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clockwork mod, booting question

I read that for those of us that installed clockworkmod on our G2x using Rom Manager, that we can't boot into recovery other than with Rom manager or that other recovery boot app.
If we want to be able to boot into recovery from bootlooping or some issue like that we need to flash it the Nvflash way? Is this correct?
I've had to manually enter recovery on my N1 a few times, and if I can't do that on the G2x that would seem not as safe for when flashing n such. Thanks!

I actually have both NvFlash method and RomManager method. In an emergency situation it is going to be better to use the NvFlash method that way you can use the 2 button method to enter recovery in case you cannot boot your rom. Of course RomManager has a newer version so I dont know if that has any advantages. I mean there is always ADB if you get into serious trouble but for some reason I just cannot get it to push any files even though it does recognize the phone.

Use Nvflash so you can hold volume down and power until you see ANDROID on the screen.

Rusty! said:
Hold volume down and power until you see ANDROID on the screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
uhhh, isn't that a hard reset?

Nope, try it and see (backup first if you're paranoid )

Rusty! said:
Nope, try it and see (backup first if you're paranoid )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Isn't that for nvflash method only though?
Sent from my G2x

Mine is an O2X, but I've never used NVFLash for recovery, I dd'd it the first time, and use ROM Manager to flash it subsequent times.
V- & Power worked on all 3 versions I've had installed.

jrharvey said:
I actually have both NvFlash method and RomManager method. In an emergency situation it is going to be better to use the NvFlash method that way you can use the 2 button method to enter recovery in case you cannot boot your rom. Of course RomManager has a newer version so I dont know if that has any advantages. I mean there is always ADB if you get into serious trouble but for some reason I just cannot get it to push any files even though it does recognize the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which method did you do first?
I'm assuming NVFlash should be done first just to be sure

moshe22 said:
Which method did you do first?
I'm assuming NVFlash should be done first just to be sure
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i did Rom manager first witch made a fakeflash file( bad news if you get bootloops cuz you cant get into recovery via buttons ONLY within the OS)
then i did nvflash after he made that cute little video (works fine after installing CWM with rom manager!)
already flashed eagleblood 1.0
and using pauls service.jar file!!

To nvflash the latest CWM recovery, grab it here.
Then edit the command to show this instead of the test recovery that everyone has been using.
Code:
nvflash --bct E1108_Hynix_512MB_H8TBR00U0MLR-0DM_300MHz_final_emmc_x8.bct --bl fastboot.bin --download 5 recovery-clockwork-3.0.2.7-lge_p999.img
nvflash > RM (for now )

Rusty! said:
Mine is an O2X, but I've never used NVFLash for recovery, I dd'd it the first time, and use ROM Manager to flash it subsequent times.
V- & Power worked on all 3 versions I've had installed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On the G2x that will initiate a factory reset unless you've install CWR through nvflash

Interesting.
ROM Manager on the O2X will properly flash a new recovery, not a fake flash as it appears to do so on the G2X.
The key combo will also wipe an O2X that is running stock recovery, but who has one of them

Rusty! said:
Interesting.
ROM Manager on the O2X will properly flash a new recovery, not a fake flash as it appears to do so on the G2X.
The key combo will also wipe an O2X that is running stock recovery, but who has one of them
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i think you should get your facts straight, although you have a O2x it still not completely identical to g2x
if you did the button combo without flashing cwm via nvflash then on the g2x will factory reset. your posts assume that every1 used this method already when majority still have the stock recovery.
without specifying you could of just advised noobs to do a factory reset

Indeed, when I saw that ROM Manager had support for both phones, I assumed it performed the same. Think I'll add a disclaimer to my earlier post, just in case.

Yup... Volume down + Power on a G2x that has recovery via Rom Manager and NOT Nvflash will cause a factory reset.
Good thing I had a nandroid to restore to. lol
Oh and that factory reset does *NOT* remove root, or it didn't in my case, Superuser was still installed also. lol

I know this is off topic, but where are you getting 7Mb/s in Vegas?
I only get about half that. I'm in N. Vegas though.
Nevermind. I just hit 12 somehow. haha

xguntherc said:
Oh and that factory reset does *NOT* remove root, or it didn't in my case, Superuser was still installed also. lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah that's normal, root files are on /system, factory reset only nukes /data

ok heres the big deal i noticed: and its the scary part!
If you just download ROM MANGER and FLASH RECOVERY thru that program, you will not have any options for a hardware recovery. Keep in mind this is NOT a dev phone! So dont think of it as one!
From the factory, when you hold vol down and power you basically perform a hard reset. If you flash clockwork recovery through NVFlash whenever you take battery out, put in, hold vol down and press and hold volume down and power until the android screen comes on, you will always have a way to recover your rom! So baically you need to nvflash the recovery. TRUST ME! Learn this! It's not hard. I can help you.
This is the reason nx1's and nxs's can not be bricked, is anytime you flash a recovery it "WILL NOT STICK". I know it sounds tough but its pure genius.
With pur phones that is not an option unless you know code. Trust me if i can do it so can anyone else.

It's pretty easy to brick a Nexus, just botch a radio flash
It's also simple to stop them reverting to stock recovery, just remove the install-recovery.sh file, most people do it.

CWM won't stick...Even with locked bootloader

I rooted according the directions found here: http://www.droidfiles.us/nexus-s-4g/root-nexus-s-4g/ after getting a new Nexus S 4G.
Even after locking the bootloader. It goes to the Android-with-box then to the Exclaimation-point-inside triangle. When I volume-up and power-button from that screen, an "Android Recovery <3e>" comes up...
Does anyone know what might be going on? And how do I get my custom recovery to stick?

Well, that's my post, so ill try to help. First, and don't take this the wrong way, but did you follow those instructions to a T? When you boot into bootloader, your pushing CWM to you phone with the fastboot command?
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App

mikeyinid said:
Well, that's my post, so ill try to help. First, and don't take this the wrong way, but did you follow those instructions to a T? When you boot into bootloader, your pushing CWM to you phone with the fastboot command?
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No offense taken...it's a valid questions since humans have trouble following directions.
To answer your Q, yes, I followed it to a tee. I'm going to retry now...from scratch. Gonna load the stock imgs and go from the beginning...

TonyArmstrong said:
No offense taken...it's a valid questions since humans have trouble following directions.
To answer your Q, yes, I followed it to a tee. I'm going to retry now...from scratch. Gonna load the stock imgs and go from the beginning...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apparently alot of people have this issue, me included. I seen some posts about using root explorer to change the name of the recovery image if it shows up in system /ext. Sounds crazy but I hear it doesn't show up on all phone's. IV come to terms with having to fastboot every time I flash but I'd love to see a fix. Have you tried Amons recovery?

TonyArmstrong said:
No offense taken...it's a valid questions since humans have trouble following directions.
To answer your Q, yes, I followed it to a tee. I'm going to retry now...from scratch. Gonna load the stock imgs and go from the beginning...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you flashed recovery through Rommanager when your phone boots up?

You have to flash a non-stock kernel, the recovery gets overwritten on reboot. So if you flash CWM and reboot without flashing a custom kernel you will be back to stock recovery.
Edit: oops maybe I was wrong lol, maybe it isnt the kernel. im assuming you flashed the recovery in fastboot?

mbh87 said:
You have to flash a non-stock kernel, the recovery gets overwritten on reboot. So if you flash CWM and reboot without flashing a custom kernel you will be back to stock recovery.
Edit: oops maybe I was wrong lol, maybe it isnt the kernel. im assuming you flashed the recovery in fastboot?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I dont think your wrong bro. It makes sense. Ill test your theory soon.

Tony, when you push CWM, are you able to boot into recovery by hitting volume down twice to recovery and hitting power? If so, I suggest you flash this ROM. Its stock rooted and you will not have problems with CWM sticking. You dont even have to wipe to flash it...

I've read on some methods for rooting that there is a file /system/etc/install-recovery.sh (or something like that, should be able to find it by mounting system in recovery and adb shell ls /system/etc then using adb shell rm -r /system/etc/install-recovery.sh).
Though after I fastboot flashed the recovery, booted into recovery, did a nandroid, I formatted /system before I flashed CM7, so that would've killed the file anyways.

david1171 said:
I've read on some methods for rooting that there is a file /system/etc/install-recovery.sh (or something like that, should be able to find it by mounting system in recovery and adb shell ls /system/etc then using adb shell rm -r /system/etc/install-recovery.sh).
Though after I fastboot flashed the recovery, booted into recovery, did a nandroid, I formatted /system before I flashed CM7, so that would've killed the file anyways.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just had CWM, never had any issues. Im not sure what dictates whether that file is there or not. Im guessing that since tony is so quiet though he got it figured out..

whats amazing is i dont have this script and its one of the things holding the one click up :x
also its part of init.rc so technically a new kernel would.. in theory wipe that out...

mikeyinid said:
Have you flashed recovery through Rommanager when your phone boots up?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did flash CWM through Rom Manager. That didn't work the first few times. It stalled...

mikeyinid said:
Tony, when you push CWM, are you able to boot into recovery by hitting volume down twice to recovery and hitting power? If so, I suggest you flash this ROM. Its stock rooted and you will not have problems with CWM sticking. You dont even have to wipe to flash it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got it to stick -- or at least i thought I had it. I followed the initial instructions provided in a previous thread. And per the instructions, I download Rom Manager and I installed CWM through it (again).
I'm going to wipe my phone fully -- reinstall the base 2.3.4 with the the stock recovery, via the IMG files for GRJ22 and start over...See what happens then.

Wait, I'm confused. Why would you flash stock images when your already stock? If you follow the instructions in the link you posted in the op there is no reason you shouldn't be rooted. Have you actually even booted into recovery?
TonyArmstrong said:
I got it to stick -- or at least i thought I had it. I followed the initial instructions provided in a previous thread. And per the instructions, I download Rom Manager and I installed CWM through it (again).
I'm going to wipe my phone fully -- reinstall the base 2.3.4 with the the stock recovery, via the IMG files for GRJ22 and start over...See what happens then.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App

I realllyyy don't suggest flashing a recovery with rom manager. I'm not bashing ROM Manager, I'm a paid user, but the way that it flashes recoveries is unsafe. I've had it almost brick my Evo and I've seen it brick other phones.
Just use fastboot... if you can't get that working, you probably shouldn't be messing with the phone.

mikeyinid said:
Wait, I'm confused. Why would you flash stock images when your already stock? If you follow the instructions in the link you posted in the op there is no reason you shouldn't be rooted. Have you actually even booted into recovery?
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm rooted successfully. I feel more comfortable (with recovery acting flaky) with unrooting and starting over from scratch...
Call me kooky, but a bone-stock unrooted phone with no user data, no nothing, is how I got it, so why not return it to that state and start over. That's the only way I know to insure that whatever I do is not influenced by any data, bad file permissions, etc. that could hose rooting and installing recovery.

TonyArmstrong said:
I'm rooted successfully. I feel more comfortable (with recovery acting flaky) with unrooting and starting over from scratch...
Call me kooky, but a bone-stock unrooted phone with no user data, no nothing, is how I got it, so why not return it to that state and start over. That's the only way I know to insure that whatever I do is not influenced by any data, bad file permissions, etc. that could hose rooting and installing recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OCD, I know the feeling lol. What got it to stick?

derekwilkinson said:
I realllyyy don't suggest flashing a recovery with rom manager. I'm not bashing ROM Manager, I'm a paid user, but the way that it flashes recoveries is unsafe. I've had it almost brick my Evo and I've seen it brick other phones.
Just use fastboot... if you can't get that working, you probably shouldn't be messing with the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used fastboot to install CWM initially (fastboot flash recovery recovery-xxxxx.zip -- can't remember the filename right now). The directions for rooting the NS4G state explicitly to use ROM Manager to flash the recovery to "make sure it sticks" after initially pushing it to the phone via fastboot.
It's obviously a hack, but apparently it works more often than it fails.
I'm a paid user of ROM Manager as well. I have to admit, it was fine to flash Amon Ra to my Evo. Since I'm new(er) to the NS4G, I'm going to defer to those with more expertise and follow the directions given.

TonyArmstrong said:
I used fastboot to install CWM initially (fastboot flash recovery recovery-xxxxx.zip -- can't remember the filename right now). The directions for rooting the NS4G state explicitly to use ROM Manager to flash the recovery to "make sure it sticks" after initially pushing it to the phone via fastboot.
It's obviously a hack, but apparently it works more often than it fails.
I'm a paid user of ROM Manager as well. I have to admit, it was fine to flash Amon Ra to my Evo. Since I'm new(er) to the NS4G, I'm going to defer to those with more expertise and follow the directions given.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well the "make sure it sticks" flashing with rom manager doesn't make any sense. the only way the recovery would be overwritten is if the ROM you flash over writes it or in fastboot

mikeyinid said:
OCD, I know the feeling lol. What got it to stick?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I'm very anal when it comes to this kind of stuff...I was a developer for a little bit (Java middleware, then on to the front-end stuff) where regression testing was important. Sometimes, it's best to reload things piece by piece to see what breaks what. Then go from there.
I haven't gotten it to stick yet; gonna get some sleep and start over tomorrow. I used fastboot to push the stock boot, bootloader, system, recovery, and userdata IMGs a moment ago, and the phone is back to bone stock.

unroot confirmation

hey all, currently have a g2x rooted with cm7, and i've been looking to unroot;
just to make sure i dont do anything stupid, i wanna run this through with you guys:
first i would flash the stock 2.3.3 ota rom for g2x
then use the http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1056847 (one click nv flasher) to get back to lg stock recovery by clicking 'flash stock recovery' (do i need to dl anything extra for this?)
then im done, correct? if i boot up, ill get all the stock rom and apps and bloatware and etc back right?
thanks!
edit: how do i know which version of clockwork mod i have installed? im not sure if i did the external sd support or not...

You've gone back to a stock ROM, you've gone back to the stock recovery, but you haven't actually unrooted.
Whichever method you used to root, you should be able to use that same method to unroot.
UPDATE:
I was originally under the assumption that your 2.3.3. ROM was rooted. If it is stock you should be fine.

sorry for bump, but i read in tga_gunmans post that ppl should flash a rooted 2.3.3 rom and use superoneclick to unroot...would my method work too?

No your way would not work because the stock OTA by xboarder is rooted. Do what tga_gunman said. Flash the rom, use my unroot zip in CWM (deletes root files) and then flash the stock recovery. Busybox will still be on the phone but nobody should be looking for that.
Unroot zip: http://www.mediafire.com/?2vr7cmgg7qcdn14

Easiest way to confirm if your not rooted would be to install Superuser from the market. It'll tell you if the phone's not rooted.

There is an app on the market called Root Checker which is free. It will tell you if you are rooted or not.

A little extra help for me?
jboxer said:
No your way would not work because the stock OTA by xboarder is rooted. Do what tga_gunman said. Flash the rom, use my unroot zip in CWM (deletes root files) and then flash the stock recovery. Busybox will still be on the phone but nobody should be looking for that.
Unroot zip:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your help jboxer. Forgive my noob-like understanding of rooting/unrooting terminology. Hopefully you'll be able to understand what I did.
Last night I went ahead with the unrooting process on my G2X which was running Gingerbread & CM7 following this youtube video (can't post link due to noobiness: watch?v=ryGIv8KQVIE), the order that this guy goes in is:
1. Wiping all cache/user data/formatting in CWM recovery
2. Restore to a barebones stock data in CWM recovery
3. Flash to go back to Stock using OneClickRecovery
4. SuperOneClick to unroot phone
What I ended up doing was restoring my phone to the backup that I created on my sd card when first rooting my phone rather than download that zip file in the video description which is a completely fresh start.
However, whenever I flashed to go back to stock using OneClickRecovery, it gave me that total barebones fresh start where I had to completely set up my Android from the first start screen and I lost my backup. Also, when I go to unroot the phone with that zip file, I don't know how to 'install from zip' after I've lost CWM Recovery menu. So, I flashed back to CWM so I could recover my backup from my SD Card again and install the 'unroot.zip' that you linked and it ran alright and I restarted, but I still had 'SuperUser' in my App drawer telling me that I was still rooted.
I ended up calling it good last night after spending two hours on it. I left my phone rooted, with CWM recovery still on my phone, but I at least I had my backup Gingerbread image with no CM7 mod. So, my phone is functional, but I would like to complete this process of unrooting completely.
Could you perhaps give a little guidance and clarity to what I'm missing or not understanding? I'd love to unroot/flash back to stock recovery/remove all evidence of rooting AND keep my recovered backup that I have before I even started rooting my phone.
Thank you so much for all your help, everybody.

Simple root for the i9023 with 4.0.4?

Has anyone tried to root their i9023 with 4.0.4 using doomlord's easy rooting toolkit? http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1321582
I tried it when I had 2.3.6 and it worked perfectly but want to update to 4.0.4 now.
If doomlord's doesn't work, is there any similar one click rooting? Also, when I rooted, it didn't erase my data and apps. Will that be the same? Thanks

I guess not. Been searching and couldn't find a non-destructive one and one as a simple click without needing cwm.

There's none that I am aware of. However, it's not really that complicated to flash the right SU zip, and if you don't want to flash cwm you can simply fastboot boot cwm.img and it will leave stock recovery intact and ready after you flashed everything.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA

Couple things if you're already rooted on gingerbread do a nandroid back up. Put that and anything else you want to keep on your computer. Unlock the bootloader and restore your backup and update.
Stop messing around and unlock the bootloader.

albundy2010 said:
Couple things if you're already rooted on gingerbread do a nandroid back up. Put that and anything else you want to keep on your computer. Unlock the bootloader and restore your backup and update.
Stop messing around and unlock the bootloader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How can he do a backup if the bootloader is locked = no cwm recovery? He's out of luck. Best thing he can do is backup the SD card and that's it. The rest is lost
Edit: failed to read sorry. Didn't notice the gingerbread part. Anyway if he's on stock and one clicked rooted he still doesn't have cwm so he can't make a nandroid, he can use titanium backup and save apps and data.
Sent from my
( •_•)
( •_•)>⌐■-■
Nexus S
(⌐■_■)
YYYYYYYEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH

If he is stock rooted he can flash cwm in the os. Either through rom manager or terminal

albundy2010 said:
If he is stock rooted he can flash cwm in the os. Either through rom manager or terminal
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought that locked bootloader prevented the flash of any kind of unsigned .img even if you have root.
Guess i was wrong ;D
That's what you get when your first step with an android phone is unlock the bootloader

Not a one size fits all. Some phones all you need is root to flash a custom recovery and roms/kernels.
Others it can be a mess. Like the HTC g2 or even now the one x on att. Got the entire s on/ s off encryption nonsense and so on.

DeuXGod said:
I thought that locked bootloader prevented the flash of any kind of unsigned .img even if you have root.
Guess i was wrong ;D
That's what you get when your first step with an android phone is unlock the bootloader
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He can flash a new recovery through the OS if he has root access only. Unlocked bootloader only provides fastboot support.
If you are fully stock (bootloader, recovery, no su), the only current way to root 4.0.4 is to have an unlocked bootloader.

albundy2010 said:
Not a one size fits all. Some phones all you need is root to flash a custom recovery and roms/kernels.
Others it can be a mess. Like the HTC g2 or even now the one x on att. Got the entire s on/ s off encryption nonsense and so on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah that's what make my confusion. My old HTC Magic needed unlocked bootloader to flash a recovery.
Harbb said:
He can flash a new recovery through the OS if he has root access only. Unlocked bootloader only provides fastboot support.
If you are fully stock (bootloader, recovery, no su), the only current way to root 4.0.4 is to have an unlocked bootloader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah about that i was pretty sure you needed unlocked bootloader, but about CWM flash i was convinced that you needed also unlocked bootloader, but as stated above, it's just for some devices.

Thank to all that responded. All this talk just flew over my head ... guess that's what I get for using simple one clicks
Let me try to straighten some stuff out.
How would I use titanium backup?
Do I titanium backup while it's still on gingerbread or after I OTA the ics 4.0.4?
Edit: duh! I can't use Ti backup after OTA ics because phone not rooted yet.
After backing up with Ti, I thought any attempt to root will erase all. Does the Ti backup not get erased?
Ti backup only backs up my app and the data to those apps, not how I customize my homescreen's widgets and notification bar, right?
So, I would have to do all that stuff over?
If I don't want to unlock bootloader or install cwm, any way to root and leave stock recovery intact?
Lazer Bear posted "if you don't want to flash cwm you can simply fastboot boot cwm.img and it will leave stock recovery intact and ready after you flashed everything."
Is that possible and how do I do it? Does that erase everything too?
Thanks to all!

bump

Going to root, am I doing it right?

I am on stock 4.0.4 with a locked bootloader. I want to have root with the stock rom, nothing else just root.
So I am gonna use the tool provided here,
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1544940
I have already installed drivers and have the tool downloaded.
Then I would like to flash the stock google 4.0.4 rom that will let me receive OTA updates. Is this the right file?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1569509
Or can I just flash the stock rom from here?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1572307
I heard there are problems flashing stock rom with CWR if the stock recovery isnt removed? Thats why I dont know if I should flash the stock image.
Is the process of flashing rom with CWR recovery the same as with stock recovery?
My phone is the i9023.
Thanks a bunch in advance.

Gambler_3 said:
I am on stock 4.0.4 with a locked bootloader. I want to have root with the stock rom, nothing else just root.
So I am gonna use the tool provided here,
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1544940
I have already installed drivers and have the tool downloaded.
Then I would like to flash the stock google 4.0.4 rom that will let me receive OTA updates. Is this the right file?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1569509
Or can I just flash the stock rom from here?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1572307
Is the process of flashing rom with CWM recovery the same as with stock recovery?
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Baseband version? under about phone

billchen0014 said:
baseband version? Under about phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i9023xxki1.
Sorry should have specified my phone in the OP.

Best way is to do it manually. You can find all of the steps required here. The only difference is that you should be flashing the latest recovery from here and the latest superuser.zip file when flashing with recovery.
Note, unlocking bootloader will cause loss of EVERYTHING on the device that you have put on there (sdcard, apps, data partition, etc).

Harbb said:
Best way is to do it manually. You can find all of the steps required here. The only difference is that you should be flashing the latest recovery from here and the latest superuser.zip file when flashing with recovery.
Note, unlocking bootloader will cause loss of EVERYTHING on the device that you have put on there (sdcard, apps, data partition, etc).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You suppose thats better to do manually so I will have latest version of recovery and superuser?
And yes I am aware of the data loss waited sometime to finish all my games now I am ready to lose all my app data.

Harbb said:
Best way is to do it manually. You can find all of the steps required here. The only difference is that you should be flashing the latest recovery from here and the latest superuser.zip file when flashing with recovery.
Note, unlocking bootloader will cause loss of EVERYTHING on the device that you have put on there (sdcard, apps, data partition, etc).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do it this way. The one click is fine but using Android SDK and going through all that will help you in the long run. This way you know the process in case something goes wrong. It may be confusing at first but worth it. It will teach you a lot more than flashing a one click!
I learnt a lot from this and feel much more experienced and capable because of it. I know I will be able to solve any major issues using Android Debug Bridge (adb).

Okay then I am gonna try the manual way and gonna take out time for it. Now I just need to know what do I flash once I have unlocked bootloader and installed CWR?
I just want the stock google rom and receive OTA if nexus S continues to be supported by google.

You won't need to reinstall the ROM if you are currently on 4.0.4. The ROM stays there as-is. Feel free to do your wipes in recovery and reflash stock 4.0.4 through CWM if you must. You flash CWM to your phone and then superuser through CWM.
Steps:
Setup ADB/fastboot
Bootloader --> fastboot oem unlock --> agree
Bootloader --> fastboot flash recovery recovery.img --> this will give you CWM
Recovery --> flash superuser.zip and, if you must, wipe and reflash ICS (flash su AFTER this if done)
Reboot --> bingo
Also note, with stock ROMs it will replace your current recovery with stock recovery on each boot. If you want to keep CWM, delete /system/etc/flash-recovery.sh when you first boot. You'll have to reflash recovery afterward and it will stick.

Oh I was of the impression that unlocking bootloader wipes everything means it wipes the OS as well. That is nice if it's just data and not the OS, dont think I would reflash it if it's not needed.
Can you explain what you mean by will have to reflash recovery? I will have to do that even if I delete that file on first boot? And whats the drawback if I dont delete that file and stick with stock recovery?

As soon as you boot into stock android it will replace the recovery. So if that file is there on first boot, it will replace it while booting and you will be without CWM (stock instead). After first boot you can delete the file (you can reflash a ROM which has this deleted, or delete it yourself from a stock ROM, or even use adb or a recovery-based file manager to delete the file, then you won't have this problem at all) and it will no longer reflash stock recovery, but you would already have the stock one and need to flash CWM one more time to get it to stick. Easiest way is to just flash CWM and delete it within android imo, saves mounting commands and the such.
No downside really. If you need to flash something for one reason or another you'll just have to reflash CWM before you do so. Once rooted, ROM Manager can do this for you within android anyway.

I had already downloaded and installed the drivers from the one click root thread and my computer shows the android adb thing when I connect my phone with USB debugging.
But as you guys suggested I am gonna do the manual way. So do I just skip the installing driver on computer in the part 1 of this guide?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1007782

In my bootloader menu why is it showing my phone as an i9020?? Is it normal?

Gambler_3 said:
In my bootloader menu why is it showing my phone as an i9020?? Is it normal?
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Because you have a Nexus S with amoled. That's the i9020. The i9023 is SLCD.

DeuXGod said:
Because you have a Nexus S with amoled. That's the i9020. The i9023 is SLCD.
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He has the i9023 to my knowledge. It is completely normal, though. Bootloader and recovery for i9020 and i9023 series are the same, this can be attributed to the issue with 4.0.3 recovery backlight not turning on.
If fastboot recognises your phone in the bootloader (the fastboot menu), your drivers are installed an working perfectly.

Finally got to the unlock bootloader screen, didnt do it just yet but now I know how to do it.
I must say the guide is a bit outdated, the software has changed quite a bit seems. The most frustrating part was that the fastboot file is actually in the platform tools folder instead of the tools folder which I didnt figure for a while. I will hold off rooting when I have a whole day off because once I lose everything I would be very anxious to get my phone back to normal which will take time.
Thanks for the help harbb, if I have any problem flashing recovery and superuser I will come back for more help.
And yes I have the LCD version i9023.

Btw the guide said the fastboot will be in the tools folder but the tools folder had a read me that "adb has moved to the platform tools folder" this is how I figured to go to that folder and thats where the fastboot file actually was.
Now it says I should put the recovery image in the tools folder so should I do that or put it in the platform tools folder?

In the instructions for the flashing recovery I am not understanding one thing.
6 - Then back on the SNS select Power Off (Reboot also works)
Part 4 - Root
1 - Power ON the SNS
So after flashing recovery I have to reboot? Since I am on stock rom that would bring back the stock recovery so how would I flash superuser then?
If I delete the stock recovery can I still get OTA updates?

fastboot and adb is now in platform tools, that is correct. Easiest way is to put your recovery in there too so you don't have to type in the absolute file path to it, don't put it in tools.
Don't power off or reboot the phone. After you flash recovery go straight into the recovery menu and root, flash custom ROMs, kernels, etc. You can transfer files to flash via the mounts and storage --> mount usb storage menu. After this feel free to reboot.

Harbb said:
fastboot and adb is now in platform tools, that is correct. Easiest way is to put your recovery in there too so you don't have to type in the absolute file path to it, don't put it in tools.
Don't power off or reboot the phone. After you flash recovery go straight into the recovery menu and root, flash custom ROMs, kernels, etc. You can transfer files to flash via the mounts and storage --> mount usb storage menu. After this feel free to reboot.
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Just wanted to update that I successfully unlocked and rooted. Thanks a bunch mate.

Gambler_3 said:
Just wanted to update that I successfully unlocked and rooted. Thanks a bunch mate.
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Good work, been wandering what you were up to on this
Hope you enjoy the possibilities.