[Nexus 4 General] trter10:
Well guys there are over 9000 threads here on how to root the Nexus 4.

I thought I'd make one thread that says all this in simple English and makes it quick and simple for everybody.

CREDITS:

DISCLAIMER:

UNLOCKING THE PHONE WIPES DATA AND THE INTERNAL SD CARD. UNLOCKING THE PHONE WIPES DATA AND THE INTERNAL SD CARD. UNLOCKING THE PHONE WIPES DATA AND THE INTERNAL SD CARD. Therefore I HIGHLY suggest you do this before you start setting up the phone/installing apps so that you don't have to redo/reinstall much.

You can re-lock and unroot the phone, but I am still going to say that this voids the warranty.

I am not responsible for what you do to your device. This is for reference only.

Please follow each step carefully (ESPECIALLY make sure to read the part before step 14 VERY CAREFULLY.)

The CWM recovery may not be 100% functional yet, but you can install zips/roms and do backups for sure.

STEPS:

1 - Download this file and unzip it to C:\Nexus4

2 - Open a command prompt (On windows vista/7, go to Start menu and type cmd and press enter. On XP & below, go to Start > Run and type cmd and press enter.)

3 - In the command propmpt, run

cd C:\Nexus4 <press enter>

4 - On the phone, go to Settings > About phone. In the About phone menu, scroll down to "build number" and tap it until it says "You are now a Developer!"

5 - Go back to the main settings menu, and the Developer options tab should now be visible. Open that tab.

6 - In the Developer options menu, check USB debugging and Stay awake.

7 - Install the driver from here.

8 - Connect the device via USB.

9 - In the command prompt, run the command

adb devices <press enter>

and your serial number should pop up. If not, try unplugging the device, reinstalling the drivers, rebooting PC, and then retry.

10 - Now run the command

adb push SUBusybox.zip /sdcard/SUbusybox.zip <press enter>

It should say something like "XXXX KB/s (1191942 bytes in X.XXXs)"

11- If it said that, run the command

adb reboot-bootloader <press enter>

12 - The phone will show up in the bootloader. Now run the command

fastboot devices <press enter>

and your serial number should pop up.

13 - If your serial number popped up, run the command

fastboot oem unlock

and your phone will ask you if you want to unlock. Select yes with the volume buttons and press power.

13 - Your phone will go back to the bootloader screen, and at the bottom it will now say LOCK STATE - unlocked

****DO WHAT IS BETWEEN THESE RED DIVIDERS IF AND ONLY IF YOU WANT OTA UPDATES TO STILL WORK. IF YOU DON'T CARE, CONTINUE ON STEP 14 BELOW THE DIVIDERS.****

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Run

fastboot boot CWMrecovery.img <press enter>

and it should say something like

downloading 'boot.img'... OKAY [ X.XXXs]
booting... OKAY [ X.XXXs]

and your phone will boot into CWM recovery.

NOW SKIP TO STEP 17. ON STEP 18 IF IT ASKS YOU TO DISABLE RECOVERY OVERWRITE, TAP NO. STEP 19 SAYS YOU WILL HAVE CWM INSTALLED. YOU WON'T.

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14 - Now run the command

fastboot flash recovery CWMrecovery.img <press enter>

and it should say something like

sending 'recovery' (7754 KB)... OKAY [ X.XXXs]
writing 'recovery'... OKAY [ X.XXXs]

15 - If it said OKAY twice, then press the volume down key on the phone twice and it will say Recovery mode. Press the power key.

16 - Once in recovery mode, run the commands

adb shell mount system <press enter>
adb shell mv /system/recovery-from-boot.p /system/recovery-from-boot.p.bak <press enter>
adb shell mv /system/etc/install-recovery.sh /system/etc/install-recovery.sh.bak <press enter>
adb shell umount system <press enter>

the command prompt will say nothing back to you if there were no errors.

17 - On the phone, tap install zip from sdcard (NOT INSTALL ZIP FROM SIDELOAD), then tap choose zip from sdcard. Tap 0/. Now scroll down to SUBusybox.zip and tap it. Tap yes. It will then install.

18 - Now tap Go Back and then tap reboot system now. If it asks you to disable recovery overwrite tap yes.

19 - Once the phone boots back up it will be fully wiped and you will be rooted with CWM, SuperSU, and busybox installed :)