I'm not a professional on this topic, but as far as I understood the process you basically booted into the recovery instead of flashing the custom recovery which enabled you to flash the superuser. That method left bootloader and recovery stock, and the only downside was, that the next OTA might unroot your device (which is basically the same as the normal method). It was even supposed to be doable without a system wipe.
Thing is, when I stumbled upon that guide I was a fan until I read there that it doesn't work with 30O or later. I didn't save the link for reference, but I think it was something similar to this guide:
https://forums.oneplus.net/threads/root-guide-oneplus-one-doesnt-wipe-your-data.66270/
Which is refering to @Martin Hotmann. Most likely I read his guide, at least I remember a guide which had both "paths" to follow through, the "usual" and the one I just mentioned.
Edit: I have to correct myself, it was probably the guide from @Chromium , I did save it as "the regular method" even though he described both (see point3. rooting). Chromium's rooting guide
Edit 2:
Found more to it, even though I still don't see exact the same guide.
It basically boils down whether or not you can use
Code:
fastboot boot <custom_recovery.img>
. If you can boot into the custom recovery without the need to replace the stock recovery, you can unlock the bootloader and install the superuser (even without the need to wipe the data, because you basically have the same system and recovery). The conditions when you can use the command, and when it fails are still a mystery.
Last edited: Aug 29, 2014
