[ROOT] Superboot - Galaxy Nexus root solution

[paulobrien]

Introducing.... Superboot!

Superboot is a boot.img that when booted, will root your device the first time you boot (installing su and the superuser APK). No need to flash any partitions, no need to mess around with ADB, no messing with the contents of your data partition, no overwriting the shipped ROM on your device, just boot the boot image using the instructions below and you're done!

APPLY THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK!

• Superboot r5 - DOWNLOAD - MD5: 510c4a0c5a62407550abc5e028c6fd82

How to use Superboot - Windows, Linux and OSX

- Download the Superboot zip file above and extract to a directory
- Put your device in bootloader mode - Turn off the phone then turn on with the 'volume up' and 'volume down' buttons both pressed to enter the bootloader (as pictured below)
- WINDOWS - double click 'superboot-windows.bat'
- MAC - Open a terminal window to the directory containing the files, and type 'chmod +x superboot-mac.sh' followed by './superboot-mac.sh'
- LINUX - Open a terminal window to the directory containing the files, and type 'chmod +x superboot-linux.sh' followed by './superboot-linux.sh'

Note: If you are using a retail device, you may need to unlock the bootloader first, using './fastboot-windows oem unlock' (or the appropriate version for your machine, included in this zip). Note that the OEM unlock sequence wipes your device, so consider doing an 'adb backup' beforehand if required!

Enjoy!

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[treble4]

cheers paul for this now can you sort an unlock please so i can get my tmobile sim working in it anytime before my t would be great in the next say 30 mins would be smashin

 

[paulobrien]

cheers paul for this now can you sort an unlock please so i can get my tmobile sim working in it anytime before my t would be great in the next say 30 mins would be smashin

Done!

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[pan24]

so this is a temporary or permanent root because i didnt understood well the ''until such time as you reboot after running this process (it's a non permanent ADB root as it's a 'fastboot boot' and not a 'fastboot flash').''

 

[paulobrien]

so this is a temporary or permanent root because i didnt understood well the ''until such time as you reboot after running this process (it's a non permanent ADB root as it's a 'fastboot boot' and not a 'fastboot flash').''

Permanent root.

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[ballubas]

great, can't wait to get mine!

 

[beekay201]

Permanent root.

P

I'm sorry, i find this a bit confusing. Why do you make mention then to 'reboot', if people dont have to worry about it (as in my definition of permanent).
Does superboot allow for root under adb (until restart), and for normal os operation+root access, the latter not being affected by a reboot, is that it?

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk

 

[Evostance]

I'm a little confused by the terminology used here too. This is a permanent root? Not one that must run after every reboot?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

[el3ctrik]

Does superboot allow for root under adb (until restart), and for normal os operation+root access, the latter not being affected by a reboot, is that it?

This is what he means. Running "fastboot boot" allows you to access the root shell using adb, however after reboot you will not be able to do that again until you reboot with the same command, or flash his permenant adb root .img from his other thread.

Once you have done this method once, the su binary and Superuser.apk are on your device, and will be there permentantly, until such a time as you remove them or you reflash a stock image. This means your on-device root is permenant too.

 

[Evostance]

Worked flawlessly on my Mac. Cheers!

 

[John Markley]

I can't think of any reason why this method using the r2 files won't work equally well on the USA VZW version when (if) we finally get it -- true?

 

[Chirality]

I can't think of any reason why this method using the r2 files won't work equally well on the USA VZW version when (if) we finally get it -- true?

The boot image used here is a modified version of the GSM Galaxy Nexus boot image, I don't think it'll boot on the LTE version.

 

[siedkins]

This is what he means. Running "fastboot boot" allows you to access the root shell using adb, however after reboot you will not be able to do that again until you reboot with the same command, or flash his permenant adb root .img from his other thread.

I've come from using a Desire and just got the Galaxy Nexus. I've just unlocked the bootloader and flashed superboot using fastboot.

What I don't quite understand is why you wouldn't just want to flash the unsecure boot image from the other thread ? Or why this method doesn't do the same. I understand that this method reboots the phone using the superboot image rather than flashing over the system boot image file. But why wouldn't you want to override the system boot image to get full access? I suppose this is just highlighting my lack of knowledge of what I was doing before as I used unrevocked to get root access and custom recovery all in one go.

Sorry for asking these questions but it seems like there are a few people wanting to know the same thing.

@Paul - Big ups and thanks for posting this easy to use version.

 

[paulobrien]

I've come from using a Desire and just got the Galaxy Nexus. I've just unlocked the bootloader and flashed superboot using fastboot.

What I don't quite understand is why you wouldn't just want to flash the unsecure boot image from the other thread ? Or why this method doesn't do the same. I understand that this method reboots the phone using the superboot image rather than flashing over the system boot image file. But why wouldn't you want to override the system boot image to get full access? I suppose this is just highlighting my lack of knowledge of what I was doing before as I used unrevocked to get root access and custom recovery all in one go.

Sorry for asking these questions but it seems like there are a few people wanting to know the same thing.

@Paul - Big ups and thanks for posting this easy to use version.

Because the insecure boot image is just that, an insecure boot image - it doesn't root your device with the superuser binary / APK.

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[gaspodex]

Excellent ... um quick question before i pop out - are the o2 contract handsets sim locked and if so if there an unlock solution ? (paid or otherwise) - i tend to switch between 02/voda a lot so need to unlock

 

[paulobrien]

Unknown.

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[Evostance]

Excellent ... um quick question before i pop out - are the o2 contract handsets sim locked and if so if there an unlock solution ? (paid or otherwise) - i tend to switch between 02/voda a lot so need to unlock

I think you can just call O2 and ask for an unlock code. Don't quote on that though

 

[GuestK00431]

I must be stupid or something cause I can't seem to unlock my phone? :-( done everything. :-S

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App

 

[Evostance]

I must be stupid or something cause I can't seem to unlock my phone? :-( done everything in a shirt quide :-S

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App

You got it plugged in on the bootloader screen?

Just cd to wherever you extracted Pauls superboot too and type:

./fastboot-windows oem unlock
Assuming you are on Windows..if not just change it for your os
Linux = ./fastboot-linux oem unlock
OS X = ./fastboot-mac oem unlock

 

[GuestK00431]

You got it plugged in on the bootloader screen?

Just cd to wherever you extracted Pauls superboot too and type:

./fastboot-windows oem unlock
Assuming you are on Windows..if not just change it for your os
Linux = ./fastboot-linux oem unlock
OS X = ./fastboot-mac oem unlock

Actually it didn't work... ;-/ its finding the phone so not a driver problem but typing in ./fastboot-windows oem unlock does nothing other than give me an error saying its not recognized as a internal or external command.