[HOW-TO] [GSM & CDMA] Return to stock for ALL Galaxy Nexus phones (latest JWR66Y)

EDIT: November 14, 2012: As of today this is applicable to all three versions of the Galaxy Nexus: maguro (GSM/HSPA) and toro (Verizon CDMA/LTE) and toroplus (Sprint CDMA/LTE). I have also updated the adb and fastboot files to the latest versions as of today.

I have created this thread to give a step-by-step on how to flash the latest yakju/takju (or mysid for toro users) build available on Google's developer site. (These are full ROMs. See this thread for updating to latest OTA build using incremental updates.)

This method works for earlier builds as well, and is essentially a "return-to-stock" method.

You can easily convert ANY GSM/HSPA (i.e., maguro) device to stock yakju (or takju) from any non-yakju build (yakjuxw, yakjuxs, yakjuux, yakjusc, yakjuzs, yakjudv, yakjukr, yakjujp, yakjuxe, etc.).

For toro and toroplus devices (i.e., Verizon and Sprint devices), this will return your device to stock.

I will no longer be be providing support in the previous thread here, as it has over 1,000 replies and a lot of confusing information/misinformation.

Note: There are other methods that are abbreviated and/or faster, but I wanted to spell out each step in the process for the purposes of learning. I'm a big believer in doing things manually before using a "toolkit", much the same way that, in school, we are taught to do math first, before being allowed to use a calculator. I will continually add to this post to make it clearer as we go along.

So, without further ado:

How to flash yakju/takju on your GSM/HSPA Galaxy Nexus (or how to flash mysid on your Verison CDMA/LTE Galaxy Nexus and mysidpr on your Sprint CDMA/LTE Galaxy Nexus)

Step-by-step

Notes:
1) For the n00bs: read the entire post before proceeding;
2) This method is EXACTLY the same as a "return to stock" method. If you follow this (including the optional steps in part D), you will be fully stock.
3) yakju is a generic build, meaning no specific localizations. There are reports that yakju does NOT contain certain dictionaries (such as Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, and possible others). So, if you currently have these dictionaries, and want to keep them, do not flash yakju or takju.
4) MacOS-specific instructions: a) replace fastboot in the steps below with ./fastboot-mac and b) no drivers required.

A. Install the drivers
1) Do not install the Samsung drivers or the pdanet drivers, or any other driver you come across. If you have, and you are SURE they are working properly, fine, leave them. Otherwise uninstall them if you are unsure;
2) Download the drivers from here;
3) Install the drivers. This step is the only part of the entire process that is not easy to explain, and may cause users some issues, depending on what drivers they had installed previously, what OS they are using, etc. etc. Bourne-nolonger has put together a very detailed step-by-step on how to install them. If you don't know how to install them, have a look at his post here. Note that the driver has to install twice: once when your device is booted normally (not required for this tutorial) with USB Debugging enabled in Settings, and once when your device is booted in fastboot (i.e., bootloader) mode (which is required for this tutorial). If you are using Windows 8, you will need to do this before installing the drivers.

B. Backup your data
1) Backup all your personal data (e.g., photos, music, etc.) OFF of your device and onto your computer by using whatever method you want that works for you, e.g., MTP, ADB, email, Dropbox, Box.net, whatever.
2) This method will wipe your entire device, including the /sdcard folder, so once you do this, you will not be able to retreive anything that was on your device previously.
3) Once you have backed up your data, you may want to back up your current build (not required). If so, follow the instructions in this thread.

C. Download the required files to your computer and extract them
1) All of the files that are required, need to be in one (i.e., the same) directory. It does not matter what it is called, but all the files need to be in there, with NO subfolders. EVERYTHING needs to be extracted into this one directory;
2) Download the platform-tools-v16.zip attachment from this post and extract the contents to the directory created in step 1.
3) Download the version of Android you want from here. So, let's say you want the yakju JRO03C image, go to the JRO03C link that is under the heading Factory Images "yakju" for Galaxy Nexus "maguro" (GSM/HSPA+). Older versions are no longer available on that site; however, oldblue910 has provided a mirror on his site: Random Phantasmagoria.
4) Download the appropriate version (for your computer) of 7-zip from here and install it.
5) Extract the files from within the .tgz file which you downloaded in step 3 using 7-zip, not WinZip or WinRAR or whatever.
6) Make sure you have extracted ALL the files (including extracting any files in any archives inside the .tgz file). You should have six (6) files (or seven for toro and toroplus devices) ending with .img in the directory you created in step 1. The other files you extracted from the .tgz are not necessary;
7) Reboot your device into bootloader mode (by turning it off, hold volume up and volume down, and press and hold power) and plug it into your computer;
8) Open a command prompt in the same directory (i.e., make sure you are in the same directory as your files are located) and do the following:

D. Type in the commands into the command prompt
1) Make sure your computer recognizes your device by typing: fastboot devices
2) Unlock your bootloader (if you have not already done so): fastboot oem unlock
3) You will see a prompt on your device. This will wipe your entire device (including the /sdcard folder). Accept. Note: you use the volume keys to change the option and the power button to accept. You cannot use the touch screen.
4) Reboot by typing: fastboot reboot-bootloader
5) Flash the bootloader: fastboot flash bootloader bootloader-maguro-primela03.img (or whatever the name of the bootloader image that you downloaded).
6) Reboot (not required if you did not do step 5): fastboot reboot-bootloader
7) Flash the radio: fastboot flash radio radio-maguro-i9250xxla02.img (or whatever the name is of the radio image that you downloaded).
8) Reboot (not required if you did not do step 7): fastboot reboot-bootloader
8a) Verizon and Sprint devices only -- flash the LTE radio: fastboot flash radio-cdma radio-cdma-toro-i515.ek05.img (or whatever the name is of the radio image that you downloaded).
8b) Verizon and Sprint devices only -- reboot: fastboot reboot-bootloader
9) Flash the system partition: fastboot flash system system.img
10) Flash the data partition: fastboot flash userdata userdata.img Note: this command will wipe your device (including /sdcard), EVEN if your bootloader is already unlocked. See note 5 below for optional items.
11) Flash the kernel/ramdisk: fastboot flash boot boot.img
12) Flash the recovery partition: fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
13) Erase the cache partition: fastboot erase cache
15) Reboot: fastboot reboot
16) Done! The first boot will likely take quite a bit longer than you are used to, as Android builds the Dalvik cache.

E. Optional -- Root
1) After finishing this process, if you want to root, see here.

Notes on optional items and other issues:
1) This note is NOT for n00bs. To be on a "yakju" (or takju) build, all you need is the system and data images. If you want to flash the newer bootloader, radio, kernel (boot image) or recovery, go ahead. If you want to flash a different ones go right ahead, that is fine also.
2) Yes, you will receive the OTA update notification (when it is available) for the next update, regardless of which bootloader, radio, kernel or recovery you are running.
3) BUT, being on yakju or takju does NOT mean you will get the OTA notification immediately when it is announced/available. It could still take minutes or months (yes, months) following the first person who got it, before you get it. The advantage of yakju and takju , is that the updates are available before the other builds, so you can manually install them yourself. See here.
4) WHEN you get the update notification, IF you want it to install automatically, you will need to ensure that that you are using the corresponding boot, radio and recovery images for the .tgz package you downloaded. Otherwise, the update will not install automatically, but it will install using a custom recovery like CWM. See this thread for details.
5) This note is NOT for n00bs. There has been a lot of uncertainty and questions around stock ROMs and losing/wiping data. You CAN flash a stock ROM WITHOUT losing the data stored in /sdcard (and possibly even all apps and app data, although this depends on which apps you have installed). This can be done by skipping step 10 in part D. However, if your device goes into a boot loop, you will need to boot CWM, and wipe data <-- this will wipe your apps and app data, but not /sdcard.
6) Jelly Bean requires a newer bootloader. I would not flash anything earlier than LA03, or you may have issues.

Notes on the bootloader:
1) Do NOT re-lock your bootloader after you are finished. The is no need.
2) Having an unlocked bootloader does not affect anything related to the ROM/GoogleWallet/OTAs. Nothing at all.
3) If your bootloader is locked, you CANNOT use fastboot commands. This is pretty much the only thing it affects.
4) If your bootloader is locked, and you need to unlock it, it will wipe everything, including /sdcard. This is the major drawback of re-locking your bootloader.
5) ONLY re-lock your bootloader if you need to return your device to the store. The command is: fastboot oem lock
6) As of June 2, 2012, a method has been found to unlock the bootloader without wiping (but root is required), and segv11 put it together in an app for us. See here. So, if you have root, there is no issue with re-locking the bootloader if you want -- just make sure you don't lose root, or you will have to wipe to unlock it again.

How to root

Rooting is just the process of getting root-level access to your build's file system. This is obtained by placing two files in your /system directory. With an unlocked bootloader, this is easily accomplished.

Assuming you already have fastboot.exe on you computer (found in the attachment in the first post) and the drivers set up on your PC, do the following:

1) Download (to your computer) the appropriate version of CWM for your device (or TWRP if you so desire). If you have a GSM version, use this one. If you have a Verizon device, use this one, if you have a Sprint device, use this one;
2) Rename the file to cwm.img, and make sure it is in the same directory as your fastboot.exe file;
3) Download (to /sdcard on your device) the latest version of either Chainfire's SuperSU or Koush's Superuser;
4) Restart your device in fastboot mode and plug into computer
5) Open a command prompt in the directory mentioned above and type: fastboot boot cwm.img
6) Wait for it to boot
7) Navigate the menus the CWM menu on your device and select an option like "update zip from sdcard". Find the zip that you downloaded, and apply it.
8) Reboot. Done.

And no, this procedure does not flash CWM to your device.

[HOW-TO] Install official JRN84D (Jelly Bean 4.1) on your GSM Galaxy Nexus

EDIT: As of Jul 27th, 2012, this information is no longer required -- the yakju/takju JRO03C factory images are now posted on Google's site here.

Here is my take on how to flash JRN84D (official) on ANY maguro (i.e., GSM/HSPA) Galaxy Nexus, regarless of what build you are currently running.

Notes:
1) Doing it this way will leave you with an official JRN84D ROM, and you will receive future updates, assuming that there are any for JRN84D (which is almost certainly the case).
2) Method 2 assumes that you have: a) the drivers properly installed, b) an unlocked bootloader, and c) you have downloaded the attachment in the first post of this thread.
3) Both these methods will require you to wipe your data, but NOT the files you have in /sdcard. (I tried to get it to work without wiping data, but I couldn't get it to work. This is not to say that it won't work for all of you, but I can guarantee that it will work if you wipe.) The Play Store will automatically re-install all your apps, and your can restore the app data with Titanium Backup (root required of course).
4) I have had NO issues whatsoever so far with the OS. There are some apps, however, that are not yet compatible with Jelly Bean (like CallRecorder).
5) Jelly Bean requires a newer bootloader. Do not try to flash this without having LA03 or newer, or you may have issues.

Method 1: CWM 5.5.0.2 recovery already installed
1) Download takju JRN84D from here (this is Koush's repack) to your computer and rename (or delete) this file: /system/etc/install-recovery.sh. Use 7zip to do this, not WinZip or WinRar or whatever. This will prevent the ROM from overwriting CWM with the stock recovery. If you want to have the stock recovery so that future updates will install automatically, leave the ROM as is. (We all know that if you have CWM, you will have to install the update manually through CWM -- it will not install automatically, but it will install just the same, right? ) Note: Some users have reported that they could not flash the zip after deleting the install-recovery.sh file. If it doesn't flash for you after you deleted the file, just re-flash the unmodified zip.
2) Move the file to /sdcard on your phone.
3) Download the CWM-flashable version of the XXLF1 radio from here and the CWM-flashable version of the LC03 bootloader from here to /sdcard.
4) Backup your app data using Titanium Backup. Root is required for this step. Alternatively, if you do not have root, you could try using this, but no guarantees it will work.
5) Reboot your phone into CWM.
6) Select "wipe data/factory reset" and select "Yes -- delete all user data"
7) Select "wipe cache partition" and select "Yes - Wipe Cache"
8) Select "advanced" and select "Wipe Dalvik Cache" and select "Yes - Wipe Dalvik Cache"
9) Select "*****Go Back*****" to return to the main menu
10) Select "install zip from sdcard" and select "choose zip from sdcard" and navigate and select the bootloader file you downloaded, and flash it.
11) Select "install zip from sdcard" and select "choose zip from sdcard" and navigate and select the radio file you downloaded, and flash it.
12) Select "install zip from sdcard" and select "choose zip from sdcard" and navigate and select the JRN84D file you downloaded, and flash it.
13) Optional -- If you want root, flash one of the attachments the same way. (Either ChainsDD's Superuser or Chainfire's SuperSU. Note that you may have issues with Superuser, as it has yet to be updated.)
14) Go back to the main menu and select "reboot system now".
15) Done! Enjoy stock Jelly Bean 4.1

Method 2: Stock recovery (or any other recovery aside from CWM 5.5.0.2) installed
1) Download CWM from here to the same directory on your computer as your fastboot file, and rename it to cwm.img.
2) Download takju JRN84D from here to /sdcard on your phone. (This is Koush's repack.)
3) Download the CWM-flashable version of the XXLF1 radio from here and the CWM-flashable version of the LC03 bootloader from here to /sdcard.
4) Backup your app data using Titanium Backup. Root is required for this step. Alternatively, if you do not have root, you could try using this, but no guarantees it will work.
5) Reboot your phone into fastboot mode (turn off and press vol up + vol down + power) and plug into your computer.
6) Open a command prompt in the same directory as your fastboot file and type: fastboot boot cwm.img
7) On your device, CWM should be booted up. You can unplug your device from your computer if you wish. From now on, everything is done on your device.
8) Select "wipe data/factory reset" and select "Yes -- delete all user data"
9) Select "wipe cache partition" and select "Yes - Wipe Cache"
10) Select "advanced" and select "Wipe Dalvik Cache" and select "Yes - Wipe Dalvik Cache"
11) Select "*****Go Back*****" to return to the main menu
12) Select "install zip from sdcard" and select "choose zip from sdcard" and navigate and select the bootloader file you downloaded, and flash it.
13) Select "install zip from sdcard" and select "choose zip from sdcard" and navigate and select the radio file you downloaded, and flash it.
14) Select "install zip from sdcard" and select "choose zip from sdcard" and navigate and select the JRN84D file you downloaded, and flash it.
15) Optional -- If you want root, flash one of the attachments the same way. (Either ChainsDD's Superuser or Chainfire's SuperSU. Note that you may have issues with Superuser, as it has yet to be updated.)
16) Go back to the main menu and select "reboot system now".
17) Done! Enjoy stock Jelly Bean 4.1.

Hey,
Just wanted to thank efrant again for all the information he has provided here.
I had some issues with installing the drivers so I thought I might share some of my experience. I don't take credit for ANYTHING in this post. I just wanted to share what my experience was and what worked for me to get the drivers installed.

NOTE
- Don't forget to test that your computer is seeing your device properly after installing each driver. As efrant pointed out you can do this by using fastboot devices
- In order to get the drivers to install correctly it may require a couple of reboots of your computer (due to the fact that Windows doesn't always deal well with drivers being removed)
- My experience is with Windows 7 only. I would imagine some of this would translate over to XP but I can't be certain what exactly does. Also, since Windows XP does not automatically head to Windows Updates to get its drivers I would imagine it is actually probably a lot easier in XP.
- I use the term "driver" a lot. There are two different drivers I am talking about most of the time. One comes from this post. And the other comes from Windows Updates. I will do my best to point out which one I am talking about.
- I may not always say "Click Next", but if I have moved on in the instructions then it is safe to say I meant to say it but forgot. Sorry about that!

Install the drivers

1)
Plug your GNex into your computer and check your "Device Manager" and compare it to the screenshot below. - You can access your "Device Manager" by hitting the "Windows Key" + r and typing "devmgmt.msc" and hitting enter (or any other method you wish to use.)
"Windows Key" =


Now this may or may not be needed 100%. But I ran into a situation where I had my Galaxy Nexus showing up as a "MTB" or "MTP" device (or something like that) with a yellow exclamation mark and I was no longer able to interact with the phone using ADB or fastboot when the phone was booted up normally (this was after I had successfully gotten the drivers installed).

If your device does not show up correctly and has a yellow explanation point. Right click on it and select "Uninstall". THEN REBOOT!!! This is very important. If you do not reboot Windows will never properly reinstall the driver from Windows Updates. You can let Windows Updates install this driver (at least in my experience).


Once your device is showing up properly you can move on.

2)

NOTE: unplug your phone from the computer if it is still connected.

The next thing is to disable Windows Updates from automatically trying to download and install drivers.
This can be done using the following method:
Go into "Device and printers"


Find YOUR computer icon here. It will have the same name of your computer. Right click on it and select "Device installation settings"



Then select the options listed here. (Once we have finished you can just do the reverse of this to re-enable Windows Updates driver install).



The reason I suggest that you do this is because if you don't and you try the "Update the driver"
from whatever Microsoft decides this device is, you get a message that basically says that the best driver
is already installed and Microsoft will not let you change it (at least that is what it did for me). You can always re-enable this once you are done.
Once you have done this reboot your computer just in case.

3)

NOTE:
- The method described here can be used to install the "Samsung Galaxy Nexus ADB Interface" driver as well as the "Samsung Galaxy Nexus Bootloader Interface" driver.
- Differences between the two procedures. One is done with the phone booted up normally and "USB Debugging" is enabled, and the other is done when the phone is in fastboot. I will cover the "USB Debugging" part here.

=======================

Now that that is complete, connect your phone via USB to your computer.
You should see your phone show up under "Portable Devices"

We will now install the two drivers that efrant talked about in his post.

A)
Enable USB debugging on your device
- Goto Settings > Developer Options > Check "USB Debugging"

Note: for the second driver you will boot into fastboot mode - power off phone and hold vol up + vol down + power to boot into fastboot (this was taken from efrant's initial post)

B)
As soon as you enable this Windows will pick up a new device and it will attempt to install a driver - this will fail (or hopefully it will).
You should see this in your "Device Manager"


C)
Right click on "Android 1.0" and select "Update Driver software..."


D)
Select "Browse my computer for driver software"


E)
Find where you downloaded and extracted the "Universal Naked Driver 0.7" to and select the folder. In my case I created a folder called "android" under the root of C:\ and stored it there as indicated in the screenshot.


F)
Click Next. Windows will probably complain about the driver not being recognized. You can ignore that and click "Install this driver software anyway":


G)
Once the installation is complete you should see this appear on screen:


H)
You can then click close.

Now check your "Device Manager" and you should see the driver in:


To install the second driver please go back to A) and instead of enabling "USB Debugging" boot the phone into fastboot and then complete the tutorial in the same fashion.
This can be done by powering off your phone and pressing vol up + vol down + power (this was taken from initial efrant's post)
Once the second driver is installed you should see it appear in your "Device Manager" as the following:




And that is pretty much it. I am sorry if it is a little confusing. I was trying to write a lot of this from memory.
If I have made any mistakes please feel free to let me know and I can correct them.
Hopefully this is helpful to someone.

Cheers

[HOW-TO] Install official JRN84D (Jelly Bean 4.1) on your GSM Galaxy Nexus

Ok, given that I like to do things my way and then show others how I did it for learning purposes, here is my take on how to flash JRN84D (official) on ANY maguro (i.e., GSM/HSPA) Galaxy Nexus, regarless of what build you are currently running.

Notes:
1) Doing it this way will leave you with an official JRN84D ROM, and you will receive future updates, assuming that there are any for JRN84D (which is almost certainly the case).
2) Method 2 assumes that you have: a) the drivers properly installed, b) an unlocked bootloader, and c) you have downloaded the attachment in the first post of this thread.
3) Both these methods will require you to wipe your data, but NOT the files you have in /sdcard. (I tried to get it to work without wiping data, but I couldn't get it to work. This is not to say that it won't work for all of you, but I can guarantee that it will work if you wipe.) The Play Store will automatically re-install all your apps, and your can restore the app data with Titanium Backup (root required of course).
4) I have had NO issues whatsoever so far with the OS. There are some apps, however, that are not compatible with Jelly Bean.

Method 1: CWM recovery already installed
1) Download takju JRN84D from here (this is Koush's repack) to your computer and rename (or delete) this file: /system/etc/install-recovery.sh. Use 7zip to do this, not WinZip or WinRar or whatever.
2) Move the file to /sdcard on your phone.
3) Download the CWM-flashable version of the XXLF1 radio from here and the CWM-flashable version of the LC03 bootloader from here to /sdcard.
4) Backup your app data using Titanium Backup. Root is required for this step. Alternatively, if you do not have root, you could try using this, but no guarantees it will work.
5) Reboot your phone into CWM.
6) Select "wipe data/factory reset" and select "Yes -- delete all user data"
7) Select "wipe cache partition" and select "Yes - Wipe Cache"
8) Select "advanced" and select "Wipe Dalvik Cache" and select "Yes - Wipe Dalvik Cache"
9) Select "*****Go Back*****" to return to the main menu
10) Select "install zip from sdcard" and select "choose zip from sdcard" and navigate and select the bootloader file you downloaded, and flash it.
11) Select "install zip from sdcard" and select "choose zip from sdcard" and navigate and select the radio file you downloaded, and flash it.
12) Select "install zip from sdcard" and select "choose zip from sdcard" and navigate and select the JRN84D file you downloaded, and flash it.
13) Optional -- If you want root, flash the attachment the same way. (This is Chainfire's SuperSU.)
14) Go back to the main menu and select "reboot system now".
15) Done! Enjoy stock Jelly Bean 4.1

Method 2: Stock recovery installed
1) Download CWM from here to the same directory on your computer as your fastboot file, and rename it to cwm.img.
2) Download takju JRN84D from here to /sdcard on your phone. (This is Koush's repack.)
3) Download the CWM-flashable version of the XXLF1 radio from here and the CWM-flashable version of the LC03 bootloader from here to /sdcard.
4) Backup your app data using Titanium Backup. Root is required for this step. Alternatively, if you do not have root, you could try using this, but no guarantees it will work.
5) Reboot your phone into fastboot mode (turn off and press vol up + vol down + power) and plug into your computer.
6) Open a command prompt in the same directory as your fastboot file and type: fastboot boot cwm.img
7) On your device, CWM should be booted up. You can unplug your device from your computer if you wish. From now on, everything is done on your device.
8) Select "wipe data/factory reset" and select "Yes -- delete all user data"
9) Select "wipe cache partition" and select "Yes - Wipe Cache"
10) Select "advanced" and select "Wipe Dalvik Cache" and select "Yes - Wipe Dalvik Cache"
11) Select "*****Go Back*****" to return to the main menu
12) Select "install zip from sdcard" and select "choose zip from sdcard" and navigate and select the bootloader file you downloaded, and flash it.
13) Select "install zip from sdcard" and select "choose zip from sdcard" and navigate and select the radio file you downloaded, and flash it.
14) Select "install zip from sdcard" and select "choose zip from sdcard" and navigate and select the JRN84D file you downloaded, and flash it.
15) Optional -- If you want root, flash the attachment the same way. (This is Chainfire's SuperSU.)
16) go back to the main menu and select "reboot system now".
17) Done! Enjoy stock Jelly Bean 4.1.