Root your Vibrant

justadude · Jul 12, 2010

***This will work on the T-Mobile US branded Vibrant and generic Galaxy S models***

***IMPORTANT: YOU PERFORM THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK, THIS MAY VOID YOUR WARRANTY, I NOR ANYONE ELSE IS RESPONSIBLE IF YOU BRICK YOUR DEVICE.***

***UPDATE: Now you can do this without ADB installed!

The following method should be relatively care-free but there is always a risk with activities like rooting a device or flashing a new firmware.

1. Download the attached zip and rename to: update.zip
2. On your device, navigate to Settings > Applications > USB settings and select Mass storage
3. Plug your device into your computer, select mount USB from your device's pull-down window
4. Copy the update.zip to the INTERNAL SD memory (~14gb on this drive, not the one w/ Avatar if you've still got the 2gb SD card in)
5. Turn your phone off.
6. Hold down volume up and volume down while powering on the phone, this should get you to a recovery menu, you may have to try this a few times.
7. In Recovery menu select 'Reinstall Packages' (use vol_down then power to select)

Phone will reboot
and you have
1. su+Superuser
2. busybox (/system/xbin/busybox)

Original credit goes to LeshaK at Samdroid, I modified the script within update.zip to work on the Vibrant.

Other credits to the fine folks in this thread that noted the vol up+down recovery menu.

I would link to the Samdroid forum but I can't...but check Samdroid > i9000 Development forum for the original post.

iceshinobi · Jul 12, 2010

Intriguing may try this on Thursday

quickex99 · Jul 12, 2010

How easy is it to put back to stock for warranty purposes?

marsupial99 · Jul 12, 2010

Thank you to the OP for posting this. Does it make sense to append the post with a quick guide to installing and getting ADB to work with Vibrant for those who have never done that? This would make it a truly complete guide to rooting Vibrant.

Drachen · Jul 12, 2010

Thanks for this. I'm planning on getting an AT&T Captivate when it comes out. What would I have to change in your script to have it work on the Captivate? Would it just be a matter of changing the model names in the file updater-script? That seems to be the only file with an updated file date. TIA.

basataom · Jul 12, 2010

So with this root, will the normal Galaxy S custom rom (modaco) work on the vibrant? or does the rom need adjusting?

BigWorldJust · Jul 12, 2010

Thanks for this

. Can't wait until Thursday!!

justadude · Jul 12, 2010

quickex99 said:
How easy is it to put back to stock for warranty purposes?

Not sure exactly, though you could easily delete the super user APK, that's the only real visible sign that this is installed. Doubt they'd check much further. The Samdroid forum post may have info on reverting to stock.

If anyone wants to take this and modify, it should work on the Captivate/Fascinate/Epic with a simple modification, add the model name for each device to this part of updater-script in the zip file:

Code:

assert(getprop("ro.product.device") == "GT-I5800" ||
       getprop("ro.build.product") == "GT-I5800" ||
       getprop("ro.product.device") == "GT-I9000" ||
       getprop("ro.build.product") == "GT-I9000" ||
       getprop("ro.product.device") == "SGH-T959" ||
       getprop("ro.build.product") == "SGH-T959"
       );

Does it make sense to append the post with a quick guide to installing and getting ADB to work with Vibrant for those who have never done that?

I'll leave that to someone else, I personally feel that if folks are in this 'development' section then they should be capable of installing and getting ADB running before they do something that could possibly harm their phone if they screw it up.

So with this root, will the normal Galaxy S custom rom (modaco) work on the vibrant? or does the rom need adjusting?

Honestly, no idea on this. I'm not willing to risk my Vibrant to this, I'll let someone else be a guinea pig. But I am interested to hear if the wireless hotspot feature can be added back, this is the only item I miss from the Vibrant.

heygrl · Jul 12, 2010

I'm glad it's that easy, now what about wireless tether? It's something that I and others root for almost exclusively.

lp1527 · Jul 12, 2010

Has anyone successfully tried this yet?

BigWorldJust · Jul 13, 2010

Considering that the phone doesn't release until Thursday, I highly doubt it.

lp1527 · Jul 13, 2010

BigWorldJust said:
Considering that the phone doesn't release until Thursday, I highly doubt it.

Considering I have one sitting here in my hands, some people have access so a valid question

al74 · Jul 13, 2010

lp1527 said:
Considering I have one sitting here in my hands, some people have access so a valid question

So. Care to share the results with the people? How about some more info on speed, lag, firmware etc.

Sent from my Htcclay's SuperBad G1 using XDA App

justadude · Jul 13, 2010

Lag is still there, it's the reason I went for root in the first place, had to perform Paul's lag fix w/ the shipped software. With the lag fix and Launcher Pro this device is quite a joy.

Ship ROM is T959UVJFD.

disturkis4u · Jul 13, 2010

once i installed the galaxy s drivers, it was REALLY painless and easy. i did it just for the wireless tethering.. and whatever other goodies I can find for this so far... really excited!

lp1527 · Jul 13, 2010

justadude said:
Lag is still there, it's the reason I went for root in the first place, had to perform Paul's lag fix w/ the shipped software. With the lag fix and Launcher Pro this device is quite a joy.

Ship ROM is T959UVJFD.

Can you elaborate? Do you still have the original shipped OS (Touchwiz and all pre-loaded apps, etc.)? Also, any kind of step-by-step you could provide?

Much appreciated and THANK you!

marsupial99 · Jul 13, 2010

disturkis4u said:
once i installed the galaxy s drivers, it was REALLY painless and easy. i did it just for the wireless tethering.. and whatever other goodies I can find for this so far... really excited!

The wireless tethering is my main reason for rooting so I am very interested which tethering application you are using and which version. Also, where did you get the proper drivers for adb connection? The directions in the first post assume that everybody knows how to use adb which sadly is not the case with me. Any additional information will be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

shivers316 · Jul 13, 2010

basataom said:
So with this root, will the normal Galaxy S custom rom (modaco) work on the vibrant? or does the rom need adjusting?

It would probably need some tweaking since the hardware is a bit different. (ei. the button layout)

BigWorldJust · Jul 13, 2010

Lmao, that's why I said highly unlikely, NOT impossible. SMH.

disturkis4u · Jul 13, 2010

marsupial99 said:
The wireless tethering is my main reason for rooting so I am very interested which tethering application you are using and which version. Also, where did you get the proper drivers for adb connection? The directions in the first post assume that everybody knows how to use adb which sadly is not the case with me. Any additional information will be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

I searched for "galaxy s usb driver" in xda and the first link was USB Driver for Galaxy S and Misc Info - xda-developers. There's a rapidshare and multiupload link for download also in that thread. (3rd post or something).

once you extract the usb drivers folders, go to the extracted folder, double click on "setup" and it will install the drivers for you. when you enable usb debugging on your vibrant and plug it in, windows should successfully install the usb drivers. then, go to command, and follow the instructions in the first post

edit: i'm using the app called Wireless Tether version 2.0.1 website is http://android-wifi-tether.googlecode.com

Root your Vibrant

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