The little brother of Samsung Galaxy S3, Galaxy S3 Mini finally is rooted. Samsung released this new member of the Galaxy S Family back in October, when Apple announced the next big thing with the name of the iPhone 5 in preceding month of September. When we came across this Galaxy S3 Mini, it was perceived that the small brother of Galaxy S3, Galaxy S3 Mini is released to serve the low-end market and to compete with the iPhone 5 at low price. However, Galaxy S3 Mini is packed with the same features as of Galaxy S3 and the only difference is of the resolution.
The resolution of Galaxy S3 Mini is 800X480, where as Galaxy S3 has got about 720p resolution. Other than the resolution, everything is the same with reference to features of Galaxy S3 Mini and Galaxy S3. The build of internal components is for sure different because both got different model numbers. The Galaxy S3 got I9300 and Galaxy S3 Mini got I8190 (Depends on the carriers as well).
Moving towards the main question that is frequently asked and every one wants to know about it. The question asked is, “Can the Device be Rooted?”
At first, the answer is always in a big YES because these Devices are packed with Android OS that can be rooted after sometime of the release.
Following the preceding releases by Samsung for its Galaxy S series, we have come across Galaxy S3, Galaxy Camera, and Galaxy S3 Mini. The Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Camera were rooted sooner than expected and this Galaxy S3 Mini was left behind that is now being taken care of by XDA Developers.
How to Root Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini I8190
Before you proceed on with the rooting, kindly read the message posted at XDA Developers Forum:
Until somebody will release CWM Recovery or root for this device, I managed to create a pre-rooted firmware.
This firmware base on the last build for I8190, is a full firmware exactly like the original, except the root.
after flash you will see the SuperSU app in the app drawer.
Step 1:
Download the pre-rooted firmware file (of 500MB) from here. The file will be in a zip format.
Download Odin 3 from here.
Download Wipe_I8190 from here.
Step 2:
Once you have downloaded all the files, make a new folder with the name of Galaxy S3 Mini Root for your own ease.
After the folder creation is done, extract the pre-rooted zip file in the folder to get a .tar file from it.
Step 3:
Now open Odin 3 and attach the .tar file that you got from the .zip attachment in PDA in Odin 3.
Step 4:
Now Put the divece into download mode. (vol down + home + power button, and then click on vol up).
Step 5:
The final step is to connect the device via PC and wait for Odin to detect the device. Once the detection is done, press start and the work will start on your Galaxy S3 Mini.
Trouble Shooting:
For some reason it’s impossible in this device to boot into recovery mode (by combination of buttons).
If you want to do wipe data doing it from the settings menu (factory reset) or if you have a boot loop problem, flash the attached file WIPE_I8190.zip (the tar file inside zip) via odin in pda, it will do wipe data automaticly.