Root [Verizon] Some Quick Questions!

[bigbabys]

Alrighty gents. I love this place, so I figured it's the best place to ask a couple questions I have. My job is going to be providing with me with a Samsung Galaxy S3 on Verizon next week. The first thing I want to do is hack the crap out of it

So without further delay, here are some questions I have.

1. I see there is a separate forum for the Galaxy S3 4G LTE. Is this a mistake? The phone I am getting is indeed 4G LTE, so I'm just curious.

2. What is the modding community like for this phone? I'm currently on a Rezound, and while AOSP roms are acceptable as daily drivers, they still aren't perfect. Also they are just cracking into JB 4.2 now.

3. Kind of a continuance of the above question, but what is considered the best ROM for the S3 right now. I know that is an opinion, but I'm sure there is a selection that stands out. For example on the Rezound the 2 big players are Neo's Rage and newts one X (AOSP/Sense Respectively). I don't have any experience with touchwiz, so I don't know if it's good or not, but I am probably going to lean towards AOSP assuming it's stable and functional.

I think I have more questions, but I can't think of them right now. I'll just respond in this thread as I think of them.

 

[Digital Controller]

The reason for the separate forum is because indeed there are 2 version of this device, as with every Verizon Device, there is a separate LTE device, because Verizon runs on a CDMA/LTE network, as well as Sprint, anyhow though, the rest usually run on GSM networks with HPSA+ as well...

Anyhow, to get onto more of your questions...

There is a lot of support for this device, just make sure, with it being Verizon it will have specific ROM's and unlocking guides for it, because with Verizon their device is different than the standard GSM Galaxy S3...

Read Read Read, especially if you haven't Rooted/ROM'd your device before, here are some threads to get you started:

http://androidforums.com/faqs/443432-what-root-being-rooted-mean.html

http://androidforums.com/faqs/450904-rooting-best-practices.html

Personally the last question is up in the air, everyone has their preferences...I love Cyanogen Mod and i would suggest checking it out, they just released Stable builds for Cyanogen Mod 10, based on Jelly Bean (4.1.2)

Hope this helps

 

[bigbabys]

The reason for the separate forum is because indeed there are 2 version of this device, as with every Verizon Device, there is a separate LTE device, because Verizon runs on a CDMA/LTE network, as well as Sprint, anyhow though, the rest usually run on GSM networks with HPSA+ as well...

Anyhow, to get onto more of your questions...

There is a lot of support for this device, just make sure, with it being Verizon it will have specific ROM's and unlocking guides for it, because with Verizon their device is different than the standard GSM Galaxy S3...

Read Read Read, especially if you haven't Rooted/ROM'd your device before, here are some threads to get you started:

http://androidforums.com/faqs/443432-what-root-being-rooted-mean.html

http://androidforums.com/faqs/450904-rooting-best-practices.html

Personally the last question is up in the air, everyone has their preferences...I love Cyanogen Mod and i would suggest checking it out, they just released Stable builds for Cyanogen Mod 10, based on Jelly Bean (4.1.2)

Hope this helps

Oh I've rooted before I'm pretty comfortable with it at this point. My first question is in regards to the separate 4G LTE forum that has about 3 posts in it as opposed to this forum which is for the Verizon phone. Your response almost makes it sound as if Verizon has a non LTE version of the phone. They don't right?

And boy am I glad to hear about a stable CM JB release! That's awesome, I think that is what I will go with!


Edit: Some more questions!!

1. How would one install a custom recovery to the phone? Would it be done with fastboot? I see in the root guide that rooting is done via ADB and unlocking the bootloader is as simple as an app from the market. That's crazy to me, but it doesn't mention installing a custom recovery. How would one install a custom ROM without that?

2. Secondly, it says you don't need to unlock the bootloader to install a custom ROM. Please explain this to me, and contrast it to the Rezound.

On the Rezound:

Unlocking the bootloader won't let you install the boot.img because of HTC security. So you either need to achieve S-OFF or run the recovery session via fastboot. However at minimum to install anything you need to unlock the bootloader. How can you install a custom rom on this phone without unlocking the bootloader? And if I do unlock it, is it as simple as rebooting to recovery and then flashing a ROM?

 

[Rolo42]

The other forum is for the Australian and UK LTE versions. (I didn't even know it existed until you mentioned it.) I would hope the structure will be reconsidered to eliminate confusion.

Lots of ROMs available for our SIII and a very active dev community (see sticky for a start and for explicit instructions for your other questions).

VZW JB pre-release ROMS have been around for a few weeks and VZW should release JB in about 2 weeks.

IIRC, there are AOSP ROMs that are pretty good daily drivers, just missing some stock features (camera isn't as nice, etc.) but my intel is old (I'm not doing much until JB release).

 

[psyjohn]

There's an app called rom manager that will install custom recovery for you.

 

[bigbabys]

There's an app called rom manager that will install custom recovery for you.

Ah, so Rom Manager works for the S3?

I'm just still trying to wrap my head around how easy things will be for me once I root.

So I can root with ADB method 1 in the how-to guide, the install ROM manager, then install a custom recovery, then install a custom ROM. Simple as that?

 

[Rolo42]

So I can root with ADB method 1 in the how-to guide, the install ROM manager, then install a custom recovery, then install a custom ROM. Simple as that?

Yes and no but pretty much:

It's a little simpler without ROM Manager (which tends to have issues, as does CWM). Instead, install EZ Recovery from the app store (cf. Method 2, step 15) and install TWRP with it.

The one-extra-step part depends on the ROM you wish to install; if it requires an unlocked bootloader, you must do that first. It's still a cakewalk though: install EZ-Unlock from the play store (cf. same sticky).

 

[bigbabys]

Yes and no but pretty much:

It's a little simpler without ROM Manager (which tends to have issues, as does CWM). Instead, install EZ Recovery from the app store (cf. Method 2, step 15) and install TWRP with it.

The one-extra-step part depends on the ROM you wish to install; if it requires an unlocked bootloader, you must do that first. It's still a cakewalk though: install EZ-Unlock from the play store (cf. same sticky).

Thanks! I appreciate it!