[International / GSM] First time rooting

[furious99]

Hey guys. I'm using a galaxy nexus and it's not rooted. I got the 4.2 update and I don't like it one bit. The only thing good about it is the photosphere. My battery life has reduced by almost half and the brightness bug (among others) is annoying. So I wanted to root my phone and install a custom (4.1) rom. I have always been wanting to do this for a while and now I have a reason to. Lol.

Can you guys guide me about the whole thing?
Is it possible and safe to install a 4.1 rom on my phone which is currently running on 4.2?
What happens to the stock rom once I install a custom rom?
Are there chances of my phone bricking? What am I supposed to do if my phone bricks?

 

[Digital Controller]

You should just be able to follow a guide, like this one: http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/wiki/Galaxy_Nexus_(GSM)

I love Cyanogen Mod and it is a great ROM....

The chances of bricking are slim to none if you follow the guide correctly.

 

[Fuzzy13]

First you need to download skip softs toolkit for the nexus. It's dummy proof and it does everything. Just Google xda toolkit nexus and it'll be one of the first links. Through that you can root, flash recovery, and install the stock firmware, etc....

As far as roms, I recommend aokp milestone 1. It's basically stock but has extra features to customize the phone. By far the best Rom out there. Plus it's great on battery life.

If you can follow directions you need but worry about bricking your phone. Read the instructions and make sure you always make a nandroid before doing anything.

 

[furious99]

Thanks a lot. And what is a nandroid? Sorry, I'm new to this.
But is it ok to install a 4.1 ROM now that I have 4.2 running on my phone? What about the kernel? Which one should I use?

 

[Fuzzy13]

Thanks a lot. And what is a nandroid? Sorry, I'm new to this.
But is it ok to install a 4.1 ROM now that I have 4.2 running on my phone? What about the kernel? Which one should I use?

A nandroid is a backup of your rom. Yes you can flash anything you want as long as it's for your phone. Use whatever kernel is installed with the rom.

If your ever not sure of a term that's used, a quick Google search will give you an answer so your not waiting for a reply on here.

Since your not familiar with several things, i would research and watch videos to get a better understanding. This way you know what your doing when you do it. The all things root guide sticky has plenty of starting points.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Forum Runner and swiftkey flow.

 

[Newbkriz]

Nandroid requires a rooted phone so how can i back up before rooting when the back up app requires my phone to be rooted in the first place? I'm confused. Sorry, i'm really just new at this.

 

[Fuzzy13]

Nandroid requires a rooted phone so how can i back up before rooting when the back up app requires my phone to be rooted in the first place? I'm confused. Sorry, i'm really just new at this.

Yes it does. As to your original question I responded with info on rooting the phone with the toolkit.

 

[ShaWn_cz]

Nexus Toolkit is the best tool for unlocking, rooting. Simple, easy, I've sucessfully rooted my SGN and Nexus 7 with this tool and never had any problem ;-)