[Nexus 7 General] PipeHitter:
This HOW-TO is meant for individuals who like to do things manually and see each process as they occur, versus using a toolkit. I prefer manually unlocking/rooting as I can confirm each step visually and I believe it makes for a more educational experience. Familiarity and confidence with fastboot/adb can be beneficial later on for restoring/troubleshooting/flashing etc down the road.

Unknown at this point if OTA updates will install after flashing CWM. There may be a check file in the OTA that could prevent installation if modified file structure is detected. I’ll edit when I confirm. At any rate, not really an issue as you can flash the OTA yourself as someone on XDA will most likely post it up, or you could re-flash the stock recovery using fastboot which you will now be comfortable with after using this guide! Additionally, if an OTA causes you to lose root you can revisit the appropriate steps to flash SuperSU again.

There are several ways to do these procedures, and I’ve certainly taken the long way on some of them. So by no means am I claiming this to the best or most efficient method, but my hopes are to make things a little more clear and simple based off some of the questions and challenges I’ve seen in a few threads.

This how-to was written for Windows and uses adb and fastboot for installation.

Please let me know of any corrections, additions or errors. Many thanks to the members and devs who made these files available.

1. Download all of the following files and place them in the same directory. I will note whether you need to extract them or not.

Download and extract platform-tools-v16.zip from here: (thanks to efrant)

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1626895

Download and extract [ADB/FB/APX Driver] Universal Naked Driver 0.72 from here:

http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=20058157&postcount=1

Download SuperSU from here: (look for UPDATE-SuperSU-v1.25.zip or current version)

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1538053

Download ClockworkMod from here: (look for Galaxy Nexus 7, Download Recovery 6.0.3.1 or current version – Recommend non-Touch as of ver 6.0.10, some reported issues with the Touch version)

http://www.clockworkmod.com/rommanager/

2. Now we will install the drivers and verify they are working. If you cannot verify drivers are functioning in both normal boot and recovery you need to stop and figure out what you are doing wrong. Proceeding further would be pointless. If you are having trouble, visit the Naked Driver thread listed above or here: http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=29044502&postcount=735

a. Make sure you have USB debugging enabled on your Nexus: setttings ->develop options ->USB Debugging.

b. USB connect your Nexus to your Windows pc. If you get a notification for unknown/driver not found, look in Device Manager for the exclamation point, and right click for update driver software, then browse my computer, then point to where you saved and extracted the Universal Naked Driver folder. If you get a warning from Windows complaining the driver is not signed, hit ‘Install driver anyway’. After the driver installs, you should now have ‘Nexus 7’ listed under ‘Portable Devices’ with no exclamation point.

Now we will verify using adb. You will need to launch a command prompt from the directory you saved all the files from step 1 to. Easiest way is to navigate to the directory via file explorer, then hold down shift and the RIGHT mouse button, and select “Open command window from here”.

In the cmd prompt, type:

adb devices

You should get a response with your Nexus serial number. If not, stop. Drivers are not loaded, re-read above and visit threads mentioned, try again. You should see something like:

List of devices attached

945d3339495 device

if instead you see:

List of devices attached

945d3339495 offline

then most likely you need to look on your nexus for a notice to allow the connected computer permissions to use usb debugging. If you don't see a notice, disable/enable usb debugging in "Settings -> Developer options" and then you should get the prompt. You should select 'remember this computer', if not you will have to do it again upon reboot.

c. Now we need to reboot into the bootloader and load the drivers again. So type:

adb reboot bootloader

and your Nexus should reboot into the bootloader. My laptop found the driver on its own, note that in Device Manager it is now listed as ‘Android Device’ instead of under ‘Portable Devices’. If your system does not find the driver, follow the same steps as above to update your driver after you located the exclamation point in Device Manager.

Now we will verify that the driver is installed correctly while in the bootloader. Again from a command prompt opened from the directory where you saved all the files from step 1, type:

fastboot devices

You should get a response with your Nexus serial number. If not, stop. Drivers are not loaded, re-read above and visit threads mentioned, try again.

3. Perform device unlock. NOTE: !!!THIS WILL ERASE ALL YOUR USER DATA!!! Please backup accordingly.

Your Nexus should still be in the bootloader. Type:

fastboot oem unlock

Your Nexus will prompt you to accept. NOTE: !!!THIS WILL ERASE ALL YOUR USER DATA!!! After a short moment, the device should report unlocked under “lock state”. Reboot device by typing:

fastboot reboot

After rebooting, sign in, etc.

4. Copy over SuperSU . In windows explorer locate the UPDATE-SuperSU-v1.25.zip and copy it to your Nexus internal storage area. Don’t put it any of the folders, just dump it in there. Now reboot into the bootloader again by typing:

adb reboot bootloader

5. Flash CWM. Once in the bootloader type:

fastboot flash recovery recovery-clockwork-6.0.3.1-grouper.img

after you get ‘finished’ from the command window, reboot your Nexus into CWM recovery by navigating with the volume buttons to ‘recovery mode’, then press power button.

6. Root Nexus. Using the volume keys, navigate to ‘install zip from sdcard’ and hit the power button. Now select ‘choose zip from sdcard’ and hit the power button. Navigate down to UPDATE-SuperSU-v1.25.zip’ and hit the power button. Select ‘Yes’, hit power. Once done select ‘go back’, then ‘reboot system now’.

Congrats, you’ve unlocked and rooted your Nexus!

Now at this point CWM recovery may or may not still be present on your device. There have been mixed reports on whether it will ‘stick’ the first time you flash it. The stock ROM has a check file that will replace CWM with the stock recovery upon reboot. To determine if CWM is still present simply reboot into recovery and see if it is there. Type:

adb reboot recovery

Obviously if you see the droid with exclamation point CWM did not stick. If you have no need for CWM, and simply wanted root you could stop now. Wait a few minutes and your device will reboot on its own and you are all done.

However, if you desire CWM then proceed on.

7. Rename recovery-from-boot.p to prevent stock recovery re-installation. Your Nexus should be booted normally at this point.

a. Go to the Play store and install ES File Explorer File Manager. Under settings enable ‘up to root’, ‘root explorer’, and ’mount file system’.

b. Navigate to /system and rename:

recovery-from-boot.p

to

recovery-from-boot.bak

by long pressing and selecting ‘rename’. Note: Be careful while navigating your device with these options enabled, a typo or slip-up could cripple your device and require a restore. I suggest once this rename is competed to disable the above options to avoid any mistakes in future exploring.

8. Flash CWM again.

a. Reboot into bootloader by typing:

adb reboot bootloader

b. once in bootloader type:

fastboot flash recovery recovery-clockwork-6.0.3.1-grouper.img

c. reboot device by typing:

fastboot reboot

d. verify CWM stuck by rebooting into recovery:

adb reboot recovery

And that should be it!

Some additional notes: CWM does make notice on rebooting with a message ”ROM may flash stock recovery on reboot. Fix? This can not be undone”. I don’t know what CWM will do there, so I prefer to rename the recovery-from-boot file so that I could easily restore it if I wanted. But perhaps that is what CWM does, although the message persists even after I renamed the file. Maybe someone could clarify this.

Hope this helps some people out in enjoying this great device even more, thanks for reading.