Rooting the Galaxy S3 Without a Computer

Question

Is it possible to root the Galaxy S3 without a computer? If so, what would the process be? My Galaxy S3 is with Verizon and is currently running Android 4.3.

Answer 1

You can indeed.

DISCLAIMER: Rooting may brick your device and invalidate your carrier and manufacturer warranty. I didn't write the guide below (full credit is due to the poster on XDA Developers, and I have left the words 'my' in place but it is HIS work), and it is your responsibility to check you are happy to proceed. HERE BE DRAGONS.

This guide was written in July of 2013 and I can't say for sure if it will work on Android 4.3 and your particular bootloader at all. I have not tested this method.

Rooting form a PC is easier and has less scope for human errors and is liklier to work in general.

This XDA thread is relating to the sprint version but should apply to the S3 general.

Prerequisites

The following files are attached to this post for convenience. Download and install the apps, download and extract the zip file somewhere convenient. Superuser by Koush(MUST be this one. You can change it later if you so desire.) Terminal Emulator by Jack Palevich ( MUST be this one) Zip file, extracted somewhere convenient

THE GOODS

These generic names will be used: /path/to/motochopperDir - This is the full path to the extracted motochopper-mobile DIRECTORY or FOLDER. Example: /sdcard/motochopper-mobile (will vary depending on where you extracted the files).

NOTE: After running the script, Motochopper may or may not print "Failed", but the exploit DOES indeed work regardless of this. Make sure you reboot for changes to take effect.

Download the attached zip file AND both apps. Install Terminal Emulator and Superuser (use a file manager, navigate to the downloaded .apk files and click on each file to install them). Open up Terminal Emulator and type the following commands. Press the ENTER key after each command.

Code:

cd /path/to/motochopperDir
cat setup.sh > /data/data/jackpal.androidterm/setup.sh
cd /data/data/jackpal.androidterm
chmod 755 setup.sh

./setup.sh /path/to/motochopperDir

From there, my setup.sh script will handle the rest of the process. If you are still unsure, see my sample run below.

Sample run (files were extracted to /sdcard/moto)

cd /sdcard/moto
cat setup.sh > /data/data/jackpal.androidterm/setup.sh
cd /data/data/jackpal.androidterm
chmod 755 setup.sh
./setup.sh /sdcard/moto

The Links:

Android Term.apk

Super User

MotoChopper

Answer 2

To my knowledge, there is no computer-less method of rooting the Samsung Galaxy S3 unfortunately.

Answer 3

You can root without a computer as long as you already have a recovery mode that lets you install from a zip.

I have just rooted an S3 i9300, the stock international unlocked model, this way. Its specifications are

• Model GT-I9300
• Android 4.3
• Kernel 3.0.31-2168382 Thu Nov 28 21:02.26 KST 2013

I had previously installed ClockWorkMod Recovery (the touch version 6.0.4.6) on it and I used a Linux computer and the Heimdall application to do that. So this isn't a strictly computer-free solution due to the CWM prerequisite but it does demonstrate (and perhaps demystify) how to root.

First, I used the phone's Chrome browser to download Super SU from http://download.chainfire.eu/supersu. The version that I got was UPDATE-SuperSU-v2.46.zip.

I then rebooted the phone into CWM (press and hold UP HOME and POWER for 20+ seconds).

I selected install ZIP, then choose zip from /sdcard, then browsed through 0/ and Download/ to locate the UPDATE-SuperSU-v2.46.zip file. I then selected YES perform the install.

When the install completed, I used +++++Go Back+++++ twice to return to the main menu where I selected Reboot system now.

CWM showed a warning that Root access possibly lost. I declined the offer to fix that by selecting No.

The phone rebooted.

I then confirmed the presence of the Super SU app and used the Root checker Basic app to confirm that I now had root access. I also confirmed that I could now use su - from a shell (I use the ConnectBot terminal app).

Answer 4

I used towelroot on my SCH-I535 and it worked perfectly.