Last Updated on October 9, 2022 by Mathew Diekhake

Just got your hands on a Nexus Q and eager to root it to unleash its full potential? The Nexus Q is one of the most interesting social streaming devices on the market today.

You can stream your content via an Android tablet or smartphone. It was only a few hours between the time the Galaxy Q was announced to the world that a rooting method was broadcast through varies developer blogs. After you root Nexus Q you will be able to play games, install great apps like Netflix, stream HD video and connect a wireless mouse and keyboard.

Google Nexus Q

Before you start

For those who are running ICS, you will need to get the Nexus Q client apk. It has been recommended that you can update your SDK value from within the build.prop to 16 which should then show it. Then you can do the following steps to install it as an ICS client using apktool/jarsigner.

  1. ADB pull apk
  2. Decompile it using the apktool
  3. Change the SDK version from 16 to 15 within the manifest
  4. Then install to ICS with apktool/jarsigner

During the Google Nexus Q Root you will also need to enable USB debugging on the device, to do this use the Nexus Q client app owner that we installed in the above step. You will be able to do so in advance. There is also a chance that doing this will enable ADB Network mode at the same time.

Rooting the Google Nexus Q

  1. First you need to connect the device to your PC via your USB cable.
  2. You will need to run the ‘adb reboot bootloader’. During this time the LED ring on your Nexus Q will stay red.
  3. After you have done this run the ‘fastboot oem unlock’.
  4. Wait for approximately 5 seconds and then run ‘fastboot oem unlock-accept’. This will erase and reboot your device.
  5. Now download the following file which will give us access to root the device:
  • Nexus Q boot.img with ro.secure=0 HERE
  1. Ensure your Nexus Q  is paired with your other Android device.
  2. Re-setup USB debugging on your device. You’ll be able to do this via the client app but you may need to erase the client device Nexus Q app data to do this.
  3. You will need to run the ‘adb reboot bootloader’ again followed by ‘fastboot boot nexusq-boot.img’. Your device will boot up unlocked and with root permission.
  4. You will now just need to upload su. Find a reliable source and push ‘Superuser.apk’ and save it under /system/app. Then do the same with ‘su’ but placing it in /system/xbin/.

The process is slightly more complicated than most Android roots but that is to be expected due to the type of device it is. Many thanks to the very talented developer over at bliny.net who goes by the name of docbliny.