Root [Sprint/Cricket] Help rooting my Straight Talk Samsung Galaxy S3

[jcl1233]

Hello, Im fairly new to these forums, and new to android phones. I bought a Straight Talk Samsung Galaxy S3 (SCH-S960L). But i am pretty new to rooting, custom ROMs, ect. And because of that reason, along with the fact that i bricked my last Straight Talk phone after incorrectly rooting it, I am quite apprehensive to root with anything that is specified to Sprint, T-Mobile or any other carrier/model of phone. I would like to have the most knowledge i can gather about rooting this specific model of phone before i go about with actually doing it. So recently i have been looking through any information i am able to find online about how to go about rooting it. However, I cannot seem to find hardly anything on how to root this specific model of phone, and any information i do find seems to be pretty iffy with reliability. So my question is, could ANYONE help guide me through this process so i can successfully root my device without messing something up and having a $399 dollar brick on my desk. Thanks in advanced.

 

[El Presidente]

Hi jcl1233, I've moved your post to the Sprint SGS3 root forum.

Best I can tell, the Straight Talk variant is the same as the Sprint, so the guys here should be able to set you right.

 

[freakshow85]

Hi jcl1233, I've moved your post to the Sprint SGS3 root forum.

Best I can tell, the Straight Talk variant is the same as the Sprint, so the guys here should be able to set you right.

The Straight Talk variant is an SCH-S960L. Is that the same as Sprint? I do know the ST S3 runs on Sprint towers.

But I tend to see a different model number like 710 for Sprint S3 phones.

 

[jcl1233]

Hello, here is an update for anyone going by this thread with a similar problem as me. I did go with the sprint variant root, specifically the Team Epic Root from Recovery. And as skeptic as I was about this, I did see a few other people having the same opinion with thinking the sprint root should be the best thing to go with. Unfortunately, however, when everything was said and done after I rooted my S3, my phone did root to the best of my knowledge, but I had A LOT of problems with downloads, internet/3G and my text messages. So after deciding that there were too many problems to try to go about fixing, I decided to just use Team Epics Unroot guide, and restore it back to the original system. Now, I do understand that I am still quite novice with smart phones and Android systems, but I do know how to follow instructions, and they were pretty simple and quite clear on what to do to unroot my phone. But upon finishing that, and thinking I had successfully returned to stock, my phone would load only into Androids recovery (will not load into CWM anymore either). And if I did try to boot it or turn it on, it would go to the Samsung screen, followed by the Galaxy S III screen, but then after the start up sound went off, It would freeze and have a blue light with a green tint, and just a black screen. I did try to clear cache and factory reset several times, but it didn't help anything. Luckily I bought my phone less than 3 months ago, thus within my warranty, Straight Talk is in the process of sending me a replacement SGS3. So anyone who had as much trouble as I did finding any solid information about rooting a ST Galaxy, I am able to say first hand that the Team Epic Root is NOT a stable root for Galaxy S3 SCH-S960L variant, and I DO NOT suggest trying this specific root.

 

[burghfan3]

If I am correct, you rooted your GSM phone with CDMA instructions. All of StraightTalk's GS3 models specify that they are 4G LTE capable. Verizon (CDMA), does not allow LTE phones on StraightTalk, so I believe yours is a GSM variant

 

[freakshow85]

If I am correct, you rooted your GSM phone with CDMA instructions. All of StraightTalk's GS3 models specify that they are 4G LTE capable. Verizon (CDMA), does not allow LTE phones on StraightTalk, so I believe yours is a GSM variant

StraighTalk S3s run on Sprint, now. AT&T quit... aka it is a cdma phone already.

 

[Corpsecrank]

StraighTalk S3s run on Sprint, now. AT&T quit... aka it is a cdma phone already.

I too have a straight talk s3 and mine says CDMA in the info. My model number however is different S968C.

There are actually a few different straight talk models you need to be careful and pay attention to which one you have when you attempt root the device.

I am not so sure I even want to try considering the straight talk phones are so tricky. I rooted the galaxy centura but it always told me the device was not rooted when running the root checker app. The phone was fully rooted though. Small things like that bother me about these straight talk phones.

 

[freakshow85]

I have the SCH S960L, also. A rare model, indeed.

 

[fire09101]

i bricked my S968C I need to know how to fix it without jtag but I cant figure out how to do it exactly. it is hardbricked. when I pull the battry out it has a red light when I plug it in. if I put the battery back in still nothing it registers as QHSUSB_DLOAD on my computer some one plz help me with this

 

[Droidriven]

i bricked my S968C I need to know how to fix it without jtag but I cant figure out how to do it exactly. it is hardbricked. when I pull the battry out it has a red light when I plug it in. if I put the battery back in still nothing it registers as QHSUSB_DLOAD on my computer some one plz help me with this

go to Android Area51 and look in the forums, you are looking for Motorheads private server, there is a link in the straight talk section of the forums in the post about rooting the sch-S968C after Aug 7, you can find the stock tar in a link posted by Evertking in that thread, its also on motorheads private server, the stock tar is also on XDA, search for the thread "How to root the straight talk S3 sch-s968c", read that thread thoroughly and you will find an unbrick img and a link to instructions on how to use the unbrick img to get your device to boot from extSD card and instructions on making your extSD card usable again, try that, when it boots you should be able to go from there, either boot to recovery and restore or just run with it, depends on what

 

[Droidriven]

depends on what you did wrong to brick it, also be careful, there are two straight talk devices, one with a baseband that ends in H1 and one that ends in H2, if you had a H1 then what I gave you should work, if you have an H2 then you nay be stuck until the H2 stock tar is found, I have that in the works as I type this, if all goes well then I will post it somewhere, most likely Android Area 51on motorheads server, he has it set up for all of us to use freely, we shouldn't have to worry about dead links there, I suggest to you and all other Straight Talk users to go to Android Area51 for everything and anything Straight Talk, they specialize in straight talk phones from low end to high end, they have something for most of straight talks devices.

 

[Droidriven]

Hi jcl1233, I've moved your post to the Sprint SGS3 root forum.

Best I can tell, the Straight Talk variant is the same as the Sprint, so the guys here should be able to set you right.

For future reference the straight talk sch-s968c is the verizon based variant, not Sprint, your advice could very well brick any users that try Sprint stuff, just saying.

Nevermind, sorry, I see that you were talking about the s960L