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So, you want to get the most out of your Galaxy Nexus by rooting? (If you don’t know what rooting does, see Why Root My Android Smartphone.)
UPDATE: This root method works for all Gingerbread, ICS, and Jelly Bean!!! (and also works for latest Android 4.3/4.2/4.2.1/4.2.2!)
*Note: For Android 4.3, use the other SuperSU zip file in Step 9 but everything else is the same!
Well, whether you have a GSM Galaxy Nexus from Europe/Asia/USA, Verizon Galaxy Nexus, or even Sprint Galaxy Nexus, you can use this simple root method to root your Galaxy Nexus on any Windows, Mac, or Linux computer.
There are great 1-click tools out now but they usually only work on Windows and you can learn much more about the inner-workings of the Galaxy Nexus by following my root method outlined here.
Before we begin, please note, we will do simply 3 things:
1. Unlock the bootloader on the Galaxy Nexus – This will erase EVERYTHING on your Galaxy Nexus so make a backup before!
2. Install ClockworkMod or TWRP Recovery – We will not be using insecure boot images for this root method, so it will be compatible for Galaxy Nexus on Android 4.0.3, 4.0.4, and so on to 5.0.5. (Yes, this root method will work regardless of Android version you have. ) Galaxy Nexus has a separate recovery partition, meaning it’s separate from the phone’s OS. This is the most fail-safe root method that will last years and will keep working forever and ever.
3. Once we have unlocked the bootloader and installed Recovery, we can simply flash Superuser/SU binaries from Recovery which will give us root without messing with the boot image, kernel, and etc…(which can cause bootloops when Android is upgraded).
So, let’s begin. Take a deep breath and if you follow step-by-step, you should have a fully rooted Galaxy Nexus in about 20 minutes.
Step 1. Let’s put your Galaxy Nexus into fastboot mode. Take the back cover off, take the battery out then in.
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Step 2. WHILE holding down Volume Up and Volume Down buttons together, hold down the Power button. You will hear a little “bleep” vibration and enter the fastboot mode.
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Step 3. While in fastboot mode, connect a micro-USB cable from your Galaxy Nexus to your computer. Also note that it says “LOCK STATE – LOCKED”.
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Step 4. Download GalaxyNexusRootNew.zip and unzip to your Downloads directory.
(Don’t have unzipping program? Download and install 7Zip first.)
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Download GalaxyNexusRootNew.zip
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You will find everything you need here to root your Galaxy Nexus on Windows, Mac, and Linux. I’ve included ADB, Fastboot tools, Recoveries for GSM/Verizon/Sprint, and Superuser/SU zip file so you don’t have to install Android SDK yourself.
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Step 5. For Windows, you will need USB drivers installed. (Mac and Linux users can skip this step.)
Go to Device Manager and check that you have “Samsung Android ADB Interface”. If you don’t see that, download Samsung USB drivers program and run it.
After installing the drivers, if you still don’t see “Samsung Android ADB Interface” and see something like “Android 1.0″ with exclamation mark, manually update the driver.
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Step 6. Next, open up a command prompt or terminal and type:
cd Downloads
cd GalaxyNexusRootNew
fastboot oem unlock
(For Mac, replace “fastboot” with “./fastboot-mac” and Linux, replace with “./fastboot-linux”)
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Step 7. Go to your Galaxy Nexus, hit Volume Up button to choose “Yes” and hit the Power button.
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Step 8. Next, we will flash ClockworkMod Recovery for GSM/Verizon Galaxy Nexus and TWRP recovery for Sprint Galaxy Nexus.
For GSM Galaxy Nexus, type:
fastboot flash recovery optimus_prime-touch-v5.5.0.4-6-GSM.img
For Verizon Galaxy Nexus, type:
fastboot flash recovery optimus_prime-touch-v5.5.0.4-6-toro-VERIZON.img
For Sprint Galaxy Nexus, type:
fastboot flash recovery twrp-toroplus-2.1.2-SPRINT.img
(For Mac, replace “fastboot” with “./fastboot-mac” and Linux, replace with “./fastboot-linux”)
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Step 9. Reboot your Galaxy Nexus and connect to your computer. Copy the file “CWM-SuperSU-v0.87.zip” to the internal storage of your Galaxy Nexus.
For Android 4.3, download this version of SuperSU zip and copy instead of the one above!!!
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Step 10. We will need to reboot into Recovery so take the battery out and in again, then WHILE holding down Volume Up and Volume Down buttons, hold down Power button.
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Step 11. In fastboot mode, you will notice that your phone now says, “LOCK STATE – UNLOCKED”.
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Step 12. Use the Volume buttons to choose “Recovery mode” and hit the Power button. This will enter you into ClockworkMod Recovery for GSM/Verizon Galaxy Nexus and TWRP Recovery for Sprint Galaxy Nexus.
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Step 13. For GSM/Verizon Galaxy Nexus, choose “Install zip from sdcard”. Sprint Galaxy Nexus users skip to Step 17.
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Step 14. Then choose “choose zip from sdcard”.
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Step 15. Then choose “CWM-SuperSU-v0.87.zip”.
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Step 16. You should get the following message that you have successfully installed SuperSU.
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Step 17. For Sprint Galaxy Nexus, choose “Install”.
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Step 18. Choose “CWM-SuperSU-v0.87.zip”.
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Step 19. Swipe to flash the file.
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Step 20. You should see successful message.
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Step 21. Reboot your Galaxy Nexus and you will find SuperSU app in your app drawer. Congratulations! You’ve successfully rooted your Galaxy Nexus!
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Step 22. You can run rooted apps like Wifi Tether and see Superuser request pop up.
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FAQ
Q: I can’t get into recovery, just shows Android robot.
A: If you can’t get into recovery, try re-flashing recovery (Step 8) then go straight into recovery. What happens is that stock Android OS has a security measure that overwrites your custom recovery upon reboot. If this happens to you, simply re-flash recovery(Step 8) and boot into recovery right away without reboot.
Q: I get “cannot mount sdcard” error in Recovery!
A: Reboot your phone once into system, then reboot into recovery.
Once you’ve rooted your phone, you can always just flash recovery using ROM Manager app (free on Play Store) and boot into recovery.
If you install a custom ROM, this problem will go away.
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You will need a rooted Galaxy Nexus to install all ROM/kernels.
NOTE: PLEASE ONLY INSTALL ROMS INTENDED FOR YOUR VERSION OF GALAXY Nexus! Otherwise you WILL BRICK YOUR PHONE and I will not be responsible!
How to Root GalaxyNexus!
First time to rooting and custom ROMs? Please see our Galaxy Nexus FAQ FIRST! Galaxy Nexus ROMs
Galaxy Nexus GSM ROMs
Galaxy Nexus Sprint ROMs
Galaxy Nexus Verizon ROMs