The LG Esteem MS910 is a 4G LTE enabled handset launched by MetroPCS last year. Despite being a pretty capable device, developer interest for this particular device has surprisingly not been as active as has been the case with other 4G LTE enabled phones released around the same time last year by other carriers like Verizon or At&T.

As a result, 3 things that most geeky Android users look forward to the most, irrespective of device, which are 1) A rooting method 2) Installing a custom recovery & 3) a way of achieving both 1 & 2, in one step ─ has been somewhat of a struggle on this solid, but seemingly neglected device.
Sure, there have been a couple of rooting methods available for use, but what was most awaited was an all-in-one method which would root the device, as well as install a custom recovery while at it.

This is where Developer PlayfulGod comes in. PlayfulGod has released his own AIO Root tool, which does exactly what a large number of Esteem users have been eagerly waiting for ─ a tool which installs root access as well as a custom recovery. As a matter of fact, PlayfulGod has done it better. He has provided not one, but 2 different recoveries that one could choose from…Clockworkmod (CWM) or Raidzero (RZR).

But before you get all excited and start getting your phones and PCs ready, you must know that both these custom recoveries are Release Candidates, which means they are both not 100% bug-free, and still have some itty-bitty chinks that are yet to be ironed out:

  • USB Mass Storage doesn’t work on either recovery yet.
  • CWM: boot isn’t listed in mounts and storage, thus cannot be wiped manually.
  • RZR: boot is listed but will not mount and wipe manually.

The good news is that the developer is working on this issues, and its just a matter of time before we see these small issues fixed.

Words of Wisdom
The methods, steps & tools mentioned above are considered risky, if you do not know exactly what you are doing. Carelessness or incorrect usage of these tools/steps can result in a bad start to the New Year. We, or the developer, are not responsible for any damage that you cause to yourself or your beloved device, during the course of using these tools. You have been warned!!

Download Links

Here are the two custom recoveries (zip files):

Clockworkmod recovery (CWM)      |      Raidzero recovery (RZR)

Both the zip files contain scripts for both Windows and Linux. All you need to do is download the zip, extract the files and run the script which is appropriate to your OS.

Both zips are also AIO (All-in-one), meaning they will root your Esteem and install CWM/RZR in one step.

You can find more details & read about how others are faring in the development thread here and here.

Here are the installation steps quoted from the original development thread:

  • Download zip to your computer
  • Unzip zip
  • turn on and put into Internet connection mode
  • Connect phone to computer via USB cable
  • run the install script for your OS

If you have any comments, or want to share your experience with this tool, we’d be glad to hear about them in comments below.