From what I can gather, root has been available for some time now, but it requires flashing. The problem is, I'm not sure what exactly.

I've seen nardholio say that the only steps are to "flash CWM" and then "apply superuser" and it's just that easy, but that makes little sense to me. Which version of CWM, for example? How do I flash superuser? What then? I know I have to reset it at some point to get it so the camera and other functions work.

Can someone put down a few steps for rooting the Samsung Relay from scratch? They don't have to be super detailed--you have to know what you're doing a little bit to do this at all--but I need a little more information.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Hmm, I don't think that's going to work. I think someone took instructions for an older HTC phone and just pasted "Samsung Galaxy S Relay" to get website hits.

I think the only verified method involves flashing a ROM to the phone, but I could really use some exact steps on how to do that.

 

Okay, I was successful. It really is easy.

First, I followed along with this guide, Installing the ClockworkMod-based Recovery (Windows), except I was using Odin 3.07. I did steps 1-14. [Edit] Oops, forgot to paste the guide: https://github.com/TeamApexQ/apexq/wiki/Samsung-Galaxy-S-Relay-4G-(T-Mobile)-Full-Update-Guide

After step 14, once I was booted into recovery, I installed the Superuser-3.1.3-arm-signed.zip file from here: http://androidsu.com/superuser/

And that's it! My phone is rooted but otherwise the same as when I started. I even had the Kies update installed. This is great.

Thanks especially to nardholio, who also I believe first got CM9 on the phone? Either way, his clues on xda-developers were essential.

 

I was informed by cembalo that my instructions don't quite work. The CWM file from step 2 doesn't unzip into an md5 file. I was using the attached file instead. I believe I got it from a post by nardholio on xda-developers somewhere.

If anyone else has any trouble with the steps, I'll do my best to help.

 

Hello, sorry, I check in the forum every so often but clearly not every day!

1) The Guide to Install the Android SDK is there so your computer can recognize the Relay. This can be completely replaced, I believe, by installing Samsung KIES or the Samsung USB driver.

2) Booting into recovery is accomplished by holding down volume-up and home, then holding power for a second until the phone vibrates, then releasing power while still holding volume-up and home. This is CWM's recovery, which means you can install ZIP files through it. I believe the phone has a native recovery which is accessed by holding volume DOWN instead of up, but it doesn't do much besides factory reset.

3) That tutorial would probably work just as well, but since it involves flashing a massive ROM, I believe it carries more risk than this method. Your mileage may vary. It's true that it doesn't involve installing CWM recovery, but CWM is not a "replacement OS," it's just a recovery utility. The phone will otherwise function normally.

Good luck!