yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Skunk Ape1:
Here's what you should be doing.

1. Put recovery.tar on in folder on desktop.

2 put team epic root from recovery in your phones sdcard.

3. Uncheck auto reboot.

4. Check pda.

5. Click in the pda block. Browse to the folder on your desktop and select recovery.tar recovery.tar

6. Pull the battery cover from your phone.

7. Starting with your phone off and unplugged, press and hold volume DOWN, power and home it will give you a warning then released all and press volume UP.

8. Plug your phone into the computer.

9. If it shows com and a number in the id com block press start. Should only take around 5-8 second and the message should say something like disconnected.

10. Take the battery out of the phone and unplug it.

11. Reinstall the battery press volume UP, power and home simultaneously until you see Samsung on the screen and release all 3. This is where i think you are messing up. If you're early or later in releasing the phone will start and you will not be rooted.the phone CAN'T be allowed to start until team epic is flashed in cwm. If the phone goes into cwm flash team epic root from recovery. When done then you can restart.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] ThisIsDanial@gmail.com:
I did that 3 times and I still wasn't getting root access. Trust me I followed your instructions to the TEE. I just got fed up and factory resetted then tried to root again and everythings working fine now. Thank you for all your help Skunk Ape. Sorry for the trouble lol.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Skunk Ape1:
No troubles at all....
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Jnapier:
JellyBean 4.1.1

Skunk,

When I was running 4.0.4 I was able to root but I pulled down the OTA to 4.1.1 and now I've lost root. I'm following your toolkit and everything makes perfect sense with the exception of how to put the phone into download mode. It appears that with the update there is a new android recovery. "Android system recovery <3e>.

I'm wondering if this is a result of my previous rooting or of the update.

I have the following options from here

apply update from ADB

apply update from external storage

wipe data/factory reset (does not wipe down to 4.0 stays at 4.1)

wipe cache partition

apply update from cache

Any suggestions?
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Skunk Ape1:
What you are seeing is stock recovery. First you have to use odin to flash CWM.

You are confusing recovery with download mode.

Download mode is achieved by pressing and holding "volume down, power button and the (physical) home button simultaneously. You will continue to hold all 3 buttons until you see a warning. Then press the volume up button and you will be in download mode.

While in download mode, you will use odin to flash CWM recovery to your phone. Until then you will have the stock android recovery.

Do not check auto reboot. As soon as you flash cwm recovery with odin, you will need to pull the battery to shut down the phone. and puill the cord from your phone. DO NOT LET THE PHONE BOOT. IF YOUR PHONE BOOTS BEFORE FLASHING TEAM EPIC ROOT FROM RECOVERY IN CWM YOU WILL HAVE TO START OVER.

Then you will go straight into CWM recovery (which you just flashed in odin) and flash "Team Epic Root From Recovery"

Recovery mode is achieved pressing and holding "volume UP, power button and the (physical) home button simultaneously. Watching the screen closely, release all 3 buttons as soon as you see the word Samsung. If timed correctly it will boot into recovery in about 10-20 seconds (after releasing). Remember if you are too early or late the phone will boot normally and skip recovery.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Jnapier:
one of those days. Thanks
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] anees02:
Thank you for reply....i got the solution for this issue ...it was the boot image boot.tar.....i switched from insecure boot to stock md4 boot.....and the problem has been solved.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] jormeno1982:
Roaming

So After rooting and my airave went down this morning it kept showing that it was roaming but now it cleared away. is there something special I should do with my airave?
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] flastnoles11:
Nope, you could try unplugging and plugging it back in, but routing shan't require you to do anything special to your airrave

“It is said that power corrupts, but actually it's more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power."” ― David Brin
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Metrogirl:
Virgin S3

Don't know if this has been mentioned before but I didn't spot it in the 30-something pages: I just wanted to report that this method works perfectly on the Virgin Mobile incarnation of the Sprint Galaxy S3. No problems at all.

-s
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] jormeno1982:
airave help

So after I left my house and left my airave network I could use my phone but now that I am home I am getting roaming alerts, and I can go online through the airave but when i try to text it won't go through I can receive txts And when I try to call out it get the number you have dialed is incorrect.

Outside of my airave my phone works perfect
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] mightybryan:
This method NEVER fails. :victory:
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] miryclay:
MMS/DATA

I have the SCH-S960L as well that is the StraightTalk model I bought through their website. The problem I had was when you go into Settings > More Settings > Network Mode. I had issues trying to get any data to come through, it appeared to run rather slow, but worked when I stuck it on pure CDMA... which is odd, but for some reason mine didn't like LTE/CDMA together... the minute I switched it though, BAM I was able to use the data.

Have you had any luck getting the SPC/MSL on this phone? I can't get it for nothing... of course unsure what good it would be as this model doesn't have a sim either and appears to be just like the Sprint GS3 (and even runs on the sprint towers), this in which also had me curious if the sprint roms would load on it.

Try switching your mode over to CDMA though and see if that fixes your mms...
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] miryclay:
I updated, I still have my root. Of course then again, I rooted after the update... lol
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] unlimitedsol77:
Sooo...back up and running...thanks to warranty replacement.

Anyway...Sprint roms will load and everything works EXCEPT the camera. Tried some third party camera apps to fix it but, no luck. Now that I have the stock android camera/gallery apk, I'm goung to get the new phone rooted and start testing roms again. I'll keep everyone updated as best as I can.

As far as the mms issue...I never got it working on the first S960L whether using CDMA or LTE/CDMA. Regular data seems to work fine...surfing, email, etc...just no mms.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Skunk Ape1:
Update us somewhere else. Make a new thread. Your posts are off topic.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] cjtopher:
wifi

Got the phone rooted no prob all is good but my WIFI Button will not turn the WIFI on just flickers and will not turn on i dont know what to do i have looked everywere for a fix but can't find one pls can anyone help
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] flastnoles11:
Flash another kernel and see if it fixes it

“It is said that power corrupts, but actually it's more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power."” ― David Brin
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Skunk Ape1:
Which phone do you have?
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] miillaaad:
Thank you very much

work for me and i'm ROOT now

tanx a lot

tanx tanx tanx

tanx tanx tanx
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Hearnbiz:
Great instructions... just got rooted!!!...thanks for posting this.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Xparent Skyblue Tapatalk 2
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] FutureAwesomeGeek:
Thanks! This guide was really easy and simple to follow! :) Big help.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] DJDotkom:
Thanks!

Roooooted and tooooooted! lol :good::good::good:
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] kellysa111:
I can second that Virgin Mobile S3 root works.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] swiggs98:
I just spent the last two hours searching for a solution. I feel really stupid for asking this, but here goes...

Long story short, my Sprint S3 went swimming with me and didn't survive. I got a new replacement S3 today with 4.2.1 MD4 preloaded. Problem is, I can't seem to get recovery working like it should. I follow the normal instructions as I have always done (same as in flashnoles11's GS3 FAQ and same as here). Installed CWM from ODIN no problem; however, when I boot into recovery, it can't mount anything! I tried flashing the latest TWRP via ODIN for my device and same thing only it asks for a password when it first opens up. I then did a factory reset and tried all the above again... same result. No custom recovery, no flash fun... very unhappy camper.

TWRP 2.6.0 reports the following "Unable to find partition size for /boot, /data, /recovery" followed by "Unable to mount /system, /cache"

Has anyone ever heard of this before? Any ideas on where to go from here? I am probably going to post something in the Q&A section as well.

EDIT: I found a Q&A with the exact same problem... still unsolved.

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2352298
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Skunk Ape1:
Do you have team epic root from recovery on your phones internal memory? That must be flashed from recovery BEFORE the first boot. When flashing recovery.tar.md5 with odin, you must Uncheck automatic reboot in odin. Once you flash recovery you must remove the battery from the phone to keep the phone from restarting. Disconnect the phone from the computer. Then press power, home and volume UP. Release all three buttons as soon as you see Samsung on the screen. You will not into recovery. Then flash team_epic_root_from_recovery.zip in recovery. If you put it on the root of internal phone memory you shouldn't have any trouble finding it.

If you miss getting into recovery and flashing root from recovery file and the phone boots before flashing, you will lose custom recovery and have to start again with odin. This is what it sounds could be happening.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] swiggs98:
[MENTION=4356960]Skunk Ape1[/MENTION], thanks for the response. I definitely pulled the battery first. I am getting into custom recovery just fine. It just can't mount anything and therefore can't flash anything.

Going to try ODINing to an older stock rom tonight and try it again. It would seem lik e recovery would be totally independent from the rom which is why I am baffled.

EDIT: Another weird observation, since I can't flash anything, I obviously ended up rebooting again before flashing the root.zip. The weird thing is that it doesn't reset my custom recovery as I would expect.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] flastnoles11:
Try this http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=43905837
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] swiggs98:
[MENTION=4342879]flastnoles11[/MENTION], yeah I got you PM as well and am going to try your suggestion after church tonight. I care much more about a working custom recovery than I do root though. If I can flash, I am home free either way. If all I can ever do is ODIN, then life is not so cool.... harder to be a flash-aholic, no backups/restore, etc.

I am hoping that by flashing the MC3 build you suggested, that custom recovery will work again. It would be nice to know that this has half a chance of being successful before attempting this (I view ODIN flashing as more dangerous, especially when my recovery is useless). I can't expect anyone to answer that for me without just trying it though.

I have flashed/rooted several of these in the past as well and never encountered this. Hopefully, this will all be a decent memory soon.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] flastnoles11:
Praying for success for you bud :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] swiggs98:
Thanks... it sure seems like I need it. I am having quite a run of bad luck lately on many levels!

UPDATE: I flashed MC3 with no problems... have root, etc. Flashed CWM via ODIN, rebooted straight into CWM, same freakin' result. Tried TWRP... same thing again. I took a few snapshots of the recovery logs with my wife's S3 (which does have working CWM and custom ROM I might add). Attached are logs from my two attempts.

For the CWM recovery screenshot, the first series of "Can't Mount" errors are after just starting up. The "Error Mounting" errors are me manually trying to mount. The rest is after trying to view the CWM log. Note: I first tried the older CWM version bundled with the root package. I then tried the newer CWM to test that as well which is what you see here. They give the same result.)

For the TWRP screenshot, you see the password prompt it gives when it first opens up. This is the same screen you get if you have an encrypted partition. The other is simply a TWRP log after booting up. I didn't try anything manually in this screenshot.

This is really a bummer right now... can't figure this one out. The ONLY other thing I can think might be related is I was going into thee ##DATA# menu poking around. I went into edit and was prompted for the MSL code (which I have). I entered it and it said wrong code and instantly rebooted. I don't think this is related, but it is the only abnormal thing otherwise. Any more idea to try?
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] flastnoles11:
I have no idea...
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Ragnar:
Have you tried loading the recovery via app? Rom Manager for CWM or goo manager for twrp. And see if it makes a difference. Sounds stupid but worth shot.

Sent from the future via Tapatalk 4
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Yrocmoto:
I am in the EXACT same boat, everything you have posted is what's happening on my new S3, which is my first S3, so I have not previously rooted it, but have tried everything I dare and cannot mount anything, tried 3 sd cards, formatted with different programs. I am hoping someone has an idea of what's going on, as rooting seems to have been such a simple process, I did not expect this when I researched it before buying the phone.....
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] swiggs98:
I tried cwm from rom manager. That's actually how I put the newer cwm version on my phone shown in the screen shot. I will try posting in the recovery threads next as you suggested. I am personally out of ideas. I may ask a sprint tech about it... Can't for any harm I guess.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] jormeno1982:
ROM files

So I decided to run your wicked sensations ROM which BTW is awesome!!!! But my question is Do i have to keep your .zip files on my phone, or can I remove it without effecting the phone?
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Skunk Ape1:
Wicked sensations is not my rom but is my friend dazedncondused rom. Yes there is no problem with removing the zip file from your phone. Once the room is flashed and running well it is not required to be on the phone.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] juanfhinojosa:
I bought a used sprint gs3 and i noticed superuser was installed but using root checker i knew the phone wasnt rooted. what can i do to reroot it? also when i go into superuser i cant update the binary. any help is appreciated thanks!
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] flastnoles11:
Odin a custom recovery, boot straight into recovery from Odin (pull battery after Odin completed and boy into recovery) flash root from recovery.zip and you should be good to go.. Same way as in the op of this thread actually
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] El aye:
Well I effed something up. I was trying to re-root my dad's phone because I needed to run an app on it, now his phone is freezing up shortly after boot (won't respond to anything other than the power button to turn the LCD on/off). I don't remember what method I used for rooting the first time, but I don't recall doing anything other than ODIN (I don't remember the steps with the install zip). The phone had supersu on it before starting the re-root. I followed the OP instructions to the letter. The phone is on 4.1.2 BMD4.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Skunk Ape1:
What carrier?
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] El aye:
couralla aware

Sprint phone, but it is flashed to page plus.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] noobnl:
it is not even close to being locked, kernel need to be updated for updated hardware revision.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Skunk Ape1:
If you didn't have to flash root in recovery, then this is probably the method you used. Give this s try.

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1774722
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] El aye:
some mposlati

Well my hope is not to wipe my dad's phone... My initial problem was that he lost a bunch of pictures from the phone memory (he doesn't know how it happened), so I was going to try Undelete which required root access. I used the instructions in the OP here to re-root it, but now when it boots up it freezes after 5-10 seconds, and then reboots. It does this in an endless cycle.

It sounds like this: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1818919

Was really hoping to not have to wipe the phone, blargh.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Skunk Ape1:
I have never seen you issue. The only thing this method does is install custom recovery and install super user. It shouldn't have caused what you are describing.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] El aye:
Yeah that's why I was pretty confused. I think I may have fixed the problem though. Before re-rooting, when the phone booted up one of the apps my dad had installed would crash and a popup would appear asking me to kill it. I quickly uninstalled that app before the phone crashed and it seems to be working.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Skunk Ape1:
Good to hear. That was probably it. Because rooting shouldn't cause what your seeing. A misbehaving app will.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Thecrazyone1:
Straight Talk Samsung Galaxy 3 / GS3 / SCH-S960L

I'm new to these forums and am not quite sure how / where to post this question but... I have a Straight Talk Samsung Galaxy 3 / GS3 / SCH-S960L. I rooted it and installed CWM recovery. I accidentally uninstalled Touchwiz Home thinking it was a bloat ware (not knowing it was the Launcher) and couldn't go past the TracPhone logo after a restart until I installed Nova Launcher. I don't like the Nova launcher and I want to go back to the Touchwiz. Does anyone know where I can find a copy made for my exact phone that I can flash or install over Nova? I never saved a backup after installing CWM recovery so I cant restore the original launcher when trying to do a factory reset from CWM... PLEASE HELP :(
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Skunk Ape1:
I'll spare you the lecture on backups...

TWHome (SecLaunher2)
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Thecrazyone1:
cont...

Thanks for the file but I tried to install it and it says "Application not installed". When I installed Nova it was through a .zip file installable through CWM recovery. Is there a special way to install this to where it will be in the system/app folder?

UPDATE - I figured out how to install it. THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH, YOU'RE A LIFE SAVER :)
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Skunk Ape1:
Place it in the system/app folder. Or try tapping on it and choosing install. If neither works, let me know and I will make you a flashable zip. But it won't be until tomorrow morning because the computer is already shut down and I'm just climbing into bed for the night.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] flastnoles11:
Here's a flashable just in case you ever do that again http://db.tt/Xks60vz4
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Skunk Ape1:
Thanks buddy, I was just about to do this. You saved me a few minute.:D
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] sugewhite:
Thanks for the instructions! Hooked the wife's phone and mine up. Quick NOOB question. Is there a recovery already on after the root process? I want to flash CM but it needs CWM on the phone. Thanks
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] flastnoles11:
If you followed this guide then you have a custom recovery.. You can flash with twrp or cwm, either will work
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Clavis Vincula:
E: Cannot mount /external_sd/

EDIT: After posting this, I realized that there are separate "Odinable" Recovery files on the thread I linked below, and using the recovery.tar.md5 version from that thread, instead of the one from the current thread that we are reading now, works (or seems to - no mounting errors).

THANKS Again!

[Orig message and link to the revised recovery.tar.md5]

Hi SkunkApe, thank you so much for your clear explanations and clear responses to everyone's questions. I just got a Sprint Galaxy s3 and, while going through the procedure you laid out, I got stuck here:

4. Now you will tap either "choose zip from sdcard" or "choose zip from external sdcard".

When I tap "choose zip from external sdcard", I get error E: cannot mount /external_sd/.

The external sd card contains the file: TeamEpic-Root-from-Recovery-v5.zip.

I've read about a different file called cwm_mod2.img, located here:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2391616

But I'm not clear what to do with this file, or whether it's necessary to use it. Can I do the same Odin stuff but with cwm_mod2.img instead of recovery.tar.md5? Thanks very much. I appreciate your help.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] flastnoles11:
Here bud, this is that mod2 recovery but in tar format... It will be 2.6.0.1... Use the same instructions you did before for rooting but use this recovery instead http://techerrata.com/file/twrp2/d2spr/openrecovery-twrp-2.6.0.1-d2spr.tar
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Skunk Ape1:
I will try and remember to update my root kit with the new twrp recovery this afternoon.

Do you know if the official fix for cwm is out yet?
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] flastnoles11:
I haven't seen anything official yet, just the one cnexus modded
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Clavis Vincula:
BTW, the .tar.md5 file on the first post of the other thread did work, and I now have a rooted Sprint Samsung galaxy s3!!! First thing I did was to disable the awful camera shutter noise. Now I can probably sell the phone for twice what I paid for it. Kidding.

Just as a note: It seems that, when in the touch-screen recovery module, I needed to tap slightly higher on my screen than it looked like I had to. Users may need to be aware of this. For example, you might end up hitting "go back" instead of "select SD card" or you might miss the "Apply Update" button (or whatever it's called) and think you applied the update when you didn't. (When you hit it successfully, a whole bunch of text appears on the screen and you know it worked.)

Thanks again everyone.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] IDontKnowMang:
bootloader stuck

so i ran odin everything was fine but when i put my phone in recovery it shows the download but never moves past there i restarted it and it started just fine but it wont go to the bootloader. im running on sprint by the way
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Skunk Ape1:
Do you have a new gs3?
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] IDontKnowMang:
how new? i got it early this year

---------- Post added at 05:11 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:30 PM ----------

okay i found my proble. but clockwork doesnt seem to install it always boots into stock recovery
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Skunk Ape1:
Most likely problem is you are letting your phone boot normally before going into cwm. If you allow the phone to boot without flashing the team_epic_root_from_recovery.zip first your custom recovery will be replaced by stock recovery. That's why you must deselect the auto restart before flashing recovery in odin. When Odin is finished flashing recovery, you must pull your battery out and unplug it from the usb. Then go into cwm recovery and flash the team epic file.
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] IDontKnowMang:
that was the problem exactly, it didnt take without removing the battery. i got my root and twrp already thanks for the help i appreciate it!
[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III] Skunk Ape1:
No problem...