Being the largest carrier in the States, Verizon continuously disappoints by often being the last to offer an update to a device, after all other carriers have made their users happy. This was the case with the Samsung Galaxy S3, where Verizon was the last horse to reach the finish line when it came to the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update.

Sprint was one of the first carriers to push the Android 4.1 update to the Galaxy S3 and has made many incremental updates since then, and XDA forum member md4dodge has taken the pains to port the latest Sprint Galaxy S3 firmware to the Verizon variant and released it in the form of a custom ROM.

Named Goodness Jelly Bean Edition, the ROM includes a plethora of tweaks and improvements, such as a themed interface and the ability to download and flash more themes via the ROM updater, advanced power menu, customizable toggles in status bar, and a lot of performance tweaks for a faster and smoother experience.

Interested in flashing Goodness Jelly Bean Edition ROM on your Verizon Galaxy S3? Well, you should be, and if you’re new to flashing custom ROMs, simply follow the instructions below to find out how to install the ROM and enjoy the goodness of Goodness Jelly Bean Edition ROM (pun very much intended). Getting back to your previous ROM is also very easy if you need to do that, so don’t hesitate to try the ROM out.

So, let’s get started with the installation instructions. See you on the other side!

Compatibility

The procedure described below is only for the Verizon Galaxy S3. Do not try it on any other device, not even on other variants of the same device.

Warning!

The methods and procedures discussed here are considered risky, so try them out at your own risk, and make sure to read each step carefully before attempting anything. We will not be held responsible if anything goes wrong.

How to Install Goodness Jelly Bean Edition ROM on Verizon Galaxy S3

  1. [Important] The procedure to install the ROM includes wiping the data on the phone, so make sure you backup important apps and data such as SMS, contacts, bookmarks, etc. See our Android Backup Guide for help. The personal files on your SD card, however, will not be wiped, so there is no need to back them up. You just need to take a backup of the installed apps and data such as messages if you want.
  2. [Important!] Unlock the bootloader on your phone by following this guide. This is necessary and will void your phone’s warranty, however it can be relocked when needed to get warranty back.
  3. Install ClockworkMod recovery on your phone by following the guide → here. Skip this step if you already have ClockworkMod recovery installed on the phone.
  4. Download the latest version of the ROM from the source page.
  5. You will also need the latest baseband/modem for the Verizon Galaxy S3, which is required to be flashed to use network functions such as calls and data connectivity.
    Download Modem
  6. Copy the ROM and modem files you downloaded in step 4 and 5 to the internal storage (not the microSD card) on the phone.
  7. Now, boot into ClockworkMod (CWM) recovery. To do that, turn off your Galaxy S3. Then, hold down Volume Up, Home and then the Power buttons together until the screen turns on, then let them go. The phone will boot into ClockworkMod recovery in a few seconds. In recovery, use the Volume buttons to scroll up/down and the Home button to select an option.
  8. Perform a Nandroid Backup of your existing ROM, which will make a one-to-one copy of it so that you can restore it when you want to. To perform a backup, select Backup and Restore. On the next screen, select Backup again. Go back to main recovery menu after backup is complete.
  9. Select wipe data/factory reset, then select Yes on next screen to confirm. Wait a while till the data wipe is complete. This will not delete any of your personal files on the SD cards as those are stored on the /data/media and /sdcard folder, while the wipe option only wipes the /data partition but leaves the /media folder inside intact.
  10. Select Install zip from sdcard, then select choose zip from sdcard. Scroll to the ROM file on the SD card and select it. Confirm installation by selecting Yes on the next screen. The ROM will start installing.
  11. After installation of the ROM completes, select choose zip from sdcard again, then select the modem file to install the modem.
  12. After installation is complete, reboot the phone by going back to the main recovery menu and selecting reboot system now. The first boot can take up to 5-7 minutes. If the phone doesn’t boot up even after 10 minutes, remove and re-insert battery, boot into CWM recovery, repeat step 9 to wipe data, and reboot the phone again.

NOTE: If you want to go back to your previous ROM, boot into recovery (like you did in step 7), select backup and restore, then restore your previous ROM by selecting it from the list. This will restore your previously installed ROM exactly the way it was when you backed it up.

There you have it, your Verizon Galaxy S3 should be now running Goodness Jelly Bean Edition. Let us know how the ROM works for you, and if you really like it, don’t forget to visit the source page and make a small donation to the developer for his hard work. Have fun!