Unlock the Nexus S Bootloader

30.12.2010
I know that I saying that I was happy with my Samsung Captivate, and that my main interest in Google and Samsung’s Nexus S was in the mod community reverse-engineering it to use with the existing Galaxy S line. That is, until I went out and got one. There’s a lot I could say about the smartphone, review-wise; I’m not here today to do that, though.

What I do want to do is help out anyone that purchased a Nexus S and wants to unlock it. I mean, after the all but told us to go out and do just that, why shouldn’t you? Well, because it’s a hassle. Information on rooting the Nexus S is fragmented, to say the least. Many of the how-tos are missing crucial (yet assumed) steps that will leave you frustrated. Luckily, you’re unlikely to brick a Samsung phone like you , so it’s less a permanent damage situation and more just an annoyance.

WARNING! Jailbreaking or otherwise hacking any smartphone can unlock magical powers, but it can also cause serious damage to your phone--i.e. rendering it a very expensive paperweight--so perform any phone hack at your own risk. Don't say we didn't warn you.

You’re going to need to install at least a trio of things:

Java SE SDK: Install this first. It’s a prerequisite for the Android SDK, and it’ll make your life easier. It has a downloaded piece, so it might take a while if you're on a slow internet connection. The Android SDK: Also has a downloadable piece, because as soon as you unzip the contents and run SDK Manager you’ll want to check for updates and install just about everything. Also note that inside the .zip are two Tools directories; one in the main folder and one inside Platform. "adb" is in the main Tools directory, and fastboot is in Platform/tools/--this will be important later. (To be honest, I copied Platform/Tools into Tools and had no issues at all) PDANet installer: When you fastboot the phone, you’ll need these drivers in order to do some flashing. Also, you’ll be able to use USB tethering to give your PC Internet access through the phone after this--a cool bonus.

Once you have everything unzipped, pick up your phone for a moment. You’ll need to have USB debugging turned on for this to work. Go into Settings > Applications > Development, and tap USB Debugging to turn it on.