Nvidia’s Shield, the Android run gaming device, offers one of the best gaming and multimedia experiences on a hand held device. Powered by Nvidia’s own Tegra 4 processor, with 2 GB RAM and 16 GB storage, the Shield is a must have for hardcore Android gamers. Coupled with high quality speakers and a 5 inch screen, the device is also great for multimedia content like watching videos and listening to music.
The device comes with Android 4.2.1 with OTA updates now allowing users to move apps to their SD cards and offering support to a lot more games. We have previously seen how to unlock the Shield’s bootloader. We will now see the procedure to root the device. Rooting has a lot of benefits as we have already seen in this article. Lets now proceed in rooting the Shield.
Disclaimer: Follow the instructions at your own risk. If the device gets damaged, the writer or the owner of the site must not be held responsible.
Pre-requisites and Backing up your Nvidia Shield:
- Backup the Android Nvidia Shield via Desktop PC
- Backup/Sync and Restore contacts, if any from the Nvidia Shield
- Backup WhatsApp messages and Email from Nvidia Shield
Requirements:
- Nvidia Shield with unlocked bootloader
- ADB and fastboot should be installed in your computer
- ADB and fastboot drivers for the Shield should be installed in your computer
- USB debugging enabled
- Boot image file
- SuperSU zip
Steps:
- Make sure USB debugging has been enabled on your phone. If not, go to Settings > About Phone > Build Number. Tap on Build Number 7 times to go to Developer Options. Now go back to Settings and you will find “Developer Option” there. Tap on it and tick the “USB Debugging” option.
- Download the boot image file and SuperSU zip file. Now extract the superuser.apk and su files from the zip file to the same location where your ADB and fastboot are installed. Also place the boot image file in that same location.
- Connect your device to your computer via USB.
- Open the command prompt window in the ADB and fastboot folder and type the following:
adb reboot bootloader - Now type:
fastboot devices - If your device is detected and it shows your device’s serial number, you are ready to move on to the next step. If the device is not shown, make sure that you have correctly installed the ADB and Fastboot drivers.
- Now type the below code:
fastboot boot thor-insecure-patched-boot.img - After the flashing is complete, the device will automatically boot up. Now we need to mount the system as read/write. Type the following code to do so:
adb shell
mount -o rw,remount -t ext4 /dev/block/platform/sdhci-tegra.3/by-name/APP /system
exit - Next we need to push the superuser.apk and su binary to the system and set their permissions. For that, type the following code:
adb push su /system/xbin
adb push Superuser.apk /system/app
adb shell
chmod 6755 /system/xbin/su
chmod 644 /system/app/Superuser.apk
mount -o ro,remount -t ext4 /dev/block/platform/sdhci-tegra.3/by-name/APP /system
sync
reboot - The device will now reboot and you will be able to see the Superuser App which ensures that you have successfully ROOTed your Nvidia Shield.
