How to Install Android L on your device -Engineering Bhidu

Google launched the all new Android L OS at l/O last month and immediately released the developers preview so that you can try it on your devices. However you don't need to be an expert to Install the L software, all you need to have is a Google Nexus 5 or Nexus 7 tablet with you. The developers preview are only available for these nexus devices and you can easily install it by following some simple steps. I will show you how to update your nexus device with this latest operating system, you can get the SDK from official developers website.

Let me tell you that this is only the preview version of the Operating system and contains may bugs. Google too warns the users that this may harm to your Android devices due to bugs and defects. So you should proceed at your own risk. Follow the steps and Install the Android L on your smartphone.

1] Backup First

As this is not the stable version of Android L OS and thus may contain errors and bugs. So it is suggested to backup your files before proceeding further. Once you have the backup, you may recover all the data if something goes wrong after Installation.

2] Things you will require to Install the software OS

You need the following things to install Android L on your device. Make sure you have all of them before going further.

The Android SDK. You can easily download the Android SDK by clicking here.
The Android L preview factory image for your Nexus 5/Nexus 7 devices that can be downloaded from here.
A software that works with archived files, for eg. 7-Zip or WinRAR.

It is recommended to store the Android L preview factory image in a folder that is easily accessible.

How to Install Android L OS

Now Install the archiver and the Android SDK tools and open the Android tools manager and select the following items to download and Install.

Android SDK platform tools. This contains the tools need for upgrading.
Google USB drivers which contains drivers useful for your Nexus device.

This will help your PC to communicate with the Nexus devices to transfer files and commands etc.

Now open the folder where Android SDK platform tools are located. Here i have saved them in C:|Program Files (X86)/Android/android-sdk/platform-tools and copy the following files to the root folder.

AdbWinApi.dll
AdbWinUsbApi.dll
fastboot.exe

Now its time for some extraction. Extract the Android L preview factory image in the same location, that is the Root folder. A new folder will be created inside the root folder, the name of this folder depends on the device. Copy all the contents from this new folder and paste them in the Root. Now we need to install correct drivers for Nexus 5/ Nexus 7. Following steps will help you out through this.

Connect your Nexus device to the PC, make sure you power it off.
Turn On your device in fastboot mode. To enter in fastboot mode you will have to press either of the two combinations available. Either press volume down+power button or volume up+volume down+power button and you will reach the fastboot mode.
Now go to Computer->Properties->Device manager and identify your device.
Right click on your device and select update driver software. Now browser 'my computer' for your driver software.
Select 'Let me pick form a list of device drivers on my computer.'
From Have Disk... option manually install the android_winusb.inf driver (in my case, its location is C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk\extras\google\usb_driver). Accept any prompts that may appear.
Select the Android ADB Interface option when given the option. Accept any prompts that may appear.

Now since you have followed all the above steps, your PC is now ready to properly communicate with the Nexus device. Inorder to check this, enter fastboot mode and open a command prompt window in the root folder. If all the divers are installed correctly you will see the response in the first window below.

How to install android L for nexus devices

Follow these steps to Install Android L now

Connect your Nexus device to the PC in fastboot mode, if you have not done so already.

Open a command prompt in the Root folder.

(If you have already unlocked the bootloader, you can skip past this step.) Use the fastboot oem unlock command to unlock the bootloader. A prompt will show up on your Nexus device; use the volume keys to select Yes and press the power button to validate. This command will erase all personal data from the device.

Use the flash-all.bat command to perform a clean install of the Android L preview. Alternatively, you can also open the file with the same name from the Root folder.

Optional: use the fastboot oem lock command while in fastboot mode to re-lock the bootloader. This will not alter the state of the data stored on the device. I recommend keeping the bootloader unlocked, at least during your time of testing this build.

Final setup

Done, you device now has the latest Android L OS Installed. Just be careful about the bugs and errors as this is only the preview version and not the stable one. However you can always go back to your KitKat version by following the same steps, just replace the Android L factory image by KitKat factory image.