Official Touch Clockworkmod Recovery for Galaxy S3 [Installation Guide]

We’ve loved Galaxy S3 cf-root by Chainfire ever since it was launched, mainly because it’s an all in one tool for installing 3 things at one shot: cwm clockworkmod recovery (based on official but tweaked for Samsung devices), root access and SuperSU (superuser) app. But we guess there are many people who would appreciate the official clockworkmod recovery on their Galaxy S3, version 5.8.4.3, mainly because it’s got touch-enabled version too, which lets you do stuff — backup and restore whole rom, flash roms and themes, factory reset, etc. — using the touch screen, while the traditional hardware keys are available too.

Actually, cf-root is not touch recovery (atleast for now) which makes a point for official clockworkmod (cwm) recovery. Otherwise, cf-root gets you root too in one flash through Odin while as with official clockworkmod recovery, you will have to gain root access in a separate additional process. And moreover, cf-root is tweaked by Chainfire to provide for right backup paths for Samsung devices, including the Galaxy S3, to support internal sdcard and external sdcard separately.

Anyways, enough with what recovery got what and advantages/disadvantages of official and non-official cf-root one, now let’s see the installation procedure of official touch based recovery for Galaxy S3. And btw, thanks for this goes to mskip.

Compatibility

This guide is applicable only for Samsung Galaxy S3 international version GT-i9300 — one with Exynos quad-core processor and 1GB RAM. It is NOT for Galaxy S3 at Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile, US Cellular and any other Canadian Galaxy S3. Check your phone’s version in Settings – About Phone. It has to be “GT-i9300” for this Official Clockworkmod (CWM) Recovery to be compatible with your phone.

Warning!

The methods and procedures discussed here are considered risky and you should not attempt anything if you don’t know completely what it is. If any damage occurs to you or your device, we won’t be held liable — you only will be responsible, you’ve been warned!!!

How to Install Touch Clockworkmod recovery on Galaxy S3 i9300

Once again, this is the official cwm recovery for Galaxy S3 i9300. You can use your Galaxy S3’s touch screen in recovery mode too with this recovery, and those good old hardware keys — Volume Up and Down, Home and Power keys — can be used too.

It’s important you’ve the proper drivers for the phone installed. If you have installed Samsung’s Kies software, you already have the drivers, so download them only if you haven’t installed Kies.
Download Drivers | Alternate Link for Drivers
Download the touch clockworkmod recovery from here — LINK. Filename: s3-touch-recovery.tar
Download Odin3 v3.04 from here — LINK. Filename: Odin3_v3.04.zip
Extract the contents of the Odin3_v3.04.zip file to a folder. Open the file — Odin3 v3.04.exe — when asked in step below.
Disconnect your phone if it’s connected to PC, then switch it off. Wait for 5-6 seconds for phone to vibrate to confirm complete shut down.
Now, boot the Galaxy S3 into Download Mode, also called Odin mode. For this, press and hold these 3 keys together: Volume Down + Home + Power. A Warning! screen will come up; press Volume Up key to continue to enter Download Mode.
Open Odin: double-click the Odin3 v3.04.exe that you in step 4 above. You will need admin permission on Windows Vista, 7 and above. Select yes if and when computer asks.
Connect your phone to PC now. Important! You should get the message Added! ! under Odin’s message box in the bottom left.
If you don’t get this message, make sure you installed drivers correctly — using Kies or directly as given in step 1. If it still doesn’t work, try changing to another USB port on the computer and also use the USB ports on the back if you have a desktop PC.
NOTE: If you don’t see Added!! message, the rest of guide is of no use to you — you cannot install this clockworkmod recovery with getting the added! ! message. So, get it first.
In ODIN, click on the PDA button, then select the file — s3-touch-recovery.tar — you downloaded in step 2 above.
Important! Do not make any other changes in Odin except selecting the required files as given in step 10. Leave all other options as they are. So, Auto Reboot and F.Reset Time checkboxes remain selected while every other checkbox remains unselected.Your Odin’s screen should look like this (the COM number could be different, no probs with that). See that Added! ! message in the box, that’s necessary.
Now, hit the START button on Odin to start flashing the touch clockworkmod recovery on your Galaxy S3. Upon successful flashing, you’ll get a PASS message (with green background) in the left-most box at the very top of the Odin, and your phone will automatically reboot. When you see the Samsung logo, you can safely unplug the cable. What to do if Odin gets stuck? If ODIN gets stuck and doesn’t seem to be doing anything, or you get a FAIL message in ODIN, disconnect the phone from the PC, close ODIN, remove battery, re-insert it, turn phone on in Download mode again, and do the procedure again from Step 7.Upon successful flashing, Odin’s screen would look like this:
If you run into any roadblocks while flashing the firmware, let us know and we’ll help you out.

Galaxy S3 Root?

So, what about rooting the Galaxy S3 now, you may ask, since the official clockworkmod recovery doesn’t get you root access like the cf-root one. This may happen to guys who installed this recovery on their new Galaxy S3 on which no root or cwm has been installed earlier anytime.

Well, the best thing would be to install cf-root (linked below), to get root and recovery both at one instance, and then install the above touch recovery again — over the cf-root, recovery, that is — to retain root access, and have official touch based recovery too. And if don’t want a touch recovery, simply keep the cf-root things — that is, just flash cf-root to get root and recovery and that’s it.