* Simple Root Guide for Galaxy S3 *

Soldato
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Every few pages in the official Galaxy S3 thread, this question tends to pop up. I posted a noobs guide to rooting the S3 which some have already found useful, but before it gets buried and lost, I thought it may be easier to find if it had its own thread.

If you have anything useful to add, please post and I will add it to the OP. This root was done by Chainfire from xda forums, so thanks go out to him, the original thread can be found here. If the instructions seem a bit too complicated because you have never rooted before, or are new to android or just a plain noob like me when it comes to these things :p see the simplified instructions below.

Before starting, make sure you have samsung kies installed on your PC, but not running.


ULTRA-noobs guide to rooting your Galaxy S3:

(1) Download Odin3-v1.85 to your PC which is found at the bottom of this link:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=27049363&postcount=2

(2) Download CF-Root-SGS3-v6.4 to your PC which is found at the top of this link:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=27049380&postcount=3

(3) Those are the only 2 files I downloaded, unzip both. When extracted, in the Odin folder you should have 2 files, and in the CF Root folder you should have 1 file which looks like a zip file but if you check in properties it should show as a .tar file

(4) Your phone should not be connected to your PC yet

(5) Start up Odin3 v1.85

(6) Click the PDA button, which is located under the Bootloader button

(7) This opens up a box, all you need to do is locate and select the CF Root .tar file

(8) Turn your phone OFF

(9) Hold Vol Down + Home + Power, it will ask you to cancel or continue, from memory you press the Vol Up button to continue

(10) This will put the phone in 'download mode' it should say downloading...

(11) Connect your phone to your PC

(12) Make sure the Repartition is NOT checked (by default it should not be anyway)

(13) Click START

(14) Sit back and Wait for phone to reboot. Once done you can unplug from your PC, and thats it

(15) Download 'Root Check Basic' which is a free app from Play Store, run it, and it will confirm that you have root access!!


I take no responsibility if you BRICK YOUR SHINY S3 but if I managed to do it safely, you should too! :)


Some Useful Tips:

Do not use a cheap USB cable.
Make sure cable is connected securely and do not touch the cable after clicking start, any disconnection could be fatal.


Firmware Updates:

Once you are rooted, you may get messages asking you to update. If you actually click OK, it will download but fail at install. All you need to do is update manually, and then re-root as above.

Please see below for details on how to update manually with Odin:

For those who are rooted and received the update today:

1) You should have the I9300XXALE8 already. Download the latest I9300XXALF2 build from here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1646610 or http://androidfirmwares.net/PhoneFirmware3/Download/27. Also download Odin if you don't have it.

2) Make sure you backup your handset to be safe.

3) Start up Odin and click the PDA button. Load the firmware which should be in tar.md5 format. Leave everything else as normal. Only Auto Reboot and F. Reset Time should be ticked.

4) Put handset into Download Mode and flash as normal with Odin.

5) When I did this, all my stuff was preserved but my Beautiful Widgets and Titanium Backup Pro didn't work. Also I lost CWM and SuperSU. So I rooted again with CF Root, and reinstalled the apps that didn't work. All fine now.


Firmware Update LFB (Release Date 06.07.12):

Download from link below:

https://hotfile.com/dl/162402398/abc9bdb/I9300XXBLFB_I9300OXABLFB_BTU.zip.html




LATEST OFFICIAL FIRMWARE ATM IS LH1 IN THE UK
 
Last edited:
Soldato
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Used this method from XDA yesterday, all went smooth enough. Had a bit of a scare on the first attempt as I hit "start" and nothing happened past "establishing connection". Repeated the procedure and it all worked perfectly though.

Hello root! :D
 
Soldato
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Couple of additions...

Do not use a cheap USB cable.
Make sure cable is connected securely and do not touch the cable after clicking start, any disconnection could be fatal.
 
Associate
Joined
8 Apr 2004
Posts
2,054
For those who are rooted and received the update today:

1) You should have the I9300XXALE8 already. Download the latest I9300XXALF2 build from here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1646610 or http://androidfirmwares.net/PhoneFirmware3/Download/27. Also download Odin if you don't have it.

2) Make sure you backup your handset to be safe.

3) Start up Odin and click the PDA button. Load the firmware which should be in tar.md5 format. Leave everything else as normal. Only Auto Reboot and F. Reset Time should be ticked.

4) Put handset into Download Mode and flash as normal with Odin.

5) When I did this, all my stuff was preserved but my Beautiful Widgets and Titanium Backup Pro didn't work. Also I lost CWM and SuperSU. So I rooted again with CF Root, and reinstalled the apps that didn't work. All fine now.
 
Last edited:
Associate
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9 Aug 2008
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811
Getting my S3 delivered tomorrow (first Android phone). Correct me if im wrong but could i not update the phone to the software update released a couple of days ago and then root it using the above method?
 
Associate
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this method should correct me if im wrong install CWM too? I've successfully rooted but when booting into Recovery mode, still getting the standard Android recovery?
 
Associate
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I tried to do this and it all appeared to work ok, something ran anyway and I got a green pass box in odin, but when I run root check basic it says I don't have proper root access.

Can anybody help with this?
 
Soldato
OP
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I tried to do this and it all appeared to work ok, something ran anyway and I got a green pass box in odin, but when I run root check basic it says I don't have proper root access.

Can anybody help with this?

That's odd, not sure why it would say that if you following everything to the letter. Did you download the latest version of CF-Root (v6.3)?
 
Associate
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That's odd, not sure why it would say that if you following everything to the letter. Did you download the latest version of CF-Root (v6.3)?

Thanks it's ok now. It was probably just me being a noob, I found SuperSU was stopping Root Check Basic. I changed the access to grant and it works perfect, thanks for that.
 
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