There certainly is no dearth of methods to root the  LG Optimus 2X P990 but with so many out there, which ones are really the most reliable? To help you save time on digging through tons of links on Google and the XDA Developers forum, we’ve gone ahead and done that for you. We’re presenting two methods of rooting, the first using XDA Developers forum member doomi007′s short and simple technique using CLShortFuse’s SuperOneClick Tool. The second method uses ADB, and yes, that means you’ll have to play around with some command prompts.

No rooting guide is complete without ClockworkMod Recovery and our guide for that has been provided by XDA Developers forum member Paul O’Brien. It’s an unofficial release, though, hence the custom coloring, but it should do the trick.

If you’re excited to root your LG Optimus 2X P990 and to install custom recovery, keep reading for our step-by-step guide.

Warning

• The instructions in this guide are intended for use with the LG Optimus 2X, model number P990. Applying these instructions on another device or model may produce undesired outcomes.
• The information in this guide is provided for instructional and educational purposes only. There is no guarantee that these instructions will work under your specific and unique circumstances.
• Use these instructions at your own risk. We shall not hold any responsibility or liability for whatever happens to you or your device arising from your use of the info in this guide.

Requirements

• LG Optimus 2X P990 running on Android 2.2.1 Froyo or higher
• Make a backup of all your important data. You can read our guides on how to backup your data locally and how to backup your data to the cloud.
• Enable USB Debugging on your device.  You can do this through Settings > Applications > Development.
• If you’re on a Windows computer, you must have the appropriate device drivers (LGUnitedMobileDriver_S4981MAN32AP22_ML_WHQL_Ver_3.2.1.exe, 11 MB) installed.
• ADB installed on your computer.  Setup the Android SDK on your computer to make sure you have ADB.

Rooting the LG Optimus 2X

Rooting via SuperOneClick

1. Uninstall the Car Home app and F-Secure because these apps are responsible for freezes and instabilities.
2. Connect your phone to your computer.
3. Download and install SuperOneClick.
4. Launch SuperOneClick.
5. Select “psneuter” from the drop-down list of exploits.
6. Click Root.

If you’ve successfully gained root access, continue to installing custom recovery. If you were not able to gain access through the SuperOneClick tool, then please root your phone using the ADB method.

Rooting via ADB

This method will work only for the LG Optimus 2X not running Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

1. Download busybox, psneuter, and Superuser package:
   • busybox (busybox.zip, md5: 25c5db694c987995909cc3166d4f01b0)
   • psneuter (psneuter.zip, md5: 89c2dec8d72d87b4c669f44dd31c8d17)
   • Superuser package (su-2.3.6.2-efgh.zip, md5: 43d9a40b63e916635d5ad7ca32433fab)
2. Unzip the busybox, psneuter, and the Superuser packages using 7-Zip, WinRAR, or other similar file extraction programs.
3. Copy the contents to the same folder as adb or adb.exe (inside the /platform-tools folder within the Android SDK folder).
4. Connect your LG Optimus 2X to the computer via USB.
5. On the computer, open a command prompt and enter the following commands:
   • adb push busybox /data/local/
   • adb push psneuter /data/local/
   • adb push su /data/local/
   • adb shell chmod 777 /data/local/busybox
   • adb shell chmod 777 /data/local/psneuter
   • adb shell
   • /data/local/psneuter
   • adb shell
   • mount -o remount,rw -t ext3 /dev/block/mmcblk0p25 /system
   • mkdir /system/xbin
   • /data/local/busybox cp /data/local/su /system/xbin/su
   • chown 0:0 /system/xbin/su
   • chmod 6755 /system/xbin/su
   • ln -s /system/xbin/su /system/bin/su
   • exit
   • adb push Superuser.apk /system/app/Superuser.apk

Reboot your LG Optimus 2X and it should now be fully rooted. Let’s continue to install custom recovery on your device.

Installing Custom Recovery

1. Download the unofficial ClockworkMod 4.0.0.5 (MD5: 30855ab501eaf94cff71ccfecf6bd5e9) ZIP file.
2. Extract the contents of the unofficial ClockworkMod 4.0.0.5 ZIP file using 7-Zip, WinRAR, or other similar file extraction programs into a folder on your PC.
3. Run the install-clockworkmod-windows.batfile:
   • If you’re on Windows, double click on the install-clockworkmod-windows.bat file.
   • If you’re on a Mac, open a terminal window to the directory containing the files, and type:
     • chmod +x install-clockworkmod-mac.sh
     • ./install-clockworkmod-mac.sh
   • If you’re on a Linux, open a terminal window to the directory containing the files, and type:
     • chmod +x install-clockworkmod-linux.sh
     • ./install-clockworkmod-linux.sh

Congratulations! You now have root and custom recovery on your LG Optimus 2X P990. You can launch into Recovery Mode by holding down the Volume Down and the Power buttons until recovery loads. Go on ahead and enjoy the number of custom ROMs, mods, tweaks and hacks that the Android community’s got to offer.