Install TWRP Recovery and Root Lenovo Vibe K5

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Lenovo has been doing pretty good with its new Android devices recently. Lenovo Vibe K5 was pulled out of curtains by Lenovo back in February 2016. It’s another mid-ranger by Lenovo which is a great choice for Android users looking for a device fitting their needs in a friendly budget. Lenovo Vibe K5 touts a 5.0 inch display with 720 x 1280 pixels and 294 ppi. Lenovo equipped the Vibe K5 with a Qualcomm Snapdragon Quad-Core 415 CPU and Adreno 405 GPU. We can find a 2 GB RAM plugged inside accompanying an internal storage chip of 16 GB. There’s an option for expanding this storage by means of a microSD card slot as well. Lenovo Vibe K5 has got a 13 MP camera on its back and a 5MP camera on the front which has become a standard front camera for the smartphones of today. Although this device came out in February 2016, but it still runs on Android 5.1.1 Lollipop out of the box.

Lenovo Vibe K5’s development has just begun. This device has already been blessed by a custom recovery and root access. Now that the custom recovery is out for our beloved device, this paves a way for custom ROMs and other custom .zip files. Having rooted your Vibe K5 means freedom. You’re all set to enhance the performance, battery life and bring in some new features by means of root-specific applications. Obviously you need to root your device and flash a custom recovery to be able to do what we just talked about. Our sole purpose to be here is to help you out with installing the custom recovery and root your Lenovo Vibe K5. We can proceed now to flash the TWRP 3.0.2-1 recovery and root our beloved Lenovo Vibe K5

Precautions

  1. This guide is only for Lenovo Vibe K5. Do not try this on any other device except the following variants.
    1. A6020a40
    2. A6020i36
    3. A6020a46
  2. Charge your phone up to 50% to avoid any power issues during the recovery installation and root process.
  3. Backup your important contacts, call logs, sms messages and media content as a safety measure: Backup Guide
  4. Enable USB debugging mode on your Vibe K5. To do so, go to settings > about device > tap build number for 7 times. You will have developer options in settings now. Open developer options and enable USB debugging mode.
  5. Enable OEM Unlocking on your Lenovo Vibe K5
  6. Use original data cable to establish connection between your phone and your PC.
  7. Follow this guide to the letter.

Disclaimer: This is a custom process which will void the warranty of your phone. Make sure that you’re doing it at your own risk. In case of a mishap, Techbeasts or Lenovo may not be held responsible.

Required downloads and installations

How To Install CWM & Root Lenovo Vibe K5

  1. Open the Minimal ADB & Fastboot folder that you got after extracting the Minimal ADB & Fastboot drivers zip file.
  2. From the Minimal ADB & Fastboot folder open “py_cmd.exe” file.
  3. Now connect your Lenovo Vibe K5 with your PC. Make sure that you’ve enabled USB debugging mode before doing this. Upon connecting having USB debugging mode enabled, it will ask you on your phone to allow connection with your PC. Allow the connection and proceed.
  4. In py_cmd.exe type “adb devices“. You will see the list of attached devices in command line, which will show some codes against your device as well. This means that your device is properly connected now.
  5. Now enter following commands in the py_cmd.exe one by one.
    1. adb reboot bootloader

  6. Your device will now reboot in fastboot / bootloader mode.
    1. fastboot devices

  7. It will verify your device’s connection in fastboot mode.
    1. fastboot flash recovery recovery.img

  8. It will flash CWM recovery in your Vibe K5.
    1. fastboot reboot

  9. It will reboot your device from fastboot mode.
  10. Now turn off your phone completely as we are going to boot in to recovery mode.
  11. After you’ve turned off your phone, turn it on by pressing and holding Volume Up + Volume Down + Power Key. As it boots up, it will ask you for language selection, select English and proceed.
  12. Now you will have access to the newly installed CWM recovery. In CWM recovery navigate using Volume Up & Down keys and use power key to make selection.
  13. Select “Install Zip > Choose from sdcard > select the SuperSu.zip file that you downloaded and copied in your phone”. Let it flash the SuperSu.zip file, once done, reboot your phone.
  14. Find SuperSu application in app drawer. You can verify root access using Root Checker application.

That’s all. Don’t forget to check out the 10 best root applications listed on our site. In case you’re stuck with anything, reach us out through the comment box below.

Recovery Credits: Shreps

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Usama is a software engineer by profession and at TechBeasts.com he uses his expertise to solve everyday consumer tech problems with his main areas of interest being Android, iOS and Windows.

2 COMMENTS

  1. Hi, everything works fine until step 13. When I try to flash the SuperSu.zip file the phone aborts the operation with the following error: Signature Verification Failed. Please, help?

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