[Verizon] Galaxy Nexus root / un-root without unlocking bootloader

[OhThatEthanGuy]

This looks like a really useful tool, thanks for taking the time.
Just to be clear, if I were to use this script to root then un-root, would there be any net changes to my phone other than whatever I did in between?

 

[scary alien]

This looks like a really useful tool, thanks for taking the time.
Just to be clear, if I were to use this script to root then un-root, would there be any net changes to my phone other than whatever I did in between?

Welcome to the AndroidForums, Ethan!

No, you should be good...

The "unroot" function should remove anything that it would have put out there when rooting, however, it won't of course remove anything that you might have installed (i.e., a busybox, etc.) that was done outside of the scope of the scripts.

Cheers and welcome to AF--very happy you signed-up with us .

 

[simplenoob]

scary alien,

i was trying the method from post #13 but when I get to the following command

$ ./mempodroid 0xd7f4 0xad4b mount -o remount,rw '' /cache

and run it. when I do i lose the $ and it goes to > instead. Not sure what to do after that since the post has a $ or a # instead. am i typing something wrong?

 

[scary alien]

scary alien,

i was trying the method from post #13 but when I get to the following command

$ ./mempodroid 0xd7f4 0xad4b mount -o remount,rw '' /cache

and run it. when I do i lose the $ and it goes to > instead. Not sure what to do after that since the post has a $ or a # instead. am i typing something wrong?

I'm thinking that you used a double-quote mark instead of two single quotes in the above command?

That should fix that command.

Cheers!

 

[diverbelow]

scary alien,

i was trying the method from post #13 but when I get to the following command

$ ./mempodroid 0xd7f4 0xad4b mount -o remount,rw '' /cache

and run it. when I do i lose the $ and it goes to > instead. Not sure what to do after that since the post has a $ or a # instead. am i typing something wrong?

simplenoob -
Are you coming from 4.0.2 to 4.0.4 or from 4.0.4 to 4.0.4?

If you are coming from 4.0.4 to the new leak 4.0.4 the exploit got patched.

If 4.0.2 you have to set the PATH and then run ./mempodroid 0xd7f4 0xad4b sh to get to the #

 

[OhThatEthanGuy]

No, you should be good...

The "unroot" function should remove anything that it would have put out there when rooting, however, it won't of course remove anything that you might have installed (i.e., a busybox, etc.) that was done outside of the scope of the scripts.

Thanks. Basically, since I don't care about root, have 400-500 apps & several hundred photos, & numerous documents & music files, your script looks like the best way to put update.zip in the cache without an annoying unlock wipe or changing anything else. I wish I had enough space on my computer or other hard drives to do a backup with ADB first, but oh well. 4.0.4, here I come.

 

[maineultraclas]

After reading thru the 5 pages of this post, it appears to be exactly what I'm looking for. But I have a couple of questions -

1 - All I want to do is install the stock 4.0.4 update file, don't want to unlock the bootloader and loose all my data/settings, don't want to be rooted after. Will this do that?

2 - Stay in the loop for any future updates from Verizon, not be taken out of the path for them. Will this do that?

3 - If 1 and 2 are possible, then exactly what do I need to do........never done anything like this before.

I did flash leaks onto my DroidX, but it was thru stock recovery.

Thanks,

Steve

 

[scary alien]

Welcome to the AndroidForums, Steve!

After reading thru the 5 pages of this post, it appears to be exactly what I'm looking for. But I have a couple of questions -

That's what we're here for .

1 - All I want to do is install the stock 4.0.4 update file, don't want to unlock the bootloader and loose all my data/settings, don't want to be rooted after. Will this do that?

Yeah, but you have to read between the lines (posts ), etc., since other's have covered this here. This thread was principally about installing root without unlocking your bootloader, but you certainly can adapt/adjust the notes contained herein to do what you want to do.

In the first post, near the end, are my original notes for doing what I did manually (i.e., before I created scripts). Additionally, diverbelow created a very nice post detailing how he did what you have asked for:

Post #13

and it looks like he updated it just yesterday, to boot! (awesome, diverbelow, thank you for that!).

2 - Stay in the loop for any future updates from Verizon, not be taken out of the path for them. Will this do that?

Even installing the root binaries will not prevent a future OTA from coming in or being applied--you'd simply lose root unless you "saved" it.

So, upgrading manually like you're asking about will not impact your future updates from VZW.

3 - If 1 and 2 are possible, then exactly what do I need to do........never done anything like this before.

See above .

I did flash leaks onto my DroidX, but it was thru stock recovery.

Thanks,

Steve

Let us know if you have any more questions!

Cheers!
-SA

 

[LSU316]

I followed the steps in Post #1 and moved the update.zip to /cache on my gnex. Then I performed the unroot method. Next I booted into stock recovery and tried to flash the update......however the update was not there.

I did this several times with no luck. So I decided to go into stock recovery before I ran the unroot batch. This time I did see the update file so I decided to flash it. It worked everything is fine (signal strength seems to be a helluva lot better ). Of course the upgrade to 4.0.4 broke root which is fine by me. However, the superuser app is still there. I have disabled it so that it looks gone but it is still there.

My question is is there any way to get rid of the superuser app without rooting again on 4.0.4? If not is there any harmful affects of leaving it there?

Thanks for the development it worked like a charm arty:

 

[scary alien]

I followed the steps in Post #1 and moved the update.zip to /cache on my gnex. Then I performed the unroot method. Next I booted into stock recovery and tried to flash the update......however the update was not there.

I did this several times with no luck. So I decided to go into stock recovery before I ran the unroot batch. This time I did see the update file so I decided to flash it. It worked everything is fine (signal strength seems to be a helluva lot better ). Of course the upgrade to 4.0.4 broke root which is fine by me. However, the superuser app is still there. I have disabled it so that it looks gone but it is still there.

My question is is there any way to get rid of the superuser app without rooting again on 4.0.4? If not is there any harmful affects of leaving it there?

Thanks for the development it worked like a charm arty:

Unfortunately, if you are already 4.0.4, this exploit's binary (mempodroid) won't work anymore .

There are no harmful effects of leaving Superuser in-place, so you are fine just leaving the Superuser app installed.

Cheers and glad this was helpful!

 

[maineultraclas]

I'm giving Verizon until next weekend to push the OTA out, if nothing happens by then I'll be doing this myself.

I'm doing my research now, and trying to get all the info I can.

Do I have to download anything from Samsung or drivers from anywhere else?

I already have the stock 4.0.4 file from Google downloaded, so now I'm looking to see what else I need to download and be ready to do this.

Thanks for all the help.

Steve

 

[scary alien]

I'm giving Verizon until next weekend to push the OTA out, if nothing happens by then I'll be doing this myself.

I'm doing my research now, and trying to get all the info I can.

Do I have to download anything from Samsung or drivers from anywhere else?

I already have the stock 4.0.4 file from Google downloaded, so now I'm looking to see what else I need to download and be ready to do this.

Thanks for all the help.

Steve

You might need the USB drivers as mentioned in the first post (click the "Show" button in the "How to Use" section):

How to install the adb & fastboot USB drivers

That's usually the trickiest part of this whole deal.

Lots of folks have done this though, so you should be fine .

Cheers!

 

[Sim2k]

Just found this thread, excellent work !! I never knew this exploit existed, going to try it today and update to 4.0.4... of course as soon as I do this 4.0.4 will probably start rolling out.

 

[scary alien]

Just found this thread, excellent work !! I never knew this exploit existed, going to try it today and update to 4.0.4... of course as soon as I do this 4.0.4 will probably start rolling out.

Good to see you again, Sim2k!

Don't forget to save root if you want to still have it after 4.0.4 .

My Android Root Toolkit app has a root-saver option (basically a stripped-down version of OTA Rootkeeper's).

Cheers!

 

[Sim2k]

Your root batch file worked on the first run (I already had the USB drivers installed).

I have no need to keep root for now so I just used ADB to get SU access and copied the 4.0.4 update file to /cache. Worked great and I'm now on 4.0.4.

Very nice, thanks Scary.

 

[scary alien]

Your root batch file worked on the first run (I already had the USB drivers installed).

I have no need to keep root for now so I just used ADB to get SU access and copied the 4.0.4 update file to /cache. Worked great and I'm now on 4.0.4.

Very nice, thanks Scary.

Thanks!

Have a great rest of your Memorial Day weekend .

Cheers!

 

[mjhays1]

scary,
Thanks for the work, it worked flawlessly. When I got my Gnex I had forgotten about the fact that unlocking the bootloader wiped data. Coming off my rooted OG Droid that wasn't needed. So I waited for the OTA which never came!. Your method allowed me to update my phone to .04 and it fixed all my issues. Camera, audio, signal, and the dreaded battery life. My phone is now what it should have been on release and that's Verizon's flagship.
I used OTA rootkeeper to keep root and now if I want to run a custom rom I can use TB to back up before unlocking my bootloader. I installed "root explorer", renamed the update to "update.zip" and copy pasted it to /cache to install it. Rebooted into recovery, used power/volume up to get to install from cache and updated. I think some people get confused at the term "ADB USB Drivers". All I had was the latest samsung usb drivers which you need to pull crap off your phone anyways and your method worked great. No need for adb shell. Just used run command from windows. I am now rooted, updated, and thrilled about my phone again.
Thanks again.
Mike

 

[scary alien]

You are most welcome, Mike--glad to have helped .

Thank you for nice note and for signing-up with us here at AF--hope you stick-around .

Cheers and have a great rest of your holiday weekend!

 

[AndroJak]

SA -- Big thanks!! - worked perfectly to get me to the 4.0.4. One thing I will mention (maybe I just missed this stated someplace) is that once booted into the stock recovery, you must press power + vol up keys to get the recovery menu to show and be able to select the update.zip - got this on my third try, applied the zip, rebooted, then restored root. Double thumbs up! No more waiting on big red..

 

[CODKill]

I have been scouring the XDA forums for days and found a couple of guides and tools to get just root without unlocking the bootloader, but they always contradicted other posts/guides and just ended up making me more skeptical of the outcome. This worked perfectly the first time and am very happy. Thank you!

All I have wanted is root permissions but don't intend on flashing anything else. This seems to have done that perfectly and combined with a root keeper, I should be all set. I am still holding out for the official OTA as I am one of the few people that have no issues on 4.0.2. Of course, I do have one question though.

IF later on I just wanted to be able to flash basic zip patches (like themes or small ui changes) would I have to then go unlock the bootloader and flash a custom recovery like CWM? Or are there alternatives to that?

 

[scary alien]

I have been scouring the XDA forums for days and found a couple of guides and tools to get just root without unlocking the bootloader, but they always contradicted other posts/guides and just ended up making me more skeptical of the outcome. This worked perfectly the first time and am very happy. Thank you!

All I have wanted is root permissions but don't intend on flashing anything else. This seems to have done that perfectly and combined with a root keeper, I should be all set. I am still holding out for the official OTA as I am one of the few people that have no issues on 4.0.2. Of course, I do have one question though.

IF later on I just wanted to be able to flash basic zip patches (like themes or small ui changes) would I have to then go unlock the bootloader and flash a custom recovery like CWM? Or are there alternatives to that?

CODKill,

Glad to hear those very nice comments--thank you very much!

You will need a custom recovery to flash things, however, you don't actually have to unlock the bootloader to flash ClockworkMod--you just can't use the fastboot command accomplish that.

Koush's ROM Manager app will flash CWM for you as well as my Android Root Toolkit app (free in the Market). These apps use the flash_image utility to do this vs. the fastboot flash command.

Note, however, that you might run into the issue of flashing the custom recovery only to find that when you boot into recovery mode, you're still confronted with the stock recovery. This is because there's a file call /system/recovery-from-boot.p that triggers/tells Android to re-flash the stock recovery upon shutdown.

You can use my app to "make recovery stick" but renaming this file. Unfortunately, I didn't make an "un-stick" option (yet--I guess I'll have to add that feature), so if/when you want to put that feature/functionality back after using that option in my app, you'll have to manually rename that file back to its original name (I believe my app renames it with a "-bak" suffix). You can use Root Explorer or ES File Explorer to do this.

Lemme know if you have other questions .

Cheers!

 

[AndroJak]

SA - have to thank you again for your post - grabbed ur toolkit and now I am running CWM Touch as my recovery..

 

[CODKill]

Koush's ROM Manager app will flash CWM for you as well as my Android Root Toolkit app (free in the Market). These apps use the flash_image utility to do this vs. the fastboot flash command.

Note, however, that you might run into the issue of flashing the custom recovery only to find that when you boot into recovery mode, you're still confronted with the stock recovery. This is because there's a file call /system/recovery-from-boot.p that triggers/tells Android to re-flash the stock recovery upon shutdown.

You can use my app to "make recovery stick" but renaming this file. Unfortunately, I didn't make an "un-stick" option (yet--I guess I'll have to add that feature), so if/when you want to put that feature/functionality back after using that option in my app, you'll have to manually rename that file back to its original name (I believe my app renames it with a "-bak" suffix). You can use Root Explorer or ES File Explorer to do this.

Lemme know if you have other questions .

I actually already have Rom Manager installed and was thinking of installing the touch recovery. What I am confused about is the bootloader. If I am rooted and can then get clockwork recovery and make it stick, what is the point of unlocking the bootloader. I don't know why this continues to confuse me, but I can't seem to grasp why bootloader unlocking is so important in general. Nearly every guide for rooting has you do this as the first step and I have always done it in the past, but never really thought much about it. Is it because of cases like 4.0.3+, where the exploits, like this thread, get closed off and then that is the only method to do so? While trying to understand this as general knowledge for myself, I am also wondering why, if at all, I should unlock it.

 

[scary alien]

I actually already have Rom Manager installed and was thinking of installing the touch recovery. What I am confused about is the bootloader. If I am rooted and can then get clockwork recovery and make it stick, what is the point of unlocking the bootloader. I don't know why this continues to confuse me, but I can't seem to grasp why bootloader unlocking is so important in general. Nearly every guide for rooting has you do this as the first step and I have always done it in the past, but never really thought much about it. Is it because of cases like 4.0.3+, where the exploits, like this thread, get closed off and then that is the only method to do so? While trying to understand this as general knowledge for myself, I am also wondering why, if at all, I should unlock it.

Ah, finally, an easy question!

Unlocking the bootloader simply gives you flexibility as far as recovering your phone (i.e., being able to use the fastboot utility to flash radios, boot images, recovery images, system images, etc.).

The reason for promoting unlocking the bootloader is that its makes things much more straight-forward to help when folks get into trouble.

If you unlock it right after you receive your device, then you won't have any data/apps/set to lose because the unlock operation does a wipe.

Cheers!

 

[enelge]

Thanks Scary Alien, worked like a charm. Keep up the great work!