[LeEco Le 2 Guides, News, & Discussion] rczrider:
I don't have anything against toolkits, I just prefer to use adb and fastboot so I have more control over of what's going on. I also think it's a good idea for folks to have a little idea about what they're doing, even if they aren't experts. Below are the steps I used to install TWRP (recovery) and SuperSU (root) for my X522 (aka S3, the US variant which uses the Snapdragon 652). I don't see any reason this wouldn't work for all other Snapdragon variants: X520 (Chinese), X526 (Indian), and X527 (International). That said, you do what you do at your own risk. If you have one of the other Snapdragon variants and this works for you, though, please respond to the thread and let me know!

This thread is intended to be noob-friendly! That means that there are no dumb questions...unless you ask a question that is directly answered in the first post or in the FAQs found in the second post. To that extent, please read and re-read and if you still can't find your answer, please feel free to post your question.

Many thanks to [MENTION=5890172]Rishabh Rao[/MENTION] and his team for getting us an official TWRP image.

WARNING: this will reset your phone entirely! Make sure you save anything you want from internal storage before proceeding any further!

WARNING: as of right now, unlocking / rooting your phone will break your ability to take official OTAs. We're not sure why. That said, you should be able to flash modified OTA zip files manually, after a certain block of the update script is removed (see second post for more information).

Unlocking and Rooting your Le 2

Download and install Minimal ADB and Fastboot: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2317790

Download latest official TWRP, place file in ADB installation folder, and rename to "twrp.img": https://twrp.me/devices/leecole2.html

Download SuperSU 2.78 (stable): https://download.chainfire.eu/1001/

Boot up phone and plug into computer

Settings > scroll to bottom to "About phone" > touch "Build" 7 times to enable developer options

Developer options > toggle "OEM unlocking" and "USB debugging" so that they're both enabled

When "Allow USB debugging?" window pops up on phone, check "Always allow..." box and hit OK

In Minimal ADB installation folder, hold Shift and right-click "Open command window here", then type:

adb reboot bootloader

Once in fastboot:

fastboot oem unlock-go
fastboot boot twrp.img

If password screen comes up, tap "Cancel" button

If it asks, tap "Keep Read Only" button (probably doesn't matter, but whatever)

Wipe > Format Data

Make backups (I suggest boot, recovery, and system since this will allow you to return everything to stock later on)

Mount > Enable MTP

Copy entire TWRP folder from internal storage to your computer

Copy SuperSU zip from your computer to root of internal storage

Reboot > Bootloader

fastboot oem unlock-go
fastboot flash recovery twrp.img

Hold Vol+ and Pwr until boots into TWRP

Swipe to Allow Modifications

Install > select SuperSU zip > swipe to flash

Wipe Cache/Dalvik

Reboot (first boot will take a little while, so be patient)

Enjoy your rooted phone!

Restoring to Stock(ish)

Follow steps 4-7 above

If your boot and recovery backups from TWRP aren't already on your phone, move them to the appropriate folder (internal storage/TWRP/BACKUPS/[yourphoneserialnumber])

In Minimal ADB installation folder, hold Shift and right-click "Open command window here", then type:

adb reboot recovery

Wipe > check Dalvik, Cache, Data

Restore > select your package, ensure boot and recovery are checked, then Swipe to Restore

Reboot > Recovery

In stock recovery: uncheck "Update system", check "Clear data", and tap "Start"

Reboot to bootloader (hold Vol- and Pwr until it comes up) and then:

fastboot oem unlock-go
fastboot boot twrp.img

Wipe > Format Data

Reboot > System

Your phone is now back to stock!

If you didn't back up your stock recovery, boot, or system, you can find the ones I pulled from my phone at the link below. They're from 19S. I don't know if that makes a difference (vs 18S) with boot and recovery or not, but obviously that's what you're getting with the system.

https://mega.nz/#F!bV0XUbhJ!k2ZfY5t9bxb8gRa3rKQbyA