How to root your samsung galaxy s3 (easily)

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droidshadow

Senior Member
Dec 28, 2012
356
204
**** UPDATED 7-24-13 *****

Please read the tutorial now as I have added a new section on how to unlock the bootloader for your Verizon Samsung Galaxy S3. If you are not using a verizon SGS3
specifically model SCH-i535 then you do not have to worry about unlocking your bootloader as it comes unlocked by default. If you are using a verizon samsung galaxy s3 model sch-i535 and you do not fully unlock your bootloader you could run into problems when using certain root apps such as "mobile odin pro" or you could run into big problems when trying to flash custom roms such as cyanogenmod roms.

In this update I am adding one final step at the end of the root process to fully unlock the boot loader for the verizon samsung galaxy s3. There will be two ways to unlock the bootloader. One way will be to flash a final bootchain file with Odin, and the other will be to use an app to unlock the bootloader. Depending on what version of android you are using and your phones baseband version you will either need to use odin or you could use the application for any android version such as 4.1.1 or 4.1.2 and you can use the application for any baseband version your phone might be. I will leave the choice up to you, but I will show how to do it both ways.

Samsung users, don't forget if you plan on flashing a custom rom that with Samsung phones you could get the ugly yellow triangle warning. To get rid of this yellow triangle you can either go to google play store and get "yellow triangle away" app or go to this forum on this great xda developers site: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1494114

**NOTE** for those of you who would like to see a video of how to root your phone using these exact steps you can go to here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4b9hcWHrW8&feature=share&list=FL8Y3FM4mtznp0GQbwkkwaSg

A member on this thread gave me that link and it is a video by phone rebel and show you how to root your verizon SGS3 using the same steps i have outlined in this tutorial. Thank you so much for providing that link to my attention, I am sure it will help many users here!



Hello everyone,

Well this is one of my first tutorials for this forum on how to root your Verizon Samsung Galaxy S3.

I just recently got my Verizon Samsung Galaxy S3 and all of the tutorials I found were quite complicated and not very detailed so I thought that
I would write this tutorial and maybe it might help others out there....

Since the Galaxy S4 is getting ready to come out, the price has dropped considerably for the S3 and i believe more and more people will be getting this phone and wanting to root it.


Oh, and if you want an alternative guide you can use this very excellent tutorial from another post on this amazing forum:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2046439



Here is the specs for the phone I am using and the step by step process I used to root it.

Verizon Samsung Galaxy SIII model I535 running Android 4.1.2


Okay step 1 you are going to need some files...

First thing you are going to need is the Samsung Drivers so you can connect your phone to your computer and your computer can recognize it.
All of the files you are going to need I am just going to reference the link from the other tutorial that I posted above, no sense in redoing work
that has already been done especially if it has been done well!

1. You can get the samsung driver files here: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2046439
click on the link that says samsung drivers

2. You are going to need Odin you can get it from the same link, click on the Odin Link

3. You are going to need the VRALEC BOOTCHAIN you can get it from the link I posted in step 1 make sure you get this file it is very
important.

Since I am using a Verizon Samsung Galaxy S3 the bootloader comes by default locked so we need this file to unlock the bootloader
so we can root the phone. If we were using any other phone besides Verizon we would not have to worry about this but since I have
Verizon I have to do this. IMPORTANT: if you are not using a VERIZON PHONE DO NOT download this file or use it in the step
process you do not need it.


4. Next you are going to need the exploit so that you can root your phone and you can grab that from a different website, here is the address:
http://autoroot.chainfire.eu/

This is the CF-AUTOROOT file and this is what roots your phone. If you have the same phone as me scroll down to the SCH-I535 link and
download that file.


Okay now that we have all of that downloaded lets get things moving...

First thing we are going to need to do is install the Samsung USB drivers, so do that.

After the drivers are installed plug in your phone and make sure that it connects to your computer correctly, after it connects disconnect
your phone from your computer.

Next thing we are going to need to do is extract the ODIN zip file and install the Odin executable.


Now we need to get to the critical stuff...


Step 1. Make sure that [USB Debugging] is enabled in your phone, if it is not go to Settings -> Developer Options and enable it.

Step 2. Put your phone in DOWNLOAD Mode. You do that by pressing Volume Down + Home + Power button and hold it down till you see
a warning screen. When you see the warning screen hit Volume Up to allow Download mode.

Step 3. Now that your phone is in Download Mode you are going to connect your phone to your computer with ODIN RUNNING if
everything connects correctly you will see ODIN highlight yellow (older versions of ODIN) or highlight blue (newer ODIN versions)

Step 4. Now this is where previous tutorials kind of messed up in my opinion (just my opinion). Now that your phone is in download mode
you need to only have the "auto boot" option selected in ODIN and click on the bootloader button and select the VRALEC file
you downloaded earlier. Every tutorial i read said to use this file with the PDA button/option but you need to use it with the bootloader
button/option in ODIN. Now that you have the VRALEC file selected under bootloader in ODIN select START. This will reboot your
phone and if everything goes correctly your phone's bootloader will be unlocked.

After reboot make sure to disconnect your phone from your computer.


Step 5. After your phone reboots from step 4 turn off your phone and then boot it back into DOWNLOAD mode. Vol Down + Home + Power

Step 6. Now that your phone is in Download Mode again (Reconnect your phone to your computer) and make sure ODIN is still running

Step 7. With your phone connected go to the PDA option/button and when you select it choose the CF-AUTOROOT file you downloaded earlier

Step 8. With your PDA option selected hit start. When this happens your phone will reboot and your will see a CUSTOM lock icon on your
screen don't worry it is okay. Now you will see some new text on your phone and if everything is working you will see things like
"Android is UPDATING"

Your phone is now rooted! but you are not done...

This is where all of the other tutorials I found also fell short...

Your phone is rooted but it will not work correctly without SuperSU

Step 9. Go to the Google Play Store and Download SuperSU. When the download is complete run SuperSU and now your phone is fully
rooted. You can test it by downloading Android Terminal and running the terminal and typing "su" or by downloading a root required
app Titanium Backup.

*****UPDATED STEP*****

IMPORTANT NOTE: i want to point that this step is completely optional. You do not have to unlock your bootloader but i would recommend it. If you just want to use a stock rom and have your phone rooted then you can ignore this last step. But...if you want to flash custom rom's or do any kind of serious customize your phone, then you will need to have your phones bootloader unlocked. Plus with the application I am going to show you further down this tutorial, it is so easy to unlock your bootloader, you might as well go for it.


Step 10. Okay now from the link that I gave you above: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2046439 you are going to need to download another bootchain file to fully unlock your verizon samsung galaxy s3 model sch-i535 phone.Go into your phone and under settings go into "about phone' and look at the section "baseband version". Now depending on what version of android you are using will determine your baseband version. On my Verizon SGS3 running 4.1.2 my baseband version is I535VRBMB1 the important part is -> "VRBMB1" now go to site i provided in this step and download the bootchain for your specific phone.

Since my phones baseband version is "VRBMB1" i will download that bootchain file obviously. VRBMB1 is for android 4.1.2

The other boothchain files are "VRBLK3" for android 4.1.1 and "VRBMD3" for android 4.1.2

Now take that bootchain file that you downloaded and load up Odin again. Connect your phone to your computer (MAKE SURE YOUR PHONE IS IN DOWNLOAD MODE -> VOL DOWN + HOME + POWER) and wait for Odin show a connection. Odin will show a blue light on newer Odin versions and a yellow light on older Odin versions.

When the connection is made hit the "bootloader" button and select the proper bootchain file for your specific phone. Before you hit start make sure that only "Auto Reboot" is selected on the left hand side.

Now go ahead and hit start and if all goes well your phones bootloader should be unlocked. You can tell that your phones bootloader is unlocked two ways.

One, when your phone reboots the Samsung Logo in white bold/block writing will disappear within 1-2 seconds. It will go by very fast.

Two, the custom lock icon that showed up after you ran the CF-AUTOROOT exploit will now disappear, if for any reason if you still see this logo then your phones bootloader is still locked and you can either try to flash the bootchain file again or use the application I am about to tell you about.

For my phone flashing this bootchain file worked fine, but for my brother's phone he has a verizon samsung galaxy s3 model sch-i535 this did not work and I had to use an application to unlock his bootloader.


****UPDATE UNLOCKING THE BOOTLOADER WITH EZ-UNLOCK*****

Okay so my brother who has a verizon samsung galaxy s3 model sch-i535 asked me to root his phone just the other day. I rooted his phone following all the same steps I have written above with no problems. His phone rooted perfectly, however his bootloader would not unlock. I believe that his bootloader would not unlock because he had an updated version. While his android version was the same as mine 4.1.2 he had a different baseband version.

His baseband version was "I535VRBMF1" the important part -> "VRBMF1"

Now i have been told that you can use the bootchain file VRBMB1 to unlock the bootloader for verizon SGS3 running android 4.1.2 baseband version "VRBMF1" but when i tried it, the bootloader staid locked. So i had to use an application to unlock his bootloader.

The application i used was "EZ-Unlock" which you can get here: http://rootzwiki.com/topic/32456-app-920-ez-unlock-14-easiest-way-to-unlock-your-bootloader/

Now this application is SO EASY to use it is amazing. Just download the file, the author recommend version 1.2 as the most stable and that is version i used. To download this file make sure you have the option "Unknown Sources" check in your Settings -> Security menu.

Okay to unlock your bootloader with EZ-Unlock follow these easy steps:


Step 10A. Download EZ-Unlock version 1.2 from the link above.

Step 10B. Install the application and open it.

Step 10C. Once open click on the giant "Unlock" button. If all goes well you will hear "That was easy" from the application.

Once you have hit the unlock button on EZ-Unlock reboot your phone to see if the Samsung in bold/block white letters disappears within 1-2 seconds, and make sure the custom lock icon has disappeared.

Now the application EZ-Unlock is designed specifically for verizon samsung galaxy s3 phones, it does not matter what baseband version you use or android version you use. So this is a very appealing and easy way to unlock your bootloader. If you don't feel like flashing a bootchain file with Odin or if you are not sure what bootchain file you should use then using this application. NOTE: you do need root access to run this application.

And that is it! Your phones bootloader should be unlocked either with Odin or EZ-Unlock the choice is all up to you!

***LAST THOUGHT ON INSTALLING CUSTOM RECOVERY***

This rooting method does not install and kind of custom recovery manager on to your phone. If you want to install a custom recovery manager such as "ClockworkMod Recovery" you can do that very easily once your phone is rooted. Once your phone is rooted go to the google play store and download "Rom Manager". Once Rom Manager is installed open it up and give it root access with SuperSU. Once that is done go into the option to flash a recovery manager and follow the steps and the application Rom Manager will take care of that for you!.

Congrats on rooting your phone! I hope this tutorial has helped you and I want to thank all of the system administrators of this forum and all of
the great guys and gals that contribute to this place. You guys/gals are what makes the open source community great!



I thank you all...

Hope it helped!

-droidshadow
 
Last edited:

kgirlx

Senior Member
Nov 26, 2010
385
95
Thanks might have to do this on my wife's phone

Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium
 

scheirere

Senior Member
Aug 31, 2012
113
7
I'm not having any luck with this. I've followed the instructions step by step and when I flash a custom ROM, I get the dreaded yellow triangle of death apon rebooting. There were some other files mentioned in the links. Do I need to unzip those at some point?
 

droidshadow

Senior Member
Dec 28, 2012
356
204
sorry i have been away

Okay i am so sorry for the late response I have been away and very busy. This tutorial is how to root your samsung galaxy s3 (verizon) model sch-i535 because you need to unlock the bootloader for that specific model.

Now you mentioned that when you try to flash a custom rom you get a yellow triangle of death....

Have you unlocked the bootloader?

Is your phone already rooted? Are you trying to flash a custom rom or are you still trying to root your phone?

I hope you have already resolved your issue but if you haven't I would be more than happy to try and help you out.
 

jmxc23

Senior Member
Dec 18, 2012
2,239
1,383
New York
How is it any easier then the other guides for jelly bean? Here you added the cf-auto root which is one extra step . Also with auto root there is a possibility of bricking the phone since it supports a lot of devices and as you are well aware that a lot of people new to flashing tend to flash the wrong files even if you give them a step by step guide. While this guide is helpful and does work it isn't as idiot proof as the other guide you linked on your post.
 
Last edited:

benbrown

Member
Feb 12, 2011
9
0
This does not work on my phone. When I try this, the phone boots normally. I have tried this several times and I get the same results. I can however hold the vol up button+the home button+the power button and get to stock recovery mode. I had an older S3 that this did work on but not my new one. I have read several threads here for rooting the S3 i535 with Jelly Bean 4.1.2 and this is supposedly the method but it will not work on my phone. What am I doing wrong? What am I missing? Please advise!
 

jmxc23

Senior Member
Dec 18, 2012
2,239
1,383
New York
This does not work on my phone. When I try this, the phone boots normally. I have tried this several times and I get the same results. I can however hold the vol up button+the home button+the power button and get to stock recovery mode. I had an older S3 that this did work on but not my new one. I have read several threads here for rooting the S3 i535 with Jelly Bean 4.1.2 and this is supposedly the method but it will not work on my phone. What am I doing wrong? What am I missing? Please advise!
This guide is different in that it uses cf-auto root so I highly doubt you even tried this method.
 
Last edited:

faehsemc

Senior Member
Jun 25, 2011
1,372
353
Titusville
The easiest way to root is odin'ing Mr. Robinson's root injected tar and the unlock the bootloader. Done

Sent from my MIUI powered S3 thanks to StrumerJohn
 

droidshadow

Senior Member
Dec 28, 2012
356
204
maybe i should have been more clear...

The easiest way to root is odin'ing Mr. Robinson's root injected tar and the unlock the bootloader. Done

Sent from my MIUI powered S3 thanks to StrumerJohn

Hey everyone,

Well i guess everyone has their own favorite way of rooting their phone/device. I did not mean for this small tutorial to be the *absolute easiest* way to root a verizon samsung galaxy s3 model i535 i just thought that I could do people a favor by elaborating a bit more on certain steps to make the rooting process a bit easier.

On certain tutorials i found I didn't seem them clearly state that the VRLAC BOOTCHAIN file needed to go in the boot loader section of ODIN to unlock the phone's bootloader.

On other tutorials that show you how to use CF-AUTOROOT I didn't see any that told you that you needed to install SUPERSU from the google play store manually in order to fully utilize your phones rooted status.

Yes there are other ways too root a SGS3, the Samsung Toolkit is a good option, or using a custom root such as Cyanogenmod is another great option as well...

All of those options you will have to research for yourself and ultimately decide for yourself.

However, if you want to keep your phone's stock ROM and you just want to root your Verizon SGS3 model SCH-I535 then I like using ODIN + CF-AUTOROOT exploit.

All i wanted to do was assist and do my part on this great forum which has helped me so much in the past...

I hope it helped someone...

Thanks for everyone who replied and shared your thoughts on other rooting options.

-DroidShadow
 

mlev1987

Member
Jul 3, 2013
8
0
Hello everyone,

Well this is one of my first tutorials for this forum on how to root your Verizon Samsung Galaxy S3.

I just recently got my Verizon Samsung Galaxy S3 and all of the tutorials I found were quite complicated and not very detailed so I thought that
I would write this tutorial and maybe it might help others out there....

Since the Galaxy S4 is getting ready to come out, the price has dropped considerably for the S3 and i believe more and more people will be getting this phone and wanting to root it.


Oh, and if you want an alternative guide you can use this very excellent tutorial from another post on this amazing forum:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2046439



Here is the specs for the phone I am using and the step by step process I used to root it.

Verizon Samsung Galaxy SIII model I535 running Android 4.1.2


Okay step 1 you are going to need some files...

First thing you are going to need is the Samsung Drivers so you can connect your phone to your computer and your computer can recognize it.
All of the files you are going to need I am just going to reference the link from the other tutorial that I posted above, no sense in redoing work
that has already been done especially if it has been done well!

1. You can get the samsung driver files here: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2046439
click on the link that says samsung drivers

2. You are going to need Odin you can get it from the same link, click on the Odin Link

3. You are going to need the VRALEC BOOTCHAIN you can get it from the link I posted in step 1 make sure you get this file it is very
important.

Since I am using a Verizon Samsung Galaxy S3 the bootloader comes by default locked so we need this file to unlock the bootloader
so we can root the phone. If we were using any other phone besides Verizon we would not have to worry about this but since I have
Verizon I have to do this. IMPORTANT: if you are not using a VERIZON PHONE DO NOT download this file or use it in the step
process you do not need it.


4. Next you are going to need the exploit so that you can root your phone and you can grab that from a different website, here is the address:
http://autoroot.chainfire.eu/

This is the CF-AUTOROOT file and this is what roots your phone. If you have the same phone as me scroll down to the SCH-I535 link and
download that file.


Okay now that we have all of that downloaded lets get things moving...

First thing we are going to need to do is install the Samsung USB drivers, so do that.

After the drivers are installed plug in your phone and make sure that it connects to your computer correctly, after it connects disconnect
your phone from your computer.

Next thing we are going to need to do is extract the ODIN zip file and install the Odin executable.


Now we need to get to the critical stuff...


Step 1. Make sure that [USB Debugging] is enabled in your phone, if it is not go to Settings -> Developer Options and enable it.

Step 2. Put your phone in DOWNLOAD Mode. You do that by pressing Volume Down + Home + Power button and hold it down till you see
a warning screen. When you see the warning screen hit Volume Up to allow Download mode.

Step 3. Now that your phone is in Download Mode you are going to connect your phone to your computer with ODIN RUNNING if
everything connects correctly you will see ODIN highlight yellow (older versions of ODIN) or highlight blue (newer ODIN versions)

Step 4. Now this is where previous tutorials kind of messed up in my opinion (just my opinion). Now that your phone is in download mode
you need to only have the "auto boot" option selected in ODIN and click on the bootloader button and select the VRALEC file
you downloaded earlier. Every tutorial i read said to use this file with the PDA button/option but you need to use it with the bootloader
button/option in ODIN. Now that you have the VRALEC file selected under bootloader in ODIN select START. This will reboot your
phone and if everything goes correctly your phone's bootloader will be unlocked.

After reboot make sure to disconnect your phone from your computer.


Step 5. After your phone reboots from step 4 turn off your phone and then boot it back into DOWNLOAD mode. Vol Down + Home + Power

Step 6. Now that your phone is in Download Mode again (Reconnect your phone to your computer) and make sure ODIN is still running

Step 7. With your phone connected go to the PDA option/button and when you select it choose the CF-AUTOROOT file you downloaded earlier

Step 8. With your PDA option selected hit start. When this happens your phone will reboot and your will see a CUSTOM lock icon on your
screen don't worry it is okay. Now you will see some new text on your phone and if everything is working you will see things like
"Android is UPDATING"

Your phone is now rooted! but you are not done...

This is where all of the other tutorials I found also fell short...

Your phone is rooted but it will not work correctly without SuperSU

Step 9. Go to the Google Play Store and Download SuperSU. When the download is complete run SuperSU and now your phone is fully
rooted. You can test it by downloading Android Terminal and running the terminal and typing "su" or by downloading a root required
app Titanium Backup.


Congrats on rooting your phone! I hope this tutorial has helped you and I want to thank all of the system administrators of this forum and all of
the great guys and gals that contribute to this place. You guys/gals are what makes the open source community great!

I thank you all...

Hope it helped!

-droidshadow

Followed all instructions, and the phone never rebooted. Not its not turning on. Tried vol up+home+power, vol down+home+power, battery pull, holding down power for 2 minutes. . .

The only thing I can think of is that I possibly unplugged the phone before the reboot after Step 4, just as soon as the phone shut down and before the actual reboot.

Anything you can help me with? I''m going crazy here.

Thanks
 

Sushruton

New member
Jul 9, 2013
1
0
Mumbai
Rooting and installation on S3 GTI9300

I rooted my S3 2 days back (i think so), now i want to install a custom rom (mostly xperia Z) and I am new to this world, so can you plz help me??
I followed your instructions there was no such msg as Andriod is Updating, and how should i do install the rom??
I wish to install from:rolleyes: this http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2174644 :rolleyes:
 

bgenchel

New member
Jul 12, 2013
1
0
Hello everyone,

Well this is one of my first tutorials for this forum on how to root your Verizon Samsung Galaxy S3.

I just recently got my Verizon Samsung Galaxy S3 and all of the tutorials I found were quite complicated and not very detailed so I thought that
I would write this tutorial and maybe it might help others out there....

Since the Galaxy S4 is getting ready to come out, the price has dropped considerably for the S3 and i believe more and more people will be getting this phone and wanting to root it.


Oh, and if you want an alternative guide you can use this very excellent tutorial from another post on this amazing forum:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2046439



Here is the specs for the phone I am using and the step by step process I used to root it.

Verizon Samsung Galaxy SIII model I535 running Android 4.1.2


Okay step 1 you are going to need some files...

First thing you are going to need is the Samsung Drivers so you can connect your phone to your computer and your computer can recognize it.
All of the files you are going to need I am just going to reference the link from the other tutorial that I posted above, no sense in redoing work
that has already been done especially if it has been done well!

1. You can get the samsung driver files here: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2046439
click on the link that says samsung drivers

2. You are going to need Odin you can get it from the same link, click on the Odin Link

3. You are going to need the VRALEC BOOTCHAIN you can get it from the link I posted in step 1 make sure you get this file it is very
important.

Since I am using a Verizon Samsung Galaxy S3 the bootloader comes by default locked so we need this file to unlock the bootloader
so we can root the phone. If we were using any other phone besides Verizon we would not have to worry about this but since I have
Verizon I have to do this. IMPORTANT: if you are not using a VERIZON PHONE DO NOT download this file or use it in the step
process you do not need it.


4. Next you are going to need the exploit so that you can root your phone and you can grab that from a different website, here is the address:
http://autoroot.chainfire.eu/

This is the CF-AUTOROOT file and this is what roots your phone. If you have the same phone as me scroll down to the SCH-I535 link and
download that file.


Okay now that we have all of that downloaded lets get things moving...

First thing we are going to need to do is install the Samsung USB drivers, so do that.

After the drivers are installed plug in your phone and make sure that it connects to your computer correctly, after it connects disconnect
your phone from your computer.

Next thing we are going to need to do is extract the ODIN zip file and install the Odin executable.


Now we need to get to the critical stuff...


Step 1. Make sure that [USB Debugging] is enabled in your phone, if it is not go to Settings -> Developer Options and enable it.

Step 2. Put your phone in DOWNLOAD Mode. You do that by pressing Volume Down + Home + Power button and hold it down till you see
a warning screen. When you see the warning screen hit Volume Up to allow Download mode.

Step 3. Now that your phone is in Download Mode you are going to connect your phone to your computer with ODIN RUNNING if
everything connects correctly you will see ODIN highlight yellow (older versions of ODIN) or highlight blue (newer ODIN versions)

Step 4. Now this is where previous tutorials kind of messed up in my opinion (just my opinion). Now that your phone is in download mode
you need to only have the "auto boot" option selected in ODIN and click on the bootloader button and select the VRALEC file
you downloaded earlier. Every tutorial i read said to use this file with the PDA button/option but you need to use it with the bootloader
button/option in ODIN. Now that you have the VRALEC file selected under bootloader in ODIN select START. This will reboot your
phone and if everything goes correctly your phone's bootloader will be unlocked.

After reboot make sure to disconnect your phone from your computer.


Step 5. After your phone reboots from step 4 turn off your phone and then boot it back into DOWNLOAD mode. Vol Down + Home + Power

Step 6. Now that your phone is in Download Mode again (Reconnect your phone to your computer) and make sure ODIN is still running

Step 7. With your phone connected go to the PDA option/button and when you select it choose the CF-AUTOROOT file you downloaded earlier

Step 8. With your PDA option selected hit start. When this happens your phone will reboot and your will see a CUSTOM lock icon on your
screen don't worry it is okay. Now you will see some new text on your phone and if everything is working you will see things like
"Android is UPDATING"

Your phone is now rooted! but you are not done...

This is where all of the other tutorials I found also fell short...

Your phone is rooted but it will not work correctly without SuperSU

Step 9. Go to the Google Play Store and Download SuperSU. When the download is complete run SuperSU and now your phone is fully
rooted. You can test it by downloading Android Terminal and running the terminal and typing "su" or by downloading a root required
app Titanium Backup.


Congrats on rooting your phone! I hope this tutorial has helped you and I want to thank all of the system administrators of this forum and all of
the great guys and gals that contribute to this place. You guys/gals are what makes the open source community great!

I thank you all...

Hope it helped!

-droidshadow

I ran ODIN with the bootchain, and that worked, but when i tried running it with PDA set to CF-autoroot file, I get SECURE CHECK FAIL
 

droidshadow

Senior Member
Dec 28, 2012
356
204
hello everyone

I ran ODIN with the bootchain, and that worked, but when i tried running it with PDA set to CF-autoroot file, I get SECURE CHECK FAIL

bgenchel: what kind of phone do you have? Are you 100% sure that you downloaded the correct CF-autoroot file for your specific phone model?
 

droidshadow

Senior Member
Dec 28, 2012
356
204
Followed all instructions, and the phone never rebooted. Not its not turning on. Tried vol up+home+power, vol down+home+power, battery pull, holding down power for 2 minutes. . .

The only thing I can think of is that I possibly unplugged the phone before the reboot after Step 4, just as soon as the phone shut down and before the actual reboot.

Anything you can help me with? I''m going crazy here.

Thanks



Did you run the Odin with the VRLAC bootchain file then you unplugged your phone before a full restart could take place? This is a very sensitive issue because that bootchain file unlocks your bootloader on your verizon phone. Your bootloader is everything to your phone. It controls how your phone starts and your phone can not work correctly if your bootloader became compromised in any way. I really hope you figured it out, and if you didn't maybe you could call your insurance company (if you have one) and get a new phone. If you are worried about rooting your phone again you could look on craigslist, there are always people/professionals willing to do it for very reasonable prices $10-$20. Again i really hope you figured this out and if you give me some more details maybe we can figure this out together.
 

ohemetophobia

Senior Member
Jan 26, 2013
103
13
Phone Rebel Method

This is the same method that Phone Rebel has on his YouTube channel for rooting d2vzw. This tutorial is missing one step that Phone Rebel covers, after running CF Auto Root, he flashes the corresponding bootchain file that goes with whatever firmware your phone is running. When I rooted, I was running VRBMB1, so I flashed that boot chain following the other two odin flashes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4b9hcWHrW8&feature=share&list=FL8Y3FM4mtznp0GQbwkkwaSg

What I've learned is that CF Auto Root does not unlock the bootloader and trying to flash a custom ROM with result in the dreaded triangle message every time. I was given this method: http://droidviews.com/2013/root-and...erizon-galaxy-s3-sch-i535-android-4-1-14-1-2/
to try instead. In this method you flash the VRALEC, then CWM recovery, then you can flash SuperSU with an unlocked bootloader via CWM, then flash the final bootchain file depending on the firmware you're running. Method 3 contains the casual root tool, but I've seen mixed reviews for that one.

At the suggestion of someone on the Google+ community for the SGS3, I"m gonna attempt to root VRBMF1 (JB 4.1.2 w/multiwindow) via method 1 and then flash the VRBMB1 bootchain for the previous version and see what happens.
 

ohemetophobia

Senior Member
Jan 26, 2013
103
13
UPDATE

This is the same method that Phone Rebel has on his YouTube channel for rooting d2vzw. This tutorial is missing one step that Phone Rebel covers, after running CF Auto Root, he flashes the corresponding bootchain file that goes with whatever firmware your phone is running. When I rooted, I was running VRBMB1, so I flashed that boot chain following the other two odin flashes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4b9hcWHrW8&feature=share&list=FL8Y3FM4mtznp0GQbwkkwaSg

What I've learned is that CF Auto Root does not unlock the bootloader and trying to flash a custom ROM with result in the dreaded triangle message every time. I was given this method: http://droidviews.com/2013/root-and...erizon-galaxy-s3-sch-i535-android-4-1-14-1-2/
to try instead. In this method you flash the VRALEC, then CWM recovery, then you can flash SuperSU with an unlocked bootloader via CWM, then flash the final bootchain file depending on the firmware you're running. Method 3 contains the casual root tool, but I've seen mixed reviews for that one.

At the suggestion of someone on the Google+ community for the SGS3, I"m gonna attempt to root VRBMF1 (JB 4.1.2 w/multiwindow) via method 1 and then flash the VRBMB1 bootchain for the previous version and see what happens.


You can use method 1 outlined in the droidviews link i posted yesterday to root the phone and when you get to the point where you're flashing the second bootchain you can flash VRBMB1 instead of needing VRBMF1 and it will work just fine! I also believe this method will truly unlock the bootloader for flashing custom roms, to avoid the yellow triangle of frustration, but I have no oversight on this as it was not my plan to do so.
 

BKSinAZ

Member
Apr 21, 2013
8
0
VRBMF1??

I must admit that I am new to rooting.
I just bought a new S3 i535 with 4.1.2 and would like to root it. In the link provided there are files to download. One of these files are the bootchain... When I look in my settings, I see VRBMF1 and in the link provided I see.............

For VRBLK3 (Jelly Bean 4.1.1) Link
MD5: E3A1CB07DE214ED8081ED9D42C9BAF4A
For VRBMB1 (Jelly Bean 4.1.2) Link
MD5: 8C3DA18BD5DEF7E38E03DD147A0E10A1
For VRBMD3 (Jelly Bean 4.1.2) Link
MD5: 9CB65EAE8784807349EC3D4FF3A0AAEF

I am confused on what to do. I would imagine that this instructional post was created before I got my phone (07/13/2013) and thus is the reason why it might be missing from the instructions. Please advise me.
 

ohemetophobia

Senior Member
Jan 26, 2013
103
13
I must admit that I am new to rooting.
I just bought a new S3 i535 with 4.1.2 and would like to root it. In the link provided there are files to download. One of these files are the bootchain... When I look in my settings, I see VRBMF1 and in the link provided I see.............

For VRBLK3 (Jelly Bean 4.1.1) Link
MD5: E3A1CB07DE214ED8081ED9D42C9BAF4A
For VRBMB1 (Jelly Bean 4.1.2) Link
MD5: 8C3DA18BD5DEF7E38E03DD147A0E10A1
For VRBMD3 (Jelly Bean 4.1.2) Link
MD5: 9CB65EAE8784807349EC3D4FF3A0AAEF

I am confused on what to do. I would imagine that this instructional post was created before I got my phone (07/13/2013) and thus is the reason why it might be missing from the instructions. Please advise me.

Yes, the instructional post was created prior to you getting an S3. So, if you got into Settings> About Phone and look at your baseband version you'll probably see I535VRBMF1 and you'll probably see it again in another field just below it. This indicates that you're running the VRBMF1 firmware. That is JB 4.1.2 with multi-window. When using the root process in the droidviews article it outlines flashing VRALEC, then CWM touch, then using CWM to flash the supersu file, then flashing either VRBLK3, VRBMB1, or VRBMD3. Since none of those bootchain files match your firmware and there is no VRBMF1 bootchain on the forums, I flashed VRBMB1 since it was the the bootchain from the previous firmware. It worked. I successfully achieved root with no problems. Hope this helps.
 

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  • 8
    **** UPDATED 7-24-13 *****

    Please read the tutorial now as I have added a new section on how to unlock the bootloader for your Verizon Samsung Galaxy S3. If you are not using a verizon SGS3
    specifically model SCH-i535 then you do not have to worry about unlocking your bootloader as it comes unlocked by default. If you are using a verizon samsung galaxy s3 model sch-i535 and you do not fully unlock your bootloader you could run into problems when using certain root apps such as "mobile odin pro" or you could run into big problems when trying to flash custom roms such as cyanogenmod roms.

    In this update I am adding one final step at the end of the root process to fully unlock the boot loader for the verizon samsung galaxy s3. There will be two ways to unlock the bootloader. One way will be to flash a final bootchain file with Odin, and the other will be to use an app to unlock the bootloader. Depending on what version of android you are using and your phones baseband version you will either need to use odin or you could use the application for any android version such as 4.1.1 or 4.1.2 and you can use the application for any baseband version your phone might be. I will leave the choice up to you, but I will show how to do it both ways.

    Samsung users, don't forget if you plan on flashing a custom rom that with Samsung phones you could get the ugly yellow triangle warning. To get rid of this yellow triangle you can either go to google play store and get "yellow triangle away" app or go to this forum on this great xda developers site: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1494114

    **NOTE** for those of you who would like to see a video of how to root your phone using these exact steps you can go to here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4b9hcWHrW8&feature=share&list=FL8Y3FM4mtznp0GQbwkkwaSg

    A member on this thread gave me that link and it is a video by phone rebel and show you how to root your verizon SGS3 using the same steps i have outlined in this tutorial. Thank you so much for providing that link to my attention, I am sure it will help many users here!



    Hello everyone,

    Well this is one of my first tutorials for this forum on how to root your Verizon Samsung Galaxy S3.

    I just recently got my Verizon Samsung Galaxy S3 and all of the tutorials I found were quite complicated and not very detailed so I thought that
    I would write this tutorial and maybe it might help others out there....

    Since the Galaxy S4 is getting ready to come out, the price has dropped considerably for the S3 and i believe more and more people will be getting this phone and wanting to root it.


    Oh, and if you want an alternative guide you can use this very excellent tutorial from another post on this amazing forum:

    http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2046439



    Here is the specs for the phone I am using and the step by step process I used to root it.

    Verizon Samsung Galaxy SIII model I535 running Android 4.1.2


    Okay step 1 you are going to need some files...

    First thing you are going to need is the Samsung Drivers so you can connect your phone to your computer and your computer can recognize it.
    All of the files you are going to need I am just going to reference the link from the other tutorial that I posted above, no sense in redoing work
    that has already been done especially if it has been done well!

    1. You can get the samsung driver files here: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2046439
    click on the link that says samsung drivers

    2. You are going to need Odin you can get it from the same link, click on the Odin Link

    3. You are going to need the VRALEC BOOTCHAIN you can get it from the link I posted in step 1 make sure you get this file it is very
    important.

    Since I am using a Verizon Samsung Galaxy S3 the bootloader comes by default locked so we need this file to unlock the bootloader
    so we can root the phone. If we were using any other phone besides Verizon we would not have to worry about this but since I have
    Verizon I have to do this. IMPORTANT: if you are not using a VERIZON PHONE DO NOT download this file or use it in the step
    process you do not need it.


    4. Next you are going to need the exploit so that you can root your phone and you can grab that from a different website, here is the address:
    http://autoroot.chainfire.eu/

    This is the CF-AUTOROOT file and this is what roots your phone. If you have the same phone as me scroll down to the SCH-I535 link and
    download that file.


    Okay now that we have all of that downloaded lets get things moving...

    First thing we are going to need to do is install the Samsung USB drivers, so do that.

    After the drivers are installed plug in your phone and make sure that it connects to your computer correctly, after it connects disconnect
    your phone from your computer.

    Next thing we are going to need to do is extract the ODIN zip file and install the Odin executable.


    Now we need to get to the critical stuff...


    Step 1. Make sure that [USB Debugging] is enabled in your phone, if it is not go to Settings -> Developer Options and enable it.

    Step 2. Put your phone in DOWNLOAD Mode. You do that by pressing Volume Down + Home + Power button and hold it down till you see
    a warning screen. When you see the warning screen hit Volume Up to allow Download mode.

    Step 3. Now that your phone is in Download Mode you are going to connect your phone to your computer with ODIN RUNNING if
    everything connects correctly you will see ODIN highlight yellow (older versions of ODIN) or highlight blue (newer ODIN versions)

    Step 4. Now this is where previous tutorials kind of messed up in my opinion (just my opinion). Now that your phone is in download mode
    you need to only have the "auto boot" option selected in ODIN and click on the bootloader button and select the VRALEC file
    you downloaded earlier. Every tutorial i read said to use this file with the PDA button/option but you need to use it with the bootloader
    button/option in ODIN. Now that you have the VRALEC file selected under bootloader in ODIN select START. This will reboot your
    phone and if everything goes correctly your phone's bootloader will be unlocked.

    After reboot make sure to disconnect your phone from your computer.


    Step 5. After your phone reboots from step 4 turn off your phone and then boot it back into DOWNLOAD mode. Vol Down + Home + Power

    Step 6. Now that your phone is in Download Mode again (Reconnect your phone to your computer) and make sure ODIN is still running

    Step 7. With your phone connected go to the PDA option/button and when you select it choose the CF-AUTOROOT file you downloaded earlier

    Step 8. With your PDA option selected hit start. When this happens your phone will reboot and your will see a CUSTOM lock icon on your
    screen don't worry it is okay. Now you will see some new text on your phone and if everything is working you will see things like
    "Android is UPDATING"

    Your phone is now rooted! but you are not done...

    This is where all of the other tutorials I found also fell short...

    Your phone is rooted but it will not work correctly without SuperSU

    Step 9. Go to the Google Play Store and Download SuperSU. When the download is complete run SuperSU and now your phone is fully
    rooted. You can test it by downloading Android Terminal and running the terminal and typing "su" or by downloading a root required
    app Titanium Backup.

    *****UPDATED STEP*****

    IMPORTANT NOTE: i want to point that this step is completely optional. You do not have to unlock your bootloader but i would recommend it. If you just want to use a stock rom and have your phone rooted then you can ignore this last step. But...if you want to flash custom rom's or do any kind of serious customize your phone, then you will need to have your phones bootloader unlocked. Plus with the application I am going to show you further down this tutorial, it is so easy to unlock your bootloader, you might as well go for it.


    Step 10. Okay now from the link that I gave you above: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2046439 you are going to need to download another bootchain file to fully unlock your verizon samsung galaxy s3 model sch-i535 phone.Go into your phone and under settings go into "about phone' and look at the section "baseband version". Now depending on what version of android you are using will determine your baseband version. On my Verizon SGS3 running 4.1.2 my baseband version is I535VRBMB1 the important part is -> "VRBMB1" now go to site i provided in this step and download the bootchain for your specific phone.

    Since my phones baseband version is "VRBMB1" i will download that bootchain file obviously. VRBMB1 is for android 4.1.2

    The other boothchain files are "VRBLK3" for android 4.1.1 and "VRBMD3" for android 4.1.2

    Now take that bootchain file that you downloaded and load up Odin again. Connect your phone to your computer (MAKE SURE YOUR PHONE IS IN DOWNLOAD MODE -> VOL DOWN + HOME + POWER) and wait for Odin show a connection. Odin will show a blue light on newer Odin versions and a yellow light on older Odin versions.

    When the connection is made hit the "bootloader" button and select the proper bootchain file for your specific phone. Before you hit start make sure that only "Auto Reboot" is selected on the left hand side.

    Now go ahead and hit start and if all goes well your phones bootloader should be unlocked. You can tell that your phones bootloader is unlocked two ways.

    One, when your phone reboots the Samsung Logo in white bold/block writing will disappear within 1-2 seconds. It will go by very fast.

    Two, the custom lock icon that showed up after you ran the CF-AUTOROOT exploit will now disappear, if for any reason if you still see this logo then your phones bootloader is still locked and you can either try to flash the bootchain file again or use the application I am about to tell you about.

    For my phone flashing this bootchain file worked fine, but for my brother's phone he has a verizon samsung galaxy s3 model sch-i535 this did not work and I had to use an application to unlock his bootloader.


    ****UPDATE UNLOCKING THE BOOTLOADER WITH EZ-UNLOCK*****

    Okay so my brother who has a verizon samsung galaxy s3 model sch-i535 asked me to root his phone just the other day. I rooted his phone following all the same steps I have written above with no problems. His phone rooted perfectly, however his bootloader would not unlock. I believe that his bootloader would not unlock because he had an updated version. While his android version was the same as mine 4.1.2 he had a different baseband version.

    His baseband version was "I535VRBMF1" the important part -> "VRBMF1"

    Now i have been told that you can use the bootchain file VRBMB1 to unlock the bootloader for verizon SGS3 running android 4.1.2 baseband version "VRBMF1" but when i tried it, the bootloader staid locked. So i had to use an application to unlock his bootloader.

    The application i used was "EZ-Unlock" which you can get here: http://rootzwiki.com/topic/32456-app-920-ez-unlock-14-easiest-way-to-unlock-your-bootloader/

    Now this application is SO EASY to use it is amazing. Just download the file, the author recommend version 1.2 as the most stable and that is version i used. To download this file make sure you have the option "Unknown Sources" check in your Settings -> Security menu.

    Okay to unlock your bootloader with EZ-Unlock follow these easy steps:


    Step 10A. Download EZ-Unlock version 1.2 from the link above.

    Step 10B. Install the application and open it.

    Step 10C. Once open click on the giant "Unlock" button. If all goes well you will hear "That was easy" from the application.

    Once you have hit the unlock button on EZ-Unlock reboot your phone to see if the Samsung in bold/block white letters disappears within 1-2 seconds, and make sure the custom lock icon has disappeared.

    Now the application EZ-Unlock is designed specifically for verizon samsung galaxy s3 phones, it does not matter what baseband version you use or android version you use. So this is a very appealing and easy way to unlock your bootloader. If you don't feel like flashing a bootchain file with Odin or if you are not sure what bootchain file you should use then using this application. NOTE: you do need root access to run this application.

    And that is it! Your phones bootloader should be unlocked either with Odin or EZ-Unlock the choice is all up to you!

    ***LAST THOUGHT ON INSTALLING CUSTOM RECOVERY***

    This rooting method does not install and kind of custom recovery manager on to your phone. If you want to install a custom recovery manager such as "ClockworkMod Recovery" you can do that very easily once your phone is rooted. Once your phone is rooted go to the google play store and download "Rom Manager". Once Rom Manager is installed open it up and give it root access with SuperSU. Once that is done go into the option to flash a recovery manager and follow the steps and the application Rom Manager will take care of that for you!.

    Congrats on rooting your phone! I hope this tutorial has helped you and I want to thank all of the system administrators of this forum and all of
    the great guys and gals that contribute to this place. You guys/gals are what makes the open source community great!



    I thank you all...

    Hope it helped!

    -droidshadow
    2
    How is it any easier then the other guides for jelly bean? Here you added the cf-auto root which is one extra step . Also with auto root there is a possibility of bricking the phone since it supports a lot of devices and as you are well aware that a lot of people new to flashing tend to flash the wrong files even if you give them a step by step guide. While this guide is helpful and does work it isn't as idiot proof as the other guide you linked on your post.
    1
    Sounds like you caught something I missed. My phone always had the custom logo up at every boot, so whatever I did, didn't complete the process which probably caused all of my issues. With the root method I posted in here, it seems that the custom logo went away and after I softbricked the phone installing google wallet and restored with a pre-rooted rom it's gone away. so I could possibly successfully flash a rom now, but I'm content as is.

    Good catch, though. I'm glad something that i posted helped you on the road to successfully flashing a custom rom.
    1
    I followed all the steps, but when I got to the SuperSU installation I get this message: There is no SU binary installed. How do I get around this?

    How are you installing superSU? Play store?

    Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
    1
    Get rom manager app from play store and and use it to flash Clockworkmod Recovery, should be version 6.0.4.3.

    Once that's done use rom manager to boot into recovery.

    Use the volume up/down buttons to navigate (power button to select option) to flash zip/flash from sdcard/downloads and pick up the zip I gave you.

    Once that's done navigate by hitting go back to the main menu and reboot phone.

    Once booted, download superSU from the play store and get the root checker app. Use root checker to verify you're rooted.

    Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk