Monday, September 7, 2015

How to Unlock, Root and Custom Recovery for the NVidia Shield

NVidia had a battery recall for the NVidia Shield Tablet a month back.  I received my Shield two weeks ago but I never got the time to migrate over to the new shield until now.  So I have rooted this device before, but I seemed to have lost my notes to do so.  So today I'm going to document my process for my future reference and those TL;DR peeps.  You can also refer to this excellent link:
[Refer to http://forum.xda-developers.com/shield-tablet/general/stock-recovery-images-ota-library-guides-t2988881]

NOTE: Use these instructions at your own risk, I am not responsible for any damages to your device

Step 1: Backup your Old Shield
Unfortunately my device was unrooted during the last OTA update (the battery recall check image), so I was not able to utilize Titanium Backup without re-rooting.  Fortunately most of my data is the external 32GB SD card, so I had a few files to migrate over from internal flash to my external SD card.  I just noted my file organization and installed applications list (this is already saved in your google account).

Step 2: Download the necessary files for your host system(windows)
  1. ADB Drivers - Install for the NVidia Shield (choose one):
  2. Minimal ADB and Fastboot - Install these tools for unlocking and flashing: 
  3. SuperSU - Install this on the Shield to get root: 
  4. TWRP (or CWM) Custom Recovery - Easy way to manage your images: 
  5. [Optional] SD Card to copy SuperSU and OTA image (for updates)
Step 3: Install the following downloaded files from Step 2
  • ADB Drivers
  • Minimal ADB and Fastboot
Step 4: Enable Developer Mode
  1. On the tablet, go to "Settings" -> "About tablet"
  2. Tap "Build Number" 10 times
  3. Plug your Shield Tablet to the your computer (Note: you may need to manually update the drivers via Device Manager)
  4. Go to "Settings" -> "Developer options" -> Click on "USB debugging" and on "Always USB Debugging" select OK 
Step 5: Boot into Fastboot Mode
  1. Fully power off your Shield Tablet by holding down the power button then select "Power Off"
  2. Power on your device by simultaneously holding "Power" button + "Down / Vol-" Button and release when it powers on.
  3. Select "Fastboot Protocol"
Step 6: Unlock the Bootloader (WARNING: May void your warranty and ALL OF YOUR DATA WILL BE DELETED)
  1. Open "Minimal ADB and Fastboot" shell
  2. Enter "fastboot devices" and verify that your device is listed
  3. Enter "fastboot oem unlock"
  4. Select "Unlock Bootloader" with Vol+/- and press "Power" to select
  5. You should now be unlocked
Step 6: Install TWRP Recovery
  1. Copy the TWRP image to your "Minimal ADB and Fastboot" directory
    • e.g. "twrp-2.8.7.1-shieldtablet.img" to "C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADV and Fastboot>"
  2. Enter "fastboot flash recovery twrp-2.8.7.1-shieldtablet.img"
  3. Select "Recovery" on tablet using Vol+/- buttons and press power to boot your new recovery partition TWRP
  4. It will prompt you to "Keep System Read Only", just proceed to Allow Modification
Step 7: Root/ReRoot Shield Tablet
  1. Copy "UPDATE-SuperSU-v2.46.zip" to your SD card and install SD into Shield Tablet
  2. Tap "Install", navigate to the "external_sd" and select "UPDATE-SuperSU-v2.46.zip" to install
Step 8: [Optional] Install latest OTA:
  1. Download OTA from NVidia or from:
  2. Copy image to SD Card
  3. Tap "Install", navigate to the "external_sd" and select "OTA Image" to install

NOTE: If you have trouble booting, Go to recovery (TWRP) and wipe the cache partition

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