[MAC METHOD] Root,Unroot & Unlock Your VZ Galaxy Nexus

**SpaceHippie** · 12-20-2011, 11:25 AM

If your phone hangs on the bootscreen longer than 10 minutes. Do a battery pull. If it boots up fine after that, your all good. If it hangs again, unroot and re-lock just to be on the safe side. Then start over.

**jmac24#ac** · 12-20-2011, 11:50 AM

Worked great. Flawless install.

**mooseknuckles** · 12-20-2011, 01:17 PM

Thanks to everyone for all of their tips, I was able to figure out my root issue by downloading from the second source above and leaving the file in my d/l folder. Cheers!

**malevolenceofman** · 12-20-2011, 02:03 PM

Trying to unlock the bootloader... i enter the command into the terminal and I get "error: device not found"

help please?

**SpaceHippie** · 12-20-2011, 02:41 PM

Originally Posted by malevolenceofman

Trying to unlock the bootloader... i enter the command into the terminal and I get "error: device not found"

help please?

Make sure USB debugging is turned on. Before you unlock the bootloader. You should have been able to put your phone into fastboot through terminal. If you didn't make sure your phone is recognized.

**malevolenceofman** · 12-20-2011, 02:46 PM

Debugging is toggled on. Downloaded the file and unzipped onto my desktop. I have no idea what I'm missing.

**SpaceHippie** · 12-20-2011, 02:51 PM

hmm. lets make sure your all caught up.

You downloaded the file. You extract adb-fastboot to your desktop. Make sure the folder name is " adb-fastboot "

You enter the first code. Your phone should reboot into the bootloader.

Then you enter the second code.

Your phone should give you the option to unlock. Then you should be good.

**SpaceHippie** · 12-20-2011, 02:52 PM

My phone has been running unrooted for the past 2 days. I just re-ran this method and i unlocked and rooted in less than 10 minutes. So i know the method is fine.

**malevolenceofman** · 12-20-2011, 03:43 PM

Yea its not happening for me. Still says device not found. Is there a driver im supposed to install? Sdk setup?

**Jonny Wishbone** · 12-20-2011, 04:36 PM

WOOOTTTT!!!!

Ive had my gnex since launch and have been dieing to root and add a new rom. Unfortunatly my old pc wouldn't boot up any more. This guide is a godsend.

**SpaceHippie** · 12-20-2011, 09:42 PM

Originally Posted by malevolenceofman

Yea its not happening for me. Still says device not found. Is there a driver im supposed to install? Sdk setup?

no. the folder has adb inside. Macs need no drivers. I would try another usb cord or maybe a different computer?

**wakeborder556** · 12-21-2011, 01:26 AM

Originally Posted by allprochris

In case you still haven't been able to figure this out, I was able to do it by simply leaving the superboot folder in downloads rather than moving it to the desktop and opening the terminal and entering the following:

cd downloads

In cd downloads then enter
cd r3-galaxynexus-superboot then enter
chmod +x install-superboot-mac.sh then enter
./install-superboot-mac.sh then enter

Hopefully this helps as I was about ready to ram my head through the wall it was so frustrating

thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

thank you thank you thank you

was stuck for an hour

**Andrew Ruffolo** · 12-21-2011, 09:41 AM

Video tutorials:
Unlocking Bootloader:
[YT]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tF-Sz_yjYI[/YT]
Rooting device:
[YT]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyiCjdoUheU[/YT]

**edwardpmccain** · 12-21-2011, 02:21 PM

it seems that I'm having some issues with unrooting and locking my nexus. I have the the android sdk and the recovery image downloaded but can't get the commands to work in terminal. please help

sorry I'm a noob with rooting and terminal so I'm learning as i go

thanks in advance

**jmac24#ac** · 12-22-2011, 09:40 AM

Well. My flawless install went flawed! I made a nand. No problem. Poking along a few days later I decide I will try 4.0.3. Go to backup and get a Superuser has stopped, phone reboots to recovery (not clockwork). Uninstalled the SU update I had, tried again. No go, Pushed it to phone again. Got one backup and then same SU has stopped. So I found on market there is a SU update checker due to some signature issues. It said everything is peachy, forced the fix again. Same SU error....... I am going to take it back to stock image and re root unless anyone has a suggestion?

Thanks!

**sprinkles.johnson** · 12-22-2011, 11:02 AM

followed directions exactly. stuck on google screen (white letters) and an unlocked pad lock at the bottom for about 15 minutes. How long does it take? When should i get worried?

**adcustom** · 12-22-2011, 01:03 PM

I followed all directions to a T and after installing superboot my phone will get past the Google logo, but then after 2-3 seconds of the animation, it reboots. It keeps doing that over and over for the past 10 minutes. What should I do?

Edit: Nevermind. I'm fine. I just locked the bootloader and unlocked it again. Now I'm good to go.

**nadan** · 12-22-2011, 02:53 PM

Mine's stuck on google logo for 15 min now. How long did it take before your's completed?

**SpaceHippie** · 12-22-2011, 03:05 PM

The phone should not hang at the google screen for more than 10 minutes. If it does, do a battery pull. If that doesn't fix it. Then re-lock and start over.

**Juststef** · 12-23-2011, 12:49 AM

Thank you your guide helped a great deal.

Sooo...How do we reverse the process on our? As I'm positive at sometime in the near future, I will either brick my phone or return everything back to factory settings.

Thank You

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

**federalreserve** · 12-23-2011, 01:45 AM

Thanks guys! I used your method of rooting via superboot and it worked well. I pulled my battery on a Verizon LTE Nexus after about 20 min, restarted, and now I have Superuser and root.

**Juststef** · 12-23-2011, 04:36 PM

I was wondering if you could include a desktop image of your terminal script? This way we can see exactly how it looks on you screen.

As I have minimal experience at scripting and I know I'm not alone, it would be extra helpful to always include when to use the enter key and the space key on the keyboard.

When viewing multiple lines of script, it's not always clear if it's the actual screen that we're using, was the enter key used, or the space key. Isn't there a space needed after the cd command? Example; cd (click space key), followed by the path to the file.

The instructions for rerooting the phone, does that include the bootloader? Is it the sdk image file we need to reroot? Although you refer to the image file changing, could you suggest a link that you would use to check for updates?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

**Cbarry05** · 12-24-2011, 01:13 AM

Thanks for the upload but i freaked out and might have pulled the battery too soon. My mac wont recognize my nexus. Im a newbie and have no idea what im doing. Please help im angry and embarrassed

**Juststef** · 12-24-2011, 02:00 AM

Originally Posted by Cbarry05

Thanks for the upload but i freaked out and might have pulled the battery too soon. My mac wont recognize my nexus. Im a newbie and have no idea what im doing. Please help im angry and embarrassed

I don't know if this will help your mac recognize your GN. Download android file transfer. Just Google it. Launch the application and plug in your phone with the usb cable. Your phone will appear as if it's an additional drive on your desktop.

Don't freak out. Almost anything you do to your phone in terms of software can be reversed. It might take a while with trial and error. Between yourself and fellow forum members, it will all work out.

We were all new to this at some point. No need to be embarrassed. It's between you, a computer, a phone, and a bunch of people who you're not likely to meet.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

**seanubis** · 12-24-2011, 12:37 PM

I followed this procedure and successfully unlocked and rooted my GN, but doing so seems to have also wiped my apps and data.

I've only had the phone a couple of days, so it's not a big deal for me to set everything up again, but.... was the reset expected? I didn't see anything in these steps that mentioned data loss.