[How to] Nexus 5 Android L Developer Preview Installation Guide

Google promised factory images of Android L developer preview for Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 2013 earlier yesterday at Google I/O 2014, and thanks to god Google delivered the promise timely. You know it’s Android L we’re talking about, the update that refreshes everything on Android again after 3 years, the last update that changed everything was Android 3.0 Honeycomb.

As I am writing this I’m already tearing apart the Android L factory image for goodies that can be installed on devices other than Nexus 5, stay tuned for those, but for now here’s the Android L dev release for your Nexus 5. Enjoy!

   Downloads

Download the ADB+Fastboot files and the the Android L factory image from the download links provided below.

ADB + Fastboot file → download link.

Nexus 5 Android L Factory Image LPV79  → download link.

Instructions for installing Android L on Nexus 5:

NOTE: Your phone will be completely wiped (formatted). If you’ve any important data like photos, music or any other file, make sure to backup it up first or else don’t follow the instructions below.

  1. Download the necessary files for your device and cross verify them for the build number. It should be LPV79.
  2. Extract the ADB+Fastboot files to a folder on your computer (avoid extracting to your desktop, there might be problem when you have a user name which has space in between like xxx yyy ) and install the USB drivers in case you are on Windows PC.
  3. Extract the Factory image you downloaded to the same folder where you extracted ADB+Fastboot files, the factory image will give you a file containing the codename of your device,  two files with the name flash-all but with different extensions, and a bootloader image file.
  4. Make sure all the extracted contents of the factory image are in the same folder as the ADB and Fastboot files, otherwise you will get a file not found error.
  5. Put your Nexus 5 in fastboot mode:
    1. First switch off your phone
    2. Press and keep holding the “Volume UP + Volume Down + Power” buttons together until you see the bootloader screen (aka Fastboot mode)
  6. Connect your Nexus 5 to your PC and make sure the device shows up in device manager.
  7. Now click on the flash-all.bat if you’re on Windows PC or flash-all.sh if you’re on Linux, now the flashing starts.
  8. Wait until the flashing is completed and then simply reboot your device.

The first boot may take a tad longer, as the device builds the cache for the first time after the Update. So be patient for a while and be extremely curious for the update Nexus 5.

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Shivam

Shivam is our resident designer and web developer who also enjoys writing. He loves to meditate, drive on the freeways and hunt for snipers during his Call Of Duty playtime. Email: [email protected]