Back in July, it was reported and later confirmed that the Verizon variant of the Galaxy S III would come with a locked bootloader due to the company’s concerns over it “preventing Verizon Wireless from providing the same level of customer experience and support” as they have apparently established before.
Locking an Android smartphone’s bootloader prevents users from flashing custom ROMs like MIUI, CyanogenMod etc. on their device and also makes getting root access a whole lot harder.
Just a few days after its release, root access was achieved successfully but there was no news of unlocking the bootloader. Now, however, developers and hackers over at XDA-Developers have managed to unlock the bootloader of the Verizon Galaxy S III using a Linux and OS X only tool that you can check out after the jump.
Put together by Elite Recognized Developer “AdamOutler” over on XDA-Developers, the Casual R131 tool for the Verizon Wireless Galaxy S III can root your device and “unlock bootloader” by flashing an insecure bootloader.
The tool is very simple to use. You just download it, connect your Galaxy S III, launch the tool (it will say Device Connected), choose Root GS3 with DebugFSRoot and then Flash Unsecure Aboot.
There is also another tool available in the form of an app. Named VZW GS3 EZ-Unlock (Bootloader), it takes just one tap of the Unlock button to unlock your device’s bootloader. It does, however, require that you have root access.
Please note that once you have unlocked bootloader of your Verizon Wireless Galaxy S III, you must stay away from official updates from Verizon as they may damage your device or even brick it. But let’s face it, you are unlocking the bootloader because you don’t want Verizon’s official updates and instead want to use CyanogenMod or some other AOSP based ROM.
While there are no custom ROMs currently available for the Verizon Wireless Galaxy S III, expect them to pop up around forums real soon now. Unlocking the bootloader opens your device to the world of custom ROMs which is as exciting as it is risky (if you don’t take backups regularly and don’t follow instructions to the letter, that is).
- Unlock Verizon Galaxy S III Bootloader Tool For Linux / OS X [XDA-Developers]
- Download VZW GS3 EZ-Unlock (Bootloader) [Google Play]
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