[Guide] Root/Unroot/Recovery/Unlock Bootloader for the Verizon Galaxy S3 (SCH-i535)

**Chad H** · 08-15-2012, 09:31 PM

Hey guys,
Just traded my Galaxy Nexus for a S3 and I'm loving it! I just have a quick question. I want to root just to rectify a few things(freeze apps and fix wifi bug) and was wondering if doing this method will wipe my phone? I'd love not lose my messages and other items. Any info would be great!

I should also include that I'm using a Mac.

**Cyber Warrior** · 08-15-2012, 10:20 PM

Originally Posted by Chad H

Hey guys,
Just traded my Galaxy Nexus for a S3 and I'm loving it! I just have a quick question. I want to root just to rectify a few things(freeze apps and fix wifi bug) and was wondering if doing this method will wipe my phone? I'd love not lose my messages and other items. Any info would be great!

I should also include that I'm using a Mac.

It will not wipe your phone...

...only if you perform a factory reset will it wipe your "internal storage"... sd card "external storage" is always safe.

This is for Windows only... there's a "simple root" program to where you do everything straight from the phone that you can use if you don't have access to a PC....
http://forums.androidcentral.com/ver...ml#post2030878

OR

Just released a few hours ago is a program that will root AND unlock the bootloader if you're interested.. just be warned it is fairly new so you may want to wait at least a day or two for some feedback as to how the program performs (its for Linux/Mac)
http://forums.androidcentral.com/ver...erizon-s3.html

**PJnc284** · 08-16-2012, 07:28 AM

Originally Posted by Cyber Warrior

(its for Linux/Mac)

It also works fine on Windows (at least the bootloader unlock part, didn't test anything else since I was already rooted)

**bgl321** · 08-16-2012, 02:37 PM

Originally Posted by Cyber Warrior

It will not wipe your phone...

...only if you perform a factory reset will it wipe your "internal storage"... sd card "external storage" is always safe.

This is for Windows only... there's a "simple root" program to where you do everything straight from the phone that you can use if you don't have access to a PC....
http://forums.androidcentral.com/ver...ml#post2030878

OR

Just released a few hours ago is a program that will root AND unlock the bootloader if you're interested.. just be warned it is fairly new so you may want to wait at least a day or two for some feedback as to how the program performs (its for Linux/Mac)
http://forums.androidcentral.com/ver...erizon-s3.html

I've been searching so I don't ask the same questions as others but haven't found this:
1. Is there a beginner's guide to rooting. Don't want to get ahead of myself and brick it!
2. Before rooting either via Odin or Simple Root, do I need to back anything up?
3. How do I restore my phone to how it was pre-root?

**Cyber Warrior** · 08-16-2012, 03:05 PM

1. I always find YouTube videos to be the best as visual guides often help more so you can see what exactly is being done. There's a video in the first post of this thread.

2. You don't necessarily have to back anything up.. but if you wanna play it safe back up anything important like photos and stuff to your computer . MyBackup Pro is also a great app for backing up call logs, text messages, bookmarks, etc.

3. There's nothing to restore... when you root your phone, nothing is erased, once you're done your phone is how you left it except you will now have root access for apps that require root privallages.

As I mentioned there's a video already in the OP of this thread... you can also search YouTube for stuff like "how to root Verizon Galaxy S3" and you'll get a bunch of videos for using ODIN, Simple Root, etc... whatever else you feel like researching.

If you have any other questions feel free to ask.

**bgl321** · 08-16-2012, 03:10 PM

Originally Posted by Cyber Warrior

1. I always find YouTube videos to be the best as visual guides often help more so you can see what exactly is being done. There's a video in the first post of this thread.

2. You don't necessarily have to back anything up.. but if you wanna play it safe back up anything important like photos and stuff to your computer . MyBackup Pro is also a great app for backing up call logs, text messages, bookmarks, etc.

3. There's nothing to restore... when you root your phone, nothing is erased, once you're done your phone is how you left it except you will now have root access for apps that require root privallages.

As I mentioned there's a video already in the OP of this thread... you can also search YouTube for stuff like "how to root Verizon Galaxy S3" and you'll get a bunch of videos for using ODIN, Simple Root, etc... whatever else you feel like researching.

If you have any other questions feel free to ask.

Thanks and I'm sure I will. Probably going to try and root tonight. Thanks again.

Sent from my Galaxy S3

**recDNA** · 08-18-2012, 12:11 PM

You helped me root my tbolt now here you are again!

If I use this process and flash a custom recovery will I get a lock screen unlocked warning?

If I am rooted, stock with cwm recovery and accept an ota I know I will lose root but will I get rid of lockscreen notice? I know if you accept an ota in a rooted tbolt you bork up the phone.

**Cyber Warrior** · 08-18-2012, 12:56 PM

Originally Posted by recDNA

You helped me root my tbolt now here you are again!

If I use this process and flash a custom recovery will I get a lock screen unlocked warning?

If I am rooted, stock with cwm recovery and accept an ota I know I will lose root but will I get rid of lockscreen notice? I know if you accept an ota in a rooted tbolt you bork up the phone.

Its hard to say... It seems the custom lock screen is caused by when the phone recognizes something has changed within the system.

When I first rooted... I used invisibleks method and used adb to push the recovery to the phone.. At the time we were unable to use ROM Manager to flash recovery... So I had the custom lock screen.

When root66 came out... I restored my phone back to stock condition and re-rooted with the new img file (root66) and then this time used ROM Manager to get recovery... There was no custom lock screen this time around.

Next.. I flashed a custom stock ROM... That caused the custom lock screen to return.

Finally.. I recently just unlocked the bootloader and now the custom lock screen is gone again... So it's hard to say, I've heard freezing/deleting system files with Titanium could also cause the custom lock screen. You could always easily return to stock using ODIN which will put the phone back to factory out of the box conditions if you're worried about the custom lock screen.

As for OTAs affecting the lock screen... I have no idea.. As you can see above its been kind of unpredictable.

**Ricky Babalu** · 08-18-2012, 01:04 PM

Originally Posted by Cyber Warrior

Its hard to say... It seems the custom lock screen is caused by when the phone recognizes something has changed within the system.

When I first rooted... I used invisibleks method and used adb to push the recovery to the phone.. At the time we were unable to use ROM Manager to flash recovery... So I had the custom lock screen.

When root66 came out... I restored my phone back to stock condition and re-rooted with the new img file (root66) and then this time used ROM Manager to get recovery... There was no custom lock screen this time around.

Next.. I flashed a custom stock ROM... That caused the custom lock screen to return.

Finally.. I recently just unlocked the bootloader and now the custom lock screen is gone again... So it's hard to say, I've heard freezing/deleting system files with Titanium could also cause the custom lock screen. You could always easily return to stock using ODIN which will put the phone back to factory out of the box conditions if you're worried about the custom lock screen.

[HL]As for OTAs affecting the lock screen.[/HL].. I have no idea.. As you can see above its been kind of unpredictable.

If you use Casual for Verizon S3 to unlock the bootloader, never accept any OTA, it will bork your phone.

**recDNA** · 08-18-2012, 01:56 PM

Do you think it would be worth mentioning backing up your IMEI before rooting? Great thread. Just a noob idea.

**markespo55** · 08-21-2012, 08:09 PM

Something is wrong with my phone. Downloaded all the files and drivers. Opened Odin and it didn't recognize my file I downloaded. So I turned my phone off. And then back on and now my phone will perform extremely slow. Lag a bunch and keeps saying that "newbay service isn't working" what's going on?

**Aroundthecoroner** · 08-21-2012, 08:54 PM

Try making sure you have the proper drivers installed for your phone and you should be in download mode in order for odin to flash files to it. Hope that helps!

Sent from my SCH-I510

**Cyber Warrior** · 08-21-2012, 09:04 PM

New Bay Service is associated with backup assistant plus... is it possible your phone is in a sync loop?.. that would definitely bring the phone to a crawl... open Settings and check Accounts & Sync and see if the sync wheels are non stop spinning.

By the way I don't think your problem has anything to do with rooting the phone.

**Cyber Warrior** · 08-21-2012, 09:17 PM

Originally Posted by recDNA

Do you think it would be worth mentioning backing up your IMEI before rooting? Great thread. Just a noob idea.

I've never done it before but its only a concern when flashing ROMs... not rooting a phone.

[Info]Why you should back up your IMEI:
You can sometimes flash a ROM and you will lose your IMEI. This is important, as the IMEI is what identifies your device on Verizon's network. There is now ways to restore it even without a backup, but doing so will leave you in permanent roaming. This isn't that big of a deal as Verizon doesn't charge for domestic roaming, but we have yet to see long-term effects.[/info]

Honestly... I wouldn't worry about it. Here's more info on it though:

**bondo06092** · 08-23-2012, 12:11 AM

went to download the Rooted Stock image and the file has been deleted from the Megashare site. Just an FYI

**Craig7** · 08-23-2012, 12:45 AM

Same here /\

**Bigrooster** · 08-30-2012, 11:08 PM

Is there another link to download root program? Thanks

**Cyber Warrior** · 08-31-2012, 06:37 AM

I have just updated the OP with a new link. If you can, please create mirrors and I will post the links in the OP as well. There is too much traffic at one link and they get taken down very often.
Thanks

**MikeNY** · 08-31-2012, 10:58 PM

Thanks for this, my 1st time rooting anything and it worked perfect took less than 10 minutes for Odin to finish. I also downloaded Rom Manager and installed CWM Recovery that way. It then asked if I wanted to purchase the Touch version and I said no. I searched on the web for it and see it is available for free for download but only for GSM not our model. Do I need the Touch one? Thanks.

**MikeNY** · 08-31-2012, 11:03 PM

One thing, I seem to have this little circle follwing my finger allover the screen..what is that and how do I get rid of that? Thanks.

EDIT - fixed it - I had to go to "show touches" and uncheck. No idea why that got checked after root.

**Cyber Warrior** · 09-01-2012, 12:02 AM

Originally Posted by DieselNY

Thanks for this, my 1st time rooting anything and it worked perfect took less than 10 minutes for Odin to finish. I also downloaded Rom Manager and installed CWM Recovery that way. It then asked if I wanted to purchase the Touch version and I said no. I searched on the web for it and see it is available for free for download but only for GSM not our model. Do I need the Touch one? Thanks.

You don't need the Touch version.. its a personal preference. Instead of using the volume and power button to scroll/select in CWM Recovery... you can use the touch screen for making selections.

When ROM Manager first became supported by the GS3.. the Touch version worked except for the exception of making Nandroid Backups. I believe that has been fixed though through*recent updates.
Here's some info on nandroids and using ROM Manager.. its the same principal for all devices: [Guide] How To Backup, Restore & Install ROMs on The Galaxy Nexus

Here's what the Touch version looks like:

**PJnc284** · 09-05-2012, 02:01 PM

Originally Posted by DieselNY

Thanks for this, my 1st time rooting anything and it worked perfect took less than 10 minutes for Odin to finish. I also downloaded Rom Manager and installed CWM Recovery that way. It then asked if I wanted to purchase the Touch version and I said no. I searched on the web for it and see it is available for free for download but only for GSM not our model. Do I need the Touch one? Thanks.

The latest cwm for any device can be downloaded . for Verizon Galaxy S3. You need the paid version to be able to flash CWM touch via rom manager but you can still download it from the link above and manually flash it using adb or terminal.

**flyt100** · 09-13-2012, 10:17 PM

Anybody willing to help?

Had ODIN say fail about 10 min in twice. Now stuck at firmware update start.. boot.img.

Update:

Ended up finally pulling the plug. Moved to my laptop instead of my desktop, and was able to get it to work. I'm still sweating though

**Paladin2016** · 09-17-2012, 12:15 AM

Thanks Cyber for posting... rooting was 8 mins long. While my wife gets annoyed with me hacking the phones she enjoyed the 8 minutes of snuggling on the couch! Time to check out CM10...

**pwoznic** · 09-19-2012, 02:44 PM

I'm going to try this after dinner today. I'm glad that rooting does not wipe anything and just adds the superuser app since I plan on trying out titanium and freezing bloat like I did on my tbolt.

I'm curious though.. I've heard about people getting some kind of OTA. I have not seen anything on my S3 about OTA. Is there a way to check if it was stealth installed, such as some kind of text in the UI?

Edit: Ok did it before dinner and it was like 8-10 minutes.