Can't Get Fastboot to Recognize Phone

[jduffy]

Hey fellas, I'm at a dead end and was hoping someone could share some of that precious android experience, of which I am dearly lacking.

I am attempting to root my phone, a GSM Galaxy Nexus, on Windows 7 64bit. Superoneclick would not work, which I believe was due to connectivity issues. So I am attempting to go about it the ol' fashioned way, with Fastboot and whatnot. Unfortunately I am unable to get Fastboot to recognize my device when I type the "fastboot devices" command. I have followed countless guides online, but haven't really come across any success. I have uninstalled and reinstalled the Samsung USB drivers, and my computer certainly recognizes the device. The cable(s) are fine, data transfer is not an issue outside of fastboot.

So, would anyone know a direction I could be pointed in? I'm horribly new to Android, though reasonably competent with computers.

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[paul_gyver]

Do you have android sdk installed? Are you using that command while your phone is in bootloader? I suggest this guide.

[HOW TO] Root the VZW Galaxy Nexus 4G LTE, Flash a Custom Recovery and Make a Backup

[jduffy]

I have installed Android SDK Manager, which then installed a variety of things. Have installed everything that I can in the SDK Manager. My phone was in the Fastboot mode while I typed in the command, which I entered by holding down both volume keys and the power button. The issue is that Fastboot doesn't recognize my phone, so I'm unable to input the "fastboot oem unlock" which means I'm unable to unlock the bootloader, as far as I can tell.

[paul_gyver]

I see. Can you try opening up your command window (wherever your adb.exe and fastboot.exe are located). You can open the folder where they are and shift + right click > open command window here. From there type adb devices. Adb should return some numbers for your device. Next type adb reboot bootloader. This should get you booted into bootloader. From there try fastboot devices. If you can not use adb as well then you have not set up your sdk correctly or still have driver issues. If indeed it is a driver issue then you will want to install pdanet. It's a tethering app for your pc but the drivers are installed that pretty much work for many many users.

[jduffy]

I followed your instructions with adb devices and got the numbers for my device, and booted into the bootloader. But fastboot devices still gives me nothing.

About pdanet, I have successfully installed it on my phone and desktop, but I'm not exactly sure what I should do next. My ultimate, and humble goal is just to install this Jelly Bean build [ROM][OTA][GSM][JB] JRO03C 4.1.1: Rooted Busybox Deodexed & Odexed (7/10/12) - xda-developers, because I'm stuck with a yajuux Nexus.

[paul_gyver]

Do you see fastboot.exe in the same folder as your adb.exe? It should be in tools or platform-tools folder.

[jduffy]

Yep they're in the same folder, though the folder is just sitting on my desktop, is there a specific place it should be?

[paul_gyver]

Generally you want android-sdk set up in the root of c:. My path would be something like c:android-sdk/platform-tools. I'm pretty sure you have it in the right path or adb would not be working. I really think it's a driver issue for fastboot to not work properly. What operating system is your pc? Do you have any driver conflicts in device manager? Have you rebooted your pc since installing pdanet?

[jduffy]

I'm running 64 bit Windows 7. I don't see any conflicts in my Device Manager, and Galaxy Nexus is under Portable Devices. I have rebooted, but I'm not sure what to do once my phone is tethered. Do I tether it, go into bootloader mode through adb, and then attempt the fastboot commands?

[paul_gyver]

You don't use pdanet for anything. That app is only installed because of it's drivers. Try manually going into bootloader and then try fastboot. Don't type the device just type fastboot and see if it returns options/commands available.