Team Win’s TWRP Recovery, the fully touch enabled recovery with a unique UI and some cool features that has been making its way to a lot of devices recently, is now available for the recently released Sprint Galaxy Nexus (CDMA). TWRP is an alternative to the Clockworkmod recovery (CWM) and has some advanced features not found on CWM.

Follow the step-by-step guide below to flash TWRP recovery on your Sprint Galaxy Nexus. There are two methods to flash it. The 1st method can be used by those who have Clockworkmod recovery installed on their device, while the 2nd method is for those who don’t have any recovery installed on their phone.

Compatibility

This hack and the guide below are compatible only and only with the Sprint Galaxy Nexus CDMA. It’s not compatible with any other device. Check your device model in Settings » About 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 your device, we won’t be held liable.

How to Install TWRP Recovery on Sprint’s Galaxy Nexus CDMA

Method I: Using Clockworkmod Recovery

  1. Download the latest TWRP recovery image from the official download page. Download the recovery installable zip file.
  2. Transfer the downloaded zip file to the SD card on the phone.
  3. Turn off your phone, then boot into Clockworkmod (CWM) recovery. To do this, press the following keys together: Power + Volume Up and Down. You will enter Fastboot mode. Here, press Volume Up twice till you see Recovery selected, then press Power button to boot into recovery. In recovery, use Volume buttons to navigate and the Power button to select.
  4. Now select install zip from sdcard, then select choose zip from sdcard. Scroll to the recovery’s zip file on the sdcard and select it. Confirm installation by selecting Yes – Install  _____.zip on the next screen. The TWRP recovery will start installing.
  5. After the installation is complete, select go back and then select reboot system now to reboot your phone.
  6. Now, whenever you boot into recovery, TWRP recovery will show up.

Method II: Using Fastboot (If Clockworkmod recovery is not installed on your phone)

  1. Important! Make sure the bootloader on your phone is unlocked. You can use this guide on how to do it (external link).
  2. Install the phone’s drivers on the computer. Download them → here. (Skip this step if you already installed drivers while unlocking the bootloader)
  3. Download the latest TWRP recovery image from the official download page. Download the .img file from the Recovery Image Method section.
  4. Download fastboot, which will be used to flash the TWRP image downloaded in step 3.
    Download Link  |  Filename: Fastboot.zip
  5. Extract the Fastboot.zip file to the C: drive on your computer to get a folder named Fastboot with four files inside it.
  6. Copy the .img file downloaded in step 3 to the Fastboot folder on C drive. You should have 5 files in the Fastboot folder now.
  7. Enter fastboot mode. To do this, turn off the phone, then press and hold the following keys together: Power + Volume Up and Down. You will enter Fastboot mode. Then connect your phone to the computer once you are in fastboot mode.
  8. Open Command Prompt on your computer from Start » All Programs » Accessories.
  9. Now, type the following commands in command prompt, pressing Enter after each command (check screenshot after step 9.2 for reference).
    1. cd c:Fastboot
    2. fastboot devices (this is to ensure the phone gets detected. A string of numbers and letters should appear if the phone is properly detected, as shown in screenshot below. Else, make sure the phone drivers are properly installed)
  10. Now, in the same command prompt window, type the following command, replacing the _____ with the name of the file you downloaded in step 3, and press Enter to flash TWRP recovery:

    fastboot flash recovery _______.img

  11. TWRP recovery will be flashed. After it finishes, type fastboot reboot in the command prompt window to reboot your phone.
  12. That’s it. If you run into any sort of problem, let us know in the comments below.

So, using either of the two flashing methods given above, you can install TWRP recovery on your Sprint Galaxy Nexus. Do share your thoughts on how it works for you, in the comments below.