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Root [Verizon] [Guide] Step-by-Step Rooting & Flashing

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I went into EZ Recovery and picked the CWM and then hit the REBOOT NOW. Once to the main screen I picked the backup. Is this what's considered as the Nandroid backup?

On a side note, when I go to pick the Synergy ROM...it takes me to a page and I can pick a .zip file or a .zip.md5 file. What's the difference?

yeah a backup in recovery is a Nandroid...and when downloading Synergy you want the larger file
 
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Is the EZ REcovery App the same as ROM Manager? I am looking thru it and it gives me the option to "Flash ClockworkMod Recovery" and 6.0.1.2 is Current one
Along with other items like Reboot into Recovery, & Download ROMs.
Sounds like this is the same as EZ Recovery? I just dont want to download it and have two apps causing a conflict.

EZ Recovery is NOT the same as ROM Manager...but it performs some of the same functions...they will not conflict with each other...i have them both installed...
 
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2. Recovery: Many ways to do this as well, EZ Recovery is still the easiest
2b. Make a stock Nandroid in case anything goes wrong and you want to get back to stock(i dont make Nandroids and have never used them...but you really should)


By making the back up in 2b do you mean that we are to select the "Stock" button in the EZ Recovery App before going back and Flashing CWM 6 (or TW)

Another step that is confusing me and keeping me from moving forward is the clearing cache/davik step. Sideout member mentioned it but I guess after reading thru this Thread 3 times I've blocked it out of my head! Is this a step done while in recovery mode?​
 
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By making the back up in 2b do you mean that we are to select the "Stock" button in the EZ Recovery App before going back and Flashing CWM 6 (or TW)

Another step that is confusing me and keeping me from moving forward is the clearing cache/davik step. Sideout member mentioned it but I guess after reading thru this Thread 3 times I've blocked it out of my head! Is this a step done while in recovery mode?


2b = in recovery, make a backup (nandroid) of your current touchwiz stock rom.
clearing cache/davik = in recovery under advanced menu
 
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Hey guys, nearly total noob here! I've recently become the new owner of this nice device (SG3) and came over from the EVO 4G phone and forum.

I am into the root process via the flash method (Method 2) and have a qick question regarding step 4. Should the device be connected to the pc while this Tixati program is downloading the VRALG1 file? I just realized that I DO NOT have the device connected to the pc but Tixati is doing its thing downloading the VRALG1 file! Thanks for the help...:)

EDIT: NM
 
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Short answer: no.

There is much debate on this topic and it largely depends on the store itself and your relationship to the folks there.

Having said that, unless the VZW employee specifically looks for root access, they really won't know (the about page doesn't change). Even if they did know, would it be relevant and would they care?

Flashing stock ROMS or even some, at least, custom ROMs doesn't increase the counter. I don't know what actually increments it.

Personally, if my phone were in such sad shape that I would actually bring it to the store, I would have put bone stock ROM back onto it for troubleshooting purposes anyway and to quantify that, indeed, there's a problem I did not cause and cannot fix.
 
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I'm not new to rooting, as I've rooted gnex, droid x2 and nexus 7. I sounds to me like Odin is kind of like using rsd lite to spf the droid x2. Can anyone confirm this? I'm a little confused on one thing, do I still use the G1 tar file or is there a rooted g7tar file that we should be using? I only ask because the op says that's the new ota but I can't find a rooted g7tar file anywhere.
 
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Welcome to Android Forums!

I've not used those other programs, so I cannot answer that directly. Odin is used to flash the phone when it's in download mode. You have to use Odin if, for example, your recovery isn't working. I would think this is how providers flash phones.

There is a rooted VRALG7 and procedure out there:
Download Verizon Galaxy S3 VRALG7 OTA Update, already rooted and deodexed!

I have not tested this, so I cannot author validated step-by-step procedures for it. The target of my guide is anyone who wants to root but hasn't done any of this before or who's intimidated by the process; VRALG7 adds more complexity (by requiring an unlocked boot-loader) with little-to-no upside (and I don't want VZW's snooping software). Anyone else comfortable or familiar with rooting can still use the guide but can also combine it with other resources.

I'll include the aforementioned link in the OP though.
 
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Question about rooting...

I'm new to rooting and I had a serious problem last week that resulted in me having to get a new phone (thankfully Verizon just gave me a new one for free)

I rooted my Verizon S3 using my Mac. I found the correct program but I can't recall the name. All I know is that it DID work and I downloaded a root checker app that confirmed I was indeed rooted. I downloaded Liquidsmooth ROM and then proceeded to put the phone in download mode. It rebooted but then acted weird. It just showed the Liquidsmooth loop for a few minutes before shutting off.
I took it into Verizon and thankfully the guy was familiar with rooting and was able to fix it. I got home but realized that my browser didn't work! So I went back and they encouraged me to unroot it and send it back to Verizon so I can get a refurbished model. Desperately wanting my phone back to normal I went to the program I used to root it and selected "unroot". However it ended up bricking my phone. Like I said I am new to rooting and I would like to get the basic concepts down so I don't screw up my phone. Are there any basics I can remember to help me with rooting? I'm currently unrooted since I don't want to mess up my phone because I don't think Verizon would give me another chance. Thanks for any help or advice!
 
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Question about rooting...

I'm new to rooting and I had a serious problem last week that resulted in me having to get a new phone (thankfully Verizon just gave me a new one for free)

I rooted my Verizon S3 using my Mac. I found the correct program but I can't recall the name. All I know is that it DID work and I downloaded a root checker app that confirmed I was indeed rooted. I downloaded Liquidsmooth ROM and then proceeded to put the phone in download mode. It rebooted but then acted weird. It just showed the Liquidsmooth loop for a few minutes before shutting off.
I took it into Verizon and thankfully the guy was familiar with rooting and was able to fix it. I got home but realized that my browser didn't work! So I went back and they encouraged me to unroot it and send it back to Verizon so I can get a refurbished model. Desperately wanting my phone back to normal I went to the program I used to root it and selected "unroot". However it ended up bricking my phone. Like I said I am new to rooting and I would like to get the basic concepts down so I don't screw up my phone. Are there any basics I can remember to help me with rooting? I'm currently unrooted since I don't want to mess up my phone because I don't think Verizon would give me another chance. Thanks for any help or advice!

Did they give you a new phone or a refurbished one? If it's older than 14 days, their policy (per contract) is to provide a refurbished one, which may wind up having its own problems.

I don't know of any Odin for mac but I'm not a mac guy; Metfanant is but I haven't seen him around lately. I would think dual-booting with Windows would be a good idea rather than using some homegrown hack.

If your phone can go into download mode, it isn't bricked. Your best bet is to connect it to Odin and flash a stock [rooted] ROM and verify everything works (before you proceed to break it again);). Method 2 walks you through it (the fixing part, not the breaking part).
 
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They gave me a new one. The store employees even knew it was rooted and all. They were out of pebble blue so they gave me a white 16gb. Nice of them. I had called Verizon's 800 number before that and they offered a refurbished one. Guess I'm lucky? :) I want to get back to rooting but after all this I'm pretty nervous. I need this phone for work etc.
 
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Unlocking the bootloader is independent of rooting; the two aren't related. You have to unlock the bootloader if you want to flash a custom kernel (or a ROM which contains a custom kernel); custom ROMs with stock kernels can still be flashed with a locked bootloader. However, you may get the "custom" triangle on boot, which can be "cleared" (bypassed really) by unlocking the bootloader--which is the chief reason I unlocked mine and this is why it boots a little faster unlocked.

AFAIK, Method 1 (debugFS) will always work as ADB will always be there. To verify, you can check the author's thread linked in step 2.

Method 2 will always work since it flashes over the entire ROM. This may or may not preclude future updates (I don't know; I have updates disabled and am running VRALG1 build with VRALHE modem--I don't plan to rebuild until JB is officially released.)

Whatever you try, feel free to post results so we can see, from experience, how different combinations work.
 
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i'm currently running cm10. i went to flash my old tw back up but was given the odin download screen saying that it was unable to regular boot. is there some extra measure to be taken when going back to a tw rom? also, i lost my imei and was wondering if it would just be easier to flash back to stock to recover it. the instructions for getting the imei back on an aosp rom is much more complicated looking. thanks in advance.
 
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i went to flash my old tw back up but was given the odin download screen saying that it was unable to regular boot.
I don't know what you mean by this. Following the flash method precisely shouldn't give you any problems.

also, i lost my imei and was wondering if it would just be easier to flash back to stock to recover it. the instructions for getting the imei back on an aosp rom is much more complicated looking.
I've not experienced this so I cannot say for certain. I'm not sure the process is any different between ROMs. There is a recent discussion about it in this forum, IIRC, led to a successful restoral (I don't think flashing stock will fix it).
 
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