HOW-TO OEM unlock the Galaxy Nexus

[scb88]

When I try to install that driver it says "the inf file you selected does not support this method if installation" Any ideas?

 

[JoeUserTX]

When I try to install that driver it says "the inf file you selected does not support this method if installation" Any ideas?

Then you may have to navigate to it via the Device Manager (choosing the 'Update Driver' option), as mentioned in earlier posts. The INF that was installed with the SDK would not work with mine; the one I downloaded from xda-developers however, did.

 

[bphelminski]

Yep, I believe so. After I entered the command in the command prompt, it executed in just a second or two. Then when I unplugged and rebooted, it sat on the opening boot screen (with the colored tiled spinning around) for longer than normal. But then it went right into the normal boot and was as if the phone had never been used before. Weeeeeeee!

 

[JoeUserTX]

I had mine unlocking successfully, but I didn't wait for the animated graphics during booting to finish (thought there was a problem and unplugged the battery to re-do the whole process all over again).

Second time through, now. Watching boot graphics and leaving it the hell alone this time, lol. At least I have practice locking and unlocking now...

 

[xelhabb]

JoeUser,

I have the Samsung Drivers installed, the Samsung folder is there. But nothing is visible in the Device Manager. I still get "waiting for device" every time in command prompt. I am sure I am stuck because of the driver issue. Any advice? I've tried right clicking in the files but I don't get any install option.

HELP!

 

[JoeUserTX]

I had zero luck with the Samsung USB driver. As a matter of fact, it behaved exactly as you state; it's like the the driver never truly installs.

Try downloading the USB driver from the link I posted earlier, the driver from the xda-developer site. That one does work, it's the one that I used.

Save and extract the contents of that zip file to your hard drive (I just extracted it to the C: drive, so the folder ended up being "C:\usb_driver" after instructing WinZip to extract the contents of the file to the C: drive). Once you have done that, when you plug the USB cable back in it may or may not find the USB drivers initially. If it doesn't, then instruct the driver installation dialogs to look in that new folder for the driver.

 

[jharo]

i'm getting that 'the adb tool has moved to platform-tools/If you don't see this directory in you SDK, launch the SDK and AVD Manager...' I can't launch them.what's up?

 

[Spdyrel]

I don't have a Galaxy Nexus (yet) but with the help of Google here is how I found how to do most of the instructions for Mac.
1. Install SDK: Go to same link (here) and select the mac version
2. For the Path Variable part follow this link, only follow the "Download SDK" part and "Set the Path" part.
3. For fastboot I am unsure if that site's version will work for the Galaxy Nexus but I wouldn't recommend it. So this is as far as I can go.
Again I do NOT have a Galaxy Nexus and you should probably wait until an official walkthrough is available but if you are willing to take the risk for other Mac (and I'm sure Linux too) users then be my guest and report anything back here (or in a new thread if you feel it's needed)

 

[JoeUserTX]

i'm getting that 'the adb tool has moved to platform-tools/If you don't see this directory in you SDK, launch the SDK and AVD Manager...' I can't launch them.what's up?

The SDK Manager is located under the C:\Program Files\Android\android-sdk folder. It will list the components that have been installed for the SDK. If you don't see the platform-tools package is installed, then select its checkbox and install it. An easy way to tell if the package is installed is to verify that you have the following file folder: C:\Program Files\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools

Edit: Ah, helps to read the original message, sorry. If you're having problems launching the SDK Manager, then double-check that you have Java 6 installed. It could be that the SDK Manager requires the latest version of Java be present on your machine...

 

[jharo]

The SDK Manager is located under the C:\Program Files\Android\android-sdk folder. It will list the components that have been installed for the SDK. If you don't see the platform-tools package is installed, then select its checkbox and install it. An easy way to tell if the package is installed is to verify that you have the following file folder: C:\Program Files\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools

Edit: Ah, helps to read the original message, sorry. If you're having problems launching the SDK Manager, then double-check that you have Java 6 installed. It could be that the SDK Manager requires the latest version of Java be present on your machine...

OK, first thanks for you help. I've checked and I do not have the platform-tools folder, so I need to install it. I've gone to the Java website and it tells me that I have the recommended Java installed. I'm dead in the water.

 

[jharo]

Ok, maybe I need to give a little more info on what I have. Inthe android-sdk file I have:

add-ons
platforms
tools
AVD Mananger
SDK Manager
SDK Readme
unistall

Do I need to?:
1. Install the ADT Plugin for Eclipse
2. Add Android 4.0 Platform

 

[JoeUserTX]

Double-click on the SDK Manager exe to launch it. If you can't do that, then you need to solve that issue, first. I would double-check your machine's PATH environment variable to ensure that you have the fully-qualified folder names in place (the examples given earlier in the thread specify C:\Program Files (x64)\... but on my machine I simply have C:\Program Files\..., so double-check the folder names)

The SDK Manager is what you use to load the newer package platform-tools, which contains the other phone-related files you require.

I'm sure that there's someone else on the forums that is more intimate with the Android SDK packages than me (I'm just starting out in the SDK), that might be able to point you to the resource to manually install the platform-tools package, instead of using SDK Manager. But, the manager is preferable, as it sync's everything up by pointing to the proper repositories for the latest source.

 

[whodatt]

"To those having trouble getting the "Android 1.0" driver to install and not finding Samsung. Not only did I install the Samsung driver posted a couple posts above, but also: when right clicking on the Android 1.0 device and updating driver, then choosing "Let me pick from a list" I then chose "All Devices". There were about 6 different entries for Samsung (Samsung, Samsung Co., etc) and one of them had the Android ADB Interface entry, which worked. Originally I was just looking under "portable devices", which isn't it.

Hope that helps!"



This is the only thing that worked for me.. the samsung drivers would not work at all. THANKS!

 

[stpete]

Been at it for a while. I've pretty much done everything and don't have a device that shows ADB or that works. I've been working my way through all the Samsung Android devices on my computer, but it is dozens. None specifically say ADB.

 

[jharo]

Got all the way to the command prompt, entered "fastboot oem unlock" and got this error message:

"This program can't start because AdbWinApi.dll is missing from your computer"

What now?

Ok, I got to this point too and am getting the same error. Any luck yet?

 

[TeBear77]

Anyone getting a reboot loop after doing this??? Mine is any instructions on how to revert?

 

[sdruss83]

I'm going insane. I've downloaded so many different drivers and pdanet and sdk and nothing is working! Still getting "waiting for device".

Can someone tell me how to find and delete all these drivers I downloaded so I can start from square one? Unless you have a better idea?

HEEELLPPPP PPLLEEAASSEE!!!

 

[zmenchhofer]

you need to install the correct device drivers hit me up on gtalk if you are still haveing issues

 

[stpete]

I figured it out for me. I downloaded the drivers in the link from JoeUserTX. But, his instructions for installation didn't work. When I plugged in the phone and went to device manager, I selected browse my computer for drivers. Then I browsed to the unzipped version of the drivers and the driver loaded. I suspect they are the same drivers as loaded by the SDK, so you can probably browse there and be successful.

 

[deviouslylost]

Anyone getting a reboot loop after doing this??? Mine is any instructions on how to revert?

I locked the boot loader using the steps from the front page and typing "fastboot oem lock" (without quotes)

Unplugged then power cycled to fastboot

I then went through the steps again and this time made sure it was unplugged before selecting "Yes" on the boot loader unlock screen.

After it made it to the boot animation it took a couple of minutes before it booted up.

Hope this helps.