Due to the excellent work of forum member sbenson and Evostance over at xda (and a little help from forum member goosedeath and AlexKP at androidforums) I was able to get my CDMA Galaxy Nexus rooted easily using a Mac. I was new to terminal commands but after a few missteps I was able to get everything working. Below is a set of instructions I used and it worked for me. I’m not an expert but I hope that these instructions help anyone who is having problems. I’m not responsible for anything that happens to your device. Many of these instructions are lifted directly from sbenson and Evostance so all credit goes to them.
When you use a Mac you don’t need any additional drivers like you do with a PC. Just plug it in via the USB cable.
Also, you don’t need the MTP drivers for file transfers, either. I’m on OS 10.4 so I assume that other OS versions will behave the same.
OK, here we go....
1) Download the superboot file here: r3-galaxynexus-superboot.zip
2) Extract the contents of the superboot zip file into a folder.
3) Put the folder, called r3-galaxynexys-superboot, in your home directory (I think that’s what it’s called – it’s the thing that looks like a house with your user name in the finder).
4) Make sure Nexus is fully charged
5) Enable USB Debugging on the Nexus (This is found by going to Settings > Developer options)
6) Power your device off
7) Connect your phone to your computer via the USB cable
8) Put device into the bootloader by holding down Vol Up + Vol Down + Power. It should look like this: http://cdn.droid-life.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/nexus-bootloader1.jpg
9) On the computer, open up terminal (found in Applications>Utilities)
10) When you open up the terminal you’ll see something that looks like this:
Last login: Fri Dec 23 11:12:36 on console
[Macintosh-3:~] creaky%
The last thing before the % should be the name of your home directory. My home directory (the house thing) is called creaky.
11) To unlock the bootloader (WARNING: THIS WILL WIPE YOUR DEVICE), after the % in that line, type the following lines of code, hitting return after each line (in the second line, type YOUR username WITHOUT the brackets):
cd /Users/
cd [your user name-see above instruction!]
cd r3-galaxynexus-superboot
./fastboot-mac oem unlock
12) You should get a warning on your phone. Use the volume keys to select an option, and press the power button to confirm it. It should look like this: http://cdn.droid-life.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/galaxy-nexus-bootloader.jpg
13) The terminal should say:
... OKAY
14) Your bootloader on the nexus should now say that it is unlocked at the bottom (Lock State - Unlocked [near the bottom] as well as "Fastboot Status - Okay")
15) To root your device, type the following code into the terminal, hitting return after each line:
chmod +x install-superboot-mac.sh
./install-superboot-mac.sh
16) The terminal should say:
downloading 'boot.img'... OKAY
booting... OKAY
17) You will now see the black Google screen with the lock icon at the bottom
18) Your phone should reboot automatically after a couple minutes on the Google screen. If, and only if, your phone doesn't reboot automatically after 5 minutes, unplug the usb cable and perform a battery pull
19) Put your battery back in if necessary and power on your device
20) Be patient while it boots up, and don't worry - first boot may take up to 5 minutes (as sbenson suggests, remember to breathe!)
21) You will need to set up your phone now and log into Google, etc.
22) Confirm Superuser app in your app tray
23) Open Superuser, go into settings (top right, wrench icon), scroll down and "tap to check for updates." Tap "update anyway." You should get a red warning for busybox, but everything else should be green
24) Open up the market and download the BusyBox installer app
25) Install Busybox following the instructions in the app
26) You should now be able to reboot your phone and it will have root
Now that you’re unlocked and rooted, go here and get instructions on how to get Clockwork recovery on your Nexus: [HOW-TO] CWM on LTE Version through Rom Manager - RootzWiki
Many, many thanks to all cited above and to Paul O’Brien for creating superboot!
When you use a Mac you don’t need any additional drivers like you do with a PC. Just plug it in via the USB cable.
Also, you don’t need the MTP drivers for file transfers, either. I’m on OS 10.4 so I assume that other OS versions will behave the same.
OK, here we go....
1) Download the superboot file here: r3-galaxynexus-superboot.zip
2) Extract the contents of the superboot zip file into a folder.
3) Put the folder, called r3-galaxynexys-superboot, in your home directory (I think that’s what it’s called – it’s the thing that looks like a house with your user name in the finder).
4) Make sure Nexus is fully charged
5) Enable USB Debugging on the Nexus (This is found by going to Settings > Developer options)
6) Power your device off
7) Connect your phone to your computer via the USB cable
8) Put device into the bootloader by holding down Vol Up + Vol Down + Power. It should look like this: http://cdn.droid-life.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/nexus-bootloader1.jpg
9) On the computer, open up terminal (found in Applications>Utilities)
10) When you open up the terminal you’ll see something that looks like this:
Last login: Fri Dec 23 11:12:36 on console
[Macintosh-3:~] creaky%
The last thing before the % should be the name of your home directory. My home directory (the house thing) is called creaky.
11) To unlock the bootloader (WARNING: THIS WILL WIPE YOUR DEVICE), after the % in that line, type the following lines of code, hitting return after each line (in the second line, type YOUR username WITHOUT the brackets):
cd /Users/
cd [your user name-see above instruction!]
cd r3-galaxynexus-superboot
./fastboot-mac oem unlock
12) You should get a warning on your phone. Use the volume keys to select an option, and press the power button to confirm it. It should look like this: http://cdn.droid-life.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/galaxy-nexus-bootloader.jpg
13) The terminal should say:
... OKAY
14) Your bootloader on the nexus should now say that it is unlocked at the bottom (Lock State - Unlocked [near the bottom] as well as "Fastboot Status - Okay")
15) To root your device, type the following code into the terminal, hitting return after each line:
chmod +x install-superboot-mac.sh
./install-superboot-mac.sh
16) The terminal should say:
downloading 'boot.img'... OKAY
booting... OKAY
17) You will now see the black Google screen with the lock icon at the bottom
18) Your phone should reboot automatically after a couple minutes on the Google screen. If, and only if, your phone doesn't reboot automatically after 5 minutes, unplug the usb cable and perform a battery pull
19) Put your battery back in if necessary and power on your device
20) Be patient while it boots up, and don't worry - first boot may take up to 5 minutes (as sbenson suggests, remember to breathe!)
21) You will need to set up your phone now and log into Google, etc.
22) Confirm Superuser app in your app tray
23) Open Superuser, go into settings (top right, wrench icon), scroll down and "tap to check for updates." Tap "update anyway." You should get a red warning for busybox, but everything else should be green
24) Open up the market and download the BusyBox installer app
25) Install Busybox following the instructions in the app
26) You should now be able to reboot your phone and it will have root
Now that you’re unlocked and rooted, go here and get instructions on how to get Clockwork recovery on your Nexus: [HOW-TO] CWM on LTE Version through Rom Manager - RootzWiki
Many, many thanks to all cited above and to Paul O’Brien for creating superboot!
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