[HACKS] [HOW TO] Root your Verizon Galaxy S4

Disclaimer: Rooting your device will void it's warranty and also, DroidForums.net or myself is not responsible if you break your phone while using this root method. Please proceed at your own risk.


Description: This is a simple guide that will allow you to easily root your Verizon Galaxy S4 device without having to flash a prerooted factory image using a leaked prerelease kernel (provided by user sextape) and root method (provided by user djrbliss).


First up, grab the necessary tools:

• Samsung Official USB Drivers - Link
• ODIN v3.07 - Link
• VRUAMD2 Pre-release Kernel - Link
• VRUAMDK Stock Kernel - Link
• Motochopper Root Exploit Tool – Link

ODIN is a tool used for flashing firmware and kernels on Samsung devices. If you've ever modded a Galaxy phone before, you probably used ODIN at least once (Windows-only, by the way). It's always a good idea to check that your device is properly detected by the computer before you get started. Samsung's USB drivers should work on most Windows systems, but you might try Koush's universal driver if all else fails. The next step involves flashing a pre-release kernel to the device using ODIN:

• Boot phone into ODIN mode (See here for how-to)
• Flash the VRUAMD2 Prerelease Kernel using ODIN v3.07 (See here for guide on flashing)
• Boot back to Android and verify everything is still working and kernel has flashed successfully

Next, you'll root the device using Dan Rosenberg's Motochopper exploit. This won't work without the modified kernel installed, so don't try running it stock. Samsung blocks root at the kernel level as a security measure. Here's how you run the root exploit:

• Verify in Security settings on your device that "Unknown sources" is checked
• Verify in Developer options on your device that "USB debugging" is checked
• Verify in Developer options on your device that "Verify apps via USB" is unchecked
• Connect your phone to the computer and open "Run.bat" file from the Motochopper folder (wherever you extracted it to)
• If successful, after your phone reboots, open SuperSU app and let the binary update itself to the latest (very important)
• Once complete, open a root application and verify that it's able to access root properly

At this point you should have root, but it's a good idea to restore the stock kernel. Running with a mismatched ROM and kernel can cause issues. Do the following:

• Boot phone into ODIN mode (See here for how-to)
• Flash the VRUAMDK Stock Kernel using ODIN v3.07 (See here for guide on flashing)
• Boot back to Android and verify everything is still working and kernel has flashed successfully
• After your phone boots back to Android, you should now be fully rooted and on the original stock firmware

That's it! Your Galaxy S4 is now rooted. Plenty of folks have confirmed this process works, so give it a shot if you dare.


For those who find it easier watching a video tutorial, our good friend Shane (DroidModderX) had provided a step-by-step video guide. Check it below:






Credits

• sextape for providing the original VRUAMD2 Prerelease Kernel (Original Source)
• djrbliss for creating Motochopper Root Exploit Tool (Original Post)
• cnlson for providing ftp filehosting (via PM)
• Chainfire for creating SuperSU (Original Post)
• ChainsDD for creating Superuser (Original Source)

Video Credit

• DroidModderX - YouTube Channel

Source: XDA & SXTP DEvelopers

 

Tried to root my Verizon S4 with this method but had no luck. Kept getting failure... checked the XDA thread and I guess this exploit doesn't work on the Verizon version! FML! :disappointed:

Will update this thread once proper exploit is posted.

 

Mine came in yesterday morning.

 

Thread updated.

 

Yeah, I might wait as well. Dan Rosenberg bootloader unlock should be released soon.

 

OP updated. Added info on how to restore stock kernel. :happy:

 

Updated with Video