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

[PJnc284]

Re: [Guide] Root & Recovery for the Verizon Galaxy S III (SCH-i53

Mainly if you are having issues and need to return to stock for warranty purposes or Verizon to help troubleshoot a problem as they don't support rooted/rom'd devices. Some for some reason or another also like to return back to stock to get the latest OTA's when they're pushed out but the dev community will usually have a rooted version available for flashing anyways.

As for Odin or simple root, it's all personal preference. I've used both routes and don't see one being any easier or more foolproof than the other. Odin doesn't require any special set up but it's downside is that the tar file is significantly larger than what's required for the simple root method. Odin does however require less user interaction though as it's basically just hit start and go find something else to do for 10-15min. All of the commands are automated with simple root but it still requires constant monitoring and responding to prompts when needed.

 

[jwrosen]

Re: [Guide] Root & Recovery for the Verizon Galaxy S III (SCH-i53

Ok that helps me... thank you VERY much for all your help. I'm a bit nervous about doing this but I think the results will be worth the nerves. You've been a huge help to me I appreciate it.

 

[ihatevz1234]

Re: [Guide] Root & Recovery for the Verizon Galaxy S III (SCH-i53

ok tried the method about 100 times i clearly am a noob and very frustrated is there anyone out there who could take a few mins out of their day to gchat with me to get this going???

 

[PJnc284]

Re: [Guide] Root & Recovery for the Verizon Galaxy S3 (SCH-i53

ok tried the method about 100 times i clearly am a noob and very frustrated is there anyone out there who could take a few mins out of their day to gchat with me to get this going???

Did you get it figured out?

 

[frizo]

Re: [Guide] Root & Recovery for the Verizon Galaxy S III (SCH-i53

Awesome, this worked without any problems at all.

Thanks so much for the walk-through!

 

[Chad H]

Re: [Guide] Root & Recovery for the Verizon Galaxy S III (SCH-i53

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]

Re: [Guide] Root & Recovery for the Verizon Galaxy S3 (SCH-i53

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/ve...erizon-galaxy-s-iii-sch-i535.html#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/ve...22-bootloader-unlocked-casual-verizon-s3.html

 

[PJnc284]

Re: [Guide] Root & Recovery for the Verizon Galaxy S3 (SCH-i53

(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]

Re: [Guide] Root & Recovery for the Verizon Galaxy S3 (SCH-i53

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/ve...erizon-galaxy-s-iii-sch-i535.html#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/ve...22-bootloader-unlocked-casual-verizon-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]

Re: [Guide] Root & Recovery for the Verizon Galaxy S III (SCH-i53

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]

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]

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]

Re: [Guide] Root & Recovery for the Verizon Galaxy S3 (SCH-i53

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]

Re: [Guide] Root & Recovery for the Verizon Galaxy S3 (SCH-i53

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.

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

 

[recDNA]

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

 

[markespo55]

Re: [Guide] Root & Recovery for the Verizon Galaxy S III (SCH-i53

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]

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]

Re: [Guide] Root & Recovery for the Verizon Galaxy S III (SCH-i53

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]

Re: [Guide] Root & Recovery for the Verizon Galaxy S3 (SCH-i53

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:
[Tutorial] IMEI - Backup NV with QPST - US Variants - Galaxy S3 - RootzWiki

 

[bondo06092]

Re: [Guide] Root & Recovery for the Verizon Galaxy S III (SCH-i53

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