[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] droidshadow:
**** UPDATED 7-24-13 *****

Please read the tutorial now as I have added a new section on how to unlock the bootloader for your Verizon Samsung Galaxy S3. If you are not using a verizon SGS3

specifically model SCH-i535 then you do not have to worry about unlocking your bootloader as it comes unlocked by default. If you are using a verizon samsung galaxy s3 model sch-i535 and you do not fully unlock your bootloader you could run into problems when using certain root apps such as "mobile odin pro" or you could run into big problems when trying to flash custom roms such as cyanogenmod roms.

In this update I am adding one final step at the end of the root process to fully unlock the boot loader for the verizon samsung galaxy s3. There will be two ways to unlock the bootloader. One way will be to flash a final bootchain file with Odin, and the other will be to use an app to unlock the bootloader. Depending on what version of android you are using and your phones baseband version you will either need to use odin or you could use the application for any android version such as 4.1.1 or 4.1.2 and you can use the application for any baseband version your phone might be. I will leave the choice up to you, but I will show how to do it both ways.

Samsung users, don't forget if you plan on flashing a custom rom that with Samsung phones you could get the ugly yellow triangle warning. To get rid of this yellow triangle you can either go to google play store and get "yellow triangle away" app or go to this forum on this great xda developers site: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1494114

**NOTE** for those of you who would like to see a video of how to root your phone using these exact steps you can go to here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4b9hcWHrW8&feature=share&list=FL8Y3FM4mtznp0GQbwkkwaSg

A member on this thread gave me that link and it is a video by phone rebel and show you how to root your verizon SGS3 using the same steps i have outlined in this tutorial. Thank you so much for providing that link to my attention, I am sure it will help many users here!

Hello everyone,

Well this is one of my first tutorials for this forum on how to root your Verizon Samsung Galaxy S3.

I just recently got my Verizon Samsung Galaxy S3 and all of the tutorials I found were quite complicated and not very detailed so I thought that

I would write this tutorial and maybe it might help others out there....

Since the Galaxy S4 is getting ready to come out, the price has dropped considerably for the S3 and i believe more and more people will be getting this phone and wanting to root it.

Oh, and if you want an alternative guide you can use this very excellent tutorial from another post on this amazing forum:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2046439

Here is the specs for the phone I am using and the step by step process I used to root it.

Verizon Samsung Galaxy SIII model I535 running Android 4.1.2

Okay step 1 you are going to need some files...

First thing you are going to need is the Samsung Drivers so you can connect your phone to your computer and your computer can recognize it.

All of the files you are going to need I am just going to reference the link from the other tutorial that I posted above, no sense in redoing work

that has already been done especially if it has been done well!

1. You can get the samsung driver files here: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2046439

click on the link that says samsung drivers

2. You are going to need Odin you can get it from the same link, click on the Odin Link

3. You are going to need the VRALEC BOOTCHAIN you can get it from the link I posted in step 1 make sure you get this file it is very

important.

Since I am using a Verizon Samsung Galaxy S3 the bootloader comes by default locked so we need this file to unlock the bootloader

so we can root the phone. If we were using any other phone besides Verizon we would not have to worry about this but since I have

Verizon I have to do this. IMPORTANT: if you are not using a VERIZON PHONE DO NOT download this file or use it in the step

process you do not need it.

4. Next you are going to need the exploit so that you can root your phone and you can grab that from a different website, here is the address:

http://autoroot.chainfire.eu/

This is the CF-AUTOROOT file and this is what roots your phone. If you have the same phone as me scroll down to the SCH-I535 link and

download that file.

Okay now that we have all of that downloaded lets get things moving...

First thing we are going to need to do is install the Samsung USB drivers, so do that.

After the drivers are installed plug in your phone and make sure that it connects to your computer correctly, after it connects disconnect

your phone from your computer.

Next thing we are going to need to do is extract the ODIN zip file and install the Odin executable.

Now we need to get to the critical stuff...

Step 1. Make sure that [USB Debugging] is enabled in your phone, if it is not go to Settings -> Developer Options and enable it.

Step 2. Put your phone in DOWNLOAD Mode. You do that by pressing Volume Down + Home + Power button and hold it down till you see

a warning screen. When you see the warning screen hit Volume Up to allow Download mode.

Step 3. Now that your phone is in Download Mode you are going to connect your phone to your computer with ODIN RUNNING if

everything connects correctly you will see ODIN highlight yellow (older versions of ODIN) or highlight blue (newer ODIN versions)

Step 4. Now this is where previous tutorials kind of messed up in my opinion (just my opinion). Now that your phone is in download mode

you need to only have the "auto boot" option selected in ODIN and click on the bootloader button and select the VRALEC file

you downloaded earlier. Every tutorial i read said to use this file with the PDA button/option but you need to use it with the bootloader

button/option in ODIN. Now that you have the VRALEC file selected under bootloader in ODIN select START. This will reboot your

phone and if everything goes correctly your phone's bootloader will be unlocked.

After reboot make sure to disconnect your phone from your computer.

Step 5. After your phone reboots from step 4 turn off your phone and then boot it back into DOWNLOAD mode. Vol Down + Home + Power

Step 6. Now that your phone is in Download Mode again (Reconnect your phone to your computer) and make sure ODIN is still running

Step 7. With your phone connected go to the PDA option/button and when you select it choose the CF-AUTOROOT file you downloaded earlier

Step 8. With your PDA option selected hit start. When this happens your phone will reboot and your will see a CUSTOM lock icon on your

screen don't worry it is okay. Now you will see some new text on your phone and if everything is working you will see things like

"Android is UPDATING"

Your phone is now rooted! but you are not done...

This is where all of the other tutorials I found also fell short...

Your phone is rooted but it will not work correctly without SuperSU

Step 9. Go to the Google Play Store and Download SuperSU. When the download is complete run SuperSU and now your phone is fully

rooted. You can test it by downloading Android Terminal and running the terminal and typing "su" or by downloading a root required

app Titanium Backup.

*****UPDATED STEP*****

IMPORTANT NOTE: i want to point that this step is completely optional. You do not have to unlock your bootloader but i would recommend it. If you just want to use a stock rom and have your phone rooted then you can ignore this last step. But...if you want to flash custom rom's or do any kind of serious customize your phone, then you will need to have your phones bootloader unlocked. Plus with the application I am going to show you further down this tutorial, it is so easy to unlock your bootloader, you might as well go for it.

Step 10. Okay now from the link that I gave you above: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2046439 you are going to need to download another bootchain file to fully unlock your verizon samsung galaxy s3 model sch-i535 phone.Go into your phone and under settings go into "about phone' and look at the section "baseband version". Now depending on what version of android you are using will determine your baseband version. On my Verizon SGS3 running 4.1.2 my baseband version is I535VRBMB1 the important part is -> "VRBMB1" now go to site i provided in this step and download the bootchain for your specific phone.

Since my phones baseband version is "VRBMB1" i will download that bootchain file obviously. VRBMB1 is for android 4.1.2

The other boothchain files are "VRBLK3" for android 4.1.1 and "VRBMD3" for android 4.1.2

Now take that bootchain file that you downloaded and load up Odin again. Connect your phone to your computer (MAKE SURE YOUR PHONE IS IN DOWNLOAD MODE -> VOL DOWN + HOME + POWER) and wait for Odin show a connection. Odin will show a blue light on newer Odin versions and a yellow light on older Odin versions.

When the connection is made hit the "bootloader" button and select the proper bootchain file for your specific phone. Before you hit start make sure that only "Auto Reboot" is selected on the left hand side.

Now go ahead and hit start and if all goes well your phones bootloader should be unlocked. You can tell that your phones bootloader is unlocked two ways.

One, when your phone reboots the Samsung Logo in white bold/block writing will disappear within 1-2 seconds. It will go by very fast.

Two, the custom lock icon that showed up after you ran the CF-AUTOROOT exploit will now disappear, if for any reason if you still see this logo then your phones bootloader is still locked and you can either try to flash the bootchain file again or use the application I am about to tell you about.

For my phone flashing this bootchain file worked fine, but for my brother's phone he has a verizon samsung galaxy s3 model sch-i535 this did not work and I had to use an application to unlock his bootloader.

****UPDATE UNLOCKING THE BOOTLOADER WITH EZ-UNLOCK*****

Okay so my brother who has a verizon samsung galaxy s3 model sch-i535 asked me to root his phone just the other day. I rooted his phone following all the same steps I have written above with no problems. His phone rooted perfectly, however his bootloader would not unlock. I believe that his bootloader would not unlock because he had an updated version. While his android version was the same as mine 4.1.2 he had a different baseband version.

His baseband version was "I535VRBMF1" the important part -> "VRBMF1"

Now i have been told that you can use the bootchain file VRBMB1 to unlock the bootloader for verizon SGS3 running android 4.1.2 baseband version "VRBMF1" but when i tried it, the bootloader staid locked. So i had to use an application to unlock his bootloader.

The application i used was "EZ-Unlock" which you can get here: http://rootzwiki.com/topic/32456-app-920-ez-unlock-14-easiest-way-to-unlock-your-bootloader/

Now this application is SO EASY to use it is amazing. Just download the file, the author recommend version 1.2 as the most stable and that is version i used. To download this file make sure you have the option "Unknown Sources" check in your Settings -> Security menu.

Okay to unlock your bootloader with EZ-Unlock follow these easy steps:

Step 10A. Download EZ-Unlock version 1.2 from the link above.

Step 10B. Install the application and open it.

Step 10C. Once open click on the giant "Unlock" button. If all goes well you will hear "That was easy" from the application.

Once you have hit the unlock button on EZ-Unlock reboot your phone to see if the Samsung in bold/block white letters disappears within 1-2 seconds, and make sure the custom lock icon has disappeared.

Now the application EZ-Unlock is designed specifically for verizon samsung galaxy s3 phones, it does not matter what baseband version you use or android version you use. So this is a very appealing and easy way to unlock your bootloader. If you don't feel like flashing a bootchain file with Odin or if you are not sure what bootchain file you should use then using this application. NOTE: you do need root access to run this application.

And that is it! Your phones bootloader should be unlocked either with Odin or EZ-Unlock the choice is all up to you!

***LAST THOUGHT ON INSTALLING CUSTOM RECOVERY***

This rooting method does not install and kind of custom recovery manager on to your phone. If you want to install a custom recovery manager such as "ClockworkMod Recovery" you can do that very easily once your phone is rooted. Once your phone is rooted go to the google play store and download "Rom Manager". Once Rom Manager is installed open it up and give it root access with SuperSU. Once that is done go into the option to flash a recovery manager and follow the steps and the application Rom Manager will take care of that for you!.

Congrats on rooting your phone! I hope this tutorial has helped you and I want to thank all of the system administrators of this forum and all of

the great guys and gals that contribute to this place. You guys/gals are what makes the open source community great!

I thank you all...

Hope it helped!

-droidshadow