Update A Rooted Nexus 5 with Lollipop 5.0 to 5.0.1

Google released update 5.0.1 just few weeks after the major upgrade to Lollipop 5.0. A minor update that I thought I could just let the OTA to run and complete the upgrade. Unfortunately, something happened...

If you encountered the same, read on for remedy.

My phone was upgraded to Lollipop via OTA without hiccup, rooted and remained on stock recovery. I don't need a custom recovery as I don't mess with custom ROMs, all I need is a rooted phone to enable me to run some apps for my AppRadio. Therefore I am still getting OTA from Google directly but this time the OTA failed due to a move by Google. Read this article to understand, written in quite layman format. Look like manual upgrade is inevitable in the future. For this particular 5.0.1 minor upgrade, obviously I like to retain all my apps and data. Fortunately it's possible with Nexus Root Toolkit.

First, head to Wugfresh's website to download the toolkit. Install and make sure your PC can connect to the phone via adb command, if not follow the troubleshooting guide in NRT. Complete this step before move on to next step.

Go to Options > Flash Stock > Enable 'No Wipe Mode'. Click Yes on the warning and Apply.

Go back to main screen. Select the correct status of the phone (my Nexus 5 was running normally), click Flash Stock + Unroot. You should see a message with "without wiping userdata and cache", click OK. Otherwise cancel to go back to Options to verify the setting. 

NRT should be smart to pick the right image. 5.0.1 is LRX22C... 

Click OK and upgrade will begin the upgrade process with a command prompt...

Sit back and relax. The entire process should take no more than 10 minutes, my case was no more than 5 minutes. Read carefully the messages on the screen for any error notes. You're good if everything looks identical like mine.

Once done, the phone took a while to boot up and to display the lock screen, depending on how many apps you have. All data and settings should be retained including USB debugging in Developer Options. Verify the phone is upgraded to 5.0.1 in About Phone...

Final step is to re-root...

Go back to NRT and click Root. Again, I am on stock recovery as I don't mess around with custom ROMs.

Welcome to rooted 5.0.1!