[Nexus 7 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] GedBlake:
Hi, Qaphsiel....

Rooting the Nexus 7 is pretty straightforward.

But first things first...

Whilst not dogmatically opposed to the use of toolkits, I feel, if you're going to start tinkering with the guts of your Nexus 7, you should have some idea of what it is exactly you're doing, and why you're doing it... so you should learn how to use the most fundamental (and incredibly useful) tools available to Nexus 7 owners... namely FASTBOOT and ADB. Toolkits 'mask/hide' the underlying processes by which they accomplish their appointed tasks, whether that be simple rooting or flashing back to stock. No matter how ingenious the algorithms or heuristics of a given toolkit might be, they can't cover all possible contingencies. If you've mastered the use of FASTBOOT and ADB, then YOU are in control...

To use a metaphor... a user with a toolkit is a bit like somebody with an advanced scientific calculator; they can perform all manner of abstruse mathematical computations, like a virtuoso... but are wholly incapable of doing a bit of mental arithmetic at the grocery checkout to ensure they've not been short changed!!

Anyway... back to Rooting...

Summary...

Rooting the Nexus 7 is a four stage process...

1). Using fastboot, unlock the bootloader...

2). Fastboot flash a Custom Recovery...

3). Using that Recovery, flash Chainfire's Root package...

4). Reboot... and you're Rooted.

Now for some details... (The following assumes you're using some variation of Windows.)

Some downloads first...

* Download to your Nexus 7 using Chrome (or whatever Android browser you prefer), Chainfire's SuperSU Root package from

here

.

* Download to your PC, the Android SDK/ADT bundle from

here

. Install on your PC.

* Download to your PC, the latest TWRP image from

here

. The latest for 'grouper' (WiFi only) Nexus 7 is 2.6.3.0... (which reminds me, I have to update my own Nexus 7:)).

With these three downloads done, and having installed the Android SDK on you PC... proceed as follows...

Installing a Custom Recovery...

On your PC, rename the TWRP .img file, openrecovery-twrp-2.6.3.0-grouper.img to something less long winded, something easily typeable that minimises the scope for typo errors at the command prompt (which will come later)... like, for example, recovery.img.

Locate on your PC the folder that contains the FASTBOOT.EXE file... this should be somewhere in the Android SDK folder... under /platform/tools.

Copy the recovery.img into that folder.

Shut down the Nexus 7 completely.

Reboot the Nexus 7 into the bootloader by pressing VOLUME DOWN (and hold), whilst holding press the POWER ON button.

Connect your Nexus 7 to your PC via a USB cable... preferably the same USB cable that originally shipped with your Nexus 7.

On your PC, open a command prompt window on the folder that contains the FASTBOOT.EXE file (and now also, the recovery.img file).

Type...

fastboot devices

This command won't actually do anything... it's just a means of confirming you have a working fastboot connection.

You should see your unique Nexus 7's ID, followed by the word fastboot.

Something along these lines...

025d2d424bxxxxx fastboot

If you don't see something like this, you likely have a driver problem, and this should be resolved before you proceed.

Assuming everything's good at this point, you need to unlock the bootloader if you haven't already done so. You should be aware, for security reasons, unlocking the bootloader will FACTORY RESET YOUR NEXUS 7... which means the device is WIPED; all user installed apps will be gone, your WiFi key and your Google account will be deleted and any pics, videos and music will also be deleted. Your Nexus 7 will be as it was when you first unboxed it, brand new:(. So backup anything that is important to you first.

Right... to proceed with unlocking the bootloader...

Again, on your PC, open a command prompt on the folder which contains your FASTBOOT.EXE file... with the Nexus 7 plugged in, and booted into bootloader, type the following....

fastboot oem unlock

A dialog box/message will appear on your Nexus 7 requesting confirmation... just follow the onscreen instructions (If I remember correctly, it just involves pressing the POWER BUTTON to confirm).

With the bootloader now unlocked, you are now free to run fastboot commands... since you're rooting, you need to fastboot flash a Custom Recovery first. I've recommended TWRP because it's very intuitive to use... but you could just as easily use ClockWorkMod (CWM) recovery, an alternative recovery long favoured by Android old-timers...

On your PC, open a command prompt window on the folder that contains the FASTBOOT.EXE and the recovery.img file... and again, with the Nexus 7 hooked up to your PC via USB , and booted into the bootloader.

Type the following...

fastboot flash recovery recovery.img

You now should have TWRP installed on your Nexus 7... you can use this Custom Recovery for lots of useful things... performing Nandroid backups, (something you should get into the habit of doing, particularly if you're going to do a lot of 'under-the-hood' tinkering)... flashing Custom Roms... flashing OTA .zips (assuming you're still stock)... and of course ROOTING.

You can now disconnect the Nexus 7 from your PC.

Now to ROOT...

So... now you have TWRP installed, rooting is piece of cake:)...

Remember the Chainfire download I mentioned at the beginning of this post... and that you should have downloaded first, directly to your Nexus 7. Well, that file is your focus now...

With the Nexus 7 booted into the bootloader, use the volume keys to navigate to the RECOVERY MODE option... press the POWER BUTTON to select.

The Nexus 7 should now boot into TWRP recovery (that you've just fastboot flashed).

Tap on the INSTALL button... following the on-screen instructions, navigate to the /download folder (which is where most Android browsers download stuff to) and locate the file UPDATE-SuperSU-v1.65.zip... Select and use the SWIPE option at the bottom of the TWRP screen to flash...

Tap on the BACKBUTTON and select Reboot>>System... if TWRP suggests 'Root permissions appear to be lost. Fix root permissions now?', then absolutely DO NOT FIX... just tap on the 'Do Not Fix' button... your Nexus 7 should now reboot.

In the Launcher App drawer, you should now have a new app called SuperSU. This app manages your 'rooted' app requests. If it doesn't appear, try downloading it from Playstore

here

... this sort of thing can happen sometimes, when the su(root) binary is updated, and the SuperSU app vanishes... but you're rooting from fresh, so I don't expect this problem to appear for you.

----------------------------------

And that is how you root the Nexus 7 (2012) running Jellybean 4.3:cool:.

It appears very complicated... but it really isn't. In practice, it takes about 5 minutes - it's just in the nature of written instructions, where you're trying to cover everything, that makes it appear complicated.

By way of example... here are my instructions for making a pot of coffee:):):)...

(I actually have no idea how to make coffee, other than instant:()... but you get my point... stuff that is instinctively easy to do, becomes ridiculously complicated when you've got to write it down.

Anyway, I hope this helps.

And good luck.

Rgrds,

Ged.