone, install Titanium Backup and restore your backed up apps & their data. I prefer to use the IOroot method. So root, then install all your apps. After that, it's time to update to 12B. You're doing the same thing you did with 10B, except this time you are choosing "Normal Flash", not CSE flash, because you're upgrading. Once you've done that, you will be upgraded to 12B and will have lost root. Here is more from annoyingduck:

Now we're going to update to 23A using a method described here by justiz33.

Now we'll let annoyingduck take us home.

So there you have it, you're on Verizon official stock Lollipop (23A) for the G3! Now, there's a lot of bloat on there, which you can disable at will. This is a list of apps that are safe to disable, courtesy roirraW "edor" ehT and typed up by yours truly.

After disabling most of that (I think I left one or two I use on, like G+, Google Books, etc), my G3 is happily up & running without issue. Some have discovered issues with their installs.

The only issue I've had is gmail not syncing on WiFi. I've tried everything I (and the community) can think of and am unable to fix the no-notifications-on-WiFi bug. Unfortunately I'm not alone, but it doesn't affect everyone. So, be forewarned, this is a semi-widespread bug. Everything else I experienced about this build is absolutely wonderful, save for that one bug.

Once you're done, you should be greeted by some notifications similar to these...and a software info screen that looks like this. With the bloat disabled, Antutu treated me well with a score over 41K. That's without any tweaking at all obviously since there is no root yet. I only miss two things about root - Titanium Backup and the ability to change DPI (to my preferred 600). Aside from that and the bloat (which is disabled), I'm quite happy as it is.

There you have it folks...if you want to be an early stock Lollipop adopter on the Verizon G3, this is how to do it! To answer the other inevitable question, yes you can downgrade back to 10B, root and install bumped TWRP without issue.

Special thanks to [MENTION=4795150]annoyingduck[/MENTION] for most everything how-to above, [MENTION=528551]justiz33[/MENTION] for the easy 12B-to-23A path, [MENTION=2560614]roirraW "edor" ehT[/MENTION] for the safe-to-disable list, Team Codefire for the files, [MENTION=2684188]autoprime[/MENTION] for IOroot & [MENTION=2181463]quangnhut123[/MENTION] for the LG Flash Tool. If any one of you takes issue with how your posts are represented, please don't hesitate to PM me and I'll do what it takes to fix it.

Last, but not least, please do not quote this entire ginormous post in responses. It's unnecessary and insane. Thanks in advance. :fingers-crossed: