[GUIDE] UPDATED: How to Root Your Sprint Galaxy S3

[meyerweb#CB]

I don't know about the videos. The ones from QBKing have a good reputation, but I've never tried them. The method described in the beginning of this thread works fine, though.

 

[meyerweb#CB]

Just thought I'd mention that I recently unrooted (using Skunkape's unrooting method in this forum) while trying to debug a particular problem, and then rerooted using this method. As it did the first time, this worked flawlessly for me. Thanks again, Skunk!

 

[KonQuesting]

I'm having the same problem with the SD Mount error. I will research..update you guys

 

[meyerweb#CB]

Are you using TWRP? What version? There are newer ones than what's linked in this thread that might be worth a try. Or try using CWM. Or if you're using CWM, try TWRP.

 

[chynagenius]

Hey guys! I am have an issue with my s3. I got to the recovery step but my sd won't mount (internal nor external) when cwm starts its says:
E: Can't mount /cache/recovery/command
e: Can't mount /cache/recovery/log
e: Can't open /cache/recovery/log
etc...

Then i tried to mount the sd and it says can't mount it. :'(

someone please help or guide to me to help myself....thanks



P.S ALSO TRIED TO DO A FACTORY RESET AND IT WON'T LET ME.

MODEL # SPH-L710
VER: 4.1.2
BASEBAND:L710VPBMD4

 

[meyerweb#CB]

There have been a few people report this, but I've never seen it. I'd suggest starting over with TWRP. It's more flexible than CWM anyway.

 

[whotakesem]

I spent twelve hours today trying to root my new GS3. I registered to say thanks to everyone who has offered their input and to relay my experience for others.

I ordered the phone off Amazon last week and I activated it on Tuesday 8/22/2013.

This morning I tried rooting it with just Odin, some one-click method I found, and failed due to "can't mount sd card" error in recovery. Two subsequent rooting methods I tried failed with the same error message. I searched google and read forums for hours. I found some threads where people had similar problems with encrypted phones, but I verified mine isn't encrypted. (Thank goodness I decided to keep searching instead of trying to use Odin to push a factory reset. What a waste of time that would've been.) Then I found the thread where some devs had uploaded a few trial image files to push with adb, but I was unsuccessful there of course because I hadn't gained root access (su not found).

Finally I found a post in this forum from a guy who had precisely the same situation as myself, and he'd successfully rooted a new SG3 via the Samsung GS3 Toolkit. I tried that method and it worked.

I don't know why that worked and none of the others worked. I'm a super noob, so I have absolutely no insight. Maybe some of yall have some ideas as to why the toolkit method is the only way to gain root access on these newer S3's. Hopefully tutorials can be amended to include that information. It sure did take a lot of searching and reading for me to figure out! *whew*

 

[meyerweb#CB]

^^^
Thanks for posting this. I wonder if Samsung, or Sprint, has made some changes to the phone to make it harder to root. Can you provide a link to the post that references using the GS3 Toolkit? I'd like to take a look at it.

 

[reno1217]

ok i need help here bad and fast! i have followed the steps in this guide to the t. everything connected and installed fine. but when i reboot after the root. the phone is freezing, random rebooting, locking up. cant do anything on it.. what is wierd is after the root i was getting the accesability on crap i was finally able to disable it and it quit doing it. but anyway now i am stuck with a phone that might as well be a brick. it locks up about 10 secs after it reboots and its done cant go any farther. i used the clock work mode. and installed from external sd. worked fine. but bad problems after root. please help asap. phone is only 2 weeks old and is sprint on 4.1.2

i am refering to the guide on the first page of this thread.

 

[meyerweb#CB]

Have you tried doing a factory reset from recovery? If not, that's where I'd start.

 

[reno1217]

ok think i fixed it.. i flashed from odin with a file called cf-auto-root d2spr and it is all working great now.

 

[meyerweb#CB]

Where did you find that file?

 

[whotakesem]

^^^
Thanks for posting this. I wonder if Samsung, or Sprint, has made some changes to the phone to make it harder to root. Can you provide a link to the post that references using the GS3 Toolkit? I'd like to take a look at it.

Here is a link to a thread I referenced when using the GS3 Toolkit:

[SAMSUNG GALAXY S3 UNIFIED TOOLKIT V7.0] Drivers, Backup, Root, Recovery + MORE [GSM] - xda-developers

And here is a link to the youtube video I followed that provided more specific instructions on using the toolkit for rooting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhSSmdqAXRM

Deepest apologies if you have to copy and paste that ... I don't remember how to enter it so you can click on it. Really, from the bottom of my heart.

Now, I have found that rooting it (that way, at least) disables the wifi on my phone. It simply won't turn on so that I can scan for networks. I am also having other issues getting CWM to work (unable-to-mount errors, but TWRP works) as well as flashing custom roms (each version of Cyanogen I've tried has resulted in a bootloop). My temporary fix has been to flash a rooted version of the stock rom, which boots successfully and in which wifi works just fine. Next I plan on trying to flash some other types of custom roms, and if they don't work, I will flash stock and try other rooting methods. *sigh*

 

[meyerweb#CB]

If WiFi works with a stock rooted ROM, it doesn't sound like the problem is with the rooting method. Unless you want a "vanilla Android" experience, try MOAR and/or Wicked Sensations ROMs. Both offer great performance, lots of customizations, and are very reliable and stable.

 

[dcharleyultra]

Where did you find that file?

This is the thread I use:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1963812

Swyped from my SPH-L710

 

[Skunkape60]

The newer gs3's come with protection against rooting flashing. The cwm and twrp recoveries have been hacked to allow the mounting. My root kit on xda has the proper files in it. I may update this guide tomorrow with new links to the hacked recoveries if I can remember.

You can find my root kit here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=34579827

 

[t2ddroid]

Just wanna say thank you!! Thank you Thank you. Finally after 20+ ticks on the counter my phone is rooted. The updated recovery and rootkit worked first attempt.
Phone: Boost S3 purchased 8/11

 

[Cisco1989]

Hello so I have successfully rooted my new sprint GS3 after having some issues at first with not being able to root properly due to some new update that had added files or something to new phones. I was able to locate and use some newer method from a thread that contained a new root kit for my model. I checked root checker after flashing in odin and device is rooted, but every time I try to flash a custom rom or gapps that I downloaded from goo manager it tells me its successfully done (this is after backing up files, wiping, and installing new rom). However when I boot back into system it shows the Samsung logo then the blue CM guy but it just stays there and doesn't go anywhere else. I'm not sure if I've missed something or I if I am just doing something wrong. Please help!! Thank you.

 

[Savage Kain]

Well all went as listed till recovery. Just says SD cant be mounted. Any suggestions?

 

[meyerweb#CB]

Well all went as listed till recovery. Just says SD cant be mounted. Any suggestions?

See post #538 above.