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Root [International] S3 Root Guide, guide for returning to stock + video [UPDATE: new, easier, single flash method]

Wow, it's really easy to root! Nice video guide. One question though - would your warranty be voided as soon as you flashed the recovery, or when you have su access (ie, root)?

Was just wondering, because you could do a nandroid backup as soon as you have CWM recovery but before root, couldn't you?
 
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Wow, it's really easy to root! Nice video guide. One question though - would your warranty be voided as soon as you flashed the recovery, or when you have su access (ie, root)?

Was just wondering, because you could do a nandroid backup as soon as you have CWM recovery but before root, couldn't you?

You could indeed do a backup before Root, but in that state it will still have an insecure kernel containing CWM recover, so not a great deal of assistance in negotiating warranty issues.

Chainfire has this morning announced TriangleAway is being updated on the Play Store with S3 support, so you can remove the yellow triangle and reset the flash counter :)
 
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Hey
Thanks for the video guide but are there any preparations we need to take? I.e - Does the s3 have its own usb drivers? Does that mean we need Kies installed first? etc

Cheers mate

Yep, you'll need drivers - full instructions at the written post at the blog. In brief installing Kies and connecting your phone with and without USB debugging enabled is the easiest way to ensure your S3 can talk to Odin.
 
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Is it possible to flash a new stock unbranded firmware using Odin without root?

I was wondering whether it would be an easy way to get quicker updates from Samsung, or whether you can receive updates if you are rooted.

Yeah you can flash stock firmwares from here
[Guide+ROMS]Odin Flash+Root Guide & Stock Firmwares LE4/8/9/F/D - xda-developers

You will not be able to update with kies after rooting or flashing different firmwares with Odin as your phone needs to be running matching csc/firmwares etc for it to be recognized. Although personally i don't think that's a bad thing as updates to flash with Odin appear more frequently than your carrier will release them.
 
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Is it possible to flash a new stock unbranded firmware using Odin without root?

I was wondering whether it would be an easy way to get quicker updates from Samsung, or whether you can receive updates if you are rooted.

Don't bother with official updates, you'll tend to get them from XDA sooner (and anything that lets you avoid needing to use Kies is a bonus).
 
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You could indeed do a backup before Root, but in that state it will still have an insecure kernel containing CWM recover, so not a great deal of assistance in negotiating warranty issues.

Chainfire has this morning announced TriangleAway is being updated on the Play Store with S3 support, so you can remove the yellow triangle and reset the flash counter :)

Not going to touch TriangleAway with a bargepole until I've had the phone for a while. ChainFire added a disclaimer to say it could brick the phone and he won't be held responsible. I know that's more to cover his own ass than anything else, but not going to risk that on a brand new half a grand phone :p
 
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Not going to touch TriangleAway with a bargepole until I've had the phone for a while. ChainFire added a disclaimer to say it could brick the phone and he won't be held responsible. I know that's more to cover his own ass than anything else, but not going to risk that on a brand new half a grand phone :p

I'd say it's safe. It's just the usual disclaimer. If a dev doesn't put it in i wouldn't trust them as they're obviously stupid. I might have to boot into download mode now to see if my flash counter went up. The cfroot kernel never put a yellow triangle on my boot screen.
 
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Firstly, thanks for providing this guide.

Now, I've only just got the S3 and I'm a complete noob at rooting, so I'm a little nervous about doing it, but your instructions seemed fairly straightforward so I thought I'd give it a go.

I was just trying to follow your updated written guide but I'm a little unsure about something.

I connected the phone to my PC but it didn't seem to install the drivers, so I installed Kies. I downloaded the other files you linked to as well and extracted them as described.

However, the next step says to disconnect the phone and then open Odin, is this correct or should you open Odin and then disconnect the phone? The reason I ask is because when I open Odin after disconnecting my phone, the ID:COM box doesn't highlight yellow or have any text inside. This only happens if I try opening Odin with the phone still connected, but since this isn't what was described in the guide, I thought it best not to continue without asking. Also, does it matter what number is after "0:[COM"? Mine said 6 and not 17 as in the screenshot.

I would really appreciate some guidance on this.

Thanks.
 
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Firstly, thanks for providing this guide.

Now, I've only just got the S3 and I'm a complete noob at rooting, so I'm a little nervous about doing it, but your instructions seemed fairly straightforward so I thought I'd give it a go.

I was just trying to follow your updated written guide but I'm a little unsure about something.

I connected the phone to my PC but it didn't seem to install the drivers, so I installed Kies. I downloaded the other files you linked to as well and extracted them as described.

However, the next step says to disconnect the phone and then open Odin, is this correct or should you open Odin and then disconnect the phone? The reason I ask is because when I open Odin after disconnecting my phone, the ID:COM box doesn't highlight yellow or have any text inside. This only happens if I try opening Odin with the phone still connected, but since this isn't what was described in the guide, I thought it best not to continue without asking. Also, does it matter what number is after "0:[COM"? Mine said 6 and not 17 as in the screenshot.

I would really appreciate some guidance on this.

Thanks.


I don't think it matters as long as you are connected to the phone while Odin is open to do the flash, you should be ok. With mine, I can open Odin and attach my phone and I can see in the lower left box that it has been "added" and when I disconnect my phone it shows "removed" Just make sure the box is yellow which means the phone is connected. Also , doesn't matter what the number is besides COM.
 
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I don't think it matters as long as you are connected to the phone while Odin is open to do the flash, you should be ok. With mine, I can open Odin and attach my phone and I can see in the lower left box that it has been "added" and when I disconnect my phone it shows "removed" Just make sure the box is yellow which means the phone is connected. Also , doesn't matter what the number is besides COM.

Thanks for the reply.

Just to be clear, should I open Odin, attach the phone and then disconnect it, before clicking the PDA button and opening the CF-Root.tar file?

Is the "removed" in the screenshot from disconnecting the phone at this point, and if so, is it a necessary step? I'm just wondering if I didn't attach the phone and disconnect before clicking the PDA button, if the first "added" and "removed" would still appear, or should appear?

Sorry if I'm asking what seem like stupid questions, I just want to be sure before I go ahead with trying to root it and make sure I'm doing it right.

Thanks.
 
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Thanks for the reply.

Just to be clear, should I open Odin, attach the phone and then disconnect it, before clicking the PDA button and opening the CF-Root.tar file?

Is the "removed" in the screenshot from disconnecting the phone at this point, and if so, is it a necessary step? I'm just wondering if I didn't attach the phone and disconnect before clicking the PDA button, if the first "added" and "removed" would still appear, or should appear?

Sorry if I'm asking what seem like stupid questions, I just want to be sure before I go ahead with trying to root it and make sure I'm doing it right.

Thanks.

Make sure your phone is in download mode. Open Odin. Attach phone to usb. Once connected properly, the box should turn yellow in odin. Go to pda section in odin and load .tar file
Then do not make any other changes in odin and click on start. Once u see Pass the phone will reboot.
 
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Make sure your phone is in download mode. Open Odin. Attach phone to usb. Once connected properly, the box should turn yellow in odin. Go to pda section in odin and load .tar file
Then do not make any other changes in odin and click on start. Once u see Pass the phone will reboot.

Now I'm more confused. The guide says to plug the phone in to install drivers, then disconnect it and while disconnected open Odin and load the .tar file. After that it says to put the phone into download mode and then reconnect the phone. But now you're saying I should connect the phone in download mode and then load the .tar file?
 
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Now I'm more confused. The guide says to plug the phone in to install drivers, then disconnect it and while disconnected open Odin and load the .tar file. After that it says to put the phone into download mode and then reconnect the phone. But now you're saying I should connect the phone in download mode and then load the .tar file?

Ok sorry didn't mean to confuse you. I assume you already have the Samsung Kies installed? They are basically drivers to let your phone commnicate with your computer. Once you have that installed, you can simply test it out to see if it connects OK with Odin by opening Odin and just connecting your phone with the computer. If you see "added" in the lower left corner, then you are ready.

OK this is EXACTLY how I did mine. Before I start anything, I went to my phone and put a check mark besides "USB Debugging" in Developer Options.

1) I made sure Samsung Kies was installed and made sure phone to computer connection is good. (tested in Odin and saw "added" in lower box )
2) I unzip all the files needed i.e odin, and . tar file
3)disconnect the phone to computer and made sure Samung Kies is not running on computer ( it may cause problems with the process if left running)
4)Start Odin.
5) Click PDA and choose the .tar file you have unzipped earlier
6)Put your phone into DOWNLOAD mode. Once you do that, I believe you have to push a button on your phone to continue
7)connect your phone to computer; check to see if the box is yellow, if it is, you are set and do not make any changes in Odin; leave everything the way it is
8) CLick Start
9)Look for green box with "Pass" in Odin
10) Phone will reboot

Not to thread jack and the guide posted in here is very good but I used the method in http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1695238 provided by other help members on here. I find it was easier for me . It will root your phone and install CWM both in 1 shot and done under 30 seconds.
 
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Ok sorry didn't mean to confuse you. I assume you already have the Samsung Kies installed? They are basically drivers to let your phone commnicate with your computer. Once you have that installed, you can simply test it out to see if it connects OK with Odin by opening Odin and just connecting your phone with the computer. If you see "added" in the lower left corner, then you are ready.

OK this is EXACTLY how I did mine. Before I start anything, I went to my phone and put a check mark besides "USB Debugging" in Developer Options.

1) I made sure Samsung Kies was installed and made sure phone to computer connection is good. (tested in Odin and saw "added" in lower box )
2) I unzip all the files needed i.e odin, and . tar file
3)disconnect the phone to computer and made sure Samung Kies is not running on computer ( it may cause problems with the process if left running)
4)Start Odin.
5) Click PDA and choose the .tar file you have unzipped earlier
6)Put your phone into DOWNLOAD mode. Once you do that, I believe you have to push a button on your phone to continue
7)connect your phone to computer; check to see if the box is yellow, if it is, you are set and do not make any changes in Odin; leave everything the way it is
8) CLick Start
9)Look for green box with "Pass" in Odin
10) Phone will reboot

Not to thread jack and the guide posted in here is very good but I used the method in [18.06.2012] CF-Root 6.3 - SuperSU+CWM5.5+CWMManager - xda-developers provided by other help members on here. I find it was easier for me . It will root your phone and install CWM both in 1 shot and done under 30 seconds.

Thanks, that seems to make more sense now. One question I still have though is about the screenshot that has the "added", "removed", "added". You say after putting the phone in download mode and connecting it to the PC the box goes yellow, and presumably it then says "added". At what point does it then say "removed" and then "added" again? Or does this not necessarily happen? It just seems that from the screenshots, all those happen directly after putting the phone into download mode and connecting the phone, in which case why is it removed and added again? This might not even be important to know, I just want to make sure that when I do it, I do it right.
 
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