[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Stacy Love:
Hey everyone,

I recently was given a Verizon galaxy s3 I want to use it with tmobile. I used these steps

a) Download Samsung Drivers if you do not already have them. It is an Exe file: DOWNLOAD

b) Run what you just downloaded, to install the drivers.

c) Download the ODIN3 Software, this software lets you flash (which means write to the hardware of your computer which is normally not possible) your phone. The file you are downloading is compressed, which means you need to first uncompress it. DOWNLOAD

d) Extract (Uncompress) the folder you just downloaded, and run ODIN3 which will be one of the files inside the folder you just extracted.

NOTE ODIN3 is an Executable File, which means you do not install it, you just click on it to run it.

e) Now we need to download the file VRALEC Bootchain. This file will be used by to allow us to flash (using the ODIN3 software) a customized recovery image on to your phone. DOWNLOAD

NOTE: What an image is, is simply a snap shot of a harddrive, sort to speak. Someone who has advanced knowledge of the Android OS, created a snap shot of their Phone "Harddrive" (firmware) so that others could simply replace their current Android OS, with the customized one.

f) Turn off your phone. HOLD DOWN the Volume Down Key, Home Key, and the POWER down key. As soon as the phone Vibrates release the POWER button only. Once the ODIN Screen comes up, release the other two buttons and hit the Volume UP key.

g) Now connect your phone to your computer using your USB Cable.

h) Now on your computer, bring up ODIN3 and click on PDA, this will bring up a file selector. You want to select the VRALEC Bootchain you just downloaded (VRALEC.bootchain.tar.md5 for example).

WARNING: DO NOT CLICK ANY CHECK-BOXES, YOU WILL DAMAGE YOUR PHONE.

NOTE: After you select the file, the box next to the PDA button should now be populated with the location of the file: C:\Users\yourname\Downloads\VRALEC.bootchain.tar.md5.

i) Now locate the Start button, located below the PDA button.

WARNING: DO NOT UNPLUG YOUR PHONE OR TURN IT OFF DURING THIS PROCESS.

NOTE: Once it is complete, your phone will restart.

j) After your phone restarts, go back to ODIN3 and click the Reset button, it is located right next to the Start button.

k) Unplug your phone and then turn it off, and finally take the back cover off.

l) We need to get back to the ODIN mode. Turn off your phone (if its not off already). Push and hold down the Volume Down Button, Home Button, and the POWER Button. As soon as the phone Vibrates release the Power Button only. Once the ODIN Screen comes up, release the other two buttons and hit the Volume UP Button.

m) Once you are in ODIN Mode connect your phone again to your computer

n) Now you need to download ClockworkMod Touch Recovery 6.0.2.3 (a recover image that you will use to replace your current Android OS with a Unlocked one). DOWNLOAD

o) After you download it, bring up the ODIN3 software again, and this time you want to UNCHECK Auto-Reboot. This is very important, after you uncheck it, the only option that should be CHECKED is the F.Rest Time option.

p) Now click on the Bootloader button and select the Clockwork recovery image we downloaded at step n. (CWM6023TouchVZW.tar.md5 for example)

NOTE: After you select the recovery image, the box next to the should display the location of the; C:\Users\yourname\Downloads\CWM6023TouchVZW.tar.md5

q) Now locate and click the Start button again, located at the bottom of the ODIN3 Panel

WARNING: DO NOT UNPLUG YOUR PHONE OR TURN IT OFF DURING THIS PROCESS.

r) After it has finished running, disconnect your phone, turn it off, and take out the battery. Leave the battery out for at least 20 seconds.

s) We need to now turn on the Phone into Recovery. To get into Recovery mode follow these steps; Turn off your phone (if its not off already). Push and hold down the Volume UP Button, Home Button, and the POWER Key. As soon as the phone Vibrates release the Power Button only.

NOTE Once you see "Recovery Mode..." at the top left of the screen you can let go of the buttons.

t) Once in recover mode, select reboot system now, after you click it, it will ask you if you want to disable recovery flash. YOU MUST SELECT "Yes - Disable recovery flash"

ATTENTION : The following step is very important, you must select Yes - Disable recovery flash

u) We need to now download the Super User Package to grant us Root. DOWNLOAD

NOTE: This package is a compressed zip file. DO NOT UNCOMPRESS THIS FILE, YOU NEED IT TO BE COMPRESSED.

v) Connect your phone back to your computer, and copy the zip file you just downloaded in step u, to your phone's External SD card. (SuperSU_Bootloader_FIXED.zip for example, will be the name of the file that you will copy over)

w) We now need to get into Recovery mode again. To get into Recovery mode follow these steps; Turn off your phone. Push and hold down the Volume UP Button, Home Button, and the POWER Key. As soon as the phone Vibrates release the Power Button only.

NOTE Once you see "Recovery Mode..." at the top left of the screen you can let go of the buttons.

x) Once you are in recovery mode, select "- install zip from sdcard"

y) Then click on "- choose zip from external sdcard"

z) Now find the file you downloaded and copied over. (SuperSU_Bootloader_FIXED.zip for example) and select it.

NOTE: if you can't see the file, you may need to scroll down, to find it.

Sigh... this is a long process.... I am past step z!

z1) Click on "- Yes - Install SuperSU_Bootloader_FIXED.zip"

z2) After its finished, a you will see the menu again. Click on "++++++ Go Back+++++++"

z3) Click on "- reboot system now" your system should now be restarting.

We are not done yet, we now need to add the Tmobile APNs to our phone, however, the phone is set up to prevent you to do this, because of greed, corruption and a broken system.

Here are the original instructions to allow APNs unlocking in its entirety : Full Guide

z4) go to the Play Store, then search for and install BuildProp Editor

z5) Once it is installed, open it up and it will as you to grant the application superuser access, click on "GRANT"

z6) click the phone Menu Button, and when the menu comes up, click on Edit

z7) Scroll all the way to the botton, and add these two lines to it:

ril.sales_code=LOL

ro.csc.sales_code=LOL

z8) After entering the new in the two new lines, click on Save Icon located top right. It will pop up a message near the bottom center that will let you know it was saved.

z9) After you save it, restart your phone.go to

•Settings

•More Settings

•Mobile Networks

•Access Point Names

Here are the original instructions to set up Tmobile APN in its entirety : Full Guide

z10) Click on the phones Menu Button and click on "+ New APN"

z11) Click on Name, set it "T-Mobile" then click OK

z12) Click on APN, and set it to "epc.tmobile.com" then click OK

z13) Click on MMSC and set it to "mms.msg.eng.t-mobile.com/mms/wapenc" then Click OK

z14) Click on the phones Menu Button and click on "Save"

z15) Click on "T-Mobile" and then restart your phone.

THATS IT! We are done... man

to root and unlock the bootloader and shows my phone is rooted but in step t I did not get the "Yes - Disable recovery flash" message. I did continue to the rest of the steps and it shows that my phone is rooted but I still can not stick to tmobiles towers and I keep getting a pop up asking if I want to switch to global. Does not clicking "Yes - Disable recovery flash" make the difference to making it work with tmobile? If so how can I fix this. Also, I still can not send or receive picture messages. I have the Samsung galaxy s3 i535 4.1.2. baseband version i535vrbmf1. I hope someone can help me :)