16 November 2014

Install Android Lollipop OTA manually on a MAC

After days of frustrations for getting the OTA update on Android lollipop, I decided to manually install the firmware on my Nexus 5. Searching the internet I stumbled upon this Youtube video by an awesome guy on how to install the update which I try to list down the steps for newbies like me to follow.

This will NOT delete any files from your device! 
Follow the steps at your own risk!

PRE REQUISITE
STEPS TO FOLLOW

1. Extract the Android SDK on any location you want on your MAC. (I put it on my Documents folder).

2. Copy the OTA file under sdk/platform-tools folder of the extracted Android SDK location. Optionally rename the zip file to whatever you want (I renamed it as lollipop.zip as per the youtube below above).



3. Plug your Nexus 5 to your MAC.

4. Open Terminal and go to the location of the platform-tools folder by executing the below without quotes (Please note location change depending on where you extracted the SDK):

"cd Documents/android/sdk/platform-tools" 

5. Execute "./adb devices" to verify if your device connected.


NOTE

  • If there is no device, make sure that your Nexus 5 is on debugging mode by going to go to Settings --> {} Developer options. If you cannot see this option, check this site
  • If you need instruction on how to enable debugging mode see link

6. Go to recovery mode by pressing the power button and volume down or executing the below without quotes in Terminal:

"./adb reboot-bootloader"




7. Select "apply updates from ADB" option.



8. Execute the following in Terminal without quotes (replace the file name with the actual file name from step 2):

"./adb sideload lollipop.zip"

NOTE

  • Do not disconnect your phone from your laptop.
9. Wait for till the phone completes the installation.



Congratulations you are now in Lollipop!