Root and Install Clockworkmod recovery on Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini (CWM)

Few months ago Samsung released Galaxy S4- their latest flagship device. And no wonder within few days it became popular across the world. At that same time HTC unveiled One to compete with S4. And now their is a tug of war between HTC One and Galaxy S4 for the beast Android mobile in the market. They have taken their rivalry further ahead to their identical clones with HTC One Mini and S4 Mini respectively.

Right now we will talk about S4 Mini. This lite variant of Galaxy S4 is identical in its look with S4. Those who can afford S4, can seek for S4 Mini as a new mobile. Little smaller than S4 (4.3 inches screen), it has inferior processor to its parent model (Dual core). It comes with Android 4.2.2 out of box and also has qHD screen. It might get update of Android 4.3 Jelly Bean in th future, but of course it will take a lot of time.

The enthusiastic Android lovers will always seek for the better software and for that they need to do few things initially. And that is rooting their mobile and install Clockworkmod recovery and thats why we are here. Rooting the device will give permissions to the system files so that you can modify your mobile as your requirement. On the other hand custom recovery like Clockworkmod recovery will not only allow you to flash custom ROM, but also to perform advanced operations like wiping Dalvik cache, taking nandroid backup, partitioning memory card etc.

Thus rooting your mobile and installing CWM on it will give you full access to the mobile . Well you are just few steps away from taking the full control of your device. Follow the simple steps mentioned below to root and install CWM on Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini.

Disclaimer

The method mentioned in this tutorial is considered as risky and may cause damage to your device if not properly followed. It is recommended that you should not go for it if you are unaware of all these facts. Read all the steps before executing them. We or developers are not responsible if something happened to your mobile.

This tutorial is only meant for Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini with model number I9190. Any attempt to implement it on any other mobile might cause some unwanted damage. Check your model number as follows.

Settings -> about device ->model number

Note: Rooting the mobile voids the warranty. So do it your own risk. (Of course it can be regained by flashing official firmware.)

Pre-requisites

• Check that the mobile battery is charged at least up to 70% in order to avoid any interruption due to low battery.

• Take a backup of important stuff on mobile like SMS, MMS, APN, contacts etc. to the external memory card as they might get wiped during installation. Click here to take a backup of SMS.

• Most importantly you need to install device specific drivers on your computer. If you have installed kies on your PC, you don’t need to install it separately. Click here to download it.

Procedure to flash Clockworkmod Recovery on Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini

• First download Clockworkmod recovery for Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini form official development page. Extract that zip file. You will get recovery-clockwork-6.0.3.5-serrano3gxx.tar file.

1. Click here to download it.

• For flashing this recovery on the phone, you will need a tool called Odin3 v0.9 Download it and install on your computer.

1. Click here to download it.

• Next step is to get into the downloading mode (also known as Odin mode) of your device. For that, first switch off your phone then press & hold volume down + power button + home button simultaneously for a while until it shows Downloading message on your mobile screen.

• Now we have to flash this recovery into the phone using Odin tool. Hence connect your mobile to computer through USB cable and by that time open Odin software installed on your computer.

• You will see Added!! Message appeared in message box of Odin. It means your mobile is properly detected. Also one of the ID:COM section turns blue. If you don’t get such message or ID:COM section doesn’t turn blue, make sure that you have installed mobile drivers properly.

• Click AP button on Odin and select recovery-clockwork-6.0.3.5-serrano3gxx.tar.md5 file which you have downloaded earlier.

• Ensure that Auto-Reboot is checked. Uncheck F. Reset Time. Don’t click any other button or make any changes in Odin.

• Now click Start button for flashing recovery in your device. Installation will take a few seconds and after successful installation your mobile will be rebooted automatically showing pass message in Odin’s message box.

• However if you mobile get stuck or you get a fail message then exit the Odin, disconnect mobile from computer, remove battery and re-insert it and follow the above procedure again.

Fantastic! Clockworkmod recovery is successfully installed on your Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini. To boot into this recovery, switch off your mobile and then press and hold volume up + home + power button simultaneously. You will see cwm recovery on your screen.

Procedure to root Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini

• First enable USB debugging on.

Settings-> Developers options -> USB debugging

• First download GT-I9190_RootKit_v1.zip from the following link.

1. Click here to download.

• After downloading this file, connect your mobile to computer and copy it to the external memory card.

• Now disconnect the device from PC and switched it off and boot into recovery mode by pressing volume up + home + power button simultaneously.

• In recovery mode select install zip from sdcard and then choose zip from sdcard. A list of files from the sdcard will appear in front of you.

• Navigate to the GT-I9190_RootKit_v1.zip file. Select and confirm it in next step.

• It will take few minutes for installation and finally you will see recovery menu again.

• Do not wipe data or cache partitions in the recovery mode. Otherwise it might erase data from your mobile.

• Finally select +++++go back+++++ and then reboot system now.

Good job! You have successfully rooted Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini. Install root checker app from play store to check its validity. For permitting root access to apps, open superSU, go to settings and make default access grant. That’s it! If you have any queries, ask us without any hesitation. We are always there to help you.

Tip: For taking nandroid backup, boot into recovery mode by using key combination mentioned above. Select backup and restore and then backup.

Source (androidlegend.com)