How To Root Nexus S Running Android 2.3 Gingerbread
Disclaimer: Please follow this guide at your own risk. AddictiveTips will not be liable if your device gets damaged or bricked during the process.
Nexus S – the latest Android 2.3 Gingerbread device by Samsung with Google branding – has barely been out to public for a few hours and XDA-Developers forum member Koush has already managed to successfully root it using a custom recovery image and adb. Here is how you can do it too:
- If you don’t already have adb, download and install it. For instructions, follow our guide to ADB and how to install it.
- Download the Clockwork Herring Recovery from the link given below, extract the .img file from the downloaded zip archive and copy it to the root of your phone’s SD card.
- Download Superuser 2.3.6.1 from the link given belowe, extract the .img file from the downloaded zip archive and copy it to the root of your phone’s SD card.
- Turn your device off and power it on into bootloader mode by keeping the Volume Up button pressed and pressing the Power button. You can alternatively do so using adb by issuing this commmand in a command prompt window:
adb reboot bootloader
- In adb, enter this command:
fastboot oem unlock
- Now install the recovery image to your phone that you downloaded in step 2, using this adb command:
fastboot flash recovery recovery-clockwork-herring.img
- Power your phone off and boot it into recovery again by keeping the ‘Volume Up’ button pressed and pressing the power button. This time, it will boot into the custom Clockwork recovery.
- While in Clockwork recovery, install the Superuser zip file that you downloaded in step 3 by selecting ‘install zip from sd card’ and then selecting the ‘su-2.3.6.1-ef-signed.zip’ file.
- Reboot your phone after the installation is done. Your phone is now rooted.
- [Optional] If you want to install a rooted/insecure boot image, grab it from the link given below, copy it to the root of your SD card, boot your phone into its bootloader like you did in step 4 and flash it using the following adb command:
fastboot flash boot rootboot.img
If anything messes up, try again or refer to this XDA-Developers forum thread.
(https://addictivetips.com/app/uploads/2010/12/recovery-clockwork-herring.zip) Download Clockwork Herring Recovery
(https://addictivetips.com/app/uploads/2010/12/su-2.3.6.1-ef-signed.zip) Download Superuser 2.3.6.1
(https://addictivetips.com/app/uploads/2010/12/rootboot.zip) Download Roooted/Insecure Boot Image