Samsung Galaxy S3, the current flagship model of the Samsung Galaxy series phones, is proving to be a tough competitor for its market counterparts. Rooting your phone lets you enjoy the full power of this device. This guide will help you to install ClockworkMod recovery and root the Sprint and T-Mobile versions of Samsung Galaxy S3. Don’t get set back by the length of the procedure; the length nearly irrelevant and  the procedure is very simple.

If you are looking to root your Verizon or International versions of your Samsung Galaxy S3, please refer to their respective guides rather than taking a risk by following this guide. You may also refer to an alternate method to rooting your T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S3.

Disclaimer: This guide is intended as a helpful “how to”. dotTech and its writers are not responsible for any gain or loss (including but not limited to bricked devices) incurred as a result of following this guide. Proceed at your own risk. Root your device at your own risk. Rooting may void your warranty. Install a custom recovery at your own risk. Installing a custom recovery may void your warranty.

Requirements

This guide is applicable for both the Sprint and T-Mobile versions of Samsung Galaxy S3 on Ice Cream Sandwich. Though the process of installing CWM Recovery might be theoretically same for other versions of Samsung Galaxy S3, there is no surety whether it will be practically effective. Proceed at your own risk.

Before We Begin

Before we begin with the procedures, be ready with the following following packages:

• Download CMW_SuperUser_v3.07.zip. Do not extract this file. Copy this file to your phone’s internal storage (preferably to the root directory for simplicity).
• Download Odin3-v3.04.zip to your computer. Extract Odin3-v3.04.zip to obtain Odin3 v3.04.exe.
• Download clockworkmod.tar to your computer. Do not extract this file.
• Samsung USB drivers for Windows, if you are running Windows, or the drivers for Mac or Linux if you are running those. Install the drivers if you haven’t installed them already.

And, before starting with the process, make sure that USB debugging (under Settings -> Developer options) is enabled in your phone.

How To Root and Install CWM Recovery on Sprint and T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S3

In order to root first we must install ClockwordMod. So the following procedures take you through the steps of first installing ClockwordMod then rooting.

To install ClockworkMod on your device, follow these procedures:

• Turn off your device.
• Boot into Download Mode by keeping the ‘Volume Down’ and ‘Home’ buttons pressed while pressing the ‘Power’ button (Volume Down + Home + Power), until you see a WARNING! screen.
• At the WARNING! screen, read it and press ‘Volume  Up’ button to enter Download mode.
• Double-click Odin3_v3.04.exe to launch Odin.
• Plug-in your device to the computer using USB cable.
• After you plug-in the device, the first box at the top of Odin, i.e, ID:COM will turn blue and the message ‘Added’ should appear in the message box in Odin.
• Check that ‘Auto Reboot’ and ‘F.Reset Time’ options are enabled and that no other options are selected.
• On the Odin window, click on PDA button and select the clockworkmod.tar file that you had downloaded earlier.
• After verifying all the settings again, click on ‘Start’ to start the flashing.
• Wait until Odin does its thing. The box at the top of Odin shows ‘RESET’ after the flashing procedure is complete (it will show ‘PASS’ after everything has been done successfully).
• Wait till the device automatically reboots.
• Unplug the USB cable.

After installing CWM recovery, follow the procedure below to root your device:

• Turn off the phone.
• Keep pressing “Volume Up + Home + Power” buttons combo to enter recovery mode (it will display “CWM-based Recovery” at the top of the screen).
• Go to Install zip from sdcard -> Choose zip from sdcard and select CWM_SuperUser_v3.0.7.zip which you had moved to your phone’s internal storage earlier. Select ‘Yes‘ when prompted (use the volume rocker keys, home and back buttons to use the recovery).
• Go back to the main menu of CWM recovery using the back button.
• Select ‘reboot system now‘.
• Done! Your phone is now rooted. But wait, before you leap onto enjoying it, you have some more things to get done!

After rooting your phone, follow the procedures below to complete the process:

• Install BusyBox from the Google Play Store.
• Open the BusyBox app on your phone and allow root permissions when prompted.
• Close the pop-up window that opens up, and allow Busybox to scan your phone.
• Select ‘Install‘ to complete the process and make important changes.
• Now, open the Superuser app and go to Settings (on the upper-right corner of the screen).
• From the General section, select ‘Su binary‘ and select ‘Update‘.
• Done!

If you need more guidance, watch the following video by qbking77 of XDA which shows the rooting in action:

Conclusion

Enjoy a rooted Sprint or T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S3. Now you can do things such as block ads or deny apps Internet access. Have fun — and be safe!

[via XDA]