Verizon Galaxy S III Now Has Root and Custom Recovery In Spite Of A Locked Bootloader

[DroidModderX]

Last night we announced that the Samsung Galaxy S3 came along with a Locked bootloader! Nothing has changed with that. However we now have root thanks to some developers over at Rootzwiki! They have come up with a signed boot.img that includes root. The method is similar to the methods for other versions of the Galaxy S3. You will need to flash the modified boot.img in ODIN from there you will be able to push your Custom Recovery to the phone via ADB. The only downfall to this method that i can see is that the boot.img is 1.6GB! If you can manage to get it downloaded you should be good to go. Check out the source link for Download links and full instructions.

This is a good first step! Via Rootzwiki​

 

[djsiva]

The dev community is unbelievable!! I was contemplating keeping my Nexus because of the bootloader issue, but I think I'm back on board for the S3.

 

[Narsil]

 

[blacksoxing]

I bet all of yall who went "OH I'M CANCELING MY PRE ORDER RIGHT NOW!" and "I'M NOT EVEN GOING TO USE IT! I HATE YOU VERIZON!!!!" are now rejoicing.

The REAL hilarity though is that I ask folks what a bootloader is and they can't even answer it....yet get fussy when they find out a phone is locked....bwahahahahahahaaaaaaaa

 

[johnomaz]

I am sad that I will be keeping Verizon and not jumping ship. Unlimited data is one of the big factors as is the fact that my wife will be on Verizon and me on ATT which will end up costing us more than if I stayed on Verizon. My only hope is that we will be able to unlock them at a later time or someone will find a way to do it. Maybe in the next two days I'll change my mind, but for now, I am reluctant to switch. Though rare, I have at times used more than 3 gigs of data in a month and am unwilling to give that up.

 

[metalspring]

...dont any of you realize that getting root and a custom recovery changes nothing??? its still a locked bootloader like the Motorola phones...root and a custom recovery were inevitable, but without getting the bootloader unlocked you're still very limited and have fun trying to get back to stock if needed...
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but thats how it is with a locked bootloader (Just browse the newer moto phones development forums and see all the issues they have with locked bootloaders)

 

[jroc]

Wow...didn't know about the boot loader. I assume it isn't encrypted like on Moto phones?

Rooting and recoveries for the most part aren't the issue......its custom kernels that are.

Edit: metal spring beat me to it.

 

[bp328i]

...dont any of you realize that getting root and a custom recovery changes nothing??? its still a locked bootloader like the Motorola phones...root and a custom recovery were inevitable, but without getting the bootloader unlocked you're still very limited and have fun trying to get back to stock if needed...
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but thats how it is with a locked bootloader (Just browse the newer moto phones development forums and see all the issues they have with locked bootloaders)

+1000 on this!!!

Who cares if it is rooted with a custom recovery, it's all about the bootloader. If I wanted a crippled phone that will never see it's full potential I would buy a Motorola.

I have five lines on Verizon and I was so close to using two of my upgrades on the SGIII, I'm really glad I waited. I'll be watching the progress of the bootloader. If it ends up being encrypted and not unlockable this paired with the new Share unlimited everything we don't need and one over priced little pool of data plans I will be moving my lines one at a time to another carrier.

 

[Caesars]

I bet all of yall who went "OH I'M CANCELING MY PRE ORDER RIGHT NOW!" and "I'M NOT EVEN GOING TO USE IT! I HATE YOU VERIZON!!!!" are now rejoicing.

The REAL hilarity though is that I ask folks what a bootloader is and they can't even answer it....yet get fussy when they find out a phone is locked....bwahahahahahahaaaaaaaa

Or they're really really pissed lol

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

[cujo6801]

I canceled my order last nite...fk Verizon ..my money. My rite..

SENT FROM THE DOG POUND

 

[bacK_N_87]

I personally don't care although with this phone I would need to get rid of touch Wiz lmao. I'm not buying another phone unless its a Nexus or doesn't have on screen navigation buttons. It is a must now.

 

[cybertec69]

I have a hunch that Verizon will unlock the bootloader at a later date "maybe even soon", the heat is just starting, all the tech websites are on it "it's spreading all over the www", it is giving Verizon a bad name, and that's not good for business, I am sure they will realize their mistake and fix this mess.

 

[jroc]

I have a hunch that Verizon will unlock the bootloader at a later date "maybe even soon", the heat is just starting, all the tech websites are on it "it's spreading all over the www", it is giving Verizon a bad name, and that's not good for business, I am sure they will realize their mistake and fix this mess.

If their bread n butter...Moto phones in the Droid line....dont cause them to change...I cant see the GS3 doing it. We shall see tho if Samsung really does have the clout or if the bootloader isnt locked down as tight as Moto's. I got a feeling the Snapdragon just isnt able to be locked down as tight as the OMAP. Just guess, dont really know.

Verizon has been giving a bad name many times involving bootloaders...and it hasnt changed a thing as far as them.

 

[tgyberg]

I have a hunch that Verizon will unlock the bootloader at a later date "maybe even soon", the heat is just starting, all the tech websites are on it "it's spreading all over the www", it is giving Verizon a bad name, and that's not good for business, I am sure they will realize their mistake and fix this mess.

I still think the % of people that know what a bootloader is is tiny. I have a bunch of friends, many are big time techies with pc's, and NONE of them know anything about phones. Most probably couldnt tell me what kind they have and darn sure dont know what version of android or that it's called Gingerbread or ICS etc.

 

[DroidModderX]

[video=youtube;cuiJYKV2GGU]http://youtu.be/cuiJYKV2GGU[/video]

I put together a quick tutorial on how to root and install custom recovery on this phone.

Maybe ill have a "How to unlock the bootloader" video soon. I sure hope!